Rocco is the voice of reason. He is a fatherly figure to Ed and a peer to Kanna. Rocco is wise and thoughtful, and looks at everything that happens in a cool, rational and calculating way. Though not the oldest member of the cast, Rocco is by far the most mature. Even though he dose succumb to moments of megalomania
Though he will indulge in watching television with the others, Rocco as a general rule has more refined tastes. He finds enjoyment in Fine cigars, caviar, cognac, old jazz, golden age Hollywood movies and English literature. Rocco also has a fondness for games, especially card games and Risk.
Rocco’s past is shrouded in mystery, but we do know that he was once a very successful Boston businessman who was set up by his company. Bent on revenge, He stumbled across a spell that would make him immortal. But something went horribly wrong and he became trapped in the body of a stuffed raccoon. In his new body He could not accomplish his goals of world domination, so he instead tried to influence a naive young soul and use him as a tool to get what he wanted. Unfortunately for Rocco, that soul was Ed. Ed’s innocence and inability to be aggressive soon wore Rocco out, and he settled on being just a toy. Until one day, unable to take Ed’s complaining about his life any longer, Rocco spoke to Ed’s face. It was his care for Ed that allowed him to turn away from his plans of world domination and focus on being himself.
If you look at the Rider Tarot; Rocco is the embodiment of card 1, The Magus. Someone who has all the tools, and the ability and wisdom to use them.
Example strips: Game master, Cigar Aficionado, Father figure.
Character design
The character design for Rocco is a complex one, involving two completely separate characters. I was originally captivated by raccoons at the age of seven. I loved that they were intelligent, crafty and dexterous, and could adapt to live right along side humans. I made my love of animals known to all, and on my birthday my aunt made me a plush raccoon, which I named Rick-O.
My best friend (and an amazing artist) Scott Werdal, Took the name of Rick-O and created the anthropomorphic world of Littlewood (the name was also a creation of mine), which starred two raccoons named Rick-O (representing Scott) and Rock-O (being me).
Rock-O was more like Ed than Rocco. Rock-O was laid back, always hungry and a little less than bright; which made him a great parallel to the slick, crafty, straight man that was Rick-O. I soon began to associate myself with the Character of Rock-O and when I started to write, Rick-O and Rock-O where the characters that I always wrote about and their world became mine.
I lost the original Rick-O to a puppy, but one of my “off to university” gifts was another plush raccoon (this one store bought). Needless to say, I named him Rock-O. And he has been with me ever since.
I began to write Ed’s R Us in university for the Peak newspaper. University was rough and I didn’t have any of my old friends to talk about all my stresses with. So I would talk to Rock-O. Then I had one of those little strokes of genius and I asked myself “what if he could talk back?” Rock-O immediately began to tell me how crazy I was stressing about the little thing and not focusing on the big picture. I changed the spelling of his name and Ed’s co-star was born.
The physical design of Rocco was originally very similar to how the plush looks. When I went through the re-design of all the characters, I made Rocco bigger and more expressive. I gave him a neck and elbows, as well as the ability to stand up.
