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Rockla is the het ship between Rocket Raccoon and Lylla from the Marvel and Marvel Cinematic Universe fandoms.
Canon[]
Comics[]
Rocket's Fantasy[]
Within the Keystone Quadrant is the planet Halfworld, home to "loonies" that seek entertainment. Lylla is the heiress of Mayhem Mekaniks: one of Halfworld's largest toymaking empire tasked with making devices to keep the loonies happy. At the same time, Rocket Raccoon is a renowned hero of the planet, protecting the loonies and everyone else on Halfworld. The two ended up falling in love with each other. One gesture they shared was Lylla naming Rocket's ship the Rakk'N'Ruin.
One day, the Black Bunny Brigade - a group led by Blackjack O'Hare - launched an attack on Rocket's base of operations to obtain Gideon's Bible: a book said to contain the origins of the quadrant. Lylla contacts Rocket about the attack but is kidnapped, along with the Bible, and taken to Judson Jakes - current proprietor of Mayhem Mekaniks and Lylla's guardian. Rocket learns about this kidnapping after returning and soon infiltrates Gideon's base - alongside his surprise new friend in the Hulk - to save Lylla and Gideon's Bible. The two don't get far as they find Blackjack holding Lylla at gunpoint ordering them to surrender. Rocket, not wanting to see Lylla hurt, does just that despite Lylla's pleas for him to run but Hulk manages to distract Blackjack enough for Lylla to slip free and for Rocket to incapacitate the hare. Rocket and Lylla eventually manage to reacquire Gideon's Bible from Judson's chief scientist Uncle Pyko - who also sends the Hulk back to Earth - and escape[1].
Sometime later, Lylla, Rocket, and his first mate Wal Rus, take a vacation to a river. Rocket tries to take the opportunity to see if he can decipher Gideon's Bible but Lylla is a bit miffed that he's focusing on that instead of taking a swim with her. Rocket does eventually relent as he jumps into the spring and plays with Lylla. The fun times get interrupted with news that Judson had killed the chief toysmith of Lord Dyvyne - owner of Halfworld's other toymaking empire. After a call with Dyvyne, during which Rocket tells off the lizard for subtly threatening Lylla, the raccoon arrives at Judson's headquarters to confront the mole. While alone, Lylla finds Uncle Pyko taking Gideon's Bible again and contemplates calling Rocket - but she doesn't get the chance as she's kidnapped by Dyvyne's forces. Both Rocket and Judson soon see a video revealing the kidnapping and the fact that Dyvyne is planning to marrying her to get control of her family's toy empire (a fact Judson already knew since he was also planning that). Seeing his love in such distress, and knowing the quadrant's safety is dependent on her inheritance, Rocket angrily readies himself to save her[2].
Rocket soon infiltrates the Masquerade, an annual event for the loonies to let loose, to either find Lylla or get a lead towards here whereabouts. After fighting off a pair of threats Judson and Dyvyne both sent after him, Rocket learns that Lylla was taken by Blackjack - who was working for Dyvyne but has now gone rogue - into the loonie's "church" Asylum. Lylla finds the opportunity to scream for Rocket, giving the raccoon and Wal reason to barge in to the church. Lylla is eventually freed and manages to find Rocket cornered by a weaponized cloud sent by Dyvyne. The cloud is soon dealt with and the two of them along with Wal and Blackjack - whose now forced to work with Rocket - vow to end the war between Judson and Dyvyne[3].
The quartet end up chased by Judson's and Dyvyne's forces during their attempt to hide. Wanting them off, Blackjack suggests that - since she's the ultimate prize of the war - they should just leave Lylla to them but Rocket threatens him for that suggestion. The quartet are eventually forced to abandon ship and traverse through a series of caverns to evade their pursuers. They eventually found shelter in the robotic half of Halfworld only to find that Pyko was there, as well. Pyko offers Rocket and Lylla a deal: he'll make sure the war ends in exchange for being made the chief toysmith. Neither trust him, so Pyko also gives them back the bible and tells them what he learned from translating it. The meeting is interrupted when Blackjack betrays the group for another attempt at Lylla, but she, Rocket, Wal, and Pyko manage to beat back his ramshackle crew and escape him. The quartet eventually finds the head robot and get its help in ending the war by having it produce a "toy" helmet that can cure all the loonies of their insanity[4].
With the toy in hand, Rocket and Lylla join in distributing it to the loonies. During this, Rocket accidentally uses a helmet on himself that makes him absolutely lovestuck upon seeing Lylla. In this state, Rocket loudly professes his love for Lylla despite the fact that she already knew. It's upon giving the last set of toys to the loonies that Judson and Dyvyne, now working together, arrive to kill Rocket and his friends. The group end up encircled by their forces desperately fighting them off. Rocket and Lylla - fearful they're going to lose each other - share a passionate hug before the former goes on the offense, with Lylla admiring the ferocity Rocket is fighting with. The group eventually gets saved by the timely arrival of Blackjack and the combined forces of the robots and the now-sane loonies, giving Rocket the chance to finally end Judson and Dyvyne. With their jobs no longer needed, Rocket, Lylla, and the rest of Halfworld's animals depart the planet - and the Keystone Quadrant - to search out their own destinies[5]. As it turns out, though, most of this is a more fantasized version of reality.
Reality[]
In reality, Rocket and Lylla were two of the many animals meant for the therapy of patients of the Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane. When the original staff of the asylum left and the robots left to take care of the patients proved unable to do the job, the animals were painfully uplifted via experimentation for the task. Lylla became one of the nurses while Rocket became the chief of security. Many of the individuals from the fantasy were actually friends of the two. One bond that remained the same was that Rocket and Lylla did, in fact, fall in love and start dating.
Things would eventually go wrong when Halfworld admitted a new patient named Barry Bauman. Also known as Star Thief, Barry resisted all of Halfworld's attempts to treat him and tried to use his psychic abilities to control the staff and break free. Rocket eventually enacted a dire plan to keep Star Thief locked up: use Halfworld's bio-organic nature to make it so all of the staff was needed to access the asylum's inner levels - and then leave to make that impossible. To make extra sure he wouldn't return, Rocket also used Halfworld's immersion therapy treatment on himself to wipe his memory of his old life. With that, Rocket left with incomplete and fantastical memories of Lylla and everyone else he cared about. Even those, however, would begin to fade as Rocket began to move onto bigger things like the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Star Thief eventually enacts a plan that leads Rocket back to Halfworld. Rocket and his new friend Groot fight off the security forces trying to kill him, forcing Lylla to sneak behind him and electrocute him as he recognizes his former love. Lylla uses a cortical stimulator on Rocket to remind him of his fantasy recollection of Halfworld - mainly to ease the restoration of his true memories. Before that happens, Rocket asks if he and Lylla really were together, which she confirms as well as revealing that she married Blackjack (who Rocket named security chief when he left). With his memories back, Rocket finds out that Judson had recently began acting crazy. He and Lylla bring him out of the immersion therapy he'd been put under to see what happened, only for the immersion system to crash and all of the patients to be freed. Rocket has Lylla go sedate the patients while he, Blackjack, and Groot go to Star Thief's cell to check on him. Unfortunately, they find out Star Thief had escaped his body and taken control of all of Halfworld[6].
Rocket and Lylla are among those that Star Thief puts under immersion therapy to keep them unaware of his plans. The next thing they know, they're living a recreation of Rocket's fantasy Halfworld: namely the day at the river before the "Toy War". Lylla is unaware she's in a delusion but Rocket gets deja vu about what he's seeing. He's soon pulled out of the fantasy - with Lylla only able to yell for him as it's happening - by Groot, and the raccoon uses his newfound freedom to distract Star Thief long enough for his psychic powers to be suppressed. With that suppression, Lylla and the other's kept in immersion are freed and a specialized treatment is made for Star Thief to keep him permanently pacified. With the threat over, Rocket wishes Lylla and Blackjack to be happy together and prepares to leave - only for Blackjack to offer that he come back. Rocket declines the offer because he already has a job which Lylla is curious about - prompting the raccoon to reveal is guarding the galaxy[7].
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series[]
Rocket and Lylla were a pair of experiments created by scientists on Halfworld for an unknown goal. Wishing freedom, the two subtlety began building a wrist computer they could use to escape. As they did so, they bonded and Lylla told Rocket her dream of wanting to see the outside world again. The two even developed feelings for each other but decided to keep it a secret from each other until they could escape. On the day the device is finished, however, Lylla is taken to be terminated due to being seen as a failure by the scientists. Using the wrist computer, Rocket manages to break out of his cage and save Lylla from the scientists' drones before the two make a break for it. As the two are running, however, they discover - to Rocket's horror - that Lylla had already been injected with a lethal chemical. With her life now cut short, Lylla decides to try and cause some havoc for the scientists to give Rocket the chance to escape. Rocket has the choice of honoring her wish and running or carrying her out of the lab.
- If Rocket chooses to run, he tells Lylla to give the scientists hell before running out the door just as the lead scientist arrives and locks Lylla in with him. As Rocket runs into the jungle outside, he feels an explosion occur behind him. He sees smoke billowing from where Lylla was, causing him to cry at losing her.
- If Rocket decides to get Lylla out, he manages to get the both of them outside just before the doors close. Now outside, Rocket continues running into the jungle with Lylla in his arms until he feels her getting weaker. Stopping, he gently lays her down as the realization her time has come settles on him. The two share final words, including Rocket saying she finally got to see the outside and Lylla nearly admitting she loved Rocket, before she finally passes - leaving Rocket to gently hug her body and cry.
Regardless of what choice he makes, Rocket leaves Halfworld with only Lylla's memory - but not before erecting a small memorial for her.
Episode 2: Under Pressure[]
Years later, Rocket and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy manage to acquire the Eternity Forge - a Kree artifact capable of reviving the dead. When the Guardians go to get their ship repaired, Quill finds Rocket and the raccoon asks for a favor: he wants to go to Halfworld to see if he can use the Forge to revive Lylla. Quill can agree to it and - over Gamora's objections since this cuts into the search for her sister - brings Rocket to Halfworld. Alternatively, if Quill rejects and focuses on finding Nebula, Rocket steals the Eternity Forge and Yondu's ship to go to Halfworld, anyway. It's only after the Guardians capture Nebula that the other Guardians can go to Halfworld to get Rocket and the Forge back.
Arriving on Halfworld, Quill finds Rocket frantically digging up his memorial for Lylla with the Eternity Forge in hand and the raccoon sharply tells him off when he tries to interfere. As Rocket prepares to use the Forge, he suddenly freezes up as it begins glowing. Quill's attempt to take the Forge causes him to experience Rocket's memory of his escape and Lylla's death. Upon the memory's end, the two snap back to reality and the raccoon is furious because he didn't want anyone else to know about it. When the Forge fails to work (since its existing "charge" was already used on Quill), Rocket is distraught as he realizes the whole excursion was for nothing. He eventually restores Lylla's memorial (which Quill can even help with) and returns to the Guardians - only to find his and Lylla's wrist computer starting to malfunction. In a panic, he isolates himself in the engine room to try and fix it, leaving the other Guardians to move onto other things.
After the Guardians investigate the temple where they first found the Eternity Forge, word comes to Quill that Rocket is angry and screaming at something. Quill returns to the engine room and finds Rocket thrashing around his space - before dropping to his knees and sobbing. Locking the door behind him, Quill moves closer and finds Rocket holding the wrist computer - completely dead. Rocket's sobbing words about it, about how he couldn't save "her", instead make it clear he's actually talking about Lylla. Rocket's crying continues as he admits he can't go on without Lylla and is terrified of having to let her memory go. Quill comforts Rocket and tells him to either hold onto the computer or to finally let it go - only for the moment to be interrupted by enemy forces arriving and attacking the ship.
Episode 5: Don't Stop Belivin'[]
By the end of the Guardian's conflict with Hala the Accuser, the Eternity Forge - provided it wasn't destroyed beforehand - starts depowering. The Guardians decide to use it one final time with Quill deciding whose resurrected. One of these choices is Lylla, with Quill noting to Rocket that she would get to see the outside at anytime. Should Quill decide on Lylla, Rocket nearly breaks down in joy (though threatens everyone against telling anyone) and takes Mantis' hand to use the Forge - resulting in a bright light. When the light fades and Rocket opens his eyes, he sees Lylla standing behind Mantis confused about where she is. Rocket calmly greets Lylla - before the two joyously hug each other, with Lylla remembering when they last saw each other and Rocket vowing to never let anyone hurt her again. The two join the other Guardians in Drax's toasting to the galaxy, vowing to make sure no one lived in fear anymore.
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
Rocket and Lylla - known back then as 89P13 and 89Q12, respectively - were a pair of experiments made by the High Evolutionary as a part of his Counter-Earth project. 89P13 was the last to be made of their "batch" and was roughly returned to his cage following his first "treatment". 89Q12 - from her side of the cages - eased the young raccoon into what was happening to him while also treating the head wound he got from the experiment. Overtime, the two started bonding with each other along with their two batchmates while still being subjected to High Evolutionary's "uplifting". The raccoon - after pointing out a problem in High Evolutionary's newly made evolution chamber - eventually learned about what their creator had planned and told the others about it. Excited about the prospect of seeing the sky, the group decides to give themselves proper names - with 89Q12 deciding to name herself "Lylla" and 89P13 choosing "Rocket" after the flying machines he now wanted to use to fly them into the "forever and beautiful sky".
Unfortunately, Rocket would learn High Evolutionary's true intentions: he wants to terminate the batch - which he sees as failures - and harvest the raccoon's mind for its advanced learning capabilities. After being returned to his cage, Rocket frantically used spare tech within it to create a makeshift keycard to free himself and his friends. Rocket and Lylla, being able to directly interact for the first time, take the moment to joyfully hug. Tragically, the moment doesn't last as High Evolutionary appears and shoots Lylla in the back. Rocket screamed in anguish at hearing Lylla's final words and then in rage at High Evolutionary mocking the two, severely wounding his creator's face and killing his guards at the expense of his other two friends being killed in the chaos. With nothing left for him, Rocket commandeers a ship and escapes.
Many years later, Rocket would be found by High Evolutionary - who sends someone to try and capture him. However, Rocket is fatally wounded and his new friends in the Guardians of the Galaxy have to get him revived. In the process of trying to be revived, Rocket briefly flatlines and finds himself in the afterlife - where he finds Lylla and their batchmates there. Holding Lylla close, Rocket apologizes for being unable to save them, prompting Lylla to note that they're happy as they finally got to see the sky. Rocket asks if he could go with them, but Lylla tells him that - while it would be nice - it's not his time to do so. She urges that Rocket still has purpose in the living world and that he can use what High Evolutionary gave him for good. These words motivate Rocket, who holds out long enough to finally be revived.
Fanon[]
Rockla isn't a very popular ship in the larger Marvel fandom, but is proportionally well-liked in the sub-sect for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Their relationship in the early comics, how Lylla is a motivating factor in Rocket's actions and their willingness to fight together when able, is seen as a standout. It's even been compared to Star Wars' Scoundress for having a similar dynamic of snarky space hero and royal. Many fans were pleasantly surprised to find that Rocket's and Lylla's relationship was one of the few things kept following the retconning of Rocket's backstory. Although that same storyline confirming Lylla had moved onto Blackjack was a bit disappointing to them, Blackjack later confirming he's divorced[8] breathed new hope that Rocket and Lylla can get back together in the comics.
Being such a memorable part of Rocket's history in the comics, fans of the ship were definitely waiting for Lylla to appear in the MCU, especially after her namedrop cameo in the first Guardians film. Understandably, they were ecstatic to see her appear in the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and doubly so when the shot was her and an extremely happy Rocket hugging. Even those who didn't know about this ship beforehand were happy to see Rocket so happy being with her and definitely wanted to see why. When they finally saw the film, many were emotionally devastated by Lylla's fate and her and Rocket's reunion in the afterlife. Suffice to say, the ship saw a surge in popularity following the premier.
There's some criticism that this ship's only use in modern media - namely the MCU, the Telltale game, and a mention in Square Enix's 2021 game - is for Lylla to die to catalyze Rocket's jaded personality. As noted in an essay by TheDragonSaver - writer of the fanfic Batch 89: Awesome Mix - this seems to stem from Rocket's iconic line in the first Guardians film ("There’s no thing like me, ‘cept me") and how it basically meant he had to experience loss to become who we see today. This trend has comic fans nervous because they fear Lylla will be killed to give Rocket emotional trauma at some point. With all of that in mind, plenty of fanworks exist of Lylla managing to survive or - like in the Telltale game - get revived to be with Rocket.
Fandom[]
FAN FICTION
- Lylla/Rocket tag on AO3
TUMBLR
- Rocket x Lylla tag on Tumblr
Variations[]
- Batch 89 refers to the ship between Rocket, Lylla, Teefs, and Floor
