Guardians of the Galaxy is easily one of Marvel’s most popular movies out there. The title is kno🅰wn for its more mature sense of humor as well as the incredibly nostalgic soundtrack that seems to bring all generations together. Proving to be a successful venture in something very dif🌜ferent from Marvel’s previous movie, the film does a good job of mixing humor into a rather serious storyline that would break almost anyone’s hearts; each character has such a tragic background story, after all.

With an angry attitud🗹e and a silver tongue, Rocket Raccoon is easily one of the biggest fan favorites to come out of this franchise alongside his best friend, Groot. It’s not really hard to see why when Rocket is so sarcastic and just so happens to be the only person that can really understand what Groot is saying. Between the two of them, there’s endless comedy and a friendship that warms the heart. Unfortunately, not everything about Rocket has been something to laugh at.

While most movies would make a talking raccoon the pinnacle of humor, Marvel took Rocket’s creation down a much darker path that will have you sobbing you🐲r eyes out. From how he became a more humanoid talking animal to his love of prosthetic limbs, there’s a reason for almost everything Rocket does. His backstory is filled with pain and misery, but without it we wouldn’t have the attitude-filled raccoon we have today. If you’re a huge Rocket Raccoon fan that’s read the comics, you’ll probably be familiar with some of our list items, but if you’ve only seen the films, you’re certainly in for a heart wrenching ride!

25 HE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND GROO༺T ꦆ

This may seem a little obvious, especially if you’ve seen the films, but Rocket can really understand what Groot is saying. A little strange, seeing as all he can say is, “I am Groot,” but Rocket genuinely gets the language his best friend speaks, wꦓithout any context or hints.

Part of this simply comes from how smart Rocket is. ꦑBecause he’s the product of illegal experiments, there’s a lot of thinking on his toes in order to adapt to his surroundings; being able to pick up another language as soon as possible is just one of the many things y👍ou can do to help you survive.

24 🦂A ROBOT MOM AND DAD?

Previously mentioned, Rocket was the product of illegal testing. The experiments preformed on him were nothing less than horrific, but at least we can say it wasn’t exactly humans that bred this form of evil. Inst🌼ead, Rocket was designed and created by robots. Sounds like an absolute nightmare…

These Robots would create leftover pets with genetically modified abilities so that they would be able to care for insane asylum patients. It sounds like this would be rough for any species, but when you’re just a 🐈regular raccoon who doesn’t really understanꦜd what’s going on, it seems to make it a thousand times worse.

23 CܫHILDHOOD IN AN INSANE ASYLUM 🐈

If you’re wondering where the attitude Rocket has ⛦comes from, you should look no ๊further than his childhood. The robots that created him gave him the clear task of taking care of insane asylum patients on planet Halfworld; a place where “Loonies” were assigned to go.

With the original robot caretakers no longer wanting to deal with the ever-growing population of “Loonies,” experiments like Rocket Raccoon were created to take over. There’s no way growing up around some of the galaxy’s most ill patients would help you turn out to be completely okay. Especially when you’ve been genetically modified and have had p♓lenty of experiments done yourself.

22 IN-MOVIE SCARS ARE⛎ ACTUAL ಌCOMIC REFERENCES

Out of many of the characters in Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket and Groot are perhaps the two we’ve gotten very little explanation for. However, Marvel did make sure to incl𓄧ude references to Rocket’s original backstory from 🧜the comics; a nod given by his scars.

Originally, Rocket was not unlike any other raccoon. However, the robots who helped to create him wan🌳ted to give him a specific skeletal structure that would allow him to walk upright like a human. This led to multiple surgeries that were horrifically painful and left plenty of scars that we saw in theaters.

21 HIS MOVIE VERSION IS INSPIRED BY A REܫAL RACCOON NAMED OREO

There’s a lot of fun things to learn about Rocket’s past from the comics, but one adorable piece of trivia from the cinematic universe is how they made this sassy raccoon so realistic. Wanting to make him look like any other raccoon here on earth, the filmmak♈ers decided to really look at the anatomy of raccoons as well as their behavior.

This included looking at the adorable raccoon named Oreo, who taught them everything they needed to know. Fo🎶llowing Oreo around, the team was able to recreate a fairly realistic raccoon, and we’re sure plenty of fans💦 can definitely agree it was a success!

20 🐈 HE WAS INSPIRED BY A BEATLES SONG

Does anyone remember the song “Rocky Raccoon” by the Beatles? Well, the creators of Guardians of the Galaxy sure did. The entire song fits his personality well, as it’s all about a rebellious man who’s ready to go off and gain revenge on the man♚ who stole his girlfriend. Seriously, doesn’t that seem like something Rocket would do?

The cool thing about this reference is that his ea🌸rlier comics would often refer to the lyrics of the original song. This also seems to fit the movie’s aesthetic of holding music as one of the most important factors to the story.

19 BOTH HE AND GROOT♍ HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES BEFORE ꦚ

Of course, when we’re talking about the end of life in the Marvel Universe, there’s a good chance that they’ll come back; either by some incredible life-altering feats or in another series. Spoilers; we’re referencing their demise in the Secret Wars comic's first issue.

The entire point of this series was to pin two different universes together in a war that would put the entire galaxy at stake. Obviously, this wouldn’t go well♉ for anyone involved and our favorite besties were among many of the tragedies. Their loss was severe and motivated plenty of their remaining friends to take a stand in an impossible future.

18 ꦯ ROCKET STRUGGLES WITH OCD

If any of our readers struggle with OCD, you can certainly rejoice in having some representati🧜on in the Marvel Universe! Rocket Raccoon will probably understand exactly how you feel, considering he has a minor form that has always compels him to keep things his way. This could certainly explain why Rocket is so determined and precise most of the time.

Of course, this was partially specu꧟lation, especially since it came more from Bradley Cooper’s MCU version verseওs the comic books, but we could definitely see it. It certainly helps to consider all possibilities when getting into character, and OCD is nothing to mess around with.

17 JUST 🔥LIKE ANY OTHER RACCOON, HUMANOID OR NOT 🔯

Despite how huma🌄n he may look, at the end of the day Rocket is still your average raccoon that has most of the s๊ame traits and qualities that his species would have. Unlike humans, he still has strong senses that tend to learn more into his animalistic side.

However, it’s stඣated that these abilities may have actually been heightened through the various experiments he was forced to endure when becoming more humanoid. Everything from smell to sight can help him on his missions with the other Guardians, placing him at more of an advantage. In the end, we’re pretty glad he was able to keep these qualities.

16 HEIGHTENED AGILITY ಞ

One of the most impressive raccoon abilities Rocket was able to keep, and heighten, was his agility. Whether you’ve only seen it on the big ꩲscreen of you’ve actual🅠ly read it in the comics, Rocket is incredibly capable when it comes to his physicality. No human, or alien, would be able to keep up with Baby Groot without his abilities!

This incredible agility certainly helped him escape once or twice, but it also makes his small stature more of a boon rather than a hindrance. Pair this with the cybಌernetic skeletal structure he was given and you have an unstoppable raccoon!