The Mystery of Rock

(From tumblr) "Um, kay?"

I've seen this often since A Wonderful Life came out in like 2004...even back then in my teenage naivety I was like, 'nah uh'...and yea, now, I'm like, 'nah uh'.

I can see why this could be a possibility, don't get me wrong. There's a lot about Rock that seems pretty inconsistent with his parentage. That said, I'm seeing the main reason being "he looks NOTHING like his parents". Wha?

The fanart above is pretty wrong on his eye color that's in the game, it's not that dark. They're more amber like. You know, amber like Ruby's, his "adopted" mother. It's pretty appalling, the lack of good official art for these two, but here's what I could find in a short search.

In better pictures, you can actually see that they have the same exact eye color. "So what? Brown's a pretty common color", you could argue. But this is a slightly odd brown, isn't it? It's kind of almost like gold. Additionally, it's horrifying that even Google seems to be at a loss at who Tim is with proper signal words so I can't get an image, but if you clashed Ruby and his skintone together, it's pretty possible it could compose Rock's. In game, Ruby and Rock aren't truly that dark but neither is Rock, so either way, it's not inconceivable he's their child.

The hair? Is it hard to believe that Rock might have, like...bleached it? Sure, it's Harvest Moon, it's hard to imagine them doing anything vanity-like but still, he's kind of a 'party' type and if you read any manga or watch any anime, what do those party types tend to do? Go blond. And as someone who weirdly frets over eyebrows, it's easy to tell he probably did color his hair because why would he have black eyebrows? Your eyebrows don't come in COMPLETELY mismatch. "Because official art wouldn't have blond eyebrows! It'd be too hard to see!". *SPOILER FOR A WONDERFUL LIFE/ANOTHER WONDERFUL LIFE* However, as Rock ages, did anyone notice his roots? I don't...think they'd be so blackish if he were truly blond? Like, I haven't seen blond people's hair turn black before they go gray...looking at even brunette Celia or actually blonde Muffy, it's not that bad. Not to mention, he goes gray SO EARLY. Like most people are just starting to fade, he just catapulted right in there. Perhaps a consequence of bleaching?

"He's taller and thinner than Ruby or Tim!". Well, we don't see Ruby or Tim in their younger days...my dad was tall and thin when he was in his 20s too. Now I'm almost his height and he's not as slim as he used to be. Still okay but you know, not where he used to be. I think people are allowed to get older, a little chubbier, and subsequently shrink a bit. For all we know, Rock is the spitting image of Tim's youth.

I heard it was hinted at more in Another Wonderful Life that he was adopted but that was...well, ages ago and I actually really was disappointed in both games so I can't say. But I don't recall anything leaping out at me. Rock was an idiot, that's what I recalled.

As I mentioned before, is it impossible he's adopted? Not at all. It'd actually be kind of interested. But for my understanding I really don't believe this was the developer's intention. Rock is just the rebellious party boy son with blond hair that's nothing like his responsible hard working parents. This concept is everywhere. Just my thoughts.