Rokurou Okajima
Also known as: "Rock"
Birth year: 1975-1976
Rock is the protagonist of Black Lagoon and basically the crew's moral compass—a role he never asked for. He was working as a salaryman for Asahi Industries in Tokyo until the Black Lagoon crew took him hostage. He joined the Lagoon Company after his boss, Kageyama, abandoned him to cover up an illegal smuggling operation Rock didn't even know he was involved in. The guy's earnest and soft-spoken, which makes it darkly funny that he's now running around Southeast Asia with actual pirates. He still dresses like a businessman—tie, short-sleeved shirt, dress pants—refusing to fully commit to the pirate aesthetic, and he'd genuinely rather talk his way out of situations than reach for a gun.
His actual skills are what keep him valuable to the crew. He handles accounts, negotiates deals, translates (he's effectively bilingual in Japanese and English, with working knowledge of Spanish, Romanian, and Russian), and once worked in resource investigation, giving him unexpected geology expertise. He also drinks like a champion, a holdover from his salary-man days. Despite his competence, Rock has openly wondered whether he's developed Stockholm syndrome, given how quickly he seemed to settle into this life.
What's interesting is that everyone in Roanapur seems drawn to him—Balalaika, Mr. Chang, Eda, Garcia Lovelace, various other players in the criminal underworld. Dutch has said the Lagoon Company works because Rock doesn't carry a gun; his real weapon is something that bounces back harder. The longer Rock stays in Roanapur, though, the less innocent he becomes. He's started enjoying the life, getting comfortable with corruption, and Benny's noticed he's got a genuinely scary side now—something Revy's definitely rubbed off on him.
His family back in Tokyo is. not close. They've always been somewhat indifferent to him, especially after he failed his college entrance exams on the first attempt, which basically tanked their expectations. His older brother made it into the Japanese government, which probably didn't help. Rock doesn't seem to miss them much.
Luckily for him, he's survived basically everything thrown at him—ambushes, gunfire, the anger of Revy, Balalaika, Roberta, and Sawyer. Plot armor or genuine skill? Probably both at this point.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
