to be used as an antagonist, who later, in works such as Vampires, kidnapped and murdered people for the sake of achieving his goals. In this older form, Rock is often wearing a three-piece suit, a striped tie and dark sunglasses, the last of which became something of a trademark for him. Rock's dark persona appeared for the first time in the uncompleted Vampire manga, which was the first time Rock went by the name "Makube Rokuro", based on MacBeth for Makube and Kuro ("black" in Japanese) for Rokuro (mixed with "Rock"). He is often presented as a considerably more complex antagonist than many of Tezuka's other villains (who are usually bad people simply because that's what they've always been and always will be), and his actions are sometimes explained by a rough past (in the manga Nextworld, Metropolis and the newest Astro Boy series, for example). Rock often appears as either a heroic major or protagonist character, such as in Adventures of Rock and Princess Knight TV Series (as Prince Frank, Sapphire's love interest), or as an antagonist whose brutal means often have justified motives through the storyline (such as in Phoenix and other works). One of the very few instances in which he's been given a lighter and more comedic role was in 1985's Say Hello to Bookila, in which he was a hack writer investigating the truth behind a series of mysterious occurrences at a TV station. He is also the hero in the 1980 film Marine Express where he is again cast in a romantic lead with Sapphire, throughout which he is usually seen without his trademark sunglasses. Rock's role eventually developed from a sympathetic antihero to a notorious villain who will do almost anything for his personal causes (in Vampires and Alabaster). Through his evil role in the story Vampires he develops a further demonic nature in the manga Alabaster where he is seen as having no qualms about torturing, raping and killing to achieve his ends. Though in Alabaster his ambition develops to the point of narcissism he never becomes the most evil of Tezuka's characters (a role developed in the character of Yuki). His role gradually transferred from an orphaned boy with bitter experiences (Nextworld manga), to a passionate leader or agent of ruthless means who still acts upon some causes and values (Phoenix), a spoiled rich man's son (in most works Duke