Rocky Balboa
Robert "Rocky" Balboa is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of the Rocky franchise. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in eight of the nine films in the franchise. He is depicted as a working class or poor Italian and American from the slums of Philadelphia who started out as a club fighter and "enforcer" for a local Philly Mafia loan shark. He is portrayed as overcoming the obstacles that had occurred in his life and in his career as a professional boxer.
While the story of his first film was partly inspired by a 1975 fight between underdog Chuck Wepner and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, the inspiration for the name, iconography and fighting style came from boxing legend Rocco Francis "Rocky Marciano" Marchegiano, though his surname coincidentally also resembles that of Middleweight Boxing Champion Thomas Rocco "Rocky Graziano" Barbella.
The character is widely considered to be Stallone's most iconic role and is often considered the role that started his film career. He received critical acclaim for his performance in the first movie, earning Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. When Stallone reprised his role once again in 2015 for Creed, his performance received universal acclaim and he received his first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, along with his third Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and several other accolades.
Character biography
Robert "Rocky" Balboa was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the only child in a Roman Catholic, Italian and American or Italian immigrant family. Rocky appears to be fully or semi-fluent in the Italian language; when Rocky is spoken to in Italian by his priest, Father Carmine, it is apparent that Rocky understands the language very well or fluently, including in a scene in which he translates Italian into English for Tommy Gunn. However, despite Rocky's obvious understanding of Italian, it is unclear and undetermined how well he actually speaks the language, as his responses to Father Carmine are always in English.During the scene in Rocky in which Rocky takes Adrianna "Adrian" Pennino skating on Thanksgiving, he tells her, "Yeah – My old man, who was never the sharpest, told me I weren't born with much brain, so I better use my body." This encouraged him to take up boxing. He trained very hard so he could grow up to be like his idol Rocky Marciano. Unable to live on the low pay of club fights, and being unable to find work anywhere else, Rocky got a job as a collector for Tony Gazzo, the local loan shark, to make ends meet. By the end of 1975, Rocky had fought in 63 fights, winning 43 and losing 20. Rocky was proud that he never had his nose broken in any of his amateur fighting career. His nickname is the Italian Stallion, from his Italian-American heritage.
''Rocky'' (1976)
The first film begins on November 25, 1975, in the slums of the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Rocky Balboa is fighting Spider Rico in a local boxing ring called the Cambria Fight Club inside a chapel. Rico hits Rocky with a headbutt, leaving a gash on his forehead. Rocky then delivers a vicious barrage of punches, knocking Rico out. The next day, Rocky stops by the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop, where he meets Adrian Pennino, sister of his best friend Paulie. Adrian is very shy and scared of Rocky's tough appearance, even though Rocky is kind to her and shows her respect. Afterward, Rocky goes to collect for his loan shark boss, Tony Gazzo. Even though the client, Bob, does not have the money, Rocky does not break his thumbs, despite Gazzo ordering him to do so.Rocky stops by the local boxing gym and finds his locker has been taken by another local contender. The gym's owner and grizzled former boxer, Mickey Goldmill, who always considered Rocky's potential to be better than his effort, chides him for his association with Gazzo. Rocky sees a young girl named Marie hanging around a bad crowd and walks her home, advising her about staying away from the wrong people. However, Marie assumes Rocky is trying to flirt with her, and dismisses him. Rocky walks home, frustrated how nothing is going right in his life.
When the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed, decides that he wants to give an unknown fighter a chance to fight for the title after his intended challenger, Mac Lee Green, broke his hand while training, and with no other contender available for a fight on New Years Day, Creed chooses Rocky because he likes Rocky's nickname, 'The Italian Stallion' and the idea of fighting on the first day of the 1976 bicentennial year against one of what he calls Christopher Columbus' descendants. However, Apollo's trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers, warns Creed of Rocky being a southpaw. After getting picked by Creed, Rocky is approached by Mickey, who convinces Rocky he can help prepare him for the match. Mickey reveals that his own career never got anywhere because he did not have a manager and he does not want the same thing to happen to Rocky. At the same time, Rocky begins dating Adrian and helps her to become more self-confident and stand up for herself. Rocky confides in Adrian before the fight that, although he figures that he may not win, he wants to at least "go the distance".
The fight takes place at the Philadelphia Spectrum on January 1, 1976. In the first round, Rocky knocks Creed down for the first time in his career and Creed responds by breaking Rocky's nose, the first time in his career. The match becomes a long and gruelling battle for both competitors; although Rocky does not have Creed's level of skill, he has crippling, sledgehammer-like power and is determined to keep fighting. In the 14th round, Rocky is nearly knocked out but manages to get back up and delivers some hard body shots, breaking Creed's ribs just before the bell. The 15th round comes to naught and Rocky manages to pummel Creed until the bell rings once more, ending the fight, which ends in a split decision win for Creed. Adrian climbs into the ring and embraces Rocky as they both profess their love for each other.
''Rocky II'' (1979)
After the match, Creed demands a rematch with Rocky under the stress of being humiliated by the press for failing to beat Rocky convincingly, as well as his own knowledge that he did not give his best in the match, stating that he would fight him 'anywhere, anyplace, anytime' to prove to the world that Rocky's feat was merely a fluke. Rocky initially declines and retires from boxing, having surgery for retinal detachment, a condition that could lead to permanent blindness. He marries Adrian, who convinces Rocky to live outside boxing, and she becomes pregnant with her and Rocky's first child soon after. However, the money from the match with Creed is quickly frittered away, so Adrian reclaims her part-time job at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop.Determined to get Rocky back in the ring, Creed instructs his public relations team to publicly goad Rocky, although Duke begs Creed to move on to other opponents. At first, Rocky is unaffected by Creed's smear campaign, but his inexperience with money causes him to run into financial troubles. A grade-school drop-out, Rocky soon realizes that he has no white-collar skills beyond the eighth grade and is, in fact, barely literate. He does, however, improve his reading skills by reading books aloud to Adrian. Rocky struggles to find employment with decent pay, when he is fired from a commercial studio, turned down for an office job, and even laid off at the Shamrock meat packing facility.
Despite Adrian's objections, and after Creed insults Rocky on national television and through the newspapers, he agrees to the rematch. Without Adrian's support, however, Rocky cannot concentrate on his training whatsoever, leaving Mick both frustrated and worried. The heavily-pregnant Adrian goes into preterm labour due to stress and slips into a coma after giving birth to her and Rocky's son, Robert 'Rocky' Jr.
After Adrian comes out of her coma, she promises her full support to Rocky. Despite the limited time they have left, Mickey and Rocky train hard, focusing on Rocky's speed and improving his right-handed punching. At the same time, Creed is also focused on his training under Duke's supervision, taking this match much more seriously than the previous time. The rematch is set for Thanksgiving. Creed dominates the fight, but is fixated on knocking Rocky out, despite Duke's pleas to fight from distance and win on points. The match goes the full 15 rounds again, with both Rocky and Creed falling to the canvas after Rocky lands a succession of left hands. As referee Lou Fillipo exercises his 10-count, Creed and Rocky struggle to get back up, but Creed falls back down in exhaustion. Rocky is able to get back up from sheer determination, beating the 10-count and winning by knockout, becoming heavyweight champion of the world.
''Rocky III'' (1982)
Over the next five years, Rocky successfully defends his title in ten consecutive matches against various contenders, amassing wealth and worldwide fame in the process. In addition, Rocky also has a charity exhibition match against the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, "Thunderlips". However, during a dedication ceremony unveiling a statue of Rocky in the city, Rocky is challenged by a young power-hungry fighter named James "Clubber" Lang, who has risen to the top of the rankings. Mickey refuses to train Rocky to face Lang, and Rocky is stunned by Mickey's revelation Rocky faced "hand-picked" challengers that were "good fighters, but not 'killers'" which Lang seemingly is.Mickey insists that he would step down as Rocky's manager if he chooses to fight Lang, but Rocky convinces him to train him for one last match. However, like Creed in the first film, Rocky does not put his heart into training properly, and this reinforces Mickey's belief that Rocky has become too comfortable as champion. Before the match, pandemonium erupts backstage, Lang shoving Mickey out of the way during a trash-talk exchange with Rocky, causing Mickey to suffer a cardiac arrest. Distraught, Rocky requests to call the match off, but Mickey urges him on. A distracted Rocky attempts to knock Lang out early with a barrage of huge blows, but his lack of proper conditioning is exposed by Lang, who viciously knocks out Rocky in the second round, winning the title.
After the match, Rocky rushes to Mickey's side before he passes away, devastating Rocky. After the funeral, a depressed Rocky visits Mickey's now-abandoned gym, where he finds Apollo Creed, who had witnessed the match against Lang as a guest commentator. Creed explains to Rocky, that when they fought, he won because he was competitive. He convinces Rocky that he needs to get his fire back. Creed offers to train Rocky for a rematch against Lang, taking Rocky to the "Tough Gym" in Los Angeles, to meet Duke, who himself appears eager to finally be in Rocky's corner.
After Rocky initially struggles to adapt to Creed's methods, Adrian helps Rocky overcome Mickey's death. Rocky manages to put his doubts behind him and regain his fighting spirit under Apollo and Duke's guidance. Fighting with a style very reminiscent of Creed's own boxing technique mixed with his own style, Rocky wins the rematch against Lang by K.O., dodging and absorbing Lang's best blows and still standing, regaining his world heavyweight title. After his victory, Rocky honours Creed's favor: a third fight together, albeit a private sparring match between friends, which Rocky happily accepts. The film ends as they each throw punches at the same time, symbolizing the equality of their greatness. The result is not revealed until the 2015 film Creed, in which Rocky tells Creed's son, Adonis, that his father won the fight.