"Hi! I'm Rockett Movado, Whistling Pines Junior High's newest student! But you knew that, right?"
Rockett Movado is an 8th grade student at Whistling Pines Junior High and the main protagonist of the Rockett Series.
Background[]
Rockett is the middle child of three kids. Her older sister, Juno, attends college away from home during the series. Her younger brother, Jasper, is nine years old and presumably attends elementary school. Her parents, who are still together, work as an electronics inventor (father) and a calligraphy and collage artist (mother). While her parents have claimed to have lived in "hundreds of different places," they didn't move from the time Rockett was born to the start of the series. Rockett is a vegetarian.
While she states that Rockett is indeed her first name in earlier games, later materials state that Rockett's first name is actually Judith. First Dance also includes a locker VO stating that she doesn't want anyone knowing her middle name, but hints that it is related to her birth date (as she was told by her parents). Her report card in Secret Invitation states that her middle name begins with M. It is unknown if this middle name was ever revealed, though her father calls her "Moonchild" in a letter of encouragement on her first day in WPJH.
There is evidence that in the Purple Moon produced games, the Movados are firmly in the lower-middle class. In Secret Invitation, Rockett has a journal entry about which big Christmas present she is going to ask her parents for - a darkroom kit or a new CD player - because she can't have both. In the last scenes of Tricky Decision, Rockett's bedroom is on the ground/1st floor of the house. In the Rockett's World books, Ruben remarks on her school supplies looking so cool because she's decorated them with stickers and art herself instead of buying fancier notebooks and such, which could be interpreted as having to make do with what her family can afford. However, in Camp Adventures, the Movado house is three stories, with solar panels or windows in the roof, an upstairs bay window, a covered porch, and a driveway leading to an outbuilding garage and basketball hoop. While Rockett always had the Girl Message Getter in the Whistling Pines games where she could receive voicemails from her friends, in Camp Adventures she has upgraded to a pocket computer enabled with phone, email, compass, and private journaling. Combining this with the upgraded house design, it creates a new lifestyle situation for Rockett where her family has a larger disposable income.
Personality[]
Rockett is known for being a free spirit. Although she has shown interest in different cliques at the school, Rockett is not a member of any of them. Because of her individuality, Rockett is positively perceived by many of her classmates and makes many friends of all different social backgrounds when coming to school.
Sometimes Rockett can be a bit dramatic and hot-headed, both of which are traits that Cancers show due to their sensitivity.
Interests & Skills[]
Rockett's biggest interest is anything concerning art, particularly visual art, and photography. Her bedroom is so full of art that Meg has nicknamed it "The Museum." She keeps a sketchbook in her backpack that fills up with doodles as the games progress and sometimes draws pictures for various people as gifts. In her first-day speech, she also mentions dabbling in collage art and origami. She also keeps a camera in her backpack that the player can use to take pictures of various scenes in the story for her photo album. She also likes music, owls, and wolves. Her favorite color is red (though her locker background, bedroom, backpack, and some of her outfits are predominantly purple). Her favorite TV show is Adora the Amazon Girl. Early in the day and on weekends, she likes to chat with others on her dad's computer.
In Starfire Soccer Challenge, Rockett shows some skill in soccer and plays on an unnamed team in River County's AYSO league.
Relationships[]
Rockett seems to get along with her family for the most part. However, in the books, Rockett resents Juno and the attention she gets from their parents, believing her to be "perfect." In the games, she has a good relationship with Jasper and sometimes gives him advice on how to deal with bullies; even if he does give her grief sometimes. In the books, however, she treats him like a pest and usually does things to either get rid of him more quickly or because it will benefit her in some way.
While advertising for the games states that Rockett can be friends with any of the girls in school, and she is on friendly terms with most of the student body, Rockett is noticably closer to Jessie, Miko, Nakili, and Whitney than any of the other students (though Whitney will never admit it to others). Until the end of Secret Invitation, Miko and Nakili consider making her a member of The CSGs, but retract the invitation when they learn that she is not a Sagittarius. (They emphasize that they still consider her their friend, however.) While Rockett's feelings on it depends on how the player makes her react, Mavis is also on friendly terms with her and often goes out of her way to give Rockett advice and help.
In her old school and town, Rockett was part of a group with four other girls: Julia, Katherine, Laura, and her best friend Meg O'Riley. Rockett and Meg have known each other since elementary school. She appears in spirit to Rockett during times of stress or confusion, often providing good counsel so Rockett can make better decisions. The two of them even celebrate their birthdays with each other. While Rockett says in Secret Invitation that it's because hers is in the summer and can't be celebrated at school, journal entries in New School state Rockett did it so that she could go to the Girls International Camp in Canada with Meg the summer before 7th grade, and continued doing it because it made her feel closer to her.
Also among her old school friends is a guy named Matthew. In New School, Rockett tells Meg via her journal that he is "one of the good ones." He also frequently asks Meg about how Rockett is doing.
While she can try to make friends with them in the games, Rockett's only two "enemies" are Nicole and Dana. Nicole sees Rockett as a threat to her popularity and, while she isn't completely nice to her, tries to keep her close so she can keep tabs on her. Dana, meanwhile, sees Rockett as a threat to her long-standing friendship with Miko and Nakili and mistakenly thinks that Rockett sees herself as better than everyone else. She is also bitter about Rockett wearing the same outfit as hers on the first day of school and "stealing" the yearbook job from Miko.
Rockett is one of several girls that Arnold is shown to have a crush on. In Tricky Decision, Arnold asks Miko if she knows when Rockett's birthday is and sends her several awkward voice messages. In Secret Invitation, he gives her a purple orchid from his mother's garden for her "birthday." If the right choices are made in First Dance, she and Arnold can be voted King and Queen of Hearts, much to his delight. While the intensity of her response depends on the player's choices, Rockett's feelings for him are not mutual.
During Rockett's Tricky Decision, it becomes known to the player and the rest of the students that Rockett has a crush on Ruben Rosales. Many hints and situations in the series are given suggesting that the feelings from Ruben are mutual. In Secret Invitation and First Dance, if the right choices are selected, the player earns a secret scene between the two. In First Dance, Ruben ends up dancing with Rockett at the end of the episode, regardless of the decisions chosen by the player. During the next and final installment, Rockett's Camp Adventures, Rockett receives an email from an anonymous sender telling her that Ruben likes her.
Academics[]
Rockett has Mr. Baldus as her homeroom teacher. Rockett is an above-average student, with a B- average in most of her classes. Her worst subject is Computer Science, in which she has a C+. On her first day, Mr. Rarebit is so impressed with her work that he gives her a job on the yearbook staff, mostly as a photographer. In First Dance, her theme for the Valentine's Day dance ("Caribbean Heartscapade") is chosen and she is made the student head of the decorating committee.
In the books, Rockett is in Mr. Rarebit's elective "talent art" class with the CSGs, has Social Studies with Whitney, and has Science in 4th period with a 5th period lunch. In What Kind of Friend Are You?, Rockett runs for 8th grade class Secretary on The CSGs' ticket, but loses to Stephanie. In Are We There Yet?, she is put in charge of the fundraiser to earn money for the class trip to Chicago. The fundraiser ends up being a calendar that Rockett will design; she also photographs all the students who will be featured in the monthly pictures. And in Who's Running This Show?, Rockett is chosen by her classmates to be the stage manager for the school talent show.
Plots[]
Rockett's New School[]
See also: Rockett's New School
The Movados moved to Whistling Pines three weeks before Rockett's first day of school due to her father getting a new job. When her parents told her about the move, Rockett thought it was the worst thing that could ever happen to a person. She spent the entire week before her first day trying to decide what outfit to wear, aiming to wear something that wouldn't make her stand out (but bringing her painted tennis shoes "just in case"). She also decided to write down all of her experiences in a journal for Meg to read later. Before her parents drive her to school, they sneak a photostrip Rockett and Meg took together before they moved into her backpack. Rockett appreciates the gesture and puts it in her locker so she can see Meg whenever she misses her. (The photostrip can be seen in her locker throughout the series.)
According to a locker VO from Miko, Rockett is the only new student in the 8th grade that year.
At the start of the day, two people leave anonymous notes in her locker telling her to have a good day. The handwriting on one matches Mavis'. The other matches Arrow's. Later in the day, another anonymous person sends her a poem. The handwriting on it matches Sharla's.
In a journal entry, Rockett compares Nicole to a girl from her and Meg's school named Caroline Anders. When she did something horrible to them, they decided that they would always remind themselves of something that made them better than her. Rockett states that she needs to learn how to do that with Nicole. In another, when talking about how weird guys act sometimes, she notes that Matthew from their school was "one of the good ones" (and tells Meg not to tell him that). In another, after hearing the rumor about Whitney mini-golfing with Arnold in homeroom, Rockett wonders if he's as bad as "Melvin Peaslee."
A guy, presumably Ruben, also gave her a note folded like an origami bird. (The note does not seem to appear in her locker or backpack afterwards.)
After homeroom, Rockett goes to Principal Herrera's office to check in on how she's doing. Rockett says she's doing okay, but actually wanted to tell her it wasn't fair of her to make her get up in front of the class, and that she wanted to go home to change her clothes. (She eventually forgives her for the first one.)
During the day, Rockett writes about getting lost in between class periods and being too embarrassed to ask people for help. She does come across "interesting places" like the courtyard, and reminds herself to take pictures of it and the Birdcage for Meg. At another point, she shows her custom painted tennis shoes to Jessie, who likes them and asks if she could make her a pair.
According to another journal entry, Rockett saw Mr. Baldus in the cafeteria with a lunch tray. He waved to her, and she quickly looked away, afraid he would invite her to sit with him. He ended up accidentally dropping his tray.
At some point in the day, Cleve tries to flirt with Rockett, but is stopped by Principal Herrera who reminds him of his "priorities."
After the incident in the bathroom with Miko, Rockett decides to call Meg later that night to talk about their day and the notebook that she found. She also goes and sits in the courtyard in the middle of the school to write her last journal entry for the day.
Rockett's Tricky Decision[]
See also: Rockett's Tricky Decision
The Friday before the game (October 23rd), Miko and Nakili visit Rockett's house after school. While they were in her room, the two of them saw a card from Meg talking about their joint birthday. When they asked about it, Rockett became flustered and hid it. They spent two hours talking. The two seemed to be impressed by the amount of art in Rockett's room.
Also sometime before the game, Rockett and Whitney had a sleepover at Rockett's house. The two had fun, but Whitney made her promise not the tell anyone about it since she was worried that Nicole would find out.
Rockett's Secret Invitation[]
See also: Rockett's Secret Invitation
During the day, Whitney gives Rockett a set of scented bath oils as a Christmas present.
If the player selects nothing but "positive/confident" choices during the game, then picks the righthand option during the get-together in the music room, a hidden scene will play. In it, Ruben gives Rockett a Christmas gift (a frog pendant with a poem) after seeing her be kind to Mavis.
Rockett's First Dance[]
See also: Rockett's First Dance
If the player picks all of the center choices during the first half of the game, the player will unlock a hidden scene. In it, Rockett finds Ruben in the music room practicing a new song.
Rockett's Camp Adventures[]
See: Rockett's Camp Adventures
In her Lunamate journal and an email to Meg, Rockett complains about a guy named Brett who keeps bossing her and her team around. (He is never shown in the animatics and Rockett never mentions dealing with him afterwards.) Before the Fire Circle, Rockett gets Ginger to see if Ruben is going to it and to help her sit next to him.
Throughout the game, Rockett worries that Ruben might like Gabriella more than her. But her fears are banished when an anonymous email tells her that he likes her. Later, while the three of them are playing volleyball, Ginger points out that Ruben was watching Rockett during the game.
Starfire Soccer Challenge[]
Rockett makes a minor appearance in the game, mostly to notify Ginger and the other members of the Fireflies of the existance of the Starfire tryouts. Regardless of how well the player does, Rockett is accepted onto the Starfires as an alternate.
Rockett's World[]
See: Who Can You Trust?, What Kind of Friend Are You?
Purple Moon Place[]
Rockett's page on purple-moon.com, c. June 2000
Rockett's page was simply called "Rockett's Room."
Due to her status as a flagship character, Rockett was heavily featured on the Purple Moon site. She curated the Rockett Talk page, where she would answer questions and messages from site users.
The photo album on Rockett's page contained photos of different characters in various situations that users of the site could submit captions for. The winning submissions were displayed on the site in the album.
Around Valentine's Day 1998, Rockett received a secret Valentine. This was used as the premise for a contest where the site's users submited in-character love poetry to her.
In July 1999, Rockett became a member of the A.F.I.G. She helped renovate a vacant lot by taking pictures for Miko's father to use as a reference for designing a park.
In August 1999, Rockett wrote an article for The Whistler about a mural painted by an unknown student in the school's basement. She notes at the end of the article that she secretly admires the mural's artist.
In September 1999, The Whistler changed offices, causing Rockett to walk into an empty room when she went to turn in some pictures from the A.F.I.G.'s Save a Pond rally. (The article was used as an in-verse excuse for the site's staff losing their archive of emails during a technical mishap.)
A poll was held in January 2000 for which object in Rockett's house should become a treasure. Her stuffed toys, Winky and Pinky, won with 23,424 votes. An amethyst and pearl necklace and earring set (21,680 votes) was also made available.
In an article about St. Patrick's Day festivities at WPJH, Rockett mentions taking a ton of pictures for the yearbook and worrying that she had an allergic reaction to the green face glitter that she wore.
A site poll in March 2000 gave Rockett advice on how to deal with Ruben's seemingly new affection for Felicia, which she is upset about. Miko's advice of reminding him of the times they shared together and reminding him that she cares about him won with 9,370 votes. When Felicia leaves a few months later, Rockett tells the paper that she would rather keep her opinion on it to herself. Naturally, unlike most of the other kids, she didn't like Felicia when she was there.
When the CSGs go missing in June 2000, Rockett becomes upset and worried about them, calling them some of [her] very best friends. A month later, she wished them a quick and safe return. When they were found, she was grateful that they were safe and noted that it was the first time she was able to feel happy in a while.
In September 2000, Rocket won a School Spirit contest by selling chocolate bars to raise money for charity. The grand prize was a four day/five night trip for two to the Olympics in Sydney, Australia. It is unknown who she picked out of the rest of the student body to go with her.
Purple Moon Place Treasures[]
See: Treasures
Images[]
