Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 concluded the franchise in a bittersweet way. The movie was a perfect blend of humor, action, and touching moments that were always the trademark of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. One of the most heartbreaking story arcs we’ve seen in the last installment was Rocket Raccoon’s past, and the reason why he turned out the way he is, and unsurprisingly, behind his abilities lies the fact he was experimented upon by High Evolutionary. Even though Rocket Raccoon was neither the first nor the last experiment of the High Evolutionary, only Rocket was capable of original independent thought, all his other experiments were capable of memorization only, and we’ve decided to analyze why is that. Why is Rocket Raccoon the only smart experiment of High Evolutionary? 

It was never revealed what exactly made Rocket Raccoon smart in the sea of other experiments, and it’s something that High Evolutionary never managed to figure out as well. This is the reason why he chased Rocket Raccoon across the galaxy, as he planned on extracting Rocket’s brain and replicating what he did right the first time around. Even though the reason behind Rocket’s intelligence was never officially revealed, we can theorize that it’s due to random chance.  

Now that we’ve given you the best answer we have, it’s time to analyze why. High Evolutionary’s chase of Rocket Raccoon was the biggest plot point in the last movie, and if you’re interested in why he exactly wanted Rocket’s brain, stay with us and keep reading! 

Rocket Raccoon was selected at random 

The most heartbreaking scenes in the movie belong to flashbacks involving Rocket Raccoon. We knew that he would be the star of the last movie since he was a team member whose past was relatively unknown. He is (along with Groot) the most bizarre member of the team, and even if you knew nothing about Rocket from the comics, you could guess that he was severely experimented upon, as you don’t often come naturally across super-intelligent Raccoons, even in Marvel Comics.

The story of Rocket’s past begins in a cage in one of High Evolutionary’s facilities. He was selected at random from a batch of small Raccoons, his designated name at the time was Subject 89P13, and he belonged to Batch 89 of experiments, which at large consisted of animals that were enhanced with bionic limbs of some sort and given intelligence. 

Rocket’s operation was a “success.” We could see in the movie that his brain was operated upon, and his fur was a collection of myriad metallic plates. After the operation, he was thrown into a cage. He shared the holding pens with other subjects that belonged to Batch 89. Lylla, an otter with mechanic arms; Teefs, walrus with wheels and Floor, a rabbit with metallic spider legs and metal muzzle that served as a speaker. All those mishappen animals had one thing in common they were sort of intelligent and were able to communicate. 

High Evolutionary cared about Rocket at first 

In the subsequent scenes, we’ve seen that High Evolutionary spent some time with Rocket, educating him and showing him the world as it can be. All the animals knew that High Evolutionary was working on a perfect society, a Counter-Earth, which High Evolutionary’s most perfect creations would inhabit. Both intelligent and aesthetically pleasing. 

Around that time, Rocket started questioning the world and making his own observations. He became fascinated with rockets and flying. Due to Rocket’s budding intellect, High Evolutionary showed him a machine that is supposed to “evolve” a certain organism a million years in advance in a matter of seconds. However, there was a catch. All those animals were extremely violent and aggressive; all maddened due to becoming intelligent and self-aware in several seconds. In bodies they do not recognize as their own. 

High Evolutionary couldn’t figure out why this happened, but a small raccoon, his own creation, surpassed him when it came to “thinking outside of the box” and solved the problem in a matter of seconds. 

Rocket wasn’t even aware that he was both replacing himself and invoking the wrath of High Evolutionary on himself by solving this “issue.” 

Why did High Evolutionary hate Rocket Raccoon?

The next shocking turn of events is when High Evolutionary barges into the holding pens, visibly distressed and messed up. He tears Rocket Raccoon from his friends and brings him to the experimental chamber again. This time, animals that evolved in the machine are peaceful. They don’t have a fraction of the original aggression in them. They are evolved beyond comprehension, barely holding onto their original forms. 

High Evolutionary is not happy. However, his smile is not a genuine one. It is full of malice and hatred. He despises his own creation, outsmarted him, and solved a problem that has been bothering him for quite some time now.

How dare Rocket Raccoon solve this problem? How dare this stunted little animal possess such intelligence when he is so aesthetically unpleasing? This is something that High Evolutionary was striving toward. He wanted to create intelligent specimens that were equally beautiful to look at. And Batch 89 was nowhere near that. 

In a fit of rage, High Evolutionary revealed that he planned to get rid of Batch 89. His Counter-Earth will be inhabited by newly evolved animals, not by his former experiments. He mocks Rocket Raccoon for not figuring out this sooner. High Evolutionary reveals that Rocket Raccoon will be “separated” from his brain in the morning. It was a pretty stupid move on High Evolutionary’s part and a decision he made under the influence of his anger and emotions, and it will cost him his most successful experiment to date. 

Rocket Raccoon managed to escape, but it cost him everything 

Returning to the cage, Rocket Raccoon revealed to the rest of Batch 89 what kind of fate awaited them. Luckily the raccoon had a plan in place in record time. He assembled a security card from spare parts he collected over time, and the animals had a real chance at escaping. Only High Evolutionary followed Rocket Raccoon, revealing to him that he knew Rocket would escape.

This little undertaking of Rocket’s ended up with almost all members of Batch 89 dying, and High Evolutionary lost his face when Rocket attacked him in a fit of rage. Not only this, years later, High Evolutionary was still obsessed with Rocket Raccoon and his brain, and he chased him all across the galaxy to get what he wanted. He destroyed his own ship and practically killed himself to get Rocket’s brain? But why? What made Rocket so special? 

Why was Rocket Raccoon the only smart animal High Evolutionary created? 

What made Rocket so special was never revealed, so much smarter than the rest of Evolutionary’s projects. But it was kind of poetic. High Evolutionary spent most of his existence “one-upping” nature’s designs, and finally, one thing that he did right, he couldn’t figure out what. 

Rocket was the smartest, probably due to some random chance of that happening, and the question will most likely never be answered. The fact that friends surrounded Rocket helped as well. 

He probably was smarter than his raccoon brethren, curious, and adaptable from the start. High Evolutionary simply got lucky and hated that nature beat him in his game again.