Spirited away as a pup, Rook was sold to an underground fighting pit where he quickly learned how much food he was given depended heavily on his performance in the ring. He was primarily kept away from other animals unless he was being baited in training, or when he fought against other tokotas, resulting in very poor social skills as he is more likely to keep his distance then head on confrontation. Eventually as his temperament worsened his standing amongst the bidders and masters rose, earning him the place of a new mascot and only being sent to fight when he was needed to please various mafia bosses. His cruelty during fights, as well as the submissive attitudes displayed by the other tokotas earned him his title of Shadow King, he was lord over these creatures and they knew it. Rook's escape from the fighting pits was rather uneventful in comparison to the other events of his life, during a regular feeding one of the handler had forgotten to latch the gate and out he went, traversing the tunnels until he reached the final obstacle to his freedom a door. No one quite knows how he did it, but he escaped through a glassless window that was thought to be too small for a beast of his size to fit through. Caution should be regularly exercised when apporaching this tokota, as he has eluded capture on many occasions and has been known to attack if someone gets too close for his comfort. He can work in tandem with others if he sees it as a necessity to his survival, otherwise he tends to be a loner and has a fear of being touched. Despite his overall aggressive demeanor, when he feels that he is safe enough to relax he can be quite the affectionate creature, but those times are few and far in between.