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Pirates in the arts and popular culture

In English-speaking popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its attributes mostly to the imagined tradition of the 18th-century Caribbean pirate sailing off the Spanish Main and to such celebrated 20th-century depictions as Captain Hook and his crew in the theatrical and film versions of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island, and various adaptations of the Middle Eastern pirate, Sinbad the Sailor. In these and countless other books, films, and legends, pirates are portrayed as "swashbucklers" and "plunderers". They are shown on ships, often wearing eyepatches or peg legs, having a parrot perched on their shoulder, speaking in a West Country accent, and saying phrases like "Arr, matey" and "Avast, me hearty". Pirates have retained their image through pirate-themed tourist attractions, film, toys, books and plays.

Origins

The characteristics of pirates in popular culture largely derive from the Golden Age of Piracy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, with many examples of pirate fiction being set within this era. Vikings, who were also pirates, took on a distinct and separate archetype in popular culture, dating from the Viking revival. The first major literary work to popularise the subject of pirates was A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious pirates (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson. In giving an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, such as the notorious English pirates Blackbeard and John Rackham, the book provided the standard account of the lives of many pirates in the Golden Age, and influenced pirate literature of Scottish novelists Robert Louis Stevenson and J. M. Barrie. While Johnson's text recounted the lives of many famous pirates from the era, it is likely that he used considerable licence in his accounts of pirate conversations.

Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883) is considered the most influential work of pirate fiction, along with its many film and television adaptations, and introduced or popularised many of the characteristics and cliches now common to the genre. Stevenson identified Johnson's General History of the pirates as one of his major influences, and even borrowed one character's name (Israel Hands) from a list of Blackbeard's crew which appeared in Johnson's book.

In 18th and 19th century Britain, historical-fiction portrayals of pirates on the dramatic stage included false flag props representing the various European navies. A common trope was to represent the archetypical scene where a crew of privateers donned false uniforms along with the false flag as they approached a ship, only raising the skull and bones flag at the last moment before the attack. Other tricks often portrayed on stage included (in a more initially peaceful encounter of ships) the pirate offering to gamble, or claiming the need to inspect documents or retrieve a runaway prisoner, before placing the victim of the scheme in shackles. These portrayals of pirate characters were fictionalised but based on the mythologised historical memory of both the Golden Age of Piracy and the contemporary pirates at that time. Barbary corsairs were a frequent type of pirate portrayed in that genre of stage and literature.

Appearance and mannerisms of Caribbean pirates

In films, books, cartoons, and toys, pirates often have a rough-and-ready appearance that evokes their criminal lifestyle, rogue personalities and adventurous, seafaring pursuits. They are usually greedy, mean-spirited, drunk on rum and focused largely on fighting and robbing enemy pirates and locating hidden treasure. They often wear shabby 17th or 18th century clothing, with a bandana or feathered tricorne. They are almost always armed with a cutlass and a flintlock pistol, or similar weaponry. They sometimes have scars and battle wounds, rotten or missing teeth (suggesting the effects of scurvy), as well as a hook or wooden stump where a hand or a leg has been amputated, and often an eye patch to conceal a lost eye. Some depictions of pirates also include monkeys or parrots as pets, the former mischievously assisting them in thieving and the latter loudly copying whatever the pirate captain says. The ship's captain will force captives and mutinous crewmen to walk the plank over shark-infested waters.

Historical pirates were often sailors or soldiers who had fallen into misfortune or were captured, forced into a life of crime. In various literature, the pirates may be represented as having fallen, perhaps resembling a "respectable" person in some way. Pirate characters generally quest for buried treasure, plundered riches in treasure chests. Pirates' treasure is usually gold or silver, often in the form of doubloons or pieces of eight.

Pirate subculture

In the 1990s, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was invented as a parody holiday celebrated on September 19. This holiday allows people to "let out their inner pirate" and to dress and speak according to the pirate stereotype above. It has been gaining popularity through the Internet since its founders set up a website teaching "pirate speak."

Many games, movies, and other media are built upon the premise, introduced by Real Ultimate Power, that pirates and buccaneers are sworn enemies of ninjas. The "Pirates versus Ninjas" meme is also expressed in house parties and merchandise at popular-culture clothing and gift stores.

Pirates also play a central role in the parody religion of Pastafarianism. Established in 2005, Pastafarians (members of The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster) claim to believe that global warming is a result of the severe decrease in pirates since the 18th century, explaining the coldness associated with winter months that follow Halloween as a direct effect of the number of pirates that make their presence known in celebration.

Science fiction pirates

The pirate archetype has been adapted to science fiction with more or less futuristic dress and speech.

  • Air pirates are science fiction and fantasy character archetypes who operate in the air, rather than sailing the sea. As traditional seafaring pirates target sailing ships, air pirates capture and plunder aircraft and other targets for cargo, money, and occasionally they steal entire aircraft.
  • Space pirates are science fiction character archetypes who operate in outer space, rather than sailing the sea. As traditional seafaring pirates target sailing ships, space pirates capture and plunder spaceships for cargo, money, and occasionally they steal entire spacecraft.

Pirates in the arts

Comics and manga

Films

Literature

Music

Stage

In 1879, the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance was an instant hit in New York, and the original London production in 1880 ran for 363 performances. The piece, depicting an incompetent band of "tenderhearted" British pirates, is still performed widely today, and corresponds to historical knowledge about the emergence of piracy in the Caribbean.

While they do not appear onstage, in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Hamlet's ship to England is overtaken by pirates, allowing him to escape. Another example of pirates unwittingly saving someone's life appears in Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

In 1904, J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was first performed. In the book, Peter's enemy in Neverland is the pirate crew led by Captain Hook. Details on Barrie's conception of Captain Hook are lacking, but he was seemingly inspired by at least one historical privateer, and possibly by Robert Louis Stevenson's Long John Silver. In film adaptations released in 1924, 1953, and 2003, Hook's dress, as well as the attire of his crew, corresponds to stereotypical notions of pirate appearance.

Television

Video games

  • Alone in the Dark is a survival horror game in which the antagonist, Ezechiel Pregzt, is a pirate turned eldritch cultist. Its sequel, Alone in the Dark 2, featured several pirates led by One Eyed Jack as antagonists.
  • ' is centered around the Golden Age of Piracy.
  • Brawlhalla features Thatch as a playable character
  • Captain Syrup is the main antagonist of ' and Wario Land II. She shows up again in '.
  • Claw is a platform game by Monolith Productions that is a cartoon parody of pirate films.
  • ' features pirate-themed enemies and locations, including the recurring villain King K. Rool, now named Kaptain K. Rool and dressed as a pirate captain.
  • Doodle Pirate is an Android game developed by Impudia Games, featuring a comedic side of treasure hunting.
  • Final Fantasy XII has several characters, including Balthier, who are sky pirates. As well, Faris in Final Fantasy V and Leila in Final Fantasy II are pirates.
  • Pirates feature as a character class in several Fire Emblem games.
  • The Five Nights at Freddy's franchise features an animatronic named Foxy The Pirate.
  • Heroes of the Storm features pirate-themed battleground Blackheart's Bay, and Blackheart, the ghost pirate lord, as an announcer.
  • The action role-playing game Kingdom Hearts II features Port Royal, a world that adapts the plot of '. It features heroes Sora, Donald, and Goofy teaming up with movie protagonist Jack Sparrow to fight against the movie's villain, Barbossa, as well as a later scenario where they revisit Jack. Kingdom Hearts III features the Caribbean, a world in which they team up with Jack once again to battle Davy Jones in an adaptation of '.
  • ' features pirates such as Tetra, who is later revealed to be Princess Zelda, and her crew.
  • Lego Racers first boss is Captain Redbeard. After he is beaten, the player can build cars using "pirated-themed" lego pieces.
  • Loot, a card game made by Gamewright.
  • ' features three modern day pirates as the main antagonists.
  • Maple Story has a Pirate job class.
  • ', a first-person shooter made by Danger Close Games
  • Megaman Battle Network 6 has a WWW member named Captain Blackbeard, an operator of Diveman.EXE who dressed as a sailor.
  • Metroid is a videogame in which the main antagonists are space pirates.
  • The pirate-themed Monkey Island series of video games is inspired by Tim Powers' book On Stranger Tides and Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It is set in the 18th century Caribbean and stars the hero pirate Guybrush Threepwood and the evil pirate LeChuck.
  • Pirates of the Burning Sea is a swashbuckling MMORPG set in the early 18th century Caribbean.
  • ' features a ghost pirate named Cortez that guarded the fifth Crystal Star, but befriended Mario after he helped him on his fight against Lord Crump.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean Online was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean films.
  • ' by Westwood studios is a mix of third-person adventure and sea battles.
  • Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is a multiplayer video game in which players can play as a team of stereotypical pirates.
  • Plundered Hearts is a text adventure set in the 17th century in which the player character is a young woman who gets kidnapped by pirates.
  • ' and ' contain pirates as enemies throughout the levels.
  • Rogue Galaxy is a role-playing video game in which the main character joins a crew of space pirates to help defeat an oppressive empire.
  • Ruby Heart is a female pirate created by Capcom for the game . She also makes cameos in the game's sequel and Street Fighter V.
  • Sea of Thieves is an open world video game with a pirate-themed setting.
  • Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game featuring pirates.
  • Skies of Arcadia is a video game for the Dreamcast (later remade as Skies of Arcadia Legends for the GameCube) about a group of air pirates that struggle against an oppressive power threatening to take over and destroy the world.
  • ' features a level in which the Cooper Gang steals a pirate ship, and upgrades it to defeat rival pirate crews
  • Sonic Rush Adventure takes place in a pirate-themed world, including a robot pirate named Captain Whisker.
  • In the Soul series, Cervantes, a long-standing character in the franchise, is a pirate. In Soul Calibur III, there is a 'Pirate' class option for custom characters.
  • Star Wars Empire At War contains a non-playable faction called the Black Sun Pirates, a gang of mercenaries.
  • In Suikoden IV there are a great deal of pirates to encounter and recruit.
  • In Tales of Berseria the protagonist, Velvet Crowe, reluctantly teams up with a group of pirates. The first mate, Eizen, becomes part of the main cast, while the rest of the crew makes frequent appearances throughout the game. The player has the choice of sending the crew on expeditions to retrieve items and explore uncharted waters.
  • ' is a 2003 city-building game in which the player runs a pirate island as the Pirate King.
  • Uncharted Waters is a series of role-playing video games by Koei set in the Age of Exploration where the player takes the role of a naval fleet captain. All the games feature pirates as regular threats, and it is possible to play as pirate characters in some iterations.
  • The independent action-adventure game Wandersong features a chapter called "Voyage of the Lady Arabica," where the bard protagonist and his witch friend Miriam set out on a voyage with what appears to be a pirate crew. Despite their appearance, however, they do not engage in usual pirate activities, instead growing and selling coffee beans.
  • World of Warcraft features pirates as NPCs and quest givers. In addition, Pirate's Day is celebrated in-game on September 19 each year in honour of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
  • Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is a massively multiplayer online game in which the player takes the role of a pirate, having adventures on the high seas and pillaging money from roaming enemy ships.
  • ' is an adventure video puzzle game for the Wii.
  • The first hub in Pac-Man World contains four pirate-themed levels: Buccaneer Beach, Corsair's Cove, Crazy Cannonade, and HMS Windbag.
  • ' is an adventure game centered around trying to find Henry Every's treasure

Advertising

Pirates in sports

Because pirate ships connote fearsomeness, loyalty and teamwork, many professional and amateur sports teams use the nickname Pirates, as well as other nicknames or logos associated with cultural depictions of pirates, such as an eyepatch.

Teams:

Pro wrestler Paul Burchill from WWE Friday Night SmackDown dressed like a pirate and claimed that Blackbeard is his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Previously, Carl Ouellet wrestled as Jean-Pierre Lafitte (supposedly a descendant of pirate Jean Lafitte).

  • Kung Fu
  • The music group Ye Banished Privateers recently introduced the sports genre "pirate kung fu" for fans and musicians alike.

See also

References

External links