Pirates in the arts and popular culture

A custom LEGO Pirate, made with parts from the 1989 to 1997 pirate LEGO sets. Template:Puic

In American and British popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its tradition mostly to depictions of Captain Hook and his crew in theatrical and film versions of Peter Pan, Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the film Treasure Island, and various adaptations of Sinbad the Sailor. Pirates have retained their image through pirate-themed tourist attractions, traditional film and toy portrayals of pirates, and the continued performance and reading of books and plays featuring pirates. Madison Wilson is lame.

Origins

The archetypal 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 pirate fiction being set within this era.

The first major literary work to popularise the subject of piractes was A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson, often regarded as a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe. Johnson's text recounted the lives of many famous pirates from the era, but embellished their biographies with accounts of unlikely events or eccentricities. For example, Blackbeard was depicted as a ruthless villain who married at least fourteen wives, wore burning match-cords in his beard, and claimed to have made bargains with the Devil.

Robert Louis 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 Pyrates 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.

Appearance and mannerisms

In films, books, cartoons, and toys, pirates often have an unrefined appearance and symbolizes the rogue personality and adventurous, seafaring lifestyle. They are often shown wearing 17th or 18th century clothing, with a bandana or a feathered tricorne. They sometimes have an eye patch and almost always have a cutlass and a flintlock pistol, or some other swords and guns. 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 leg has been amputated. Some depictions of pirates also include monkeys or parrots as pets.

Stereotypical pirate accents tend to resemble accents either from Cornwall or Bristol in South West England, though they can also be based on Elizabethan era English or other parts of the world. Pirates in film, television and theatre are generally depicted as speaking English in a particular accent and speech pattern that sounds like a cross between a West country accent and an old English accent, patterned on that of Robert Newton's performance as Long John Silver in 1950 film Treasure Island. Another stereotypical feature of a pirate, the eye patch, dates back to the Arab pirate Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah who wore it after losing an eye in battle in the 18th century.

Historical pirates were often sailors or soldiers who'd fallen into misfortune, forced to serve at sea or to plunder goods and ships in order to survive. Depending on the moral and social context of a piece of pirate literature, the pirate characters in that piece may be represented as having fallen, perhaps resembling a "respectable" person in some way. Alternately, they may be truly corrupt and evil (e.g. Captain Barbossa). Pirates generally quest for buried treasure, which is often stored, after being plundered, in treasure chests. Pirate's treasure is usually gold, often in the form of doubloons or pieces of eight.

Space pirates

Main article: Space pirate

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 the ship itself. However, their dress and speech corresponds to the particular author's vision of the future.

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 as pirates are stereotypically portrayed to have dressed and spoken. International Talk Like a Pirate Day has been gaining popularity through the Internet since its founders set up a website, which instructs visitors in "pirate slang."

In the online community, many games, movies, and other media are built upon the premise, thought to have been generated by Real Ultimate Power, that pirates (in the Caribbean buccaneer sense) and ninjas are sworn enemies. The "Pirates versus Ninjas" meme is expressed offline too, through house parties and merchandise found 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.

Pirates in the arts

See also: List of fictional pirates

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 obviously corresponds to historical knowledge about the emergency of piracy in the Caribbean.

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 it seems he was inspired by at least one historical privateer, and possibly by Robert Louis Stevenson's Long John Silver as well. 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.

• Il pirata (The Pirate) is an opera by Vincenzo Bellini, 1827
• The Pirates of Penzance, a comic operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan contains a Pirate King and a crew of orphan pirates.
• Pirates of the Mediterranean is a play done in Malta parodying various classical stories.
• Captain Sabertooth is a play was first performed in the zoo\amusement park at Norway by Terje Formoe.

Films

Further information: [[:Category:Pirate films]]

"Pirate film" redirects here. For copyright infringement, see film piracy.

The 1950 film adaption of Treasure Island, as well as the 1954 sequel Long John Silver, both starring Robert Newton, are considered highly influential on the modern perception of early pirates.

• The Black Pirate, a 1926 film starring Douglas Fairbanks.
• Captain Blood, a 1935 film starring Errol Flynn.
• The Sea Hawk, a 1940 film starring Errol Flynn.
• The Black Swan, a 1942 film starring Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, and Anthony Quinn.
• Treasure Island, a 1950 adaptation of Stevenson's book, starring Robert Newton.
• Anne of the Indies, a 1951 adventure film loosely based on the life of Anne Bonny (Jean Peters) with Louis Jourdan and Thomas Gomez as Blackbeard.
• The Crimson Pirate, a 1952 adventure film, starring Burt Lancaster.
• Long John Silver, a 1954 sequel to Treasure Island, starring Robert Newton.
• The animated films of Japanese director Leiji Matsumoto include several pirate characters, including Captain Harlock and Queen Emeraldas, the best known of these pieces being Galaxy Express 999 (1977) and Space Battleship Yamato (1974).
• Pirates of the XXth Century, a 1979 Soviet adventure film about modern piracy.
• The Island (1980), a film based on Peter Benchley's novel.
• The Pirate Movie (1982), an Australian film loosely based on The Pirates of Penzance, stars Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol.
• Nate and Hayes, a 1983 film based on the adventures of the notorious Bully Hayes, a pirate in the South Pacific in the late 19th century. Also known as Savage Islands.
• Yellowbeard A 1983 film starring Graham Chapman as Yellowbeard the pirate
• Pirates, a 1986 Roman Polanski comic/adventure film starring Walter Matthau.
• The Princess Bride A 1987 film adaptation of the William Goldman novel that has "The Dread Pirate Roberts" as one of its central characters.
• Cutthroat Island, a 1995 Renny Harlin film that was a notable flop, starring Geena Davis
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), movies based on the popular Disneyland attraction, "Pirates of the Caribbean".
• Pirates of Treasure Island, a 2006 film adaptation of the novel Treasure Island produced by The Asylum.

Television

• Captain Pugwash a series of British children's animated television programmes, comic strips and books, first shown on the BBC in 1957.
• Disney's TaleSpin (1990) featured the air pirate Don Karnage who always tried to steal goods and sometimes treasures from Baloo.
• The Pirates of Dark Water is a Hanna-Barbera animated series of the 1990s.
• The singing and dancing pirates Nasty Max, Mighty Matt, Massmedia and Sleazeappeal from the animated series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea.
• Pirates was a 1994 children's sitcom about a family of pirates living in a council house.
• Black Lagoon is a 2006 anime about pirates in the South China Sea. It is a somewhat realistic look at the underlying themes of modern day piracy.
• One Piece (1999 onwards), the animated adaptation of the Japanese comic of the same name (see below).
• The animated series SpongeBob SquarePants' theme song is sung by Painty the Pirate, voiced by Pat Pinney. Certain episodes are also introduced by Patchy the Pirate, portrayed by Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants. Also in some of the Spongebob episodes there is a character called The Flying Dutchman who is a pirate ghost.
• In a 1969 episode of Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, they faced the ghost of Redbeard (voiced by John Stephenson).
• The Comedy Central animated series, South Park recently aired a pirate-themed episode entitled, "Fatbeard" as part of the show's 13th Season. It referenced the increase in Piracy in Somalia. In the episode, Cartman, believing that the classic era of piracy has returned to Somalia, heads to Mogadishu, only to be struck by the reality.
• In the show Deadliest Warrior, there was an episode titled "Pirate vs. Knight".

Literature

• Robinson Crusoe (1719) and The Life, Adventures and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton (1720) by Daniel Defoe were among the first novels to depict piracy, among other maritime adventures.
• A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson (possibly for a pseudonym for Defoe) introduced many features which later became common in pirate literature, such as pirates with missing legs or eyes, the myth of pirates burying treasure, and the name of the pirates flag Jolly Roger.
• "The Gold-Bug" (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe featured a search for buried treasure hidden by Captain William Kidd and found by following an elaborate code on a scrap of parchment.
• The Pirate is a novel by Sir Walter Scott.
• Byron's poem The Corsair (1814) concerns a pirate captain. It directly inspired Berlioz' overture Le Corsair (1844). A similar tale of pirates and slaves is Tim Severin's novel "Corsair" (2007).
• Treasure Island (1883) is the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Peter Benchley's 1979 novel The Island, and the 1980 movie adaptation for which he wrote the screenplay, feature a latter-day band of pirates who prey on civilian shipping in the Caribbean.
• The Dealings of Captain Sharkey and other tales of pirates Was a 1922 novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle famous for his stories of Sherlock Holmes.
• The Princess Bride A 1973 novel written by William Goldman that has "The Dread Pirate Roberts" as one of its central characters.
• The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists (2004) by Gideon Defoe is a surreal adventure with stereotypical pirates and Charles Darwin. Featuring The Pirate With A Scarf. Defoe has written subsequent books involving the same pirate crew and their anachronistic, absurd adventures.
• Bloody Jack is a historical novel by L.A. Meyer
• Sandokan is a series of pirate novels by Emilio Salgari.
• The Piratica Series, a series of pirate novels by Tanith Lee published in 2004, 2006, and 2007.
• Sea Witch a pirate novel for adults by Helen Hollick published in 2006 by DA Diamonds.
• Ragnar Danneskjöld is a fictional pirate in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, whose activities are motivated by radical pro-capitalist ideology.
• The Government Manual for New Pirates is a book written to all folks young and old seeking to become a pirate written and unveiling all aspects of the life it brings by Matthew David Brozik and Jacob Sager Weinstein
• Isle of Swords is a pirate novel by Wayne Thomas Batson.

Further information: [[:Category:Pirate books]]

Comics and Manga

• One Piece (1997-onwards), set in a fictional world where piracy is at its height, the World Government and its Navy attempt to put it to a stop, and one young man desires to become the next Pirate King. The most popular manga to date in Japan.
• Terry and the Pirates (1934-1973) by Milton Caniff is an adventure comic strip frequently set among modern-day pirates of China and Southeast Asia, led by the notorious Dragon Lady.
• Batman: Leatherwing (1994), an Elseworlds comic by Chuck Dixon featuring Batman as a pirate.
• The Red Seas (2002 onwards), a mix of pirates and strange phenomena by Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell.
• Outlaw Star , the primary antagonists of the series are members of the Pirate's Guild, a large network of space pirate clans throughout the universe.
• Watchmen features a comic-book inside the comics named Tales of the Black Freighter. The Watchmen comic-book claims that in a world where super-heroes are alive and known, then instead of comics dealing with super-heroes, more comics dealing with pirates would be written.
• Sea Monsters (2006-) by Gwendolyn Meer is an action/adventure and comedy webcomic starring infamous pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Calico Jack Rackham (among others) as modern-day pirates in the Mediterranean area.

Pirates in music

• Musicians have long been drawn towards pirate culture, due to its disestablishmentism and motley dress. An early 1960s British pop group called itself Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and wore eye patches while they performed. Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, was a fan of Robert Newton. Flogging Molly, The Briggs, Dropkick Murphys, The LeperKhanz, The Coral, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Bullets And Octane, Mad Caddies, The Vandals, Gnarkill, Armored Saint, Jimmy Buffett, and Stephen Malkmus have pirate-themed songs as well.
• Alestorm is a pirate-themed power/folk metal based in Perth, Scotland. Their fans are also encouraged to dress up like pirates and bring props to concerts.
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer recorded the song "Pirates", a 13 minute long performance piece from their 1977 tour. It features the Orchestra de L'Opera de Paris. The piece can be found on the album "Works, volume 1"
• German metal band Running Wild adopted a "pirate metal" image in 1987, with its third album.
• The Sex Pistols adapted the saucy song "Good Ship Venus" as their hit "Friggin' in the Rigging". Fellow Malcolm McLaren protegée Adam Ant took the pirate image further. One of the tracks on the album Kings of the Wild Frontier was called "Jolly Roger".
• In 1986, The Beastie Boys paid homage to the pirate lifestyle on their Licensed to Ill album with the song "Rhymin' and Stealin'". The song is filled with piratical and nautical phrasing liberally mixed with 1980s hip-hop references.
• Mutiny is an Australian pirate themed folk-punk band with releases on Fistolo Records.
• Goth musician/comedian Voltaire illustrates the sometimes humorous rivalry between vampiric and pirate camps of goths in the song "Vampire Club" from the album Boo Hoo (2002).
• The Jolly Rogers is a pirate-themed Renaissance Faire musical troupe based in Kansas City.
• The hardcore/pop punk band Set Your Goals will soon be releasing their first, pirate themed, full length album, Mutiny!.
• The Ska/Punk band the Aquabats recorded a song entitled "Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates", which told the story of Jim, a young boy who joins a pirate-hunting crew headed by Captain Hampton.
• The Pirate, a musical starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, has a number of songs about piracy in general, and the dread pirate "Mack the Black" Macoco in particular.
• Relient K released a single covering the song "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" for the children's show VeggieTales. It was originally recorded by the cast of VeggieTales, and Relient K's version of the song was later included in the 2003 compilation album called Veggie Rocks!
• The Canadian metal band Verbal Deception's music focuses on pirates and life at sea.
• Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew make pirate-themed rap music.
• In Eurovision Song Contest 2008, the Latvian band Pirates of the Sea entered with the song Wolves of the Sea
• Nox Arcana recorded a pirate-themed album Phantoms of the High Seas in 2008 that contains a series of hidden puzzles and clues leading to a treasure map.

Video games

• Sid Meier's Pirates! by Sid Meier is a well-known video game featuring pirates.
• The pirate-themed Monkey Island series of computer games is inspired by Tim Powers' book 'On Stranger Tides' and Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It is set in the 17th 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.
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker features pirates such as Tetra and her crew.
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest features pirate-themed enemies and locations, including the recurring villain King K. Rool now named Kaptain K. Rool and dressed as a pirate captain.
• Uncharted Waters is a series of computer 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 with pirate characters in some of the iterations.
• 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.
• Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is a multiplayer video game in which players can play as a team of highly stereotypical pirates.
• Skies of Arcadia is a computer game about a group of air pirates that struggle against an oppressive power threatening to take over and destroy the world.
• Maple Story has added a Pirate job class.
• Rogue Galaxy is a computer game in which the main character, Jaster Rogue joins a crew of space pirates to help defeat an oppressive empire.
• Final Fantasy XII has many characters, including Balthier are sky pirates. Also, Faris in Final Fantasy V and Leila in Final Fantasy II are pirates.
• Lego Racers first boss is Captain Redbeard. When he is beaten, you can build cars using "pirated-themed" lego pieces.
• Loot, a card game made by Gamewright.
• Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is an adventure video puzzle game for the Nintendo Wii
• In Suikoden IV there are a great deal of pirates to encounter and recruit.
• Sonic Rush Adventure takes place in a pirate-themed world. This includes a robot pirate named Captain Whisker.
• Pirates: The Legend Of Black Kat from EA is a mix of third-person adventure and sea battles.
• Star Wars Empire At War contains a non-playable faction called the Black Sun Pirates, a large gang of mercenaries.
• Pirates feature as a character class in several Fire Emblem games.
• Megaman Battle Network 6 a WWW member named Captain Blackbeard, an operator of Diveman.EXE who dressed as a sailor.
• Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty contain pirates as enemies throughout the levels.
• Claw is a platform game by Monolith Productions that is a cartoon parody of pirate films.
• Metroid is a videogame in which the main antagonists are space pirates.
• Soul Calibur 3 is a PS2 videogame in which 'Pirate' is one of several classes for custom characters.
• 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.

Pirates in sports

Because pirate ships connote fearsomeness, loyalty and teamwork, many professional and amateur sports teams are named "Pirates." The most famous of these in the United States is the Pittsburgh Pirates, a Major League Baseball team that has used the nickname since 1891.

Teams:

• Professional
  • Baseball
    • Pittsburgh Pirates - Major League Baseball
    • Amsterdam Pirates - Dutch Baseball League
  • Ice hockey
    • Portland Pirates - American Hockey League
  • American football
    • Tampa Bay Buccaneers - National Football League
    • Oakland Raiders - National Football League
  • Basketball
    • Wörthersee Piraten - Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga, Austria
  • Association football
    • Tampa Bay Mutiny - Major League Soccer
    • Orlando Pirates - Premier Soccer League, South Africa
    • Bristol Rovers FC - Football League One, England
    • FC St. Pauli - 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, Germany
  • Rugby League
    • Canberra Raiders - National Rugby League, Australia

• Collegiate
  • East Carolina Pirates - Conference USA
  • East Tennessee State Buccaneers - Southern Conference
  • Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders - Sun Belt Conference
  • Mount Union Purple Raiders - Ohio Athletic Conference
  • New Orleans Privateers - Sun Belt Conference
  • Seton Hall Pirates - Big East Conference
  • UMass Dartmouth Corsairs - Little East Conference
  • Mass Maritime Buccaneers - Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
• Minor
  • Tottenville Pirates
  • Richmond Renegades - Southern Professional Hockey League
  • Prince Albert Raiders - Western Hockey League
  • Rochester Raiders - Great Lakes Indoor Football League
• Rugby Union
  • Cornish Pirates

Today:

Pirates are becoming part of the mainstream once again with the increasing media coverage of modern day pirate attacks, especially those coming off the coast of Somalia. A U.S. ship was attacked in April 2009 and received a very large amount of media coverage across the globe.

See also

• "Barret's Privateers" is a song popular in Nova Scotia detailing the fictional story of Elcid Barret and his privateers and their voyage on the Antelope to raid American shipping vessels.
• 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).
• Maddox (writer) often portrays himself as a pirate on his website The Best Page in the Universe.

External links

• Movie History
• Lyrics for Pirate Shanty from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's 1977 Works Volume 1
• The Pirates' Code: the history behind it
• Pirates Magazine
• Bilgemunky.com includes many pirate-themed reviews of music, clothing, games, and rum.
• Complete list of every Pirate Movie ever made from the silent era to present day
• International Talk Like A Pirate Day
• Youth Pirate Glossary
• Talk Like A Pirate Video Clips
• The International Pirate Society featuring the only official all Pyrate conference in the country
• The official web site for the annual PyrateCon Convention held in New Orleans

Roleplaying, Reenactments, and Other Games

• The Pirates of Tibia
• The Pirate Brethren Web Forum
• No Quarter Given
• Gentlemen of Fortune
• Searle's Buccaneers
• The Crew of the Dirty Rotten Oar
• The Plankhouse Crew

Pirate Accent

• Pirate R as in I-r-eland? An exploration of the "r" in pirate speech
• Pirate Language
• Where did pirate speech come from?