Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard, 1718 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1920)
Whether they're sailing the high seas, soaring the wild blue yonder, or charting the depths of outer space, whenever there are ships and commerce, there's Pirates.
Compare with Seaborne and Submersible Vehicles. Contrast with Ninja Tropes.
Tropes:
Main topic:
Types of pirates
Media index:
- Barbarous Barbary Bandits: Pirates from North Africa and the Middle East.
- Captain Colorbeard: A pirate has a name referring to the color/type of beard they have (e.g. a pirate with a black beard named Blackbeard).
- Captain Nemo Copy: An Expy of Captain Nemo.
- Friendly Pirate: A pirate who is actually quite nice and lacking any villainous behavior.
- Ghost Pirate: An undead pirate; includes both literal ghosts as well as reanimated corpses.
- Horny Vikings: Vikings (essentially medieval Scandinavian pirates) are often depicted wearing helmets with horns.
- Long John Shout-Out: A pirate's name references Long John Silver from Treasure Island.
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Anachronistic pirates from the distant past are somehow still around in modern times.
- Pirate Girl: A female pirate out to plunder in the male-dominated field of sailing.
- Privateer: A naval mercenary hired by governments to engage in state-sanctioned piracy against enemy nations.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: Modern-day pirates whose crimes are not at all romanticized.
- Salvage Pirates: Thieves who steal scrap and junk from abandoned ships.
- Semiaquatic Species Sailor: Semiaquatic Funny Animals tend to be pirates.
- Sky Pirate: Pirates who plunder aircraft.
- Space Pirates: Pirates who plunder spacecraft.
- Submarine Pirates: Pirates who plunder from a submersible ship.
- Venturous Smuggler: Aside from hijacking and robbery of ships, pirates may also transport illegal contraband through the seas.
Other piracy-related tropes
- Accordion to Most Sailors: Pirates are likely to play the accordion or other similar free-reed instruments.
- Boarding Party: When pirates prepare to jump and climb onto a passing ship they've targeted.
- Cutlass Between the Teeth: Pirates may sometimes hold a sword in their mouth when their hands are full.
- Dressed to Plunder: The stereotypical pirate costume.
- Eyepatch of Power: Many pirates wear eyepatches.
- Gangplank Galleon: A video game level set onboard a pirate ship.
- Hacked by a Pirate: A computer hacker likes to use pirate symbols as their calling card.
- Hanging Around: If a pirate is set to be publicly executed, it will likely be by hanging.
- Hook Hand: Another common staple is for pirates to use hooks as prosthetic hands.
- Jolly Roger: A flag indicating a ship belongs to pirates.
- Made a Slave: A possible fate for some people who get kidnapped by pirates is to be treated as chattel, either forced to serve the pirates directly or be sold at coastal slave markets.
- Not-So-Safe Harbor: A coastal seaport infested with pirates and other shifty scumbags.
- Pirate Booty: Pirates love to bury hoards of their stolen treasures.
- Pirate Episode: An episode of a series that has the main cast become pirates.
- Pirate Parrot: Many pirates have pet parrots sitting on their shoulders.
- Pirate Song: Sea shanties about living a pirate's life.
- Pirates vs. Ninjas: Pirates and ninjas are mortal enemies for some reason.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A character is said to have a specific career (like piracy), but is never shown or otherwise indicated to do anything that has to do with their profession.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Pirates will attack coastal settlements and take whatever the hell they want from civilians.
- Seadog Beard: Many sailors (including pirates) tend to grow very (wickedly) impressive beards.
- Seadog Peg Leg: If pirates have eyepatches and hook hands, then expect them to also have wooden legs as well.
- Sword and Gun: Many pirates favor a cutlass and flintlock pistol as their main weapons, often simultaneously.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Pirates are usually heard speaking with very thick Southwest English accents.
- Treasure Map: A document that reveals the location of wherever the pirate treasures have been buried.
- Walk the Plank: Pirates send people to their watery graves by making them leap off the ship's plank.
- Wooden Ships and Iron Men: Most pirates live in a setting based on or inspired by the Age of Sail in the 16th to 19th centuries.
