Dread Pirate Roberts
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The Dread Pirate Roberts is a fictional character in the novel The Princess Bride and its film adaptation.
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[edit] Role in The Princess Bride
In The Princess Bride, the only thing known concerning the Dread Pirate Roberts is that he never left captives alive.
However, it is revealed that Roberts is not one man, but actually a series of different men, each of whom periodically passes the name and reputation to a chosen heir. Everyone except the successor is then released at a convenient port, a new crew hired, and the former Roberts stays aboard as first mate. The constant reference to "Captain Roberts" establishes the new Roberts's persona. After the crew was convinced, the former Roberts departed the ship and retired in splendor.
Westley, the hero of The Princess Bride, was on a voyage to seek his fortune when the ship he was aboard was captured by the Dread Pirate's ship. While the other passengers were begging and offering bribery for their lives, Westley simply asked Roberts please not to kill him. The "please" arousing his interest, Roberts asked, "Why should I make an exception of you?" Westley then explained his mission to get enough money to reunite himself with Buttercup. Westley's description of Buttercup's beauty intrigued Roberts to the point that he hired Westley as a personal attendant. While Roberts was continually impressed with Westley's work, he continued to keep Westley's future in doubt by saying each night "Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." After about three years, Roberts and Westley had grown close, and Roberts promoted Westley to his second-in-command. Shortly after that, Roberts reveals to Westley that the guise of the "Dread Pirate Roberts" was merely a nom de guerre that he had inherited. In the film adaptation, Westley relates Roberts's confession to Buttercup as they traverse the Fire Swamp:
| “ | Well, Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts', he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts has been retired 15 years and living like a king in Patagonia.' | ” |
Westley goes on to explain that the method worked because Roberts's notorious reputation inspired overwhelming fear in sailors. Ships would immediately surrender and surrender their wealth rather than be captured, a fate they imagined to be a certain death sentence. A pirate operating under his own name is said to be incapable of such infamy.
[edit] Retirement
In both the movie and the novel, Westley indicates that he plans to retire after reuniting with Buttercup. In the movie, he suggests that Inigo Montoya might succeed him. However, in the novel, no mention is made as to who is to succeed Westley as the Dread Pirate Roberts. In the first chapter of Buttercup's Baby (the supposed sequel to the novel), which is included in the 25th anniversary edition of the book, Goldman refers to 'Pierre', who was in charge of the pirate ship Revenge during Westley's absence and next in line to become the Dread Pirate Roberts. By the end of the chapter, Westley and his companions leave the ship again, presumably leaving Pierre once again in charge; but no mention is made of an official transfer of the title of Dread Pirate Roberts.
[edit] Holders of the title
Holders of the title Dread Pirate Roberts included:
- The original Roberts, retired fifteen years in Patagonia at the time Ryan picked Westley to be the next Dread Pirate Roberts
- Clooney, the original Roberts' first mate
- Cummerbund
- Ryan
- Westley, who presumably retires shortly following the end of the novel.
- Inigo Montoya, who presumably inherits the title from Westley after the end of the movie.
- Pierre, who is in line to assume the title after Westley in the novel.
[edit] Popular culture
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This "In popular culture" section may contain too many minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivia references. (September 2009) |
- The 2004 remake of the computer game Sid Meier's Pirates! has the character of Bart Roberts saying "Fear the dread pirate Bart Roberts!". The default name of the player's first ship is also Revenge, Roberts' ship.
- The default crew charter of the MMO computer game Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates references the Dread Pirate Roberts as the greatest pirate ever.
- The John Hiatt song "Only the Song Survives" contains the lines "well don't you remember / they put a patch on your eye / like dread pirate Roberts / you looked so unplanned"
- The Transformers character Cannonball is a homage to the Dread Pirate Roberts—he is a space pirate who is the 10th Cannonball in a line of pirates named Cannonball who each train a replacement. Under a protected section of the Hasbro website, he is even referred to as the "dreaded pirate" Cannonball in homage.
- The replacement of a character over time, so as to appear to be the same successful person, was originated[citation needed] by Lee Falk with his seminal superhero comic The Phantom.
- The puzzler Bookworm Adventures includes a boss in its Arabian Nights world called Dread Pirate Al-Robarts.
- Kingdom of Loathing contains an homage, where you can help someone called Dread Pirate Bob.
- In King's Bounty there is an enemy called "Dread Pirate Rob".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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