Pirates in popular culture

Blackbeard from the 1724 A General History of the Pyrates

The Pirates of Penzance, 1880

Pirates fight over treasure in a 1911 Howard Pyle illustration.

Illustrations of the 1911 edition of Treasure Island, by Pyle's student N.C. Wyeth

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.

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 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 Pyrates (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson, often regarded as a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe. It is the prime source for the biographies of many well known pirates of the Golden Age, providing an extensive account of the period. In giving an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, such as the notorious English pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack, 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.

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 that symbolizes the rogue personality and adventurous, seafaring lifestyle. They are frequently depicted as greedy, mean-spirited, and concentrated only on fighting enemy pirates and locating hidden treasure. They are often shown wearing shabby 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 sword or gun. 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, the former usually assisting them in thieving goods due to their supposed mischievous disposition.

Stereotypical pirate accents tend to resemble accents either from Cornwall, South Devon 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 stylized West Country accent, patterned on that of Robert Newton's performance as Long John Silver in the 1950 film Treasure Island. A West Country native where many famous English pirates hailed from, Newton's strong West Country accent also featured in Blackbeard the Pirate (1952).

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. 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 speak." Venganza.org is also a major supporter of this day.

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 satirical 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 1700s, 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.

Pirates in the arts

See also: List of fictional pirates

Comics and manga

A cartoon pirate

• 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.
• Redbeard (1959 onwards), a Belgian comic.
• Batman: Leatherwing (1994), an Elseworlds comic by Chuck Dixon featuring Batman as a pirate.
• 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.
• Black Lagoon (2002 onwards) is a Japanese manga portraying group of modern day pirates in the southeast Asian sea, largely making money with acts of smuggling, extortion, or acting as mercenaries.
• A group of hapless pirates, in themselves parodies of the characters of Redbeard, often run into Asterix and are subsequently beaten up and usually sunk.
• 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.

Mad Jack The Pirate the comic tv series produced by Bill Kopp showed on Fox Kids in 1990s

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 20th 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
• The Goonies 1985.
• 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), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), 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.
• Treachery and a Dead Mans Promise, 2010 on YouTube, By Oderlesseye Productions, Pirates encounter time traveling ninjas staring Oderlesseye
• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, a 2012 Aardman Animations film loosely adapted from a comedy book by Gideon Defoe

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 Corsair (1814), a poem by Byron concerns a pirate captain. It directly inspired Berlioz' overture Le Corsair (1844).
• The Pirate (1821), a novel by Sir Walter Scott.
• "The Gold-Bug" (1843), a short story 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.
• Treasure Island (1883), a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• The Black Corsair (1898), first in a series of pirate novels by Emilio Salgari.
• Sandokan (1883–1913), a series of pirate novels by Emilio Salgari. Set in Malaysia in the late 1800s.
• Captain Blood (1922), a novel by Rafael Sabatini.
• The Dealings of Captain Sharkey (1925), a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, famous for his stories of Sherlock Holmes.
• Queen of the Black Coast (1934), novelette by Robert E. Howard features Bêlit a pirate queen who has a romantic relationship with Conan. She is Conan's first serious lover.
• Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand contains a fictional pirate Ragnar Danneskjöld whose activities are motivated by a capitalist ideology.
• The Princess Bride (1973), a novel by William Goldman has "The Dread Pirate Roberts" as one of its central characters.
• The Island (1979) by Peter Benchley 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.
• On Stranger Tides (1987), a historical fantasy novel by Tim Powers. It was later adapted into the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.
• Bloody Jack (2002), a historical novel by L.A. Meyer.
• The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists (2004) by Gideon Defoe, a surreal adventure with stereotypical pirates and Charles Darwin. Defoe has written subsequent books involving the same pirate crew and their anachronistic, absurd adventures.
• The Piratica Series (2004, 2006, and 2007), a series of pirate novels by Tanith Lee.
• Sea Witch (2006), a novel for adults by Helen Hollick published by DA Diamonds.
• Corsair (2007), a novel by Tim Severin is a tale of pirates and slaves similar to Byron's poem The Corsair.
• The Government Manual for New Pirates (2007), a spoof of survival guides by Matthew David Brozik and Jacob Sager Weinstein.
• Isle of Swords (2007), a novel by Wayne Thomas Batson.
• Pirate Latitudes (2009), a novel by Michael Crichton.
• The Buccaneers of America by John Esquemeling, the supposedly real stories of some pirates

Further information: Category:Pirate books

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.
• Wheels of Poseidon is a Pirate Metal band based in Ireland, they dress up as pirates, sing tales of the seven seas and have canons and various other pirate themed props onstage.
• Swashbuckle is an American thrash metal band who dress up and sing about pirates.
• 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".
• Gorillaz recorded a song called "Pirate Jet" which appears as the 16th track on their third studio album Plastic Beach.
• 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 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.
• The Dreadnoughts are an American pirate-based band, including use of an accordion as well as a fiddle.
• 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.
• Cosmo Jarvis released the song "Gay Pirates" on 23 January 2011.
• The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band released the song "Pirates!" in their album Year of the Rabbit on the 3rd February 2011.

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 emergence of piracy in the Caribbean.

While no pirates are ever on stage in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Hamlet claims that his ship to England was overtaken by pirates.

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 first performed in the zoo\amusement park at Norway by Terje Formoe.
• The Buccaneers of America by John Esquemeling is the supposedly real stories of some Caribbean pirates.

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 titled "Fatbeard" as part of the show's 13th season. It referred to 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".
• The seventh season of Survivor, Pearl Islands, and Pirate Master had a piracy theme.
• Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (2011) is the 35th anniversary season of the Super Sentai series that has a pirate theme.
• In a recent episode of The Garfield Show, Garfield and his friends were displayed as stereotypical pirates.
• Marika Kato is the protagonist and space pirate captain of the Bentenmaru in the anime Bodacious Space Pirates (2012).

Video games

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is confirmed to feature a heavy pirate setting.
• Claw is a platform game by Monolith Productions that is a cartoon parody of pirate films.
• 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.
• Doodle Pirate is an Android Game developed by Impudia Games, featuring a comedic side of treasure hunting.
• 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.
• Pirates feature as a character class in several Fire Emblem games.
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker features pirates such as Tetra and her crew.
• 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.
• Maple Story has added a Pirate job class.
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter, a first-person shooter made by Danger Close Games
• Megaman Battle Network 6 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 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.
• Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat from EA 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 highly stereotypical pirates.
• Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty contain pirates as enemies throughout the levels.
• Rogue Galaxy is a role-playing video game in which the main character, Jaster Rogue joins a crew of space pirates to help defeat an oppressive empire.
• Sid Meier's Pirates! is a well-known video game featuring pirates.
• Skies of Arcadia is a video game for the Sega Dreamcast (later remade as Skies of Arcadia Legends for the Nintendo Gamecube) about a group of air pirates that struggle against an oppressive power threatening to take over and destroy the world.
• Sonic Rush Adventure takes place in a pirate-themed world. This includes a robot pirate named Captain Whisker.
• Soul Calibur 3 is a PS2 videogame in which 'Pirate' is one of several classes for custom characters.
• Star Wars Empire At War contains a non-playable faction called the Black Sun Pirates, a large gang of mercenaries.
• In Suikoden IV there are a great deal of pirates to encounter and recruit.
• Uncharted Waters is a series of role-playing video game 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.
• 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.
• Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is an adventure video puzzle game for the Nintendo Wii.

Pirates in sports

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

Teams:

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

• Collegiate
  • Barry University Buccaneers - Sunshine State Conference
  • East Carolina Pirates – Conference USA
  • East Tennessee State Buccaneers – Southern Conference
  • Mass Maritime Buccaneers – Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
  • Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders – Sun Belt Conference
  • Mount Union Purple Raiders – Ohio Athletic Conference
  • Seton Hall Pirates – Big East Conference
  • UMass Dartmouth Corsairs – Little East Conference
  • New Orleans Privateers – Sun Belt Conference

• Minor
  • Hockey
    • Nepean Raiders – Central Junior Hockey League
    • Prince Albert Raiders – Western Hockey League
    • Richmond Renegades – Southern Professional Hockey League
    • Rochester Raiders – Great Lakes Indoor Football League
    • Tottenville Pirates
  • 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 substantial 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.
• List of space pirates
• Lego Pirates
• Flying Spaghetti Monster