On Fanlore, users with accounts can edit pages including user pages, can create pages, and more. Any information you publish on a page or an edit summary will be accessible by the public and to Fanlore personnel. Because Fanlore is a wiki, information published on Fanlore will be publicly available forever, even if edited later. Be mindful when sharing personal information, including your religious or political views, health, racial background, country of origin, sexual identity and/or personal relationships. To learn more, check out our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Select "dismiss" to agree to these terms.
Pirate (trope)
This article or section needs expansion. |
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | Pirate AU |
| Related tropes/genres | Age of Sail, Regency AU |
| See also | Black Sails, One Piece, Pirates of the Caribbean, Treasure Island |
 | |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
A pirate is a person that robs other ships. The golden age of piracy is a historical period lasting roughly from the 1650s-1730s. There were pirates before and after this period, but it is this time period most commonly featured in fiction and art.
Many fans will also create fanworks about pirates. Fanworks can fall roughly into a three types, the first being fandoms that canonically feature pirates, some examples being Pirates of the Caribbean, One Piece, and Black Sails. The second is an alternative universe, sometimes referred to as a Pirate AU, where fans take characters from a different setting, usually a more modern one, and make them historical era pirates. The third is a popular sci-fi twist on the trope, Space Pirates, usually set in the far future and involving spaceships.
The genre is loosely linked with the Age of Sail fandom.
Examples of Pirate Fandoms
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Black Fire - Star Trek: TOS pro novel in which Spock becomes a space pirate
- Black Sails
- Descendants - specifically Hook's son, Harry Hook
- Mouretsu Pirates
- Our Flag Means Death
- One Piece
- Once Upon a Time - specifically Killian Jones/Captain Hook
- Peter Pan - specifically Captain Hook and the crew of the Jolly Roger
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Space Pirate Captain Harlock
- Treasure Island
- Treasure Planet
Fandom
Common Elements in Fanworks
- Found family: usually involving a rag tag group of outcasts and misfits coming to together to work as a crew, and then growing to genuinely care about each other
- Enemies to lovers: usually with one character being a pirate and the other being an upright citizen or part of some other authoritative group, an example being the British navy. There are also examples of one character being a pirate hunter and the other being a pirate.
- Fantasy: many fanworks will include fantasy elements, like magic, seas monsters, and mermaids
- Ports of Safe Harbour: usually a place where pirates can safely sell their goods, buy supplies, relax, etc. These can be historical pirate strongholds like Port Royal, Tortuga, etc. or they can be completely fan created. A similar concept is usually also found in space pirate AUs, where there will be an outlying planet or space colony that is friendly to pirates.
- Real Life Pirates: it is not unusual in fanworks to have the characters meet real life pirates, like Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, etc.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
Sea Pirates
- The Songbird and the Sea by MissterMaia. Historical pirate and Magic AU. The most popular work in the Pirates AU tag on AO3.
Disney
- The Legend of The Wisp by DisneyDame88 - a Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons Pirate AU (2014)
- Some Sunny Day, by memlu. A Bulma/Vegeta fic set in Cross Epoch, the canon AU crossover between DBZ and One Piece.
Game of Thrones
- The Northern Pirate by TheAsexualScorpio (Jon Snow/Sansa Stark) (2016)
- The Prize, by magpie_fngrl. A Drarry historical pirate AU.
- "Hey, It's Can(n)on" by Tom Smith - song about Hermione Granger the Pirate Queen, arising from Hermione's birthday occurring on International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
- Sail Away With Me, Archived version, a frostiron fic by STARSdidathing (2019)
The Professionals
- A Madrigal by Jane of Australia (1987)
- Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash by Rachael Sabatini (1997)
Sentinel
- Susan's Sentinel Stories CrossOver Edition 5 by Susan Foster. Sentinel/Pirates of the Caribbean anthology. (2000s)
- The Pirate's Prisoner and sequel The Price of a Pardon by Eildon Rhymer. multimedia historical pirate AU, gen.
Star Trek TOS
- And a Bottle of Rum by Cynthia Drake - K/S pirate roleplay on the Shore Leave planet. Slash. (1984)
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
- Into the Light by Master Elayna. Historical pirate AU. Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan (2000)
- Account of the Progress of the Reformation of Manners on a Caribbean Voyage or The Boy in the Cherry Strip’d Dress by tryfanstone. Historical AU where Jared is a pirate, Jensen is loot, tempting and tempted. (Written for Blindfold SPN.)
The X-Files
- Pirate Dream by Necessary Angel (2000-ish)
Space Pirates
Battlestar Galactica
- Last of the Pirate Queens by Sharon Monroe - anthology zine
Doctor Who
- Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet by David Bishop. Gen novel (2006)
Merlin
- Shadowlord and Pirate King by Footloose (2013)
Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Catch a Falling Star by tsukinofaerii (2012)
- Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves by auburn. (2009-2011)
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
- The Gift of a Hundred Days by Mac. Obi-Wan falls prey to a raiding pirate vessel and is sold to a brothel, while Qui-Gon searches and Xanatos plots. Slash, non-con (2001)
Zines
- No Quarter Given - Newsletter and resource zine (2000-2003)
- Tales from the Black Pearl (PotC) (2003-2007)
- For other Pirates of the Caribbean zines recorded on Fanlore see Category:Pirates of the Caribbean Zines
- For other OFMD zines recorded on Fanlore see Category:Our Flag Means Death Zines
Pirates in Fanart
cover of S and H #23, artist Connie Faddis. A fan in the issue says, "Starsky can pirate me anytime!" (1981)
cover of the slash Simon and Simon zine The Pirate & the Gentleman by Kathy Lachenauer (1987)
cover of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean by Christine Lampe, No Quarter Given (2003)
cover of the Sentinel and Pirates of the Caribbean crossover Brothers of the Bond (2005)
From Swashbuckle-a-thon, a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-themed fanart by Runcible (2006)
cover of the Pirates of the Caribbean doujinshi Narouze! Pirates (2007)
Izzy Hands by Laxianne (Our Flag Means Death) (2023)
Archives and Fannish links
- Works tagged Pirates at Archive of Our Own.
- Works tagged Space Pirates at AO3.
Challenges
- The Pirate Big Bang (2012)
- Swashbuckle-a-thon (2006)