Captain Jack Sparrow
A fictional pirate inspired by a Disney ride, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, subsequently immortalised in a hugely popular movie franchise of the same name starring American actor Jonny Depp. Lookalike Captain Jack Sparrows have become almost obligatory at pirate festivals.
Captain Hook
A villainous character in ‘Peter Pan – The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up’, a book by Scottish novelist and playwright J M Barrie, written in 1904.
Bluebeard
Central figure in a classic French fairy tale published in 1697 who murdered his wives. His unwarranted fame as a pirate is entirely due to the similarity of his name to real-life pirate Blackbeard.
Captain Pugwash
Made famous in several children’s television series, he was a character originally written for a comic strip and books by John Ryan in the 1950s.
Captain Blood
The title of a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1922. Captain Blood is a fictional 17th century Irish doctor, who is caught up in a rebellion, forced overseas and into a world populated by slavers, pirates and convicts..
Patchy the Pirate
Bursting out of the hit animated children’s television series ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’, Patchy the Pirate is SpongeBob’s number one fan and president of his fan club.
The Black Pirate
The title of a 1926 silent movie starring Douglas Fairbanks, who plays the main character in a tale of dastardly pirates and vengeance.
Dread Pirate Roberts
Not one but a series of pirate captains exploiting a useful alias that each inherits from the last allowing them to trade on a reputation for ruthlessness and fighting skill. It is the central deceit in the popular 1987 romantic comedy film ‘The Princess Bride’.
Grimbeard the Ghastly
Grandfather of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, main protagonist of the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series of books written by British author Cressida Cowell. Grimbeard appears in the 2004 book ‘How to Be a Pirate’.