History Main / FriendlyPirate

%% * ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': The pirates who don't do anything. - ZCE

Being friendly allows the possibility of having a pirate in a heroic role, either as the main cast or as an ally of the hero. Some variants may also have a pirate ''start off'' as traditionally savage, but they experience a HeelFaceTurn at some stage and transition to this trope. Some pirates choose to remain {{Lovable Rogue}}s who bend the law, but otherwise are firmly AffablyEvil and of no harm to others. At times the Friendly Pirate may even be pitted against the more standard 'evil pirate'.

{{Pirate}}s are traditionally savage outlaws who reside in the seas. Expect them to RapePillageAndBurn, and consider yourself lucky to survive encountering one. However due to the popularity of the StockCharacter a different interpretation has emerged in fiction: a pirate who is nice. Meet the Friendly Pirate, a pirate who has no intention of harming others they encounter. They will often adopt many of the traditional pirate mannerisms such as being DressedToPlunder (EyePatchOfPower optional), having a CoolShip, and seeking out treasure. However, any behavior that makes a pirate traditionally dangerous, is virtually absent.

** Bruce Wayne himself becomes one in when he gets sent back in time by ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'s Omega Beams during ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ends up in 18th century North America where he has a run-in with UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}. To escape the legendary pirate, Bruce fakes his own death and then dons pirate gear, where he dismantles Blackbeard's crew before engaging and defeating him in sword duel.

* Played with in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. To most of the world, pirates ''are'' considered to be murderous criminals and piracy is firmly outlawed. However the films tend to depict many pirates as being {{Noble Demon}}s with a code of honor. Most notably Jack Sparrow and the ''Black Pearl'' crew fall under this category, as for all of the unpleasant things they do, they are still considered the good guys and oppose the truly evil pirates.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', a country called [[Literature/PeterPan The Neverlands]] is a multi-level layered pun. In Discworld history [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands the Neverlands]] was originally a land of peaceful and stolid farmers who somehow threw up a series of dikes between islands strung out across a bay, thus creating new rich land for farming. You know -- for things like [[LandOfTulipsAndWindmills tulips]]. This works well till the dikes break, swamping the reclaimed land. Those survivors who don't trek to new lands take to piracy, establishing a lair on Barrie(r) Island. Then they have an epiphany -- why not take all that hazardous going-to-sea-and-fighting out of the equation and bring the marks to us and make them ''want'' to be fleeced? Thus, on Barrie Island, the pirates now run theme parks, amusement arcades and holiday camps, offering the holiday of a lifetime. [[note]] Puns galore. to J.M. Barrie, who wrote "Peter Pan", a book featuring pirates. To Barry Island, a holiday town and resort in South Wales where the holidaymaker may look forward to being fleeced by smiling traders - and yes, in Real Life the island is pirate-themed. Whether the pirates favour names like Series/GavinAndStacey or indeed "Nessa" is not recorded. [[/note]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E3TheCurseOfTheBlackSpot The Curse of the Black Spot]]" features Henry Avery, historically a real life pirate captain. While he turns to piracy out of greed, he is shown to love his son upon discovering the boy has stowed away on his ship, and greatly saddened to hear his wife had passed away. When confronted with a Siren who is attracted to shiny objects, Henry throws it overboard but tries to keep one crown, which he will later regret once the Siren uses it to capture his son. Later when it's revealed the Siren is an AutoDoc of an alien spacecraft trying to save his son, Henry gives up his pirate life to stay with them. He later becomes part of the Doctor's [[TheCavalry cavalry]] who was [[GondorCallsForAid called upon to assist]] in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes To War]]".
* ''Series/LazyTown'': The episode "Rottenbeard" has the Lazy Town kids becoming pirates but otherwise being just as nice as they usually are. They later are joined by Robbie Rotten in disguise (calling himself Rottenbeard), who is up to his usual schemes -- but is still a far-cry from the traditionally cruel pirate and all the while is quite AffablyEvil.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' we have Fargus and Dart. The former is a jovial but powerful pirate captain who offers you passage aboard his ship if you can beat his crew in a sparring contest, and later becomes an important ally. The latter was saved by Fargus as a boy when he washed up unconscious on the shore, and went on to become one of his most trusted crewmates. Dart automatically joins the protagonist's party, and can become a powerful berserker.

* ''WebVideo/Dimension20'': Bill Seacaster from the "Fantasy High" campaign is an AffablyEvil pirate. He has killed and robbed countless people, thinks violence is ''always'' on the table, and has no remorse for any of it, but he's also a DotingParent to his son Fabian, and is jovial and friendly to everyone he meets. When Fabian and the rest of the Bad Kids crash at his house after a particularly brutal battle, he has his staff fix them some snacks, joins them in a sea shanty, and then gives them some training so they won't be in such dire straits next time they see him. [[EqualOpportunityEvil He also makes a point to be completely egalitarian]].

** Rust-on-the-Harbour from the "The Corn Ultimatum" adventure is a straight example, being a cheerful French accented [[CatFolk tabaxi]] assassin who agrees to help the party for the princely sum of one gold (and even manages to win over Corazón eventually).

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Tree Trunks is a tiny yellow elephant with a Southern accent who bakes pies, lives at the edge of the Candy Kingdom and seems largely aloof of the world, especially in the face of danger or monsters. However the flashback episode "Ring of Fire" reveals she was a pirate captain of a ship known as La Femme du la Mer, which ultimately culminated in her abandoning an ex lover on a secluded island to die, losing her eye, and blowing the ship up to prevent anyone from stealing it from her. Despite all of this, she is genuinely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of others in the present and is one of the closest friends of the series' main protagonists.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Time Out for Vengeance!", Pirate Batman is one of the historical Batmen featured. It's revealed he became a pirate to be a vigilante and strike terror upon evildoers, while protecting the seven seas.

** The live action character, Patchy the Pirate, during his segments is seen as Spongebob's number one fan, and although he can be depicted as a bit of a {{Jerkass}}, especially towards his pet parrot, he is mostly a [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything pirate who doesn't do anything truly pirate-y]].

* Salty from ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' is a diesel engine who acts like a pirate captain, calling other characters "captain", "matey", and "me hearties". He spends most of his time working at Brendam Docks and telling tales of the sea to the other engines. He is one of Sodor's [[WhiteSheep friendlier diesels]], having no animosity towards steam engines. He even becomes friends with a tank engine named Porter when the latter arrives on Sodor, and the two share in their work.

->'''Zoro:''' Pirates are scum! Who would want to be one?
->'''Luffy:''' Does it matter? You're known as an evil pirate hunter.

** This is also a bit of a plot point concerning the setting and the world's police force, the Marines. Marines are seen as this army who enforce justice and meant to be defenders of innocents while pirates are chaotic evil that need to be stamped out. But were shown very early that some Marines can be corrupt and used their power for their own ends while hiding behind the justice banner. On the flip side, some pirates in the series are friendly don't wish to cause trouble, usually only sail for the adventure of it. Essentially a main Aesop that is frequently shown is don't judge a book by it's cover and that actions determine if a pirate is evil or not, not the title.
* ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' features Dola and her assorted sons, who may be cantankerous and ready to fight, yet still are soft-hearted to Pazu and Sheeta, the two main protagonists. Eventually aiding them and parting on good terms at the end of the movie.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Films]]
* Played with in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. To most of the world, pirates ''are'' considered to be murderous criminals and piracy is firmly outlawed. However the films tend to depict many pirates as being {{Noble Demon}}s with a code of honor. Most notably Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl crew fall under this category, as for all of the unpleasant things they do, they are still considered the good guys and oppose the truly evil pirates.
* The 1973 Creator/ShawBrothers movie, ''The Pirate'', revolves around the life of 19th-century pirate [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Po_Tsai Cheung Po Tsai]], who in the movie is depicted as a diplomatic gentleman and a Robin Hood-esque hero. He only plunders the ships of corrupted governors and often passes himself off as a trader or merchant before deciding whom he should rob, preferring to leave innocent villagers and unarmed sailors alone. Upon finding out a coastal town he intends to attack was actually exploited, Cheung instead decides to stay and help the locals fight against the tyranny of ruling officials. He even became friends with Admiral Wu, sent by the Imperial Court to arrest Cheung, and they end up fighting against a common enemy by the end of the film.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'': Houshou Marine of Generation 3 is a PirateGirl who is a kind and friendly GenkiGirl. She became a vtuber in order to gain enough funding to buy a real pirate ship.
* ''WebVideo/Dimension20'': Bill Seacaster from the "Fantasy High" campaign is an AffablyEvil pirate. He has killed and robbed countless people, thinks violence is ''always'' on the table, and has no remorse for any of it, but he's also a DotingParent to his son Fabian, and is jovial and friendly to everyone he meets. When Fabian and the rest of the Bad Kids crash at his house after a particularly brutal battle, he has his staff fix them some snacks, joins them in a sea shanty, and then gives them some training so they won't be in such dire straits next time they see him. [[EqualOpportunityEvil He also makes a point to be completely egalitarian]].
* ''WebVideo/OutsideXBox'''s ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' ActualPlay series:
** Andy's character, Corazón de Ballena, is technically the least ethical member of the party apart from [[TokenEvilTeammate Prudence]] -- but he still comes across as a downplayed example by way of being a LoveableRogue.
** Rust-on-the-Harbour from the "The Corn Ultimatum" adventure is a straight example, being a cheerful French accented [[CatFolk tabaxi]] assassin who agrees to help the party for the princely sum of one gold (and even manages to win over Corazón eventually).
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'':

** This is also a bit of a plot point concerning the setting and the world's police force, the Marines. Marines are seen as this army who enforice justice and meant to be defenders of innocents while pirates are chaotic evil that need to be stamped out. But were shown very early that some Marines can be corrupt and used their power for their own ends while hiding behind the justice banner. On the flipside, some pirates in the series are friendly don't wish to cause trouble, usually only sail for the adventure of it. Essentially a main Aesop that is frequently shown is don't judge a book by it's cover and that actions determine if a pirate is evil or not, not the title.

** ''Batman: Leatherwing'': An {{Elseworld}}s take on Batman who is a pirate named Captain Leatherwing, who plunders ships of rival countries on behalf of English royalty, doing so in the hopes of eventually buying back lands stolen from his murdered parents. Despite his piracy, he is a LovableRogue who does not harm innocents and even saves them on occasion.

* Played with in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. While to most of the world, pirates ''are'' considered to be murderous criminals and piracy is firmly outlawed. However the films tend to depict many pirates as being {{Noble Demon}}s with a code of honor. Most notably Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl crew tend to fall under this, as for all of the unpleasant things they do, they are still considered the good guys and oppose the truly evil pirates.
* The 1973 Creator/ShawBrothers movie, ''The Pirate'', revolves around the life of 19th-century pirate [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Po_Tsai Cheung Po Tsai]], who in the movie is depicted as a diplomatic gentleman and a Robin Hood-esque hero who only robs the ships of corrupted governors, and often poses himself as a trader or merchant before deciding whom he should rob, preferring to leave innocent villagers and unarmed sailors alone. Upon finding out a coastal town he intends to attack was actually exploited, Cheung instead decides to stay and help the locals fight against the tyranny of ruling officials. He even became friends with Admiral Wu, sent by the Imperial Court to arrest Cheung, and they end up fighting against a common enemy by the end of the film.

* In ''The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes'', Holmes describes Captain Marston as "a sort of Robin Hood type", robbing the rich and giving to the poor. He also never did physical violence to his victims, and always made sure they got to safety. However, Marston is a PosthumousCharacter and so we only have Holmes's word on this.
* The children's book ''How I Became a Pirate'' tells of Braidbeard and his crew of friendly pirates in need of a digger. They take in a young boy they find on the beach and happily teach him the pirate's ways.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', a country called [[Literature/PeterPan The Neverlands]] is a multi-level layered pun. In Discworld history [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands the Neverlands]] was originally a land of peaceful stolid farmers, who somehow threw up a series of dikes between islands strung out across a bay, thus creating new rich land for farming. You know. things like [[LandOfTulipsAndWindmills tulips]]. This worked till the dikes broke, swamping the reclaimed land. Those survivors who did not Trek to new lands took to piracy, establishing a lair on Barrie(r) Island. Then they had an epiphany. Why not take all that hazardous going-to-sea-and-fighting out of the equation - bring the marks to us and make them ''want'' to be fleeced? Thus, on Barrie Island, the pirates now run theme parks, amusement arcades and holiday camps, offering the holiday of a lifetime. [[note]] Puns galore. to J.M. Barrie, who wrote "Peter Pan", a book featuring pirates. To Barry Island, a holiday town and resort in South Wales where the holidaymaker may look forward to being fleeced by asmiling traders - and yes, in Real Life the island is pirate-themed. Whether the pirates favour names like Series/GavinAndStacey or indeed "Nessa" is not recorded. [[/note]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E3TheCurseOfTheBlackSpot The Curse of the Black Spot]]" features Henry Avery, historically a real life pirate captain. While he turned to piracy out of greed, he was shown to love his son upon discovering the boy had stowed away on his ship and greatly saddened to hear his wife had passed away. When confronted with a Siren who was attracted to shiny objects, Henry threw it overboard but tried to keep one crown, which he would later regret once the Siren used it to capture his son. Later when it's revealed the Siren is an AutoDoc of an alien spacecraft trying to save his son, Henry gives up his pirate life to stay with them. He later part of the Doctor's [[TheCavalry cavalry]] who was [[GondorCallsForAid called upon to assist]] in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes To War]]".
* ''Series/LazyTown'': The episode "Rottenbeard" has the Lazy Town kids becoming pirates but are otherwise just as nice as they usually are. They later get joined Robbie Rotten in disguise (calling himself Rottenbeard), who is up to his usual schemes, but is still a far-cry from the traditionally cruel pirates and all the whilst is quite AffablyEvil.

* ''WebVideo/Dimension20'': Bill Seacaster from the "Fantasy High" campaign is an AffablyEvil pirate. He's killed and robbed countless people, thinks violence is ''always'' on the table, and has no remorse for any of it, but he's also a DotingParent to his son Fabian, and is jovial and friendly to everyone he meets. When Fabian and the rest of the Bad Kids crash at his house after a particularly brutal battle, he has his staff fix them some snacks, joins them in a sea shanty, and then gives them some training so they won't be in such dire straits next time they see him. [[EqualOpportunityEvil He also makes a point to be completely egalitarian]].

** Andy's character, Corazón de Ballena, is technically the least ethical member of the party apart from [[TokenEvilTeammate Prudence]]. But he still comes across as a downplayed example by way of being a LoveableRogue.
** Rust-on-the-Harbour from the "The Corn Ultimatum" adventure is a straight example, being a cheerful French accented [[CatFolk tabaxi]] assassin who agrees to help the party for the princely sum of 1 gold (and even manages to win over Corazón eventually).

* ''Creator/ArtixEntertainment'': Captain Rhubarb is the franchise's main pirate and he is rather civil in talking to the Player and will also train them in becoming a pirate. The only unpleasant thing he ever does is throwing the Player overboard if they answer the pirate quiz incorrectly, and even then he gives them a second chance once they make it back onto the ship.
* ''VideoGame/DragonFable'': Osprey Cove is a town full of pirates and most of them set up shops just like any other merchants. Aside from sometimes being callous and gruff, pirates are otherwise mostly allies to the player and have been called upon to assist in wars. This trope is lampshaded where one store has a sign stating the Pirate's Warrant:

* Guybrush Threepwood from the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series is quite friendly with most of the people he talks to. The only exceptions are the ill-tempered and outright evil ones. But he still fits the pirate archetype, engaging in sword fights, searching for treasure, and stealing valuable items. (In fact, he does all three of those in ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'' to establish himself as a pirate.

* On ''Website/{{Neopets}}'', Garin and his crew turn into heroic characters after their CharacterDevelopment in the "Curse of Maraqua" plot. It kicks off with Garin and crew ''raiding a wedding'', but ends with all of them defending Maraqua from a crew of far more evil pirates and cementing themselves as being {{Anti Hero}}es at worst- their pirating ways aren't being abandoned, but they're far nicer and more heroic than other pirates in the Neopian lore.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Tree Trunks is a tiny yellow elephant with a Southern accent who bakes pies, lives at the edge of the Candy Kingdom and seems largely aloof of the world, especially in the face of danger or monsters. However the flashback episode "Ring of Fire" reveals she was a pirate captain of a ship known as La Femme du la Mer, which ultimately culminated in her abandoning an ex lover on a secluded island to die, losing her eye, and blowing the ship up to prevent anyone from stealing it from her. Despite all of this, she is genuinely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of others in the present and is one of the closest friends of the series' main protagonists.

** Castle in the Sky (1986) features Dola and her assorted sons, who may be cantankerous and ready to fight, yet still are soft hearted to Pazu and Sheeta the two main antagonists.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew chose the pirate lifestyle, but they do not partake in traditionally cruel pirate behavior and will even fight against it if they ever encounter any.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', a country called [[Literature/PeterPan The Neverlands]] is a multi-level layered pun. In Discworld history [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands the Neverlands]] was originally a land of peaceful stolid farmers, who somehow threw up a series of dikes between islands strung out across a bay, thus creating new rich land for farming. You know. things like [[LandOfWindmillsAndTulips tulips]]. This worked till the dikes broke, swamping the reclaimed land. Those survivors who did not Trek to new lands took to piracy, establishing a lair on Barrie(r) Island. Then they had an epiphany. Why not take all that hazardous going-to-sea-and-fighting out of the equation - bring the marks to us and make them ''want'' to be fleeced? Thus, on Barrie Island, the pirates now run theme parks, amusement arcades and holiday camps, offering the holiday of a lifetime. [[note]] Puns galore. to J.M. Barrie, who wrote "Peter Pan", a book featuring pirates. To Barry Island, a holiday town and resort in South Wales where the holidaymaker may look forward to being fleeced by asmiling traders - and yes, in Real Life the island is pirate-themed. Whether the pirates favour names like Series/GavinAndStacey or indeed "Nessa" is not recorded. [[/note]]

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', a country called [[Literature/PeterPan The Neverlands]] is a multi-level layered pun. In Discworld history [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands the Neverlands]] was originally a land of peaceful stolid farmers, who somehow threw up a series of dikes between islands strung out across a bay, thus creating new rich land for farming. You know. things like [[LandofWindmillsAndTulips tulips]]. This worked till the dikes broke, swamping the reclaimed land. Those survivors who did not Trek to new lands took to piracy, establishing a lair on Barrie(r) Island. Then they had an epiphany. Why not take all that hazardous going-to-sea-and-fighting out of the equation - bring the marks to us and make them ''want'' to be fleeced? Thus, on Barrie Island, the pirates now run theme parks, amusement arcades and holiday camps, offering the holiday of a lifetime. [[note]] Puns galore. to J.M. Barrie, who wrote "Peter Pan", a book featuring pirates. To Barry Island, a holiday town and resort in South Wales where the holidaymaker may look forward to being fleeced by asmiling traders - and yes, in Real Life the island is pirate-themed. Whether the pirates favour names like Series/GavinAndStacey or indeed "Nessa" is not recorded. [[/note]]

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', a country called [[Literature/PeterPan The Neverlands]] is a multi-level layered pun. In Discworld history [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands the Neverlands]] was originally a land of peaceful stolid farmers, who somehow threw up a series of dikes between islands strung out across a bay, thus creating new rich land for farming. This worked till the dikes broke, swamping the reclaimed land. Those survivors who did not Trek to new lands took to piracy, establishing a lair on Barrie(r) Island. Then they had an epiphany. Why not take all that hazardous going-to-sea-and-fighting out of the equation - bring the marks to us and make them ''want'' to be fleeced? Thus, on Barrie Island, the pirates now run theme parks, amusement arcades and holiday camps, offering the holiday of a lifetime. [[note]] Puns galore. to J.M. Barrie, who wrote "Peter Pan", a book featuring pirates. To Barry Island, a holiday town and resort in South Wales where the holidaymaker may look forward to being fleeced by asmiling traders - and yes, the island is pirate-themed. Whether the pirates favour names like Series/GavinAndStacey or indeed "Nessa" is not recorded. [[/note]]

** The live action character, Patchy the Pirate, during his segments is seen as Spongebob's number one fan, and although he can be depicted a bit as a {{Jerkass}}, especially towards his pet parrot, but is mostly a [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything pirate who doesn't do anything truly pirate-y]].

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': The pirates who don't do anything.

Being friendly allows the possibility of having a pirate in a heroic role, either as the main cast or as an ally of the hero. Some variants may also have a pirate ''start off'' as traditionally savage, but they experience a HeelFaceTurn at some stage and transition to this trope. Some pirates choose to remain {{Lovable Rogue}}s who bend the law, but otherwise are firmly AffablyEvil and of no harm to others. At times the Friendly Pirate may even be pitted against the more traditional 'evil pirate'.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'': Houshou Marine of Generation 3 is a pirate girl who is a kind and friendly GenkiGirl. She became a vtuber in order to gain enough funding to buy a real pirate ship.

** Bruce Wayne himself becomes one in when he gets sent back in time by ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'s Omega Beams during ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ends up in 18th century North America where he has a run-in with UsefulNotes/Blackbeard. To escape the legendary pirate, Bruce fakes his own death and then dons pirate gear, where he dismantles Blackbeard's crew before engaging and defeating him in sword duel.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]