History Series / BlackSails

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivered by John Silver in ''XXV'' (s. 3, ep. 7) to the pirates in Nassau who took the King's pardon after pledging to defend it against England.

** Given the end of the show, [[spoilers:it's possible Max becomes his wife instead. While they were never in love they both have personal investments in the treasure eventually being recovered and Max arguably seems like the one more likely to travel with him back to England, while Madi appears far too bound to her people to leave. However, Max seems to have made a life for herself in Nassau as the hidden power behind the throne, and would be unlikely to relinquish it (and Anne) for a long-lost treasure, so Madi is still the most probable option]].

** Given the end of the show, [[spoilers:it's possible Max becomes his wife instead. While they were never in love they both have personal investments in the treasure eventually being recovered and Max arguably seems like the one more likely to travel with him back to England, open a tavern, but remain bloody-minded and ruthless enough to liquidate it and run to meet him the very second the treasure is eventually found; Madi seems far too bound to her people to leave. However, Max seems to have made a life for herself in Nassau as the hidden power behind the throne, and would be unlikely to relinquish it (and Anne) for a long-lost treasure, so Madi is still the most probable option]].

** In Season 4, Billy [[spoiler:suggest to Silver that they kill Flint and Eleanor instead of going through with the bargain they made]], because he thinks [[Flint is more trouble than he'd worth and they don't need him anymore]], but also probably because he just hates the two of them.

** Given the [[spoilers: end of the show, it's possible Max becomes his wife instead. While they were never in love they both have personal investments in the treasure eventually being recovered and Max arguably seems like the one more likely to travel with him back to England, open a tavern, but remain bloody-minded and ruthless enough to liquidate it and run to meet him the very second the treasure is eventually found; Madi seems far too bound to her people to leave. However, Max seems to have made a life for herself in Nassau as the hidden power behind the throne, and would be unlikely to relinquish it (and Anne) for a long-lost treasure, so Madi is still the most likely option]].

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Flint is this to Vane. Vane is this to Ned Low, who exists primarily to show that yes, there are pirates considerably worse than Charles Vane, which helps to swing Vane's growing status as an anti-villain.

* NeverFoundTheBody: Happens a LOT. [[spoiler:Billy Bones, John Silver, Madi, Thomas Hamilton]]. On this show, someone isn't dead until they're dead on screen.
* NerdGlasses: Dufresne wears spectacles, establishing him as the nerdy accountant in the beginning of the show. Subverted when he TookALevelInBadass; he still wears the glasses because he, you know, ''needs them to see.''

** John Silver spends pretty much the entire series doing his bet to avoid fights, preferring to talk or backstab his way out of combat situations. Ironically, after his injury he becomes much more willing to face up to danger, marking something of a turning-point for the character.

** Flint and the crew of the Walrus as the giant Spanish man'o'war prepares to unleash a fifty-gun broadside on their ship.

** In the Season 3 premiere, three brothers confront the man who run out on a marriage promise to their sister. They discover that their sister lied about the identity of the would-be-husband and that they have just drawn their weapons against Blackbeard.

* PetTheDog: Anne relates how Jack Rackham killed her abusive husband after watching her being beaten.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler:Silver to Flint, after the final betrayal.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Even after escaping Charlestown, Flint continues to shell it in retribution for Ashe's betrayal of him and Miranda.

* SavedByCanon: As the series is a prequel to ''Literature/TreasureIsland'', any character from the novel is safe. [[spoiler: so anyone familiar with ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' won't be surprised to find that Billy Bones survived falling overboard in Season 1.]]

* AThreesomeIsHot: Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny and Max. Given the love triangle, it's apparently a bad idea for all involved. After the first time, Max notes that Jack completely ignored her, since he's only interested in Anne. The second time, Jack and Max start to enjoy each other, which makes Anne jealous, though she quickly admits she shouldn't be.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivered by John Silver in Episode 7 of Season 3 to the pirates in Nassau who took the King's pardon after pledging to defend it against England.

* TortureAlwaysWorks: Defied. John Silver stats, “Torture won't work. I have an extremely low tolerance for pain. I'll say ''anything'' to make it stop.”

* VillainProtagonist: Some may be more bloodthirsty or others more [[NobleDemon moral]], but ultimately just about everybody is a pirate, or close enough. And they're all willing to kill, [[RapePillageAndBurn rape, and steal]] to get what they want – no matter who the unfortunate target of their anger is.

** As of the end of Episode 7, the crew, headed by Dufresne, the new quartermaster, decide to kill Flint after the ''Urca's'' prize is captured. This is shared with Mr. Gates, who, in light of his recent misgivings with the captain, consents to the plan.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Vane Charles Vane]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Hornigold Benjamin Hornigold]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_Jack "Calico" Jack Rackham]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bonny Anne Bonny]]. Season 3 adds [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbeard Edward "Blackbeard" Teach]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodes_Rogers Woodes Rogers]]. The series finale introduces [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Read "Mark Read."]]

* HonestyIsTheBestPolicy: In the Season 2 premiere, when Silver and Flint are caught in their attempt to capture the Spanish warship, the officer of the watch offers a reward of gold to whichever one of them will tell him who they are, what they hoped to accomplish, and how many more of them there are. Silver immediately answers all of the above truthfully, collects his gold... and brains the officer with a large [[GrievousBottleyHarm bottle]] as soon as his back is turned.

* IOweYouMyLife: Jack saved Anne from her abusive husband, and since then she's felt that she owes her life to him
* ImportantHaircut: Dufresne crops his tousled hair short to coincide with his [[TookALevelInBadass generally toughening up]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In episode five, the ''Walrus's'' marksman is able to hit with two out of three shots using a black powder rifle, at a range of several hundred yards, from one moving ship to another.

* ArcWords: "As always, to traitors." Though it's not said as often as some examples of this trope, the concept repeatedly arises in regards to the philosophical struggle for Nassau. Whenever someone betrays the pirate brethren of Nassau, such as Richard Guthrie in Season 2, [[spoiler:or all the pirate captains save Vane, Rackham, and Flint in Season 3,]] they are killed and publicly displayed accompanied by the words, "as always, to traitors."

*** Season 3 reveals that in the show's backstory, Edward Teach was outsted from Nassau by conspiracy between Eleanor Guthrie, Benjamin Hornigold, and Charles Vane. In reality, it was Teach who conspired to oust Hornigold from their joint venture. Also, this apparently took place eight years before the start of the show, circa 1707/08, with Teach being a well established, feared pirate long before that. In reality, Teach doesn't appear in historical records ''at all'' before 1714, and sailed with Hornigold until 1717.

* BookEnds: In the first episode, John Silver hides from a battle with a cook, who asserts that he doesn't have to fight. In the final episode, Silver is participating in a battle and encounters a man hiding from battle who pleads that he's "just a cook." Silver's disgust with the man shows his CharacterDevelopment.

** Given the [[spoilers: end of the show, it's possible Max becomes his wife. While they were never exactly in love they both have personal investments in the treasure eventually being recovered and Max arguably seems like the one more likely to travel with him back to England, open a tavern, but remain bloody minded and ruthless enough to liquidate it and run to meet him the very second the treasure is eventually found. Madi is far too bound to her people to leave]].

* CoolBoat: ''Walrus'' and ''Ranger'' are two major boats in the show. The oddly unnamed Spanish Man o' War is another one, with nearly 100 guns.

* CradlingYourKill: Flint snaps Gates's neck when he goes to reveal Flint's deception to the crew, possibly costing him the Urca. Flint clearly didn't want to kill Gates, but felt he had to. Afterwards, he holds Gates's body and cries because of how much the treasure is costing him.

** Claimed in-universe. In the first season finale, Vane decides not to kill Rackham and Anne Bonny for killing their own crew-mates. Instead, he'll tell everyone what they did, ensuring no one will ever sail with them again, which he claims is worse than death. They'll simply have to run a whorehouse, and never be pirates again. Of course, since a safe, comfortable and lucrative career isn't quite so awful, there's a good chance he's just using it as an excuse to not kill what might be the closest thing he has to friends.

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: [[spoiler:Miranda]]'s corpse is displayed during Flint's trial. The crowd pelts her with rotten fruit. The corpse of [[spoiler:Charles Vane]] remains hanging from the gallows in an iron cage for three days, as per the customs of the time.

** Eleanor Guthrie manages to masterfully create her own empire, with a consortium of captains as her allies. Then in the first season finale, Vane storms the fort with a consortium of psychos no one even knew about, and manages to ensure he is her top partner.

* DoomMagnet: A discussed trope in the Season 3 finale: John Silver notes that those closest to Flint have all died, and suspects that it's Flint's very actions that bring about their doom. He worries for his safety, given that he's now Flint's closest confidant and wonders if he'll have to kill Flint someday to save himself.

* EndOfAnEra: The time for the pirates of New Providence Island is running out. A British warship has arrived in the Caribbean with an arrest warrant for Richard Guthrie. Without a safe haven on the island and the ability to sell their loot through the Guthries, the pirates will not be able to maintain their ships or pay the crews. Flint has predicted this long ago and is pursuing the treasure galleon as a way to raise enough funds to avert or at least manage the coming disaster. Gates supports the plan as OneLastJob before he has to give up piracy. Eleanor is about to lose her freedom and independence so she does not hesitate to throw her support behind them.

*** After Anne Bonny falls in love with Max, she tells Jack Rackham that she "can't be [his] wife" despite him remaining the most important person in her life. Her whole season 2 arc is centered around the revelation that she can't love Jack the way he loves her.

* EvilWearsBlack: Flint predominantly wears black and is utterly ruthless, no matter the relative morals of his end goals. [[spoiler: And, after siding with the British, Benjamin Hornigold swaps his royal blue frock coat and white shirt for a black coat and dark blue-grey waistcoat.]]

* FalseFlagOperation: Portrayed faithfully as the pirates' ''modus operandi''. Pirate ships close in with their target by posing as harmless merchant ships at first, pretending to drift innocuously into the target's path before finally revealing their weapons and crew and flying the black flag. Flint sees it as an "art": reveal yourself too soon and the target will run away; too late, and the enemy crew will panic and try to fight back instead of surrendering.
* FatalFamilyPhoto: "XXXI" opens with Capt. Berringer viewing at a locket containing pictures of his wife and child. The episode ends with his throat being cut.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Claimed by Vane to explain why he doesn't kill Anne or Jack for killing the last remaining members of Vane's crew. After all, since everyone knows Jack betrayed his sworn brothers because of a woman, the quartermaster will never sail beneath the black again, which Vane reckons will "sting worse than death." Possibly just an excuse, as Jack's the closest thing Vane has to a friend.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During Flint's sex scene with Miranda in Season 1, he looks bored and disinterested. [[spoiler:Come the finale, we know why.]] And also why he was so pissed when Miranda showed that book to Eleanor's father. [[spoiler: It has a loving inscription from Thomas to James that would have outed Flint, at least if Mr. Guthrie is aware of his first name.]]

* GeniusBruiser: Flint is this, as Thomas Hamilton points out, he's the son of a carpenter and yet is more literate than many of Hamilton's Eton contemporaries. It's remarked on that he often takes books as prizes for his piracy, and his cabin is full of them. It's also implied he taught himself Spanish, just so he could read a book gifted to him by the Hamiltons. The most feared pirate of Nassau, as it happens, is also a bit of a nerd.

* BiTheWay: Eleanor, Max, Anne Bonny, Flint, and Hamilton.

*** [[spoiler: Blackbeard was not killed by Woodes Rodgers, nor was he killed as a prisoner. He died in battle against Robert Maynard, by a stab to the back after suffering numerous other wounds from both sword and gunshot.]]

** [[spoiler: Blackbeard was not killed by Woodes Rodgers, nor was he killed as a prisoner. He died in battle against Robert Maynard, by a stab to the back after suffering numerous other wounds from both sword and gunshot.]]

** The British warships are able to get very close to shore, but for some reason fire one broadside, then land infantry, rather than simply bombard the fortification from sea and receive no return fire, like the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Kip%27s_Bay Landing at Kip's Bay]], early in the American Revolution, where British ships heavily bombarded Continental Army positions in New York, who then fled, allowing the British Army to land unopposed.
** The landing party chooses to attack from the direct front of the defensive line, exposing itself to the full force of the defenders, when the line ends at a large opening that could be flanked with little opposition. They deploy mortars against the fortification to do exactly what the ships did earlier and could do much more effectively and without receiving return fire. Why they don't simply charge with bayonets and swords, as happened in many battles throughout the 18th century, is unknown.

** Rackham and Anne, twice. First when they hear someone has taken over the fort with them very much suspecting who was responsible, and than when Vane shows up in the brothel.

** The British warships are able to get very close to shore, but for some reason fire one broadside, then land infantry, rather than simply bombard the fortification from sea and receive no return fire.
** The landing party chooses to attack from the direct front of the defensive line, exposing itself to the full force of the defenders, when the line ends at a large opening that could be flanked with little opposition. They deploy mortars against the fortification to do exactly what the ships did earlier and could do much more effectively and without receiving return fire. Why they don't simply charge with bayonets and swords is unknown.

** The landing party chooses to attack from the direct front of the defensive line, exposing itself to the full force of the defenders, when the line ends at a large opening that could be flanked with little opposition. They deploy mortars against the fortification to do exactly what the ships did earlier and could do much more effectively and without receiving return fire.

*** Hornigold apparently knows about the collapse of the Jacobite rebellion and James' flight to France approximately nine months before James even got to Scotland in the first place.

** The Walrus having a doctor on the crew is a downplayed example, as pirate crews generally didn't bother with a medical professional, and patched themselves up. Alarmingly, if a surgery was needed, the cook would be called for as they would have the most experience with delicate knife work. However, there were the occasional medical professionals, who were very valuable in the crews that were lucky to get ahold of one, so the ''Walrus'' having a surgeon is still within the realm of possibility.

* BlackVikings: Joji the Japanese pirate runs on RuleOfCool. While it's possible that a single Japanese sailor might somehow get himself onto a Caribbean pirate ship, the show takes place during a period of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakoku extreme seclusion]] in Japan, where the Japanese government actively prohibited its people from leaving.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During Flint's sex scene with Miranda in Season 1, he looks bored and disinterested. [[spoiler:Come the finale, we know why.]]
** And also why he was so pissed when Miranda showed that book to Eleanor's father. [[spoiler: It has a loving inscription from Thomas to James that would have outed Flint, at least if Mr. Guthrie is aware of his first name.]]

** Flint also counts; by pirate standards, he's very well-educated, and is known for collecting books of all sorts.

* EveryoneIsBi: So far there's Eleanor Guthrie, Max, Anne Bonny, Captain Flint, and Lord Thomas Hamilton.
** Arguably Subverted due to historical sexual behavior looking different from contemporary sexuality.
*** Max is only shown to sleep with men for money, whereas she sleeps with women for love.
*** After Anne Bonny falls in love with Max, she tells Jack Rackham that she "can't be [his] wife" despite him remaining the most important person in her life.
*** Thomas Hamilton refers to Flint as his "truest love" and is happy to let his wife find pleasure elsewhere.
*** Even Flint's relationship with Miranda can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on whether on takes his disinterested demeanor when having sex with her to be because of grief and worry or because of a disinterest in sex with women.

*** And also, from the pilot, "Blackbeard".

''Black Sails'' is a [[CostumeDrama historical drama]] created by Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine that aired on Starz. A prequel to ''Literature/TreasureIsland'', the series focuses on Captain Flint, his allies and his rivals during the Golden Age of piracy. It's meant to be a good deal DarkerAndEdgier than ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' and its like, and take up the mantle of Starz's signature show after ''[[Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand Spartacus]]'' reached its end.

The series began airing in 2014 and concluded with its fourth season in 2017.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Subverted by the ''Goliath''. Jack points out that it's named after the [[DavidVersusGoliath greatest disappointment]] in the history of warfare. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny The captain agrees with him, but explains that his crew like it, so he can't change it.]]

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Mosiah, who seems to speak for a sizable number of the black members of Flint's crew until Captain Vane murders him.