Line #13 Literature/CaptainBloodHisOdyssey


1	[[quoteright:266:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/41ronqwggpl.jpg]]
2	''Captain Blood: His Odyssey'' is a 1922 novel by Creator/RafaelSabatini.
3	The character of Peter Blood was first featured in a series of eight short stories published in 1920 and 1921. For the novel, Sabatini reworked several of the short stories into a continuous narrative adding additional material covering the start and conclusion of Blood’s pirate career.
4
5	The [[Film/CaptainBlood 1935 film version]] launched Creator/ErrolFlynn to stardom.
6
7	Peter Blood, an honest man of true character and a humane doctor, is wrongfully imprisoned for treason under the laws of King James, and deported from Britain to a tropical colony at Bridgetown where he is sold as a slave at auction. Soon he encounters romantic inspiration, conflict, injustice, and ultimately finds himself in charge of an armada of pirate ships of various flags and national alliances, becoming the famous and invincible Captain Blood, the most honorable and remarkable buccaneer throughout the South Seas.
8
9	Sabatini published two further books Captain Blood’s Return (1931) and The Fortunes of Captain Blood (1936) featuring new stories from Blood’s career and the remainder of the short stories he didn’t use in the novel.
10	!!This novel provides examples of:
11
12	* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Levasseur tries this on the governor's daughter. [[DuelToTheDeath It doesn't work out too well for him.]]
13	* [[ArchEnemy Arch-Enemies]]: Don Miguel and Peter.
14	** Also Col. Bishop and Peter.
15	* BeardOfSorrow: Blood goes through a period like this when depressed after believing he's lost the love of his life:
16	-->He was degenerating visibly, under the eyes of all. He had entirely lost the almost foppish concern for his appearance, and was grown careless and slovenly in his dress. He allowed a black beard to grow on cheeks that had ever been so carefully shaven; and the long, thick black hair, once so sedulously curled, hung now in a lank, untidy mane about a face that was changing from its vigorous swarthiness to an unhealthy sallow, whilst the blue eyes, that had been so vivid and compelling, were now {{dull\|EyesOfUnhappiness}} and lackluster.
17	* BadassBookworm: Peter was a soldier before he was a peaceful doctor, and when circumstances force him to take up arms again, he kills his enemies with surgical precision.
18	* TheBigGuy: Wolverstone fills this role.
19	* ButtMonkey: Cahusac
20	* DamselInDistress: Blood's first partner in piracy, Levasseur, kidnaps his beloved Mlle. d'Ogeron to satisfy himself. When this puts Blood's safety in his safe harbor of Tortuga in jeopardy due to Mlle. d'Ogeron being daughter of the the Governor of Tortuga, and he must guile and duel is way into saving Mlle.
21	* ClimaxBoss: The death of Don Miguel de Espinosa brings an end to the middle third of the odyssey. In addition to establishing the height of Blood's legacy, it directly brings the focus of the novel to Blood's last shift in goals and his conflict with his first and most personal foe, Col. Bishop.
22	* DeadpanSnarker: Blood himself, like many Sabatini protagonists.
23	* DirtyCoward: Cahusac, who flees the affair at Maracaybo.
24	* DuelToTheDeath: Between Peter and Levasseur.
25	* EarnYourHappyEnding: After considerable travails,Blood ends the novel formally pardoned of all his offenses and happily reconciled with Arabella.
26	* ExpyCoexistence: Blood’s piratical career is heavily based on the life of Henry Morgan who also existed in the book’s universe. The writer implies that the in-universe biography of Blood which he used to write the book was partially plagiarized for a Esquemeling's famous Morgan biography, so Morgan got credit for certain exploits that are "rightfully" Blood's. [[note]]Morgan himself took issue with several aspects of said biography, and successfully sued. He received damages, and the controversial portions were omitted. Like Blood's fictional chronicler Pitt, Esquemeling was a companion of Morgan.[[/note]]
27	* FunetikAksent: Most of the Spaniards speak this way, as do Cahusac and Levasseur.
28	* GuileHero: Captain Blood, though very efficient in swordfighting, pulls his legendary feats by ruses, disguises and {{Batman gambit}}s.
29	* HangingJudge: Judge Jeffreys as per RealLife.
30	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: King James II.
31	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Blood believes Arabella to be in love with another man and is willing to let her go. When he realizes that she is not going back to England with this man, it dawns on him that he has hope.
32	* LoveableRogue: Peter Blood and his crew (with a few notable exceptions).
33	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Lord Julian is a nice guy, and one of the more civil and reasonable characters in the book, but Arabella's rejection of him makes him plan to...
34	* MurderTheHypotenuse: Lord Julian thinks Arabella would reciprocate his love for her if he were to kill Blood. To that end, he sails with Bishop's raid on Tortuga. However, he never actually meets Blood again.
35	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Peter Blood is an appropriate - yet foreboding - name for a surgeon and former soldier. Ironically, the pirate Captain Blood is distinguished by his ''lack'' of bloodthirstiness, and his use of guile and strategem. He does, however, act somewhat [[FourTemperamentEnsemble sanguine]], before his enslavement embitters him.
36	* NiceToTheWaiter: Arabella is kind to all of her uncle's slaves, which sets her apart from the vicious Colonel.
37	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Sabatini based the character of Peter Blood on Henry Pittman a surgeon who was convicted by Judge Jeffreys for tending to wounded rebels and sent as convict laborer to Barbados where he escaped. Blood’s pirate career is largely based on that of Henry Morgan and complete with him also becoming governor of Jamaica.
38	* PragmaticHero: In contrast to other pirates who are guided by their burning hatred towards any servant of a sovereign nation and his dim employers, Blood remains cold-blooded in most situations, seeking to profit without resorting to violence.
39	* ThenLetMeBeEvil: After Arabella calls him a "thief and pirate", Blood has a brief urge to actually become as barbaric as she believes him to be. He gets over it, though.
40	* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: Peter Blood is known as Don Pedro Sangre and Le Sang when dealing with the Spanish and French respectively.
41	* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Absolutely. One of the most popular examples of this trope -- at least, back when the trope was in its heyday.

Context Literature / CaptainBloodHisOdyssey