| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | %% |
| 8 | %%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1323477175057800100 |
| 9 | %%Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 10 | [[quoteright:313:[[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skypirates_1612.jpg]]]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:313:A ninja's second-worst nightmare.[[note]]They could also be on fire.[[/note]]]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"Take the sky by thunder! (Thu-under!)\ |
| 14 | It is so wonderful to plunder! (Plu-under!)\ |
| 15 | When a village needs a pillage. (Ooh-aaah)\ |
| 16 | Or my pockets need a fillage. (You know what I'm saying?)"'' |
| 17 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', "[[VillainSong Sky Pirates]]" |
| 18 | |
| 19 | AsYouKnow, TheSkyIsAnOcean, so it's only logical that it must have {{pirate}}s as well. Sky-rates, if you will. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Following all of the tropes applicable to {{pirate}}s except for using aeroplanes (or better yet, [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} airships]], especially [[CoolAirship cool ones]], or even better: [[{{Pun}} flying boats!]]) instead of boats, Sky Pirates (sometimes referred to as "Air Pirates") were fairly popular in the early days of aviation, though they were soon eclipsed by SpacePirates once aeroplanes became less novel. Nowadays, Sky Pirates are mostly found in the yellowing pages of 1920s and 30s comics and {{pulp magazine}}s, [[TwoFistedTales in modern media intended to evoke that era]], and in {{Steampunk}} settings. There is another, more contemporary, version of this trope, usually found in more "realistic" settings; these are essentially RuthlessModernPirates who use aircraft. |
| 22 | No traditional Sky Pirate story is truly complete without at least one AirborneAircraftCarrier. Huge {{zeppelin|sFromAnotherWorld}}s and giant flying boats are par for the course as well, as are other [[ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines magnificent flying machines]]. The punishment of [[WalkThePlank walking the plank]] is especially deadly when it's administered by a sky pirate after a HighAltitudeBattle. Sky pirates are naturals for pulling off a SkyHeist. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | See also SpacePirates, {{Pirate}}. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'', of course, has Sky Pirates. They readily kidnap and steal, but actively assist two [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocent children]]. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/CrossEpoch'', the official ''Manga/OnePiece''/''Anime/DragonBallZ'' {{crossover}} one-shot manga, had several sky pirate factions. One led by Vegeta (along with Robin, Trunks, and Usopp), one led by Buggy and Emperor Pilaf (in a ship with an intimidating facade made out of ''papier mache''), and one led by Dr. Gero (only alluded to). |
| 34 | * ''Manga/ElementalGelade'''s main character Coud was one at the beginning of the series. |
| 35 | * ''Anime/GalileiDonna'' involves (fish-themed) airships, so this trope was an inevitability. The main one is named Cicinho, and leads the Black Ganymede Troupe. |
| 36 | * ''Anime/LastExile's'' ship ''Sylvana'' is more of a one-ship rebellion than a pirate ship, but it's so cool that it's close enough. And then we have the group of sky pirates in [[Anime/LastExileFamTheSilverWing the sequel series.]] |
| 37 | * ''Manga/{{Lindbergh}}'' by Ahn Dongshik is a manga all about Sky Pirates. A young, spirited boy named Knit joins Shark's Sky Pirate Crew to go on a wondrous adventure. |
| 38 | * ''Anime/TheMagnificentKotobuki'' is all about a squadron of mercenary pilots, the Kotobuki Flight Corps, who work as freelance escorts protecting transport zeppelins from air pirates. |
| 39 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'' itself has a canon movie villain, "Gold Lion" Shiki, that operates in the air because [[{{Flight}} his Devil Fruit power]] [[PowerFloats essentially gives him]] [[MindOverMatter near limitless telekinesis]]. He doesn't have so much a flying ship as a ''flying armada made of a'' '''flying archipelago.''' |
| 40 | * ''Anime/PorcoRosso'': The plot revolves around an Italian World War I ex-fighter ace, now living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing "air pirates" in the Adriatic Sea |
| 41 | * Captain Liliana from ''Anime/QueensBlade Rebellion'' is an infamous pirate who has laid waste to the Continent's coastal waters. She is the granddaughter of Pirate Queen Artemis, the writer of the "Pirate Aesthetics", a set of rules which Liliana follows. |
| 42 | [[/folder]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 45 | * In ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo: The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific'', the She-Devils spend much of their time battling sky pirates (and are considered sky pirates themselves by some of their foes). |
| 46 | * Alexandre [=LeRoi=] appears as the main villain of the DC graphic novel ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Master of the Future'', the sequel to ''ComicBook/GothamByGaslight'', as an air pirate who intends to stop Gotham City's 20th Century celebrations, and to keep the looming century's polluting technology from becoming a reality. He keeps a mobile base in a zeppelin-esque airship powered by gas, and controlled by a robot [=LeRoi=] calls Antonio. |
| 47 | * The ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}}s sometimes faced Sky Pirates, and were treated as such themselves, at least early on. In their second story, an English pilot lashes out at Blackhawk: "Why, you're nothing but air pirates and assassins!" |
| 48 | * The villains in the 1984 Marvel/Epic miniseries ''ComicBook/CrashRyan''. |
| 49 | * Franchise/TheDCU: |
| 50 | ** The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ComicBook/GreenLantern had a recurring foe called Sky Pirate who embodied this trope. |
| 51 | ** The second Black Condor also fought a foe called Sky Pirate, who was essentially an updated version of the ComicBook/GreenLantern villain. |
| 52 | ** The Golden Age ComicBook/{{Superman}} also tangled with sky pirates at least once, who used the surprisingly low key method of using fast armed airplanes to force lumbering airliners into landing in a convenient field before robbing them on the ground. |
| 53 | ** In the Golden Age ComicBOok/WonderWoman and Steve Trevor fought a few sky pirates--such as the husband and wife team of Nifta and "Redbeard" in ''[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Volume 1]]''--all of whom operated out of planes which made them fitting foes for the two {{Ace Pilot}}s. |
| 54 | ** A minor ComicBook/GreenArrow foe was Skylark, a sky pirate who operated out of a blimp. |
| 55 | ** In ''[[ComicBook/JonahHex All Star Western]]'' #17, Jenny Freedom of the 19th Century ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}} clashes with Smokestack Jack; SteamPunk anarchist MadScientist based on a CoolAirship. |
| 56 | %%** ''ComicBook/{{The Warlord|DCComics}}'': Captain Bloodhawke and her crew. |
| 57 | * Captain Fate in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse is a FlyingDutchman {{Space Pirate|s}}. He occasionally visits Earth and acts as a Sky Pirate. |
| 58 | * Seems to be the direction Alex Ross and Dynamite Entertainment are taking the Black Terror within the ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'' universe, complete with a parrot-themed sidekick. Must be that JollyRoger on his chest... |
| 59 | * In ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'', there's a sky pirate league primarily composed of [[{{Hypocrite}} ghouls]]. |
| 60 | * Captain Plunder and his Sky Pirates in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' including the first mate Filch and the cook Simpson the Cat. In ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline'' after another recruitment drive Cream the Rabbit joins the sky pirates. |
| 61 | [[/folder]] |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 64 | * ''Fanfic/TheGreatAlicornHunt'': In a rather sudden GenreShift, chapter 59 gives us an airship crewed by diamond dogs whose mountainous home had little to offer in the mining department. |
| 65 | [[/folder]] |
| 66 | |
| 67 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 68 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' features Captain Celaeno and her crew, a group of pirate harpies. [[spoiler:They'd been subjugated into servitude for the Storm King in events prior to the film, but go back to their old ways thanks to the ponies.]] |
| 69 | * ''[[Franchise/DisneyFairies The Pirate Fairy]]'': ''Aspiring'' sky pirates, at least. |
| 70 | * The universe of ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace lacks any distinction between atmosphere and outer space]], blurring the line between SpacePirates and air pirates. They can travel between planets, but have open-air vehicles that look more like airship than spaceships. |
| 71 | * [[spoiler:Charles Muntz and his dogs]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' could qualify as this, insofar as he is a criminal based on a dirigible. He might better be described as an airborne EvilPoacher. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 76 | %%* Early serials, ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers'' in particular.%%Zero-context example. |
| 77 | * ''Film/{{Filibus}}: Il misterioso pirata del cielo'' is a 1915 silent film about a [[ClassyCatburglar lady thief]] who operates out of an airship. |
| 78 | * In ''{{Film/Goldfinger}}'' Pussy Galore and her team of stunt pilots were recruited by the BigBad to assist in the robbery of Fort Knox. |
| 79 | * ''{{Film/Mythica}}:'' "The Admiral" (a woman) from ''The Iron Crown'' leads a group of Sky Pirates in a HighFantasy setting. They have a zeppelin and hang gliders. |
| 80 | * In the short sci-fi film ''Film/TheOceanmaker'', aircraft are used to mine clouds for water after the oceans have turned to desert. Unfortunately they're not above driving off other cloud-miners by force. |
| 81 | * Blackbeard and his pirates in the 2015 fantasy film ''Film/{{Pan}}'', who use flying sailing ships. |
| 82 | * ''Film/{{The Phantom|1996}}'' has Sala and her all-female air pirates. |
| 83 | * The ''Film/SkyPirates'' from the Australian movie ''Film/DakotaHarris'' (1986) who force cargo planes to crash in the Bermuda triangle, and want to steal the MacGuffin that enables the user to travel through time. |
| 84 | * Captain Shakespeare of ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' is a more literal example, captaining a flying boat which is powered by lightning. (However, although they dress and act like pirates, they're [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything never seen attacking other boats]] -- if there ''are'' any other flying boats -- and seem instead to be smugglers.) |
| 85 | * The Smokers in ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' are a gang of pirates operating on a FloodedFutureWorld, and who have a seaplane as well as speedboats and jet skis. |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 89 | * In ''Literature/{{Airborn}}'' by Kenneth Oppel the airship ''Aurora'' is raided by a notorious criminal named Vikram Szpirglas. His gang of pirates plunder the ship of all valuables and kill the chief wireless officer. The pirates proceed to leave, but both ships are caught in a storm. The pirate vessel crashes with the Aurora and tears the Aurora's hull, seriously depleting its supply of hydrium. |
| 90 | * ''Armageddon 2419 A.D.'' the book that introduced [[ComicStrip/BuckRogers Anthony "Buck" Rogers]] to the world. |
| 91 | * Inevitably, sky pirates were among the foes fought by Literature/{{Biggles}}, though lacking the {{Airborne Aircraft Carrier}}s or {{Cool Airship}}s. The plots featuring them usually played out more like an armoured car heist, with either mechanical sabotage or some unemployed war veteran in a surplus fighter forcing an aircraft carrying bullion or other valuables to land, with a gang on the ground waiting to loot it. Gangs pulling off an ArmedBlag on land and then using aircraft as getaway vehicles might also fall under this trope, however. |
| 92 | * Liesel Schwarz' ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfLightAndShadow'' series features much, much use of airship travel, so of course the third book, ''Sky Pirates'' has [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin pirates]]. |
| 93 | * Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'' series features a world where humanity lives in [[{{starscraper}} mile-tall towers]] called Spires that are spread around the planet. With the surface being completely inhospitable, travel between Habbles requires airships. One of the main characters, Captain Grimm, is a privateer that commands the ''[[CoolAirship Predator]]''. |
| 94 | * In the ''Literature/ClockworkCentury'' novel ''Boneshaker'', the theft of an airship (itself recently stolen from the Confederate military) leads to a midair battle between two pirate gangs. Several other books in the series also feature them as protagonists or antagonists. |
| 95 | * Creator/StephenHunt's ''The Court of the Air'' features airships as the main fighting force of one nation, the sole power with access to the {{Unobtainium}} necessary to keep them afloat. Better yet, the eponymous Court of the Air is a secret, ultra-elite, badass organization of magic-wielding OneManArmy types. And their base is a floating fortress that is not only higher into the atmosphere than any airships other than their own can reach, but remains anchored there ''permanently''. |
| 96 | * Many 1930s pulps, ''Literature/DocSavage'' and ''Operator 5'' in particular. (Operator 5 was an early example of the Film/JamesBond-style super-agent, complete with 1930s era high-tech gadgets.) Doc Savage twice faced SubmarinePirates as well. |
| 97 | * The ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresSkyPirates Sky Pirates!]]'' blurs the line between this trope and SpacePirates with its setting being a solar system within a pocket universe which is fully pressurized with a breathable atmosphere. The pirates (and all the other "space" ships) are able to travel in a variety of non-airtight steampunk-esque vessels, some with open decks. |
| 98 | * Prominently featured in ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles''--in six out of the ten books in the series, the protagonist is either a sky pirate, a former sky pirate, or a future sky pirate, and of the four short stories in the series, two of the protagonists are sky pirates. |
| 99 | * The Creator/AlistairMaclean novel ''Fear Is The Key'' begins with an aircraft being shot down by a war-surplus fighter plane, in order for TheMafia to get their hands on the precious cargo inside. Unfortunately, the plane crashes in an unusually deep marine trench, setting off the events of the main story. |
| 100 | * The Syndicate of Pirates, who use flying machines (not yet invented at the time of writing) and secret rays to terrorise the adventurers of the Klondike Gold Rush at Alaska in George Griffith's ''The Great Pirate Syndicate'' (1899). |
| 101 | * ''Literature/TheGrimnoirChronicles'' has the last piece of a super-weapon protected by Southunder, who preys on Imperium ships in the Pacific ocean from his zeppelin. |
| 102 | * The sky pirates in the ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' novels of Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs. |
| 103 | * Captain Mors, the "Air Pirate", from ''Der Luftpirat und sein Lenkbares Luftschiff'' (''The Air Pirate and His Steerable Airship''); a German dime novel with 165 issues from 1908-1911. Captain Mors is mentioned (by never actual appears) in ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''. |
| 104 | * OlderThanRadio: Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/RoburTheConqueror'', with his huge mega-helicopter vehicle, is the UrExample. |
| 105 | * ''Literature/SkiesUnbroken'' is an AfterTheEnd (a societal collapse) WorldInTheSky. It had sky privateers and pirates proper, and some of the main characters actually used to be sky pirates. |
| 106 | * ''Sky Pirates of Callisto'' is the sixth novel of Creator/LinCarter's Literature/{{Callisto}} series, and a homage to Burroughs. |
| 107 | * ''Literature/SunderedLands'', which takes place in a ShatteredWorld where travel is only capable via skyboats, has Captain Grizzletusk and his crew. They're all corsairs who constantly chase after the protagonists and RapePillageAndBurn as they please. |
| 108 | * The ''Literature/TalesOfTheKettyJay'' take place in a world where aircraft and airships are the main mode of transport, so there are sky pirates as well. Though Captain Frey dabbles in this, others do so as a full-time occupation and are a lot better at it, like his archnemesis Trinica. |
| 109 | * Literature/TomSwift and a whole host of copycat [[GadgeteerGenius Boy Inventor]] heroes. |
| 110 | * Creator/KarlSchroeder's ''Literature/{{Virga}}'' novels are focused on justifying this in a relatively hard science fiction setting. |
| 111 | * Mack Maloney's ''Wingman'' series, being a modern take on pulp fiction, features sky pirates in the DividedStatesOfAmerica. Since this setting doesn't involve the common conventions of {{Cool Airship}}s or similar "flying towns" to attack, they tend to be more like airborne biker gangs whose activities mainly consist of forcing planes to land for robbery or engaging in air strikes on settlements. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 115 | * Music/AbneyPark's "Airship Pirates" pretty much embodies this trope. |
| 116 | ** The entire ''band'' embodies this trope, as their main theme involves them being a band of drunken rogue pirates operating off the airship ''Ophelia''. Although, if the lyrics of ''Airship Pirates'' and ''Post-Apocalypse Punk'' are anything to go by, they're not particularly good at it. |
| 117 | ** This image is further reinforced by the title track from their 2009 album ''[=AEther=] Shanties'', which describes the ship as being about one good breeze from collapsing under its own weight, with a crew that's planning mutinies when they're not fighting each other. |
| 118 | * Music/{{Alestorm}} are generally Nautical pirate themed, but a few of their songs have an element of Sky Pirates. |
| 119 | -->"We are Heavy Metal Pirates\ |
| 120 | We sail across the sky!\ |
| 121 | In our battleships of Cosmic Steal\ |
| 122 | With a terror up on high!" |
| 123 | * Music/TheCogIsDead have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz4im23nIFs Sunset Val the Pirate Queen]]. |
| 124 | * Japanese {{Steampunk}}-themed metal band Music/FateGear have a song called "The Sky Pirates" |
| 125 | [[/folder]] |
| 126 | |
| 127 | [[folder:Newspaper Comics]] |
| 128 | * ''ComicStrip/BarneyBaxterInTheAir'' was an aviation strip that ran from 1935 to 1950. Sky pirates were amongst the foes battled by the youthful hero. |
| 129 | * ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers'', of course. Interesting in that he started out fighting Sky Pirates and ended up fighting SpacePirates, all in the space of about 10 years. |
| 130 | * In ''ComicStrip/LittleNemo in Slumberland'' the Princess' royal airship is attacked by sky pirates in one issue. |
| 131 | * Sala and her AmazonBrigade Sky Band in ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom''. |
| 132 | [[/folder]] |
| 133 | |
| 134 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 135 | * Podcast/DiceFunk features the antagonistic Blackhearts, a group of pirates flying an airship dubbed the Zavala. |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 139 | * In Wrestling/{{WWENXT}}, the team of "The Pirate Princess" Kairi Sane and "The Genius of the Sky" Wrestling/IoShirai is called the Sky Pirates. |
| 140 | [[/folder]] |
| 141 | |
| 142 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 143 | * ''Music/AbneyPark'' recently came out with a tabletop RPG called ''TabletopGame/AirshipPirates''. They also have a board game in the same setting, ''TabletoGame/TerrorOfTheSkies''. |
| 144 | * All over the place in ''TabletopGame/CastleFalkenstein''. They're most numerous in America, where most of them were Confederate Army airship crews who went rogue after the war. |
| 145 | * ''TabletopGame/CrimsonSkies'', later made into several video games. In an AlternateHistory setting where the United States of America broke up early in the 30s, and no interstate road or rail network, freight is instead delivered by air cargo services operating [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld massive cargo zeppelins]]; these are in turn preyed upon by air pirates. |
| 146 | * Sky pirates operate out of the Rocky Mountains in ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}: Hell on Earth''. |
| 147 | * Troll from ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'' are eight-and-a-half-foot tall Sky Pirates in flying stone longboats. |
| 148 | * Captain Gyrfalcon from ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', who -- mainly out of greed and an old grudge -- harasses the airships of the Haslanti League, who are the only significant power with a meaningful air force in the entire North. He dresses like a classic pirate, and sports a sidearm (which is actually a small flamethrower, not a gun, but whatever). |
| 149 | * ''TabletopGame/SunderedSkies'' is set in a WorldInTheSky, so there is little choice but to travel by airship; so there is obviously the odd pirate. |
| 150 | * Indie game ''TabletopGame/SwashbucklersOfThe7Skies'' is a fully original setting, of sky pirates in flying ships battling across a world where islands float in the sky. |
| 151 | * In the AfterTheEnd DieselPunk setting of ''The Day After Ragnarok'', sky pirates operating out of the Sahara raid shipping across French Africa (whats left of it). These groups sometimes have the patronage of local governors and other politicians, with lettres deputée that supposedly grant them quasi-military authority. |
| 152 | * ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' features Barak-Mhornar, an [[PlanetOfHats entire city]] of these, as a playable subfaction for the {{steampunk}}[=-themed=] [[Characters/WarhammerAgeOfSigmarGrandAllianceOrder Kharadron Overlords]]. |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 156 | * Because ''VideoGame/{{Academagia}}'' takes place on a WorldInTheSky where the surface (and its oceans) are present but unreachable, they are usually referred to as simply "pirates". Like the legitimate sailors of Elumia, the pirates mostly use wind-powered flying ships that are either specifically enchanted or made with of a rare wood that [[AWizardDidIt "naturally" floats in the air]]. Although there are some [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld mundane lighter-than-aircraft]]. Pirates are practically the default villain in this game, since they are the most prevalent antagonists in events and adventures, even eclipsing the local ThievesGuild. |
| 157 | * Sophia has an unfortunate run-in with a band of these, led by a giant talking minotaur, in the playable epilogue of ''{{VideoGame/Awakening}}: The Skyward Castle''. |
| 158 | * The basic premise of at least one of the classes in the semi-{{Steampunk}} flash game ''VideoGame/BattleStations''. |
| 159 | * The Captain in ''VideoGame/CargoTheQuestForGravity'' pilots an airship and at least looks and talks like a pirate, though he doesn't actually seem to engage in piracy. |
| 160 | * The Sky Raiders of ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''. Complete with a named boss who is a CaptainErsatz of ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'''s Don Karnage. |
| 161 | -->'''Captain Castillo:''' The breaking of into the base was of no great difficulty for one such as I am. You may all count yourselves as blessed for to be seeing my skills in such operation. |
| 162 | * ''VideoGame/CrimsonSkies'': The game is set in an alternate history of the 1930s in which the United States has fragmented into a number of smaller sovereignties, and in which air travel has become the primary mode of transportation in North America. The game centers on Nathan Zachary, an adventurous air pirate seeking to rob the affluent of their wealth and power.[4] Throughout the campaign, Zachary leads his gang of air pirates, the Fortune Hunters, on a quest to gain fame and riches. |
| 163 | * Several examples from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series: |
| 164 | ** Setzer in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. It's never ''explicitly'' stated, but he's a law-evading free spirit in an airship with a penchant for kidnapping beautiful women, whose "business" has taken a hit since the Empire started capturing more and more cities. All the trappings are there, anyway. He also happens to be the ''only'' man with an airship. |
| 165 | ** The Gullwings in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' are never referred to as such, but they're globe-trotting treasure hunters aboard an airship, all the same. |
| 166 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', especially ''[[GaidenGame Revenant Wings]]'', features them. Balthier and Fran start as them, and it's Vaan's dream to become one in the original game. It's also Balthier's class when he cameos in the rerelease of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', but Ramza laughs at him when he identifies himself as one, since airships are a thing of the past by that point. This is also a Vaan-only Job Class in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2''. |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/FreedomWings'' takes place on an alternate Earth in an era resembling the 1940’s. Air Pirates have taken to the skies and have placed fear into the hearts of others world wide. The player assumes the role of a nameless, faceless pilot whose parents were murdered by air pirates, motivating the character to join the Air Patrol Association (APA), a squadron of mercenary pilots hired to clear the skies of Air Pirate activity. |
| 168 | * If you own an armed aircraft in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', you pretty much become one of these by default. Numerous missions involve using your own aircraft, or one you've stolen, to destroy or loot other vehicles. Standout examples include "The Merryweather Heist", "Minor Turbulence", and the "Smuggler's Run" DLC. |
| 169 | * The Aetherblade of ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' are a massive faction of these, using airships stolen from [[TheAlliance the Pact]] and technical support from [[MadScientist the Inquest]]. They were created by [[BigBad Scarlet Briar]] as part of her lengthy preparation to [[spoiler:awaken an Elder Dragon]]. |
| 170 | * The Jellyfish Air Pirates of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear''. |
| 171 | * ''Videogame/GunsOfIcarus'' is all about defending your own airship from Sky Pirates. |
| 172 | * Lance Banson from ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure''. |
| 173 | %%* [[MrFanservice Captain Phoenix]] and his band in ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter: The Lost Frontier''. |
| 174 | * ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} 2: Lunatea's Veil'' features a [[spoiler:former trainee priestess turned]] sky pirate as the main antagonist. [[spoiler:At one point, she turns into a giant robotic chicken, and you have to fight her.]] She comes with a NonHumanSidekick in the form of Tat, a sort of cat creature with the skin tone of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Lokai and Bele]]. (For non-Trekkies, that's black on one side and white on the other. [[spoiler:Turns out Tat can split into black and white forms.]]) |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'': The Capua Family are a deconstruction of the usual glamorized depiction in an RPG. In a country with a monopoly on commercialized air travel, their Erebonian airship sticks out like a sore thumb and they have to take care in hiding it from Liberl intelligence. The kingdom keeps strict border security and monitors air traffic with a healthy trade economy, which means there's not much the Capuas could profit from, even if the risks outweighed the reward. The one time they highjack a civilian aircraft for ransom, the Bracer Guild and the military are quick to respond and ultimately arrest them. When they're eventually pardoned by the queen, they end up far more successful as a legitimate delivery company. |
| 176 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'': The Skavengers a fleet of [[DressedToPlunder eyepatch-, bicorne- and bandanna-wearing]] buccaneers who conduct their operations from a large fleet of flying galleons and ride on flying owl-like monsters. |
| 177 | %%* ''VideoGame/MagicalVacation'': The Pirate Otters from ''Magical Starsign'' are modeled after 18th-century pirates, complete with the (space)ship design from that era. |
| 178 | %%* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'': The Bonne family. |
| 179 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Owlboy}}'': The main antagonists are sky pirates. |
| 180 | * ''VideoGame/Pirate101'' has this since it takes place in the Spiral, a ShatteredWorld with few large bodies of water. (Yes, that's the same Spiral as in ''VideoGame/Wizard101.'') It's currently assumed that the ships fly due to the magic from [[AWizardDidIt a wizard]]. |
| 181 | * ''[[VideoGame/{{Aleste}} Power Strike II]]'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem has pirates menacing Italian skies in the early 1930s, a premise suspiciously similar to ''Anime/PorcoRosso''. |
| 182 | * Captain Homard and his crew of incredibly annoying cats fly the ''Escargot'' in Creator/NipponIchi's ''VideoGame/LaPucelle''. |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/RiseOfLegends'', the Vinci sub-faction called the Pirata are the source of all fliers for that side. |
| 184 | * In ''VideoGame/SepterraCore'', travelers between the [[WorldShapes World Shells]] are often preyed on by pirates from Shell 6. |
| 185 | * ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. Strangely, [[OrphanedEtymology they are still called Air Pirates]] despite the lack of ''any other kind of pirates'' or seas, in a world [[WorldInTheSky composed entirely of floating continents]]. It also draws a distinct line between idealized pirates and real ones: ''real'' pirates are called, appropriately, Black Pirates. Blue Rogues, on the other hand, [[JustLikeRobinHood are generally adventurers and explorers who only attack]] TheEmpire's ships and Black Pirates. |
| 186 | * ''VideoGame/SkyNations'' has this as its whole shtick. Well, that and [[MemeticMutation a potential deity in disguise dimension hopping cat]]. |
| 187 | * The Flash MMOG ''VideoGame/{{Skyrates}}'' is set in a world recovering from an apocalyptic war which reduced the remaining viable landmass to a collection of scattered islands. Ripped from the ground and cast adrift in the sky through the use of {{Unobtainium}}, these Skylands carried with them the last remnants of civilization. Now split into several color-coded factions, the descendants of these survivors travel and trade between the Skylands and are preyed upon en route by air pirates operating from smaller, unmapped "skylets". |
| 188 | * ''VideoGame/SteamBanditsOutpost'' is a free-to-play game centering on {{steampunk}} sky pirates. |
| 189 | * The main enemies in ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'', the somewhat DarkerAndEdgier sequel ''Videogame/{{Solatorobo}}: Red the Hunter'' treats them as a joke, mostly appearing in side quests. |
| 190 | * ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'': The Pirates might be this, as their flagship is a flying pirate ship called the Flying Dutchman. |
| 191 | * The setting of the ''Air Buccaneers'' mod for ''VideoGame/{{Unreal Tournament 200|4}}3'' is heavily pirate-influenced. The weapons are blunderbusses and old-style-fuse cannons, the clothing is straight out of a pirate film and although the gameplay does not involve actual piracy in the strict sense of the word, the taking of enemy airships to be used against your foe is a common occurrence. |
| 192 | * The Bonnes in the ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' are a family of sky pirates consisting of three siblings and forty adorable Servbots. They even have a metal skull for a logo. Granted in this setting everyone uses airships for transport even though there's water everywhere, so they're just called pirates. ''The Misadventures of Tron Bonne'' shows what kind of illegal activities they get into: treasure hunting, cargo stealing, animal rustling, and straight up bank robbery. |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 196 | * In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', the Sky Pirates of the O'Houlihan Clan are the ancestral enemies of the [=McNinja=] Clan (Y'know, [[MemeticMutation Pirates Vs. Ninja]] and all that.) |
| 197 | * ''Webcomic/ChairmanJackEmerge'' begins with the protagonist helping the locals to defeat some sky pirates operating out of an airship. Since the world is some land suspended in an endless void, it's not like there can be any sea pirates. |
| 198 | * ''[[http://www.revenant-braves.schala.net/ Circumstances of the Revenant Braves]]'' |
| 199 | * Sky pirates are confirmed to be in future chapters of ''Webcomic/{{Cloudscratcher}}''. |
| 200 | * In ''Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles'' the pirates from the Nightmare Realm get around in a flying wooden ship. |
| 201 | * ''Webcomic/FinalArcanum'' bears the tagline "What happens to a sky pirate when he falls from the sky?" |
| 202 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' with its airship traffic has these. [[PerkyFemaleMinion Bangladesh Dupree]], for one, was a pirate queen and retains [[PirateGirl her old style]] while employed by Klaus. |
| 203 | ** One of the [[SideStoryBonusArt radio plays]] featured Bang's brother and fellow sky pirate Deathwish Dupree, of whom she is heartily ashamed. |
| 204 | ** Klaus himself, despite being the closest thing to a unified government, has elements of this due to his might-makes-right sort of rule-at-death-ray-point (with a strong admixture of "don't make me come over there"). "Castle Wulfenbach" is really an ''enormous'' airship, which turns out to be convenient because they ''keep making him come over there''. |
| 205 | ** In the "To London!" arc, Tarvek finds himself on an airship with a crew who insist they are legitimate traders who just dress and act like pirates, because that's their heritage. They are eventually confirmed to be legitamate English {{privateer}}s |
| 206 | * ''Webcomic/GuildedAge'': Aerial Piracy. Couldn't be more proud. |
| 207 | * In the ''Webcomic/{{Insecticomics}}'' Laserbeak and whatever crew she happens to have along at the time are part-time sky pirates. However, this mostly consists of dressing up, hunting treasure, and yelling "arr!" at people. |
| 208 | * ''Webcomic/MobTies'' has a storyline that starts out with Sky Pirates. Just… [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Mob_Ties/index.php?p=725460 look.]] |
| 209 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has Julio Scoundrél, who owns a large Airship, the ''Mechane'', and [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0392.html "admits to nothing, but has it on good authority that there are several attractive young heiresses that are quite shamefully lax in securing their most valuable jewelry."]] |
| 210 | * ''[[http://skypiratesofvalendor.com Sky Pirates of Valendor]]'': The name says it all. |
| 211 | [[/folder]] |
| 212 | |
| 213 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 214 | * A three-episode mini-arc in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' featured a band of pirates in a flying galleon called the ''Queen James''. Puss asks how the ship flies, but doesn't get an answer. |
| 215 | * ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'': Set in World War I, Dick Dastardly, his dog Muttley, and the rest of the Vulture Squadron are bent on capturing Yankee Doodle Pigeon to prevent him from delivering his messages to the enemies. Aboard their many crazy aircraft, Dastardly and Muttley devise nefarious plans to stop the pigeon. Their motivation is the possibility of earning a medal or maybe even a 30 day furlough. The only problem is, that crafty pigeon always seems to be one step ahead. |
| 216 | * Two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' involved the main characters teaming up with a pirate who flew across Dragon Land on a giant blimp. |
| 217 | * The "Pirate of the Airways" in ''WesternAnimation/GoldieGoldAndActionJack'' is very clear in its title. Some air pirates are causing trouble, and Goldie and Jack have to stop them. |
| 218 | * Maximilian Dragna in ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'' episode "Warlord of the Sky." He's basically an {{Expy}} of Creator/JulesVerne's Robur, specifically the more explicitly villainous version of him in ''Literature/MasterOfTheWorld''. |
| 219 | * The main antagonists of ''WesternAnimation/MaoMaoHeroesOfPureHeart'' are a group of rogues led by a sky pirate named Orangusnake. Though in the first episode the heroes destroy his ship's power source and crash it into the ground (along with sending most of the crew overboard), so one of his goals from then on is to get it airborne again. |
| 220 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel'' involved a young inventor who built a gigantic aircraft that literally swallowed planes. When the titular character's VoiceWithAnInternetConnection is captured by the crew, the first thing he does is [[ArbitrarySkepticism give a long list of scientific reasons why such a thing cannot possibly exist]]. |
| 221 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Metajets}}'': Cane and his caravan in "Pirates of the Sky," although they only target rich tourists. In "Night of the Living Carrier," they've given up their pirating ways and have limited themselves to scavenging through wrecks for parts. |
| 222 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mysticons}}'' Kitty Boon leads a group of sky pirates called the Pink Skulls. Main character Zarya used to run with this particular group of pirates. There's also Captain Kaos, the sky pirate who kidnapped Zarya and Kitty from their village when they were young. |
| 223 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': A crew of 'em are season 6's ArcVillain, and boy do they play up the FantasyKitchenSink setting for all it's worth. The main crew include a [[JackassGenie Djinn]], a human, a mechanical monkey, a [[SnakePeople Serpentine]], an enormous female samurai ogre, and what appears to be an oni with two faces. |
| 224 | * The title of one of George Pal's European WesternAnimation/{{Puppetoons}}. Due to it being a LostEpisode with fragments only available in a documentary, we don't know for sure what it was about, but it appears to be about pirates who harass an air force using airplanes, until the said air force drinks Horlick's and defeats them. |
| 225 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rupert}}'', he and Bill must do battle with a Cloud Pirate who has kidnapped the Four Winds as part of his dastardly plan to control the world’s weather. |
| 226 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Skyland}}'': The Skyland is ruled by the Sphere: an organization which controls the water supplies, and maintains its power by Guardians, Seijins indoctrinated and trained from childhood. This dictatorship is fought by pirates. |
| 227 | * ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'': "Terra Deep" features the Murk Raiders, a vicious band of sky pirates who raid airships and plunder their supplies and crew. |
| 228 | * Turmoil from ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats''. A villainous she-kat that wants to conquer Megakat City by controlling the airspace, with the help of her flying fortress, the Sky-Lion, and her squadron of female pilots, if the citizens of Megakat City don't pay her due first. |
| 229 | * Don Karnage and his men in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' are pirates based in a AirborneAircraftCarrier called the ''Iron Vulture'', who frequently swarm Baloo's plane to steal whatever his cargo is. |
| 230 | * Don Karnage makes an appearance in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', where he and his pirate crew do a song and dance number distracting Scrooge and his family while they make off with their treasure. He'll also throw anybody overboard who questions his decisions. |
| 231 | * Laser Pirate from ''WesternAnimation/TeamoSupremo''. He is the only pirate that doesn't like water due to a college incident that ruined his invention. His hideout is a skyscraper that flies around. |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Tigtone}}'': The titular Tigtone tangles with the Sky Wine Pirates, who use hooks to rip the "wineyards" out of the ground and carry them away, causing a wine famine in the kingdom of Propecia. To solve the problem, Tigtone turns them into vampires. Normally this would be a bad situation gone worse but the people don't care; they're not drinking their precious wine anymore! |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 236 | * In legal terms, the phrase "air piracy" just means the hijacking or theft of an aircraft. However, there's at least one instance that really does call this trope to mind. In April 1917, in the midst of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the Imperial German [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} Zeppelin]] ''L23'' that was on sea patrol came across an honest-to-goodness wooden sailing ship from a non-combatant country that was transporting a non-war related cargo. It was the Norwegian schooner ''Royal'', and was a holdover from a different era of shipping. TheCaptain of the Zeppelin then gave an order said to be unique in aircraft history: "Gentlemen, prepare to board our prize!" Unfortunately, as the boat from the Zeppelin was being lowered, the rough seas caused them to lose their machine gun overboard. So instead, the Zeppelin crew ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome bluffed the schooner into submission with a flare gun]]''. They sailed the schooner all the way back to Germany! These boardings weren't all that unusual, either: Zeppelins sometimes boarded sea vessels to check their papers and cargo holds, but this was the only time they actually ''pirated'' a vessel. |
| 237 | * {{Privateer}} vessels are essentially private vessels given permission by their government to pirate vessels of other nations, or even conduct naval combat and raids on foreign military vessels. Although extremely obscure, the U.S. Constitution provides for the issuing of Letters of Marque--documents permitting piracy--by Congress. Congress exercised this power during the War of 1812, and while it never actually received a Letter of Marque, operating instead like an armed merchant vessel, the last U.S. vessel to operate as a privateer was the Goodyear blimp named ''Resolute'', which engaged in anti-submarine patrols in 1941 and 1942, armed only with a rifle. |
| 238 | * When US Navy pilot (and future Senator and Presidential candidate) John [=McCain=] was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese, he was [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] into making false confessions of war crimes for a propaganda video. One of the ways he tried to subvert the propaganda was declaring himself an "air pirate" during the confession. |
| 239 | * The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Macao Miss Macao Incident]] was an attempt at this that ended very, very badly for both the perpetrators and the victims. Four armed men attempted to rob a Catalina seaplane carrying gold from Macau to Hong Kong. During the resulting fight, the pilot was shot, and when his body fell on the controls it sent the plane crashing into the Pearl River. Ironically, the only survivor was one of the would-be "pirates", who was never tried [[InsaneTrollLogic because the crime took place while flying over a country over which the court had no jurisdiction]]. |
| 240 | * In 1995, a [=MiG=]-21 fighter operated by Taliban rebel forces attacked and forced down [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstan_incident a civilian Il-76 cargo plane]] that had been contracted to ship weapons to the government of Afghanistan (this was long before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, mind you). The cargo plane's crew of seven were held prisoner in Afghanistan for over a year before managing to overpower their captors and escape with their plane. Their cargo, however, ended up in the possession of the Taliban. |
| 241 | * As far as using aircraft to commit theft goes, it's hard to top the exploits of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Blanchard Gerald Blanchard]]. An accomplished jewel thief, he stole the Star of Empress Sisi (a diamond hair ornament that once belonged to the titular Empress UsefulNotes/{{Elisabeth of Austria}}) by parachuting out of an airplane onto the grounds of the museum where the Star was on display. |
| 242 | * For a natural world variant, we have the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigatebird frigatebird]], often nicknamed the "pirate bird"; these birds are infamous for two things: The male's [[BizarreSexualDimorphism weird red throat pouch]] and the species overall tendency to plunder food and nesting material from other birds mid-flight. |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / SkyPirate
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
