Pirates SMP: Herons and Kestrels / Characters

Main Characters Index
Herons and Kestrels | Kites and Nightingales | NPCs

Due to the nature of this work, some spoilers will be unmarked for the duration of the work, and may be retrospectively marked once the series has reached its conclusion.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, all tropes pertain to the characters, not the content creators that play them.

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The Herons

General Tropes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/herons_banner.png

"Anchor down and swim to shore, exploration lies in store
Chants are blarin' 'bout the Herons and their legacies"

— InTheLittleWood, "The Faction Isles"

The Herons' greatest desire to to make an impact and leave behind a legacy of some sort, usually by discovering and unearthing rare monuments and being credited for their findings, though some may find their calling in scholarship and academia.

The Herons are on relatively good terms with both the Kestrels and the Nightingales, and allegedly hate the Kites for "making murder their only personality trait". Their NPCs are Gabriel the scribe and archivist, and Christian the tavern-keeper, later to be joined by various Patreon additions.

Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: In the series' lineup of Herons, Water has dirty blonde to light brown hair (blonde for the purposes of the trope), Scott and Cleo are redheads, and Eloise has reddish brown hair (somewhere between redhead and brunette). The brunet group is further divided between those with medium brown shades of hair (Sniff) and those with dark hair (Owen and Olive).
Bold Explorer: Their schtick is discovery and exploration, so many of them fall under this category.
Scott: All great discoveries out there out there were probably found by a Heron.
Bystander Syndrome: The day after Aimsey's disappearance, the Herons mostly decide to brush it all off as a "Kite issue" that they can deal with by themselves. It's subverted later on as they still eventually join the search party for Aimsey on Day 36, and Scott and Water are clearly concerned for Aimsey's well-being after finding their Corrupted phantom lingering on various islands.
Color Motif: Their IGN are a bright shade of green.
It's All About Me: At their worst, the Herons can be quite arrogant and haughty; Acho describes them as "stuck-up snobs", and considering his past, it is likely rooted in personal experience and not an unfounded claim.
Legacy Seeker: Described to be one of their primary motivations for discovery.
Seeker Archetype: If not a Bold Explorer, many Herons alternatively fall under this category, whether they choose to align with scholarship or not.
The Smart Guy: If not Bold Explorers, some Herons have chosen to take the path of academia and record-keeping, i.e. exploring the breadth and depths of human knowledge. The Recruitment Officer also describes them to be lovers of "discovery and history", and one of the quest series is known as "Heron Literature".
Written by the Winners: On Day 52, Kuervo accuses the Heron faction of rewriting historical records to befit their own agendas, or to paint themselves in a better light. Whether or how much this is actually true is unknown.

OliveSleepy

^{Click here to see their skin.}

IGN: olivesleepy
Preferred name: Olive
Personal pronouns: They/Them

A curious researcher from a family of scientists, Olive came to the Faction Isles to keep records of the local flora and fauna, but quickly falls in to investigate the life of pirates in the region.

Bookworm: Olive has carried several large stacks of books and sketchbooks with them during their month-long voyage to the Faction Isles.
Cannot Keep a Secret: In spite of being told to keep Cruppy's presence on the main island a secret on Day 1, Olive repeatedly and openly mentions it in the in-game chat mere minutes later, to Cleo's annoyance, though she also quickly gives up on keeping the secret after this. Of course, it wasn't that Cruppy's presence was a secret on the Isles in the first place, as other factions had already encountered it before it followed Owen to the Heron base.
Cuteness Proximity: Olive reacts this way to Cruppy on Day 1 and eventually befriends it, enough for it to follow them home to the Herons' base.
Improvised Weapon: Discussed. On the Day 1 Heron quest, Cleo checks to make sure everyone else is armed in case the quest requires more than digging up treasure.
Cleo: Okay, who's actually got a weapon?
Scott: I have a rapier.
Owen: I've got a pistol.
Olive: …I have a cello?
Nice Guy: Keen on retaining friendships with and reaching out to people from other factions, and one of the few to try to befriend the factionless Recruitment Officer.
Pungeon Master: In the aftermath of the Day 1 disappearances, Olive rattles off a Hurricane of Puns about pirates during the Herons' return trip home from a treasure quest.
Olive: Where does a pirate go to school? HARRRvard!
Cleo: …You're out of the faction.
(Both burst into a fit of laughter)
Olive: Oh, no! Not on my second day! H–how does a pirate protect themself? ARRRmour.
Cleo: …I'm gonna run a vote…
Olive: No, it's fine, I'll go join the Kites or something, it's fine.
[...]
Cleo: Oh… dear.
Olive: What do you call it when two pirates are in a draw? A stale-MATEY.
Cleo: OUT! OUT OF THE FACTION!
Put on a Bus: Has been out sailing on a voyage since after Recruitment Day. Word of God states that they are suffering from a Bus Crash and have been Taken for Granite, but this is never seen or addressed in canon proper. invoked
Small Role, Big Impact: Despite having only ever appeared on SMP Launch Day, it's Olive befriending Cruppy that motivates it to come to the Isles to find them and interact with everyone else, which proves to be critical to the climax of the entire overall storyline.
Surprisingly Normal Backstory: While Olive hasn't appeared since Day 1, what we know of their backstory is significantly less dramatic (and in most cases, traumatic) than the other denizens on the Isles — they're a scientist raised into the field who got curious about the pirate life, and they never tried alcohol before coming to the Isles at age 22, as their parents had told them not to drink.

OwengeJuice

^{Click here to see his skin.}

IGN: Owenge_Juice; OwengeJuice
Preferred name: Owen
Personal pronouns: He/Her

Having fled from a constricting life of wealth, Owen hopped on a trading vessel to the Isles, receives offers from all four factions, and ultimately chooses to join the Herons on Day 1. Despite this, it's not a life in the world of piracy that drives him, especially not within the faction system.

His previous life on the run and love for freedom ends up causing much conflict between him and many others, culminating into him renouncing his Heron status and fleeing from the Faction Isles on Day 112 out of self-preservation, but he decides to come Back for the Finale.

Added Alliterative Appeal: From the introductory segment of Owen's 1st episode:
"Life is for the living! And being buttoned up prim and proper and placed in perfected poses is as much as being dead than the gallows."
Ambiguous Criminal History: In a flashback at the start of his 7th episode, Owen gets arrested for the alleged theft of the Saber Marauda about three years before the events of the episode. Since Owen isn't seen in possession of this item in the series proper, it's unconfirmed if he even committed such a crime, but whatever happened, he manages to convince the judicial authorities to let him have a go at Trading Bars for Stripes.
Ambiguous Gender Identity: Owen uses both masculine and feminine pronouns and titles (e.g. "lady") to refer to himself, and mentions stealing "[his] mother's finer clothes due to [his] father's not fitting [him] nearly as well as [he] would have liked", but never puts an explicit label to what he identifies as.
Animal Motifs: Downplayed. After trying to bounce back from the cursed treasure and claiming to always land on his feet, Eloise compares Owen to a cat, but not much else has come from this so far.
Back for the Finale: Decides to sail back to the Faction Isles on Day 134, in time for the series finale. His 14th episode reveals that Luanne manages to convince him to go back because the pirates of the Isles genuinely cared about him as a friend and are willing to fight by his side to the end out of loyalty, not out of obligation to orders from a "higher power".
Big Eater: Briefly Played for Horror on Day 76, but to a less noticeable extent. After reclaiming the gold from the Captain Golden Beard quest (from being captured), the curse eventually and briefly inflicts Owen with insatiable hunger to the point his full Hunger bar can drop to zero in mere moments. However, this is alleviated as Owen's backpack has an upgrade mechanism that automatically feeds him whenever his Hunger bar drops sufficiently, and his backpack is well-stocked enough that it doesn't affect him as much as it did Shep (see below).
Byronic Hero: Is quite the looker and was born and raised into higher society, and her determination to live free from rules and convention by all means has created friction between her and… just about everyone who has held dear to her. It doesn't help that her Dark and Troubled Past, revealed through a Flashback B-Plot in the YouTube episodes, continues to echo and parallel into her present day.
Carpe Diem: Seems to believe in this and live it out like a life motto.
The Casanova: Has had quite the track record of flirting with and rizzing up the NPCs on the Isles, even by the standards of the SMP, and at least one of the other creator-characters.
Commitment Issues: This apparently comes with the package of Owen's desire to live a free life, preferring not to be tied down by anyone or anything. Played for Drama in that it ends up causing a lot of conflict between him and some of his friends on the Isles when he decides to skip town after Day 112, and several of those he leaves behind denounce him throughout Chapter 4 as a traitorous Dirty Coward. He manages to come through in time for the finale, though.
Defector from Decadence: Downplayed. Yes, Owen did run away from a wealthy life, but was already disinherited and about to be kicked out when he did so.
Flashback B-Plot: Owen's YouTube episodes for the series chronicles the main bulk of events livestreamed on Twitch, but also intertwines flashback sequences of his experiences before making his way to the Faction Isles, particularly elaborating on a few incidences mentioned in his character intro sequence.
Forced Out of the Closet: Implied; while he's canonically pan in modern-day terms, he also mentions being disowned for being caught being "really good friends" with the household's stable master in his character intro cinematic.
How We Got Here: Owen's character intro is framed as him telling his life story before the Faction Isles to someone else, followed by the rest of his YouTube adapted series. His YouTube finale implies that he told the story to Luanne, who goes on to encourage and convince him to return to the Isles to be Back for the Finale.
I Have No Son!: Gets disowned at "the ripe old age of 20" for having an intimate relationship with one of the estate staff.
I'm Standing Right Here: On Day 1, the Herons speculate on whether Olive, a potential new recruit to the faction at the time, would join them. Then, the conversation quickly turns awkward when Cleo forgets one crucial detail about a different new recruit…
Cleo: Yeah, they [Olive] said they'd got invitations from the Herons and the Nightingales, I think?
[…]
Scott: Yeah, it was… Herons, Nightingales, and Kestrels; they didn't get Kites.
Cleo: Who does get Kites unless you're, like, a psychopath?
Scott: Owen got all four.
Owen: Yeah… umm…
Cleo: Oh…
Know When to Fold 'Em: In the flashback at the start of his 13th episode, Owen suggests to Samuel to flee the battle when the fleet is outnumbered 5-to-1. Samuel refuses, insisting on Going Down with the Ship in line of duty and denouncing Owen as a disgraceful Dirty Coward of a Lieutenant for choosing to do so. That being said, it's stated in his 14th episode that they were Lured into a Trap, with the implication that Owen made the right call to run for it that time.
Meaningful Name: He went by the alias 'Owen the Romeo' in the past, an obvious nod to his… romantic history.
"Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: Jokes about 'Homewrecker' being his middle name on Day 53 in response to Eloise saying she couldn't romance Finn because he was married, and that one could romance any of the NPCs if they were "capable" of doing so.
Mirror Character: To Acho. In their respective backstories, both of them chose to flee an affluent environment in which they did not feel welcome and joined up with a sailing crew, developing a close bond with a crew member in the process. However, when faced with a dire situation and an ensuing argument, while said crew member insisted on continuing in their mission to their death, both chose to flee and ended up on the Faction Isles. While they initially form a connection about feeling like outsiders who don't fit into the faction system, their dynamic drifts towards being Foils as when things get down to the wire on the Isles, Owen chooses to flee again (though she eventually decides to come back), while Acho stays and remains bitter about Owen's decision and never learns about her decision to come back on account of dying before that.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Her shirt, in both the official artwork and Minecraft skin, is unbuttoned enough to expose her chest.
No Full Name Given: Owen's family name, if he has one, is never mentioned in the series. It stands out in that the letter addressed to him in the finale about the liquidation of the Snapdragon Casino refers to him as just 'Owen', while equivalent letters refer to Ros as 'Roscumber'^note and Scott by his in-character full/family name, respectively.
Noodle Incident:
- In the 3 or so years between being disowned and sailing for the Faction Isles, Owen mentions in his introductory segment to have "rescued some princes, fled the Navy, [and] got into a healthy portion of trouble". While the latter two have been at least partially addressed in later episodes, the part about rescuing princes is never mentioned again.
- On Day 42, while sorting out the gold distribution after their first Fortress (or second in Acho's case), Owen makes a passing mention to having worked as a secretary before becoming a pirate, but when asked, says that It's a Long Story and dodges the subject afterward. This has never been brought up again.
- At the end of his 9th episode, a flashback has Owen recall once getting into a romantic tryst between a countess and her husband, both of whom were cheating on each other… with the same person.
Rapid Hair Growth: On Day 75, Owen and several others escape from imprisonment by Cultists using a rope made from her hair, which apparently grows fast enough for 108 metres of rope to made after two to four weeks of being trapped in a pit.
Rebel Prince: While presumably not royal, Owen received an education fit for the upper class and is implied to have been the heir to his parents' trading business. He finds the upper class life planned out for him stifling and gets himself disinherited for… what is arguably an act of rebellion.
Resolved Noodle Incident: At the start of her character intro, Owen mentions having fled the Navy at some point after running away from home pre-disownment and before coming to the Faction Isles. The Flashback B-Plot in the YouTube episodes cover precisely that, on how she decided to invoke Trading Bars for Stripes, becoming close to her commander, and deserting a battle she knows they can't win.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After learning that the Faction Isles were built to foster lambs to the slaughter for the Cultists on Day 112, Owen decides it's about time to get out of dodge to protect himself, settling his final matters and goodbyes and inviting Luanne to sail to explore the northern waters with him. Having spent most of his adult life prior to the Isles on the run, he believes it's the most viable option for him as it hasn't failed before. Despite this, Luanne convinces him to come back around to check on the Isles, just in time to be Back for the Finale.
Skewed Priorities: On Day 36, Owen gets distracted by the unique lighting in the underground city and takes the time to collect a lamp… in the middle of an earthquake, while everyone is fleeing the city ruins. To everyone else's credit, a few people yell at him that it's not the time.
Starting a New Life: The night before she's kicked out, Owen stole her mother's clothes and jewellery and ran away to become a pirate, thus setting the scene for her storyline.
Stepford Smiler: Despite Owen's normally mischievously nonchalant demeanor, the whispers from his past from being cursed mention him having a "broken heart" and allude to some serious abandonment issues.
Tempting Fate: Played for Drama. After the rescue mission on Day 76, Owen says that outside of the other pirates, she didn't think there was anyone on the Faction Isles that can "get got" whom she'd be particularly upset about. Barely a day later, the cast find out Hook, Owen's best friend on the Isles, has been kidnapped by the Cultists off-screen and are Forced to Watch it be turned into a statue, and Owen doesn't take it well.
Owen: (quietly; in private) …It was just meant to be a… I didn't think that we'd actually lose anybody…
Trading Bars for Stripes: Invoked. The flashback at the start of Owen's 8th episode reveals he talked his way out of execution by hanging off-screen and convinced the judicial authorities to send him to the Navy that just arrested him.
Tragic Keepsake: The gold fishing rod that Hook gave him. It's Played for Drama in that to enter the depths of the Golden Isle on Day 93, everyone is supposed to "you must lose the thing [they] hold close" to "control the nightmare"; Owen initially contemplates throwing the fishing rod in, but ultimately refuses to do so, claiming he doesn't really hold anything with sentimental value.
Trauma Conga Line: Between Day 59 and 77 alone, Owen gets kidnapped and imprisoned for several weeks (with few going out to look for him at all and extended periods of time spent in isolation); almost as soon as he gets out, he gets cursed and almost trapped in nightmares of his already not-so-great past, and nearly freezes to death in the process; once he gets out, he finds his roommate was on her way to taking over his part of the house in his absence, winds up going into battle against his (and his friends') kidnappers, and is Forced to Watch as his best friend on the Isles gets killed by said kidnappers. Let's just say he's not in the greatest of mental states after all that goes down.

Scott Denholm

^{Click here to see his skin.}

IGN: Smajor1995
Preferred name: Scott
Personal pronouns: He/Him
"I'm not losing my brother again. Once was more than enough."

One of the original Herons, Scott was born and raised in one of the faction's most acclaimed families. Because of this, he has a lot of expectations and a familial legacy to live up to, though he's not particularly uppity about discovery himself.

After reestablishing a bond with his estranged younger brother, Scott has tried to settle down in favour of a more peaceful life, only to be dragged into the whirlwind of dark pasts faced by those he cares for.

All Guys Want Bad Boys: He has something going on with Sausage and Martyn^note throughout the series, neither of whom are particularly morally upstanding — see Sausage's joke-classism and alleged fearsome reputation, as well as Martyn's Protection Racket bounty on Ros early in the series — and are the only known Kestrels to have gone rogue in the series for any reason.
Animal Lover: Has a soft spot for most animals which aren't directly hostile, and not even being initially disturbed by giant wasps when they're flying can stop him from considering befriending one — the only reason he didn't is because he forgot to bring out the spider-eyes required to tame one.
The Beastmaster: Is more than happy to tame and befriend all sorts of animals to defend him and his territory, from a gorilla to a mob of kangaroos (the latter of which he would have brought to battle if it weren't for extraordinary circumstances), to even hatching and raising baby crocodiles.
Bearer of Bad News: Is forced to be this for his brother's death in the finale, as the only witness and effectively Sole Survivor. It, combined with the preexisting trauma from the incident, takes its toll on him.
Big Brother Instinct:
- On Day 3, Scott's first reaction to Tubbo pointing a gun at Acho (in an attempt to test out said gun) is to dissuade Tubbo from shooting that one particular Nightingale and, when Tubbo doesn't back down, to jump in front of the gun.
- On Day 36, when Acho gets dragged into the Whirlpool from being lassoed by Owen, Scott is one of the first to jump in after them, loudly declaring he's not losing his brother again.
- On Day 132, after finding out Acho has left the Isles again on a quest star might never come back from, Scott's immediate response is to track star down so that star doesn't have to do this alone, then prepare to make a Heroic Sacrifice so that star can get out of the quest alive. Unfortunately for Scott, Acho decides to pull a More Hero than Thou at the last second.
Broken Ace: Is charismatic, practical, savvy, and has a desire to become the "#1 Heron", yet displays enough Kestrel and Kite traits (in the form of business prowess and being good in a fight) to get along well with them too. However, it's strongly hinted from one of his younger brother's throwaway comments that the ambition part might have been at least partially drilled into his mind from childhood, and being on the better-treated end of Parental Favoritism also means he's receiving the full brunt of parental expectations, with all the mental health issues that may entail… and that's not getting started on the abandonment issues or the Trauma Conga Line he's dragged on for the last quarter of the series.
Caged Bird Metaphor: Implied. After the finale, cc!Scott describes the magpies to be free to explore the world beyond the Ice Walls, much like his character… who has also decided to break free from his toxic family in memory of his late brother.
Cassandra Truth: On Day 26, Scott is the first person to notice and point out Ivy's presence, possessing a Corrupted phantom of Aimsey at the time; his observation is brushed off by Owen and Water during their adventure, where Owen is convinced that he's just gaslighting himself. He's proven right over the course of the next ten days, when several other server-members also catch sight of the phantom even before going on the search party to the Whirlpool.
The Confidant: To his brother; he's the only one Acho trusts with the fact that star joined up with rogue pirates for the year or so star was away from home, which is generally considered a social taboo on the Isles, and eventually learns about the details from star on Day 132.
The Dutiful Son: The so-claimed "golden child" who stays behind and tries to live up to parental expectations, in contrast to his runaway brother who goes rogue from the terrible parenting. It's somewhat deconstructed in that while not as apparent as Acho, staying has taken its psychological toll on him as well, and a few throwaway comments hint at some lingering abandonment issues, if not more. After surviving the finale, he decides to leave the Faction Isles and sail beyond the Ice Wall to get away from their parents in Acho's memory.
Five Stages of Grief: Alludes to having gone through the stages on Day 2, assuming his brother to be dead after running away and leaving the family behind.
Scott: I don't know what to do. I mean, we're gonna need to talk eventually… but… what do you talk about? "Hey, sorry you abandoned us and disappeared for a year and a half without any communication!" When someone's been out of your life that long with zero knowledge of where they are, you… you go through all stages, eventually… the mourning and then accepting stage… or at least I did.
Foil: A four-way instance.
- To Shep. Both of them are "golden children" figures trained to follow in their terrible mentors' footsteps and who want said mentors' approval, and both amass a large and extensive exotic pet collection during the canon era. However, their respective relationships with their "scapegoat" counterparts are the polar opposite — Scott desperately tries to look out for Acho to the point of being willing to pull a Heroic Sacrifice so star can live, while Shep is mostly indifferent to Will and thinks he's "weird", if not outright disliking him, and has him Pushed at the Monster when things get too hairy. This is also contrasted in their respective fates — both decide to leave the Isles to sail and explore the lands beyond the Ice Wall, but while Scott is doing so in Acho's memory to get away from their toxic parents, i.e. acting in defiance to them, Shep is trying to invoke Karma Houdini knowing there might be "a target on his back" for the third-degree murder he committed, all the while keeping Captain Merton on an unshakeable golden pedestal.
- To Will. Both of them are the older "sibling figure" in the golden child/scapegoat dynamic growing up, are the first to reach out to their estranged younger "sibling figure", and at least somewhat try to look out for said younger "sibling figure" (to varying degrees and levels of success). They're also both optimists despite their circumstances, bordering on idealism at times. However, their opinions on their respective mentors differ — Will's thoughts on Captain Merton are overwhelmingly negative, while Scott is more neutral about his parents and never displays open dislike of them. They both also get pushed by their younger "sibling figure" in their respective character lore finales — one to his survival, and the other to his death.
- To Acho, his younger brother. Both are brought up in the same household, but due to Parental Favoritism and different life experiences, have gained contrasting outlooks on life by the time the series starts, with Scott's open curiosity and concern for his loved ones contrasting Acho's more reserved caution from Safety in Indifference… and for more obvious contrast, only one of them survives the series. That being said, both spend much of their known lives in canon dealing with insurmountable guilt about their pasts and especially grief and have mutual struggles relating to their shared upbringing, especially concerning conforming to parental expectations.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Zig-zagged.
- On the surface, from their parents' perspectives, Acho is the rebellious Foolish sibling who never lived up to their expectations and eventually ran away from "home" (but returned while they were away and joined a different faction when star could); in contrast to Scott being their favoured and The Dutiful Son, i.e. the Responsible sibling, who stayed a Heron because his parents were already in the faction.
- Throughout most of the series proper, the line blurs as Acho spends most of stars days questing or Fortressing enough to be the wealthiest person on the Isles, but still retains a strong reckless streak (e.g. the lasso into the Whirlpool incident); meanwhile, Scott is more laid-back and prioritizes unconventional ventures like business, decorating, and zookeeping, but still retains the responsible Big Brother Instinct.
- In the end, however, it's still Acho who fell victim to the Sunk Cost Fallacy to go on a potentially deadly quest, prompting Scott to go after star, not wanting to lose star again… which then causes the line to blur again, as both of them would rather die for each other than go for the coward's way out.
The Gadfly: On Day 36, Scott readily jokes about obtaining his "tentacle powers" and his Grappling-Hook Pistol from committing acts of indecency with a squid purely to see everyone's reactions. He also adopts and breeds his Kangacrew of over two dozen marsupials strong because it would be funny.
Genre Savvy: During the rescue mission for Gabriel on Day 16, after hearing of a clue to the treasure being hidden under the Kestrel base, Scott instinctively knows to look under the well for the secret passageway, lampshading how there's almost always something at the bottom of a well.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: The Grappling Squok, which is made from, among other materials, three Giant Squid tentacles. It's a crossbow which can shoot up to four tentacles as grappling hooks, which are strong enough to resist the pull of a lasso when all four are in use. Scott uses his to speed up travel around the Faction Isles rather than just walking places, as well as some occasional trolling. Now, if only Bek would stop referring to them as his "fleshy appendages" and everyone else would stop making jokes about it…
The Heart: Scott is widely considered to be the person who keeps the Heron faction together; his joke about running for Nightingale faction leader on Day 77 after Marnie's petrification is instantly shot down by Eloise because his home faction still needs him. His general niceness and status as one of the Team Chefs of the Faction Isles also solidifies him as this for the cast in general; in the finale, he expresses surprise that despite him being fully prepared to unleash his Kangacrew on anyone who tries to take a bounty on him, no one has ever done so in the series.
Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. When faced with the ultimatum that only one of them can make it out of the Kishi quest alive, Scott decides to make a Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye and fully prepares to do so, only for Acho to shove him out of the way at the last second.
Honorary True Companion: Implied. On Day 1, as Martyn leads the charge to shoo the Herons away from the Kestrel side of the island, most of the faction just leaves Scott alone to strike up a conversation with them. Although it's initially suspected that he simply looks and carries himself like someone of a wealthy background, later livestreams show that he genuinely gets along with most of the Kestrels (albeit not-so-platonically in some cases), with some even saying on Day 53 that he should have been part of their faction instead.
In a Single Bound: Downplayed; carrying a magical silver amulet^note for a while early in the series, Scott temporarily had the Jump Boost II effect and could bounce around much higher than the average player. Even after losing the amulet, he still somehow sporadically gets persisting boosts in jump height whenever he gets a new Jump Boost accessory. He eventually jokes about this ability being foreshadowing for his adoption of the Kangacrew.
Loophole Abuse: Is quite prone to doing so at the start of the series, like compensating Ros for her bounty and killing fish with a sword rather than using a fishing rod, purely because there is no rule against doing so.
My Greatest Failure: As of the finale and tying into his Big Brother Instinct, failing to support his younger brother when star needed it the most, despite not knowing of the circumstances in question, and failing to give said brother a second chance at living a happy life via Heroic Sacrifice… or any life, for that matter.
Scott: It's just like every time someone asks me… I'm reminded of how much I failed. I have to relive that moment again.
Nepotism: Downplayed. Jokes have been made about this being the reason Scott's in the faction in the first place, but outside of having a leg up at the start, he expects to carve out his own place in the world and is offended if anyone acts condescending to him because of this.
Scott: It's the life I always wanted, or at least, the life that I was given.
Never Be Hurt Again: On Day 134, Scott ultimately decides to keep the Kangacrew out of the battle on this basis.^note
Eloise: Scott, I see you've put the kangas in time-out in the museum.
Scott: Yeah, I moved them all to safety. I had a vision that they might have died in a horrible death, and I couldn't risk losing them as well, so…
Cleo: What do you mean, "as well"?
Scott: (despairing chuckle) I've lost enough, Cleo.
Persona Non Grata: Gets temporarily banned from the Bounty Hall on Day 20 for Loophole Abuse, namely compensating Ros with gold after killing her. The ban was supposed to last just a week, but it winds up going on for up to a month.
Pretty Boy: Self-described as such on Day 6, Minecraft limitations aside, and joked to be the reason he's such a Kestrel magnet.
The Promise: Repeatedly swears to himself throughout Chapter 1 that he's not losing Acho again after their reunion at the start of the SMP, and once declares it in front of half the server before jumping into the Whirlpool after star. It doesn't work out as planned.
Royal Rapier: His main weapon, a family heirloom from an illustrious family in the faction and thus the closest the Isles has to nobility, with him carrying himself well enough to get along with the infamously elitist Kestrels. He switches out for a different rapier Acho found from the Kishi quest and gave to him before stars death on Day 132.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The calmer, more subdued Heart to Shelby's enthusiastic Valley Girl.
Self-Applied Nickname: "The Kanga King", in reference to the Kangacrew he has amassed.
Sheltered Aristocrat: Very downplayed. While Scott has only ever lived on the Faction Isles, he goes about the series without much issue and gets along with everyone else just fine, aside from questioning how the new arrivals managed to get to the Isles despite the Ice Walls' presence on Day 53.
Apo: I think there's other people that live inside the Ice Wall besides us.
Owen: Yeah, it's not just us, there's like, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people across this world.
Scott: Just in the Ice Wall?
Owen: Yeah! […] Oh, wait, you've only ever lived on this island.
Scott: Yeah.
[…]
Owen: (to Apo) Oh, he's lived a sheltered life. It's okay.
Apo: Yeah, nepotism baby, it's just how it is.
Owen: There's no judgement.
Scott: It feels like judgement.
Owen: There's no judgement.
Apo: It's okay, nepo baby.
Owen: Mummy and Daddy will be back soon and then you won't have to meet any new people.
Scott: You two are lucky I don't set the Kangacrew on you.
Skewed Priorities: While on a server-wide quest to investigate the Whirlpool on Day 36, Acho asks Scott to lasso star while star goes down to investigate and loot it, so that star can be pulled back up. Scott's first reaction?
Scott: I feel like I would lose my lasso. And my brother.
Acho: That's what you're concerned about?!
Stepford Smiler: If not before then, Scott is definitely this by the finale, where he brings his entire Kangacrew to town so that no one else on the server asks him about his younger brother's death that he witnessed and has severe Survivor Guilt over, and thus hit his Trauma Button over and over again.
Scott: I mean, no one asks a man with about fifty kangaroos following him where his brother is, you just ask, "Hey! Why do you have fifty kangaroos?"
Stepford Snarker: When confronted with the more bitter parts of his past and experiences, Scott's introspection gains a notably more sarcastic streak.
Scott: I've spent the last week just… sticking to myself, thinking… I was ready and… now I don't know if I am. But I mean, I can't blame them, what do they want me to do? Put on an ad in QuestBuy? Hey, my brother's dead! Don't ask questions!
Strong Family Resemblance: Is practically a splitting image of his mother, except with short hair and as the opposite gender.
Survivor Guilt: On Day 134, during the finale, whenever Scott has to be the Bearer of Bad News about Acho's sacrifice, he repeatedly reiterates that it should have been him that died, regarding it as My Greatest Failure.
Sweet Tooth: On Day 3, Acho decides to get Scott both a pumpkin pie and a cake because he "never seemed to make up [his] mind with sweet things".
Symbolic Weapon Discarding: A subtle case; while on the Kishi quest, Scott swaps out his family heirloom sword for a diamond rapier Acho found and gave him in the ruins of the lost kingdom, shortly before stars death in said ruins; by the finale, Scott is seen exclusively using this new weapon, with the old sword absent from his inventory for the entire livestream and only a couple of cursory mentions that he changed weapons at all. Given his later decision to leave the Faction Isles to get away from their parents in stars memory, it's evident that even if he's supposed to be the dutiful "golden child" of the family, the Big Brother Instinct is always going to trump that, and it's this subtle "choice" that allows him to break free from the otherwise toxic familial dynamic at the end of the finale.
Team Chef: Since its establishment, Scott and his dumpling stall have been keeping most of the Isles well-fed, to the point the stock can be cleared out in just a couple of days if he's away for extended periods of time.
Through His Stomach: Scott is well-rehearsed enough in the Farmer's Delight mod to spend much of his time making food for everyone, from selling it in town (and making bank from it) to making it for his loved ones. For the latter:
- On the platonic side, he makes Acho an apple pie on Day 3 in an attempt to reconcile. It works.
- On the romantic side, he's more than willing to supply Kyle with food in the early days. He lays off once he finds that Kyle's already allegedly taken and definitely uninterested, having also set his eye on a different Kestrel.
Trauma Button: The reason Scott decides to bring out his entire Kangacrew for a run at the start of the finale on Day 134 is to distract everyone from asking him about how his brother died, so he doesn't have to relive the moment in his head every time he mentions it.
Trauma Conga Line: Scott's had it rough for all of Chapter 4. For one, he finds out that a good chunk of his familial identity is built on a lie, and one of his closest friends bails on him and the Isles in response to the revelation later the same day (although she comes Back for the Finale), only exacerbating on some implicit abandonment issues… then his little brother leaves the Isles to go on what's essentially a suicide mission, and when he tries to interfere, he ends up having to watch said brother sacrifice starself to save his life when he was trying to do the same thing for star, which ends up being a Trauma Button, My Greatest Failure, and Survivor Guilt all rolled up in one.
Tyke Bomb: Implied. Acho makes an offhand mention to being trained to fight since learning to walk on Day 128 from being raised into piracy from birth; while it goes unstated in canon, as stars older brother carrying the weight of familial expectations, it's likely that Scott would have been treated similarly growing up.
Unusual Pets for Unusual People: On Day 20, Scott befriends a Gentle Gorilla; within the week, he has also begun taming and breeding kangaroos to make a secret army of them, and has even hatched not one but two baby crocodiles. In the following days, he even adds a gaze of raccoons, several capuchin monkeys, and an entire aviary to the menagerie.
Wall Pin of Love: Does so to Sausage at his request on Day 36, using his Grappling-Hook Pistol… which is immediately followed by creator jokes about this being fanart fuel.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Strongly implied from the introductory segment of Scott's 1st episode, especially given his apparent resignation in the matter:
Scott: I'm gonna discover so many things, I'm gonna make everyone proud, just like I was… born to do. Just like I was meant to do, 'cause I'm a Heron and that's– it's all I've ever been, and it's all I'm… was ever gonna be.

Snifferish

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sniff_6.jpeg

^{Click here to see their skin.}

IGN: Snifferish
Preferred name: Sniff
Personal pronouns: He/They/She/Any

While Sniff recalls little of his own past, he knew he was sailing to look for something when he washes up on the Corrupted island with Shelby and Shep on Day 52. With the Kestrels acting like greedy jerks and Cleo taking him under her wing, Sniff joins the Herons soon afterward.

Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: His last appearance is on Day 57 and is spent completing quests, after which point he is not seen online again. He is also not seen among the petrified in the finale, leaving his final fate ambiguous in canon proper, though Word of God states that he is Taken for Granite and Killed Offscreen. invoked
Extreme Omnivore: One of the first things Sniff does after escaping the Corrupted island is to eat a maggot out of hunger. The Kestrels, including Sniff's two fellow rescuees who end up joining the faction, are disgusted by this, with Martyn deriding it as "typical Heron behaviour".
Mysterious Past: Due to having some form of memory issues, little is known about Sniff's past before his landing on the second Corrupted island. All that is known is that he carries his dead lover Charles' skull around with him.
No Social Skills: While showing Sniff around the Heron base, one of the first things Cleo tells him is that she thinks the reason the Nightingales value True Companions so much is because they didn't receive enough love in their childhoods. Later the same day, Sniff quotes this to Acho, the first Nightingale he meets… to whom the quote very much applies.
Open Mouth, Insert Foot: After Sausage demanded her to give her two flying fish to him, and claiming to only have given them back because they were "stinking" and "rotten", Sniff mouths off to him and says that's what his mom smelt like. Sausage almost kills her for saying this, and she does admit to Cleo afterward that her mouth sometimes just runs off without her.

SoupForEloise

^{Click here to see her skin.}

IGN: soupforeloise
Preferred name: Eloise/El
Personal pronouns: She/They

Hailing from one of the far-off mainlands as an aspiring reporter, Eloise joins the Herons on Day 1 in search of a big scoop that would wow the people at home enough to overlook the fact that she's a woman. Despite being undercover, she takes to life on the Faction Isles like a duck to water.

Becoming the Mask: Eloise starts off the series as an undercover journalist claiming to have been a pirate all her life, but has eventually grown to love the adventure that comes with living on the Faction Isles. It's deconstructed in that when she realizes this on Day 113, she starts having an identity crisis over whether she even wants to continue with journalism anymore, worrying that no one will accept her as a bona fide pirate since she didn't come here with the intention of being one, though she reconciles with it by her epilogue in maintaining her friendships while still living her best journalistic life.
Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story: Eloise's cover story for her background is that she used to be part of a crew named "the Taking 'L's" after herself, but all of the crew had died after they took too many 'L's in battle. She also claims to be born into piracy^note, but only really started to take it seriously 10 years before the start of the SMP (around age 14).
Dark Secret: The fact that she's not actually a pirate, and essentially everything about her past; Eloise swears the viewers to secrecy about this at the start of the series. However, this means she's had to constantly lie about her past and cover up her "inadequacies" whenever she lets it slip, and she sends herself into a panic upon hearing the nightmare whispers claim Owen and Water know she wasn't always a pirate (in reality, even if they had suspicions, they never said anything).
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: Quoted this on the job, and still occasionally slips into this while passing on messages on the Faction Isles; a few characters have questioned her having a newsboy voice because of these slip-ups, but those that do usually find it endearing.
Genki Girl: Very energetic and enthusiastic while going about the world.
Girlfriend in Canada: Discussed for Laughs in regard to why Eloise has named her ship the "HMS Ladykriller".
Eloise: 'Cause I get all the women; you just can't see them because they go to another Faction Isles!
Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: A great artist, likes pink, prefers treasure quests to ones that involve killing hostile creatures, and once even prioritizes a life-saving rescue mission for a visit to the hairdresser's. However, she would still be considered masculine by her misogynistic hometown's standards for cross-dressing and aspiring into a journalistic career typically only reserved for men there, and she can sometimes be reckless and is usually very outspoken.
Going for the Big Scoop: Her motivation for travelling to the Faction Isles in the first place is to seek out news in a world of danger to wow the people back at home.
I Should Write a Book About This: Invoked; Eloise sets out on her pirating adventure to write about her experiences in news articles, and succeeds in doing so in her epilogue. However, it's also a variation in that the viewers/stream chat, as her ship rats, are there to experience the adventure with her rather than reading about it in a newspaper or watching it play out live on-screen.
Intrepid Reporter: Has the ambition to become a world-renowned journalist, and is willing to throw her previous life away and navigate her way into the ruthless world of piracy to get to the news herself. In her epilogue, her risk pays off and she does manage to make headlines as she dreamed of.
Loophole Abuse: On Day 15, Eloise gets frustrated at Martyn for being an all-round "pain in the arse" to her for being a troll and a blobfish-napper (among other things), and decides to take a bounty out on him for this. Since there isn't a bounty on Martyn already present in the Bounty Hall and she can't take any bounties she sets herself, Eloise finds an easy way around it on Day 18 — getting her faction-mate Water to help her set a bounty so she can take it. She doesn't end up succeeding in the bounty, but it's the thought that counts.
Meaningful Rename: By Word of God, Eloise chose to use 'Jones' as a surname pseudonym as an undercover journalist as a reference to Davy Jones. Her actual surname has never been revealed, though. invoked
Noodle Incident: During the Revenge Raid on the Cultists' base on Day 77, Eloise describes being immobilized by Altair's ice attack as "just like the time [she] got pepper-sprayed, but the opposite feeling".
Odd Friendship: Often goes exploring and questing with Bek, a cunning, snarky Kite to Eloise's own excitable and spunky Heron; especially notable as Herons usually don't get along with Kites.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While Eloise normally has very little self-preservation while out questing even by pirate standards, she gets freaked out enough by the curse on Captain Golden Beard's treasure to throw the gold out before it can affect her too strongly, and is the only known quester who didn't bring any cursed gold back to the Isles with her.
Pink Means Feminine: Customizes her ship with pink cherry trim as a "girlypop" aesthetic, and has both an artistic and flirty streak.
Plucky Girl: An Intrepid Reporter determined to get the big scoop.
Signature Headgear: Her cardboard box hat. She wears it claiming that she lost her old hat in a fight and had to improvise; in actuality, it is a nod to how she's trying to fit in with the seafarers of the Faction Isles as an outsider.
Sole Survivor: Claims to be this for her old crew, "the Taking 'L's", as part of her Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story.
Stay in the Kitchen: She was subjected to this treatment at home, where "they won't let women have any of the cool jobs". As a result of this, she's had to dress up as a boy to get her first job as a newspaper seller and work her way up; even then, she's remained unsatisfied and has since sailed out to sea to get the scoop of her dreams.
Unusual Pets for Unusual People: On Day 22, Eloise considers taking a leaf out of Scott's book to make an army of capuchin monkeys, though she only ever gets one. She has also adopted a blobfish while sailing with Bek, then tamed a grizzly bear, a Komodo dragon (to many others' horror), and a raccoon.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Has a seemingly one-sided dynamic in this style with Owen, her roommate — she's constantly annoyed about the shared storage space and tries to move into his side of the apartment while he's kidnapped (as she didn't know at the time). Despite this, she takes him leaving the Faction Isles hard, and her first reaction upon him being Back for the Finale is to smack him with a maraca for leaving.
Written-In Absence: Eloise's absence from the rescue mission on Day 76 is brushed off as her having a haircut, both in real life and in-character.

WaterMunch

^{Click here to see her skin.}

IGN: watermunch
Preferred name: Water
Personal pronouns: She/Her

One of the original Herons, Water is a musician and storyteller at heart, and while she tends to fade into the background in the big picture, she certainly has her own story to tell.

Birds of a Feather: Water bonds with and falls for the NPC Jeffery over their shared love for music.
Dude, Not Funny!: On Day 115, Water is horrified by the headlines of "the Noisy Parrot" Issue 3 because they pun on the late Hook's name.
WHAT DA HOOK?!
Hook, line, stinker for failed revenge mission on travelling island…
Elegant Classical Musician: She plays the guitar and the lute, and her stream chat manifest as mainly music notes.
Flowers of Femininity: Wears a flower crown in place of her usual tricorn hat on her wedding day.
Fourth-Date Marriage: Water proposes to Jeffery less than three weeks into the series (on Day 20), and he accepts it. She winds up lampshading the short time they've known each other, admitting out-of-character that she didn't think it was possible to romance the NPCs beyond simple flirtation. Downplayed in-universe as the timeline doesn't run one-to-one with real life.
Leeroy Jenkins: On Day 26, while encountering a Tarantula Hawk, Owen is hesitant to do anything to it, knowing he'll probably get attacked if he doesn't kill it right away. Water's response to this? Punch the wasp and immediately get herself stung.
Never Got to Say Goodbye: Expresses this sentiment towards Owen on Day 115 after reading his farewell letter saying he's leaving in light of the revelations in "Sandro Caravel"'s journals. Subverted as they are reunited later on when Owen comes Back for the Finale.
Water: Everyone leaves in the end, I guess.
Runaway Bride: Owen attempts to invoke this in his final letter to Water, advising her to dump Jeffery at the altar because she's "way too hot" for him. It's ultimately defied as Water doesn't follow this advice… not that the wedding goes well in the end.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: Shares this dynamic with Jeffery, her fiancé for much of the series, often stopping by to chat or flirt.
Signature Headgear: Is almost never seen without her tricorn hat, which she received years ago from an unknown character from her past.
Tagalong Chronicler: Water reveals to Martyn on Day 17, and later to everyone else at her wedding speech, that her reason for becoming a Heron is to be this rather than to do any discovery and exploration herself, but later finds she has to write her own story before writing everyone else's.
Team Chef: She regularly works on maintaining the farms of the Heron faction, both her own and the faction-wide one, and keeps the Heron kitchens stocked up and the faction well-fed.
Tempting Fate: On Day 125, Water ends her wedding vows with "Till death do us part." Literally three seconds later, she's Widowed at the Wedding when Jeffery succumbs to a severe case of Anvil on Head.

ZombieCleo

^{Click here to see her skin.}

IGN: ZombieCleo
Preferred name: Cleo
Personal pronouns: She/They
"Gotta get the alcohol. Otherwise, I'm gonna kill someone. It's fine."

Cleo is the resident brewer of the Isles and one of the original Herons.

Ambiguously Human: Her skin has a greenish tint to it, if only by virtue of her username. Despite this, she seems to have a regular human diet and metabolism, and doesn't burn in the sun like a normal zombie.
Chekhov's Skill: Her talent at brewing comes in handy in the finale when her chorus ale, which gives the Slow Falling status buff, allows the pirates to float down safely from the rafters of Iris' temple to confront her.
Deadpan Snarker: Even with many on the server having a sarcastic streak, Cleo definitely stands out, especially in conjunction with a dark sense of humour:
Cleo: (regarding parkouring across a broken bridge to a Crypt) Y'know what, what's the worst that could happen? Instant death. That's fine.
The Drunken Sailor: It's stated that every time cc!Cleo's livestream glitches out, crashes, or ends (which is quite often), her character counterpart goes blackout drunk, is throwing up in the corner, etc. She also only agrees that Cruppy can stay with the Herons after it drinks a mug of her beer.
Eye Scream: Cleo claims on Day 1 that her right eye was stolen by a monkey, somehow.
Hearing Voices: What their stream chat manifests as.
Only One Name: On Day 13, in response to a chat question, Cleo points out how most pirates are known by both their first and last names, but they're just 'Cleo' and prefer it that way.
Sole Survivor: Recounts to Jojo on Day 107 that she was this after her old ship wrecked in a storm, and now essentially drinks to self-medicate.

The Kestrels

General Tropes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kestrels_banner.png

"If you'd up and trade your health for a little extra wealth
Kestrels all will take a fall to snag up more doubloons"

— InTheLittleWood, "The Faction Isles"

The Kestrels are a materialistic pirate faction, believing the key to happiness is wealth and preferring to "live lavishly and enjoy the finer things in life". It has the most starter members of all four pirate factions — Guqqie, Kyle, Oli, and Sausage — with Martyn and Scar joining on Day 1, and Shelby and Shep joining on Day 52.

The Kestrels are antagonistic towards the Kites and Nightingales, finding the former wasteful, the latter boring, and both too poor to be worth anything. They are on relatively good terms with the Herons, but still generally consider them to be inferior in terms of wealth. Their NPCs are Alison and Finnegan, who are eventually joined by Ausbie and later various contributions from Patreon.

The Beautiful Elite: Sausage claims that the faction consists of the most "handsome" and "beautiful" and all-round "best" pirates on the Isles while introducing them to Shelby on Day 52. Played with in that while some of the Kestrels do have their share of admirers, individual wealth isn't necessarily determined by faction in-game and plenty of non-Kestrels are very well-off too.
Color Motif: Their IGNs are golden orange and their base is decorated with golden yellow curtains and carpets.
Freudian Slip: Several among their numbers are quite prone to mispronouncing 'macaque' (actually "muh-KAK") and 'macaw' (actually "muh-CAW") as "mah cawk". You do the math from there.
Greed: They are described to be willing to "do anything to earn a few more doubloons", and scorn upon "scoundrels" who can't take a fight for more cash money. They also think it's a waste of time to talk to anyone who is either poor or doesn't know how much they're monetarily worth, unless they have the ambition to become rich.
Irony:
- At the start of the series, despite being the luxury-oriented faction, the Kestrels have a tendency to forage for food rather than purchasing it from Claud the trader NPC. Kyle justifies it with the "low" quality of unmodded food sold there, as Claud mainly sells raw meat, which naturally requires cooking either on a campfire (inefficient) or in a furnace (fuel is expensive), and baked goods which restore relatively mediocre levels of Hunger or Saturation.
- A similar irony persists in that the Kestrels are far from being the wealthiest of the factions — while Kyle takes the lead in earnings at the start of the SMP, by the end, he's far surpassed by Acho, a Nightingale, who makes it to six figures in gold and later leaves stars fortune to Scott, stars Heron brother, after leaving on a quest star does not expect to (and ultimately doesn't) return from; Scott is then in turn surpassed by Ros, another Nightingale, after she liquidates the Snapdragon Casino to six figures as well and gives away her earnings to her friends freely. Meanwhile, although Shep is also one of the richest pirates on the Isles for much of the latter half of the series, he blows it all away by becoming The Gambling Addict, and Kyle is very much bitter about being financially outdone by non-Kestrels in private.
Kill the Poor: Their scorn for "the poor" goes as far as to hire the Kites as mercenaries to "rough them up" (sometimes inclusive of decapitations), even though violence is illegal on the Isles.
Lack of Empathy: Most of the Kestrels show little concern for those outside their social circle and may even make fun of those outside it when they suffer misfortunes. However, they are, on some level, generally capable of caring about others whenever things get down to the wire and may threaten their own lives as well, especially pertaining to the Corruption and the Cultists.
Like Brother and Sister: Implied. In a pre-canon livestream reacting to the cast announcements, Sausage refers to Guqqie as a member of his "family" as part of the same faction and Kyle as his "Kestrel brother".
Proud Merchant Race: Those who are not Idle Rich tend to work in mercantile fields to maintain their wealth.
Running Gag: The Kestrels claiming that the true extent of their wealth is located in offshore bank accounts.
True Companions: Oddly, the Kestrels are this to each other, being more tight-knit among each other than anyone else on the Faction Isles, though they still often have individual friendships with non-Kestrels.

GoodTimesWithScar

^{Click here to see his skin.}

IGN: GoodTimeWithScar
Preferred name: Scar
Personal pronouns: He/Him
"Yeah, I let my family go down with the ship, I'll go with the money."

Formerly the captain of the ship the Flying Jellie, Scar is a pirate salesman who joins the Kestrels on Day 1 alongside his beloved cat, Captain Jellie. Day 134, the finale, reveals that he was Taken for Granite and Killed Offscreen.

Con Man: As characteristic of many iterations of character-Scar; the moment he meets Martyn, Scar tries to sell him a banana (actually a banana peel) for the two raw fish Martyn has on him upon arrival. He continues this scam throughout many other newcomers on the Isles, even after Martyn starts to warn everyone else of his antics; however, while attempting a variation of this scam with Owen on Day 5 for her ship, she manages to scam him back in the process.
Extreme Omnivore: Played for Laughs; on Day 1 alone, the Recruitment Officer has advised Scar against eating his atlas just because it looks like a peanut butter sandwich, and he later licks the Corruption at Sausage's request and claims it was salty in taste.
The Hilarity of Hats: Scar is first introduced wearing about four hats stacked on top of each other — a familiar red top hat on top of a cyan top hat, on top of a bottle green tricorn hat, on top of a brown pirate's tricorn hat.
Mythology Gag: On Day 1, Scar claims to have stolen his red top hat from "some guy with a wagon", and jokes about the Kites being obviously not trustworthy because "they have red names". Later in the day, when he fails to tame a Scarlet Macaw, he comments, "Never trust a pesky bird."
Put on a Bus: Has not been seen online since Day 5. Sausage and Oli have discussed that Scar has been too busy dungeon-crawling and sailing on "another deck" to return to the Isles. The finale reveals he's on the unfortunate end of a Bus Crash sometime before that point.
Pyrrhic Victory: By his own account on Day 1, Scar lost his ship, crew, and treasure during a big battle, but still won said battle.
Skewed Priorities: According to Sausage's recounting of Scar's backstory, he cared more about saving his hat collection (and Jellie) than his crew when it came down to fitting one or the other into the lifeboat.
Sole Survivor: Of the sinking of the Flying Jellie, alongside Captain Jellie herself. It doesn't last.

Guqqie

^{Click here to see her skin.}

IGN: guqqie
Preferred name: Guqqie
Personal pronouns: She/They
"You guys are gonna help, right? You're gonna get them out… and deal with it?"

Guqqie was considered to be an expert on crystals, but was also prideful in her privileged upbringing on the Isles as one of the original Kestrels. On Day 1, she is chosen to investigate a snowy temple and never returns from the quest, and is listed as "fallen" on the official POWCreations Twitter.

Brutal Honesty: Guqqie tends to be quite blunt when it comes to their opinion on others.
Got Volunteered: One of the mysterious Hooded Figures (later dubbed the Cultists) on the Corrupted Island chooses Guqqie as a "volunteer" to investigate a snowy temple on another island. The "Final Wishes" event reveals that this was a regular tactic of the Cultists, and the past victims also never returned from their voyages.
Ironic Fear: In spite of being a pirate, Guqqie is hesitant to go out to sea due to getting seasick sometimes (which is "unladylike" according to her mother), so she usually prefers to stay on the Faction Isles and only leaves when she has to.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although they are described to be "elitist" even by Kestrel standards, Guqqie is cordial to many of the newcomers to the Isles, even offering to take some non-Kestrels under their wing, and they deeply care for Aimsey.
Killed Offscreen: Guqqie is last seen climbing up to the snowy temple in the animated segment of Day 1. Afterwards, the official Twitter announces her death.
Last Request: Before going on her final quest, Guqqie asks the other pirates still present to make sure that Aimsey, her love interest, gets out safe. They don't.
No Social Skills: Whenever she meets someone new, the first thing Guqqie asks them usually relates to how much money they have in their bank account, to Aimsey's dismay.
Rich Bitch: Guqqie boasts about being from a wealthy family and never having had to work a "peasant" job a day in their life. They also think Owen's choice to leave a life of wealth and luxury behind is a mistake on his part.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: Heavily downplayed. Guqqie has pink hair and has shown that she can be nice to others, especially towards Aimsey and people of wealth. However, she's dismissive of poor people and expresses anger about the fact that Martyn is recruited into the Kestrels.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Aimsey. Whenever they're alone together, they always flirt and tease each other, despite Guqqie's claims of not being fond of Aimsey.
The Smurfette Principle: The only known non-male Kestrel player from the initial line-up.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Guqqie and Aimsey's relationship was bound to have obstacles from the start with the former being affiliated with the luxurious Kestrels and the latter being affiliated with the bloodthirsty Kites, with both factions not being fond of each other. If that wasn't enough, both of them die on Day 1 without even going on a proper date.
Surprisingly Normal Backstory: From what little we know about them, Guqqie lived a very luxurious life, albeit very sheltered from the other factions because they were "dirty", and her parents seem concerned about her appearing to be "ladylike" and proper. She did also form a relationship with Aimsey, despite the fact they were from the Kites. Played for Horror when the "Final Wishes" event implies it's because of her normal upbringing that the Cultists chose her to be a sacrifice.
Taken for Granite: Guqqie's death announcement poster on Twitter implies that she was turned to stone in the snowy temple. The finale confirms her demise this way when her statue is shown.
Terrified of Germs: A variation; despite being raised on the Isles as a Kestrel, Guqqie didn't leave the faction base much due to a belief that the Isles were dirty, and didn't know or interact with many non-Kestrels before Day 1.

ImaShep

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shep.jpeg

^{Click here to see his skin.}

IGN: ImaShep
Preferred name: Shep
Personal pronouns: He/They

Shep was mostly raised on the rogue ship the Luscinia; not long after leaving its crew, he crashes on a Corrupted island with Shelby and Sniff on Day 52. Following their escape by dinghy to an uncorrupted island, Shep finds that his priorities in life align with the Kestrel faction and chooses to join them, but also soon finds he's not the only ex-Luscinia crew member on the Isles… whom he finds he's not exactly a fan of.

Affably Evil: He's quite amicable when he wants to be to everyone else on the Isles in general, and often teams up with Water and/or others to take on Fortresses and Crypts. He's still a self-centred, remorseless murderer, though, and one of the more morally questionable people on the Faction Isles during his time there.
Big Eater: Briefly Played for Horror on Day 64; after taking on the Captain Golden Beard quest, the curse inflicts Shep with insatiable hunger to the point his full Hunger bar can drop to zero in less than five seconds. This happens mere minutes after he brushes off an ominous curse-message about this, saying he's packed extra food — he ends up chugging 27 baked potatoes in-game within a minute.
Blaming the Victim: Declares that Will is "more trouble than [he's] worth" before having him Pushed at the Monster, and follows up by having this to say:
Shep: Do you think it matters in the moment? They were poking their head where it shouldn't have belonged.
Chronic Pet Killer: Shep has a notoriously bad track record when it comes to pets, with well over 20 pets having died for various reasons. One of the most notable incidences of this is that after trying to set up a blobfish-selling business on Day 92, he decides to let loose all 20-or-so blobfish in the Kestrel waterfall pool; all but three of the deep sea fish end up swimming up the waterfalls, falling out of them, and dying from the subsequent fall damage.
The Ditz: Downplayed. Shep has been described to have the personality of "a teenage himbo emo" (despite being 21) and has made his fair share of unwise decisions, but he has some degree of business savvy and prefers to gain his Kestrel wealth by investing in the banana stock market, which still requires at least some brain cells to rub together. He's also pretty good with puzzles, if his Crypt-busting abilities are of any indication.
Dirty Coward: When face to face with a group of Cultists on Day 130, Shep decides his best course of action is to almost literally throw Will to the wolves and run for it. After the incident, he's sure that Will can handle himself and is going to be fine… which he is very much not, on account of dying from the stunt Shep pulled.
Dissonant Serenity: Shep is fully content to stay in Cultist captivity if it means he gets free booze. He's also completely unbothered by the fact that the Faction Isles were created to raise free souls for the slaughter, simply saying he's just going to leave before it gets to him and that he'll either find an opening in the Ice Wall or constantly stay on the run if he has to. Will is baffled by this lack of reaction in the latter case.
Dumbass Has a Point: After some discussion on Day 112, Will is forced to concede that Shep using wax crayons to mark out the maps instead of charcoal is a good course of action for making lasting maps that don't have their notes washed away by the seas.
Shep: You know, I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I might know a thing or two.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: 'Evil' is a strong word, but despite his own morality issues, Shep does care about his fellow Kestrels and expresses concern for his roommate Shelby's whereabouts at the start of the finale, and is indeed shocked and saddened to find her among the petrified in the climax.
Everyone Has Standards: While he adopted his Kestrel-like outlook on life from Captain Elyas Merton of the Luscinia, Shep refuses to partake in headhunting to earn gold, a practice that the captain apparently loved.
Flat-Earth Atheist: In a world where the Ice Wall exists and Fortresses spontaneously summon vengeful souls as monsters, Shep somehow refuses to believe that the gold from Captain Golden Beard's hoard is cursed, even when he's being actively affected by the curse's effects.
Foil: A four-way instance.
- To Scott. Both of them are "golden children" figures trained to follow in their terrible mentors' footsteps and who want said mentors' approval, and both amass a large and extensive exotic pet collection during the canon era. However, their respective relationships with their "scapegoat" counterparts are the polar opposite — Scott desperately tries to look out for Acho to the point of being willing to pull a Heroic Sacrifice so star can live, while Shep is mostly indifferent to Will and thinks he's "weird", if not outright disliking him, and has him Pushed at the Monster when things get too hairy. This is also contrasted in their respective fates — both decide to leave the Isles to sail and explore the lands beyond the Ice Wall, but while Scott is doing so in Acho's memory to get away from their toxic parents, i.e. acting in defiance to them, Shep is trying to invoke Karma Houdini knowing there might be "a target on his back" for the third-degree murder he committed, all the while keeping Captain Merton on an unshakeable golden pedestal.
- To Acho. Both of them are the estranged younger "sibling figure" in the golden child/scapegoat dynamic growing up, and over the latter half of canon, have amassed a huge self-made fortune from mainly Fortressing like there's no tomorrow. That being said, both end up losing that fortune — Acho from leaving it as an inheritance to Scott in case star doesn't make it back from a deadly quest, and Shep does to becoming The Gambling Addict. Both also have vastly different worldviews and values: Shep is apathetic about the dangers of the Ecclesiae Sea and is mainly just there to make money and have a good time, while Acho is heavily invested and loyal to the loved ones star has connected or reconnected with while on the Isles; Shep places his Evil Mentor on an unshakeable pedestal and is willing to commit voluntary manslaughter in self-preservation, while Acho shows an overwhelming bitterness towards stars terrible parents, and yet cares so deeply for stars loved ones to the point of being self-sacrificial.
- To Will, his fellow ex-Luscinia crew member turned Faction Isles pirate, and to whom he serves as a Shadow Archetype. Despite being raised into a similar environment, they are almost polar opposites of each other — in terms of how they left said environment, Shep left to seek his own fortune, having taken after their mutual Evil Mentor, while Will was thrown off the ship as a teenager for disobeying said mentor. This also extends to their respective outlooks on life — an apathetic, self-serving, money-hungry Kestrel who reinforces the cynical status quo of Ecclesia, versus a caring, kindly Nightingale who wants to prove the world and its people can be better.
Freudian Excuse: His self-centred, greedy side was likely fostered from being brought up to value such traits by an unsavory mentor whom he wanted to earn approval from.
The Gambling Addict: After finding his way to the Snapdragon Casino, Shep proceeds to blow his entire fortune he came to seek away on the roulette wheel, then his residence on the Isles and even his sword. By the time he's done, he's gone from being one of the wealthiest pirates on the Isles to having less than 100 gold to his name.
Karma Houdini: In the finale, Shep is seen to get away with the third-degree murder he committed just over a week prior on Day 130:
- At the start, Shep tells Kyle (overheard in Jojo, Owen, Ros, and Seapeekay's perspectives) that he encountered some Cultists with Will on that day and not seeing him since, but conveniently leaves out the part about shoving Will at the Cultists and running to save his own skin.
- In the end, after the defeat and deaths of both Iris and Ivy, Shep makes plans to leave the Faction Isles behind, not just because the fall of the Ice Wall means he can go out to explore more of the world, but also that he overhears Apo and Graecie swearing to find whoever caused Will to be petrified and realizes there's a target on his back if they ever find out he bears at least partial responsibility for that happening.
Major Injury Underreaction: A supernatural variant. While under the Captain Golden Beard quest's curse, Shep spends much of his time brushing off its effects, even when being indefinitely hit with the Hunger status debuff in full force. When faced with the curse's countdown, he just claims that his sprite chat is overreacting and only throws away the curse gold to calm them down, thinking there's no inherent issue with the gold just yet to panic, and altogether remains skeptical about there being a curse on the gold at all.
Misplaced Retribution: Downplayed; despite being completely uninvolved on a personal level, Shep has been on the receiving end of angry server-members' interrogations for being the only other Kestrel online whenever Kestrel-related drama goes down, notably after Martyn steals the Sunset Stone and later crashing Water's wedding with Sausage.
Nominal Hero: Although he fights alongside the other pirates against Iris in the final battle and can be nice to others, Shep only really cares about his own gold and life, and is generally apathetic to anything that doesn't personally affect him.
Noodle Incident: From his backstory animatic on Day 105:
In hindsight, trying to sell bananas to others on the ship [when he was a teen] wasn't necessarily the brightest idea, but Shep still tried nonetheless.
Parental Abandonment: His backstory animatic on Day 105 describes him to be "left on the docks by his family to find work" before being taken aboard the Luscinia, which must have happened when he was aged 7 at most.
Self-Imposed Challenge: Invoked. On Days 96 and 99, Shep attempts to tackle Fortresses using only pumpkin pies (or other food items) as weapons, "just for the giggles" and out of curiosity for whether it's actually possible.^note After several attempts, lots of running, and many potions, he eventually succeeds on Day 99.
Shadow Archetype:
- Shep effectively embodies what Will could have become if he listened to Merton and obeyed his orders, and didn't get kicked off the Luscinia — a greedy and self-centred murderer, albeit still capable of caring for others.
- He's also one for Scott if he had taken his "Well Done, Son" Guy tendencies to the extreme and ditched the Big Brother Instinct.
Shark Pool: Discussed on Day 87, where he states all great villains have one of these, then clarifies he's only making one because it would be cool, not because he's a villain himself.
Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Shep has a pond of hammerhead sharks because he thinks villains' Shark Pools are cool, and originally made (now-scrapped) plans to get a pet thrasher. He later also gets himself a Komodo dragon, initially named 'Missile' and later renamed 'Coda', and about twenty blobfish (most of which end up dying).
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Shep's backstory describes him having relentlessly trying to earn the approval of Captain Elyas Merton, whom he sees as a Parental Substitute, and it's confirmed by invokedWord of God that one of his worst fears is being shunned by the captain. It's Played for Horror in that his outlook on life is warped to be similarly greedy and self-serving, and it's heavily implied (and confirmed by his content creator counterpart post-canon) that he previously committed murder for Merton in doing so, while no older than the age of 21.
You Remind Me of X: The more time Will spends with Shep, the more they are reminded of Elyas Merton, the captain of the Luscinia, the ship which both of them were raised on, with Shep having adopted his mannerisms and outlook on life. Shep takes it as a compliment.

InTheLittleWood

^{Click here to see his skin.}

^{Click here to see the skin for his alter ego (spoiler warning).}

IGN: InTheLittleWood
Preferred name: Martyn
Personal pronouns: He/Him
"You wanna do your little command… You wanna be in cahoots with the Sun God? I was made to kill gods."

Having landed in the seas of the Isles on Day 1, Martyn chooses to join the Kestrels in search for a specific piece of treasure: the elusive L.O.O.T. Shard of the datastream world. Throughout his stay, he has made some business ventures on the Isles, especially in the media industry, but eventually grows weary of the lack of progress he has towards his original goal and chooses to take a more proactive approach in his endeavors, by all means necessary.

Actually Pretty Funny: Bursts into a fit of laughter upon first seeing a copy of Eloise's "yassified" anime-style "Wanted!" Poster of him on Day 91.
Agony of the Feet: Implied on Day 62; when Martyn starts dozing off from the effects of the cursed gold, one of his boot rats bites him hard enough to wake him up again. It's invoked on the rats' part, who'd rather their Captain not succumb to the curse's effects and become a zombie.
Anvil on Head: Invokes this on a couple of climatic occasions:
- On Day 106, Martyn is the first to suggest Cold-Blooded Torture on Cruppy during the interrogation by dropping an anvil on it, which prompts Apo to pull out a lava bucket for the job.
- On Day 125, he drops one from the ceiling of the wedding hall in Ros' castle, killing Jeffery.
Beard of Evil: Invoked; Martyn decides to put on a fake beard when taking on the persona of "Blondbeard", and the fake facial hair is seen to be flung clean off during the volcanic eruption caused by the destruction of the L.O.O.T. Shard, showing he no longer has to be The Unfettered anymore. That being said, the fake beard ends up getting in the way of him trying to kill Water at her wedding.
Berserk Button: Played for Laughs; no matter how often he goes out to chart the accessible waters of the Faction Isles, and even if he's one of the two pirates to discover the Ice Wall, and despite his Intrepid Journalist streak, do not compare him with the Herons. His boot rats have a lot of fun pressing this particular button.
The Big Guy: Martyn is recruited into the Kestrels for his muscle power; while consulting the Recruitment Officer, the Officer says Martyn could go far with the Kites using his raw strength, but didn't think he suits their Glory Seeker lifestyle.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: As the "Datastream Defender" in his V-Tuber lore, Martyn's primary concern is to find and destroy the L.O.O.T. Shard of the world. As a result, his worldview is quite skewed and at-times disconnected from everyone he encounters in the Pirates world, who don't have the knowledge to comprehend their world on the meta-scale.
- Also because of this, he effectively views the world around him as a video game and the characters he encounters as either other players, NPCs, or C.H.E.S.T. agents, meaning he's willing to partake in Video Game Cruelty Potential and go "villain arc" and back at the drop of a hat, most notably when torturing Cruppy for information or stealing the Sunset Stone to empower himself to accomplish his overall goal, which most others would regard as morally reprehensible.
- Most notably, on Day 106, Martyn accuses the other pirates of being selfish for allegedly only caring for their own gold and glory when there are greater forces of evil at work, like the Corruption and the Cultists. It is implied that this viewpoint, incorrect and misguided in of itself, is brought about by his own self-serving attitude and lack of awareness to what happens around him to everyone else (again, video game mindset), and a subsequent lack of awareness that his actions on the world have consequences.
Dimensional Traveler: He shares Character Overlap with V-Tuber Martyn and his lore; as a datastream-hopper, he is, on some level, the same character as his Life SMP and Rats SMP counterparts.
The Dreaded: Claims on Day 125 that even a mention of his moniker of "Captain Blondbeard" can cause people to Bring My Brown Pants, and quickly attempts to intimidate everyone with his new persona. However, considering he falls very short of assassinating the bride on her wedding day, those he leaves behind simply think he's being a big jerkass.
Falling into the Plot: Martyn's series starts with him being shoved through a portal in the datastream, then falling out of the sky and landing in the ocean.
Frying Pan of Doom: While assembling his last preparations to crash Water's wedding on Day 125, Martyn finds himself short of spare weapons as nearly every NPC is in attendance and away from town. This causes him to purchase a skillet from Claud, one of the only available NPCs around, as one of his spare weapons… not that it works out for him in the end.
A God Am I: References this after claiming the Sunset Stone for himself on Day 89.
Martyn: Why rely on a god when you can just become one?
Immoral Journalist: While possessing great talent in media, Martyn isn't afraid to twist the occasional quotation for sensationalist drama or to let his biases show in articles through exaggeration or omission, especially towards Cruppy, or to slander those he deems rivals or enemies. That being said, there's usually at least a nugget of truth in his "Noisy Parrot" articles, and most of them are written with at least some genuine intent.
In-Series Nickname: His boot rats often call him "Captain".
Laughing Mad: Is practically giggling with glee at the prospect of watching Ros fall to pieces and cry over her blown-up castle on Day 132.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Being from the datastream and travelling between game worlds, Martyn comments on Day 45 that the Sun God appears to be the closest the world has to an admin, which is indeed the case out-of-universe.
List of Transgressions: Upon discovering he has a bounty placed on him on Day 24, Martyn tries to list off everyone he's annoyed or potentially offended in some way to warrant the bounty. It's questionable if he even committed some of the minor offenses he lists.
Martyn: Who did I annoy? Ah, let me see… uh… I've tried to kill Acho, I've tried to kill Ros and extort her for money, I've tried to steal Eloise's hat and also assisted in the killing of her in another bounty… I've called Bek horrible names, I've judged Michela for being lazy for flint… Owen, I slaughtered out at sea; Apo, I spat on and ran away; Water, I said that their music wasn't very good… uh… Olive, I've told them that they should question their life decisions by joining the Herons… (laughs) Do you want me to go on? The short answer is everybody.
Lying Finger Cross: Mentions crossing his fingers behind his back while promising the Sun God that he'd look after the other pirates after they go dormant to recover from destroying the L.O.O.T. Shard for him. That being said, given his status as a Dimensional Traveler and the fact his work in the world is also done with the destruction of the L.O.O.T. Shard, it's understandable.
Misplaced Retribution: On Day 106, while dragging out Cruppy to interrogate it on Monkey Island, Martyn and Apo pass Eloise on the open sea, returning to the Faction Isles. Later the same day, after being called out for his involvement in kidnapping and resorting to torturing Cruppy for information, Martyn passes by Eloise's ship again on his way back to the Isles. His response to this is to attack Eloise and Bek (also aboard at the time) for allegedly snitching on the Cruppy Cleaning Crew to Graecie and Kuervo. In reality, Graecie witnessed the kidnapping, which was what led to the rescue mission, while Eloise is completely clueless to what Martyn is even mad about at the time.
Nominal Hero: Although Martyn is nominally part of the Faction Isles and opposes whatever forces which may threaten the pirates, the fact he's in the world to fight an interdimensional war means his moral compass doesn't necessarily align with that of the rest of the Isles, and out of all the pirates, he arguably gets the closest to crossing the line to villainy of his own accord.
Protection Racket: Takes out a bounty on Ros on Day 15, then orders her to pay him 100 gold a day for him to not act on the bounty. It only lasts three days, after Ros accidentally takes Martyn out with his own cannonball two days later (long story).
Punny Name:
- Spoofed in that his Twitter introduction refers to him as "M-arrgtyn".
- On Day 1, Martyn decides that if he can dye his boat's sails different colours, he'll name it either "the Tie-Dye" or "the Tide High". He's able to obtain custom, tie-dyed sails for the finale.
Self-Applied Nickname: His persona and brief retitling as "Captain Blondbeard" from Day 121 onward is taken seriously by just about no one, no matter how irritated he is whenever anyone calls him by his actual name.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Martyn's overall dynamic with the Heron faction, always proclaiming to hate them and to be disgusted by their presence as a faction, while trying to push for the other Kestrels to dislike the Herons as well. This is completely and comically one-sided on Martyn's end.
Super-Toughness: Implied; on Day 132, Martyn is able to survive venturing into the magma chamber of a volcano, then be thrown out of said volcano through an eruption and survive from landing in Soft Water. It's unconfirmed if this is because the effects of the Sunset Stone haven't worn off on him yet, since he still retains the remnant 40 extra hearts for the rest of the livestream, or it's because he's quite literally not from the Pirates world.
That Man Is Dead: Inverted in the finale, where he declares his persona of "Captain Blondbeard" to be dead and decides to redecorate his ship again to reflect this change. He also tries to justify that he's been on vacation at the Sabertooth tavern this whole time.
Token Good Teammate: Subverted Trope. Martyn is considered to be the least money-hungry and greedy of the Kestrels by Graecie, who also correctly suspects that he could have gone to a faction other than the Kestrels during Recruitment Day. However, he does still have a mean-spirited streak, most notably seen towards Ros in his Protection Racket scheme, and ends up as the first of the current generation of Kestrels to have ever gone rogue.
Toxic Friend Influence: This is not to say Apo is the nicest guy around, but Martyn has persistently played a role in egging on his worse actions, including teaming up with him to interrogate Cruppy (and suggesting the torture part in the first place via an Anvil on Head), trying to convince him to help him crash Water's wedding to kill her, and when that falls through, ordering him to kill Acho to prove himself "worthy" of a rogue crew.
A Twinkle in the Sky: Being launched out of the volcano after the destruction of the L.O.O.T. Shard at the end of his 18th episode, Martyn is depicted to be flung into the sky until he's merely a twinkle, before falling back down into the Town harbour, just as he did upon his arrival in the Pirates world.
The Unfettered: Martyn is willing to stop at nothing to find the L.O.O.T. Shard he has been searching in this world all this time, including stealing the Sunset Stone to gain more power, then taking on the persona of Captain Blondbeard after becoming overly reliant on the Sunset Stone's now-declining power to intimidate everyone, and later blowing up Ros' castle as a distraction for him to continue his search in the Faction Isles volcano. Even his world-exclusive adventures tend towards him being like this, as exemplified by him kidnapping and torturing Cruppy to interrogate it for information. It's justified in that being from the datastream, Martyn effectively views the series as a video game and isn't afraid to play into the Video Game Cruelty Potential, even to the other characters' detriment. In the finale, he admits that he's self-aware enough to know he might have taken it a bit too far during his power-trip.
Unknown Rival: Played weirdly. Martyn has a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis dynamic with the Heron faction and proclaims to hate them, but mostly just has on-and-off friendship with some (most notably Eloise) and gets along alright with others. The Herons themselves are either unaware of this, don't care, or don't take his alleged hatred of them to heart at all.
Martyn: (after splitting up to look for clues in the finale) How has this happened again? How am I stuck [with] the Herons?!
(The Herons cheer)
"Wanted!" Poster: Played for Laughs on Day 89 when Eloise paints one of Martyn after he steals the Sunset Stone, but ends up drawing him in a "yassified" anime style with over-exaggerated makeup and Bambi eyes.

Kyle Foster

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyleeff.jpeg

^{Click here to see his skin.}

IGN: KyleEff
Preferred name: Kyle
Personal pronouns: He/Him
"Soon, they'll know more about the Foster family. Soon, they'll know more about its chairman."

Kyle hails from a wealthy Kestrel-affiliated family; while he came to the Faction Isles for business purposes, he soon fell in with the pirate side of the family business. However, despite his familial ties, he wants to be known for his own talents beyond the field.

Disappeared Dad: His father died a few years before the start of the SMP.
Elegant Classical Musician: A renowned, classically trained musician and aspiring composer who has attracted his fair share of admirers, regardless of gender.
Incompatible Orientation: Despite having flirted with other male pirates, Kyle is stated by invokedWord of God to be very, very straight. After this confirmation, the other creator-characters simply lay off of him to make romantic advances on other pirates.
Legacy Seeker: Is stated to only aim towards the cash money of the Kestrel faction to fulfill his own musical aspirations.
Pirate Parrot: His content creator counterpart's stream chat manifests as a flock of parrots.
Sanity Slippage: Implied. Starting from around Day 111, Kyle has been hearing some mysterious "music" that no one else, not even his stream chat, can hear, which is seemingly driving him further into obsession. However, the plotline mostly fizzles out after that point.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Shows shades of being one Beneath the Mask of being an archetypical wealth-loving Kestrel.
Kyle: (to his pet macaw) You know, Dweet, maybe soon, we can start putting things together; we can really make him proud, even if… he's gone.

Mythical J. Sausage

^{Click here to see his first skin.}

^{Click here to see his second skin.}

IGN: MythicalSausage
Preferred name: Sausage
Personal pronouns: He/Him

One of the original Kestrels, Sausage is the de facto leader of the faction by seniority (excluding Alison, the NPC in charge) and the nephew of Capitán Santana (alias "Captain Graybeard"), an esteemed Kestrel in his own right.^note However, after taking on a quest that results in him getting cursed, Sausage starts hearing strange Whispers that no one else can hear, with doom pending for those in his path.

Alternate Identity Amnesia: Downplayed. In the finale, Sausage has hazy memories from being controlled and possessed by the Whispers, but not any specific.
Ambiguously Bi: Sausage is almost definitely attracted to women, having gone on dates or at least asked out Alison, the NPC Kestrel leader, and the Enchantress, as well as the post-canon description of him having his petrified arm "polished every night by a new maiden" he meets on his travels; however, whatever he has going on with most of the other Kestrel players (a faction that skews heavily masculine) and Scott is riddled with innuendo. Since nothing has been explicitly stated about what Sausage identifies as, that part is still up for debate.
And I Must Scream: Having been trapped for about a week in the Cultists' petrification beam on Monkey Island, Sausage recalls that he could see and hear his surroundings but was unable to move or respond, and that he could feel his insides slowly and gradually turn to stone, with the only given description being that "it hurts"; the only reason he manages to delay the effect is because he keeps being sent to the Shadow Realm in between rounds of petrification. Even when he's freed from the beam, he still doesn't manage to escape unscathed, with his entire left arm being still stony and difficult to move as flexibly as human flesh and bone.
Bad People Abuse Animals: Casually murders Pesky Bird, one of the Kestrels' parrots, to absorb its soul into the "Harvester of Souls" sword at the start of the finale, all while being clearly Brainwashed and Crazy, and is fully prepared to murder Jellie if the Whispers didn't tell him to stop at the last second. That being said, he refuses to murder the dog on the Enchantress' lighthouse, saying he likes dogs too much to kill them.
The Bartender: Of the Kestrels' tavern; he considers the place his "home away from home" because his mother used to work as one.
Brainwashed and Crazy: After coming into possession with the "Harvester of Souls" sword, Sausage becomes much more in tune with the Whispers' demands and joins Martyn as part of Blondbeard's crew to rain havoc on the server, notoriously declaring omnicide on the entire Faction Isles (save possibly the other Kestrels) after the Wedding Smashers plan goes wrong for them to make the sword more powerful. He manages to break out of it in the finale by bathing in the pool at the Sun God's shrine.
Brutal Honesty:
- On Day 1, right off the bat, Sausage's first reaction to Graecie is to point out she's missing an eye.^note
- After freeing Katie from the dreamscape on Day 93, Katie asks the pirates where her wife, Captain Golden Beard is; while everyone else is hesitant to be the bearer of bad news as they found out from the cursed treasure quest, Sausage is very upfront and tactless about it.
  Sausage: Katie, your wife is dead!
  Water: …Sausage!
  Sausage: What– Just break it to her! Come on!
  Water: Sausage!
  Sausage: You're leading her on, making her go all round the island without [us] telling her–
  Eloise: I mean, he's got a fair point.
  Sausage: You're leading her– Just tell her the truth!
Cheaters Never Prosper: On Day 73, Sausage gets frustrated completing the Sundoku puzzle in Issue 2 of "The Noisy Parrot" and asks his ghost parrots for intel. While the ghost parrots give the coordinates of the treasure freely, they're also well aware that Water and Jojo have already found and split the treasure the previous day, and Sausage does not profit from this at all; he lampshades this after finding the empty treasure chest.
Cherry Tapping: At Water's wedding, Sausage's attempts to assassinate the bride while Brainwashed and Crazy are punctuated with a trident-wielding Drowned persistently aiming at him, doing so much damage that Acho is able to knock him out (non-canonically kill him) in one hit without using any weapons.
Children Forced to Kill: Killed at least two naval troops at the age of 15 to defend his family and home.
Cuteness Proximity: While the Kestrels are initially split on what they feel about Cruppy, Sausage is of the opinion that it's cute and he can profit off of it by selling tickets for other people to see it.
Dark and Troubled Past: As a teen, his parents died in a navy attack on his home island, of whom he was essentially the Sole Survivor. He swears his ghost parrot companions to secrecy on Day 48, and discloses it to Eloise as well during an impromptu therapy session on Day 50.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: From the little we know of his parents, they were fairly decent people and Sausage remembers them fondly.
Declaration of Protection: On Day 48, Sausage swears to defend Ros from Mufasa the Sabertooth clan. Although he claims to only be doing so because he wants their money and not because he wants to make sure she's safe, his oddly specific plans for a Cruel and Unusual Death or Humiliation Conga to Make an Example of Them (e.g. to hang Mufasa off of the sword of Sandro Caravel's statue until they starve to death), on top of his mostly established friendship with Ros by that point, make it all sound like greed isn't the reason (or at least the only reason) for him to make such a declaration.
Due to the Dead: By Word of God, before embarking on his world-hopping treasure hunt with his uncle in his epilogue, Sausage returns to the ruins of Iris' temple to collect the dead and bring them back to the Faction Isles. Considering his avid willingness to fight against Iris for killing his fellow Kestrels, it's evident that despite his self-centred exterior, he's still friendly by Kestrel standards and capable of compassion. invoked
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Has a jerkish streak and is almost solely motivated by monetary benefit like an archetypical Kestrel, but dearly loves his late mother to the point even thinking of her can reduce him to Inelegant Blubbering.
Extreme Omnivore: Mentioned on Day 52, with Sausage allegedly having eaten chocolate-covered gold nuggets in the tavern… and it wreaking havoc on his digestive tract.
Eye Scream: At the start of the series, cc!Sausage points out that p!Sausage doesn't have his other characters' characteristic eye scar "yet". This comes to pass after Water's crashed wedding, where Acho knocks Sausage out for trying to kill Water, giving him a nasty cut on the eye in the process.
Fighting from the Inside: Repeatedly throughout the start of the finale, Sausage can be seen trying to snap out of possession by the Whispers via the "Harvester of Souls" sword and seek help from the Sun God to get his sword-enforced murderous tendencies under control. At one point, he manages to put the sword away into his backpack, only for the Whispers to force him to take it out again. Finally, though, he does manage to overpower the Whispers for long enough to get help from the Sun God one last time and quiet the Whispers.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Goes from a fisher boy from a tiny island, albeit already having familial connections to the Kestrel faction, to being a renowned Kestrel himself.
Hearing Voices: Since his return from the Golden Beard cursed treasure quest, Sausage has started hearing strange Whispers and sometimes eerie music that no one else can hear. Continued contact with the Whispers and following their whims gradually leads to him becoming Brainwashed and Crazy.
I'm a Humanitarian: While it never comes to pass in canon, he makes an offhand remark in the finale about seeking out human flesh to eat while Brainwashed and Crazy.
Laughing Mad: Can be heard laughing hysterically while recounting the events of Water's wedding at the start of the finale on Day 134, regarding his missing uncle's whereabouts and becoming possessed by the soul-absorbing sword of an Ancestral Weapon, and all throughout his time on the server before managing to rid himself of the possession in time.
Mythology Gag: In his 2nd episode, Sausage starts talking to a random parrot, and mentions that he can't talk to animals… in stark contrast to his Empires Season 2 counterpart.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: According to him, only his enemies refer to him as "El Capitán", which is short for "El Capitán de la Muerte"^note"The Captain (of Death)" in Spanish.
Navel-Deep Neckline: By Word of God, he goes around with his shirt half-unbuttoned "from time to time" (and going shirtless occasionally), though his Minecraft skin or official artwork doesn't show this. Reportedly, the plan was for him to keep it buttoned-up to stay "classy" at the start, before opening it up more and more by the stream until it more closely resembles No Shirt, Long Jacket. invoked
Nephewism: Was taken in by his Kestrel uncle after being orphaned at age 15, whom he treats as a Parental Substitute.
No True Scotsman: Played for Laughs; he jokes on Day 52 about how Shelby isn't a "real" pirate until one of her parents dies, referencing how Parental Abandonment runs rampant in the world of piracy even if Shelby herself was born into a pirate family.
Noble Male, Roguish Male: A cross-series example, where Pirates!Sausage plays the flirtatious and at-times murderous Roguish Male who robs others on the high seas, in contrast to Empires Season 2!Sausage's All-Loving Hero Noble Male as a blacksmithing apprentice turned woodcutter and protector.
Wassup_im_E: i think i can post this meme [of quotes Sausage's two characters might say] now
Empires Season 2!Sausage: I'll have her home by 9 o'clock, Sir
Pirates!Sausage: Your daughter calls me Daddy too
Mythicalsausage: This is canon.
Odd Friendship: Has a soft spot for Ros, the friendly and generous Nightingale to his money-hungry Kestrel who enjoys trolling others.
Only in It for the Money: Subverted Trope. While Sausage constantly claims that his only reason for doing anything is monetary benefit, his more vengeful tendencies tend to be motivated by genuine care for his family and friends, including in the finale, where he repeatedly cites getting revenge for Scar and Shelby, two of his fellow Kestrels, as one of his main reasons for choosing to fight Iris.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While Brainwashed and Crazy, Sausage appears more "energetic" than usual and tends to go Laughing Mad while being casually enthused by murder, a change significant enough for the normally-dense Shep to pick up on. To Sausage's credit, he retains enough self-awareness to acknowledge he should probably seek help for casually and openly threatening his faction-mate's life.
Pirate Parrot: His content creator counterpart's stream chat manifests as a flock of ghost parrots.
Real Joke Name: A Day 1 conversation with Martyn confirms that 'Sausage' is, in fact, his legal name.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: On Day 93, when the Ghost whispers to Sausage about what he fears in the dreamscape, he immediately rebukes them.
Sausage: "You're broke. You're alone. Ugly and alone." SHUT UP, GHOST! Shut up! No, I'm not! I don't know who you are, but I'm not alone; I'm not ugly, I'm handsome and beautiful; everybody loves me and all my friends are waiting for me on the other side of this stupid nightmare. I've been to the Nightmare Zone before! It's every other night when I go to sleep; this is nothing to me! Let's go! This is nothing! I've been to Shadow Realm before! Let me out!
Troll: Sausage has a habit of messing around with people he deems poor, such as stealing or demanding their items for various prices, then later giving it back.
Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Sausage keeps two peafowl and an owl as exotic birds to show off his Kestrel wealth.
You Can't Go Home Again: While Sausage has made a life for himself on the Faction Isles, he refuses to return to his home island due to not wanting to relive the bad memories associated with it… and even if he did, since pretty much the entire island was razed during the naval raid on the place, he'd have no home to go back to anyway.
You Killed My Father: Although he still has a paternal figure in his uncle after it all goes down, Sausage is adamant that the only thing he'll do without monetary benefit is killing naval troops (and their families) for massacring his family and home island (while in the process of trying to capture or kill said uncle).

Oliver Von Steel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theorionsound.jpeg

^{Click here to see his skin.}

IGN: OrionSound
Preferred name: Oli/Oliver
Personal pronouns: He/Him

One of the original Kestrels, Oli used live in Sheffield-on-Sea in the far north. He first washed up on the Faction Isles after a yachting accident and was taken in by Sausage, a couple of months before the start of the SMP. Currently, he desperately misses his family and longs to see them again, but is as hands-on as he can to invest in the real estate and hospitality industries and make a profit to bring it all home to them.

Ambiguously Bi: While Oli is canonically married to a woman and has a child, the way he speaks of his fellow Kestrels, whom predominantly skew masculine, doesn't sound very heterosexual either — for one, he says in the finale that he only has a soft spot for his "sweet lady wife" and the other Kestrels. Alternatively, it could just be cc!Oli being overdramatic, as he tends to be.
Commuting on a Bus: Oli shows up inconsistently throughout the series, barely making any appearances after the Rescue Arc on Day 76. He manages to come Back for the Finale, albeit not livestreaming his perspective, saying he's spent the past three weeks leading up to the finale away searching for Sheffield-on-Sea.
Drunk Driver: A conversation with Michela on Day 2 suggests that Oli might have been drunk on a few mojitos while steering his yacht, which likely resulted in the accident that led to his arrival to the Faction Isles.
High-Class Glass: Wears a monocle to denote his wealthy Kestrel status.
In-Series Nickname: Martyn calls him "Ponytail" for his hairstyle.
Interspecies Romance: Played for Laughs and discussed, in that his wife is frequently joked to be a crab. According to Sausage, Oli has slept with it "at least four or five times, in more ways than one"… in ways that may be described as "unholy". Oli has denied this whenever it is discussed and repeatedly asserts that his wife is a human.
Noodle Incident: Makes an offhand comment in the finale that his wedding had "at least five" murders.
Parental Abandonment:
- As mentioned on Day 1, Oli's parents died many years before the events of the SMP, allegedly having drowned "in the Sheffield on Sea". invokedWord of God confirms that his father did die from drowning, but the jury is still out on whether his mother did too.
- In turn, Oli is unintentionally this to Juniper, his son, after the yachting accident left him stranded on the Faction Isles in the long term, unable to return to his wife and child. After finding a map to Sheffield-on-Sea (a day's sail away from the Isles) by the finale, he makes plans to retire from the pirate life and go home to his family.
Pretentious Pronunciation: His full name, Oliver, is pronounced "Oli-VAIR", similar to the related French name 'Olivier'.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Played for Laughs. On Day 76, when a second wave of Yetis start attacking the pirates on the rescue mission, Oli can be heard saying, "I'm going to stop helping with the lore now! Bye!" before trying to make a run for it. Seapeekay puts a stop to that, in the most Kite manner possible.
Wealthy Yacht Owner: Alluded to have been one in his past, pre-pirate life; though it's unknown what he specifically did for a living to accumulate this wealth, we know he was affiliated with the fishing industry.

Shubble

^{Click here to see her first skin.}

^{Click here to see her second skin.}

IGN: ShubbleYT
Preferred name: Shelby
Personal pronouns: She/Her
"Don't touch me, you can't afford to."

Hailing from an affluent pirate family, Shelby somehow got lost on her way to go vacationing in Mexico and winds up crashing on a Corrupted island with Shep and Sniff on Day 52, before escaping by dinghy and being taken in by the Kestrels. Day 134, the finale, reveals that she was Taken for Granite and Killed Offscreen.

All Women Love Shoes: Alluded to in her first appearances; Shelby explicitly mentions her expensive boots are new in her debut appearance, saying she didn't intend to wear them in the water, and later claims them to be ruined after taking a swim in the ocean on Day 57. One of the first things she does after arriving on the Isles is even to compliment Alison's shoes.
Arrows on Fire: Wields a bow enchanted with Flame at the start of the Revenge Raid and manages to kill a Cultist with arrows fired from it before running out of arrows.
Attempted Homewrecker: Tries to romance Finn, the gardener NPC who's in his thirties at the start of the SMP, and upon finding out he's married, Shelby decides to go for his wife as well.
Big "NO!": Lets one out on Day 77 after finding out her fresh nail polish chipped in the middle of the Revenge Raid… while on her way back to the Faction Isles, long after the battle is over.
Bystander Syndrome: Before the Revenge Raid, Shelby decides to tag along, but openly expresses that she'll let the others do the fighting while she stands by and watches. Subverted in the actual Raid herself, where she later decides to join the battle and even manages to kill a Cultist.
The Ditz: For all her boasting about being rich, Shelby has her moments where she's not the sharpest tool in the shed. It's best shown when she fires a bullet at the Corruption, revealing the group's presence and earning this remark from Kuervo:
Kuervo: Can you buy a brain cell, perhaps?
Early Installment Character-Design Difference: When Shelby was found, she wore an outfit similar to the one on her announcement poster, minus the crown. After she joins the Kestrels, she switches to a white dress and brown boots. She now wears a crown with a brown coat, and keeps the waistband. She wears her original outfit when her statue is shown.
Expy: Her characterization is inspired by Alexis Rose from Schitt's Creek, down to making outright nods to the series via quotations.
Girly Bruiser: Downplayed. She's a Valley Girl-type character and would usually rather sit on the sidelines in a fight, but when it comes down to it, she manages to land some solid hits during the Revenge Raid with both a bow and a sword.
Gold Digger: Played for Laughs; it's joked on Day 76 that she is only making a Fallback Marriage Pact with Scott to get into the rich dumpling business.
No Social Skills: Upon meeting Ros for the first time, Shelby quotes the "Noisy Parrot" article written about her just as Martyn and Ros are arguing if the paper is libel. Ros, having already read the article, takes it graciously.
Shelby: They're calling you "a backstabbing snake", did you know that?
[…]
Ros: I– I did read that, I did. Just don't trust Martyn– anything Martyn says.
Martyn: […] That was taken verbatim from Mufasa's journal.
Pink Means Feminine: Shelby has the typical associations of a teenage Valley Girl and goes out of her way to purchase an expensive pink trim for her boat.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The enthusiastic Valley Girl to Scott's calmer, more subdued Heart.
Small Name, Big Ego: Brags that her taking down one Cultist with a three-shot is proof that the Revenge Raid couldn't have been won without her, and believes a lot of the NPCs she flirts with like her back; Scott humours her at best and says she's delusional at worst.
The Smurfette Principle: The only known non-male Kestrel player aside from Guqqie, who has been long gone by the time she got to the Isles.
Tempting Fate: While sailing back to the Faction Isles after the Revenge Raid, Shelby mentions how she wants a statue of herself on the Faction Isles, to which Scott suggests that she build one for her planned resort and she answers she'll do so as long as she doesn't become a statue herself; they later part ways after returning to the Isles, with Scott telling her not to get kidnapped again and she says she'll try. This is the last livestream in which she appears in; the next time she's seen, it's the finale on Day 134 and she's a statue in Iris' temple.
Valley Girl: Has a love for riches and shopping and a distaste for blood and maggots, is a bit of a Selfie Fiend, and makes plans to found the first mall on the Faction Isles after hearing they don't have one.

Characters / Pirates SMP: Herons and Kestrels

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The Kestrels

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