Characters / Sid Meier's Pirates!

Characters and Antagonists

The Player Character

The Player Character, a 16th or 17th century vessel captain in the Caribbean Sea. In the 2004 version, their family were abducted years prior by the Marquis de Montalban.

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• An Adventurer Is You: Able to take on any given career path, be it as a privateer for one nation, a pirate (or pirate hunter), or a trader.
• The Dog Bites Back: In the intro, the protagonist's career begins with him leading a mutiny against an abusive captain after taking one too many backhands to the face.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: You start out as an impoverished youth robbed of his family and fortune, and can go on to become one of the most notorious pirates in the Carribbean.
• Loveable Rogue: You might be a pirate, but you're nevertheless portrayed as a dashing and gentlemanly Erol Flynn-esque swashbuckler.
• Multiple-Choice Past: The player can choose any given background for their character, but it makes little difference in gameplay in the long run as they can ally with or attack basically anyone.

The Marquis de Montalban

Montalban's flag in Pirates! Gold

The primary antagonist, who abducted the Player Character's family and hides out in the Caribbean running a criminal empire.

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• Authority Equals Asskicking: A high-ranking Spanish nobleman and probably the most dangerous duelist in the game. He also sails a fully-upgraded and heavily-armed Flag Galleon, which though slow is a powerful combatant.
• Big Bad: Of the 2004 version. Tracking him down in vengeance to what he did to your family is the main goal of the game.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Whenever sighted at sea, his ship has a big "EVIL!" marker above it.
• Defeat Equals Friendship: Once finally found and defeated at his Central American stronghold, he gives up a large sum of cash (100,000 gold), any specialists that the Player Character doesn't already have on their crew, and agrees to become the Player Character's personal assistant or "cabin boy" (though his age means he's long since past being a boy).
• Evil Old Folks: He's old enough for his hair to be going grey or largely grey throughout the subplot.

Baron Raymondo

A close associate of the Marquis de Montalban, he holds information on the whereabouts of the Player Character's family.

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• Card-Carrying Villain: Whenever sighted at sea, his ship has a big "EVIL!" marker above it.
• Composite Character: He takes the place of the evil Spanish aristocrats who knew of your family's whereabouts in the older games. Whereas you would have to hunt many of them down to find your whole family, in the 2004 game, you instead grill Baron Raymondo repeatedly for all of them.
• The Dragon: To the Marquis de Montalban, given their joint association with the abduction of the Player Character's family members. Raymondo also sails a fully-upgraded and heavily-armed War Galleon, which is the next class down in the same category as Montalban's ship.

Colonel Mendoza

A corrupt Spanish military officer with a penchant for abducting governors' daughters.

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• Card-Carrying Villain: Whenever sighted at sea, his ship has a big "EVIL!" marker above it.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Will even take off with Spanish governors' daughters, if the Player Character decides to romance one. It's unclear how he manages to maintain his Spanish military rank, but he does.
• Colonel Badass: Given his rank, and the fact he sails a fully-upgraded and heavily-armed Fast Galleon, and insists on dueling the Player Character in person any time his ship is boarded.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Repeatedly abducts governors' daughters and holds them aboard his ship sailing around the Caribbean.
• Me's a Crowd: If the Player Character has reached the same point in the romance subplot with multiple governors' daughters, there can easily be several clones of Mendoza sailing around the Caribbean at once.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Lower-ranked than either the Marquis de Montalban or Baron Raymondo, and sails a fully-upgraded and heavily-armed Fast Galleon, which is the smallest ship in the class of combat galleons that they all sail.

Famous Pirates

In the 2004 version, these are the 9 most notorious pirates in the Caribbean (the tenth being the player), who sail from various pirate ports. Each of them also has a buried treasure the player can take for themselves, if they can find the pieces of their treasure map. The 9 pirates in order of notoriety at the beginning of the game are Henry Morgan, Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Jean LaFitte, Stede Bonnet, L’Ollonais, Roc Brasiliano, Bart Roberts, and Jack Rackham.

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• Anachronism Stew: All the pirates are always active throughout whichever time period the player chooses, leading them to all coexist long before some were born or after some died in the real world.
• Buried Treasure: Every one of the pirates has a different buried treasure somewhere, and if the player can reassemble the torn-up and scattered remains of the Treasure Map leading to said treasure, they can hunt it down and take it for themselves. However, this will put the pirate whose treasure was stolen on their tail, and if their paths cross, said pirate will attack the player on sight.
• Jerkass: They're always rude to you. If your rank is lower than theirs, they'll look down their nose at you. If it's higher, then they're jealous. And if you took their treasure, they'll threaten you for taking their ill-gotten gains.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Stede Bonnet. Historically known as "The Gentleman Pirate", he was a spoiled rich landowner who decided to become a pirate apparently out of boredom, fell in with the far more competent Blackbeard only to be completely overshadowed by him, stumbled through a rather mediocre piratical career, and was eventually hanged after surrendering. His profile in the PC manual even describes him as "incompetent". His counterpart in-game starts his career at number 5 on the list (higher than the famously vicious and terrifying L’Ollonais and Roc Brasiliano), and operates completely independently of Blackbeard or anyone else.
• Historical Domain Character: All of them are pirates from real-world history who spent at least some of their time in the Caribbean sea.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Captain Kidd suffers from this in particular; while never a pleasant person, he was more of a privateer who was accused of turning to piracy, and professed his innocence until his death. In-game, he’s explicitly thrown his lot in with the unaligned pirates completely, and his in-game character model is subject to Historical Ugliness Update based off some rather fanciful paintings by Howard Pyle.
  • Similarly, real-world privateer Henry Morgan has completely thrown his lot in with the unaligned pirates as well, to the point of being number one on the list.
• Hypocritical Humor: If the player takes their treasure before beating them, the pirate whose treasure the player stole will hunt them down, calling them a “No-good treasure stealer”. Look who’s talking…
• Paper Tiger: Despite their fearsome reputations, they’re not particularly skilled duelists even compared to common foes the player will face, and even Henry Morgan and Blackbeard aren’t that dangerous to a reasonably-seasoned player.
• You Kill It, You Bought It: The player’s notoriety will ordinarily slowly rise up the ranks of “most notorious pirate” depending on how many and what ships or towns they sack (though the pirates will also be busy with this). However, if the player kills one of the Famous Pirates, they’ll immediately be bumped up to replace the pirate’s now-vacant spot on the list.

Factions

England

The in-game faction representing the empire of Great Britain.

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• Took a Level in Badass: They gradually gain more and more ports and colonies in the Caribbean in later game starting eras.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Merchantman-type ships for their trade vessels and treasure ships, along with brigs and frigates for their military much like France and the Dutch.

France

The in-game faction representing the empire of France.

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• Took a Level in Badass: They gradually gain more and more ports and colonies in the Caribbean in later game starting eras.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Merchantman-type ships for their trade vessels and treasure ships, along with brigs and frigates for their military much like England and the Dutch.

Netherlands

The in-game faction representing the empire of Holland or The Netherlands.

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• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: In the 2004 version, they end up controlling only three ports by default, but one of these (Curacao) is right along the Spanish Main of South America and is thus extremely useful for raiding Spain's ports and vessels. As well, Dutch ships can still be seen anywhere in the Caribbean in-game.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Fluyt-type ships for their trade vessels and treasure ships, along with brigs and frigates for their military much like England and France.

Spain

The in-game faction representing the empire of Spain.

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• Butt-Monkey: Since they have the largest amount of targets and wealth and some of the weaker defenses protecting it all, the game basically encourages stomping on them for plunder and riches.
• The Dog Bites Back: In later eras, however, Spain has somewhat less territory to protect and substantially stronger military forces, leading to more danger for a Player Character preying upon them.
• Took a Level in Badass: Inverted, and also subverted. They start off as basically the only power in the Caribbean, with control of most of the ports and colonies while England, France and the Dutch have only a few scattered home bases. The other three power gradually gain more ports and colonies while Spain declines bit by bit, but at the same time, Spain's military defenses are also noticeably stronger in later eras.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Merchant galleons for their trade vessels and treasure ships, and combat galleons for their military.

Ship Classes

Barques

Best speed: 9-12 leagues

Best point of sailing: Broad beam reach

Max number of heavy cannon: 16

Maximum personnel: 128

Typical crew and passengers: 12-36

Cargo space: 60 tons

A class of merchant ships used by every nation. Includes the Coastal Barque, Barque, and Ocean Barque.

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• Jack of All Stats: To a lesser degree than merchantmen among civilian vessels, but they can still haul a sizable amount of cargo at a decent speed, making them a useful help to a pirate fleet.
• Mundane Utility: Barques tend to have a variety of unglamourous NPC missions in-game, such as grain transports (hauling lots of food), or immigrant transports to ports and cities. They can, on rare occasion, be encountered as a military payroll ship.
• Took a Level in Badass: Inverted. In the earlier games, barques were reasonably good vessels for a pirate to use, but in the 2004 version, their stats and qualities make them useful only for merchant voyages.

Brigs

A class of warships used by the English, French and Dutch. Includes the Brigantine, Brig, and Brig of War.

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• Clown-Car Base: Brigs which are serving as invasion forces or troop transports tend to have an absolutely massive crew for such a mid-sized warship. Justified, as most of those aboard are intended as land-based troops rather than crew, but they fight in a sea battle all the same.
• Jack of All Stats: Among warships, brigs offer a middle-of-the-road option, with more guns than sloops but less than frigates, yet more maneuverability than frigates but less than sloops.
• Piñata Enemy: When NPC-controlled, brigs tend to be the most common carriers of military payrolls, which are always lucrative targets with all their cargo carried as golden cash.

Combat Galleons

^{Click here to view the Galleon.} :

^{Click here to view the War Galleon.} :

^{Click here to view the Fast Galleon.} :

In order if available: Galleon, War, Fast Galleon

Best speed: 7-15 (9-12) leagues (Fast Galleon)

Best point of sailing: Broad (or running) reach (Fast Galleon)

Max number of heavy cannon: 36, 32, 28

Maximum personnel: 288, 256, 224

Typical crew and passengers: 275, 250, 224

Cargo space: 160, 140, 120 tons

A class of warships used by the Spanish. Includes the Fast Galleon, War Galleon, and Flag Galleon.

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• Mighty Glacier: They can mount more cannons than basically everything else save for frigates, but they are much less maneuverable than any other warship class.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil:
  • The Marquis de Montalban, the game's Big Bad, sails a Flag Galleon.
  • Baron Raymondo, The Dragon to the Marquis, sails a War Galleon.
  • Colonel Mendoza, a criminal with nebulous connections to the above, sails a Fast Galleon.

Fluyts

Best speed: 9-12 leagues

Best point of sailing: Running reach

Max number of heavy cannon: 20

Maximum personnel: 160

Typical crew and passengers: 12-24

Cargo space: 80 tons

A class of merchant ships used by the Dutch. Includes the Fluyt, Large Fluyt, and West Indiaman.

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• Butt-Monkey: Tend to be easy targets in-game.
• Master of None: Their primary weakness. They're not even useful as support vessels to a pirate fleet, because their carrying capacity is equalled or exceeded by merchantmen and even barques, both of which are substantially faster than slow and wallowing fluyts.

Frigates

Best speed: 9-12 leagues

Best point of sailing: Broad / Running reach

Max number of heavy cannon: 28

Maximum personnel: 224

Typical crew and passengers: 190

Cargo space: 120 tons

A class of warships used by the English, French and Dutch. Includes the Frigate, Large Frigate, and Ship of the Line.

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• Infinity +1 Sword: The Ship of the Line can carry the most cannons and crew of any ship in the game. Accordingly, they are also the rarest type of ship to encounter (though rivalled in that by the Mail Runner).
• Lightning Bruiser: Especially when fully-upgraded; not only do they mount the highest numbers of cannons in the game, but they can also outsail their closest rivals, the combat galleons, by a substantial margin.
• Mighty Glacier: Before receiving upgrades like Cotton Sails or Copper Plating.

Merchant Galleons

A class of merchant ships used by the Spanish. Includes the Trade Galleon, Royal Galleon, and Treasure Galleon.

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• Mighty Glacier: Like military galleons, these ships can mount a substantial number of cannons, although they are terrible at maneuvering or even sailing at their top speed.
• Piñata Enemy: Multiple Treasure Galleons make up the Spanish Treasure Fleet whenever it appears. Beware, however, as they are generally sailing in close formation and may jump in to Gang Up on the Human.

Merchantmen

Best speed: 9-12 leagues

Best point of sailing: Broad reach

Max number of heavy cannon: 24

Maximum personnel: 198

Typical crew and passengers: 20-45

Cargo space: 100 tons

A class of merchant ships used by the English and the French. Includes the Merchantman, Large Merchantman, and East Indiaman.

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• Jack of All Stats: Similar to barques, merchantmen can carry a substantial amount of cargo at a decent speed, making them a useful support vessel in a pirate fleet to haul accumulated plunder. On the other hand, however, they are outclassed by any warship.

Pinnaces

Best speed: 9-10 leagues

Best point of sailing: (Broad) beam reach

Max number of heavy cannon: 8

Maximum personnel: 64

Typical crew and passengers: 8-12

Cargo space: 20 tons

A class of merchant ships and light warships used by every nation, often by smugglers or by Indigenous raiding parties. Includes the War Canoe, Pinnace, and Mail Runner.

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• Fragile Speedster: The whole class, but particularly the War Canoe, which is absolutely tiny and can dodge most shots but goes down quickly if and when it is ever hit.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: If handled well and when upgraded. The Mail Runner, in particular, packs a serious punch for such a small and maneuverable ship.

Sloops

Best speed: 9-10 leagues

Best point of sailing: (Broad) beam reach

Max number of heavy cannon: 12

Maximum personnel: 96

Typical crew and passengers: 8-12

Cargo space: 40 tons

A class of warships used by every nation. Includes the Sloop, Sloop of War, and Royal Sloop.

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• Jack of All Stats: Sloops are not as maneuverable as pinnaces and have fewer guns than brigs, frigates or galleons, but they can hold their own in combat all the same.
• Lightning Bruiser: Sloops can be a serious threat in both maneuverability and firepower, especially when upgraded, exemplified by the Royal Sloop. The whole class are quite popular among pirates, pirate hunters, raiders, navies and more for this exact reason.