Sea Dog Beard - Television Tropes & Idioms

Compared to him, you have a woman's chin!

"I know I'm only a bluff old cove with no legs and a beard you could lose a badger in."

— Captain Redbeard Rum, Blackadder II.

Men of the maritime or naval business, especially the more experienced ones, will usually grow beards. It's more an issue of practicality- shaving requires fresh water, and you have to conserve this on a ship. But in any case it is one way to tell that a character is a real Father Neptune.

For Pirate Captains, a prominent beard is so obligatory that you have a high probability of being named after it. Real Life gave us Blackbeard

and Redbeard

, and fiction has responded with Redbeard Rum (see right), Whitebeard, Yellowbeard, Purplebeard... everything but Bluebeard, which was already taken by a non-pirate.

Any character sporting this is guaranteed to Talk Like a Pirate. Something about the way the densely packed follicles baffle the sound waves... Combine with Beard of Barbarism for pirates.

Examples:

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The Gorton's Fisherman.
Captain Birdseye

Anime And Manga

Captain Smudge from Serendipity The Pink Dragon has a big grey beard like this, and talks like a pirate too.
Despite mostly serving in space, Captain Okita of the Space Battleship Yamato wears the traditional bushy captain beard.
Due to the franchise's roots as an intended parody of the SF anime cliches of the 70s, most Macross series traditionally have the captains of their respective Cool Ships to wear the traditional bushy beards. Bruno Global and Jeffrey Wilder being the most prominent examples.
- Max Jenius, though, is an aversion — he's clean-shaven and impeccably clad in white, and wears a Cool Shades just to show off what an Ace he is. He even looks like a total Bishōnen at 52.
  - Kawamori reportedly outright stated that Max stopped aging due to his sheer awesomeness.*
    This statement, however, is better to be taken with a grain of salt, as it's turned out recently that a lot of similar trivia Words Of God were fabricated by an influential fan.
One Piece runs on this trope.

Comic Books

Captain Haddock in Tintin
Aquaman had one for a while.

Film

Most of the male pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean
In Das Boot, most of the crew have beards by the end. Truth in Television, as fresh water was in limited supply aboard U-Boats.
In The Final Countdown, several of the crew of the USS Nimitz wear a beard. Granted, this was 1980, so regulations have changed since then.

Literature

While not strictly speaking sea dogs, many of the Sky Pirates in The Edge Chronicles have beards of this nature, especially Tem Barkwater.
The Ancient Mariner is usually depicted like this (which makes sense, he spent an unclear period of time stuck in the middle of the sea long after the fresh water supplies had run out).
Surprisingly not prominent in Honorverse, Aivars Terekhov is one of those few who have it.

Newspaper Comics

Bluto/Brutus in Popeye has this overlapping with Beard of Evil. Popeye himself is eerily hairless, while his father, Poopdeck Pappy, has thick Perma Stubble.

Video Games

Capt. Price in Modern Warfare 2. When you first see him he looks like a crusty old sea captain.
Captain Daitetsu of Super Robot Wars Original Generation is the very model of the old salty captain, with beard and pipe.
Captain Ed Shivers from TimeSplitters: Future Perfect.

Real Life

In the Royal Navy, you can have a beard and moustache, or be clean shaven. That's all the choice you have.
The US Navy actually prohibits beards among sailors- due to the need to get a gas mask on.
- Beards were a bit of a naval tradition in the Royal Navy, and in the US Navy (since the latter was pretty much based on the former). During Zumwalt's term as the American Chief of Naval Operations, beards were re-authorized for American Navy personnel, though they've been banned since. This rule does not appear to stop certain SEALs.
  - It's fairly common for commanders of special forces units to turn a blind eye to shaving regulations. It's almost an unspoken rule that they've "earned the right" due to the particularly grueling and dangerous work they do.
  - It also helps them do their job in places like Afghanistan, where most men have beards. Beards are considered an essential sign of masculinity in Afghan culture and many Afghans won't take a clean-shaven man seriously.
  - They also aren't breaking any rules. Spec Ops personnel (and those working with them) are given "grooming waivers." Other personnel with skin issues can be issued "No Shave Chits" which, well, allow the bearer to not shave.
- Many US submarines allow the beards while underway. Traditionally, a sailor buys a $5 No Shave Chit, which goes into the ship's recreation fund. However, as soon as the ship pulls into port or if there are riders aboard, then they're immediately required to shave.
Edward Teach had such an ominous beard that he's better known as Blackbeard.
During World War II, the Kriegsmarine took pride in not shaving, as they considered it a waste of resources.
- Even nowadays, German sailors on subs tend to eschew washing and shaving. But yes, with limited freshwater resources, this is justified.