Shout Out / The Brotherhood of the Black Flag

• "Reynard" not only means "fox" in French, but the original Germanic name "Raginard" that Reynard is derived from refers to someone who gives strong counsel, making it a more than appropriate name for a smooth-talking character like Captain Reynard. Not at all coincidentally, the film studio Twentieth Century Fox produced a number of swashbucklers starring Tyrone Power in the 1940s, including The Mark of Zorro (1940) and The Black Swan (1942).
• Niccolo Sabatini, Reynard’s first mate, gets his surname from Rafael Sabatini, who wrote numerous historical adventure novels, several of which feature pirates as main characters, such as Captain Blood: His Odyssey, The Sea Hawk, and Scaramouche, among others.
• Robert Hale is named for actor Alan Hale, who was Errol Flynn’s sidekick (and occasional adversary) in many of his films. His friends from the Keighley are likewise all named for actors who have played “sidekicks” and supporting roles in pirate and swashbuckler films.
  • The Keighley itself is named after director William Keighley, co-director of The Adventures of Robin Hood and several other of Flynn's films.
• Lord Edmund Alleyn gets his surname from Edward Alleyn, acclaimed actor of the Elizabethan era. Among Alleyn’s starring roles was his portrayal of Faustus in Christopher Marlowe’s play of the same name.
• Esau Tynan, the boatswain, is named for David Tynan, the writer of numerous episodes of Highlander: The Series.
• The boatswain’s mate, Jason Reverte, gets his name from Arturo Pérez-Reverte, author of The Club Dumas, The Fencing Master, and the Captain Alatriste series (one entry of which has Alatriste crossing swords with pirates, and another having him engage in a pirate-esque escapade of his own).
• The seven pirate captains that Reynard collects are named after actors who have portrayed pirates in movies.
  • Brian Lancaster is named after Burt Lancaster, star of The Crimson Pirate (1952). To compensate for the movie not having any sword fights, something the author was very disappointed about, Lancaster was chosen to be the final pirate Reynard would hunt down and cross swords with.
  • Thomas Byrne is named for Gabriel Byrne, who played a fugitive pirate in the movie Shipwrecked (1990).
  • Henry Sanders is named for George Sanders, who played the villainous Captain Billy Leech in The Black Swan (1942).
  • Oliver Newton is named for Robert Newton, who popularized many pirate stereotypes with his portrayal of Long John Silver in Disney’s live-action Treasure Island (1950).
  • Alvaro Quintero is named for Anthony Quinn, who was in several pirate movies, including The Black Swan (1942), Against All Flags (1952), and A High Wind in Jamaica'' (1965).
  • Thomas Fairbanks is named for Douglas Fairbanks, swashbuckling action hero of the Silent Era and star of The Black Pirate (1926). Fairbanks doesn’t have a single line of dialogue throughout the book.
  • Maureen Barnes is named for Maureen O'Hara and Binnie Barnes, both of whom appeared in The Spanish Main (1945). O'Hara has also starred in numerous other swashbucklers and costumed adventure films, including The Black Swan, Against All Flags, and At Sword's Point.
• John Curry is named for Tim Curry, who portrayed Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
• Matthew Heston is named for Charlton Heston, who also played Silver in the classic Treasure Island TV movie (1990) alongside Christian Bale, Oliver Reed, and Christopher Lee.
• The two pirates mentioned in the scene at Ciudad d’Esperanza, Langella and Rush, are named for Frank Langella and Geoffrey Rush, both of whom played prominent roles as pirate captains in Cutthroat Island (1990) and the Pirates of the Caribbean film series respectively.
• Fredrick Cavendish is named for Fred Cavens, Belgian fencer sword fight choreographer and fencing instructor for pretty much any decent Hollywood swashbuckler from the 1920s through the 1950s you can think of, as well as Disney's classic Zorro television series. He also trained Hollywood royalty such as Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Basil Rathbone, and Robert Donat.
• Sergeant Donald Gilbert is named after Ron Gilbert, creator of the Monkey Island video game series.
• Captain Fillion is obviously named for Nathan Fillion, star of the TV show Firefly. And no, the brown coat he wears is not a coincidence.
• The name Lincoln Parker, Reynard’s pirate mentor, was inspired by the Steve Goodman song “The Lincoln Park Pirates.”
• The name of Catalina’s father Bartholomew Moore, a Shakesperean actor, is a play on the name "Barrymore" - as in John Barrymore, acclaimed Shakesperean actor as well as one of the greats of the Silent Era - including the silent swashbuckler Don Juan (1926).