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Pirates

Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate

Stede Bonnet

Played by: Rhys Darby

The captain of the Revenge. He is a self-proclaimed "gentleman pirate".

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• Abusive Parents: His father was an angry, violent, emotionally abusive man who mocked him for not being tough enough.
• Afraid of Blood: He starts to get anxious when his crew is preparing to battle another ship's crew to the death. A childhood flashback shows him sprayed with blood as his abusive father butchers a bird.
• All Gays Love Theater: His attempt at putting on a fuckery in "The Art of Fuckery" quickly turns into a theatrical extravaganza, and he falls in love with Ed over the course of the series.
• Arranged Marriage: He was in one prior to running away to become a pirate — he expresses reluctance to agree to the match, having hoped to marry for love.
• Awful Wedded Life: Downplayed and justified. He and Mary are both unhappy in their marriage due to factors beyond their control: it was an Arranged Marriage forced by their parents, divorce is not an option, and Stede is gay. However, they both spent years trying to make their marriage work, and both of them love their children despite the circumstances under which they were conceived.
• Belated Love Epiphany: It doesn't hit him that he's actually in love with Ed until the last episode of the first season, at which point he's already gone home to try and reconcile with his wife.
• Benevolent Boss: His crew doesn't appreciate his approach at first, too worried that his inexperience and naïveté will get them all killed. They come around to it as he learns when and how to get serious. When Izzy takes charge of the Revenge briefly, the crew soon admit to missing Stede's much gentler leadership.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's woefully under-prepared for life as a pirate, but, with a little scandalous information, he can be scarily good at using passive-aggression to publicly shame his former social circle. Even Blackbeard is unnerved (and impressed) by Stede's unrepentant Unsportsmanlike Gloating.
• Blood-Splattered Innocents: He was this as a child. One of his recurring memories that receives flashbacks throughout the first season is of him getting splattered in the face with blood from his father butchering a bird. His father used this to show how "lily-livered" Stede is for daring to look away from said butchering.
• Break Them by Talking: Gloriously does this to an entire ship of aristocrats through juicy, scandalous gossip after they humiliated Ed.
• Camp Gay: Though more foppish than campy, Stede comes to fit this trope when he falls in love for the first time with Blackbeard.
• Color Motif: His wardrobe is a rainbow of silk and lace pastels, contrasting sharply with Ed's kinky black leather look.
• Cowardly Lion: Violence upsets him greatly, and his main goal as captain is to avoid bloodshed. Over the course of Season 1, he begins to gain a bit more courage through his relationship with Blackbeard, culminating in the season finale when he slams Doug into a table and holds him at knifepoint when Doug startles him. He immediately backs down once he realizes the faux pas, but it's still an impressive move.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Before he realizes his feelings for Ed, he gets briefly jealous when the latter reunites with his former friend/possible lover Calico Jack, to the point where he spends the entire night in his cabin spying on them through his telescope.
• The Dandy: Well, he is a 18th century (former) aristocrat, what did you expect? Part of his cabin is dedicated to a walk-in closet, and he is seen throughout the series in a number of pristine, colorful outfits.
• Deliberate Injury Gambit: Stede uses one to win a duel against the vastly more skilled Izzy on a technicality. He positions himself with his back against the mast when Izzy runs him through, and the blade lodges so firmly in the wood that the hilt breaks off. Since Izzy can't remove his sword to make the killing blow, he must forfeit.
• Determinator: Shows signs of it in Season 1, sticking with his dream even through constant insubordination and mockery, but really grows into it in Season 2. Nothing — not lack of money, lack of a ship, his crew's understandable reluctance, or even Blackbeard's wrath itself — will stop him from getting back to Ed.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Oh so much when it comes to being a pirate captain. Or seafaring in general. As Ed himself points out, it's not too smart to have a working fireplace on a ship that's made entirely of wood.
  • Played With in the sword duel with Izzy: it's a pretty risky gamble for sure, but more thought out than everyone else expected.
  • Played painfully straight when he confidently challenges Zheng to a duel after she insults Ed, and promptly gets his ass handed to him. Badly. He only survives because Zheng's entire fleet explodes thanks to Prince Ricky's treachery, distracting her.
• Disappeared Dad: He becomes one to his own children, Louis and Alma, when he leaves his settled life to take up piracy.
• Distressed Dude: Almost to the point of Once an Episode.
• The Dog Bites Back: Having put up with Nigel's bullying and humiliation for years, he strikes him over the head with a paperweight after one insult too many. To his horror, the unconscious Nigel topples forward onto his own sword, killing him.
• Embarrassing Nickname: His bullies used to call him "Baby Bonnet".
• Face Death with Despair: Played for Laughs; after he and his crew are captured by the navy, Stede looks like he's prepared to Face Death with Dignity. But then he's brought before a firing squad blindfolded and hilariously begging for his life. Thankfully Ed is there to save him before any shots are fired.
• Face Death with Dignity: In "Act of Grace", when Stede is sentenced by Badminton to death by firing squad, he tells a frantic Blackbeard that he is willing to face the consequences. Subverted a few seconds later; when he's actually in front of the firing squad, he's completely terrified and cries for help.
• Faking the Dead: Realizing Mary and the kids were better off when he was presumed dead, he fakes his death with their help. It involves a secret terminal illness, getting mauled by a jaguar, a stagecoach hit-and-run, and a falling piano.
• A Father to His Men: Stede reads bedtime stories for his crew, intervenes when they fight, and encourages them to talk about their feelings with him and with each other.
• First Love: The first season's finale sees him realize that Ed is the first person he's ever truly loved.
• Fish out of Water: He is a former aristocrat, and doesn't really know how to handle piracy yet.
• Good Is Not Soft: Stede, despite being a sweetheart, A Father to His Men, and all-around Benevolent Boss, has a streak of ruthlessness that piracy brings to the fore. He effortlessly humiliates the aristocracy in "The Best Revenge Is Dressing Well," kicks Calico Jack off his ship when his frat-bro behavior gets too much, and in "Wherever You Go, There You Are," slams Doug into a table at knifepoint when he startles him.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: Lots of frock coats and ruffles make up his fabulous Unlimited Wardrobe.
• Grew a Spine: At the start of the show he's so ineffectual as a pirate captain that his crew scarcely wait until his back is turned to begin planning a mutiny. He starts showing a backbone in defense of the people he cares about, whether that's mocking a room full of aristocrats who made fun of Ed or kicking Calico Jack off the ship because he upset Buttons.
• Guile Hero: Though his physical combat skills eventually improve to the level of basic self defense, Stede's main assets are his quick wit, affability and sheer dumb luck. He's far more likely to bluff rather than fight his way out of a problem.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: The real life Stede Bonnet was something of a selfish Dirty Coward and a slaver to boot. The Stede in the show is a Nice Guy Cowardly Lion.
• Hypocrite: Stede himself is rather bad at his "talk it through as a crew" policy. He'll happily listen to other people's problems (especially Ed's), but his own major issues — years of living in an arranged marriage with a wife who was completely incompatible with him, his guilt over abandoning his wife and children, his father and peers' total contempt for him — are suppressed behind his sunny blustering. His crew catches on to his hidden angst because they run into his old bullies, but Ed could really, really have done with knowing that Stede is much more insecure and less oblivious than he makes out.
• I Will Find You: At the end of the season, Stede realises that no longer has any place in his own home with his wife and children — so he fakes his death and sets off in a dinghy to find Ed.
• It's All My Fault: Season 2 Stede has an interesting relationship with this trope. While his Season 1 self clearly had a lot of guilt about abandoning his family, he never vocally owned up to this until the last minute. Season 2 Stede, however, blames himself for everything that went wrong at the end of Season 1. Ed going on a rampage is seen by himself (and most of the cast) as being his fault. The crew punish Ed for his actions, but still essentially hold Stede responsible. Most interestingly of all, Stede seems content to let everybody think he just wimped out of meeting Ed at the dock because he's a flake — he doesn't defend himself, and neglects to point out that Chauncey kidnapped him with the intent of murdering him, and that's why he wasn't there.
• Jerkass to One: Stede is unfailingly polite even to his former bully, people who are attempting to murder him, and Calico Jack, but vocally, openly cannot stand Izzy Hands.
• Morality Pet: Blackbeard is a lot more willing to do cruel things before he grows close to Stede, and whenever the two of them are apart afterwards. Blackbeard "needing" to kill Stede is even compared to putting down a dog one has grown too attached to.
• Mythical Motifs: The ship he designed has a Unicorn figurehead. Not much attention is drawn to it, but the equine poster-child for myths and magic obviously relates to Stede's outlandishly romanticized notions about piracy, and the fact that he is a dreamer by nature. On a more subtle level, when paired with its rival the lion, the unicorn is seen as a more benevolent King of the Beasts (while the lion represents rule by strength/force), and Stede's leadership style is diplomatic and people-focused rather than aggressive. Alternatively, it could also be seen as a pun: Stede is the "Gentleman Pirate," and there's no more noble steed than a unicorn...
  • In Season 2, he adopts a merman motif, at least in Ed's eyes. For Ed, Stede is a seductive, romantic ideal and part of a world that Ed does not have access to. David Jenkins has said that he's a goldfish mermaid because Ed sees him as cute and defenseless. However, as the season goes on, it's clear that merpeople, like unicorns, are not to be trifled with. Like a mermaid, Stede is able to take down enemies with just his voice: Ned Low's crew defect not because of being outmatched in a fight, but because Stede talks to them. And then he drowns Low himself.
• Nice Guy: Stede is a genuinely affable and likable guy with a distaste for wanton violence and basically tries to run his ship like a well-funded community center. Until he learns how and when to show a little ruthlessness, he's a sitting duck in a sea full of much more bloodthirsty pirates. On the flip side, over the course of Season 1 his leadership brings out a softer and more creative side to his crew.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The last episode of the first season sees him return home to make amends to his family for abandoning them... only to find that Mary was much happier without him, and is prepared to kill him in order to return to her life as a merry widow. Meanwhile, Ed's heartbreak over Stede's departure causes him to have an emotional breakdown, resume the Blackbeard persona, and leave most of his crew for dead. Well done, Stede.
• Nobility Marries Money: The reason for his Arranged Marriage to Mary. His family has money, hers had acreage, and only peasants marry for love.
• Non-Action Guy: He loves adventure, but much prefers his creature comforts to bloodshed, much to the annoyance of the hardened pirates around him.
• Oblivious to Love: He's the last to know that Ed/Blackbeard is romantically interested in him. In fact, he's so oblivious to love, he doesn't even know when he himself is in love — even after he's been kissed. Being a gay man and his loveless Arranged Marriage probably has a lot to do with this ...although the woman he's in said loveless marriage with is also the one to help spell things out for him.
• Parents as People: He never chose to marry or have kids, but we see him playing pirates with Louis and Alma and he clearly loves them very much. Unfortunately, the hostility from his loveless marriage spills over into disputes about parenting, tainting those relationships as well. He's clearly very conflicted about leaving his children behind but desperate enough to go through with it anyway.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Gave a surprisingly effective one to poor Doug when he accidentally startled him, causing Stede to throw him down with a knife to his neck.
  Stede: Unhand me or bleed.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Most of his Unlimited Wardrobe consists of colourful fancy coats and elaborate outfits, but at the very end of the season, after he's given away all his wealth to go after Blackbeard, he wears only a simple linen shirt and plain trousers.
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: He wasn't exactly thrilled with his former life, but when he returns to his family in "Wherever You Go, There You Are," Stede discovers that not only have they moved on and are happier without him, but that he's changed in his time away and can no longer even pretend to fit in.
• Stepford Smiler: Stede is genial, kind, idealistic and not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Bubbling under the surface, however, is about forty years of being held in contempt, constantly mocked, stripped of the ability to make choices for himself, and becoming such a stranger to actual love and affection that he can't recognize it when it's staring him in the face.
• Took a Level in Badass: Downplayed since he's still a pretty sub-par combatant, but by the Season 1 finale it's clear he's more suited to piracy than aristocracy and is capable of defending himself. He almost stabs Doug for approaching him from behind, showing that he's learned to anticipate attack at any moment.
• Trauma Button: Being called pathetic. It causes him to strike Nigel in the back of the head, resulting in his accidental death.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Stede has a revolving set of outfits each episode, divided into looks for different seasons and special occasions. He and Ed even bond over this when he reveals his secret closet full of said outfits.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Sports a very satisfied smirk when he exposes the lies and scandals of a ship full of aristocrats and watches the fallout unfold in front of him.
• Vague Age: The birth year on his tombstone in "Discomfort in a Married State" would put him at 29 during the events of the show^note as was the real-life Stede Bonnet in 1717, but he's played by 47-year-old Rhys Darby, and both Darby and showrunner David Jenkins have referred to Stede as "middle-aged" and "having a midlife crisis" in interviews.

Edward "Ed" Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard

Edward "Ed" Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard

Played by: Taika Waititi

A legendary and fearsome pirate who takes a liking to Stede.

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• Abusive Parents: In a flashback, we see that his father was violent, drunk, and abusive to Ed and his mother.
• Affectionate Nickname: Stede refers to him as "Ed", even after learning he's the infamous Blackbeard and his real name is Edward Teach.
• Ambiguously Brown: Edward is played by Taika Waititi, an actor of Māori and Jewish descent, and his mother is played by an actress of Māori descent. As New Zealand had very little contact with the West until the early 19th century, it is incredibly unlikely that the real Blackbeard would have shared the actor's race. Ed's ethnicity is never mentioned and has little attention brought to it, despite the show occasionally dealing with themes of race and racism.
• The Atoner: Once he comes back to himself in Season 2, even grouchily submitting to wearing a bell and collar so he can't sneak up on the traumatised crew.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Downplayed, but as laid out in this analysis, Blackbeard does show signs of ADHD, and spends much of his first appearance being chased around the Revenge by Izzy, trying to stop him getting distracted by interesting clouds, model ships, and Stede's various luxuries.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Judging by the temperature and shape of some clouds, he's able to predict the arrival of an evening fog down to the second.
• Bad Boss: Blackbeard probably wasn't that great of a boss before he met Stede:
  • He dismisses Izzy's long list of complaints about his poor captaining with a mocking "Sounds stressful, Izzy" and the deaths of his own crew members with "Kind of the job, they're pirates".
  • He made Fang kill his dog before joining his crew.
  • Then there's the toe incident when Ed as the Kraken decides to put Izzy back in his place.
  • Taken to the extreme in Season 2, where he spends three episodes mentally and physically torturing the crew, costing Izzy his whole left leg and most of the (non-central) crew their lives.
• Barbarian Long Hair: The vicious fighter Blackbeard sports chest-length hair.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He can be an affable goofball on a good day (especially with Stede's influence), but make no mistake, he's earned his reputation as the deadly Blackbeard.
• Broken Ace: He's the greatest and most renowned pirate in the world, but by the time we meet him it's clear a life of trauma has taken its toll on him, hiding behind his menacing reputation. Hanging out with Stede helps him admit this. The end of Season One sees him viciously swinging back from self-reflection to a new reign of terror as "the Kraken."
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In the first half of Season 1, Blackbeard acts oddly, often seemingly on a whim, which is initially Izzy's primary frustration with him. At the end of the fourth episode (the first with Blackbeard as a main character instead of a shadowy background figure), all of his strange antics turn out to be vital to his scheme for evading the Spanish Navy. Subverted as he still botches the initial plan, but he improvises a new one with Stede.
• Captain Colorbeard: A fictional counterpart to the Trope Codifier himself.
• Closet Key: He's this for Stede.
• The Corruptible: Even though he's the fearsome Blackbeard, Ed is capable of either being a good or bad person depending on who he associates with. With Stede's influence, he gradually becomes kinder, gentler, more open with his feelings, and appreciative of life's finer pleasures. With Izzy and Calico Jack, however, he shows his worst qualities and becomes boorish, pigheaded, temperamental, impatient, and brooding. When Stede leaves him and Izzy rejoins his crew, his negative qualities come back in full force.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: When Ed finds out Stede ditched him after they planned to run away together to return home to his wife, he promptly smashes a chair into the wall and into the surrounding furniture.
• Death Seeker: In season 2, he does increasingly dangerous and risky stunts out of suicidal tendencies, culminating in him trying to pull a Suicide by Cop via Izzy, and then sailing the ship into a storm with a broken wheel to try and kill them all. It's interrupted by the rest of the crew taking him down.
• Dented Iron: It's subtle, but years of adventuring have taken a toll on his body: he has a large mass of scars on his lower left abdomen from being stabbed there dozens of times, and he wears a brace on his left knee^note which is one of the many details his costume shares with that of Mad Max, but presumably the In-Universe reason that he wears the brace is because he needs it.
• Deuteragonist: Once he appears in "Discomfort in a Married State," his and Stede's developing stories run parallel to each other for the rest of the season.
• The Dreaded: Most people he meets are immediately scared of him, and he offhandedly mentions that he can use his name alone to get his way.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: His flashbacks to him with his mother are tinged with a longing sadness.
• Et Tu, Brute?: As Blackbeard, Edward Teach can stand up to a lot — he takes stabbings, mutinies, raids and even capture by the British in his stride. When he believes that Stede, who has quickly become his best friend and first love has abandoned him, though? It takes the legs out from under him, sending him crashing into depression before eventually spiraling into self-destructive (and crew-destructive) behavior.
• Fatal Flaw: Impulsiveness. Ed is fairly chill even at his most violent and sociopathic, but he's seemingly incapable of 'not' following his flights of fancy and has a tendency to fall into grand gestures and moods without thinking anything through. Apart from jealousy, this is actually a big part of Izzy's issues with Stede, as Hands things Bonnet is just another distraction that Ed will inevitably drop, leaving his crew to pick up the pieces of the ensuing troubles.
• Fish out of Water: He briefly swaps roles with Stede at an aristocratic party, becoming the one unfamiliar with the rules of the world he's operating in.
• Go Through Me: As Stede faces down the firing squad in "Act of Grace," Ed desperately puts himself between Stede and the soldiers.
  • In "Calypso's Birthday," Ed attempts to shield Stede from Ned Low and his threatening crew, since Low is really just after Blackbeard. This only makes Low realize how important Stede is to Ed, so he decides to torture them together.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Blackbeard is sometimes shown to lose his temper over small things, particularly in "This Is Happening."
  • Possibly subverted, as while he's irritable in that episode and has a somewhat explosive response to having a snake fall on him, otherwise it takes a surprising amount of provocation to make Ed actually lose his temper, and even then he manages to keep enough of a hold on himself to give the offenders (the French captain in "The Best Revenge is Dressing Well" and Izzy in "Wherever You Go, There You Are") a chance to take back what they said before he does so. Most of his violence, in fact, is done more out of pragmatism/concern for his reputation than in anger.
• He Cleans Up Nicely: Thanks to Stede and his extensive wardrobe, Ed can (mostly) pass as a wealthy aristocrat, "The Best Revenge is Dressing Well" being the prime example.
• Heartbroken Badass: As of the finale for the first season. He takes Stede’s absence very hard.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Wears a leather jacket and leather pants to accentuate his bad-boy image.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: His Mad Max-inspired black leather getup is not only wildly anachronistic, but should probably kill him in the hot Caribbean climate. Word of God is essentially that they considered these issues, then decided that they didn't care because it looked good.
• Important Haircut: A variation: in this case, an important shave. Ostensibly, this is done for a practical reason, but it's interpreted symbolically by both Ed and Stede. For Ed, it was something he did willingly in order to put "Blackbeard" behind him and pursue a future with Stede. Unfortunately, Stede interpreted the destruction of Ed's most famous feature as proof that Stede had stripped him of his identity and "brought him to ruin", as Chauncey accuses him of doing.
• In Love with the Mark: As of the end of "Discomfort in a Married State," Blackbeard's plan was to get Stede to teach him what he'd need to know to pass as a gentleman, then kill Stede and take over his identity to retire from piracy in comfort. All that changes over the course of a few weeks when he genuinely grows fond of Stede and falls in love.
• Intimidation Demonstration: When Stede fails to interrogate a French hostage, Ed promptly scares the wits out of him by (loudly) threatening to stab him in the eye. This is during the montage of both him and Stede teaching each others' methods.
• It's All Junk: Drops the red silk his mother gave him overboard when he decides to return to his old violent personality. Notably, he flashes back to Stede showing him how to fold it into a pocket square, implying that his mother's memory is now tainted by their failed relationship.
• Kubrick Stare: Gives a menacing one to an unsuspecting Lucius in "Wherever You Go, There You Are," right before he throws him overboard, signifying his descent into the "Kraken" persona.
• Leatherman: He likes men and dresses entirely in tight black leather.
• Longing Look: Directs a lot of these Stede's way, to the point that it's how Lucius is able to figure out that the two of them are falling for each other.
• Lovable Rogue: He's a violent pirate... but a charming one! Particularly to Stede, whom he gradually becomes fond of and eventually falls for.
• Love Makes You Crazy:
  • Being abandoned by Stede leaves him in a terrifyingly fractious state of mind. Alternating between torturing members of his own crew and returning to the shadows to pine for the other man. He even goes as far as to steal wedding toppers and repaint them to fit his and Stede’s likenesses.
  • After stumbling on the wreckage of Zheng’s fleet, Ed immediately begins to lose a grip on his sanity and hallucinates Stede calling for help from within the ruins, triggering him to murder two patrolling English officers.
• Momma's Boy: Downplayed. He clearly loved his mother more over his abusive father and the red silk fabric he holds to this day is from her. It's also due to his love for his mother that he strangled his father to death and claimed a kraken had killed him instead.
• Mythical Motifs: The Kraken, representing the most destructive side of Ed's personality (and the side of himself he hates and fears the most). Like the sea monster, Edward Teach at his very worst is capable of destroying ships and their crews and dragging people down to the depths with him as he demonstrates in the first three episodes of Season 2, culminating in him almost sinking the whole ship. It's mostly a coping mechanism to deal with his violent actions, especially the fact that he murdered his abusive father — even if the man was a monster in his own right, Ed's never forgiven himself for it. Also in line with the Kraken motif, Ed strangled his father with a rope, just like a Kraken would attack with its tentacles.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Ed spends a lot of time making these at Stede, which one reviewer aptly described as "Waititi has the uncanny ability to wield his eyes like a Disney prince".
• Purple Is Powerful: Besides leather, the color purple is the other consistent aspect for Blackbeard's outfits, particularly his undershirt and his aristocratic disguise in "The Best Revenge Is Dressing Well." The silk dressing gown he swans around in during "Wherever You Go, There You Are" is a deep tyrian purple as well.
• Seadog Beard: Absolutely natch. He shaves it off after he and Stede claim the Act of Grace and enroll in the privateering academy. Following his desertion (and heartbroken by Stede abandoning him), he applies kohl into a makeshift beard when he embraces his "Kraken" persona.
• Self-Made Orphan: Blackbeard killed his own father when he was young for being abusive to his mother.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Nobody has clean mouths in this show, but Blackbeard is the biggest outlier, especially whenever he's angry and excited.
• Stepford Snarker: Stede smiles through the pain; Ed snarks through it. Except in the case of heartbreak, where he becomes too devastated to wisecrack about it.
  • Deals with imminent death at the hands of the Spanish fleet by grumbling about wanting to die in a cooler way, despite clearly being freaked out by the reality of the situation.
  • Summarizes years of abuse at his father's hands by cheerfully declaring that "my dad was a dick", directing the crew's attention to the Kraken story rather than the fact that Ed's dad terrorized him and his mother.
  • During his and Stede's sentencing, Ed is more concerned with the way Chauncey pronounces his name ("It's just Blackbeard. Like, just run it together as one word.") than the fact that he's facing almost certain death. When his own life is spared and Stede is sentenced to die, however, Ed immediately drops the act, becoming so visibly upset after Stede refuses his offer to help find a way out of his execution that he calls for the Act of Grace as a last resort.
• Tattooed Crook: The most heavily tattooed character, with dozens of pieces covering his arms and torso, and the most infamous pirate of the lot.
• Technical Pacifist: In a vulnerable moment, Ed reveals to Stede that the only person he's ever personally killed is his father. He doesn't have a problem with maiming people, though... or setting boats on fire.
  • As of Season 2, the trope no longer applies as he takes out his heartbreak on everyone and everything.
• Terror Hero: "Hero" is a stretch since Blackbeard's an infamously vicious pirate, but he is still portrayed pretty sympathetically. He relies on intimidation and misdirection to win battles as much as violence, and refers to his technique as "The Art of Fuckery". He seems to find the creativity required for fuckery more interesting than battle, and while Blackbeard isn't exactly heroic, this technique is how he's mostly avoided directly killing people in the course of his career in piracy.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: After a full season of falling in love with Stede and deciding to give up being Blackbeard for good, Ed decides to fully embrace being "The Kraken" after he believes that Stede has abandoned him.
• This Means Warpaint: When he adopts his "Kraken" persona, he applies kohl around his eyes and shaven jaw for a makeshift beard, visually embodying a much darker turn for his character. The paint also gives his face a skeletal quality reminiscent of his pirate flag.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Ed becomes a more mellow, content, and considerate person due to the influence of Stede's kindness and sincerity. When Stede abandons him, all of this development is flushed down the drain, pivoting hard into his "Kraken" persona.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • The scrap of red silk given to him by his mother, symbolizing his desire for the wealth and comfort that they could never have.
  • Even after he's reverted to being "Blackbeard"/"The Kraken" instead of "Ed" and thrown out most of Stede's belongings due to his heartbreak over Stede leaving him, he still keeps the lighthouse painting and wears the black cravat that he got from swapping clothes with Stede during their first meeting.
  • In the first episode of Season 2, Blackbeard and his Kraken-ed crew crash a wedding. We later see that Ed has taken the cake toppers and repainted the bride figure to resemble himself, to pair with the Stede-like groom figure.
• Trauma Button: In "The Art of Fuckery," Ed is triggered by the crew pretending to be the Kraken, because it reminds him of murdering his abusive father and has a panic attack. He ends up holing up in Stede's bathtub under one of Stede's bathrobes.
• Troubled Abuser: In Season 2. Thanks to his heartbreak over Stede, he terrorizes the rest of the crew, to the point where he drives Izzy into attempting suicide, forces Jim and Archie to fight to the death, and tries to pull a murder-suicide by breaking the wheel and sailing into a storm.
• Troubled Fetal Position: He looks like this when he gets triggered by the crew reenacting the story of his father's death by Kraken, since he actually killed his father himself and made up the Kraken to cope with the guilt.
• Victory Is Boring: Confides to Stede that because of his fearsome reputation as Blackbeard, there's no longer any challenge to conquest, as most vessels immediately surrender upon seeing his flag. Stede's fantastical, ass-backwards approach to piracy is actually the most interesting thing to happen to him in years.
• You Are Worth Hell: In order to save Stede's life, Ed gives up his name, reputation, and the life he forged as Blackbeard to become a privateer and serve the English king. When Stede asks him how he's adjusted so well to this new life, he confesses that as long as he's with Stede, he'll be happy.

Stede's Crew

Black Pete

Black Pete

Played by: Matthew Maher

A disagreeable member of Stede's crew.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Lucius sometimes affectionately refers to him as "babe".
• Beta Couple: He and Lucius serve as one to Stede and Blackbeard.
• Blatant Lies: His stories about Blackbeard making him his right hand.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The rest of the crew largely finds him aggravating. Even Lucius, who starts dating him partway through, barely defends him when the crew complain about his willingness to suck up to authority.
• Hidden Depths: He's apparently decent at whittling as he makes a finger for Lucius after the Fuckery.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Black Pete lies about his past to make himself seem cooler, and is desperate to be in command of the ship at any cost, but his relationship with Lucius shows him to be extremely sweet and protective of his boyfriend, including pet names, cuddling together at night, and genuine concern and worry for Lucius any time he gets hurt. He's also the only member of the crew to question Lucius' whereabouts in the first season finale as they're prepping the talent show.
• Pet the Dog: While Black Pete spends the first couple of episodes being largely antagonistic, carving the wooden finger for Lucius marks a turning point where he begins to express his vulnerability and genuine feelings for Lucius.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He keeps trying to establish his dominance over the crew due to his "experience", but none of them are having it.
• Speech Impediment: He talks with a lisp.
• The Starscream: Black Pete wants to be the captain instead of Stede. He's quite possibly even less liked initially.
• Superstitious Sailors: He's one of the first to bring up the superstition of women bringing bad luck onto ships after Jim's identity is revealed. Jim quickly scoffs at this and calls it a myth.

Nathaniel Buttons

Nathaniel Buttons

Played by: Ewen Bremner

Stede's first mate.

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• Animal Lover: Has a strong bond with his seagull, Karl and is devastated when Calico Jack whips the bird to death.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Easily the oddest member of the crew. One of Buttons' quirks is to strip fully nude and bathe in the moonlight at night.
• Creepy Good: Despite his weird behavior, he is loyal to Stede and proves to be helpful in his own way.
• False Teeth Tomfoolery: Some of his teeth are made of wood, and he pulls one of them out when he gets too scared in "The Art of Fuckery" and bites Lucius on the finger. He also shows Stede in the pilot that he has a custom set of sharpened fangs made just for raiding parties.
• Father Neptune: An experienced sailor and pirate who warns Stede about the brewing mutiny in the pilot, and generally gives him advice about piracy and life at sea. Also close friends with a seagull.
• I'm a Humanitarian: It's unclear if he's actually eaten human, but he's awfully keen to eat his crewmates when the ship runs aground in "A Damned Man" and again when the crew has been marooned by Blackbeard in "Wherever You Go, There You Are". Additionally, his preferred form of combat is biting out other people's throats, he instinctively bites Lucius when startled, and in the fuckery in 1x06, he volunteers to eat someone's face.
• Large Ham: Tends to make ominous pronouncements while staring off into the distance. Especially noticeable when he curses Calico Jack for killing Karl the seagull.
• Last-Name Basis: Absolutely nobody (at least, nobody human) ever calls Buttons by his first name. We only learn that he even has a first name in his conversation with Olivia the seagull.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: His skills border on supernatural — he's able to talk to seagulls, doesn't need a scope to accurately recognize and spot ships at massive distances, and he puts a hex on Calico Jack, who ends up shot with a cannonball.
  • In Season Two, Auntie recognizes him as a sea witch in human form, and gifts him a spell book to bless their travels. Thing is, Buttons doesn't exactly deny it. Later confirmed when he successfully turns into a seagull.
• Naked People Are Funny: Spends most of "We Gull Way Back" in the nude.
• Put on a Bus: Halfway through Season 2, he turns into a seagull and flies away.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: He is shown to be fluent in seagull.
• Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Buttons is quite strange, and seagulls are not the most usual of pets.

Frenchie

Frenchie

Played by: Joel Fry

A musician on the crew of the Revenge.

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• As You Know: When he brings up his superstitious worries, he claims that "everyone knows" these beliefs.
• The Bard: Frenchie frequently plays music on the ship.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Not to the extent of Buttons, but still believes that cats steal the breath of children and women have crystals in their bodies that attract demons.
• Hidden Depths: He tells Stede he was once "in service for a minute" when aboard the aristocrats' ship. He's apparently learned enough to be able to swindle half the passengers in a "pyramid scheme".
• Karmic Thief: While posing as an Egyptian aristocrat with Oluwande, Frenchie initiates a con to steal money from various European aristocrats after overhearing one too many racist comments from them.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He is very confident about his "scientific" knowledge, like his belief that women have demon-attracting crystals in their bodies.
• Nice to the Waiter: Having worked as a servant or been a slave (it's not made clear) himself, he strikes up a quick alliance with Abshir in Episode 5. This helps him scam the aristocrats onboard the ship and helps Stede's Break the Haughty ploy.
• Non-Indicative Name: Despite being called Frenchie, he has an English accent.
• Odd Friendship: He seems pretty close with Wee John, with the two of them spending their vacation with each other blowing stuff up and wanting to room together when Oluwande didn't want the room anymore.
• Stepford Smiler: In Blackbeard's crew, he's chipper and eating cake while the others are miserable, and Jim asks him how he does it. His answer is that he's got a box in his mind, he puts it all in that box, then he locks the box and never looks at it again.
• Superstitious Sailors: He's the most superstitious out of the rest of the crew. With him talking about how cats suck the souls out of people and believes after Jim's identity reveal that they have crystals in their bodies that attract demons. Jim is quick to shut all of this down after hearing it. In Season Two, he readily assists Roach in leaving some bread out for the fairies, to thank them for their help in making it.
• You Are in Command Now: Immediately after shooting Izzy, Blackbeard tells a terrified Frenchie that he's the new First Mate, and that his first duty is finishing the job. Later, when Stede and Ed stay to become innkeepers, he seems to have been promoted to captain of the Revenge—this time in a peaceful transfer of power.

Jim Jimenez

Jim Jimenez

^{Click here to see their Season 1 look} 

Played by: Vico Ortiz

A non-binary mercenary who disguises themself as a man to hide among Stede's crew after having a bounty put on their head.

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• Alliterative Name: Jim Jimenez, if only in writing. Also doubles as Repetitive Name, again only in writing.
• Best Served Cold: They were raised for the sole purpose of taking revenge against the gang of assassins that killed their family. Subverted, however, in that while they manage to kill the man who murdered their father, one of Spanish Jackie's husbands, Jackie also tells them that the rest have probably already died one way or another over the years.
• Beta Couple: With Oluwande. They have a slower burn than Lucius and Pete, but their romance arc is still slightly simpler than Ed and Stede's.
• Blood Knight: They are at home being a pirate, and often suggests solving problems by fighting or stabbing.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Jim hears the crew might be headed to St. Augustine and balks. Turns out that's where they grew up and had lived until their entire family was killed by a gang of bandits, leaving Jim as the sole survivor on a mission of vengeance.
• Devious Daggers: Their weapon of choice is knives, and they're damn good at it after being raised by a hard-bitten knife-throwing warrior nun. They're also sneaky, good at disguises, and a trained assassin currently on a revenge quest.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Between Season One and Two, their hair changes from a messy shoulder-length shag to a short punk-style fauxhawk, presumably to show their adjustment to being under Blackbeard's ruthless command.
• Hero of Another Story: Their backstory consists of being raised as a knife-throwing assassin by a nun to get revenge on the gang of bandits that killed their family. We meet them while on the lam after having successfully murdered one of them.
• Hot-Blooded: While normally levelheaded in conducting assassinations, they can be very quick to stab anyone threatening them and their crew's well-being. Compared to Oluwande's caution, Jim is very impulsive.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They prefer not talking too much about themself, even with their close friend Oluwande. However, they do care for their crew, as they were the first to attack the English naval officer who had made a racist remark towards Frenchie.
• Just Friends: With Oluwande. Whenever someone suggests that the two of them are in love, they both insist that their relationship is purely platonic. They get together by the end of the first season and pick up right where they left off after being separated and reunited, with Archie even tagging along as a third.
• Seadog Beard: Their disguise as a grizzled old male pirate rather than a grizzled young nonbinary pirate consists of only a detachable Gag Nose and a massive (apparently really uncomfortable) false beard.
• Skinny Dipping: Jim uses the crew's impromptu island "vacation" in Episode 3 to take a long-needed ocean bath. Lucius discovers their fake nose and beard on a nearby rock, and Jim threatens him at knifepoint to keep their secret from the rest of the crew.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Jim is disguised as a man on a pirate ship full of other men and Lucius is the first to find out that Jim is not one by stumbling upon their fake nose and beard. A variation—they're nonbinary, rather than a woman (although they are initially mistaken for a woman by most of the crew once their identity is revealed).
• Tragic Keepsake: Their father's knife, which was the only thing they managed to salvage when bandits killed their family. They lost it during their quest for vengeance against one of Spanish Jackie's husband. Lucius manages to steal it back for them in Episode 3.
• Tyke Bomb: Jim was raised from childhood to be an assassin in order to kill those who murdered the rest of their family.
• You Killed My Father: Jim was raised to avenge their family, but in the end Spanish Jackie deconstructs this aim, pointing out that living off anger isn't healthy, and that (aside from the two Jim has already killed) the rest of the men who murdered their family are likely long dead anyway.

Lucius Spriggs

Lucius Spriggs

Played by: Nathan Foad

A member of the Revenge crew who acts as Stede's scribe and personal assistant.

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• Beard of Sorrow: Grows a full beard in Season Two after surviving a series of traumas that mature him and make him more cynical.
• Beleaguered Assistant: To Stede, so much so that when the crew are initially planning a mutiny against him in Episode 1, Lucius tells the crew he'll be in on it.
• Beta Couple: He and Pete serve as one to Stede and Blackbeard.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: One of only three people on the crew who can read and write (along with Stede and Jim), is intuitive and emotionally intelligent, but also goes out of his way to avoid physical labour whenever and however possible.
• Butt-Monkey: Especially before Stede and Ed's romance kicks off and his role as The Heart becomes much more relevant. Over the course of the first season, he gets almost killed by Jim, is locked in a trunk, has his clothes ruined twice in the Republic of Pirates, loses his finger, and is thrown overboard by Edward. He also 'passes from ship to ship' following his near-drowning and experiences a healthy dose of trauma and humilation before he reunites with his former crewmates.
• Camp Gay: Quite effeminate, and states in the second episode that he's not attracted to women.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: Black Pete is surprised to see that Lucius has taken up smoking after surviving his fall from the Revenge.
• The Confidant: Lucius acts as one to both Stede and Blackbeard at various points in the story. Blackbeard pushes him off the ship for this reason — Lucius knows how to reach him and could impede his return to darkness following the breakup with Stede.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's got some great comebacks, usually at Stede's expense (Stede: "Do we really look like prostitutes?!" Lucius: "Well, not very successful ones."), and his overall delivery is so acerbic that at one point he has to clarify, "I wasn't being sarcastic, that's just how I talk."
• Death By Genre Savvy: Blackbeard was certainly attempting to kill him by throwing him overboard. As Lucius is the only character who recognizes the rom-com between Ed and Stede, killing him is Blackbeard's attempt to wrench the story out of that genre. Subverted in season 2, where it is revealed that he survived.
• Ethical Slut: Izzy tries to blackmail him by threatening to reveal that he drew Fang naked to Black Pete, who he caught having sex with Lucius earlier. Lucius just laughs and tells Pete himself, revealing that while he gets around he's never deceived any of his partners and everyone involved is fine with it.
• Fingore: After getting his finger bitten by Buttons on accident, he cuts it off during the "Fuckery", as he was too afraid of Roach chopping it off.
• Genre Savvy: He sees Stede and Ed falling for each other before either of them realise it, and seems to be the only person aware that the overarching story is a Rom Com.
• Grew a Spine: Spends the earlier episodes extremely uneasy at the constant violence, and is often nauseated at the sight of blood. He eventually grows confident enough to put Izzy in his place and chew out Blackbeard and is the first to stand up for Stede in front of the English Navy.
• The Heart: Out of the entire crew, he's the one most concerned with everyone else's feelings, and he's not afraid to point out when those feelings could be hurt. The Revenge crew treats him as a respected member of the group despite his aversions to violence and manual labor, valuing his roles as peacemaker and go-between just as highly.
• Hot Blooded Sideburns: Subverted. He has noticeably long and curved sideburns but is cautious, cowardly, and one of the more levelheaded members of the crew.
• I Am Not Pretty: Played with; Lucius cheerfully (and smugly) admits that he thinks his own looks are "so-so", but he's decided to act like he's cute anyway to boost his confidence. It seems to be working, considering that he's literally charmed the pants off multiple members of the crew.
• Meaningful Name: "Lucius" means "light", tying him in to Stede's lighthouse motif; he's not the first mate, but he's probably the member of Stede's crew closest to him. He also serves as the "guiding light" in Stede and Ed's relationship, warning them of trouble and guiding them away from their most self-destructive behaviors...which is why Ed, as the Kraken, immediately gets rid of him when he lets his "dark side" take over.
• Really Gets Around: He's quite "familiar" with his crew, and has even drawn sketches of them in the nude, especially their penises.
  Pete: He's drawn most of us...
• Sarcastic Devotee: He serves as Stede's secretary and personal attendant. Though he never holds back his sardonic critiques of Stede's crazy plans and social ineptitude, over the course of Season 1 Lucius becomes increasingly fond of "that bizarre little man" and willing to stick up for him.
• Secret-Keeper: Subverted. Promises to be this for Jim when he finds them bathing naked in the ocean, but Jim doesn't trust him enough. The next episode, he immediately confesses that he's actually terrible at keeping secrets.
• Shipper on Deck: He's delighted by the realization that Stede and Ed have feelings for each other, and immediately takes it upon himself to convince Ed to be nicer to Stede.
• Sticky Fingers: Admits that he was something of a pickpocket in the past, and steals Jim's family knife from Spanish Jackie in Episode 3.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Understandably, due to trauma, in Season 2. Lucius was always snarky, but spends most of his time in the first few episodes lashing out at everyone — including Pete — despite ultimately being thrilled to be back with them.
• Trauma Conga Line: After the crew finds him on the Red Flag in Season 2, he tells Stede of his harrowing experiences since they'd last met, which involved eating the ship's dog, being forced to catch rats with his teeth, and watching a man die in his lap. There's also unspecified sexual assault that he describes as becoming a "human puppet."
• Uncertain Doom: Blackbeard throws him off the Revenge in the Season 1 finale, and he's the only character not accounted for before the credits roll. The defenestration scene cuts while Lucius is still screaming and we never see a body or other confirmation he drowned. Subverted come season 2, where it's revealed that Lucius survived.

Oluwande Boodhari

Oluwande Boodhari

Played by: Samson Kayo

Jim's best friend and crewmate, who starts the series as the only person who knows their secret.

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• Beta Couple: With Jim. They have a slower burn than Lucius and Pete, but their romance arc is still less convoluted than Ed and Stede's.
• Big Fun: Downplayed since he's one of the most even-tempered of the crew, but he knows when to cut loose. And next to Wee John, he's got the most impressive physical build.
• Brief Accent Imitation: While pulling off a Ponzi scheme with Frenchie in Episode 5, he is introduced as an Egyptian prince, and plays along with the part.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Oluwande frequently acts as one to both Stede and the rest of the crew.
• The Confidant: Shares this role with Lucius for Stede.
• Good Is Not Soft: Despite being arguably the nicest member of the crew, he's quick to push Stede into lying about how Nigel Badminton died, and he's totally on board with drowning Izzy during the mutiny, even getting in a Pre-Mortem One-Liner.
• Loved by All: Everyone likes him so much that when they plan a mutiny against Izzy Hands, they unanimously acclaim him as captain even though Oluwande is adamant that he doesn't want command. In episode 2 when the group get captured by the island natives, Oluwande is the only one not tied up or put into a cage, instead shown hospitality and given a drink.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Oluwande is much more well-versed in the world of pirating than Stede, and often gives him advice.
• Just Friends: With Jim. Whenever someone suggests that the two of them are in love, they both insist that their relationship is purely platonic. They get together by the end of the first season and pick up right where they left off after being separated and reunited, with Archie even tagging along as a third.
• Nice Guy: He's one of the few in the crew to be affable from the start.
• Nice to the Waiter: While conning the aristocrats in Episode 5, he forges a quick allyship with the service staff on board.
• Only Sane Man: Oluwande is the only member of Stede's crew who is not noticeably odd in some way. For this reason, the crew unanimously elects him captain when they decide to mutiny against Hands.
• Secret-Keeper: Initially, Oluwande is the only one who knows that Jim is neither mute nor a man.

Roach

Roach

Played by: Samba Schutte

The Revenge's cook.

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• Chef of Iron: He is the Revenge's cook, and can be fairly bloodthirsty.
• Closest Thing We Got: He's a cook, but also acts as the ship's doctor when needed because "knives are knives, meat's meat."
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Downplayed. He's not evil per se, but he loves torturing hostages, is amused by Lucius' horror at almost having his finger chopped off, and instantly goes along with Buttons' attempt to kill and eat the Swede after being marooned by Blackbeard.
• Invention Pretension: Insists that Frenchie tries his newest culinary creation that he calls "peanut paste" (actually peanut butter, which wouldn't exist for another 200 years). Frenchie doesn't take it so well.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: He's proud of his cooking and doesn't take too kindly to people who insult his work. He gets scandalized at Stede's claim that the forty oranges he had him use for his orange glazed cake didn't even taste of orange.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While he claims that 'in his professional opinion' there's no better option than cutting Lucius' infected finger off, considering the state of the wound by this point and the rudimentary medical care available, amputation probably was the best solution at this stage.
• Psycho Knife Nut: Not as strict a knife user as Jim, but his weapon of choice is often a kitchen knife or meat cleaver, and he's one of the more violent and unpredictable members of the crew.
• Self-Surgery: Once sewed up his own shoulder.
• Too Kinky to Torture: When the crew of the Revenge is taken hostage by Ned Low he's borderline frothing at the mouth for them to really crank things up and get the torture going in earnest, and when they do he looks like he's full on jizzed in his pants.

The Swede

The Swede

Played by: Nat Faxon

A Swedish member of Stede's crew.

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• Butt-Monkey: The Swede is constantly being made fun of. The man gets scurvy, often gets tripped by his crewmates, and is the first one who the crew considers eating.
• Commuting on a Bus: In Season 2, he leaves the crew to marry Spanish Jackie and becomes a recurring character with her.
• The Ditz: He's quite slow on the uptake. It takes him until the day after The Reveal of Jim's identity to grasp that Jim was never a man, and when his teeth begin falling out due to scurvy, the rest of the crew has to explain to him that he can't just put the teeth back in later.
• Funny Foreigner: His name is "Swede", he speaks with a (fake) Swedish accent, and finds himself in all sorts of mishaps.
• Happily Married: He becomes Spanish Jackie's 20th husband and is quite happy at her side, saying that she brings out parts of him he didn't know he had. He only helps the crew rob her to pay back a life debt, and she doesn't even hold it against him.
• He Cleans Up Nicely: He starts dressing and grooming himself far better after marrying Spanish Jackie, and ends up looking far more like he wandered in from Black Sails or Pirates of the Caribbean thank his hapless cartoonish look from the first season.
• Hidden Depths: He's hell-bent on incorporating his vocal stylings into the crew's intimidating stagecraft, and his voice is surprisingly good. He also gives excellent massages (according to Spanish Jackie).

Wee John Feeney

Wee John Feeney

Played by: Kristian Nairn

The final member of the crew of the Revenge, a mellow Gentle Giant.

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• Gentle Giant: Downplayed, as he is still a pirate and therefore has to be comfortable with violence when necessary. However, he's generally sweet-tempered, gets very excited about interior design, sleeps with a clearly well-loved cloth doll, and mentions that he used to sew dresses with his mother.
• Hidden Depths: He takes on the role of Calypso for the ship's "Calypso's Birthday" party, showing quite a lot of talent for makeup and drag.
• Ironic Nickname: He's noticeably larger than the rest of the crew.
• Odd Friendship: He seems pretty close with Frenchie, with the two of them spending their vacation with each other blowing stuff up and wanted to room together when Oluwande didn't want the room anymore.
• Pyromaniac: When the crew plan to mutiny against Stede in Episode 1, John is mighty keen to set him on fire.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He's a seven-foot-tall pirate who can knock down doors with ease...and who likes to knit, sew, and sing cabaret songs in drag.

Karl

Karl the Seagull

Karl (top)

A tame seagull friend of Buttons who hangs around the Revenge.

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• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Karl is surprisingly astute and empathetic for a seagull.
• Instantly Defeathered Bird: Played for tragedy.
• Married Animals: After Karl dies, Buttons tearfully breaks the news to his seagull wife, Olivia. She seems to understand and helps Buttons exact revenge on Calico Jack.
• Misplaced Wildlife: Karl is played by a real red-billed gull, which is native only to New Zealand, a place not visited by European settlers until 1769—nearly fifty years after the show takes place. Since both of the leads are New Zealanders, this may be a case of Creator Provincialism.
• Mood Whiplash: The crew's enjoyment of Jack's frat-bro antics instantly end when Karl dies.
• Nearly Normal Animal: He seems to be an ordinary seagull, but Buttons claims he can speak to and comprehend Karl perfectly. Then again, it's Buttons.
• Team Pet: Karl serves as a kind of mascot for the Revenge, and the crew all mourn his demise.

Blackbeard's Crew

In General

A group of pirates that serve under Blackbeard.

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• Artsy Beret: One of them wears a beret, but he is anything but artsy.
• Bald of Evil: One of them in Season 2 has no hair on his head and is a vicious marauder.
• Beard of Evil: Some of them have facial hair and are vicious marauders.
• Curbstomp Battle: Most of the raids they participate in are this, wiping out the enemy with almost no casualties. Though, it's mentioned that some raids have ended in casualties, with Ivan mentioned to be one of said casualties between Season 1 and Season 2.
• Dark Is Evil: They all wear black clothing and are vicious raiders who are aligned with Blackbeard.
• Enemy Eats Your Lunch: After they hijack a wedding, they take the cake for themselves and eat.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In Season 2, they are uncomfortable with Blackbeard's rampage across the Caribbean, slaughtering entire crews of people for treasure that is tossed overboard.
• Eyepatch of Power: One of them has an eyepatch on and is a vicious and experienced marauder.
• Mooks: Serve as this for Blackbeard.
• Mook Depletion: When Blackbeard sends the ship into a storm, the only ones that come out are himself, Izzy, Fang, Jim, Frenchie and Archie, with all the others falling overboard during the chaos.
• Powerful Pick: Some of them are seen wielding picks.
• Prongs of Poseidon: One of them is seen wielding this in Season 2.
• This Means Warpaint: Post-Season 1, they are all seen wearing black paint on their faces.

Izzy Hands

Israel "Izzy" Hands

Played by: Con O'Neill

Blackbeard's first mate and long-time right-hand man.

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• Agony of the Feet: In the Season 1 finale, Blackbeard cuts off his toe. Frenchie lampshades Blackbeard cutting off at least two more after that.
• An Arm and a Leg: Jim and Archie have to cut his rotting leg off after Blackbeard severs three of his toes and shoots him in the knee.
• Autocannibalism: In the Season 1 finale, Blackbeard cuts off his toes and force-feeds it to him.
• Bad Boss: Izzy spends most of his time verbally and physically abusing the crew of the Revenge, which results in them staging a mutiny against him when he goes too far.
• Bad Liar: Is shifty and avoids looking at Edward when lying to him about Stede knowingly insulting him in 1x03, and in 1x10 nobody is convinced when he tries to assure them that everything is fine and dandy with Edward.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He wants Blackbeard to go back to his old ruthless self. He gets his wish in the Season 1 finale... starting with Blackbeard slicing off his toe and forcing him to eat it. Season 2 confirms that life under Blackbeard's deranged new leadership is hellish and Izzy is as sick of it as anyone else.
• Boomerang Bigot: Heavily implied. While his exact orientation has yet to be explicitly stated onscreen, he's clearly interested in Blackbeard and envious of Stede's relationship with him. Despite this, he's really quick to mock Lucius's relationships and sexual habits.
• Bungled Suicide: After failing to get Izzy to shoot him, Ed leaves the wounded Izzy with a loaded pistol, presumably expecting Izzy to finish himself off. After leaving the room, Ed hears the gunshot and assumes his plan worked. Later in the episode, it's revealed that either the pistol misfired, or the angle had been wrong and the shot had simply knocked Izzy unconscious.
• Cloud Cuckoolanders Minder: Says that he's spent years putting up with Ed's Bunny-Ears Lawyer antics, balancing his boss' eccentricities with working to keep his crew's trust.
  For years I've followed your every whim, I've managed your increasingly erratic moods, I've massaged this crew when they were worried about your judgement.
  • Played with. While it's unclear how much Ed's depression and their interactions with Stede have affected their dynamic, it is safe to say that Izzy relies on Edward just as much and likely even more than Edward relies on him, and it is very clear that Izzy's belief that he fills this role actually gets in the way of their ability to work together.
    • Izzy makes a seemingly split-second attempt to sabotage Ed's interest in Stede in episode 3—he approaches Stede with Ed's invitation to meet, but then storms off after Stede immediately reacts rudely to his presence and later lies to Ed about telling Stede Ed's identity—but otherwise does "follow [Ed's] every whim", even when he makes it clear that he isn't happy about it, and goes along with Ed's desire to spend time with Stede up until the end of episode 6. From episode 6 onwards, even though he believes he's working in Ed's best interests, his actions are more harmful to Ed than helpful.
    • Episode 4 also supports the notion that he at least tries to be the rational counterbalance to Ed's mad genius, as he spends most of the episode getting increasingly frustrated as Ed brushes off his concerns about the approaching Spanish navy to instead hang out with Stede, and when Ed reveals at the last second that he does have a plan to escape the Spanish, Izzy's the one to point out its critical flaw. However, at the same time, the episode shows how Izzy's perception of this dynamic gets in the way of actual cooperation, as he fails to realise the point of Ed's attempt to talk to him about the clouds, to Ed's clear frustration, and he makes no effort to prepare without Ed's direct input.
    • However, as seen in episode 2, from his perspective, "massaging the crew" means abusively shutting down any questions about Blackbeard's orders and attributing them to Blackbeard's insanity.
    • He also repeatedly fails in managing the people around him when he doesn't have Blackbeard's authority to back him up, as demonstrated by his poor attempts to bully the Revenge crew into doing chores in episodes 4 and 5 and by the immediate mutiny in episode 9.
• The Consigliere: As first mate, he serves this role, including telling Blackbeard to his face that he's not doing his job properly. The problem is that from his perspective, Ed falling in love is a bad thing.
• Face Death with Dignity: Ricky Banes has captured the crew and tries to butter up Izzy, but Izzy just throws it back in his face that he doesn't know anything about piracy and that he's willing to die for the crew. Later, when Ricky actually inflicts a fatal wound, Izzy uses his last moments to apologize to Ed for his actions.
• Foil: Izzy and Stede can be seen as the opposing influences on Ed/Blackbeard, but Izzy is a more direct Foil to Lucius, as both are the closest confidants of their respective pirate captains and demonstrate the most striking features of their opposing management styles. Izzy is committed to his captain's fearsome reputation above and beyond the welfare of the person behind that reputation and views all relationships as hierarchical and transactional. On the other hand, Lucius sees his captain as a sweet but fallible man and is FAR better at "talking it through [with the] crew" than Stede himself.
  • He also serves as a foil to Mary Bonnet, as the protagonists' closest companions prior to the events of the show, and symbols of the lives that the protagonists are trying to leave. Izzy and Ed's professional relationship is framed as parallel to Stede and Mary's marriage in episodes 1x04 and 1x10. However, Mary and Stede were forced together via an Arranged Marriage and Mary is hostile to Stede returning to her, as she's built a much happier life for herself in his absence. Stede catching her trying to murder him in his sleep serves as the point where Stede finally decides to leave his old life for good, and he and Mary are able to build a much healthier relationship as friends. Izzy and Ed, on the other hand, are implied to have a close, familiar friendship that's gone sour, and Izzy is extremely hostile to the idea of Ed changing or leaving, doing everything in his power to pull Ed back into his old life. Ed cutting off Izzy's toe serves as an unhealthy surface-level reconciliation where Ed adopts the Kraken persona, taking his old toxic habits up a notch.
• Genre Refugee: Izzy's vicious worldview would make him better suited to a gritty prestige drama, and his unspoken psychosexual obsession with Blackbeard harks back to the days of The Hays Code. Unfortunately for him, the show is a light-hearted barely-historical Rom Com.
• Handicapped Badass: Losing a leg doesn't stop him one bit. When Ed is on a murder-suicidal rampage, Izzy drops him with one shot. Later, he begins practicing swordplay, something he was already very good at, but understands that he needs to relearn to an extent because of his pegleg.
• Hate at First Sight: Izzy takes an instant dislike to Stede Bonnet, who he thinks is an absolute moron incapable of real piracy. When Blackbeard meets and starts to fall in love with Stede, Izzy has even more reasons to dislike him.
• Heel–Face Turn: In season 2, Ed's newly brutal, toxic leadership ironically makes Izzy the better man by comparison. He stands up to him and tells him to his face that he's poisoning the crew, and later shoots him just in time to stop him from blowing the mast off. He later tells Stede that both he and Stede messed up, and it's now their job to make sure that doesn't doom the rest of the crew.
  • The biggest sign of his turn is that he and Stede are now openly friendly - Stede goes to him for help, especially about piracy and captianing, and Izzy gives him sincere and useful advice. He's also quite merry when he learns that Stede and Ed have at last consummated their love.
• Hypocrite: All over the place. He's a complicated man.
  • He insists that everyone else call Ed "Blackbeard" even though he uses "Edward" or "Ed".
  • He complains that Edward is "licking the king's boots" for signing the Act of Grace, even though Edward was only driven to that extremity because Izzy sold the Revenge out to the English.
  • He derides Lucius's open homosexuality and liberated sex life even though he has a toxic and controlling love for Ed.
• Hidden Depths: In "Calypso's Birthday" he unexpectedly dons makeup and serenades the crew with a touching rendition of La vie en rose.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: In spades.
  • No one, not even Stede, is remotely intimidated by him. Stede calls him Iggy, Lucius finds multiple ways to get out of chores despite Izzy breathing down his neck, Blackbeard's old crew came up with insulting nicknames for him, and the crew gets extremely close to straight up murdering him during a mutiny, with even Oluwande getting a Pre-Mortem One-Liner out on him while he begs for his life.
  • He loses one of the hostages to Stede in Episode 2 essentially by Stede being really annoying to the point of distraction. He only loses one hostage instead of both because Stede offers a compromise.
  • He tries and fails all of Episode 6 to get Ed to kill Stede, and then loses a duel with Stede on a technicality, even though he's the superior swordsman.
  • He tries to negotiate a bargain with the English to sell out Stede and his crew in exchange for Edward not being captured, and engineers a plan for Ed to be far away from the ship by the time the English arrive. Instead, Ed gets himself captured by the English on purpose, tries to lie about who actually killed Chauncey to protect Stede, and then signs the Act of Grace himself because of his love for Stede.
  • He tries to get Ed to be more intimidating and Blackbeard-y after the latter is devastated by Stede abandoning him. Ed agrees, starting by throwing Lucius overboard and then cutting off Izzy's toe and making him eat it.
  • The one thing he wanted that he gets – Stede leaving Ed – is not something he had any control over and happens completely independently of his machinations.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Falls into it twice in season 2. First when the crew forces him to acknowledge that his relationship with Blackbeard is incredibly toxic and he's not enjoying himself in it, which he initially resists until he just crumbles into a sobbing mess. The second time when the crew present him with a peg leg made from the unicorn figurehead, as he's touched to his core.
• In Love with Your Carnage: While he shows disdain for the softer aspects of Ed's personality, he's enamoured with the violent, bloodthirsty persona of Blackbeard. A little too enamoured.
• Insistent Terminology: His boss's name is Blackbeard, not Edward or Ed, even though Izzy himself calls him Edward.
• Jerkass: Foul-tempered, abrasive, violent, and with no respect for anyone he perceives as weak or foolish.
• Malicious Misnaming: He's on the receiving end of this a lot, mostly from Stede and the crew of the Revenge.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Subverted. Izzy follows Blackbeard's orders no matter how insane or cruel he thinks they are... up until Ed falls in love with Stede, at which point Izzy goes rogue in the belief that he's protecting Ed.
• Mythical Motifs: Interestingly, he adopts Stede's motif in Season 2. After spending an episode screaming abuse at the headless figurehead for failing to protect the ship, the rest of the crew saw off its legs to make Izzy a new prosthetic, leaving it for him with a note that explicitly says "For the new unicorn." The implication is that after sacrificing himself to protect the rest of the crew from Blackbeard, he is now the protector figure. This happens after he starts to appreciate Stede's way of doing things — hence the shared motif — but Izzy lines up with the earlier versions of the unicorn: courageous and violent, but able to be "tamed" by virtue (i.e. the affection of the crew).
• The Napoleon: Shorter than any other pirate except Jim, which is emphasized by his tendency to step into other characters' personal space when he's trying to intimidate them. Wee John even refers to him as an "angry little fecker".
• Only Known By His Nickname: We only know his first name is Israel because of the real historical person he's based on; he even introduces himself as Izzy. It's not until "Mermen" (the final episode of season two) that anyone addresses him as Israel.
• Only Sane Man: Thinks he is this is Season One, as the only cast member that fits the image of a typical, violent pirate. Frequently is this in Season Two, offering sensible advice (often at great risk to his safety) and trying to steer Stede away from his sillier decisions — like taking on a far more experienced and competent captain.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Izzy's all-black ensemble is surprisingly dandyish, including a waistcoat and puffed sleeves.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Much like his captain, although his expletives increase significantly around Stede.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Izzy presents himself as the only competent sailor on the Revenge and the only reason anything gets done, as well as the rational counterbalance to Blackbeard's Bunny-Ears Lawyer ways...but this is almost immediately undercut, as he clearly commands no respect or affection from his fellow crew members (with Fang being more than willing to share embarrassing gossip about Izzy and showing no concern whatsoever for Izzy's displeasure when he is caught being sketched by Lucius), is bad enough at reading the mood of the crew that he doesn't even realise that there is a mutiny being plotted against him, and the only times he is shown doing any of the work of managing a ship the tasks are obvious make-work (scraping barnacles while the ship is still at sea rather than careened, swabbing the deck twice and spitting on deck to give the crew something to clean) being assigned out of pure petty spite against Lucius rather than any practical need. The only area in which his self-image lines up with his skill-set as shown is swordsmanship, at which he is genuinely skilled.
• Tattooed Crook: Has several tattoos, most notably the "X" under his left eye.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Gets several levels in season 2. He sacrifices his wellbeing for the crew's sake, he recognizes that having a bit of fun is necessary in life, he accepts Stede as the right partner for Ed, tries to help both with advice and while he's still vulgar and brutally honest towards the crew, it's clear it's an affectation rather than genuine dislike.
• Too Kinky to Torture: Whenever Blackbeard acts violently towards him, he seems to be into it. When Blackbeard cuts off his toe and forces him to eat it, as mentioned above, he's almost delighted, because it means that Ed is back to his feared Blackbeard persona. He acknowledges this himself in Season 2 when Ned Low's crew tortures the crew of the Revenge, stating that whatever they do will just turn him on.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Izzy badly wants Blackbeard to go back to being the person he used to be - infamously bloodthirsty, not lovesick and harmless - and stops at nothing in pursuit of that goal.
• The Unsmile: Cracks this twice during 1x10 both times that he unsuccessfully tries to reassure the crew that Edward is back to normal.
• Undying Loyalty: As he constantly insists, he serves Blackbeard (but not Ed). Even after he sells Stede out to the English, he still makes a pact with Badminton to spare Blackbeard.

Fang and Ivan

Fang and Ivan

Fang (right) with Ivan (left)

Played by: David Fane (Fang) and Guz Khan (Ivan)

Two members of Blackbeard's crew and the only named members we've seen on-screen besides Izzy and Archie.

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• Beware the Nice Ones: Fang is normally a very gentle and kind person, even being the first to forgive Ed for his actions. However, when Ed nearly killed them all, Fang gave him quite the beatdown, including several hits to the crotch.
• Gentle Giant: Fang is physically imposing, but shown to be quite caring and gentle.
• Given Name Reveal: In Season Two, Ed—and the audience—finally learns Fang's real name: Kevin, after his dad.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Fang and Ivan are ultimately much softer on the inside and genuinely enjoy the more lighthearted atmosphere on the Revenge, and they even participate in the mutiny against Izzy Hands, but in the end they are still pirates. When Blackbeard embraces the darkness again, they are back to being his lackeys. When Blackbeard steers the ship into a storm and tries to fire a cannonball into the mast, Fang is among those who stop him from doing so.
• Hidden Depths: According to an interview with his actor, Fang was a "boiled lolly salesman" before becoming a pirate.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Minor example. Although he's part of Blackbeard's feared crew, Fang seems fond of Lucius, and in Episode 6, reveals that he had a dog he had to put down when he joined the crew, something he's still heartbroken over.
• Killed Offscreen: Fang briefly mentions Ivan's death that occured between the events of seasons 1 and 2.
• Meaningful Name: Fang reveals to Ed in Season Two that his name is Kevin; "Kevin" comes from the Gaelic boy's name Caoimhín (KAY-veen), which means "little gentle one", and it fits Fang's gentle nature.
• Those Two Guys: The two of them usually trail around after Izzy together.

Archie

Played by: Madeleine Sami

One of the newest additions to Blackbeard's crew, who forms a close bond with Jim.

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• Battleinthe Rain: Invoked during her battle with Jim in Red Flags when Ed/Blackbeard has them fight to the death in a storm.
• Butch Lesbian: She dresses in a leather vest and loose pants and shows no interest in men but does show interest in and kisses Jim, who is nonbinary.
• Extreme Doormat: The pessimistic variety where she lets things happen because she doesn't believe she can change it. She agrees to fight Jim to the death and tells them to kill her at the end, because "it's just how it is".
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When she finally meets Stede after months of hearing him discussed on the Revenge and knowing him to be the cause of Ed's breakdown, she says to his face that she expected him to be more impressive — "taller, more muscle-y." When Jim tries to tell Zheng that Oluwande only came with them because they're "family" Archie jokingly adds that they're "family who fucked".
• Opposites Attract: Jim is more reserved, serious, and closed-off while Archie is very outgoing, happy-go-lucky, and open about her past.

Other Pirates

Calico Jack

John Rackham, a.k.a. Calico Jack

Played by: Will Arnett

An old friend of Blackbeard's who briefly joins up with him, Stede, and the rest of the Revenge crew.

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• Excrement Statement: He deliberately antagonizes Stede by peeing on his boots.
• Friends with Benefits: He reveals that he and Blackbeard have had "dalliances" in the past.
• The Missus and the Ex: He's been Ed's Friend With Benefits in the past, in contrast to Ed's current slow-burn romance with Stede. Jack even interrogates Stede about whether or not he and Ed are "buggering each other" in one scene.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: His drunken frat-bro behaviour with Blackbeard was actually a ploy to get him off the Revenge before the English attacked and lured the ship into a trap, as he was sent by Izzy Hands. It works, until Blackbeard decides to go back at the last minute.
• Toxic Friend Influence: He brings the worst out in Blackbeard, driving a wedge between Ed and Stede.
• Uncertain Doom: Gets hit with a cannon ball, but historically he still has a couple of years left.

Geraldo

Geraldo

Played by: Fred Armisen

One of Spanish Jackie's 19 husbands and the bartender at her tavern.

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• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He seems pleasant to Stede and crew at first, letting them in on a job opportunity. But it all turns out to be a ruse so he and his friends can take out Jim.
• Carved Mark: Has the letters "SJ" carved into his left cheek, marking him as belonging to Spanish Jackie.
• Henpecked Husband: One of Jackie's many — unfortunately for him, Jackie sees him as rather disposable.
• Shoot the Hostage: Is a victim of this trope when Jim tries to bargain with Jackie for information.

Spanish Jackie

Spanish Jackie

Played by: Leslie Jones

A powerful female pirate captain who owns a tavern in the Republic of Pirates. Her favorite husband, Alfeo de la Vaca, was killed by Jim a year before the start of the show, causing her to place a bounty on Jim's head.

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• Artificial Limbs: A part of her left hand is wooden.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Surrounded by low-level pirates, all of whom are various degrees of filthy and/or ragged, she looks incredibly put-together in a scarlet suit, and much less over-the-top than Stede and the other captains.
• Batman Gambit: She deliberately put a low bounty on Jim in order to lure them in, then mentioned she made an altar for her late husband with all of his belongings inside, knowing they would break in it to retrieve their dagger.
• Makes Us Even: To Jim in Episode 8. Jackie put a bounty on Jim's head after they killed one of her husbands. She then sold Jim out to the Spanish and left them and their crew for dead, so she figures all debts are more or less settled. Instead of fighting to the death, they drink.
• Non-Indicative Name: She's not Spanish and doesn't know why people call her that. Jacquotte Delahaye, the 'real' Spanish Jackie (there's no evidence from period sources that she actually existed) had a Haitian mother and a French father.
• Polyamory: Has 19 husbands at the start of the series. Now it's 18 after she killed Geraldo for not giving Jim information on the remaining Siete Gallos. In season 2, she's up to 20 after she marries the Swede.
• Take a Third Option: When she and Jim meet face to face again, they both quickly realise the only option is to duel or fight to the death. But then she figures that since Jim has killed one of her husbands, and she sold Jim out to the Spanish, they're pretty much even, and they strike up a friendship.
• Younger Than They Look: She's 25, even though she looks closer to 50. She reveals it to point out to Jim that living with anger ages you, and fast.

Zheng Yi Sao

Zheng Yi Sao

Played by: Ruibo Qian

A feared pirate queen from China, recruiting Caribbean pirates to expand her fleet and influence.

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• The Ace: She's easily the most successful pirate in the show and commands an ever-growing fleet.
• Artistic License – History: The real Zheng Yi Sao was born nearly 60 years after Stede and Blackbeard died.
• All for Nothing: Her attempts at uniting the pirates of the Caribbean into a fleet are rendered pointless when Ricky Banes betrays her and destroys her fleet.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She acts and talks like a teenage girl, seeming to be indecisive, soft, and hormonally driven. She's also a deadly pirate queen.
• Global Ignorance: Most of the characters don't even know what "China" is, which she exploits to lie that she conquered it.
• Join or Die: She has a friendly, amiable conversation with John Bartholomew as she takes his ship, convincing him to join with her so they can fight back against the major navies. She later clarifies that if he'd refused, she'd have just killed him and taken the treasure.
• Only Sane Woman: Subverted. She wants pirates to cooperate and seems to run a looser, more friendly ship than most other pirates, and Stede even sees her as a kindred spirit. She then clarifies to him that this cooperative and friendly leadership style is Pragmatic Villainy for keeping her fleet in line, and that her new pirate collective will be happening under her banner or not at all.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Trusting Ricky Banes and not investigating the clocks that he has given to her results in the destruction of her fleet and the British to start attacking the Republic of Pirates.

Auntie

Auntie

Played by: Anapela Polataivao

Zheng Yi Sao's second-in-command.

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• Distaff Counterpart: Seems to act as her crew's version of Buttons, with her unnaturally strong senses and strong affinity for the sea. She even calls him "sea witch" and gives him a spellbook as a gesture of good will.
• Fingertip Drug Analysis: She can tell, by tasting the blood left on the floor, that Ed had silver hair, a short beard, and tattoos. Somehow.
• Properly Paranoid: She mistrusts the Revenge crew immediately and guesses that they killed Ed and should probably be dealt with. They didn't kill Ed (just seriously wounded him), but she proves right when they free the rest, escape on the Revenge, and steal the wheel.
• Uncertain Doom: Is onboard the Red Flag when the clocks strike midnight and explode, but her fate is unknown. It's later revealed that she survived.

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny

Played by: Minnie Driver

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• Ambiguously Bi: She is with Mary, but she does show interest in Stede at the antique shop before realizing he and Ed know each other and have feelings for each other. While she confesses her attraction to him in the kitchen at the dinner party, she also comments on "how jealous they'll be" (Ed and Mary) before she kisses him, so it's up to viewer interpretation whether she's genuinely interested, only using him, or a bit of both.
• Axe-Crazy: Her idea of a loving relationship involves stabbing, poisoning, and arson.
• Femme Fatale: She seems interested in Stede from the moment they interact in the antique shop, and kisses him during the dinner party.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: When Mary accuses her of loving the antiques more than her, Anne screams and storms off. Then smoke starts filling the room, and Anne arrives, having set the whole collection on fire. While they're still in the house. Mary is into it, while Stede and Ed make a quick escape.
• The Masochism Tango: Is constantly fending off a barrage of murder attempts by her partner, and relishes each one.

Mary Read

Mary Read

Played by: Rachel House

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• Axe-Crazy: Her idea of a loving relationship involves stabbing, poisoning, and arson.
• Butch Lesbian: She is with Anne and dresses in more traditionally masculine clothing; wearing a blacksmith type of outfit in her daily life, not just during work.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Mary tells the story of how she met Anne when Anne cut off the face of a prison guard guarding Mary, and comments on how she had "the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen". She is also in awe of Anne after she sets fire to their house with them still in it, and tells her "you are so fucking hot right now."
• Retired Outlaw: She's given up a life of crime to settle down with Anne, and they run an antiques shop together.
• The Masochism Tango: Is constantly fending off a barrage of murder attempts by her partner, and relishes each one.

Benjamin Hornigold

Benjamin Hornigold

Played by: Mark Mitchinson

Ed's abusive former captain who now lives alone on an island. He's really a figment of Ed's imagination.

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• Bad Boss: He fed one of the shipmates (a boy from what Ed says) a live crab, which then torn its way out of his stomach and killed him. But hey, he never nicked anything again.
• Evil Mentor: He taught Ed everything he knew about piracy, especially the parts about abusing your crew.
• Trickster Mentor: He's verbally combative and openly insults Ed while claiming that he's trying to help him. Subverted; he isn't real and merely reflects Ed's thoughts about himself.

Ned Low

Ned Low

Played by: Bronson Pinchot

A sadistic pirate with a vendetta against Blackbeard.

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• Always Second Best: He has a complex over his brother being a better violin player than him and Ed breaking his record for consecutive raids.
• Bad Boss: He's verbally abusive to the mercenaries he's hired.
• Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: He goads Stede into killing him as a final act of spite.
• Torture Technician: He literally sees torture as art and "conducts" it like an orchestra (even getting upset when one of the blows isn't on cue).
• Wicked Cultured: He is very good at playing the violin and has an appreciation for classical music.

Antagonists

Nigel Badminton

Captain Nigel Badminton

Played by: Rory Kinnear

A captain in the English Royal Navy and Stede's former childhood bully.

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• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: His idea of a funny childhood prank was tying Stede to a boat while he and the other boys threw rocks at him.
• Eye Scream: Nigel is stabbed through the eye by his own sword.
• Hate Sink: He shows no redeeming qualities: he's a petty bigot and bully, and no one besides his brother mourns him particularly.
• Sailor's Ponytail: As part of his dashing Royal Navy officer schtick, he has a great Jack Aubrey-esque blond ponytail.
• Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: He tormented Stede in school and is the antagonist of the first episode.

Chauncey Badminton

Admiral Chauncey Badminton

Played by: Rory Kinnear

Nigel's identical twin brother and an admiral in the English Royal Navy who vows to avenge his brother's death.

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• Hero Antagonist: 100% justified in wanting vengeance on the man who killed his brother, but that man just happens to be the protagonist of our show.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: While Nigel has a dashing head of hair, his identical brother is pretty damn bald.
• I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: How he dies. During a drunken attempt to take Stede hostage after his initial attempt failed, he trips and fires his loaded gun into his own face.
• It's Personal: Hates Stede to the point that some other naval officers have to tackle him to get him to stand down during the confrontation on the Revenge.
• No-Respect Guy: Despite being an admiral, he's clearly "the other brother" to Nigel. When he goes mad after Blackbeard and Stede successfully invoke the Act of Grace, his fellow officers are apologetically cringing as he is restrained.

The Aristocrats

The Aristocrats

A group of snooty aristocrats. Stede and co. hijack their party after stealing an invitation.

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• Aristocrats Are Evil: All of them are already entitled and obnoxious, and then you learn they engage in slavery, white-collar felonies, and so on.
• Asshole Victim: The entire boat is petty, rude to the waiters, racist, and make fun of Blackbeard for not knowing their intricate dining rituals. Frenchie and Oluwande spend the episode scamming most of them with a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme, and Stede utterly humiliates what's left.
• Jerkass: They all brutally mock Ed after seeing that he can't use silverware properly, and laugh as he storms out of the dining hall in frustration.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After mocking and humiliating Ed, Stede decides to pay them back. He doesn't even have to lift a finger to deal with them. Instead he reveals a ton of their embarrassing secrets while they're drunk, and they proceed to riot against each other. Eventually they set fire to their own boat ship.
• Villainous Incest: Despite being married for years, Gabriel and Antoinette are revealed to be siblings, something that repulses everyone in the room.

Ricky Banes

Ricky Banes

Played by: Erroll Shand

A minor noble who hears of Stede's turn to piracy and wants to emulate him.

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• Evil Counterpart: To Stede. He was inspired by him and is upper class like him (though of a much higher rank), but has far more selfish motives and less sense.
• It's Personal: Gains the personal enmity of the crew of the Revenge and Zheng Yi Sao in the season finale for destroying Zheng's fleet and killing Izzy Hands.
• Loony Fan: To Stede. He tries to buy Stede a drink in Jackie’s bar and actively stalks him. Stede himself says Ricky is “creepy.”
• Namesake Gag: Claims to have invented the "lime Ricky," which is actually a Gilded Age gin-based drink (and is spelled "rickey").
• Nasal Trauma: Spanish Jackie cuts his nose off for breaking into her bar.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: After his disastrous introduction establishing him as a Sheltered Aristocrat in way over his head, his desire for revenge against pirates makes him a serious threat in the last half of the season. He tricks Zheng into letting bombs disguised as grandfather clocks onto her ships, blows up her fleet, and then descends on the Republic of Pirates with the full might of the British navy.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Is a minor prince and happily announces this to everyone, but has zero actual aptitude for pirating.
• Too Dumb to Live: Or at least, too dumb to have a nose. He wastes time putting together a calling card when they're supposed to be escaping, which gets his nose cut off by Spanish Jackie.

Other Characters

Mary Bonnet

Mary Allamby Bonnet

Played by: Claudia O'Doherty

Stede's wife, who he abandoned along with their children in order to pursue life as a pirate.

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• Amicable Exes: She and Stede are utterly miserable together — but after they've decided to officially end things, they get along much better, and the two part on good terms.
• Arranged Marriage: She was in one with Stede.
• Awful Wedded Life: Downplayed and justified. She and Stede are both unhappy in their marriage due to factors beyond their control: it was an Arranged Marriage forced by their parents, divorce is not an option, and Stede is gay. However, they both spend years trying to make their marriage work, and Mary states that she doesn't hate their lives even though she's not happy either.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Stede's memories of her aren't particularly affectionate, as they were both trapped in a loveless Arranged Marriage and she doesn't take to his sudden return in Episode 10 well, having grown accustomed to her new life without him. However, after a heartfelt conversation they grow significantly closer, and she helps Stede fake his own death to start over.
• Foil: To Izzy Hands, as the protagonists' closest companions prior to the events of the show and symbols of the lives that the protagonists are trying to leave. Izzy and Ed's professional relationship is framed as parallel to Stede and Mary's marriage in episodes 1x04 and 1x10. However, Mary and Stede were forced together via an Arranged Marriage and Mary is hostile to Stede returning to her, as she's built a much happier life for herself in his absence. Stede catching her trying to murder him in his sleep serves as the point where Stede finally decides to leave his old life for good, and he and Mary are able to build a much healthier relationship as friends. Izzy and Ed, on the other hand, are implied to have a close, familiar friendship that's gone sour, and Izzy is extremely hostile to the idea of Ed changing or leaving, doing everything in his power to pull Ed back into his old life. Ed cutting off Izzy's toe serves as an unhealthy surface-level reconciliation where Ed adopts the Kraken persona, taking his old toxic habits up a notch.
• Hot for Teacher: She falls in love with her painting instructor.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She's very brutal about it, and does try to kill him, but Mary is right when she points out Stede did completely abandon her and their children just to become a pirate, and really has no right to expect them to welcome him back with open arms.
  Mary: I have managed to create a life that I quite like, and I won't destroy that life just because you've decided to un-abandon your family on a whim.
• The Missus and the Ex: Stede's sudden and unwelcome return from the dead forces her to revert to her old married life with him, despite having fallen in love with her art teacher, Doug. While Stede doesn't react well to this initially, he eventually admits that Doug's a wonderful match for her.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: During flashbacks to her marriage to Stede, she always wears extravagant, colorful, era-appropriate gowns for the 1700s, but after he runs away, she starts dressing in much simpler styles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, demonstrating that Mary is a forward-thinking person who felt just as restricted by the Arranged Marriage as Stede did.

Doug (Unmarked Spoilers)

Played by: Tim Heidecker

Mary Bonnet's art instructor and love interest following Stede's departure.

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• Hot for Student: Falls in love with his student, Mary.
• Nice Guy: Both Mary and Stede agree that he's a very nice fellow, and a good match for her.
• Parental Substitute: Becomes a father figure to Alma and Louis during Stede's absence, and it's implied he will do so again once Stede leaves again at the end of season 1.

Nana

Played by: Selenis Leyva

A nun in Saint Augustine who took Jim in after the deaths of their family, and trained them as an assassin to get revenge on their family's murderers.

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• Ambiguously Related: Jim calls her "Nana", but it's unclear whether or not she's their biological grandmother.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parent: Shares Jim's childhood stories with Oluwande, asks Jim in Spanish if they're married or living in sin, and is cheerfully approving when Jim, mortified, tells her that Olu understands Spanish.
• Nun Too Holy: She's a knife-wielding nun who's encouraging her adoptive ward to pursue violent, bloody vengeance and who trained them as an assassin for that purpose.
• Shipper on Deck: Is openly approving of Oluwande as a partner for Jim.

Evelyn Higgins (Unmarked Spoilers)

Played by: Kristen Johnston

Mary's good friend and the widow of a funeral director.

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• Eyepatch of Power: Wears an eyepatch, is openly assertive, and supports Mary murdering her husband.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: She's the one who gives Mary the idea to murder Stede.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She only shows up for a couple of scenes in the last episode, but her encouraging Mary to try and murder Stede leads to them finally opening up to each other and Stede's Love Epiphany. She also supplies the corpse used to fake Stede's death.
• Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Played with, since she has a pet jaguar, her "kitten" Ned, who plays a part in Stede faking his own death.
• What the Hell, Hero?: She calls Stede out about how miserable Mary has been feeling since his return.

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