Basic Trope: Pirates or Vikings sing a song, usually a sea shanty, about the plundering and seafaring they do.
- Straight: Captain Colorbeard and his crew sing "Scallywags of the Sea," a sea shanty about how they enjoy robbing ships.
- Exaggerated: "Scallywags of the Sea" goes on for 20 minutes.
- Downplayed: Captain Colorbeard and his crew briefly hum a few lines of a sea shanty while going about their pirate duties, but it's not a full-blown singing performance.
- Justified:
- Colorbeard and his crew were musicians before becoming pirates.
- Colorbeard and his crew sing to alleviate the boredom of sailing and other mundane tasks at sea.
- Singing a sea shanty serves to coordinate the crew when they need to do heavy labor involving multiple people like moving Pirate Booty from a ship they had just plundered.
- Inverted: Admiral Colorbeard sings about how great it is to be a pirate hunter.
- Subverted: The pirates are ready to start singing, but the captain decides he's not in the mood for a song.
- Double Subverted: Colorbeard says he was just joking. How could he ever resist a song?
- Parodied:
- Captain Colorbeard and his crew sing a ridiculously exaggerated sea shanty about the mundane aspects of pirate life, such as scrubbing the deck and folding laundry.
- Captain Colorbeard and his crew sing a sea shanty about things that weren't even a thing until the 2010s. In particular, it's about a Fortnite Battle Pass.
- Zig-Zagged: The pirates initially start singing a sea shanty, but halfway through, they switch to a modern pop song, then back to a sea shanty, and so on, creating a humorous back-and-forth.
- Averted: The pirates are dead serious and do not sing at all.
- Enforced: The writers intentionally include a scene where the pirates sing a sea shanty because they believe it will resonate with the audience and add to the swashbuckling atmosphere of the story.
- Lampshaded: One of the crew members comments, "Ah, another day, another sea shanty. It's like we're contractually obligated to sing these things."
- Invoked: Captain Colorbeard purposefully starts singing a sea shanty to boost the morale of his crew and keep their spirits high during a difficult voyage.
- Exploited: Bob gets the pirates to sing to distract them while he escapes.
- Defied: Colorbeard says that sea shanties are "so last century."
- Discussed: Two characters discuss the history and significance of sea shanties in pirate culture, acknowledging their prevalence and how they unite the crew.
- Conversed: In an unrelated conversation, two characters mention how much they dislike pirate sea shanties, finding them repetitive and tiresome.
- Implied: The scene cuts to a distant view of the pirate ship, and faint singing can be heard in the background, implying that the pirates are singing a sea shanty.
- Deconstructed: The pirates sing a sea shanty that describes the brutal realities of their lives, highlighting the hardships and dangers they face, painting a more somber and realistic picture of pirate life.
- Reconstructed: The sea shanty sung by the pirates serves as a rallying cry and a symbol of unity, inspiring them to work together and overcome challenges, showcasing the positive and unifying aspects of pirate culture.
- Played for Laughs: The pirates attempt to sing a sea shanty, but their singing skills are terrible, resulting in comedic off-key singing and hilarious lyrics.
- Played for Drama: The pirates sing a hauntingly beautiful sea shanty as they mourn the loss of a crew member, creating an emotional and poignant moment.
- Played for Horror: The pirates sing a sinister and eerie sea shanty that foreshadows impending doom or a terrifying encounter with supernatural forces at sea.
Back to Pirate Song, ye mangy seadogs!
