15 Awesome Pirates Who Were Around Before Jack Sparrow

Originally featured in a 1922 adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini (also known for the literary classic Scaramouche), Captain Blood began life as Dr. Peter Blood, an Irish physician. Arrested during a rebellion against King James II, Dr. Blood is sold as a slave and transported to the Caribbean. He ends up in a town Barbados called Bridgeport, but when Spanish forces attack the town, Dr. Blood, along with several other convict-slaves, escapes and captures the Spaniards' ship. From there, it's only a hop, a skip, and a jump to becoming one of the most successful pirates in the Caribbean. The novel was made into a 1935 film starring swashbuckling hero Errol Flynn.

Hint: He's not left-handed, either.

These two fearsome foes have been facing off against each other since the 1990 point-and-click adventure The Secret of Monkey Island; over twenty years later, they're still at it with Telltale Games' Tales from Monkey Island. Guybrush first showed up as a naive kid who aspired to be a pirate; the more times he faced off with the Ghost Pirate LeChuck, though, the more experienced he gained, eventually earning the right to actually call himself a pirate (even if he's still rather nice for a pirate). Guybrush's ship is called The Screaming Narwhal. You heard me: The Screaming Narwhal.

These two were real people. An English pirate operating in the Bahamas during the Golden Age of Piracy (roughly 1717 to 1720), Calico Jack was so named for the calico clothing he wore. Anne Bonny carried out an affair with Calico Jack while she was living in the Bahamas, and though her husband tried alternately to flog her for her adultery and sell her to Rackham in a "divorce-by-purchase," she refused to be pushed around. She and Rackham ran off together to live as pirates, buying and selling be damned.

Featured in the Tintin adventures The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, Red Rackham (possibly a relative of Calico Jack?) was a pirate who attacked the Unicorn, the ship captained by Captain Haddock's ancestor, Sir Francis. Rackham meets a sticky end, though; Sir Francis manages to escape once captured and kills Rackham in a duel. Then he blows up the Unicorn, sending the treasure Rackham had stored on it to the bottom of the sea. Rackham will be played by Daniel Craig in the upcoming Tintin movie.

Perhaps the most famous fictional pirate of them all, Long John Silver hails from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. First appearing disguised as a one-legged cook with a talkative parrot, Silver soon reveals himself to be more than he appears. A much sought-after character by any actor worth his salt, Silver has been played in film adaptations by everyone ranging from Charlton Heston to Tim Curry. Shiver me timbers!

Another real-life pirate, Mary Read kicked around with Calico Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny. An illegitimate child, Mary had been disguised by her mother as a boy for many years, during which time she found work first as a footboy, and later on a ship. She later jumped ship and joined up with the military, during which time she fell in love, married, and put on women's clothes for the first time in her life; but after her husband died, on went the trousers again and she headed off to sea. The ship she had been traveling on was taken by Calico Jack, an act of piracy that result in her joining Rackham's crew still disguised as a man; but when Anne Bonny started to take a liking to her, she was forced to reveal herself. The two women let Rackham in on the secret, who bent the pirate rule of having no women on board for the two of them. Friendly, in a weird, pirate-y kind of way.

The star of the manga and anime series One Piece, Luffy has some interesting qualities. You see, in his world, there are these things called devil fruits, which, after eaten, give you really weird powers. No two devil fruits are alike, and the effects aren't reversible, so when Luffy chows down on a Gum-Gum Fruit as a small child, he becomes a Rubber Person: That is, his body is essentially made of elastic. He's carefree to the point of seeming stupidity, but there's usually more going on in his head than he lets on. If he can get a hold of the ultimate treasure known as the One Piece, he can become the next Pirate King-- something he wants more than anything in the world.

A creation of Jules Verne, Captain Nemo made his first appearance in the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1870. Once upon a time, Nemo was the son of an Indian Raja who lost his family through some unspecified but tragic event in the past. He is a scientific genius driven by an intense hatred of imperialism, and he roams the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, forever seeking vengeance for his lost family. Note that like Pirates of the Caribbean's Davy Jones, he's fond of playing the organ. Nemo's character has continued to fascinate over the years, appearing in film adaptations of the novels, comics such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlement, anime, and music.

Actual pirate Stede Bonnet was known as "the Gentleman Pirate" due to his aristocratic origins. Though he had been a wealthy landowner, marital problems prompted him to turn pirate in 1717. He eventually joined up with Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, but in 1718, he had been caught one too many times and ended up dangling at the end of the hangman's noose. Ah well; it was fun while it lasted.

I'm not sure what it is about pirates that makes them all want to name the highest piratical position as king, but the pirates of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 operetta The Pirates of Penzance are no exception. This one sings, too. He was played by Kevin Kline in a 1983 film adaptation.

Bartholomew Roberts is the real-life pirate who gave us the oft-referred-to Pirate Code. He's also thought the be the most successful pirate of the Golden Age, having captured 470 vessels. His ship was notable for having a Sunday service-- pirates like to get their religion on just as much as the next bloke!

This was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid; I was devastated when it suddenly disappeared from the airwaves with no warning. There's nothing quite like space pirates (or fantasy pirates-- it was unclear where the line was, but I'm kind of okay with that) to fire up a kid's imagination.

Remember when I said that Long John Silver was the most famous fictional pirate of all time? I lied. If anyone can give him a run for his money, it's Peter Pan's infamous rival. Depending on the adaptation, he can sometimes come across as goofy, but Hook's pretty scary, especially as played by Dustin Hoffman and Jason Isaacs. In the original novel, J. M. Barrie explains that Hook (not his real name--"To reveal who he really was would even at this date set the country in a blaze") was once Blackbeard's boatswain, and that he was "the only man Long John Silver ever feared." Like Stede Bonnet, he was also a gentleman pirate, having attended Eton and Oxford. Classy.

We've talked a lot about the Golden Age of Piracy, but pirates have been around for much longer than that. The daughter of a Scandinavian king, real-life pirate Awilda terrorized the seas in the 5th century. After refusing to accept her father's arranged marriage for her, Awilda and a bunch of her friends dressed up as men and commandeered a ship. When the ship ran into some pirates, the pirates dug her so much that they elected her captain. When the prince she was originally supposed to marry took her on in battle, she was so impressed that she decided being married to the guy wouldn't be so bad after all. They married aboard the ship. What a way to become the Queen of Denmark!