Space pirate Space pirates are a type of stock character from science fiction. A take on the traditional seafaring piracy, pirates of history or the fictional air pirates of the 19th century, space pirates travel through outer space. Where traditional pirate ...

s are a type of

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

from

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

and soft

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

. The archetype evolved from the

air pirate Air pirates (or sky pirates) are a class of stock character from science fiction and fantasy. The characters are pirates who use aircraft or airborne aircraft carriers as their primary vehicles instead of ships. They target other aircraft for l ...

trope popular from the turn of the century until the 1920s. By the 1930s, space pirates were recurring villains in the

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily American newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, b ...

comic strip. Like historical sea pirates, space pirates may be involved in slaving or

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

in addition to raiding spacecraft and settlements. The names are organized alphabetically by

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

, or by single name if the character does not have a surname. If more than two characters are in one entry, the last name of the first character is used.

Animation

Comics and manga

Film

Literature

Live-action television

Music

Video games

Notes

References

External links

Five Books About Running Away to Join a Space Pirate Crew
on

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

Harlock: Space Pirate: Venice Review
in

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

Space Pirate Captain Harlock review
in

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...

Vita Ayala 'reboots' Nebula, everyone's favorite space pirate
in SYFY {{DEFAULTSORT:Space pirates - Fictional pirates Lists of science fiction characters Lists of stock characters