Earlier this month, there was news that a new spinoff sequel of Steven Universe was in production, entitled Steven Universe: Lars of the Stars. Animation Magazine described protagonist Lars Barriga as an “eternal teenager and space outlaw.” It said that the series will follow him “and his pirate crew” as they “smuggle contraband, evade the authorities, and uncover the darkest secrets of the fallen Gem Empire.” His crew is undoubtedly the Off Colors. This includes a Gem fusion named Rhodonite (voiced by Enuka Okuma), an orange Sapphire named Padparadscha (voiced by Erica Luttrell), non-binary Gem fusion named Rutile Twins (voiced by Ashly Burch) and a fusion of six or more gems in love with one another, named Fluorite (voiced by Kathy Fisher). During the adventures of the latter, they fought Emerald, a non-binary character and villain-of-sorts, voiced by drag queen Jinkx Monsoon. They also attended Little Homeschool and graduated in Steven Universe Future. Following this, they went back into space. Lars himself was said to be inspired by Captain Harlock, protagonist of Space Pirate Captain Harlock (a manga later adapted into an anime). Based on this news, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite pirates, whether they reside in the sky/air, space, or sea, while noting the growing prevalence of pirate characters in animated series.
Let’s start with space pirates, apart from Lars. They are, arguably, the most common kind of pirate in fiction. First and foremost are the characters of the 2011 anime sci-fi and space opera adventure series Bodacious Space Pirates. It’s based on Yūichi Sasamoto’s manga, Miniskirt Space Pirates. The series begins with Marika Kato (voiced by Mikako Komatsu) being tapped to be the next space pirate captain of the Bentenmaru after her father’s reported death. All the while she juggles this while attending an all-girls academy, Hakuoh, on the planet Sea of the Morning Star and meets people along the way. At the series’ beginning, she gets accustomed to being a pirate (with help from Kane McDougal and Misa Grandwood) and submits all the paperwork (all ships get a letter of marque so they can engage in legal piracy). She also learns that her mother “Blaster” Ririka (voiced by Yuko Kaida) was once a space pirate captain. Additionally, she becomes fast friends with parafait-loving Chiaki Kurihara (voiced by Kana Hanazawa), who’s part of another space pirate ship, the Barbaroosa. Lastly, she’s helped by her friend Mami Endo, who makes uniforms, including for herself, echoing what Tomoyo Daidouji does for Sakura Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura.
Although Satelight’s animation can be clunky at times, and not always the most expressive, it fits well with the action, voices (including those who do the English dub), and everything else. Fan servicey shots of Misa (mainly of her, as fan service of other characters can be somewhat limited) are balanced out by the weapons and action, whether with electronic warfare (a tactic to take control of another ship), or space walks to fix the space yacht ship Odette II. There’s also electronic scans of space to detect nearby ships, spacecraft masquerading as other vessels, and the faster-than-light (FTL) system. The latter allows them to jump through hyperspace. One key character in all of this, apart from the Bentenmaru crew (Misa, Kane, Schneitzer, Luka, Hyakume, Coorie, Schnitzer, and San-Daime), is Rin/Lynn Lambretta (voiced by Yōko Hikasa). She is a student and hacker who’s part of the space yacht club.
Throughout the series, which mixes serious and silly moments, Marika leads the Bentenmaru in various space pirate jobs in order to ensure their license remains active. However, their space pirate activities can be a performance (making her popular). She meets royalty such as Gurier and Grunhilda of Serenity. In one arc of the series, the school yacht club takes charge of the ship due to a disease outbreak. During that arc, this crew assists another space yacht club member, Jenny Doolittle, helping her escape an arranged marriage. The latter is in a romantic relationship with Lynn, with both kissing multiple times. There’s some implied subtext between Marika and Chiaki, at the very least, but nothing is directly stated. The same could be said for Gurier or Grunhilda’s feelings toward Marika. Specifically, the latter gives Marika a ring to wear (it’s her father’s ring which allows her to access the ship).
The last part of the series involves episodes about a space yacht competition for which Marika puts herself at risk and the Bentenmaru is struggling due to traveling through the atmosphere (it isn’t made for that). The series’ final arc is centered around a new threat: a group of pirate hunters who want to eliminate pirates so they can test their new weapons. They are basically using the pirates as cannon fodder. Although the plot is a bit overwrought, Marika helps unite the space pirates together to face this threat. She faces the enemy commander Quartz Christie (voiced by Yūko Sanpei). Even though her ships, each one of which is known as the Grand Cross, are destroyed by the Bentenmaru and fellow pirate ships, she escapes. In typical villain style, she vows revenge. The series ends with Marika declaring “it’s time for some piracy!” This may seem like a neat, tidy end to the series, but it wasn’t the end.
The movie serves as a capstone to the series and was released in 2014. It’s entitled Bodacious Space Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace and has better animation than the original series. New animation includes more holographic images. The plotline is bit contrived and it doesn’t follow directly after the series. Even so, Lynn has a major part, as a hacker, who helps them. She works at Jenny’s company, Fairy Jane, again hinting at their romance. A boy named Kanata is a major part of the film. Although nothing happens between them, having Marika and Kanata sleep in the same bed is weird. The same can be said for Kanata’s crush on her. Despite that, and the film’s focus on a massive corporate conglomerate named the Yggdrasil Group, it makes clear the importance of space exploration, knowledge, and learning more. They fight ships connected to the latter group, with the help of Chiaki and members of the space yacht club. Although the related manga Abyss of Hyperspace ended, as has a light novel series, the story continued with the light novel series, Super Miniskirt Space Pirates.
Then there’s Amsaja, the self-declared “Queen of the Space Pirates,” as depicted in the Cleopatra in Space episode “Pirates.” She leads a crew of three other pirates, specifically Ostea, Cyborg Dwayne, and Boop. Amsaja serves as doppelgänger for series protagonist, Cleopatra, as do the other crew members. Prior to this episode, Amsaja declares that a telepathic space shark ninja was her ex-boyfriend. The series villain Octavian is implied to be another ex-boyfriend. Simply put, Amsaja is a pirate who is very full of herself and confident. Even so, her attachment to artifacts is what allows Cleo and her friends to escape without being harmed. While Amsaja only appears in one episode, voice actor Kimberly Brooks is talented! She is best known for voicing Madelyn Spaulding in Static Shock, Cassidy Williams in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Jasper in Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, Skara in The Owl House, Sky Young in Arcane, and Bumblebee in DC Super Hero Girls.
There’s other examples, including Atomsk in FLCL, the “all-female pirate crew” of the Nirvana in Vandread, Black Sun Pirates in Star Wars: Empire at War, Brak in Space Ghost and Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and various characters in Eden’s Zero, ThunderCats, and ThunderCats Roar. Additionally, there’s Han Solo in Star Wars franchise, Mark Watney in The Martian, characters in Skeleton Crew, and Mito in Space Pirate Mito. Apart from those, two characters stick out to me. First is Hondo Ohnaka in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Second is the space pirate sister of D’Vana Tendi, D’Erika (voiced by Ariel Winter), in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Tendi agrees to work for her, so the crew of the USS Cerritos can use a decrepit battleship to smash through the barrier, allowing the captain’s yacht to enter. Later, Tendi feels obligated to fulfill her end of the bargain she made with D’Erika. As such, she must return to a life of piracy alongside D’Erika, like all Orions. (Although Orions do try to get out of that particular trope in the Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode.)
As for Hondo, the Star Wars Databank describes him as a “charming pirate” and leader of a “notorious Outer Rim pirate gang from his headquarters on Florrum.” He formerly worked with Jango Fett and loved Aurra Sing. His claim to fame is kidnapping Count Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars, then asking for a ransom! As the entry notes, he continued in years afterward as a space pirate. Even Chewbacca “reluctantly partnered” with him so that the Millennium Falcon could be fixed up. Other sites call him a “beloved pirate with a heart of gold,” “infamous,” “charming rogue,” and a swindler, among other descriptors. He also appeared in Star Wars Outlaws, as some sites reported. Recently, his voice actor, Jim Cummings, teased that Hondo will appear in a Star Wars project soon.
In writing this article, I recall the sixth episode of Dirty Pair, entitled “Lots of Danger, Lots of Dummies,” which came out in mid-August 1985. The two protagonists, brown-haired Yuri and red-haired (and tomboyish) Kei, are part of a mercenary unit known as the “Lovely Angels,” or derisively as the “Dirty Pair.” In the episode, they fight a group of space pirates. The latter want to seize a crystal which would power a system. To make matters worse, the pirates are headed by a dashing man an Kei’s childhood friend, Kaia. After a space battle, Kei and Yuri act like they are giving up. However, after Kei takes out the crystal, she sends the container over to their ship. Kei, Yuri, and their cat-like sidekick Mughi escape in their ship. Not long after, the container explodes, to the shock of Kaia and the other pirates. Later, as they escape, Kei tells Yuri that Kaia will be fine (he is shown escaping).
Otherwise, space pirates have a key role in Star Wars Resistance. On the Colossus, with everyone else, is a Mirialan space pirate spy named Synara San (voiced by Nazneen Contractor). She reports her findings to space pirate captain Kragan Gorr (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams). Other space pirates include Drell (voiced by David Shaughnessy). Later, the space pirates take residence on the space station. They later mutiny, creating a problem for the station’s residents. This is a turning point since Synara sides against the pirates. Some critics, like Tricia Barr on the site Fangirl, praised one episode, entitled “Synara’s Score,” with Tam Ryvora (voiced by Suzie McGrath) and Synara talking together, in full conversations. Even so, she asserted that the episode reinforced some “problematic aspects” of female characters in a series which was generally “written and directed by men.” She also criticized the episode for broadening the “gender gap behind the camera and on screen” in Star Wars, which is a fair point.
Most recently, Star Wars: The Bad Batch introduced a host of new characters to enliven the cast. This includes Phee Genoa, a pirate voiced by Wanda Sykes. At one point, she gives the Bad Batch (also known as Clone Force 99) a tip on location of Count Dooku’s former war chest. This also portends freeing them from Sid (and the criminal underworld). As such, they can write their own future. The Star Wars Databank calls her a “treasure hunter and adventure-seeker with an eye for priceless artifacts.” The latter sounds a little like Doctor Aphra. Phee sees herself as a “liberator of ancient wonders rather than a pirate.” She enthralls Omega, one protagonist of The Bad Batch. As time goes on, she becomes an ally and friend to the squad. Otherwise, some reviewers said that she has “roguish energy.” She “navigates the criminal world without becoming a criminal herself.” She is a hero, in her own right, even acting in an altruistic manner. Her artifact liberation as inherently anti-Empire.
Sea pirates are second-most common. They are present in webcomics (The Pirate and the Princess, The Pirate Princess, and The Princess Pirate), the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, TV series (Our Flag Means Death and Black Sails), the Asterix comic, the Treasure Island novel, indie game Heileen 3 – Sea Maidens, and animated series (The Pirates of Dark Water, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, and One Piece). There’s also been characters in animated series who have been pirates, like Drakken in one Kim Possible episode (“Cap’n Drakken”), a parrot named Pirate Polly in We Baby Bears, Santiago Montes in Santiago of the Seas, Hassan in Tactical Roar, and Rokuro Okajima in Black Lagoon. One character sticks out: Lukkage (voiced by Ayumi Tsunematsu) in Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. The companion art book for the latter series describes her as age 19, 174 cm (about 5 feet, nine inches tall), and calls her an empress, who commands a pirate fleet. She also has two female sex slaves, Paraem (age 16) and Palinury (age 16), and has a crush on the salvager, Pinion (age 20). As a feared pirate leader, she ultimately has a key part in the series. Her romantic attractions to men and women implies she is bisexual.
Another example is Fena: Pirate Princess. The protagonist, Fena Houtman, is a eighteen year-old pale-skinned woman. Her voice actor, Asami Seto is known for voicing Nene Nishidera in Yuri Is My Job! and Aoi Amawashi in Birdie Wing. Fena quickly takes on a crew of elite samurai after they help her escape an arranged marriage she sold herself into so she could get some extra cash. The samurai become her loyal pirate crew and travel across the seas. They go on adventures in which they are faced by villains named the Rumble Rose, with names resembling famous female pirates and Royal Navy members. All the while, they deal with the Royal Navy and other challenges. Fena later falls in love with one of these samurai, Yukimaru Sanada. He leads a group of samurai that tries to keep Fena safe from any harm. While critics were right to lambast the series for poor writing, it surely had high production values and strong animation. The latter offsets the way the series was ended, in a heterosexual, straight way, without any hint of continuation.
Sky pirates, also known as air pirates, aren’t as common. They are shown as the villains in the indie action-adventure animated series MechWest, by Dave Gallagher. They drop down from an airship and attack the town known as Fort West, sitting in the Old West. Ultimately, they want to get their hands on a certain mech which protagonist Pearl West (voiced by Natalie Rarick) names Six. Also known as Perajhan bandits, these pirates are marauders who differ from those in Shadow Pirates and the Smokers shown in the classic 1995 post-apocalyptic action film Waterworld. These pirates are led by Mercai and Araxai, destroying/murdering the mech-cattle. Each one is torn apart with saws, horrifying Pearl and her brother Pico. These pirates see the mechs as nothing more than machines. In contrast, Pearl and Peco see them as more than that. Pearl sees the mechs like “pets” with some human-like qualities. Additionally, Dola in Castle in the Sky leads a gang of sky pirates to steal a certain necklace, to give another example.
Another depiction sticks out to me: Kitty Boon and her brother Kasey in Mysticons. Kitty is the captain of the Pink Skulls. Kasey has feelings for a Mysticon, Emerald “Em” Goldenbraid. Kitty also has a relationship with Zarya Moonwolf (going beyond friendship), another Mysticon. While they never kiss during the series, their relationship is a key part of the series itself. In fact, it was not treated special but like other relationships within the series. In social media postings, creator Sean Jara said a version with the kiss was never made, even as they won the fight for “the integrity” of the Zarya-Kitty love story. The latter pairing was dubbed as “MoonBoon.” It has become beloved by fans. Some even created fan art and videos on YouTube, and elsewhere, dedicated to the relationship. For instance, one video by a fan stretches to almost 16 minutes long.
Some years ago, Abbey White of Insider noted that Jara filled the writer’s team of Mysticons with female and queer writers. They worked on “building out an arc between…Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon.” Specifically, the kiss between Zarya and Kitty was cut because one partner expressed concerns about the “storyline and its age-appropriateness for the show’s young demographic,” resulting in the creative team having to scrap it. Other pages online noted that Zarya was once a sky pirate for the Pink Skulls and that she and Kitty have a common enemy. Specifically, an evil pirate captain, Chaos, who kidnapped them both from their village when they were young, shaping their lives in a negative way. Kitty (voiced by Katie Griffin) is clearly an iconic character, precisely one that’s a lesbian in love with an ex-pirate and street kid, Zarya (voiced by Nicki Burke).
This post only highlighted pirates across media that I’m directly aware of, but there are many more, whether in the air/sky, space, and sea, from what I’ve examined in this article, especially in live action series. I’m excited to come across more pirate characters in the days, months, and years ahead.
