The title of Pirate Captain is the title given to an individual in control of a pirate crew at sea.
Role and Duties[]
Pirate captains are the ones who are at the very head of a pirate crew. They also tend to be the mightiest members of their crew, and most of them tend to exploit their strength even over their own subordinates to ensure loyalty. However, anyone can attain the rank of captaincy out of pure leadership, as a founding member or voted by other crew members. All major decisions are made by them, though they may be usually advised and influenced by other members.
Although a captain may be the highest authority of the crew, there are situations where they are betrayed, overthrown and even killed in mutinies. Possible reasons include the captain acting selfishly at the expense of the crew, conflict of personal interests, or when the subordinates try to flee in cowardice after their tyrannical captain is defeated. Some pirates have high standards for someone to be their captain and may imply that a pirate may leave a crew if their captain does not meet their expectations.
Although rare, there are a few captains who would take on a role within the crew in addition to their captaincy. There are also crews that have two captains simultaneously. While the position of captain can be assumed by another member of the crew after the previous captain's death, the position can be passed to a new generation. If multiple pirate crews were to form an alliance, the captains of the allied crews must share equal standings, becoming co-leaders of the alliance. They thus have limited control over their allied crew's men, and when it comes to important decisions, their opinion must be included. Otherwise, it would merely be subordination.
Admiral[]
The title Admiral (提督 Teitoku?), sometimes the Commodore (提督 Teitoku?) or Don (
A captain is generally the leader of a single ship. However, when a crew is large enough to have multiple ships—also known as a fleet—each ship may be commanded by a single captain (or division commander), and the entire fleet is controlled by an admiral, whom the captains answer to. The admiral has absolute command over the entire fleet of ships, having only captains to serve as second-in-commands, dividing their numbers into multiple ships and divisions, making it easier to control the organization.
The admiral tends to have a number of commanding officers who each lead a division of the crew. This is seemingly done as a means of ensuring that a large pirate crew is able to function efficiently and properly reap the benefits of having such an extensive membership. This may see the crews broken up into divisions as more and more crewmembers join. While not under direct orders from their Admiral, these high-ranking crewmates are allowed to take liberties one would expect from a captain of their own crew.
Unique Titles[]
There are also some captains who are referred to by other titles instead of captain or admiral, such as:
- Eris was referred to as Apex (天辺 Teppen?).
- Gladius Caesar is referred to as King (
王者 Kingu?). - Heidrun Thrymr is referred to as Fimbultyr (
大神 Finburutiru?).[1] - Titanna Saiku is referred to as Apex Predator (アペックス・プレデター Apekkusu Puredetā?).
Trivia[]
- Many pirate captains wear greatcoats in the Marine officer fashion - unbuttoned and draped over the shoulders with sleeves hanging loose. It is unknown whether this is an independently developed trend, or a deliberate attempt to mimic (and/or mock) the Marines.
- In real life, pirate captains were often elected to the post by the rest of the crew. Even if they owned the ship, if the captain fell out of favor with their crew, another could be elected without notice. Sometimes, inadequate captains were even murdered. Also, cases occur when a first mate would kill the captain to take over.
References[]
- ↑ Two Fronts: Thrymr's captain title is revealed to be Fimbultyr.