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This is a list of space pirates, often found in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Space pirate characters and groups[]

Name Work Medium Description
Atomsk FLCL Novel, Manga, Original video animation Pirate King.
Abslom Daak Doctor Who Comics Ex-convict, pirate and mercenary hired by the Time Lords to destroy Daleks.
Adjutant Booba Dengeki Sentai Changeman Television series A former space pirate who joined Gozma Star League, possibly for money and wealth. He became very close to Adjutant Shiima, whom he freed from Gozma's dark influence near the end of the series - shortly after this, Booba dies in a climatic duel with Change Dragon.
Black Barney Buck Rogers Comic strip
The Bonne Family Mega Man Legends Video Games Consists of Teisel, Tron, Bon, and 40 Servbots. They are air pirates in their own series, only being space pirates in the crossovers Namco × Capcom and Project X Zone.
Boskone Lensman
Brak Space Ghost Television series
Bull Coxine Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Books Pirate who in 2353 led a breakout from the Solar Alliance prison asteroid and proceeded to prey upon various spacecraft until Tom Corbett and his unit mates Roger Manning and Astro defeated him.

((Ironwulf)))

Captain Harlock Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Arcadia of My Youth Manga, Film, Television series, Original video animation Captain of the Arcadia.
Captain CJ "Hawk" Hawkens Space Raiders (film) Film, Space opera Roguish protagonist of Roger Corman's dark spin on Star Wars.
Cobra Cobra Manga, film, anime, original video animation
Dagg Starchaser: The Legend of Orin Animated film, space opera Pirate, crystal smuggler and sidekick to the protagonist.
Dark Eldar Warhammer 40,000 Miniature wargaming Alien race with a culture built around the torture and slavery of other species.
Divatox Power Rangers Turbo Television series
Elon Cody Starbuck Star Reach
Hammerhand Thundercats High fantasy Anime, television series, Manga Leader of a crew of cyborg Vikings.
Han Solo Star Wars Space opera, expanded universe literature, comics Pirate,[1] mercenary and spice smuggler, best friend to the dog-like alien Chewbacca and lover to Princess Leia.[2]
Hondo Ohnaka Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels Animated series Leader of a Weequay pirate gang.
Ironwolf DC Comics Comic book Antihero resisting the tyrannical Empress Hernandez.
Jackals Halo Video games A sci-fi race of reptilian-like creatures who are notorious for piracy in space.
John Crichton Farscape Television series Astronaut from earth who finds himself sucked into a wormhole. He is rescued by the crew of Moya: a band of alien fugitives pursued by the evil Scorpius and the fascist-like Peacekeeper army.
Jonathan Rockhal Nathan Never Comics A space pirate captain. John Silver, a man with a mechanical leg, is his second-in-command. Before they turned to piracy, they were generals of the Federal Army of Earth.
Kagato Tenchi Muyo! Television series, Manga, Original video animation
Gokaigers Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger Television series Characters from a Super Sentai series who travel to Earth in search of the "Greatest Treasure in the Universe", only to be dragged into a battle with an invading alien force called the Space Empire Zangyack.
Space Pirate Fleet Descal ChouSei Kantai Sazer-X Television series A band of space pirates in search of the wish granting Cosmo Capsules hidden on earth. In the original timeline, they succeeded, establishing a galactic empire. Therefore, the protagonists, who come from this dark future, travel back in time to prevent the pirates from succeeding their quest.
Talon Karrde Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn Book series Karrde is a smuggler chief who becomes the leader of the criminal underworld after the death of Jabba Desilijic Tiure.
Kraiklyn Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks Book Captain of the pirate ship Clear Air Turbulence, an avid gambler who leads his crew on two disastrous raids before being killed by the main character Horza.
Krys and Jolly U Alisa Selezneva books by Kir Bulychov Book series Krys is a shape-shifter, and Jolly U is a fat humanoid. They appear as Alisa's antagonists in several books and their adaptations, such as The Mystery of the Third Planet and Guest from the Future.
Lars Barriga Steven Universe Animated television series A human who died on the Gem Homeworld and was resurrected by Steven, later becoming the captain of a group of fugitive gems on a stolen spaceship.
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds Firefly (TV series) Television series Former rebel Browncoat soldier and captain of Serenity.
Mark Watney The Martian Book and film Watney notes with some glee that his plan to commandeer a NASA lander without explicit permission, as part of his rescue from being stranded on Mars, under his interpretation of applicable laws means that he is history's first "space pirate": citing that due to the Outer Space Treaty Mars is considered international territory, and citing that under the Law of the Sea, he is essentially hijacking a vessel without permission in international waters, "which, by definition, makes me a pirate." Other analysts have argued that he technically wasn't committing an act of piracy, however, due to the facts that 1 - it has not yet been explicitly established if the same laws for international waters apply to international territory such as Mars or Antarctica, 2 - "Piracy" explicitly refers to robbery by force from a manned crew, not "theft" of an unmanned vessel as Watney did, and 3 - under space law, the vessel Watney was stealing would be considered U.S. territory and NASA property, and Watney was already a U.S. NASA astronaut.[3]
Mito Space Pirate Mito Television series
Orions Star Trek Television series
Phantom Knight D.I.C.E. Television series
Pirate Clans Exosquad Television series
Queen Emeraldas Queen Emeraldas, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock Television Series, Film Spinoff character from Galaxy Express 999 and Capt. Harlock in Leiji Matsumoto universe. Sister of Maetel from GE999
Red Peri The Red Peri novel
Richard B. Riddick The Chronicles of Riddick Film Escaped convict and last of the alien Furian race.
Ridley Metroid series Video games A dragon-like alien that is a top ranking member of the space pirates.[4]
Ryoko Balta Tenchi Muyo!, Tenchi Muyo! GXP Television series, Manga, Original video animation
Saffron Firefly Television Series A crafty con artist and occasional ship thief.
Scumdogs of the Universe GWAR Music, Film Group of rogue ex-soldiers who were banished to earth. Penchant for rape, murder, stealing drugs, and destroying planets.
Sinbad and the Space Pirates Challenge of the Super Friends Television Series Space pirates come to Earth to loot its treasure in the second part of episode 4.
Space Pirates Barban Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Television series Characters from a Super Sentai series which was later used as the basis for Power Rangers Lost Galaxy.
Space Pirates Kid Icarus Videogame series Antagonists that first appear in Kid Icarus: Uprising
Spike Spiegel Cowboy Bebop Television series, Manga Protagonist in the Cowboy Bebop series.
The Star Pirate Planet Comics Comics
Starjammers X-Men Comics A group of space pirates led by Corsair.
Garris Shrike Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin Book series Space pirate, con artist, and mercenary who captured Han Solo as a child, turning him into a thief
Star Seekers Transformers Novels/Toyline Transformer Pirates with a vendetta against Cybertron led by Thundertron. Featured in the novels Transformers: Exiles, Transformers: Retribution, and in the 2014 storyline for Botcon. Thundertron also appeared as a figure in the Transformers: Prime toyline.
Booster Terrik X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole Books series Terrik was a criminal who was imprisoned by protagonist Corran Horn's father, as well as an old friend of another protagonist Wedge Antilles. Later in the series, Horn marries Terrik's daughter Mirax, despite Terrik's initial objections.
Tex Hex BraveStarr: The Movie Animated Space Western Evil purple skinned outlaw, minion to the demon Stampede.
Alonzo P. Tucker Lost in Space Television series Inspired by Long John Silver, especially as portrayed by Robert Newton.
Vyse Skies of Arcadia Video Game
Yondu Guardians of the Galaxy Film, comic book Blue skinned space pirate and mercenary, mentor to Star-Lord.

Space pirate media[]

Work Year Medium Description
Miniskirt Space Pirates/Bodacious Space Pirates 2008–present Light novel/ Television series In the far future where space travel is the norm, Marika Kato, born and raised in the Tau Ceti planet Morningstar, is the newly recruited teenage captain of the space pirate(privateer) ship Bentenmaru, inheriting the title from her deceased father.
Galactic North Short story
Independence War 1998 Video game Pirates and terrorists are the target of the player in this space combat game.[5] Followed by Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos in 2001.[6]
Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids 1953 Novel Juvenile science fiction penned by Isaac Asimov.[7]
Metroid series 1986–present Video game Space pirates are the series' primary enemies.[8]
Outlaw Star 1997–present Manga, Television series
Path of the Fury 1992 Novel Written by David Weber, after a woman's family is slain by space pirates she is possessed by a Fury and seeks revenge.[7]
The Pirates of Orion 1974 Television episode An episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, the crew of the USS Enterprise are threatened by a band of space pirates.[7]
The Pirate Planet 1978 Television serial A Doctor Who serial starring the Fourth Doctor, written by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy creator Douglas Adams. A band of space pirates use their own planet to drain the life force of other planets by materializing around them, the Captain has a giant robot parrot.[9]
Planet Pirates series 1990–1991 Novel Trilogy of novels by Anne McCaffrey.[7]
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction 2007 Video game The main character, Ratchet, fights through hordes of robotic Space Pirates led by Captain Romulus Slag. This game is followed by Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, where Ratchet again fights the Space Pirates.
Rayman 2: The Great Escape 1999 Video game Platform game where robo-pirates from deep space have invaded Rayman's world and broken its heart into a thousand pieces of energy.[10]
The Red Peri 1935 Novella
Rogue Galaxy 2005 Video game
Space Pirate 1998-2008 Online/in-browser Video game
Sol Bianca 1990, 1992 Original video animation
Sol Bianca: The Legacy 1999–2000 Television miniseries
Space Pirates 1992 Video game
The Space Pirates 1969 Television serial A Doctor Who serial starring the Second Doctor. The TARDIS materializes in the midst of a pitched battle between space pirates and the Army Space Corps. The pirates dismantle space beacons for their scrap value of a rare material.[11]
Space Quest III 1989 Video game
The Ice Pirates 1984 Film Alien pirates raid cargo vessels carrying ice.[7]
Treasure Planet 2002 Film Disney animated space opera version of the novel Treasure Island, the cast try to locate the treasure hoard of space pirate Captain Flint.[12]
Wing Commander: Privateer 1993 Video game A space pirate computer game based in the Wing Commander universe.

Unsorted list[]

  • The animated films of Japanese director Leiji Matsumoto include several pirate characters, including and the privateer Queen Emeraldas, the best known of these pieces being Galaxy Express 999 (1977) and Space Battleship Yamato (1974).
  • Manjanungo is bloodthirsty space pirate in Race Across the Stars, part of the Spaceways series by John Cleve.
  • Nabel is a nasty cyborg space pirate on the 1996 film "Space Truckers"
  • Drongo Kane, repeated adversary of A. Bertram Chandler's John Grimes, is a clever and ruthless space adventurer whose acts constitute piracy by any common sense standard, but who manages to stay within the law by the help of sharp lawyers. The Duchy of Waldegren is also a popular haunt of several notorious space-pirates (no individual names given) in the series.
  • Murdoch Juan is a bold space adventurer in Poul Anderson's story "The Pirate", part of the Psychotechnic League series. Whether Murdoch is to be actually defined as a pirate, or rather as a very daring but legitimate entrepreneur, is a major issue on which the whole story turns.
  • Carson Napier, Edgar Rice Burroughs' dashing space-traveler, got to Venus by mistake, discovered there a tyrannical regime which sorely needed opposing - and the best way to do that was to assume leadership of the Pirates of Venus (also the title of the first book in the Venus series).
  • Gammis Turek is the leader of a space pirate fleet in Vatta's War.
  • Star Wars Empire At War contains a non-playable faction called the Black Sun Pirates, a large gang of mercenaries.
  • Megaman Battle Network 6 includes a WWW member named Captain Blackbeard, an operator of Diveman.EXE who dressed as a sailor.
  • Wolf O'Donnell is a space pirate in the Star Fox series, and gains a techno-eyepatch.
  • In Dinosaur king Gavro, Foolscap and sheer are members of the “spectral space Pirates” and collect cosmos stones throughout time.
  • Cannonball (Transformers) - is a decepticon space pirate.
  • Female space pirates make up a number of characters in the anime Vandread
  • Nina's World has girls pretend to be a space pirate captain and space pirate princess[13]
  • Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (aka Robotech in the west) mentions space pirates as being descended from the colonization missions to found Liberte and Glorie. It is assumed at first that The Zor Lords are in fact space pirates. This theme is slightly carried over into the Robotech episode Half-Moon where Colonel Rochelle muses that the invaders at SX.83/Ruins of the SDF-1 are in fact space pirates looking for salvage.
  • Space pirates serve as antagonistic forces in seasons 11-13 of the web series Red vs. Blue, collectively known as the Chorus Trilogy.

See also[]

  • Air pirate
  • List of fictional pirates
  • Space pirate (disambiguation)

References[]

  1. Han Solo
  2. Space pirates in Star Wars spinoff
  3. Matian Law: is Mark Watney really a space pirate?
  4. Schedeen, Jesse (2009-11-20). "Big Boss of the Day: Metroid's Ridley - Forget Mother Brain, this is the real villain of the Metroid franchise". IGN. Retrieved 2010-08-18. {{cite web}}:
  5. Marriott, Scott. "Overview - Independence War". allgame. Retrieved 2010-07-09. {{cite web}}:
  6. Deci, T.J. "Overview - Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos". allgame. Retrieved 2010-07-09. {{cite web}}:
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Westfahl, Gary (2005-09-30). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works and Wonders, Volume 2. Greenwood Press. pp. 600–601. ISBN 0-313-32950-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=3JXnz9x9sO4C&pg=PA600&lpg=PA600&dq=space+pirates+fiction&source=bl&ots=ttKk_6ZLaY&sig=nS4wwirlq_u4tl-Qeiz2gm0VO8s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tMGMVd7QHomvyAS4oauIAw&ved=0CGkQ6AEwDw#v=onepage&q=space%20pirates%20fiction&f=false. 
  8. "Space Pirates - The Sworn Enemy". Computer and Video Games. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-07-09. {{cite web}}:
  9. Erickson, Hal. "Overview - Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet, Episode 4". allmovie. Retrieved 2010-07-18. {{cite web}}:
  10. Thorpe, Damien. "Overview - Rayman 2: The Great Escape". allgame. Retrieved 2010-07-09. {{cite web}}:
  11. Erickson, Hal. "Overview - Doctor Who: The Space Pirates, Episode 1". allmovie. Retrieved 2010-07-09. {{cite web}}:
  12. Klein, Andy (2002-11-24). "Treasure Planet Review". Variety. Retrieved 2010-08-18. {{cite web}}: ; publisher
  13. "Nina's First Sleepover". Nina's World. 2015. 5 minutes in.  Chelsea: "How about you're a space pirate princess and I'm your space pirate captain?" Nina: "A space pirate princess? I don't know... but I think I'll try it!" .. Nina "You 'arrrrr' a great Space Pirate Captain." Chelsea "C'mon Space Pirate Princess Nina."
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