Fictional air pirates typically operate as pirates in the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet or moon, and travel by aircraft, as opposed to the more traditional pirates on the high seas, who travel by ship. However, just as traditional seafaring pirates target sailing ships, air pirates serve a similar role in science fiction and fantasy media: they capture and plunder aircraft and other targets for cargo, loot and occasionally they steal an entire aircraft, sometimes killing the crewmembers in the process. However, their dress and speech may vary; it may correspond to the particular author's vision of the story's setting, rather than their seafaring counterparts. On the other hand, air pirates may be modeled after stereotypical sea pirates. Some air pirates use airborne aircraft carriers as mobile bases from which to conduct raids. Air pirates made early appearances in novels, silent films, comics and pulp magazines, and have since appeared in a variety of media, including alternate history, steampunk, and dieselpunk works.
In popular culture
Robur, an inventor who kidnaps people and takes them aboard his advanced aircraft in the 1886 novel Robur the Conqueror and its 1904 sequel Master of the World, as well as in the 1961 film adaptation based on elements of both novels.
Captain Mors, a.k.a. the "Air Pirate", in the German pulp magazineThe Air Pirate and His Steerable Airship.
Captain Alfonso Payton, a.k.a. the "Sky Pirate", in the 1909 novel The Sky Pirate.
The 1910 short storyThe Sky Police by John A. Heffernan features an air pirate.
The air pirates in the 1911 silent film Pirates of 1920.
The sky pirates in the 1915 book The Pirates of the Sky: A Tale of Modern Adventure by Stephen Gaillard.
The title character in the 1915 Italian adventure film Filibus.
Prince James and his "social revolutionaries" commit an act of air piracy in the 1931 short story The Raid of the Mercury by A. H. Johnson.
The Orks and Dark Eldar are space pirate factions in Warhammer 40,000.
The air pirates, including the Mama Aiuto Gang, in the 1992 Japanese anime film Porco Rosso, as well as the 1989 manga Hikōtei Jidai on which the film was based.
Sala and her air pirates in the 1996 filmThe Phantom.
Several characters in the Edge Chronicles books are sky pirates.
Captain Shakespeare and his aerial pirates in the 2007 fantasy film Stardust.
Blackbeard and his pirates in the 2015 fantasy film Pan, who use flying sailing ships.
Don Karnage and his gang of air pirates in the Disney animated series TaleSpin.
The pirates in the animated series Skyland.
The 2009 novel Boneshaker by Cherie Priest features air pirates like captain Cly.
The air pirates of the Crimson Skies game franchise, including the main character Nathan Zachary and his gang the Fortune Hunters.
The sky pirates of the Final Fantasy media franchise, including Vaan and Balthier.
The main theme in the popular OpenXCom mod, XPiratez
A story arc in the Mandrake the Magician comic strip involved a pirate airplane that would latch on to the outside of a passenger jet and then threaten to punch holes through the fuselage if the victims didn't follow orders and land at an airstrip where the pirates could loot their prey.
The air pirates in the anime The Magnificent Kotobuki.
In reality
In real-life use, the phrase "air piracy" more often refers to the hijacking and illegal seizure of an aircraft. However, there has been at least one occasion of an act of nautical-type piracy being conducted from the air. This occurred in 1917, when the civilian Norwegian schooner Royal was boarded and captured by a boarding party from the German ZeppelinL23.
