Dread Pirate Roberts | |
---|---|
The Princess Bride character | |
First appearance | The Princess Bride |
Created by | William Goldman |
Portrayed by | Cary Elwes |
In-universe information | |
Species | Human |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Pirate |
Nationality | Florin, and others |
The Dread Pirate Roberts is the identity assumed by several characters in the novel The Princess Bride (1973) and its 1987 film adaptation. [1] Various pirates (including Westley) take on the role of Roberts and use his reputation to intimidate their opponents, before retiring and secretly passing on the name to someone else.
A pirate of near-mythical reputation, the Dread Pirate Roberts is feared across the seven seas for his ruthlessness and sword fighting prowess, and is well known for taking no prisoners.
It is revealed during the course of the story that Roberts is not one man; rather, it is a series of individuals who pass the Roberts name and reputation to a chosen successor once they are wealthy enough to retire. When the time comes, the current "Roberts" and his chosen successor sail into port and discharge the crew. They then hire a new crew, the ex-Roberts staying aboard as first mate and referring to his successor as "Captain Roberts". Once the crew grows accustomed to the new Roberts, the previous captain leaves to enjoy his retirement.
Westley, the hero of The Princess Bride, was on a voyage to seek his fortune when his ship was captured by the Dread Pirate (who never leaves captives alive) and Westley is reported dead. [2] While the other passengers are weeping and offering bribery for their lives, Westley simply asks Roberts to please not kill him. The "please" arousing his interest, Roberts asks, "Why should I make an exception of you?" Westley then explains his mission to get enough money to reunite with his true love, Buttercup. Westley's description of Buttercup's beauty moves Roberts to the point that he hires Westley as a personal attendant. While Roberts is impressed with Westley's work, he continues to keep Westley's future in doubt by saying each night, "Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." After about three years, Roberts and Westley have grown close, and Roberts promotes Westley to his second-in-command. Shortly after that, Roberts reveals to Westley that the guise of the "Dread Pirate Roberts" is merely a pseudonym that he has inherited, and that his real name is Ryan. Roberts goes on to explain that the method works because Roberts' notorious reputation inspires overwhelming fear in sailors. Ships immediately capitulate and surrender their wealth rather than be taken by force, a fate they imagine to be certain death. A pirate operating under his own name is said to be incapable of such infamy: "No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley." [3]
The fear inspired by the title is used in Westley's plan of invading the castle right before Buttercup's wedding. In the invasion the giant Fezzik poses as Roberts to inspire fear in the castle guard. The fear is amplified by Fezzik's size and a few more tricks, and makes the entire guard run away so that the invaders can easily enter.
In both the movie and the novel, Westley indicates that he plans to retire after reuniting with Buttercup. In the movie, he suggests that Inigo Montoya might succeed him. However, in the novel, no mention is made as to who is to succeed Westley as the Dread Pirate Roberts. In the first chapter of Buttercup's Baby (the supposed sequel to the novel), which is included in the 25th anniversary edition of the book, Goldman refers to 'Pierre', who is in charge of the pirate ship Revenge during Westley's absence and next in line to become the Dread Pirate Roberts. By the end of the chapter, Westley and his companions leave the ship again, presumably leaving Pierre once again in charge, but no mention is made of an official transfer of the title of Dread Pirate Roberts.
Holders of the title Dread Pirate Roberts include:
In the film's continuity, neither Clooney nor Pierre are mentioned, and Westley does not state how many (if any) individuals held the title between the original Roberts and Cummerbund.
Ross Ulbricht, operator of the illicit goods marketplace Silk Road, used the alias Dread Pirate Roberts. In a display of life imitating art, another person claimed the name Dread Pirate Roberts, reopening the Silk Road website one month after the original site was seized by US law enforcement. [4]
The name was also used by John Hiatt in his song, "Only the Song Survives", from the album Crossing Muddy Waters : [5]
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American fantasy adventure comedy film directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner and starring Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, and André the Giant. Adapted by William Goldman from his 1973 novel, it tells the story of a swashbuckling farmhand named Westley, accompanied by companions befriended along the way, who must rescue his true love Princess Buttercup from the odious Prince Humperdinck. The film preserves the novel's metafictional narrative style by presenting the story as a book being read by a grandfather to his sick grandson.
Treasure Island is an adventure and historical novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It was published in 1883, and tells a story of "buccaneers and buried gold" set in the 1700s. It is considered a coming-of-age story and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action.
Bartholomew Roberts, born John Roberts, was a Welsh pirate who was, measured by vessels captured, the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy. During his piratical career, he took over 400 prize ships, although most were mere fishing boats. Roberts raided ships off the Americas and the West African coast between 1719 and 1722; he is also noted for creating his own pirate code, and adopting an early variant of the Skull and Crossbones flag.
A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, and idealistic: he rescues damsels in distress, protects the downtrodden, and uses duels to defend his honor or that of a lady or to avenge a comrade.
Inigo Montoya is a fictional character in William Goldman's 1973 novel The Princess Bride. In Rob Reiner's 1987 film adaptation, he was portrayed by Mandy Patinkin. In both the book and the movie, he was originally from Spain and resided in the fictional country of Florin.
Camillo Agrippa was a noted fencer, architect, engineer and mathematician of the Renaissance. He is considered to be one of the greatest fencing theorists of all time.
Captain J. Flint is a fictional golden age pirate captain who features in a number of novels, television series, and films. The original character was created by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). Flint first appears in the classic adventure yarn Treasure Island, which was first serialised in a children's magazine in 1881, and later published as a novel in 1883.
Montoya is a Basque and Spanish surname. It originally comes from a hamlet near Berantevilla in Álava, in the Basque region of northern Spain. During the Reconquista, it extended southwards throughout Castille and Andalusia. The name roughly translates to mean hills and valleys. It has become more frequent among Gitanos than among the general Spanish population.
DPR may refer to:
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The "Good Parts" Version is a 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman. The book combines elements of comedy, adventure, fantasy, drama, romance, and fairy tale. It is metafictionally presented as an abridgment of a longer work by the fictional S. Morgenstern, and Goldman's commentary asides are constant throughout. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, then later by Random House, while in the United Kingdom it was later published by Bloomsbury.
The Ghost Pirates is a horror novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1909.
Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 American adventure film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes, and Torin Thatcher. The film was made by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott.
In English-speaking popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its attributes mostly to the imagined tradition of the 18th-century Caribbean pirate sailing off the Spanish Main and to such celebrated 20th-century depictions as Captain Hook and his crew in the theatrical and film versions of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island, and various adaptations of the Middle Eastern pirate, Sinbad the Sailor. In these and countless other books, films, and legends, pirates are portrayed as "swashbucklers" and "plunderers". They are shown on ships, often wearing eyepatches or peg legs, having a parrot perched on their shoulder, speaking in a West Country accent, and saying phrases like "Arr, matey" and "Avast, me hearty". Pirates have retained their image through pirate-themed tourist attractions, film, toys, books and plays.
Leatherwing, also known as Batman: Leatherwing, is a DC Comics Elseworlds story published in Detective Comics Annual #7 in 1994. It was written by Chuck Dixon and illustrated by Enrique Alcatena, who also devised the plot.
The Princess and the Pirate is a 1944 American comedy film directed by David Butler, and starring Bob Hope and Virginia Mayo. Based on a story by Sy Bartlett, the film is about a princess who travels incognito to elope with her true love instead of marrying the man to whom she is betrothed. On the high seas, her ship is attacked by pirates who plan to kidnap her and hold her for ransom, unaware that she will be rescued by the unlikeliest of knights errant. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn, The Princess and the Pirate received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Music Score.
Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market. It was launched in 2011 by its American founder Ross Ulbricht under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts." As part of the dark web, Silk Road operated as a hidden service on the Tor network, allowing users to buy and sell products and services between each other anonymously. All transactions were conducted with bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which aided in protecting user identities. The website was known for its illegal drug marketplace, among other illegal and legal product listings. Between February 2011 and July 2013, the site facilitated sales amounting to 9,519,664 Bitcoins.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned is a cancelled action-adventure role-playing video game that was being developed by Propaganda Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows platforms. Originally set to be published by Disney Interactive Studios, it was the first attempt to create an open world game based on the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. The project was cancelled in October 2010, soon before the closure of Propaganda Games.
"Good Form" is the fifth episode of the third season of the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 49th episode overall.
Home Movie: The Princess Bride is an American comedy television miniseries directed by Jason Reitman, a "fan made" recreation of the 1987 film The Princess Bride. Produced while the participating actors were isolating themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, it is filmed in a deliberately DIY fashion, with an ensemble cast recording their scenes on their own smartphones, and multiple actors playing the most prominent roles. It features the final screen performance of Carl Reiner, the father of the original film's director Rob Reiner. It premiered in short installments in June and July 2020, on Quibi.
On September 13, 2020, most of the original cast members of the 1987 film The Princess Bride took part in a virtual live dramatic reading of the film script to support Wisconsin Democrats. The returning cast included Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, and Carol Kane, with additional performances by Rob Reiner as the Grandfather, Josh Gad as Fezzik, Eric Idle as the Impressive Clergyman, Whoopi Goldberg as the Ancient Booer and the Mother, and Jason Reitman as the narrator, among others. Norman Lear joined the Q&A session at the end, which was hosted by Patton Oswalt. Cast members promoted the event beforehand using the hashtags "#PrincessBrideReunion" and "#DumpTrumperdinck." More than 110,000 viewers donated a dollar or more to Wisconsin Democrats to view the livestream, which raised $4.25 million and received widely positive reviews, with special praise for Patinkin's performance.