Black Sails: 10 Pirates Who Should Appear In Season 2

3. Black Caesar

Real or storybook? Allegedly real Who is he? Executed in Virginia in 1718 as part of the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge, Black Caesar's life story is heavily mythologised to the point that it is hard to tell what elements, if any, are true (extra confusion is added when he is occasionally mixed up with Henri Caesar, a 19th century Haitian pirate who took part in Toussaint Louverture's revolution and also went by Black Caesar). The story goes that Caesar was an African chieftain and a giant of a man who was captured by slavers for sale in America, but escaped and became one of the most successful pirates raiding shipping in the Florida Keys. Later he joined the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge and became one of the most feared lieutenants of its famous captain, Blackbeard. Where would he fit into Black Sails? While the quite clear separation between the communities of white European pirates and black African pirates depicted aboard the Walrus in Black Sails is a fairly accurate view of the way that pirate ships would operate, it feels disappointing that the show has not invested any time in giving the black pirates any character or narrative of their own. The addition of a famous black African pirate to the cast would add diversity to the story. Caesar's arrival into the cast would be especially useful as it could pre-empt the appearance of his eventual captain, the character that most viewers of Black Sails must be waiting to see...