The Pirate (
Appearances
Final Fantasy
The Pirate (left) and the Buccaneer (right)
The Pirate (かいぞく, Kaizoku?), also known as PIRATE, appears as an enemy encountered in Pravoka after talking to Bikke. Nine are fought together, but have low HP and thus should be of no threat to the player. After defeating them, the player will gain access to the ship. The stronger Buccaneer (パイレーツ, Pairētsu?), also known as KYZOKU or Privateer, can then be encountered while sailing.
Final Fantasy II
The Pirate appears as an enemy encountered aboard Leila's ship in a group of eight. They are of no threat to the player at the point in the game they are fought, however.
Final Fantasy XII
The Pirate appears as an enemy exclusive to the Zodiac releases, encountered alongside Rikken and Elza in Stage 86 of Trial Mode.
The Final Fantasy Legend
The Pirate appears as an enemy encountered on the 5th floor of the Tower. As a human enemy, it is not a potential transformation for party members.
Final Fantasy Legend III
The Pirate appears as a water-elemental beast-type enemy and potential transformation for level 7-8 party members. Unlike the human pirates typically seen throughout the series, the Legend III pirates are orcs.
Final Fantasy Dimensions
The Pirate appears as an enemy encountered in Capo and the Pirate Hideout. They attack using Body Slam and Eye Gouge, but are fairly weak foes despite their large numbers.
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
The Pirate appears as an enemy encountered aboard the Pirate Ship and the "The Festival of Visions" event. It can be encountered as a regular enemy and during the boss battles against Mercedes. Its design is based on its Final Fantasy II appearance.
Etymology
A pirate is a person who commits warlike acts at sea without the authorization of any nation.
In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy, the Pirate is called かいぞく, kaizoku, meaning "sea bandit", and is the primary Japanese term for "pirate" in that sense. The similar palette-swapped enemy Buccaneer is called パイレーツ, pairētsu, which is taken from the English word "pirates", and is used as a more exotic-sounding synonym of the same concept. This has posed issues in translating these two enemy terms into English. The 1990 NES version addressed this by swapping the terms in translation, with kaizoku becoming "Pirate" and pairētsu becoming "Kyzoku" (a phonetic spelling of kaizoku). Later translations have continued translating kaizoku as "Pirate", but pairētsu is since become "Buccaneer" or "Privateer", which are more flowery terms for "pirate" in English, and this keeps with the spirit of the Japanese naming pattern.