Summary
Few sights strike fear into the hearts of intrepid seamen quite like a hostile vessel careening towards them. This sight becomes even more frightening if said vessel happens to be a ghostly galleon. For most gamers, this is not something theyusually have to consider while going about their adventures.
Not all games are so merciful, though, throwing players up against the most dreaded Venn diagram of villainy: ghost pirates. For those looking to encounter (or perhaps avoid) these ghostly entities, here are some ofthe best ghost pirates in video games.
TheHMS Princecomes in high. It lacks any recognizable pirates, but the ghostly vessel is still a striking sight to behold on the waters. One ofthe legendary ships encounteredinAssassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, the HMS Prince is adorned with tattered black sails and an eerie fog.
It provides a significant challenge with impressive speed, persistent mortar rounds, and the shrouded fog that it carries with it, obscuring the player’s vision.
Taking the name literally, the developers ofCall of Duty: Ghostsadded a phantasmal element to Mutiny, one of the DLC multiplayer maps. The map is essentially a haunted dock and comes complete with a couple of special field orders, one of which is theGhostly Crew.
When activated, the player summons two pirate ghost squadmates that flank them in support. This is a valuable asset when it comes to increasing the kill count, but it’s a frightening sight for those caught on the other end of the ghostly rampage.
7The Ghost Pirate (Scooby-Doo! Horror Of The High Seas)
A Ghoulish Treasure Hunter
No prizes for the name here, but this was aimed primarily at kids, soThe Ghost Pirateserves as a fitting antagonist for this nautical adventure.Scooby-Doo! Horror of the High Seaswas a Warner Bros. developed flash game that consisted mainly of exploration with basic stealth and puzzle solving.
Shaggy and Scooby areno strangers to ghost pirates, and when they get separated from the gang in this adventure, they are forced to match wits with another ghoulish captain. Like mostScooby-Dooproperties, however, the Ghost Pirate turns out to be little more than a charlatan in search of treasure.
Sea of Thievesis technically full of pirate ghosts, most of whom are slain players who are waiting to return to the world of the living. One spectral sailor who stands out among them, though, is theFerryman, captain of the Ferry of the Damned.
Players can encounter the Ferryman at the helm of the vessel whilst they await their allotted time to respawn. Tasked with guiding souls out of the Sea of the Damned, the Ferryman is easily one of the most noble ghost pirates in the realm of gaming.
Infinitely cooler than any of the others by proxy of being both a shark and a ghost pirate,Captain Fishookserves as one of the bosses ofLuigi’s Mansion 3. Found on 12F, as a late-game boss, Captain Fishook packs quite a punch.
He’ll swoop in for attacks and can possess the very ship the fight takes place on. Players will have to be swift on their feet and a dead-eye with their barrels if they wish to foil this ghastly predator.
Cornering the market for search engine optimization for video game ghost pirates is the aptly namedGhost Pirates of Vooju Island.It is a point-and-click adventurethat perhaps pays homage to a more popular series of supernatural pirate misadventures.
There are several phantoms in the game, but it’s the playable protagonist,Jane Starling, who takes the honor of being thebest ghost pirateof the bunch. After being cursed in pursuit of the villainous Greenbeard, the three protagonists are left torn between the physical and the spirit world, interchanging between the two as the adventure unfolds.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curseis considered to be the hardest game in the series, and as the principal antagonist, thePirate Masteris a formidable foe. A powerful pirate ruler, the Pirate Master is initially defeated by the combined might of the genies of Sequin Land.
During the events ofShantae and the Pirate’s Curse, however, he is successfully reanimated as an even more powerful ghostly apparition. He becomes a screen-filling behemoth, whose skeletal frame provides a series of platforms that the protagonist can climb to fight him.
2Afia Manicato (Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew)
A Time-Warping Poltergeist
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewis a stealth tactics game built around assembling a crew of damned pirates and completing real-time missions to thwart the Inquisition. As one might expect of a game of this calibre, the myriad of crew options comes with a variety of buffs and abilities to allow players to forge their ideal team.
Out of all theplayable characters inShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew,Afia Manicatois arguably the best ghost pirate. Her time-bending powers include the ability to teleport and freeze enemies, two invaluable assets that help her to remain undetected.
Who else is more deserving of the “best ghost pirate” title than the legendaryLeChuck, the recurring antagonist of theMonkey Islandgames? Scourge of Guybrush Threepwood for over three decades, the voodoo-obsessed captain was a ruthless and bloodthirsty pirate in life and only became more powerful in death.
For those not old enough to remember,The Secret of Monkey Islandwas avery influential point-and-click adventurefromLucasArts, the video game branch of George Lucas' production company. The game spawned five sequels, withLeChuckserving as the primary antagonist.
