Guest Posts

Cultural Connections: Captain Crawfish šŸ“ā€ā˜ ļø

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Smart Icicle. Enjoy!

Hi! Iā€™m Smart Icicle and I would like to introduce a theory on the beloved Captain Crawfish in Poptropica. Now we all know what Captain Crawfish looks like, but could his appearance be inspired by other fictional pirates? Here’s what I think:

A major, modern franchise about pirates is Pirates of the Caribbean. This film series is about all of the misadventures of legendary pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow. So now, onto Captain Crawfish.

You might know that Poptropica’s iconic pirate is named after a lobster-like sea creature (the crawfish). Well, in Pirates of the Caribbean, one of the villains Jack Sparrow had to face was Davy Jones and his crew. In the films, Davy Jones is a pirate who ferries the people who died into the afterlife. He usually would send the Kraken, an abnormally giant squid, onto a ship to take sailors. So there is that connection of a fascination for sea monsters in both Poptropica and Pirates of the Caribbean. Of course, the legend of the Kraken predates the film series.

Next, Captain Crawfishā€™s hat. His hat is red with a feather and has a green bandana. His hat closely resembles the hat of Hector Barbossa, Jack Sparrowā€™s rival. Barbossa’s majestic hat is black with a feather and includes a green bandana.

Captain Crawfishā€™s beard is somewhat similar to Captain Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard, another pirate of old legend who also appears as an antagonist in Pirates of the Caribbean (the fourth movie). Blackbeard has a long black beard with smoke, while Jack Sparrowā€™s beard consists of two little braids. Add those two beards together (sans smoke) and you will end up with a beard similar to Captain Crawfish’s.

Now letā€™s take a quick break and look at the storyline in Skullduggery Island. Fort Ridley is where the main story starts off. Before we arrive, Captain Crawfish has robbed every store ā€” much like the opening to Pirates of the Caribbean, where Barbossa and his crew attack and rob the stores in Port Royal (where all the adventures begin)! Barbossaā€™s crew also capture Elizabeth Swann, the governorā€™s daughter in Port Royal. While there isn’t kidnapping in Skullduggery, Captain Crawfish does mess with the governor of Fort Ridley!

At the governor’s mansion in Skullduggery Island.

Back to appearances, Captain Crawfishā€™s outfit is similar to Elizabeth Swannā€™s outfit in the second PotC movie. Elizabethā€™s pirate outfit consists of a brown coat with a white shirt and cross-body strap.

Also, Captain Crawfish has a gold skull on his eyepatch. This resembles Ragetti, another character from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Ragetti originally had a wooden eye, which he often loses. In the third movie, Ragetti had to give up his eye to Captain Barbossa. After he lost the eye, Ragetti puts on an eyepatch. Wonder what happened to Captain Crawfish’s eye?

Finally, we get to Captain Crawfishā€™s peg leg. Peg legs are sometimes associated with pirates (though perhaps not based on historic fact). In fact, Barbossa got one in the fourth PotC movie after he lost his leg in an encounter with Blackbeard.

What do you think about these connections between Poptropica, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other pirate legends? Do you agree or disagree? Either way, Captain Crawfish is an iconic Poptropica villain.

Thatā€™s it from me ā€” Smart Icicle out! šŸ“šā„ļø


Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Smart Icicle. If you did, you might also enjoy another guest post that looks at the question of What happens to Poptropica villains after ā€œthe endā€?

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? Weā€™d love to hear from you! šŸ“°āœØ