Captain Jack Sparrow and more of pop culture's favorite pirates

By Jessica Wedemeyer 4:12pm PDT, May 22, 2017

Ahoy! In the real world, pirates are known for marauding and pillaging. But in pop culture, they're not half bad. In anticipation of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man No Tales" hitting theaters on May 26, 2017, we're rounding up our all-time favorite pop culture pirates. Keep reading to see who made the cut, starting with none other than Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp's alter ego is easily the most recognizable pirate ever to have sailed the seas of the silver screen. Whether charming the ladies with his boozy charisma, flailing his arms while hilariously fleeing capture, sword fighting, stealing or smoldering with his black-rimmed eyes, Captain Jack made pirate fans of us all — and set the bar for all swashbucklers to come. Savvy?

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Buttercup wasn't the only one who fell in love with Westley in "The Princess Bride." The farm boy, played by Cary Elwes, became the fourth incarnation of the legendary Dread Pirate Roberts after he was captured at sea by his predecessor. Along the way, Westley picked up some major sword-fighting skills — and an immunity to iocane powder poison — and the rest is pop culture pirate history.

Colin O'Donoghue can have our booty any time he wants. The gorgeous Irishman joined the second season of ABC's "Once Upon a Time" in 2012 as Lothario Killian Jones and his storybook alter ego, Captain Hook. It pretty much goes without saying, but Captain Hook has never had so much sex appeal.

Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Captain Hook in the 1991 cult classic "Hook" might not have been sexy — but it sure was sinister. With his perfectly groomed handlebar mustache and wig of black ringlets, Hoffman's Hook was exactly how we envisioned the fairy-tale villain when we were children.

Don't think John Mayer qualifies as a wannabe pirate just because he dressed like one on Halloween? Well, you may have a point — except this photo wasn't taken during Halloween. No, this is just how John chose to dress for a fancy night out at Palihouse in Los Angeles in 2012. To this Johnny Depp knockoff, we say: Walk the plank!

Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann in "Pirates of the Caribbean" is so awesome that by the third installment in the franchise, she became not just a pirate, nor the captain of a pirate ship, but the king of ALL pirates. A woman is the Pirate King? We'll raise a glass of rum to that!

Tom Sturridge might not have had a peg leg or sent rival buckos to Davy Jones's Locker, but we still loved him as Carl in the 2009 British comedy "Pirate Radio." In the '60s-set film, Carl and his shipmates run a fictitious pirate radio station that illegally broadcasts rock and pop music to the United Kingdom from aboard a ship anchored in international waters. Isn't he adorkable?

One-Eyed Willie had been dead long before "The Goonies" crew started their quest to find his hidden treasure, but he served as the catalyst for their epic coming-of-age tale — and to that, we tip our tricorn hat.

Yes, "The Princess and the Pirate" is a bit before our time — but who doesn't love Bob Hope? The American treasure portrayed cowardly actor Sylvester the Great — who eventually transforms into a swashbuckler of sorts — in the 1944 comedy. After he's caught up in a plot to kidnap a princess and recover buried treasure, Sylvester is forced to impersonate a dastardly pirate captain in order to secure his freedom. And, obviously, hilarity ensues!

In 1996, Tim Curry portrayed one of the wiliest villains ever to threaten the Muppets in "Muppet Treasure Island." Long John Silver had us shivering our timbers when he nearly defeated Kermit's Captain Abraham Smollett in a sword fight. Silver was one villain we wouldn't mind seeing thrown overboard.

With his dashing good looks — and abs! — Zach McGowan's "Black Sails" alter ego, Captain Charles Vane, is easily the sexiest pirate to sail the seven seas.

Okay, so they weren't exactly pirates in the traditional sense, but Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall — as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, respectively — were still pretty great on the 1999 TNT made-for-TV movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley." In today's digital age, where online piracy is more prevalent than piracy via ship, the Silicon Valley pirates are all the more relevant. Plus, just look how cute they were as young tech geeks!

NBC's "Peter Pan Live!" might have been widely panned, but it was must-see television nonetheless! We especially loved Christopher Walken's bizarre portrayal of Captain Hook on the 2014 live production, during which he forgot his lines on more than one occasion.

There's nothing awesome about real-life Somali pirates, but we bow down to actor Barkhad Abdi, who scored an Oscar nomination for his acting debut as pirate Abduwali Muse in "Captain Phillips" in 2013.

In 2015, Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Blackbeard in "Pan" was definitely one to remember. The beloved Australian actor has never looked creepier!

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis shot part of the pirate-themed music video for their 2013 hit single "Can't Hold Us" on the tall ship Lady Washington. But the Grammy winners should've left the swashbuckling to the experts. Macklemore admitted in 2014 that he and many of the music video's extras got violently ill during the at-sea shoot: "I was the sickest I've ever been in my life," he said. Well, we're glad he suffered in the name of art because we LOVE this music video!

Hugh Grant contributed his voice to "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" in 2012. The English actor's Pirate Captain character may not have done much in the way of pillaging or science-ing, but he somehow managed to win the awards for Pirate of the Year and Scientist of the Year in the critically praised stop-motion animation film.

Eddie Izzard went for wicked rather than dashing when he portrayed one-legged Long John Silver on the British miniseries "Treasure Island" in 2012.

Cutest. Pirate. EVER. Sandra Bullock and son Louis Bullock dressed up as pirates in October 2011. You can't beat that, folks. Look at his little pirate chest!

Where our "Game of Thrones" fans at? We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Lucian Msamati, who portrayed Lysene pirate and sellsail Salladhor Saan on the hit HBO series.