Protagonist

The Protagonist is the player character in Sid Meier's Pirates! He is not directly named in-game during any cut scene. However, the name incognito prompts up during the registration portion before the game begins, and it is assumed that this is his actual name. The player is free to assign a name to the protagonist.

Background
The story begins with the young boy at dinner with his family, celebrating that the debt they had owed to the evil Marquis de la Montalban was finally about to be paid off on the morrow. However, they are interrupted by the appearance of the Marquis himself, and a group of mercenaries. The Marquis claims that the ship that had carried the debt payment has been lost at sea. The young boy runs away from the home after the Marquis decides to capture his family, swearing to save them and avenge their abduction.

Ten years later, the boy, now an eighteen year old man, signs up with one of the four captains, one from each nation to board a vessel and begin his journey. Now on board, the protagonist works as sailor for the ship. Having grown tired and sick of his captain's treatment, the man revolts and the ship goes into a mutiny. After defeating his own captain, the crew elects the protagonist as the new captain of the ship, and sends the old one off on a rowing boat with two other crew members who were most likely unwilling to follow their new captain. Now with a ship at his command and a family in heart, the protagonist begins his quest to choose his path as a pirate.

Appearance
The protagonist has brown hair tied in a ponytail, and blue eyes. He wears a white shirt with a brown strap around his chest, a blue waist cloth, tan leather pants, and light-brown boots. He changes his shirt based on what nation he is currently visiting, either yellow, blue, red, or orange, for Spanish, French, English, or Dutch, respectively. As the protagonist gains rank with each nation, he receives a visual upgrade to his appearance, from medals to a ducal hat.

As time moves on, the protagonist becomes visibly older as he begins to gain wrinkles on his face. His age becomes more distinguishable for every three years that pass during the course of the game. Alongside this change in appearance, his health also begins to diminish, which causes slower movement speed during sword fights.

Fate
Depending on the player's actions and fame, after the plunder is divided, and the player chooses to retire, there will be an endgame score screen which denotes the status of the protagonist's life in his remaining years and his retirement job. A short description of the player's achievement is also shown, depending on whether or not the protagonist saved his family, avenged his family, married a Governor's Daughter, and the amount of gold and land he had accumulated.