Bonebeard

Life at sea has hardened Bonebeard into a captain who rules through intimidation, warning any crewman who defies him that he will be fed to the sharks, a threat meant to head off mutiny. Beneath the menace, though, he genuinely mourns his lost men, lamenting the string of bad omens dogging his ship when he first runs into Isidro on the docks. He also carries a streak of buffoonery, prone to melodrama and to gnawing on his first mate's face whenever the man mocks or corrects him.

A crutch and a wooden leg do nothing to dull his fighting edge. Decades of experience let him keep his footing on pitching decks and rocking boats where younger opponents lose their balance, and he hides a switchblade inside his peg leg to spring a lethal surprise mid-duel.

Bonebeard surfaces first at Vritannis, where he tries to chase Schierke, Isidro, and Mule away from the trade in Kushan children he is running. With his underlings already beaten, he wades into the brawl himself, gaining the advantage over the unsteady Mule before Isidro steps in. He nearly kills the boy with his concealed blade, but the commotion rouses Azan, who scatters the pirates and knocks Bonebeard into the water, where the captain, unable to swim, is shoved back under with an oar. He later relapses into piracy and attacks the Seahorse, only to flee once Roderick's counterfire bites into his ship.

After the great astral wave strands his vessel, a seething Bonebeard swears to let no one aboard the Seahorse live to boast of beating him, and dismisses his crew's fear of things stirring in the water right before the Sea God devours the entire ship. When the Seahorse finds the derelict that Captain Sharkrider has become, Bonebeard and his men have all become extensions of the deity, though he keeps enough of himself to recognize Roderick and Isidro as he attacks. Beaten in the sea battle and driven off by the rising sun, he later leads assaults with the Sea God's spawn at the Solitary Island. He and his crew cease to exist once the Sea God is slain.