Gang Plank Galleon



A Pirate-themed area seen in videogames, especially in a Platform Game. Has many barrels, usually takes place near the water and a wooden ship, and features tons of pirate enemies. Expect to climb/swing on rope, navigate water, and dodge cannonfire. Was once fairly rare, but skyrocketed in popularity after Pirates of the Caribbean was released (the attraction it was based on can be considered a Real Life version of this). If the character is capable of swimming, expect a diving for treasure sequence.

In RPGs, adventuring here may be related to the Port Town quest, to get the boat.

Named for the Final Boss stage of Donkey Kong Country.

Frequently overlaps with Palmtree Panic and Under the Sea. For the Ninja-based counterpart, see Wutai.

See also Ship Level.


 * The first world of Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * The entirety of the game could be a bit of a Gang Plank Galleon, as most of the enemies (and even the final boss) are pirate themed and a couple areas feature wrecked pirate ships.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns continues the theme, perhaps as homage. It mostly applies to the Beach world, but a handful of pirate levels pop up in later worlds as well. You kinda have to wonder how a pirate ship got on top of a mountain, though.
 * Probably the same way one got into a volcano in the second game.
 * Jolly Roger's Lagoon and Treasure Trove Cove from the Banjo-Kazooie series.
 * Disney Epic Mickey, taking place in an imitation of Disneyland, has an entire world reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
 * Pirate Storm, in Sonic and the Secret Rings.
 * The entire setting for Sonic Rush Adventure is pirate-themed, but the one level the trope describes the best is called - appropriately - Pirates' Island. There is also the Haunted Ship stage.
 * Neverland whenever the cast of Kingdom Hearts visit it - in the first game it consisted entirely of Captain Hook's ship and Big Ben, but it got expanded in Days and Birth by Sleep. Port Royal fills the same role in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * The pirate town in the original Final Fantasy I.
 * And the Ship Graveyard in Final Fantasy V...
 * ...and Mac's Ship in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
 * Pirate's Island of Billy Hatcher and The Giant Egg.
 * The water planet in Magical Starsign.
 * Kingdom of Loathing has a zone called, appropriately enough, the Obligatory Pirate's Cove.
 * The ghost ship in Medievil.
 * The setting for all of the Monkey Island games.
 * Final Fantasy XI has the hidden town of Norg, and although it's inhabited by Ninja and Samurai, the pirate-speak certainly clues you in to where you are.
 * Bloodbath Bay in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
 * Let's not forget the first stage in the first Sly game. Raleigh's hideout is a mansion sitting on top of a very large pirate ship, but the levels vary from fiery engine rooms to graveyards of downed airplanes, and a couple of rooms inside Raleigh's study.
 *  Super Mario Bros 3 had the airship levels that took place on large wooden ships (that flew) with lots of cannons, as well as one level that took place on boats (similar in design to the airship levels except the boats didn't fly).
 * If you know what you're doing, you can swim under the boats. You can't do this with the airships (for obvious reasons).
 * New Super Mario Bros Wii, being basically a current-gen remake of Super Mario Bros 3 with the best bits of Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island thrown in for good measure, brings back airship levels as occasional boss stages.
 * Super Mario 64 had Jolly Roger Bay.
 * The setting for the last three levels of the Peter Pan and the Pirates video game.
 * A ship battle is a staple of Fire Emblem, with the two sides fighting on two or more ships connected by planks. Blazing Sword, Sacred Stones, and Path of Radiance all had at least one.
 * The SS Tea Cup in the original Wario Land game is an example of this trope.
 * The Haunted Ship in Latale.
 * Super Mario Galaxy featured Deep Dark Galaxy, which had both sunken ships and one major floating one.
 * Not to mention the battles against Bowser.JR took place on SMB 3-style floating pirate ships.
 * The Sunken Ship in Super Mario RPG has been taken over by pirates.
 * Keelhaul Key in Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door has a bunch of similar caves filled with wrecked ships and debris. It doesn't hurt that you sail there with some stock seafaring characters.
 * And the ruler of the island, the undead pirate king Cortez.
 * Planet Ardolis, the Ublik Passage, and Kreeli Comet in Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and a good deal of "Quest for Booty".
 * One of the 'vid-comics' in the third game also took place on a sci-fi version of this.
 * Crossbones island of Golden Sun. Complete with an abandoned ship, a rigged treasure chest and a giant pirate ghost.
 * Zack and Wiki had a level on a ship, where the heroes and the game's initial bad guys get bothered by a titanic squid.
 * Okami features a large, curiously Western-looking shipwreck near one of the beaches. It is also home to many ghost-type enemies, crossing over with Big Boo's Haunt.
 * The SS Zelbess/SS Invincible (depending on which reality you were in) in Chrono Cross.
 * Animaniacs had the end of the Fantasy Stage fought along pirate ships. Cannons, rope swinging, pirates and the boss being a pirate captain with an eyepatch and pegleg on a giant octopus.
 * In Castle Crashers, the players sailing ship is attacked by a pirate ship full of ninjas. They board your ship, and you have to fight them off. In keeping with the trope, the player must dodge cannon blasts, and barrels containing health and the like slide around the deck of the ship.
 * "The Revenge of Orangebeard" in Garfield: Caught in the Act.
 * The Port of Balfonheim in Final Fantasy XII. Described as lawless before the start of the game, but the citizens are kept in check afterwards only because
 * Booty Bay in World of Warcraft and the last part of the Deadmines.
 * Skull & Crossbones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time.
 * The second level of the platform game Stuntman Seymour.
 * The entirety of Dubloon.
 * Level 4 of Moon Crystal takes place in a pirate ship.
 * The Bermuda Triangle in Impossamole.
 * The third area of Lost Vikings 2 takes place on a pirate ship fleet.
 * Captain Dragon's ship in Wonder Boy III the Dragons Trap.
 * There is such a level in the first Devil May Cry game. Dante must activate the ship and obtain the "Fire of St Elmo." The second boss battle with Griffon takes place here.
 * Some levels in the Kirby series. In Kirbys Epic Yarn, the Auto Scrolling Level Boom Boatyard is based off this theme.
 * Most levels of (Captain) Claw have elements of this, and several are this trope outright, but that is what even new players will expect.
 * The Sandship from The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword employs this as a dungeon for the first time in the series, but combines it with Shifting Sand Land.
 * Runescape has the pirate town/island of Mos'Le Harmless, which is the centre of an entire quest-series focussed around the game's pirates and their enemies, and also Braindeath Island (where "rum" is made), Harmony Island (monks besieged by zombie pirates), a small group of pirates that have run aground on the north coast of the Mordor-like Wilderness, and some more pirates in a cave near a large port.
 * A good portion of The Fancy Pants Adventure: World 3 takes place around and in a pirate ship, as the protagonist is trying to rescue his sister from the pirates that kidnapped her.