Pirate historian judges Overwatch skins based on historical accuracy

Ever wanted to know if Overwatch‘s Halloween pirate skins are actually historically accurate? One Redditor has you covered.

Reddit user LootBoxDad, who enjoys Overwatch and claims to have written two books on the Golden Age of Pirates, shared their thoughts on seven different pirate-themed Overwatch skins. The skins are available during each year’s Halloween Terror event, making this the perfect time to judge how accurate they are.

LootBoxDad’s thoughts are both numerous and in-depth, passing judgement on everything from Bastion’s hat to Ana’s parrot (spoiler alert: neither are accurate). For example, the name “buccaneer” in Baptiste’s pirate skin is the correct term for the time period, an era when pirates were technically allowed to operate in the open seas under European privateering licenses as long as they focused their activities on Spain’s wide-reaching colonies. LootBoxDad also shared that, like Ana, many pirates were excellent snipers, attacking targets on ship decks from long range. Pirates in the Golden Age also wore head scarfs and could even be female, but they didn’t really keep animals like parrots as pets.

LootBoxDad gave his thoughts on several other pirate skins, including the ones for Junkrat, Bastion, Roadhog, Sigma, and Torbjorn; the full post is worth a read for anyone who’s interested in pirates or simply wants to know the historical origin of some of Overwatch‘s most iconic skins. LootBoxDad didn’t stop once they made the original post, though. They continued to answer questions and recommend pirate-themed books, documentaries, TV shows, and podcasts in the comments for Redditors who wanted to know more.