In the movies, pirates are charming scalawags who operate outside of the normal limits of civilization. This might give you the wrong idea about the Golden Age of Piracy in the mid-17th century. Sure, some governments turned a blind eye to certain pirates, as long as they carried out activities that benefitted some nations in their competition over other countries. Most pirates were just fine with deadly violence, whether in war or in plundering coastal villages or even in competition with each other. They could be pretty brutal overall. Captains reinforced the pecking order and kept their crews in line with the threat of a painful death, and rivals were treated even worse. Short of death, permanent maiming was on the table, too, which explains the hooks and peg legs. Those eyepatches had their uses, but they might have hidden a missing eye as well. Some pirates weren't above a bit of torture, either, to get what they wanted. Weird History relates some stories of pirates that might tarnish their cinematic reputation.
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