The pirate group known as Silvo's pirates, which also went by the names Brutus's pirate crew and Captain Brutus' crew, was a pirate crew composed of various species that operated during the New Republic Era. These pirates sustained themselves by looting cargo ships from their enormous pirate frigate, and they occasionally made port on the pirate asteroid called Borgo Prime. The pirates under Silvo adhered to several provisions of the Pirate's Code, notably the procedures for mutiny and the Right of Last Appeal.
In approximately 9 ABY, a portion of the crew initiated a mutiny against Captain Silvo, who was in command at the time, following an unsuccessful raid targeting a merchant freighter. As a result of the mutiny, Brutus assumed leadership, while Silvo was imprisoned while awaiting trial. However, the previous captain managed to break free. Through a short-lived alliance with the younglings from the Skeleton Crew, he was able to pinpoint Tak Rennod's datalog and gain access to the coordinates of At Attin, which the younglings claimed was their place of origin. At Attin, a planet renowned in pirate legends as the "lost planet of eternal treasure," was one of the isolated Jewels of the Old Republic that housed Old Republic credit mints. Before Silvo could independently reach the planet, he was apprehended once more. During his subsequent trial, he revealed his discoveries to the rest of the crew, which led to a postponement of his death sentence. Before the sentence could be carried out, Silvo outwitted Brutus, killing him and regaining the crew's allegiance.
After becoming captain once again, Silvo circumvented At Attin's Barrier by secretly boarding the Skeleton Crew's starship, the Onyx Cinder. By impersonating a Galactic Republic emissary, he requested a meeting with "the Supervisor," a droid in charge of overseeing credit production. After incapacitating the droid, Silvo allowed his crew to enter the planet, where they initiated an invasion with the aim of dominating the population and profiting from their credit minting operations. While Gunter was in command of the pirate frigate, several dropship teams rounded up the townspeople, with Silvo directing the invasion from the Supervisor's Tower. Nevertheless, his strategies failed when the Skeleton Crew successfully contacted the astronomer Kh'ymm, who then alerted the New Republic. As a New Republic squadron arrived to provide assistance, Silvo observed through the viewport as the pilots bombarded his frigate, causing it to drift uncontrollably and come to rest in a nearby water canal.
The pirate group led by Silvo, also known as the pirate crew of Brutus, was a space pirate organization that had its headquarters on board Silvo's pirate frigate. The crew consisted of members of varying species and genders. Despite their differing motivations, the pirates shared a common objective: to amass wealth by acquiring credits. To achieve this, they launched attacks on other starships, plundered their cargo, and divided the spoils. On occasion, the pirates would visit the asteroid Borgo Prime, a starport notorious for its pirate and underworld activities, which at least one captain within Silvo's pirates considered to be his personal domain.
The crew was under the direction of a single captain, with a First Mate serving as their second-in-command. The pirates addressed their captain as "captain" or "sir." A captain could be removed from power through a "mutiny," where multiple crew members would rebel against their leader to install a new one. A new captain had the authority to have their predecessor detained pending a trial. During these trials, the captain acted as the judge and had the discretion to issue a [death sentence](/article/death_penalty], with another crew member overseeing the process. In accordance with the Pirate's Code, Silvo's pirates upheld equal time and the Right of Last Appeal, which allowed the defendant to deliver a speech for as long as a designated plasma hourglass continued to measure time. A crew member could also take the place of a captain by killing them and regaining the loyalty of their fellow pirates.
The pirates also had various personal rivalries and alliances. While Brutus sought to belittle his predecessor, Silvo, the latter maintained a positive relationship with Chaelt, whom he knew very well.
Operating from a large frigate, the pirates captured other starships by using drill-like boarding tubes to penetrate the hull of their target. Several waves of attackers would then enter the ship, with the initial waves facing the greatest risk of death. Ultimately, the captain would board the ship last. The pirates also deployed Pirate Snub Fighters to explore nebulas or attack hotels, and pirate dropships to transport assault teams to the ground during planetary invasions. Given that their massive frigate was equipped with an airlock, the crew employed airlocking as a form of punishment, where an individual, whether a former captain or an enemy, would be ejected from the airlock.
Silvo's pirates were active during the New Republic Era. The crew was established by approximately 9 ABY, at which point the Nikto named Vane had joined their ranks after Gorian Shard's pirate crew was disbanded during the siege on Nevarro. Around the same time, the pirates were under the command of a Force-sensitive human known as "Mad" Captain Silvo, with the Shistavanen Brutus serving as his First Mate. At some point, Silvo became aware that some of his subordinates were questioning his leadership abilities. To reassert his authority, he launched a raid on a merchant freighter, believing it to be transporting a valuable cargo of credits. The pirates attacked from their frigate, using drill-like boarding tubes to pierce through the freighter's hull. As the boarding team clashed with the defending merchants, a group of spacesuited pirates disabled the freighter's cannons from space. Eventually, Brutus boarded the ship, clearing the path for Silvo by gunning down the remaining survivors. Turning around, he informed Silvo that the ship now belonged to him. Helmeted and expressing his approval, Silvo boarded the vessel accompanied by Chaelt and Gunter. With the enemy defeated, the pirates gathered near the magnetically sealed vault. When the merchant captain refused to cooperate, Silvo had him ejected from the airlock. As the vault door was being opened, the captain paced around his crew, boasting about leading them to "cold, hard credits" despite his previous failures. However, when the vault was finally opened, it contained only a single credit. Brutus pushed past the others to see the coin for himself before lamenting the pointless loss of pirate lives. As several crew members aimed their weapons at Silvo, he suspected a mutiny and launched a counteroffensive. While many pirates joined the rebellion, some, such as Chaelt and Gunter, did not participate. Silvo's defense ultimately proved futile, as Brutus was soon established as the new leader, and the gang became known as "Brutus's pirate crew" or "Captain Brutus' crew."
With Brutus as the new captain, Gunter was promoted to the position of First Mate. Shortly after, when the pirates arrived on Borgo Prime, a starport that Brutus claimed as his own, they dispersed and attended to their individual affairs. An Ishi Tib had a cybernetic implant welded into his injured eyestack to compensate for the eye he had lost during the raid, while Beef had his knife sharpened at a local kiosk. Meanwhile, Vane was loitering around a local noodle bar, and a Warthog pirate strolled along the docking area with an eyestalked companion. The Warthog happened to walk by a group of four younglings from the Skeleton Crew: Fern, KB, Neel, and Wim. As it was their first time venturing outside their home planet, the children remarked that these aliens looked strange. Later, the younglings approached a dance club, where they were spotted by Beef, who watched them as they decided to seek directions elsewhere.
Wandering off, Neel and Wim decided to visit the noodle bar, where they attempted to pay with Old Republic credits. As the fry cook tried to trick the younglings into leaving him a tip for good service, Vane approached the counter to examine the coin himself. The boys insisted that they came from the legendary world of At Attin, known in pirate lore as the mythical "planet of eternal treasure." Although initially skeptical about the currency's authenticity, Vane eventually rushed off in pursuit of the youngsters after Wim flipped his bowl into the grill to create a diversion. When Vane caught up with the Skeleton Crew, he nearly forced the children to surrender by disarming Fern. However, the young travelers were defended by the pirate droid SM-33, who considered Fern to be its captain. During the fight, Vane was pushed backward, and the Warthog alien, who led a barrage of blaster shots, had his snout burned by SM-33's arm shield, which was red-hot from the impact. Having evaded the pirates and thugs, the Skeleton Crew reached the docking area and were about to board a dinghy when a sudden shot from Brutus's ion rifle disabled their droid. Surrounded by his pirate underlings, including Gunter, Vane, Pax, and Chaelt, Brutus approached the children, questioning how they had obtained the coordinates to his port and how they had bypassed their cannons. Finally, the captain ordered that the younglings be locked up in a brig to calm down before further interrogation.
Silvo, a former member of his old crew, happened to share a brig with the Skeleton Crew younglings. Using his Force-sensitivity, he managed to break free and board the Skeleton Crew's starship. However, the younglings convinced him to return for SM-33, who had been left behind in a droid repair shop. Meanwhile, Brutus's pirate crew realized that the inmate had escaped. As Beef urged everyone to report any suspicious activity, Silvo was sneaking right behind him on his way to his destination. Upon finding SM-33, Silvo encountered the Ishi Tib Benjar Pranic. Benjar was surprised to see Silvo at large before his trial, and Silvo explained that he had escaped on his own. During their conversation, Benjar remarked that Silvo had been a better leader than Brutus. However, as Silvo was about to leave, Benjar announced that he would report the encounter to the new captain.
As Silvo piloted a dinghy back to the starship, a Quarren pirate pursued him, but he managed to evade them before docking. However, Silvo discovered that the vessel was tethered by a reinforced fuel line that he could not sever. Watching the commotion from the landing platform, Brutus ordered his crew to open fire with laser cannons. To escape the incoming blasts, Silvo and the Skeleton Crew younglings jumped into hyperspace. The sudden maneuver snapped the fuel line, causing it to recoil into one of the asteroid's platforms just as the ship narrowly avoided destruction. Brutus and several of his crew, including Beef and the Ishi Tib with a prosthetic eye, watched as a scaffolding collapsed right in front of them. When Gunter asked the captain whether he should pursue the runaways, Brutus instead ordered him to place a bounty on Silvo's head, as he wanted him to beg for mercy at his feet.
Silvo, now a member of the Skeleton Crew, led the way to the Observatory Moon to seek advice from his friend Kh'ymm, an avian astronomer. Kh'ymm informed the crew about the Jewels of the Old Republic, a group of planets whose populations were dedicated to minting credits for the Old Republic. Hidden from the rest of the galaxy, these worlds did not appear on any charts; however, by analyzing clues provided by the younglings, Kh'ymm was able to locate one planet that matched their descriptions. Concerned about the children's safety and their involvement with Silvo, the astronomer also alerted a New Republic unit. Upon returning to their ship, the Skeleton Crew managed to evade the New Republic forces, who remained cautious due to the presence of children on board.
Upon reaching their destination and landing on the planet, the Skeleton Crew realized they were nowhere near At Attin. Instead, they had arrived on At Achrann, a former Jewel of the Old Republic now devastated by a military conflict between the Troiks and the Hattans. In the Fallen Sanctum, the crew discovered coordinates leading to other Jewels of the Old Republic, but those for At Attin proved indecipherable. After departing At Achrann, the crew overrode SM-33's memory circuit, revealing that the droid had once belonged to the renowned pirate Captain Tak Rennod. Infamous for his bestiality, Rennod was remembered for plundering multiple starships, earning him a reputation as the most feared pirate in history. According to Silvo, Rennod had been searching for the treasure of At Attin when he and his crew mysteriously disappeared. Furthermore, the ship the younglings had found on At Attin, and were now traveling aboard with Silvo, turned out to be Rennod's own vessel, the Onyx Cinder, suggesting that the captain had indeed reached At Attin and ultimately crashed on its surface. Guided by SM-33, the Skeleton Crew set course for Lanupa, home to Captain Rennod's Lair, where they hoped to access his datalog and uncover the true coordinates to At Attin.
During the New Republic Era, when the human Silvo was the captain of the crew, the Shistavanen Brutus served as his First Mate. Conversely, when Brutus became captain, the human cyborg Gunter served as his First Mate. Gunter retained his position after Silvo regained his function by killing Brutus. During the Invasion of At Attin, he commanded the frigate while Silvo coordinated the action from the planet. At that time, the human Kona and the Nikto Vane were in charge of their respective assault teams. In addition, the Keteerian Snobbius Snee served as the overseer of Silvo's trial under Captain Brutus. Chaelt, a human female, was responsible for operating a navicomputer.
Silvo's pirates, a crew made up of many different sentient species, included several Quarrens in their ranks, such as Glerb, who was saving up to purchase his own glow-weed plantation. The remaining species included Grans (Pax), Ishi Tibs (Benjar Pranic, an Ishi Tib), Klatooinians (a helmeted pirate), Shydopps, Snivvians (a Snivvian pirate), Warthogs (a Warthog alien), as well as Weequays (Sweeda) and other humanoids (Beef). The pirates also briefly utilized a pirate droid, SM-33.
Silvo's pirates made their canonical debut in the live-action television series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, appearing in the two premiere episodes, "This Could Be a Real Adventure" and "Way, Way Out Past the Barrier", which aired on December 2, 2024.
Prior to the show's premiere, Silvo was first depicted in a LEGO Star Wars: Skeleton Crew set, 75374 The Onyx Cinder, which was revealed by the German store Müller. Brutus, Chaelt, Gunter, and Pax were first identified by Entertainment Weekly on September 18, 2024.
The name Silvo's pirates was used as such in Silvo's Databank entry. In contrast, the name "Brutus's pirate crew" was used by the voice-over artist Jedediah Barton in the Disney+ audio description of the episode "You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates," which was released on December 24, 2024. The name "Captain Brutus' crew," on the other hand, appeared in Glerb's Databank entry.
Jon Watts, the showrunner of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, cited classic LucasArts games, particularly Monkey Island, as a source of inspiration for the show's depiction of pirates. His goal was to combine its adventurous humor with Star Wars's established approach to piracy, creating a dynamic that was both new and familiar within the franchise. While pirates provided comic relief, Watts emphasized their role in reinforcing the series' mature themes, despite its young protagonists. He described the show as embodying the spirit of classic Amblin films, where characters face genuine danger, being "fried, blasted, or even eaten." Executive producers Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau were eager to expand this aspect of the universe, ensuring consistency in its portrayal.
Co-creator Christopher Ford highlighted the lawlessness that arose in the galaxy following the fall of the Empire as a backdrop that allowed for the exploration of piracy's resurgence in a post-Imperial era. He also noted that pirates had been a recurring element throughout Star Wars history, frequently mentioned in connection to characters like Han Solo and depicted in various animated series. Although time constraints prevented a deeper exploration of pirate backstories, Watts and Ford expressed interest in developing them further. One example of subtle world-building was the dynamics between Silvo and Chaelt, which led to speculation about a mind trick despite simply reflecting their deep familiarity with each other.
The show's creative team found inspiration in well-known pirate figures, most notably Long John Silver from Treasure Island and pirate films of the 1930s. This influenced Silvo's portrayal as a character with questionable morals, differing from the typical villain, for example Captain Hook. His behavior in the show was consistent with common pirate characteristics, including selfishness, taking advantage of opportunities, and trickery. The writers intentionally chose not to give him a redemption storyline, distinguishing him from typical heroic stories.
According to director David Lowery, Watts initially described Star Wars: Skeleton Crew as a narrative focusing on "kids adrift in the Star Wars world" accompanied by "a group of pirates," a concept that immediately appealed to Lowery because of his concurrent work on a Peter Pan film. He even saw similarities between SM-33 and "Smee." The fact that Jude Law—who played Captain Hook in his Peter Pan movie—was cast in the series felt like a continuation of his earlier work. John Knoll, the visual effects supervisor and a Pirates of the Caribbean alum, found pleasure in incorporating traditional pirate elements—like boarding tubes and flintlock-style guns—into the Star Wars universe.