Captain Hook Costumes

When you think of a pirate, it's a safe bet that one of the first names you think of is Captain Hook. He's one of the most memorable fictional villains ever created. He's been portrayed countless times on stage, screen, and in print, by many different actors and writers.

The original creator of Captain James (sometimes abbreviated as Jas) Hook was J.M. Barrie. In the stage play Peter Pan and its novelization, Peter and Wendy, Barrie discloses that "Hook was not his true name. To reveal who he really was would even at this date set the country in a blaze." So we are never told Hook's true name or origins. Later authors have given him a back-story as the illegitimate son of a nobleman. Barrie also described Hook as having a handsome countenance and elegant diction. He is quite well-educated, having been a student at Eton and at Oxford. With the advantage of an elite education, how did he end up a pirate? We're never told. He lost his hand (the right, according to Barrie, but the left in many other depictions) in a duel with Peter Pan. The severed hand is then eaten by a crocodile, which incident gives Hook his two great fears. He's afraid of crocodiles, and the sight of his own blood. The crocodile ultimately does him in, when Hook is knocked overboard by Peter in the duel to save Wendy.

If you want to become Hook, you can choose the cultured gentleman pirate of Barrie's original conception, or the comic buffoon of the Disney film. Choose a pirate costume--we have Hook costumes for both kids and adults. Add a hook (of course!). Pair with friends as Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy, or just other pirates. You need a crew for your ship, don't you?