Hawkins
This article is about a deceased pirate in Ultima VI. For the shipwright in Ultima V, see Master Hawkins.
| Hawkins | |||||
 The final resting place of Captain Hawkins | |||||
| Species: | human | ||||
| Profession: | pirate | ||||
| Appearances | |||||
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Captain Hawkins is a deceased pirate in Ultima VI.
Description[edit]
Hawkins was a dreaded pirate who sailed the Britannian seas on his ship, the Empire, prior to the events of Ultima VI, until eventually becoming shipwrecked somewhere near Serpent's Hold. His cruelty eventually caused him to be murdered by his own crew, who split up the map to his treasures amongst themselves.[1]
Hawkins had caused much destruction during his career in piracy. He personally struck off Heftimus McPry's hand in combat, and fed it to the sharks.[2] Bonn blamed Hawkins for being shipwrecked upon Dagger Isle and the misfortune that befell him.[3]
Captain Hawkins robbed Zoltan the gypsy while he was trying to deliver Captain Johne's silver tablet to Mariah at the Lycaeum. In the ensuing combat, the tablet was broken, and Captain Hawkins kept the larger portion. This was buried along with Hawkins on Spektran. The Avatar was forced to reassemble the treasure map by collecting pieces from his crew in order to locate this buried treasure.[4]
Trivia[edit]
- Hawkins' tombstone reads, "Here lies Captain Hawkins. He died a hard death and he deserved it." The grave at the start of the cave makes no sense, since he was killed under very different circumstances. The error was removed in The Ultima 6 Project.
- Captain Hawkins is a pointed reference to former Electronic Arts CEO Trip Hawkins, with whom Ultima creator Richard Garriott became embroiled in personal and legal feuds in the late 1980s. While Origin had entered into a distribution agreement with Hawkins' company for the 1985 release of Ultima IV, Garriott became troubled by one of Electronic Arts' own properties, the 1987 CRPG Deathlord, which he alleged had plagiarized his work.[5] Upon Hawkins' flat refusal to address this accusation, Garriott and Origin withdrew from their affiliation with Electronic Arts, who subsequently targeted them with a frivolous lawsuit designed to force an out-of-court settlement.[6] These incidents were the impetus behind Hawkins' tribute in Ultima VI, as well as those of colleagues Stewart Bonn, Bing Gordon, and Joe Ybarra, who respectively appear as crewmates Bonn, Alastor Gordon, and Old Ybarra.
- Some publications have erroneously referred to Captain Hawkins as "Pirt Snikwah" (Trip Hawkins' name spelled in reverse),[5][7] with the character even placing fourteenth under this misnomer in Computer Gaming World’s 1996 feature, "The 15 Most Memorable Game Villains".[8] While a mausoleum in honor of Pirt Snikwah appeared in the 1994 installment of Richard Garriott's haunted Britannia Manor,[9] no such name is used in the Ultima series.
References[edit]
- ↑ Homer. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "hawk, job, empi, sail".
- ↑ Bonn. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "hawk".
- ↑ Heftimus McPry. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "hawk".
- ↑ Zoltan. Ultima VI transcript. Ultima VI. "silv, hawk".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wilson, Johnny et al. "Electronic Arts And Origin Pool Resources in "Ultimate" Acquisition". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications, Inc.: November 1992. Page 176.
- ↑ Varney, Allen. “The Conquest of Origin”. The Escapist. 2005-10-11. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
- ↑ Antoniades, Alexander et al. "The Origin of Origin". Game Developer. Miller Freeman, Inc.: September 1994. Page 61.
- ↑ Wilson, Johnny et al. "The 15 Most Memorable Game Villains". Computer Gaming World. Ziff-Davis Publishing Division: November 1996. Page 121.
- ↑ Gould, Jim. “Station 17: The Mausoleum”. Britannia Manor 94. 1996–1998. Retrieved 2016-02-07.