Several of the pirates from “Our Flag Means Death” are based on real people, although they do come from a period of history that’s rife with lore and legend. This makes it tough to say for certain which elements of these pirates’ stories were real and which were exaggerated, but that also leaves plenty of room for creative interpretation–which is perfect for a story like Jenkins’.

Importantly, our two main squeezes, Stede Bonnet and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, were real pirates. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Bonnet came from an upper-class background, but gave up that life and left his family to take to the seven seas during the golden age of piracy. His story is a little less rosy than the one we see in “Our Flag Means Death,” as his lack of pirate know-how led to his capture and execution within two years of his career change. Lucky for us (and Stede), show creator David Jenkins told /Film he’s not afraid of departing from the course of history. While writing the show, he said he was always careful not to “kill this with research.”

For his part, Blackbeard has long been spoken about as one of the most fearsome pirates in history, but recent scholarship has shown a different side of him. Just as “Our Flag Means Death” plays around with the idea that Blackbeard is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, Smithsonian Magazine notes that “despite Blackbeard’s terrible reputation, no evidence exists that he ever killed anyone before his final battle.” Blackbeard towered in public imagination as a frightening figure for centuries, and is still widely known for his supposed ruthlessness.

Other historical figures in “Our Flag Means Death” include Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill), who was also known as Basilica Hands, and Blackbeard’s old pal Calico Jack (Will Arnett), whose real name was John Rackham. All four of these men sailed the high seas around the same time, popping up in history books around the 1710s. Leslie Jones’ character, Spanish Jackie, seems to be based on someone named Jacquotte Delahaye, who may have been real but more likely was the stuff of legends, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.