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Goldman's Father
Within The Princess Bride, the Dread Pirate Roberts is a name that a number of people go by, including Westley. The first Dread Pirate Roberts became a terror on the seas about twenty years before the action of the novel starts, but tried to give his ship to one of his hands when he wanted to retire. He soon learned that people were only afraid of the name, so the habit became for the current Dread Pirate Roberts to train a first mate, take on a new crew when that the first mate proved ready to become the new Roberts, and then drop off the old Roberts, who by that time transitions to going by his own name and can retire in obscurity. Westley is the fourth or fifth Roberts. In general, The Dread Pirate Roberts is known for being a ruthless pirate and taking no prisoners.
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The Dread Pirate Roberts Character Timeline in The Princess Bride
The timeline below shows where the character The Dread Pirate Roberts appears in The Princess Bride. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One: The Bride
...milk and finds her parents sitting still at the table. Buttercup's father whispers that the Dread Pirate Roberts attacked Westley's ship and killed him. Buttercup hurries to her room and stays there for...
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Chapter Five: The Announcement
...while they walk and says that on the far side, they'll find the Revenge, the Dread Pirate Roberts 's ship. Buttercup is shocked as Westley explains that he's the Dread Pirate Roberts, even...
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...everything he could about sailing, piracy, and fencing. At the end of the year, the Dread Pirate Roberts told Westley that he wanted to retire and leave him the Revenge, so he sent...
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Westley assures Buttercup that they'll be okay, since he's the Dread Pirate Roberts and she's almost a queen. He doesn't notice her standoffish tone because a R.O.U.S. leaps...
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Chapter Six: The Festivities
...to write Westley a letter and he'll send four ships with them to find the Dread Pirate Roberts 's ships to deliver them.
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...since he's clearly strong and smart. Fezzik mentions that Westley is a sailor for the Dread Pirate Roberts , but Inigo reasons that Westley must be Roberts given his skillset.
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Chapter Seven: The Wedding
...Fezzik in the wheelbarrow as Fezzik stands in it, on fire, yelling that he's the Dread Pirate Roberts and won't leave any survivors. Yellin is very upset about this, especially when the brute...
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Chapter Eight: Honeymoon
...Then, Westley explains what he meant by “to the pain.” He says that he's the Dread Pirate Roberts and if they duel and he wins, Humperdinck will live a horrible life. Westley will...
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Buttercup's Baby: 3. Buttercup and Westley
...do, which Morgenstern points out is a lie as “things happened” when he was the Dread Pirate Roberts . Buttercup says she took lovemaking classes at Royalty School and will teach Westley, but...
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