Captain Harlock

Harlock
Space Pirate Captain Harlock character
Harlock, as he appears in the Galaxy Express 999 film
First appearance	Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1977)
Created by	Leiji Matsumoto
Voiced by	Japanese Makio Inoue (Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Arcadia of My Youth, Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldas, DNA Sights 999.9, Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy) Eiji Takemoto (Cosmo Warrior Zero, Gun Frontier) Kōichi Yamadera (Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey) Shun Oguri (Space Pirate Captain Harlock (film)) English Scott McNeil (Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Arcadia of My Youth, Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldas, DNA Sights 999.9 Steven Blum (Cosmo Warrior Zero, Gun Frontier) Lex Lang (Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey) Michael McConnohie (Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years) David Matranga (Space Pirate Captain Harlock (film))
Profile
Aliases	Franklin Harlock, Jr. Francis Harlock, Jr. Harlock F. Phantom II Herlock

Captain Harlock (キャプテン・ハーロック, Kyaputen Hārokku^?, also known as "Captain Herlock" for the English release of Endless Odyssey and as "Albator" in French-speaking countries) is a fictional character created by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto and the protagonist of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga series.

Harlock is the archetypical Romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be earth-born or alien. In his own words, he "fight[s] for no one's sake... only for something deep in [his] heart". He does not fear death, and is sometimes seen wearing clothing with the number 42 on it. In Japanese culture, the number 42 is associated with death (the numbers, pronounced separately as "four two", sound like the words "shi ni"—meaning "to death").

The character was created by Leiji Matsumoto in 1977 and popularized in the 1978 television series Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Since then, the character has appeared in numerous animated television series and films, the latest of which is 2013's Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

Though there are slight variations in each telling of Harlock's story, the essentials remain the same. Matsumoto presents a future (2977 AD) in which the Earth has achieved a vast starfaring civilization, but is slowly and steadily succumbing to ennui or despair, often due to defeat and subjugation by a foreign invader. Rising against the general apathy, Harlock denies defeat and leads an outlaw crew aboard his starship Arcadia to undertake daring raids against Earth's oppressors. Even though they have defeated Earth and devastated its peoples, the invaders are often presented in a sympathetic light, being shown as having some justification for their actions.