Sandokan

Sandokan
Sandokan and Marianna "the pearl of Labuan" on the cover of the novel The tigers of Mompracem, Alberto Della Valle 1900
Created by	Emilio Salgari
Portrayed by	Kabir Bedi, Steve Reeves
Information
Aliases	The Tiger of Malaysia
Gender	Male
Occupation	Pirate, Warrior
Spouse(s)	Marianna Guillonk
Nationality	Bornean

Sandokan is a fictional pirate of the late 19th century, who first appeared in publication in 1883, created by Italian author Emilio Salgari. He is the protagonist of eleven adventure novels and is known throughout the South China Sea as "The Tiger of Malaysia".

Emilio Salgari wrote several novels chronicling the adventures of Sandokan and Yanez, two of his most legendary creations. The pirates are introduced in The Tigers of Mompracem, which portrays their relentless struggle against the Dutch and British powers that seek to wipe them out. In subsequent novels they battle against James Brooke, the Raja of Sarawak and also travel to India to measure themselves against the Thugs, a notorious band of stranglers devoted to the goddess Kali.

The titles in the series are:

The last two titles were published posthumously.

There were also several other Sandokan titles published by Italian authors Luigi Motta, Emilio Fancelli and Salgari's son Omar.

Paco Ignacio Taibo II has written a modern Sandokan novel called The Return of the Tigers of Malaysia.

Sandokan is the son of Kaigadan, the last of a dynasty of rulers of Borneo, whose parents were massacred by the British to take the throne. Sandokan has sworn revenge on them and assembles a group of rebel pirates, the Tigers of Mompracem, to attack them, which earns him the name of "The Tiger of Malaysia". Stranded in Labuan, Sandokan is recovering of his wounds in the house of Lord James Guillonk when he meets Marianna, "the pearl of Labuan," the niece of Guillonk with whom he falls in love. Although having to escape, Sandokan manages to meet Marianna again and they marry eventually. Defeated by the British, he manages to free his men and apparently gives up piracy and escapes to Java with his wife.