Section One: Pirate ships and weapons

The battleship Arcadia Designed and built by Tochiro Oyama, the Arcadia is the battleship of Captain Harlock and the most kickass ship in all the ding-dang universe. Comes in two different colors, blue and green, although both screen versions are the same ship. (To find out why, go here.) The green Arcadia added an underside gun turret but removed the blade-shaped ram (at least until episode 4 of Endless Odyssey, when it makes a return appearance). Both ships have the anchor tubes used for boarding enemy ships, though the blue Arcadia only is seen to do this once. Newer Harlock stories, including the Ring of the Nibelungen manga and the Queen Emeraldas and Endless Odyssey anime, have begun showing both versions of the ship, usually by relegating the older design to flashbacks. They don't, of course, explain why it changes appearance; that would involve too much clarity. The blue version measures 400 meters long, 290 meters wide, and 160 meters in height. It is equipped with two "Pulsar Cannon" gun turrets and an auxiliary anti-aircraft gun dubbed the "Space Buster." Who ya gonna call? The green Arcadia measures 400 meters long, 260 meters wide, and 158 meters in height. Now armed with three Pulsar Cannons and a more easily aimed Space Buster, whose name they wisely quit using.

The Arcadia's battle bridge The Arcadia's battle bridge is a rather large affair, bearing more than a passing resemblance to the Yamato's bridge from Space Cruiser Yamato. Harlock steers the ship with a wooden wheel, as if it were a seafaring vessel of old (how he changes altitude with that thing remains a mystery.) The original bridge design (left) was retained for the first two appearances of the green version of the ship (in Galaxy Express 999 and Adieu, Galaxy Express 999,) but was then replaced with the "battle gymnasium" version (right) starting with My Youth in Arcadia and continuing until Endless Odyssey, when it reverted to its original, slightly less grandiose scale.

Arcadia (biplane) The personal aircraft of Phantom F. Harlock, the Arcadia is a biplane apparently of his own design. His book, "My Youth in Arcadia," is about his aerial adventures aboard this plane.

Arcadia (Messerschmitt) The fighter plane used by Phantom F. Harlock II as he helps Tochiro escape to Switzerland. When the aileron wire is broken in combat, Tochiro holds it together with his own body, prefiguring his descendant's fate as a functioning component of the spacecraft Arcadia.

The Spacewolf (Space fighter aircraft SW1900) The Arcadia's standard fighter plane, which it carries a great deal of. The Spacewolf designs from Space Pirate and My Youth in Arcadia are essentially identical but for their color scheme and the elongated ventral tailfin. A sleeker, truly bitchin' redesign of the Spacewolf made its appearance in Endless Road SSX.

Cosmowing A heavier fighting craft, the Cosmowing can also deploy a smaller fighter plane, Bullet One, from its fuselage (smell the toy designers at work.) It supposedly also carries a Bullet Two, though we never see it deploy one, so God knows how that's supposed to work. The 1977 Space Pirate Captain Harlock TV Series book lists this design as a "Z-Wing Fighter," a name which was not used in the series but was co-opted by the Harmony Gold dubbed version Captain Harlock and the Queen of 1000 Years.

Bullets A small, highly maneuverable fighter craft, Bullet One can be carried within the nose cone of the Cosmowing fighter. Bullet One is the preferred fighter plane of Tadashi Daiba, who apparently prefers functionality over attractive design. Bullet Two is a drill-nosed fighter designed for penetrating enemy strongholds; Bullets Three and Four are land-based combat vehicles.

Space Trailer A large all-terrain vehicle, the Space Trailer is not only armed, but can carry and deploy several Bullet craft, including a Bullet One.

Seabike A small underwater fighting craft, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to a bike. Similar in design to the Cosmowing, it shows up in the Space Pirate series exactly once.

Unmanned fighter Automated fighter planes carried by the Arcadia, they are only seen once, when Harlock sends them through a wormhole to engage the Illumidas during a desperate attempt to rescue Emeraldas. Tochiro's braving of the wormhole in a Spacewolf ultimately leads to his terminal space sickness (in Endless Road SSX.)

One-man flying platform (AKA Mini-Copter) A small personal transport used by Harlock and crew. First appears in the Endless Road SSX series (although Emeraldas had a similar model in the Eternal Voyager Emeraldas TV special), and subsequently appears in Harlock Saga.

Pirate Islands Designed and built by Tochiro Oyama, the Pirate Islands are mobile docking stations disguised as asteroids, which provide the Arcadia with somewhere to hide and perform repairs and maintenance. Island number two is named Deathshadow Island, and is modeled in semblance of the actual planetoid of Deathshadow, the "antimatter gravity planet" (there's some realistic science for you,) which can draw in ships with super-gravity and entrap them forever. Pirate Island eight is destroyed early on as part of a Mazone trap.

Mobile Fortress SSX Similar to the Pirate Islands, Mobile Fortress SSX can disguise itself as a comet, and the artificial asteroid at its core unfolds to reveal a well-equipped space station. It was adapted by Tochiro from an old Solar Federation supply base. The name refers to the criminal numbers assigned to Harlock, Tochiro, and Emeraldas by the Illumidas Occupation Force, which respectively are S00999, S00998, and X00001.

The Deathshadow Harlock's first ship, which he commands during the war against the Illumidas. The ship is later appropriated by the Illumidas and used against Harlock, but is finally sent down in flames on planet Heavy Meldar. Tochiro later returns to its rusted hulk and uses its power to transfer his mind into the Arcadia's central computer. The Cosmo Warrior Zero mini-series threw a spanner in the works by taking the original, blue Arcadia, giving it the color scheme of the green one, and renaming that the Deathshadow. If that was supposed to simplify things, well, uhhm, it didn't. Allegedly 286 meters long, it appears the same length as the Arcadia when they are seen together.

The Queen Emeraldas An enormous, zeppelin-shaped battleship of which Emeraldas is the captain and sole occupant. None of the animated stories discuss its origins, but according to the Ring of the Nibelungen manga, it was an ancient ship found drifting free in space which was subsequently repaired by Tochiro. The red Jolly Roger she flies is alleged to be the white dress of the slain Maya, dyed with her blood. Let's face it; that's kind of creepy. The original Queen Emeraldas design lacked the galleon-esque gondola and was black with white ribbing. (In the first Queen Emeraldas OVA, the ship briefly mimics this older design as it de-cloaks.) Also, where the older shows had the Queen Emeraldas only ever firing from the galleon section, the newer OVA series shows half the blimpish part opening up to display enough weapons to fill a tremendously oversized whale monster. The vessel is described as being 338 meters in length, another bit the animators gleefully ignored every time it shared screen space with the Arcadia.

The Fluorite (Kei Yuki's pirate ship) The pirate vessel captained by Kei Yuki, which looks much like the original Arcadia after hitting the brakes way too hard, makes its brief appearance in the first episode of Endless Odyssey. The ship falls victim to a trap set by Commander Irita and is badly damaged. Kei and her crew are taken prisoner and may well never see their maroon-colored Arcadia Junior again. The ship is most likely not actually made of fluorite, so don't ask me from whence comes her name.

Cosmo Gun The Cosmo Gun is the sidearm used by Harlock and his crew. The standard model is the Cosmo Percussion M78. The custom-built (by Tochiro) Cosmo Dragoon model is carried by Harlock, Tochiro, Emeraldas, and a few other friends who vary in number from show to show. The weapon is modeled after a Colt model 78 revolver. In the Space Pirate series, the Cosmo Guns are also fitted with a special Mazone detector device that sounds an alarm when the weapon is aimed at a Mazone.

Gravity Sabre A combination sword/laser rifle carried by Harlock and Emeraldas. What gravity has to do with either function is anybody's guess.

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