# Need help finding a reason for someone of to lose an eye



## John Penny (Nov 11, 2020)

It’s a pirate fantasy and one of my characters loses an eye at the beginning of his legacy. any ideas of how he lost it though?


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## Devor (Nov 11, 2020)

Infection.

Scratched out by an alien cat monster.

Part of his torture at enemy hands before escaping.

Removed of his own accord in a ritual sacrifice for power.

Lost to a water god as payment for a debt.

Someone was running with scissors.


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## Insolent Lad (Nov 11, 2020)

The captain's parrot went for it. A loose rope snapped into his eye. A parasitic worm got into it (maybe while he slept in a pestilent swamp or beach). Or just a good old fashioned fight with some gouging.


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## TheKillerBs (Nov 11, 2020)

It was the first day with his hook hand


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## skip.knox (Nov 11, 2020)

They set it down and forgot where they put it. "Honey, I lost my eye again!"

Seriously, you should look for a way (use both eyes) to make the loss something significant to the story. Otherwise, why bother?


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## Hir i-Chorvath (Nov 12, 2020)

Torture
Near-death experience
Accident 
Thought that he needed to lack an eye to make an authentic pirate
Someone challenged his "courage" 
Some weird ritual
Someone was aiming for a bird and hit him in the eye somehow
Took his eye out to impress the crew, if he can do it to himself then what will he do to you type thing.


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## CupofJoe (Nov 12, 2020)

I know someone that lost an eye while walking through a wood at night. A twig/branch caught them just wrong and went straight to the back of the socket. It didn't bleed that much. They did scream a lot.
But I'm with others, make the loss significant, or don't try to explain it at all...


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## Prince of Spires (Nov 12, 2020)

"What does this button do?"

Or maybe he was teaching a new crew member why you shouldn't check if a gun is loaded by looking down the barrel.

Or divine intervention. The god of pirates noticed that there was no one on board with an eye patch, which made them not a real pirate crew. So the god intervened and used his usual tool for the job: a kraken surfaced from the bottom of an ocean trench, slapped a sucker from one of his tentacles over the eye and pulled it out. The victim was more or less random (or not?) but he's now revered by the other pirates as blessed by the pirate god. Of course, even this is a curse, since they now make him be the first to charge into battle. And he doesn't feel invulnerable at all...

Sorry, got carried away there. Man, I now want to write a story with an angry pirate god in it. Or rather, I happen to be writing a pirate story and I'm now thinking if I can fit an angry pirate god in there.


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## Maker of Things Not Kings (Nov 12, 2020)

Once, on an uncharted island thought to be deserted, the pirate encountered a sea hag who convinced him she could make the pirate powerful, feared and "all seeing".  He gave the eye up willingly, the price paid to have the hag conjure a bird familiar through whose eyes the pirate can also now see.


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## Devor (Nov 12, 2020)

He removed his eye so it could be replaced with magical artifact hidden under his eye patch.

His crew gouged out his eye in a traditional hazing of their new captain.

He had two eyes of different colors and had one removed so people wouldn't think he was possessed.

He traded his eye for rum to a group of cannibals.

He had his eye embalmed and left in a jar on the ship's deck, so that he could tell his crew that he's always watching them.

He needed to have his eye removed and infected with a magical plague in order to create a vaccine for himself.

His eye was always twitching and looked silly, so he staged a glorious eye gouging with an enemy to impress his crew.

He was born without an eye but upon becoming captain decided not to wear his glass one.

His brain was invaded by a monstrous parasitic worm, and the surgeon entered his head through his eye socket to remove it.  (this is definitely my favorite)

Edit to add one more:

In grief for losing members of his crew, he smashed something into his eye, which lead to its removal.


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## Don Coyote (Nov 12, 2020)

He didn't lose an eye. He was born/cursed with a magical eye that can see things a normal eye cannot but cannot see as a normal eye does. Problem is, it's very disorienting to use both eyes at the same time, so he has to wear an eyepatch. He keeps his magic eye a secret because it's an "evil eye" and would get him killed by others.

Or, the eye is a magical artifact shoved into his eye socket against his will by his dying mentor, or perhaps a dying nemesis (who wore it as an eye) out of spite. Why an eyepatch? See above. Maybe throw in a bounty as well.


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## LAG (Nov 13, 2020)

His eye gained sentience and decided to bugger off and sail the high seas.

Seagull got it. Nice and Simple.

He looked at naughty books with one eye shut (Necronomicon)

His eye exists, but in a higher dimension where it is a soprano performing every Friday on the GalactoFeed opera circuit.

He has an eye, but no one can see it, and they convinced him he ain't got it

A wizard changed his eye into his ship.

He once tried to eat a were-lobster.

His mother told him how to use forks wrong.

There was a nice, golden nose-cap that he wanted, so he traded his eye to a wandering optician for a few gold coins

He got lost in the desert, and went looking for food under rocks ... scorpion stung him.


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## Arranah (Nov 15, 2020)

Shot with an arrow.


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## Demesnedenoir (Nov 16, 2020)

A William Tell incident gone wrong, heh heh. 



Arranah said:


> Shot with an arrow.


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## Arranah (Nov 16, 2020)

Where I live people still hunt with bows and arrows.  Someone shot one of our local wild turkeys with an arrow.  It penetrated his intestines, and they hung out and trailed behind him.  The poor thing hid in the bushes.  It's an incredibly cruel way to hunt.  So this popped into my mind.


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## Demesnedenoir (Nov 16, 2020)

As i recall, there was a group of William Tell folks and at some drunken party they put an apple on a head and the man was shot in the eye. He didn’t win the Darwin Award that year because he lived. No doubt, he had an eyepatch. 



Arranah said:


> Where I live people still hunt with bows and arrows.  Someone shot one of our local wild turkeys with an arrow.  It penetrated his intestines, and they hung out and trailed behind him.  The poor thing hid in the bushes.  It's an incredibly cruel way to hunt.  So this popped into my mind.


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## Arranah (Nov 16, 2020)

I'm not as familiar with William as you are.  I remember the William Tell Overture and the story of the guy shooting the apple off of his head.  In any case it probably was not a pleasant experience.


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## Demesnedenoir (Nov 16, 2020)

It was an archery club or some such... alcohol... apples... bows... what could go wrong?

William Tell was actually a crossbow, but hey.



Arranah said:


> I'm not as familiar with William as you are.  I remember the William Tell Overture and the story of the guy shooting the apple off of his head.  In any case it probably was not a pleasant experience.


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## Arranah (Nov 16, 2020)

Nothing could possibly go wrong.  No one ever screws up when they are drunk.


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## Creggan (Nov 16, 2020)

Use a reason rooted in real sailing mishaps back in the days of sail.....fish hook stuck in the eye, splinter of wood from a cannonball impact impales the eye, hit hard in the back of the head with a swinging boom or other spar hard enough to detach a retina, advanced case of scurvy, advanced case of gonhorrea....


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## psychotick (Nov 17, 2020)

Hi,

Why does it have to be anything significant? He got a scratch, the eye became infected, it had to be removed - simple. Of course as a pirate he now has to spend the rest of his life making up ever more bizarre stories about how he lost the damned thing! (And getting rid of anyone who knows the truth!)

Cheers, Greg.


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## joshua mcdermott (Dec 1, 2020)

It's pretty easy to lose an eye.  I am like a sorta normal US kid (very rural though..and we had weapons) and two times I have come close:   Once my friend and I were doing something very stupid, which was throwing an arrow at each other!  and trying to block it with wood chips?  anyway.. when one is young and stupid.  anyway, arrow in my eye.     luckily not a hunting arrow!  but yeah, at the doctor, patch all of that and I was lucky and can see now but that eye has never been the same.  

second time my brother wanted to show me a fencing move, and so- for whatever reason- I took down my actual sword from the wall (or maybe he did?-  I swear it was all his idea  anyway) he messed up the move and I stabbed him right along side the nose into his eye.  A sound and feeling I will never forget- it haunted me like a low level ptsd for a while.  Instantly his eye filled with blood and closed up-  very lucky that it slid in the side and was not a cm the the right or he would have a glass eye now.  

So yeah, pretty easy and for very stupid reasons!  


-j


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## Tannhauser (Dec 1, 2020)

Thought you could use this in conjunction with Don Coyote's idea
Shortly after I was born my brain expanded and crushed the anterior pituitary gland and olfactory bulb against my skull, taking out the sight in my left eye. (The eye is still in place but useless). With the olfactory bulb gone, I have no sense of smell either. 

Best wishes.


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## Rosemary Tea (Feb 22, 2021)

Did he really lose an eye? Or does he just wear an eye patch for the real reason pirates are depicted wearing them?

The real reason is that most sailors, not just pirates, would wear them in what we think of as the pirate era (16th-18th century), and the reason they did was to preserve night vision. They regularly had to climb in and out of the ship's hold, and they had to be able to see the whole time, which meant their eyes had to quickly adjust to the dark when they went into the hold. There was no lighting down there, and it would have been way too dangerous to bring a candle or torch, because the hold was full of gunpowder. One stray spark would've blown up the ship.

Keeping one eye covered preserved night vision in that one eye. Flip up the eye patch as soon as you were in the dark, and it would instantly become adequate night vision in both eyes. That was the only way they could safely navigate below.

If your character really did lose an eye, he's at a serious disadvantage. He can't preserve his night vision. He'll be stumbling blind when he goes into the hold.

If he really has two good eyes, his "how I lost my eye" story could be his way of having fun with landlubbers who have no idea why sailors wear eye patches, should he encounter any. He can make that as outlandish as you want.


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## skip.knox (Feb 22, 2021)

I should very much like to see the source for this info about pirates wearing eye patches. I like to follow threads back because they often lead in new directions.


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## Rosemary Tea (Feb 22, 2021)

skip.knox said:


> I should very much like to see the source for this info about pirates wearing eye patches. I like to follow threads back because they often lead in new directions.


I used to be an outdoor ed instructor. It was one of the stories we told the students on nightwalks, as we explained how night vision works. I learned it in staff training. But then, some of my students said they'd seen the same thing on TV--I think it was one of those explainer shows, but I don't remember which one--so there should be some outside source, it's just not one I can immediately link to.


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## skip.knox (Feb 22, 2021)

My lazy ploy didn't work. Arrgh.

Here are some sources
Why Did Pirates Wear Eye Patches?
Eyepatch - Wikipedia

There are a couple of reasons why I was skeptical (you knew I was skeptical, right?). One, I was skeptical about how dark it would be in the hold. After all, a pirate has to go fetch another barrel of rum and know he didn't fetch water or gunpowder. They have to have enough light to see, which means they don't need to adapt.

Two, above deck and in a fight, a patch is a hindrance because it screws up depth perception. One definitely wants good depth perception when faced with the pointy end of a sword. Or even the edge of a deck.

And generally, I just didn't think much of the adaptation theory. In that I have to stand corrected (which is just abaft the mizzen). It definitely works, per the above sources. For me, an amateur astronomer, the clincher was there. If this worked, why wasn't patch-wearing a common recommendation for backyard astronomers? All the advice I've ever seen just says give yourself fifteen or twenty minutes.

Ah, but then I found this
Observing with an Eyepatch?
and this
Ahoy matie, do you use an eye Patch? - General Observing and Astronomy - Cloudy Nights
and many more. In case anyone else does a bit of stargazing, there's the added benefit that you can open both eyes while looking through the eyepiece. Nice! And now you know what to ask for on your next birthday.

The historian in me is obliged to point out that we still don't have any documentary or even indirect evidence that this is why at least a few pirates wore eye patches. Another entirely possible explanation is that it became an artistic convention, not grounded in actual practice at all.


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## joshua mcdermott (Feb 22, 2021)

I would say that i do this sometimes, and it works.  I work in Theater and we often have to go from a very bright space (on stage) to off stage.. a very dark place and still be able to see.  I am not an actor, so when I am in the bright it does serve me to close one eye as I go, as I live mostly in the dark and only sometimes need to hit the light so no need for a patch since I can easily hold a wink. 

the lack of depth perception is less serious than you may think - you can certainly still navigate and  pick things up etc (which is exactly what we are doing most the time) - never been a problem.


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## Rosemary Tea (Feb 22, 2021)

skip.knox said:


> For me, an amateur astronomer, the clincher was there. If this worked, why wasn't patch-wearing a common recommendation for backyard astronomers? All the advice I've ever seen just says give yourself fifteen or twenty minutes.


Stargazing isn't such a time sensitive activity. The stars won't move noticeably in 15-20 minutes. But if you're a ship's crew member and you repeatedly climb in and out of the hold, chances are you don't have 15-20 minutes to spare for adjusting your eyes.


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## skip.knox (Feb 23, 2021)

Here are some other considerations.
Why only pirates? Wouldn't the same physical reality apply to all sailors in all ages? But we see no such depictions. I'm guessing the earliest would be late eighteenth century. Which would argue in favor of an artistic conceit.

I repeat an earlier point that sailors had to have some light below deck. It can't have been utter blackness. But we know the bottom was exactly that, for it was below the water line. Night vision is for low light not the absence of light. Therefore there must have been lanterns. Therefore, no need for eye patches.

Finally, neither C.S. Forester not Patrick O'Brian put an eye patch on anyone. That's a less direct argument, but there it is.

Anyway, I can entertain the possibility as plausible, but with counter evidence. It's an interesting topic.


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## Rosemary Tea (Feb 23, 2021)

skip.knox said:


> Here are some other considerations.
> Why only pirates? Wouldn't the same physical reality apply to all sailors in all ages? But we see no such depictions. I'm guessing the earliest would be late eighteenth century. Which would argue in favor of an artistic conceit.
> 
> I repeat an earlier point that sailors had to have some light below deck. It can't have been utter blackness. But we know the bottom was exactly that, for it was below the water line. Night vision is for low light not the absence of light. Therefore there must have been lanterns. Therefore, no need for eye patches.
> ...


It is indeed.

Remember, the reason for not carrying a light source below deck was gunpowder. There wouldn't have been gunpowder on a merchant ship. So, merchant sailors probably didn't need eyepatches. Navy ships would have had it. And, of course, pirate ships.

And that's era specific. Gunpowder on ships only became common in the 15th-16th century (and only on ships expected to use it, ie navy). It became obsolete by the end of the 19th century. So, gunpowder was being carried on pirate ships in the very era when we have the pirate with an eye patch trope.


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## skip.knox (Feb 23, 2021)

So Navy sailors would have worn eye patches. And since there were more of those than of pirates, I would expect to see sailors (and officers) portrayed with eye patches. But they aren't. Nor do they appear in fiction. So, that's a puzzle.


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## Rosemary Tea (Feb 23, 2021)

skip.knox said:


> So Navy sailors would have worn eye patches. And since there were more of those than of pirates, I would expect to see sailors (and officers) portrayed with eye patches. But they aren't. Nor do they appear in fiction. So, that's a puzzle.


Here's another possibility: this wearing of eye patches wasn't universal, among navy or pirates or anybody (but then, how did the non-eye patch wearers deal with dark holds full of gunpowder?), but a few did hit on that solution. The artists who depicted eye patch wearing pirates had either encountered or, more likely, heard of, those pirates who actually did wear eye patches for that reason, but didn't know the real reason, so it became "pirate wears an eye patch, that's just what he does."


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## skip.knox (Feb 23, 2021)

I like that. I do think this was mainly an artistic conceit, but such things tend to come from somewhere. Whether the source was a pragmatic adaptation or an actual lost eye, it would get noticed by an artist. And the artist or illustrator would want to emphasize the sinister side of pirates, but not of Navy sailors.

Now I wonder how much of this is purely Anglo-american, and how often it appears in, say, Polish or Arab or Japanese depictions. Rabbit holes rule!


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## Rosemary Tea (Feb 23, 2021)

Another possible reason for the eye patch not showing up on Navy sailors, particularly officers, is that officers were much more likely to be depicted by an artist in the first place, and officers in the Navy--and on merchant ships, too--kept strict boundaries between themselves and the crew. An officer would rarely if ever have gone into the hold, except maybe for an inspection. Quickly going down and back, fetching stuff, would have been the lowly crew members' job.

But pirate ships were much more egalitarian. Spoils were divided much more equally, the crew had much more say in decisions, and the captain was more likely to do at least some work alongside his crew. A Navy captain would never do the grunt work, but a pirate captain might take his turn at it.


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## joshua mcdermott (Feb 23, 2021)

of course, remember this is not a historical fiction site, but a fantasy writers site:  So in your world pirates could have any number of reasons for having a patch-  as long as its not unreasonable- and may even have been the case- go for it!


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## Polunochnitsa (May 1, 2022)

Perhaps they could be in an unfamiliar area and on the run for some reason. They run through dense bush and a sharp branch or leaf ( like those on a phoenix palm) cuts or pokes the eye. If not a plant it could be a piece of equipment. maybe as a youngster they were struck by a piece of flying debris from an explosion, or tornado. Maybe a boat tie down snapped and they were unluckily right in its path? The eye could be lost due to infection, or not being able to receive any medical attention promptly enough.


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## pmmg (May 1, 2022)

Wait… you lost your eye cause a gull pooped in it?

well… i had just gotten my hook…

not sure this one is still a question.


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## psychotick (May 2, 2022)

Hi,

Not sure if this adds to anything, but they did test the eye patch theory out on Mythbusters (I think) and showed that pirates who had been wearing one for twenty minutes or so, when stuck in a night time environment were much better able to fight and run mazes. Maybe this was something that some smart pirate came up with so they could attack at night?

Cheers, Greh


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## pmmg (May 2, 2022)

Ah, now that you mention it, I had also heard that sailors would wear eyepatches on one eye, so they could go below deck and not have to adjust to new lighting. Either way, though, the thread is a bit old.


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## Cambosaurus (May 2, 2022)

Good old fashioned swordfight on the high seas

Attacked by some kind of monster

sewing session went wrong


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