Phantom Franklin Harlock III, known as Captain Harlock, emerges from Leiji Matsumoto’s imagination as a legendary space pirate shrouded in mystery. His lineage remains enigmatic, with the Harlock title inherited or claimed across generations, tracing back to the ancient Germanic Harlock clan. Relatives like Emeraldas and Maetel, along with figures such as *Gun Frontier*’s Franklin Harlock Jr., populate his storied heritage. Though his origins shift between narratives, he consistently rises as a self-made renegade battling corrupt powers, terrestrial or extraterrestrial. A scarred, lean figure with long brown hair, Harlock bears an eyepatch over his right eye—lost in combat—and a cross-shaped scar marking his face. His iconic attire blends a black uniform adorned with red and white accents, a skull-and-crossbones emblem, and a crimson-lined cape. The number "42," echoing the Japanese word for death, punctuates his garb, while his arsenal features a Gravity Saber and the Cosmo Dragoon, a firearm forged by his late friend Tochiro Ōyama. Defiance and individualism anchor Harlock’s ethos. He spurns Earth’s authority, guided by personal honor, loyalty to his crew, and an unyielding duty to shield humanity from annihilation—even when scorned by those he protects. This tension between rebel and guardian defines his arc. His bond with Tochiro, whose death hardened his stoicism, and his role as protector to Tochiro’s daughter, Mayu, reveal layers beneath his aloof exterior. Continuity shifts across adaptations: *Arcadia of My Youth* depicts his eye’s loss during the Illumidas invasion and his command of the Arcadia, a starship harboring Tochiro’s digitized spirit. *Endless Odyssey* pits him against the fear-wielding Noo, while *Harlock Saga* reinterprets his quest through Wagnerian lore. Spin-offs like *Gun Frontier* reimagine him as a 19th-century outlaw alongside Tochiro in the American West. Aboard the Arcadia, allies like Miime—a psychic alien harpist—Kei Yuki, a navigator haunted by tragedy, and Yattaran, a model-obsessed first mate, reflect his leadership: trusting eccentric talents while steering crises with iron resolve. Though distant, he harbors vulnerabilities tied to Tochiro’s memory and Mayu’s fate. The 2013 film *Harlock: Space Pirate* casts his rebellion against a dystopia where Earth’s salvation demands ecological reversal, battling tyrannical forces. French audiences know him as "Albator," a rename sidestepping Haddock confusion, yet his essence persists. Across timelines, Harlock endures as a romantic antihero, embodying resistance against decay, loyalty beyond bounds, and the price of existential freedom in a universe teetering toward entropy.