Although some Fusion Fighters treat him with a wary eye, Stickybeard’s one of the few villains that actually managed to win people over at large. For a pirate that’s stolen candy from so many kids, he’s got a winning personality that’s easy to rally behind--and it’s attracted soldiers of all ages to follow under his leadership.
As revealed in “Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E,” Stickybeard was formally known as Stickyfuzz, working as a cabin boy for Captain Black John well before rising to lead a crew of his own. This, combined with his willingness to accept young pirates among his numbers--such as his attempts to convince Numbuh 5 to join him as his first mate--leads me to believe that he was likely a candy pirate from a very young age himself.
His fights with the KND aren’t personal, and he doesn’t actually have an issue with kids in the same way other KND villains do. (If anything, he can behave very much like a kid himself at times.) He only targets them for their own large stores of candy, as a rather standard, but very successful thief. If he has an issue with the KND, it’s simply because their in the way of his plunders. At times, he will even help kids--albeit by his own, skewed sense of morality/honor.
Despite the respect he gets from other KND villains, he’s a bit of an odd-one-out. Again, he doesn’t hate kids in the same vein as the others: They’re just his primary targets since they get alot of candy and are the easiest to steal from. (Taking directly from candy stores/factories tends to be a ‘no,’ because then the candy pirates would risk destroying those businesses entirely, effectively draining the overall supply, and having the cops on their tails.) Some of the villains are kind of aware of this, but Stickybeard is so successful that many of them overlook it or simply don’t care: He’s caused enough misery among children that he’s alright in their book. Stickybeard, in turn, is pretty cool with them. He’s always been closest to his crew, but enjoys hanging out with some of the other villains like he’s part of a club. This placement among them and his feelings regarding both them and children can be best seen in “Operation A.F.L.O.A.T,” where he saves Sector V from the Great White Asparagus and gives them candy, but then asks that they keep what happened a secret from the other villains.
He and Knightbrace are lowkey at each other’s throats sometimes, as they’re total opposites regarding sweets. Stickybeard wishes Knightbrace would calm down his hygienic extremes and, if Knightbrace has his way, he would strap Stickybeard to a dental chair and give his teeth in the very least a cleaning to end all others.
He’s been to places like Stormalong Harbor, but dominates the suburbs like Captain Black John before him.
He’s heard of Candied Island, but unlike many who want to go there, his experiences at Red Stalk Isle--knowing the entire crew he was previously a part of turned into licorice monstrosities--has turned him against going after many candy-magic relics/locations/etc. To him, Candied Island sounds a little too good to be true without there being some sort of catch, He’s probably always been more cautious than Captain Black John in that respect.
At the start of the war, Stickybeard wasn’t really in the best place on the inside. Losing his ship hurt and then part of his crew leaving/mutinying against him was worse. He’s not really the sort to get sad though: He turns his feelings into action. He probably would’ve joined the Fusion Fighters eventually anyway, but losing the Sweet Revenge made things personal. If the infection can be dispersed, he wants his ship back.
He’s still got “sticky-fingers,” so you better know how to hide your sweets really well if you’re stationed at Candy Cove--or else bring the junk candy that not even he will touch unless he’s just that desperate. In contrast, he’s not against sharing his own sweets with people who work for him/get on his good side. If you’re a loyal candy pirate yourself, you’re bound to get a share of the bounty.
Hang around him or the other candy pirates long enough and you’ll catch on to a few legends or candy shanties that only they really know about.
FusionFall Bases and Outposts Headcanons: Candy Cove
Those of you who’ve been following these posts have probably already seen where I’ve talked about Candy Cove being one of the more secretive outposts for the Fusion Fighters. As such, I may end up repeating a few points, but I’ll go more in-depth on the base itself below:
Though small, the outpost is considered one of the more important locations to the war effort because of its use for secure trade/travel between the city and the suburbs, with access to the ocean and the Cul-De-Sac following the creek. Outside of the felled ship, the Sweet Revenge, the location also remains largely untouched by Fusion Matter with few fusion monsters roaming the area, also making it safer than most other locations as well.
The outpost is split into two zones connected by the creek--the candy pirate camp and the actual cove itself, where the SKWID squad often leads it’s own operations--with sentries stationed in-between them to keep the Candy Buccaneers at bay.
Stickybeard acts as Candy Cove’s commanding officer. Initially, not everyone was thrilled about it--specifically KND members--due to his long history as a villain. However, his previous experience as a captain and his boisterous personality won over many quickly: He really is a good leader and many of those under his command respect him, and he in turn backs his ‘crew.’ He does still occasionally bicker with the SKWID squad, but many of them have even come to respect him over time even if they won’t admit it and stay warry.
The SKWID squad kept away from the camp initially due to their conflict with Stickybeard, but it’s also largely because their operations still focus on issues concerning the ocean/undersea missions, therefore keeping them farther out along the coast. After witnessing how Fuse destroyed many of the waterways in the Darklands, they’re determined not to let him contaminate the ocean on the homefront. They're sometimes helped by the KND’s Deep Sea Science Lab, whose reconstruction was pushed further after the KND lost contact with the Moon Base.
Since the outpost is pretty secure and out of sight from most of Fuse’s army, it’s a good location for trading information and such without letting him pick up on any of the Fusion Fighter’s plans or battle strategies.
To keep it secure and limit unnecessary attention, only a select group of Fusion Fighters are stationed there at any time. It’s pretty much exclusively run by the SKWID squad and candy pirates; however, Stickybeard’s not above pulling favors if someone wants to be stationed there so long as they’re willing to work hard. He’ll hand out missions just to go have people gather up lost candy and in return people can relax at the cove for a while. (While not much goes on, it is pretty peaceful there, so these types of favors end up being handed out more often than not.)
The main requirement for people stationed there is that they can’t really complain about having to “rough it” for a while. As close as Candy Cove is to the suburbs, the outpost’s focus on secrecy means staying put and out of sight. A person could get bored quick and tech is limited only to necessities, so anyone there better really like the beach and camping, because that’s about all they’ll have anything to do with for extended periods of time. Outside of sentry duty, the day-to-day stuff consists of handling trade, undersea research, and relaying secret transmissions. Periods allotted outside of the base are often reserved for deliveries and passing along info in-person--so enjoy them when you can and bring back some snacks and something for the others to do when you return.
Yes, you can bribe Stickybeard easily with candy. The same goes for pretty much everyone else there. Being ‘the snack guy’ we’ll make you an instant favorite at the base.
In an effort to take his ship back, sometimes Stickybeard will assign people to suppress or find a way to remove the Fusion Matter infecting it. Thus far, it’s a failing effort, but it doesn’t seem to be expanding at too extreme a rate to be an immediate danger.
