This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

William "Will" Turner, Jr. is The centeral character of the first three films in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series produced by Walt Disney Pictures. He is portrayed by Orlando Bloom (and as a child by Dylan Smith in the movie's prologue). Will is a blacksmith's apprentice working in Port Royal. He secretly loves the governor's daughter, Elizabeth Swann (played by Keira Knightley), although he occupies a lower social class than she. Will is an exceptional swordsman, although he lacks actual combat experience. Despite being mild mannered, Will is brave, as seen when he confronts Captain Jack Sparrow in a sword fight and by his response to Barbossa's attack on Port Royal. He is loyal to those he cares about and would risk everything to protect them, especially Elizabeth. This trait is seen throughout the films as Will's character develops more by his reaction to unforeseen circumstances rather than his personal ambition or deliberate choices. Most likely he would have continued plying his trade, never presuming to rise above his current station, pining for the woman he believes he can never have. At his best, Will is clever, heroic, and courageous and never shirks responsibility or leaves an obligation unfulfilled. He can also be preoccupied and brooding and, early on, demonstrated rather simplistic and naïve views, although his character gradually matures and deepens into a more complex and worldly man as the films progress.

Appearance[link]

Will's final costume in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is reminiscent of Errol Flynn's swashbuckler movie roles. There is also a nod to Douglas Fairbanks when Turner uses his knife to glide down the ship's sail in Dead Man's Chest, just as Fairbanks did in the 1926 film, The Black Pirate.

Will is about 20 years old as the series begins. He has medium length, brown hair, worn loose or tied back in a short ponytail, brown eyes, white skin. In the first movie, he wears a puffy-sleeved white shirt, a simple brown jerkin, brown breeches, thick brown stockings and leather shoes with metal buckles. He also wears a grey, wide-brimmed hat with a white feather through the back of it, a belt buckle around the top of it, and a design bordering the edges. In the second and third movies he wears various outfits including a fashionable suit and tricorne hat for his wedding that is of a typical style for upper-class gentlemen from his era. In the second film, he also wore a leather jacket over a white shirt, breeches, and, as requested by Orlando Bloom, boots. In both sequels, he is also seen wearing a leather cord necklace with what appear to be charms and other trinkets hanging from it. In the third film, he predominantly wears a puffy-sleeved maroon shirt, a black coat, dark breeches, and leather boots. Sometime between Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, Will acquires a tiny gold-hoop earring that he wears throughout the third film. Just after Will becomes immortal, he appears in a green bandana and a bit of blue eye make-up. His hair changes from slightly oily and wavy in the first and second movie to dryer and fuller, possibly the effects of sailing. In one scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl when Turner and Jack are fighting in the blacksmith's shop, there is a glimpse of Orlando Bloom's wrist tattoo of the Elvish word for "nine". Bloom and the other actors except John Rhys-Davies who comprised the nine "Fellowship of the Ring" members in The Lord of the Rings trilogy have this same tattoo to commemorate their participation in the films. While some felt his tattoo should have been covered for his "Pirates" role, the producers simply stated, "Will has a 'pretty' tattoo on his wrist."

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Will is "Bootstrap" Bill Turner's only child. According to Jack Sparrow, Will strongly resembles his father, both in appearance and ability. However, his father was absent during his early childhood in England (he was born in Glasgow, Scotland but his mother moved him to England when he was young) and Will grew up believing him to be a merchant seaman. Following his mother's death, Will, then about twelve years old, emigrated to Port Royal, searching for his father, and, after being rescued from a shipwreck, was apprenticed to a blacksmith. The Black Pearl crew have been searching for the gold medallion that "Bootstrap" sent Will, which Captain Barbossa needs to break an ancient Aztec curse.

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Will Turner is introduced to the story as a young boy who is rescued at sea by the British navy, the sole survivor of a pirate attack. Aboard the ship is Port Royal's new governor, Weatherby Swann, and his daughter Elizabeth, then aged twelve years. It was Elizabeth who spotted Will clinging to the floating wreckage, and he was placed under her care for the voyage's duration. Discovering a gold medallion around his neck, she hid it to prevent anyone from branding him a pirate.

Over the next eight years, Will and Elizabeth maintain a respectful friendship, although Will must conceal his true romantic feelings for her. He is now a blacksmith apprentice in Port Royal, and though it provides him a respectable occupation, it makes him unsuitable to court Elizabeth, even though she may (secretly) reciprocate his feelings. Another suitor, Commodore James Norrington, a man socially superior to Will in nearly every way, seems likely to win Elizabeth's hand. Meanwhile, Will has developed into a master craftsman of fine swords, although it is his oft-drunken master who usually claims credit for Will's exquisite workmanship. Will is also an exceptional, self-taught swordsman. The DVD commentary states that he is the best among the characters in the film, including Barbossa, Norrington, and Jack Sparrow. Will lacks practical fighting experience, however. When Sparrow outwits Will in a sword fight, Will claims Jack "cheated" by ignoring the "rules of engagement," and would have killed Sparrow in a fair fight. Sparrow retorts, "That's not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is it." He impresses upon the naïve young man that the only rules that matter are, "What a man can do, and what a man can't do." It is a lesson Will is unlikely to forget.

Initially, Will is depicted as an honorable, but rather simple, character whose actions are primarily driven by his emotions rather than reason, particularly when someone he cares about is threatened. However, as he matures throughout the trilogy, he is guided more by logic and experience and gradually realizes that the lines between what is right and what is lawful are often obscured. Will is always motivated by love and loyalty to protect friends and family. For now, however, he appears to follow the convention that obeying rules, working hard, and knowing one's station in life will result in fair treatment and a secure livelihood, even if there is little opportunity for social advancement. It is a fateful twist of irony that Will, a peaceful and law-abiding man, learns that his father was the pirate Bootstrap Bill Turner, who served aboard the Black Pearl when it was commanded by Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite Sparrow's comments that Bootstrap was "a good man," Will remains deeply conflicted over his new-found lineage. Will learns that when First Mate Barbossa and the crew mutinied and marooned Sparrow, only Bootstrap defended him, infuriated by Barbossa's betrayal. Bootstrap was tied to a cannon and thrown overboard after it was learned he sent a gold medallion to Will so the crew would remain under an ancient Aztec curse as punishment for betraying Sparrow. To break the curse, the last medallion and Turner's blood must be returned to the Aztec chest.

Even though Will is a model citizen and despises pirates, he feels justified in resorting to piracy and forming an alliance with Jack Sparrow if it is to save Elizabeth. After commandeering a navy ship and recruiting a crew in Tortuga, Will and Sparrow sail to Isla de Muerta where Barbossa has taken Elizabeth. Unknown to Will, Sparrow intends to use him to bargain back the Black Pearl. When Will learns his role in lifting the curse, he barters himself to Barbossa to free Elizabeth and the crew, although Barbossa tricks him. In the end, Sparrow and Will succeed in lifting the curse; Sparrow kills Barbossa, and the pirate crew is defeated. At Sparrow's execution in Port Royal, Will, believing Sparrow deserves to live, declares his love for Elizabeth before attempting to rescue Sparrow from the gallows. They are quickly subdued by redcoats, but Will refuses to abandon Sparrow. Elizabeth intervenes and saves Will by declaring her love for him and vouches for Sparrow. Will is pardoned while Sparrow escapes by falling off the rampart and into the bay where the Black Pearl awaits.

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Will returns with the other main characters from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In this film, his appearance has become more pirate-like, reminiscent of Errol Flynn's swashbuckler movie characters, and reflects Will's evolution from naïve boy to world-wise man. For aiding Jack Sparrow's escape, Will and Elizabeth are arrested just prior to their wedding ceremony by Lord Cutler Beckett, a man made wealthy and powerful by profits from the East India Trading Co. Beckett threatens Will and Elizabeth with execution for aiding Captain Jack Sparrow's escape, but offers clemency if Will can find Sparrow's compass. Beckett also possesses a Letter of Marque with which he intends to recruit Jack as a privateer.

To save Elizabeth, Will hunts for Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl. He finds the crew captive on Pelegosto, a cannibal-inhabited island. They escape, and are unexpectedly reunited with Pintel and Ragetti. Jack agrees to give Will his compass if he helps him find a key, though he has no idea what it unlocks. Jack seeks out Tia Dalma, a voodoo priestess who takes a particular interest in Will, proclaiming he has a "touch of destiny." Dalma says the key is to the Dead Man's Chest containing the heart of Davy Jones. The crew searches for Jones, and Will soon finds himself stranded on a wrecked vessel that Jack deviously claimed was Jones' ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman. When the real Flying Dutchman suddenly arrives, Jack attempts to barter Will to Davy Jones to repay his blood debt, but Jones refuses, saying one soul is unequal to another. Instead, he keeps Will as a "good faith" payment and demands an additional 99 souls. Otherwise, Jack must surrender or face the Kraken. Sparrow had once struck a bargain with Davy Jones to raise the Black Pearl from the ocean bottom and to make Jack captain for 13 years. Sparrow would then serve aboard the Dutchman for a century.

Will, now an indentured sailor aboard Jones' ghost ship, meets "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, the father Will once searched for. When Will challenges Davy Jones to Liar's Dice, betting his soul against the key to the Dead Man's Chest, Bootstrap joins in, and purposely loses to save his son from eternal enslavement. With Bootstrap's help, Will steals the key and escapes in a longboat, vowing to one day free his father. A passing ship rescues Will, but Jones' summons the Kraken to destroy it. Will survives and stows back aboard the Dutchman, now headed for Isla Cruces where the Dead Man's Chest containing Jones' heart is buried.

On Isla Cruces, Will is reunited with Elizabeth, who has escaped jail and joined Jack Sparrow's crew. Also present are Sparrow and former-Commodore James Norrington, also a member of Jack's crew. They locate the chest, and, key in hand, Will intends to stab the heart to kill Davy Jones. But he finds himself at the tip of Jack's sword and caught in a three-way duel between himself, Sparrow, and Norrington, all claiming the heart. Norrington ultimately steals it and the Letters of Marque, escaping just as Davy Jones' crew attack.

The Black Pearl flees, outrunning the Flying Dutchman, but Davy Jones again summons the Kraken. Drawing on his previous experience fighting the monster, Will leads the crew in temporarily fending it off, gaining enough time to abandon ship. When Elizabeth realizes that Sparrow is the Kraken's sole prey, she distracts him with a passionate kiss while handcuffing him to the mast. Unknown to her, Will witnesses this and believes Elizabeth now loves Sparrow. From the longboat, the crew watches the Kraken drag the Pearl and Sparrow to Davy Jones' Locker.

Will, Elizabeth, and the crew seek refuge with Tia Dalma. As they mourn their captain, Will is particularly despondent, though not only about Elizabeth and Jack. Tia understands his despair—with the Black Pearl Will could defeat Davy Jones and free his father. Gibbs proposes a toast to their fallen captain, to which Will glumly raises his mug. Seeing Elizabeth's teary face and believing she loves Sparrow, he nobly tries comforting her. "If there was anything that could be done..." Tia Dalma interrupts, asking would he be willing, would they all be willing, to travel to World's End to bring back Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl. All say "aye", including Will, who sees a revived opportunity to obtain the Black Pearl and rescue Bootstrap. Tia Dalma says they will need a captain who knows those waters. To everyone's astonishment, a resurrected Captain Barbossa descends the stairs.

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Will is next seen in Singapore with Elizabeth, Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and the Black Pearl crew. They are there to bargain with Sao Feng, the Pirate Lord of the South China Sea for the navigational charts leading to World's End and Davy Jones' Locker. Will already attempted to steal the charts from Sao Feng's uncle, but was captured. Ostensibly, the group's mission is to rescue Jack Sparrow from the Locker, but, like the others, Will has a secret motive: to retrieve the Black Pearl and free his father from Davy Jones. When Mercer and the East India Trading Company soldiers attack Sao Feng's bathhouse, Feng strikes a secret bargain with Will—Jack Sparrow in exchange for the Black Pearl. Will and the others journey to World's End on Feng's ship, sailing over an enormous waterfall into Jones' Locker. There, they find a delusional Jack aboard the Pearl. After some convincing, Jack sets sail with them, although he and Barbossa dispute who is captain. Will learns that Elizabeth sacrificed Jack to the Kraken. And though he now understands why Elizabeth has been so distant and despondent, she believes that her unrelenting guilt over causing Sparrow's doom is her burden alone to bear. Will tells her their relationship will not endure if they lack trust in one another and make their choices alone.

Will has also made choices alone, however, and secretly collaborated with Feng to commandeer the Black Pearl, although Will's motive is to save his father. But Sao Feng betrays Will in lieu of another bargain with Lord Beckett, though Beckett double-crosses him. Feng then offers Barbossa the Black Pearl in exchange for Elizabeth, who he mistakenly believes is the sea goddess, Calypso. Elizabeth may understand Will's underlying motives, but she is stunned that he bartered Jack Sparrow to Sao Feng to achieve his goal. Ignoring Will, she agrees to Feng's terms in exchange for the crew's safety. Jack tosses Will in the brig, but he soon escapes. Still plotting to obtain the Pearl, Will leaves a trail for Lord Beckett to follow to Shipwreck Cove, the Brethren Court stronghold. Jack catches him, but surprisingly hands Will his magical compass before pushing him overboard, apparently intending for Beckett to find them. Clinging to a floating barrel, Will drifts helplessly towards Beckett's ship, Endeavour.

Will is reunited with Elizabeth, who was named captain and pirate lord by the mortally wounded Sao Feng, after Will is exchanged for Jack during parley with Beckett and Davy Jones. Elizabeth tells Will she now understands the burden he bears, but having been aboard the Dutchman, she believes Bootstrap can no longer be saved, although Will disagrees. During the maelstrom battle, Will again proposes to Elizabeth, convincing her this may be their only opportunity to wed. Knowing that she truly loves Will and wants to be with him, Elizabeth calls on Barbossa to immediately marry them; they exchange vows amid the fighting and share their final kiss before destiny claims Will. Unknown to them, Jack has escaped the Dutchman's brig.

Destiny[link]

After a climactic showdown with Jack atop the Flying Dutchman's mast, Davy Jones duels with Elizabeth. Will rushes to her defense, only to lose his weapon in the unharmable body of Jones, who, ironically, now wields the same sword Will crafted for Commodore Norrington in Curse of the Black Pearl. Jones presses the blade to Will's chest and asks menacingly, "Do you fear death?" Jack attempts to intervene, but Jones mortally stabs Will with the blade made by him in the Curse of the Black Pearl. Jack, who now possesses Jones' heart, sacrifices his bid for immortality to instead save Will, guiding Will's hand to stab the heart, killing Jones. Just as Will dies, Bootstrap carves out his son's heart and places it in the Dead Man's Chest. Will is resurrected into the Flying Dutchman's immortal captain, fulfilling his destiny to free the Dutchman crew from Davy Jones' cruelty. Now under Will's command, the Flying Dutchman resurfaces, and the crew has reverted to human form. Will commands the Dutchman against the Endeavour and the combined firepower of the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman destroy the Endeavour, killing Cutler Beckett. The remaining armada retreats without a fight.

Will is now a psychopomp, bound to sail the Netherworld, ferrying souls to the other side. The Dutchman crew, no longer cursed, have reverted to human form and bestow their loyalty on Captain Turner. Will is allowed one day ashore before beginning his ten-year duty in the Netherworld aboard the Dutchman. Elizabeth, a mortal, is unable to accompany Will, though "Bootstrap" Bill chooses to remain with his son, despite Will freeing him. Will spends his one day with Elizabeth on an island where they consummate their marriage. Before returning to the Dutchman at sunset, he entrusts the Dead Man's Chest containing his beating heart to her care. The Flying Dutchman disappears from the horizon amid the Green Flash.

Will returns ten years later to Elizabeth and their son, at the end of At World's End.

There is some controversy over Will's final fate. A leaflet inside the special edition 2-Disc DVD states that the captain of the Flying Dutchman is eternally bound to the ship, and may only step on land once every ten years. But since then, video commentary and blog posts by the writers have stated that as Elizabeth remained faithful to Will until he returned to this world, unlike Calypso did for Davy Jones, he is free of his duty and lives out the rest of his life with Elizabeth and their son. The writer's statement was made after Orlando Bloom decided not to reprise his role as William Turner Jr. in the movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides."

Relationships[link]

Jack Sparrow[link]

Throughout the trilogy, Will maintains a complicated and strained relationship with Captain Jack Sparrow. In the first film, Will, who despises pirates, is revolted by Jack. He helps to capture him in Port Royal, but realizing he needs Jack's help to rescue Elizabeth, he frees him from jail. Although he thinks Sparrow is untrustworthy, Will eventually considers him a far better man than anyone realizes, and he willingly risks his own life to save Sparrow from the gallows.

In Dead Man's Chest, Will is ambivalent regarding Jack Sparrow, probably never expecting to see him again. When Lord Cutler Beckett, who is hunting Sparrow interrogates him, Will claims Jack is "more acquaintance than friend," Though this is accurate, it may also be an effort to shield Jack or simply to downplay his association with him to protect himself and Elizabeth. However, Will again needs Jack's assistance to spare himself and Elizabeth from Lord Beckett's death sentence, though Sparrow's "help" soon lands Will aboard the Flying Dutchman as Davy Jones' captive. Jack does attempt to retrieve Will when he bargains with Jones for 100 souls in exchange for his own. Jones refused to release Will, however, likely suspecting that Jack cared enough for Will as a friend that keeping him captive would help motivate Sparrow to fulfill his debt.

In At World's End, Will cares little for Jack Sparrow, believing he has stolen Elizabeth's affections. Will agrees to help rescue Jack from Davy Jones' Locker only because he needs the Black Pearl to free his father from the Flying Dutchman. After Will's failed attempt to gain the Pearl by delivering Jack and the crew (minus Elizabeth) to Sao Feng fails, Jack throws Will in the brig. Will escapes and, still intent on saving his father, leaves a trail for Beckett's ship to follow. Jack, who has become an unexpected mentor to Will despite their mutual distrust and animosity, discovers him. During a lengthy conversation, they once again demonstrate their grudging mutual respect and need for one another to fulfill their respective goals; Will admits he hatched his plan by thinking like Jack, and confides he is torn between killing Davy Jones to free his father (thus binding himself forever to the Flying Dutchman) or staying with Elizabeth and leaving his father in eternal servitude. Jack proposes a vague agreement that he will stab Davy Jones' heart, making himself immortal, and will then free Will's father, thus allowing Will and Elizabeth to be together. Jack unexpectedly hands Will his magical compass before pushing him overboard, ensuring Cutler Beckett will find him and be led to Shipwreck Cove, placing Jones' heart within Jack's grasp. Will and Jack's relationship is again in doubt.

Elizabeth is the most important person in Will's life, and anything or anyone threatening her is his enemy, including Jack Sparrow. Although Jack represents nearly everything that Will despises, he is often intrigued, puzzled, and even amazed by Jack Sparrow without sacrificing his own personal convictions or morals. Will respects Jack, even while considering him unethical and distasteful, and ultimately deems him a pirate but, "a good man." And though their relationship continually teeters on either helping or betraying one another, depending on their respective circumstances, Jack proves that he cares for Will when he selflessly sacrifices his bid for immortality to save the fatally wounded Will. Jack has also learned a few tricks from Will, using the same technique Will employed to free Jack from jail in the first film, to escape the Dutchman's brig. In the end, they are friends.

Elizabeth Swann[link]

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Will is passionately and secretly in love with Elizabeth. Unaware what her feelings are, he believes she considers him nothing more than an acquaintance and inferior to her in social class. However, their relationship progresses when Will rescues her from Barbossa. They realize how much they care for each other, and when Will is supposedly killed when the pirates destroy the HMS Interceptor, Elizabeth attacks Barbossa. She later tries to rally the Black Pearl crew to save Will from being sacrificed to lift the curse. Just before Jack's execution in Port Royal, Will proclaims his love to Elizabeth before attempting to save Sparrow; Elizabeth chooses Will over Norrington. In Dead Man's Chest, the two are to be married, but their wedding ceremony is interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett, who arrests them for abetting piracy. When Will witnesses Elizabeth kissing Jack aboard the doomed Black Pearl, he believes she now loves Sparrow, unaware it was only a ruse to sacrifice Jack to the Kraken; Elizabeth is dismayed when Will's secret bargain with Sao Feng is exposed. Though he desperately wants to save his father from Davy Jones, Elizabeth does not believe his actions justify betraying the Black Pearl crew.

It is unclear until almost the end whether Will and Elizabeth can overcome their differences. Will was deeply hurt when he mistakenly believed Elizabeth was in love with Jack, although he finally realizes she was driven only by her deep guilt over sacrificing Sparrow to the Kraken. She was unaware that Will could only rescue his father by killing Davy Jones and succeeding him as the Flying Dutchman's immortal captain, bound to sail the Netherworld. He would be torn apart from her forever. When Elizabeth discovers Will's burden, she understands his motives, but rejects his methods (bargaining the crew to Sao Feng). Though vexed that Will withheld this from her, she, in turn, had hurt Will by keeping her own secrets. They come to realize that unless they are honest and trust one another, their relationship will not survive. They finally overcome their differences, and during the climatic Maelstrom battle, Will again proposes to Elizabeth, who realizes how much she loves Will and only wants to be with him; Barbossa marries them amidst the fighting. After his wedding to Elizabeth, Elizabeth and Will go on the Flying Dutchman to help fight. After Davy Jones has pushed them both to the side Davy sees Jack holding his heart. After Jack's little speech Davy Jones stabs Will knowing Will and Elizabeth are in love. Jack finally decides to be unselfish so he has Will stab Davy Jones heart right before he dies. After exploding the ship owned by Lord Beckett, Will and Elizabeth spend his last day on land before his ten years at sea for their honeymoon. Will gives Elizabeth the chest containing his heart as she promises to keep it safe. They share one last kiss and Will disappears on the Flying Dutchman for ten years.

Will returns ten years later to Elizabeth and their son William "Will" Turner III, at the end of At World's End. While the film is ambiguous, the writers' commentary states that because Elizabeth stayed faithful to him and met him at the end of his first ten year tenure as Captain of The Flying Dutchman, he is free from servitude and returns to Elizabeth and their son, spending his life with them.

Video game appearances[link]

Will Turner appears in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, Port Royal, of Kingdom Hearts II. In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II as well as in the movies he's voiced by Daisuke Hirakawa, who was also the Japanese voice for Legolas, another famous character portrayed by Bloom. Crispin Freeman provided the voice of Will for the U.S. version of the game since Orlando Bloom was unavailable due to the filming of Dead Man's Chest and "At World's End". Freeman was also the voice of Will in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow and in the video game adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Will Turner appears in the Pirates of the Caribbean Online game as the character who gives the player their first sword. In the earlier versions of the game, Will urges the player to run and locate Tia Dalama after soldiers can be heard banging on his door. Will stays behind to confront them, drawing his sword. In the newer version, undead skeletons appear inside instead.

External links[link]

• William Turner at the Pirates of the Caribbean wiki

Elizabeth Swann (later Elizabeth Turner) is a major character of the first three films in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series produced by Walt Disney Pictures. She appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and its two sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007). Elizabeth is portrayed by Keira Knightley, and as a child by Lucinda Dryzek in the movie's prologue. She is known to use the alias "Elizabeth Turner", but this later becomes her married name when she weds the character, Will Turner (played by Orlando Bloom).

Personality[link]

Elizabeth is a spirited, intelligent, and independent-minded character. Her beauty attracted the attention of several men including Will Turner, Hector Barbossa, Pintel and Ragetti, James Norrington, Sao Feng and Captain Jack Sparrow. Throughout the three films, she transforms from a proper lady into a courageous pirate. Piracy and life at sea have always fascinated Elizabeth, but she is revolted by pirates' aggressive, wild nature, especially Captain Jack Sparrow, who made his escape from Port Royal at her expense, though she is grateful to him for saving her life. Even after becoming a pirate, Elizabeth retains her refined manners and morals, as well as her loyalty and compassion for loved ones (including Will Turner, her father, and later, Jack Sparrow and James Norrington). All of the above men have either kissed Elizabeth Swann or she has kissed them, also while currently being in a relationship with another man.

Elizabeth adapted easily to piracy, for instance, learning swordsmanship from William. She was able to defend herself against multiple opponents and could fight using two swords simultaneously. Elizabeth has natural leadership abilities, learned seamanship quickly, and possesses an innate talent for battle strategy, having devised defensive and offensive maneuvers against her opponents. She later uses a Chinese Jian sword and is seen carrying a multitude of other weapons on her person including knives, firearms, and what appears to be a small grenade.

She also would often speak her mind even if it meant offending others; for example she called a potentially dangerous enemy, Sao Feng, a coward right to his face. That is why Sao Feng replied, “Elizabeth Swann…there is more to you than meets the eye, isn't there? And the eye…does not go wanting.” (2007) Elizabeth was a bit of a tomboy and was a brave and resourceful woman. During her brief reign as Pirate King, Elizabeth proved to be very charismatic and encouraged the Pirates to face off against Cutler Beckett's fleet which showed that she had a talent for leadership. However there was a darker side to Elizabeth's personality as shown when she handcuffed Jack Sparrow to the mast of the Black Pearl in order to give her and the others time to escape from the Kraken. However she felt extremely guilty for leaving Jack (though she told Jack that she was not sorry before leaving him to his doom) and was a member of the crew that went to rescue him from Davy Jones' Locker.

Appearance[link]

Following the film's prologue, the beautiful Elizabeth Swann is around 17 years-old , about 5' 7" tall with a slender figure, dark brown eyes, and light brown hair. Having been raised in upper-class society as a governor's daughter, Elizabeth is a refined and elegantly-coutoured young lady.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, she wears a dress style known as a Robe a L'Anglaise. As a young girl, she wears a blue dress in this style, and, eight years later, her father gives her a gold-colored frock to wear to Commodore Norrington's promotion ceremony. Elizabeth is kidnapped wearing only her long floral cream-colored dressing gown, though Captain Barbossa later provides her a red dress that previously belonged to another lady; she is forced to return it just before being marooned on a deserted island, clad only in a long white chemise. After being rescued by Commodore Norrington, Elizabeth is loaned a Royal Navy uniform, the first time she is seen wearing men's attire. At Jack Sparrow's execution, she is once again fashionably attired, wearing a peach-colored frock and a picture hat.

In Dead Man's Chest, as Elizabeth's character and circumstances change, so does her wardrobe. Although she is first seen in an elegant wedding gown and a long lace veil, Elizabeth later disguises herself as a cabin boy, wearing brown breeches, a white shirt, brown boots, a red waistcoat, a black belt, and a brown tricorne hat. She wears this garb throughout the film. Exposure to the sun tans her skin and lightens her hair.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Elizabeth first appears in Chinese peasant clothing and a coolie hat while paddling a small boat through Singapore's waters. She is forced to wear only a short robe upon entering Sao Feng's bathhouse. Later, Elizabeth wears a long armored coat while traveling. As a captive aboard Sao Feng's ship, Elizabeth has been dressed in a long red cheongsam, a sleeveless full-length blue overcoat (both probably silk), and a studded turquoise phoenix crown. Her hair is tied up in a high bun and secured with two sticks. Her crown soon falls off but she is seen with the chopstick bun for some time. She later dons a Chinese battle ballgown. During her one day on the island with Will, she is clad in a black tunic. In the scene set ten years later, she is wearing a long skirt and a double-breasted brocade waistcoat over a white puffy-sleeved shirt, probably cotton or linen.

Fictional biography[link]

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Throughout the trilogy, Elizabeth Swann is portrayed as a spirited, intelligent, and independent-minded character who often chafes at the restrictions her gender and social rank impose upon her. Early on in the first movie she is portrayed as someone who often fantasizes about pirates and life at sea. This fantasy may have been fueled somewhat by her association with another character, Will Turner, who twelve-year-old Elizabeth met when she and her father, Governor Weatherby Swann were en route to Port Royal eight years earlier. Will, also about eleven, was found adrift at sea, the sole survivor of a pirate attack. During his rescue, Elizabeth briefly glimpsed a mysterious ship slipping into the mist—a vessel foreshadowing her destiny.

The story continues eight years later, and Elizabeth is now a marriageable age. But in an era when matrimony is still a common means to forge strategic political alliances and advantageous social connections rather than happily-ever-after unions, she is expected to wed a respectable and prosperous man equal or superior to her in rank. Elizabeth prefers to marry for love, however, and it appears that she secretly harbors feelings for Will Turner. But Will, a common blacksmith, is an unsuitable match for such a well-born lady. And though Will loves Elizabeth, he knows his place and keeps his feelings deeply hidden. Governor Swann, meanwhile, desires that his daughter marry Commodore James Norrington, a respected Royal Navy officer who Elizabeth admires but does not love. Ironically, it is Norrington who sets events into motion that not only alter Elizabeth's fate, but also his own and Will's. During Norrington's marriage proposal, Elizabeth, whose tightly-laced corset nearly suffocates her, faints and falls off a rampart and into the bay. Her unlikely rescuer, and the catalyst for her transformation from a demure lady into a daring pirate, is the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow, newly arrived in Port Royal to commandeer a ship. Despite Sparrow's gallant actions and against Elizabeth's protests, he is promptly jailed for piracy and sentenced to hang. That night, a pirate ship, the Black Pearl, raids Port Royal. It is the same ship Elizabeth spied in the fog eight years earlier. She is kidnapped because she possesses Will's gold medallion that she took after his rescue, fearing it marked him as a pirate. Invoking parley, Elizabeth negotiates with Captain Barbossa to leave Port Royal in exchange for the coin. He agrees but keeps her captive on a technicality after she identifies herself as Elizabeth "Turner", mistakenly believing her blood can break an ancient Aztec curse the pirates are under. Their true forms — immortal skeletons —can only be seen in moonlight.

It is Will's love for Elizabeth that motivates his actions and helps drive the story; he will do anything to save her, including piracy. And though the peaceful and law-abiding Will despises pirates and distrusts Sparrow, he frees him, knowing only Sparrow can locate Isla de Muerta, the secret island where Elizabeth is being held. Will is unaware, however, that Jack Sparrow is the Black Pearl's former captain or that he has an ulterior motive for helping him: Turner blood and the gold medallion can break the Aztec curse—Sparrow intends to barter Will to Barbossa in exchange for the Black Pearl.

When Will and Elizabeth escape Isla de Muerta, Barbossa pursues and captures their ship, sinking it. Will and the crew are thrown in the Pearl's brig, while Elizabeth and Sparrow are marooned on a deserted island. Elizabeth's feisty, self-sufficient nature propels her into taking action for their rescue by burning a cache of smugglers' rum. The towering smoke column is spotted by Commodore Norrington aboard Dauntless. To rescue Will, Elizabeth convinces Norrington to attack Isla de Muerta by impulsively accepting his previous marriage proposal. The commodore doubts her sincerity, though Elizabeth apparently intends to honor her promise, sacrificing her own happiness to save Will. She says nothing about the curse while Sparrow provides the bearings to Isla de Muerta, setting his own plan into motion.

At Isla de Muerta, Elizabeth frees Sparrow's crew from the Pearl's brig, naively believing they will rescue Will and Sparrow. Abiding by the pirate code that, "any man who falls behind, is left behind," they instead commandeer the Black Pearl and set sail, leaving a disgusted Elizabeth to rescue Will and Sparrow alone. As the navy battles the pirates, Sparrow duels Barbossa inside the treasure cave, while Elizabeth joins Will in fighting the remaining cursed crew. Sparrow fatally shoots Barbossa, who, upon reverting to mortal form as the curse is lifted, falls dead. The surviving now-mortal pirates surrender. Will, Elizabeth, and Sparrow are rescued, although Sparrow is later condemned to hang.

In Port Royal, Elizabeth attends Sparrow's execution. Will, who has been pardoned, approaches and proclaims his love for her before attempting to rescue Sparrow. Will frees Sparrow, but they are quickly captured, though Norrington and Governor Swann are reluctant to arrest Will or resume Sparrow's execution. Elizabeth intervenes and declares her love for Will. Norrington releases Will and concedes Elizabeth's hand to him. Sparrow, meanwhile, falls off the rampart and into the bay just as the Black Pearl sails into view. He is hauled aboard, captain once again. Apparently impressed by the wily pirate, Norrington allows the Black Pearl one day's head start before giving chase.

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Elizabeth is seen a year later just before her and Will's wedding ceremony. Arriving at the altar, she sees Lord Cutler Beckett and the British Navy with Will shackled in irons. Elizabeth and Will are charged with aiding Sparrow’s escape; the punishment is death. Former Commodore James Norrington is also implicated, although he has since resigned his commission and disappeared. Lord Beckett offers clemency if Will agrees to search for Jack Sparrow and bring back his compass. Beckett, a ruthless East India Trading Company agent, is extending the company's monopolistic stronghold over the entire Caribbean. Honest merchants and traders are forced to pay exorbitant fees and surcharges to ply their goods in EITC-controlled ports, an action amounting to little more than legal piracy. With Jack's compass, Becket can eradicate all pirates, thus securing and expanding the company's territory and increasing its profits while consolidating his own power and wealth. Beckett implies he has a personal score to settle with Jack Sparrow, though it is never revealed in the series what this is, however it is revealed that Beckett was the person who "marked" Jack for piracy.

Once again, Elizabeth's freedom is dependent upon Will procuring Jack Sparrow's help. Will finally locates Jack and the Black Pearl crew on Pelegosto hiding from the Kraken, a voracious leviathan controlled by Davy Jones, the mythical captain of the Flying Dutchman and ruler of the seas. Jones is hunting Sparrow to collect a blood debt, while Jack has been searching for the Dead Man's Chest containing Jones' beating heart. Whoever possesses the heart, controls Davy Jones and the oceans. Unfortunately, Jack’s magic compass seems to fail him, though it may be pointing to something he unknowingly desires more than the Dead Man's Chest.

When Elizabeth escapes jail and discovers Beckett is only pardoning Sparrow, she confronts Beckett at gunpoint, forcing him to validate a Letters of Marque to free Will. Disguised as a cabin boy, Elizabeth tricks a merchant crew into making port in Tortuga. She jumps ship and encounters Sparrow and Gibbs in a pub recruiting sailors to pay off Jack's debt to Davy Jones, who demands one hundred souls in exchange for Jack's. Another man applies — James Norrington, now a disgraced, drunken wretch. Blaming Sparrow for his ruin, Norrington attempts to shoot him, igniting a brawl, but Elizabeth knocks him out. At the pier, Jack claims Will was press ganged into Davy Jones' crew, insisting he was blameless; Norrington is sceptical, but Elizabeth places her faith in Jack when he tells her she can save Will by finding the Dead Man's Chest. Using his magical compass, she gets a bearing.

On Isla Cruces, Jack, Elizabeth, and Norrington find the Dead Man's Chest. When Will arrives with Davy Jones' stolen key, Elizabeth learns that Jack tricked Will onto the Dutchman. A conflict erupts: Will wants to kill Jones by stabbing the heart, freeing his father from Jones' servitude; Jack fears the Kraken will continue hunting him if Jones is dead; Norrington plots to barter back his naval career. As a three-way duel erupts, Jones' crewmen arrive. Jack obtains the key and opens the chest, but it is Norrington who ultimately escapes with the heart and the Letters of Marque.

The Black Pearl outruns the pursuing Flying Dutchman. Undeterred, Jones summons the Kraken, but the crew temporarily fight it off. To save himself, Jack escapes in the only remaining longboat, prompting Elizabeth to brand him a coward. But as Elizabeth once predicted, Jack, unable to desert his crew, heroically returns to rescue them, reaffirming her faith in him. During the Kraken's brief retreat, Jack orders all hands to abandon ship. Realizing Jack is the Kraken's sole target, Elizabeth distracts him with a passionate kiss while handcuffing him to the mast. Though she claims she has no regrets, her overwhelming guilt belies her true feelings. She tells the others Jack stayed behind to aid their escape, unaware Will witnessed their encounter. The Kraken returns for its final assault, dragging the Pearl and Jack Sparrow to the Locker. It is during this final battle that Jack's and Elizabeth's contrasting, yet also similar, underlying characters emerge: Jack shows heroism and loyalty by returning to the ship to save his crew; Elizabeth becomes more pirate-like to save herself and the crew. Even Jack acknowledges this when he calls her "pirate" in an almost admiring tone, as if praising her cleverness and heralding her passage into his realm.

Norrington arrives in Port Royal and presents the heart and the Letters of Marque to Cutler Beckett in a bid to reclaim his commission. Meanwhile, Will, Elizabeth, and the grieving crew make their way upriver to Tia Dalma, the voodoo priestess who helped Jack find the Dead Man's Chest. As the crew drink a somber toast to their fallen captain, Elizabeth is wracked with guilt over secretly sacrificing Jack to the Kraken. This causes Will to mistakenly believe that Elizabeth loves Jack, and he despondently comforts her, prompting Tia Dalma to ask if they are willing to rescue Jack and the Pearl from Davy Jones' Locker. When all say, "aye," Dalma says they will need a captain who knows those waters. Incredibly, a very alive Captain Barbossa descends the stairs.

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa, and seven other pirate lords have been summoned to a Brethren Court at Shipwreck Island to address Lord Beckett's assault on piracy. Jack, eternally imprisoned aboard the Black Pearl in Davy Jones' Locker, lacks a successor and possesses one of the nine "pieces of eight" that each pirate lord carries and must bring to the meeting; Jack must attend. Elizabeth joins Will Turner, Captain Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and Sparrow's crew on a rescue mission, but they must first obtain a navigational chart leading to World's End, the gateway to the Locker. Each character also has a self-serving motive for retrieving Jack, and, to succeed, must maintain an uneasy alliance despite distrusting one another. For Elizabeth, it is an opportunity to alleviate her guilt for sacrificing Jack to the Kraken to spare herself and the crew.

In Singapore, Sao Feng, the Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, provides the chart and a ship, but Will negotiates a secret accord with Feng: Jack Sparrow in exchange for the Black Pearl. Unknown to Will, Elizabeth's lingering anguish over causing Jack's demise torments her, and during the voyage to World's End and Davy Jones Locker, she distances herself from Will. Though she claims everything will eventually be alright between them, her assurance seems uncertain and forced, leaving Will troubled and doubting her love for him. It is only when Will learns that Elizabeth sacrificed Jack to the Kraken that he comprehends her despair, though not why she concealed her actions. When Will confronts her, she says it was her burden to bear, though her secrecy has deeply wounded Will. If she makes choices alone, he asks, and they are unable to trust one another, then how can their relationship survive? Though Elizabeth apparently still cares for Will, her pain and guilt are unabated, and she despondently responds that he cannot trust her, and abruptly leaves. Their future together may be jeopardized if these issues remain unresolved. Meanwhile, as Jack and Barbossa squabble over who is the Black Pearl's captain, the crew navigate their way back to the living world. Before escaping the Locker, Elizabeth sees her father's soul being ferried to the "next world," murdered by Cutler Beckett; she vows to avenge his death.

After returning to the living world, Will's clandestine bargain with Sao Feng is exposed. But Feng has already betrayed Will for another deal with Beckett. While Elizabeth may understand that Will's motive is to rescue his father, she does not believe it justifies double-crossing the Pearl's crew. When she insists he explain why he withheld this, Will retorts that it was his, "burden to bear." When Feng demands Elizabeth in exchange for the Pearl, she agrees in order to protect the crew. Elizabeth ignores Will's protests, telling him, "You got us into this mess. If this is what frees us, then done!" As their rift widens, Will, secretly torn between saving his father and being with Elizabeth, fears she is slipping away. He laments later to Sparrow, "I'm losing her Jack."

When Jones attacks the Empress, Feng, mortally wounded, hands over his "piece of eight" to Elizabeth and names her as captain and Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, mistakenly believing she is the sea goddess, Calypso. Elizabeth and her new crew are taken prisoner aboard the Flying Dutchman where she is reunited with Admiral Norrington, who is overjoyed she is alive. Elizabeth is hostile, however, accusing him of complicity in her father's murder, though Norrington denies knowing anything about the governor's death, and believed he returned to England. Elizabeth, hardly appeased, rebukes him for serving Lord Beckett, the man who ordered her father's murder. In the brig, Elizabeth encounters "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, who is gradually being absorbed into the ship's hull, losing his senses. He says Will cannot save both Elizabeth and himself—he will only choose her. Elizabeth finally understands Will's terrible dilemma and his motives: he must sacrifice one to save the other. That night, Norrington, shamed by his past deeds, frees Elizabeth and the crew. Elizabeth forgives Norrington, who again swears he was uninvolved in her father's death. She implores him to go with them, but he refuses to leave the ship. As she flees, he gives her one last kiss, saying, "Our fates have been entwined, Elizabeth, but never joined" hence acknowledging that they were never meant to be together. As Elizabeth and her crew escape to the towed Empress, "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, his mind addled by Jones' cruel punishment, sounds an alarm and fatally stabs Norrington as he attempts to hold Bootstrap off. Elizabeth witnesses his murder and cries "James!"

The Black Pearl and the Empress race to Shipwreck Island for the Brethren Court. The pirate lords dispute how to oppose Beckett and the East India Trading Company; Elizabeth favors fighting while the Court prefers sequestering themselves inside the impenetrable Shipwreck Cove. This causes Sparrow to predict that confining themselves would likely result in them mass murdering each other. Jack unexpectedly breaks a stalemate to elect a pirate king by casting his ballot for Elizabeth; going to battle serves his own secret plan. "King" Elizabeth declares war. During a parley session with Beckett and Jones, Elizabeth tells the captive Will that having been aboard the Dutchman, she now understands his burden, but fears that course (saving his father) is lost, though Will disagrees. Jack is exchanged for Will.

Whether Elizabeth's decision to declare war is brilliant or rash, her actions reflect her daring and bravery. As Beckett's fleet looms upon the horizon, Elizabeth, refusing to surrender or retreat, delivers a rousing speech. During the climatic sea battle, Will proposes to Elizabeth, claiming it may be their only chance to wed; Realizing how much she loves Will, Elizabeth orders Barbossa to marry them amidst the fighting. As the Pearl and the Dutchman clash, Elizabeth and Will board Jones' ship. When Jones mortally wounds Will, Jack relinquishes his bid for immortality to instead save Will, killing Jones. "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, having regained his senses, carves out his dead son's heart and places it in the Dead Man's Chest. Jack forces the grief-stricken Elizabeth to escape the ship with him as the Dutchman is sucked into the massive whirlpool. The ship quickly resurfaces with the resurrected Captain Will Turner at the helm and the crew restored to human form. With the Flying Dutchman now their ally, the pirates destroy Cutler Beckett's flagship Endeavour, killing him, and causing the navy to retreat, thus ending the war.

Elizabeth bids Jack, Barbossa, and the pirates farewell before reuniting with Will for their "one day" on a deserted island where their marriage is consummated. Before returning to the Flying Dutchman at sunset for his ten years in the Netherworld, Will gives Elizabeth the Dead Man's Chest containing his beating heart for safekeeping. In a post-credits scene set ten years later, Elizabeth and Will's son, William "Will" Turner III, stand atop a cliff searching the horizon. As the sun sets, the Flying Dutchman appears with the Green Flash, Captain Will Turner aboard. While film dialogue and the leaflet inside the special edition 2-Disc DVD state that any captain of the Flying Dutchman is eternally bound to the ship, and may only step on land once every ten years, the writers have confirmed that Will would be free from his duties as captain, and can return to his family if Elizabeth had remained faithful to him. She has, and they are reunited.

Character development[link]

According to actress Keira Knightley, Swann is "a 21st century girl trapped in an 18th century world. She . . . starts out as a damsel in distress and then kicks butt, so what's not to like?" While she appreciates her role, she was disappointed that her character did not carry a sword in The Black Pearl: "I didn't have a sword. Am I angry about that? Yes, very! ... I asked every single day, anyone I could ask, if I could have a sword but I didn't get one."^[1] In the sequel Dead Man's Chest, she added that, "we went off into a grungier look for her. That was really exciting actually, to take the character and make her grow up... I think they really liked the more action-based side of Elizabeth from the first film and apparently that's what little girls really responded to, so they decided to take her off in that direction".^[2] She adds she was relieved to finally be able to brandish a sword, although according to Knightley, most of her swordfighting scenes were cut.^[2] Knightley also stated how glad she was that by At World's End, she was finally able to shed the elaborate dresses and only wear pirate's clothing: "Actually I am really glad, it's so hot in there it is unbelievable, and everybody else has got their proper pirate stuff on and I am a little less dressed than everyone else and I am very glad, so that's good. The rest of the time I've got kind of the Pirate look instead of the corset and frilly dresses."^[3]

Behind-the-scenes footage included on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Dead Man's Chest reveals that Knightley wore wigs when playing Elizabeth in that film, as her real hair had been cropped short at the time (she is shown rehearsing numerous scenes sans wig in several production featurettes)

For the toyline for At World's End a Action figure was made for Elizabeth Swann.[1]

Other appearances[link]

Elizabeth Swann appears in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, Port Royal, of the Disney/Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts II, voiced by Eliza Schneider in the English version (like the other original actors, Keira Knightley was unavailable due to filming Dead Man's Chest and At World's End) and by Saori Yumiba in the Japanese version. Schneider also performs the voice of Elizabeth Swann again in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow and in the video game adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The character also appears in Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Elizabeth Swann at the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki

Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, portrayed by Johnny Depp. He is first introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). He later appears in the sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), and On Stranger Tides (2011). Jack Sparrow was originally conceived as a supporting character. He was brought to life by the actor Johnny Depp, who based his characterization on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew. He tends to become rather frustrated whenever someone pronounces his name without the term "Captain".

The series Pirates of the Caribbean was inspired by a Disney theme park ride, and in 2006, when the ride was revamped, the character of Jack Sparrow was introduced to it. Jack Sparrow is also the subject of a children's book series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, which chronicles his teenage years and the character has also appeared in numerous video games.

In the context of the films, Sparrow is one of the Brethren Court, the Pirate Lords of the Seven Seas. He can be treacherous and survives mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons or force, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary. Sparrow is introduced seeking to regain his ship, the Black Pearl, from his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa, and attempts to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones while battling the East India Trading Company.

Films[link]

[edit] The Curse of the Black Pearl

Captain Jack Sparrow first appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he arrives in Port Royal looking to commandeer a ship. Despite rescuing Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce) from drowning, he is jailed for piracy. That night, a cursed ship called the Black Pearl attacks Port Royal, capturing Elizabeth in the process. Its captain, Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), is trying desperately to break an ancient Aztec curse that he and the crew are under. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith who loves Elizabeth, frees Sparrow to aid him in rescuing her. They steal the HMS Interceptor and acquire a crew in Tortuga before heading to Isla de Muerta, where Elizabeth is being held captive. Along the way, Will learns that Sparrow was originally captain of the Pearl, but Barbossa posed as his first mate in order to steal the ship from him – eventually leaving him marooned on a desert island eight years ago. While attempting to infiltrate Isla de Muerta, they are quickly captured, and Barbossa maroons both Sparrow and Elizabeth on the same deserted island where he left Jack years ago.

The pair are rescued by the British Royal Navy, after Elizabeth uses some rum found on the island to send off a smoke bomb signal. In order to escape hanging, Sparrow cuts a deal to deliver them the Black Pearl. During the film's final battle at Isla de Muerta, Sparrow steals a cursed coin, making himself immortal so he can fight Barbossa. He shoots his rival with the same bullet he has carried for ten years just as Will breaks the curse, killing Barbossa. Sparrow is captured and later sentenced to death.

At his scheduled execution in Port Royal, Will comes to his rescue, but they are quickly caught. Right at that moment Elizabeth shows her love for Will, and he is pardoned, while Sparrow escapes by falling off the sea wall. He is rescued by the Black Pearl crew, and made captain once more. Apparently impressed by the clever pirate, Commodore James Norrington (Jack Davenport) allows him one day's head start before giving chase.^[2]

[edit] Dead Man's Chest

In the sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Sparrow searches for the Dead Man's Chest, which will help him to "control" the seas and save himself: thirteen years earlier, Sparrow bartered his soul to Captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in return for Jones raising the sunken Black Pearl and making Sparrow captain. In the film, Sparrow must either serve for one hundred years aboard the Flying Dutchman, or be taken by the Kraken to Davy Jones's Locker.

The Dead Man's Chest contains Jones's heart, which Sparrow can use as leverage against Jones and end his debt. Adding to Sparrow's woes, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company wants to settle his own debt with Sparrow and forces Will Turner to search for him. Will finds Sparrow and his crew hiding from the Kraken on Pelegosto, where they have been captured by cannibals. They escape, but Davy Jones captures them and demands that Jack pay his debt. Jack argues that he was captain for only two years before he was mutinied by Barbossa, but Jones rejects his argument, stating that he's been calling himself "Captain" Jack Sparrow for the allotted years.

Sparrow betrays Will to Davy Jones as part of a new deal to deliver 100 souls in exchange for his own. Sparrow recruits sailors in Tortuga, where he unexpectedly encounters Elizabeth and the disgraced James Norrington, who has turned to alcohol. Convincing Elizabeth that she can free Will by finding the Chest, Sparrow and she head for Isla Cruces after she pinpoints its location with Jack's magic compass. Will also arrives, having escaped Jones's ship after stealing the key to the Chest. Will wants to stab the heart and free his father who is in Jones's service, while Norrington—who has discovered that Lord Cutler Beckett desires the heart in order to control Davy Jones and the seas—hopes to regain his career and honor by delivering the heart to Beckett. Sparrow fears that if Jones is dead, the Kraken will continue hunting him, and wants the heart as leverage.

Jones' crew arrives, and during the ensuing battle, Norrington steals the heart. Jones summons the Kraken to attack the Black Pearl. After seeing his crew get attacked by the Kraken, Jack tries to escape in the last undamaged longboat, but just as he nears an island, he is struck with remorse at abandoning his crew, and goes back to help rescue them. Once there, he helps blow up the kraken before sadly giving orders to abandon the ship; when Gibbs asks if he is sure that he wants to leave his ship behind to the Kraken, he replies, "She's only a ship, mate."

Realizing that the Kraken only wants Sparrow, Elizabeth tricks him by giving him a passionate kiss while chaining him to the mast to save the crew, with Jack looking on smirking, he calls her a pirate. The Kraken then arrives, spitting out Jack's hat, which he had lost earlier. Jack, having freed himself, resigns himself to his fate and charges the beast's mouth muttering, " 'Ello beastie." Sparrow and the ship are dragged down to Davy Jones's Locker. The crew seeks solace at the home of Tia Dalma, who surprises them by offering a captain who can help rescue Sparrow: Barbossa, brought back to life at her doing.^[3]

[edit] At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens with Davy Jones's heart now in Beckett's possession, and the nine pirate lords of the Brethren Court are summoned to convene at Shipwreck Cove to combat the combined threat of Beckett and Jones. Though taken to Davy Jones's Locker at the end of the previous film, Sparrow, who is a Pirate Lord of the Caribbean, must attend the meeting, as he failed to bequeath his "piece of eight", a pirate lord's identification marker, to an heir. The collective "pieces of eight" can free the sea goddess Calypso. A resurrected Barbossa leads Sparrow's crew to Davy Jones's Locker using the Singaporean pirate lord Sao Feng (Chow Yun-fat)'s navigational charts. There Sparrow has been hallucinating an entire crew of himself, each member representing a facet of his personality. After Barbossa and the crew find him, Sparrow deciphers a clue on the charts that indicates (in a clever nod to the Fata Morgana mirages attributed to the real life legend of the Flying Dutchman) they must capsize the Black Pearl to escape the Locker; at sunset, the ship upturns back into the living world. Sparrow and Barbossa journey to the Brethren Court where they encounter Elizabeth, who was traded to Sao Feng, and was made a Pirate Lord by him just before he died. At the Brethren Court, she is elected "Pirate King" after Sparrow breaks a stalemate (in all previous meetings except the first, Pirate Lords had always voted for themselves). During parley, he is traded for Will, who was captured by Jones and Beckett after Sparrow sent him overboard on the Black Pearl. The Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman face off in battle during a maelstrom created by Calypso, during which Sparrow steals Davy Jones's heart to become immortal. During the act Jones breaks Jack's cutlass. When Jones mortally wounds Will, Sparrow instead saves Will by helping him stab the heart with his own broken sword, killing Jones and making Will the Flying Dutchman's new captain. Together, the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman destroy Beckett's ship. At the end of the film Barbossa again commandeers the Black Pearl and Feng's charts, and maroons Sparrow and Mr. Gibbs in Tortuga. Fortunately, Jack has already removed the chart's center, and he sets sail in a dinghy, using his compass and the chart to guide him to the Fountain of Youth.^[4]

[edit] On Stranger Tides

After reaching a dead end in his search for the Fountain of Youth, Jack Sparrow makes his way to London, where he hears of someone going by his name to gather a crew. Along the way, Sparrow poses as a judge to save the convicted Gibbs before being captured by the Royal Guards and summoned to an audience with King George the Second and Captain Hector Barbossa of the Royal Navy. By then, Jack Sparrow crosses paths with his impostor, revealed to be an old flame named Angelica (Penélope Cruz) who shanghaies him to the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the horrific Blackbeard (Ian McShane) who forces Jack to help him reach the Fountain of Youth. Learning the full story behind it, Jack attempts to set up Blackbeard's demise and save the naive Angelica from her father. After some trouble with mermaids and the Spanish Navy, he succeeds by tricking Blackbeard into giving up his life to save Angelica. Jack and Angelica admit their love for one another, but Jack maroons Angelica on a stranded island, knowing that she will probably want to avenge her father's death. He then has Gibbs retrieve the shrunken Black Pearl in the hopes of finding a way to restore it to regular size. When asked about giving up his chance for immortality, Jack answers that immortality is not everything, though he admits making a name for himself as the one who found the Fountain is good enough immortality at the moment. After the credits in the film, the voodoo doll of Jack is seen drifting at sea towards the island Sparrow stranded Angelica on.^[5]

Tie-ins[link]

Outside films, Jack Sparrow first appeared as a companion character in the 2006 video game Kingdom Hearts II, where he was voiced by James Arnold Taylor in the English version and Hiroaki Hirata (who also dubbed Sparrow in the film's Japanese dubs) in the Japanese version. Sparrow has since appeared in other video games, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow where he was voiced by Johnny Depp, the adaptation of Dead Man's Chest and various game versions of At World's End, where he was voiced by Jared Butler with motion capture movements provided by Johnny Paton. The character was also voiced by Jared Butler in Pirates of the Caribbean Online, which takes place before the films.

Sparrow's backstory in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide indicates he was born on a pirate ship during a typhoon in the Indian Ocean, and that he was trained to fence by an Italian.^[6] Rob Kidd wrote an ongoing book series entitled Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, following a teenage Sparrow and his crew on the Barnacle as they battle sirens, mermaids and adult pirates while looking for various treasures. The first book, The Coming Storm, was published on 1 June 2006. In 2011, Ann C. Crispin wrote a novel Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom about Jack's adventures when he worked as a merchant captain for the East India Trading Company.

A parody of him called Jack Swallows, was featured in the film Epic Movie played by Darrell Hammond

On Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg and the rest of The Lonely Island collaborated with Michael Bolton in a Digital Short called "Jack Sparrow" about Bolton's obsession with the "Pirates" movies. In it Bolton dresses up as Jack Sparrow and the character is mentioned several times in the verses.

On the TV Show So Random! the show players of the name Jack Sparrow making Sparrow a bird in a recurring skit. He is played by Shayne Topp. The impression has become one of Topp's signature skits on the show.

Concept and creation[link]

Character creation[link]

When writing the screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio envisioned Jack Sparrow as a supporting character, citing Bugs Bunny and Groucho Marx as influences.^[7] The producers saw him as a young Burt Lancaster.^[8] Director Gore Verbinski admitted, "The first film was a movie, and then Jack was put into it almost. He doesn't have the obligations of the plot in the same ways that the other characters have. He meanders his way through, and he kind of affects everybody else."^[9] Sparrow represents an ethical pirate, with Captain Barbossa as his corrupt foil.^[7] His true motives usually remain masked, and whether he is honorable or evil depends on the audience's perspective.^[10] This acts as part of Will Turner's arc, in which Sparrow tells him a pirate can be a good man, like his father.^[7]

Following the success of The Curse of the Black Pearl, the challenge to creating a sequel was, according to Verbinski, "You don't want just the Jack Sparrow movie. It's like having a garlic milkshake. He's the spice and you need a lot of straight men ... Let's not give them too much Jack. It's like too much dessert or too much of a good thing."^[9] Although Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was written to propel the trilogy's plot,^[11] Sparrow's state-of-mind as he is pursued by Davy Jones becomes increasingly edgy, and the writers concocted the cannibal sequence to show that he was in danger whether on land or at sea. Sparrow is also perplexed over his attraction to Elizabeth Swann, and attempts to justify it throughout the film.^[12]

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was meant to return it tonally to a character piece. Sparrow, in particular, is tinged with madness after extended solitary confinement in Davy Jones's Locker,^[11] and now desires immortality.^[13] Sparrow struggles with what it takes to be a moral person,^[14] after his honest streak caused his doom in the second film. This is mainly shown by his increasingly erratic behaviour and Jack's hallucinations which appeared to be simply his deranged mind in the beginning where dozens of "Jack Sparrows" appeared to crew the ship in his solitary exile, but later the hallucinations grew more important and there were mainly two "Jacks" constantly arguing about which path to follow: the immortality or the mortality. The last hallucination took place while Jack was imprisoned on the Dutchman where his honest streak won (possibly due to not liking his sea creature-like "future" which comedically dropped his brain and searched for it around the Brig.^[15]By the end of At World's End Sparrow is sailing to the Fountain of Youth, an early concept for the second film.^[16] Rossio has said they may write the screenplay for a fourth film,^[17] and producer Jerry Bruckheimer has expressed interest in a spin-off.^[18] Gore Verbinski concurred that "all of the stories set in motion by the first film have been resolved. If there ever were another Pirates of the Caribbean film, I would start fresh and focus on the further adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow."^[19]

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was first announced on 28 September 2008 during a Disney event at the Kodak Theater. On 11 September 2009 the title of the film was officially announced. Gore Verbinski did not return to direct the fourth installment, and is instead directed by Rob Marshall. The movie uses elements from Tim Powers novel On Stranger Tides, particularly Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth but the film is not a straight adaptation of the novel.^[20]

Johnny Depp[link]

Depp with a 'goatee' similar to the one seen in the films

Johnny Depp was looking to do a family film in 2001, and was visiting the Walt Disney Studios when he heard there were plans to adapt the Pirates of the Caribbean ride into a film. Depp was excited by the possibility of reviving an old Hollywood genre,^[8] and was further delighted that the script met his quirky sensibilities: the crew of the Black Pearl were not searching for treasure, but were instead trying to return it to lift their curse. In addition, the traditional mutiny had already occurred.^[21] Depp was cast on 10 June 2002.^[22] Producer Jerry Bruckheimer felt Depp was "an edgy actor who will kind of counter the Disney Country Bears soft quality and tell an audience that an adult and teenager can go see this and have a good time with it."^[23]

At the first read-through, Depp surprised the cast and crew by portraying the character in an off-kilter manner.^[24] After researching 18th century pirates, Depp compared them to modern rock stars and decided to base his performance on Keith Richards.^[23] Verbinski and Bruckheimer had confidence in Depp, partly because Orlando Bloom would be playing the traditional Errol Flynn-type character.^[21] Depp also improvised the film's final line, "Now, bring me that horizon", which is the writer's favorite line.^[24] Disney executives were initially confused by Depp's performance, asking him whether the character was drunk or gay. Michael Eisner even proclaimed while watching rushes, "He's ruining the film!"^[24] Depp responded, "Look, these are the choices I made. You know my work. So either trust me or give me the boot."^[23] Many industry insiders also questioned Depp's casting, as he was an unconventional actor not known for working within the traditional studio system.^[25]

Depp's performance was highly acclaimed by film critics. Alan Morrison found it "Gloriously over-the-top ... In terms of physical precision and verbal delivery, it's a master-class in comedy acting."^[26] Roger Ebert also found his performance "original in its every atom. There has never been a pirate, or for that matter a human being, like this in any other movie ... his behavior shows a lifetime of rehearsal." Ebert also praised Depp for drawing away from the way the character was written.^[27] Although he disliked the film, critic Kenneth Turan enjoyed Depp's performance,^[28] but Mark Kermode wrote it was some of Depp's "worst work to date ... under [director Gore Verbinski]'s slack direction Depp defaults to an untrammelled showiness not seen since the sub-Buster Keaton antics of Benny & Joon."^[29] Depp won a Screen Actor's Guild award for his performance, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe^[30] and the Academy Award for Best Actor, the first in his career.^[31] Film School Rejects argued that because of the film, Depp became as much a movie star as he was a character actor.^[32]

Johnny Depp returned as Jack Sparrow in 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the first time the actor ever made a sequel.^[24] Drew McWeeny noted, "Remember how cool Han Solo was in Star Wars the first time you saw it? And then remember how much cooler he seemed when Empire came out? This is that big a jump."^[33] Yet, Eric Vespe felt that "In the first movie he was playing a fool that was hiding a great pirate on the inside and in this one he's a great pirate hiding a cowardly fool."^[34] By At World's End, Peter Travers felt it proved "there can indeed be too much of a good thing."^[35] Nonetheless, Depp received an MTV Movie Award^[36] and a Teen Choice Award for Dead Man's Chest, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe, which he lost to Sacha Baron Cohen for his portrayal of Borat Sagdiev in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Depp was also nominated at the 2007 Empire Awards for best actor but lost to Daniel Craig for Casino Royale.^[37] For his performance in At World's End, Depp won an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance, as well as a People's Choice Award and a Kids' Choice Award. He has signed on to reprise the role for future sequels.^[38]

Make-up and costumes[link]

Johnny Depp wore a wig to portray Sparrow's dreadlocks, an aesthetic influenced by Depp's rock n' roll approach to pirates.^[39] In addition to a red bandanna Sparrow wears numerous objects in his hair, influenced by Keith Richards' habit of collecting souvenirs from his travels;^[40] Sparrow's decorations include his "piece of eight".^[4] Sparrow wears kohl around his eyes, which was inspired by Depp's study of nomads, whom he compared to pirates,^[41] and Depp also wore contacts that acted as sunglasses.^[42] Sparrow has several gold teeth, two of which belong to Depp,^[43] although they were applied during filming. Depp forgot to have them removed after shooting The Curse of the Black Pearl,^[44] and decided to keep them throughout shooting of the sequels.^[8] Like all aspects of Depp's performance, Disney initially expressed great concern over Depp's teeth.^[12] Sparrow wears his goatee in two braids. Initially wire was used in them, but the wires were abandoned because they made the braids stick up when Depp lay down.^[45] Sparrow also has numerous tattoos,^[4] and has been branded a pirate on his right arm by Cutler Beckett,^[3] underneath a tattoo of a sparrow.^[2] In At World's End, one of the "Jack" incarnations is working stripped to the waist, and a full body tattoo of the poem Desiderata is clearly seen.

Depp collaborated with costume designer Penny Rose on his character's appearance, handpicking a tricorne as Sparrow's signature leather hat: the other characters in the series could not wear leather hats, to make Sparrow's unique. For the scene when it floats on water in Dead Man's Chest, a rubber version was used.^[46] Depp liked to stick to one costume, wearing one lightweight silk tweed frock coat throughout the series,^[47] and he had to be coaxed out of wearing his boots for a version without a sole or heel in beach scenes.^[48] The official line is that none of the costumes from The Curse of the Black Pearl survived, which allowed the opportunity to create tougher linen shirts for stunts.^[49] However, one remains which has been displayed in an exhibition of screen costumes in Worcester, England.^[50] It was a nightmare for Rose to track down the same makers of Sparrow's sash in Turkey. Rose did not want to silkscreen it, as the homewoven piece had the correct worn feel.^[51] Sparrow wears an additional belt in the sequels, because Depp liked a new buckle which did not fit with the original piece.^[52]

Sparrow's weapons are genuine 18th century pieces: his sword dates to the 1740s, while his pistol is from the 1760s. Both were made in London.^[42][53] Depp used two pistols on set, one being rubber. Both props survived after production of the first film.^[54] Sparrow's magic compass also survived into the sequels, though director Gore Verbinski had a red arrow added to the dial as it became a more prominent prop. As it does not act like a normal compass, a magnet was used to make it spin.^[55] Sparrow wears four rings, two of which belong to Depp. Depp bought the green ring in 1989, and the gold ring is a replica of a 2400-year old ring Depp gave to the crew, though the original was later stolen. The other two are props to which Depp gave backstories: the gold-and-black ring is stolen from a Spanish widow Sparrow seduced, and the green dragon ring recalls his adventures in the Far East.^[56] Among Depp's additional ideas was the necklace made of human toes that Sparrow wears as the Pelegosto prepare to eat him,^[57] and the sceptre was based on one a friend of Depp's owned.^[58]

During the course of the trilogy, Sparrow undergoes physical transformations. In The Curse of the Black Pearl Sparrow curses himself to battle the undead Barbossa. Like all the actors playing the Black Pearl crew, Depp had to shoot scenes in costume as a reference for the animators, and his shots as a skeleton were shot again without him. Depp reprised the scene again on a motion capture stage.^[42] In At World's End, Sparrow hallucinates a version of himself as a member of Davy Jones's crew, adhered to a wall and encrusted with barnacles. Director Gore Verbinski oversaw that the design retained Sparrow's distinctive look,^[59] and rejected initial designs which portrayed him as over 100 years old.^[60]

Characterization[link]

According to screen writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Sparrow is a trickster who uses wit and deceit to attain his goals, preferring to end disputes verbally instead of by force.^[61]He walks with a slightly drunken swagger and has slurred speech and flailing hand gestures, which are slightly based on Tuco, from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.^[7] 

Although Barbossa does not respect him much, as evidenced by naming his monkey Jack, Sparrow is shrewd, calculating and intelligent. He fools Commodore Norrington and his entire crew to set sail on the royal ship Interceptor, which compels the admiration of Lieutenant Groves (Greg Ellis) as he concedes: 'That's got to be the best pirate I have ever seen'. Norrington himself acquiesces to this praise: 'So it would seem', in sharp contrast to what he had previously proclaimed: 'You are without doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of'. In the third film, while he leaves Beckett's ship stranded and makes off, Lieutenant Groves asks him: "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?".^[4]It was he who deciphered the seemingly unintelligible map in the same film while the others were still grappling with the problem of returning to the real world. When the Brethren Court convenes but the pirate lords fail to reach a consensus as to whether to fight the Armada or not (he and Elizabeth are inclined to go to war, while the others are not), Jack suggests a way out of this impasse by calling for a ritual vote whose results determine who will be the king. Every pirate lord votes only for himself or herself, but he votes for Elizabeth, resulting her being elected the 'king', after which she announces 'Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn we are at war', which was what he had intended, and which other pirates are now bound to obey.

In combat, Sparrow is an extremely skilled swordsman (capable of quite easily holding his own against Davy Jones and also Will Turner), but uses his superior intelligence to his advantage during fights. Jack usually prefers the strategies of non-violent negotiations and turning his enemies against each other, reasoning "Why fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the proper leverage."^[3]He will invoke parley and tempt his enemies away from their murderous intentions, encouraging them to see the bigger picture, as he does when he persuades Hector Barbossa to delay returning to mortal form so he can battle the British Royal Navy.^[2] He often uses complex wordplay and vocabulary to confound his enemies,^[2][3]and it is suggested that his pacifism may be one reason Barbossa and the Black Pearlcrew mutinied; Barbossa says in the first film, "Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl. People are easier to search when they're dead."^[2]His pacifism is further indicated by the tattoo of the Desiderata on his back. Although a pirate and willing to kill his enemies in a fight, Jack has also shown a reluctance to kill people who do not actually wish himharm, as seen when he preferred to simply avoid a fight with Will Turner in their first meeting- the fight being provoked by Will's insistence-; when facing soldiers or navy officers, Jack has generally resorted to simply knocking them out or distracting them while he makes his escape. When Will is fatally wounded by Davy Jones, he relinquishes his dream of stabbing Jones' heart and becoming immortal and lets a dying Will stab it instead, thus ensuring that he lives, albeit not in the usual way. When searching for the Fountain of Youth, Jack noted that his desire for the Fountain had lessened when he learned that the Fountain would only provide someone with extra life if another died at the same time.

The character is portrayed as having created, or at least contributed to, his own reputation. When Gibbs tells Will that Sparrow escaped from a desert island by strapping two sea turtles together, Sparrow embellishes the story by claiming the rope was made from hair from his own back, while in reality, Sparrow escaped the island by bartering with rum traders. The video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow bases itself around these tall tales, including the sacking of Nassau port without firing a single shot.^[2] In a script draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Will's guide says that he heard Sparrow escaped execution in Port Royal by grabbing two parrots and flying away.^[12] Johnny Depp has said pirates were like rock stars in that their fame preceded them, which suggests a reason for the portrayal of Sparrow as having an enormous ego.^[61] Sparrow also insists on being addressed as "Captain" Jack Sparrow^[2] and often gives the farewell, "This is the day you will always remember as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!," which is sometimes humorously cut off.^[2][3] When accused by Norrington as being the worst pirate he has ever heard of, Sparrow replies, "But you have heard of me."^[2] In a deleted scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Sparrow ponders being "the immortal Captain Jack Sparrow",^[62] and during the third film he seeks immortality, although his father, Captain Teague, warns it can be a terrible curse. Sparrow also ponders being "Captain Jack Sparrow, the last pirate," as the East India Trading Company purges piracy.^[4]

Despite his many heroics, Sparrow is a pirate and a morally ambiguous character.^[14] When agreeing to trade 100 souls, including Will, to Davy Jones in exchange for his freedom, Jones asks Sparrow whether he can, "condemn an innocent man—a friend—to a lifetime of servitude in your name while you roam free?" After a hesitation Sparrow merrily replies, "Yep! I'm good with it!"^[3] He carelessly runs up debts with Anamaria,^[2] Davy Jones, and the other pirate lords.^[4] Sao Feng (Chow Yun-fat), pirate lord of Singapore, is particularly hateful towards him.^[4] In a cowardly moment, Sparrow abandons his crew during the Kraken's attack, but underlying loyalty and morality compel him to return and save them.^[63] Sparrow claims to be a man of his word,^[2] and expresses surprise that people doubt his truthfulness;^[3] there is no murder on his criminal record.^[1][2]

Depp partly based the character on Pepé Le Pew, a womanizing skunk from Looney Tunes.^[8] Sparrow claims to have a "tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature",^[3] although his conquests are often left with a sour memory of him. Former flames, Scarlett and Giselle, usually slap him^[2] or anyone looking for him.^[3] His witty charm easily attracts women, and even has Elizabeth Swann questioning her feelings.^[3] Director Gore Verbinski noted phallic connotations in Sparrow's relationship with his vessel, as he grips the steering wheel.^[21] The Black Pearl is described as "the only ship which can outrun the Flying Dutchman".^[4] The Freudian overtones continue in the third film when Sparrow and Barbossa battle for captaincy of the Black Pearl, showing off the length of their telescopes, and in a deleted scene, they fight over the steering wheel.^[64] Sparrow claims his "first and only love is the sea,"^[3] and describes his ship as representing freedom.^[2] Davy Jones's Locker is represented as a desert, symbolizing his personal hell.^[12]

Sparrow also has bad personal hygiene, a trait of Pepé Le Pew. Verbinski described Sparrow's breath as "a donkey's ass".^[21] Sparrow knocks Will off his ship simply by huffing at him.^[4] Lastly, Sparrow has an insatiable thirst for rum, which can confuse his magic compass as to what he wants most.^[3][4] According to his criminal record on the At World's End website, he even sacked a shipment of rum to quench his thirst.^[1]

Impact[link]

When Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest grossed over $1 billion worldwide, Ian Nathan attributed this to Sparrow's popularity: "Pirates, the franchise, only had to turn up. There was a powerful holdover from the cheeky delights of its debut, something we hadn't felt since the Clone Wars called it a day."^[65] Empire declared Johnny Depp's performance to be the seventy-fourth "thing that rocked our world" in 2006 when celebrating 200 issues and later named him as the eighth greatest movie character of all time.^[66] A survey of more than 3,000 people showed Jack Sparrow was the most popular Halloween costume of 2006,^[67] and a 2007 poll held by the Internet Movie Database showed Sparrow to be the second most popular live action hero, after Indiana Jones.^[68] In a 2007 Pearl & Dean poll, Jack Sparrow is Depp's most popular performance.^[69]

Emanuel Levy feels the character is the only iconic film character of the 2000s decade,^[61] while Todd Gilchrist feels Sparrow is the only element of the films that will remain timeless.^[70] According to Sharon Eberson, the character's popularity can be attributed to being a "scoundrel whose occasional bouts of conscience allow viewers to go with the flaws because, as played to the larger-than-life hilt by Depp, he owns every scene he is in."^[71] Film history professor at UCLA Jonathan Kuntz also attributed his popularity to the increased questioning of masculinity in the 21st century, and Sparrow's personality contrasts with action-adventure heroes in cinema. Leonard Maltin concurs that Sparrow has a carefree attitude and does not take himself seriously.^[72] Mark Fox also noted Sparrow is an escapist fantasy figure for women, free from much of the responsibility of most heroes.^[73] Sparrow is listed by IGN as one of their ten favorite film outlaws, as he "lives for himself and the freedom to do whatever it is that he damn well pleases. Precious few film characters have epitomized what makes the outlaw such a romantic figure for audiences as Captain Jack Sparrow has."^[74] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Part Keith Richards rift, part sozzled lounge lizard, Johnny Depp's swizzleshtick pirate was definitely one of the most dazzling characters of the decade."^[75]

In 2011, comedic group The Lonely Island, with singer Michael Bolton, released a song called Jack Sparrow as an homage to the character, declaring him "The Pauper of the Surf" and "The Jester of Tortuga."