Jack Sparrow

"*Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly…stupid.*"
―Jack Sparrow[src]
Captain **Jack Sparrow** is a legendary pirate known throughout the Caribbean. A roguish yet charming trickster, his true bliss stems from leading the pirate life on the high seas. Sailing a fine line between madness and brilliance, Jack is the quickest to seize the opportune moment and make it his own.

## Biography

### Backstory

Though he may seem like a lifelong pirate, Jack Sparrow was once an honest sailor employed by the East India Trading Company, and captained a merchant vessel called the *Wicked Wench*. Sailing under the command of Cutler Beckett, Jack was tasked with delivering a "cargo"—but upon discovering that the cargo was actually slaves, he rebelled against his orders and instead chose to liberate them. As punishment for this betrayal, Beckett ordered the *Wicked Wench* to be set aflame, and personally branded the letter "P" on Jack's arm, forever marking him as a pirate. Not content to let his beloved ship lie at the bottom of the ocean, Jack made a bargain with Davy Jones to resurrect her from the depths, and re-christened her as the *Black Pearl.* In return for Jack's soul, Jones allowed him to captain the *Pearl* for thirteen years. Jack embraced his outlaw status and became a full-fledged pirate, with no desire to return to life under the command of others.

### *The Curse of the Black Pearl*

Ten years before the film's events, Captain Jack Sparrow took on a crew in Tortuga and set out to find the legendary Isla de Muerta, an island which could only be found by those who already knew where it was. On the mysterious island lay an ancient chest filled with Aztec gold coins, said to hide a terrible curse that would befall any mortal that took from it. However, Jack's tenure as captain didn't last long—his first mate Hector Barbossa convinced him to divulge the whereabouts of the treasure, and led a mutiny against him shortly thereafter. Robbed of his beloved ship, Jack was marooned upon a deserted isle, given only a pistol with one shot so that he may end his misery. Sparrow's fanciful legend claims that he escaped by riding away on the backs of sea turtles, but in reality, he simply struck a deal with the rumrunners who used the island as a smuggling depot. Seeking revenge, Jack kept his pistol and pursued the *Black Pearl* ever since.

The men of the *Black Pearl* would soon find out that the legend of the cursed treasure was not a tall tale. After spending the 882 pieces of gold on wine and women, Barbossa and his crew were doomed to eternally suffer a living death—the moonlight eerily transforming them into skeletons. To lift the curse, the crew must return every piece of Aztec gold to the stone chest from which it came. Only Bootstrap Bill Turner, a pirate still loyal to Jack, was sorry for their treachery against their former captain, and he therefore sent away a piece of the treasure to his young son. When Barbossa learned of this, he had Bootstrap lashed to a cannon and thrown overboard. Only afterward did they discover that every man, including Bootstrap, also needed to offer their blood to break the curse. Now after preying on ships and settlements for near ten years, Barbossa and his crew have only one last piece of gold to recover.

In *The Curse of the Black Pearl*, Captain Jack Sparrow is introduced to the story with an unusual yet graceful entrance. Standing in all his swashbuckling splendor atop the mast of his vessel, Jack gazes confidently ahead toward Port Royal. However, it is revealed that this majestic ship is nothing more than a tattered sailing dinghy, which is quickly taking on water, despite his determined attempts to keep it afloat. As he passes the skeletons of three hanged pirates swinging from a rocky arch, Jack solemnly takes off his hat and places it above his heart in a moment of respect for his fallen brethren. Jack sails into port riding atop the mast, the only part of the boat not currently underwater, and he casually steps onto the dock an instant before it sinks completely. He offers the harbormaster a small bribe to ensure his name is kept off the records, only to steal the man’s purse while his back is turned, before swaggering off with a mind to commandeer a fast ship.

Jack makes his way to the dock where the H.M.S. *Interceptor* is anchored, but he is halted by two guards, Murtogg and Mullroy. While distracting the none-too-bright marines with tales of his many escapades, Jack is interrupted when he witnesses Elizabeth Swann falling from the battlements of Fort Charles. Not willing to let the girl drown, and finding the soldiers are useless, Jack hands them his effects and dives into the water to save Elizabeth. He hauls Elizabeth onto the dock and strips off her corset so she can breathe again, but then spies a strange medallion around her neck—one of the pieces of the Aztec gold. Jack is then confronted by Commodore Norrington, who reveals the brand on Sparrow's forearm and orders his arrest, despite his heroism. Though he is shackled and surrounded by soldiers, Jack throws his chains around Elizabeth's throat and uses her body as a shield, holding her hostage long enough to ensure his effects are returned. He then makes a quickly-improvised escape, employing a cannon as a counterweight to swing up and away over the heads of the soldiers.

With Norrington's men in pursuit, Jack ends up hiding in the blacksmith's shop. There Jack discovers that the drunkard blacksmith is very soundly asleep, and he then sets about finding a way to remove his manacles—but just as he manages to break free from the chains, Will Turner enters the shop and soon takes notice that something is amiss. Jack emerges and points his sword at Will, remarking that Turner looks strangely familiar. Having heard about how Jack threatened Elizabeth, Will draws his own sword and raises it in attack. Jack tests out Will’s skills, using it as a means to distract Will from his real intent: to get to the door. However, Will prevents Jack's escape by throwing his sword straight into the door latch. Will then grabs a red-hot sword from the forge and the two begin fighting again. Though they are almost equally matched, Jack is disarmed in the end—but manages to win anyway through old-fashioned cheating, and draws his pistol on Will. However, Jack hesitates to use the shot meant for his mutinous first mate, delaying him long enough for Will's master to knock him out with an empty bottle. Norrington and his men rush in and capture the pirate.

That night, Jack Sparrow finds himself locked up in a prison cell, while his fellow prisoners are whistling and using a bone to try and lure a dog who has the keys in its mouth. Jack tells them it is never going to work, though they keep at it, not ready to go to the gallows yet. The rumble of cannon fire makes Jack spring up and gaze out the barred window overlooking the bay, for he quickly recognizes the sound of the guns as those of his beloved *Black Pearl*, which is attacking Port Royal*.* The other prisoners escape after a cannonball opens a hole in their cell, and Jack begins to call the dog to try to get the keys, but it is scared off when two members of his old crew burst in. They recognize their former captain, and the unfriendly reunion ends with one of the pirates grabbing him through the cell bars. Jack discovers for himself that the stories he's heard of the curse are true, when the pirate's arm turns skeletal in the moonlight.

Still locked in the jail the next morning, Jack is visited by Will Turner, who offers to free Sparrow from prison in return for his help to hunt down the *Black Pearl* and save Elizabeth. Though he first refuses to help, Jack soon realizes that Will is the son of Bootstrap Bill, and agrees to join forces upon learning his name—but commits to his own secret plan to reclaim the *Pearl*. Will uses leverage to break open the cell door, setting Jack free, and they make their way to the docks to commandeer a vessel. They sneak aboard the H.M.S. *Dauntless*—by crossing the harbor beneath the water, using an overturned rowboat as a diving bell. By convincing Commodore Norrington that they are commandeering the *Dauntless*, they trick him into sailing the much faster and already-prepared *Interceptor* over to them. After Norrrington and his men have boarded the *Dauntless*, Jack and Will slip aboard the *Interceptor* and sail away, having assured their escape by disabling the *Dauntless*' rudder chain.

As the *Interceptor* sails, Will reasons that Jack knew his father, and Sparrow tells him that he was a pirate—and a good man. Will refuses to accept this revelation and draws his sword in anger, but Jack turns the wheel hard, which sends Will hanging on a mast over the water. Jack explains there are only two rules: What a man can do, and what a man can’t do. Will reluctantly agrees to follow Jack, and they set a course for Tortuga in the hopes of putting together a crew. In the rough and tumble pirate town, Jack is slapped by numerous wenches as he seeks out the help of his old friend Joshamee Gibbs, his only choice for a loyal first mate. Gibbs questions Jack about his motives and Jack reveals that he is going to leverage Will to get the *Black* *Pearl* back. That convinces Gibbs to agree, and the next day he presents a crew of misfits on the dock—including Anamaria, who angrily confronts Jack for stealing her boat. Only by promising her the *Interceptor* does Jack manage to convince her to join the crew.

Following Jack's navigation by his strange compass to Isla de Muerta, the *Interceptor* is hit with a torrential storm. Though the crew struggles to keep the ship going, Jack only smiles with the knowledge that they are getting close. Upon reaching the Isla de Muerta, Jack and Will slip into the longboat and head into the treasure grotto—telling Gibbs to keep to the code if they don't make it back. They find a spot to observe as Barbossa prepares to anoint the medallion with Elizabeth's blood in the hopes of lifting the curse, under the belief that she is the daughter of Bootstrap Bill. However, Will has begun to suspect that Jack may betray him, and knocks out Jack before he can bargain him over to Barbossa, and he sneaks Elizabeth away when the pirates are busy infighting. When the pirates find Jack, still dazed from the oar hit, they take aim to kill their former captain—but Jack invokes parlay and grants himself an audience with his mutinous former first mate, revealing that he knows the true heir of Bootstrap Bill.

On board the *Black Pearl*, Jack bargains with Barbossa for Will’s name in exchange for the ship, tormenting his former first mate by taking a bite of the apple he is unable to enjoy. However, the negotiations come to naught when the *Pearl* catches up with the *Interceptor*. Jack tries to make another deal offering a more peaceful resolution to getting the medallion back, but Barbossa says that's the kind of thinking that lost him the *Pearl*, and has him imprisoned in the brig. Th*e Interceptor* drops anchor to bring it broadside to the *Pearl*, and the two ships open fire. Jack exclaims, “Stop blowing holes in my ship!” but eventually a hole is blown that allows him to escape. He swings over to his crew and helps them during the fight, but they are no match for the immortal pirates. Barbossa's evil pet monkey, also named Jack, retrieves the medallion from the sinking ship as Jack and the crew are taken prisoner. Will, who managed to escape the wreck of the *Interceptor*, reveals himself to be Bootstrap's son, and threatens to kill himself unless Elizabeth is freed and the crew spared from harm.

Barbossa agrees to Will’s terms, but twists the bargain in his favor—Jack and Elizabeth are forced to walk the plank, leaving them stranded on the same island Barbossa marooned Sparrow on ten years before. Jack reveals to Elizabeth that he made no miraculous escape last time, and owed his freedom to the group of rumrunners who used the island as a hiding place, and since the rumrunners are out of business but left their stash behind, the two enjoy a night of drinking and singing by the fire. He is tricked into drinking himself senseless, and wakes to find his supply of rum going up in flames as part of Elizabeth's signal fire. Though Jack is horrified that the rum is gone, the huge fire gains the attention of the navy and they are rescued by Norrington on the *Dauntless*. Jack convinces them to go after the *Black Pearl*, but only with the help of Elizabeth who promises to marry Norrington if he'll save Will.

Upon returning to Isla de Muerta, Jack convinces Norrington and his men to lay in ambush while he saunters into the treasure grotto to draw out the pirates. Just as Will is about to be killed, Jack informs Barbossa of the looming attack and persuades him to delay lifting the curse until they have defeated the British Navy and taken over Norrington's ship, leaving Sparrow to once again captain the *Black Pearl*. During the negotiations, he sneakily steals a medallion, thereby making himself immortal. However, Jack's plan to lead the pirates into the trap goes awry when Barbossa unexpectedly orders his crew to attack by walking underwater. As the cursed pirates surprise the navy, Jack reveals his true colors and suddenly turns on Barbossa. They fight across the cave until Barbossa declares that Jack can't kill him, but Sparrow tries anyway and stabs Barbossa, who merely sighs and does the same to Jack. Stumbling backwards into the moonlight, Jack turns into a skeleton before Barbossa's shocked eyes. Holding aloft the medallion he had taken, Sparrow grins triumphantly at his nemesis, and the fight begins anew. Jack and Barbossa lunge in and out of the moonlight, two skeletons locked in a seemingly endless battle. Taking the opportune moment, Jack tosses his bloodied medallion to Will, before shooting Barbossa in the heart with the one shot he'd been saving all those years. Will then drops the last two medallions into the treasure with his blood, breaking the curse. No longer immortal, the mutinous pirate sinks to the ground and Jack finally gets his revenge.

With a crown of gold on his head and an armful of treasure, Jack climbs into a longboat with Will and Elizabeth. However, he sadly discovers that his crew has stuck to the pirate's code and escaped with the *Black Pearl*, leaving him in an all-too-familiar position: he is once again a captain without a ship. After returning to Port Royal, Jack Sparrow grimly awaits his fate on the gallows. Moments away from death, he can't help smiling as he remembers with fondness some of his many crimes that are read out. Believing Jack deserves to live, Will Turner attempts a daring rescue of his comrade, and together the two pirates fight their way through Norrington's soldiers, but they are ultimately surrounded. It is only when Elizabeth stands with them and declares her love for Will that Governor Swann orders the marines to lower their weapons. While giving his farewells, Jack accidentally falls backwards over the wall of the fort, and emerges from the water to find the *Black Pearl* sailing into view. Captain Jack Sparrow takes the helm of his beloved ship once more and sails into the horizon, heading off on another adventure on the high seas.

### Dead Man's Chest

Although the curse of the *Black Pearl* has been lifted, Jack Sparrow soon realizes his freedom came at a cost: Jack owes a blood debt to Davy Jones, and his only hope of holding onto his soul lies in finding a mysterious chest—and the beating heart within it. In *Dead Man's Chest*, Jack is introduced with another unusual entrance as he emerges from a coffin tossed into the ocean, having made his escape from a Turkish Prison far from the Caribbean. Finding his beloved hat and placing it upon his head, he then borrows a skeletal leg from his fellow passenger and turns the coffin into a rowboat. Upon returning to the *Black Pearl*, Sparrow reveals his mission has succeeded: he has obtained a drawing of a key. Though the crew is unhappy with Jack's leadership and confused by his stranger-than-normal behavior as of late, they agree to set off in search of the key and what it might unlock.

As the *Black Pearl* sails on through the night, Jack is unable to discern any resolute heading from his compass. He staggers down below deck in search of more rum, where he finds himself visited by a ghostly comrade: Bootstrap Bill Turner, who has pledged to serve Davy Jones on the *Flying Dutchman* after he was sent overboard by Barbossa. Jack is warned by his old shipmate that the bargain he struck thirteen years ago is due, and if he ignores his fate, Davy Jones will summon the Kraken to hunt down the *Black Pearl*, dragging it and all her crew—along with Sparrow to the depths of the ocean. The Black Spot then appears on Jack's hand, and he becomes a marked man. Realizing that it's not safe in the open ocean, Jack panics and wakes up the crew, ordering them to head for the nearest land. So great is his fear that when his treasured hat is swept overboard in the chaos, he refuses to retrieve it.

The *Black Pearl* ends up beached on the mysterious Isla de Pelegostos, but Jack and his crew find no refuge even on land, for they are taken captive by a tribe of cannibals. The Pelegostos tribe has adopted Jack as its king and he has mastered their language—but Sparrow faces a gruesome fate: the cannibals worship him as a god and plan to eat him in order to release his divine spirit. Meanwhile, Will Turner has been searching the Caribbean for Jack and eventually reaches the island, but he is quickly captured and held prisoner with the leftovers of the crew. With the grand feast about to begin, Jack is tied to a spit and prepared like the main course of a barbecue, but narrowly manages to break free before he is roasted alive. Will and the crew make their own escape through the jungle. Just as the *Black Pearl* sets sail, Jack dashes down the beach with a hoard of cannibals at his heels, and manages to reach the ship ahead of their pursuit. Will demands the compass following the escape, but Jack makes a deal: Turner can have the compass if he helps Sparrow find Davy Jones' key.

Jack Sparrow seeks out the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma, a woman from his past with whom he was once close. It was she who had given Jack his strange compass. Rowing their way through a spooky cypress forest, Jack and his crew cautiously journey upriver to the mystic's shack. Inside, Sparrow trades Barbossa's cursed monkey for Tia Dalma's help. After learning that the compass isn’t helping him, she remarks that Jack either doesn’t know what he wants, or doesn’t want to claim it as his own. The crew learns the legendary tale of Davy Jones: a tortured soul doomed to roam the seas forever, he'd ripped out his still-beating heart and locked it away in the Dead Man's Chest. After seeing the Black Spot on Jack's palm, Tia gives Sparrow a jar of dirt, so that he'll always be near land and safe from Jones. She then casts a spell to reveal the whereabouts of the *Flying Dutchman*.

Upon finding a shipwreck on an archipelago, Jack tells Will that the ship is the *Flying Dutchman* and tricks him into going aboard. Hidden in darkness on the deck of the *Black Pearl*, Jack watches through his spyglass as the real *Flying Dutchman* emerges from the ocean, but then Davy Jones suddenly appears before him, demanding that he pay his debt. Jack argues that he was captain for only two years until Barbossa ran mutiny against him, but Jones rejects his argument, pointing out that he'd been calling himself "Captain" Jack Sparrow throughout the years. Jack then deviously attempts to trade Will in exchange for himself, but Davy Jones demands one hundred souls for Jack’s freedom and keeps Will as a good faith payment. No longer a marked man, Jack is given just three days to fulfill his side of the bargain, and he immediately heads for Tortuga to gather the remaining ninety-nine souls, there being no better place to look for desperate men.

At the tavern on the island of Tortuga, Jack Sparrow and his first mate Gibbs recruit unsuspecting sailors. Among the men lined up to join the crew is the dishonored former Commodore James Norrington, who has turned to a drunkard after he wrecked his ship, having ordered his crew to sail through a hurricane in pursuit of Jack. Blaming the pirate for his ruin, Norrington pulls his pistol and attempts to shoot Jack, but the entire tavern erupts into chaos when he fires off a wild shot. Jack dances through the brawl without even a scratch, before quietly slipping away, while Elizabeth Swann arrives and brings an end to the fight by knocking out the former commodore. Both make their way to the docks and join up with Jack, who realizes that Elizabeth's true desire is to reunite with Will, and persuades her that finding the Dead Man's Chest will help her save him. The compass works in her hands, and Jack finally has a heading.

The *Black Pearl* sets sail following the heading determined by Elizabeth, who shows Jack the Letters of Marque and reveals to him that Will had struck a deal with Lord Beckett. Jack and Gibbs realize that Beckett wants the compass in order to seek the chest and use Davy Jones' heart to control him, and destroy all piracy on the seas. Meanwhile, Norrington overhears the conversation and devises his own plan. Jack refuses to give the letters back to Elizabeth and tells her to "persuade" him, but she does not rise to the bait. Later on in the journey, Jack expresses an amorous interest in Elizabeth, attempting to woo her by saying that she longs for a life of freedom like his. In turn, Elizabeth tells Jack that he will one day prove himself to be a good man, and that he will desire the rewards that would follow. They almost kiss, but Jack hastily retreats when the Black Spot reappears on his hand. At that moment, Isla Cruces is sighted on the horizon.

Upon reaching the island, Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth and Norrington find the Dead Man's Chest and unearth it. The group is astonished to see Will Turner arrive with the key, revealing his intention to stab the heart and free his father. Jack draws his sword on Will, fearing that if Jones is dead, there will be no one to call the Kraken off the hunt. Will grabs a sword to challenge Jack, but Norrington draws his sword on both of them, hoping to regain his honor by delivering the heart to Beckett. A three-way swordfight inevitably begins as each man lays claim to the heart; meanwhile, Davy Jones' crew arrives on the island. Jack, Will and Norrington slash away at each other as the wild fight moves to an ancient abandoned church, then to an old mill wheel, which breaks away and rolls through the jungle as the three men fight on top of and within it. Ultimately, Jack manages to get a hold of both the key and the chest, stealing the heart and making a dash for the beach. Jack hides the heart in his jar of dirt, before he and the others are all surrounded by Jones' crew. Norrington spirits away the heart, and pretends to make a heroic sacrifice to allow the others to escape.

Back on the deck of the *Black Pearl*, Jack and his crew are confronted by Davy Jones when the *Flying Dutchman* emerges from the sea alongside them. Still thinking he has the heart, Jack begins taunting Jones while holding his jar of dirt aloft. The *Dutchman* then opens fire on the *Pearl*, but being captain of the only ship that can outrun the *Dutchman* with the advantage of the wind, Jack smiles as the *Pearl* speeds farther and farther away from his pursuer. Unfortunately, the joy of the moment is cut short when the *Black Pearl* lurches to a sudden halt; the jar of dirt falls and breaks, revealing that the heart is missing, and Jack finds himself without any leverage as the Kraken begins its attack. Seeing the situation as hopeless, Sparrow flees the *Pearl* in a moment of cowardice while his crew valiantly fights the monster. However, Jack's underlying loyalty and honor compel him to have a change of heart, and he returns just in time to take the shot that blows up a gunpowder trap that had been set up against the Kraken. Knowing the monster will be back, Jack gives the painful order to abandon ship in the faint hope that they can get to land.

Realizing that the Kraken is only after Jack, Elizabeth distracts Sparrow with a passionate kiss while she chains him to the mast. Jack merely commends her trickery with a smile, calling her "pirate" before she slips into the longboat to make her escape with the others. Though unable to get away, Jack manages to get free from his shackles just as the Kraken returns with a mighty roar, from which emerges Sparrow's lost, beloved hat. With no choice left, Captain Jack Sparrow places his hat once more atop his head, then draws his sword and faces the Kraken. The *Black Pearl* and its captain are dragged to the depths of Davy Jones' Locker. Mourning Jack's loss, the crew finds refuge with Tia Dalma, who speaks about the possibility of rescuing Sparrow from death. All gathered agree, though it means sailing to the edge of the earth, and Tia Dalma states they will need a strong captain who knows such waters. Just then, the resurrected Captain Barbossa enters.

### At World's End

It is a dark time in the world of the living: with the heart now in his possession, Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company has brought Davy Jones under his control and begun his efforts to hunt down and destroy every last pirate across the Seven Seas. The Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court are called upon to band together and fight back against this grave threat—but Jack Sparrow must attend as Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. In an increasingly shaky alliance, the ragtag crew led by Captain Barbossa embarks on a perilous journey to World's End and beyond to rescue Jack.

Trapped in the maddening purgatory of Davy Jones' Locker, Jack Sparrow talks to many hallucinated versions of himself aboard the *Black Pearl*, which sits stranded in the middle of a vast desert beneath a blazing sun. Despondent and aware of his growing psychosis, Sparrow finds a single rock in the sand and throws it, but is bewildered to find that it became a skittering crab. Suddenly, more rocks appear and transform into a swarming tide of crabs that lift the *Black Pearl* and carry her across the desert, with Jack in pursuit.

## External links

* Jack Sparrow on the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki