Treasure of Cortés

**The Treasure of Cortés** is a treasure from *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl*.

## Description

The Treasure of Cortés is an Aztec stone chest containing 882 identical Aztec gold medallions depicting grinning skulls. These gold medallions were cursed by the Aztec gods resulting in whomever steals the gold to transform into an unfeeling, undead monster until all who took the gold returned the treasure along with spilled blood.

## History

### Background

Due to many parallels but also contradicting lore elements, the intersection between Pirates of the Caribbean film continuity and ride continuity remains a mystery.

#### Film Continuity

In the film *Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl* (2003), the treasure was blood-money paid as ransom to the genocidal Spanish colonist Hérnan Cortez as payment to leave Central American tribes in peace. One particular treasure handed over was a stone chest of 882 identical gold Aztec medallions which were cursed by the Aztec gods to curse whomever stole them to be undead and incapable of material sensations while revealed to be a hideous corpse in the moon-light. The only way to appease this curse was for the blood of all who participated in stealing the gold to be poured over the chest.

The treasure was hidden away on the Caribbean island of the dead *Isla de Muerta* which could only be found by those who already knew where it was located. It would become sought after by Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl only to be mutineed by his first-mate Hector Barbossa who took the ship to the island with the crew in his stead. Following this, Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl became cursed but had disposed of crew-mate William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner Sr. before they learned they required his blood, perpetuating their curse.

Eventually the crew located the final medallion in Port Royal, Jamaica under the possession of the governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann who was in-love with Bootstrap Bill's son William Turner and tricked the pirates into believing she was a Turner herself to avoid being held ransom as the governor's daughter. This resulted in Barbossa kidnapping Elizabeth, believing her to be a blood-relative of Bootstrap Bill and the owner of the blood which Barbossa needed to relieve his curse.

This however resulted in William and his ally-of-circumstance, the still-alive Jack Sparrow to hunt down Barbossa with Jack intending on using William as a bargaining chip to win back his beloved Black Pearl and kill Barbossa with the single shot he'd been carrying since his marooning. This mission eventually lead to Jack sympathizing with Will and Elizabeth and choosing to truly aid them from Barbossa with this alliance leading to William using his blood to free the pirates from their curse so that Jack could shoot Barbossa in the heart, killing him. When Jack was arrested again by the British, Will and Elizabeth freed him and he set off as captain of the Black Pearl once more.

Following this, Isla de Muerta mysteriously sunk into the ocean and its treasure was lost with it. Before this occurred, Barbossa's pet monkey, "Jack" took one of the gold pieces and was left as an undead creature.

### Development history

The cursed treasure was created as an analogue to the Cursed Treasure from the original Pirates of the Caribbean attraction for the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

## Appearances and allusions

### Oceaneer Lab

There is a crate aboard the RV Oceaneer Lab which is labelled as containing excavated goods from Isla de Muerta, namely the cursed Aztec gold. It mentions the utilization of prongs to avoid the treasure's curse.

### Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island

The pirates Pintel and Ragetti from the films appear in *Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island* in their cursed state along with an unidentified imprisoned pirate seemingly suffering from the Aztec curse. The latter of said pirates is identified by Jack Sparrow's first-mate Joshamee Gibbs as having broken the pirate's code and stolen from his crew-mates.

### Pirates of the Caribbean

The Aztec gold chest appears in the Dead Man's Cove of Isla Tesoro amongst the Wicked Wench's loot.

#### Plaza del Sol Bazaar

One of the Aztec gold medallions appears on a vase on a shelf in this gift-shop.

### Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure

The chest appears in this attraction on the floor of the ocean around Treasure Cove, being part of Davy Jones' treasure.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.fromscreentotheme.com/FunFindFridayDisneyMagic1.aspx
2. ↑ https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2495370/a-disneyland-myth-has-been-confirmed-thanks-to-new-disney-series
3. ↑ http://www.fromscreentotheme.com/FunFindFridayPirates1.aspx