Black Beard

> He's the most cutthroat pirate to ever hoist a sail. After you, of course.
>       —William Smee to Hook

**Black Beard** is a character on ABC's *Once Upon a Time*. He débuts in the seventeenth episode of the third season. He is portrayed by guest star Charles Mesure, and it is currently unknown if he has a Storybrooke counterpart.

Black Beard is based on the character of the same name from popular culture.

## History

### Before First Curse

Through some means, Black Beard comes to possess an item called a wishing star, which can grant a wish, but only if the user has a pure heart. Approached by the Queen and King of Arendelle, they hand over an unknown price in exchange for the wishing star. *("Fall")*

* Alternative Timeline

Blackbeard meets a thief named Snow White, who is running away from the Queen, and she has hopes he can take her as far as possible from the kingdom. She offers some money in exchange for hiding as a stowaway on his ship, but the pirate asks her to pay up more in order to earn his discretion. Since she doesn't have enough money, Black Beard leaves without securing a deal with her. *("Snow Drifts")*

### Before Second Curse

In the Enchanted Forest, Black Beard takes leadership of Hook's former ship, the *Jolly Roger*, and imprisons Prince Eric on Hangman's Island. When Hook arrives to reclaim the vessel, they have a sword duel. The fight is interrupted by Ariel, who Hook is helping to find Eric, but her beloved is not on the ship. Black Beard offers to relinquish Eric only if Hook gives up on trying to take back the *Jolly Roger*, but the former pirate captain stiffly refuses. Instead, Hook binds Black Beard's arms and legs and throws him to the sharks. This angers Ariel as Black Beard was her only hope of finding Eric. Unknown to Hook, she rescues Black Beard from death. *("The Jolly Roger", "Fall")*

### During Second Curse

Later, Black Beard also regains the *Jolly Roger*, though the circumstances of this are unknown. *("Fall")*

### After Second Curse

In a scheme, Prince Hans buys Black Beard's compliance with gold to corner Anna and Kristoff. When approached by the twosome, Black Beard agrees, in a fib, to sell them the wishing star for an equal amount of gold in his own weight. When the deal is struck, Prince Hans and his brothers trap Anna and Kristoff. Admitting to the charade, Black Beard then tells Anna how much she resembles her mother; recounting how her naive parents came to him asking for the wishing star, but they failed to realize that the item can only be harnessed by a pure-hearted person. After Prince Hans sentences the pair to death, Black Beard orders a large coffer to be pulled onto the deck. He recalls how a past rival once made him walk the plank, and though death seemed certain, his life was saved by a mermaid. Jokingly, he jibs that the casket will ensure they die without "fin-terference". As Anna is forced into the coffer, she mouths off to Hans in insistence that Elsa will escape from the urn and regain the throne from him, but to her shock, he reveals Ingrid's magic froze Arendelle and everyone in it for thirty years. After the casket is closed, Black Beard calls for his crew to toss it into the sea, which they promptly do. *("Fall")*

## Trivia

* He is based off a real-life historical person.
* In the *Peter Pan* novel, Captain Hook is described as a "boatswain to Blackbeard".