Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Pirates of the Caribbean Character

Davy Jones as depicted in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Name:	Davy Jones
Job:	Captain
Portrayed by:	Bill Nighy
Ships used:	The Flying Dutchman
Weapon:	Rapier

For other people named Davy Jones, see Davy Jones (disambiguation).

Davy Jones is a fictional character, and the primary villain in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), and will return in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He is played by Bill Nighy.

He is the captain of the feared ghost ship featured in nautical lore, The Flying Dutchman. In the movie, Captain Jack Sparrow owes a debt to Davy Jones for raising the Black Pearl from the ocean depths and making him captain for thirteen years in exchange for Sparrow's servitude. Now Jack must find another way to pay off the debt or else forfeit his soul for one hundred years. "Bootstrap Bill" Turner is also indentured to Davy Jones. Jones saved Bootstrap from the bottom of the ocean where he was tied to a cannon.

Characteristics

It is said that if someone owes Davy Jones their soul, he has the ability to take it by any means. Even a cursed pirate that is undead could lose their soul, but only if there was an agreement.

Like his crew, Davy Jones' body is a mixture of various aquatic flora and fauna features. His head is cephalopod-like and his "beard" is composed of squirming octopus-like tentacles. A prominent sac bulges from under his barnacle-encrusted hat. In addition to his "bearded" face, he breathes through a siphon located on one side of his face. Jones has a crustacean-style claw for his left arm, a long tentacle index finger on his right hand, and the right leg of a crab (resembling a pegleg). He also speaks with a clearly distinguishable Scottish accent. The immortal Jones has supernatural powers; among them are invincibility, command over the legendary sea monster, the Kraken and teleportation. His crew also possesses this ability. In a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Jack observes Davy Jones through his telescope, but is suddenly face-to-face with him aboard his ship when he puts down the telescope. This ability is also seen when Will Turner boards the half-sunken ship and Jones' crew appears from the masts and deck, as well as Bootstrap Bill Turner appearing to Jack in the locked hold of the Black Pearl. According to the writers' commentary, this is a difficult process only done at night.

Jones uses the octopus-like arms of his "beard" to manipulate objects, such as a key (he shows this during a game of Liar's Dice), his hat, (when his ship submerges) and the keys of his vast pipe organ. He plays the organ with his "beard" because one of his hands is a claw. Since his claw consists of only two parts (neither of which can move horizontally), he can only strike one key with that hand. However, his "beard" plays more than 20 keys at once, meaning he can play as about 2–3 other organists at once. The melody Davy Jones plays on his pipe organ is the same as the one played on his locket (It should be noticed that he and Tia Dalma have the same lockets, suggesting an ambiguous relationship). It is also his character’s theme, and can be heard throughout the film's score.

According to legend, supported by Tia Dalma and Jones himself in the film, Davy Jones cannot step foot on land, "but once every ten years." At the time of Dead Man's Chest Jones has apparently done this fairly recently, as he states, "I cannot step foot on land for near of a decade." Davy Jones ports once a decade to be with his love, Calypso.

Though his crab leg somewhat limits his dexterity, Jones is a formidable swordsman, able to fight Jack Sparrow whilst standing on a yardarm in the middle of a raging storm. Jones is here shown wielding a rapier.

Life

Early life

Davy Jones, the supernatural ruler of the seas, buried the Dead Man's Chest on Isla Cruces. Within the chest is his heart, carved from his chest when he was unable to bear the pain of losing his one true love. Jones has since inflicted cruelty and pain onto others, even his crew. Jones is invincible as long as his heart is not destroyed. Anyone possessing the heart controls Jones and the seas.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow

In the book series about the earlier adventures of Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones shows interest in the Sword of Cortez. He is a minor character, but finally appears in the cliffhanger ending to book 7 when Jack and his crew encounter the Flying Dutchman. He also apparently rules over many siren and mermaid kingdoms in the ocean.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Despite Jones' determination to inflict pain and suffering, he appears to have a soft spot where love is concerned. When Jack tells him of Will Turner's love for Elizabeth, Jones' expression softens noticeably. While playing a certain tune on his pipe organ (a more complex version of the tune played by his heart-shaped music locket), Jones' face twists in tortured emotion. While on the Flying Dutchman, Will Turner challenges Jones at a game of liar's dice. The stakes, Turner's soul for an eternity of service, against the key to the Dead Man's Chest, where Jones keeps his heart locked up. Turner's father joins in the game, matching the wager, and purposely loses. Will is free to go to port, while Bootstrap is entrapped on the ship forever. While Jones is asleep at his organ, Will sneaks in and steals the key. He then escapes the ship with help from his father. Jones sends the Kraken after the ship that had picked up Will. The crew is killed, but Will escapes and makes it to Isla Cruces, where the chest is buried. Jones arrives there as well, but he cannot set foot on land for a decade, and sends his crew after the chest. They retreive it, and now Jones only has to collect Jack's debt. He summons the Kraken to attack the Black Pearl and claim Sparrow. Jones grimly watches as the Kraken destroys the ship and apparently devours its captain. Turning his attention to the chest now back in his possession, he demands the crew open it. An anguished Davy Jones curses Jack Sparrow when the chest reveals itself to be empty. Jones believes Sparrow has the heart, but it is actually Lord Cutler Beckett who now possesses it, given to him by James Norrington in an effort to bargain back his career.

Davy Jones collects dying sailors and offers them an opportunity to serve aboard his ship for one hundred years in order to delay their final judgment. However, if someone willingly sells their soul to Jones in exchange for something, they also owe him one hundred years of servitude unless, as in the case of Jack Sparrow, they can attempt to buy off the debt by some other means. Jack Sparrow bartered his soul to Jones to raise the Black Pearl from the depths of the ocean and be made captain for thirteen years.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

File:Jones and jack.JPG

Jack prepares to shoot the distracted Jones from behind.

In the next film, Davy Jones and his crew are in an alliance with the other villains, Cutler Beckett, and James Norrington, since they have his heart. In scenes from the film's theatrical trailer, we see Davy Jones standing behind Beckett at one point, and duelling Jack Sparrow balancing on the yardarm of The Flying Dutchman during a storm while the ship is in a whirlpool. Jack is holding the Chest of Davy Jones in his hand during the duel. Another point in the trailer shows Jack delivering a blow to Jones' face with an oar.

Another featurette titled "Characters" shows Jones standing on land (with his feet in what appears to be a basket) with Sparrow, Elizabeth, Will, and Barbossa and Beckett, as well as another point in which he is seen dueling Elizabeth during the battle in the whirlpool. At one point, he attempts to recruit Jack into his crew with the "Do you fear death?" speech, to which Jack responds "You have no idea."

Trivia

• Since Jack Sparrow owes him a debt to be repaid, Davy Jones has been compared to Jabba the Hutt while Sparrow has been compared to Han Solo.

From reel to reality: Davy Jones is brought to life.

• The legend of Davy Jones' Locker is hundreds of years old, and originally not connected to the legend of the Flying Dutchman. References to Davy Jones may be found in many old works, such as Robert Louis Stevenson´s 1883 classic Treasure Island. Other sources are:
  • The sea lore of the Flying Dutchman and its captain. As a reference to this legend, Jones can go on land only once every ten years, prompting Jack to carry a jar of dirt as an apparent preventative measure.
  • Davy Jones' act of removing and concealing his heart draws on a well-established theme in which the villain is rendered immortal by sacrificing his or her humanity. Examples of this range from ancient mythology to modern concepts of the Undead and Demons.
  • The Bible. Davy Jones' speech before waking the Kraken for the first time in the film ("Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up to the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake...the Kraken!") is a paraphrased version of chapter 3, verses 7 and 8 of the Book of Job.

• The entire crew of the Flying Dutchman, except "Bootstrap Bill," is completely CGI, including Davy Jones. Their performances were recorded using motion capture during actual filming on the set, rather than in a motion-capture studio during postproduction. It was at one time thought that Nighy’s actual eyes might be used, but that idea was later dropped.
• Because of the computer-generated character's photorealism, many reviewers mistakenly identified Nighy as wearing prosthetic makeup.
• The Davy Jones lead animator was Marc Chu of Industrial Light & Magic.
• ILM's webby nominated The Show website features an interactive look into the making of the Oscar winning Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest visual effects.

Merchandise

• Davy Jones was part of Series One of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest action figure set produced by NECA. Although the initial run of figures had a sticker on the box that proclaimed that the figure came with the Dead Man's Chest and Jones' heart, both props (as well as the key) were released with the Bootstrap Bill figure in Series Two.[1]

• Jones also made an appearance as a smaller figure produced by Zizzle Toys.

• Davy Jones was issued as a plush toy as part of Sega's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" plush assortment.

See also

• The Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• Kraken (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• Davy Jones' Locker (Pirates of the Caribbean)