Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow (born Jack Smith) is a fictional pirate and main character in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), and the not yet released third installment Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (2007). The character is portrayed by actor Johnny Depp.

Inspirations

Depp claimed Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who is set to play his father in the third movie, and Pepé Le Pew (from Looney Tunes) were both inspirations for his performance (though Errol Flynn — primarily in Captain Blood [1935] — was also an influence). Depp has also said that he imagined pirates as "like the rock stars of their day" and that he likes to portray Sparrow as "sexually ambiguous".

The part earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor, a rarity for a comic performance. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio compared his character to Bugs Bunny and Groucho Marx on the DVD commentary for the first film.

Biography

Early life

In the fictional realm of Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack's real name was Jack Smith and he was born in India on October 25. Thanks to the official Disney website and the game based on the film series, one can find that Jack Sparrow was at one point employed by the East India Trading Company. He helmed the Wicked Wench, an EITC merchant vessel, performing odd jobs for Lord Cutler Beckett. However, after refusing to transport slaves, Beckett sanctioned the torching (and sinking) of the Wicked Wench, and branded Jack Sparrow a pirate. Jack came to embrace his outlaw status and became a very successful pirate, with no desire to return to life under the command of others. Later, Jack petitioned Davy Jones to retrieve his ship that he rechristened as The Black Pearl. From the number of his exploits and limited knowledge of his pre-pirate existence, one can assume that for the majority of his adult life, Jack devoted himself to pirating and spent relatively little time operating legitimately.

Disney Press began a book series for young readers in June 2006, chronicling Sparrow's adventures as a teenager. Written by Rob Kidd, the first three books follow Sparrow and a young, motley crew in a continuing search for the legendary Sword of Cortés. Along the way, they must battle pirates, ancient curses, sirens and the power of the sea.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl

About a decade prior to the beginning of the film, while in search for a legendary cache of Aztec gold, Jack's crew mutinies and maroons him on an island with a pistol containing a single shot (allowing the deserted an opportunity to kill himself rather than die slowly from starvation). Sparrow is able to barter with a group of rum smugglers (who keep their wares hidden on the island) for passage, and goes looking for revenge against the leader of the mutiny — his former First Mate, Hector Barbossa. Sparrow keeps the pistol and single shot for the purpose of killing Barbossa.

Arriving in Port Royal approximately ten years later, Jack is arrested for piracy. While imprisoned, Sparrow meets Will Turner, the son of "Bootstrap Bill" Turner (the lone holdout from the mutiny, an action that landed him on the bottom of the ocean). Sparrow, familiar with the legend of a "heathen curse" that has since stricken the crew of the Black Pearl, knows Turner's child is the only one who can break the curse (blood must be given and Will is the only living source of Bootstrap's blood), and sees Will as the means to get back command of his ship. Though fiercely disapproving of piracy, Turner agrees to go with Sparrow to Tortuga to find a ship and crew and sail to Isla de Muerta to track down the Pearl and rescue Will's 'bonny lass', Miss Elizabeth Swann — kidnapped from Port Royal by Barbossa (after she identified herself as "Elizabeth Turner") — to reverse the curse.

Once Jack gets a crew he catches the Black Pearl, although he is initially unable to stop Barbossa. A sea battle results in Jack and Elizabeth being left on the island where Jack was originally marooned. Fortunately, Elizabeth uses the long-abandoned rum stockpile to start a fire (much to Jack's dismay) and attract the attention of the Navy, subsequently convincing the rescue ship to "attack" Isla de la Muerte. Jack sneaks in and manages to keep Will alive by informing Barbossa of the Naval presence, prompting Barbossa to send the crew out to fight the navy. Jack steals a coin, thus cursing himself, and he and Barbossa engage in a sword fight. In the end, the curse is lifted just after Jack shoots Barbossa with the same shot that he was left with when marooned, leaving Barbossa dead and the rest of the crew, now mortal and vulnerable, stuck on the Navy ship. After the battle, Jack is arrested again and brought back to Port Royal for his "dawn appointment with the gallows", but with the help of Will and Elizabeth he escapes by "accidentally" falling backwards into the sea, where the Black Pearl waits for him. Jack finally takes his rightful place as captain of the Black Pearl.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

As the film begins, it is revealed that Jack obtained the Pearl from Davy Jones himself, 13 years earlier, and now has to repay his debt to Jones for the ship or be enslaved to work on The Flying Dutchman, the famous ship of the dead and dying, for all eternity. Will Turner, meantime, is searching for Jack's compass, having been told by Lord Cutler Beckett that he must find it or watch Elizabeth die. Turner finds Sparrow on Pelegosto, whose inhabitants have taken him as their chief and treat him as a god (recalling the line from the first film, "...and then they made me their chief"), which also means he must be eaten for his spirit to be released. Sparrow makes a break for freedom shortly before he can be cooked alive, barely making it to the Black Pearl before the natives can catch him. Sparrow once again begins to brag that his adversaries would remember the day he was almost caught, but a shipside wave cuts him off.

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Captain Jack faces off with the Kraken

Jack later comes face to face with Davy Jones and promises to bring Jones one hundred souls in exchange for his own. Jack then races to find the Chest of Davy Jones and is confronted by both Norrington and Turner, each hoping to claim the Chest (Turner, for example, wants to free his father from servitude aboard Jones' ship). Jack manages to escape the battle, seemingly with the Chest's contents (the heart of Davy Jones); but, when the Dutchman surfaces to claim Jack's soul and his ship, the heart is missing. Jack escapes while the Pearl's crew members fight valiantly for their lives, then returns to make the shot that saves the remainder of the crew. Mr. Gibbs informs those aboard that they merely angered the Kraken and they must abandon ship.

As the crew prepares to escape, Elizabeth kisses Jack while leading him to the Pearl's mast, and then shackles him there; when she explains that the Kraken is after only Jack and that she is not sorry for what she has done, Jack simply responds, "Pirate." Elizabeth gets into the boat, and Will asks harshly (after having seen the kiss), "Where's Jack?" She replies that he stayed behind to give them a better chance at survival. Sparrow, meantime, manages to get free from the handcuffs only to find himself confronting the enraged Kraken. Sparrow grabs his sword, says "Hello, beastie," and lunges into the mouth of the beast. Norrington, meantime, delivers the heart of Davy Jones to Lord Beckett, hoping to regain the stature he'd lost when he tried to chase Sparrow and his crew through a hurricane sometime after the first movie, losing most of his crew and, subsequently, his rank.

The remaining crew of the Black Pearl arrives at the home of the witch Tia Dalma, who tells them that there is one hope to recover Sparrow, and that the secret lies "at 'World's End'". She asks them if they are willing to do anything to get Jack back, and all agree. The film ends with Sparrow's old foe, Barbossa, descending a staircase, asking, "So tell me, what's become of my ship?" and biting into a green apple, with Jack the monkey on his shoulder.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 3

The continuation of the story arc will apparently see Jack trapped in purgatory while Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Jack's mortal enemy Hector Barbossa rush to save him and save the Black Pearl. It is unknown what relationship Jack and Barbossa will have in this film as well as with Elizabeth and Will, but it should be noted that Barbossa was killed by Jack moments after the Aztec curse was lifted.

Although little is known about this next installment, it has been confirmed that Jack will cross paths with his father (portrayed by Keith Richards).

A video unveiled to attendees of Comic-Con International in San Diego included brief scenes from the film, with Sparrow fighting against Davy Jones in a Crows Nest and against Barbossa aboard the Black Pearl.

Personality

Captaincy

Sparrow has an unwavering desire to captain the Black Pearl and only the Black Pearl, and the majority of his actions in the first film are simply the means to this end. His desire is demonstrated in his willingness to barter for it — he offers his subordination and 25% of his pirates’ earnings to Captain Barbossa should Sparrow be given back his command, although it could have been only a ploy to convince Barbossa he was on his side. As Sparrow explains to Elizabeth, "what a ship is — what the Black Pearl really is — is freedom." He objects to being referred to by only his name without his 'rank'. In Dead Man's Chest, it's established that Jack literally sold his soul for the Pearl and is rightly its Captain. Still, when they're forced to abandon ship, Sparrow tells Gibbs, "She's only a ship, mate.", although it was more to convince the crew to save themselves; he lingered afterward and didn't seem intent on leaving his beloved ship, this may be due to the fact that he knew that the Kraken was seeking him, not the boat, so it would not matter if he attempted to escape with the rest of the crew.

Demeanor

Sparrow's most obvious characteristic is a slightly drunken stagger, accompanied by awkwardly flailing hand gestures that make him look unfocused (or possibly slightly ataxic). It may also be a side effect of spending a lot of time on the deck of a ship, as he seems fairly sure-footed onboard a ship. The noted stagger could result from the heat stroke he was rumored to have suffered while marooned, though he actually spent that time cavorting with the rum runners who helped him escape. Sparrow's gestures are also believed to be a ploy to help keep his enemies off-guard. His perpetual drunkenness could also lead to his tendency to slur his speech. Jack possesses a distinctive tattoo on his right forearm of a sparrow flying in front of a setting sun over the ocean. This is apparently a well-known identifying mark for the infamous pirate as Commodore Norrington seemed to recognize it immediately. He also had the letter "P" (for pirate) branded on his right wrist by the East India Trading Company. Whilst playing with a P brand Cutler Beckett later mentions in the second film that he and Sparrow had "marked" one another at some point, while Beckett's "mark" is presumably the "P" brand, exactly how Jack marked Beckett is as of yet unknown.

Jack's effects

Jack carries a number of items on his person at all times (including his tricorne, pistol, sword, and coat, collectively known as "his effects"), most notably his compass. Received in a barter with the voodoo doctress Tia Dalma (as established in Dead Man's Chest), Jack's compass points towards whatever the person holding it desires most, instead of the usual behavior of pointing North. Generally, it points to a treasure or valuable item, but it can also point to people, and works for anyone who picks it up and even while untouched on the ground.

Jack's compass appears to fail him at the start of the second film; however, it works later for Elizabeth because she is focused on saving Will. Jack convinces her that the only way to do that is by finding the Dead Man's Chest. Later, when the compass is held by Elizabeth, it points towards Jack, leading her to complain that the compass is broken. She sits down in the sand and, when Jack looks at the compass on the ground, it points towards Elizabeth; he says, "You're sitting on it", and motions for her to move off the spot.

After the single-shot pistol that he intended to use to kill Barbossa, Jack's hat seems to be his most beloved object. When it is in his possession he is never seen without it, and he always makes specific mention of it when discussing "his effects". In a comedic turn of events, Jack loses his tricorne during the beginning of the second film and his command to leave it behind surprises the crew to such an extent that they are struck motionless; the hat is eaten by the Kraken soon afterwards. Jack spends the length of the film searching for an adequate replacement, at one point stopping a pub fight to try on many of the fighters' tricornes. He eventually regains it towards the end of the movie when it is spat out by the Kraken prior to his ingestion.

Traits

Unusual for a pirate, Sparrow is known for his altruistic nature; he often puts himself in harm's way to save other people, most notably Will and Elizabeth. The first film's script suggests Jack's kindness is part of the reason why his crew mutinied; when Jack offers a nonviolent way to find a piece of the cursed Aztec gold on the Navy ship Interceptor, Barbossa claims, "Now, y'see Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl. People are easier to search when they're dead." Sparrow is presented as an honorable (if self-centered) man who believes in the "Pirate's Code". He also believes that there is such a thing as a "good" pirate, which was his evaluation of "Bootstrap" Bill Turner.

Jack believes himself to be a ladies' man, explaining that he has, "an intuitive sense of the female creature"; however, he is seemingly unable to commit to a long-term relationship. Jack is presented as adept at sweeping ladies off their feet, but his conquests seem to have a sour memory of him—former flames tend to slap him or anyone looking for him.

Sparrow's most commonly-used words and phrases include "savvy?" (which means, "do you understand me?") and "bugger" (when a situation is not playing out as planned). His most quoted line is "Why is the rum gone?" Along with this, he makes many remarks towards, "the opportune moment." (A chance to take control of a bleak situation)

Jack apparently suffers from extremely bad breath. He caused Norrington to take a step back when he got a little close, and made Governor Swann gag at the end of the first film. (On the DVD commentary, Gore Verbinski quoted his breath resembling, "The inside of a donkey's ass.") When Jack attempted to romantically approach Elizabeth during Dead Man's Chest, she noted various things that made them different people, one of them being "personal hygiene".

According to the audio commentary featuring the scriptwriters on the DVD for the first Pirates film, Sparrow is the least talented swordsman in comparison to Turner, Barbossa and Norrington, relying on his wits more than his swordplay to get himself out of tough situations.

Johnny Depp has stated that pirates were like "the rock stars of their day." This is because the stories and legends surrounding rock stars are usually bigger than the stars themselves. In a scene deleted from the first movie, Elizabeth asks Jack on the island if there is any truth to the "other" stories about him after discovering his real escape from the island the first time. Sparrow, seemingly insulted at the insinuation, first replies "Truth?", and then reveals several scars on his body. This includes the "P" (for pirate) on his left wrist given to him by the East India Trading Company, a very gruesome scar on his right forearm for which there is no known origin, and two musket shot wounds on his chest right above his heart. Elizabeth is shown to be visably shaken by this, in which Jack coldly and sarcastically concludes, "No truth at all."

Jack has a bizarre fascination with eunuchs, or men with no male genetalia. At some point or another, he'll use it as an insult (referring to the French as eunuchs after "ruining raisins") or questioning Will during their duel if he is a eunuch, in which right afterwards he directs his eyes downward. In the second film, while speaking to the natives, he mentions in his speech, "Eunuch-y snip-snip."

Other appearances

• Jack Sparrow appears as Terri Clark's fantasy lover in the video for her country music song, Girls Lie Too.
• Sparrow appears in Kingdom Hearts II as an optional member of the party in the Port Royal world. James Arnold Taylor voices Jack Sparrow in the English release of the game (as the movie cast were unavailable because of filming Dead Man's Chest); Hiroaki Hirata (who voiced Jack Sparrow in the Japanese dub of Pirates) plays the character for the Japanese release.
• Sparrow's name makes an appearance in the game Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters on a tombstone in the Lychfield Graveyard. The grave reads "Cpt. J. Sparrow: May the wind always be at your back sir", perhaps a reference to the toast Depp shares with his father while playing George Jung in Blow.
• Sparrow is the protagonist of the video game titled Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow for the PC, and PS2 platforms. The game follows the events of Sparrow's past, including his escape from the island on which he was marooned and how he sacked Nassau Port without firing a shot. Johnny Depp supplies the voice for Jack Sparrow, which is unusual for a game based on a film. None of the other cast members perform their character's voices.
• In the spring of 2006, Disney retooled their Pirates of the Caribbean ride to include more references to the film. Jack Sparrow makes three appearances in the attraction, hunting for the town's treasure. The final scene sees Jack victorious in his efforts, sitting on a throne surrounded by treasure, singing the "Yo-Ho" song happily.