Captain Jack Sparrow (1685-17??) was a legendary English pirate who was said to have been the "Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea" during the Golden Age of Piracy. Much of Sparrow's life, including his very existence, is uncertain, with the legends surrounding him boasting that he had sacked Nassau port without firing a shot; that he had lured the famous Spanish pirate hunter Armando Salazar to his death in the Bermuda Triangle; that he had betrayed the British East India Company and stolen its ship Wicked Wench, the future Black Pearl, as his own flagship; that he recovered the Black Pearl from his mutinous and undead comrade Hector Barbossa in 1728; that he had been taken to Davy Jones' Locker by the Kraken in 1729; that, having been rescued from the Locker by his former crew, he defeated Davy Jones and the East India Company during a maelstrom a few months later; that he met the still-alive legendary pirate Blackbeard and located the fabled Fountain of Youth in 1750; and that he found the Trident of Poseidon and defeated the undead Salazar in 1751, among other legends.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Jack Sparrow was said to have been born in 1685 on a pirate ship caught in a typhoon, the son of the legendary pirate Edward Teague. He was named for his uncle, Jack Teague, and he was raised at Shipwreck Cove on Shipwreck Island. Sparrow grew up unsure of his parentage, but he served on his father's ship and took part in voyages as far as Singapore in Southeast Asia before one day running away and stowing away aboard a merchant ship to reach Tortuga. He had several teenage adventures which were soon embellished as part of his legend, including the legend that he had rediscovered the scabbard of Hernan Cortes. He later bartered a magical compass from Tia Dalma, and he sailed aboard the pirate ship, the Wicked Wench, until the Spanish Navy captain and renowned pirate hunter Armando Salazar attacked the ship during the 1708 Battle off the Devil's Triangle near present-day Bermuda. Sparrow lured Salazar's ship, the Silent Mary, into the Triangle, leading to Salazar's demise. Sparrow's grateful crewmembers each gave him gifts, including a hat which he would wear for the rest of his life.
Sparrow eventually returned to Shipwreck Cove, and he rejoined his father aboard his ship, the Troubadour, and he met the fellow up-and-coming pirate Hector Barbossa. Sparrow was once abducted by the rogue pirate and a former friend of his, Christophe-Julien de Rapier, only to escape and join the British East India Company for five years, from 1710 to 1715. He turned down EIC Director for East Africa Cutler Beckett's offer to captain a slave ship, instead captaining the merchant vessel Wicked Wench. However, when he was ordered to transport slaves, Sparrow refused, leading to Beckett having Sparrow branded a "pirate" for the rest of his life. Sparrow escaped in time to swim to his ship as it was scuttled, and, according to legend, a drowning Sparrow persuaded Davy Jones to raise his ship, promising to join Jones' crew in 13 years in exchange. Jones proceeded to rename his resurrected ship the Black Pearl, setting out on a life of adventure as a pirate.
Sparrow became a fabled pirate lord who was said to have sacked Nassau Port without firing a shot (defeating the rival pirate Black Smoke James in the process), impersonating a Spanish Navy officer, and impersonating a cleric of the Church of England. He also befriended the legendary pirate who became known as "Jolly Roger", once became the chief of the cannibalistic Pelegostos tribe, seduced the Spanish novice Angelica Cruz and went on adventures with her before they broke up after she tried to kill him in Saint-Domingue, and became the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea after his father was promoted to Keeper of the Code. Jolly Roger later attempted to cheat Sparrow out of his position in a game of poker, but Sparrow was able to defeat Roger, who angrily shot the voodoo witch doctor Amo Dorsi (who had dealt the cards); a dying Dorsi cursed Roger to walk the earth as the undead, causing Roger to become a skeletal beast. Roger would later raise a skeletal legion of the undead in a war of revenge against Sparrow, as well as in piratical expeditions against European shipping and colonies.
Sparrow then recruited Barbosssa into his crew, and he sailed the seas as the Captain of the Black Pearl, becoming a notorious pirate. He and the crew sought to find a horde of Aztec gold seized by Cortes, but Barbossa and the crew greedily mutinied against Sparrow in 1718 and took the Pearl and the gold for themselves. Sparrow was marooned on an island with a pistol containing a single bullet which he could use to shoot himself. However, he discovered that the island was used as a hideout by rumrunners, and he was able to escape with their help, saving the single bullet in his pistol for Barbossa. Sparrow was able to buy a sloop in Port Royal and prey on merchantmen leaving the port. In 1728, however, his jilted lover Scarlett Cutts removed the nails from his fishing dory Jolly Mon to ensure that he would not make it far without coming back to the pirate haven of Tortuga to marry her, forcing him to dock his sinking boat at Port Royal and steal a new ship.
Curse of the Black Pearl[]
Sparrow sneaking towards the HMS Interceptor
Sparrow arrived at Port Royal's docks, where he bribed the harbormaster Walter Pellowe with three shillings (two more shillings than the fee for docking at the harbor) to "forget" his name. He then scouted out the docks and found the Royal Navy brig HMS Interceptor to be a suitable vessel; he confirmed his suspicions after the Royal Marines Giles Murtogg and Angus Mullroy confronted him, and he found out that the Interceptor was the fastest ship in the Caribbean. Sparrow attempted to talk or distract the two men into letting him past their guard, and he did so after he claimed that the Black Pearl was the fastest ship in the sea; while Mullroy claimed that the ship did not exist, Murtogg claimed that he had seen it, leading to an argument which enabled Sparrow to sneak past the Marines and onto the ship. The Marines attempted to apprehend Sparrow after seeing him behind the wheel, and they asked "Mr. Smith"'s business in Port Royal. Sparrow confessed that he was a pirate who was meaning to commandeer a ship, find a crew, and pillage and plunder to his heart's content, but Murtogg did not believe him, while Mullroy did.
Sparrow being arrested
Sparrow went on to tell the Marines of his life, including how the Pelegostos had made him their king, but their conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone falling into the water from the above cliff at Fort Charles. Sparrow volunteered to rescue the person, swimming underwater and bringing the person ashore; finding her to be a woman, he stripped off her corset to allow her to regurgitate the water. Just then, Commodore James Norrington, Governor Weatherby Swann, and Royal Marines arrived and arrested Sparrow. Swann ordered the soldiers to shoot him, but Elizabeth Swann - his daughter and the woman whom Sparrowhad rescued - asked that Norrington not kill her rescuer. Norrington then had his men lower their guns and offered Sparrow a congratulatory handshake for his heroism, only to lift Sparrow's sleeve and reveal that he was a pirate by a pirate brand he had been dealt by the EIC; he also recognized his sparrow tattoo and identified him as the infamous Jack Sparrow. Swann then ordered that Sparrow be hanged, and Norrington had Lieutenant Jonathan Gillette shackle Sparrow. Norrington then reviewed Sparrow's pistol with its single bullet, his compass (which never pointed north), and his sword, and he said that Sparrow was undoubtedly the worst pirate he had ever heard of; Sparrow slyly said that Norrington had still heard of him.
Sparrow holding Elizabeth Swann hostage
Elizabeth then protested Sparrow's planned execution and stood between Sparrow and the soldiers, enabling Sparrow to wrap his shackles around her throat and hold her hostage. He had the soldiers hand his personal effects to Swann, who put on his hat and his gun belt before Sparrow mocked the soldiers for their failed attempt to cappture him. Sparrow then escaped with the help of a lift, dodged the Marines' gunfire, and made his way to John Brown's blacksmith shop, where he hid out from the soldiers.
Turner confronting Sparrow
However, Sparrow was discovered there by the blacksmith William Turner, who had just returned from attending Commodore Norrington's promotion ceremony (he had fashioned Norrington's ceremonial sword). Turner grew enraged at the sight of a pirate and drew a sword, and he also recognized Sparrow as the man who had threatened Swann. Sparrow attempted to leave peacefully, but Turner instead fought him in a swordfight, and he threw a sword against the door to prevent Sparrow from walking out. After a prolonged sword fight, Sparrow drew his pistol on Turner, only to be knocked out by Brown, who had woken from his drunken sleep and smashed a bottle over Sparrow's head. Commodore Norrington and his men then burst into the smithy and apprehended the unconscious Sparrow, who was then taken to Fort Charles and imprisoned while awaiting trial for his misdeeds.
Sparrow watching the attack on Port Royal from his cell
That night, Sparrow was surprised to hear cannon fire from his prison cell and, when he looked out of his window, he found that the Black Pearl was attacking Port Royal. A cannonball broke the wall of the adjoining cell and enabled the other prisoners to escape, but they mocked Sparrow and decided to leave him to rot. Sparrow was later confronted by two former crewmates, Koehler and Twigg, who taunted him about the last time they had seen him (when he was marooned) and revealed their curse from the gold; when Koehler reached his hand through the prison bars to choke Sparrow, the moonlight revealed a skeletal arm. The two men left after Koehler told Sparrow that he knew nothing of hell.
Turner rescuing Sparrow
The next morning, Sparrow awoke to find that Turner had come to the jail to ask him for information on the Black Pearl's whereabouts. Sparrow told Turner that Barbossa and his crew were headed for Isla de Muerta, an island whose location was known only to those who had already been there. Turner demanded Sparrow's help in finding the kidnapped Elizabeth Swann, and, while Sparrow said that he saw no incentive in helping Turner, Turner agreed to free Sparrow in exchange for his help. Sparrow then had the man introduce himself, and he correctly guessed that he was named for his father, Sparrow's old crewmate Bootstrap Bill Turner. Sparrow swore on pain of death to help Turner, and they shook hands before Turner leveraged open the cell door with a cabinet.
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