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* MarriedAtSea: He proposes that he and Elizabeth do this in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribeanDeadMansChest''. He had the right idea, but he's not the one who marries Elizabeth.
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* MarriedAtSea: He proposes that he and Elizabeth do this in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribeanDeadMansChest''.''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest''. He had the right idea, but he's not the one who marries Elizabeth.
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Changed line(s) 117 (click to see context) from:
* MarriedAtSea: He proposes that he and Elizabeth do this in ''Film/PirateOfTheCaribeanDeadMansChest''. He had the right idea, but he's not the one who marries Elizabeth.
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* MarriedAtSea: He proposes that he and Elizabeth do this in ''Film/PirateOfTheCaribeanDeadMansChest''.''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribeanDeadMansChest''. He had the right idea, but he's not the one who marries Elizabeth.
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* MarriedAtSea: He proposes that he and Elizabeth do this in ''Film/PirateOfTheCaribeanDeadMansChest''. He had the right idea, but he's not the one who marries Elizabeth.
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* BackFromTheDead: He gets resurrected at the end of the second movie by Tia Dalma.
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* BadHabits: "Impersonating a cleric of the Church of England." He must have fond memories of that scheme because it's the only one he chuckled at before his hanging.
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* BadHabits: "Impersonating a cleric of the Church of England." He must have fond memories of that scheme because it's the only one he chuckled at before his hanging.
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* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the first [[spoiler:and third]] movie, he gives up pursuing Elizabeth so she can be with Will.
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* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the first [[spoiler:and third]] movie, he gives up pursuing Elizabeth so she can be with Will.
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* BadBoss: Averted with the crew of the Black Pearl and played straight while a privateer. This is probably because he has no respect for 'King's men.' That said, he was willing to shoot Pintel just to test whether the curse had worn off. Only the fact that it hadn't saved him. Which itself led to his crew getting incredibly annoyed. If it hadn't been for Jack and Will's presence, the crew would've mutinied on him then and there.
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* BadBoss: Averted with the crew of the Black Pearl and played straight while a privateer. This is probably because he has no respect for 'King's men.'
** That said, he was willing to shoot Pintel just to test whether the curse had worn off. Only the fact that it hadn't saved him. Which itself led to his crew getting incredibly annoyed. If it hadn't been for Jack and Will's presence, the crew would've mutinied on him then and there.
** That said, he was willing to shoot Pintel just to test whether the curse had worn off. Only the fact that it hadn't saved him. Which itself led to his crew getting incredibly annoyed. If it hadn't been for Jack and Will's presence, the crew would've mutinied on him then and there.
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** There are hints that maybe Captain Jack isn't quite so happy go lucky as he seems.
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** There are hints that maybe Captain Jack isn't quite so happy go lucky as he at first seems.
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** This exchange says a lot.
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** This exchange says a lot.There are hints that maybe Captain Jack isn't quite so happy go lucky as he seems.
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** This exchange says a lot.
-->'''Barbossa''': The world used to be a bigger place.
-->'''Jack''': The world's still the same. There's just... less in it.
-->'''Barbossa''': The world used to be a bigger place.
-->'''Jack''': The world's still the same. There's just... less in it.
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The Presidents Daughter is no longer a trope.
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: Will is "the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner" and as such, a MacGuffin in the first film, as noted above.
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* ThePresidentsDaughter: Will is "the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner" and as such, a MacGuffin in the first film, as noted above.
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* ThePresidentsDaughter: "They've come to kidnap you!"
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* TheAlcoholic: He ''loves'' his rum.
* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: During the climax of ''Dead Man's Chest'', he abandons his crew to the Kraken to save his own hide. However, he ultimately can't leave them to die and returns to help fight the Kraken off.
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* EatenAlive: He dives headlong into the Kraken's mouth at the end of ''Dead Man's Chest''.
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* EatenAlive: DoNotGoGentle: When face to face with the Kraken at the end of ''Dead Man's Chest'', he knows he's trapped and is doomed, but nonetheless draws his sword and faces off against the Kraken as it drags the ''Black Pearl'' down.
* EatenAlive: He dives headlong into the Kraken's mouth at the end of ''Dead Man's Chest''.
* EatenAlive: He dives headlong into the Kraken's mouth at the end of ''Dead Man's Chest''.
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* LoopholeAbuse: In ''Dead Man's Chest'', he tries to invoke this to avoid paying for his DealWithTheDevil with Davy Jones; the deal was that he would be captain of the ''Black Pearl'' for thirteen years and then serve Jones on the ''Flying Dutchman'', and Jack points out that technically, he was only captain for two years before Barbossa mutinied against him. Jones doesn't go for it:
-->'''Jones''': Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless. Have you not introduced yourself all these years as ''Captain'' Jack Sparrow?
-->'''Jones''': Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless. Have you not introduced yourself all these years as ''Captain'' Jack Sparrow?
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[[/folder]]
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** A deleted scene from the third movie suggests that the whole reason he ended up branded a pirate in the first place was because he refused to transport slaves and set them free instead:
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** A deleted scene from the third movie suggests that the whole reason he ended up branded a pirate in the first place was because he refused to transport slaves and set them free instead:instead. If one takes the novels as Canon, [[spoiler: he knew that Beckett would enslave the people of the lost island.]]
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*** If one takes the novels as Canon, this is pretty much the reason [[spoiler: thougb specifically, he knew that Beckett would enslave the people of the lost island.]]
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[[folder: Commodore/Admiral James Norrington]]
[[quoteright:231:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_3433.jpg]]
->Played by: Jack Davenport (2003-07)
Commodore of the Royal Navy [[RomanticRunnerUp and a fiance of Elizabeth]] (not exactly an ArrangedMarriage but the match definitely pleases her father more than her) [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy before he hands her to Will]], who has an almost obsessive need to catch Jack Sparrow. (Briefly, but it was enough.) However, at the end of the first movie he considers Jack his WorthyOpponent, and gives him a day's MercyLead. His act of generosity couldn't have impressed the higher authority, and when he goes out after Sparrow, he chased him into a hurricane, [[IdiotBall for some reason]], and his ship goes down with almost all hands. He is disgraced from the Navy and ends up with a serious case of HeroicBSOD and becomes a pirate, dropping from noble officer to borderline AntiHero who is desperately looking an opportunity to get his old job back. This opportunity comes when the party finds the key item of the sequels, the heart of Davy Jones, whose owner controls the seas. James - seeing it as a free ticket back to his old, happy and presumably wealthy life - steals it and brings it to the new BigBad [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Cutler]] Beckett as a token and he is restored to his normal life, and even given a promotion. But after learning how evil Beckett is, he saves Elizabeth and the party from his clutches, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath losing]] [[HeroicSacrifice his life]] [[YouShallNotPass in the process]].
* BeardOfSorrow: In the second movie. Losing his position, his prestige and the love of his life within about an year will do that to you.
* BritishStuffiness: Norrington is the classic stuffy Brit... [[CharacterDevelopment at first]].
* CoolSword: The sword forged by Will. Through the films, numerous characters comment on it.
* DeadpanSnarker: Only when stripped of his rank and position. When he goes back to being an officer, he returns to politeness.
* {{Determinator}}: His FatalFlaw. Gibbs is aghast when he finds out that Norrington tried sailing ''through'' a typhoon to catch up to the Black Pearl.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Does this to [[spoiler:Davy Jones]] in the third movie, [[spoiler: during his DyingMomentOfAwesome.]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Davy Jones''': James Norrington, do you fear death?]]
--> [[spoiler: *''Norrington defiantly stabs him with his last breath''*]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Davy Jones''': I take that as a no.]]
* TheDragon: To Beckett in the third film. To be honest, he doesn't really enjoy it, and he has no choice but to obey.
* EnemyMine: Reluctantly became part of Jack's crew in the second film.
* {{Expy}}: Norrington is inspired by Duncan from ''Film/TheLastOfTheMohicans''.
* FourStarBadass: Very proficient at actually carrying out combat, not just ordering it- in fact possibly [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking better than anyone he commands]].
* GentlemanSnarker: Mostly in the first film.
* HeroicBSOD: Losing Elizabeth to Will hit him hard. As well as failing to capture Jack, which was [[MercyLead largely his own fault]], regardless of what Jack says. It cost James his authority in the Navy, because he followed the Black Pearl through a hurricane which destroyed his ship, which is why he lost his commission.
* HeroicSacrifice: Stays behind to gain Elizabeth time to escape, and dies for it.
%%* HonorBeforeReason:
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: ''Very'' subtly. "This is a fine sword. I would expect the man who forged it to show the same care in every aspect of his life." He says this while said sword is ''very close'' to Will's face.
* InspectorJavert: "One good deed is not enough to absolve a man of a lifetime of wickedness!"
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the first [[spoiler:and third]] movie, he gives up pursuing Elizabeth so she can be with Will.
* KilledOffForReal: One of the few characters not to come back.
* LastNameBasis: Before the second and the third movies revealed his first name being James, he was only known as Commodore Norrington. (although it was revealed in a deleted scene in the first)
* NobleTopEnforcer: To Beckett in the third movie because he's a corrupt merchant and he's an honorable officer.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: He realizes Beckett is a fiend and helps Elizabeth escape. Cue HeroicSacrifice.
* RomanticRunnerUp: He's not a bad man, he's just not ''Will'', Elizabeth's true love.
* SpannerInTheWorks: A rare version that works in favor for the antagonist. He isn't contacted by Lord Beckett at all, but he catches on to the value of the chest and heart quickly, and manages to steal it from under Jack Sparrow's nose, fake a heroic departure, and return to Port Royale to present the Heart to Beckett, allowing Beckett to become the BigBad over everyone. No wonder Beckett promoted him straight to Admiral!
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: In ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' he's lawful and righteous, just a tad misguided.
* WorthyOpponent: Regarded Jack Sparrow as such, hence the MercyLead. Sparrow seems to show him some respect, but underestimates him at a very costly price.
* YouShallNotPass: Downplayed. He holds off Bootstrap for a few precious seconds by force of character, before dying.
[[/folder]]
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[[quoteright:231:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_3433.jpg]]
->Played by: Jack Davenport (2003-07)
Commodore of the Royal Navy [[RomanticRunnerUp and a fiance of Elizabeth]] (not exactly an ArrangedMarriage but the match definitely pleases her father more than her) [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy before he hands her to Will]], who has an almost obsessive need to catch Jack Sparrow. (Briefly, but it was enough.) However, at the end of the first movie he considers Jack his WorthyOpponent, and gives him a day's MercyLead. His act of generosity couldn't have impressed the higher authority, and when he goes out after Sparrow, he chased him into a hurricane, [[IdiotBall for some reason]], and his ship goes down with almost all hands. He is disgraced from the Navy and ends up with a serious case of HeroicBSOD and becomes a pirate, dropping from noble officer to borderline AntiHero who is desperately looking an opportunity to get his old job back. This opportunity comes when the party finds the key item of the sequels, the heart of Davy Jones, whose owner controls the seas. James - seeing it as a free ticket back to his old, happy and presumably wealthy life - steals it and brings it to the new BigBad [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Cutler]] Beckett as a token and he is restored to his normal life, and even given a promotion. But after learning how evil Beckett is, he saves Elizabeth and the party from his clutches, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath losing]] [[HeroicSacrifice his life]] [[YouShallNotPass in the process]].
* BeardOfSorrow: In the second movie. Losing his position, his prestige and the love of his life within about an year will do that to you.
* BritishStuffiness: Norrington is the classic stuffy Brit... [[CharacterDevelopment at first]].
* CoolSword: The sword forged by Will. Through the films, numerous characters comment on it.
* DeadpanSnarker: Only when stripped of his rank and position. When he goes back to being an officer, he returns to politeness.
* {{Determinator}}: His FatalFlaw. Gibbs is aghast when he finds out that Norrington tried sailing ''through'' a typhoon to catch up to the Black Pearl.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Does this to [[spoiler:Davy Jones]] in the third movie, [[spoiler: during his DyingMomentOfAwesome.]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Davy Jones''': James Norrington, do you fear death?]]
--> [[spoiler: *''Norrington defiantly stabs him with his last breath''*]]
--> [[spoiler: '''Davy Jones''': I take that as a no.]]
* TheDragon: To Beckett in the third film. To be honest, he doesn't really enjoy it, and he has no choice but to obey.
* EnemyMine: Reluctantly became part of Jack's crew in the second film.
* {{Expy}}: Norrington is inspired by Duncan from ''Film/TheLastOfTheMohicans''.
* FourStarBadass: Very proficient at actually carrying out combat, not just ordering it- in fact possibly [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking better than anyone he commands]].
* GentlemanSnarker: Mostly in the first film.
* HeroicBSOD: Losing Elizabeth to Will hit him hard. As well as failing to capture Jack, which was [[MercyLead largely his own fault]], regardless of what Jack says. It cost James his authority in the Navy, because he followed the Black Pearl through a hurricane which destroyed his ship, which is why he lost his commission.
* HeroicSacrifice: Stays behind to gain Elizabeth time to escape, and dies for it.
%%* HonorBeforeReason:
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: ''Very'' subtly. "This is a fine sword. I would expect the man who forged it to show the same care in every aspect of his life." He says this while said sword is ''very close'' to Will's face.
* InspectorJavert: "One good deed is not enough to absolve a man of a lifetime of wickedness!"
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the first [[spoiler:and third]] movie, he gives up pursuing Elizabeth so she can be with Will.
* KilledOffForReal: One of the few characters not to come back.
* LastNameBasis: Before the second and the third movies revealed his first name being James, he was only known as Commodore Norrington. (although it was revealed in a deleted scene in the first)
* NobleTopEnforcer: To Beckett in the third movie because he's a corrupt merchant and he's an honorable officer.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: He realizes Beckett is a fiend and helps Elizabeth escape. Cue HeroicSacrifice.
* RomanticRunnerUp: He's not a bad man, he's just not ''Will'', Elizabeth's true love.
* SpannerInTheWorks: A rare version that works in favor for the antagonist. He isn't contacted by Lord Beckett at all, but he catches on to the value of the chest and heart quickly, and manages to steal it from under Jack Sparrow's nose, fake a heroic departure, and return to Port Royale to present the Heart to Beckett, allowing Beckett to become the BigBad over everyone. No wonder Beckett promoted him straight to Admiral!
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: In ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' he's lawful and righteous, just a tad misguided.
* WorthyOpponent: Regarded Jack Sparrow as such, hence the MercyLead. Sparrow seems to show him some respect, but underestimates him at a very costly price.
* YouShallNotPass: Downplayed. He holds off Bootstrap for a few precious seconds by force of character, before dying.
[[/folder]]
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\"centrifugal\" is not an official term
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** During another fall, he is wrapped in ropes, so when he falls the ropes unravel and spin him like a yo-yo unwinding, allegedly slowing his descent enough that the impact didn't kill him. During a filming accident, the stunt man who performed this scene was half-crippled and very nearly died: in reality, the centrifugal force resulting from being spun around that fast by a rope attached to your waist ''shatters your hip bones''.
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** During another fall, he is wrapped in ropes, so when he falls the ropes unravel and spin him like a yo-yo unwinding, allegedly slowing his descent enough that the impact didn't kill him. During a filming accident, the stunt man who performed this scene was half-crippled and very nearly died: in reality, the centrifugal centripetal force resulting from being spun around that fast by a rope attached to your waist ''shatters your hip bones''.
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Misuse. It\'s Genre Savvy, not just \"savvy\".
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* OfCorsetHurts: "You like pain? Try wearing a corset!" [[GenreSavvy she uses it to her advantage.]]
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* OfCorsetHurts: "You like pain? Try wearing a corset!" [[GenreSavvy she uses it to her advantage.]]
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How Do You Like Them Apples has been deemed to be Not A Trope by the Trope Repair Shop. Examples will be moved to other tropes where appropriate.
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* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: His TrademarkFavoriteFood are green apples, and he's seen interacting with one in all four movies. In the first movie its used as a metaphor to his desire to feel something again, and it's telling that ''the first thing'' he does upon returning from the dead is taking a bite out of the apple.
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* TemptingApple: His TrademarkFavoriteFood are green apples, and he's seen interacting with one in all four movies. In the first movie its used as a metaphor to his desire to feel something again, and it's telling that ''the first thing'' he does upon returning from the dead is taking a bite out of the apple.
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* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Jack's red in the first trilogy in terms of motivation. Jack keeps focused on what he wants and what he has to do to get it while Will tends to get carried away in brief fits of brashness. Will's stakes in the adventures are also purely emotional (Elizabeth and his father) compared to Jack seeking more practical rewards. By personality Jack's unpredictable nature makes him more Red and Wills upbringing makes him more Blue. Jack also wears a Red Bandana, and Will gets a blue one [[spoiler: when he becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman]].
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* RedOniBlueOni: The red Red to Jack's red Blue in the first trilogy in terms of motivation. Jack keeps focused on what he wants and what he has to do to get it while Will tends to get carried away in brief fits of brashness. Will's stakes in the adventures are also purely emotional (Elizabeth and his father) compared to Jack seeking more practical rewards. By personality Jack's unpredictable nature makes him more Red and Wills upbringing makes him more Blue. Jack also wears a Red Bandana, and Will gets a blue one [[spoiler: when he becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman]].
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-->'''Barbossa:''' "Remember your place in front of Captain Sao Fang. He's much like myself, but absent my {{KickTheDog merciful nature}} and {{CombatPragmatist sense of fair play}}."
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-->'''Barbossa:''' "Remember your place in front of Captain Sao Fang. He's much like myself, but absent my {{KickTheDog [[KickTheDog merciful nature}} nature]] and {{CombatPragmatist [[CombatPragmatist sense of fair play}}.play]]."
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-->'''Barbossa:''' "Remember your place in front of Captain Sao Fang. He's much like myself, but absent my {{KickTheDog merciful nature}} and {{CombatPragmatist sense of fair play}}."
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* TheDeterminator: Barbossa's planning process might be explicitly slower and less adaptable to problems than Jack's, but Barbossa manages to accomplish ''every single one '' of his long term goals throughout the series: he collected every single cursed coin after losing them, freed Tia Dalma as per their deal and got Jack out of Davy Jones's Locker, and his vengeance on Blackbear fro losing the Pearl was so certain that Blackbeard got a prophecy about it. Jack may meet you and fleece you in the same minute, but if you have something Barbossa wants, he'll get it.
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* TheDeterminator: Barbossa's planning process might be explicitly slower and less adaptable to problems than Jack's, but Barbossa manages to accomplish ''every single one '' of his long term goals throughout the series: he collected every single cursed coin after losing them, freed Tia Dalma as per their deal and got Jack out of Davy Jones's Locker, and his vengeance on Blackbear fro Blackbeard for losing the Pearl was so certain that Blackbeard got a prophecy about it. Jack may meet you and fleece you in the same minute, but if you have something Barbossa wants, he'll get it.
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* MeaningfulName: A swan is a creature renowned for its grace and beauty, but also ''very dangerous'', as anyone who's seen ''HotFuzz'' will know.
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* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Other pirates better stay out of his way. Dogs of the [[NGOsuperpower East India Trade Company]] better not even ''glance'' at him. But if you're an honest, good-hearted (wo)man, he's practically at your mercy. It's cost him immortality ''three times.''
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* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Other pirates better stay out of his way. Dogs of the [[NGOsuperpower [[NGOSuperpower East India Trade Company]] better not even ''glance'' at him. But if you're an honest, good-hearted (wo)man, he's practically at your mercy. It's cost him immortality ''three times.''
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* CargoShip: Captain Jack Sparrow enjoys a lot of things in life; rum, women, freedom...but there's ''one'' sure thing he will ''never'' truly and honestly abandon: ''The Black Pearl.'' How he speaks of it, how he acts around it, and his [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristic ''fury'']] at Barbossa upon learning of it being sunk by Blackbeard in the fourth film is indicator enough.
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* CargoShip: Captain Jack Sparrow enjoys a lot of things in life; rum, women, freedom...but there's ''one'' sure thing he will ''never'' truly and honestly abandon: ''The Black Pearl.'' How he speaks of it, how he acts around it, and his [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristic ''fury'']] at Barbossa upon learning of it being sunk by Blackbeard in the fourth film is indicator enough.
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* TheDeterminator: Barbossa's planning process might be explicitly slower and less adaptable to problems than Jack's, but Barbossa manages to accomplish ''every single one '' of his long term goals throughout the series: he collected every single cursed coin after losing them, freed Tia Dalma as per their deal and got Jack out of Davy Jones's Locker, and his vengeance on Blackbear fro losing the Pearl was so certain that Blackbeard got a prophecy about it. Jack may meet you and fleece you in the same minute, but if you have something Barbossa wants, he'll get it.
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In his big introduction scene, Jack's in a small boat that's slowly beginning to sink. His attempts to dump out the water are proving to be futile, so he stops to pay respects to some skeletons outside Port Royale. Noticing the sign that states "Pirates, Ye Be Warned", he gives a quick look of exasperation. He arrives at Port Royale, just as his ship's mast sinks to the bottom of the sea. He causally steps onto the docks like this his nothing. [[TheArtfulDodger He promptly bribes the dock owner and steals his money at the same time.]] All this establishes a ridiculous, drunk-appearing {{Pirate}} [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor who'll betray anyone ]] and [[CrazyAwesome that reality bends over backward to make him look awesome.]]
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In his big introduction scene, Jack's in a small boat that's slowly beginning to sink. His attempts to dump out the water are proving to be futile, so he stops to pay respects to some skeletons outside Port Royale.Royal. Noticing the sign that states "Pirates, Ye Be Warned", he gives a quick look of exasperation. He arrives at Port Royale, Royal just as his ship's mast ship sinks to the bottom of the sea. He causally harbour, and casually steps onto the docks like this his is nothing. [[TheArtfulDodger He Then he promptly bribes the dock owner and steals his money at the same time.]] All this establishes a ridiculous, drunk-appearing {{Pirate}} who'll [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor who'll betray anyone ]] anyone]] and [[CrazyAwesome that reality bends over backward to make him look awesome.]]
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** That said, he was willing to shoot Pintel just to test whether the curse had worn off. Only the fact that it hadn't saved him. Which itself led to his crew getting incredibly annoyed. If it hadn't been for Jack and Will's presence, the crew would've mutinied on him then and there.
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* GoOutWithASmile: Following on from aforementioned last words, he smiles just before keeling over.
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* SenseFreak: During the first film, he makes it pretty clear to Elizabeth that the years he's spent unable to feel ''anything'' have taken a toll.
-->''For too long, I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death and haven't died. I feel'' nothin'! '' Not the wind in my face nor the spray o' the sea, ''(reachs out toward Elizabeth's face)'' nor the warmth of a woman's flesh...''
-->''For too long, I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death and haven't died. I feel'' nothin'! '' Not the wind in my face nor the spray o' the sea, ''(reachs out toward Elizabeth's face)'' nor the warmth of a woman's flesh...''
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* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: PlayedForLaughs with a throwaway line in the original ("I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request... means no!"), but he does retain a penchant for arcane speech in the sequels.
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[[Characters/{{PiratesOfTheCaribbean}} Back to Pirates of the Caribbean Character Index]]
[[foldercontrol]]
!Main Characters
[[folder: Captain Jack Sparrow]]
[[quoteright:226:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jar_of_dirt_1598.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:226:[[MemeticMutation "I've got a jar of dirrrrrt!"]]]]
->Played by: Creator/JohnnyDepp (2003-present)
-->"Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly! It's the ''honest'' ones you want to watch out for, 'cause you can never predict when they're gonna do something incredibly... stupid."
An on-off pirate captain, who is or isn't mad due his ObfuscatingStupidity. His [[LoveableRogue fondness of freedom]], love of rum and good portion of randomness makes him a total WildCard, so you can never predict [[TricksterArchetype what he will say or do next]]. Everything he does varies from ''very'' dangerous to just plain weird. How does he stay alive, then? IndyPloy, [[XanatosSpeedChess Speed Chess]] or [[BlessedWithLuck just dumb luck?]] No-one knows. What we ''do'' know, is that you'll need to keep a close eye on your wallet (and ship), because he certainly isn't stupid; in fact, he is a MagnificentBastard who's simply waiting for a proper opportunity to strike. Oh yeah, he can parley himself [[TalkingYourWayOut out of]] [[DealWithTheDevil any deal]] or [[ManipulativeBastard use people to his advantage]]...Almost.
%%* AffablyEvil:
* AntiHero: He will ''always'' do the right thing in the end, and he doesn't like unsavory methods of living forever, but he is still a manipulative, treacherous and ''rude'' fellow.
%%* AnythingThatMoves: In his subconscious at least.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: [[RunningGag Very often]] at the receiving end of one, sometimes in succession. He often brings it upon himself; "That one I deserved".
* TheArtfulDodger: His first scene in the first movie ends with him bribing a dock worker to get out of giving his name, and then stealing the bribe and more before leaving. The guy had no idea.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Jack is eaten by the Kraken at the end of the second film, and his resurrection is a major plot point in the third film.]]
* BadassNormal: He holds his own against supernatural beings through a combination of luck and guile.
* BadHabits: "Impersonating a cleric of the Church of England." He must have fond memories of that scheme because it's the only one he chuckled at before his hanging.
* BeingGoodSucks: One of the patron saints of this trope, as NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished when you're Captain Jack.
** Rescue Elizabeth from drowning? Sentence to hang for being a pirate.
** Refuse to {{Just Shoot|Him}} Will because he's blocking the door and unarmed? Get bashed in the head by his drunk, loser boss.
** Save his crew from [[spoiler:the Kraken]]? [[spoiler:Get left behind and devoured by it.]]
** Save a friend, [[spoiler:Will]], from a fatal wound? [[spoiler: Lose a chance for immortality because it was used to save the friend.]]
** Stage a rescue for [[spoiler:Gibbs]] who's about to hang? [[spoiler:Be captured and sentenced to hang yourself.]]
** A deleted scene from the third movie suggests that the whole reason he ended up branded a pirate in the first place was because he refused to transport slaves and set them free instead:
-->'''Jack:''' People aren't cargo, mate.
*** If one takes the novels as Canon, this is pretty much the reason [[spoiler: thougb specifically, he knew that Beckett would enslave the people of the lost island.]]
* BelligerentSexualTension: Many of his past lovers slap or attempt to kill him.
* BerserkButton: Don't mess with his favorite ship. When Barbossa tells him that the Pearl was sunk, he drops his usual quips and lunges at him from across the table.
--> '''Jack:''' (being restrained) If that ship be sunk properly, you should be sunk with it.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He is only questionably sane and often humorously bumbling; other pirates have dismissed him as being ''too nice''. Nevertheless, he is one of the more formidable minds on the sea as well as a Pirate Lord. While he generally avoids killing, he has made exceptions for those he believes ''deserve'' to die (a fate that is usually earned). [[spoiler:Barbossa (but came back and had a HeelFaceTurn), Davy Jones, Cutler Beckett, and Blackbeard all met their ends when they crossed him]]. Messing with Jack is generally a very bad idea.
* BiTheWay: Creator/JohnnyDepp has said as much in interviews, remarking on the situation any sailor finds himself in -- at sea for months, no women on board, perhaps an "extra ration of rum" -- and the practicality of being... ''flexible'' about one's preferences. [[ShownTheirWork In his research]], he's found that sort of thing to be historically accurate.
* BlessedWithLuck: A trait often remarked about him is that he has a lot luck when pulling his stratagems. It's why even his IndyPloy work.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: His moral code revolves around freedom. If stabbing someone in the back leads to greater freedom, then it is a moral action. He later explains this to Will. The only things that matter in the world "are what a man can do and what a man ''can't'' do", and points out that if he'll die in fair combat, "well then, that's not much incentive for me to fight fair, now is it?"
* BreakoutCharacter: Would you believe that Jack ''wasn't'' intended to be the lead character of the films as of ''Curse of the Black Pearl''?
* BreathWeapon: Jack seems to have caught onto his own brand of knock-out gas -- breath described by Gore Verbinsky as smelling like "a donkey's ass" that is so bad, it can victimize people.
* ByronicHero: Intelligent, adaptable, seductive, introspective, struggles with integrity, and an outlaw. [[ItsAllAboutMe Utterly self-serving]], but will NeverHurtAnInnocent.
* CampGay: Or Camp Bisexual anyway. Considering what was said in BiTheWay above, it is safer to qualify him like this. Campy he certainly is, after all.
* CardCarryingVillain:
-->'''Will Turner''': You cheated!\\
'''Jack Sparrow''': Pirate.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Savvy?"
** "Bugger!"
** "You will remember this as the day you ''almost'' caught ''Captain Jack Sparrow!''" At least that's what he ''tries'' to say; [[RunningGag he doesn't always finish the sentence.]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mildly in the first two, very much so in the third movie. Being dead and in Limbo/Hell all alone will do that to you. This gets a lampshade at the beginning of Dead Man's Chest, when he can't figure out his own heading.
-->'''Marty''': Have you noticed lately that the captain seems to be acting a bit strange?
-->'''Gibbs''': [silently stares at him]
-->'''Marty''': ...-er.
* TheChessmaster: As lampshaded in the third film, it's hard to tell if Jack plans everything out in advance or makes it up as he goes along. In the same film, he sets into motion a plan to get aboard the ''Flying Dutchman'' during the final battle by manipulating the other characters, but it's also clear that he didn't have control of everything and was [[XanatosSpeedChess quickly improvising at the Brethren Court.]]
* ChronicBackStabbingDisorder: Lampshaded in ''Curse of the Black Pearl''.
--> '''Elizabeth''': Whose side is Jack on?
--> '''Will''': At the moment?
* CombatPragmatist:
** The only thing that saves him from defeat at the hands of Will Turner, a technically superior swordsman, is his willingness to "cheat."
--> '''Will''': You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.
--> '''Jack''': Not much incentive for me to fight fair, is it?
** In a more subtle example, Jack's sword of choice is a sabre, which is slightly longer than the typical sword, giving him the advantage of having more reach.
** [[AllThereInTheManual Apparently, Jack is the worst swordsman, but the most experienced fighter.]]
* ConfusionFu: No one has any idea what he's doing at any given time. Those that ''think'' they do are the ones that lose the most.
* CrazyAwesome: [[invoked]] Invoked and promptly lampshaded in the third film as shown in the quote below. Jack's plans run on the idea that they're CrazyEnoughToWork, and he's confident in them to do so while everyone just thinks he's nuts.
-->'''Beckett:''' You're mad! \\
'''Jack:''' Thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work.
* DeadpanSnarker: Jack enjoys making a wide variety of witty quips whenever the opportunity presents itself.
* DealWithTheDevil: According to [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]], Cutler Beckett had Jack's ship, the ''Wicked Wench'', razed and sunk when Jack refused to transport slaves. Jack struck a deal with Davy Jones to raise his beloved ship and renamed it the ''Black Pearl''. Then Barbossa mutinied him for ten of the thirteen years Jack had bargained for.
* DeathGlare: He directs an icy glower at his target when he [[spoiler:shoots Barbossa.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: PopCultureOsmosis has ensured Jack is the most popular, and he's certainly the most memorable part of all of the movies, but he's not actually the protagonist of the first three. That would be Will Turner. By ''On Stranger Tides'' however, Will and Elizabeth have bowed out, their story concluded, and it, presumably along with any later PotC movies, is primarily about him.
* EatenAlive: He dives headlong into the Kraken's mouth at the end of ''Dead Man's Chest''.
* EnemyMine: With practically ''everyone''. In the third film, he amusingly notes that everyone who has come to rescue him from Davy Jones' Locker has ''attempted'' to kill him at some point, with Elizabeth as the only one among them to have actually ''succeeded''.
* EscapeArtist: On multiple occasions, he's escaped from cuffs, cells, enemy ships out at sea, you name it.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In his big introduction scene, Jack's in a small boat that's slowly beginning to sink. His attempts to dump out the water are proving to be futile, so he stops to pay respects to some skeletons outside Port Royale. Noticing the sign that states "Pirates, Ye Be Warned", he gives a quick look of exasperation. He arrives at Port Royale, just as his ship's mast sinks to the bottom of the sea. He causally steps onto the docks like this his nothing. [[TheArtfulDodger He promptly bribes the dock owner and steals his money at the same time.]] All this establishes a ridiculous, drunk-appearing {{Pirate}} [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor who'll betray anyone ]] and [[CrazyAwesome that reality bends over backward to make him look awesome.]]
* EurekaMoment: When William tells Jack he's named after his father, Bill Turner, you can ''see'' the gears moving in Jack's head.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: While he'll pull every dirty trick he knows to cheat his impending death, when he's trapped with no way out and he knows it, he doesn't face his end like a coward.
-->''"Hello, Beastie."''
* FamedInStory: Jack has carefully cultivated his own legend. It comes back to bite him in the arse in the fourth film, where he keeps being mistaken for an imposter, after [[spoiler: Angelica]] raised a crew under the name of "Jack Sparrow".
* FatalFlaw: [[ImmortalitySeeker His fear of dying]] is what drives much, ''much'' of the plot and then some.
* AFriendInNeed: When it matters most, Jack will do the right thing but don't count on it before that point.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Even those who do call him a friend are perfectly aware that Jack is the sort of person who'd steal all their cash, drink all their rum and abscond to Tortuga with their ''mum'' if given half the chance. This is why none of the mains reply when he asks, "Did no one come to save me ''just'' because they missed me?" Marty, Cotton, Pintell and Ragetti and Monkey! Jack raise their hands.
* GuileHero: Objectively speaking, he is a very good fighter. He's also overshadowed by many other characters and tends towards fighting with words when his sword fails him.
* TheGunslinger:
** While Jack is able to compete with and even occasionally dominate the best swordsmen in the series, WordOfGod is that he's actually much better with a pistol than a sword. In ''Dead Man's Chest'' he manages to [[spoiler:shoot and ignite a falling barrel of gunpowder]] with a musket at a range that would make the shot hard even with rifling, and in the same movie he chucks a coconut at one of the ''Dutchman's'' crewmen and easily nails him in the head, despite the guy running full-tilt ''and'' being a good distance away.
** More impressive still: in the third movie he [[spoiler:shoots the chest from Davy Jones' hand, on the first try, whilst swinging amongst the ship's rigging, ''during a maelstrom'','' '''while the ship is caught in a whirlpool.''' '']]The LoneRanger couldn't have done better.
** In fact, each of the first three movies includes a crucial moment where Jack has to make [[OneBulletLeft one shot count]]... which he always does.
*** Probably what's most awesome about all of this, is that it's all from Jack training himself. As additional books and material point out, Jack simply took a bucket of shot, a keg of powder, and several empty bottles of rum. When he was through, he could hit 9 out of 10 that he threw out there.
* HandsomeLech: He's had several lovers (all of which inevitably slap him) and flirts with Elizabeth.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Gibbs. Through all four movies, Gibbs is the only person he's never betrayed. He even put himself in danger to bust him out in the fourth movie.
* HiddenDepths: Deleted scenes and ExpandedUniverse materials show that Sparrow tried to become [[spoiler:an honest sailor with the East India Company]]. However, Beckett branded him a pirate and destroyed his ship when he [[spoiler:was ordered to transport slaves but freed them instead]].
* HonorBeforeReason: Because even if it may not seem so, when he says IGaveMyWord.
* IGaveMyWord: And he ''will'' keep it, in word ''and'' spirit. It just may take a while.
* ImmortalitySeeker: His primary goal in the films, other than maintaining captaincy over his beloved ''Black Pearl'' is finding a means of indefinitely extending his life, be it cursed Aztec gold, becoming captain of the ''Flying Dutchman'', or drinking from the Fountain of Youth. None of them have worked out thus far. Note that in all of these cases, he ''had'' the opportunity to achieve his goal. He just [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold didn't find the tradeoffs to be worth it]]. [[note]]The cursed gold would make him unable to enjoy drink, food, or sex - and would cost him his revenge on Barbossa. Davy Jones' post would imprison him on the guy's ship - and would have been at the cost of Will's life. The Fountain of Youth would tie him to the Fountain - and also demand a sacrifice once or twice a century, starting with a woman he cared for(even if he didn't trust her). [[/note]]
* ImprobableAimingSkills: See TheGunslinger. Practicing on [[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack Jack]] probably helped.
* InsistentTerminology: That's ''Captain'' Jack Sparrow, thank you very much.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all his scheming and plundering, there ''is'' a good heart somewhere in there.
* LargeHam: Loud and gesturing and fond of theatrics.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The most prominent in the series - and in fact accompanies many funny or actiony scenes featuring many other characters as well simply because they only vaguely involve him.
* ListOfTransgressions: His list is so long that only the 'most egregious' need to be recited to justify his hanging.
* LoveableRogue: An affable pirate whose popular with the ladies (who eventually slap him).
* MadeOfIron:
** In ''Dead Man's Chest'', Jack freefalls what looks like several hundred feet down a canyon and lands little more than dazed at the bottom.
** During another fall, he is wrapped in ropes, so when he falls the ropes unravel and spin him like a yo-yo unwinding, allegedly slowing his descent enough that the impact didn't kill him. During a filming accident, the stunt man who performed this scene was half-crippled and very nearly died: in reality, the centrifugal force resulting from being spun around that fast by a rope attached to your waist ''shatters your hip bones''.
** Likewise in ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' where he falls off of a hundred foot high cliff, without the handwave applied to Elizabeth that her ''enormous'' gown acted as a parachute to slow her descent.
** Given that he has to be alive to pay his [[DealWithTheDevil debt to Davy Jones]], one interpretation is that his deal might be what allowed him to survive these falls.
* ManipulativeBastard: Manipulates everyone by using what they want.
* MemeticBadass: Invoked. Jack treats himself like one, explaining away anything he does or plans to do, no matter how improbable or amazing, as "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow".
* MysteriousPast: The movies only give small, plot-relevant pieces of Jack's backstory. WordOfGod goes a bit farther, describing the precise circumstances of how he became an outlaw and made a deal with Davy Jones [[spoiler:(Jack freed a cargo of EITC slaves, for which Beckett branded him a pirate and sank his ship)]], but it's still far from the complete story.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Other pirates better stay out of his way. Dogs of the [[NGOsuperpower East India Trade Company]] better not even ''glance'' at him. But if you're an honest, good-hearted (wo)man, he's practically at your mercy. It's cost him immortality ''three times.''
* NiceHat: Possibly one of Jack's fetishes. He loves his tricorner hat - a RunningGag in the second film is his constantly trying on new hats to replace his lost hat - offers a nice hat to Barbossa in the first film, and loves Will's new hat at the end of the film, possibly being the TropeNamer has he remarks, "And Will... NiceHat!"
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: In-universe example. If anyone ever tells Jack that he's the "worst pirate I've ever heard of" he is quick to respond with "but you '''have''' heard of me."
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Why do people with bad breath always wanna tell you secrets?
* NoodleIncident: During his ListOfTransgressions, he seems awfully fond of the time he posed as clergy. One has to wonder what he did during that time - odds are it involved a ''lot'' of sex.
* NotMeThisTime: A rare heroic example in the fourth movie: In the beginning of the movie, Jack was told many times by both friends and enemies that he was trying to get a ship as well as recruit various people into attempting to find the legendary Fountain of Youth. Turns out that Jack, for once, wasn't responsible for this, and gets into a fight with the one who did the deed: Angelica disguised as Jack.
* NotSoDifferent: In ''On Stranger Tides'', Jack organizes a mutiny, later betrays another pirate and maroons her on an island with a pistol and one shot. His motivation is far more understandable and less selfish than Barbossa's(he liked the woman, but couldn't trust her), but one would assume his grim outlook on mutineers has acquired an asterisk. It is this: (as one character points out) those pirates had signed up to sail under "Captain Jack Sparrow", so [[RulesLawyer technically it's not a mutiny]]. Besides, ''this'' island was right on top of a well-traveled trade route.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He comes off as TheFool... or is he?
* OneBulletLeft: During the mutiny, he was given a pistol with a single-shot. He carried it for over 10 years, intending to use it kill Barbossa.
* OpportunisticBastard: While in the first film Jack Sparrow was shown to rely on the BatmanGambit quite a bit, the other films have also shown him to be quite the opportunist as well, and sometimes, it's not clear which one he is, this or TheChessmaster.
-->"Do you think he plans it all out or just makes it up as he goes?"
* PetTheDog: In ''On Stranger Tides'', he claims credit for standing watch during the mutiny in order to spare the man who chose not to raise a cry. Blackbeard, however, has him pegged, and discovers it to be the cook. Five minutes later, the crew is missing one cook.
** In ''At World's End'', he's spent the entire movie trying to talke over the ''Flying Dutchman'' and inherit Davy Jones' immortality. When Jones [[spoiler:fatally stabs Will, Jack is obviously horrified. He puts a knife in the dying Will's hand and has ''him'' stabs Jones' heart, ensuring that Will would survive, and giving up his own chance at immortality.]]
* PragmaticHero: After returning from [[spoiler: Davy Jones' locker]], he's ''merely'' willing to lie, cheat, and steal to deal with Beckett, Davy Jones, and Blackbeard, as opposed to his former UnscrupulousHero ways.
* PrettyBoy: Angelica notes that he was the easiest pirate captain for her to impersonate.
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Will's red in the first trilogy in terms of motivation. Jack keeps focused on what he wants and what he has to do to get it while Will tends to get carried away in brief fits of brashness. Will's stakes in the adventures are also purely emotional (Elizabeth and his father) compared to Jack seeking more practical rewards. By personality Jack's unpredictable nature makes him more Red and Wills upbringing makes him more Blue. Jack also wears a Red Bandana, and Will gets a blue one [[spoiler: when he becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman]].
* ReliableTraitor: As he puts it, "Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest person you can always trust to be dishonest."
* SanitySlippage: [[BunnyEarsLawyer Not that anyone else notices,]] but his time in Davy Jones' Locker takes its toll on his mind, and he suffers from ([[PlayedForLaughs admittedly amusing]]) hallucinations throughout the third film, though he seems to get better by the end.
* ScrewYourself: ''On Stranger Tides'' has Jack Sparrow locked in an intense duel with [[spoiler:Angelica disguised as]] Jack Sparrow. It ends when one kisses the other and says "I've always wanted to do that."
* SophisticatedAsHell: Jack splices a lot of fancy sentences into his standard speech before switching back to normal.
* TalkingYourWayOut: He did no less than ''three'' times in the first film: Will to get him out of jail, Barbossa to give him the Pearl in exchange for Norrington and Norrington to back stab Barbossa.
* TricksterArchetype: Always screwing authority in pursuit of freedom and as wily as they come.
* UnscrupulousHero: In the first trilogy, he's willing to go so far as conning people into selling their souls to Davy Jones in order to get free of his debt. His brush with [[spoiler: death and Davy Jones' locker]] changes that a bit.
* VitriolicBestBuds:
** In the original trilogy, with [[TheHero Will]]. The two betray each other multiple times each throughout the three movies, yet each clearly has a level of admiration and respect for the other (and both of them try to think like the other on at least one occasion each). When it counts, they're also each willing to make sacrifices to save each other's lives. [[spoiler: Will risks being hung himself by rescuing Jack from the gallows, and Jack gives up the immortality he desperately wants to save Will's life]].
** In the fourth film, he and Barbossa seem to have reached this kind of relationship.
* WildCard: You can generally trust Jack to do the right thing in the end. What he does ''leading up to that'', on the other hand, ranges from the heroic to the bastardly to the just plain ''weird''.
* TheWonka: He's the strangest ship captain you'll ever meet and it's ''because'' he's so strange that he is good at what he does.
* WrongGenreSavvy: In ''On Stranger Tides'', he is shanghaied into service on Blackbeard's ship, and goes about setting up a mutiny. During the critical meeting, he learns the most salient fact that ''no one has so much as seen Blackbeard once'', and, given that the supposed first mate is Angelica, whom is an established liar (the rest of the crew he was shanghaied with were originally brought in under the premise that they were to sail with "Captain Jack Sparrow"), he is lead to conclude that Blackbeard does not actually exist and that the whole affair (zombie pirates included) is a sham. He soon discovers that Blackbeard does ''indeed'' exist.
* XMarksTheHero: As of ''On Stranger Tides''.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder: William "Will" Turner Junior]]
[[quoteright:183:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/will_8007.jpg]]
->Played by: Creator/OrlandoBloom (2003-2007)
-->'''Jack Sparrow:''' One question about your business, boy, or there's no use going. This girl... how far are you willing to go to save her?\\
'''Will Turner:''' I'd die for her.\\
'''Jack Sparrow:''' Oh good. No worries then.
Blacksmith of Port Royal, who loves Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter. He was found shipwrecked and (presumably) orphaned roughly ten years before the first movie takes place. Excellent swordsman, but a little too naive when it comes to dealing with pirates, before [[TookALevelInBadass he takes some levels]] and understands how the world really rolls in those circles. Proceeds to continue his {{Badass}} training and power-leveling in the course of second and third movies and eventually becomes the captain of the legendary Flying Dutchman.
* AllegedLookalikes: Several characters will comment on how he's a "spitting image" of his father. When "Bootstrap Bill" does show up, the two don't remotely resemble each other. [[JustifiedTrope Considering that Bill is now a sea creature, mistakes can be forgiven.]]
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl:
--> '''Jack:''' (''believing Will to be a hallucination'') William, tell me something: Have you come because you need my help to save a certain distressing damsel, or, rather, DamselInDistress? Either one.
--> '''Will:''' No.
--> '''Jack:''' Well, then you wouldn't be here.
* AntiHero: Type II at first, being just a bit reckless, with a brief run as a Type III in the third film, where he gets more Machiavellian traits.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: As Captain of the Dutchman after Jones.]]
* BadassBystander: To Jack's surprise in the first film, that blacksmith's apprentice is not only blocking his path to freedom but puts up a good fight.
* BenevolentBoss: [[spoiler: His first act as captain of the Flying Dutchman is to forgive the debts of all his crew members and then properly serve as a ferryman instead of slave owner.]]
* BigDamnHero: [[spoiler:Returns as the Captain of the Flying Dutchman during the climax of the third film.]]
* TheBlacksmith: Will is the swordsmith variant.
* BlessedWithSuck: [[spoiler:It all depends on how you view the Curse of Davey Jones' locker.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Elizabeth. The first scene of the first movie is their meeting as children.
* DenyingTheDeadParentsSins: He almost ''kills'' Jack for calling his father a pirate.
* DistressedDude: The second half of the first movie involves rescuing him from nearly the exact same situation as Elizabeth.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: By the end of the third movie, [[spoiler:he's now an Immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His entire swordfight with Jack in the first film reveals he is ''not'' just a humble blacksmith.
-->'''Jack:''' Who makes all these [swords]?
-->'''Will:''' ''I'' do! And I practice with them three hours a day!
-->'''Jack:''' [[YouNeedToGetLaid You need to find yourself a girl, mate.]]
* GuileHero: Starting in the second film.
--> '''Will:''' I said to myself, "Think like Jack."
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A heroic (for this series) example; but you need to pay attention to notice it. If you follow the journey of Will's Sword through the movies: It gets forged for Norrington, lost or taken away after his fall from grace, regifted to him by Beckett, stabbed into Davy Jones as one last act of defiance and subsequently taken by Jones, dropped by Jones during his fight with Jack on the mast, retrieved from a random crewman (not before he's killed with it) by Jones and lastly [[spoiler:Used to deliver the killing blow to Will by Jones.]] Presumably, he then takes it as his own again. Also qualifies as an extremely roundabout ChekhovsGun.
* HonorBeforeReason: His insistence on honor and propriety and such things is what makes him such a contrast with Jack. According to Jack, it also makes him dangerous to selfish minded pirates because they can't predict when he'll do something "stupid".
* IGaveMyWord: He'll go to suicidal lengths to keep a promise, especially the one he makes his father in the sequels.
* InTheBlood: "But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that some day..."
* LoveAtFirstSight: He says he fell in love with Elizabeth the moment he met her.
* MartyrWithoutACause: In the first movie. He seems hell-bent on committing HeroicSacrifice to save Elizabeth. This does more harm than good.
* MasterSwordsman: WordOfGod states him to be the finest one in the franchise on a purely ''technical'' level. Unfortunately, all of the foes he faces in the saga make up for their lack of skill with ''their'' willingness to use dirty tricks.
* TheMcCoy: He often balances Jack's pragmatism with a more human side to things, at least in the first movie. In the sequels things get murkier.
%%* MrViceGuy
* NiceHat: At the end of ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', he wears an extravagant feathered cap one might expect from one of TheThreeMusketeers. Bonus points for Jack invoking the Trope verbatim upon seeing it, and William grinning as he said it.
* ThePresidentsDaughter: Will is "the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner" and as such, a MacGuffin in the first film, as noted above.
%%* PrettyBoy
* {{Psychopomp}}: [[spoiler:What he becomes in the third movie since he took over Davey Jones' job as ferryman of those who died at sea.]]
* RedIsHeroic: Wears a crimson shirt in the third film.
* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Jack's red in the first trilogy in terms of motivation. Jack keeps focused on what he wants and what he has to do to get it while Will tends to get carried away in brief fits of brashness. Will's stakes in the adventures are also purely emotional (Elizabeth and his father) compared to Jack seeking more practical rewards. By personality Jack's unpredictable nature makes him more Red and Wills upbringing makes him more Blue. Jack also wears a Red Bandana, and Will gets a blue one [[spoiler: when he becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman]].
* TheStraightMan: A lot of the franchise relied on Will's seriousness and dourness setting up Jack's antics.
* SupportingProtagonist: He is the main protagonist of the original trilogy, with him and Jack getting the most focus of the series and his character development from a naive man to a complex man gets the more focus than Elizabeth's development (though Elizabeth's is greater). However, Jack's the, ahem, real hero and the most widely recognized character from the film.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Part of Will's CharacterDevelopment is growing to accept the fact that a person who is technically an outlaw or a criminal can still be a good person at heart. Like Jack. Or his Dad. Or ''himself,'' by the end of the series.
* TookALevelInBadass: He starts as a competent swordsman, but far too naive and unexperienced, but by the third movie he's a lot smarter.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Jack, and supplying most (but not all) of the vitriol.
* TheWatson: Asks questions to prompt exposition from Jack or Gibbs.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder: Elizabeth Swann / Turner]]
[[quoteright:187:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lizzy_1641.jpg]]
->Played by: Creator/KeiraKnightley (2003-2007)
-->I've had it! I've had it with wobbly-legged, rum-soaked PIRATES!
Governor Swann's daughter, essentially [[BornInTheWrongCentury a modern girl trapped in an eighteenth-century world]], and keeper of the MacGuffin in the first film. Somewhere between TheHeroine, the ActionGirl and TheHeart, she's the access character who -- [[AudienceSurrogate like the audience]] -- grew up with heavily romanticized pirate stories. She's kind of a fan girl when if comes to pirates, but is a brilliant strategist when given the chance, and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] between the first and second movies. Elizabeth is the center of a LoveTriangle (or rather a Love Trapezoid) that contains Will, Jack and Norrington all trying to get with her.
* ActionGirl: Elizabeth increasingly occupies this role as she steps into the world of pirates. By the start of the third film, she undoubtedly qualifies and proves as much to a pirate mook.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Starts off as a very "ProperLady" gal, but slowly sheds that skin to become a bona-fide ActionGirl.
* AntiHero: The lesser one of the main cast. While she does get a bit manipulative by the second and third films, she's nothing compared to [[TheChessmaster Jack]] or [[WildCard Barbossa]].
* AudienceSurrogate: Like the audience, she's grown up reading many romanticized pirate stories, and has an idea beforehand of what she thinks pirates are like.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Gets a bit smudgy or messy-haired at a few points, but rarely suffers any disfiguring injury, such as when the inhumanly strong Davy Jones backhands (or back-claws) her across the face without inflicting the slightest bruise.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: Stated so by Keira Knightley, and it's far from wrong.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Will. It's easy to tell she's more interested in her blacksmith friend than Norrington.
* DamselOutOfDistress: In the first movie where she arranges for her own rescue and otherwise gets herself out of trouble.
* GoodBadGirl: Elizabeth is "so ready to be married" to Will Turner.
* GuileHeroine: Outsmarts ''Jack''. [[spoiler:Four of Barbossa's crew have tried to kill him in the past; she's the one that succeeded.]]
* KissOfDeath: [[spoiler: Quite possibly. In the second and third films, she kisses four different men (Jack, Sao Feng, Norrington, Will) - and all of them get killed immediately afterwards.]]
* OfCorsetHurts: "You like pain? Try wearing a corset!" [[GenreSavvy she uses it to her advantage.]]
* OfCorsetsSexy: At least this is her ''father's'' opinion. It's all the rage in England!
* OfficialCouple: With Will at the end of the first movie, where they are engaged. Officially tying the knot takes another two movies.
* PirateGirl: As of the third movie, she is officially a pirate and not a ProperLady visiting their world.
* ThePresidentsDaughter: "They've come to kidnap you!"
* RousingSpeech: Her "Hoist the Colors" speech in ''At World's End'' inspires the pirates to fight against the East India Company.
* ScoobyDooHoax: Pulls off a "ghost on a ship" charade, to convince the crew of the ''Edinburgh Trader'' to change course for Tortuga.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Norrington noticed this in the first film.
* SheIsTheKing: [[spoiler: Once she becomes the Pirate King.]]
* SweetPollyOliver: After escaping Beckett in DMC, she disguised herself as a young male sailor to get aboard the ''Edinburgh Trader''.
* TookALevelInBadass: Will taught her how to [[FreudWasRight use a sword]]. Unfortunately for her, this was ''all'' she and Will did during their engagement. And then in the third movie she goes and becomes [[spoiler:''the Pirate King''. And not just King-in-Name-Only, she leads the pirates against the East India Company and does a damned good job of it.]]
* {{Tritagonist}}: The third main character of the trilogy she participates in. The movies start from her [=POV=] two out of three times, and her actions drive the plot more than anyone else's, apart from [[VillainDrivenPlot Beckett]]. She also receives the most CharacterDevelopment of the three original protags, coming into her own as a pragmatic, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]], MagnificentBastard and [[spoiler:Pirate King]].
* WrongGenreSavvy: At least in the first movie. Elizabeth grew up reading pirate stories, so she has a pretty good idea of how pirates are "supposed" to behave. She's constantly being surprised at how rarely they live up to her expectations in real life.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder: Captain Hector Barbossa]]
[[quoteright:248:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hector_6339.jpg]]
->Played by: Creator/GeoffreyRush (2003-present)
-->'''Barbossa:''' Still thinkin' of running, Jack? Think you can outrun the world? You know the problem with being the last of anything, by and by there be none left at all.\\
'''Jack:''' Sometimes things come back mate. We're livin' proof, you and me.\\
'''Barbossa:''' Aye, but that's a gamble of long odds, ain't it? There's never a guarantee of comin' back. But passin' on, that's dead certain.
The villain of the first film, he controls the undead crew of The Black Pearl who RapePillageAndBurn every city they ran on while trying to collect [[GottaCatchThemAll every single piece]] of the magical Aztec Gold that cursed them when they stole it and spent it on booze, games and hooke...oh sorry, ''[[UnusualEuphemism pleasurable company]]''. He's the very picture of a MagnificentBastard and, as it pits him against the protagonists, he bites the big one. But fate has more in store for Barbossa, and he [[ItWasHisSled is later resurrected]] for the third film by Tia Dalma when the heroes (and other forces) need him and Jack to return. He's a SmugSnake who's big on the double-cross and willing to take out anyone who stands in his way, but really, he's just trying to [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy take control of his life back]]. A lot of viewers are confused by his actions in the third film, assuming they contradict his depiction in the first movie, but (like [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} David Xanatos]]) his character doesn't change, [[KickTheSonOfABitch just his enemies]]. Barbossa remains [[{{Pride}} arrogant]], though, and is always convinced -- and manages to convince others -- that his straightforward plans are foolproof. He then proceeds to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard shoot himself in the foot]], along with the feet of [[SurroundedByIdiots anyone foolish enough to follow him]]. Takes over Blackbeard's ship and crew at the end of the fourth movie, and gains his powers.
* AffablyEvil: Barbossa is something of a gentleman pirate, being very soft-spoken and cultured, and can be surprisingly honorable at times.
* AntiHero: NominalHero in the third and fourth films, he's still not very trustworthy and you can't rely on him to do the noble thing, but you ''can'' count on him to help you fight the far more dangerous foes.
* AntiVillain: In the first film. According to his backstory, Barbossa wanted a life on the sea and found piracy to be more fulfilling than other means. He also demonstrates a much more noble side in the subsequent films.
* {{Badass}}: Oh, hell yes. He is one of the most skilled fighters in the series, and single-handedly cut down a good number of Davy Jones' men.
* BadBoss: Averted with the crew of the Black Pearl and played straight while a privateer. This is probably because he has no respect for 'King's men.'
* BigBad: Of the first film since he leads the raid on Portal Royal that causes the movie's plot. However due to [[FateWorseThanDeath the Curse]], its arguably [[SympathyForTheDevil not by his own choice.]]
* ComfortFood: According to the WordOfGod, this is why Barbossa was always going on about apples.
* CoolSword: In the fourth movie, two of them. Firstly, [[spoiler:he [[ExoticWeaponSupremacy poisons his usual weapon]] to give him the edge against Blackbeard due to losing his leg in their first encounter]]. After this gambit pays off, he [[spoiler:takes the Sword of Triton as well as the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' as the prize, gaining with it many of Blackbeard's magical powers.]]
* DeadpanSnarker:
-->'''Elizabeth:''' Captain Barbossa , I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal. \\
'''Barbossa:''' There are a lot of long words in there, Miss, we're naught but humble pirates. What is it that you want? \\
'''Elizabeth:''' I want you to leave and never come back. \\
'''Barbossa:''' I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request. ''(beat)'' Means "no".
-->'''Will:''' "Elizabeth goes free." \\
'''Barbossa:''' "Yes we know that one, anything else?"
-->'''Barbossa:''' "Jack, ''Jack'', did ya not notice? That be the same little island we made you governor of on our last little trip."
* DeathByIrony: He left Jack with a single bullet in a random Island of the Caribbean (presumably so Jack could kill himself). He's later killed with that bullet.
* DeathIsCheap: {{Subverted}}. At first, thanks to his resurrection, it looks like anyone can come back, but in the third film, it's shown that he was only brought back because the person doing the resurrecting [[spoiler:(a god, no less)]] needed him for something, and he himself states that trying to come back to life is a very long gamble.
* DemotedToDragon: He was the main antagonist for ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', the first film. In the fourth movie, he nominally works as a mercenary for King George II.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: When he accosts Tia Dalma, she reminds him she was the one who resurrected him and briefly reduces his hand to a skeleton as a warning. Barbossa reminds her why she had to resurrect him and has her sent to the brig.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: The only reason Barbossa agreed to look for the fountain is because he wants to find Blackbeard.
* DualWielding: During his fight with [[spoiler:Blackbeard, he dual wields his poisoned sword and crutch! It pays off for a while, then he loses the crutch and nicks him with the blade while he's otherwise distracted.]]
* EnemyMine: In the third movie he teams up with Will, Elizabeth, and Jack (all of whom he has reason to hate) to stop Beckett. He does seem to have at least parted with the former two on friendly terms, but [[spoiler:convinced Jack's crew to mutiny (again) to help him go after the Fountain of Youth]]. [[spoiler:But even then, this time he leaves Jack in Tortuga with wenches rather than on a deserted island alone. Does this once again in On Stranger Tides, where he teams up with Jack for a chance at Blackbeard, who took the Pearl.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His loving relationship with his pet monkey.
* EvilCounterpart: To Jack. The writers' and director's audio commentary for ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' at one point refers to Barbossa as "the dark side of Jack Sparrow".
* EvilLaugh: Barbossa has a ''magnificent'' cackle that sounds frighteningly bloodthirsty.
* ExactWords: Barbossa will ''always'' stick to what he has promised. Which isn't to say that he won't have fun as to ''how'' he interprets said promises. See RulesLawyer below.
* FamousLastWords: In the first movie. "I feel... cold."
* HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler:Loses a leg in ''On Stranger Tides'', though he's still a very effective combatant.]]
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: To the point of WildCard status, but ''without'' Captain Jack's guarantee of doing the right thing in the end.
%%* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter
* {{Hypocrite}}: "Better were the days when mastery of the seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. Y'all know this to be true."
** All the while negotiating a clandestine deal with Calypso. Though in fairness, that deal he and Calypso had made was not what makes him a hypocrite. That's just him holding up his end of the bargain. What makes him a hypocrite is how he tries to get Calypso to take down the entire armada in exchange for keeping his promise. In the end though, thanks to Elizabeth's Meaningful Echo, he comes out of it and decides to adhere to it.
* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: His TrademarkFavoriteFood are green apples, and he's seen interacting with one in all four movies. In the first movie its used as a metaphor to his desire to feel something again, and it's telling that ''the first thing'' he does upon returning from the dead is taking a bite out of the apple.
* IGaveMyWord: Zigzagged, he does keep his word when he tells Elizabeth he'll leave Port Royal, and agrees to Will that he'll set Elizabeth free and not harm the crew. However, he doesn't let Elizabeth leave and points out her terms never included her release, and mocks Will that he never said ''where'' he had to let Elizabeth go. In essense he keeps his word to the letter, but not the spirit.
* LargeHam:
** His attempt at getting Calypso back to goddess form: "CALYPSO! I '''RELEASE''' you from your human bonds!!" If that's how a lover says those words, one wonders how many ladies went deaf after meeting him.
** He also seems to love emphasizing '''"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"'''.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: The reason why he has a peg leg in movie 4. [[spoiler:Blackbeard took the Pearl from him and did his thing that made the ship attack the sailors, with the result that Barbossa's leg was caught in the rigging. He sliced it off to show he was master of his own fate.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Barbossa" comes from the Latin for "Beard of Bones".
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Implied in regards to his "loyalties" to the crown. [[spoiler:He doesn't actually care about preventing the Spaniards from using the Fountain of Youth as much as he only worked with the British navy as an excuse to exact revenge on Blackbeard for the latter stealing the Black Pearl which also cost him his leg.]]
* NotSoDifferent: In the fourth movie, Barbossa has his ship stolen by Blackbeard and becomes consumed with his desire for vengeance. He briefly becomes employed by the crown as well, defecting in the end. Karma's a bitch, but at least Jack and Barbossa have some common ground. Also much like Jack, he's a trickster, far more intelligent than he lets on and a charismatic leader. In the commentary for the first film, the writers even compare them as though they were two demi-gods, playing chess with the lives of the other characters.
* PetTheDog: Repeatedly in ''At World's End'',
** Marrying Will and Elizabeth, and showing genuine happiness for them to boot.
** He gets ''all'' of them on the Black Pearl when Jack refuses to take Will, Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti and Barbossa aboard to escape the locker, when he had no reason to need any of the four around.
** This little moment in ''On Stranger Tides''
--->'''Barbossa:''' *reveals a hidden stash of rum in his [[spoiler: peg leg]]*
--->'''Jack:''' [[PuppyDogEyes I want one of those.]]
--->'''Barbossa:''' *immediately shares his rum*
* {{Pride}}: Barbossa thinks very highly of himself. In ''Curse'', Jack even plays this to his advantage by goading Barbossa's ego.
* {{Privateer}}: In the fourth movie. [[spoiler:It turns out he "sold out" to the Crown only to get a chance to make even with Blackbeard, and he tears up his letter of marque at the end.]]
* RulesLawyer: Zigzags between playing straight ("An act of war can only be declared by the pirate ''king''.") to inverting it ("They're more like 'guidelines' than actual rules".) depending on what suits his purpose. For the former, he probably just didn't want to call the rules "guidelines" in front of [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Captain Teague]].
* ScrewDestiny: Makes several statements along these lines in the third and fourth films.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Starts out as one of these to the real-life stories of Blackbeard. [[spoiler: Eventually becomes the new Blackbeard at the end of the fourth film]].
* TheStarscream: He was this to Jack Sparrow. Originally, Barbossa was Sparrow's first mate, until one day he and several other pirates on Sparrow's ship decided to get rid of their captain by throwing Sparrow overboard, and as a result Barbossa becomes their captain instead.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Barbossa's temptingly simple schemes tend to attract fools.
* TalkLikeAPirate: He has a very [[TreasureIsland "Long John Silver"]] turn of phrase. Also, with his West Country accent, he may be the only English character in the films even capable of a real "''Arr''!"
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Apples.
* VillainProtagonist: Somewhat in movie 3. He's ruthless, he's ambitious, he's selfish, but he's a lesser evil against Beckett.
* VitriolicBestBuds: By the time the fourth film rolls around, you could largely classify his and Jack's relationship as this.
* WarriorPoet: As far as pirates go he's one of the most well-spoken and eloquent of the ones shown in the films, shows genuine sadness at the signs the age of piracy is coming to an end, and when the situation calls for it he can be very poetic and moving (again, for a pirate).
-->"Better were the days when mastery of the seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. Y'all know this to be true."
[[/folder]]
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[[foldercontrol]]
!Main Characters
[[folder: Captain Jack Sparrow]]
[[quoteright:226:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jar_of_dirt_1598.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:226:[[MemeticMutation "I've got a jar of dirrrrrt!"]]]]
->Played by: Creator/JohnnyDepp (2003-present)
-->"Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly! It's the ''honest'' ones you want to watch out for, 'cause you can never predict when they're gonna do something incredibly... stupid."
An on-off pirate captain, who is or isn't mad due his ObfuscatingStupidity. His [[LoveableRogue fondness of freedom]], love of rum and good portion of randomness makes him a total WildCard, so you can never predict [[TricksterArchetype what he will say or do next]]. Everything he does varies from ''very'' dangerous to just plain weird. How does he stay alive, then? IndyPloy, [[XanatosSpeedChess Speed Chess]] or [[BlessedWithLuck just dumb luck?]] No-one knows. What we ''do'' know, is that you'll need to keep a close eye on your wallet (and ship), because he certainly isn't stupid; in fact, he is a MagnificentBastard who's simply waiting for a proper opportunity to strike. Oh yeah, he can parley himself [[TalkingYourWayOut out of]] [[DealWithTheDevil any deal]] or [[ManipulativeBastard use people to his advantage]]...Almost.
%%* AffablyEvil:
* AntiHero: He will ''always'' do the right thing in the end, and he doesn't like unsavory methods of living forever, but he is still a manipulative, treacherous and ''rude'' fellow.
%%* AnythingThatMoves: In his subconscious at least.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: [[RunningGag Very often]] at the receiving end of one, sometimes in succession. He often brings it upon himself; "That one I deserved".
* TheArtfulDodger: His first scene in the first movie ends with him bribing a dock worker to get out of giving his name, and then stealing the bribe and more before leaving. The guy had no idea.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Jack is eaten by the Kraken at the end of the second film, and his resurrection is a major plot point in the third film.]]
* BadassNormal: He holds his own against supernatural beings through a combination of luck and guile.
* BadHabits: "Impersonating a cleric of the Church of England." He must have fond memories of that scheme because it's the only one he chuckled at before his hanging.
* BeingGoodSucks: One of the patron saints of this trope, as NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished when you're Captain Jack.
** Rescue Elizabeth from drowning? Sentence to hang for being a pirate.
** Refuse to {{Just Shoot|Him}} Will because he's blocking the door and unarmed? Get bashed in the head by his drunk, loser boss.
** Save his crew from [[spoiler:the Kraken]]? [[spoiler:Get left behind and devoured by it.]]
** Save a friend, [[spoiler:Will]], from a fatal wound? [[spoiler: Lose a chance for immortality because it was used to save the friend.]]
** Stage a rescue for [[spoiler:Gibbs]] who's about to hang? [[spoiler:Be captured and sentenced to hang yourself.]]
** A deleted scene from the third movie suggests that the whole reason he ended up branded a pirate in the first place was because he refused to transport slaves and set them free instead:
-->'''Jack:''' People aren't cargo, mate.
*** If one takes the novels as Canon, this is pretty much the reason [[spoiler: thougb specifically, he knew that Beckett would enslave the people of the lost island.]]
* BelligerentSexualTension: Many of his past lovers slap or attempt to kill him.
* BerserkButton: Don't mess with his favorite ship. When Barbossa tells him that the Pearl was sunk, he drops his usual quips and lunges at him from across the table.
--> '''Jack:''' (being restrained) If that ship be sunk properly, you should be sunk with it.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He is only questionably sane and often humorously bumbling; other pirates have dismissed him as being ''too nice''. Nevertheless, he is one of the more formidable minds on the sea as well as a Pirate Lord. While he generally avoids killing, he has made exceptions for those he believes ''deserve'' to die (a fate that is usually earned). [[spoiler:Barbossa (but came back and had a HeelFaceTurn), Davy Jones, Cutler Beckett, and Blackbeard all met their ends when they crossed him]]. Messing with Jack is generally a very bad idea.
* BiTheWay: Creator/JohnnyDepp has said as much in interviews, remarking on the situation any sailor finds himself in -- at sea for months, no women on board, perhaps an "extra ration of rum" -- and the practicality of being... ''flexible'' about one's preferences. [[ShownTheirWork In his research]], he's found that sort of thing to be historically accurate.
* BlessedWithLuck: A trait often remarked about him is that he has a lot luck when pulling his stratagems. It's why even his IndyPloy work.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: His moral code revolves around freedom. If stabbing someone in the back leads to greater freedom, then it is a moral action. He later explains this to Will. The only things that matter in the world "are what a man can do and what a man ''can't'' do", and points out that if he'll die in fair combat, "well then, that's not much incentive for me to fight fair, now is it?"
* BreakoutCharacter: Would you believe that Jack ''wasn't'' intended to be the lead character of the films as of ''Curse of the Black Pearl''?
* BreathWeapon: Jack seems to have caught onto his own brand of knock-out gas -- breath described by Gore Verbinsky as smelling like "a donkey's ass" that is so bad, it can victimize people.
* ByronicHero: Intelligent, adaptable, seductive, introspective, struggles with integrity, and an outlaw. [[ItsAllAboutMe Utterly self-serving]], but will NeverHurtAnInnocent.
* CampGay: Or Camp Bisexual anyway. Considering what was said in BiTheWay above, it is safer to qualify him like this. Campy he certainly is, after all.
* CardCarryingVillain:
-->'''Will Turner''': You cheated!\\
'''Jack Sparrow''': Pirate.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Savvy?"
** "Bugger!"
** "You will remember this as the day you ''almost'' caught ''Captain Jack Sparrow!''" At least that's what he ''tries'' to say; [[RunningGag he doesn't always finish the sentence.]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mildly in the first two, very much so in the third movie. Being dead and in Limbo/Hell all alone will do that to you. This gets a lampshade at the beginning of Dead Man's Chest, when he can't figure out his own heading.
-->'''Marty''': Have you noticed lately that the captain seems to be acting a bit strange?
-->'''Gibbs''': [silently stares at him]
-->'''Marty''': ...-er.
* TheChessmaster: As lampshaded in the third film, it's hard to tell if Jack plans everything out in advance or makes it up as he goes along. In the same film, he sets into motion a plan to get aboard the ''Flying Dutchman'' during the final battle by manipulating the other characters, but it's also clear that he didn't have control of everything and was [[XanatosSpeedChess quickly improvising at the Brethren Court.]]
* ChronicBackStabbingDisorder: Lampshaded in ''Curse of the Black Pearl''.
--> '''Elizabeth''': Whose side is Jack on?
--> '''Will''': At the moment?
* CombatPragmatist:
** The only thing that saves him from defeat at the hands of Will Turner, a technically superior swordsman, is his willingness to "cheat."
--> '''Will''': You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.
--> '''Jack''': Not much incentive for me to fight fair, is it?
** In a more subtle example, Jack's sword of choice is a sabre, which is slightly longer than the typical sword, giving him the advantage of having more reach.
** [[AllThereInTheManual Apparently, Jack is the worst swordsman, but the most experienced fighter.]]
* ConfusionFu: No one has any idea what he's doing at any given time. Those that ''think'' they do are the ones that lose the most.
* CrazyAwesome: [[invoked]] Invoked and promptly lampshaded in the third film as shown in the quote below. Jack's plans run on the idea that they're CrazyEnoughToWork, and he's confident in them to do so while everyone just thinks he's nuts.
-->'''Beckett:''' You're mad! \\
'''Jack:''' Thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work.
* DeadpanSnarker: Jack enjoys making a wide variety of witty quips whenever the opportunity presents itself.
* DealWithTheDevil: According to [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]], Cutler Beckett had Jack's ship, the ''Wicked Wench'', razed and sunk when Jack refused to transport slaves. Jack struck a deal with Davy Jones to raise his beloved ship and renamed it the ''Black Pearl''. Then Barbossa mutinied him for ten of the thirteen years Jack had bargained for.
* DeathGlare: He directs an icy glower at his target when he [[spoiler:shoots Barbossa.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: PopCultureOsmosis has ensured Jack is the most popular, and he's certainly the most memorable part of all of the movies, but he's not actually the protagonist of the first three. That would be Will Turner. By ''On Stranger Tides'' however, Will and Elizabeth have bowed out, their story concluded, and it, presumably along with any later PotC movies, is primarily about him.
* EatenAlive: He dives headlong into the Kraken's mouth at the end of ''Dead Man's Chest''.
* EnemyMine: With practically ''everyone''. In the third film, he amusingly notes that everyone who has come to rescue him from Davy Jones' Locker has ''attempted'' to kill him at some point, with Elizabeth as the only one among them to have actually ''succeeded''.
* EscapeArtist: On multiple occasions, he's escaped from cuffs, cells, enemy ships out at sea, you name it.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In his big introduction scene, Jack's in a small boat that's slowly beginning to sink. His attempts to dump out the water are proving to be futile, so he stops to pay respects to some skeletons outside Port Royale. Noticing the sign that states "Pirates, Ye Be Warned", he gives a quick look of exasperation. He arrives at Port Royale, just as his ship's mast sinks to the bottom of the sea. He causally steps onto the docks like this his nothing. [[TheArtfulDodger He promptly bribes the dock owner and steals his money at the same time.]] All this establishes a ridiculous, drunk-appearing {{Pirate}} [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor who'll betray anyone ]] and [[CrazyAwesome that reality bends over backward to make him look awesome.]]
* EurekaMoment: When William tells Jack he's named after his father, Bill Turner, you can ''see'' the gears moving in Jack's head.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: While he'll pull every dirty trick he knows to cheat his impending death, when he's trapped with no way out and he knows it, he doesn't face his end like a coward.
-->''"Hello, Beastie."''
* FamedInStory: Jack has carefully cultivated his own legend. It comes back to bite him in the arse in the fourth film, where he keeps being mistaken for an imposter, after [[spoiler: Angelica]] raised a crew under the name of "Jack Sparrow".
* FatalFlaw: [[ImmortalitySeeker His fear of dying]] is what drives much, ''much'' of the plot and then some.
* AFriendInNeed: When it matters most, Jack will do the right thing but don't count on it before that point.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Even those who do call him a friend are perfectly aware that Jack is the sort of person who'd steal all their cash, drink all their rum and abscond to Tortuga with their ''mum'' if given half the chance. This is why none of the mains reply when he asks, "Did no one come to save me ''just'' because they missed me?" Marty, Cotton, Pintell and Ragetti and Monkey! Jack raise their hands.
* GuileHero: Objectively speaking, he is a very good fighter. He's also overshadowed by many other characters and tends towards fighting with words when his sword fails him.
* TheGunslinger:
** While Jack is able to compete with and even occasionally dominate the best swordsmen in the series, WordOfGod is that he's actually much better with a pistol than a sword. In ''Dead Man's Chest'' he manages to [[spoiler:shoot and ignite a falling barrel of gunpowder]] with a musket at a range that would make the shot hard even with rifling, and in the same movie he chucks a coconut at one of the ''Dutchman's'' crewmen and easily nails him in the head, despite the guy running full-tilt ''and'' being a good distance away.
** More impressive still: in the third movie he [[spoiler:shoots the chest from Davy Jones' hand, on the first try, whilst swinging amongst the ship's rigging, ''during a maelstrom'','' '''while the ship is caught in a whirlpool.''' '']]The LoneRanger couldn't have done better.
** In fact, each of the first three movies includes a crucial moment where Jack has to make [[OneBulletLeft one shot count]]... which he always does.
*** Probably what's most awesome about all of this, is that it's all from Jack training himself. As additional books and material point out, Jack simply took a bucket of shot, a keg of powder, and several empty bottles of rum. When he was through, he could hit 9 out of 10 that he threw out there.
* HandsomeLech: He's had several lovers (all of which inevitably slap him) and flirts with Elizabeth.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Gibbs. Through all four movies, Gibbs is the only person he's never betrayed. He even put himself in danger to bust him out in the fourth movie.
* HiddenDepths: Deleted scenes and ExpandedUniverse materials show that Sparrow tried to become [[spoiler:an honest sailor with the East India Company]]. However, Beckett branded him a pirate and destroyed his ship when he [[spoiler:was ordered to transport slaves but freed them instead]].
* HonorBeforeReason: Because even if it may not seem so, when he says IGaveMyWord.
* IGaveMyWord: And he ''will'' keep it, in word ''and'' spirit. It just may take a while.
* ImmortalitySeeker: His primary goal in the films, other than maintaining captaincy over his beloved ''Black Pearl'' is finding a means of indefinitely extending his life, be it cursed Aztec gold, becoming captain of the ''Flying Dutchman'', or drinking from the Fountain of Youth. None of them have worked out thus far. Note that in all of these cases, he ''had'' the opportunity to achieve his goal. He just [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold didn't find the tradeoffs to be worth it]]. [[note]]The cursed gold would make him unable to enjoy drink, food, or sex - and would cost him his revenge on Barbossa. Davy Jones' post would imprison him on the guy's ship - and would have been at the cost of Will's life. The Fountain of Youth would tie him to the Fountain - and also demand a sacrifice once or twice a century, starting with a woman he cared for(even if he didn't trust her). [[/note]]
* ImprobableAimingSkills: See TheGunslinger. Practicing on [[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack Jack]] probably helped.
* InsistentTerminology: That's ''Captain'' Jack Sparrow, thank you very much.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all his scheming and plundering, there ''is'' a good heart somewhere in there.
* LargeHam: Loud and gesturing and fond of theatrics.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The most prominent in the series - and in fact accompanies many funny or actiony scenes featuring many other characters as well simply because they only vaguely involve him.
* ListOfTransgressions: His list is so long that only the 'most egregious' need to be recited to justify his hanging.
* LoveableRogue: An affable pirate whose popular with the ladies (who eventually slap him).
* MadeOfIron:
** In ''Dead Man's Chest'', Jack freefalls what looks like several hundred feet down a canyon and lands little more than dazed at the bottom.
** During another fall, he is wrapped in ropes, so when he falls the ropes unravel and spin him like a yo-yo unwinding, allegedly slowing his descent enough that the impact didn't kill him. During a filming accident, the stunt man who performed this scene was half-crippled and very nearly died: in reality, the centrifugal force resulting from being spun around that fast by a rope attached to your waist ''shatters your hip bones''.
** Likewise in ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' where he falls off of a hundred foot high cliff, without the handwave applied to Elizabeth that her ''enormous'' gown acted as a parachute to slow her descent.
** Given that he has to be alive to pay his [[DealWithTheDevil debt to Davy Jones]], one interpretation is that his deal might be what allowed him to survive these falls.
* ManipulativeBastard: Manipulates everyone by using what they want.
* MemeticBadass: Invoked. Jack treats himself like one, explaining away anything he does or plans to do, no matter how improbable or amazing, as "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow".
* MysteriousPast: The movies only give small, plot-relevant pieces of Jack's backstory. WordOfGod goes a bit farther, describing the precise circumstances of how he became an outlaw and made a deal with Davy Jones [[spoiler:(Jack freed a cargo of EITC slaves, for which Beckett branded him a pirate and sank his ship)]], but it's still far from the complete story.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Other pirates better stay out of his way. Dogs of the [[NGOsuperpower East India Trade Company]] better not even ''glance'' at him. But if you're an honest, good-hearted (wo)man, he's practically at your mercy. It's cost him immortality ''three times.''
* NiceHat: Possibly one of Jack's fetishes. He loves his tricorner hat - a RunningGag in the second film is his constantly trying on new hats to replace his lost hat - offers a nice hat to Barbossa in the first film, and loves Will's new hat at the end of the film, possibly being the TropeNamer has he remarks, "And Will... NiceHat!"
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: In-universe example. If anyone ever tells Jack that he's the "worst pirate I've ever heard of" he is quick to respond with "but you '''have''' heard of me."
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Why do people with bad breath always wanna tell you secrets?
* NoodleIncident: During his ListOfTransgressions, he seems awfully fond of the time he posed as clergy. One has to wonder what he did during that time - odds are it involved a ''lot'' of sex.
* NotMeThisTime: A rare heroic example in the fourth movie: In the beginning of the movie, Jack was told many times by both friends and enemies that he was trying to get a ship as well as recruit various people into attempting to find the legendary Fountain of Youth. Turns out that Jack, for once, wasn't responsible for this, and gets into a fight with the one who did the deed: Angelica disguised as Jack.
* NotSoDifferent: In ''On Stranger Tides'', Jack organizes a mutiny, later betrays another pirate and maroons her on an island with a pistol and one shot. His motivation is far more understandable and less selfish than Barbossa's(he liked the woman, but couldn't trust her), but one would assume his grim outlook on mutineers has acquired an asterisk. It is this: (as one character points out) those pirates had signed up to sail under "Captain Jack Sparrow", so [[RulesLawyer technically it's not a mutiny]]. Besides, ''this'' island was right on top of a well-traveled trade route.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He comes off as TheFool... or is he?
* OneBulletLeft: During the mutiny, he was given a pistol with a single-shot. He carried it for over 10 years, intending to use it kill Barbossa.
* OpportunisticBastard: While in the first film Jack Sparrow was shown to rely on the BatmanGambit quite a bit, the other films have also shown him to be quite the opportunist as well, and sometimes, it's not clear which one he is, this or TheChessmaster.
-->"Do you think he plans it all out or just makes it up as he goes?"
* PetTheDog: In ''On Stranger Tides'', he claims credit for standing watch during the mutiny in order to spare the man who chose not to raise a cry. Blackbeard, however, has him pegged, and discovers it to be the cook. Five minutes later, the crew is missing one cook.
** In ''At World's End'', he's spent the entire movie trying to talke over the ''Flying Dutchman'' and inherit Davy Jones' immortality. When Jones [[spoiler:fatally stabs Will, Jack is obviously horrified. He puts a knife in the dying Will's hand and has ''him'' stabs Jones' heart, ensuring that Will would survive, and giving up his own chance at immortality.]]
* PragmaticHero: After returning from [[spoiler: Davy Jones' locker]], he's ''merely'' willing to lie, cheat, and steal to deal with Beckett, Davy Jones, and Blackbeard, as opposed to his former UnscrupulousHero ways.
* PrettyBoy: Angelica notes that he was the easiest pirate captain for her to impersonate.
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Will's red in the first trilogy in terms of motivation. Jack keeps focused on what he wants and what he has to do to get it while Will tends to get carried away in brief fits of brashness. Will's stakes in the adventures are also purely emotional (Elizabeth and his father) compared to Jack seeking more practical rewards. By personality Jack's unpredictable nature makes him more Red and Wills upbringing makes him more Blue. Jack also wears a Red Bandana, and Will gets a blue one [[spoiler: when he becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman]].
* ReliableTraitor: As he puts it, "Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest person you can always trust to be dishonest."
* SanitySlippage: [[BunnyEarsLawyer Not that anyone else notices,]] but his time in Davy Jones' Locker takes its toll on his mind, and he suffers from ([[PlayedForLaughs admittedly amusing]]) hallucinations throughout the third film, though he seems to get better by the end.
* ScrewYourself: ''On Stranger Tides'' has Jack Sparrow locked in an intense duel with [[spoiler:Angelica disguised as]] Jack Sparrow. It ends when one kisses the other and says "I've always wanted to do that."
* SophisticatedAsHell: Jack splices a lot of fancy sentences into his standard speech before switching back to normal.
* TalkingYourWayOut: He did no less than ''three'' times in the first film: Will to get him out of jail, Barbossa to give him the Pearl in exchange for Norrington and Norrington to back stab Barbossa.
* TricksterArchetype: Always screwing authority in pursuit of freedom and as wily as they come.
* UnscrupulousHero: In the first trilogy, he's willing to go so far as conning people into selling their souls to Davy Jones in order to get free of his debt. His brush with [[spoiler: death and Davy Jones' locker]] changes that a bit.
* VitriolicBestBuds:
** In the original trilogy, with [[TheHero Will]]. The two betray each other multiple times each throughout the three movies, yet each clearly has a level of admiration and respect for the other (and both of them try to think like the other on at least one occasion each). When it counts, they're also each willing to make sacrifices to save each other's lives. [[spoiler: Will risks being hung himself by rescuing Jack from the gallows, and Jack gives up the immortality he desperately wants to save Will's life]].
** In the fourth film, he and Barbossa seem to have reached this kind of relationship.
* WildCard: You can generally trust Jack to do the right thing in the end. What he does ''leading up to that'', on the other hand, ranges from the heroic to the bastardly to the just plain ''weird''.
* TheWonka: He's the strangest ship captain you'll ever meet and it's ''because'' he's so strange that he is good at what he does.
* WrongGenreSavvy: In ''On Stranger Tides'', he is shanghaied into service on Blackbeard's ship, and goes about setting up a mutiny. During the critical meeting, he learns the most salient fact that ''no one has so much as seen Blackbeard once'', and, given that the supposed first mate is Angelica, whom is an established liar (the rest of the crew he was shanghaied with were originally brought in under the premise that they were to sail with "Captain Jack Sparrow"), he is lead to conclude that Blackbeard does not actually exist and that the whole affair (zombie pirates included) is a sham. He soon discovers that Blackbeard does ''indeed'' exist.
* XMarksTheHero: As of ''On Stranger Tides''.
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: William "Will" Turner Junior]]
[[quoteright:183:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/will_8007.jpg]]
->Played by: Creator/OrlandoBloom (2003-2007)
-->'''Jack Sparrow:''' One question about your business, boy, or there's no use going. This girl... how far are you willing to go to save her?\\
'''Will Turner:''' I'd die for her.\\
'''Jack Sparrow:''' Oh good. No worries then.
Blacksmith of Port Royal, who loves Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter. He was found shipwrecked and (presumably) orphaned roughly ten years before the first movie takes place. Excellent swordsman, but a little too naive when it comes to dealing with pirates, before [[TookALevelInBadass he takes some levels]] and understands how the world really rolls in those circles. Proceeds to continue his {{Badass}} training and power-leveling in the course of second and third movies and eventually becomes the captain of the legendary Flying Dutchman.
* AllegedLookalikes: Several characters will comment on how he's a "spitting image" of his father. When "Bootstrap Bill" does show up, the two don't remotely resemble each other. [[JustifiedTrope Considering that Bill is now a sea creature, mistakes can be forgiven.]]
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl:
--> '''Jack:''' (''believing Will to be a hallucination'') William, tell me something: Have you come because you need my help to save a certain distressing damsel, or, rather, DamselInDistress? Either one.
--> '''Will:''' No.
--> '''Jack:''' Well, then you wouldn't be here.
* AntiHero: Type II at first, being just a bit reckless, with a brief run as a Type III in the third film, where he gets more Machiavellian traits.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: As Captain of the Dutchman after Jones.]]
* BadassBystander: To Jack's surprise in the first film, that blacksmith's apprentice is not only blocking his path to freedom but puts up a good fight.
* BenevolentBoss: [[spoiler: His first act as captain of the Flying Dutchman is to forgive the debts of all his crew members and then properly serve as a ferryman instead of slave owner.]]
* BigDamnHero: [[spoiler:Returns as the Captain of the Flying Dutchman during the climax of the third film.]]
* TheBlacksmith: Will is the swordsmith variant.
* BlessedWithSuck: [[spoiler:It all depends on how you view the Curse of Davey Jones' locker.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Elizabeth. The first scene of the first movie is their meeting as children.
* DenyingTheDeadParentsSins: He almost ''kills'' Jack for calling his father a pirate.
* DistressedDude: The second half of the first movie involves rescuing him from nearly the exact same situation as Elizabeth.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: By the end of the third movie, [[spoiler:he's now an Immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His entire swordfight with Jack in the first film reveals he is ''not'' just a humble blacksmith.
-->'''Jack:''' Who makes all these [swords]?
-->'''Will:''' ''I'' do! And I practice with them three hours a day!
-->'''Jack:''' [[YouNeedToGetLaid You need to find yourself a girl, mate.]]
* GuileHero: Starting in the second film.
--> '''Will:''' I said to myself, "Think like Jack."
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A heroic (for this series) example; but you need to pay attention to notice it. If you follow the journey of Will's Sword through the movies: It gets forged for Norrington, lost or taken away after his fall from grace, regifted to him by Beckett, stabbed into Davy Jones as one last act of defiance and subsequently taken by Jones, dropped by Jones during his fight with Jack on the mast, retrieved from a random crewman (not before he's killed with it) by Jones and lastly [[spoiler:Used to deliver the killing blow to Will by Jones.]] Presumably, he then takes it as his own again. Also qualifies as an extremely roundabout ChekhovsGun.
* HonorBeforeReason: His insistence on honor and propriety and such things is what makes him such a contrast with Jack. According to Jack, it also makes him dangerous to selfish minded pirates because they can't predict when he'll do something "stupid".
* IGaveMyWord: He'll go to suicidal lengths to keep a promise, especially the one he makes his father in the sequels.
* InTheBlood: "But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that some day..."
* LoveAtFirstSight: He says he fell in love with Elizabeth the moment he met her.
* MartyrWithoutACause: In the first movie. He seems hell-bent on committing HeroicSacrifice to save Elizabeth. This does more harm than good.
* MasterSwordsman: WordOfGod states him to be the finest one in the franchise on a purely ''technical'' level. Unfortunately, all of the foes he faces in the saga make up for their lack of skill with ''their'' willingness to use dirty tricks.
* TheMcCoy: He often balances Jack's pragmatism with a more human side to things, at least in the first movie. In the sequels things get murkier.
%%* MrViceGuy
* NiceHat: At the end of ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', he wears an extravagant feathered cap one might expect from one of TheThreeMusketeers. Bonus points for Jack invoking the Trope verbatim upon seeing it, and William grinning as he said it.
* ThePresidentsDaughter: Will is "the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner" and as such, a MacGuffin in the first film, as noted above.
%%* PrettyBoy
* {{Psychopomp}}: [[spoiler:What he becomes in the third movie since he took over Davey Jones' job as ferryman of those who died at sea.]]
* RedIsHeroic: Wears a crimson shirt in the third film.
* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Jack's red in the first trilogy in terms of motivation. Jack keeps focused on what he wants and what he has to do to get it while Will tends to get carried away in brief fits of brashness. Will's stakes in the adventures are also purely emotional (Elizabeth and his father) compared to Jack seeking more practical rewards. By personality Jack's unpredictable nature makes him more Red and Wills upbringing makes him more Blue. Jack also wears a Red Bandana, and Will gets a blue one [[spoiler: when he becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman]].
* TheStraightMan: A lot of the franchise relied on Will's seriousness and dourness setting up Jack's antics.
* SupportingProtagonist: He is the main protagonist of the original trilogy, with him and Jack getting the most focus of the series and his character development from a naive man to a complex man gets the more focus than Elizabeth's development (though Elizabeth's is greater). However, Jack's the, ahem, real hero and the most widely recognized character from the film.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Part of Will's CharacterDevelopment is growing to accept the fact that a person who is technically an outlaw or a criminal can still be a good person at heart. Like Jack. Or his Dad. Or ''himself,'' by the end of the series.
* TookALevelInBadass: He starts as a competent swordsman, but far too naive and unexperienced, but by the third movie he's a lot smarter.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Jack, and supplying most (but not all) of the vitriol.
* TheWatson: Asks questions to prompt exposition from Jack or Gibbs.
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Elizabeth Swann / Turner]]
[[quoteright:187:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lizzy_1641.jpg]]
->Played by: Creator/KeiraKnightley (2003-2007)
-->I've had it! I've had it with wobbly-legged, rum-soaked PIRATES!
Governor Swann's daughter, essentially [[BornInTheWrongCentury a modern girl trapped in an eighteenth-century world]], and keeper of the MacGuffin in the first film. Somewhere between TheHeroine, the ActionGirl and TheHeart, she's the access character who -- [[AudienceSurrogate like the audience]] -- grew up with heavily romanticized pirate stories. She's kind of a fan girl when if comes to pirates, but is a brilliant strategist when given the chance, and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] between the first and second movies. Elizabeth is the center of a LoveTriangle (or rather a Love Trapezoid) that contains Will, Jack and Norrington all trying to get with her.
* ActionGirl: Elizabeth increasingly occupies this role as she steps into the world of pirates. By the start of the third film, she undoubtedly qualifies and proves as much to a pirate mook.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Starts off as a very "ProperLady" gal, but slowly sheds that skin to become a bona-fide ActionGirl.
* AntiHero: The lesser one of the main cast. While she does get a bit manipulative by the second and third films, she's nothing compared to [[TheChessmaster Jack]] or [[WildCard Barbossa]].
* AudienceSurrogate: Like the audience, she's grown up reading many romanticized pirate stories, and has an idea beforehand of what she thinks pirates are like.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Gets a bit smudgy or messy-haired at a few points, but rarely suffers any disfiguring injury, such as when the inhumanly strong Davy Jones backhands (or back-claws) her across the face without inflicting the slightest bruise.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: Stated so by Keira Knightley, and it's far from wrong.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Will. It's easy to tell she's more interested in her blacksmith friend than Norrington.
* DamselOutOfDistress: In the first movie where she arranges for her own rescue and otherwise gets herself out of trouble.
* GoodBadGirl: Elizabeth is "so ready to be married" to Will Turner.
* GuileHeroine: Outsmarts ''Jack''. [[spoiler:Four of Barbossa's crew have tried to kill him in the past; she's the one that succeeded.]]
* KissOfDeath: [[spoiler: Quite possibly. In the second and third films, she kisses four different men (Jack, Sao Feng, Norrington, Will) - and all of them get killed immediately afterwards.]]
* OfCorsetHurts: "You like pain? Try wearing a corset!" [[GenreSavvy she uses it to her advantage.]]
* OfCorsetsSexy: At least this is her ''father's'' opinion. It's all the rage in England!
* OfficialCouple: With Will at the end of the first movie, where they are engaged. Officially tying the knot takes another two movies.
* PirateGirl: As of the third movie, she is officially a pirate and not a ProperLady visiting their world.
* ThePresidentsDaughter: "They've come to kidnap you!"
* RousingSpeech: Her "Hoist the Colors" speech in ''At World's End'' inspires the pirates to fight against the East India Company.
* ScoobyDooHoax: Pulls off a "ghost on a ship" charade, to convince the crew of the ''Edinburgh Trader'' to change course for Tortuga.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Norrington noticed this in the first film.
* SheIsTheKing: [[spoiler: Once she becomes the Pirate King.]]
* SweetPollyOliver: After escaping Beckett in DMC, she disguised herself as a young male sailor to get aboard the ''Edinburgh Trader''.
* TookALevelInBadass: Will taught her how to [[FreudWasRight use a sword]]. Unfortunately for her, this was ''all'' she and Will did during their engagement. And then in the third movie she goes and becomes [[spoiler:''the Pirate King''. And not just King-in-Name-Only, she leads the pirates against the East India Company and does a damned good job of it.]]
* {{Tritagonist}}: The third main character of the trilogy she participates in. The movies start from her [=POV=] two out of three times, and her actions drive the plot more than anyone else's, apart from [[VillainDrivenPlot Beckett]]. She also receives the most CharacterDevelopment of the three original protags, coming into her own as a pragmatic, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]], MagnificentBastard and [[spoiler:Pirate King]].
* WrongGenreSavvy: At least in the first movie. Elizabeth grew up reading pirate stories, so she has a pretty good idea of how pirates are "supposed" to behave. She's constantly being surprised at how rarely they live up to her expectations in real life.
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Captain Hector Barbossa]]
[[quoteright:248:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hector_6339.jpg]]
->Played by: Creator/GeoffreyRush (2003-present)
-->'''Barbossa:''' Still thinkin' of running, Jack? Think you can outrun the world? You know the problem with being the last of anything, by and by there be none left at all.\\
'''Jack:''' Sometimes things come back mate. We're livin' proof, you and me.\\
'''Barbossa:''' Aye, but that's a gamble of long odds, ain't it? There's never a guarantee of comin' back. But passin' on, that's dead certain.
The villain of the first film, he controls the undead crew of The Black Pearl who RapePillageAndBurn every city they ran on while trying to collect [[GottaCatchThemAll every single piece]] of the magical Aztec Gold that cursed them when they stole it and spent it on booze, games and hooke...oh sorry, ''[[UnusualEuphemism pleasurable company]]''. He's the very picture of a MagnificentBastard and, as it pits him against the protagonists, he bites the big one. But fate has more in store for Barbossa, and he [[ItWasHisSled is later resurrected]] for the third film by Tia Dalma when the heroes (and other forces) need him and Jack to return. He's a SmugSnake who's big on the double-cross and willing to take out anyone who stands in his way, but really, he's just trying to [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy take control of his life back]]. A lot of viewers are confused by his actions in the third film, assuming they contradict his depiction in the first movie, but (like [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} David Xanatos]]) his character doesn't change, [[KickTheSonOfABitch just his enemies]]. Barbossa remains [[{{Pride}} arrogant]], though, and is always convinced -- and manages to convince others -- that his straightforward plans are foolproof. He then proceeds to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard shoot himself in the foot]], along with the feet of [[SurroundedByIdiots anyone foolish enough to follow him]]. Takes over Blackbeard's ship and crew at the end of the fourth movie, and gains his powers.
* AffablyEvil: Barbossa is something of a gentleman pirate, being very soft-spoken and cultured, and can be surprisingly honorable at times.
* AntiHero: NominalHero in the third and fourth films, he's still not very trustworthy and you can't rely on him to do the noble thing, but you ''can'' count on him to help you fight the far more dangerous foes.
* AntiVillain: In the first film. According to his backstory, Barbossa wanted a life on the sea and found piracy to be more fulfilling than other means. He also demonstrates a much more noble side in the subsequent films.
* {{Badass}}: Oh, hell yes. He is one of the most skilled fighters in the series, and single-handedly cut down a good number of Davy Jones' men.
* BadBoss: Averted with the crew of the Black Pearl and played straight while a privateer. This is probably because he has no respect for 'King's men.'
* BigBad: Of the first film since he leads the raid on Portal Royal that causes the movie's plot. However due to [[FateWorseThanDeath the Curse]], its arguably [[SympathyForTheDevil not by his own choice.]]
* ComfortFood: According to the WordOfGod, this is why Barbossa was always going on about apples.
* CoolSword: In the fourth movie, two of them. Firstly, [[spoiler:he [[ExoticWeaponSupremacy poisons his usual weapon]] to give him the edge against Blackbeard due to losing his leg in their first encounter]]. After this gambit pays off, he [[spoiler:takes the Sword of Triton as well as the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' as the prize, gaining with it many of Blackbeard's magical powers.]]
* DeadpanSnarker:
-->'''Elizabeth:''' Captain Barbossa , I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal. \\
'''Barbossa:''' There are a lot of long words in there, Miss, we're naught but humble pirates. What is it that you want? \\
'''Elizabeth:''' I want you to leave and never come back. \\
'''Barbossa:''' I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request. ''(beat)'' Means "no".
-->'''Will:''' "Elizabeth goes free." \\
'''Barbossa:''' "Yes we know that one, anything else?"
-->'''Barbossa:''' "Jack, ''Jack'', did ya not notice? That be the same little island we made you governor of on our last little trip."
* DeathByIrony: He left Jack with a single bullet in a random Island of the Caribbean (presumably so Jack could kill himself). He's later killed with that bullet.
* DeathIsCheap: {{Subverted}}. At first, thanks to his resurrection, it looks like anyone can come back, but in the third film, it's shown that he was only brought back because the person doing the resurrecting [[spoiler:(a god, no less)]] needed him for something, and he himself states that trying to come back to life is a very long gamble.
* DemotedToDragon: He was the main antagonist for ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', the first film. In the fourth movie, he nominally works as a mercenary for King George II.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: When he accosts Tia Dalma, she reminds him she was the one who resurrected him and briefly reduces his hand to a skeleton as a warning. Barbossa reminds her why she had to resurrect him and has her sent to the brig.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: The only reason Barbossa agreed to look for the fountain is because he wants to find Blackbeard.
* DualWielding: During his fight with [[spoiler:Blackbeard, he dual wields his poisoned sword and crutch! It pays off for a while, then he loses the crutch and nicks him with the blade while he's otherwise distracted.]]
* EnemyMine: In the third movie he teams up with Will, Elizabeth, and Jack (all of whom he has reason to hate) to stop Beckett. He does seem to have at least parted with the former two on friendly terms, but [[spoiler:convinced Jack's crew to mutiny (again) to help him go after the Fountain of Youth]]. [[spoiler:But even then, this time he leaves Jack in Tortuga with wenches rather than on a deserted island alone. Does this once again in On Stranger Tides, where he teams up with Jack for a chance at Blackbeard, who took the Pearl.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His loving relationship with his pet monkey.
* EvilCounterpart: To Jack. The writers' and director's audio commentary for ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' at one point refers to Barbossa as "the dark side of Jack Sparrow".
* EvilLaugh: Barbossa has a ''magnificent'' cackle that sounds frighteningly bloodthirsty.
* ExactWords: Barbossa will ''always'' stick to what he has promised. Which isn't to say that he won't have fun as to ''how'' he interprets said promises. See RulesLawyer below.
* FamousLastWords: In the first movie. "I feel... cold."
* HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler:Loses a leg in ''On Stranger Tides'', though he's still a very effective combatant.]]
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: To the point of WildCard status, but ''without'' Captain Jack's guarantee of doing the right thing in the end.
%%* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter
* {{Hypocrite}}: "Better were the days when mastery of the seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. Y'all know this to be true."
** All the while negotiating a clandestine deal with Calypso. Though in fairness, that deal he and Calypso had made was not what makes him a hypocrite. That's just him holding up his end of the bargain. What makes him a hypocrite is how he tries to get Calypso to take down the entire armada in exchange for keeping his promise. In the end though, thanks to Elizabeth's Meaningful Echo, he comes out of it and decides to adhere to it.
* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: His TrademarkFavoriteFood are green apples, and he's seen interacting with one in all four movies. In the first movie its used as a metaphor to his desire to feel something again, and it's telling that ''the first thing'' he does upon returning from the dead is taking a bite out of the apple.
* IGaveMyWord: Zigzagged, he does keep his word when he tells Elizabeth he'll leave Port Royal, and agrees to Will that he'll set Elizabeth free and not harm the crew. However, he doesn't let Elizabeth leave and points out her terms never included her release, and mocks Will that he never said ''where'' he had to let Elizabeth go. In essense he keeps his word to the letter, but not the spirit.
* LargeHam:
** His attempt at getting Calypso back to goddess form: "CALYPSO! I '''RELEASE''' you from your human bonds!!" If that's how a lover says those words, one wonders how many ladies went deaf after meeting him.
** He also seems to love emphasizing '''"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"'''.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: The reason why he has a peg leg in movie 4. [[spoiler:Blackbeard took the Pearl from him and did his thing that made the ship attack the sailors, with the result that Barbossa's leg was caught in the rigging. He sliced it off to show he was master of his own fate.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Barbossa" comes from the Latin for "Beard of Bones".
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Implied in regards to his "loyalties" to the crown. [[spoiler:He doesn't actually care about preventing the Spaniards from using the Fountain of Youth as much as he only worked with the British navy as an excuse to exact revenge on Blackbeard for the latter stealing the Black Pearl which also cost him his leg.]]
* NotSoDifferent: In the fourth movie, Barbossa has his ship stolen by Blackbeard and becomes consumed with his desire for vengeance. He briefly becomes employed by the crown as well, defecting in the end. Karma's a bitch, but at least Jack and Barbossa have some common ground. Also much like Jack, he's a trickster, far more intelligent than he lets on and a charismatic leader. In the commentary for the first film, the writers even compare them as though they were two demi-gods, playing chess with the lives of the other characters.
* PetTheDog: Repeatedly in ''At World's End'',
** Marrying Will and Elizabeth, and showing genuine happiness for them to boot.
** He gets ''all'' of them on the Black Pearl when Jack refuses to take Will, Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti and Barbossa aboard to escape the locker, when he had no reason to need any of the four around.
** This little moment in ''On Stranger Tides''
--->'''Barbossa:''' *reveals a hidden stash of rum in his [[spoiler: peg leg]]*
--->'''Jack:''' [[PuppyDogEyes I want one of those.]]
--->'''Barbossa:''' *immediately shares his rum*
* {{Pride}}: Barbossa thinks very highly of himself. In ''Curse'', Jack even plays this to his advantage by goading Barbossa's ego.
* {{Privateer}}: In the fourth movie. [[spoiler:It turns out he "sold out" to the Crown only to get a chance to make even with Blackbeard, and he tears up his letter of marque at the end.]]
* RulesLawyer: Zigzags between playing straight ("An act of war can only be declared by the pirate ''king''.") to inverting it ("They're more like 'guidelines' than actual rules".) depending on what suits his purpose. For the former, he probably just didn't want to call the rules "guidelines" in front of [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Captain Teague]].
* ScrewDestiny: Makes several statements along these lines in the third and fourth films.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Starts out as one of these to the real-life stories of Blackbeard. [[spoiler: Eventually becomes the new Blackbeard at the end of the fourth film]].
* TheStarscream: He was this to Jack Sparrow. Originally, Barbossa was Sparrow's first mate, until one day he and several other pirates on Sparrow's ship decided to get rid of their captain by throwing Sparrow overboard, and as a result Barbossa becomes their captain instead.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Barbossa's temptingly simple schemes tend to attract fools.
* TalkLikeAPirate: He has a very [[TreasureIsland "Long John Silver"]] turn of phrase. Also, with his West Country accent, he may be the only English character in the films even capable of a real "''Arr''!"
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Apples.
* VillainProtagonist: Somewhat in movie 3. He's ruthless, he's ambitious, he's selfish, but he's a lesser evil against Beckett.
* VitriolicBestBuds: By the time the fourth film rolls around, you could largely classify his and Jack's relationship as this.
* WarriorPoet: As far as pirates go he's one of the most well-spoken and eloquent of the ones shown in the films, shows genuine sadness at the signs the age of piracy is coming to an end, and when the situation calls for it he can be very poetic and moving (again, for a pirate).
-->"Better were the days when mastery of the seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. Y'all know this to be true."
[[/folder]]
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