Armando Salazar

"Pirates had infected the seas for generations, taking the life of my father and his father before him. So I vowed to end this plague once and for all. And that's what I did. I destroyed dozens of ships."

- Armando Salazar

Armando Salazar was the legendary and ruthless, yet terrifying pirate hunter who haunted the Caribbean. Hailing from Spain, Salazar was a Spaniard, a high-ranking officer of the Spanish Royal Navy and the decorated capitán of the powerful pirate-hunting warship, the Silent Mary. For many years, Salazar terrorized the seas and killed thousands of pirates until his spectacular fall from grace when a young pirate named Jack Sparrow outsmarted the ruthless pirate killer and led him to his death in the mysterious Devil's Triangle.

However, through the dark powers of the Triangle, Salazar was resurrected more powerful than ever, but cursed to wander the world as a ghost for eternity. Hungry for revenge, Salazar escaped from the Triangle's relentless hold and led his crew of deadly ghost sailors on a mission of vengeance to obtain the legendary Trident of Poseidon to finally eliminate pirates and kill Jack Sparrow to avenge the life that was taken from him. During the battle for the Trident, Henry Turner destroyed the Trident and Salazar recovered his human form along his crew, but was wounded by Hector Barbossa during his attempt to board the Black Pearl via the anchor and drowned along his remaining crew when the ocean closed.

Hunting pirates
"I've heard stories of a mighty Spanish captain, El Matador Del Mar. A man who scourged the sea, hunted and killed thousands of men."

- Hector Barbossa

Not much is known about Salazar's early life except that he joined the Spanish Royal Navy, becoming an officer. He rose through the ranks, earning several high military decorations over the years until he became a capitán in command of the Silent Mary, a powerful ship of the line. At some point during his career, Salazar made a vow to exterminate all the pirates on the high seas, as his father and grandfather had both been murdered by pirates. He became successful and famous. Some of the stories of his pirate hunting expeditions claimed that he had hunted down and killed thousands of pirates mercilessly.

Battle off the Devil's Triangle
"One ship was trying to escape from the smoke. And then, in the crow's nest, there was this young pirate. Boy! He stood there looking like... like a little bird. And from that day he earned himself a name that would haunt me for the rest of my days. Jack the Sparrow!"

- Armando Salazar

One day the Silent Mary encountered a pirate fleet of ten ships, the last pirates in the Caribbean who joined forces in an attempt to kill Salazar. Despite being outnumbered the Spanish attacked the pirates, quickly demonstrating to their opponents that the firepower of the Silent Mary and the skills of her crew were far superior to those of all the ships and crews in the entire pirate fleet. The battle ended disastrously for the pirates with the majority of their fleet destroyed. As the Silent Mary sailed through the burning wrecks Salazar was satisfied with his latest victory over the outlaws that he intended to eliminate. He was standing on the gangway when his second-in-command Lieutenant Lesaro informed him about a few surviving pirates among the wrecks, men who were desperately flying the improvised white flag as a sign of surrender, begging for mercy. Salazar calmly told Lesaro to show them no mercy and the Lieutenant ordered a small squad of soldiers to shoot the survivors. When his men finished their grisly task, Salazar looked at the burning pirate ships and thought that his mission was over as the sea was finally pure again. As his crew celebrated their victory Salazar heard someone calling him from behind. Turning around he took out his spyglass and through the smoke he noticed one more pirate ship, the Wicked Wench, sailing in the opposite direction in an attempt to escape. The young pirate in the crow's nest was shouting to Salazar that he will be spared if he surrenders. The pirate then jumped on deck, provocatively raising the tattered black pirate flag. Not wanting to let a single pirate escape him Salazar ordered his men to change the Silent Mary's course and follow the pirates. The Spanish gave chase and followed the Wench toward a mysterious island shrouded in darkness, in an area called the Devil's Triangle. Believing that the pirates planned to escape through the giant tunnel that seemingly led into the interior of the Triangle, Salazar chose to follow the pirates into the unknown waters. However, as the Wicked Wench approached the entrance the pirates threw ropes around the nearby reefs off the port side of the ship. The loop caught the reef, tightening, and causing the ship to swiftly turn to the left, as the helmsman, the same young man who had mocked Salazar just moments earlier, steered the ship in the same direction, changing the Wench's course at the last moment. Knowing his men didn't have enough time to make the same maneuver and wanting to avoid collision with the pirate vessel, Salazar took the helm from Lieutenant Lesaro and kept the Silent Mary on her course, sailing straight ahead. As the Spanish sailed past the Wench, Salazar glanced at the young pirate one last time before the Silent Mary entered the Triangle. Sailing through the unknown waters the Silent Mary quickly hit the nearby rocks, severely damaging the bow while knocking the entire crew off their feet. The impact resulted in a massive explosion from the amount of gunpowder in the ship which engulfed the ship in flames, and burnt its entire crew alive. As the fire and the explosions quickly spread from bow to stern, Salazar tried to escape, but the falling yardarm from the mainmast hit him in the head, killing him and knocking him overboard. His body slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. However, even death was not the end of Salazar. As his body begun to sink to the bottom of the sea, the body was suddenly struck by streaks of eerie red light, resurrecting Salazar as the undead by the mysterious supernatural powers of the Triangle where he was now trapped with his men who were brought back from the dead in a similar fashion. Salazar and his crew of the undead quickly discovered they could not escape from the Triangle, and were forced to spend many years in eternal darkness.

Attack on the Monarch
"Find Sparrow for me, and relay a message from Capitán Salazar. Salazar! Tell him... I will behold the daylight again, and on that day... Death... Death will come straight for him. Will you say that to him? Please?" "Yes." "I wish I could do it myself, but dead men tell no tales."

- Armando Salazar and Henry Turner

Over the years, Salazar somehow learned that the young pirate who caused his demise was known as Jack the Sparrow, having earned the name "Sparrow" with his act of defiance to Salazar's power. He also learned that Sparrow was in possession of an unusual compass, a magical item that could free the Silent Mary and her crew from the Triangle if Sparrow betrays it by giving it away.

Several decades after their imprisonment in the Devil's Triangle Salazar and his men spotted a Dutch barque flying the pirate flag entering their cave. In a quick battle Salazar and his men slaughtered the pirates and sent their ship to the bottom, leaving only a few debris floating on the surface. A few minutes later, the pirate ship was followed by the Monarch, a British Royal Navy warship. As the Monarch came to a halt, Salazar's men ran across the water, boarded the ship and launched a surprise attack. Due to their ghostly powers the Spanish easily slaughtered the British and even Salazar joined the fight, killing a few British sailors with his rapier. Finally he personally confronted the British commanding officer, Captain Toms, who was being held by Salazar's men. When Toms asked him what was he, Salazar grabbed him by the neck, replied "Death", broke his neck and threw his corpse into the fire. The battle was effectively over, but a noise coming from below deck caught Salazar's attention. Salazar and a dozen of his men walked below, finding a young sailor Henry and an old pirate locked in the brig. Noticing several wanted posters on the floor, Salazar stabbed one of them with his sword to bring it closer to him, while one of Salazar's men stabbed the pirate through the bars, killing him. Seeing on the poster the face of Jack Sparrow, the man who cost him his life, Salazar asked Henry if he knew the pirate. When Henry replied that he knew Sparrow only by name, Salazar and his men walked through the bars, shocking him. Deciding to leave one man alive to tell the tale of his revenge, Salazar asked Henry to find Sparrow and give him a message about death coming straight for him. Salazar and his crew then returned to their ship, leaving the Monarch behind.

Escape from the Devil's Triangle
"It's time to hunt a pirate!"

- Armando Salazar

Some time after the battle on the Monarch, Salazar and his men noticed that the giant reefs around the Silent mary were starting to collapse. Watching the Triangle slowly sinking into the sea, Salazar realised that Jack Sparrow has given away the compass. The dark clouds above the Triangle vanished, allowing Salazar to see the daylight for the first time in decades. Soon, as the last traces of the Triangle sunk beneath the waves, the Silent Mary was surrounded with nothing but the open sea. Even though the ship was now nothing but a wreck, she was magically kept afloat. The Spanish celebrated their liberation, as Salazar stood on the quarterdeck, with his eyes closed and arms spread, enjoying the warmth of the sun. But all that ended in a few moments when he decided to continue his mission and kill all the pirates in the world, starting with Jack Sparrow.

Hunting pirates once again
"Every time I tap my sword, one of your men will die so I suggest you speak quickly."

- Armando Salazar to Hector Barbossa

Free from the Triangle, Salazar and his men continued their anti-piracy campaign. Soon they encountered a ship that was flying the red flag of Hector Barbossa, the infamous pirate captain who ruled the seas with the fleet of ten ships. Using their supernatural powers, Salazar and his men used the Silent Mary to simply cut through the pirate vessel, sending her to the bottom of the sea. Over the next hours, Salazar and his men destroyed several more ships, slaughtering their crews, but leaving one man from each vessel alive to tell the tale of the dead taking command of the sea. The next morning the Silent Mary encountered the Queen Anne's Revenge, Barbossa's flagship. Lesaro informed Salazar about the pirate ships and Salazar took the helm from him, steering the Silent Mary straight for the pirate ship's bow. As the Silent Mary approached the Revenge, Salazar used his magical powers to bend the bow of his ship backwards, opening the ship's hull like the jaws of a giant beast right in front of the pirate vessel, leaving the pirate crew stunned and unable to react. Just as Salazar intended to crush the pirate vessel, a man on the forecastle shouted his name, telling him that he knew about his search for Jack Sparrow. Salazar stopped the attack and then leaped on board the Revenge, landing behind Barbossa. As the horrified Captain slowly turned around he store into the eyes of the villainous pirate hunter. Barbossa regained his courage and told Salazar his name and that he comes before him with cordial intent, where Salazar then laughed and said that every time he taps his sword, one of Barbossa's men would die. Salazar tapped his sword once and one of Barbossa's crew members were mercilessly killed. With a smile on his face, he ordered Barbossa to speak quicker, before tapping his sword twice on the deck of the ship, demanding where Sparrow was. As Barbossa explained to him that Jack was headed for the Trident, Salazar told him that no treasure could save him from his and his crew's wrath. Barbossa told him that he would find Sparrow for him by the morning, and if he doesn't, he may take his life from him. Salazar agreed to these terms and then tapped his sword several more times, before shouting "The living come aboard!"

Chasing the Sparrow
The next day, still without the trace of Sparrow, a tired Salazar threatened Barbossa with killing him already, although this one explained to him that it was not yet the dawn and the deal was not finished. Annoyed, Salazar told Barbossa his story and his first encounter with Sparrow, giving him an understanding of his reason for killing him. Finally, they managed to locate Jack along with Turner and astronomer Carina Smyth.

After Smyth started to swim to an unnamed island, Turner tried to follow her, but Salazar sent three ghost sharks to kill Turner and Sparrow. After waiting a while, Salazar and his crew jumped into the sea and ran on the water, but Sparrow used one of the sharks to propel his rowboat, grab Henry (who had already started to swim) and reach the island's beach safe and sound, because Salazar and his men could not tread dry land.

Salazar returned to the Silent Mary in pure rage and hung Barbossa and his remaining crew upside down and began butchering them all. Barbossa then began to reason with him, saying he would go ashore to fetch him his "Sparrow". Salazar then cut the roped holding Barbossa up and ordered him to go ashore, but this one chose to betray Salazar and escaped along with the others in the Black Pearl, which was enlarged after breaking the bottle and throw it to the sea, returning it to the size that lost due the magic of the pirate Blackbeard in the past.

Shortly after Barbossa discovered that Smyth was his daughter, Salazar appeared with the Silent Mary and his crew, and after crushing the British warship Essex, killing Lieutenant Scarfield and his crew in the process, Salazar and his men began to attack the Black Pearl. At one point, Salazar and Sparrow became involved in a fight at the cannons of both ships, but at the end, the battle ended when Jack fell into the Black Pearl and Henry Turner was taken prisoner by Salazar, being tied to the Silent Mary 's mast.

Battle for the Trident of Poseidon
After Sparrow, Smyth and Barbossa arrived at the Black rock island and they found the Trident of Poseidon at Poseidon's Tomb under the waters of the ocean, Salazar decided to take the body of Henry Turner, knowing that later he could return to the normality with the trident, since this one had the mythical power to break all the curses. Said and done, Salazar took control of Turner's body and went down to Sparrow and Smyth, where he began to fight against them while the crew of the Silent Mary saw them from within the other two parts of the sea.

After grabbing hold of the trident, it released Salazar from Henry's body, and he began to throw Sparrow through the water, where Lieutenant Lesaro and the rest of the crew attempted to grab him and drown him. After toying with Sparrow, Salazar pierced Jack through the chest with the trident, shushing him as he attempted to push the trident more into his body. Jack, now realizing the Trident stabbed a book held in his jacket, ordered Henry to break the Trident. Henry grabbed his sword and sent it crashing down on the Trident, breaking it in half, breaking all the curses of the sea.

Salazar rested himself on a rock as he gasped for air. His crew soon realized that they could no longer breathe under water and came tumbling through the waves. Salazar realized Lieutenant Lesaro had become human again and then felt the side of his face, which had finally been filled in after all these years. Salazar looked at his hands and then to the sky laughing, for he and his crew had finally become human again.

Death
But their pleasures were short lived, for the walls of water were slowly closing in on them. As Barbossa came flying in the Black Pearl's anchor, Salazar began to run for it, as did the entire Silent Mary's crew. Jack, Henry, and Carina managed to climb on board, and was then followed by Salazar and two of his crew members. Lieutenant Lesaro cried out for his Capitan, but was then covered by the surrounding waves. As Salazar began to climb the anchor he drew his sword, not satisfied with being human again and still eager to kill, he attempted to reach Carina and end her life.

As Barbossa realised Salazar was making his way toward his daughter, he ordered her to hold on to the anchor. Jack then shouted "Hector!" as he threw him a sword. Barbossa let go of the anchor and grasped the sword and allowed himself to fall. Salazar soon saw the pirate coming toward him as Barbossa pierced him through the back with the blade, causing him to let go of the anchor and knock down both of his crew members who held onto the anchor. Salazar then came tumbling down to the ocean floor, letting out a scream of horror, which was soon silenced by him landing face first on the bottom of the anchor below, killing him. His body was then consumed by the surrounding waves, ending El Matador del Mar's reign of the Seven Seas once and for all.

Personality and traits
"No, no, no. No need to fear me, boy. I always leave one man alive to tell the tale."

- Armando Salazar to Henry Turner

Before his death and resurrection, Salazar sailed the high seas for many years and, during that time, earned himself a fearsome reputation. He became a legend in his own right, albeit a terrifying one. Ruthless but noble, he had devoted his military career in the Spanish navy to eliminating all pirates from the Caribbean. His hatred for pirates was so great that he didn't even consider them men and instead described them as an "infection". Salazar was also not a man to show mercy to his enemies even if they did surrender to him, since on one occasion, while eating an apple, he ordered the shooting of some surviving pirates with muskets.

His obsession with killing pirates eventually led him to fall for Captain Jack Sparrow's trickery and lead him to his untimely demise. Following his first death, Salazar was consumed with an uncontrollable rage due to having been resurrected by the supernatural powers of the Devil's Triangle. As well as maintaining a burning desire to get revenge on the man he held responsible for his fate; Jack Sparrow.

Equipment and skills
"Salazar is death itself. He will not rest until he has destroyed Jack and all pirates along with him."

- Henry Turner to Carina Smyth

Originally an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, Armando Salazar was always dressed in a resplendent white and black uniform adored with three medals on the left side of his coat, proof of his many achievements during his service to his country. His favored weapon was a rapier, a slender, sharply pointed sword which was designed as a thrusting weapon, but he also used it for cutting or slashing attacks when in combat. Following his death and resurrection, Salazar's appearance resembled the undead with his uniform darkened and torn and his sword rusty, but his skills remained the same. As a vengeful spirit, he was more dangerous than he ever was as a living man because he gained supernatural abilities such as the ability to walk on water and through solid objects. He also had complete control over his ship, the Silent Mary, which he used to simply slice through other ships. Though the Silent Mary was nothing but a wreck, Salazar's powers made it seemingly indestructible. He also could bring to life the figurehead of his ship to protect him during combat. Combining those powers with his skills, Salazar was literally an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. However, his new powers came with a price. As a ghost, Salazar was unable to walk on dry land, being doomed to spend the rest of eternity on ships or walking on water, without possessing a living human or wielding the legendary Trident of Poseidon.

Behind the scenes

 * Captain Salazar was portrayed by Javier Bardem in Dead Men Tell No Tales. Bardem was previously considered to play Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides, but lost out to Ian McShane.
 * Before officially casting Javier Bardem for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Christoph Waltz was rumored to be the original choice for the role. At that time, the character was referred to as "Captain John Brand", a feared pirate hunter who returned from the dead as a ghost to kill Jack Sparrow whom he held responsible for the death of his brother, Eric. Rumors claim that the name "Brand" was changed to "Salazar" to sound more Mediterranean to accompany Javier Bardem's Spanish descent.
 * According to Bardem, he imagined the character of Armando Salazar between a bull in the ring with a sword nailed to the back (which oddly, it ends up happening to Salazar at the film's end when Hector Barbossa kills him) and a singer of cante jondo, deep, full of pain and suffering. Also, Bardem studied a lot the history of the Spanish Royal Navy.
 * Armando Salazar is the first main antagonist in the series to be Spanish. However, he is the second antagonist (in general) in the series to be Spanish, with The Spaniard being the first. Despite this, The Spaniard was a more noble enemy than Salazar was.
 * According to Geoffrey Rush, Salazar and his crew were trapped in the Devil's Triangle for twenty-five years, setting the Battle off the Devil's Triangle around 1726. However, that statement contradicts the established timeline, which sets the Battle off the Devil's Triangle during the 1700s, specifically around 1708.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War
 * The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel

Notes and references
Salazar アルマンド・サラザール Армандо Салазар