Jack (monkey)

"Why, thank ye, Jack." "You're welcome." "Not you. We named the monkey 'Jack'."

- Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow

Jack the Monkey, or simply Jack, was the second pet monkey owned by the black-hearted Captain Hector Barbossa. Named after Jack Sparrow, as something of an insult to Sparrow, this capuchin monkey was considered the meanest, most rotten-tempered simian in all the Caribbean. Jack the Monkey first joined his owner in a search to find of the cursed treasure of Cortés, which Jack lived under throughout his life as an undead monkey.

The Curse
"Monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow after seeing Jack taking the Aztec medallion away

Jack became cursed along with the rest of the crew of the Black Pearl, and helped Hector Barbossa's men track down all 882 coins that would free them from the curse. Jack stole the final piece of treasure from Will Turner aboard the Interceptor and returned it to Barbossa. He was present at Barbossa's death on Isla de Muerta, and was, at this point, free of the curse, after being swatted away by Elizabeth, no longer afraid of Jack. However, Jack deliberately stole a coin from the treasure chest, thus ensuring he became cursed once more.

Return to Barbossa
"I brought payment. Look, an undead monkey. Top that!"

- Jack Sparrow to Tia Dalma

After this, Jack found his way back onboard the Black Pearl when it returned to Isla de Muerta to find the island had been claimed by the sea. Jack remained onboard the Pearl, now under Jack Sparrow's command, and attempted to steal a drawing of the key to the Dead Man's Chest held by Sparrow. The pirate captain shot Jack, though the undead monkey escaped unscathed, but lost the drawing in the process.

Later, Sparrow's crew managed to capture the monkey, and Sparrow used him to barter with Tia Dalma for information on the whereabouts of the Dead Man's Chest. Jack remained in the vicinity of Dalma's shack, perhaps due to the presence of his former master returned from Purgatory. Later, after Jack Sparrow's death, Tia finally introduced the reborn Barbossa to Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Joshamee Gibbs, Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton and Marty. At that moment, Jack returned to his rightful place on his master's shoulder.

Fight for freedom
"Parley?"

- Cotton's parrot after Jack pulled a pistol on him.

Jack accompanied his master on the quest to rescue Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker. The monkey admitted, with a raised hand, that he had missed Sparrow after returning from World's End, which caused Sparrow to agree to let him come with him. The monkey was also one of the only ones who came after Jack because he actually missed him. He also developed something of a partnership with Cotton's parrot; the two worked together during the battle in Singapore to destroy a fireworks factory. However, during an altercation aboard the Black Pearl, Jack drew a small pistol on the parrot just as Barbossa did the same to Sparrow.

Jack later retrieved Jack Sparrow's piece of eight and gave it to his master after a parley with Cutler Beckett. Jack remained aboard the Black Pearl, during the battle around Calypso's maelstrom, where he witnessed the impromptu marriage of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, with Pintel and Ragetti. After Will swung over to the Flying Dutchman, Jack joined them when Pintel and Ragetti fired him from a cannon. Jack, still immortal but none too pleased with this undignified mode of transport, flew into Maccus's face and attacked him, knocking him to the deck, rescuing Will, who was in trouble at that point.

The monkey escaped the Dutchman by clinging to Jack Sparrow's makeshift parasail, and returned to Barbossa on the Pearl. He was with his master when the Pearl and the Dutchman destroyed the HMS Endeavour, and he was with him when the pirates expressed their victory. After the battle, Barbossa commandeered the Black Pearl from Jack, again, at Tortuga. Barbossa happily fed Jack a peanut while onboard while sailing out to open sea.

Stuck in a bottle
"Ah! He's even more annoying in miniature."

- Jack Sparrow

At some point after departing from Tortuga, the Black Pearl was attacked by the Queen Anne's Revenge, a ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard. Using his sword, Blackbeard brought the rigging of the Pearl to life, and used it against Hector Barbossa and his crew. Barbossa's men were defeated, and Barbossa barely survived. After the attack, Blackbeard shrunk the Pearl and put it into a glass bottle, with Jack and Cotton's Parrot inside of it.

Jack Sparrow would later discover the bottle and gain possession of it, thanks to Joshamee Gibbs. It is unknown if Jack would ever return to his original size. "I hate that monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow

Behind the scenes

 * Jack the Monkey was played by at least four capuchin monkeys. In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack was portrayed by a ten-year old female named Tara, and a ten-year old male named Levi, while Chiquita (female) or Pablo (male) portrayed Jack in Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. Chiquita reprised the role of Jack in On Stranger Tides.


 * Jack appears in a scene after the credits of The Curse of the Black Pearl, showing how he becomes cursed once more after Barbossa's death, explaining his undead status in the sequels, particularly Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.
 * The screenwriters of The Curse of the Black Pearl confirmed that Barbossa naming the monkey "Jack" is a reference to Treasure Island, as the monkey was named after Barbossa's former captain Jack Sparrow, just as Long John Silver's parrot was named "Captain Flint", in mockery of Silver's former captain.
 * There are several sub-species of capuchin monkey, and judging by Jack's white face and lower brown fur, he is likely a White-Fronted Capuchin (Cebus albifrons).
 * The "Jack the Monkey" card in the Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game states that he was the only member of Barbossa's crew not to put his blood on the Aztec coins, hence why he remains cursed. However, this directly conflicts with the post-credits scene in The Curse of the Black Pearl, which sees him purposely take a coin from the chest to become cursed again (and if Jack hadn't put his blood on the coins none of the other crew members could have undone their curse).
 * Jack appears along with Barbossa on Devil's Anvil in Pirates of the Caribbean Online.
 * Jack wasn't Barbossa's first pet monkey. When he was captain of Cobra, Barbossa had a pet monkey named Polly.
 * In the book cover of Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters, Jack appears on Barbossa's shoulder. However, Jack does not physically appear in the book. He is only mentioned in one of Jean Magliore's prophecies, where he bellows out "The monkey's name is Jack!". This most likely causes Barbossa so much amusement he files it away for future use.
 * Jack appears in the graphic novel Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties. But, since that book was canceled, it is unknown if his appearance in the book is canon or not.

Appearances

 * Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
 * Pirates of the Caribbean Online
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
 * LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game