Cotton

"He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how."

- Joshamee Gibbs to Jack Sparrow

Cotton was a sailor and pirate operating in the Caribbean. At some point prior to his encounter with Jack Sparrow at Tortuga, Cotton had his tongue cut out, and subsequently trained his pet parrot to speak for him&mdash;though how he, as a mute, achieved such a feat remains unknown. He often served as the helmsman aboard the Black Pearl.

Biography
Cotton was at Tortuga the day Jack Sparrow arrived seeking a crew to journey with him to Isla de Muerta, when William Turner set out to rescue Elizabeth Swann from Hector Barbossa and his cursed pirates. Cotton signed up for service aboard Jack's ship, the commandeered Royal Navy vessel HMS Interceptor, accompanied as ever by his parrot.

Cotton served faithfully throughout the adventure that followed, and continued to serve after Jack's crew commandeered the Black Pearl. He accidentally destroyed a merchant vessel carrying St. Piran's Blade, though Jack later retrieved the item and handed it over to Will Turner. Approximately one year later, Cotton was captured on Pelegosto along with the rest of the crew, and helped his comrades escape the cannibalistic natives and return to the Pearl. He was also one of the few to survive the Kraken's attack on the Pearl, during which Captain Sparrow sacrificed himself to save his men.

Through his parrot, Cotton voiced his agreement to join the quest to World's End, endeavouring to bring Jack back from Davy Jones' Locker. The crew first infiltrated Sao Feng's bath house, where Cotton took control of the steam controls while the others set bombs. He later fought against East India Trading Company soldiers in the streets of Singapore, sniping at them from inside a barrel. He took the wheel of the Pearl during the battle around Calypso's maelstrom, after fighting Eel with part of the wheel. He continued to serve aboard after Barbossa's second mutiny.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * The Accidental Pirate!
 * Revenge of the Pirates!
 * The Capture of Jack Sparrow!
 * Going Overboard!
 * The Eye of Dispair!
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End