Armando Salazar

"Pirates had infected the seas for generations. So I vowed to eliminate them all. And then, there was this boy. Jack Sparrow. He took everything from me... And filled me with... rage."

- Armando Salazar

Armando Salazar was the legendary but 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 years, Salazar terrorized and murdered thousands of pirates until his spectacular fall from grace when a young pirate named Jack Sparrow outsmarted the ruthless pirate murderer and led him to his death in the 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 led his crew of deadly ghost sailors on a mission of vengeance to obtain the legendary Trident of Poseidon to, at long last, eliminate pirates and kill Jack Sparrow to avenge the life that was taken from him.

Hunting pirates
"I've heard stories of a mighty Spanish captain who's 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. He became so successful and famous that some of the stories of his pirate hunting expeditions claimed that he had hunted down and killed thousands of pirates.

Attack on the pirate fleet
"Follow him in!"

- Armando Salazar

One day the Silent Mary encountered a pirate fleet of ten ships. 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. When he noticed a few surviving pirates among the wrecks, flying the improvised white flag as a sign of surrender, Salazar calmly ordered his men to shoot them all giving them no quarter. When his men finished their grisly task, Salazar took out his spyglass and glanced the last remaining pirate ship, the Wicked Wench. Still provocatively flying the black pirate flag, the Wench was sailing in the opposite direction in an attempt to escape. 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 took the helm of the Silent Mary from Lieutenant Lesaro choosing 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, a young man named Jack Sparrow 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 kept the Silent Mary on her course, sailing straight ahead. As the Spanish sailed past the Wench Salazar glanced at Jack Sparrow 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 on the ship which engulfed the ship in flames and burning alive its entire crew. Salazar was also killed in the explosion but his body fell overboard before slowly sinking 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. Unable to escape from the Triangle Salazar and his crew of the undead spent several years in a cave, plotting their revenge on Jack Sparrow.

Attack on the Monarch
"Jack Sparrow. Do you know this pirate?" "Only by name." "Find Sparrow for me, and relay a message from Capitán Salazar, and tell him... Death will come straight for him. Will you say that to him? Please?"

- Armando Salazar and Henry Turner

Many years after their imprisonment in the Devil's Triangle Salazar and his men spotted the Monarch, a British Royal Navy warship, entering their cave. 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, strangled him, and threw his corpse into the fire. With the battle effectively over Salazar walked below deck finding a single young sailor 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. Seeing the face of Jack Sparrow, the man who cost him his life on the poster. Salazar asked the young sailor if he knew the pirate. When the sailor replied that he knew Sparrow only by name Salazar and his men walked through the bars, shocking the sailor. Deciding to leave one man alive to tell the tale of his revenge. Salazar asked the sailor 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 to burn and sink.

Escape from the Devil's Triangle
"He's coming for you, Jack, to seek revenge."

- Henry to Jack Sparrow

Twenty-five years after their deaths and resurrections, Salazar and his men managed to escape from the Devil's Triangle, steering the Silent Mary into the open sea for the first time in years. Though the ship was now nothing but a wreck she was kept afloat by Salazar's magic. The Spanish eventually planned to find the legendary Trident of Poseidon, the mythical artifact which would give them absolute control over the seas so they could continue their mission and kill all the pirates in the world, starting with Jack Sparrow. Later, the Silent Mary encountered the Queen Anne's Revenge, a pirate ship captained by Hector Barbossa. 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. Salazar then leaped onboard the Revenge, landing behind Barbossa.

Personality and traits
"Jack Sparrow has cursed us. Condemned us. I will have my revenge."

- Armando Salazar

Before his death and rebirth, 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.

His obsession with killing pirates eventually led him to fall for Jack Sparrow's trickery and lead him to his untimely demise. Following his 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
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.

Behind the Scenes

 * Captain Salazar will be portrayed by Javier Bardem in Dead Men Tell No Tales. Bardem was originally considered to play Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: 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.
 * 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.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Reflist
Salazar アルマンド・サラザール Армандо Салазар