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. Mockingly named after Captain Jack 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.

Following the battle of Isla de Muerta, Jack somehow returned to the civilization and joined the Black Pearl's new crew, commanded by Sparrow. However, he didn't accompany Sparrow and his crew during the rest of the quest for the Dead Man's Chest, because he decided to stay in Tia Dalma's shack along his now resurrected master, who decided to help the crew of the Black Pearl rescue Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker, which they did. During the War Against Piracy, Jack was involved in many of its battles, including the battle of Calypso's maelstrom, in which he inadvertently helped to distract the pirate Maccus after being shot from a cannon of the Black Pearl by Pintel and Ragetti.

Following the pirates' victory after the war, Hector Barbossa led a new mutiny aboard the Black Pearl and left Sparrow at Tortuga, while he decided to begin his quest for the Fountain of Youth, but the Pearl was attacked and shrunked by the Queen Anne's Revenge under the command of Blackbeard. While his master managed to escape, Jack, along Mr. Cotton's parrot, was shrunked with the Pearl and locked inside a bottle before 1750. After Blackbeard's death at the island where the Fountain of Youth was located, Sparrow's First Mate, Joshamee Gibbs, managed to recover the bottle and one year later, Barbossa helped Sparrow to restore the Pearl, along Jack, to her original size. Jack was reunited with Barbossa in the process after a long time, but following Barbossa's ultimate death in order to kill Captain Armando Salazar, Jack decided to become Sparrow's pet as the crew of the Black Pearl set sailed beyond Sparrow's beloved horizon.

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.

Traded to Tia Dalma
"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.

Reunion with his master
Later, when the ship was run aground on an island inhabited by cannibals, the monkey stole Ragetti's wooden eye when he and Pintel found the ship. 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. When Sparrow examined the bottle, Jack would be swinging towards him both times startling the latter who expresses his annoyance of the monkey. "I hate that monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow

Reunion with his master
"Tell me what you want." "I want me compass. Two hundred and sixteen barrels of rum. And the monkey." "You want Jack?" "Dinner. I want to eat him. I want to eat that-"

- Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow

One year later Jack was restored to his original size along with the Black Pearl by Hector Barbossa. He remained with Barbossa on their travel to the Black rock island where the Trident of Poseidon resided. During the travel, Barbossa gave him Sparrow's former compass to prevent him from stealing it back. When they arrived to the island, Jack stayed on the Pearl.

Serving Sparrow
"Oh! Monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow

Following the death of Barbossa, Jack mourned his master's demise along with the rest of the Pearl's crew. After Sparrow reassumed control of the Pearl, Jack appeared surprising him while Jack brought out Sparrow's compass (which was still in his possession). He then returned the item to him, as a sign of peace for all the animosity between them and as a way of accepting Sparrow as his new captain while Sparrow was put off by this but nervously accepted the gesture.

After Sparrow ordered the ship to set sail, Jack then jumped onto his shoulder, just like with Barbossa and after looking momentarily startled and put off, Sparrow quickly changed his expression and accepted him back. Together they sailed off toward the horizon.

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 both On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales, while Pablo also reprised the role in the latter one.
 * 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.
 * Unlike the crew of the Black Pearl, Jack seems to prefer being cursed, as he steals a coin from the Aztec chest despite knowing the consequences at that point.
 * According by writer Terry Rossio in his website, Tara had became a celebrity, doing special appearances and being paid a lot after the sucess of The Curse of the Black Pearl. In his words, that was the reason for which she didn't reprised her role as Jack in further films.
 * 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 is a hanging monkey on the chandelier of the Pieces of Eight shop by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Coincidentally, the monkey was also named Jack; whether this is on purpose or not is unknown.
 * 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 Barbossa 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.
 * Although never stated, it is possible that Jack's immortality due the curse of the Aztec Gold by the end of Dead Men Tell No Tales had ceased to exist, as Henry Turner destroyed the Trident of Poseidon during the film's climax, eliminating all curses in the Seven Seas, including the Devil's Triangle's curse and seemingly resurrecting Davy Jones. However, that theory could be challenged because the Treasure of Cortés was cursed on land, not the sea, which means Jack could still be cursed. At the moment there is no official confirmation for any of the two possibilities.

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: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
 * LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game