- "You will be going with us, mon ami, non?"
"No. Once all your men's cells are unlocked, I'm taking those keys and scuttling out of here as fast as a crab on a white sand beach, Christophe." - ―Christophe-Julien de Rapièr and Jack Sparrow
A crab was a 10-legged animal that walked sideways. The foremost legs were in the form of claws. Most crabs lived in the oceans, but many lived on land.
History[]
- "I'm in need of a few things. An Undead Witchdoctor took my favorite crab recipe. Recover it for me, along with some o' that sweet crab meat, of course."
- ―Gil Derga to a pirate
As a heathen goddess, Calypso was able to take many forms. But since the crab was attributed as her symbol, most notably by pirates, she chose that form.[1] During the Age of Piracy, crabs inhabited many islands in the Caribbean. Some crabs however were cursed by Jolly Roger into joining his army of creatures that inhabited most islands.[2] When the natives from the island of Opawy Wato replaced their golden idol with the figurehead of the pirate ship Nemesis, the angry deity brought upon them a terrible curse which transformed them into crab-like monsters.[3]
Steamed and buttered crabs were one of Jack Sparrow's favorite meals.[4] When Jack found the body of One Tooth Tommy in Shipwreck Cove, a bunch of crabs were already beginning to eat the corpse.[5] More than a decade later, when Jack Sparrow and Will Turner rowed inside the caves of Isla de Muerta, they saw a crab near a skeleton with a sword sticking out of its back.[6] Also, cursed crabs existed at the neighboring Rumrunner's Isle.[2] A year later, when Bootstrap Bill Turner came onboard the Black Pearl to give the Black Spot to Jack, he caught and ate a tiny little crab.[7]
With a clatter of crab claws on a rough wooden table, the voodoo mystic Tia Dalma used crab claws as they hold unfathomable powers, revealing a person's fate and spelling out your destiny, despite their fears.[7] With crab claws, Tia Dalma could see what ordinary mortals could not by gently throwing the claws on the table and "reading" their positions.[8]
Behind the scenes[]
- "Perfect. What would my torment be without unusual crabs here to mock me."
- ―Jack Sparrow
- In the original Disneyland ride Pirates of the Caribbean, there was a skeleton sprawled on the beach, with a crab nearby, located within a treasure-filled cavern in Dead Man's Cove. This was adapted into a quick shot on Isla de Muerta in a scene from The Curse of the Black Pearl.
- One of Mark "Crash" McCreery's artworks for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl shows the undead Hector Barbossa with a tiny crab coming out of his empty left eye socket.[9]
- In Terry Rossio's original script for Dead Men Tell No Tales, after gaining possession of Philip Swift's Map to the Mermaid Trove, Jack Sparrow accidentally swallowed, hocked up, caught, and ate a hermit crab.[10]
Appearances[]
- Pirates of the Caribbean (ride)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure
- Jack Sparrow: The Sword of Cortés
- Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours
- The Price of Freedom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (video game)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
- Smoke on the Water
- The Return of Jack Sparrow
- The Eye of Despair!
- Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
- Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life (Non-canonical appearance)
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ "Pirates Secrets Revealed" leaflet - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End DVD
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
- ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Sword of Cortés
- ↑ The Price of Freedom
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, p58-59: "Tia Dalma's Shack"
- ↑ The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean, p34.
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES Screenplay by Terry Rossio