Davy Jones' Locker

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For other uses, see Davy Jones' Locker (disambiguation)

General information
Location	Underworld
Points of interest	Isla Sirena Dunes of Delirium Expanse Liars' Graveyard The Stormy Ship Canyon of Forsaken Ships Cliffs of Insanity Fiddler's Green Fiddler's Green Tavern Sea of the Dead
Notable inhabitants	Jack Sparrow Jocard Black Bart Crabs Weatherby Swann
Societal
Population	Drifting Dead
Affiliation	Davy Jones
Behind the scenes
First appearance	At World's End (video game)
Latest appearance	At World's End

"Jack Sparrow is taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself...stretching on forever. That's what awaits at Davy Jones' Locker."

―Tia Dalma

Davy Jones' Locker, also referred to as the Land of the Dead or Land Beyond Death, was a mythical realm to which souls claimed by the sea, or devoured by the Kraken, were sent. Though it was sometimes used as a term to refer to the bottom of the ocean, Davy Jones' Locker was a barren wasteland. People imprisoned there were technically not dead in the general sense of the word. Whereas, most who died were allowed to have their souls move on to some form of afterlife, Davy Jones' Locker acted as a form of purgatory. This is why Tia Dalma couldn't bring Jack Sparrow back to life–like she did with Hector Barbossa–as his soul was trapped within the Locker.

History

"Trust me, young Master Turner. It's not gettin' to the Land of the Dead that's the problem. It's gettin' back."

―Hector Barbossa to Will Turner.

Jack Sparrow in the Locker.

Mostly referred as an idiom for the bottom of the sea, it was a realm of the afterlife after death with the cold and empty sea of the underworld, otherwise known as the "Land of the Dead" or the "Land Beyond Death". The Locker was used by Davy Jones to relegate souls that either refused to join his crew or Jones himself deemed unfit to serve aboard the Flying Dutchman. The interior of the Locker represented a soul's worst fear, so its appearance was believed to be perceived differently by everyone who entered it.

The Motley crew in Davy Jones' Locker.

For Jack Sparrow, the Locker was a vast expanse of hot sand, on which he and his ship, the Black Pearl, were marooned with no hope of reaching the sea. Here, Jack was confronted by several hallucinations, each one presenting various aspects of his persona, created to send him mad over time. This punishment played on Sparrow's love of the sea (in that he equated it with freedom), along with his pride in being "the one and only" Captain Jack Sparrow.

The lost souls in Davy Jones' Locker.

Sparrow spent months in the locker before he became one of the few to ever escape from the Locker, with the help of his former crew, under the guidance of Hector Barbossa. Black Bart was another to escape, as was Jocard with Sparrow's assistance.

Isla Sirena was said to reside in the Locker, though it could also appear in the real world, presumably when the Sirens were attempting to lure sailors to their doom. Jack Sparrow was one of the few to visit the cave of the mermaids beneath the island, many years before he would visit the Locker itself—though during Sparrow's visit Isla Sirena was visible in the world of the living.

Davy Jones' Locker concept art

Behind the scenes

"No point in all of us wandering this foul wasteland in search of our beloved Jack and the Pearl...I will go and find him."
[...]
"The legends speak of many strange and deadly creatures who inhabit this land, Captain Barbossa."

―Hector Barbossa and Tia Dalma

Davy Jones' Locker was first mentioned in Thurl Ravenscroft's 1966 narration recorded for Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. The name "Davy Jones' Locker" originated in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as a saying, though the alternate names "Land of the Dead" and "Land Beyond Death" first appeared in Richard Platt's reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and Glenn Dakin's reprint The Complete Visual Guide. While Davy Jones' Locker was described as the bottom of the ocean, it was portrayed as a sort of purgatory in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

For filming At World's End, scenes in Davy Jones' Locker were filmed at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, United States of America.

In real-world history, Davy Jones' Locker is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors. The earliest recorded mention of the term comes from the 1726 book The Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow tells Koehler and Twigg that "the deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers". In Elizabeth Rudnick's junior novelization, Sparrow mentions the deepest circle of Davy Jones's locker, rather than hell. When Will Turner threatens to kill himself in front of Barbossa he says would be "lost to Davy Jones' locker!" In the 2006 German novelization he says he would sink into the sea.

In the At World's End video game, there are several characteristics of the Locker that do not appear in the film.

• In the PS2, PC, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS: As Barbossa, the player has to cross over several patches of "safe" land and carcasses instead of walking on the sandy desert out of which mutilated zombie hands would attempt to pull the player down. Also visible are whirlwinds of sand in the backdrop, along with a gigantic dead body of the Kraken and several wrecked ships which are inhabited by undead-like pirates, similar to the Drifting Dead from the other console versions of the game, who attempt to jump onto the moving Black Pearl. Distant mountains are also viewable in the scenery. 
• Another area in the ocean in this version of the game, resembles a primordial volcanic canyon. As Jack, the player has to descend through the valley in search of Gentleman Jocard while facing adversity from extensively dangerous aforementioned pirates, who have objects such as cannons and anchors attached to their bodies. Jack has to free Jocard from a bone-cage set against a backdrop of lava and molten rocks.
• The volcanic area might be a reference to Hades considering that Greek mythology forms the basis of the plotline of Davy Jones ferrying the souls of the dead to the other side. The Flying Dutchman itself could be a reference to Charon.
• In the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the same game, there is an area in Davy Jones' Locker called "The Stormy Ship". There, an unknown pirate steers the wheel of his wrecked ship for eternity. This may be a reference to the skeleton helmsman from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
• The Drifting Dead in this version of the game includes Black Bart and the Fiddler's Green tavern makes an appearance.

One of the six entrances to Ben Gunn's Cave on Adventure Isle in Adventureland at Disneyland Paris is named Davy Jones' Locker.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song (Indirect mention only)
• Jack Sparrow: The Age of Bronze (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: City of Gold (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: The Timekeeper (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Sins of the Father (Mentioned only)
• Jack Sparrow: Poseidon's Peak (Mentioned only)
• The Price of Freedom (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Mentioned only)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First mentioned)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization) (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online (Mentioned only)
• Legend of the Aztec Idol! (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: The Movie Storybook
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (comic)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: The Journey to World's End Storybook with Compass
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Penguin Readers)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
• Kingdom Hearts III (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide

External links

• Davy Jones' locker on Wikipedia

See also

• Davy Jones
• Drifting Dead
• Fiddler's Green

Notes and references

Locations in Pirates of the Caribbean
Africa Barbary Coast – Calabar – Egypt – Kerma – Slave Coast – Tripoli The Americas Boston – Canada – Florida – Louisiana – Mexico – New Orleans – North Carolina Panama – Peru – Savannah – Virginia – Yucatán Peninsula Asia Bombay – China – Hong Kong – India – Nippon – Shanghai – Singapore – Suvarnadurg The Bahamas Andros – Nassau – New Avalon – New Providence The Caribbean Antigua – Black rock island – Cuba – Devil's Triangle – Dominica – Guadeloupe – Hangman's Bay – Hispaniola Ile d'Etable de Porc – Isla De La Avaricia – Isla Cruces – Isla de Muerta – Isla de Pelegostos Martinique – Padres Del Fuego – Port Royal – Poseidon's Tomb Puerto Rico – Saint Martin – San Silvestre –Shipwreck Island – St. Lucia – Tortuga – Unnamed Island Europe Barcelona – Cádiz – Cartagena – France – Gibraltar – Great Britain – Holland London – Marseille – Paris – Portugal – Scotland – Seville – Spain – Other locations Davy Jones' Locker – Farthest Gate – Ice Passage – Isla Sirena
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