Dragon

For other uses, see Dragon (disambiguation)

Jack Sparrow, Shan, and Jing stand before the mural of a black dragon in Cheng's Castle.

"All those loyal to Sao Feng are required to wear the tattoo of the dragon. The dragon's considered to be benevolent and good luck."

―Unknown

A dragon was a reptile-like legendary creature that appeared in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and four-legged, as well as capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures were usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of feline, avian, and reptilian features.

History

In Asia, the dragon is a sign of power, imperial might, and strength in war. Captain Sao Feng bears this tattoo as do his loyal followers. The dragon is considered to be benevolent and good luck. Even the name of one of his junk ships, the Hai Peng, means "flying dragon". With most junks, like Sao Feng's flagship the Empress, the stern section was customized with canvas structures that resemble dragon wings. Sao Feng's navigational charts had strange symbols. Images appear in the mystical meanderings of this map's contours; sometimes a dragon, a harbinger of great fortune in war, emerges.

When the Timekeeper restored different parts of history of Isla Esquelética, it brought back to life many prehistoric animals, including pterodactyls and sabertooth tigers. When one pterodacty saved Jack Sparrow and Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III, Jack named him Drag, as in Dragon.

One of Jack Sparrow's many legends was that he and Will Turner fought Madame Tang in Formosa. Instead of bartering with Sparrow, Tang stole the Dragon's Eye and fled to her temple, hoping to awaken an evil Dragon Spirit. One of the pirate ships in Barbossa's fleet, the Red Dragon, had the figurehead of a dragon holding a shield.

Behind the scenes

• Dragons first appeared through the Dragon Spirit in the 2006 video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow.
• In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, during the battle of Isla de Muerta, Hector Barbossa tells Jack Sparrow "You're off the edge of the map, mate. Here there be monsters!" which derives from the inscriptions on old maps. Barbossa's line would later be called back in Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Men Tell No Tales. This was a reference to the real-world phrase "Here be dragons" which medieval cartographers put on the maps along the illustrations of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures to indicate potential dangers in uncharted areas.
• "Rise of the Dragon" was the name of an item winning event in Pirates of the Caribbean: Isles of War.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours (Mentioned only)
• The Dragon Tile! (mural)
• The Shanghai Tigers (carving)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (tattoos and maps)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (figurehead)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide

External links

• Dragon on Wikipedia