- "If the figurehead was on Opawiwato, Sterling had to find it; by what ever means necessary."
- ―Gunner
A figurehead was a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships. Mariners were a superstitious bunch, and they believed that a woman on board a ship would always bring bad luck. They made one exception: wooden women were allowed, but only if they were nailed to the bow as a figurehead.
History[]
- "Mates, I now libate—if there indeed be such a word, which I rather doubt—our lovely angel here. May she watch out for us, keep us safe, and guide us on our journeys!"
- ―Jack Sparrow to his crew
Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation (e.g. the Viking ships of ca. A.D. 800–1100), the general practice was introduced with the galleons of the 16th century, as the figurehead as such could not come to be until ships had an actual head structure on which to place it.
Like all mariners, pirates were a superstitious bunch, and they believed that women on board a ship would always bring bad luck. They made one exception: wooden women were allowed, but only if they were nailed to the bow as a figurehead. Mariners believed the eyes of the figurehead would help their ship to find its way at sea.[1][2]
Pirate ships of the 18th century were known to have colorful figureheads. The Black Pearl's figurehead shows a beautiful woman with an outstretched left arm and a bird about to take flight from her hand;[1][2] this graceful black angel and black dove[3] symbolized Captain Jack Sparrow's goal for freedom. Other notable figureheads include the Misty Lady (a mermaid), the Flying Dutchman (the Grim Reaper)[1][4], and the Queen Anne's Revenge (a demonic skeleton holding a spear and a goblet).[5][6]
The ships of the British Royal Navy carried the figureheads that proclaimed their allegiance to the Crown of England and the British monarchy. The figurehead of the HMS Dauntless showed a lion and a unicorn, the symbols of England and Scotland, holding together the Royal coat of arms of Great Britain. One smaller ship, the brig HMS Interceptor, had a lion for a figurehead.[7] Lord Cutler Beckett's flagship, the HMS Endeavour, had a figurehead similar to that of the Dauntless - two animals holding a red shield with three identical gold lions, the Royal Arms of England.[8] The Monarch of Captain Toms had a crowned lion for a figurehead, while the Essex of Lieutenant Scarfield had a king holding a sword.[9]
The Spanish Royal Navy galleon Silent Mary had the figurehead of a woman holding a spear and a shield. After decades of imprisonment in the haunted waters of the Devil's Triangle, the ship and its crew returned to the Seven Seas as ghostly specters, with the ship becoming a living tool of Capitán Salazar's vengeance against the pirates in the Caribbean. When the Mary attacked the Black Pearl, Salazar used his supernatural powers to bring his ship's figurehead to life, using the wooden beast to hunt Captain Jack Sparrow. The living figurehead was crushed when the starboard side of the Pearl collided with the port side of the Mary.[9]
Behind the scenes[]
- "The figurehead of the Queen Anne's Revenge was based on Blackbeard's real flag, which was a great horned skeleton holding a goblet of wine in one hand and spear in the other; as if he's toasting his victims."
- ―John Myhre
- Figureheads first appear in the 2003 junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.[10][7]
- In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of The Curse of the Black Pearl, the figurehead of the HMS Dauntless was a winged victory maiden.[11]
- According to the 2006-2007 reference books Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide, which covers information from Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, the figurehead for the Flying Dutchman was the Grim Reaper.[1][4] The At World's End junior novelization, however, incorrectly states that a "carved skeletal, winged female rode on the bow" of the Dutchman.[12]
- One of the quests in the online video game Pirates of the Caribbean Online requires a player to recover the figurehead of the Black Harbinger.[13]
- The Queen Anne's Revenge's figurehead, as depicted in On Stranger Tides and Pirates Online, was based on Blackbeard's historical pirate flag, which had a great horned skeleton holding a goblet of wine in one hand and a spear in the other.[14] Since production designer John Myhre had already appropriated the skeleton from Blackbeard's real, historically correct flag for the ship's figurehead, a new design featuring a skull with flames was created for the pirate's flag in the film.[5] The Queen Anne's Revenge's figurehead appears in the non-canon video game Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life under the names "Collector's Royal Revenge Figurehead" and "Royal Revenge Figurehead".[15] However, in real-world history, Blackbeard never had this figurehead design aboard the Revenge.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales contains a continuity error where the Grim Reaper figurehead of the Flying Dutchman is still on the ship's prow,[9] despite falling apart during the final battle of At World's End.[8]
- The Silent Mary's figurehead in Dead Men Tell No Tales was mistakenly called the "Silent Mary Masthead" in the instruction booklet for the Lego Silent Mary set. The masthead is the uppermost point of a mast.[citation needed]
Appearances[]
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow
- The Price of Freedom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Legends of the Brethren Court
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- The Sails of Doom!
- The Black Heart of the Pearl
- The Eyes Have It!
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
- Fantasmic! (Non-canonical appearance)
- Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources[]
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
- The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, pp. 28-29 "Black Pearl"
- ↑ The Price of Freedom, Epilogue, The Black Pearl
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, pp. 64-65: "The Flying Dutchman"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- ↑ Did You Know? ...On Stranger Tides edition: Grog Blog
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization)
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization), p. 2
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- ↑ Did You Know? ...On Stranger Tides edition: Grog Blog
- ↑ Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life