Jack Sparrow's mother

"We are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things." The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

Unknown
Biographical information
Gender	Female
Hair color	Grey
Died	Before 1729
Family	Edward Teague (lover) Jack Sparrow (son)
Also known as	Mum
Statistics
Affiliation	Jack Sparrow's family
Behind the scenes
First appearance	At World's End (as a shrunken head)
Last appearance	On Stranger Tides (as a shrunken head)

"How's Mum? ... She looks great."

―Jack Sparrow as Edward Teague shows his mother

This woman was the lover of the Captain Edward Teague and the mother of Jack Sparrow.

Biography

Life and death

Not much is known of this woman's life, only that she became associated with Captain Edward Teague, the Pirate Lord of Madagascar and Keeper of the Code for the Brethren Court, who eventually became her lover and the father of her son, Jack Sparrow. She gave birth to Jack on a pirate ship during a typhoon. Through unknown circumstances, this woman died and her head was cut off and shrunk, a grisly effigy that was kept in the possession of Captain Teague, who wore it on his belt almost at all times.

Legacy

By the meeting of the Fourth Brethren Court, Captain Teague still wore the shrunken head on his belt when he entered the chamber with the Pirate Lords, including Jack Sparrow. Shortly after the meeting ended, father and son reunited as Jack asked Teague about his mother. Teague unhooked the shrunken head from his belt, then offered it to Jack, who simply said, "She looks great." Bewildered, Jack accepted the shrunken head and took it, while Teague nodded, left him to his thoughts, and vanished back into the shadows. Jack tied the shrunken head to his baldric, which he first wore it during the parley on the sandbar and wore in the battle that followed. The head continued to be in Jack's possession as he set off in pursuit of his beloved ship, the Black Pearl, and throughout his quest for the Fountain of Youth.

At some point following his adventures, Captain Jack Sparrow left his mother's shrunken head with an acquaintance known as Trader Sam, a trader and proprietor of a pub in Polynesian. Jack left a note asking Sam to take care of his mother, who enjoyed "hanging around" Sam's pub. By the mid-20th century, the shrunken head would be put on display in a box with Jack's note to Sam.

Behind the scenes

Jack Sparrow's mother, named "Mum" by Sparrow, in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for At World's End, Captain Teague takes a shrunken head from his belt, and offers it to Jack Sparrow. As Jack takes the head, Teague nods to him, and leaves him to his thoughts. This was originally written as an odd moment, retained in the special edition of Elizabeth Rudnick's junior novelization, but the shrunken head was revealed to be Jack Sparrow's "Mum" in the final cut of the film.

In the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the At World's End video game adaptation, collecting three shrunken heads gives Jack Sparrow the ability to use the shrunken heads to perform a "Jackanism" in-game, where Jack's sword has a green glow and can be used to collect the souls of his enemies. This may suggest that the shrunken head has supernatural abilities. However, it is unclear whether or not any of the shrunken heads are Jack's mum.

By May 2011, Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at Disneyland Hotel was updated to include references to the film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, including a shrunken head left by Captain Jack Sparrow to Trader Sam. In the pub, a shrunken head is on display in a box with a note that reads, "Sam, Rum is on you, heads are on me. Take care of Mum for me. She always loved hanging around your pub. - Captain Jack Sparrow."

Appearances

• Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar (as a shrunken head)
• The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow (as a shrunken head)
• Jack Sparrow: Silver (Mentioned only)
• The Price of Freedom (Mentioned only)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (First appearance) (as a shrunken head)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (Special Edition) (as a shrunken head)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (as a shrunken head)