Leech

Leech
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Ethnic group	Indian
Eye color	Brown
Hair color	Black
Died	c. 1729, Isla de Pelegostos
Statistics
Weapon(s) owned	Scimitar
Ship(s) captained or crewed	Black Pearl
Affiliation	Jack Sparrow's crew Crew of the Black Pearl
Behind the scenes
First appearance	Dead Man's Chest
Last appearance	Dead Man's Chest
Cause	Fell into a ravine on Pelegosto Island
Portrayer	San Shella

"Come on, men! It'll take all of us to crew the Black Pearl!"
"Actually, you wouldn't need everyone. About six would do. Oh, dear."

―Will Turner and Leech

Leech was an Indian pirate during the Age of Piracy. He joined Captain Jack Sparrow and the crew aboard the Black Pearl around the search for the Dead Man's Chest, being present aboard the Pearl after Sparrow escaped from the Turkish Prison with a piece of cloth that served as a drawing of a key. After the Black Pearl sailed for Isla de Pelegostos, Sparrow was made the chief of the Pelegostos Tribe, while Leech and the crew were put into two cages made of bone, each hanging from a rope across a deep gorge. However, as the two cages were climbing out the chasm wall, Leech grabbed a vine that turns out to be a snake, which caused his cage to drops away into the abyss, while the other cage managed to escape.

Biography

"Captain, I think the crew—meaning me as well—were expecting something a bit more...shiny. What with the Isla de Muerta going all pear-shaped, to be reclaimed by the sea and the treasure with it."
"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic."
"And the hurricane."

―Joshamee Gibbs, Leech, and Marty

Nothing is known about Leech's life prior to becoming a toothless pirate, who carried a pistol. At some point prior to the search for the Dead Man's Chest, Leech joined Captain Jack Sparrow and the crew of the Black Pearl. Little is known of Leech's early voyages with Captain Sparrow, but he was at least aware of Isla de Muerta, a hurricane, though was present as the British Royal Navy chased the Pearl all around the Atlantic Ocean.

Leech while Captain Jack Sparrow speaks to the crew of the Black Pearl.

Following Jack Sparrow's escape from the Turkish Prison with a rolled piece of cloth, the pirate captain almost walked into Leech, who stood in his path, arms folded, as the rest of the crew drift over, surrounding Sparrow. Leech was among the collective resentment of the crew against their captain, over lack of "shiny" swag and honest pirating according to Joshamee Gibbs, with Leech himself citing the Royal Navy chasing them all through the Atlantic, and Marty referring to the hurricane. Although Cotton's parrot suggested Jack Sparrow "walk the plank", Leech told Sparrow to share and show the crew what was on the piece of cloth, asking anxiously as every man onboard was hungry for news of what treasure Jack had found. Suddenly, the undead monkey "Jack" appeared, screeching at Sparrow's crew before grabbing the cloth. Sparrow fired his pistol, only for it to click, then pulled Leech's pistol from his belt to fire at the monkey, dropping the cloth. After Marty caught the cloth, Sparrow displayed the "drawing of a key" to the confused crew, who were not as impressed as the pirate captain seemed to expect with blank faces. Sparrow asked the crew what keys did, with Leech answering "Keys unlock things?" before Sparrow and Gibbs, the latter imagining chests of gold, questioned if they were finding the key or whatever the key unlocked. The rowdy crew, including Leech, was very confused as they tried to follow along as best they could, while Sparrow used his compass to find a heading.

Later, as the Black Pearl sailed on empty ocean, Jack Sparrow exited the captain's cabin and staggered past the wheel, Leech asked for the heading, to which the pirate captain replies "Steady as she goes." Moments later, a clearly terrified Jack ran and yelled to his sleeping crew as he passed through the hold and appeared on deck, with the groggy pirates dragging themselves to their stations. Leech was present when Jack's tricorne hat was swept up by "Jack" the monkey, but the pirate captain refused to retrieve it from the water, demanding the crew make to land as quickly as possible.

Leech imprisoned in a cage made of human bones by the Pelegostos.

During his search for Jack Sparrow, Will Turner found the Black Pearl careened on Isla de Pelegostos, where the native cannibal tribe, the Pelegostos, captured the crew and made Jack their chief. Upon their arrival to the Cannibal island, some of Jack's crew were eaten, with their bones being made into two giant cages in which kept the surviving members of the crew; Turner was put in the cage with Gibbs, Marty, and Cotton, among others, while Leech and the rest of the crew were in the other cage, both hanging suspended from a rope across a deep gorge. Turner yelled to the crewmen as he shifted his weight from side to side, with Leech and the pirates in the other cage getting the idea, causing both cages to rock toward the steep chasm wall, where they grabbed vines and started to slowly climb up the wall. While Turner called out that it would take all the men to crew the Black Pearl, Leech called back to say that they wouldn't need everyone, "About six would do." Within a moment, with at least six men in each cage, Leech realized he said too much before both cages scrambled for the top in a race, whichever got away first would leave the other behind.

Leech and the other five pirates fall to their deaths.

As Turner and Leech moved their cages further up the wall, one cannibal native guard and sentry strolled and passed by the bridge, after which Turner told every man to stop as both cages instantly froze. But after a moment, while the guard remained unaware of the tilted cages, the men in the second cage grew anxious and tried to cheat up a little after Leech signaled his men to continue climbing. Although Will's cage tried telling them to stop, Leech's cage continued to climb until Leech himself grabbed what he thought to be a vine, but turned out to be a snake. Frightened, Leech cried out and dropped the snake, causing a panic in which the men lost their grip, and screamed. The guard noticed as Leech's cage fell with a force that caused the rope holding it to snap at the top, sending Leech's cage plunging into the abyss, and to the deaths of Leech and his fellow crewmen. Although the men in Leech's cage unwittingly allowed the guard to send out an alarm to the cannibal tribe, Turner's cage was able to reach the top and proceeded to escape.

Personality and traits

Leech accidentally grabs a snake.

"Shh. [...] Snake!"

―Leech's last words

Leech was a toothless pirate. A deceitful opportunist, Leech was displeased with Sparrow's lack of leadership in directing his crew to go pirating and considered a mutiny, voicing his displeasure to the captain himself. Though Leech was duplicitous, he was also loose-lipped and mistakenly let slip that the Pearl only needed six crewmen, signing his own death warrant in so doing.

Equipment and skills

An Indian man, Leech wore clothing typical of a mariner, tan frock coat, trousers and vest but for a dark red turban, which he wore with his black hair flowing partially out of. Leech also wore a dark pair of boots, a baldric and a belt in which his pistol and sabre were hung.

Behind the scenes

Leech first appeared in the junior novelization for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, where he was portrayed by San Shella. As revealed by writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio on the Dead Man's Chest DVD commentary, Leech was given many of the lines that would normally have been spoken by Joshamee Gibbs, which made actor Kevin McNally wonder if Gibbs was to be killed off while reading the script, though he later realized Leech was set up in this way to make his death more meaningful to the audience.

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, Leech was described as "wild-eyed and a bit frightening" as he and Marty help Captain Jack Sparrow over the rail of the Black Pearl. When Jack fires his pistol at Jack the Monkey, he tosses it aside and pulls a pistol from Leech's belt before firing again. As Jack Sparrow makes his way toward a hatch, Leech asks for a heading, only for Jack to say, "Steady as she goes ..." as he staggers. Later, after Will Turner is captured at Cannibal Island, Leech hollers from one of the two bone cages hanging from a rope across a deep gorge, telling Joshamee Gibbs that the crew in his cage had a plan, but when Gibbs asked what the plan was, there's a pause and Leech dismissed it by saying, "Never mind!" As Turner and Gibbs's cage reaches the top of the cliff wall first, "Leech" was misspelled as "Leach" at the moment when the character grabs a vine that turns out to be a snake. Although it was unclear in the film's junior novelization, it was clear in the final cut that Sparrow took a pistol from Leech's belt. In addition, the scenes with "Steady As She Goes" and "Never Mind" were retained in the film's junior novelization, as well as the deleted scenes featured in Blu-ray releases beginning in 2011.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization) (First appearance)