Mutiny on the Black Pearl

"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.

Previous	Day of the Shadow
Next	Attack on Port Royal
Mutiny on the Black Pearl
Timeframe	Blood of the Aztec Curse
Date	Late 1710s
Place	In the Caribbean Sea
Outcome	Hector Barbossa becomes captain of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow marooned.
Affiliations involved	Crew of the Black Pearl
Participants	Jack Sparrow Hector Barbossa Bootstrap Bill Turner Cursed crew

"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. That was before I'd met him. Back when he was captain of the Black Pearl."
"What? He failed to mention that."
"He plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was."

―Joshamee Gibbs and Will Turner

A mutiny occurred on board the infamous pirate ship Black Pearl while the crew was searching for the treasure of Cortés. Three days into the voyage, the first mate of the Pearl, Hector Barbossa, tricked Captain Jack Sparrow into giving up the bearings to Isla de Muerta. That night, mutineers led by Barbossa overtook the Black Pearl and marooned their former captain to die on a deserted island. After finding the treasure, the crew of the Black Pearl fell under the Aztec curse, which could be lifted by returning all the Aztec Gold pieces. However, Bootstrap Bill Turner felt guilty from Barbossa's mutiny against Jack Sparrow because it wasn't right with the Pirate's Code, and sent a piece of the treasure to his only child, asserting that the crew deserved to remain cursed.

Ten years later, Jack Sparrow retrieved the Pearl after the curse was lifted. The Pearl would be lost or found, or lost again on several occasions, whether it was by mutiny or that the ship itself was taken.

Prelude

The cursed Treasure of Cortés

"I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa."
"Aye. That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an island of dead what cannot be found, except for those who know where it is. Find it, we did."

―Elizabeth Swann and Hector Barbossa

Over the years, legends of Hernán Cortés' conquests spread across the Seven Seas. One particular legend told of 882 identical pieces of Aztec Gold delivered in a stone chest to the conquistador as "blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies," though it merely fueled Cortés' greed. These actions so angered the heathen gods that they placed a curse upon the gold: any mortal who removed a piece of the gold from the chest would be punished for eternity. Ultimately, the treasure of Cortés would end up in the caves of the mysterious Isla de Muerta, an island of the dead that cannot be found except by those who knew where it was.

Two years after his deal with the legendary Davy Jones, the infamous pirate Jack Sparrow showed up in Tortuga, at which time he was captain of the Black Pearl and was going after the treasure of Isla de Muerta with the help of his unique compass. While in Tortuga, Jack would recruit a crew, which would have also included his first mate, Hector Barbossa, and Bootstrap Bill Turner. Jack also knew about the curse, though he didn't believe in it. Despite this, he told the stories to Barbossa and the other crewmen, but they didn't believe in the curse either, with Barbossa himself having said, "Ridiculous superstition!"

The Mutiny

Jack Sparrow watches the Black Pearl sailing away.

"See, three days out on the venture, the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too. So, Jack gives up the bearings. That night, there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die, but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

―Joshamee Gibbs concerning Jack Sparrow

Having gotten the crew in Tortuga, including Barbossa's cronies, the Black Pearl goes sailing out. Three days out into the voyage, Barbossa said to Jack that if the crew were all to going to have a share of the treasure, they should all know where they're going. Then Jack made the mistake by telling Barbossa where Isla de Muerta was, making Barbossa someone who could find it because he already knew where it was. That night, Barbossa led a mutiny against Jack with the support of every crewman, while Barbossa himself assumed command as the new captain of the Black Pearl. Jack was thrown overboard with his compass. Barbossa would give Jack a pistol with a single shot before marooning his former captain on Black Sam's Spit, a small island that was nothing more than a strip of beach and a few palm trees, where he would be left to die.

Bootstrap Bill, while he probably didn't participate in the mutiny, there was a version of events where Bootstrap stood up for Jack, then doesn't participate in the mutiny, stepping aside but doesn't take action to stop it. Despite having a good relationship with Jack Sparrow, Bootstrap stayed with Barbossa's crew. The reason Jack was all right with that was because Bootstrap stuck by the Pirate's Code—unlike Barbossa, who Jack hates for having violated the Code.

Aftermath

Blood of the Aztec Curse

Escaping the island

The rumrunners save Jack.

"Now Will, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot. One shot. Well, that won't do much good hunting, nor to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly. But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."
"Barbossa."

―Joshamee Gibbs and Will Turner

From the moment he was marooned on a godforsaken desert island, Jack Sparrow was given a flintlock pistol with only a single shot, which was initially intended for him to kill himself. However, Jack would escape Black Sam's Spit three days later and kept the pistol for years to come. Jack cherished his pistol, but never pulled the trigger; he made it his goal to save his pistol's one shot until he could use it on his mutinous first mate whom he now hated for violating the Code and having stole his beloved Black Pearl: Hector Barbossa.

Cursed

"Of the two of us, I'm the only one who hasn't committed mutiny. Therefore, my word is the one we'll be trusting. Although, I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, I would have an equal share in that curse, same as you. Funny old world, isn't it?"

―Jack Sparrow to Hector Barbossa

Although having believed that the curse that former captain Jack Sparrow spoke of was a mere ghost story, Captain Barbossa's crew pressed on towards Isla de Muerta using Sparrow's bearings. Locating the island of the dead, the crew of the Black Pearl found the treasure and took all 882 pieces of Aztec gold from the stone chest. At some point prior to finding the island, Barbossa would get a pet monkey that he would name "Jack", after his old captain, who also took at least one piece of the treasure. Then as they go out spending and trading every bit on food, drink and pleasurable company, eventually ridding themselves of all gold pieces, the crew discovered that they were cursed. They suffered a living death, in which no amount of food, drink or pleasurable company would satisfy. When they step into the moonlight, the grim effects of the curse were plain to see: the crew's flesh vanished from their bones, and become walking skeletons. Therefore, each member of the crew was doomed to reside as members of the undead because of their greed. After figuring out that it was the Aztec gold pieces that placed the curse upon them, Barbossa's crew soon learned, possibly through reading the Aztec writing on the stone chest, that the only way to undo the curse was by returning all the gold back into the chest.

Losing Bootstrap Bill

"Never sat well with Bootstrap, what we did to Jack Sparrow. The mutiny and all. He said it wasn't right with the Code. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you, as it were. He said we deserved to be cursed...and remain cursed."
"Stupid blighter—"
"Good man."

―Pintel, Ragetti and Joshamee Gibbs

Their goal set, the now-cursed crew of the Black Pearl aimed to reclaim all the Aztec gold and lift their curse. However, Bootstrap Bill had been feeling guilty because of what they did to Jack Sparrow, as it was in violation of the Code, so far as to say that the crew deserved to be cursed for what they did and to remain cursed. That was when Bootstrap sent one piece of the gold to his child in England, because he never wanted Barbossa's crew to be able to lift the curse. Provoked by his treachery, Barbossa strapped a cannon to "Bootstrap's bootstraps" and threw Bill overboard into "the crushing depths of Davy Jones' Locker," eternally drowning but unable to die because of the Aztec curse. It wasn't until later did the crew find out another requirement to lift the curse: all the blood had to be returned, which now seemed impossible with Bootstrap lost to them. However, a chance of salvation lied in Bootstrap's child, who had both his coin and Turner blood in his veins.

Later, the Black Pearl destroyed the merchant vessel that Bootstrap's child was on because the medallion touching the water brought the pirates. The HMS Dauntless, the power of Caribbean waters, appeared toward the wreckage, though Lieutenant James Norrington thought it was the powder magazine rather than a pirate attack. The Black Pearl left without getting Will and the coin, whether it was because the ship was simply lost in the "unnatural fog"; Elizabeth Swann's singing, which could have drove them away or called them down; or because the Dauntless was there, as the 100-gun ship would turn the Pearl into kindling. By this time, the Pearl's masts flew tattered sails. For the next eight years, the cursed pirates continued looking for all the gold.

Regaining the Pearl

"You got the Pearl back, I see."
"I had some help retrieving the Pearl by the way. Your son."

―Bootstrap Bill Turner and Jack Sparrow

Ten years after the mutiny on the Black Pearl, Barbossa's crew had collected all the pieces of Aztec Gold, save for the one piece Bootstrap sent to his child. On the day of James Norrington's promotion ceremony at Fort Charles, the medallion would be worn by Elizabeth Swann when she fell into Port Royal harbor. The gold called to the cursed pirates. Knowing it was the last piece they needed to lift the curse, they came after it while attacking the town that night. After believing Elizabeth had Turner blood, the last blood they needed to lift the curse, Barbossa kept Elizabeth captive aboard the Black Pearl. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's childhood friend, Will Turner, joined forces with Jack Sparrow, who was arrested after attempting to "commandeer" a ship and threatened Elizabeth. To save Elizabeth, they sailed the Interceptor, in a gallant attempt to rescue her and recapture the Black Pearl.

By the end of their quest, Jack killed Barbossa during an epic battle, but soon found that his motley crew took the Black Pearl and left without him. "I'm sorry, Jack," Elizabeth said. For a moment, Jack said nothing, only his eyes betraying his sadness. Then he spoke, "They did what's right by them. Can't expect more than that." Captain Jack Sparrow found himself in an all-too-familiar position. He was, once again, a captain without a ship. Knowing his crew followed the Pirate's Code, Jack ended up sharing a ride to the Dauntless, which made sail for Port Royal.

However, after Jack fell from Fort Charles and plummeted into the water below, his eyes landed on a familiar sight as he saw the Black Pearl, with her black sails no longer tattered and her sides gleamed in the bright sun. With a smile, Jack swam close enough to the Pearl where he got heaved on board, where he was greeted by Joshamee Gibbs and other members of his crew. When asked about keeping to the Code, Gibbs said they figured the Code were more "guidelines" before helping Jack to his feet. Cotton, the mute pirate, gave Jack his tricornered hat before Anamaria stepped aside from the helm and gave "Captain Sparrow" command of the Black Pearl. Jack then ran a hand lovingly along the ship's wheel, feeling good and right in his hands, and smiled. He enjoyed it, until noticing his crew watching him, and then shifted to 'Captain' mode. Giving orders to his crew, Captain Jack Sparrow stood at the wheel of the Black Pearl. As he looked out to sea and felt the Pearl's wood beneath his fingers, Jack said, "Now...Bring me that horizon." Jack then began to hum a pirate song Elizabeth taught him before, and in his hand he held his compass. He realized what he's doing and smiles. Setting a new course, Captain Jack Sparrow sailed his ship across the Caribbean, preparing to sail for new adventures on the high seas.

Further adventures

War Against Piracy

"You cross Barbossa. You are willing to cross Jack Sparrow. Why should I expect any better?"
"I need the Black Pearl to free my father. You're helping me to get it."

―Sao Feng and Will Turner

For the next year, the Black Pearl had set out for many adventures on the high seas, eventually leading to the search for the fabled Dead Man's Chest. Among others, Jack Sparrow wanted to find the chest to settle his debt with the legendary Davy Jones, the captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman, as his thirteen years of being captain of the Black Pearl were over by this point. Lord Cutler Beckett also sought to retrieve the chest, intending to use it for his plan to destroy every last pirate once and for all. Ultimately, Jones' leviathan, the Kraken, dragged the Black Pearl to the depths, along with her captain. With the help of Hector Barbossa, resurrected by Tia Dalma, Jack's crew was able to sail to World's End and rescued Jack from Davy Jones' Locker along with the Black Pearl.

During the Black Pearl's previous encounter with the Flying Dutchman, Will Turner discovered that the Pearl was the only ship that could outrun the Dutchman. Prior to saving Jack Sparrow, while retrieving navigational charts in Singapore, Will secretly made a deal with Sao Feng. Once the Black Pearl was able to escape Davy Jones' Locker, the ship was overtook off of Black Sand Beach by the appearance of Sao Feng's flagship, the Empress. Will Turner led a mutiny against Jack and Barbossa's crew, revealing that only reason he came on this voyage was that he needed the Pearl to free his father. However, after Jack was taken aboard the Endeavour, Will was betrayed by Sao Feng for another bargain with Lord Beckett for the Pearl, though Feng himself was double-crossed by Beckett. Because of this, Feng bargains with Barbossa to release the Black Pearl in exchange for Elizabeth Swann, who he mistakenly believed was the sea goddess, Calypso. Having made an accord, the crews of the Black Pearl and the Endeavour fought against each other, allowing Jack to escape aboard the Pearl. Upon the escape, Beckett ordered Lieutenant Theodore Groves to signal the Dutchman to track down Sao Feng, while the Endeavour was to follow the Pearl. However, as the Endeavour was damaged by Jack's escape, the pursuit was delayed.

For Will Turner's mutiny on the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow ordered Turner to be sent to the brig, though he soon escaped. Jack caught Will leaving a breadcrumb trail for Beckett and, after discussing a way to stab the heart of Davy Jones to benefit both of them, Jack had Will thrown overboard as the Pearl sailed on. Prior to this, Jack gave Will his compass so he could lead Beckett to Shipwreck Cove, the meeting place of the Brethren Court. By the end of the fourth meeting, Elizabeth Swann, who was Sao Feng's successor as Pirate Lord, became the Pirate King. After parleying with Beckett, Elizabeth decided to use the Black Pearl as a flagship to lead the attack. Battling with the Flying Dutchman and the Endeavour, the Black Pearl emerged victoriously.

While in the docks of Tortuga, Jack Sparrow discovered that Barbossa has stolen the Black Pearl under circumstances that could only be described as mutiny, and left a small vessel in its place. This time, Barbossa marooned Jack and Joshamee Gibbs. Meanwhile, as the Black Pearl sails through the seas, Barbossa presented to his crewmen their next quest: to find the Fountain of Youth. However, after opening the charts, he discovered that Jack Sparrow has removed the map to the Fountain from the charts.

Capture of the Pearl

"And all of this pales to utter insignificance in light of the fact that my ship is once again gone. Savvy?"

―Jack Sparrow

While sailing off the coast of Hispaniola one night, the Black Pearl came under attack from the Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by the notorious pirate Blackbeard. As the onslaught continued, Blackbeard used the legendary Sword of Triton to control the Pearl, turning the ship against Barbossa's crew. The attack ended with Barbossa having lost the Black Pearl and his right leg. Unbeknownst to Barbossa, who believed that the ship was sunk, Jack Sparrow discovered that Blackbeard magicked the Black Pearl into a shrunken ship in a glass bottle, where it would sail on a shrunken, churning ocean. By the end of the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Barbossa had his revenge on Blackbeard, while Gibbs retrieved the Pearl for Jack.

Restored to former glory

"There be room for only one captain."

―Hector Barbossa

About one year later, during the quest for the Trident of Poseidon, Jack Sparrow continued carrying the Black Pearl in a bottle, Hector Barbossa continued wielding Blackbeard's sovereign blade, and the two pirates were threatened by Armando Salazar's ghostly crew of the Silent Mary. By the time Jack and Barbossa reunited at Hangman's Bay, Barbossa learned of the current state of the Black Pearl, now shrunk-and-bottled because of Blackbeard, which Sparrow now kept on his person under his coat. Realizing that the Pearl was their only hope to outrun and fight Salazar's ship, Barbossa drew his sword and then pierced the shrunken ship's bottle, thereby gradually releasing the Pearl and restoring the ship to her original size. Barbossa held his pistol to Jack's head, saying there was only room for one captain before declaring it was time to race the dead. During the journey to the Black rock island, led by Henry Turner and Carina Smyth, Barbossa threatened to cut out Sparrow's tongue if he revealed to Carina that Barbossa was her father. The Black Pearl and the Silent Mary battled as both ships got closer to the island, with only the arrival to their destination saved the pirates from being butchered. After the second death of Barbossa, through a sacrifice to save his daughter from Salazar, Jack Sparrow regained full control of the Black Pearl.

Behind the scenes

"Well, Jack! I'm afraid your career as a pirate has been a short one. I am the captain of the Black Pearl. No one challenges my authority."
"You're evil and cruel, Barbossa!"
"How kind of you! But sadly there's no time for a pleasant chat! Get walking!"
"But..."
"Walk the plank!"
"Just like a real pirate!"

―Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow

• The mutiny on the Black Pearl was first mentioned in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, specifically to serve as the prehistory of the story between Captain Jack Sparrow, his first mate Hector Barbossa, and how the latter stole the former's ship, the Black Pearl.
• In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of The Curse of the Black Pearl, Joshamee Gibbs said that it was 40 days out into the voyage before Barbossa came to Jack Sparrow about the treasure's location Isla de Muerta and the mutiny of the Black Pearl.
• According to author A. C. Crispin, she was originally contracted by Disney Editions to write "the story of the Isla de Muerta mutiny," presumably Hector Barbossa's mutiny on Jack Sparrow aboard the Black Pearl during the voyage to Isla de Muerta. Although Crispin had a full outline written for that book, Disney subsequently changed its mind and told the author to "go further back in time." This resulted in Crispin writing The Price of Freedom, which expanded the story about Jack's past as a merchant seaman for the East India Trading Company which precedes Sparrow's deal with Davy Jones to raise the Black Pearl (formerly the Wicked Wench) from the depths.
• In Terry Rossio's 2012 screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales, at the film's post-credits sequence, it would have been revealed that Hector Barbossa is planning another mutiny against Jack after having recovered his position as First Mate, but this time he intends to kill Jack. Then, breaking the fourth wall, Barbossa would have asked the audience who was with him.
• In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Barbossa would have explained that one of the reasons of his first mutiny was Jack Sparrow saving and taking on board the British soldier Eric Brand, the brother of the notorious pirate hunter John Brand.
• In the non-canonical LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, the mutiny on the Black Pearl is depicted very fast, in a somewhat comical way. Barbossa and the cursed crew take advantage of an oversight of Jack and push him to the sea, being this one dragged by the waves towards Smuggler's Den.

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide