Toms

"So tell me, what's become of my ship?" Warning! This page contains MAJOR spoilers from Dead Men Tell No Tales. Caution is advised.

Toms
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Died	1751, in the Devil's Triangle
Title(s)	Captain
Statistics
Weapon(s) owned	Sword Pistol
Ship(s) captained or crewed	Monarch
Battles	Battle in the Devil's Triangle
Affiliation	British Royal Navy Crew of the Monarch
Behind the scenes
First appearance	Dead Men Tell No Tales
Last appearance	Dead Men Tell No Tales
Cause	Strangled and burned by Armando Salazar.
Portrayer	Richard Piper

"Sir, trust in what I say. Change your course."
"You dare to give me orders, boy?"
"Arrest him!"

―Henry Turner, Toms, and Cole

Toms was a captain of the British Royal Navy. He captained the Monarch and in 1751, he chased the Dutch barque Ruddy Rose into the Devil's Triangle, despite the warnings of his shipboy Henry Turner, whom Toms considered crazy. However, ignoring the young Turner made him pay with his own life, as upon entering the Devil's Triangle, the terrifying Capitán Armando Salazar and his crew attacked Toms' crew and subsequently, Salazar strangled Toms and threw his body to the flames.

Biography

Early life

Not much is known of Toms' early life. At some unspecified point, Toms became an officer of the British Royal Navy and later became captain of the Monarch. Toms' main task was to hunt pirates, so he enlisted a crew for his ship, which included First Officer Wade, Officer Cole and the young sailor Henry Turner, and sailed several times in search of pirates to hunt.

The hunt for the Ruddy Rose

Toms rips the sleeves of Turner's jacket, marking him as a traitor.

"We're going in!"

―Toms to the crew

In 1751, Toms captained the Monarch to hunt down the Ruddy Rose, a Dutch barque captained by the fearsome Captain Bonnet, in the Caribbean Sea. At one point, realizing that defeat at the hands of the British was inminent, the Ruddy Rose lowered her colors in an attempt to surrender, but Toms offered no mercy and continued with the chase. However, the young Henry Turner, upon realizing that they were heading to the Devil's Triangle, disobeyed the orders of Petty Officer Maddox and ran to warn Toms, telling him that they needed to avoid entering the Triangle since several ships that entered there never come out. However, Toms denied changing the direction of the ship, and Cole ordered his men to arrest Turner. Desperate, the boy tried to change the ship's course by force, but was quickly captured and Toms ripped the sleeves of his jacket as a sign of treason, ordering the Marines to lock him in a cell.

Death

Salazar grabs Toms by the neck, seconds before killing him.

"Ship to starboard!"
"That's no ship, sir. It's a shipwreck."
"No. She's sailing straight toward us. Open fire!"

―Officer Cole, First Officer Wade, and Captain Toms

However, once the Monarch entered the Devil's Triangle, Toms' officers discovered the remains of Bonnet's Dutch barque, concluding that Turner was right. But it was too late, because the terrible and ghostly Capitán Armando Salazar and his ghost crew appeared on the scene, annihilating the crew of the Monarch and setting fire to the ship. Witnessing his crew's slaughter, the British captain was able to see Maddox's death at the hands of the ghosts. Toms stood on the quarterdeck when he was captured by two crewmen of the Silent Mary, who kept him alive so that their Capitán may deal with him. As Salazar made his way toward Toms, he asked "What are you?" Salazar then grabbed Toms by the throat and responded "Death", before snapping the officer's neck and throwing his lifeless corpse into the fire.

Personality and traits

A British naval officer at the service of King George II of Great Britain, Toms served as Captain in the British Royal Navy and was evidently proudful of both his position and his task of hunting down pirates. He was a man of strict duty, as he refused to accept Bonnet's surrender and continued with the chase. Toms was too very confident of his actions and a bit smug, as he turned down Henry Turner's pleas of changing the course of the Monarch in spite that no ships which entered there never returned, assuming that it was mere superstition and thinking that the boy was just a mere sailor who had no authority nor importance over him, branding Turner as a traitor when he tried to change course by force upon realizing that Toms was effectively shipping them to death.

However, Toms' obstinacy ended up taking its toll with his ship as well his own life. Though Bonnet was ultimately hunted down as he wanted, Toms wasn't able to enjoy his victory as Armando Salazar and his crew slaughtered all his crew and him in the same waters he dismissed as normal. Before dying, Toms realized too late that the young sailor he ignored was right all along, and met his end when Salazar, whom he asked who was him with all the fear of his life, demonstrating his extreme cowardy, broke his neck after responding his question and threw his corpse to the flames, so they could burn all what remained of the foolish, pompous and obstinate officer.

Behind the scenes

• Toms was played by Richard Piper in Dead Men Tell No Tales.
• In the film's novelization, Toms' conversation with Henry Turner and Officer Cole is longer and he doesn't die like he dies in the film. Instead of snapping his neck and throwing him into the fire, Armando Salazar simply stabs him with his sword.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel