Trickster

Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa were believed to be tricksters.

"Trickster! Devil!"

―Blackbeard to Jack Sparrow

A trickster, in mythology and folklore, was a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who played tricks or otherwise disobeyed normal rules and conventional behavior. Operating outside the framework of right and wrong, tricksters did not recognize the rules of society. Often childish, greedy, lustful, and even nasty, tricksters could also be friendly, helpful, clever, and wise. Sometimes they appeared to be clownish, clumsy, or foolish, although they usually possessed amazing powers of survival.

The legendary pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was known to be the irreverent trickster of the Caribbean, using wit and deceit to attain his goals. Sparrow was referred to as a trickster by Blackbeard. Hector Barbossa, a rival pirate who matched with Jack Sparrow as an archenemy, was also considered a trickster.

Behind the scenes

"One of the archetypes that is really underused in American cinema is the trickster character. Most American movies tend to celebrate the warrior who does the right thing at the right time. But the fun thing about Jack, who is definitely a trickster, is that he's not particularly good at avoiding getting caught. He will get caught...you just can't hold on to him for very long. Jack knows that if he can just bide his time, eventually the world will come over to his side, and that give him this sort of supreme confidence that he can handle just about any situation."
"The other fun thing about the trickster character is that he basically is just out to have his own good time. He's following his own self-interests. The things he does will affect other people—the mortals, if you will—and sometimes it will be to good benefit, and sometimes it will be to their detriment. So that goes back to the whole question posed in the first movie: is Jack Sparrow a good guy or is he a bad guy? Is he a pirate hero or pirate villain? Well, it really kind of depends on the perspective you have."

―Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott

• During the making of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, there were conversations between director Gore Verbinski and writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio where they decided to make Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa two sides of the same trickster archetype. As stated by Elliott in the film's audio commentary:

This introduction of Barbossa actually matches the one of Jack. Jack is in the light, Barbossa's in the dark, but they're both standing above everything else. One of those odd things...that came out of conversations between Terry and Gore and I is Terry and I are big fans of Sergio Leone westerns. They take western conventions and add this air of mythology. Some of the characters in the Leone westerns are basically gods. They are more than just mere mortals. They get involved in mortals' lives, but mostly the issues of the gods belong to the gods. That idea is actually played out with Jack and Barbossa. They are the light and dark of the same trickster archetype. Again, here is basically Barbossa...The thing with the vocabulary and not understanding, you could see that being something Jack would do. The deal he makes, the loopholes he finds...They are paired in that way. One is the light side of this trickster and the other is the dark side of the trickster.

• While Barbossa's status as a trickster has not been stated regarding further installments, Jack Sparrow was continuously referred to as a trickster. Both writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio referred to Jack as a trickster; Jack was called a trickster by Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides; he was also said to be the "irreverent trickster of the Caribbean" in Jack's character description for the film.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Sources

• Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean

External links

• Trickster on Wikipedia