Twelve Daggers

The sign above the entrance

"And how do you intend to harvest these 99 souls in three days?"
"Fortunately he was mum as the condition in which these souls need be."
"Ah! Tortuga."
"Tortuga."

―Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow

Twelve Daggers, stylized as 12 Daggers and also known as Cantina, was an establishment located in the pirate port of Tortuga in the Caribbean. Casually called a bar, cantina, or tavern, flickering with candlelight and roistering with noise, it had an open courtyard, where signage appeared on the shop fronts, and with the addition of a massive overhanging silk. Scurvy knaves populated inside the large Tortuga tavern, where a pirate band played and various foods fit for a pirate's palette, including scooped-out bread loaves filled with stew and soup, were displayed on long wooden tables.

History

In a crowded corner Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow at the Cantina.

Little is known about its early history, other than that it was a bar, cantina, and tavern constructed in the pirate port of Tortuga, located near Giselle's House, the sign having twelve daggers with another "12 Daggers" sign. The large Tortuga tavern, flickering with candlelight and roistering with noise, had an open courtyard, where signage appeared on the shopfronts, and with the addition of a massive overhanging silk. Scurvy knaves populated the tavern as various foods fit for a pirate's palette, including scooped-out bread loaves filled with stew and soup, were displayed on long wooden tables. Over time, it became one of the most frequented establishments and a successful landmark of Tortuga. The Twelve Daggers was also occasionally mistaken for the pub known as the Faithful Bride.

During the search for the Dead Man's Chest, Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs went into the cantina to recruit sailors to crew aboard the Black Pearl, though they were really gathering enough desperate men as the 99 souls Sparrow needed to collect and settle his debt with Davy Jones, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman. In a corner of the crowded cantina, the misfits who lined up in the tavern had no idea of the fate Jack had in mind for them, with each man blighted with an ailment—some were old and practically blind, a few were lame and many had never set foot upon a ship in their lives. On a table in the tavern which became his desk with a pile of recruiting papers, Gibbs asked them one by one what made them worthy to crew on the Black Pearl. Their answers were pathetic, but Gibbs did not care as long as they had a soul to sell, and could sign on the dotted line. In a short line of hopeful sailors included a very old man, a skinny man, a crippled man, and an Irishman. The arrival of former commodore, and now disgraced, James Norrington, who threatened Jack with his pistol, caused a huge bar brawl, ending with Norrington being ejected from the cantina and thrown in with the pigs. A pirate band was known to play in the cantina, and continued their jigs even during the fight as Jack and Gibbs made their escape.

Behind the scenes

"You're doing fine work here, keep up the effort."

―Jack Sparrow to Will Turner

The crowded cantina in Tortuga first appeared media relating to the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, notably Irene Trimble's junior novelization. In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, it was only identified as "Cantina" in Tortuga, though it was never named onscreen. According to the reference books Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide by Richard Platt and Glenn Dakin , the location where Captain Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs tried recruiting a crew of 99 souls was identified, albeit incorrectly, as the Faithful Bride tavern. It was also identified as a "large Tortuga tavern" in the film's presskit. The cantina was identified as either "Twelve Daggers" or "12 Daggers" in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and the official strategy guide.

For filming Dead Man's Chest, an open courtyard at the Universal Studios backlot was converted into the large Tortuga tavern, where authentic-looking early-18th-century signage appeared on the shopfronts, and with the addition of a massive overhanging silk. Hundreds of colorful extras authentically attired by costume designer Penny Rose in perfectly filthy and worn clothes, and carefully made up and coiffed to look like the scurvy knaves they were, populated the tavern, flickering with candlelight and roistering with noise. Inside of the tavern, various foods fit for a pirate's palette were displayed on long wooden tables. Although scooped-out bread loaves filled with stew and soup curiously resembled a dish served in Disneyland's New Orleans Square just near the entrance of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, the food stylists working on Dead Man's Chest insisted that the resemblance was entirely coincidental.

The Dead Man's Chest press kit said "Captain Jack and Will Turner search for a crew of souls to man the Flying Dutchman." However, this information is incorrect, due to Joshamee Gibbs doing the recruiting while Will Turner was tricked into serving aboard the Dutchman. This was likely a mistake, possibly due to the fact that Orlando Bloom did indeed film a scene at the cantina set, which takes place earlier in the film, when Will encounters Scarlett and Giselle. Despite this change, the At World's End video game adaptation has Will Turner join Elizabeth Swann and James Norrington in the bar brawl.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization) (First appearance) (First identified as cantina)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide (First identified as Faithful Bride)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Official Strategy Guide (First identified as Twelve Daggers)