Twelve Daggers

The sign above the entrance

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

―Jack Sparrow to Will Turner

The Twelve Daggers, also known as Cantina, was one of the most frequented taverns in the pirate port of Tortuga. A pirate band was known to play in there while inhabitants eat their food or share a drink.

History

Joshamee Gibbs and Jack Sparrow at the Cantina.

"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

At some point in the Age of Piracy, the Twelve Daggers was one of the most frequented taverns in the pirate port of Tortuga. 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 99 souls needed to settle Sparrow's debt with Davy Jones. Four men who signed up were blighted with all manner of ailments and would hardly have made worthy crew members under normal circumstances. 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

• The place where Captain Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs tried recruiting a crew of 99 souls seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was never named onscreen. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide identified the tavern as the Faithful Bride. However, the place was only referred to as a "large Tortuga tavern" or a "Cantina" in other sources, the latter being named in the film's junior novelization and a late screenplay draft. The name Twelve Daggers was first revealed in the At World's End video game.
• 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.

Appearances

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

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game): Official Strategy Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide