- "Look. An undead monkey. Top that."
- ―Jack Sparrow to Tia Dalma about "Jack" the Monkey
The undead, otherwise referred to as the living death or living dead were beings in mythology, legend or lore that are deceased yet behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to the corpse or corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as zombies, who have been reanimated by supernatural means or disease. It could also be done by the application of the deceased's own life force or that of another being. In some cases, the term also includes incorporeal forms of the dead, such as ghosts. Other usage of the term "undead" include demons, ghouls, skeletons, and any attempt to resurrecting the dead.
History[]
- "The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living, and so we cannot die, but neither are we dead."
- ―Hector Barbossa to Elizabeth Swann
During the Age of Piracy, many undead creatures were spotted in the Caribbean. The Flying Dutchman was crewed by lost, undead men, condemned to serve on the ship to forestall their final judgment; its cursed captain, Davy Jones, was himself an undead monster.[1]
At some point prior to 1630, the crew of the pirate frigate called the Black Pearl fell under the terrible curse which turned them into the undead.[2]
Captain Jack Sparrow encountered the undead in most of his adventures, beginning with the spirit of the corrosive conquistador Hernán Cortés during the quest for the legendary Sword of Cortés.[3]
The Armada of the Damned, a fleet of ghost ships crewed by the undead was known to sail in the Caribbean Sea.[4]
When Captain Hector Barbossa's mutinous crew found Cortés' cursed treasure, the curse them suffer a living death, feeling and tasting nothing. When they step into the moonlight, the grim effects of the curse plain to see as the flesh vanish from their bones, and they become walking skeletons.[5][6] Following the curse being lifted, Barbossa's monkey named "Jack" became cursed as the living dead again afterwards,[7] notably being an undead monkey used by Jack Sparrow in as payment for the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma.[8][9]
Davy Jones had many undead servants guard the Cave of the Red Turtle at the bottom of the sea.[10]
Sometime in the 1720s, the infamous pirate Jolly Roger was turned into the undead creature by his victim, Amo Dorsi, but Jolly used his newfound power to create an army of the undead with which he planned to conquer the Caribbean.[11]
During the quest for the Fountain of Youth, all of the officers onboard the Queen Anne's Revenge were zombies, the dead brought back to life by Blackbeard himself.[12]
Forms of undead[]
Behind the scenes[]
The undead was first mentioned through the book Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean.[13] In the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a cursed treasure doomed Captain Barbossa and his crew to live forever as cursed undead pirates, the moonlight eerily transforming them into skeletons,[7] which was meant by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio to be based on Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.[14] The term "living death" was first used in the 2006-2007 reference books Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide,[5][6] and "living dead" was first used in the junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[8]
Appearances[]
- Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean (First mentioned)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 video game)
- Jack Sparrow: The Timekeeper (Mentioned only)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
- The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
- The Guardians of Windward Cove
- The Black Heart of the Pearl
- Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization) (First identified as living dead)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- Kingdom Hearts II (Non-canonical appearance)
- Kingdom Hearts III (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources[]
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide (First identified as living death)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ DisneyPirates.Com - Archived
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 video game)
- ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Sword of Cortés
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- ↑ The Black Heart of the Pearl
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- ↑ Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean, p. 77
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: "Spirit Of The Ride"