Captain Jack Sparrow

Born on a pirate ship in a typhoon, Jack Sparrow was the son of an unknown woman and Captain Edward Teague, the Pirate Lord of Madagascar as well as Keeper of the Pirate Code. Jack Sparrow would also be named after his uncle Jack. Growing up in a tumultuous household full of outlaws at Shipwreck Cove in the Caribbean Sea, young Jack had spent most of his youth unsure whether Teague was really his parent, frequently referring to him as "The-Man-Who-Might-Be-Dad" even as a teenager. Despite his resentment, Jack respected the fact that Teague was always there for him when he needed him most, such as when Jack nearly got his hand cut off by the pirate Rusty Knickers at the age of six or when Jack was almost sold into servitude by Captain Lucille Graven at the age of twelve. Fated to follow in his enigmatic father's buccaneering footsteps, Jack wanted to become a captain of a ship, rather than just some ordinary pirate like the majority of his relatives (explaining his insistence on being referred to as "Captain" well into adulthood). At some point during his childhood, Jack met a boy named Benny and taught him "that trick with the kite and the key". As a teenager, Jack served as a cabin boy on several pirate ships, including the Troubadour of Captain Teague and the Koldunya of Boris "Borya" Palachnik, the Russian Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea. As a member of Teague's crew, he visited many countries and ports, including Singapore. However, he became fed up with his hectic life in a pirate family and the torture he suffered at the hands of his Grandmama. One night, he snuck by candlelight into the study to consult the Pirata Codex, and, coming upon a section on freedom and the need for pirates to make their own decisions, decided he was completely justified in running away. After escaping out the window, Jack stowed away aboard a merchant ship to reach Tortuga, where shortly after arriving he met Arabella Smith with whom he set on the adventure to find the Sword of Cortés. At some point in time following his early teenage adventures, Jack Sparrow fully embraced the pirate's life. He also acquired a compass with supernatural qualities, notably in directing the owner to whatever he or she most desired. Jack had originally bartered the compass from the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma, probably through an encounter with Admiral Royce of the East India Trading Company, as per a tale later told by Jack himself to Joshamee Gibbs and an audience at a tavern. For unknown reasons, it was also believed that Jack acquired the compass from Captain Morgan of the pirate vessel Wicked Wench, and a ship's pirate crew Jack joined for a time. Not much is known about Jack Sparrow after he became captain of the Black Pearl. According to legend, when Captain Teague left the Brethren Court, only retaining his status as Keeper of the Code, he gave his seat to his son Jack. But instead of becoming a Pirate Lord of Madagascar, Jack Sparrow became the new Lord of the Caribbean Sea. He tied his piece of eight into his hair, letting it dangle over his trademark bandanna. With the Black Pearl under his command, Jack recruited a crew in Tortuga. Among the crew, Jack named Hector Barbossa as his First Mate. At some point, seafaring folk told a tale of how the vile pirate Jolly Roger tried to trick Captain Jack Sparrow into gambling away his seat on the Pirate Brethren Court and got cursed instead. A merciless soul and henchmen of the Pirate Brethren, Jolly Roger performed unsavory deeds when the Court did not want to soil their hands or reputations. Despite this, Jack Sparrow and Jolly Roger were friends, though Jolly was always envious of Jack's uncanny luck. As Jack's reputation grew, so did Jolly's resentment. Although Jolly Roger wanted to be voted onto the prestigious Court, Jolly vowed revenge when Teague gave his seat to Jack. Knowing Jack was a card lover, Jolly invited him to a game of poker. Jolly had to cheat to win so he conspired with Amo Dorsi, a villainous Voodoo Witch Doctor, to deal the cards. Jolly won hand after hand. Soon, Jack was out of money and he bet his piece of eight for one last hand. He won, and Jolly, thinking he'd been double-crossed, shot his partner in crime. Jack threw the table up, tossing cards and gold everywhere, and disappeared in the confusion. With his dying breath, Amo Dorsi cursed Jolly Roger to walk the earth as the undead, transforming him into a skeletal beast. Jolly swore vengeance against Sparrow and the Brethren Court, and became a leader of an undead legion.

The notorious and infamous pirate, brigand, pillager, and highwayman, that was how the legendary Jack Sparrow described himself as the irreverent trickster of the Caribbean. Sailing a fine line between piratical genius and mercurial madness, he had an enemy in every port, with most considering him the biggest troublemaker on the Seven Seas. Born on a pirate ship in a typhoon, Jack had seawater in his veins, though his enemies didn't care whether his heart pumps blood, water, or rum. Jack Sparrow was the son of Captain Edward Teague, a legendary pirate in his own right as Pirate Lord of Madagascar as well as Keeper of the Pirate Code; although he frequently referred to Teague as "The-Man-Who-Might-Be-Dad" as an adventure-seeking teenager, and had a strained relationship even in adulthood, Jack followed in his enigmatic father's buccaneering footsteps over time, but as Lord of the Caribbean Sea. A famed pirate; a sun-stroked trickster who knew what he wanted and had the means to get it, Jack never backed down and did what he needed to get the job done. Captain of the Black Pearl, this crafty pirate valued his freedom and his ship above all else. Though the pirate captain once claimed his first and only love was the sea, Jack was happiest at the helm of the Black Pearl, which for him was much more than "a keel; a hull; a deck and sails..."—it was freedom. Drinking was one of the most popular of pirate pleasures, and like all pirates, Jack loved rum and believed that "rum gets you through times of no money better than money gets you through times of no rum." Sparrow also believed in the supernatural, having seen some weird manifestations in his life, having been exposed to magic—mermaids, sirens, vengeful ghosts, sorcerers, shape-shifting sorceresses, and sea monsters, mythical beings and eldritch creatures that seemed to have come from realms no human had ever trod—too many times as a lad to scoff at them as an adult. A captain of equally dubious morality and sobriety, a master of self-promotion and self-interest, how Sparrow wriggled his way into the pantheon of great pirate captains and attained the rank of Pirate Lord, we'll never know; the fact remains, though, that his widely chronicled exploits have granted him a rather nefarious legend. Noted for his unusual demeanor, Jack Sparrow was characterized by a slightly drunken stagger and wild, flailing arm and hand gestures that made him appear unfocused and possibly ataxic. This was possibly due in part to the hot climate of the Caribbean, and the large amount of time spent on deck of various ships–though it should be noted he seemed fairly sure-footed onboard a ship. However, it is more likely that his demeanor was due to a common affliction of most sailors of that era–a combination of lots of rum, very few fruits and vegetables, and a tendency to accidentally hit one's head quite often on low-hanging bulkheads below the decks of a ship. It was rumored that Jack suffered heat stroke while marooned on a desert island after Hector Barbossa's mutiny aboard the Black Pearl. Jack's seemingly-perpetual drunkenness may have been the cause of his slurred speech. Jack could be extremely serious on occasion, such as when Elizabeth Swann burned his rum supply while marooned on an island with her, Barbossa's first death by shooting him on Isla de Muerta, or when he was marked with the Black Spot by Bootstrap Bill Turner, and when he saw the Kraken's corpse lying on the beach. He was also shown to be quite serious when Sao Feng was confronting him on how he had insulted him, the sudden appearance of his father Edward Teague by shooting a man, and when he witnessed Davy Jones stabbing Will Turner in the heart. As far as danger was concerned, Jack was concerned for Angelica's well-being and even expressed grief for Barbossa's second death after Armando Salazar's defeat, despite their troubled history. Average in height and build, Jack Sparrow relied more on intelligence, agility, and quick wit to protect himself, rather than physical strength. He was seen as both the "worst" and "best" pirate, though he never went into a fight if he didn't have to, and always took a shortcut out of tough situations. As Jack navigates his way from one perilous adventure to another, enemies become allies and friends become foes. Jack frequently outmaneuvered enemies with his words but when forced to fight he was still a formidable opponent. As long as his own precious hide was at risk, a man could ask for no better comrade in battle. As a pirate, Jack Sparrow was a decent, if self-serving, man who adhered to the Pirate's Code. He believed pirates could still be "good men," which was his evaluation of Bootstrap Bill Turner. Unusually altruistic for a pirate, Jack would risk himself to save others, most notably Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Angelica, and Henry Turner; he regularly showed a desire to avoid killing those who did not specifically wish him harm, preferring to avoid soldiers who were simply after him because he was a pirate rather than because they had some specific vendetta against him as Captain Jack Sparrow. Jack would even genuinely care for and even save people he didn't know. When Jack incited mutiny aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, he saved Philip Swift despite the fact that Philip refused to side with anyone in Jack's mutiny. Jack also aided Carina Smyth, though it was more lustful until Sparrow learned she was Barbossa's daughter and helped Hector save her from Salazar. There was a time, especially after his death and later his escape from Davy Jones' Locker, where Jack feared death and was hell-bent on achieving immortality. During the War Against Piracy, Jack had seriously considered running away from the fight and staying as the last pirate. It was only after a discussion with Barbossa next to the Kraken's corpse that Jack realized staying was the correct option, and that Beckett had to be stopped. Jack was also afraid about his soul after death, and during the quest for the Fountain of Youth told the missionary Philip Swift that if needed, he was ready to believe to anything he must if that meant he would be accepted into Heaven. However, partly due to heeding Teague's warning that the Fountain would test him, Jack would eventually realize that it was "better to not know which moment may be your last." Even when he wanted to achieve immortality, Jack would not do so if it came at the cost of others. This was evidenced when he was faced with the choice of stabbing Davy Jones' heart himself or letting Will Turner stab it, using Will's hand to stab the heart so that his dying friend would take on the role of captain of the Dutchman and be saved from his imminent death. This reluctance to sacrifice another was also shown when he admitted having less interest in using the Fountain of Youth after learning the profane ritual required the sacrifice of another individual, the waters of the Fountain and the tear of a mermaid, when drunk from two silver chalices, transferring life from one and giving all the years they had lived or would live to another. With this in mind, Jack only used the Fountain to save Angelica after she was poisoned by Barbossa's sword, simultaneously tricking the already-villainous Blackbeard into giving his life for the sake of his daughter. Jack also nudged Henry Turner by giving Carina Smyth's diary so he could return it to her. It was partly this benevolence that led Barbossa's crew to mutiny aboard the Black Pearl, with Jack preferring to convince prospective 'victims' to give his crew what they sought whereas Barbossa found it easier to kill the crews and take what they wanted. It is unclear whether this was true or just mocking from Barbossa after he claimed the Pearl. Every captain needed a reliable first mate, and Joshamee Gibbs was Jack Sparrow's first choice. They made a great team, but they did have a habit of getting each other into trouble. Gibbs was an old friend of Jack's, having supposedly known him since his childhood. It was Jack who persuaded Gibbs, a sailor of the Royal Navy, to turn pirate. As often as Jack Sparrow saved Elizabeth and Will, however, he also tricked them to serve his own purposes and even offered up Will to Davy Jones in exchange for himself; when asked if he could condemn an innocent and friend to serve Jones forever while Jack himself roamed free, Jack merrily replied, "Yep. I'm good with it," after a brief moment of hesitation (although considering his immediate efforts to find the Dead Man's Chest after making this arrangement, he may have simply agreed to this 'deal' to buy time for him to find Jones's weakness). In a moment of cowardice, Jack deserted his ship and crew to save himself from the Kraken. However, after checking his compass, Sparrow chose to return and save his shipmates. Further evidence of his morality was when he refused to transport slaves for the East India Trading Company, and when his extensive criminal record was read during his attempted executions at Port Royal and Fort Alvo Grande, it included no reference to crimes such as rape, torture or murder. Jack later showed sadness at the sacrifice of Hector Barbossa, showing that in spite of their previous enmity and rivalry, he still respected Barbossa after he died to protect his daughter. Jack also claimed to be a man of his word, and often expressed surprise that people would doubt his honesty. Even though he received no formal education, Jack Sparrow was far away from being just a typical illiterate pirate. More or less raised by himself, and always wanting to learn about the world, Jack developed a taste for reading books about poetry, history, and biographies of notable persons from the past. One of his favorite writers was William Shakespeare. Although Jack turned down the offer to borrow Robert "Robby" Greene's Bible, Robby would tell Sparrow some Biblical stuff that didn't make much sense to him. The first and only Biblical story Jack liked was the parable of a pearl of great price. Jack eventually realized his ship, the Wicked Wench, was like his pearl of great price, so when Davy Jones raised his beloved ship from the bottom of the sea, now half burned and with her hull and masts all charred, Jack renamed his new pirate ship the Black Pearl. One of the well-known things about Captain Jack Sparrow was his myth. Many tales of adventure and the supernatural have been told of the indomitable trickster pirate, most of which have been embellished by Jack himself. Such tales have made Jack an infamous pirate of the Caribbean, having been known for having created, or at least contributed to, his own reputation. For example, when Gibbs tells Will Turner that he escaped a desert island by strapping two sea turtles together, Jack embellished the story by claiming that the rope was made from human hair from his own back. Will threw this back at the trickster pirate about one year later when Jack asked Will how he got to Isla Cruces, having previously believed Will was with Davy Jones's crew on the Flying Dutchman. When Will responded with the same story of sea turtles, Jack remarked, "Not so easy, is it?" Other legends include how Jack vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company and sacked Nassau without firing a shot. It was also once claimed, supposedly by Captain Barbossa, that Jack sunk a French war galleon using only a diving bell and his cutlass. Additionally, while searching for Jack, a guide told Will that the pirate escaped his execution in Port Royal by grabbing two parrots and flying away.[59] According to Capitán Salazar, though certainty of this detail is unclear, Jack earned the name "Jack the Sparrow" as a young pirate when he trapped the formidable and ruthless Spanish pirate hunter and his crew in the Devil's Triangle, where they were condemned to be cursed deadly ghosts. Sparrow considered himself sensitive to the opposite sex, explaining that he had a "tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature." However, he was not one to commit to intimate relationships, as he considered marriage to be "like a wager to see who will fall out of love first." None of the many women in his life was able to make him settle somewhere permanently and start a family. When Kerman princess Amenirdis gave him a golden ring, he worriedly asked her if that meant that they were married. In his youth, Jack Sparrow unsuccessfully flirted with deadly merfolk, pretty henchmen women that lead him to their bloodthirsty boss and occasionally Tia Dalma. A more mature Jack Sparrow was more adept at sweeping ladies off their feet, however, although his conquests seemed to have a sour memory of him; former flames Giselle and Scarlett slapped him or anyone looking for him. However, Tia Dalma, with whom Jack apparently had a personal history, was rather pleased to see him when he visited her, although his anxiety over their impending reunion indicated they may have parted on less than good terms. Jack's relationship with Esmeralda Maria Consuela Anna de Sevilla was good at the time when he was not yet experienced in interactions with women who weren't prostitutes. She considered Jack her best friend (aside from being her lover), but she admitted she wouldn't marry him even if he asked her. At one point, Jack had a relationship with a mermaid named Marina, though it most likely ended on a sour note but when they met again, rather than drown him, she instead slapped him, implying a soft spot. This would lead to one story of how Jack once had the favor of mermaids.[81] Elizabeth Swann was briefly attracted to him, most notably when they were searching for the Dead Man's Chest, but this 'relationship' came to its peak when Elizabeth kissed him so that he would be trapped on the Black Pearl when the Kraken attacked. Both Jack and Elizabeth admitted to each other that it would never have worked between them, while Will Turner was always Elizabeth's choice. At some point in his life, Jack Sparrow had met the beautiful Angelica, a lady with a past as checkered as Jack's own. Despite Angelica being a novice in a Spanish convent, which Jack said he mistook it for a brothel, Sparrow would seduce her and then dumped her. Jack would convey to Gibbs that he had feelings for Angelica before leaving her, Gibbs told Jack, even for him, that was low. Legend has it that she was the only woman Jack ever truly loved, but there have been occasions where she tried to kill him. Whether she broke his heart or he smote hers was an endless debate between the two pirates. When Angelica impersonated Jack in London, he took it as a sincerest form of flattery, but he'd also really wish that she didn't impersonate him as a captain. Angelica was one of the few who can match Jack, particularly in battle. Days after Sparrow was shanghaied aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, forced to join Blackbeard's quest for the Fountain of Youth, it was only Jack's guilt over Angelica that kept him from escaping with a quick dive overboard. Though they have had many differences in the past, Jack still had feelings for Angelica throughout the adventure, to a point of saving her life. Whether or not Jack retained these feelings after the quest is controversial. Jack Sparrow was usually in a lot of debt, commonly for more than simply money. He owed Anamaria a boat after stealing the Jolly Mon, and most notably had a debt with Davy Jones, with his soul as payment. Jack also revealed he was in debt with all who gathered at the Pirate Lord conclave at Shipwreck Cove; Sao Feng was particularly hateful towards him. Jack was also hateful towards Feng due to committing an act that insulted him deeply, as well as angrily trying to defend himself from him after the latter confronted him on how he had insulted him. After their relationship didn't work out, Jack seemingly owed a debt to Angelica after breaking her heart, which he repaid by saving her life at the Fountain of Youth. If someone would lend him money, Jack would promise to pay it back, and he'd mean it—but he'd never do it. As experienced by many of the authorities, such as officers of the British Royal Navy, soldiers of the Portuguese and Spanish army and royal navy respectively, guards of the Turkish Prison, and even the King's Royal Guard, Jack Sparrow was a pirate who made many daring escapes. Whenever he made an escape, Jack sometimes gave a farewell by saying something along the lines of, "This is the day that you will always remember as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!", which was often humorously cut off.

In his pirate life, Captain Jack Sparrow had become an expert buccaneer, defending himself with his trusty sword and pistol. Marksmanship took him a little longer to master than his swordsmanship. He wore the clothing and effects common to pirates of his time, though marked himself apart from his fellow crewmen by adopting a dress style that projected an air of flamboyance and a touch of the dandy. Jack wore a ragbag of garb from the four corners of the earth. Whether it's a silk headscarf from Singapore or a pistol belt from Port Royal, he hadn't paid for any of it. Jack Sparrow wore long sea boots and long, hard-wearing linen trousers. A knotted striped-red sash was tied around his waist, where he would stow his pistol when not in use. The sash was made for him by Amenirdis, one of his love interests. It was said the sash had the magical ability to protect Jack from injuries, sickness, or harm. On Jack's back was a long brown coat that he would remove when the need arose to either swim or if the air got too hot. A faded blue waistcoat with a shorter lightly-coloured back area and a torn white undershirt made up the rest of the ensemble. The left cuff of the undershirt was ripped, and it was through this hole that Jack slipped his left hand. Prior to the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Jack dropped his old waistcoat off, possibly because he couldn't take the stench of it, and acquired a new silk dark blue waistcoat with a gold/champagne filigree pattern. A red bandanna, a gift from Jack's lover Esmeralda, was always wrapped around his head, complemented by his piece of eight (Moroccan beads from a unknown French lady and an ancient coin from Siam) draped over his forehead. After his piece of eight was destroyed in the ritual to release Calypso, Jack Sparrow replaced it with a new trinket which appeared to be made from two things Jack has fought and lived through, the Kraken (an engraved tooth) and the East India Trading Company (the pirate "P" brand).