The Jester of TortugaTurning our bring-em-closer toward the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Hector Barbossa, Davy Jones, and the rest of the rowdy gangs aboard the Black Pearl, the Flying Dutchman, and other ships of the Caribbean.
Updated March 28, 2018 2.9K votes 453 voters 22.3K views
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Vote up the most annoying Pirates of the Caribbean tropes.
When Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl came out, nobody realized it would launch a powerhouse franchise that would become a household name. Like many long-running series, there are recurring themes in every Pirates of the Caribbean movie if you know where to look. After several films and more than 10 years of adventures, it's hard not to notice how the movies rely on the same tropes in regards to their characters, action, and stories. From Jack Sparrow's affected mannerisms to William Turner always putting love above all else, there are many things that happen in every Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Seriously, you can pretty much set your watch to them.
You've probably subconsciously noticed these repeated motifs across the films, but they've likely never really registered as you watched. These tropes will let you know what to look out for in the future adventures of Jack Sparrow.
Jack has a way with the ladies, and it certainly catches up with him. When he and Will first visit Tortuga, he gets slapped several times (some of which he deserved, some... he probably also deserved). It's pretty hilarious, but when you get to the sequel the slapping continues.
They try to make it comical, but it ends up being far too self-referential on a one-note joke. They do bring it back to good effect during On Stranger Tides, when during a mermaid attack one swims up to Jack and slaps him in the face. It's so unexpected, it kind of works.
282 votes
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247 VOTES
The Crew Of The Black Pearl Turns Against Jack Sparrow
Jack Sparrow may be brilliant, but pirates are a treacherous lot. The inciting incident for the first film's story sees Jack deposed from his captaincy by a mutiny. Of course, after he gets his ship back and is captain again in Dead Man's Chest, Elizabeth leaves him to die at the tentacles of the Kraken, and the crew is basically fine with it.
Then, at conclusion of At World's End, the crew ditch him to go off and find the Fountain of Youth all on their own, only to discover Jack took the most important part of the map for himself. With the amount of back and forth Jack has with his crew, it's amazing he didn't fire them all and hire some new shipmates ages ago.
247 votes
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229 VOTES
There's Always A Weird, Immortality Curse Afflicting A Crew Of Pirates
The first movie revolved around the Black Pearl's crew getting cursed by an Aztec treasure. The afflicted pirates become immortal, and look like skeletons in moonlight. Overall, pretty cool stuff. In Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, not only is Jack trying to escape a supernatural debt to protect his soul, but Davy Jones and his crew are cursed to live as immortal man/sea creature hybrids.
The fourth film features Blackbeard's crew, who are essentially (immortal) zombies in bad makeup. With four films of supernatural crews, it's easy to think the entire Atlantic is full of undead pirate crews afflicted with supernatural maladies, which also seems to be the case in Dead Men Tell No Tales. Is it too much to ask for a singular regular crew of pirates?
Pirates are, by definition, outlaws. So it stands to reason that someone, at some point, is going to get caught and locked up. Still, we really don't need to see it in every movie. In the first film, Jack Sparrow gets locked up three times. In the sequel, it's Will and the crew of the Pearl that get put in irons. The third film literally sees Jack stuck in a place called Davy Jones' locker, and the fourth begins with Mr. Gibbs on trial, only for Jack Sparrow to be taken prisoner by both the English Royal Navy and Blackbeard.
It's can be a solid plot device to have someone locked up, and it's bound to happen to pirates sometime, but repeating prison scenes in every film have resulted in some seriously diminishing returns.
When Captain Hector Barbossa was cursed by Aztec gold, he lost the ability to enjoy life or his senses. In a fantastic scene in the first film, he watches Elizabeth Swann eat and tries to gain some vicarious joy from her indulgence. He then proclaims the first thing he'll do when he's cured is eat, "a whole bushel of apples."
In fact, when he "dies" at the end of the first film, we see an apple fall from his hand (which is weird, since he was just in a sword fight, but whatever). And sure enough, the first time we see him back from the dead in Dead Man's Chest, he's snacking on an apple. He's also seen eating apples aboard ships in the subsequent two films. Now, pirates had a major problem with scurvy back in the day, mostly because it was incredibly difficult and expensive to keep fruit fresh on long ocean voyages. So, either Barbossa is incredibly well connected or he has access to a magical locker of replenishing apples.
Jack's quest to get the Pearl back in the first film is compelling and interesting. When he eventually reclaims it at the end, we get to see him be the captain of the ship for a whole movie. Well, until it's taken by the Kraken at the end of Dead Man's Chest.
The entire first act of the third film involves everyone rescuing Jack and the Pearl, only for Barbossa to go running off with the ship at the end. And the entirety of On Stranger Tides sees the Pearl stuck in a bottle, stolen by Blackbeard. After a while, it really just seems like getting a new ship would be easier than retaking the Pearl again and again.
