| “ | Too long my fate has not been in me own hands...No longer. | „ |
| ~ Hector Barbossa |
Captain Hector Barbossa (simply known as Hector Barbossa) is the main antagonist of Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. He makes appearances in most of the franchise in varying capacities, but in general has a redemptive arc. He is Jack Sparrow's former archenemy-turned-friend.
He was portrayed by the Academy Award winning actor, Geoffrey Rush, who also played Casanova Frankenstein in Mystery Men and Steven Price in House on Haunted Hill.
Biography
The Curse of the Black Pearl
| “ | For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea. Nor the warmth of a woman's flesh. You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner... you're in one! | „ |
| ~ Barbossa to Elizabeth Swann when revealing his and his crew's undead nature. |
Before the Curse of the Black Pearl, Barbossa was formerly the Chief mate of Captain Jack Sparrow. But one day Jack and Barbossa found a map to Isla de Muerta where the Aztec Treasure of Cortes was hidden. The crew and Jack agreed to equal shares of the treasure but Barbossa greedily wanted the treasure for himself and the crew. He then tricked Jack into revealing the Treasure's location lying that equal shares included knowing the treasure's location, while planning a mutiny. Jack agreed to say the location but then Barbossa and the crew mutinied and marooned Jack on a deserted Island much to Jack's anger. When they finally found the treasure Barbossa found out about a curse placed on the Aztec treasure by the heathen Gods but believed it to be a "Ghost Story" with the crew and then took the treasure but found after spending it that the curse was real. They were under the curse, which made them unable to taste, feel, smell, or their drinks would not satisfy and living the undead as immortals. The only way to lift the curse is to give back the coins and offer their blood. Bootstrap Bill Turner a crewmate then was infuriated at the crew's betrayal against Jack and sent a coin to his son Will so the crew would remain cursed. In response Barbossa tied a cannon to Bootstrap and threw him overboard the Pearl but only discovers later that Bootstrap's blood is needed to lift the curse.
Ten years later, during the movie, Barbossa and the crew sunk many ships and found most of the coins of the treasure but needed to find the last one sent to Will by Bootstrap. Meanwhile Elizabeth Swann from Port Royal Jamaica had found Will and took possession of the medallion so that James Norrington would not hang Will for piracy. Barbossa sensed the last coin, which released a pulse, and then invaded Port Royal. His crew found Elizabeth who invoked Parley. Barbossa tricked Elizabeth into giving him the medallion in exchange for stopping the invasion after she identified herself as "Elizabeth Turner" believing now her blood can lift the curse. Elizabeth, when Barbossa ordered them to set sail, demanded to be taken to shore but Barbossa refused saying that the part with her being taken to shore was not part of their agreement.
Barbossa offered Elizabeth the next night to dine with him. She refused but agreed when Barbossa threatened her with dining with the crew and being stripped nude. Elizabeth then became suspicious of why Barbossa was not eating but was encouraging her to eat instead. He finally realized she never heard of the curse and told her the story and how he wants to use her blood to lift the curse. Elizabeth ran from him but got cornered by Barbossa and stabbed him in the chest but Barbossa did not die and Elizabeth ran outside and went face-to-face with the crew which were now skeletons. Elizabeth was shocked that the curse was real and Barbossa walked outside in the moonlight which revealed him under the curse. Elizabeth now in deep shock ran into the room and was locked in for the rest of the night.
The next day, Barbossa then took Elizabeth to Isla de Muerta to lift the curse. After a short speech Barbossa then told his crew that they were able to lift the curse and used Elizabeth's blood on the coin. But after a moment after the crew said they did not feel different; Barbossa shot one of his crewmates and they saw he was not dead. Now enraged Barbossa confronted Elizabeth asking her if Bootstrap was her father. She admitted that he was not but refused to tell Barbossa who Bootstrap's child was. Barbossa slapped her and she fell onto the hill of the pirate's treasure. Barbossa's crew began to blame him for Bootstrap's 'death' by saying every decision he made lead them from bad to worse. Barbossa angrily took out his sword and challenged the crew to fight him causing the crew to stop blaming him. After Jack, Barbossa's pet monkey, screeched in alarm and Barbossa looked where Elizabeth fell, he saw she was no longer there along with the medallion. He ordered the crew to find her but the crew instead brought Captain Jack Sparrow to him.
Unable to believe his eyes, Barbossa asked Jack how he got off the island but Jack says it was because he (Jack) was Captain Jack Sparrow. Annoyed, Barbossa sarcastically said he would not make the mistake again and ordered his crew to kill Jack. Jack however asked if Elizabeth's blood worked. Barbossa ordered his crew to hold fire after realizing Jack knew whose blood they needed. On the Black Pearl Barbossa and Jack had a meeting for negotiations and Jack almost convinces Barbossa to give him (Jack) his ship but Barbossa is angered when Jack gives an offer to negotiate with the crew of the Interceptor for Barbossa's coin return. Barbossa instead orders Jack locked in the brig because that was the same attitude that lost Sparrow the Pearl in the first place.
Barbossa caught up with the Interceptor and during the battle Jack the Monkey brought the medallion to Barbossa and Barbossa's crew won. When Barbossa captured the crew of the Interceptor including Elizabeth, and sunk the Interceptor, Barbossa was confronted by a man who claimed to be Will Turner. Will said he would shoot himself and fall overboard if the crew did not release Elizabeth. Ultimately Barbossa tricks him and frees Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow by marooning them on the same island Jack was on ten years ago assuming that moment would the last of Sparrow. Will and the crew of the Interceptor are imprisoned and Pintel, a crewmate, tells Will the story of why Bootstrap sent the medallion to Will. They arrive at Isla de Muerta and Barbossa plans to kill Will in order to break the curse. When the crew are chanting for the curse to be lifted Jack Sparrow comes to the cave alive and well much to Barbossa's dismay. Barbossa threatens Jack with death after Will but Jack convinces Barbossa that the Royal Navy came to ambush them. Jack convinces Barbossa to kill Will after he defeats the Dauntless (the Royal Navy's best ship) and Jack would give Barbossa 25% of Jack's plunder and a big hat. Barbossa agrees and waits in the cave for the battle to end with Jack and Will. He starts to trust Jack again but this friendship when Jack takes one of the pirates's swords and tosses his to Will and Will duels the pirates left to with Barbossa. Barbossa gets up and duels Jack. After a while of fighting Barbossa tosses his sword away and claims that Jack cannot beat him as he (Barbossa) is immortal. Jack tries anyway, but Barbossa sighs to himself and takes the sword out to stab Jack. But Sparrow enters the moonlight and it reveals he too became a cursed skeleton! He snuck a coin while talking to Barbossa. The duel continues until Elizabeth arrives. Jack cuts his arm and tosses his bloody coin to Will while Will cuts his arm too. Now furious Barbossa pulls out his prized pistol and attempts to shoot Elizabeth. But before he can pull the trigger Jack shoots Barbossa with his own shot that he saved to kill Barbossa for ten years.
Barbossa sneers that Jack wasted his shot but Will says "He didn't waste it!" and returns the last two coins breaking the curse. Barbossa looks at Jack in deep shock and unbuttons his coat and sees blood gushing badly from his chest from Jack's bullet. He looks at Jack and shakes his head shockingly and dies.
Dead Man's Chest
At the very end of Dead Man's Chest, with Jack Sparrow supposedly dead, Barbossa makes a shocking reappearance, having been resurrected by the Voodoo witch "Tia Dalma", later revealed to be the goddess "Calypso" soon he can help them save Jack. Barbossa's cameo in the second movie was a surprise. Because of this, Geoffrey Rush was not credited. In fact, Barbossa was not even included on the front of the second movie's DVD.
At World's End
In the third film, he goes with Elizabeth, Will, and the crew to Davy Jones's Locker to rescue Jack from the locker in order to release her. Near the climax, he helped the pirate face off against Davy Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett At the end of the third film, it is revealed that Barbossa has betrayed Jack yet again, though this time they merely leave without him from a port in a city area.
On Stranger Tides
In the fourth film, he has become a privateer in King George II's Royal Navy. He seeks to look for the Fountain of Youth. Near the end, he stabs Blackbeard with a poisoned sword and is now captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge, reverting back to being a pirate.
Dead Men Tell No Tales
In the fifth film, Barbossa returns as captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge. He is also revealed to be the biological father of Carina Smyth, an astronomer and horologist who was falsely accused of witchcraft. After being coerced by the notorious Captain Armando Salazar into helping him kill Sparrow, Barbossa soon learns of a powerful weapon called the Trident of Poseidon, that Salazar intends to use to eliminate all pirates of the ocean after killing much of Barbossa's crew. To that end, Barbossa is forced to team up with Jack again to find the Trident and free the Black Pearl from its imprisonment, eventually learning of his true parentage to Carina. In the end following the destruction of the Trident, Barbossa sacrifices himself to kill Salazar and his remaining men to save Carina and the others, allowing himself to be drowned in the ocean. Following the deaths of Salazar and his men, Jack, Carina, and the other pirates mourned for Barbossa's death; even Carina decides to take her father's surname in honor for his sacrifice.
Personality
Barbossa is extremely confident, equanimous, imperturbable, and persuasive, so he combines experience with almost reckless daring. Barbossa became a pirate because of his wish to raise his social status and his greed for wealth and power, but not because he wanted to live the adventurous life as a pirate in the way that Jack Sparrow did. He considered himself a gentleman of the seas and could act polite if he wished; he possessed a certain eloquence which he frequently used to his advantage. Like some pirates, Barbossa considered the Pirate Code to be "more guidelines than actual rules", but nevertheless he respected the right of parley and preferred interpreting the Code in his own favor instead of breaking it openly. However some consider to be "A man so evil that hell itself spst him back out".
Barbossa's relationship with Jack Sparrow was complicated. He led the mutiny against Jack, resulting in becoming captain of the Black Pearl, but also helped rescue Jack from Davy Jones' Locker. Jack is also one of the few who called Barbossa by his first name "Hector", implying a good friendship prior to Barbossa's mutiny. Even after all they have been through, Barbossa was secretly an admirer of Jack's incredible escapes.
Some time after his first mutiny on the Black Pearl, Barbossa keeps a capuchin monkey, which he named "Jack Jack" after his old captain, Jack Sparrow. He seemed to genuinely care about the monkey, who occasionally accompanied his master everywhere and often sat on his shoulder.
Barbossa’s favorite delicacy was caviar, but he also had a notable appreciation for green apples. He offered an apple to Elizabeth during their dinner aboard the Pearl and he commented that after the curse was lifted, he would eat a whole bushel of apples. This seemed to be one of Barbossa's simple pleasures in life - unable to feel or taste due to the curse - for this reason he always kept a number of apples on the table in his cabin on the Pearl. At the moment of his death, Barbossa was holding an apple because he intended to eat it immediately after lifting the curse. However, Barbossa was able to take a bite of an apple when he revealed himself in Tia Dalma's shack.
He was a master seaman, who had excellent navigational abilities, a strategist who could plan ahead. These abilities not only gave him many advantages in his pirate life but also earned much respect both among his subordinates as well as among his enemies; these skills, combined with his exceptional fighting abilities, were, in fact, the reason why Barbossa managed to survive a life of piracy for several decades and contributed to his reputation and his high-ranked position during this time.
Barbossa is a skilled and manipulative swordsman, hinting at a lifetime of experience, and proved capable of holding his own against numerous enemies at once. Before challenging the legendary pirate, Blackbeard, Barbossa poisoned his sword, saying he wasn't foolish enough to fight Blackbeard without a "venomous advantage". During his duel with Blackbeard, Barbossa also used his crutch as a weapon in battle, wielding it along with his sword against Blackbeard. However, is fighting style was quite dirty, he knew how to behead people.
Despite his ruthless and greedy personality, Barbossa genuinely loved his daughter Carina as he dropped her off in an orphanage in hopes that she would have a better life than being a bloodthirsty pirate. He even willingly sacrificed his own life to ensure Carina's safety from Salazar, describing her as the only "treasure" that he would never lose. This proved enough for a touched Carina to carry on his name, even Sparrow and the other pirates mourned for Barbossa in honor for his sacrifice for those that he cherished the most.
Video Games
Kingdom Hearts II
Barbossa was originally the Black Pearl's first mate under Captain Jack Sparrow. Barbossa persuaded Sparrow to reveal the bearings leading towards the Isla de Muerta to him and the rest of the crew. Sparrow divulged its location, but that night, Barbossa led a mutiny and commandeered the Black Pearl, leaving Sparrow marooned on a tiny island, with only a single-shot pistol with which to commit suicide. The newly captained Barbossa and the crew stole the cursed Aztec treasure, which bestowed each member of the crew with the same curse. The crew had become Undead Pirates, unable to enjoy the pleasurable things in life and trapped between life and death. To lift the curse, the crew must return all the Aztec gold to the chest on Isla de Muerta and offer the blood of all who had touched the treasure. The pirates also needed the blood of their former shipmate, "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, the only one to hold out against the mutiny and then sent his medallion away to his son before being tied to a cannon and thrown overboard.
For a decade, Barbossa searched for the last coin until he detected the coin's "signal" from Port Royal. Pete visited the world at the time the Black Pearl came to plunder and loot Port Royal, extending his hand in aid to Barbossa. The pirates kidnapped Elizabeth Swann, thinking she was the daughter of Bootstrap and gaining the Aztec medallion she possessed. Barbossa reveals their cursed state to Elizabeth, as well as the blood payment, with a child of Bootstraps being a substitute. Upon arrival to Isla de Muerta, Barbossa performs a ritual offering a small amount of Elizabeth's blood to break the curse. However, nothing happens. In his anger, he fails to notice Will Turner taking away Elizabeth. Jack Sparrow is left behind in the cave, and he is taken prisoner aboard the Pearl as it catches up with the Interceptor. After a lengthy battle for the medallion, Sora and the ship's passengers are taken captive. Will Turner comes to the rescue, threatening to commit suicide if his friends are not released. His noble act fails as Pete knocks him out cold and the rest are tied up in the Interceptors cabin, with explosives scattered around the deck.
Back at Isla de Muerta, Barbossa performs the ceremony with Will, but as he is about to spill his blood, Sora, Jack and the others crash the party.
While Sora and gang dealt with the crew, Jack duels Barbossa until Jack is stabbed. However, Barbossa is stunned to find that Jack was under the curse as well; secretly taking an Aztec coin from the chest. Barbossa calls for Pete's help, which is granted in the form of the Illuminator Heartless, who absorbs the moonlight, making Barbossa immune to the Keyblade. Sora and Jack destroy the Illuminator and defeat Barbossa while he lurks in the moonlight. Jack cuts his palm while Barbossa is recovering from his defeat, throwing the bloodied medallion to Will who bleeds on his own medallion. Jack then shoots Barbossa with the same pistol Barbossa marooned him with ten years before. Barbossa laughs until Will drops the two bloodied final coins into the chest, lifting the curse. With that, Barbossa is overcome with the pain of death, saying he feels cold as he collapses.
Gallery
.jpg "Cursed Captain Barbossa (Kingdom Hearts).jpg (191 KB)")
Trivia
- Barbossa is the only Pirates of the Caribbean villain who has appeared in all five movies. He is also one of the most popular villains of the franchise (the other being Davy Jones).
- He is similar to the following villains.
- Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader of the Star Wars franchise.
- Both are from a popular live-action film series.
- Both debuted in the first film in their series as the main antagonist (as Vader was the main antagonist of A New Hope, the first film in the original Star Wars trilogy and the beginning of the whole franchise) and later became minor antagonists and heroes in the other films.
- Both are related to a hero (Vader is the father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, two main characters of the original trilogy.)
- Both are widowers.
- Both redeemed themselves in order to save that hero who happened to be their children (in the last film in the original trilogy Return of The Jedi, Vader turned on his boss Emperor Palpatine in order to save Luke from Palpatine's wrath) and died while doing so.
- Another Star Wars villain he shares similarities with is Darth Maul.
- Both their movies were the first film in their franchises.
- Both of them were the main antagonist of the movie they debuted in. (as Maul was the main antagonist of The Phantom Menace, the first film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy which shows how Anakin became Darth Vader before A New Hope.)
- Both of them were the arch-enemy of a hero (Maul was the arch-enemy of Anakin's mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi).
- Both of them were killed and revived.
- Both of them battled a villain who was Pure Evil (Maul and his brother Savage Opress vs. Emperor Palpatine, Barbossa vs. Blackbeard).
- Both of them redeemed themselves and died. Coincidentally both of them died in 2017.
- Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda
- Both are from a popular film series.
- Both debuted in the first film in their series as the main antagonist and later appeared in the other films as minor characters.
- Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader of the Star Wars franchise.
 Villains
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Black Pearl Flying Dutchman Kingdom of Great Britain Queen Anne's Revenge Kingdom of Spain Others | ||
