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| This article is about the executioner in Port Royal. You may be looking for the executioner in Saint Martin. |
- "If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn two pairs of boots instead of one, so be it. At least my conscience will be clear."
- ―Will Turner
This man was an executioner residing and working in Port Royal in Jamaica alongside the British Royal Navy forces stationed there under the newly promoted Commodore James Norrington. In 1728, the executioner was placed in charge of the hanging of the notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, though the event was stopped by Will Turner who rescued Sparrow. The next year, the executioner managed the execution of French Pirate Lord Capitaine Chevalle, but the noose had previously been sabotaged by Jack Sparrow and so the event was canceled. The same year, the executioner carried out the mass pirate executions arranged by Lord Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company during their war against piracy.
Biography
Early life
Not much is known about this man's early life. At some unspecified point of his life, he became an executioner at the town of Port Royal at Jamaica, whose work consisted in hanging every pirate who dared to enter into the town at Fort Charles. As all executioners, this man was forced to wear a hood so his identity could remain a mystery for the criminals and avoid any type of retaliation.[2]
Execution of Captain Jack Sparrow
Captain Jack Sparrow shares an awkward stare with the executioner.
In 1728, upon seeing that the Black Pearl was stolen by his crew, Captain Jack Sparrow bore them no grudge, and knew he would be on his way to meet the hangman in Fort Charles.[1] The Executioner directed the failed execution of Jack Sparrow. During the town crier's reading of Sparrow's decree, Jack found one part of the text particularly amusing and looked at the executioner, chuckling, only to be met with an irritated glance. Soon, however, Sparrow was saved by the blacksmith Will Turner. While Turner was rescuing Sparrow, the executioner tried to attack the blacksmith, but Turner outsmarted him and knocked him off the hanging platform to the present public, allowing Sparrow to make his getaway. Will admitted that he did not care if he had failed and the only thing that he had achieved was that the executioner had earned two pairs of boots instead of one, since his conscience would be calm.[2]
Execution of Capitaine Chevalle
The executioner tying a noose around Capitaine Chevalle's neck.
In 1729, the Executioner was tasked to hang another famous pirate, perhaps less popular than Jack Sparrow: Capitaine Chevalle, the French Pirate Lord of the Mediterranean Sea and member of the Brethren Court. Before the event, the executioner briefly stayed at a local tavern belonging to Hanrahan. However, for the executioner's bad luck, Jack Sparrow had sabotaged the hangman's noose during the executioner's stay at Hanrahan's tavern so Chevalle could attend the fourth meeting of the Brethren Court, much to the Executioner's dismay, being forced to cancel the hanging.[4]
Executions under the EITC
The mass executions.
Later, in August, following Lord Cutler Beckett's arrival and Jack Sparrow's death at the will of the Kraken, the Executioner was tasked to direct the mass execution of pirates in Port Royal under the orders of the East India Trading Company. As part of these orders, the Executioner killed several individuals, whether they were pirates, criminals or people associated with pirates. When a child was to be executed, the executioner brought him a barrel so he stand in it and reach the noose. All the prisoners began to sing Hoist the Colours, but were soon silenced by the executioner, who pulled the lever to hang them.[3] His further fate is unknown.
Behind the scenes
Bob Elmore as the Executioner.
This man, unidentified by name, first appeared in media relating to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. While the character made his debut in the film's trailer,[5] he made his first full appearance inIrene Trimble's junior novelization.[1] The late Bob Elmore played the hangman in The Curse of the Black Pearl, listed under the "Stunts" credit,[2] and was credited as "Executioner" in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[3]
In Jeff Nathanson's early 2013 screenplay draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the public execution of Jack Sparrow and Carina Smyth was attempted and carried out by "the Executioner" in Port Royal.[6] While unconfirmed, it is possible that this character was to be the unnamed Executioner from The Curse of the Black Pearl and At World's End. However, by the final version of the film, the attempted executions were carried out by the unnamed hangman in Saint Martin.[7]
In portable versions of the 2011 non-canonical LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, the Executioner was available as an unlockable and playable character. In most home consoles, however, the Executioner is absent because the gallows are replaced by the authorities pelting pirates with fruits.[8]
Appearances
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Greg's Preview - Yahoo! Movies
- ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- ↑ LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game