Lejon was a pirate who served as part of notorious Captain Jack Sparrow's motley crew aboard the famous Black Pearl during the search for the Dead Man's Chest.

Biography

Early life

At some point of the life, Lejon took up a life of piracy, and eventually in the 1720s he ended up becoming part of notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow's motley crew aboard the famous Black Pearl. However, the crew ended up becoming dissatisfied with Sparrow's leadership and the lack of "pirate-like" activities they'd been participating in recently, as well as the lack of gold that had been brought in from these endeavors. Half of the crew planned to mutiny upon Jack and elect crewman Leech as Captain, but Lejon remained loyal to him and did not join in with the would-be mutineers.^[1]

"Shiny"

In 1729, the Black Pearl docked near the Turkish Prison fortress, where Jack Sparrow had ended up incarcerated, under the command of first mate Joshamee Gibbs. When Sparrow finally escaped from the fortress and returned to the Pearl, Gibbs and the rest of the crew stood up to him about their complaints. They were even less satisfied when Jack revealed that they were going after a simple key, but agreed to the search when Sparrow told them the key unlocked the fabled Dead Man's Chest which the Captain promised would contain something "shiny".^[1]

The following night, the crew were all suddenly awoken by the shouting of Captain Jack who, unbeknownst to his crew, had just encountered Bootstrap Bill Turner who'd informed him that the legendary Davy Jones' fearsome pet Kraken was coming after him. The crew made note of Captain Sparrow's odd behavior, especially when Jack the monkey dumped his hat into the sea and he ordered his crew not to retrieve it.^[1]

Cannibals

The Black Pearl landed at Pelegosto Island and the crew were captured, Lejon among those captured by the Pelegostos, the native cannibalistic tribe. The crew members consumed were made into two giant bone cages in which the surviving crew was kept, Lejon and several crew members among them. The crew within the two bone cages swung back and forth from the bridge where the cages were hung, finally grabbing hold of the roots and vines on the cliff side, beginning the climb up. With Will Turner's help, Lejon and the crew managed to escape, and Jack rendezvoused with them at the Pearl.^[1]

A debt to be repayed

When the crew of the Flying Dutchman held back the motley crew, crewman Ratlin held a dagger to Lejon's throat. Lejon later joined Jack's quest to find the Dead Man's Chest, which took them to Tia Dalma's shack and later a run-in with Davy Jones. Jack then sailed the Pearl to Tortuga, where they had to gather ninety-nine souls to pay off Jack's debt with Jones, which lead to a confrontation with former British Royal Navy Commodore James Norrington who joined his crew for the quest.^[1]

After the journey to Isla Cruces, Lejon participated in the fierce battle against the Kraken after Jack failed to obtain the chest. When crewman Elizabeth Swann tried to shoot several explosive barrels to defeat the Kraken but dropped her musket, Lejon bravely attempted to defeat the Kraken by picking up the musket, but was promptly grabbed by one of the beast's tentacles and pulled underwater to his death screaming in terror.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Lejon was portrayed by Lejon O. Stewart, for whom the character was named after, in the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.^[1] In 2011, Lejon's name appeared in the Black Pearl crew roster book at Walt Disney World's Tortuga Tavern restaurant.^[3]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, before the Kraken's attack on the Black Pearl, the line "We must have hit a reef!" was spoken by Elizabeth Swann,^[4] portrayed by Keira Knightley in the film.^[1] By the final version of the film, Lejon Stewart spoke the line as the character Lejon. According to Stewart, the scene was shot on the Atlantic Ocean and director Gore Verbinski gave him Knightley's line.^[5]

A character modeled after Lejon appeared in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. In the "Pearl vs Kraken" level, the character was shown to have survived the battle along with Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner, Cotton, and two other crewmen.^[6]

By 2011, according to several online sources, Lejon appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, notably the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).^[7][8] However, this was later proven false by Gerard J. Reyes, the actor who portrayed motley crewman Tearlach, who stated that Lejon was not part of the film.^[9]

Appearances

The Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Lejon.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game) (Possible appearance)

Notes and references