pirates
A litho of Poseidon and his trident.

A litho of Poseidon and his trident.

"But like all humans, he was treacherous and lying. The moment he had the Trident, he took off with it—bent on controlling all the Seven Seas."
"He didn't even mind that he couldn't use the Trident on us, the Blue-tails. He now has an entire army—all of the merfolk—under his conrol. He commanded them to leave their home here, under Isla Sirena, and pillage and plunder the oceans of the world, giving him all the loot they found."
―Aquala and Morveren[src]

A trident was a three-pronged spear. It was used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident was the tool of sea deities in mythology, most notably Poseidon (or Neptune) and Triton, used for the protection of the sea realms. Poseidon's trident became a legendary treasure in the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow.

History

Two mermen holding tridents as a decorative work, most notably on the stern of ships.

Two mermen holding tridents as a decorative work, most notably on the stern of ships.

By the Age of Piracy, tridents appeared in various myths, legends, and folklore of the Seven Seas.

The Trident of Poseidon was the weapon of a god, a legendary treasure and a powerful artifact that bestowed upon its possessor all the power of the sea. Young Jack Sparrow once fought Captain Torrents, who was bent on controlling the Seven Seas using an entire army of all the merfolk at Isla Sirena.[1][2] Many years later, Poseidon's Trident was hidden in Poseidon's Tomb. At least one lithograph depicted the mythical god of the sea Poseidon holding a three-pronged Trident,[3] where even in the simple drawing, the object's power was clear.[4] Poseidon's Trident was used to break every curse at sea, notably used by Henry Turner to free his father Will Turner from his curse aboard the Flying Dutchman.[5]

Tridents would also be symbolized in forms of art, such as paintings, sculptures, statues, or carved decorative work.[6] The most well-known example was two bearded mermen holding tridents being used for the design on the stern of the ships, namely the pirate vessels Wicked Wench and the Black Pearl.[6][5]

Behind the scenes

Although tridents were used as a decorative design for the Black Pearl in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[6] the term "trident" was used with the first appearance of the Trident of Poseidon in the 2008 book Jack Sparrow: Poseidon's Peak.[1]

The 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales featured the Trident of Poseidon as the sought-after artifact in the film. The rumors about the Trident appearing in the film started in 2013,[7] with the Trident's appearance being officially confirmed through the film's synopsis released in February 2015.[8][9][10] Terry Rossio's original 2012 screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales featured the Trident of Neptune. It was broken in several pieces and its powers came from three Pearls of Neptune, one of which was embedded into the hilt of the Sword of Triton. The primary antagonists of the planned movie, Queen Inez Luisa Gabriella di Savoia and the Sea Widow, intended to use the Trident for their own ends while Syrena sought to return it in its full form to her species so that they may regain the favour of the gods.[11] In Jeff Nathanson's earlier 2013 screenplay drafts, the Trident was originally decorated with a large diamond called the Eye of Poseidon. After falling into the hands of the ghost of the British pirate hunter John Brand, the Trident was accidentally broken by Brand himself, which caused the ghosts of his victims to rise and drag him to Hell.[12]

In the non-canonical LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, during the battle for the Fountain of Youth, Jack Sparrow finds and briefly carries a statute of a mermaid holding a trident, though it is unclear.[13] A similar weapon called the Trident of Dark Tides appears in the non-canon 2018 video game Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life.[14]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jack Sparrow: Poseidon's Peak
  2. ↑ Jack Sparrow: Bold New Horizons
  3. ↑ POSEIDON LITHO - Jim Carson Design: Film Design / Production Illustration - Archived
  4. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization, p. 2
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  7. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) - Page 43 - Blu-ray Forum
  8. ↑ Breaking – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is Now Filming | Disney Insider | Articles - Archived
  9. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Begins Production - IGN - Archived
  10. ↑ 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' Will Have Jack Sparrow Hunting For Poseidon's Trident
  11. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/Screenplay - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES by Terry Rossio
  12. ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
  13. ↑ LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
  14. ↑ Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life