Tuckerization or tuckerism is the act of using a real-life person's name for a fictional entity in a story as an in-joke. The term is derived from Wilson Tucker, a pioneering American science fiction writer and editor, who made a practice of using his friends' names for minor characters in his stories. Tuckerization is generally for wink-and-nod homages: characters with suspiciously similar names or features. It should not be confused with the direct inclusion of real people in fiction, a form of story that is usually called biographical fiction when it is the main focus. The following is a list of instances of tuckerization within the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Continuity

Characters

• Marty (Martin Klebba)^[1][2]
• Anamaria (Terry Rossio's daughter's middle name "AnaMaria")^[3][4]
• Lejon (Lejon O. Stewart)^[5]
• Ho-Kwan (Ho-Kwan Tse)^[5]
• Sweepy (Hernando "Sweepy" Molina)^[5]
• Robert Greene (Robbie Greenberger, son of A. C. Crispin's friends Bob and Deb Greenberger)^[6][7]
• Capt. J. Ward (Jessica Ward, an editor for Disney Publishing)^[8]
• James (Captain James Hook)^[9][10][11]
• Uncle Jack (John "Jack" McCartney, uncle of Paul McCartney)^[12][13]

Behind the scenes

• Martin Klebba first appeared as Marty in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. According to Klebba, the character was originally named "Dirk" in the film, but someone else, presumably director Gore Verbinski, preferred the actor's real name instead.^[2]
• Fans speculated that Anamaria's name was a blending of the forenames of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two historically documented female pirates known to have disguised themselves as men to join pirate crews. However, screenwriter Terry Rossio debunked this theory and confirmed that the name "AnaMaria" was chosen simply because it is his daughter's middle name.^[3][4] Although the character's name was originally spelled with a capital "M" in the screenplay,^[14] a version which only appeared in Irene Trimble's junior novelization to The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003,^[15] as well as the 2007 book The Pirates' Code Guidelines,^[16] while the name is spelled with a lowercased "M" in other media.^[1]
• Ian Mercer, an in-universe character originally introduced as simply "Mercer" in the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, was given the full name "Ian Mercer" in the 2011 novel The Price of Freedom by A. C. Crispin.^[6] In addition, a real-world actor named Ian Mercer portrayed the Quartermaster in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.^[17] However, the similar naming is coincidental. While writing The Price of Freedom, believing that Disney didn't care about the character due to being dead in the film continuity, Crispin gave Mercer the first name "Ian" because she believed it was "a good Scottish name" and, since she was frequently writing from Cutler Beckett's point of view, Beckett would know Mercer's full name.^[18] By 2020, when asked about if the character's name was a "homage" to the actor, Terry Rossio debunked this and said he believed that "Mercer" was a play on the word "mercy".^[19]
• It was believed that Capt. J. Ward from The Price of Freedom was named after James Ward Byrkit, the conceptual consultant of Gore Verbinski's Pirates trilogy and director of the short film Tales of the Code: Wedlocked. However, Crispin confirmed that she named J. Ward after Jessica Ward, an editor for Disney Publishing as well as the associate editor for The Price of Freedom.^[8]
• Syrena was a character originally introduced in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, directed by Rob Marshall. Tim Powers, the author of the novel On Stranger Tides, has a wife named "Serena". However, it wasn't until Powers visited the set that the film crew learned about his wife's name.^[20]
• Paul McCartney portrayed Uncle Jack, an aged buccaneer philosophically awaiting his fate in the St. Martin prison, and relation of Captain Jack Sparrow—for whom the scalawag pirate was actually named—for the 2017 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. The character was named after McCartney's own uncle, John "Jack" McCartney.^[12][13]
• Several Weequay characters were created for Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, specifically working for Jabba the Hutt and met their demise during the rescue of Han Solo. Two of the characters went unnamed for thirty-seven years until their names were revealed in other Star Wars media by 2020, identifying them by the full names of Rintel Aren and Pagetti Rook. With the first letters swapped, they share their first names with the pirate duo Pintel and Ragetti. The last names are based on the last names of their actors, Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook.^[21]

External links

• Tuckerization on Wikipedia

Notes and references

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean, p. 83
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Wordplayer.com: MOVIES Message Board: Re: Just a small question for T. and T., posted by Terry Rossio (August 9, 2006)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Wordplayer.com: Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/"Ends of the Earth" By Terry Rossio
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest end credits
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} The Price of Freedom
7. ↑ TPOF Question #16 ~ Robby - Johnny Depp Zone - Archived
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} A. C. Crispin: "I named the author of the apocryphal pirate book after my editor, Jessica Ward."
9. ↑ A. C. Crispin on "James the Mysterious" being Captain Hook
10. ↑ View topic - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom - KeepToTheCode.com, Page 1
11. ↑ AC Crispin here...I'd be happy to answer questions about this book... - Goodreads
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Disney Pirates: The Definitive Collector's Anthology, p. 132
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} POTC5 Presskit
14. ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization), p. 62
16. ↑ The Pirates' Code Guidelines, pp. 78-79
17. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
18. ↑ A. C. Crispin: "You may certainly say that Mercer's name is 'Ian Mercer.' Disney doesn't care about the character because he's dead in the film continuity. I gave him the first name 'Ian' because it's a good Scottish name, and, since I was frequently writing from Beckett's POV, he'd know the man's full name."
19. ↑ 2020 Interview with Terry Rossio - Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki - Fandom
20. ↑ Disney Second Screen: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
21. ↑ "The Battle of Hoth and the Second Death Star" — Star Wars Encyclopedia