Captain Hector Barbossa is a fictional character of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, portrayed by Australian actor Geoffrey Rush. Barbossa appears in all films of the series. Starting out as a villainous undead pirate in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), the character dies at the end of the film. However, he is revealed to have been brought back to life at the end of Dead Man's Chest (2006); his body is laying in Tia Dalmas room when Jack and company visit Tia and trade Jack the monkey for information, as Jack the monkey immediately runs over and climbs upon his boots and shrieks in recognition, and appears as a Pirate Lord in At World's End (2007), a privateer with the Royal Navy in On Stranger Tides (2011), and finally as the rich and influential leader of his own pirate fleet in Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). Throughout the series, the character has been conceptualized as a "dark trickster" and the evil counterpart of Captain Jack Sparrow.[1]
Originally, Rush was only second choice for the role behind Robert De Niro, who turned it down as he expected the film to flop like previous pirate films did.[2] While in the first film, Barbossa was conceptualized as a villain, as a "dark trickster" and evil counterpart to Jack Sparrow,[3] Rush felt that he was playing the unsung hero of the film, who only dreamed about lifting the curse and living as a rich rogue with his prized pirate bride.[4] Johnny Depp proposed the character's first name "Hector" on set of the first film, although it is never mentioned in the film. As it appeared only on the DVD commentary,[5] writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio originally thought it was fan-made when they saw it on the internet, and decided to use it nonetheless.[6] Actor Geoffrey Rush has expressed fondness with the potential and development of his character, who evolved throughout the series and ventured into different terrains every film, which kept him challenged as an actor: while he was only a classical evil villain in the first film, he turned into a pirate politician, hosting a "G 20 summit of pirate lords", and in the fourth film has turned legitimate and works for the king.[7] As for the fifth installment, Rush has referred to Barbossa as a "corporate pirate" who has amassed immense influence and wealth for his fleet and brags of his showcased riches.[8] Also, he commented on the selfless sacrifice Barbossa makes to save his daughter, referring to it as a nice and final conclusion to the character's journey of redemption. Due to this, Rush stated that he cannot see himself portraying the character in a potential sequel again, with the exception of a short cameo as a ghost "annoying Jack Sparrow with his wisdom."[9] Barbossa's name is based on Ottoman admiral, Hayreddin Barbarossa.[10]
Information concerning Barbossa's childhood and youth stem from actor Geoffrey Rush, who devised a backstory for the character in order to portray him more convincingly. According to Rush, Barbossa was born to an impoverished Irish noblewoman by an unknown father and hailed from the West Country in England, a fact that is also deduced by Jack Sparrow based upon his accent in The Price of Freedom.[11] Longing to escape a life of poverty, he ran away from home aged 13 to pursue life as a sailor. At first, Barbossa wanted to be an honest sailor with the merchant marine, but seeing the grandeur of the captains' cabins on the ships on which he served, he realized that a man from his station could never afford a lifestyle like that whilst remaining an honest sailor, choosing a life of piracy instead.[12]
Nothing is known about his early exploits as a pirate prior to The Price of Freedom. In the novel, Barbossa, in his early 40s, is the captain of the pirate schooner Cobra. After plundering a French ivory barque, his ship is attacked and sunk by a crew of rogue pirates, and he is narrowly saved from drowning by his crew members Pintel and Ragetti. After managing to reach Tortuga, the then-Pirate Lord of the Caribbean brings them to Shipwreck Cove to report the incident to an assembly of pirates.[13] A few months later, Jack Sparrow finds out that the attacker is Barbossa's old friend Boris Palachnik, the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea. The attackers are brought before a pirate court that summons Davy Jones, who confirms Palachnik's guilt. Visiting Palachink in prison, Barbossa is unknowingly granted the title of Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea, as Palachink gives him his Piece of Eight and his ship. However, before Barbossa can claim his new vessel, the rogue pirates break out of prison and escape on his ship. After that, he is intent to join Captain Teague's hunting party and has his Piece of Eight carved into a wooden eye for his crew mate Ragetti.[14]
Shortly after Jack Sparrow attains the Black Pearl, Barbossa joins him as his first mate. In the book series Legends of the Brethren Court, Tia Dalma tasks them with securing seven vials of shadow gold to stop the evil Shadow Lord from gaining total control over the seas by destroying the Brethren Court with his Shadow Army. Over the course of the novels, they are able to collect all vials shattered across the world by allying with or fighting against the other Pirate Lords. They are able to defeat the Shadow Lord with the combined efforts of all Pirate Lords, after which Jack wants to sail for Tortuga to recruit a new crew. Barbossa offers him to handle that in his stead, implying that he recruited men with the intent to mutineer against his captain.[15]
Ten years before the events of The Curse of the Black Pearl, Barbossa led a mutiny against Jack Sparrow and marooned him on an uncharted island. Arriving at the treasure of Isla de Muerta, 882 identical pieces of Aztec gold, they claim it and spend it all. They realize too late that the cursed gold has turned them into undead. Shortly after the mutiny, Barbossa has Bootstrap Bill Turner killed by attaching a cannon to his foot and throwing him overboard. The crew spend the next years retrieving the Aztec gold and amassing treasure, unable to find the last piece of gold, as Bootstrap Bill had sent it to his son.
When Elizabeth Swan falls into the sea wearing Will's medallion, it alerts the cursed pirates to its location. Barbossa has Port Royal attacked and Elizabeth captured, who poses as "Elizabeth Turner". Mistaking her for Bootstrap Bill's child, he takes her to the Isla de Muerta to use her blood in a ritual to break the curse, which fails. Will reveals himself as Bootstrap's son and offers Barbossa his blood in exchange for Elizabeth's safety. Barbossa has Elizabeth and Jack marooned on exactly the same uncharted island where he marooned Jack years earlier. Before Barbossa can perform the ritual, Jack Sparrow arrives to the island onboard a Royal Navy ship and confronts Barbossa. A fight ensues between Barbossa and Jack. As Will breaks the curse, Barbossa is shot to death by his old captain.[16]
However, it is revealed in the closing scene of Dead Man's Chest that Barbossa was revived by Tia Dalma, who is actually the sea goddess Calypso in human form.[17] In return, he struck a bargain with her to free her from her human body with the help of the Brethren Court. In order to do so, it is necessary that Jack Sparrow is rescued from Davy Jones' Locker. Their negotiations with Pirate Lord Sao Feng, who possesses a map to the Locker, are interrupted by an ambush by the East India Trading Company. Sao Feng agrees to provide them with the map and a crew.
After successfully freeing Jack, they are again attacked by the East India Trading Company, as Sao Feng had betrayed them. Nevertheless, they reach Shipwreck Cove, where Barbossa leads a meeting of the nine Pirate Lords. He proposes to free Calypso, which leads to a fight between the parties. When Elizabeth Swann is elected Pirate King, she decides to make a final stand against the trading company. After negotiations fail, Barbossa frees Calypso with the Pieces of Eight and the wrathful sea goddess creates a maelstrom, in which Barbossa captains the Black Pearl in a duel with the Flying Dutchman. During the fight, he officiates the marriage of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann.
Some time later, he sails away with the Black Pearl, planning to use Sao Feng's map to find the Fountain of Youth. However, Jack has stolen the map from him.[18] Sometime after these events he fathers Carina Smyth and leaves her in an orphanage after her mother's death.[19]
In On Stranger Tides, set over a decade and seven years after the third film, it is revealed that Barbossa had lost the Black Pearl to Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, who attacked the ship without warning and used his magical sword to turn the ship against his crew. Barbossa lost his right leg in the attack, and vowed to avenge the Pearl by killing Blackbeard. He joined the Royal Navy as a privateer to attain a new ship and safety from prosecution. He excelled so much at his new station that King George II personally tasked him with finding the Fountain of Youth. Barbossa forces Joshamee Gibbs, now in possession of the map, into assisting him on his quest. When they arrive at White Cap Bay, their ship is sunk by mermaids. Making their way through the jungle, Barbossa reaches the ship of Ponce de Leon in search for the two chalices required for the ritual, where he meets Jack Sparrow. The two decide to team up to retrieve the missing chalices from the Spanish camp, where they get captured, and later escape with the chalices. Reaching the Fountain, Barbossa engages Blackbeard in a duel, eventually mortally wounding him with his poisoned blade. He claims Blackbeard's ship, crew, and sword as payment for his lost leg and returns to a life of piracy.[20]
One year later, during Dead Men Tell No Tales, Barbossa has achieved great success as a pirate and rules the Caribbean with his 10 ship fleet, even having acquired a golden peg leg. After three of his ships are sunk by the undead pirate hunter Captain Armando Salazar, whom Jack Sparrow had unintentionally unleashed, Barbossa confronts Salazar and offers to lead him to Jack Sparrow. Jack escapes to an island; the ghosts cannot step on land. An enraged Salazar starts slaughtering Barbossa's crew until Barbossa persuades Salazar to send him to fetch Sparrow. He double-crosses Salazar and allies with Sparrow, freeing the Black Pearl with Blackbeard's sword and once again captaining it. Upon seeing Carina's diary, he realizes she is his daughter. However, he chooses not to tell her of her true parentage in order to allow her to keep her idealized picture of her father, whom she imagines to be an astronomer. When they reach the island where the Trident of Poseidon is located, a fight between them and Salazar ensues, which later continues on the bottom of the ocean. Barbossa has himself lowered down with the ship's anchor to rescue Jack, Henry, and Carina. When Carina falls, Barbossa catches her, revealing a tattoo of the star constellation Carina, after which Carina realizes he is her father. Barbossa sacrifices his life to protect Carina from an approaching Salazar. Following these events, Carina takes up the last name Barbossa.[21]
In 2006, an animatronic Hector Barbossa was added (along with Captain Jack Sparrow) to the original Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride at various Disney parks, wherein he appears as captain of the Wicked Wench.
Hector Barbossa is one of only five Disney villains ever nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, the others being Davy Jones, another villain in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Scar from The Lion King, Jadis the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear from Toy Story 3.
Hector Barbossa (along with another Black Pearl crewman) is pictured on the cover of issue No. 71 Piraten of WAS IST WAS, a German Knowledge-book series, aimed at children and adolescents.[22]
Barbossa was featured in almost all video games related to the series, namely Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean Online (2007), and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (2011), in varying roles. Hector Barbossa appears as a villain in the Pirates of the Caribbean setting, Port Royal, of Kingdom Hearts II. In the game, his role is copied and pasted from the film, with the exceptions of the presence of Sora, Donald and Goofy, his alliance with Pete and Maleficent, and his control over the Heartless. Due to the filming of the two sequels back-to-back, which resulted in Geoffrey Rush being unavailable, Hector Barbossa was voiced by Brian George in the English version and by Haruhiko Jō in the Japanese version. Barbossa was one of the original characters available in the video game Disney Infinity released in August 2013. He has returned in Kingdom Hearts III, reprising his role from the third film and once again voiced by Brian George.
Barbossa was made into several action figures by NECA. He appeared in the first wave of Curse of the Black Pearl figures in his human form; that same figure was re-released as part of the fourth wave of Dead Man's Chest toys. Barbossa's cursed form was released as a box set, which also featured Jack Sparrow as a zombie, and the chest of cursed Aztec gold. Then, he was also released in the At World's End figure line. However, he did not come with Jack the Monkey, who was released in a figure set along with Marty. Lastly, Barbossa was featured in "On Stranger Tides" action figure wave with his peg leg and privateer suit.[23] Barbossa was made as a plush toy for the M&M Dead Man's Chest.
Along with Jack Sparrow and Jack's friend and first mate, Joshamee Gibbs, Barbossa is one of only three main characters to appear in all five Pirates movies. He's introduced as the main antagonist and captain of the Black Pearl, though as the perpetually knowledgeable Gibbs explains, Barbossa once served as Jack Sparrow's first mate aboard the ship. After Jack shared the location of the treasure they were hunting, Barbossa organized a mutiny and marooned his captain on a deserted island. Ironically, however, the Aztec gold they plundered turned out to be cursed, dooming Barbossa and his crew to remain undead until they returned all of the medallions along with a blood sacrifice.
The audience first meets Barbossa when Elizabeth Swann demands a parlay aboard the Black Pearl but winds up kidnapped. Played by Oscar- and Tony-winning actor Geoffrey Rush, he's an immediately intimidating presence. He stomps around the deck barking orders to his crew, and sneers at Elizabeth's attempts to shame him into releasing her by citing the Pirate's Code. "First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement, so I must do nothing." he tells her. "And secondly, you must be a pirate for the Pirate's Code to apply, and you're not. And thirdly, the Code is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules."
Rush's delivery of the line is both condescending and amused, as if he's impressed by Elizabeth's boldness, but still wants to scare her a little. Things really start to pop off when Elizabeth is invited to dinner in Barbossa's quarters, and he explains the Aztec curse. Barbossa concludes his monologue by telling her, "You best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Turner … yer in one." He steps into the moonlight, revealing his true form: a skeletal frame covered in bits of ragged flesh.
Barbossa terrified me in 2003. By the time the second film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was released three years later, I missed his presence. Barbossa is killed at the end of The Curse of the Black Pearl, and in the sequel another intimidating, undead captain, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), fills the void. But at the very end of Dead Man's Chest, after Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl are dragged to the bottom of the sea by the Kraken (it's a wild film), the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) tells Jack's mourning crew that there is a way to bring him back, but they'll need a captain who knows how to sail to the ends of the earth and back. Hans Zimmer's score crescendos, black boots descend a wooden staircase. "So," asks a seemingly alive and well Captain Hector Barbossa, "what's become of my ship?" He takes a bite from an apple and the juice runs down his chin. He lets out a guttural laugh. The screen cuts to black.
Reader, I screamed. Barbossa's return meant we were in for one of my favorite movie tropes: former enemies teaming up. In the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, At World's End, the newly revived Barbossa rescues Jack (and his beloved ship) from the purgatory-like state of Davy Jones' Locker. Once they become allies (though of course, each has his own private agenda) the contrast between Captains Barbossa and Sparrow is at its most pronounced. Each embodies the pirate ethos of self-preservation and -enrichment. But where Jack Sparrow is characterized by a loose, stumbling nature, Barbossa is tight and controlled. It's hard to imagine Barbossa letting himself get tricked into passing out in a drunken stupor. He knows exactly what he wants: to captain the Black Pearl, amass a horde of treasure, and eat bushels of apples.
And he's actually a really good captain! For a pirate, that is. Rush really sells Barbossa as a dignified, competent leader doing a difficult job. When he stands in the middle of the deck surveying his domain, with the sea wind whipping around him, he looks completely at home. He makes steering the ship look difficult, while never making me doubt that he can do it. Barbossa is also a much more decisive leader than Jack Sparrow, whose magical compass that points to its holder's deepest desire can rarely maintain a direction. And he's been much more successful than Jack at taking and keeping the Black Pearl, which, for a group of people whose whole way of life is built around stealing and hijacking, seems like one of the most important metrics of success.
More to the point, he's a better character than Jack Sparrow from a storytelling perspective. As director Gore Verbinski acknowledged over the years, Jack was designed for fun diversions, not carrying the burden of a story arc. That may explain why Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which casts Jack Sparrow as the protagonist, sits at a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. The fifth film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, has an even bleaker RT score of 30%. It's a shame because Dead Men Tell No Tales features a lovely redemption arc for Barbossa.
Set 13 years after the conclusion of At World's End, Dead Men Tell No Tales sees Barbossa as a commander of an entire pirate fleet. He's amassed plenty of gold and again captains the Black Pearl, after restoring it to its original size. (Captain Blackbeard, the villain of On Stranger Tides, used magic to miniaturize it and display it in a bottle.) The main plot of the film involves Henry Turner, the son of Elizabeth and Will, searching for the Trident of Poseidon. He believes that breaking the Trident will break the curse that prevents Will from visiting his family more than once every 10 years. Barbossa agrees to help, believing that it will lead to more treasure. But he soon discovers that Carina, the young astronomer helping Henry locate the Trident, is actually his long-lost daughter. He tells Jack that he wanted her to have a better life than that of a pirate.
For a selfish rogue who's only ever wanted treasure, that's a big twist. He seems to thrive as a pirate, but wants something more for his daughter. Barbossa decides not to tell Carina that he's her father, allowing her to continue believing that her father was an astronomer like her. Whether that's a selfless choice to avoid causing her pain, or a selfish one to avoid dealing with uncomfortable truths is up for interpretation, but his next move is decidedly the former. At the film's climax, Barbossa sacrifices himself to kill the pirate hunter Captain Salazar, allowing Carina and the rest of the crew to escape.
Barbossa's arc from mutinous villain to a captain willing to sacrifice himself for his family and crew is more compelling than anything any writer could come up with for Jack Sparrow, quips be damned. (That's not to say that Barbossa isn't also funny — Rush gets some chuckle-worthy lines in.) Maybe if the spinoffs had focused more on Barbossa and his adventures, with Jack Sparrow filling his OG trilogy role of quirky side character, they would have been a little less shallow.
In a featurette for the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl DVD called "Becoming Barbossa," Geoffrey Rush said, "I suppose if you stand outside and look at it, I was playing the villain. But on the inside, I was playing the hero."
By the time Barbossa dies (again), he doesn't fit neatly into either category. Hero or villain, though, Barbossa will always be the true captain of the Black Pearl, and of my heart.
barbosa is real and his name was barbarrossa
here some about him
The island of Lésbos, in the Aegean Sea, is now part of Greece, but between 1462 and 1912, it lay under Turkish dominion. During the 1470s Lésbos was the birthplace of one of the Ottoman Empire's greatest heroes. The Mediterranean pirate who would ultimately be remembered as Barbarossa (Italian for "Redbeard") went by many names during his career: Khiḍr, Hayreddin Pasha, the "Pirate of Algiers," and even the "King of the Sea," but the name Barbarossa began as an appellation for him and his brother ʿArūj (or Oruç)—the Barbarossa brothers.
The Barbarossa brothers were already experienced pirates in the Mediterranean when Spain completed its conquest of Granada in 1492, defeating the last vestige of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula, and Muslim immigrants from the region took refuge in North Africa. By 1505 the Spanish and the Portuguese were looking to make territorial gains in North Africa, and they began to attack coastal cities. Enraged by these attacks on fellow Muslims, Khiḍr and ʿArūj served as privateers under the direction of Korkud (one of the sons of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II) to disrupt Spanish and Portuguese shipping in the western Mediterranean. The sultan's death in 1512, however, spawned a succession fight between his sons Ahmed and Selim. Selim defeated Ahmed and began a purge of Ahmed's supporters. Selim was also distrustful of Korkud, and he executed him. In response, the Barbarossa brothers fled to North Africa to separate themselves from a government that likely would have been hostile to them, and they joined the region's various kingdoms in their struggles against Spain.
Over the next three years, the Barbarossa brothers rose in prominence among the North African communities and preyed on Spanish and Portuguese shipping as independent corsairs. In 1516, forces under the brothers' command attacked Algiers, and the city fell to ʿArūj. The Ottomans recognized this development as an opportunity to expand their influence in North Africa, and they offered their funding and political support to the brothers (which allowed ʿArūj and Khiḍr to consolidate their gains). The Ottomans then offered the nominal titles of governor of Algiers to ʿArūj and chief sea governor of the western Mediterranean to Khiḍr, but the brothers were not yet full-fledged subjects of the Ottoman Empire.
ʿArūj died battling the Spanish in 1518, and the Spanish recaptured Algiers the following year. During this period, Khiḍr (now known as Hayreddin) assumed the title Barbarossa and stepped up to continue the fight, for which he sought help from the Ottomans. Although Algiers changed hands several times over the next decade, the region it controlled became known as the Regency of Algiers, the first corsair state, which was autonomous but grew more and more dependent upon the Ottoman military for protection over time. The Ottomans would later use Algiers as their primary base of operations in the western Mediterranean.
Barbarossa's formal association with the Ottomans grew over the same period. Süleyman the Magnificent, who had become sultan after Selim's death, captured Rhodes in 1522 and installed Barbarossa as the beylerbeyi (governor). After Barbarossa and his forces captured Tunis in 1531, Süleyman made him the grand admiral (kapudan pasha) of the Ottoman Empire, and he served as admiral in chief of the Ottoman navy.
Perhaps Barbarossa's most famous battle was his victory at Preveza (in Greece) in 1538 over a combined fleet with elements from Venice, Genoa, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and the Papal States. The key to his victory was his use of galleys instead of sailing ships. Because galleys were driven by oars and thus did not depend on the wind, they were more maneuverable and reliable on the sides of bays and islands shielded from the wind than sailing ships were. Barbarossa defeated the combined force by using only 122 galleys against 300 sailing ships. His victory opened Tripoli and the eastern Mediterranean to Ottoman rule. After Barbarossa led additional military campaigns, including one in which he assisted the French against the Habsburgs in 1543 and 1544, he died in Constantinople in 1546.