Pirates of the Caribbean: How Jack Sparrow Got His Name Revealed

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales sailing into theaters on a high tide of fan love, with early projections saying that this fifth installment will trounce its competitor, Baywatch, at the box office.

It’s not altogether undeserved: As we state in our official Pirates of the Caribbean 5 review, the film is a fun call back to the earlier days of the franchise, while also revealing new twists and details that will make additional sequels fun to watch. Dead Men Tell No Tales also has the distinction of being the chapter of the franchise which finally reveals an origin story (of sorts) for Johnny Depp‘s Captain Jack Sparrow!

Read on for the SPOILER-filled reveal of How Jack Sparrow Got His Name, as well as his distinctive pirate look.

The Sparrow

Dead Men Tell No Tales contains a pivotal flashback sequence, in which we learn how Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) went from nearly eradicating the pirate hordes, to losing his life and being cursed to haunt The Devil’s Triangle, as a ghostly captain with a murderous haunted crew behind him. That same story, we learn, happens to be the origin of story of how a young Jack became “Captain Jack Sparrow.”

As the story goes, Salazar had destroyed all pirate ships except the one Jack was on. Salazar does heavy damage to the ship, leaving its captain mortally wounded. With his dying breathes, the captain bestows his mystical compass and the title of captain onto his spunky young first mate, Jack. Upon hearing what the compass can do, Jack sets about getting his crew out of jaws of death. 

Climbing onto the mast of the ship, Jack taunts Salazar in a high, shrill, voice. Salazar recounts that high up there, yelling, Jack looked like “a little Sparrow,” thereby starting the nickname “Jack the Sparrow,” which would eventually just become a name, “Jack Sparrow.” In any event, the taunts work: Salazar follows Jack’s ship into the nearby locale of “The Devil’s Triangle,” where Jack throws a last-minute fakeout reverse, sending Salazar’s ship into the cursed waters, where the pirate hunter and his men burn and die – only to be reborn as ghosts, trapped in The Triangle, killing any who sail there, always leaving one man alive to tell the tale. 

After Salazar’s death, we also get to learn one more fact, about Captain Jack… 

The Capt. Jack Look

Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow look has become iconic – and helped Disney sell millions in merchandise like Halloween costumes. Well, we know that Depp’s looks and mannerisms were based in part on Rolling Stones rocker Kieth Richards (who is also Jack Sparrow’s daddy), but Dead Men Tell No Tales reveals how Jack came up with his look in the continuity of the movies. 

After Salazar is dead, the newly-appointed Captain Jack finds his men lining up to do what pirates do for a successful captain: pay tribute. The men each offer Jack a personal trinket or treasure – an act that Jack finds intoxicatingly gratifying (which explains his love for also trying to con tribute out of people). 

Among the items we se given, are Jack’s iconic hat, the jewels braided into his hair, the red bandanna, and various other trinkets he wears. In short: Jacks’s look isn’t just for flair or flamboyance – it’s a reminder of his first (and perhaps most beloved) moment of glory as pirate captain. 

Good ol’ Jack, still a sentimental softy under all the eccentric braggadocio… 

Slide 3

SYNOPSIS: In ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar, escape from the Devil’s Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea…including him. Captain Jack’s only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas.

Pirates 5 Official Review

Pirates 5 End Credits Scene Explained

Pirates Franchise Won’t Continue Without Johnny Depp

Every Returning Character in Pirates 5

Paul McCartney’s Cameo Revealed