Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)
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| Name: | Davy Jones |
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| Job: | Captain |
| Portrayed by: | Bill Nighy |
| Ships used: | The Flying Dutchman |
| Weapons: | Cutlass |
| Allies: | |
| Enemies: | Jack Sparrow, Will Turner |
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For other persons of the same name, see Davy Jones.
Davy Jones is a fictional character, and the primary villain in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), and will return in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. He is played by Bill Nighy.
He is the captain of the feared ghost ship featured in nautical lore, The Flying Dutchman. In the movie, Captain Jack Sparrow owes a debt to Davy Jones for raising the Black Pearl from the ocean depths and making him captain for thirteen years in exchange for Sparrow's servitude. Now Jack must find another way to pay off the debt or else forfeit his soul for one hundred years. "Bootstrap Bill" Turner is also indentured to Davy Jones. Jones saved Bootstrap from the bottom of the ocean where he was tied to a cannon.
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[edit] Characteristics
Like his crew, Davy Jones' body is a mixture of various aquatic flora and fauna features. His head is cephalopod-like and his "beard" is composed of squirming tentacles. A prominent sac bulges from under his barnacle-encrusted hat. In addition to his "bearded" face, he breathes through siphons located on either side of his face. Jones has a crustacean-style claw for his left arm, a long tentacle index finger on his right hand, and the right leg of a crab (resembling a pegleg). He also speaks with a clearly distinguishable Scottish accent.[1] The immortal Jones has supernatural powers; among them are invincibility, teleportation (appearing on the Pearl's deck as Jack observes him through a telescope) and command over the legendary sea monster, the Kraken. Jones uses his tentacled "beard" to manipulate objects, such as a key (he shows this during a game of Liar's Dice), his hat, (when his ship submerges) and, most interestingly, the keys of his vast pipe organ.
[edit] Life
Davy Jones, the supernatural ruler of the seas, buried the Dead Man's Chest on Isla Cruces. Within the chest is his heart, carved from his body when he was unable to bear the pain of losing his one true love. Jones has since inflicted cruelty and pain onto others, even his crew. Jones is invincible as long as his heart is not destroyed. Anyone possessing the heart, controls Jones and the seas. Should Davy Jones die, all those who bartered their souls to join his crew will be freed and restored to human form, including Will's father, "Bootstrap Bill" Turner.
Despite Jones' determination to inflict pain and suffering, he appears to have a soft spot where love is concerned. When Jack tells him of Will Turner's love for Elizabeth, Jones' expression softens noticeably. Some fans have even spotted what may be tears in his eyes. While playing a certain tune on his pipe organ (identical to the tune of his heart-shaped music locket), Jones' face twists in tortured emotion. Jones summons the Kraken to attack the Black Pearl and claim Jack Sparrow. Jones grimly watches as the Kraken destroys the ship and apparently devours its captain. Turning his attention to the chest that is now back in his possession, he demands the crew open it. An anguished Davy Jones curses Jack Sparrow when the chest reveals itself to be empty. Jones believes Sparrow has the heart, but it is actually Lord Cutler Beckett who now possesses it, given to him by James Norrington in an effort to bargain back his career.
Davy Jones collects dying sailors and offers them an opportunity to serve aboard his ship for one hundred years in order to delay facing their final judgment. However, if someone willingly sells their soul to Jones in exchange for something, they also owe him one hundred years of servitude. Jack Sparrow bartered his soul to Jones to raise the Black Pearl from the depths of the ocean and be made captain. Davy Jones is considered by some to be a satanic character because the term "Davy Jones's Locker" is considered by some to be a reference to the Devil; additionally, Jones's crewman Maccus says "Not even Jack Sparrow can best the Devil" after Jones declares Jack's debt settled.
In the next film, Davy Jones and his crew are allegedly in an alliance with the other villains, Cutler Beckett, James Norrington and Sao Feng. At some point, Jones himself will combat Jack Sparrow in a swordfight atop a crow's nest. [1]
[edit] Other appearances
- Davy Jones was part of Series One of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest action figure set produced by NECA.
[edit] Trivia
- The legend of Davy Jones' Locker is hundreds of years old, and originally not connected to the legend of the Flying Dutchman. References to Davy Jones may be found in many old works, such as Robert Louis Stevenson´s 1883 classic Treasure Island.
- The entire crew of the Flying Dutchman, except "Bootstrap Bill," is completely CGI, including Davy Jones. Their performances were recorded using motion capture during actual filming on the set, rather than in a motion-capture studio during postproduction. It was at one time thought that Nighy’s actual eyes might be used, but that idea was later dropped.[2][3][4]
- Because of the computer-generated character's photorealism, many reviewers mistakenly identified Nighy as wearing prosthetic makeup.[5][6]
- Davy Jones, as well as his crew, possesses the ability to teleport to other locations. In a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Jack observes Davy Jones through his telescope, but is suddenly face-to-face with him aboard his ship. This ability is also seen when Will Turner boards the half-sunken ship and Jones' crew appears from the masts and deck, as well as Bootstrap Bill Turner appearing to Jack in the locked hold of the Black Pearl. According to the Writer's Commentary, this is a difficult process only done at night.
- As a reference to the legend of the Flying Dutchman and its captain, Jones can go on land only once every ten years, prompting Jack to carry a jar of dirt as an apparent preventative measure.
- It is said that if someone owes Davy Jones their soul, he has the ability to take it by any means. Even a cursed pirate that is undead could lose their soul, but only if there was an agreement.
- The melody Davy Jones plays on his pipe organ is the same as the one played on his locket, which is also his character’s theme, and can be heard throughout the film's score.
- Davy Jones plays the organ with his "beard" because one of his hands is a claw. Since his claw consists of only two parts (neither of which can move horizontally), he can only strike one key with that hand. However, his "beard" plays more than 20 keys at once, meaning he can play as about 2-3 other organists at once.
- In a book series about the earlier adventures of Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones shows interest in the Sword of Cortez. He is a minor character, and is only mentioned in the series at this point. He also apparently rules over many siren and mermaid kingdoms in the ocean.[citation needed]
- He and Tia Dalma have the same lockets, suggesting an ambigious relationship.
- Davy Jones' act of removing and concealing his heart draws on a well-established theme in which the villain is rendered immortal by sacrificing his or her humanity. Examples of this range from ancient mythology to modern concepts of the Undead and Demons.
- Davy Jones' speech before waking the Kraken for the first time in the film ("Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up to the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake...the Kraken!") is a paraphrased version of two lines from the Book of Job.
- Davy Jones' theme is unique among the themes of such dark villains in the fact that it does not invoke a sense of power, evil, tyranny, or darkness. Rather, it envokes more sympathetic yet still negative senses such as pity, sadness, downfall, tragedy, and the loss of love.
[edit] See also
- The Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean)
- The Kraken (Pirates of the Caribbean)
- Davy Jones' Locker
[edit] References
- ^ Interview with Bill Nighy. Movies.About.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- ^ An interview with Director Gore Verbinski. Post Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
- ^ Various quotations and references. Never Been Typed. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
- ^ An interview with Bill Nighy. ComingSoon.net. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
- ^ Review by Russ Breimeier. ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
- ^ A review by Iloz Zoc. BlogCritics.org. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
