Captain Hector Barbossa is a fictional character of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, depicted by Geoffrey Rush and appearing in all five films in the series. Barbossa debuted in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) as the main antagonist, being the captain of the Black Pearl and a cursed undead skeleton, where he dies at the end of the film. However, the character is revealed to have been resurrected by Tia Dalma by the end of Dead Man's Chest, and has since appeared in an anti-heroic role.
Captain Barbossa was one of the nine Pirate Lords in At World's End (2007). In On Stranger Tides (2011) he served as a privateer under King George II and the Royal Navy while pursuing revenge against Blackbeard. In Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), he is depicted as a wealthy and powerful pirate leader commanding a large fleet.
Throughout the series, Barbossa has been conceptualized as a "dark trickster" and the evil counterpart of Captain Jack Sparrow. In The Curse of the Black Pearl, it was revealed he was once the first mate of Jack, before he eventually betrayed him and led a mutiny to take the Black Pearl, becoming Jack's sworn enemy. However, since At World's End, he and Jack have let go of their grudge and became allies.
Ever since his appearance, Barbossa has received a highly positive reception by critics, with praise towards Rush's performance and his interesting rivalry and friendship with Jack.
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Background and development
Originally, Rush was 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; he regretted this decision later, and accepted the role of Captain Shakespeare in the movie Stardust. While in the first film, Barbossa was conceptualized as a villain, as a "dark trickster" and evil counterpart to Jack Sparrow, 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. Johnny Depp proposed the character's first name "Hector" on set of the first film, although it is never mentioned in the film, but rather only in the DVD commentary. 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. 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. 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, although it is revealed in the fifth film that part of the reason Barbossa turned to piracy was the difficult feelings he had to live with after giving up his daughter for adoption. 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." Barbossa's name is based on Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa.
Fictional character biography
Before the films
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 Portuguese noblewoman by an unknown father and hailed from Lisbon in Portugal, though Jack Sparrow surmises a Cornish origin based upon his accent in The Price of Freedom. 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.
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. 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 Palachnik in prison, Barbossa is unknowingly granted the title of Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea, as Palachnik 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.
At some point, after Jack Sparrow attains the Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa joins him as his first mate. The original backstory was that Jack recruited Barbossa and his cronies, including Pintel and Ragetti, prior to the voyage to Isla de Muerta. However, Hector Barbossa was first mate in the quest for the Shadow Gold in the Legends of the Brethren Court book series, where 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 mutiny against his captain.
Films
Captain Hector Barbossa, now only known as Barbossa, first appears in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
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 gold was cursed, dooming the crew to become undead skeletons. Shortly after the mutiny, Barbossa has Bootstrap Bill Turner thrown overboard, attaching a cannon to his foot. 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 Will Turner. Eight years prior to the events of the film, Barbossa sailed the Black Pearl at the crossing of England, where Will met Elizabeth Swann, who took Will's medallion.
When Elizabeth Swann 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 on board 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.
In Dead Man's Chest, Captain Barbossa's undead monkey "Jack" appeared aboard the Black Pearl before Jack Sparrow gave the monkey to the voodoo mystic Tia Dalma as payment. While the crew of the Black Pearl visits Tia Dalma's shack, Sparrow's crew sees Barbossa's corpse lying there, with only his boots visible. However, the closing scene of the film shows that Tia Dalma brought Barbossa back from the dead, with the resurrected captain biting an apple. It is later revealed in At World's End that Tia Dalma is actually the sea goddess Calypso in human form, Barbossa was a Pirate Lord of the Brethren Court, and they both struck a bargain. In return for his resurrection, Barbossa agreed to summon a meeting of the Brethren so they could release the goddess from her human bonds. However, because Jack Sparrow was also a Pirate Lord, they had to go rescue him at Davy Jones' Locker, where Sparrow was taken by Davy Jones' leviathan, the Kraken.
Other appearances
In 2006, an animatronic Hector Barbossa was added (along with Jack Sparrow) to the original Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride at various Disney parks, wherein he replaces the original ride's 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 Scar from The Lion King, Jadis the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Davy Jones in Dead Man's Chest, and Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear from Toy Story 3.
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.
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. Barbossa was made as a plush toy for the M&M Dead Man's Chest.
Video games
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.
Barbossa appears in the Kingdom Hearts series games Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III, voiced by Brian George in English and Haruhiko Jō in Japanese.
Barbossa appears as a playable character in Disney Infinity.
Barbossa appears as a playable character in Disney Magic Kingdoms.
Barbossa appears as a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
Barbossa appears in Sea of Thieves as part of the A Pirate's Life expansion.
Barbossa appears as a playable character in Disney Speedstorm.
Barbossa appears as a playable character in Fortnite.
Barbossa appears as a playable character in Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.