Jack the Monkey

"Why, thank ye, Jack." "You're welcome." "Not you. We named the monkey 'Jack'."

- Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow

Jack the Monkey, or simply Jack, was the second pet monkey owned by the black-hearted Captain Hector Barbossa. Mockingly named after Captain Jack Sparrow, this capuchin monkey was considered the meanest, most rotten-tempered simian in all of the Caribbean. Jack the Monkey first joined his owner in a search to find of the cursed treasure of Cortés, which Jack lived under throughout his life as an undead monkey.

Following the battle of Isla de Muerta, Jack somehow returned to the civilization and joined the Black Pearl's new crew, commanded by Sparrow. However, he didn't accompany Sparrow and his crew during the rest of the quest for the Dead Man's Chest, because he decided to stay in Tia Dalma's shack along his now resurrected master, who decided to help the crew of the Black Pearl rescue Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker, which they did. During the War Against Piracy, Jack was involved in many of its battles, including the battle of Calypso's maelstrom, in which he inadvertently helped to distract the pirate Maccus after being shot from a cannon of the Black Pearl by Pintel and Ragetti.

Following the pirates' victory after the war, Hector Barbossa led a new mutiny aboard the Black Pearl and left Sparrow at Tortuga, while he decided to begin his quest for the Fountain of Youth, but the Pearl was attacked by the Queen Anne's Revenge under the command of Blackbeard who shrunk the ship. While his master managed to escape, Jack, along with Cotton's Parrot was shrunk with the Pearl and locked inside a bottle before 1750.

After Blackbeard's death at the island where the Fountain of Youth was located, Sparrow's First Mate, Joshamee Gibbs, managed to recover the bottle which remained in the hands of Sparrow. One year later, Barbossa restored the Pearl, along with Jack, to her original size. Jack was reunited with Barbossa in the process after a long time, but following Barbossa's ultimate death in order to kill Captain Armando Salazar, Jack decided to become Sparrow's pet as the crew of the Black Pearl set sailed beyond Sparrow's beloved horizon.

The Curse


"Monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow after seeing Jack taking the Aztec medallion away

Jack became cursed along with the rest of the crew of the Black Pearl, and helped Hector Barbossa's men track down all 882 coins that would free them from the curse. Jack stole the final piece of treasure from Will Turner aboard the Interceptor and returned it to Barbossa. He was present at Barbossa's death on Isla de Muerta, and was, at this point, free of the curse, after being swatted away by Elizabeth, no longer afraid of Jack. However, Jack deliberately stole a coin from the treasure chest, thus ensuring he became cursed once more.

Traded to Tia Dalma
"I brought payment. Look, an undead monkey. Top that!"

- Jack Sparrow to Tia Dalma After this, Jack found his way back onboard the Black Pearl when it returned to Isla de Muerta to find the island had been claimed by the sea. Jack remained onboard the Pearl, now under Jack Sparrow's command, and attempted to steal a drawing of the key to the Dead Man's Chest held by Sparrow. The pirate captain shot Jack, though the undead monkey escaped unscathed, but lost the drawing in the process. The monkey did end up stealing Jack's hat and tossed it into the water, forcing the captain to tell his crew to move on without it.

Reunion with his master
Later, when the ship was run aground on an island inhabited by cannibals, the monkey stole Ragetti's wooden eye when he and Pintel found the ship. Later, Sparrow's crew managed to capture the monkey, and Sparrow used him to barter with Tia Dalma for information on the whereabouts of the Dead Man's Chest. Jack remained in the vicinity of Dalma's shack, perhaps due to the presence of his former master returned from Purgatory. Later, after Jack Sparrow's death, Tia finally introduced the reborn Barbossa to Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Joshamee Gibbs, Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton and Marty. At that moment, Jack returned to his rightful place on his master's shoulder.

Fight for freedom


"Parley?"

- Cotton's parrot after Jack pulled a pistol on him.

Jack accompanied his master on the quest to rescue Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker. When Sparrow asked if anyone in the crew actually missed him, The monkey admitted, with a raised hand, that he had missed Sparrow after returning from World's End. This caused Sparrow to agree to let him come with him. He also developed something of a partnership with Cotton's parrot; the two worked together during the battle in Singapore to destroy a fireworks factory. However, during an altercation aboard the Black Pearl, Jack drew a small pistol on the parrot just as Barbossa did the same to Sparrow.

Jack later retrieved Jack Sparrow's piece of eight and gave it to his master after a parley with Cutler Beckett. Jack remained aboard the Black Pearl, during the battle around Calypso's maelstrom, where he witnessed the impromptu marriage of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, with Pintel and Ragetti. After Will swung over to the Flying Dutchman, Jack joined them when Pintel and Ragetti fired him from a cannon. Jack, still immortal but none too pleased with this undignified mode of transport, flew into Maccus's face and attacked him, knocking him to the deck, rescuing Will, who was in trouble at that point.

Jack escaped the Dutchman by clinging to Jack Sparrow's makeshift parasail, and returned to Barbossa on the Pearl. He was with his master when the Pearl and the Dutchman destroyed the HMS Endeavour, and he was with him when the pirates expressed their victory.

After the battle, Barbossa commandeered the Black Pearl from Jack, again, at Tortuga. Barbossa happily fed Jack a peanut while onboard while sailing out to open sea.

Stuck in a bottle


"Ah! He's even more annoying in miniature."

- Jack Sparrow

At some point after departing from Tortuga, the Black Pearl was attacked by the Queen Anne's Revenge, a ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard. Using his sword, Blackbeard brought the rigging of the Pearl to life, and used it against Hector Barbossa and his crew. Barbossa's men were defeated, and Barbossa barely survived. After the attack, Blackbeard shrunk the Pearl and put it into a glass bottle, with Jack and Cotton's Parrot inside of it.

Jack Sparrow would later discover the bottle and gain possession of it, thanks to Joshamee Gibbs. When Sparrow examined the bottle, Jack would be swinging towards him both times startling the latter who expresses his annoyance of the monkey.

"I hate that monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow

Reunion with his master


"Tell me what you want." "I want me compass. Two hundred and sixteen barrels of rum. And the monkey." "You want Jack?" "Dinner. I want to eat him. I want to eat that-"

- Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow

One year later Jack was restored to his original size along with the Black Pearl by Hector Barbossa who he was reunited with after so long. He remained with Barbossa perched on his master's shoulder in their travel to the Black rock island where the Trident of Poseidon was hidden.

During the travel, Jack took Sparrow's former compass to prevent him from stealing it back. At Barbossa's order, he stole the ruby of Carina's dairy after Barbossa realized she was his daughter. Sparrow overhead it and tried to blackmail Barbossa into giving him his compass and the monkey as he wanted to eat him but the monkey quickly gagged Sparrow to silence him. When they arrived to the island, Jack stayed on the Pearl.

Serving Sparrow


"Oh! Monkey!"

- Jack Sparrow seeing the monkey at the helm

Following the death of Barbossa, Jack then mourned his master's demise along with the rest of Crew of the Black Pearl by sadly putting his hand on his chest.

After Sparrow reassumed control of the Pearl, Jack appeared at the helm which surprised the latter. Jack soon presented Sparrow his compass (which was still in his possession) and returned the item to him, as a sign of peace for all the animosity between them and as a way of accepting Sparrow as his new captain. Sparrow was very put off by this new change but nervously accepted the gesture and thanked the monkey.

Afterwards Sparrow ordered for the ship to set sail, as Jack soon jumped onto his shoulder, just like he did with Barbossa. After looking momentarily startled, Sparrow quickly changed his expression and accepted him back as they sailed off toward the horizon.

Personality and traits
Jack is shown as being highly intelligent, able to understand and follow commands given to him. He also appears to understand at least some English given his responses to various situations.

Jack was shown to be rather mischievous, often causing annoyance amongst the Black Pearl's crew with his antics. Amongst his most common antics was stealing Ragetti's wooden eye and refusing to give it back. His antics often drove his namesake, Captain Jack Sparrow crazy and resulted in Jack delighting in using the monkey's curse to exact revenge by shooting him. Sometimes his antics would prove useful, such as stealing Elizabeth Swann's gold medallion and saving Will Turner from Maccus when Pintel and Ragetti shot Jack from a cannon. These would earn Jack the thanks of the person he helped.

Unlike the rest of the cursed crew, Jack did not appear to mind being cursed. After the Aztec curse was initially broken over him, Jack purposefully returned to the treasure cave and re-cursed himself.

Jack was shown to have a great deal of loyalty to his master, Hector Barbossa. Jack could often be seen perched on Barbossa's shoulder and following his commands. Jack was even shown mourning the loss of his master after his noble sacrifice to defeat Armando Salazar, showing his care for him.

Jack was often shown to have a mutual animosity with his namesake Jack Sparrow. Most of this came from, Jack's rivalry with Hector Barbossa and Sparrow's annoyance with the monkey's various antics and the fact that they often fell on opposing sides of a conflict. After Jack the monkey returned to the Black Pearl cursed, Sparrow took to shooting him when the monkey's antics got to be too much. Despite this animosity, Jack the monkey seemed to genuinely like and care for Sparrow as when asked who came to rescue him from Davy Jones' Locker because they actually missed him, Jack was one of the few who raised his hand in response.

Following Barbossa's second death, Jack chose to stay with Jack Sparrow as his new master, even returning his compass as a gesture of peace and perching himself on his shoulder.

Behind the scenes

 * Jack the Monkey was played by at least four capuchin monkeys. In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack was portrayed by a ten-year old female named Tara, and a ten-year old male named Levi, while Chiquita (female) or Pablo (male) portrayed Jack in Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. Chiquita reprised the role of Jack in both On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales, while Pablo also reprised the role in the latter one.
 * Jack appears in a scene after the credits of The Curse of the Black Pearl, showing how he becomes cursed once more after Barbossa's death, explaining his undead status in the sequels, particularly Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.
 * Unlike the crew of the Black Pearl, Jack seems to prefer being cursed, as he steals a coin from the Aztec chest despite knowing the consequences at that point.
 * According by writer Terry Rossio in his website, Tara had became a celebrity, doing special appearances and being paid a lot after the sucess of The Curse of the Black Pearl. In his words, that was the reason for which she didn't reprised her role as Jack in further films.
 * The screenwriters of The Curse of the Black Pearl confirmed that Barbossa naming the monkey "Jack" is a reference to Treasure Island, as the monkey was named after Barbossa's former captain Jack Sparrow, just as Long John Silver's parrot was named "Captain Flint", in mockery of Silver's former captain.
 * There is a hanging monkey on the chandelier of the Pieces of Eight shop by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Coincidentally, the monkey was also named Jack; whether this is on purpose or not is unknown.
 * There are several sub-species of capuchin monkey, and judging by Jack's white face and lower brown fur, he is likely a White-Fronted Capuchin (Cebus albifrons).
 * The "Jack the Monkey" card in the Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game states that he was the only member of Barbossa's crew not to put his blood on the Aztec coins, hence why he remains cursed. However, this directly conflicts with the post-credits scene in The Curse of the Black Pearl, which sees him purposely take a coin from the chest to become cursed again (and if Jack hadn't put his blood on the coins none of the other crew members could have undone their curse).
 * Jack appears along with Barbossa on Devil's Anvil in Pirates of the Caribbean Online.
 * Jack wasn't Barbossa's first pet monkey. When Barbossa was captain of Cobra, Barbossa had a pet monkey named Polly.
 * In the book cover of Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters, Jack appears on Barbossa's shoulder. However, Jack does not physically appear in the book. He is only mentioned in one of Jean Magliore's prophecies, where he bellows out "The monkey's name is Jack!". This most likely causes Barbossa so much amusement he files it away for future use.
 * Jack appears in the graphic novel Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties. But, since that book was canceled, it is unknown if his appearance in the book is canon or not.
 * In early concept art of Jeremy Love for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Jack was featured to be present during a dinner aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge along Barbossa and his crew. However, this directly conflicts with the actual film, because over the course of story, Jack Sparrow retains him inside the bottle where the shrunken Black Pearl was placed by Blackbeard along Jack until Barbossa uses the Sword of Triton to make the Pearl and Jack recover their original sizes. This probably suggests that during the early development of the film, Jack was to reunite with Barbossa earlier than in the finished version of the film.
 * Although never stated, it is possible that Jack's immortality due the curse of the Aztec Gold by the end of Dead Men Tell No Tales had ceased to exist, as Henry Turner destroyed the Trident of Poseidon during the film's climax, eliminating all curses in the Seven Seas, including the Devil's Triangle's curse and seemingly resurrecting Davy Jones. However, that theory could be challenged because the Treasure of Cortés was cursed on land, not the sea, which means Jack could still be cursed. At the moment, there is no official confirmation for any of the two possibilities.

Appearances

 * Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (comic)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
 * Pirates of the Caribbean Online
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
 * The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel
 * LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game

Notes and references
Jack der Affe El Mono Jack Jack (singe) Jack (scimmia) ジャック (サル) Jack (małpa) Джек (обезьянка)