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For other uses, see Davy Jones' Locker (disambiguation)

"Jack Sparrow is taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself...stretching on forever. That's what awaits at Davy Jones' Locker."
Tia Dalma[src]

Davy Jones' Locker, also referred to as the Land of the Dead or Land Beyond Death, was a dimension to which souls claimed by the sea, or devoured by the Kraken, were sent. Though it was sometimes used as a term to refer to the bottom of the ocean, Davy Jones' Locker was a barren wasteland. People imprisoned there were technically not dead in the general sense of the word. Whereas, most who died were allowed to have their souls move on to some form of afterlife, Davy Jones' Locker acted as a form of purgatory. This is why Tia Dalma couldn't bring Jack Sparrow back to life–like she did with Hector Barbossa–as his soul was trapped within the Locker.

History[]

"Trust me, young Master Turner. It's not gettin' to the Land of the Dead that's the problem. It's gettin' back."
Hector Barbossa to Will Turner.[src]
Jack Sparrow -12

Jack Sparrow in the Locker.

Mostly referred as a idiom for bottom of the sea,[3] it was a realm of the afterlife after death, known as the "Land of the Dead" or the "Land Beyond Death".[4] The Locker was used by Davy Jones to relegate souls that either refused to join his crew or Jones himself deemed unfit to serve aboard the Flying Dutchman. The interior of the Locker represented a soul's worst fear, so its appearance was believed to be perceived differently by everyone who entered it.

Crew in the Locker

The Motley crew in Davy Jones' Locker.

For Jack Sparrow, the Locker was a vast expanse of hot sand, on which he and his ship, the Black Pearl, were marooned with no hope of reaching the sea. Here, Jack was confronted by several hallucinations, each one presenting various aspects of his persona, created to send him mad over time. This punishment played on Sparrow's love of the sea (in that he equated it with freedom), along with his pride in being "the one and only" Captain Jack Sparrow.

Souls AWE

The lost souls in Davy Jones' Locker.

Sparrow spent months in the locker before he became one of the few to ever escape from the Locker, with the help of his former crew, under the guidance of Hector Barbossa. Black Bart was another to escape, as was Jocard with Sparrow's assistance.

Isla Sirena was said to reside in the Locker, though it could also appear in the real world, presumably when the Sirens were attempting to lure sailors to their doom. Jack Sparrow was one of the few to visit the cave of the mermaids beneath the island, many years before he would visit the Locker itself—though during Sparrow's visit Isla Sirena was visible in the world of the living.

Locker art

Davy Jones' Locker concept art

Behind the scenes[]

"No point in all of us wandering this foul wasteland in search of our beloved Jack and the Pearl...I will go and find him."
[...]
"The legends speak of many strange and deadly creatures who inhabit this land, Captain Barbossa.
"
Hector Barbossa and Tia Dalma[src] (PS2 version)
  • Davy Jones' Locker was first mentioned in Thurl Ravenscroft's 1966 narration recorded for Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride.[5]
  • For filming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, scenes in Davy Jones' Locker were filmed at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.[6]
  • The name "Davy Jones' Locker" originated in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[3] though the alternate names "Land of the Dead" and "Land Beyond Death" first appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide.[4] While Davy Jones' Locker was described as the bottom of the ocean,[3] it was portrayed as a sort of purgatory in At World's End.[2]
  • In real-world history, Davy Jones' Locker is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors.
  • In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow tells Koehler and Twigg that "the deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers."[3] In the 2006 junior novelization, Sparrow says that the deepest circle of Davy Jones's locker, rather than hell.[7]
  • In the At World's End video game, there are several characteristics of the Locker that does not appear in the film.
    • In the PS2, PC, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS: As Barbossa, the player has to cross over several patches of "safe" land and carcasses instead of walking on the sandy desert out of which mutilated zombie hands would attempt to pull the player down. Also visible are whirlwinds of sand in the backdrop, along with a gigantic dead body of the Kraken and several wrecked ships which are inhabited by undead-like pirates, similar to the Drifting Dead from the other console versions of the game, who attempt to jump onto the moving Black Pearl. Distant mountains are also viewable in the scenery. 
    • Another area in the ocean in this version of the game, resembles a primordial volcanic canyon. As Jack, the player has to descend through the valley in search of Gentleman Jocard while facing adversity from extensively dangerous aforementioned pirates, who have objects such as cannons and anchors attached to their bodies. Jack has to free Jocard from a bone-cage set against a backdrop of lava and molten rocks.
    • The volcanic area might be a reference to Hades considering that Greek mythology forms the basis of the plotline of Davy Jones ferrying the souls of the dead to the other side. The Flying Dutchman itself could be a reference to Charon.
    • In the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the same game, there is an area in Davy Jones' Locker called "The Stormy Ship". There, an unknown pirate steers the wheel of his wrecked ship for eternity. This may be a reference to the skeleton helmsman from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
    • The Drifting Dead in this version of the game includes Black Bart, and the Fiddler's Green tavern makes an appearance.
  • One of the six entrances to Ben Gunn's Cave on Adventure Isle in Adventureland at Disneyland Paris is named Davy Jones' Locker.[8]

Appearances[]

Wiki
The Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Davy Jones' Locker.

Sources[]

External links[]

See also[]

Notes and references[]

Locations in Pirates of the Caribbean
Africa
Barbary CoastCalabarEgyptKermaSlave CoastTripoli

The Americas
BostonFloridaLouisianaMexicoNew OrleansNorth Carolina
PanamaPeruSavannahVirginiaYucatán Peninsula


Asia
BombayChinaHong KongIndiaNipponShanghaiSingapore


The Bahamas
AndrosNassauNew AvalonNew Providence


The Caribbean
AntiguaBlack rock islandCubaDevil's TriangleHangman's BayHispaniola
Ile d'Etable de PorcIsla De La AvariciaIsla CrucesIsla de MuertaIsla de Pelegostos
MartiniquePadres Del FuegoPort RoyalPoseidon's Tomb
Puerto RicoSaint MartinShipwreck IslandTortugaUnnamed Island


Europe
CádizFranceGibraltarGreat BritainHolland
LondonMarseillePortugalSpain


Other locations
Davy Jones' LockerFarthest GateIce PassageIsla Sirena

[edit]
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