- "Hey, I know him. He was in Singapore!"
- ―Pintel after discovering Steng's lifeless corpse
Steng was a Chinese spy. Initially stationed among Sao Feng's loyal followers in Singapore, Steng was working for the East India Trading Company at the time of Davy Jones' service to Lord Cutler Beckett during the War Against Piracy.
Biography[]
- "Drop your weapons, or I kill the man!"
"Kill him. He's not our man."
"If he's not with you, and he's not with us...who's he with?" - ―Sao Feng, Hector Barbossa and Will Turner
Not much is known about Steng's early life, but it's known that he was born in China. At some unspecified point of his life, he was hired as spy by the East India Trading Company and Lord Cutler Beckett's clerk Ian Mercer assigned him the task of spying on the infamous South China Sea's Pirate Lord Sao Feng. Steng disguised himself as a Chinese pirate, sporting a fake dragon tattoo on his shoulder blade and infiltrated Feng's bath house in Singapore.[2]
Steng was present during the meeting between Feng, Captain Hector Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann. During the confrontation, Steng's tattoo started to run, and Feng realized the deception. However, Feng believed the spy served Barbossa, and a battle ensued. The East India Trading Company summarily staged an assault on the bath house led by Mercer, but Barbossa, Swann, and their pirates managed to escape, along with Feng and most of his men. Already safe, Feng decided to execute Steng now that he knew his true affiliation. It's unknown who was the one who killed Steng, but it could be assumed that Feng's men or even Feng himself did it. Steng was impaled with Feng's fid through his mouth and his corpse was thrown into the waters of Black Sand Beach, contaminating the water in the process.[2]
Steng's body on Black Sand Beach
Days after, following his escape from Davy Jones' Locker, Jack Sparrow and Barbossa along the Black Pearl's crew discovered Steng's lifeless body on Black Sand Beach, which also became the resting place of the Kraken after Davy Jones, the Captain of the Flying Dutchman, was forced by the EITC to kill it. Pintel recognized Steng upon seeing his corpse, remembering the events at Singapore.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
- Steng first appeared in the junior novelization for the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,[1] where he was portrayed by Larry Leong.[2]
- In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft for At World's End, the character who would eventually become Steng was just one of many unnamed Chinese pirates in Singapore, and Will Turner (under the guise of Lang Si) was the one whose tattoo melted in front of Sao Feng.[4]
- In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's Calypso's Fury revision screenplay draft of At World's End, after Hector Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann find themselves holding a sword in each hand, Sao Feng holds the point of the wooden fid to Steng's face, rather than with the blade of his sword to Steng's chest as in the final version of the film. Amidst the fighting with East India Trading Company agents, a stack of crates is knocked over, and Pintel pushes Steng out of the way as a stack of crates is knocked over, saving him. Steng grins his thanks, then suddenly slashes at Pintel, who jumps back and tells Steng "Hey! You're a pirate!" Steng slashes again, causing Pintel to fall backwards over a rail. Later, Steng would have been found dead at Black Sand Beach with Sao Feng's wooden fid driven through his eye, rather than his mouth like in the film. Pintel was going to recognize him, but he never mentioned having known Steng in Singapore.[5] The scene with Pintel and Steng never made it to the final cut of the film but was retained in the film's junior novelization as well as the deleted scene "You're A Pirate" featured in Blu-ray releases beginning in 2011.[6]
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- ↑ James "Jim" Carson's calendar of Henry Turner's waiting for Will Turner's return from Dead Men Tell No Tales shows that Will Turner's first visit to his family after ten years of captaining the Flying Dutchman, which is shown in the after credits scene of At World's End, occurred in August 1739, which means the Battle of Calypso's maelstrom occurred in August 1729 which sets Steng's death after the Battle of Singapore during the same year.
- ↑ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, original draft
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Deleted Scene: "You're A Pirate"
