Curse of the Aztec Gold

Curse of the Aztec Gold
Object information
Creator	Heathen Gods
Affiliation	Treasure of Cortés Curse Blood ritual Cursed crew Jack the Monkey
Behind the scenes
First appearance	The Curse of the Black Pearl
Latest appearance	Dead Man's Chest

"So the heathen gods placed upon the gold...a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity."

―Hector Barbossa

The curse of the Aztec Gold, also known as the curse of Cortés or the Aztec Curse, was dark magic cast upon the treasure of Cortés, consisting of a stone chest with 882 pieces of Aztec gold. Having seen Cortés' greed he wreaked upon with his armies, the heathen gods placed a curse on the gold: any mortal who removed a piece from the chest would be punished for eternity. The only way to lift the curse was by returning all the pieces of the Aztec gold and the blood repaid in a ritual. Upon first hearing the tale, Hector Barbossa's crew laughed at the stories about the curse, with Barbossa himself believing it to be a ridiculous superstition. By the time they learned the truth, it was too late. It took ten years until the crew's curse was lifted.

History

Legend

"I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa."
"Aye. That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an island of dead what cannot be found, except for those who know where it is."

―Elizabeth Swann and Hector Barbossa

Mexico's rulers of the Aztec Empire delivered a stone chest with 882 pieces of Aztec gold to Hernán Cortés in an attempt to stop the looting of their country and the slaughter of their people. But in his greed, Cortés refused to halt his conquest. In response, the heathen gods placed a curse upon the gold, so that any mortal who removed a single coin from the chest would be punished for eternity. The only way to lift the curse was to return all the Aztec gold pieces to the chest and pay the heathen gods back in blood. Ultimately, the treasure of Cortés would end up in the caves of Isla de Muerta.

Blood of the Aztec Curse

"So there is a curse. That's interesting."

―Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow, not swayed by the tales of the curse, intended on finding the Treasure of Cortés aboard the Black Pearl. Jack had heard rumors that the treasure was cursed, but luckily for him, Hector Barbossa and his crew marooned him before he could take his share of the gold. Upon first hearing about the curse from Jack, the crew ended up not believing in the curse, with Barbossa himself having said, "Ridiculous superstition!"

Becoming Cursed

"Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all. We spent 'em and traded 'em and frittered 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company. The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize...the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, Miss Turner. Compelled by greed, we were, but now...we are consumed by it."

―Hector Barbossa to Elizabeth Swann

Using the bearings acquired from Jack Sparrow, Captain Hector Barbossa and his crew were able to find Isla de Muerta as well as the Aztec stone chest within its caves. There Barbossa's crew summarily stole all 882 pieces of the Aztec gold, including Barbossa's pet monkey, unnamed at that point but later named "Jack" after their former captain. Even though each member of Barbossa's crew knew about the curse, they didn't believe it, but the removal of the gold pieces was an act which the crew would later regret. As they went carousing, spending and trading all the gold on drink, food, and "pleasurable company", the pirates became aware of the curse they were under. The delights they'd obtained no longer gave them pleasure, nor satisfaction, as they were unable to feel or taste anything. Under the curse, Barbossa's crew had been condemned to a form of living death in which all the riches and luxuries in the world were useless to them. When they stepped into the moonlight, their flesh vanished from their bones and the pirates appeared as undead skeletons, a revelation of what they had become. Finally aware that the Aztec curse was real, Barbossa's crew returned to Isla de Muerta to find a way to end their punishment. There, they found out that the effects of the curse could be reversed only when every last piece of the Aztec gold was returned to the stone chest from which it came.

It wasn't until Bootstrap Bill Turner was sent to the depths did the crew learned of an additional requirement: that all who stole from the chest had to pay the heathen gods in blood in a ritual, which now seemed impossible with Bootstrap lost to them. But a chance of hope lay with Turner's child, who had both his gold medallion and Turner blood in his veins. Thus, Barbossa's crew set about, attempting to reclaim all 882 pieces of the treasure.

Lifting the Curse

"There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid."

―Hector Barbossa

Jack Sparrow discovering that the curse is real.

Ten years had passed since Hector Barbossa's cursed crew started their quest, with sightings being reported all over the world, with the cursed crew having collected all but one of the gold pieces and had already given their blood to the gold. However, the crew still needed the last coin as well as blood of their last crewmen, Bootstrap Bill Turner, who was lost to them, from his only child. Having sensed the final coin, Barbossa's crew led an attack on Port Royal. It was during this attack that Jack Sparrow, who was locked up in the town's prison, learns that the curse was real once Koehler grabbed him through the prison bars. As the moonlight falls on the pirates arm, Jack mutters "So there is a curse. That's interesting." Following the attack, Barbossa's men obtained the final Aztec gold medallion from Elizabeth Swann, whom they believed to be a descendant of Bootstrap Bill Turner. And so the Black Pearl set a course for Isla de Muerta.

The moonlight showing the true form of Barbossa's crew.

While the Black Pearl sailed in the moonlit night, Barbossa had Elizabeth as his guest for a dinner in his cabin. It was here that Barbossa told Elizabeth the story of the curse, and how it had fallen upon the crew, rendering them unable to feel or taste. Barbossa also told her that her blood was the last ingredient needed to lift the curse. After that, Elizabeth leapt up and attempted to run out of the cabin, having stabbed Barbossa with a knife from the table. However, she was shocked to see that Barbossa was still alive and ran face-to-face with Barbossa's skeletal crew of the living dead. Barbossa explained the curse's effect on the crew, drinking wine as evidence. Elizabeth then ran back into the cabin, where she remained for the remainder of the voyage, terrified of what she had seen.

First Attempt

"It didn't work."
"The curse it still upon us!"

―Ragetti and Twigg

Upon arriving to Isla de Muerta, Barbossa used Elizabeth to perform the blood ritual to lift the curse. However, although they performed the ritual, the entire crew didn't feel any different. As a test, Barbossa shot Pintel with his pistol to see if the curse was lifted; but Pintel didn't die. Barbossa confronted Elizabeth, realizing that Elizabeth was not the child of Bootstrap Bill. The crew then began to argue amongst themselves on their unsuccessful attempt to lift the curse until Barbossa realized that Elizabeth had taken the medallion and escaped to the Interceptor. But with the help of their old, left for dead captain Jack Sparrow, the crew was able to catch up with the Interceptor and retrieved the medallion. By the time the Black Pearl returned to Isla de Muerta, Barbossa's crew had Will Turner, the true descendant of Bootstrap Bill Turner, as their prisoner.

The cursed crew while walking underwater.

Second Attempt

"Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment."

―Jack Sparrow

Entering the caves of Isla de Muerta, Barbossa once again aimed to lift their curse, this time with the intention of killing Will and using his blood in the ritual. Barbossa and his crew prepared to perform the blood ritual once again, but was interrupted by Jack Sparrow, who warned Barbossa that the HMS Dauntless was offshore waiting for his crew. Upon this revelation, Barbossa, despite his desire to lift the curse, listened to Jack's proposal and agreed to it. And so Barbossa sent his crewmen for attack, save for three of his men. But to Jack's dismay, having planned on Barbossa's men using the longboats to attack the Dauntless crew, Barbossa ordered the crew to "take a walk". So as the pirates were indestructible beings, they staged a surprise attack on the Dauntless by simply walking on the sea bed and climbed up from the ship's anchor to ambush the Dauntless crew.

Jack revealing to Barbossa that he was cursed.

Barbossa, Will, and Jack waited in the caves for the slaughter to end, until Jack tossed Will a sword. With the tides turned, Will freed himself and fought Barbossa's men, while Jack and Barbossa pulled out their own swords and duel ensued. Jack and Barbossa fought a fierce battle around the treasure cave until Jack stabbed Barbossa, who then pulled the sword out and stabbed Jack with it. However, once Jack stepped into the moonlight, he turned into a skeleton, revealing that he was cursed; having secretly palmed a piece of the Aztec gold. Though they were both immortal, Jack and Barbossa continued their fight through the caves. Elizabeth later arrives to help Will fight the cursed pirates. They then teamed up to kill the pirates using one of Jacoby's grenades that were planted inside of him before he reverted to his human form; thereby blowing his body to pieces.

Witnessing this, Jack cuts his hand, putting his blood on his piece of the gold, and threw his coin to Will before shooting Barbossa in the heart. Believing he was invincible, Barbossa gloated at Jack, saying that he wasted his shot. However, Will dropped the last two gold pieces, with his blood on his coin, onto the chest, thereby lifting the Aztec curse. Barbossa then saw that his chest was bleeding. Human once more, Barbossa looked stated that he felt cold before falling to the cave floor, dead.

After the Curse was Lifted

"Scurvy cutthroats who turn into the bony undead under moonlight! Looks like your old crew is back from the grave again, Jack! Let's see to it that they rest in pieces, shall we?"
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid! It's bloody hard to kill something that's already dead!"

―Will Turner and Jack Sparrow

Back on the Dauntless, Barbossa's crew reverted from undead skeletons to normal pirates. But their joy was short-lived, as the now-mortal pirates found themselves surrounded by the Dauntless crew, dropping their weapons and surrendering. Although the surviving members of Barbossa's crew were captured by the British Royal Navy, some would later escape and returned to Isla de Muerta, where they became cursed once more, vowing revenge against Jack Sparrow. At some point in time, Barbossa's pet "Jack" the monkey would appear in the cave, where he would take a piece of the Aztec gold and became cursed once again.

Jack the Monkey under the Aztec curse again.

Some time later, the entire island of the dead was swallowed into the sea, taking all the treasure along with it, effectively vanishing from the face of the earth. "Jack" the monkey survived because of the Aztec curse, and ended up aboard the Black Pearl, under the command of Jack Sparrow. The undead monkey remained cursed throughout Sparrow's further adventures, though the status of the Aztec curse is unknown following the destruction of the Trident of Poseidon, which broke all the curses of the sea.

The Curse

"The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living and so we cannot die. But neither are we dead. For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death, and haven't died! I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face, nor the spray of the sea...nor the warmth of a woman's flesh."

―Hector Barbossa

Legends tell that the Aztec curse bestowed by the Heathen Gods punished any who stole from the stone chest. Those who fell under the curse would have achieved a form of immortality, as they were no longer alive and could not die. Nevertheless, the curse deprived the greedy beholders of all feeling; pain or pleasure—food, drink or women. Though the accursed could not die, they were doomed to a lifeless existence. When victims of the curse step into the moonlight, they turn into walking undead skeletons, a revelation of their true nature. In this state, they are particularly vulnerable to physical damage, with strong blows being enough to physically take them apart.

Jack Sparrow had heard rumors that the treasure was cursed, but his crew, led by Hector Barbossa, mutinied and marooned him before he could take his share of the gold. Sparrow learned the truth when Koehler, one member of the mutinous crew, grabbed him through the bars of Port Royal prison. As moonlight fell on the pirate's arm, Jack muttered, "So there is a curse. That's interesting."

The curse only affected anyone who specifically took the coins from the stone chest; Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann each owned a piece of the treasure that had been taken out of the chest by Bootstrap Bill Turner and were never aware of the curse. When a cursed person takes a coin from the chest, no new curse has been given. This is particularly noted after Barbossa used Elizabeth to lift the curse when, after returning the coin, he grabbed it straight from the chest and gave it to Elizabeth.

Behind the scenes

"When I first heard the pitch from Ted and Terry, what I liked about it was that it was a terrific perversion of the classic tale, I came in asking, 'What is the standard plot structure? Is it a kidnapping? Is it buried treasure?' When actually, it has all of these qualities, yet the principle one is reversed. It is a film about finding the last piece of treasure and putting it back. Barbossa and his pirates need to return the last piece of cursed treasure so they can feel the pleasures of the flesh-and-blood world. The curse has allowed Barbossa and his pirates to keep the currency and to continue their villainy, but they're not able to enjoy it."

―Gore Verbinski

• The curse of the Aztec Gold was first featured in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. "Curse of the Aztec Gold" and "Aztec Curse" originated from the 2006 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, later reprinted in the 2007 book The Complete Visual Guide, with "curse of the Aztec gold" also used in The Pirates' Guidelines. There is a "Master Replicas" product based on the gold medallion, which has a description that includes the name "Curse of Cortez" but with the incorrect spelling of "z" in Hernán Cortés' name.
• Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio presented director Gore Verbinski their outline for the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and the director liked what he heard in that it was the element of the curse in the story that, in Verbinski's words, "was really an opportunity to turn the movie on its head and open it up as a genre." Verbinski also stated, "It is a film about finding the last piece of treasure and putting it back. Barbossa and his pirates need to return the last piece of cursed treasure so they can feel the pleasures of the flesh-and-blood world. The curse has allowed Barbossa and his pirates to keep the currency and to continue their villainy, but they’re not able to enjoy it.” As covered in the "Spirit Of The Ride" bonus feature of the film's initial DVD release, the cursed treasure of Cortés is an homage to Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, derived from the narrative provided by the ride, specifically the idea of the cursed treasure and cursed pirates in the first part of the ride with the skeletons and the ghostly voices that say, "No fear have ye of evil curses, says you? Arrrgh...Properly warned ye be, says I. Who knows when that evil curse will strike the greedy beholders of this bewitched treasure?" as well as "Aye, blood money and cursed it be. Cursed by the black-hearted rogues what left it." That became the idea of the curse that the cursed crew are under in the film.
• In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa is surprised to see Jack Sparrow cursed after stabbing him during the battle of Isla de Muerta, even though he saw Jack taking the cursed coins from the chest right in front of him earlier, and Barbossa having personally stated to Elizabeth Swann that "Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity." This may or may not be considered a plot hole.
• The Aztec curse would be referenced in some of the Disney Parks attractions. Pintel and Ragetti appear in Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Pintel and Ragetti are seen deep in the caves of "Dead Man's Grotto" as undead "pop-up" gags as they guard cursed treasure as well as other effects featuring disappearing treasure. On July 24, 2017, the Disneyland Paris version of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction reopened with Hector Barbossa appearing in skeletal form in the attraction.
• There are other curses throughout the Pirates franchise that appear to be based on the Aztec curse. Due to being released around the same time as The Curse of the Black Pearl, the 2003 video game Pirates of the Caribbean features a skeleton curse among an undead crew of the Black Pearl. In the 2007 Secrets of the Deep comic The Haunting of Jack Sparrow!, Jack turns into a skeleton after stealing the Pelegostos dagger from Isla de Pelegostos. Another similar curse inhabits the treasure at Devil's Anvil in the game Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

Cortés is cursed, as seen in LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.

• The nature of the cursed coins was further explored in the non-canon video game Kingdom Hearts II. Luxord explains that darkness of men's hearts is drawn to the medallions, which he is able to use to create a "Grim Reaper" Heartless from. The Heartless created from the curse had the ability to curse those who had no contact with the medallions.
• In the 2011 video game LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, when Barbossa was explaining the cursed treasure, there was an animation explaining it and presenting a flashback of the Aztec Empire as well as his and Jack's search for the cursed gold and Jack's marooning as well as Cortés and the conquest of the Aztecs.
• In the 2013 video game Disney Infinity, the "Cursed Pirate Gold" is a Costume Change Disc which, when placed under Jack Sparrow on the Disney Infinity Base, changes his appearance to his cursed form from The Curse of the Black Pearl.
• In the 2021 video game expansion Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life, Davy Jones promised a skeleton pirate lord named the Gold Hoarder the Aztec Gold when the Dark Brethren succeed in conquering the Sea of Thieves, since he's already undead and cannot be affected by the curse.

Appearances

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland Paris)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters (Mentioned only)
• Six Sea Shanties: Strangers Bearing Gifts
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (comic)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
• Revenge of the Pirates!
• The Capture of Jack Sparrow!
• Legend of the Aztec Idol!
• Open Sesame!
• The Buccaneer's Heart! (Non-canonical appearance)
• Chain Reaction!
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
• Kingdom Hearts II (Non-canonical appearance)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
• Disney Infinity (Non-canonical appearance)

Source

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide (First identified as Curse of the Aztec Gold and Aztec curse)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide