Hawkins

This article is about the captain killed by Mercer. You may be looking for Hawkins, a pirate taught by Jack Sparrow.

Hawkins
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Died	1720s, Port Royal
Title(s)	Captain
Statistics
Ship(s) captained or crewed	Terpsichore
Affiliation	Weatherby Swann
Behind the scenes
First appearance	Dead Man's Chest
Last appearance	Dead Man's Chest
Cause	Deceased

"I've arranged passage to England. The captain is a friend of mine."
"No! Will's gone to find Jack!"

―Weatherby Swann and Elizabeth Swann

Hawkins was a sea captain operating at the time of Lord Cutler Beckett's arrival to Port Royal. He was a friend of Governor Weatherby Swann's at the time Elizabeth Swann was imprisoned and was to help them to escape from Port Royal, but was murdered at the docks by Beckett's assistant and spy Ian Mercer.

Biography

"What's happening, father?"
"There are still men loyal to me here. A ship is waiting. I have arranged a passage to England and sent a letter to the King, detailing what has happened here."

―Elizabeth Swann and Weatherby Swann

Not much is known about Hawkins' early life. At some unspecified point of his life, Hawkins became captain of a ship, which was docked at Port Royal. He also became good friends with Weatherby Swann, the Governor of Port Royal.

Around 1729, after Lord Cutler Beckett from the East India Trading Company took control of Port Royal, Weatherby Swann struck a deal with Hawkins in order to secure passage back to England for his daughter Elizabeth, who had been imprisoned at the Fort Charles prison for helping Captain Jack Sparrow to escape from the gallows the last year. Beckett foresaw this action, however, and had Ian Mercer intercept Hawkins at Port Royal docks. Mercer murdered the captain by stabbing him in the chest, and found about his person a letter to the King of England written by—and thus incriminating—Governor Swann. Elizabeth, however, still managed to get away.

Behind the scenes

• Hawkins first appeared in the junior novelization for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, where he was identified by name. Whereas in the film, the character only appeared as an unnamed captain portrayed by an uncredited actor.
• In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay draft for Dead Man's Chest, Captain Hawkins would be identified by Governor Weatherby Swann. The line never made it to the final cut of the film but was retained in the film's junior novelization.
• Although not named in the film itself, "Captain Hawkins" was revealed by Elliott and Rossio in the audio commentary in the Dead Man's Chest DVD/Blu-ray. Hawkins' backstory was intended to relate to that of Jim Hawkins' father in Treasure Island, explaining the circumstances of his father's disappearance at sea and why he never returned to the Admiral Benbow Inn. However, that story would have contradicted the Treasure Island canon where Jim Hawkins' father dies at his home, the Admiral Benbow Inn.
  • Terry Rossio mentions the trivia twice on the website Wordplay. In the post "Ends of the Earth" (2006/2007), Rossio mistakenly wrote that the Captain slain in Dead Man's Chest was supposed to be named Jim Hawkins. In the post "We Sail With the Tide" (2010), Rossio chatted with a film geek on set who noticed the reference to Jim Hawkins' father in Dead Man's Chest, which impressed him.
• Hawkins' death is absent from the film's comic book adaptation, likely due to its violent nature.
• In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, an image of Hawkins and Mercer in Port Royal is used to describe a scene in Tortuga where James Norrington and Mercer were supposed to meet after Elizabeth Swann leaves Norrington alone on the docks where he is approached by Mercer and struck a deal in the shadows on behalf of his master Lord Cutler Beckett. However, no such scene occurred in any of the various media for Dead Man's Chest, with Norrington and Mercer meeting having only occurred with Norrington giving Beckett the heart of Davy Jones.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization) (First appearance)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide