"Too long my fate has not been in me own hands...No longer."

―Hector Barbossa to Elizabeth Swann^[src]

was the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea. In his youth, he was an honest sailor who left to make an easier living as a pirate. At some point he became Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea after the previous Lord passed his Piece of Eight to Barbossa. One day he joined the crew of the Black Pearl, captained by Jack Sparrow. After two years of sailing under Sparrow's command, Barbossa lead a mutiny against Jack and marooned him on an uninhabited island and then journeyed to the Isla de Muerta to claim the treasure of Cortés. Barbossa's crew later found out that the legends about the treasure's curse were true. In order to undo the curse, the crew set out to find the coins that they had spent away. After ten years, the curse was lifted by Will Turner, son of lost crew member Bootstrap Bill and Barbossa was killed by his old captain Jack Sparrow.

Some time later Barbossa was resurrected by Tia Dalma, secretly the sea goddess Calypso in human form. She demanded that Barbossa free her from her human bonds in return for his resurrection. Barbossa grudgingly accepted, and set out, along with the remainder of Jack Sparrow's crew, to free Jack, who had been killed by a sea-creature called the Kraken, from Davy Jones' Locker. Barbossa acquired a ship from fellow Pirate Lord Sao Feng, set out along with his former enemies and rescued Jack from the Locker. Once free, Barbossa demanded that Jack go to the conclave of Pirate Lords at Shipwreck Cove, in order to decide what was to be done about the East India Trading Company, which was eradicating pirates around the world. Barbossa secretly wanted to steal the other pieces of eight from the Pirate Lords, which he would be able to use to free Calypso, and settle his debt.

After the War Against Piracy, he went to search for the Fountain of Youth. During his search, Barbossa was employed by the British Royal Navy to work as a privateer for King George II. He was given captaincy of the HMS Providence, and his quest continued.

(more...)

• … that Ian McShane has portrayed another pirate besides Blackbeard? He voiced Captain Hook in the Shrek series.

• … that the name for Sao Feng's navigational charts is the Mao Kun map?

• … that the Sunset, the real world ship that portrayed the Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, portrayed the Queen Anne's Revenge in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?

• … that USA Network has the cable broadcasting rights for the first three Pirates films?

• … that Ian McShane's Blackbeard had temporarily replaced Bill Nighy's Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and Disney World?

• … that Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio wrote the first draft for the first Pirates of the Caribbean film in the 1990s?