Pirates of the Caribbean/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Barbossa: I feel...cold
Davy Jones: Calypso...
Beckett: It's just.. good business.

  • Alternative Character Interpretation: There's various ways to interpret Norrington. Some see him as bastard Inspector Javert who was only trying to save his own hide and honor, some (usually females) see him as The Woobie who got way more punches than he deserved and did what any other reasonable human would have done in his situation. Those are the most popular, there's also handful of other points of view.
    • And so is Cutler Beckett. Many people see him as a Complete Monster (see below), while some consider him as a Hero Antagonist who wants the best for England, and tries to remove the evil of piracy, who are the real villains in their interpretation.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: For the fourth movie, Ian McShane as Blackbeard.
  • And You Thought It Would Fail: Critics expected Curse of the Black Pearl to be a faint blip on the cinematic landscape, destined to set an example for those with the absurd thought of adapting theme park rides for the big screen and that pirate movies were forever dead, destined to flop ... Boy were they wrong.
  • Awesome Moments: See for yourself.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: Dead Man's Chest gets a lot of flak for the scenes with the island natives being pretty much this, even though the writers wrote it with the intention of showing that Jack wasn't safe anywhere he went, be that on land or water. It's also the resolution to a Brick Joke that Jack ad-libbed in the first film.
    • The trippy peanut scene from the third film.
    • The very beginning of Dead Man's Chest, with what is either a prison that executes inmates on an industrial scale or possibly the gates of hell.
    • On Stranger Tides, the few moments Jack spends stealing Judi Dench's earring.
  • Cargo Ship:
    • Jack and his jar of dirt.
    • By the fourth film's end it is made very clear that though Captain Jack Sparrow may love rum, the company of women (and men), and the freedom to do whatever he damn well pleases...there is only one thing that truly, genuinely, has his heart...and that...is his beloved Black Pearl.
  • Cliché Storm: It almost seems like the filmmakers were saving it all up for the third film.
  • Complete Monster:
    • Beckett in At World's End; the first live-action Disney Villain to order the execution of hundreds of mostly-innocent people, including a child.

"By decree, according to martial law, the following statutes are temporarily amended: Right to assembly, suspended." [a group of people are hung] "Right to habeas corpus, suspended." [another group of people are hung] "Right to legal counsel, suspended." [another group of people are hung] "Right to verdict by a jury of peers, suspended." [another group of people are hung]

    • Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides. The last thing he does is try to get his own daughter to kill herself so that HE can live! This is after his sick game of Russian Roulette with her as the target to force Jack to jump off the cliff (and he also ordered the pirate who actually set up the Russian Roulette to make sure that he arranges it in such a way that not even he knows which two guns had bullets). And his torture of Syrena.
  • Crazy Awesome: Both Captains of the Black Pearl get a lot of this. Jack's father too. It's in the genes.

Lord Cutler Beckett: You're mad!
Captain Jack Sparrow: Thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work.

  • Creepy Awesome: The mermaids in On Stranger Tides.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Special mention goes to the main theme, Davy Jones' theme, both the organ and music box versions, and the love theme for Will and Elizabeth in At World's End, which becomes the backbone for the entire score of the movie...Then again, it is Hans Zimmer's work.
    • Hoist the Colours!
    • The Kraken!
    • The track "Parlay" is an homage to Sergio Leone's "Man With A Harmonica". Barbossa, Jack, and Elizabeth are walking down a sandbar to parlay with Beckett, Davy Jones, and Will... and then the electric guitar slashes in. Truly one of the best moments, at least in terms of cinematography, in the entire trilogy.
      • According to Zimmer, this isn't even a guitar but the orchestra put through a guitar amp.
    • Tia Dalma, a less epic but very atmospheric track.
    • Subverted hilariously in On Stranger Tides.
    • What Shall We Die For.
  • Cult Classic: The original theme park ride.
  • Die for Our Ship - Willabeth vs. Sparrabeth is Serious Business.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Norrington.
  • Dry Docking: The YKKTW for the trope was even called "Stay Away From Jack Sparrow!"
  • Ear Worm: All of Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt's music is pretty catchy, but two tunes stand supreme: "He's a Pirate", the de facto theme song of the movies and "Hoist the Colours" from the beginning of third movie.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse:
    • Norrington.
    • Lieutenants Gillette and Groves (the latter not even being named in film) are very popular among the Yaoi Fangirl population.
    • Barbossa in the third film went from "Love to Hate" villain to "love to watch" good guy.
    • Some people find Anamaria to be a cooler Pirate Girl than Elizabeth despite only appearing in one movie.
    • Tia Dalma. Along with Davy Jones, she's one of the few things about the sequels that everyone likes.
    • Mercer, Lord Beckett's second-in-command.
    • The fandom seems to have taken a shine to the Spaniard from On Stranger Tides despite (or perhaps because of) his limited screen-time.
    • Davy Jones, aka Cthulhu in a pirate costume.
  • Ending Fatigue: Even those who like At World's End have to admit that the final battle goes on... and on... and on.. and on...
  • Evil Is Cool: Barbossa, Davy Jones, Cutler Becket, and Blackbeard all have their cool moments, and thus all have their fans.
  • Evil Is Sexy: The mermaids in the fourth film, if you see them as evil.
  • Family-Unfriendly Aesop: Piracy is synonymous with liberty. "Freedom" means "I'm allowed to rape, steal, and murder." The government shouldn't protect people from violence, and criminals can do whatever they want.
  • First Installment Wins: Most people consider the first to be the best because it was fresh and original in it's style and humor....and then Sequelitis happened
  • Foe Yay: Jack and... well, pretty much everybody. Partly Johnny Depp, Jack Sparrow's actor's fault, since he confirmed that Jack is bisexual.
  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: Jack getting slapped by women may be hard to watch given the circus of domestic violence accusations flung back and forth between Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard.
  • High Octane Nightmare Fuel: You wanna see through the point of view of those poor sods who fall into the hidden jaws of the Kraken?
    • When you first see the crew of the Black Pearl really look... Either that, or it's just cool.
    • Davy Jones' crew, especially that the fact the ship is alive.
    • Jack's hallucination of himself as part of the ship, just like Bootstrap Bill in the third movie. A funnier instance, but still pretty freaky.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: Blackbeard, he's 70 in On Stranger Tides, yet died in real life at 40, has a crew composed of zombies made from his sword, and can bring ships to life.
    • Of course, the real Blackbeard was no slouch in the villain department. Stranger Tides kept him alive thirty years longer and gave him supernatural powers, and if anything toned down his overall bastardry.
  • Ho Yay: Yaoi Fangirls around the world see it, at least. Jack and Will, Jack and Norrington, and more.

{The first movie} so wraps you -- okay, me -- up in its aching yearning for the rash and the adventurous and the romantic that you -- okay, I -- let out a little gasp of frustration every time Orlando Bloom fails to kiss Keira Knightly, or Johnny Depp fails to kiss Keira Knightley, or Johnny Depp fails to kiss Orlando Bloom. God, somebody kiss anybody, I just can't stand the anticipation anymore.

    • Jack and Beckett was rather blatant, especially in the extended version of their "The Thing You Want Most" scene in AWE. Beckett sounds more sad than angry, which hints that it was something a bit more than a betrayal against the company. Beckett also, several times, tries not to laugh, or laugh too hard at Jack's antics, almost like he doesn't want to be lulled into the sense that everything is still okay between them. In addition, this is one of the only scenes were Beckett spends the majority of it not looking at the person he's talking to.
    • Pintel and Ragetti. Even the latter's actor during the second movie stated he thought the characters were a gay couple. It must be the pink shirt.
  • Iron Woobie: Norrington
  • Jerkass Woobie: Davy Jones
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Captain Jack.
  • Like You Would Really Do It: Killing Jack for real in Dead Man's Chest. Of course, it turned out to be a mere Our Hero Is Dead and he gets better after being rescued.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Captain Jack Sparrow is quite a good guy by pirate standards, but he's still got just enough of a treacherous streak to qualify for this. Wouldn't want things to get boring, after all. Jack is one of those characters who really puts the "magnificent" in this trope, though.
    • Barbossa is a contender too, particularly in On Stranger Tides.
      • As is Lord Cutler Beckett in Dead Man's Chest, before he gets worse in the next film.
  • Memetic Badass: Outside of the mains, it's generally Marty who is seen as the best fighter in the crew. This might have something to do with his being played by real life tough-guy Martin Klebba.
  • Memetic Mutation: I've got a jar of dirt...
  • Moral Event Horizon: In Curse of the Black Pearl, the pirates just engage in generic villainy and are demonstrated to be sympathetic since they're trying to break their curse. They cross this though once they decide to cut Elizabeth's throat, "just in case", when her blood fails to do the trick.
    • After kicking several dogs in Dead Man's Chest, Lord Cutler Buckett finally crosses this in the opening scene of At World's End. see Complete Monster above for details.
  • More Popular Spinoff: It was based on a theme park ride after all. (Albeit Disney's cult favorite theme park ride.) When Dead Man's Chest came out, the attraction was updated to feature Jack, Barbossa and Davy Jones.
  • One True Threesome: Jack/Will/Elizabeth is quite popular, and supported by the film's Love Triangle.
  • Retroactive Recognition: Anamaria. Hey, kids! It's Neytiri! Or Nyota Uhura!
  • Romantic Plot Tumor: It is rumored that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley's decisions not to reprise their respective roles for On Stranger Tides, as well as their Creator Backlash bordering on Old Shame dispositions toward the characters, stem from the romance story which took over the trilogy, rather than the characters themselves.
    • The subplot between Philip and Syrena in On Stranger Tides, which grinds the film to a stop each time they appear. To its credit, however, it does, in fact, remain a subplot.
  • The Scrappy: Philip the clergyman. The most he does is prevent Syrena from suffocating in her glass coffin and whine about salvation around Blackbeard. He comes off very strongly as a Creator's Pet because of this.
  • Shipping: Contains every imaginable type of ship. Trope Codifier for "shipping" as a verb!
  • Spiritual Licensee: The films have a great deal in common with the seafaring horror stories of William Hope Hodgson, especially "The Ghost Pirates" and "The Derelict".
  • Straw Man Has a Point: Though he was cursed for doing so, Davy Jones's reasons for abandoning the job and giving the Brethren Court the means to bind Calypso were pretty understandable. Despite Calypso's line of "It's my nature", it's a very flimsy excuse for having him do his job for ten years and then not give him the small reward he earned (seeing him for one day). On the other hand, neither Jones nor Calypso comes out of that relationship looking too good.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The addition of elements from the movies to the original rides has resulted in quite the Broken Base. Hell, even BEFORE the movies existed, there were fans outraged over the differences between the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions.
  • Uncanny Valley: There's just something strange about Calypso, mostly when she grows and starts speaking jibberish.
    • Also Bootstrap Bill, practically a living piece of the Dutchman's wall. Jack hallucinates himself in this same way too.
  • Villain Decay: Davy Jones, the most feared being of the seven seas, is (somewhat awkwardly for him, at least) demoted to The Dragon to the stuffed-shirt, civilized Brits in the third film by their possession of his heart, who unaccountably maintain their insistence in the triumph of reason over superstition while ordering Jones around. He gets his thunder back at the climax though- a fair bit of the final battle is him Kicking Dogs, being Badass, or a combination thereof.
    • Barbossa, sort of. Very intentional in the fourth movie, although undone by the end of the film, which sees him return to his proper badassery.
  • Why Would Anyone Take Her Back?: Averted. Jack maroons Angelica's traitorous, backstabbing ass on an island and leaves her there after rejecting every play for sympathy she makes. In the process proving he really is smarter than everyone gives him credit for.
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