| “ | If I don't kill a man every now and then, they forget who I am. | „ |
| ~ Blackbeard to Angelica. |
| “ | If I don't make it to the fountain in time, neither will you. | „ |
| ~ Blackbeard to Jack Sparrow. |
Captain Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, is the main antagonist of the 2011 fantasy swashbuckler film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
He is an infamous pirate, based on the real-life pirate of the same name, who wishes to claim the Fountain of Youth for himself.
He is also a pirate that every pirate in the world is afraid of (presumably and arguably apart from Hector Barbossa and Davy Jones) due to his powers and ruthlessness. While most pirates in the series are depicted in a terrifying yet cool way, Blackbeard is notable for being an exception, being ruthless and sadistic enough to be considered one of the most evil pirates seen in the franchise. He is also the arch-enemy of Barbossa, due to attacking and taking the Black Pearl away from him.
He was portrayed by Ian McShane.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Although he has a tragic backstory of being born in poverty and raised in squalor, it doesn't relate to his current life and crimes.
- On his raids, he made it clear with his flag that he would kill whoever refused to surrender to him, killing countless men.
- Decorated the Queen Anne's Revenge with the skeletons of his victims as trophies.
- Used voodoo magic to turn many of his victims into zombies to serve him as part of his crew.
- Magically trapped ships and vessels in individual glass bottles, which he kept on his cabin.
- While he valued his daughter Angelica, leaving her in a convent to protect her from other men and often sending money to the nuns for Angelica's care, he sheds that one redeeming quality, as Blackbeard put Angelica's life in danger throughout the film despite Angelica's wishes to see him redeemed to save his soul, demonstrating that his views over his daughter have changed and he ultimately just saw her as a tool.
- Between the 3rd and the 4th movies, he attacked the Black Pearl unprovoked and possessed its rigging to attack the crew, forcing Hector Barbossa to cut off his own leg to escape with his life. It's unspecified what happened with the crew, but it's highly likely that they were all killed minus Jack the Monkey and Mr. Cotton's Parrot.
- The return of Marty, Murtogg and Mullroy in the fifth film indicates there were probably others survivors. But the other possibility is that Marty, Murtogg and Mullroy weren't on the Pearl at the moment of Blackbeard's attack because their return is not explained.
- During one of his raids on a Caribbean island, he tried to kill the young missionary Phillip Swift, but only desisted from killing him at Angelica's urge, who considered Swift a possible key to redeeming her father. Afterwards, he had Swift lashed onto the mast of the Queen Anne's Revenge.
- Put the Cook on a longboat and then burned him with the Greek fire of the Queen Anne's Revenge just because he was part of the mutiny that Jack Sparrow organized to make an example out of him to his other crewmen.
- Although he wanted Jack Sparrow alive, it was only because this latter had information about the Fountain of Youth and could help him in his objectives. However, it never prevented him from threatening Jack.
- Made a voodoo doll of Jack Sparrow and used it to torture him if Jack refused to help on the quest for the Fountain of Youth.
- Had his men attempt to capture a mermaid on Whitecap Bay, risking their lives while he remained safely on land. When the mermaids started to attack them, he didn't let them run for their lives as he ordered them to head back to the water, and threatened to shoot them if they returned to land.
- Threatened to shoot his daughter if Jack didn't jump off a cliff to search the Santiago and the Chalices of Cartagena. He then forced Jack to chose one of six pistols, four empty and two loaded.
- When Jack realized that Blackbeard was being serious and was assured by the Quartermaster that he would survive the jump, he jumped. Even though Blackbeard assures Angelica that he knew which pistols were loaded, he does so in a way that suggests to the audience that he was lying, this being another example that he didn't care for her.
- Even if he were telling the truth, he was still risking his daughter's life had Sparrow chosen a loaded pistol.
- When Jack realized that Blackbeard was being serious and was assured by the Quartermaster that he would survive the jump, he jumped. Even though Blackbeard assures Angelica that he knew which pistols were loaded, he does so in a way that suggests to the audience that he was lying, this being another example that he didn't care for her.
- Ordered Syrena to walk despite that she was hurt from her previous sword injury on Whitecap Bay. He disparagingly referred to her as a "creature".
- When Syrena refused to cry so he would not get a tear of hers, he ordered the Quartermaster to kill Phillip, whom she had been developing feelings for. However, the Quartermaster just sedated Phillip, and when Syrena cried for joy when he was revealed to be alive and Blackbeard got the tear, he still cruelly left her to die slowly and painfully in the Jungle Pools like all the previous mermaids before her.
- Upon realizing that Jack had lied about having been at the Fountain of Youth previously, he ordered the Quartermaster to shoot Jack dead and later tried to do it himself when Jack ricocheted the Quartermaster's shot with the chalices before the entrance to the Fountain opened.
- Killed Lieutenant Gillette for defending Barbossa during his final fight.
- When given the chance of drinking the Chalice without the tear to save Angelica or drink the Chalice with the tear at the cost of Angelica's life, he tried to drink the Chalice with the tear so Angelica could save him. This can be considered the final example that Blackbeard ultimately didn't care at all for Angelica and was willing to sacrifice her to save himself. However, in the end, Blackbeard was the one who perished because Jack purposely mixed the Chalices to save Angelica.
- Although his fate to be dissolved by the waters of the Fountain and turned into an inert skeleton is horrible, he fully deserved it for his horrible deeds.
- Even his crew doesn't mourn his death: when he is fatally stabbed and poisoned by Barbossa, they go with Barbossa and let the Spaniard destroys the Fontain.
- The only person to ever mourn him was his daughter.
- Unlike other pirates and villains of the franchise, who are either honorable, tragic or have noble goals, Blackbeard has nothing alike. He is a sadistic, ruthless and remorseless pirate captain who enjoys being feared due the destruction and misery he causes. He is also not above abusing and killing his own men on the basis that if he doesn't kill a man every now and then, they would forget who he is.
- Though fearing for his soul's fate upon death and apparently willing to redeem himself, Blackbeard makes no effort to do so, reluctantly sparing some of his victims at Angelica's urge and even admits that he feels closer to God when he sees suffering, pain and anguish. While Jack noted that Blackbeard could have possibly redeemed himself for saving Angelica's life, Blackbeard never intended to save his daughter but himself, leading Phillip Swift to rightly conclude that while even bad people have some good on them and their souls can be saved sometimes, including those of the Queen Anne's Revenge crew, Blackbeard is a notable exception of this and will never find redemption.
- Although villains like Davy Jones, Lord Cutler Becket and even Armando Salazar are even more dangerous, Blackbeard has less resources and uses all those which are at his disposal.
Trivia[]
- Ironically, after tricking Blackbeard into drinking from the Chalice of Cartagena without the tear to save Angelica, Jack Sparrow joked that "perhaps his soul is now redeemed" because he had saved his daughter. Of course, this was not redeeming as Blackbeard wanted to do the exact opposite and Jack clearly knew this which is why he deceived him into drinking the Chalice without the tear.
- That said, Blackbeard's final act of trying to reach Angelica before completely dying may indicate that he perhaps appreciated his daughter's love for him and/or could have planned to live a sinless life had he been made immortal by the Fountain of Youth to honor her sacrifice. However, it is most likely that Blackbeard didn't feel love for her considering he was willing to sacrifice her for himself in the first place, and was willing to have her shot beforehand, unrelated to the Fountain (although if he had shot Angelica, she would not be alive to be sacrificed by the Fountain for him to live and his plan would still have failed. So even if the likeliness of him not loving Angelica is true, he still can't shoot her knowing she's useful for the ritual of the Fountain); however, earlier he asked her "You truly wished to save me?", implying it was Angelica 's idea, and Blackbeard may have been reluctant to kill her, and when tells Jack to jump or he will kill Angelica with a sad tone.
External Links[]
- Blackbeard on the Villains Wiki
- Blackbeard on the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki
- Blackbeard on the Disney Wiki
- Blackbeard on the Scrappy Wiki
[]
 Pure Evils
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