Mr. Mercer

“	Evening guv'ner! Shame that. He was carrying this: it's a letter to the King! It's from you.	„
	~ Mr. Mercer to Governor Weatherby Swann after killing Captain Hawkins.

“	Prepare to board!	„
	~ Mr. Mercer's last words.

Ian Mercer, also known as Mr. Mercer, is the secondary antagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

He is a sadistic employee of the East India Trading Company who is the assistant of Lord Cutler Beckett, often doing the dirty work for him, ranging from torturing and/or killing his enemies. During the War Against Piracy, Beckett stations Mercer aboard the Flying Dutchman, so he can check Davy Jones and ensure he remains loyal to the EITC.

He was portrayed by David Schofield.

What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]

Ordered by Lord Cutler Beckett, he captured Kerman slaves to find the legendary Kerman city of Zerzura, the holy man Piye and the seamstress Ayisha.
Interrogated Piye and Ayisha, trying to torture Piye to discover Zerzura's location so Piye prayed to Zerzura's guardian god Apedemak to be given a quick death and avoid Mercer's torture.
Helped Beckett organize a military force to conquer the Kermans, recruiting two hundred mercenaries and supporting the plan to slaughter most of the population.
After Jack Sparrow was revealed to have tricked Beckett by hiding Zerzura's location from him and setting free some slaves Beckett wanted to be shipped to New Avalon, Bahamas, Mercer was instructed to brand a "p" to Sparrow with the hot iron branding, but allowed Beckett to do it and praised him for doing a "good, clean job".
Ordered his crew to open fire on the Wicked Wench (the ship that later became known as the Black Pearl) with inflammable carcass charges to spite Jack.
After intercepting the Governor Governor Weatherby Swann's plan to help his daughter Elizabeth to escape from Port Royal, he attacked Governor Swann before throwing him in Fort Charles prison and slitting the latter's associate Captain Hawkins' throat so he couldn't help the Swanns to escape to London and still provide assistance to Beckett.
After tracking down Elizabeth to Tortuga, he made a deal with the disgraced Commodore James Norrington in which Norrington would serve as Beckett's pawn in order to restore his career.
Broke into Sao Feng's bath house and attacked the building with his guards so he could kill Elizabeth, Will and their associates.
While trying to shoot Elizabeth, he accidentally killed Park, one of Feng's henchwomen, but showed no remorse over her death.
When Lian, Park's twin sister, tried to avenge her death by stabbing Mercer with a steel chopstick, he threw her to the floor and mercilessly shot her dead even though she had given up and was pleading for mercy.
Gave Beckett the idea of stationing Admiral Norrington aboard the Flying Dutchman so he could keep Davy Jones in check by threatening his heart and that Governor Swann was asking too many questions, leading Beckett to decide to get rid of Swann.
- In the deleted scene that shows how Beckett tells Mercer that Governor Swann should be killed, it's implied that it was Mercer himself who murdered Swann in secret to prevent him from foiling their plans, as Swann had discovered the existence of Jones' heart and had threatened to kill it when he incorrectly assumed that Elizabeth had been murdered by the Kraken.
Convinced Sao Feng to surrender Jack Sparrow to his employer in exchange of the Black Pearl only to then go back on his deal and taking the Black Pearl for the EITC, leading Feng to switch allegiances.
Stationed himself on the Flying Dutchman and taunted Davy Jones how he was still in control of his own ship after Jones murdered Norrington and tried to retake his ship.
During the battle of Calypso's maelstrom, he gave the order to give no quarter to the crews of the Black Pearl and the Empress.
While it's argued that his death makes him an scapegoat due to how extremely disturbing and disgusting it was, it can be said without doubt that he definitely deserved to die for all his horrible actions.
Though he follows all of Beckett's orders and Beckett trusts him, there are no indications that they genuinely care for each other, suggesting that their partnership is possibly one out of professionalism, which may explain why didn't Beckett seem concerned about Mercer's fate after the battle of Calypso's maelstrom ended.

Trivia[]

Due to his minimal screen-time in both Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, while certainly serious, Mr. Mercer's heinousness wasn't fully explored. However, it was finally shown in The Price of Freedom novel how evil Mercer really is, qualifying him as Pure Evil.
Pirates of the Caribbean screenwriter Terry Rossio stated that Mr. Mercer's name was, as far he recalls, a play on the word 'mercy'. This is quite ironic, however, as Mr. Mercer can show anything but mercy.