Joshamee Gibbs

Joshamee Hamish Gibbs (often referred to as Mr. Gibbs, Master Gibbs, or simply Gibbs) is a fictional supporting character in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. He is portrayed by Kevin McNally and voiced by Steven Jay Blum in video game adaptations (except for the At World's End video game and Disney Infinity, in which McNally reprised his role). Alongside Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa, he is the one of the few characters to appear in every film

Character overview

Gibbs is a generally knowledgeable person, and right-hand man to Jack Sparrow, often providing the movie's cast, as well as the audience, with background information. He is deeply superstitious and makes frequent references to various causes of "bad luck" (e.g. having women on the ship or waking a sleeping man). He is also very fond of his rum, which he drinks from a leather flask. The flask is a running gag, used as cannon ammunition in the first film and bait for a Pelegosto booby trap in the second. In the third movie, Gibbs is seen pouring rum into the plate with the Pieces of Eight so they can ignite it.

He takes a moment of silence for anyone who gets left behind (especially Jack), but gets over it quickly enough. Gibbs is probably the only character who knows Jack Sparrow's history, and has a great friendship with him, being the first one to agree to rescue him from the Locker. He and Jack also share a handshake, and would say, in the first and third film, "Take what you can - Give nothing back!" Writer Terry Rossio has said he actually considers Gibbs to be the most virtuous character in the series.^[1]

Films

The Curse of the Black Pearl

Gibbs is first seen as a Royal Navy warrant officer (probably the boatswain) aboard the vessel carrying Governor Weatherby Swann and his young daughter Elizabeth from England to Port Royal in the Caribbean. Gibbs is highly superstitious and fearful of the mere mention of pirates. When they come across a wrecked vessel (from which young Will Turner is rescued), Gibbs is the first to suggest it was attacked by pirates. He was likely correct, as Elizabeth witnessed the Black Pearl leaving the scene.

Sometime over the next eight years, Gibbs either leaves or is expelled from the Royal Navy. Despite his initial dread of pirates, he became good friends with one: the Black Pearl's former captain, Jack Sparrow. Jack's history is well-known to Gibbs, including his quest to regain the Pearl and seek revenge on his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa. He is also familiar with the curse that has afflicted the Black Pearl's crew and how to break it. He hasn't grown any less superstitious, however, and continually rambles on about what causes bad luck, such as bringing women aboard ships, as well as waking a man while he's sleeping.

Jack finds Gibbs sleeping among pigs in Tortuga after he and Will escape from Port Royal. They assemble a crew to man the stolen navy vessel Interceptor. After Jack falls behind during a confrontation with the pirates at Isla de Muerta, Gibbs assumes command, indicating he is now Jack's (more trustworthy) first mate.

Unfortunately, the Pearl quickly caught the Interceptor and following a sea battle, the Interceptor was destroyed. Gibbs and the rest of the crew (along with Will and Elizabeth) were captured.

Back on Isla de Muerta, Elizabeth freed Gibbs and the crew from the Pearl's brig, and they took control of the ship. Although Elizabeth tried to convince Gibbs and the others to save Jack and Will, who were fighting Barbossa on the island, they set sail with the Pearl, telling Elizabeth that Jack owed them a ship. However, they later rescue Jack after he escapes the hangman's noose (with Will's assistance) in Port Royal. With Jack back in command of the Black Pearl, Gibbs stays on as second in command.

Dead Man's Chest

Gibbs is still serving under Jack aboard the Black Pearl. In the beginning, he sings Dead Man's Chest, until Jack comes back with a drawing of the key to the Dead Man's Chest. Jack at first acts like he wants the crew to help him find the key and the chest, but when Mr. Gibbs asks if the chest and key is what they are looking for, Jack always answers something like "No" or "You are not making any sense at all". Afterwards, Gibbs, Jack, and the crew are captured by a cannibalistic native tribe after they beach the Black Pearl on the mysterious island of Pelegosto. Later, Jack becomes chief of the Pelegostos, before Gibbs describes to the crew that Jack's duties as chief are to stay alive and avoid being eaten by the Cannibals, who think he is a god. But some time later, they narrowly escape, following Will Turner's arrival while searching for Jack. He still seems superstitious by nature, as shown when Jack reveals the Black Spot to Tia Dalma. Upon seeing the spot, Gibbs gasps in shock and, in a panic, performs a superstitious ritual, where he pats his chest three times, spins in a circle, and spits. Pintel and Ragetti copy him. However, Gibbs seems less superstitious than before. At the movie's beginning, Gibbs sings the shanty, Dead Man's Chest aboard the Black Pearl before Jack arrives in a floating coffin. The song could be a prelude for the movie.

Gibbs accompanies Jack on his quest to find the Dead Man's Chest, containing the heart of Davy Jones, after Jack learns that Jones intends to collect a blood debt Jack owes him. When Jack goes ashore on Isla Cruces, he leaves Gibbs, Marty, Cotton, and the rest of the crew on the Pearl, which, according to the writers, is so they will be spared should the Kraken or Davy Jones attack. Instead, he takes the most dispensable crew members (Norrington, Pintel, Ragetti, and Elizabeth).

Gibbs is also among the few survivors after the Pearl is destroyed by Davy Jones' monstrous beast, the Kraken, an attack in which Jack is sacrificed by Elizabeth, so the Kraken would not pursue the others if he tried to flee with them; thus Jack and the Black Pearl are sent to Davy Jones' Locker. Will, Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti, Marty, and Cotton (with his parrot) are the only survivors. When they return to Tia Dalma for help, she asks if they would be willing to do anything to save Jack and the Pearl. Gibbs is the first to accept the challenge.

At World's End

Gibbs, along with Cotton, Marty, Pintel and Ragetti, assist Captain Hector Barbossa as they make their way to World's End to rescue Jack Sparrow. When Jack originally wanted to leave some people behind in Davy Jones's Locker, Gibbs was one of the only people Jack wanted to take back to the world of the living. He is one of the very few sailors to put up his hand when Jack asks if any one came to save him just because they missed him, indicating a strong friendship between him and Jack. Jack also lets Gibbs throw his hat - as long as he gets it back.

In the closing scene of the film, Gibbs gets slapped by Jack Sparrow after Jack gets slapped by both Scarlett and Giselle. This is because Gibbs passed out drunk and let Barbossa steal the Black Pearl. Evidently he sleeps with a Teddy bear made of burlap. Despite falling asleep and causing the Pearl to be stolen, he and Jack share a smile, and their toast from the first film, and part as friends. He then stays behind in Tortuga with Scarlett and Giselle and tells them the story about Jack Sparrow which is what he told Will Turner in Curse of the Black Pearl while Jack tries to find the Fountain of Youth.

As part of a running gag within the film, during the Brethren Court scene, Pintel notices that the Nine-Pieces-of-Eight are in fact "just pieces of junk." Gibbs then explains that when the original court decided to imprison Calypso, they were all flat broke. When Pintel then suggests changing the name, Gibbs sarcastically retorts "What? To the nine-pieces-of-whatever-we-happen-to-have-in-our-pockets-at-the-time" and says it sounded "very piratey", referencing the lack of pirate creativity or actual wealth.

On Stranger Tides

Ending up in London, Gibbs is arrested and wrongly accused of being Jack Sparrow. The real Jack Sparrow, posing as a judge, comes to his friend's aid and gives him a life sentence instead of the expected death penalty, so to get answers about another impostor posing as Jack to gather a crew. After being arrested by the royal guard and sent to prison, Gibbs manages to steal Jack's map and memorize it. That night, after Jack Sparrow escapes the palace, Gibbs hears the news and is sentenced to hang anyway. He is surprised to see that his captain's old enemy, Barbossa, is now a privateer in the service of the King. Barbossa tries using interrogation to get Gibbs to tell him about Jack's plans. When Gibbs offers to lead Barbossa in search of the Fountain of Youth, Barbossa refuses, unless Gibbs offers something in return, and threatens him with hanging if he doesn't give them any clues to Jack. Gibbs takes out the map, but worries for his life. Remembering how traitorous Barbossa is, he burns it so that Barbossa would have no choice but to take him along to search for the Fountain, revealing that he memorized the map's various routes while in prison.

Eventually reunited with Jack, Gibbs uses his captain's compass during the climactic battle to find the Queen Anne's Revenge and get the bottled Black Pearl, stealing the rest of Blackbeard's trophies of war and treasure in the process. He then reunites with Jack after the battle, and he and Sparrow go looking for a way to restore the Pearl to her original size.^[2]

References

External links

• Joshamee Gibbs at the Pirates of the Caribbean wiki