- “The gold calls to us."
"Gold."
"Hello, poppet.” - ―Pintel and Ragetti to Elizabeth Swann[src]
Pintel and Ragetti are recurring characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, first appearing as major antagonists in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. A disloyal and oafish pair of cutthroat pirates, the two served Hector Barbossa aboard the Black Pearl during the effort to lift the Aztec curse. Following Barbossa's death, Pintel and Ragetti came under the employment of Jack Sparrow, whom they develop a sincere loyalty to over time despite their past aggressions.
Background[]
Official Description[]
According to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide:
- Pintel and Ragetti are cutthroat pirates but more often than not their lack of common sense and their constant bickering make them the clowns of Barbossa's crew. They were pressed into service by the English Navy, but jumped ship after a year of beatings, bad food, and boredom and eventually found themselves on board the Black Pearl.
Pintel practices his famous scowl in front of a mirror and was known to wash his clothes in chamberlye (urine) after a battle, believing it gets out the worse of the bloodstains. He also wears fashionable large-buckled leather shoes.
Ragetti lost his eye in battle. Forced to wear a wooden eye given to him by Hector Barbossa, Ragetti once says the wooden replacement "splinters 'somefink' terrible." Ragetti stole the jacket he wore from a French nobleman and was known to have caked-on tar on his pants, giving extra water resistance—and a pungent odor.
Among their frequent gags, the trilogy had many involving Ragetti's wooden eye, which causes discomfort and is often knocked out of its socket and has him frantically searching for it; one of Ragetti's desires is to have an eye made of glass. In At World's End, it is revealed that the wooden eye is one of the nine "pieces of eight" the Brethren Court used to imprison Calypso in her human form. Barbossa, one of the Pirate Lords, gave it to Ragetti for safekeeping.
The duo had a tendency to engage in erudite and intelligent discussions. In these discussions, Ragetti often proves that he is more educated than he appears, despite also being illiterate, though Ragetti argues the point. When Tia Dalma says that something vexed Davy Jones, Ragetti asks if it was "the dichotomy of good and evil", causing Pintel and Joshamee Gibbs to give him astonished looks. The two also engage in a debate over the proper pronunciation of "Kraken", with Pintel saying he believes the correct pronunciation is "kray-ken" while most say "krack-en". Ragetti explains that the derivation of the word is from original Scandinavian, and thus should be pronounced "krah-ken". Pintel points out they are not "Original Scandinavians", to which Ragetti retorts, "It's a mythological creature, I can calls it what I wants!". Ragetti also knew the reasons for which Jack, Will, and Norrington each want the heart of Davy Jones ("Mr. Norrington, I think, is trying to regain a bit of honor. Ol' Jack's looking to trade it, save his own skin. And Turner there, I think he's trying to settle some unresolved business twixt him and his twice-cursed pirate father"). Another example of Ragetti showing how educated he is is when he points out that the Kraken is actually a cephalopod after Pintel calls it a "stupid fish" upon finding it dead.
However, in some such discussions, there have been occasions where Pintel is able to gain the moral or ethical high ground. For example, in Dead Man’s Chest, on witnessing Ragetti pretending to read the Christian Bible, he accuses the latter of exhibiting sinful behaviour (as pretending to know the word of God is viewed as a sin by some who are of the Christian faith). Ironically, considering his occupation as a pirate, this implies that Pintel may also have some respect for religion.
Appearances[]
The Curse of the Black Pearl[]
Pintel and Ragetti served as members of Hector Barbossa's crew of miscreants that took part in the mutiny aboard the Black Pearl, which ended with Jack Sparrow marooned. By the events of the film, Pintel, and Ragetti, along with Barbossa and his crew, share in the Aztec curse and are doomed to live as undead skeletons. Bootstrap Bill Turner, the only one that felt guilty for what was done to Jack Sparrow, sent a piece of the cursed treasure to his son Will Turner in order to keep the crew from lifting the curse. In response, Barbossa strapped a cannon to Bootstrap and threw him overboard, but the crew later realized that Bootstrap's blood is needed to lift their curse.
Sensing a "call" from the final piece they needed, Pintel and Ragetti joined a handful of Barbossa's crewmen when they invaded the Governor's mansion and kidnapped Elizabeth Swann, who the pirates believe to be Bootstrap Bill's child. Taking her to Isla de Muerta, Barbossa's crew heaped up all the plunder in the cave. But not everything in the cave was valuable: Pintel and Ragetti mistakenly bring a trunk of women's clothing. After Barbossa failed to lift the curse with Elizabeth's blood, Pintel and Ragetti were blamed for their misfortune, though they ended up searching for Elizabeth Swann, who escaped with the medallion aboard the Interceptor. Prior to this, Barbossa's crew reunited with a much-alive Jack Sparrow, whom Pintel tried to kill, but Jack invoked the right of parley with Ragetti's help, peeving Pintel into cursing the "muttonhead" that thought of parley, to which Jack replied "that would be the French".
As a ship battle raged between the Black Pearl and the Interceptor, Pintel and Ragetti fired the cannons, eventually firing a chain shot that smashes the foremast of the Interceptor. They were later chosen to create a diversion while the rest of the cursed crew walks out underwater to Commodore Norrington's ship, the Dauntless. They facilitated the cursed pirates by dressing in women's clothing to attract the attention of the men on the Dauntless: "This is just like what the Greeks done at Troy... 'cept they was in a horse, 'stead of dresses." When the curse is broken, resulting in Barbossa's death and the pirates' defeat, Pintel and Ragetti are captured by Murtogg and Mullroy and jailed with the rest of their surviving crewmates.
A running gag throughout the movie involves characters surrendering themselves to Ragetti and Pintel while invoking the right of "parley". At first they are pleased with invoking parley, but according to the story's premise, parley guarantees an adversary will be escorted unharmed to the captain in order to conduct negotiations. However, they become irritated when all their capture foes invoke parley, particularly Jack Sparrow, who was discovered alive. At one point, Pintel snarls at Barbossa's captives, "Any of you so much as thinks the word 'parley', I'll have your guts for garters." Ironically, after they are captured, Pintel attempts unsuccessfully to invoke parley himself.
Dead Man's Chest[]
In the film, Pintel and Ragetti escaped from jail and were first seen rowing on a longboat at sea along with the Prison Dog, whom Pintel names "Poochie". Ragetti has become somewhat religious, telling Pintel, "Since we're not immortal no more, we gotta take care of our immortal souls" when unsuccessfully attempting to read the Bible. When they find the Black Pearl run aground on the island, Pintel convinces Ragetti that taking the ship would be salvage and that salvaging would be saving it. Although they attempted to steal the Pearl, they joined Captain Jack Sparrow's crew after escaping the cannibal tribe.
Joining in on Jack's quest for the Dead Man's Chest, Pintel and Ragetti faced Davy Jones' crew before recruiting souls at Tortuga. They later arrive at Isla Cruces, where they argued on the pronunciation of "Kraken" while rowing to the island. Upon witnessing the appearance of the Flying Dutchman, Pintel and Ragetti flee for their lives only to find the others fighting, particularly Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and James Norrington. Realizing that everyone else is distracted, they can't resist the opportunity to steal the Dead Man's Chest and make their escape into the dense jungle, carrying it between them. To convince his partner, Pintel tells Ragetti they will be "removing temptation from their paths" by stealing the chest. They take it, but do not get far before Elizabeth Swann catches up to them. Before they can do anything to her, however, Davy Jones's crew attacks and they drop the chest. When the Jones's crew overtakes them, they fight alongside Elizabeth, with whom they share the two swords that Ragetti and Pintel had. Despite their fighting success, they quickly hand their swords to Elizabeth and take off with the chest again, which they promptly lose. When cornered by Jones's men, they still fight with various objects (such as a net) used as improvised weapons.
The duo took part in defending the Black Pearl when the Kraken attacks. Ragetti saves Elizabeth from its deadly tentacle and agreed to Jack's order to "abandon ship", despite the odds. Both Ragetti and Pintel shed genuine tears of respect and grief over Jack's demise (having been taken by the Kraken) and joined the pledge to save their fallen captain. Subsequently, the two were shocked to see a resurrected Hector Barbossa as the captain to guide them to World's End.
At World's End[]
In At World's End, Pintel and Ragetti play a more significant part in the plot while still supplying comic relief. In this installment, they join Hector Barbossa in a voyage to Davy Jones' Locker to rescue Jack Sparrow, who was taken by the Kraken. Before going to the Locker, the two had to help retrieve navigational charts from Sao Feng, sneaking in with Joshamee Gibbs and several other crewmembers. Pintel, Ragetti and Gibbs were among the ones who threw swords up through floorboards of Sao Feng's bathhouse to Elizabeth and Barbossa, allowing them to defend themselves when the East India Trading Company attack.
Upon arriving in Davy Jones' Locker, Pintel and Ragetti watch as Jack stood on the mast of the Black Pearl as it was carried by crabs. When Jack is "choosing" his crew members, he refuses both Ragetti (saying, "Don't need you, you scare me") and Pintel (wincing upon looking at him), though both of them come aboard anyway. When Barbossa asks 'Which way are you going, Jack?' with the charts in his hands, clearly alluding to the fact that he, and not Jack ought to be the captain, Pintel and Ragetti are seen standing behind Barbossa with sadistic expressions on their faces. When Barbossa and Sparrow later argue over who is Black Pearl's captain, Pintel yells at them to stop arguing, leaving the two briefly stunned into silence. Realizing his precarious position, he apologizes, saying he is under the impression that the position of captain is open to election. Ragetti consoles his old friend by saying "I'd vote for you." After learning that Will Turner led a mutiny aboard the Pearl so he can have the ship, Jack asks the crew if anyone saved him because they missed him, after which Pintel and Ragetti are among the few (including Jack the Monkey) to raise their hands.
When the crew reached a nearby island with a freshwater spring, they find the remains of the Kraken. Pintel poked its face with a long stick, celebrating the fact that the monster was dead and mused on calling themselves "Kraken Slayers" and turning the creature into an exhibit for profit. Once they reach the spring, they find that it was poisoned by the dead body of a man. Pintel recognizes the man from Singapore (the same spy for the East India Trading Company), and Ragetti warns the others that they've got company in the form of Sao Feng's ship: the Empress before it was reviled that Sao Feng's crew only helped them so they can get the Pearl.
During the Brethren Court meeting, Ragetti's wooden eye is revealed to be Barbossa's "Piece of Eight" (one of a group of nine Pieces of Eight used to imprison Calypso) and Barbossa pops the eye in with the other pieces. Ragetti later covers his now-empty eye socket with an eye patch, in which Pintel winks with approval. The next day, before the battle between the pirates and the EITC, Ragetti's eye is used in a ritual to free Calypso; when Barbossa fails to release her, Ragetti steps in, correctly delivering the incantation "as if to a lover", triggering the incantation. With Calypso released, the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman engage in battle around a maelstrom, where Pintel and Ragetti fired the cannons.
At the film's end, both Pintel and Ragetti appear aboard the Black Pearl, now stolen from Jack Sparrow once again by Barbossa. A group of pirates approaches Barbossa, with Pintel saying about the matter: "Some of the men don't feel entirely settled about leaving Captain Jack behind...again". When Barbossa asked if that was so, Pintel says "It would make us feel a whole lot better, regarding our fortunes, if we could see that item you told us about," the item meaning the map to the Fountain of Youth. When Barbossa shows them the charts, but Pintel and Ragetti have baffled expressions upon seeing a big hole on the map, which Barbossa realized was removed by Jack Sparrow.
Disney Parks[]
Disneyland[]
Pintel and Ragetti appear in Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. Deep in the caves of "Dead Man's Grotto", Pintel and Ragetti are seen as undead "pop-up" gags as they guard cursed treasure as well as other effects featuring disappearing treasure, and a genie in a bottle guarding the treasure.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- As part of a backstory worked out by both actors Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook, their characters' full names are Terry Ragetti and Abner Pintel, and that Ragetti was the son of Pintel's sister, and they shared half a brain.[1] Arenberg also said that Ragetti may have came to sea with Pintel after his father's death.[2] It was also said that Ragetti to be the son of a prostitute. However, as none of it was referenced in any in-universe media, it is unknown if the information is canon or not.
- In a deleted scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pintel stated he used to go out with a eunuch, however this is non-canon.
- Pintel's threat Tom make garters out of the guts of his enemies in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was previously used by Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus.
- During the early development of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Pintel and Ragetti were originally supposed to make an appearance. According to screenwriter Terry Rossio, a subplot planned for the movie would have shown Pintel and Ragetti in separate crews, each thinking that the other was dead, and then being reunited during the battle for the Fountain of Youth at the film's climax. However, director Rob Marshall opted out of the idea as he feared their roles would be cut.[3]
- During the early development of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Pintel and Ragetti were originally considered to make an appearance, through both Terry Rossio's unproduced screenplay in 2012,[4] and later Jeff Nathanson's screenplay draft in 2013.[5] Both Arenberg and Crook commented the possibility of reprise their roles due their absence in On Stranger Tides. However, Crook ultimately decided to not reprise his role as Ragetti in order to focus in his TV series Detectorists[6] and Arenberg confirmed he was not joining the filming of Dead Men Tell No Tales in Australia.[7]
References[]
- ↑ Pirates of The Caribbean Pintel And Ragetti - Lee Arengberg Interview - YouTube
- ↑ Can Lee Arenberg teach me to talk like a pirate? | One Question Interviews (September 19, 2013) (backup link)
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/"We Sail With the Tide" by Terry Rossio
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES by Terry Rossio
- ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
- ↑ Mackienzie Crook turned down Pirates of the Caribbean to focus on Detectorists at Belfast Telegraph
- ↑ lee arenberg on Twitter: "“@yarosnikulina: @leearenberg did you know that #PiratesOfTheCaribbean filming now in Australia ?are going to join?” I do I’m not :((
External Links[]
|
This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki. The list of authors can be seen in the page revision history (view authors). As with Disney Wiki, the text of PotC Wiki is available under the CC-by-SA Free Documentation License. |
v - e - d  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
v - e - d  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|