Elizabeth Swann

Elizabeth Turner (née Swann) is a fictional character in the Walt Disney Pictures' Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. She appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and in its two sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End (2007). She is portrayed by Keira Knightley and in a flashback by Lucinda Dryzek.

Over the course of the three films, Elizabeth is kidnapped by pirates, learns to handle a sword, is arrested by the East India Trading Company, turns pirate; kills Captain Jack Sparrow; elected first "Pirate King" of the Brethren Court; declares war on the East India Trading Company, and marries Will Turner. She becomes captain of the pirate ship Empress, Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, and Pirate King of the Brethren Court. She exhibits seamanship skills and has an ability for battle strategy, devising many defensive and offensive maneuvers.

Fictional biography

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Main article: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

The beautiful Elizabeth Swann leads a privileged, but boring and restrictive, life and fantasizes about pirates and life at sea. This fantasy may have been fueled somewhat by her cordial friendship with Will Turner, who Elizabeth, then 12, met when she and her father, Governor Weatherby Swann were en route to Port Royal eight years before. Will, also about 12, was found among floating wreckage, the victim of a pirate attack. Now a blacksmith, Will secretly loves Elizabeth, but harbors little hope of winning her. Commodore James Norrington, a good and honorable Royal Navy officer, also seeks Elizabeth's hand. He proposes marriage at his promotion ceremony, but she faints and falls off a rampart and into the bay before responding. She is saved by pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, newly arrived in Port Royal to commandeer a ship, but he is arrested and jailed for piracy. That night, the Black Pearl, a pirate ship commanded by Captain Hector Barbossa, raids Port Royal. Elizabeth is kidnapped because she possesses a Aztec gold medallion—the same medallion she took from Will when he was rescued because she feared he would be mistaken for a pirate. Invoking parley, Elizabeth negotiates with Barbossa to leave Port Royal in exchange for the coin. Barbossa agrees but keeps her captive when she fails to bargain her own release. He also believes she can break an ancient Aztec curse the pirates are under. Their true forms — immortal skeletons — can only be seen in moonlight.

Will frees Jack Sparrow in exchange for helping to rescue Elizabeth, unaware Sparrow is the Black Pearl's former captain; ten years ago, Jack's treacherous crew mutinied and marooned him. Sparrow and Will hijack HMS Interceptor and head for Tortuga to recruit a crew. Along the way, Jack tells an incredulous Will that his father is "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, the only Pearl crew member who opposed the mutiny. After sending a piece of the treasure to Will so the pirates would remain cursed, Bootstrap was tied to a cannon and thrown overboard. Now, Turner blood and the coin are needed to break the curse.

Jack and Will head for Isla de Muerta where Barbossa will go to break the curse. In hot pursuit is Commodore Norrington aboard HMS Dauntless. On the island, Barbossa discovers Elizabeth is not Bootstrap's child and unable to break the curse. Will rescues Elizabeth, who grabs the coin, but distrusting Sparrow, Will knocks him out and tells Jack's first mate, Gibbs that Jack fell behind. Barbossa pursues them in the Pearl and after a fierce battle, the Interceptor is sunk and the crew captured. Will reveals his identity; unless the crew is released, he will shoot himself while falling overboard, rendering him useless for breaking the curse. Barbossa complies, but employing a loophole in their agreement, the crafty pirate maroons Sparrow and Elizabeth on a deserted island and throws Will and the crew in the brig.

Elizabeth takes action and burns a cache of smuggler's rum to create a huge smoke signal that is spotted by Commodore Norrington. To save Will, Elizabeth convinces Norrington to attack Isla de Muerta by impulsively accepting his previous marriage proposal. She says nothing about the curse, however.

At Isla de Muerta, Elizabeth frees Gibbs and the crew from the Black Pearl's brig, but they refuse to save Will or Jack and set sail on the Pearl. A disgusted Elizabeth rows to the island alone. Jack tricks Barbossa into forming an alliance, and when the pirates leave to battle the navy, Jack, who has secretly cursed himself by swiping a coin from the Aztec chest, attacks Barbossa, while Will, aided by Elizabeth, fight the remaining pirates. Jack and Will break the curse just after Jack fatally shoots Barbossa. He reverts to mortal form and falls dead. The remaining now-mortal pirates surrender. Will, Elizabeth, and Jack are rescued, although Jack is later condemned to death.

In Port Royal, Will saves Jack from the gallows, but they are quickly captured. However, when both Norrington and Governor Swann are reluctant to arrest Will or resume Jack's hanging, Elizabeth steps in to lend her support and declares her love for Will. Norrington releases Will and graciously concedes Elizabeth's hand to him. Jack, meanwhile, falls off the rampart and into the bay just as the Black Pearl sails into view. He is hauled aboard, captain once again. Good man that he is, Norrington allows the Black Pearl one day's head start before giving chase.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Main article: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Elizabeth fears Will jilted her when he fails to show for their wedding. Her fear becomes terror as Lord Cutler Beckett and the British Navy arrive with Will shackled in irons. Beckett, a ruthless East India Trading Company agent, charges Elizabeth and Will with aiding Sparrow’s escape; the punishment is death. Former Commodore James Norrington is also implicated, although he has resigned from the Navy and disappeared. Beckett offers clemency for all if Will can find Jack Sparrow and his compass.

Will finds Jack and the Black Pearl crew on Pelegosto hiding from the Kraken, a voracious leviathan controlled by Davy Jones, the mythical captain of the Flying Dutchman and ruler of the seas. Jones is hunting Sparrow to collect a blood debt, while Jack has been searching for the Dead Man's Chest containing Jones' beating heart. Whoever possesses the heart, controls Davy Jones and rules the oceans. Unfortunately, Jack’s magic compass has failed.

Elizabeth's father frees her from jail. Learning that Beckett is only pardoning Sparrow, she boldly confronts him at gunpoint and demands he validate a Letter of Marque— a document intended to recruit Jack Sparrow as a privateer but which she wants for Will. Beckett signs it but says he still wants Sparrow's compass. Disguised as a cabin boy, Elizabeth tricks a merchant crew into taking port in Tortuga. Searching for Will, she instead encounters Sparrow and Gibbs in a pub recruiting sailors to pay off Jack's debt to Davy Jones, who demands one hundred souls in exchange for Jack's. Another man applies—James Norrington, who is now a miserable, drunken wretch. Blaming Sparrow for his ruin, Norrington attempts to shoot him and ignites a brawl, but Elizabeth saves him by knocking him out. At the pier, Jack claims Will was pressed ganged into Davy Jones' crew, claiming he was blameless; Norrington is skeptical, however. Jack convinces Elizabeth she can save Will by finding the Dead Man's Chest. Trusting him, she uses his magical compass and gets a bearing.

As the Black Pearl heads for Isla Cruces, Jack becomes amorous towards Elizabeth, and even suggests marriage. Norrington observes her seemingly pleased reaction to Sparrow's attention, but she denies any romantic feelings. She becomes distressed, however, when the compass, which points to what the holder wants most in the world, points to Jack. She tells Jack he is a good man and will one day do a courageous thing, but he brushes off her comments. Encouraged by her coyness, he attempts to kiss her, but the Black Spot, a mark that Jack's blood debt to Davy Jones is due, suddenly reappears on his hand, and he rushes off in a panic. Elizabeth mistakenly believes he is respecting her virtue, unaware the Kraken is hunting him again.

On Isla Cruces, Jack, Elizabeth, and Norrington find the Dead Man's Chest. When Will arrives with the key he stole from Davy Jones, a furious Elizabeth learns that Jack betrayed him. A conflict erupts: Will wants to stab the heart and kill Jones to free his father from Jones' servitude; Jack fears the Kraken will continue hunting him if Jones is dead; Norrington plots to bargain back his career. As a three-way duel erupts, Jones' crewmen arrive. Jack gets the key and opens the chest, but it is Norrington who escapes with the heart and the Letter of Marque.

Pursued by the Flying Dutchman, the Pearl outruns her. Undeterred, Jones summons the Kraken, but the crew temporarily fight it off. Jack deserts the ship in the last longboat, but as Elizabeth predicted, he returns to save his crew. During the Kraken's momentary retreat, he orders all hands to abandon ship. Realizing the Kraken only wants Jack, Elizabeth distracts him with a passionate kiss while handcuffing him to the mast. Claiming she is not sorry, she is deeply affected by her deception. Climbing into the longboat, she tells the others Jack chose to remain behind, unaware Will witnessed what happened. The Kraken returns for its final assault; the Pearl and Jack are dragged to a watery grave. It is during this final battle that Jack and Elizabeth's contrasting characters emerge: Jack shows heroism and loyalty by returning to the ship and saving his crew; by abandoning her duty and honor, Elizabeth becomes more pirate-like, using deception to sacrifice Jack to save herself and the crew. Norrington arrives in Port Royal and presents the heart and the Letter of Marque to Cutler Beckett. Meanwhile, Will, Elizabeth and the grieving crew make their way to Tia Dalma, the voodoo priestess who helped Jack find the Dead Man's Chest. As the crew drinks a somber toast to their fallen captain, Elizabeth silently agonizes over her betrayal. Believing Elizabeth loves Jack, Will comforts her. "If there was anything could be done to bring him back. . ." Tia Dalma interrupts, "Would you do it?...Hmm?...Would you brave the weird and haunted shores at World's End? To fetch back witty Jack and him precious Pearl?" All say, "Aye!", and Dalma says they will need a captain who knows those waters. Incredibly, a very alive Captain Barbossa descends the stairs.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Main article: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Elizabeth joins Will, Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and the Black Pearl crew on a journey to Singapore to seek a navigational chart belonging to the Chinese pirate lord, Sao Feng. The chart leads to World's End and Davy Jones's Locker where Jack Sparrow is eternally imprisoned aboard the Black Pearl. Elizabeth hopes to rescue him from his fate. Before entering Feng's bathhouse, Elizabeth and Barbossa surrender their pistols and swords. Suspecting Elizabeth has other concealed weapons, the guards insist she remove her coat. To everyone's amazement, many additional pistols and explosives are strapped to her body. Elizabeth merely shrugs and hands them over.

Barbossa asks Sao Feng for a ship and a crew to rescue Sparrow. Jack, Barbossa, Sao Feng, and the other six pirate lords have been summoned to a Brethren Court at Shipwreck Cove to address Beckett's assault on piracy. Jack, lacking a successor, must attend. Feng angrily discloses that a thief attempted to steal his navagational chart and reveals the culprit—Will Turner. Elizabeth and Barbossa deny knowing him, although Elizabeth relents as Feng is about to kill him. As East India Trading Company soldiers attack the bathhouse, Will negotiates his own deal with Sao Feng: Jack Sparrow in exchange for the Black Pearl. Feng agrees, although they are overheard by EITC agent, Mercer.

As the crew sails for World's End, Will and Elizabeth remain estranged. He believes she loves Sparrow, while she harbors her guilty secret of causing Jack's demise. Guided by Tia Dalma and Feng's map, they reach Davy Jones' Locker where they find Jack. He refuses to crew with them, however, exclaiming, "Why should I sail with any of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past! One of you succeeded." Of Will, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma, and Barbossa, it was Elizabeth, ironically, who was the least likely to kill him but the one who ultimately did (in Dead Man's Chest). Only then does Will understand Elizabeth's despair. As Jack and Barbossa squabble over who is the Black Pearl's captain, the crew navigate their way back to the living world. Before escaping the Locker, Elizabeth sees her father's soul being ferried to the "next world," murdered by Cutler Beckett. Distraught when she is unable to retrieve him, Elizabeth vows to avenge his death.

Elizabeth is furious when Will's failed bargain with Sao Feng is exposed. When Feng is betrayed by Beckett and instead wants Elizabeth as his concubine in exchange for the Pearl, Elizabeth agrees in order to protect the crew; Jack throws Will into the brig. Feng is fatally wounded aboard his ship, the "Empress", in an attack by the Dutchman. Believing Elizabeth is the sea goddess, Calypso, he bequeaths his ship to her, making her captain and Pirate Lord of Singapore. Elizabeth is taken prisoner aboard the Flying Dutchman where she is reunited with James Norrington, now an admiral. She berates him for aligning himself with Beckett and wrongly believes he was involved in her father's death. Chastised, Norrington helps her and her crew escape back to the towed Empress, although he is killed.

The Black Pearl and also the Empress head to Shipwreck Cove for the Brethren Court. Unable to agree over going to war with Beckett, the lords attempt to elect a Pirate King, but each votes for themselves. Knowing Elizabeth will declare war, Jack breaks the stalemate by voting for her, although he has an ulterior motive. Elizabeth orders them to fight.

Will, who was tossed overboard by Jack, is reunited with Elizabeth during a parley session with Beckett and Jones in which Will is exchanged for Jack. As the climatic battle is about to begin, Tia Dalma is revealed as the real Calypso, betrayed by Davy Jones who divulged to an earlier Brethren Court how to imprison her in human form so they could rule the seas; only the current pirate lords can release her. Barbossa uses trickery to obtain each pirate lord’s insignia that he needs to free her in a ritual. As Barbossa releases Calypso, Will tells her that her betrayer was Davy Jones; her fury unleashes a raging maelstrom.

During the battle, Will proposes to Elizabeth. Realizing she still loves him, she tells Captain Barbossa to immediately marry them, and they exchange vows amidst the fighting. As the Pearl and the Dutchman clash, Davy Jones mortally wounds Will. As Will lies dying, Jack relinquishes his bid for immortality to save Will and helps him stab Jones' heart, killing him. As Bootstrap Bill cuts out Will's heart and places it in the Dead Man's chest, Jack and Elizabeth escape before the Dutchman is sucked into the huge whirlpool. It quickly resurfaces with "Captain" Will Turner at the helm. With the Flying Dutchman now on their side, the pirates defeat Cutler Beckett, and the armada retreats. Although Will's life has been saved, he must now serve aboard the Dutchman as the ferryman for souls lost at sea, allowed to step on land for only one day and bound to his duties for the next ten years. Will and Elizabeth spend this one day on Shipwreck Island to consummate their marriage. Will returns to the Dutchman at sundown, but before leaving gives Elizabeth the Dead Man's Chest containing his heart for safe keeping.

A short scene following the film's end credits shows Elizabeth ten years later. She and her nine-year-old son, William, are on a cliff on Shipwreck Island overlooking the sea. A green flash appears on the horizon (indicating that a soul has returned to Earth). The Flying Dutchman has returned from the netherworld with Will at the helm; Elizabeth has remained faithful, and he is returning home to them. The film's writers have allegedly stated that Elizabeth's fidelity to Will during the ten year period permanently removes the curse. It has also been reported that a "deleted scene" between Tia Dalma and Davy Jones explains this.

Other appearances

Elizabeth Turner appears in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, Port Royal, of the Disney/Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts II, voiced by Eliza Schneider in the English version (like the other original actors, Keira Knightley was unavailable due to filming Dead Man's Chest) and by Saori Yumiba in the Japanese version. Schneider also performs the voice of Elizabeth Turner again in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow.

External links

• Elizabeth Swann at the Pirates of the Caribbean wiki