Pirate Lore, Myths & Legends #5
Since many have enjoyed building the Black Pearl, I thought it would be nice to know a little bit more about the legend of The Curse of the Aztec. Source: Pirates.Fandom.com
"
So the heathen gods placed upon the gold...a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity."―
Hector Barbossa
The
curse of the Aztec Gold, also known as the
Aztec curse, was
dark magic cast upon the
treasure of
Cortés, consisting of a
stone chest with 882 pieces of
Aztec gold. Having saw Cortés' greed he wreaked upon with his armies, the
heathen gods placed a curse on the gold: any mortal who removed a piece from the chest would be punished for eternity. The only way to lift the curse was by returning all the pieces of the Aztec gold and
payment in blood. Upon first hearing the tale,
Hector Barbossa's
crew laughed at the stories about the curse, with Barbossa himself believing it to be a ridiculous superstition. By the time they learned the truth, it was too late. It took ten years until the crew's curse was lifted.
"
I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa."
"Aye. That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an island of dead what cannot be found, except for those who know where it is."―
Elizabeth Swann and
Hector Barbossa
The
Aztec Empire delivered
a stone chest with 882 pieces of
Aztec gold to
Hernán Cortés in an attempt to stop the slaughter of their people. But in his greed, Cortés refused to halt his conquest. In response, the
heathen godsplaced a curse upon the gold, so that any mortal who removed a single coin from the chest would be punished for eternity. The only way to lift the curse was to return all the Aztec gold pieces to the chest and pay the heathen gods back in blood. Ultimately, the treasure of Cortés would end up in the caves of Isla de Muerta.
Captain Jack Sparrow, not swayed by the tales of the curse, intended on finding the
Treasure of Cortés aboard the
Black Pearl. Jack had heard rumors that the treasure was cursed, but luckily for him,
Hector Barbossa and
his crew marooned him before he could take his share of the gold. Upon first hearing about the curse from Jack, the crew ended up not believing in the curse, with Barbossa himself having said, "Ridiculous superstition".
"
Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all. We spent 'em and traded 'em and frittered 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company. The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize...the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, Miss Turner. Compelled by greed, we were, but now...we are consumed by it."―
Hector Barbossa to
Elizabeth Swann
Using the bearings acquired from
Jack Sparrow,
Captain Hector Barbossa and
his crew were able to find
Isla de Muerta. There, they found the
stone chest and summarily stole all 882 pieces of the
Aztec gold, an act which the crew would later regret. Captain Barbossa and his crew then spent all 882 pieces of the Aztec gold on drink, food, and pleasurable company. Soon afterwards, the crew realized that they had fallen under the curse, suffering a living death in which they can't feel or taste anything, and when they step into the
moonlight, their flesh vanish from their bones, and became walking
skeletons. After figuring out that it was the Aztec gold pieces that placed the curse upon them, Barbossa's crew returned to Isla de Muerta to find a way to lift the curse and end their punishment. There, they found out that the curse could be reversed only when every last piece of the Aztec gold was returned to the stone chest from which it came.
It wasn't until
Bootstrap Bill Turner was sent to the depths did the crew learned of an additional requirement: that all who stole from the chest had to pay the
heathen gods in blood, which now seemed impossible with Bootstrap lost to them. But a chance of hope lay with
Turner's child, who had both
his gold medallion and Turner blood in his veins. Thus, Barbossa's crew set about, attempting to reclaim all 882 pieces of the treasure.
Lifting the Curse
"
There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid."―
Hector Barbossa
Ten years had already passed since the cursed crew started their quest, having collected all but one of the gold pieces and had already given their blood to the gold. However, the crew still needed the last coin as well as blood of their last crewmen, Bootstrap Bill Turner, who was lost to them, from his only child. Having sensed the final coin, Barbossa's crew led an
attack on Port Royal. It was during this attack that
Jack Sparrow, who was locked up in the
town's prison, learns that the curse was real once
Koehler grabbed him through the prison bars. As the
moonlight falls on the pirates arm, Jack mutters "So there is a curse. That's interesting." Following the attack, Barbossa's men obtained the
final Aztec gold medallion from
Elizabeth Swann, whom they believed to be a descendant of Bootstrap Bill Turner. And so the
Black Pearl set a course for Isla de Muerta.
While the Black Pearl sailed in the moonlit night, Barbossa had Elizabeth as his guest for a dinner in his cabin. It was here that Barbossa told Elizabeth the story of the curse, and how it had fallen upon the crew, rendering them unable to feel or taste. Barbossa also told her that her blood was the last ingredient needed to lift the curse. After that, Elizabeth leapt up and attempted to run out of the cabin, having stabbed Barbossa with a knife from the table. However, she was shocked to see that Barbossa was still alive and ran face-to-face with Barbossa's skeletal crew of the living dead. Barbossa explained the curse's effect on the crew, drinking
wine as evidence. Elizabeth then ran back into the cabin, where she remained for the remainder of the voyage, terrified of what she had seen.
First Attempt
"
It didn't work."
"The curse it still upon us!"―
Ragetti and
Twigg
Upon arriving to Isla de Muerta, Barbossa used Elizabeth to perform the
blood ritual to lift the curse. However, although they performed the ritual, the entire crew didn't feel any different. As a test, Barbossa shot
Pintel with his pistol to see if the curse was lifted; but Pintel didn't die. Barbossa confronted Elizabeth, realizing that Elizabeth was not the child of Bootstrap Bill. The crew then began to argue amongst themselves on their unsuccessful attempt to lift the curse until Barbossa realized that Elizabeth had taken the medallion and escaped to the
Interceptor. But with the help of their old, left for dead captain Jack Sparrow, the crew was able to catch up with the
Interceptor and retrieved the medallion. By the time the
Black Pearl returned to Isla de Muerta, Barbossa's crew had
Will Turner, the true descendant of Bootstrap Bill Turner, as their prisoner.
Second Attempt
"
Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment."―
Jack Sparrow
Entering the caves of Isla de Muerta, Barbossa once again aimed to lift their curse, this time with the intention of killing Will and using his blood in the ritual. Barbossa and his crew prepared to perform the blood ritual once again, but was interrupted by Jack Sparrow, who warned Barbossa that the
HMS Dauntless was offshore waiting for his crew. Upon this revelation, Barbossa, despite his desire to lift the curse, listened to Jack's proposal and agreed to it. And so Barbossa sent his crewmen for attack, save for three of his men. But to Jack's dismay, having planned on Barbossa's men using the longboats to attack the
Dauntless crew, Barbossa ordered the crew to "take a walk". So as the pirates were indestructible beings, they staged a surprise attack on the
Dauntless by simply walking on the sea bed and climbed up from the ship's anchor to ambush the
Dauntless crew.
Barbossa, Will, and Jack waited in the caves for the slaughter to end, until Jack tossed Will a sword. With the tides turned, Will freed himself and fought Barbossa's men, while Jack and Barbossa pulled out their own swords and
duel ensued. Jack and Barbossa fought a fierce battle around the treasure cave until Jack stabbed Barbossa, who then pulled the sword out and stabbed Jack with it. However, once Jack stepped into the moonlight, he turned into a skeleton, revealing that he was cursed; having secretly palmed a piece of the Aztec gold. Though they were both
immortal, Jack and Barbossa continued their fight through the caves. Elizabeth later arrives to help Will fight the cursed pirates. They then teamed up to kill the pirates using one of Jacoby's
grenades that were planted inside of him before he reverted to his human form; thereby blowing his body to pieces.
Witnessing this, Jack cuts his hand, putting his blood on his piece of the gold, and threw his coin to Will before shooting Barbossa in the heart. Believing he was invincible, Barbossa gloated at Jack, saying that he wasted his shot. However, Will dropped the last two gold pieces, with his blood on his coin, onto the chest, thereby lifting the Aztec curse. Barbossa then saw that his chest was bleeding. Human once more, Barbossa looked stated that he felt cold before falling to the cave floor, dead.
After the Curse was Lifted
"
Scurvy cutthroats who turn into the bony undead under moonlight! Looks like your old crew is back from the grave again, Jack! Let's see to it that they rest in pieces, shall we?"
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid! It's bloody hard to kill something that's already dead!"―
Will Turner and
Jack Sparrow
Back on the
Dauntless, Barbossa's crew reverted to normal and surrendered to the
Dauntless crew, who survived the battle in victory. Although the surviving members of Barbossa's crew were captured by the
British Royal Navy, some would later escape and returned to Isla de Muerta, where they became cursed once more, vowing revenge against
Jack Sparrow. At some point in time, Barbossa's pet
monkey Jack would appear in the cave, where he would take a piece of the Aztec gold and became cursed once again.
Some time later, the entire island of the dead was swallowed into the sea, taking all the treasure along with it, effectively vanishing from the face of the earth. Only Jack the monkey survived this ordeal, because of the curse, and ended up aboard the
Black Pearl, under the command of
Jack Sparrow. It is unknown if Jack the monkey's curse was ever lifted, but as the destruction of the
Trident of Poseidon broke all the curses of the sea, it is possible this curse was one of them.
The Curse
Legends tell that the Aztec curse bestowed by the
Heathen Gods punished any who stole from the stone chest. Those who fell under the curse would have achieved
immortality, thereby becoming invulnerable. Nevertheless, the curse deprived the greedy beholders of all feeling; pain or pleasure—food, drink or women. When the cursed individuals step into the
moonlight, they turn into walking
undead skeletons; in this state, they are particularly vulnerable to physical damage, with strong blows being enough to physically take them apart.
The curse only affected anyone who specifically took the coins from the stone chest;
Will Turner and
Elizabeth Swann each owned a piece of the treasure that had been taken out of the chest by
Bootstrap Bill Turner and were never aware of the curse. When a cursed person takes a coin from the chest, no new curse has been given. This is particularly noted after
Hector Barbossa used Elizabeth to lift the curse when, after returning the coin, he grabbed it straight from the chest and gave it to Elizabeth.