Jocard

Jocard, formerly known as Gombo, was a former slave turned pirate. What little was known of Jocard was that he was an escaped slave who took on the name of his former slave master, Gentleman Jocard. As captain of the Ranger and the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean. His crimes included leading a slave insurrection, assumed a false identity, crimes against the Crown, and piracy on the British Isles.

Prior to the quest for the Shadow Gold, he was sold by King Samuel to the slaver Gentleman Jocard, and became known as Gombo because he was an excellent cook. At the beginning of the quest, Gombo led a slave revolt on the tobacco plantation in New Orleans, which led to Jocard's death, the plantation burned, and the freedom of his fellow slaves. Now a fugitive, Gombo met the infamous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, who helped the runaway slave escape from New Orleans by giving him passage aboard the Black Pearl. The cook later left the Pearl to captain his own crew, having reunited with a crew of escaped slaves aboard the Ranger, and taking his former master's name as the one and only Gentleman Jocard. Upon taking revenge on Samuel, killing him and taking a tobacco cutter stolen from the plantation on which he was enslaved, which also served as one of the Nine Pieces of Eight, Jocard became the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean. With Jack Sparrow and the crew of the Black Pearl, Captain Jocard sailed the Ranger to accompany the Pearl to Europe, where they participated in the Day of the Shadow with the other Lords of the Brethren Court.

Captain and Gentleman Jocard rose by cunning, charm, and casual slaughter to the heights as Pirate Lord. Terror of the Atlantic, Jocard's home became New Orleans, a port known for its charitable and practical leanings towards piracy. During the war against piracy, in which Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company led a ruthless campaign to eradicate piracy with an armada led by the Flying Dutchman, Jocard attended the Fourth Brethren Court, a conclave of Pirate Lords at Shipwreck Cove. During the Fourth Court, Captain Hector Barbossa put forward the idea that the Pirate Lords free Calypso, to which Jocard suggested cutting out Barbossa's tongue, only for the newly-elected Pirate King Elizabeth Swann to declare war. From the Brethren's fleet, Gentleman Jocard witnessed the battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman, which saw Beckett's death and the armada fleeing.

Biography

Early life

Little was known of Jocard's past other than that he was sold into slavery by King Samuel to Gentleman Jocard, and became known as Gombo because he was an excellent cook. His home was New Orleans, a port in Louisiana known for its charitable and practical leanings towards piracy.^[5] Gombo also befriended Jocard's other slaves, notably Marcus. One day, Gombo led a slave insurrection in the tobacco plantation, killing his master and leading his fellow slaves to freedom as the plantation burned. However, he was forced to flee due to the guards' pursuit, dogs baying and rifle shots echoing behind him from across the field. Due to being an escaped slave and having led the slave revolt, Gombo was now a fugitive.^[9][8][13]

Quest for the Shadow Gold

Aboard the Black Pearl

At the beginning of his adventure during the quest for the Shadow Gold, Captain Jack Sparrow and the crew of the Black Pearl rowed a boat downriver when they heard the slave revolt underway, shots fired and dogs in pursuit of Gombo, who was carrying a long pitchfork and running through the long grass until he spotted Jack standing on the boat. Without stopping to ask permission, Gombo pounded toward the boat and hauled himself on board. Despite the disapproval of his first mate, Hector Barbossa, Captain Sparrow helped Gombo escape from New Orleans by giving the runaway slave passage on board his pirate ship and welcomed him to the crew of the Black Pearl.^[17]

While aboard the Black Pearl, Gombo served as the ship's cook and made at least one meal of jambalaya, which Jack Sparrow considered "magnificent", befriendd though had issues with Jean Magliore's "cousin" Marcella. The Pearl was chased down by a ship, the Ranger, later revealed to be a crew of escaped slaves looking for Gombo. The cook was blinking in disbelief as his friend Marcus spoke about how the escaped slaves burned the plantation, stole their former master's ship, and wanted Gombo to lead them as their new leader because he led them to freedom and they couldn't serve under anyone else. Surprised, ignoring Jack's interjections, the cook accepted the offer, being honored to be their captain, and a great cheer went up from the escaped slaves on the Ranger. With a wise expression on his face, Jack gave Gombo a word of advice that he shouldn't be a captain with a name like "Gombo" as it lacked dignity. With steely resolve, Gombo took the name of his former master.^[8]

Jack and the rest of the crew stood at the rail waving good-bye as the Pearl's cook was rowed to his ship by his enthusiastic crew. Gombo had now gone off to captain his own pirate ship as Gentleman Jocard, the newest pirate captain in the Caribbean. While Marcella petulantly believe it was good riddance, Billy Turner believed Gentleman Jocard was remarkable, and Jack remarked that had a feeling they'd see him again.^[8]

Aboard the Ranger

In a few short months, Gentleman Jocard, captain of the Ranger, had become one of the most prosperous and respected pirates in the waters around Libertalia. Jocard got word that Captain Teague was hosting a Pirate Lord. Assuming it to be King Samuel, Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean, Jocard attacked Teague's mansion, only to discover that it was Captain Jack Sparrow, Teague's son and Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea.^[18] Together, they attacked King Samuel for they both wanted something from him; Sparrow wanted the vial of Shadow Gold and Jocard wanted revenge against Samuel. The raid on Samuel's fort was a success as Jocard had his revenge on Samuel and stole his Piece of Eight, thereby becoming Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean.^[19][20] Jocard was also present during the Day of the Shadow.^[16]

War Against Piracy

Through unknown and mysterious circumstances, Gentleman Jocard was sent to in Davy Jones' Locker, captured by either the Drifting Dead or Black Bart. Jocard lost all hope of being free from the Locker, until another imprisoned Pirate Lord, Jack Sparrow, tracked Jocard down, dueled his captors. Sparrow won the duel, and freed Jocard from his cell. Jocard escaped the Locker through unknown methods and reunited with his crew to resume his acts of piracy.^[21]

After being summoned by Hector Barbossa, Gentleman Jocard then traveled to Shipwreck Cove, to join in the fourth meeting of the Brethren Court. At the meeting, Jocard was against Hector Barbossa's idea of releasing Calypso, since he believed that if she was the Court's enemy in the past she would be the Court's enemy when released. He also suggested that the Brethren cut out Barbossa's tongue for suggesting the idea. During the vote for a new Pirate King, Jocard voted for himself, but was defeated by the two votes for Elizabeth Swann, who then declared war on the East India Trading Company.^[2]

The East India Trading Company was the first to attack however, and they sent a force of Black Coats against them. Jocard was able to escape the chaos, and made it safely to his ship. He then sailed with the rest of the fleet, to meet the Company's armada in battle. Jocard and his crew became discontented when they saw that they were outnumbered ten to one. After the two fleets parleyed on a sandbar, the battle began. A large maelstrom formed in between the two fleets, and the Black Pearl, and the Flying Dutchman went forward to battle within the huge whirlpool. The Pearl won, and with the destruction of the HMS Endeavour, the rest of the Company's armada dispersed into the distance. Jocard then celebrated the victory with his crew.^[2]

Personality and traits

What little was known of Captain and Gentleman Jocard was that he was an escaped slave, known as Gombo,^[9] who took on the name of his former master.^[5] A former slave turned pirate, whose gleaming black skin and fearsome muscles attracted many stares,^[1][2] Jocard rose by cunning, charm, and casual slaughter to the heights as Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean.^[11] His charming presence, as a ladies' man, masked a sharp and brilliant mind. Terror of the Atlantic, Jocard's home was New Orleans, a port known for its charitable and practical leanings towards piracy.^[5] Jocard was wanted dead or alive by the East India Trading Company for crimes including a slave revolt, assuming a false identity, and piracy on the British Isles. The reward was 3,600 guineas.^[4]

Jocard seemed to be a man who would easily resort to violence. He displayed extremely barbaric behaviour on the high seas, torturing captives and cutting out their tongues at random.^[20] He showed some restraint at the Fourth Brethren Court meeting, though he became angry with Hector Barbossa when the the latter proposed that the Pirate Lords free the sea goddess Calypso, and Jocard even suggested to the other Pirate Lords to cut out Barbossa's tongue as he mistrusted Calypso.^[11][2] Jocard did have a degree of respect for Mistress Ching, trusting her judgement, and sat beside her during the meeting of the Brethren.^[20]

For unknown reasons, Jocard flew the Jolly Roger of the notorious pirate Bartholomew Roberts. The flag showed Roberts holding a sword and standing on two skulls, with the acronyms ABH (A Barbadian's Head) and AMH (A Martiniquan's Head) beneath.^{[citation needed]}

Equipment and skills

Jocard was a tall man dressed in a traditional tribal costume.^[11] It was ceremonial-style robes, with lapels made of python skins. This clothing revealed a vain streak not uncommon among the Pirate Lords. His face was lined with scars, well earned in battle. He had black hair, and a beard that had been braided into four. He had a tall African headdress, two large gold earrings, and necklace which held a miniature version of a bull head.^[2] On his fingers were three large gold rings.^[22] He wore a brown and yellow embroided robe, over his bare muscular torso; unique among the Pirate Lords, as all of them wrapped themselves in several levels of clothing.^[2]

Jocard possessed a hooked mace made of bone and wood.^[22] This weapon was also unique to the Court, as most possessed purely Westernized weapons. Jocard's possessed a unique piece of eight, as did all of the Pirate Lords. It was a tobacco clipper that he stole from King Samuel after his assualt on Samuel's fort with Captain Jack Sparrow. It was destroyed during the freeing of Calypso, along with the other eight pieces of eight.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Gentleman Jocard was first mentioned in the 2007 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide^[11] before making his first appearance in T.T. Sutherland's junior novelization for the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.^[1] Hakeem Kae-Kazim portrayed Jocard in At World's End,^[2] and voiced the character in its video game adaptation.^[21] Jocard is revealed to have originally been known as "Gombo" in the Rob Kidd book Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean.^[9]

In the At World's End video game, Jocard was trapped in Davy Jones' Locker prior to being saved by Captain Jack Sparrow. In the PlayStation 2 and PC version of the game, Jocard was trapped in a bony cage in a cave filled with lava and undead pirates, while the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version had Jocard held captive on Black Bart's ship.^[21]

Jocard is probably based by Black Caesar, a former African slave and member of Blackbeard's crew. Jocard's pirate flag is identical to the second flag of the historical pirate Bartholomew Roberts.

Appearances

The Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Jocard.

The Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki has a collection of quotes related to Jocard.

• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean (First identified as Gombo)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East (Mentioned only)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (comic)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: The Movie Storybook
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Penguin Readers)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Wanted poster)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide (First identified as Jocard)
• The Pirates' Guidelines
• Inside the Brethren Court

Notes and references