Toms

Toms was a captain of the British Royal Navy. He captained the Monarch and in 1751, he chased the Dutch barque Ruddy Rose into the Devil's Triangle, despite the warnings of his crew member Henry Turner, whom Toms considered crazy. However, ignoring the young Turner made him pay with his own life, as upon entering the Devil's Triangle, the terrifying Capitán Armando Salazar and his ghostly crew attacked Toms' crew and subsequently, Salazar strangled Toms and threw his body to the flames.

Biography

Early life

Not much is known of Toms' early life. At some unspecified point, Toms became an officer of the British Royal Navy and later became captain of the Monarch. Toms' main task was to hunt pirates, so he enlisted a crew for his ship, which included First Officer Wade and Officer Cole, and sailed several times in search of pirates to hunt.^[3]

The hunt for the Ruddy Rose

In 1751,^[2] Captain Toms led the Monarch to hunt down the Ruddy Rose, a Dutch barque captained by the fearsome pirate Captain Bonnet, in the Caribbean Sea.^[3] At one point, realizing that defeat at the hands of the British was imminent, the Ruddy Rose lowered her colors in an attempt to surrender, but Toms offered no mercy and continued with the chase.^[1] However, the young sailor Henry Turner, upon realizing that they were heading to the Devil's Triangle, disobeyed the orders of Petty Officer Maddox and ran to warn Toms, telling him that they needed to avoid entering the Triangle since several ships that entered there never come out. However, Toms denied changing the direction of the ship, and Cole ordered his men to arrest Turner. Desperate, the boy tried to change the ship's course by force, but was quickly captured and Toms ripped the sleeves of his jacket as a sign of treason, ordering the Marines to lock him in a cell.^[3]

Death

However, once the Monarch entered the Devil's Triangle, Toms' officers discovered the remains of Bonnet's Dutch barque, concluding that Turner was right. But it was too late, because the terrible and ghostly Capitán Armando Salazar and his ghost crew appeared on the scene, annihilating the crew of the Monarch and setting fire to the ship.^[3] Witnessing his crew's slaughter, the British captain was able to see Maddox's death at the hands of the ghosts.^[1] Toms stood on the quarterdeck when he was captured by two crewmen of the Silent Mary, who kept him alive so that their Capitán may deal with him. As Salazar made his way toward Toms, he asked "What are you?" Salazar then grabbed Toms by the throat and responded "Death", before snapping the officer's neck and throwing his lifeless corpse into the fire.^[3]

Personality and traits

A British naval officer at the service of King George II, Toms served as Captain in the British Royal Navy and was evidently prideful of both his position and his task of hunting down pirates.^[3] He was a man of strict duty, as he refused to accept Bonnet's surrender and continued with the chase.^[1] Toms was too confident of his actions and a bit smug, as he turned down Henry Turner's pleas of changing the Monarch's course in spite of how no ships that entered the Devil's Triangle never return, assuming it to be nothing more than mere superstition and thinking that the boy was but a simple sailor who had no authority nor importance over him, branding Turner as a traitor when he tried to change course by force upon realizing that Toms was effectively shipping them to death.^[3]

However, Toms' obstinacy ended up taking its toll with his vessel, his men as well as his own life. Though Bonnet was ultimately hunted down as he wanted, Toms wasn't able to enjoy this victory as Armando Salazar and his phantom crew slaughtered all aboard the naval vessel as it was set ablaze within said same waters he dismissed as normal. Before dying, Toms realized too late that the young sailor he ignored was right all along, inevitably meeting his end when Salazar, whom the fatuous marine asked who and/or what he was with all the fear of his life; demonstrating his extreme cowardice, broke his neck after responding to his question and throwing his corpse to the flames, so they could burn all what remained of the foolish, pompous and stubborn officer.^[3]

Behind the scenes

Captain Toms first appeared in Elizabeth Rudnick's novelization for the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.^[1] Richard Piper portrayed Toms in the film.^[3]

Between the novelization and the film, Captain Toms' conversation with Henry Turner and Officer Cole and his death during the attack on the Monarch by Armando Salazar played out differently. In the novelization, the conversation with Henry and Cole was longer, and Salazar simply stabbed Toms with his sword.^[1] While in the film, Salazar snapped Toms's neck and threw him into the fire.^[3]

In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Captain Toms was in command of the HMS Monarch at the beginning of the Seven Years' War, leading the ship and its crew against the French Royal Navy. In 1756, the Monarch attacked and captured the French ship Courageux, retrieving a diamond called the Eye of Poseidon in the process. After the battle, the stormy seas carried the Monarch into the Devil's Triangle, where the ship was attacked and captured by the ghostly crew of the Silent Mary, led by Captain John Brand. Captain Toms was killed during the battle.^[4]

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization (First appearance)
  • Pirates des Caraïbes : La Vengeance de Salazar
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel

Notes and references

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
4. ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013