Pintel and Ragetti

Pirates of the Caribbean character
Pintel and Ragetti

Gender Male
Profession Pirates, cannoneers
Ship(s) served on Mainly:
Black Pearl
Formerly:
Hai Peng
Weaponry Pistols, Cutlasses, Cannon
Appearance(s) The Curse of the Black Pearl
Dead Man's Chest
At World's End
Portrayed by Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg

Pintel and Ragetti are recurring characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, where they were primarily providing comic relief throughout each film. Pintel is portrayed by Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook portrays Ragetti.[1]

Their first appearance occurred in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, when they served under Hector Barbossa upon the Black Pearl. Pintel and Ragetti, along with Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl, share in the Aztec curse and are immortal for the majority of the film.[2]

In the second film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pintel and Ragetti serve under Captain Jack Sparrow, again providing comic relief and additionally the occasional important insight into other characters. They join the ever-lengthening list of people who want the Dead Man's Chest, hoping to "remove temptation" from the other characters' path and make a profit themselves.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ragetti and Pintel play a more significant part in the plot while still supplying comic relief. In this installment, they serve under Hector Barbossa in the journey to rescue Jack, and then serve in the joint effort by Barbossa and Sparrow to defeat the East India Trading Company. Ragetti's wooden eye is used by Barbossa as his "Piece of Eight" (one of a group of nine Pieces of Eight used to free Calypso) and his empty eye socket is later covered with an eye patch.

In the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow Pintel and Ragetti are both voiced by Greg Ellis.

Fictional biography

Early life

Little is known about the background of either Pintel or Ragetti. According to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, prior to serving as cannoneers aboard the Black Pearl, Ragetti and Pintel spent a year as naval sailors, press-ganged into service for the Royal Navy before deserting to escape the bad food and abusive treatment.

As part of a backstory worked out by both Arenberg and 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.[3] Arenberg also claims Ragetti is the son of a prostitute.

The Curse of the Black Pearl

The two pirates served aboard the Black Pearl under Captain Sparrow until first mate Hector Barbossa turned them against him. The crew maroons Jack on an island and leave him to die (though he eventually escapes). Later Captain Barbossa becomes "Captain" much to Bootstrap Bill's fury. Bootstrap was the only one that vouched for Jack during the mutiny and sent a coin to his son Will in order to keep the crew cursed for betraying Jack. Barbossa in response tied a cannon to Bootstrap and threw him overboard the Pearl only to discover that Bootstrap is needed to lift their curse. They are first seen in The Curse of The Black Pearl when they invade the governor's house and take Elizabeth Swann prisoner. In the sea battle between the Black Pearl and the H.M.S. Interceptor, they fire the chainshot that smashes the H.M.S. Interceptor's foremast, making pursuit impossible. They also facilitated the cursed pirates boarding Commodore Norrington's ship, the Dauntless, by dressing in women's clothing to attract the attention of the men on the ship. Their characters provide comic relief during the movie's more intense scenes and provide storyline information. When the curse is broken and the pirates defeated, they are captured and jailed. They serve as secondary antagonists of the movie.

A running gag throughout the first 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 a prisoner will be escorted unharmed to the captain in order to conduct negotiations. Then they become irritated when all their captures invoke parley especially when Jack Sparrow invokes parley after he was discovered alive. At one point, Pintel snarls at his captives, "If any of you so much as thinks of the word 'parley', I'll have your guts for garters!". Ironically, after they are captured, Pintel attempts unsuccessfully to invoke parley himself.

There are also frequent gags involving Ragetti's wooden false eye, which causes discomfort and is often knocked out of its socket and has him frantically searching for it; one of Ragetti's professed desires is to have a real glass eye. It is not known how he lost his real one, though in At Worlds 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, a pirate lord, gave it to Ragetti for safekeeping. At the end of At Worlds End, Ragetti can be seen carving a new eye.

There are also jokes about the two characters' feelings of closeness. Whenever they do, they become embarrassed or angry, and the moment quickly passes; therefore director Gore Verbinski jokingly described the two as more of a "married couple".

Dead Man's Chest

In the sequel, the pair have escaped jail and are rowing a boat to Pelegosto island, along with the dog who holds the keys to the jail cells, whom they have named "Poochie". Ragetti has become somewhat religious, telling Pintel, "Since we're not immortal no more, we gotta take care of our immortal souls" when attempting to read the Bible (unsuccessfully, holding the book upside down). 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 Black Pearl, Jack magnanimously, if unintentionally, allows them to rejoin his crew. Although they become more or less loyal members of his crew, the writers state in the DVD commentary that Jack considers them, as well as James Norrington, as the most expendable crew members.

Later, when Jack is searching for Davy Jones's heart and a fight breaks out between himself, Norrington, and Will Turner, Pintel and Ragetti once again have an opportunity to steal something valuable; to convince his partner, Pintel tells Ragetti they will be "removing temptation from their paths" by stealing the Dead Man's Chest. They take it, but do not get far before Elizabeth catches up to them. Pintel greets Elizabeth much as he greeted her when they first met by saying, in an eerie tone, "'ello, poppet". Before they can do anything to her, however, Davy Jones's crew attacks and they drop the chest. When the Flying Dutchman'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 used as improvised weapons.

The two pirates are not without loyalty or humanity. When the Kraken attacks the Black Pearl, Ragetti saves Elizabeth from its deadly tentacle. Both Ragetti and Pintel shed genuine tears of respect and grief over Jack's demise and join the pledge to resurrect their fallen captain; this is ironic, considering they supported and participated in Barbossa's mutiny against Jack and marooned him on the island (the change seems to have come from the fact that he came back for and "sacrificed" himself for his crew, including them).

The comic duo (especially Ragetti) can unexpectedly engage in erudite and intelligent discussions. In these discussions, Ragetti often proves that he is more educated than he appears, even though he is illiterate, though Ragetti argues the point. When Tia Dalma says that something vexed Davy Jones so much that he abandoned land for an eternal life at sea, Ragetti asks whether this was "the dichotomy of good and evil", causing Pintel and 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 displays a knack for knowing things he should not, such as the reasons for which Jack, Will, and Norrington each want the heart of Davy Jones (Jack to control Jones and protect himself, Will to free his father from the less-than-friendly bond between the Flying Dutchman and her crew, and Norrington to restore his honor). This tendency had earlier appeared in The Curse of the Black Pearl, wherein Ragetti compares a ruse used by himself and Pintel to the ruse of the Trojan Horse while they were distracting the Royal Navy by pretending to be women: "It's just like what the Greeks done at Troy... 'cept they was in a horse, not dresses. Wooden horse".

At World's End

Before the movie was released, the actors announced that the characters of Ragetti and Pintel would play roles of some importance to the plot. In an interview with Empire magazine (Australia) Mackenzie Crook says "You sort of discover that Lee (Arenberg) and I are there for more than just comic relief in the third movie. It turns out that we do have a purpose in the grand scheme of things". As seen in the trailer and in the movie itself, the two throw swords up through floorboards of Sao Feng's bathhouse to Elizabeth and Barbossa, allowing them to defend themselves when both Feng and the East India Trading Company attack.

In Davy Jones' Locker, when Jack is "choosing" his crew members, he refuses Ragetti, saying, "Don't need you, you scare me", though he comes anyway. When Barbossa asks 'Where you would be 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 a sadistic smile in their faces, indicating that once they have learnt that contrary to what they had been thinking up to then, Jack hadn't really ′sacrificed′ himself to Kraken to save their lives, but was rather pushed into it courtesy Elizabeth, they are no longer loyal to Jack. When Jack asks the crew if anyone saved him because they missed him and not to serve their own ends, the two are among the few (including Jack the Monkey) to raise their hands. Later, when Barbossa and Sparrow arguing 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 would have voted for you".

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 spell in a well-deserved 'shining moment' for his character.

At the film's end, the two serve aboard the Black Pearl, which Barbossa has again commandeered from Jack. Pintel says 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 Fountain of Youth (This mirrors Barbossa asking for the coordinates of the Chest of Cortes while planning a mutiny.) When Barbossa shows them the charts, a big hole appears where the map's crucial component was removed by Sparrow. Ragetti is also seen making a new wooden eye for himself.

In the third installment, Ragetti again shows that he is more educated than he appears when he says "Actually, it's a cephalopod" after Pintel calls the dead Kraken a "stupid fish".

On Stranger Tides

Pintel and Ragetti are not seen or mentioned in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, as the "Black Pearl" is attacked and taken by Blackbeard. Barbossa was able to survive the attack. Their further fate is currently unknown.

During the production of the fourth film, they were originally supposed to make an appearance, but director Rob Marshall opted out of the idea as he feared their roles would be cut.[4]

Characteristics

Behavior

Pintel and Ragetti appear and act nearly always together; therefore their roles in the film series have been compared with those of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd in Diamonds Are Forever. Several scenes that feature them became recurring jokes/motifs in the series with the release of the sequel. For example:

They are the counterparts to the two Royal Marines Murtogg and Mullroy. The two comic relief pairs are united at the end of the movie, where Murtogg and Mullroy, disguised as pirates, celebrate the victory of the pirates after running away from their posts after they failed to keep Davy Jones' heart safe.

By the second movie, Ragetti becomes very religious. He is seen trying to read a Bible upside down, even when Pintel reveals that Ragetti cannot read (to which Ragetti retorts, "It's the Bible, you get credit for tryin'."). His reason for doing so is the idea that, having lost his immortality, he is worried about the afterlife of his soul. Viewers can also see his new look on life in the scene in Tia Dalma's Swamp, wherein he suggests that the thing that vexes all men is "the dichotomy of good and evil". We can again see his religious/philosophical/intellectual side in the third movie, when the crew is frost-covered and he calmly contemplates aloud, "There must be a good reason for our suffering". This may have also been a sarcastic complaint/question to Barbossa. Also in this film, when Pintel sees the kraken's body at the beach, he calls it a "Stupid fish!", but Ragetti reminds him that the Kraken is a cephalopod, thus making another joke about the contrast of his intellect over his ragged appearance.

Exterior

Like most pirates, Pintel and Ragetti wear old, threadbare clothes. According to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, Ragetti's green jacket was stolen from a French nobleman, Pintel's trousers are washed with urine in an attempt to remove bloodstains, and Ragetti's trousers are covered with tar to make them waterproof. It also was mentioned in The Visual Guide that Pintel spends hours in front of a mirror in order to practice his famous gloomy face expression. Their coats are similar to that of Jack Sparrow.

Abilities

Pintel and Ragetti are skilled fighters; both before and after their immortality is lost, they are shown standing up to many times their number. Normally, they both fight with cutlasses, but in a scene in Dead Man's Chest, when Elizabeth had taken their swords from them, they continue fighting with incredible efficiency using only the chest, an oar, and a net. They also use flintlock pistols, while it should be noticed that Pintel uses a double-barrelled one, which you can see clearly as he points it at Jack Sparrow in the Curse of the Black Pearl. In At World's End, Ragetti uses the butt of a pistol as a club. They are skilled gunners during sea battles; in the battle between the Black Pearl and the H.M.S. Interceptor, they serve at the cannons. Similar to Barbossa, they seem not to have any moral issues about murdering innocent people, like Elizabeth's Butler or the Royal Marine and switch to the right side quickly, but against the other cursed crew of the Black Pearl (like the brutal Bo'sun or the nasty Koehler), they seem to have good hearts, more or less.

Merchandise

Both Pintel and Ragetti were made into Action Figures in NECA's Series 2 of the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl series and also in Zizzle's 1:18 scale Pirates of the Caribbean: Secrets of the Deep toy line. NECA would make them into Action Figures once again in Series 1 of the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Series, and Zizzle included them as part of their own Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End series .

Commercials

Games

References

  1. ↑ New York Times
  2. ↑ "The Office boy cuts a new dash". London: The Times. 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  3. ↑ Pirates of The Caribbean Pintel And Ragetti - Lee Arengberg Interview - YouTube
  4. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/"We Sail With the Tide" by Terry Rossio
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