Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Best Rivalries (& 5 That Make No Sense) – Screen Rant

With no shortage of daring sword-fights, nautical battles, and romance on the High Seas, thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchisehas something for everyone.Who could forget the epic clash of titans inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlwhen Captain Jack Sparrow went up against his mutinous first mate Hector Barbossa? Or in its sequel, Lord Cutler Beckett bringing the might of the East India Trading Company down upon the Pirate Brethren?

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Fans have faithfully followed the franchise for five films, cheering on the victories, trials, and rivalriesof its colorful characters as they sail the Seven Seas in search of adventure. While some rivalries proved endlessly exciting, others took the wind out of the franchise's sails. Here are the series' five best rivalries, along withfive that make no sense.

A highlight ofPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,the rivalry between Jack Sparrow and his mutinous first mate aboard theBlack Pearlwas a driving force behind the plot of the film.

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It spilled out into even more gleeful antagonism inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesandPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.In true piratical fashion, each man wanted all the glory and loot for himself, with the Black Pearl shipbeing the top prize, trading barbarous words at the point of steel with great aplomb.

InPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestandPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,Will Turner was prone to lover's quarrels with Elizabeth Swann over her interest in Captain Jack Sparrow. She'd grown close to Jack in Will's absence aboard theFlying Dutchman,and he wondered if the pirate had stolen her heart.

Jack and Elizabeth's flirtation was the product of emotional manipulation on both of their parts. As charming as Elizabeth may have found Jack, her heart belonged to Will, and Jack was Will's friend, whom he shouldn't have worried about stealing his fiance.

After the disgrace of Commodore Norrington at the hands of Captain Jack Sparrow, the East India Trading Company moves in on Port Royal as the point of authority for the Royal Navy in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Lord Cutler Beckett deems it necessary to not just wipe out Sparrow, but the pirate way of life.

Beckett begins a full-scale assault on Sparrow and the rest of the Pirate Brethren, which he enacts over the course of two films. Beckett is more manipulative and brutal than Norrington ever was, showing the truly sinister and dictatorial nature of the British Crown on the open seas.

For a man of Lord Cutler Beckett's acumen and cunning, it seemed odd for him to have a rivalry with James Norrington. Beckett effectively replaced Norrington as the figure of military authority in Port Royal and placed the might of the East India Training Companyin league with Davy Jones ahead of a once-renowned Commodore.

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Beckett should have done what he could to save Norrington's reputation with a Letter of Marque since they both represented the Crown's interests, not offered them to Will Turner, nor acquiesced to the demands of Elizabeth Swann.

Born fromPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,the rivalry between James Norrington and Will Turner began over Elizabeth Swann. She was betrothed to Norrington out of a sense of duty, a fact that infuriated Willas Elizabeth's true love.

Norrington continued to pine for Elizabeth in his own way, though his fall from grace in the second film didn't win him a higher place in her affections. Norrington knew he could never make her happy like her humble blacksmith, but that didn't stop him from trading sarcastic remarks and parrying blades with Turner.

Perhaps it was Davy Jones' fault for falling in love with a fickle and elusive sea goddess. Perhaps it was Calypso's fault for not showing up on the only day Jones could set foot on land, thus betraying their love. But it was Jones who taught the Pirate Brethren to imprison her in a human form.

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If anything, Calypso shouldn't havefelt compelled to help the pirate lords against the East India Trading Company, and she should have focused the majority of her wrath on Davy Jones. In the end, Calypso helps neither side despite the considerable build-up she receives.

If it hadn't been for Jack Sparrow, Armando Salazar might never have been cursed by the Devil's Triangle, but his pursuit of the young pirate and his need to vanquish piracy on open seas ran him afoul of its dark magic.

Hector Barbossa never made it a point to hunt Jack Sparrow because he thought him marooned on an island, but Salazar's dogmatic chasing of Sparrow made for some harrowing scenes inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

For the vague reason that Jack Sparrow "paid him great insult" once, Sao Feng had a rivalry against the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. As the Pirate Lord of the South China Sea,Feng had a fleet of junks led by theEmpress ship at his disposal, and navigational charts to mythical realms.

Whatever the ire between Sao Feng and Jack Sparrow, it led to Feng abandoning the "losing" side of the Pirate Brethren and allying himself with Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company.

Although the great rivalry between Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa dominated the first film in the franchise, the pirate's many spirited exchanges with a deadpan Commodore Norrington were a delightful addition.

Norrington lost his commission and slandered his reputation in pursuit of Sparrow, which fanned the flames of resentment for three films. Norrington's need to regain his status and see Sparrow brought to justice was the driving force behind every decision he made, except for saving Elizabeth Swann's life as his final act of valor.

It wasn't long beforePirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tidesthat the likes of Blackbeard and Hector Barbossa might have joined forces and plundered together. Blackbeard was mysteriously missing from the Pirate Court during the War Against Piracy but would have no doubt fought against the Royal Navy and Davy Jones.

The explanation for the rivalry between Blackbeard and Barbossa is simply the prophecy that a "one-legged man" would kill Blackbeard, which ignited his search for the Fountain of Youth. Barbossa's only beef with Blackbeard seemed to be that because he was in the employ of King George II, he was bound to fight a fellow pirate captain.

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Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she's particularly proud of. When she isn't writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she's working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Best Rivalries (& 5 That Make No Sense) - Screen Rant