Before the films Information concerning Barbossa's childhood and youth stem from actor
Geoffrey Rush, who devised a backstory for the character in order to portray him more convincingly. According to Rush, Barbossa was born to an impoverished
Portuguese noblewoman by an unknown father and hailed from
Lisbon in
Portugal, though
Jack Sparrow surmises a
Cornish origin based upon his
accent in
The Price of Freedom. Longing to escape a life of poverty, he ran away from home aged 13 to pursue life as a sailor. At first, Barbossa wanted to be an honest sailor with the
merchant marine, but seeing the grandeur of the captains' cabins on the ships on which he served, he realized that a man from his station could never afford a lifestyle like that whilst remaining an honest sailor, choosing a life of piracy instead. At some point, after Jack Sparrow attains the
Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa joins him as his
first mate. The original backstory was that Jack recruited Barbossa and his cronies, including Pintel and Ragetti, prior to the voyage to Isla de Muerta. Ten years before the events of
The Curse of the Black Pearl, Barbossa was first mate aboard the
Black Pearl prior to the mutiny against Jack Sparrow, having recruited a crew at Tortuga, notably
Pintel and Ragetti. Sparrow told Barbossa and the rest of the crew about the curse, though nobody believed this
ghost story. Captain and crew agreed to equal shares of the treasure, but devious first mate Barbossa persuaded Jack that equal shares included knowing the treasure's location. Jack complied, and soon after Barbossa led a mutiny and marooned Jack on an island with nothing but a pistol containing one shot. Jack hates Barbossa for having violated the code. Barbossa's crew finds the treasure, take every bit of the gold, including Barbossa's monkey Jack, though at that point had no name. Then as they go out partying, carousing, they discover that they were cursed. Barbossa's crew learned how to undo the curse, most likely by going back to read the Aztec writing on the chest, by learning that they needed to put all the gold back. Bootstrap Bill had been feeling guilty because of what they did to Jack and sent one piece of the gold to Will in England, wanting the pirates to never be able to lift the curse. Barbossa got ticked off and strapped Bootstrap Bill to a cannon, and dropped him into the crushing depths of Davy Jones' Locker. However, they find out that all the pirates had to get all the gold back and add their blood to the chest. Ten years before the events of
The Curse of the Black Pearl, Barbossa led a mutiny against Jack Sparrow and marooned him on an uncharted island. Arriving at the treasure of
Isla de Muerta, 882 identical pieces of
Aztec gold, they claim it and spend it all. They realize too late that the gold was cursed, dooming the crew to become undead skeletons. Shortly after the mutiny, Barbossa has
Bootstrap Bill Turner thrown overboard, attaching a cannon to his foot. The crew spend the next years retrieving the Aztec gold and amassing treasure, unable to find the last piece of gold, as Bootstrap Bill had sent it to his son
Will Turner. Eight years prior to the events of the film, Barbossa sailed the
Black Pearl at the crossing of England, where Will met
Elizabeth Swann, who took Will's medallion. It is later revealed in ''
At World's End'' that Tia Dalma is actually the
sea goddess
Calypso in human form, Barbossa was a Pirate Lord of the Brethren Court, and they both struck a bargain. In return for his resurrection, Barbossa agreed to summon a meeting of the Brethren so they could release the goddess from her human bonds. However, because Jack Sparrow was also a Pirate Lord, they had to go rescue him at
Davy Jones' Locker, where Sparrow was taken by
Davy Jones' leviathan, the
Kraken. Barbossa also lost the
Black Pearl to
Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, who attacked the ship without warning and used the power embedded in the Sword of Triton to turn the ship against his crew. This attack forced Barbossa to escape with his life by cutting off his right leg via
self-dismemberment. Unbeknownst to Barbossa, who believed the
Black Pearl was sunk, Blackbeard magicked the
Pearl into a
ship in a bottle along with a collection of conquered ships.
On Stranger Tides In
On Stranger Tides, set over a decade and seven years after the third film ''At World's End
, it is revealed that Hector Barbossa had become a privateer in service to King George II. However, having yet to reveal the details on losing the Black Pearl
and his right leg, Barbossa does not reveal his true agenda for revenge against Blackbeard as a goal since the very night it happened. When first asked by Jack Sparrow, Barbossa only stated that the Black Pearl
was lost and sunk. Barbossa excelled so much at his new station that King George personally tasked him with finding the Fountain of Youth, as captain of HMS Providence''. By this point, Barbossa gained much information and learned at least the basics on Blackbeard. Barbossa knows the name of Blackbeard's ship ''
Queen Anne's Revenge'', his obsession to find the Fountain of Youth, and even the importance of Blackbeard's Sword of Triton. Barbossa specifically knew Blackbeard's sword had the power to rule the winds of the ocean, as well as everything associated with the wind, including the ships at sea, their rigging, sails, etc. and that its powers were diminished away from the ship. To replace his missing right leg, Barbossa also started wearing a wooden peg leg with a hidden rum supply. After Jack Sparrow's capture and escape from King George, Barbossa forces
Joshamee Gibbs, now in possession of the map, into assisting him on his quest. When they arrive at White Cap Bay, the
Providence is attacked by mermaids. Making their way through the jungle, Barbossa reaches the ship of
Ponce de Leon in search for the two chalices required for the ritual, where he meets Jack Sparrow. The two decide to team up to retrieve the missing chalices from the Spanish camp, where they get captured, and later escape with the chalices. Before retrieving the chalices, Barbossa reveals to Sparrow his true agenda: revenge against Blackbeard for the attack on the
Black Pearl, which Barbossa truly believes to be sunk. Reaching the Fountain, Barbossa uses a sword poisoned using the innards of "poisonous toads" and engages Blackbeard in a duel, eventually mortally wounding him. Hector Barbossa claims Blackbeard's ship, crew, and sword as payment for his lost leg and returns to a life of piracy. The crew look on in wonder as Barbossa used Blackbeard's sword to unfurl the sails and fill them with wind, causing the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' to sail forward at full speed and ordered to make way for Tortuga. However, other interviews imply otherwise, as producer Jerry Bruckheimer said they can bring characters back, and Rush himself didn't seem completely opposed to returning to the series because he said, ''"[Barbossa] could come back like
Hamlet's father, as a ghost. Just to annoy Jack."'' ==Other appearances==