For the Wish Realm version, see Wish Black Beard. |
Captain Black Beard[1] is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the seventeenth episode of the third season. He is portrayed by guest star Charles Mesure, and is the main reality version of Wish Black Beard.
Black Beard is based on Blackbeard, a real historical pirate and character from popular culture.
History
Through some means, Black Beard comes to possess an item called a wishing star, which can grant a wish, but only if the user has a pure heart. Approached by the Queen and King of Arendelle, they hand over an unknown price in exchange for the wishing star. ("Fall")
Black Beard meets a thief named Snow White, who is running away from the Queen, and she has hopes he can take her as far as possible from the kingdom. She offers some money in exchange for hiding as a stowaway on his ship, but the pirate asks her to pay up more in order to earn his discretion. Since she doesn't have enough money, Black Beard leaves without securing a deal with her. ("Snow Drifts")
In a scheme to capture Anna and Kristoff, Prince Hans pays gold to Black Beard so he will help him. When approached by the twosome, Black Beard agrees, in a fib, to sell them the wishing star for an equal amount of gold in his own weight. Once the deal is struck, Prince Hans and his brothers arrive to trap Anna and Kristoff. Black Beard admits to the charade and then tells Anna how much she resembles her mother; recounting how her naive parents came to him asking for the wishing star, but they failed to realize that the item can only be harnessed by a pure-hearted person. After Prince Hans sentences the pair to death, Black Beard orders a large coffer to be pulled onto the deck. He recalls how a past rival once made him walk the plank, and though death seemed certain, his life was saved by a mermaid. Jokingly, he jibs that the casket will ensure they die without "fin-terference." As Anna is forced into the coffer, she mouths off to Hans, insisting that Elsa will escape from the urn and regain the throne from him, but to her shock, he reveals Ingrid's magic froze Arendelle and everyone in it for thirty years. After the casket is closed, Black Beard calls for his crew to toss it into the sea, which they promptly do. ("Fall")
At an unknown period after this, Elsa and her family return and reclaim the kingdom. As punishment for conspiring against Anna and Kristoff, she shrinks the Jolly Roger into a bottle, leaving Black Beard's fate unclear. ("Poor Unfortunate Soul")Trivia
Production Notes
- In the episode script[2] and press release[3] for "Mother's Little Helper," his named is spelled "Blackbeard," even though the episode "The Jolly Roger" clearly establishes that he has two initials in his name.[1]
Disney
- Black Beard's clothing and appearance is reminiscent of Disney's Captain Hook.[4] ("The Jolly Roger" et al.)
Fairytales and Folklore
- In the Peter Pan novel, Captain Hook is described as a "boatswain to Blackbeard." This connection is alluded to in Isaac's storybook, where Hook works as a deckhand for Black Beard. ("Operation Mongoose Part 2")
Prop Notes
- The dagger Black Beard is wielding when confronting Hook on the Jolly Roger[5] is the same dagger Cyrus is wielding on the cliff edge at the Boiling Sea in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Down the Rabbit Hole."[6] ("The Jolly Roger")
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season Three | ||||||||||
"The Heart of the Truest Believer": | "Lost Girl": | "Quite a Common Fairy": | "Nasty Habits": | "Good Form": | "Ariel": | "Dark Hollow": | "Think Lovely Thoughts": | "Save Henry": | "The New Neverland": | "Going Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"New York City Serenade": | "Witch Hunt": | "The Tower": | "Quiet Minds": | "It's Not Easy Being Green": | "The Jolly Roger": | "Bleeding Through": | "A Curious Thing": | "Kansas": | "Snow Drifts": | "There's No Place Like Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Mentioned |
Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
"A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent |
"Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Absent | Archive | Absent | Absent |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
|
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
References
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