16 Pirates Of The Caribbean Easter Eggs You Probably Missed
14. Jack Ward's Islamic Inspiration
Jack Sparrow's now iconic character design isn't just a matter of throwing together some typical pirate cliches: in fact his is less like the traditional pirate look favoured by Barbossa and Blackbeard, and it's seemingly for a reason.
Sparrow was apparently based on Jack Ward - or Birdy as he was extremely unterrifyingly otherwise known - a real life pirate who converted to Islam after a career after pirating all over the Caribbean. He then changed his name to Yusuf Reis and saw his exploits celebrated in tales of infamy and songs. And a gigantic blockbuster Disney franchise.
The clues to his kinship with Sparrow appear in the Islamic pendant entwined in Jack's hair, his headband and his eye make-up. Plus there's the whole Birdy/Sparrow link.
Barbossa is also probably a reference to another barbary pirate - Barbarossa, or Red Beard to give him his cool pirate name.