Elizabeth Swann

Elizabeth Swann
Pirates of the Caribbean character
Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann [a]
First appearance	The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Last appearance	Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Portrayed by	Keira Knightley [b] Lucinda Dryzek [c]
Voiced by	Eliza Schneider [d]
In-universe information
Occupation	Pirate
Family	Weatherby Swann (father)
Spouse	Will Turner
Children	Henry Turner (son)
Nationality	English

Elizabeth Swann is a fictional character in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. She appears in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). She is portrayed by Keira Knightley in all four films. Elizabeth is the daughter of Weatherby Swann, the wife of Will Turner and the mother of Henry Turner.

Elizabeth Swann was introduced at the beginning of the original 2003 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She appears as a young girl at sea with her father, Governor Weatherby Swann. She notices a boy floating in the water, and the crew hauls him aboard the ship. He is identified as Will Turner. Eight years later, Elizabeth is of a marriageable age. Her father, the governor of Port Royal, wants her to marry Commodore James Norrington, a Royal Navy officer. During Norrington's marriage proposal, Elizabeth is suffocated by her tightly-laced corset and faints, falling into the bay.

She is rescued by the notorious pirate Jack Sparrow, newly arrived in Port Royal to commandeer a ship. Despite Sparrow's gallant act and against Elizabeth's protests, he is promptly jailed and sentenced to hang. That night, Port Royal is raided by the Black Pearl, a pirate ship. When Elizabeth is taken hostage by the pirates, they discover that she possesses a gold medallion that she took from Will after his rescue years ago. Elizabeth strikes a deal with the captain of the ship, Hector Barbossa: He will leave Port Royal in exchange for the medallion. At first Barbossa agrees, but then keeps Elizabeth captive after she identifies herself as "Elizabeth Turner". He believes that, as a Turner, her blood can break a curse that has transformed his crew into immortal zombies.

Will frees Sparrow from prison, and together they pursue Barbossa. After a series of adventures, Barbossa takes Will captive and maroons Elizabeth and Sparrow on a deserted island. Elizabeth creates a towering smoke column, which is spotted by Norrington. Hoping to rescue Will, Elizabeth convinces Norrington to attack Barbossa's crew on Isla de Muerta by impulsively accepting his marriage proposal. Once on the island, Elizabeth frees Sparrow's crew, believing they will rescue Will and Sparrow. Instead, they commandeer the Black Pearl and set sail, leaving Elizabeth to rescue Will and Sparrow by herself. Elizabeth, Will and Sparrow fight Barbossa and his crew, and Sparrow shoots Barbossa as the curse is lifted. He falls dead, and his now-mortal crewmates surrender to Norrington. Back in Port Royal, Will frees Sparrow from execution. Elizabeth and Will proclaim their love for each other, and Norrington concedes Elizabeth's hand to Will.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) takes place one year after The Curse of the Black Pearl. At the beginning of the film, Lord Cutler Beckett notifies Elizabeth and Will that they have been sentenced to death for helping Sparrow escape execution. Beckett, who is an agent of the East India Trading Company, offers clemency if Will agrees to search for Sparrow and obtain his magical compass. Will finds Sparrow and the Black Pearl crew on Isla de Pelegostos. They are hiding from the Kraken, a leviathan controlled by the mythical captain Davy Jones.

Elizabeth escapes from prison and discovers that Beckett is not pardoning her or Will. She confronts Beckett and forces him to free Will. She then travels to Tortuga, where she encounters Sparrow attempting to pay off a debt to Jones. Also present is Norrington, who tries to shoot Sparrow. In the ensuing brawl, Elizabeth knocks out Norrington to save him. Sparrow claims Will was forced into joining Jones's crew, but says Elizabeth can save him by finding the Dead Man's Chest, which contains Jones's beating heart.

Elizabeth, Sparrow, Norrington and Will arrive on Isla Cruces and locate the Chest. A conflict erupts, and Norrington flees with Jones's heart. Jones pursues the Black Pearl, and Elizabeth realizes that Sparrow is the Kraken's sole target. She distracts him with a kiss while handcuffing him to the mast, and tells the others that he willingly stayed behind to aid their escape. After witnessing the kiss, Will believes that Elizabeth loves Sparrow. The Kraken then drags Sparrow into Davy Jones's Locker as the others watch from the longboat. Elizabeth is wracked by guilt for sacrificing Sparrow, which prompts the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma to suggest they rescue Sparrow with the help of Captain Barbossa, who is alive once again.

Elizabeth returns in the third film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007). She joins Will, Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and Sparrow's crew on a mission to rescue Sparrow from Davy Jones's Locker. Elizabeth's anguish over sacrificing Sparrow torments her, and during the voyage she distances herself from Will. She eventually reveals to him that she caused Sparrow's demise, and he is hurt that she kept a secret from him. Elizabeth claims that Will cannot trust her, and abruptly leaves. In the Locker, Elizabeth discovers that her father was murdered by Beckett, and she vows to avenge his death.

The dying pirate captain Sao Feng names Elizabeth the Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, mistakenly believing she is the sea goddess Calypso. Elizabeth and her new crew are taken prisoner aboard the Flying Dutchman, where she is reunited with Norrington. Elizabeth accuses him of complicity in her father's murder, but Norrington denies knowing anything about his death. That night, Norrington frees Elizabeth and her crew.

Elizabeth attends a meeting of pirate lords, who discuss how to oppose Beckett and the East India Trading Company. Elizabeth favors fighting, while others suggest hiding in Shipwreck Cove. Elizabeth is elected Pirate King and declares war. As Beckett's fleet approaches, Elizabeth refuses to retreat and delivers a rousing speech. During the ensuing battle, Will proposes to Elizabeth, who orders Barbossa to marry them amidst the fighting. Davy Jones fatally wounds Will, and Sparrow forces the grief-stricken Elizabeth to escape with him as Will and the Dutchman are sucked into a whirlpool. The ship quickly resurfaces, however, with a resurrected Will at the helm. With the help of Will and his crew, the pirates kill Beckett and destroy his ship. Later, Elizabeth and Will travel to a nearby island and conceive their son, Henry Turner.

During the quest for the Trident of Poseidon, Henry named his mother "Elizabeth Swann" rather than "Elizabeth Turner" when he meets Captain Jack Sparrow in Saint Martin prison. Elizabeth appears after the Trident is destroyed, which frees Will from the curse that bounds him to the Flying Dutchman. Elizabeth reunites with Will and they kiss while being watched by Henry and Carina Smyth, Hector Barbossa's daughter, as well as Jack Sparrow, who considers it a revolting sight. In a post-credits scene, Elizabeth is seen sleeping next to Will, as the dark silhouette of Davy Jones entering the room. Will then awakens but, assuming that he was simply dreaming, goes back to sleep with Elizabeth, oblivious to the water and barnacles at the foot of their bed.

Elizabeth appears in the Disney/Square Enix games Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III, voiced by Eliza Schneider. She is a playable character in the Dead Man's Chest video game and in Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game. Schneider also performs the voice of Elizabeth Swann again in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow and in the video game adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The character also appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean Online. Elizabeth Swann appears in the racing game Disney Speedstorm as a playable driver, again voiced by Schneider.^[1] Elizabeth Swann appears as a playable character in the video game Disney Magic Kingdoms, wearing her pirate clothes from Dead Man's Chest.^[2]

Keira Knightley portrays Elizabeth in all four films in which the character appears. Knightley has described Elizabeth as "a 21st century girl trapped in an 18th century world" who "starts out as a damsel in distress and then kicks butt". Knightley was disappointed that Elizabeth does not carry a sword in Curse of the Black Pearl.^[3] In Dead Man's Chest, she added that, "we went off into a grungier look for her. That was really exciting actually, to take the character and make her grow up... I think they really liked the more action-based side of Elizabeth from the first film and apparently that's what little girls really responded to, so they decided to take her off in that direction". Although she was finally able to brandish a sword, most of her fight scenes did not make the finished film.^[4] When filming At World's End, Knightley was glad to shed the elaborate dresses—which were uncomfortably hot—and wear only pirate clothing.^[5] During production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, Knightley wore wigs when playing Elizabeth.^[6]

On November 2006, it was reported that Knightley didn't want to participate in any further sequels.^[7] By 2010, both Knightley and Orlando Bloom had repeatedly been quoted in saying they wanted to move on.^[8] While Knightley affirmed this over the years,^[9][10] Bloom made statements as early as October 2011, eventually being announced to return, which led to reports suggesting that Keira Knightley would reprise her role as well.^[11][12][13] Once the film was shown to test audiences, the filmmakers felt they were "demanded" to reunite both Will and Elizabeth's character.^[14] To ensure that Knightley could reprise her role as Elizabeth, the production moved for a one-day shoot in London, where she was working.^[15] According to Knightley, "she doesn't expect to do any more because they take too long to shoot".^[16]

Elizabeth is a spirited, intelligent, and independent-minded character.^{[citation needed]} Throughout the three films, she transforms from a young girl to a proper lady and finally into a courageous pirate. Even after becoming a pirate, Elizabeth retains her refined ways, as well as her loyalty and compassion for loved ones (including Will Turner, her father, and later, Jack Sparrow and James Norrington).

Elizabeth adapts easily to piracy, having natural leadership abilities. She learns seamanship quickly and finds that she has an innate talent for battle strategy. She learns swordsmanship from Will and is soon capable of defending herself against multiple opponents, fighting with two swords simultaneously.

She freely speaks her mind even if it offends others; for example, she calls a potentially dangerous enemy, Sao Feng, a coward. During her reign as Pirate King of the Brethren Court, Elizabeth proves to be a charismatic leader and inspires the other pirate lords to battle Cutler Beckett's fleet. Elizabeth's darker side is shown when she sacrifices Jack Sparrow to the Kraken so she and the crew can escape. However, she feels so guilty about it that she later helps rescue Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker.

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In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth wears a dress style known as a Robe a L'Anglaise. As a young girl, she wears a blue dress in this style, and, eight years later, her father presented her with a gold-colored silk frock with a corset to wear at Commodore Norrington's promotion ceremony. Elizabeth is kidnapped wearing a long, floral cream-colored dressing gown, though Captain Barbossa later insists she wear a red dress; she is forced to return it prior to walking the plank and being marooned on a deserted island, clad only in a long white chemise. After being rescued by Commodore Norrington, Elizabeth is loaned a Royal Navy uniform. At Sparrow's execution, she wears a peach-colored gown and a picture hat.

In Dead Man's Chest, as Elizabeth's character and circumstances change, so does her wardrobe. Although she is first seen in an elegant silk wedding gown and a long lace veil, Elizabeth later disguises herself as a cabin boy.

In At World's End, Elizabeth first appears in Chinese peasant clothing and a conical straw hat while paddling a small boat through Singapore's waters. She is forced to wear only a short silk robe upon entering Sao Feng's bathhouse. As a captive aboard Sao Feng's ship, Elizabeth has been dressed in a long red cheongsam, a sleeveless full-length blue overcoat (both probably silk), and a studded turquoise phoenix crown. She later dons a Chinese battle dress. During her one day on the island with Will, she is clad in a black tunic. In the scene set ten years later, she is wearing a long skirt and a double-breasted brocade waistcoat over a white puffy-sleeved shirt.

• Elizabeth Swann on IMDb
• Elizabeth Swann at the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki