Pintel and Ragetti

Pirates of the Caribbean character
type = Comic Relief
name = Pintel and Ragetti


caption = Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg as the Comic-Relief Supporting Characters appearing in ""
gender = Male
hair color =
eye color =
occupation = Pirates, cannoneers
ships used = Mainly:
"Black Pearl"
Formerly:
"Hai Peng"
weapons = Pistols, Cutlasses, Cannon
status = Both Alive
appearance = '
'
""
portrayed by = Mackenzie Crook And Lee Arenberg

Pintel and Ragetti are recurring pirate characters in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series of films, primarily providing comic relief throughout each film. Pintel is portrayed by Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook portrays Ragetti. Their first appearance occurred in , when they served under Hector Barbossa upon the "Black Pearl". It is revealed that Pintel and Ragetti are regretful of their mutiny against their captain, Jack Sparrow and their involvement in sending William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner to Davy Jones's Locker. Pintel and Ragetti, along with Barbossa and the crew of the "Black Pearl", share in the Aztec curse and are immortal for the majority of the film.

In the second film, "", Pintel and Ragetti serve under Captain Jack Sparrow, again providing comic relief and additionally the occasional important insight into other characters. They join the ever-lengthening list of people who want the Dead Man's Chest, hoping to "remove temptation" from the other characters' path and make a profit themselves.

In "", Ragetti and Pintels' roles play a bit more importance to the plot while still supplying comic relief. In this latest installment, they serve under Hector Barbossa in the journey to rescue Jack, and then serving in the joint effort by Barbossa and Sparrow to defeat the British. Ragetti's wooden eye is used by Barbossa as his "Piece of Eight" (one of a group of nine Pieces of Eight used to free Calypso) and his empty eye socket is later covered with an eye patch.

In the video game "" Pintel and Ragetti are both voiced by Greg Ellis.

Fictional biography

Early life

Little is known about the background of either Pintel or Ragetti. Prior to the release of "Dead Man's Chest", actor Lee Arenberg maintained that Ragetti is Pintel's nephew and the son of a prostitute, most likely Pintel's sister, although this has not been confirmed in the movies.

According to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide", prior to serving as cannoneers aboard the "Black Pearl", Ragetti and Pintel spent a year as naval sailors, press-ganged into service for the British Royal Navy before deserting to escape the bad food and abusive treatment.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"

The two pirates served aboard the "Black Pearl" under Captain Sparrow and later Captain Barbossa. They are first seen in "The Curse of The Black Pearl" when they invade the governor's house and take Elizabeth Swann prisoner. In the sea battle between the "Black Pearl" and the "H.M.S. Interceptor", they fire the chainshot that smashes the "H.M.S. Interceptor"'s foremast, making pursuit impossible. They also facilitated the cursed pirates boarding the doomed ship. Their characters provide comic relief during the movie's more intense scenes and provide storyline information. When the curse is broken and the pirates defeated, they are captured and jailed.

A running gag throughout the first movie involves characters surrendering themselves to Ragetti and Pintel while invoking the right of "parley". According to the story's premise parley guarantees a prisoner will be escorted unharmed to the captain in order to conduct negotiations. At one point, Pintel snarls at his captives, "If any of you so much as thinks of the word 'parley', I'll have your guts for garters!". Ironically, after they are captured, Pintel attempts unsuccessfully to invoke parley himself.

There are also frequent gags involving Ragetti's wooden false eye, which causes discomfort and is often knocked out of its socket and has him frantically searching for it; one of Ragetti's professed desires is to have a real "glass" eye. It is not known how he lost his real one, though in "At Worlds End", it is revealed that the wooden eye is one of the nine "pieces of eight" the Brethren Court used to imprison Calypso in her human form. Barbossa, a pirate lord, gave it to Ragetti for safekeeping.

There are also jokes about the two characters' feelings of closeness. Whenever they do, they become embarrassed or angry, and the moment quickly passes; therefore director Gore Verbinski jokingly described the two as more of a "married couple".

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

In the sequel, the pair have escaped jail and are rowing a boat to Pelegosto island, along with the dog who holds the keys to the jail cells. Ragetti has become somewhat religious, telling Pintel, "Since we're not immortal no more, we gotta take care of our immortal souls". When they find the "Black Pearl" run aground on the island, Pintel convinces Ragetti that taking the ship would be salvage, and that salvaging would be saving it. Although they attempted to steal the "Black Pearl", Jack magnanimously, if unintentionally, allows them to rejoin his crew. Although they become more or less loyal members of his crew, the writers state in the DVD commentary that Jack considers them, as well as James Norrington, as the most expendable crew members.

Later, when Jack is searching for Davy Jones's heart and a fight breaks out between himself, Norrington, and Will Turner, Pintel and Ragetti once again have an opportunity to steal something valuable; to convince his partner, Pintel tells Ragetti they will be "removing temptation from their paths" by stealing the Dead Man's Chest. They take it, but do not get far before Elizabeth catches up to them. Pintel greets Elizabeth much as he greeted her when they first met by saying, in an eerie tone, "'ello, poppet". Before they can do anything to her, however, Davy Jones's crew attacks and they drop the chest. When the "Flying Dutchman"'s crew overtakes them, they fight alongside Elizabeth, with whom they share the two swords that Ragetti and Pintel had.

Despite their fighting success, they quickly hand their swords to Elizabeth and take off with the chest again, which they promptly lose. When cornered by Jones's men, they still fight with various objects used as improvised weapons.

The two pirates are not without loyalty or humanity. When the Kraken attacks the "Black Pearl", Ragetti saves Elizabeth from its deadly tentacle. Both Ragetti and Pintel shed genuine tears of respect and grief over Jack's demise and join the pledge to resurrect their fallen captain; this is ironic, considering they supported and participated in Barbossa's mutiny against Jack and marooned him on the island (although possibly not as much as initially thought, considering their later admissions of regret and unease).

The comic duo (especially Ragetti) can unexpectedly engage in erudite and intelligent discussions. In these discussions, Ragetti often proves that he is more educated than he appears, even though he is illiterate. When Tia Dalma says that something vexed Davy Jones so much that he abandoned land for an eternal life at sea, Ragetti asks whether this was "the dichotomy of good and evil", causing Pintel and Gibbs to give him astonished looks. The two also engage in a debate over the proper pronunciation of "Kraken", with Pintel saying he believes the correct pronunciation is "kray-ken" while most say "krack-en". Ragetti explains that the derivation of the word is from original Scandinavian, and thus should be pronounced "krah-ken". Pintel points out they are not Scandinavians, to which Ragetti retorts, "It's a mythological creature, I can calls it what I wants!". Ragetti also displays a knack for knowing things he should not, such as the reasons for which Jack, Will, and Norrington each want the heart of Davy Jones. This tendency had earlier appeared in "The Curse of the Black Pearl", wherein Ragetti compares a ruse used by himself and Pintel to the ruse of the Trojan Horse.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Before the movie was released, the actors announced that the characters of Ragetti and Pintel would play roles of some importance to the plot. In an interview with Empire magazine (Australia) Mackenzie Crook says "You sort of discover that Lee (Arenberg) and I are there for more than just comic relief in the third movie. It turns out that we do have a purpose in the grand scheme of things". As seen in the trailer and in the movie itself, the two throw swords up through floorboards of Sao Feng's bathhouse to Elizabeth and Barbossa, allowing them to defend themselves when both Feng and the East India Trading Company attack. In Davy Jones' Locker, when Jack is "choosing" his crew members, he refuses Ragetti, saying, "Not you, you scare me". When Jack asks the crew if anyone saved him because they missed him and not to serve their own ends, they are among the few (including Jack the Monkey) to raise their hands. Later, when Barbossa and Sparrow arguing over who is "Black Pearl's" captain, Pintel yells at them to stop arguing, leaving the two briefly stunned into silence. Realizing his precarious position, he apologizes, saying he is under the impression that the position of captain is open to election. Ragetti consoles his old friend by saying "I would have voted for you". Ragetti's eye is used in a ritual to free Calypso; when Barbossa fails to release her, Ragetti steps in, correctly delivering the incantation "as if to a lover", triggering the spell in a well-deserved 'shining moment' for his character.

At the film's end, the two serve aboard the "Black Pearl", which Barbossa has again commandeered from Jack. Pintel: "We feel kinda bad about leaving Captain Jack behind; we may feel better if you show us those charts." (This mirrors Barbossa asking for the coordinates of the Chest of Cortes while planning a mutiny, suggesting that Pintel may still want to be captain.) When Barbossa shows them the chart, a big hole appears where the map's crucial component was removed by Sparrow. Ragetti is also seen making a new wooden eye for himself.

In the third installment, Ragetti again shows that he is more educated than he appears when he says "Actually, it's a cephalopod" after Pintel calls the dead Kraken a "stupid fish", even though the term "cephalopod" was not used in that time period.

Characteristics

Behavior

Pintel and Ragetti appear and act nearly always together; therefore their roles in the film series have been compared with those of Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd in "Diamonds Are Forever".Several scenes that feature them became recurring jokes/motifs in the series with the release of the sequel. For example:
*In the first movie, during a scene where Ragetti and Pintel are manning a cannon, Ragetti's removable eye was hit by a fork (which is being used as a replacement for a cannonball by the "Interceptor"'s crew), Ragetti and Pintel look at the fork and then slowly look through the cannon gunport at the "Interceptor". This scene is repeated in the second movie (with the exact same camera angles) when Ragetti and Pintel look out at the Kraken's tentacle, which is pressed against the "Pearl". The shot is repeated a third time in the final movie, wherein they have loaded the cannon with Jack the Monkey.
*The scene where Ragetti looks frantically for his eye (the first movie it is during the fight against Norrington's fleet, and in the second it is as they are attempting to steal the "Pearl") is repeated with the same camera angles.
*In the first movie, when Ragetti and Pintel find Elizabeth, Pintel says "'ello, Poppet". This scene is repeated in the second movie; when both turn on Elizabeth for the treasure, Pintel once again repeats that same line. Towards the end of "At World's End", Pintel says "Goodbye, Poppet" to Elizabeth as she leaves the ship.
*Their first scene in "Dead Man's Chest" involves them travelling into a rowing boat; large waves causes the boat to capsize, knocking the two into the sea. This is repeated briefly in "At World's End", wherein the two are attempting rowing to the shore of an uninhabited island, their boat capsizing again.

They are the counterparts to the two Royal Marines Murtogg and Mullroy. [http://www.potcinteractive.com/balance.html] Amusingly enough, the two comic relief pairs are united at the end of the movie, where Murtogg and Mullroy, disguised as pirates, celebrate the victory of the pirates after running away from their posts after they failed to keep Davy Jones' heart safe.

By the second movie, Ragetti becomes very religious. He is seen trying to read a Bible upside down, even when Pintel reveals that Ragetti cannot read. His reason for doing so is the idea that, having lost his immortality, he is worried about the afterlife of his soul. Viewers can also see his new look on life in the scene in Tia Dalma's Swamp, wherein he suggests that the thing that vexes all men is "the dichotomy of good and evil". We can again see his religious/philosophical/intellectual side in the third movie, when the crew is frost-covered and he calmly contemplates aloud, "There must be a good reason for our suffering". This may have also been a sarcastic complaint/question to Barbossa.

Exterior

Like most pirates, Pintel and Ragetti wear old, threadbare clothes. According to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide", Ragetti's green jacket was stolen from a French nobleman, Pintel's trousers are washed with urine in an attempt to remove bloodstains, and Ragetti's trousers are covered with tar to make them water-proof. It also was mentioned in "The Visual Guide" that Pintel spends hours in front of a mirror in order to practice his famous gloomy face expression.

Abilities

Pintel and Ragetti are skilled fighters; both before and after their immortality is lost, they are shown standing up to many times their number. Normally, they both fight with cutlasses, but in a scene in "Dead Man's Chest", when Elizabeth had taken their swords from them, they continue fighting with incredible efficiency using only the chest, an oar, and a net. They also use flintlock pistols, while it should be noticed that Pintel uses a double-barrelled one, which you can see clearly as he points it at Jack Sparrow in the "Curse of the Black Pearl". In "At World's End", Ragetti uses the butt of a pistol as a club. They are skilled gunners during sea battles; in the battle between the "Black Pearl" and the "H.M.S. Interceptor", they serve at the cannons.

Merchandise

Both Pintel and Ragetti were made into Action Figures in NECA's Series 2 of the Series and also in Zizzle's 1:18 scale toy line. NECA would make them into Action Figures once again in Series 1 of the Series, and Zizzle included them as part of their own Series .
*Ragetti was made as a plush toy in the Dead Man's Chest M&M plush assortment. He was the Orange M&M.

In Popular culture

Commercials

* In 2006, the duo were part of an ad campaign for VISA credit cards, in which they try multiple ways to "get treasure" from out of a VISA card.
* Ragetti was mentioned in an M&M's commercial where he plays himself, suggesting to the Yellow M&M that he use the other hand to eat the white M&M's (as his right one was a hook), but it is a peg leg.
* The duo also appear on the Disney website game "Talk Like A Pirate" both Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg reprise their roles.
* In a commercial for Wal-Mart, a fighting sequence from the film involving a battle between the crew of the Black Pearl and an unidentified group of pirates begins. During the fight, Jack, Captain Barbossa's pet monkey, takes possession of Captain Jack Sparrow's enchanted compass, to which Pintel utters the quote, "You bring that back or I'll use your guts for garters!", to which the monkey drops to the deck. As this occurs, a young boy, along with his mother and father, enters the scene in real time, picks up Captain Sparrow's toy compass, and with his mother's approval, places inside a Wal-Mart shopping cart.

Games

* Ragetti and Pintel appear as playable "Chamber Card" characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game, acting together as one composite character.
* Ragetti and Pintel appear as boss characters in "" for the Playstation 2 and PC platforms; both are voiced by Greg Ellis.
* Pintel and Ragetti appear on the same card in the Top Trumps deck for Pirates of the Caribbean.
*Pintel and Ragetti appear as cameos in "" for the Nintendo DS. Pintel teaches new sword moves and Ragetti gives tips about the current level.

External links

* [http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Pintel Pintel] at the [http://pirates.wikia.com "Pirates of the Caribbean" wiki]
* [http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Ragetti Ragetti] at the [http://pirates.wikia.com "Pirates of the Caribbean" wiki]