Intro
Note: First of all, I'm sorry for the late update. I did my homework by watching two movies, so I hope that makes up for the lateness of this blog.
For this installment of the Disney Villain Background Analysis, we will continue with another classic Captain Hook from Peter Pan. A pirate, who is desperate to kill the boy who never grew up. He is one of the villains who can be both scary and goofy at the same time.
So for Hook's analysis, we will dive into the following:
- The Disney Version (Taking notes from the first, second, disney jr. and the Live Action Hook)
- Once Upon A Time
- Peter Pan and Wendy
This time I am not forgetting about descendants. As far as I know, he is not in the four movies that I have seen. His son is, and he has a daughter in the animated series, but there is no sign of a backstory from what I can find.
Once again, there is a lot to dive into here, so let's go on this journey together and find out more about our favorite pirate!
Resources
Just like last time, I have not seen or read all material there is. I haven't seen Peter Pan and Wendy, the Disney Jr. or the original book. For this post, I will use the following:
The Disney Version
The Disney background version actually seems to be linear, even when they add kid shows and new movies. I think Disney is (sometimes) good at keeping things consistent. There are cases where a villain seems to have three different causes for their evil doing (like scar), but for this, I will put all Disney animated movies in one section to explain Hook's backstory.
In the Disney Jr. series Jake and the Neverland Pirates it is revealed that James had a bit of a miserable childhood. His mother tried to teach him the ways of Piracy, but she thought that he was very bad at it even if he tried his best. He didn't have too many friends in his childhood, and his birthdays were often lonely because of these things. His mother's disappointment and bullying from other kids shaped him into the cruel captain he is now.
As a Pirate, Hook meets Zarina, a young fairy who was banished from Pixie Hollow (Home of the fairies) after tempering with Pixie dust. She becomes a fairy pirate and captain of James' crew, having the knowledge of pixiedust and knowing how to make their ship fly. But after she steals the blue pixiedust and is able to make her own pixiedust tree, James and his crew turn on her. It turns out they have been using her to get what they needed. Now that they have the pixiedust and can fly out of Neverland, they imprison her and take over. But with the help of her old friends (which includes Tinkerbell), they manage to defeat the pirates and save the world. James is thrown overboard, and later found by Mr. Smee, who helps him on board. He eventually becomes the captain of the ship.
Following the events of the Tinkerbell movie, he eventually crosses paths with Peter Pan. As a childish prank, Peter cuts off James' hand hand feeds it to a crocodile. James replaces his hand with a hook and eventually names himself 'Captain Hook'. He is bitter and vengeful and he vows to never leave Neverland again, until he has killed Peter Pan.
My opinion on this backstory
To be honest, I like this backstory a lot. It is the classic tragic childhood story, but I also like the way they made him in the Tinkerbell movie. When I was watching it I thought he'd plan to betray Zarina throughout the movie and he would be the only one having this plan, but the whole crew had it planned from the beginning. I like that twist a lot. I mean, you could call it a twist villain, if we hadn't known who he was from the beginning. Although truth be told, I only knew who he was, because I had already read about it before I watched the movie, so I knew James would become captain hook. Perhaps it would be more of a twist if I hadn't known.
But all in all, I do also like this backstory a lot.
Writer's Note: Twist villains are very fun when they are done good. I know Disney has their share of Twist Villains nowadays and whether they are good or bad is a bit debatable. But one thing to keep in mind is to at least show some foreshadowing. It can be hard to do in a novel, because most of the time the villain is not the main character, but it is a good practice to put in some clues and make the reader wonder weather this character is actually good or going to betray them. It could simply be holding back on their past, or them somehow being there on exactly the right moment. Maybe the main character finds a clue that something isn't right, but they brush it off as a coincidence because they put their trust in their ally.
Peter Pan And Wendy
I have actually done my homework and watched this movie today. To be honest, not one of the greatest to me, but I felt like I had to watcch it to find Hook's backstory.
In this movie, Peter Pan and Hook (James in this story) were actually best friends, and James was the first Lost Boy to Peter Pan. However, James started to miss his mother. Peter, being the boy who never wanted to grow up wasn't happy with it and made him leave Neverland.
Years later Hook returned, now evil and bitter towards his former best friend. The two of them have been fighting for years, and Peter sees it all as just a big adventure.
By the end of the movie, Peter does apologize for the way he treated James and wants to stop fighting, but Hook is already too bitter, and he has no happy thoughts left.
My opinion of this backstory
Despite the movie not being to great, I do actually like the concept of Peter and Hook being former friends. It kind of makes sense. They have a very long history together. Peter Pan hates growing up and hates adults, so the fact that he wouldn't like one of his lost boys wanting to go home and missing their mother makes sense. That would mean they'd grow up and change. So yeah, I do like the concept of their backstory in this a lot, it just should have been executed a lot better in the movie.
Once Upon A Time
In the series of Once Upon a time, he is more an anti-hero than an actual villain. He basically goes from a good person, to a pirate, back to a better person again throughout the series. There is a whole lot of backstory, so I will try to explain his backstory as good as I can without making it too complicated.
Note: In this version, before he became Captain Hook, he was named Killian Jones. I will refer to him as Killian throughout this summary.
Abandoned, But Finding A Better Life
As a child, Killian has boarded a ship together with his older brother Liam and his father, wanting to see the world together. However, when he wakes up the next morning, he finds out his father sold both him and Liam to the captain of the ship, to avoid being captured as a wanted criminal. For years they have been working for Captain Silver, both being treated badly like all crew members, and both growing up into adults. Both of them dream to escape one day and become a member of the royal navy instead with the money they earn from working for Captain Silver.
During a storm, Captain Silver orders his crew to sail into the Hurricane, because he wants a Jewel called the eye of the storm. Something the king will pay a lot of money for. Though sailing into the storm would probably kill everyone, he doesn't seem to care. Liam finally takes action, and the brothers commit mutiny against Captain Silver with the rest of the crew to save everyone.
Unbeknownst to Killian, Liam is visited by Hades, who makes him a deal, telling him to sail the ship into the storm anyway, so he can collect Silver's soul, and the rest of the crew, except for Liam and Killian himself. In return, he offers the eye of the storm, allowing them to survive and start a new life as they wash up on the shore and are found by a navy officer. Liam insists on a place in the navy for both of them instead of a reward in gold, and they are both stationed on the ship named 'Jewel of he Realm'. Liam becomes it's captain like he always dreamed of, and Killian is assigned a lieutenant. Both of them finally leaving their lives behind and starting a new, and better one.
Writer's note: If I'd go more into detail about what Liam did and how he basically betrayed everyone, This summary would become a novel. But either way, this is a good cause of conflict. Liam is Killian's big brother, someone Killian looks up to and thinks could do no wrong. Imagine the main character having someone like that in their lives, and later find out that they killed a lot of people, most of them who were innocent, just to give them a better life? It seems like a bit of a grey area for me. It is a good kind of conflict for a character to deal with when they find out about it years later.
The Shift Into A Pirate
Some time later, Killian and Liam are sent on an expedition to Neverland where they have to find an herb called Dream Shade, which the king told them is a plant that can heal any injury. However, a young boy who lives there, later revealed to be Peter Pan, warns him that the Dream Shade is not what they are told. Peter tells them it is not a healing plant, but in fact a deadly poison. Killian tries to tell Liam that something is off, but Liam refuses to believe it. To prove that the plant is not poisoned, he cuts himself with the thorns from the plant, and he instantly collapses.
Peter Pan tells Killian that there is a cure that can save Liam, but there is a price. Killian, willing to do anything to save his brother gets the cure and manages to save him. He calls out to Peter, asking him what he wants, but Peter has disappeared. Thinking they are safe, the two return to the ship, and go back without the poison, ready to confront the king. However, it turns out there was a price for the cure after all. The moment the ship leaves Neverland, Liam collapses once again and dies. What Peter Pan hadn't told Killian, was that Lian would have to stay in Neverland forever, or the cure would work out and the poison would kill him.
The crew has lost their captain, and Killian has lost his brother, now having no one left. His mother was gone, his father had abandoned him, and now his brother was gone too. Angry and filled with hate for the corrupt king, he speaks to the crew as the new Captain. He rallies them to not return to their king, and sail the seven seas as pirates, burning the sails that allowed the ship to fly to Neverland, and renaming it to The Jolly Roger.
Writer's Note: To be honest, I think this is a pretty good villain arc. The character has lost everything. Abandoned by his father, lost his brother because someone didn't specify how to keep him alive after saving him... Tricked by a corrupt king who he thought was good... And he is not actively trying to kill someone or taking revenge on the king. He just decides like: "I'm done, I'm going to steal this ship and take my own course." He becomes a pirate, but doesn't actively try to kill people or pick out specific people. He is more an example of a criminal, refusing to act by the law.
The Crocodile
During one of his many adventures, he ends up in a tavern, witnessing a young woman named Milah getting unwanted attention from a drunk man. He might be a pirate, but having his honor, he steps in and punches the man in the face, knocking him out. Milah is charmed by him, and is actually interested in the stories of his adventures when she finds out he is a pirate. Being stuck with Rumpleskilskin, the village coward as a husband, she slowly falls in love with Killian, and he also falls in love with her. , When he is leaving, Milah begs to go with him. She sets up a plan and pretends she was taken against her will, knowing Rumple would be too afraid to do anything to get her back. She leaves with Killian, leaving her coward husband and her son behind.
Years later, Killian meets Rumplestilskin again, who is now known as 'The Dark One'. At first Killian rudiculs him, calling him 'crocodile' because of his green skin, but when he realizes who he is, he is taken aback, knowing how dangerous the dark one is. When Rumple asks about Milah, he simply says she died, still playing along with that he took her against her will. Rumple challenges him to a fight and nearly kills him, and Milah finally steps in, revealing herself to be alive and well and showing that she is actually in love with Killian. She offers a deal to Rumple to let them go, in return for a magic bean that can help him find their son who he got separated from years ago.
As they seal their deal the next morning, Killian holds on to the magic bean, only intending to give it when they are finished. Rumple first seems to be willing to let them go, but he asks Milah why she left him. Why she left their son behind for him to tell the news of her kidnapping, instead of just telling him the truth. When Milah answers with a simple 'because I never loved you', he turns on their deal and kills her right in front of Killian. Before Killian can do anything, Rumple quickly cuts off the hand that is supposedly holding the magic bean and disappears, leaving him to morn the love of his life.
Killian however switched the bean into his other hand and still has it. He returns to Neverland, where he won't grow older, and he vows revenge on 'The Crocodile', determined to find a way to kill him even if it's nearly impossible. This is the moment where he officially becomes Captain Hook.
Writer's Note: For a Re-telling it is a pretty fun twist to make a significant event in the characters story matter even more that way. It's not simply a crocodile anymore for comedic relief, but an actual enemy he wants to defeat. When re-writing a story into a darker version, you can always use these kinds of things and give a significant event more purpose than just comic relief or plot device. So if you ever want to retell a famous story, thing about these kind of possibilities.
Captain Hook's Fate
If I go through all of his life and the good and bad things he's done, this whole blog post would be far too long. I have explained the most important things of his backstory.
Basically, at first he is just desperate to kill Rumplestilskin, even almost succeeding once, and is an antagonist who stands in the way of the heroes of the series. But, throughout the series, becomes a better man, and becoming more like an Anti-hero. He wants to do the right thing, but his past keeps catching up to him with all the things he has done as a pirate.
During the series, he falls in love with the main character and does get a happy ending with her, marrying her, and having a daughter named Hope.
(If you all would like me to go into full detail, I would be happy to make a full blog post about this version of him. It is just too much to explain for this, but let me know if you would like one!)
My Opinion of this version
Last time with Maleficent's story, I said I wasn't biased just because it was Once Upon A Time, but on this one I have to say I am biased. I love Killian. He's cute, charming and my TV crush 😜. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.
But still, despite that, I just like his background the most. It has the sibling dynamics that I love, a tragic love backstory and eventually a happy ending. I do feel he deserved his redemption arc and happy ending.
Conclusion
Well, this is the end of Hook's backstory list, as far as I know. I can't really say which one of these was my favorite. Though Peter Pan and Wendy wasn't great to watch, I did like all the backstories, as I mentioned. Which one of these was your favorite to read about? Do you know of other Captain Hook backgrounds I have not mentioned? Do you have another backstory for him in mind or found a fanfiction with an interesting backstory? Please let me know anything you'd like to share!
No comments:
Post a Comment