(no subject)

[superstitiouspirate]

[Name]: Lills
[Age]: 31
[Contacts]:
♦ DW: silvermoonshade
♦ AIM: --
♦ Plurk: burningbrightly
[Timezone]: GMT+8 (Perth Australia)
[Other Characters]: --



[Name]: Joshamee Gibbs
[Canon]: Pirates of the Caribbean
[Age]: Unknown, late 40s early 50s
[Gender]: male
[Canon Point]: At the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End.

[History]: Wiki link

[Personality]: Joshamee Gibbs is by nature a superstitious man. He believes very strongly in a number of time honored sailor traditions and beliefs. These beliefs more or less define his life, almost as much as his time spent within the British Royal Navy. To him, there are any number of taboos that can be broken which will incur any number of bad things happening. Most of the time he mutters about bad luck, though before he turned pirate, he also complained about Elizabeth singing about pirates for fear of them bringing pirates down upon them. He also complains about it being "frightful bad luck to have a woman aboard a ship". Expressing a common belief among sailors that women brought trouble aboard a ship and therefore should never be on one. He also expresses superstitions about being woken when asleep after Jack wakes him in Tortuga. However, he was quite content because Jack knew the counter to waking a sleeping man.

Gibbs is also very savvy in both pirate and sailing lore, though it is unclear just where he picked up all his knowledge from. Presumably he garnered most of it through out his life as both a sailor in the Royal Navy and as a Pirate in Tortuga. Given the magical nature of the world that PoTC is set in, it is quite believable that he may have acquired quite a lot of first hand experience during a long life at sea. In the movies, he serves as a source of information and is always quite happy to divulge what he knows to anyone who asks. He is also well versed in the pirate code of the Brethren which Jack may have taught him or that he picked up while living in Tortuga. Very few question the things he knows or how he knows of them. Since it happens so rarely, he can quickly become stumped, hinting that he is not an overly imaginative fellow and really does only divulge what he views as fact. 
 

Gibbs is fond of sharing what he knows with other people as well as he will gladly go into an explanation or a story at the drop of a hat. He does this, not because he likes the sound of his own voice, but because he genuinely enjoys sharing information with others. He has a flair for the dramatic and for storytelling using both facial expressions and hand gestures to convey what he is speaking about. While it is not shown overly much in the movies, he does have a joking and non-serious side which may have also placed him at odds within the seriousness of the British Navy. It is exemplified by the face he makes towards the child Elizabeth where he silently pantomimes Captain Norrington's meaning behind a "sudden drop and a short stop". He also affable, and easy going making it easy to get along with him.
 

As far as pirates go, he is rather down to earth and quite worldly. He is comfortable wearing the rags of his old naval uniform rather than replacing it with newer clothes. (More likely than not because he spends any money he gets on rum) He does not mind being dirty, and has rather poor hygiene as a pirate. His speech is plain, suggesting that he comes from a common background like most sailors. Unlike other sailors he knows his letters and is capable of reading and writing which is an unusual feat given the general lack of education sailors of his time received. This ability to read and write suggests strongly that he was at one time a ship's boatswain as they were required to be able to read and write in order to manage lists and keep track of supplies.

True to being a common sailor in the Royal Navy, Gibbs is more often than not is used to following others rather than leading. He can and will give orders and take charge of the small things, as would be common for a a Boatswain and later a first mate to do. Most of the time however, he is either following or enforcing the orders of others even when they seem to make little sense. He is quite content to let others take charge, though he clearly resents being forced to do something against his will. 

Gibbs is also generally a trusting man as well, taking everyone at face value. By habit he does not question the validity of what others say, either because he takes everything at face value, or because of the attitude ingrained in British sailors not to question the word of a superior. Most likely it is a combination of both as Gibbs is both a trusting man and good sailor. Examples of this are shown by him never questioning the validity of Jack's tale about escaping the desert island he was stranded on. It is also time and time again when he takes both Will Turner's and Elizabeth Swann's word over the various things that happen to Jack. (Like Will saying Jack fell behind on the the Isla de Muerta, or when Elizabeth claimed that Jack decided to be a good man and stay behind on the Pearl so that the rest of the pirate crew could escape the kraken.) 

He is also seen as a rather trustworthy man himself. People always seem quick to confide and trust in him. Jack for example has told Gibbs more or less his entire life's story, which is not something that he has done with other people. When there is an expedition led to Davy Jones Locker, Gibbs is the only man that Jack is willing to take back with him aboard the Pearl because he views Gibbs as one of his closest and honest friends.

Although Gibbs has turned pirate, he still knows how to treat others with courtesy and respect. It is not clear if it is a learned behavior from his time spent int he Royal Navy, or if it is just his genuine nature to be respectful. Given his causal attitude in Toruga, it is possible to surmise that it is a behavior he learned. When Elizabeth is first rescued by Jack's pirate crew and taken aboard the Interceptor, he shows respect and greets her as Miss Swann. He also refers to Jack as captain and sir when they are sailing together aboard the Black Pearl.

 

Aside from his sometimes too  friendly and trusting nature, Gibbs is also an alcoholic. His vice of choice is rum and he drinks at every chance he gets. He even carries with him a neck flask that can be hidden under his shirt and jacket. When he first appeared in PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl, he was still a sailor with the Royal Navy, but he wa drinking from his neck flask when the higher ups were not looking.

 

[Abilities / Strengths & Weaknesses]: Strengths: Gibbs is a decent fighter with sword and pistol, no doubt from having spent so much of his life at sea. He is also a capable sailor with a wealth of knowledge about the sea and of supernatural lore and superstition.

 

Weaknesses: He is a drunkard with a strong preference for rum. He is also very superstitious by nature. Things like the black spot and other such curses will unnerve him. And women sailors will upset him as he continues to view them as bad luck aboard any ship. He is also mortal and getting on in years making him not as quick or as adapt as a younger man might be.

[Limited Powers]: None

[Other Important Facts]: --

[Samples]:
♦ Thread:
Test Sail thread
♦ Post: [The scrawl written on the journal page is legible, but still rather sloppy. Either he was writing drunk again, or he was out at sea in some rough waters penning away. Chances are he was actually both, though he had made it well enough known on his arrival that he wouldn't sail on just any ship.]

Three weeks so far in this accursed place and with nary a sign of the Pearl or of why it is I am here. With Davy Jones dead, I'd have thought this place would cease to be, unless young Will Turner has a blacker heart than I would have thought. A'course this could also mean, given all manner of strange people that i have met, that this is not the same place I've been to once before already. It's times like this I wish I knew where Jack was. He could get us out with that compass of his.