Jack Sparrow

Jack grew up in a tumultuous household full of outlaws at Shipwreck Cove. He spent most of his youth unsure whether Teague was really his parent, frequently referring to him as "The-Man-Who-Might-Be-Father". Despite Jack's resentment of Teague, he respected the fact that Teague was always there for him when he needed him most, such as when he nearly got his hand cut off by the pirate Rusty Knickers or when he was almost sold into slavery by Captain Lucille Graven. Jack was determined to follow in Teague's footsteps and become a captain of a ship, rather than just some ordinary pirate like the majority of his relatives (explaining his insistence on being referred to as "Captain" well into adulthood).
As a teenager, Jack became fed up with his hectic life in a pirate family and the torturing of his Grandmama. One night, he snuck by candlelight into the study to consult the Pirata Codex, and, coming upon a section on freedom and the need for pirates to make their own decisions, decided he was completely justified in running away. After escaping out the window, Jack stowed away aboard a ship to reach Tortuga.

Jack had few worldly possessions, and even these were stolen on the island. In attempting to reclaim his property, Jack accidentally stole a sack containing the scabbard of the Sword of Cortés from Captain Torrents, a vicious pirate captain with the ability to control storms. Learning of its magical nature from a barmaid named Arabella Smith, Jack set off to track down the Sword of Cortés itself.
After Arabella leads Jack to an abandoned ship, the Barnacle, he was given command, and, following a sword fight that Jack lost, found his second crew member in a man named Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III. Having braved a storm conjured by Torrents, Jack, Arabella and Fitzwilliam soon encountered two more sailors, Tumen and Jean Magliore—the latter providing one further crew member in the form of his cat, Constance Magliore, who was once Jean's sister before being transformed by Tia Dalma.
With a ship and a crew, not to mention part of the treasure of Stone-Eyed Sam, a now-dead former pirate king with a fabled stone eye who was said to be holding the Sword, Captain Jack Sparrow set off to find the elusive Sword of Cortés. The crew was confronted by Captain Torrents, though Jack was able to counter his control of lightning by splashing him with rainwater collected in his appropriated hat. He claimed that he had taught a young Benjamin Franklin this trick, and hoped "Benny" would remember it.