In Pirates of the Caribbean, Hector Barbossa has a pet monkey.
The monkey is named Jack, a mocking reference to Jack Sparrow, Barbossa’s longtime rival. Jack appears with Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl, especially in The Curse of the Black Pearl and the following films. His mischievous behavior and habit of stealing objects make him a recurring source of comic relief.
Jack is specifically portrayed as a capuchin monkey, a group of small New World monkeys known for dexterity and intelligence. In the first film, the character is shown as part of Barbossa’s cursed crew. Because the curse makes the pirates undead under moonlight, Jack also appears as a skeletal monkey in visual-effects sequences.
The monkey is sometimes casually described as belonging to the pirate crew generally, but Barbossa is his owner and closest on-screen associate. Another possible mix-up is Jack Sparrow himself: the animal’s name deliberately echoes Sparrow’s name, which is part of Barbossa’s insult and the character’s joke.