Captain Hook

"There isn't a boy who won't enjoy a-working for Captain Hook! The world's most famous crook!"

- Lyrics to "The Elegant Captain Hook"

Captain Hook is the main antagonist of Disney's 1953 animated feature film, Peter Pan. He is the captain of a crew of pirates aboard the Jolly Roger and the archenemy of Peter Pan.

Captain Hook has long since abandoned sailing the high seas in favor of having revenge on Peter Pan for cutting off his left hand and feeding it to Tick-Tock, considering it, by Mr. Smee, a "childish prank"). While a worthy opponent for Peter Pan, Hook is destined to fail, sometimes because of Peter Pan's ability to fly, but more often through the bumbling actions of his first mate, Mr. Smee, who while unquestioningly faithful to the Captain, is incompetent and dim-witted. Hook ends up fleeing for his life from the Crocodile, of whom he is understandably terrified. Hook's frustrations are understandable; he lost a hand to his opponent, is constantly pursued by the crocodile and cannot fly. These factors arguably make him one of the most sympathetic Disney villains. His antics with the Crocodile are considered by many to be the funniest animated scenes ever created by Disney according to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in the book The Disney Villain.

As one of the most recognizable and popular villains in Disney's animated library, Captain Hook is also a primary member of the Disney Villains franchise.

Background
Much of James Hook's past hadn't been revealed until Jake and the Never Land Pirates, where it is revealed that the captain had a rather miserable childhood. As a young buccaneer, he was trained in the ways of a pirate by his mother, Mama Hook, so that he would one day become a feared captain, much like her. However, according to Mama Hook, James was a somewhat pitiful pirate during his training and seemed hopeless for many years. It was also revealed that he was heavily ostracized by others as a child, as he explains to Mr. Smee several times throughout the series, resulting in him spending most of his childhood hated and alone. These are all prime factors in the reasons for Captain Hook's undeniable cruelty. It also makes Captain Hook one of the most tragic Disney villains.

The Pirate Fairy also gives a larger take at James' past. Twenty years before Peter Pan, James was captain of a crew different from his current one. In the film, James mentions he was educated at Eton College in England, and it is also revealed that he met Smee after abandoning his original crew and becoming stranded in the middle of the sea, to which Smee comes in and rescues him.

Development
At the beginning of the story development stage for Peter Pan, the story department wrote an analysis of Captain Hook for the film, suggesting that he be a fop, but mean to the point of being murderous; one of the directors, however, imagined him as a complete heavy, considering any foppish traits to distract the audience from his villainy. The character was only completely pinpointed long into the animation stage, as it proved difficult to create a menacing villain whose character would not be diminished by the scenes with the Crocodile. Eventually, the character settled on was a black-hearted man who tried to put on airs and pretended to be a gentleman of good taste and style. It was realized that Hook would become likable to the audience, and as a consequence, it was decided that the character should not be killed in the film.

Personality
"Maybe with the crocodile and Hook - the crocodile is waiting for him - then have a funny chase - the last you see is Hook going like hell. That's better than having him get caught... the audience will get to liking Hook and they won't want to see him killed."

- Walt Disney in a story meeting

Captain Hook is emotionally vulnerable. Due to this, he has made a fool of himself quite often. On the contrary, he typically acts as a menacing and cunning villain who never gives up on his pursuits particularly his desire to get revenge on Peter Pan. He is also a murderous character, almost to an extreme extent, as at one point in the film, he callously shot and killed one of his crew members because of his annoying singing. Later in the film, he viciously threw one of his pirates overboard using only his hook. While comically and occasionally bumbling, Hook is a force to be reckoned with, both physically and mentally. With his temper extremely fragile, those around him are often at risk, with Peter Pan being the only individual truly skilled enough to take on the villainous captain.

Hook is extremely intelligent and manipulative and aided by his charming and suave personality. He is able to trick anyone even those who are more than aware that he is not to be trusted. Captain Hook also seems to have a tendency to find loopholes in agreements or contracts, or show obedience to the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of the law. For instance, when Hook was made to promise that he would not lay a finger or a hook, on Peter Pan, he agreed, but instead he planted a bomb disguised as a present in Peter's hideout.

Captain Hook is one of few villains that view their sidekick as not only a minion but as a friend. While Hook is incredibly cruel, deadly, short tempered and shows no care for his crew, he seems to only tolerate the bumbling actions of Mr. Smee. It has been shown that Hook murders his crew members out of irritation and aggravation but despite the constant annoyance from Smee, Hook has never shown any desire to kill him (though he has attempted to pummel Smee for his stupidity, but he is always interrupted). Aside from this, Captain Hook also views Smee as his confidant, sharing personal thoughts with Smee as well being the first person he turns to when scared which is not common for a villain of Hook's acclaim.

He also seems to be able to understand fairy language, conversing with Zarina as though she was speaking English, and translating for the rest of his crew.

Physical appearance
Captain Hook is a thin man with long black hair, a large hooked nose, a thin black mustache that angles upward sharply, and a large chin. He wears a frilly white cravat underneath a crimson coat with gold lining and crimson cuffs. Each of these cuffs sports 2 gold cufflinks. He also wears an orange sash over his right shoulder that holds his sword scabbard at his left hip. He wears rose pants and white knee-high socks, as well as black boots with a pink circle decorating each one. The tongues of his boots are enormous, reaching halfway up his shins. He wears a large crimson hat with a huge lavender feather stuck in it. He carries a rapier with a gold hilt and guard as a weapon. He had a steel hook on his left-hand silver or gold. In close-ups, his eyes appear to be green from Epic Mickey.

It is rumored that Captain Hook's appearance is based on that of his animator, Frank Thomas. The actor Hans Conried not only provided Hook's gravelly voice but also performed extensive live-action reference for the character. Kathryn Beaumont, who voiced and performed live-action reference for Wendy Darling, enjoyed working with him, admiring his ability to be both comical and marvelously evil at the same time. Also, Hook's climatic scenes with the Crocodile were animated by Wolfgang Reitherman, in Peter Pan.

Peter Pan
In the original film, Hook plays the main antagonist and is first seen on his ship, the Jolly Roger, trying to find the hiding spot of Peter Pan using a map. Hook suddenly gets the idea to kidnap the Indian Princess Tiger Lily and tells the idea to his faithful first mate, Mr. Smee. He plans to force her into revealing the location of Peter's hideout or be killed. While Hook is trying to concentrate on his scheme, he becomes annoyed when one of his crew members starts singing. Hook then shoots the pirate, causing him to fall into the sea. When Mr. Smee points out that what he did was not good form, Hook lashes out at him, reminding him of how Peter Pan cutting off his hand and throwing it to the crocodile wasn't "Good Form". Just then, Hook hears the sound of a ticking clock, causing his eyes and mustache to twitch in rhythm (with the music of "Never Smile at a Crocodile"). When he turns to see that the crocodile, who had eaten his hand, has come to taste more of him, he begs Smee to get rid of the creature, which Smee does. A little moment later, Hook receives a word from a pirate on a lookout that Peter is on approach. He orders Smee to rally up the pirates, then looks through the telescope to see Peter and three others, the Darling children, in company of him standing on the clouds. He and the pirates then set up the cannon and fire cannonballs up at Peter Pan.

Later, Captain Hook and Smee are seen rowing past the Mermaid Lagoon in a rowboat with a captive Tiger Lily, whom they take to Skull Rock. Unbeknownst to Hook, Peter Pan spots them and follows them to the cave, plotting to rescue Tiger Lily. Hook also doesn't notice that the crocodile who had stalked him earlier is following him. As Captain Hook forced Tiger Lily to reveal Peter's secret hideout to the point of shouting directly to her face, Peter spooks Hook by imitating a spirit. Captain Hook goes on an investigation to find out where the strange voice (Peter's imitation of Hook) is coming from.

He finds Peter on the rocks and is about to lay his hook on him, but thanks to Wendy's warning, the captain's hook only catches Peter's hat as Peter slips away. Captain Hook engages Peter in a duel, eventually pushing him off the cliff's ledge. Upon realizing that he is standing on thin air, he struggles to keep himself from falling and manages to hang onto the ledge with his hook. Just then, Captain Hook hears the sound of a ticking clock, causing his eyes and mustache to twitch in rhythm (with the music of "Never Smile at a Crocodile") again; the crocodile arrives and attempts to eat Hook as it pulls him into the water. Captain Hook escapes from the crocodile's jaws and frantically swims back to his ship with the crocodile in hot pursuit.

Back at Jolly Roger, Hook sits in his room, sick and injured from the previous battle with Peter. He is bothered by Smee hammering up a sign asking to not disturb the captain but when he tries to attack Smee, he is smacked on the face with the hammer causing him to briefly lose consciousness. When Hook gets a visit from Smee, Smee tells Hook that Pan has banished Tinker Bell. This shocking news gives Hook an idea, so he orders Smee to capture her. He does so, and Hook uses her jealousy of Wendy (whom she thinks Peter is in love with) to get to Peter's hideout. As Captain Hook thanks, Tinker Bell for her help, he locks her in a lantern, then he, along with Smee and the pirates, goes to Hangman's Tree to capture Wendy, Michael, John and The Lost Boys. As the pirates take them to the ship, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee set a time bomb (disguised as a gift of love from Wendy) in the hideout, since Peter is still there.

Captain Hook tries to convince the captured children to join his crew but they all refuse. Wendy believes Peter will save them but Hook reveals his plan to blast Peter away from Neverland forever, prompting Tinker Bell to struggle to break free from the lantern, which she manages to do so, and flies off to warn Peter. Peter and Tinker Bell are caught in the explosion anyway, but they both quickly recover and leave the destroyed hideout to rescue Wendy and the boys. Just as Hook, who has had sent Wendy off the plank (but she is rescued by Peter), is about to select the next person to follow her, Peter reveals himself and engages Hook in another duel. While dueling on the ship's deck, Peter launches himself from the ship's rope ladder like a slingshot and kicks Hook backwards, sending Hook flying to one of the ship's cannons, which (in a similar fashion to Smee's hammer from earlier) hits him hard on the head, knocking him unconscious.

After Hook recovers, he climbs up the rope ladder to confront Peter on the mast, calling him a coward for his tendency to fly away from the duel. Hook makes Peter promise not to fly and gains the upper hand by disarming Peter. Hook corners Peter at the edge of the mast and is about to stab him, but Peter, having noticed a Jolly Roger flag right above Hook, uses it to blind the captain and disarm him. Hook pleads for his life, declaring that he will leave forever and do anything Peter says. Peter orders him to shout loudly that he's a codfish; Hook does so, making the Lost Boys, Wendy, John and Michael sing "Hook is a codfish" and the crocodile dances in the sea to that song. Peter then allows Hook to leave and never return, but when his back is turned, Hook sees his chance and is about to lay his hook on Peter in revenge for cutting off his left hand as well as humiliating him. Thanks to Wendy's warning, Peter jumps out of the way, and Captain Hook loses his footing as he falls to the sea, where the crocodile is waiting to catch him. Captain Hook ends up being chased away from Neverland by the crocodile. He is last seen skipping along the water like a rock under a rowboat rowed by Smee and the pirates, with Smee calling for Hook.

Walt Disney insisted on keeping Hook alive, as he believed that the audience would come to like the villain and would not want to see him get killed. This insistence was supported with the release of the sequel, Return To Never Land.

Return to Never Land
Captain Hook plots to destroy Peter once again and gain his treasure all at the same time. His first part of the plan is to kidnap Wendy to lure Peter to his doom, and thus he travels via his ship (which still had some of Tink's pixie dust) to London during the Second World War. Likely having lost the concept of the passage of time/aging due to his time in Neverland, he mistakenly takes Wendy's daughter Jane.

Fortunately for Hook, Pan arrives and Hook summons an undersea giant octopus to kill both Peter and "Wendy". Peter dives down to battle and is seemingly killed. Just as Hook begins to celebrate, Peter reveals to be alive and by using pixie dust, Tinker Bell boards the octopus onto Hook's ship. After accidentally swallowing Hook, the Octopus develops a taste and becomes another crocodile problem for the Captain. The Octopus pulls him out of the ship and into the water. Hook flies back onto the ship and gently asks Smee to fix the broken plank so he can "make him walk it!".

Later on during a massage, the Captain is again attacked by the octopus, who is shooed away by Smee. This encounter angers Hook even more to the point where he gathers the pirates to sail to the island to find and kill Peter. While searching, they witness the girl they kidnapped is not Wendy but her daughter Jane and that she is desperate to return home, giving Hook yet another plan. That night, he tricks Jane into working for him; if she can find his treasure, he'll give her a ride home on his ship. He also gives Jane a brass whistle to alert him once the treasure is found. Jane then finds and manipulates Peter and the Lost Boys into assisting her via a game of "treasure hunt". Eventually, the treasure is found but she changes her mind, having gradually warmed up to the boys throughout the course of the game, and throws the whistle to summon Hook into the waters. It is however found by Lost Boy Tootles who curiously blows it, accidentally calling the pirates. An ambush follows resulting in Peter and the boys being captured and taken to The Jolly Roger.

Back in the ship, Captain Hook prepares to watch Pan's death but is interrupted by Jane and Tinker Bell. A battle follows and in during which Pan is set free. Hook's anger and frustration are targeted for Jane who is the cause of his failure. Just before he is given the chance to murder her, Peter saves the day by cutting the rope in which Hook then falls through the ship with an anchor and into the ocean. attracting the octopus. It chases Hook up and through the ship, now sinking. Hook and the pirates are then chased away altogether.

House of Mouse
Captain Hook regularly made cameo appearances in the animated series House of Mouse. He was also one of the leading villains in Mickey's House of Villains, where he was Jafar's second-in-command. Hook was also one of the few villains to appear in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse where he was seen with Jafar and Hades at the finale song.

At the opening of the show, Donald was seen being rather reluctant on shaking Hook's hook at the club's entrance. In "Dining Goofy", Goofy innocently told Hook about Donald's constant jokes centering the captain, putting Donald in an awkward position. In the episode "House of Genius", Hook was shown to get very frustrated upon hearing Goofy say the word "Pan". In "Pluto vs. Figaro", Hook mistakenly thought he and his crew were under attack and fired a cannon into the kitchen, landing in Goofy's mouth. In "Ask Von Drake", Hook assisted Mickey and friends in an attempt to prove that Ludwig Von Drake cannot know everything. In that same episode, Hook was seen alongside Smee during the headcount of all the guests.

Jake and the Never Land Pirates
"Captain Hook is a Cranky Crook"

- The theme song for Captain Hook in the series

In this preschooler-age series, Captain Hook and Smee are the main antagonists that Hook's pirate rival Jake and his young crew outwit while searching for treasure. After Peter and Tinker Bell left Neverland for outside adventure, Hook stayed behind instead of following his nemesis to dominate Neverland during Peter's absence. However, Peter left a small crew of pirates to keep him at bay. Usually, Hook can be found searching for treasure. While he searches for treasure every now and then; he usually intends to steal someone else's instead. Instead of his previous crew, Hook's latest crew consists of himself, Smee and two new pirates known as Sharky and Bones. Along with the new crew, Hook's bond with Smee has definitely grown stronger, as their friendship is often explored throughout the series.

As mentioned, Hook's main objective throughout the series is to collect as much treasure as possible, even if it means stealing it from someone else. To achieve this goal, Hook often uses one (or more) of his special hooks, created for treasure hunting. Some of the hooks include a propeller hook to give the captain flight, a plunger hook to grasp treasure, and even a butterfly net hook. Hook's mother, known as Mama Hook, made a special appearance in the series, later becoming a recurring character. The episode "Hook and the Itty-Bitty Kitty" introduced Red Jessica, a swashbuckling pirate gal that Captain Hook fell in love with, though she is apparently unaware of his affections (until he helped her find a heart-shaped treasure in the episode "Hooked"). Whenever something goes wrong, Hook would exclaim "Blast!"

Throughout the series, it is also revealed that Captain Hook is rather infamous throughout the seven seas (harking back to the lyrics in his trademark song, The Elegant Captain Hook). As several characters are encountered by the series' protagonists, they all seem to have some history with the villainous captain, though it's always a negative one. Various other pirate characters such as the daring Captain Flynn and the regal Pirate Princess all have shown to have a hatred for Hook proceeding their respective debut episodes. Interestingly enough, Hook himself never seems to recognize them. Hook is also given a rival villain known as Beatrice Le Beak, a French pirate gal who plunders and pillages citizens of the NeverSea, as well, even villainous pirates such as Hook.

The Pirate Fairy
Set some time before the events of Peter Pan, a young Captain Hook, then known as simply James, meets a roguish, talented pixie-dust fairy named Zarina that has betrayed Pixie Hollow, the homeland of Tinker Bell and the fairies of Neverland, and left to live amongst the pirates, befriending James once she does. James, himself, poses as a benevolent lad who appreciates Zarina, unlike the rest of her former friends. Zarina is known to be one of the most intelligent fairies in Pixie Hollow, and despite being a dust-keeper fairy (a fairy who harvests and nurtures fairy dust for other fairies to use) she proves to be an amazing innovator, figuring out ways to make various colors of pixie dust each with its own unique magical properties, such as the powerfully dangerous ability to switch fairy talents, as well as create her very own pixie dust tree, though that trick requires the use of the mystic blue pixie dust. Zarina steals the blue dust and brings it to James and his crew as part of a plan to create their own Pixie Dust Tree, thus giving the pirates an endless supply, enabling them to fly and plunder the Seven Seas to become fabulously rich.

However, though she's able to escape most of Pixie Hollow, including the wise Queen Clarion, Tinker Bell and her friends (Silvermist, Fawn, Vidia, Iridessa, and Rosetta) travel to James' ship and are nearly able to foil Zarina's plot, but the pirate fairy is able to outwit her former friends, and the plan is set back into motion. Eventually, at their Skull Rock home base, a replica of the Pixie Dust Tree is created, and James, as well as his crew, soon find themselves with an endless supply of dust, thus completing the first part of their scheme.

With that done, James no longer has any use for Zarina, leading him to double-cross and imprison her in a lantern, revealing himself to be a ruthless villain who only looks out for himself. With Zarina and her friends captured, James and the crew prepare themselves for the voyage. Tink and the others manage to escape and grab the blue pixie dust, but before they fly out of Skull Rock, James arrives, threatening to drop Zarina into the sea if the fairies don't return the dust; Tink, who still cares about Zarina, hands it over. James soon covers the ship with the golden fairy dust, enabling its flight and setting off to the Second Star to the Right to enter the mainland in order to begin their plundering. He puts Zarina's teardrop-shaped vial full of blue pixie dust around his neck and throws her into the sea anyway, despite his promise to Tink. Tinker Bell and the others save Zarina, reuniting and teaming up with her; they eventually catch up with the ship and challenge James and his crew to battle. James accepts and he and Zarina engage in a duel.

After a swordfight, the ship falls sideways, causing James' crew to fall overboard into the sea and the pixie dust is released into the ocean. James falls, tries to savor the dust, only to plummet to his apparent death. However, he survives and with the ability to fly, no less. With his new powers, he battles Zarina once more, but it again ends in the captain's humiliation. Zarina overuses the dust on James and he went flying. James then flies into a wave, and falls into the water. His ship is then stolen by Zarina, Tink, and the others. As James curses the fairies for their heroic efforts, a small crocodile begins snapping at him, believing he's a codfish, causing him to swim away in fear, leaving his crew behind, although they're amused of their captain's misfortune. Little did James know that small crocodile would one day grow up to become his nemesis Tick-Tock the Crocodile.

Some time afterward, James finds himself stranded at sea, only to eventually be rescued by a fellow by the name of Mr. Smee, meeting his soon-to-be most trusted assistant for the first time.

Cameos
Hook made a guest cameo at the end of the second episode of Raw Toonage, in which Don Karnage was hosting a segment on treasure hunting. When Karnage finds the treasure chest in question, Hook appears and claims it as his own. They then engage in a swordfight, which Hook wins by pinning Karnage to a tree.

Hook makes a brief appearance in the animated short Electric Holiday, watching in the crowd as Cruella De Vil walked down the runaway in a fashion show.

A portrait of Hook can be seen in the first episode of the mini-series Descendants: Wicked World.

The Mouse Factory
Captain Hook made recurring appearances in the live-action wrap-around skits alongside the other costumed characters and celebrity guests.

Once Upon a Time
Captain Hook appears in the ABC fantasy/drama and is portrayed by Colin O'Donoghue. Before becoming Captain Hook, he was known as Killian Jones. Originally a guest, Hook soon became one of the show's primary characters.

Killian Jones, is a pirate who formerly worked for a King with his brother Liam. The two were sent to Neverland to retrieve the plant Dreamshade. Killian is reluctant to follow orders after Peter Pan informs them it is poisonous. A stubborn Liam is ultimately killed by the plant, leading Killian to become his own captain of the Jolly Roger. Some time after, he seduces away Rumplestiltskin's wife, Milah. Milah, who WAS tired of the then cowardly Rumple's persona, gladly left both the feeble peasant and her son behind in order to live a life with Jones. After becoming the master of black magic, Rumple confronts Killian and Milah; killing the latter and removing the hand of Jones as revenge. which he replaces with a hook, thus receiving his alias as Captain Hook. He once again travels to Neverland, where he finds and takes care of Rumplestiltskin's son Baelfire after he is separated from his father Rumplestiltskin. He forms an unlikely friendship with him, until Bae learns that Hook took Milah from his father. He hands Bae over to the Lost Boys who take him to Peter Pan. Returning from Neverland, Hook is enlisted by the Evil Queen Regina to dispose of her mother Cora in Wonderland, though Hook and Cora form an alliance. When the Dark Curse is activated, Cora protects them both and part of the Enchanted Forest with a barrier spell, frozen in time for 28 years.

After this time period, Hook follows Emma and Mary Margaret to Storybrooke with Cora, through a magic bean obtained by Hook. When Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) finds a way to leave Storybrooke without losing his memories, Hook shoots his love Belle, causing her to fall across the town's border and lose her memory again. After Gold travels to Manhattan to locate Baelfire, Hook poisons him, but is captured by Neal Cassidy (Baelfire)'s fiancé Tamara, to be used in her and Greg Mendell's plot to destroy magic in Storybrooke. He originally leaves Storybrooke with a stolen magic bean for himself, but returns to help Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, and Mr. Gold travel to Neverland with his ship, after Henry Mills is transported there. In Neverland, Hook becomes the group's guide for directions as he knows both Neverland and Peter Pan better than anyone. Eventually, they are able to retrieve Henry from the sinister Peter Pan and journey back to Storybrooke, where Pan enacts the original curse again.

Hook, along with the other inhabitants, are taken to their original worlds, while Emma and Henry escape to New York City with new memories. A year later, Hook arrives in the city and eventually restores Emma's memories with a potion, returning to Storybrooke with both Emma and Henry to break the new curse by Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West.

During the second and third season, he grows a liking towards the main heroine, Emma Swan, whose strong, feisty, and independent personality catches the captain's eye. This liking eventually becomes a deep, passionate love, and throughout the first few seasons, he is showcased going through great lengths to protect and proclaim his love for Emma, though he was constantly rejected. However, after Hook and Emma are dragged into Zelena's time portal, Emma and Hook officially started a relationship with each other after learning he sacrificed his most valuable possession (The Jolly Roger) in order to save her, thus Emma finally accepted Hook's affections, and a relationship officially blossomed.

During the start of Season 4, Hook's love for Emma would be put to the test after discovering that Gold was still in control of the dagger and has not changed. When he threatened to tell Belle and later Emma about using the knife, Gold in turn threatened Hook into doing his bidding by vowing to reveal Hook's dark side again, and later on while attempting to save Emma from Gold's plan to strip her of her powers, loses his heart to Gold, making Hook his puppet to use him to get what he wants. Soon afterwards, Gold tasks Hook with using the hat to drain the Fairies' magic, in order to kill the cure for the Spell of Shattered Sight, and to obtain enough power to free himself from the Dagger of Kris. Hook reluctantly agrees to the task, since Gold has his heart, and traps the fairies in the hat after Gold convinces Belle to leave Granny's Diner. When Emma and Elsa later arrive with Anna and Kristoff, Hook hides behind the counter, leading them to believe that the Fairies had been dealt with by the Snow Queen. With his job complete, Hook gives the hat to Gold, who tells him to enjoy the last day of his life wherever he wants, because when Gold completes his final preparations by the next morning, he will kill Hook. When the Spell of Shattered Sight was close to engulfing Storybrooke, Hook visits Emma one last time to say goodbye to her, before leaving to chain himself to a dock at the marina. When the Spell of Shattered Sight finally hits, Hook looks on as thunder rumbles and mirror shards rain from the sky. After the Spell of Shattered Sight was ended, Gold tried to kill Hook to free himself from his dagger, only to be stopped by Belle. Emma later restores Hook's heart to his body.

In Season 5, Emma willingly becomes the Dark One to spare Regina from the burden. Hook is among those who travel to Camelot to find Merlin so that he can save her. During a fight against King Arthur, Hook is fatally wounded. In order to save his life, Emma uses Dark magic to make him immortal but transforms him into a second Dark One. Hook became furious with what Emma did to him and embraced the Darkness and desired to have his revenge on Gold once again. Hook knew that in order to seek his revenge, he needed to return to Storybrooke and enacted the Dark Curse and in the process killed Merlin. To set things right, Emma erased everyone's memories of what happened in Camelot, including Hook's memories of being turned into a Dark One. She, along with everyone else return to Storybrooke, where Emma tries to cleanse herself and Hook from the Darkness forever, but in secret, as she didn't want to endanger anyone else.

With his memories erased, Hook desperately tries to get through to Emma and find out exactly what happened in Camelot. However, Emma refused to give answers but instead tried to restart their relationship, stating they could still be together even if she is the Dark One. Hook refused to give into Emma's desires and broke off their relationship as he couldn't be with Emma when she is not herself. Some time later, Hook, David, and Robin Hood went to confront King Arthur over his lies, Hook was nearly attacked by was saved by Emma's sudden appearance. Hook apologized to Emma for breaking off their relationship, stating he does still love her, but again wanted answers and finally Emma revealed to him that the reason why she was doing everything was for him. Taking action, Hook decided it was finally time to know the full story of what happened between them.

Hook went off searching for Emma but was unable to find her. It wasn't until he put himself in danger, by jumping off the roof of the Storybrooke Library, did Emma finally reappear to him. Hook assured Emma that whatever she did in Camelot he already forgave her and finally seemed to have convinced her to tell him the truth. However, he was taken prisoner along with Zelena, where Emma finally revealed parts of her plan to destroy Dark magic, by putting it all into Zelena and destroy her along with the Darkness. Hook and Zelena worked together to escape, but Hook stayed behind to search for the squid ink to stop Emma for good. He eventually found the ink and used it on Emma and demanded that she finally tell him the truth. Zelena then reappeared to them, where she agreed with Hook about wanting answers and found a way to get them. Zelena attacked Hook with a knife, but much to his surprised, he was not killed. Zelena then finally gave Hook what he desired, by revealing she had acquired the dreamcatcher that contained his memories from Camelot. Although Emma tried to convince him otherwise, Hook regained his memories. Having finally learned the truth and feeling utterly betrayed that Emma did that to him, Hook once again embraced the Darkness.

Seeking revenge in everything that had happened, Hook had resurrected Nimue and all the previous Dark Ones and attempted to send Emma and her family to the Underworld. However, at the last second Hook changed his mind and instead absorbs all the previous Dark Ones into Excalibur and told Emma to kill him, thus destroying the Darkness for good. Although Emma didn't want to go through with it, both herself and Hook saw there was no other way and after sharing one last kiss and declaring their love, Emma did as Hook requested and killed him. With the Darkness gone, Emma was restored to normal and Hook's wound from Excalibur returned, where Hook died in Emma's arms. However soon after Hook's death, Emma learns that Mr. Gold had once again betrayed them as secretly he transferred all the previous Dark One's powers into him, making him the Dark One again. Seeing that Hook's death was unfair, Emma decided to go into the Underworld, along with her family, friends, and Gold to resurrect Hook.

In the Underworld, Hook somehow became a prisoner to the Ruler of the Underworld, Hades. Hook became trapped in an underground prison where he along with another prisoner, Megara were being guarded by Cerberus. Through unexplained events, Hook became badly injured, possibly trying to escape from the prison. Eventually, Hook and Megara made an attempt to escape together, although Megara informed Hook they wouldn't make it, Hook replied they wouldn't but Megara could. Hook told Megara to leave and find Emma and while she made her escape, Hook stayed behind to distract Cerberus. Eventually, Hook was brought to Hades to be guarded. Later, Hades informed Hook that Megara was able to move on from the Underworld and while Hook was glad for her, Hades was angered. He decided that as a way to replace the dead souls that had left the Underworld, Hades told Hook that three of his friends had to be chosen to stay in the Underworld and told Hook that he had to make the decision of who would stay.

Printed material
Captain Hook has regularly appeared in books, various comics, and other printed stories. In many comics of the past, Hook was an antagonist to characters of the Donald Duck universe, including Moby Duck. Others include Hook aligning himself with other villains such as the Big Bad Wolf and the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Other stories featuring the captain include those centering the Disney Villains franchise (such as the tongue-in-cheek book The Villain Files) and various books serving as spin-offs to Peter Pan and Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

Disney Fairies
In Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, when Mother Dove's egg breaks, he, like the other Neverland residents, starts to grow older. Later, the questers take his double cigar holder while he is asleep to give to Kyto so he can restore the egg.

He appears briefly in Iridessa, Lost at Sea, when Iridessa and Tinker Bell sneak onto his ship and order Smee around.

Disney Fairies Graphic Novels

 * Tinker Bell to Rescue
 * Tinker Bell and the Pirate Adventure
 * Tinker Bell and Her Stories for a Rainy Day

Kingdom Keepers
In the popular novel series, Hook was briefly mentioned by Ariel in the series' second installment: Disney at Dawn.

Descendants: Isle of the Lost
Captain Hook is one of the villains imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. He now has a daughter named Harriet Hook who leads a group of pirate children at Dragon Hall.

Mickey Mousecapade
In Mickey Mousecapade, Hook appears as the boss of the fourth level, the pirate ship, but only in the Japanese version. (In the American version, he is replaced by Pete.) Out of all the bosses in the Japanese version, he is the only one not from Alice in Wonderland.

Disney's Villains' Revenge
In this game, Hook stole the ending to Peter Pan and altered it so that Peter would age into an old man, giving him the incredible advantage of succeeding to the point where he doesn't even have to battle. However, the game's player, along with Jiminy Cricket, battle Hook in Peter's place, defeating him twice and on the second battle, deflects on of his cannons. Hook goes flying past the moon and Peter is given his youth back.

Peter Pan: Adventures in Never Land
In this game, Hook and Smee travel around Neverland to find Peter who has a treasure map that belongs to Hook. However, Peter is also after the treasure, and once they finally cross each other, a battle follows, leading to Hook's defeat. After Hook is defeated, he hears the sound of a ticking clock, causing his eyes and mustache to twitch in rhythm (with the sound of the music Never Smile at a Crocodile). The Crocodile arrives to eat his favorite dish, the "codfish." Hook flees from the hungry Crocodile while Smee rows the boat to follow and to rescue him.

Kingdom Hearts series
Captain Hook made appearances in four installments of the Kingdom Hearts video game series as a recurring villain residing in the world of Neverland.

He first appears in the original Kingdom Hearts, where he was called upon by Maleficent to aid her in her quest to conquer the worlds using the seven Princesses of Heart. The Captain was assigned to kidnap Wendy, who was believed to be one of the chosen ones. However, after kidnapping the girl and imprisoning her aboard the Jolly Roger, it's revealed she wasn't one of the chosen ones after all, and Hook is ordered by Riku to drop all the dead weight, including Wendy, and return back to Hollow Bastion, the base for the villains. However, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the heroes of the story, also find themselves aboard Hook's ship and team up with Peter to save Wendy, as well as Kairi, Sora's friend who's been captured alongside Wendy. Hook orders the Heartless to do away with the boy but soon finds himself defeated and on the run from the dreaded crocodile.

Hook returned in Chain of Memories as a figment of Sora's memories, where he kidnapped Wendy to use as bait for Peter Pan. Sora and the others are able to foil the pirate, nevertheless.

In 358/2 Days, Hook becomes a victim to Maleficent's scheming, as her closest ally, Pete, arrives in Neverland seeking to turn Captain Hook into a Heartless. As Hook and Smee search for treasure, they are attacked by the creatures, only to be rescued by Roxas, thus allowing Hook and Smee to return to the Jolly Roger safely.

In Birth by Sleep, set 10 years prior to the events of the first game, Hook and Smee encounter a boy named Terra, who Hook manipulates into attacking Peter Pan, telling Terra he's a boy looking for the light inside his treasure chest and requests him to take it to Skull Rock. Once they arrive, Smee informs Hook of a shooting star which landed not far from where they are. Hoping to find more treasure, Hook leaves the chest in Terra's care and departs to find the shooting star. After they squabble, Peter and Terra are able to make amends, explaining neither of them is villains. Ventus confronts Hook, but the captain escapes as Terra and Peter stop fighting when they soon realize Hook is behind the confusion, and the duo team up to defeat him, as well as free Tinker Bell, who he'd attempted to use as bait for Peter. In Aqua's story, Peter and the Lost Boys are playing treasure hunt, as the villainous captain once again made away with their treasure. However, Hook soon learns the "treasure" he stole was merely Peter and the boys' play things, as opposed to jewels and riches. As he curses, the Crocodile appears and he runs away. During the End credits, Hook and Smee are watching behind the bushes as Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, and the Lost Boys get their treasure back, eventually Peter flies over and steals his hat.

Epic Mickey series
Two versions of Hook appear in the Epic Mickey games - a robotic version who lives in Wasteland and the real Hook.

In Epic Mickey, Hook's Wasteland counterpart was transformed into an animatronic by the Mad Doctor and lead a charge to convert his former comrades. Mickey can choose to either defeat him on the deck and either destroy him or send him to the animatronic Tick Tock lurking in the Thinner Sea, or climb up to the mast to free Pete Pan's Sprite and restore that rivalry.

In Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Animatronic Hook has disappeared, leaving a power vacuum in the ranks of his crew and rival pirate Blackbeard driving Hook's pirates from Tortooga. His clothes can be found in chests in Ventureland to be utilized in various quests in the area.

The real Captain Hook appears as Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion 's first boss. Under the enchantment of Mizrabel, Hook battles Mickey with a massive array of bombs on the deck of the Jolly Roger. After being defeated, Hook is restored to his proper self and wants revenge on Mizrabel for making a fool out of him.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Hook plays a large role in the game, appearing as a meet-and-greet character in Fantasyland and taking part in the Mickey's Soundsational Parade mini-game. Hook also takes part in the Peter Pan's Flight mini-game. Here, the captain kidnaps Cubby and threatens him to reveal the whereabouts of Peter Pan. Before Hook can kill the uncooperative Lost Boy, Peter and the players arrive. Hook sword fights the player(s) and is ultimately defeated and thrown overboard. Hook is last seen swimming away from the crocodile. Hook also assigns several tasks. For one of the tasks, the player must find some ticking clocks hidden throughout the park.

Disney INFINITY
Captain Hook makes a cameo in Disney INFINITY. When he appears, he steals an Emblem in the 3DS version of the game. Captain Hook also is an unlockable costume toy in the console versions of the game.

Disney Parks
Captain Hook is commonly featured in the Disney theme parks around the world, primarily as an atmosphere character, though he has made rare appearances as a face character in some live shows.

Disneyland Resort
In the Disneyland version of Fantasmic!, the captain can be seen battling Peter aboard his ship, until Pan throws the former overboard right. Fortunately for Hook, a rope was near, though it left him nearly vulnerable to the hungry crocodile.

In the 2015 rendition of World of Color, Captain Hook appears during the montage celebrating villains.

An animatronic Hook is also featured in the original Peter Pan's Flight attraction.

Walt Disney World Resort
Captain Hook was one of the villains to help the Evil Queen in her bid to take over the Magic Kingdom in the former Castle Show Cinderella's Surprise Celebration. He was defeated by Peter Pan when Mickey Mouse called for Heroes to help defend the Kingdom.

In the former show, Dream Along With Mickey, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee work for Maleficent who plans to take over the Magic Kingdom. The pirates ambush Mickey Mouse's dream celebration and sword fights Peter Pan. Hook is scared into believing the crocodile is near and seemingly surrenders until Maleficent arrives. Hook and Smee stay to aid Maleficent after most of the heroes (including Peter and Wendy) fled the scene. However, Donald and Mickey are able to use the power of dreams to defeat the witch, having Hook and Smee run for safety.

Captain Hook vocally appeared in Magic, Music and Mayhem at the Magic Kingdom. In the event, Hook and the pirates planned to take over Cinderella Castle and brutally attacks it. However, the Fairy Godmother called fourth Tinker Bell who used her powers to foil the captain.

In the former attraction, Back to Never Land, A version of Hook is created when Robin Williams was transformed into an animated character and reluctantly put into a scene aboard Captain Hook's ship. Just as Robin fears the worse, Hook appears and demands to know the whereabouts of Peter Pan. Robin fails to answer spending time trying to calm Hook down instead, but the Captain viciously throws Robin overboard to the crocodile. Fortunately for Robin, Tinker Bell arrives and uses pixie dust to save him and give the crocodile flight. Hook then runs away in panic from the hungry flying croc.

In Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, Captain Hook is called forth by Maleficent as one of the villainous "frightful friends" to accompany the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus.

In the Peter Pan unit of the Festival of Fantasy parade, Hook appears riding the anchor of the Jolly Roger.

He was also seen in Villains Mix and Mingle, Unleash the Villains Halloween events.

An animatronic Hook is also featured in the Magi Kingdom's version of Peter Pan's Flight. During the springtime, a topiary of Hook can be seen in World Showcase in Epcot.

Tokyo Disney Resort
Hook appears in a segment starring Peter in One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!. Here, the two rivals engage in another sword battle, though it ultimately ends with the crocodile's pursuit of the captain.

Hook was also one of the featured villains for Tokyo Disney's 2015 Halloween event.

Disneyland Paris
In Disney Dreams, Captain Hook serves as the main villain, appearing after Peter Pan's shadow has an encounter with Dr. Facilier's shadow and mechanical castle. He throws Pan's shadow into the water towards the crocodile, with Ursula and Maleficent joining in on tormenting the shadow. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell arrived just in time to restore the magic back to the Second Star to the Right and undo Hook's machinations, trapping him and the others inside.

For meet-and-greets, Hook can often be found in Fantasyland.

Hong Kong Disneyland
Hook appeared during the mini-parade alongside the Queen of Hearts in Villains Night Out!.

Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Hook is a meetable character in Fantasyland and can be seen during the final float of Mickey's Storybook Express as well as in the park's version of Peter Pan's Flight.

Disney Cruise Line
On the Disney Magic cruise ship, Hook makes an appearance in Mickey's Pirates In The Caribbean, where he and his crew invade the ship in an attempt to take it over. During Mickey and friends' pirate celebration, Hook ambushes the gang, having the ship's crew tied hostage by Smee. Mickey refuses to step down resulting in the Captains Challenge. Mickey and friends dance battle the pirates and succeed. After, the captive crew is freed and chase Hook and Smee around the ship, eventually arresting them.

In Villains Tonight!, Hook is featured as one of the villains capable of heightening Hades' evil-meter. He stars in his own segment, where he battles off his traitorous former crew during a mutiny. He laters appears during "Hot Talk" starring Jafar and Iago, as well as the finale.

Hook was also one of the villain suspects in Midship Detective Agency on the Disney Fantasy ship.

Trivia

 * Captain Hook was listed #24 in Empire Magazine's The 50 Best Animated Movie Characters, stating as his stroke of genius the gibbering panic that overtakes the otherwise snarling bad guy whenever the sound of ticking comes near.
 * Hans Conried also provided voice and live-action-reference for George Darling, remaining faithful to the theatrical tradition that Captain Hook and George Darling be portrayed by the same actor.
 * Captain Hook's outfit consisted of a red coat, a pink shirt, white cravat, a red sash and purple pants.
 * Captain Hook is briefly mentioned in the DuckTales episode "All Ducks on Deck", when the Phantom Blot is comparing himself to other villains: "Compared to me, Doctor Doom is a wimp, and Captain Hook is about as dangerous as a plastic coat hanger!"
 * Captain Hook is briefly mentioned in the Marsupilami episode "Thorn O Plenty", when Eduardo the jaguar is being attack by a crocodile.
 * Captain Hook makes a cameo in the 2011 novel, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom. Although he was only mentioned as "James" in the novel, several characteristics prove that "James" and Captain Hook are one and the same. This was further proven by the confirmation of the book's author A.C. Crispin. One of the early concept arts of Pirate Lords for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End showed a pirate with a hook in place of his left hand.
 * Bruce W. Smith, an animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, used Captain Hook as a reference when creating Doctor Facilier.
 * He can play the piano despite having a hook for a hand, as seen in Peter Pan.
 * Hook is briefly mentioned by Timon in the Timon and Pumbaa episode "Ocean Commotion".
 * He is similar to Cutler Beckett as they are both cruel to their henchmen and despite their villainy they are able to persuade allies to the protagonists into helping them. Another similarity that Hook has to Beckett is that they both have murderous personalities. Ironically, Hook was a pirate, and Beckett was a lord and official who ruthlessly hunted down pirates.
 * Captain Hook is arguably one of the funniest Disney villains ever made.
 * Captain Hook actually made more appearances than any of the Disney film villains combined.
 * According to an interview for Epic Mickey, early concepts had Captain Hook wearing blue.
 * Although he is the main antagonist Captain Hook does not interact with Peter Pan once until the duel at Skull Rock.
 * Interestingly, in the french translation of Disney's Peter Pan, Hook takes the name of "James Bartholoméo Crochet" (literally James Batholomew Hook), while in some translations of the original J. M. Barrie's book Peter Pan, his name is translated as "Jack Crochet" (literally Jack Hook).
 * Hook's backstory in Once Upon a Time is constantly inconsistent. According to the film Hook had Peter Pan cut off his left hand and fed to Tick-Tock, explaining the pirate's hatred against the boy, as well as how he got his hook in the first place. Some promotional media, however, claims that Tick-Tock simply bit off Hook's hand.
 * Despite his skinny and frail appearance, Hook is actually physically much stronger than he looks, shown when he lifts the rather corpulent Smee and throws Starkey off the ship, both using only his arm with the hook as well as lifting Tiger Lily with only his arm with the hook while she was tied to an anchor.
 * The scene of Return to Neverland where Hook asks Smee who is the most evil, clever and impressive pirate of all times and where Smee answers "Blackbeard" is possibly a reference to the fact that in the original book, Hook is said to have been a member of Blackbeard's crew before having his own ship.
 * In Jake and the Never Land Pirates, it is revealed that Hook occasionally gets seasick (on sea as well as while crawling backwards) despite being a pirate captain.
 * Part of Colin O'Donoghue's inspiration for the character is from the movie .
 * His wardrobe is inspired by the electronic band.
 * While making Treasure Planet, Glen Keane used Captain Hook to study the movement of the mechanical arm for John Silver.
 * In the book Captain Hook is eaten by the Crocodile but like his Disney film counterpart, he still survives and returns in the sequel novel Peter Pan in Scarlet.
 * Most Disney Villains die at the end of their film, but Hook is one of the few villains who survive their battle with the protagonists allowing them an opportunity to reappear in sequels.
 * After an encounter with the crocodile or octopus, Hook usually gets his clothing torn up.
 * Hook is portrayed as a cowardly buffoon to target a younger audience.
 * Because Hans Conried was right handed, the hook was switched as in the book Hook wears the hook on his right hand and is left handed.
 * Hook did not have a mustache in the original book.
 * Oddly enough, in hook's first scene, he noticeably has some stubble. But when he kidnaps Tiger Lilly and onward, his stubble can no longer be seen. In his first scene onward in Return to Neverland, he still has no stubble. But in the massage scene onward, his stubble reappears. Hook does have stubble in Jake and the Never Land Pirates.