Mistress Ching is a supporting and pivotal character in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, first appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. She is a blind woman who serves as the Pirate Lord of the Pacific Ocean.
Appearances[]
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End[]
Ching instilled a strict code of conduct among her crew: no stealing from villagers, no deserting, and no taking women as prisoners. Failure to follow these rules would result in death by decapitation.
Ching was one of the Nine Pirate Lords, and although she voted for herself just like all the rest, she openly supported fighting the East India Trading Company once Elizabeth Swann became the Pirate King. She fought both the East India Trading Company and Davy Jones' crewmen, and she celebrated among everyone else once the battle was over and Lord Cutler Beckett is defeated for good.
Video games[]
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End[]
In this video-game, she and Villanueva are encountered at a brothel. She engaged the villainous Captain Villanueva in battle, since Villanueva was keeping Jack Sparrow from attending the Brethen Court. After a fierce battle, Villanueva knocked Ching's head against a gong, knocking Ching out.
Printed media[]
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom[]
Ching was one of the pirate-lords assembled in this book to deal with a group of rogue pirates. She votes in the book for the court to summon Davy Jones for assistance.
Park attractions[]
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure[]
Mistress Ching and several members of the Brethren Court appear during the opening of the ride as skeletal corpses. The characters remain around a table, and it is unknown how they died.
Trivia[]
- Mistress Ching is based on the historic Madame Ching AKA Ching Shih (1775-1844). The historic Ching is renowned for being the single most successful pirate in recorded history; having commanded an enormous fleet of hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of men, dwarfing the navy fleets of several countries. She was an expert swordswoman, a brilliant businesswoman, and a skilled strategist.
- The Pirates of the Caribbean films are set decades before the historic Ching Shih would have been born with Mistress Ching's character in practice serving as an easter-egg.
- Older drafts for the film would have included famous pirates such as Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham and possibly Captain Hook. While these were scrapped, Ching's reference remains.
- Ching being found working at a brothel in the video-game could be an allusion to how the historic Madame Ching was originally a prostitute who came into ownership of her own brothels.
External links[]
