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| “ | MUSEUM?! What museum? I HAVEN’T BEEN SEARCHING ALL THIS TIME TO SEE THAT TREASURE END UP IN A MUSEUM! It’s for me! | „ |
| ~ Sailor John revealing his true nature to Thomas. |
| “ | TREACHERY!! MUTINY!! I WON’T STAND FOR IT!! I’ll have you in the dry-dock, Skiff, AND TAKE AWAY YOUR SAIL!! | „ |
| ~ Sailor John’s villainous breakdown as he angrily attacks Thomas and threatens Skiff. |
| “ | Sailor John: But I’m innocent, I tell ya! Policeman: Tell that to the judge. Sailor John: You’ve got the wrong pirate! |
„ |
| ~ Sailor John's last and most famous quote as he’s caught by the police. |
Sailor John is the main antagonist of the 2015 Thomas & Friends special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure. He is a former navy officer turned pirate, the former owner of Skiff, and the archenemy of Thomas.
He is voiced by the late John Hurt (in his final roles), who also played Owl in The Gruffalo, Richard Rich in A Man For All Seasons, Raskolnikov in the 1970 film adaptation of Crime and Punishment, Caligula in I, Claudius, the Horned King in The Black Cauldron, Percival Graves in King Ralph, Mr. Mole in Thumbelina, Claudandus in Felidae, General Woundwort in the Watership Down television series, Harry in Pride, Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta, and King Cotys in Hercules.
Biography[]
Past[]
Sailor John was discharged from the navy for unknown reasons (most likely for abusing his power, judging by his personality), so he went to the Island of Sodor. During his time on the island, he learned about Captain Calles' treasure, and became obsessed with finding it. At some point, he also found Skiff, whom he used to help find the treasure. Since he figured the police or anyone else in charge of the island would suspect what he was up to, Sailor John would only come to the island at night.
Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure[]
Sailor John first appears watching over the uncovering of the lost ship through his spyglass, atop Skiff. Fitting Skiff with wheels, Sailor John travels out to the site of the new branch line's construction. He receives help from Thomas, taking advantage of the tank engine's desire to be helpful. With Thomas' help, Sailor John uncovers the map leading to the treasure. Unfortunately for him, the treasure had been dug up by Marion the Steam Shovel and transported to Sir Topham Hatt's office, under his care. When Thomas reveals that the treasure will be taken to a museum, Sailor John becomes enraged, declaring that the treasure is "rightfully his" after years of searching.
That night, Sailor John uses dynamite to break into Sir Topham Hatt's office and steals the treasure. He also reveals that he has stolen the old ship and reworked it into a large escape vehicle. Thomas gives chase and, getting help from both the new engine, Ryan, and the Arlesdale engines, has the large ship derailed. Escaping with the treasure aboard Skiff, Sailor John throws everything else aboard Skiff at Thomas to ward him off, and eventually attempts to kill Thomas with another bundle of dynamite. Skiff shifts enough to keep the dynamite from hitting Thomas, but they eventually reach the water. When they arrived at the seaside village, Thomas crashes into the water, unable to chase him. The treasure threatens to sink Skiff, and Sailor John refuses to throw it overboard to save themselves. Fed up with Sailor John's mistreatment and threats, Skiff uses a wave to knock the treasure into the ocean. Sailor John tries to hold onto the treasure chest, but he loses his grip, and it sinks to the bottom, leaving him with no choice but swim back up to the surface.
By the time morning comes, the police arrive to arrest Sailor John for his crimes. It is uncertain what became of him, but it is likely that he was sentenced to life in prison. With Sailor John behind bars, not only is the treasure (which was resurfaced by Captain the boat and scuba divers) safe from the treacherous pirate, but Skiff is no longer his slave and no longer being abused, and is now given a new captain named Joe to give children rides.
Personality[]
When he first appeared, Sailor John was shown to be friendly, cheerful and adventurous and had a very funny sense of humor. He seems to enjoy sailing out in the seas and enjoyed his traveling around. But during his time, he was also shown to be obsessed about finding the treasure and shown to be mysterious when along came out at night. Also, he always seems to reprimand Skiff for his simple mistakes. However, this would soon turn out to be a facade to hide his true nature: a sinister, selfish, greedy, manipulative, and savage pirate who is willing to get away with the treasure at all costs.
Sailor John also demonstrates an abusive side towards Skiff, initially demonstrated through his apathy of making Skiff constantly swallow sea water. Once Skiff becomes aware of his true intentions, Sailor John forces Skiff to act as his getaway vehicle. In the climax, he also repeatedly threatens to dismantle Skiff, should he continue to protest and counter him.
Relationships[]
Enemies[]
- Thomas - Archenemy and attempted victim
- Skiff - Former minion turned enemy
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Ryan
- Rex
- Mike
- Bert
- Henry (possibly)
- Captain
- The police
Trivia[]
- Sailor John is the first Thomas & Friends villain to be a human (not counting the deleted character, P.T. Boomer, from Thomas and the Magic Railroad). Unlike the following human antagonists (the Tiger Hunters, Crown Theives, and Baz and Bernie), Sailor John worked on his lonesome (save for his abused minion Skiff).
- Sailor John is also the third Thomas & Friends villain in a special since Diesel 10 in Thomas and the Magic Railroad to not reform, The second being Diesel from Blue Mountain Mystery, and their successor being Vinnie from The Great Race.
- Sailor John was John Hurt's last villainous role and animated voice acting role before his death on January 25, 2017. Sailor John was also named after him.
- Sailor John serves as a dark counterpart to the following characters:
- Sir Topham Hatt: In the film, they both didn't listen to Thomas when he tried to tell them something. Sir Topham didn't listen to Thomas when he tried to tell him about the treasure that Sailor John was trying to steal. As for Sailor John, he didn't listen to Thomas when he tried to stop him from taking the treasure. However, Sir Topham eventually realized that Thomas was telling the truth when Ryan told him everything about Sailor John and the treasure. And even though Sailor John lost the treasure, he didn't realize the mistake that he made when he tried to recover it from the ocean. If Sir Topham hadn't listened to Thomas and continued to blame him for the trouble that he didn't cause on purpose, he would've ended up like Sailor John. Ironically, Sir Topham and Sailor John didn't meet or interact with each other in the film.
- Gordon: They were both known for being rude to Thomas. In the Thomas & Friends series premiere, "Thomas and Gordon", Gordon refused to let Thomas get uncoupled from the Express because he woke him up from his nap. In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Sailor John tried to kill Thomas when he tried to stop him from stealing the treasure. However, Gordon was sometimes being nice to Thomas, even though he was still being cheeky. Sailor John, on the other hand, was still being rude to Thomas, even though he helped him find the map that would lead him to the treasure. Sailor John serves an example of what Gordon would've become if he let his rudeness towards Thomas consume him. Ironically, Gordon and Sailor John didn't meet or interact with each other in the film.
- Sailor John is possibly the darkest Thomas & Friends villain in the series, as he would go as far as committing terrorism and attempting murder to get what he wants, which is something that Diesel 10 also did in Thomas and The Magic Railroad. However, he at least had comedic moments, while John was taken completely seriously.
- In the Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure book, after Sailor John steals the treasure, he called himself "Pirate John" after he steals the treasure, but he did not call himself Pirate John in the actual special. However, he says, "You've got the wrong pirate!", meaning that he still thinks he IS a pirate.
- It's implied that John is related to the pirate, Captain Calles, which is why he thinks that the treasure belongs to him.
- It's very possible that Sailor John was inspired by the iconic anti-hero pirate, Long John Silver, from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island. His name is very similar to Long John Silver's name. The only difference is that Long John Silver has redeeming qualities, and Sailor John doesn't have any.
- Even though he didn't interact with Sir Topham Hatt, Sailor John did sneak into his office to steal the treasure that he was looking for.
- Alongside Sir Topham Hatt, Ryan, Rex, Mike, and Bert are the only characters who didn't interact with Sailor John. Ironically, Sir Topham Hatt is the only human character who didn't interact with him. Also, Sailor John, Ryan, Rex, Mike, and Bert were new characters that were introduced in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
- Even though Captain took the police to arrest Sailor John, he didn't interact with him. This could make Captain the only character who doesn't interact with Sailor John, despite being in the same scene with him.
- Despite the fact that Henry referred to Sailor John as the lost pirate, he didn't actually interact with him. And even though he was scared of Sailor John, it's unknown if Henry became his enemy or not.
- In Big World! Big Adventures!, Sailor John was seen as a patron at the Sailor's Café in San Francisco.
- This could indicate that he was released from prison after the events of Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure. Despite this, it's unknown if he redeemed himself or not.
- He is currently the most hated character in the Thomas & Friends franchise.
- Not counting Diesel and Diesel 10, Sailor John and Vinnie are the only villains who reappear in another film. Their first appearance was in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure and The Great Race, respectively. After that, they made one more appearance in Big World! Big Adventures! But unlike Diesel and Diesel 10, they only made silent cameo appearances in Big World! Big Adventures!
- However, Diesel and Diesel 10 did make silent cameo appearances in The Great Discovery.
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 Villains
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