Will Turner

Will Turner is the swashbuckling blacksmith protagonist of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and his story arc stretches from his humble origins as a shipwrecked child to an eternity sailing the high seas. His canonical love interest is the pouting, also swashbuckling heroine, Elizabeth Swann, though their relationship went through a few wrinkles before they were married... and arguably after they were married, considering he became the new captain of the Flying Dutchman. To learn more about Will Turner and his full character arc and history, you can check him out here.

Will Turner does not appear in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides. Because his character arc and development is complete, he probably won't appear in subsequent movies or materials, either.

Will Turner and the PPC[]

Turner is played by Orlando Bloom, who also played Legolas in the Lord of the Rings movies. Because of Orlando Bloom's pretty face, puppy-dog pout, and other factors, Will Turner is a veritable magnet for Mary Sues and badfic. He has been in and out of FicPsych so many times, it might not even be funny.

Mary Sues that go after Will Turner have the task of getting Elizabeth Swann out of the picture. This is usually accomplished by turning her into a Designated Bastard and causing a breakup, bashing her and showing her as unworthy or unsuitable, pairing her up with someone else (usually Jack Sparrow or James Norrington), or even just forgetting about her entirely and letting her be devoured by wild plotholes.

However, he is more often the victim of bad slash than Mary Sues. His vitriolic friendship (if it can even be called that) with Captain Jack Sparrow causes many slash-shippers to interpret even passing comments as ho yay, but pairings with James Norrington and even Cutler Beckett are not unheard of. In slash fics, Will is nearly always the uke or otherwise submissive partner.

It is probably important to note that the canon and time period that Will Turner inhabits is not particularly accepting of homosexual relationships, and any slash that concerns him should have to confront the restrictions and attitudes of the setting. Any that does not might be bad.

Both the Pirates of the Caribbean canon and the Lord of the Rings movieverse canon have seen fanfic explosions. Orlando Bloom has appeared in both. This has spawned innumerable crossovers between the two continua concerning Legolas and Will Turner.