DAVY JONES
Real Name: Davy Jones
Identity/Class: Demon (throughout the ages to 19th Century and modern era)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: Captain Redmond's crew
Affiliations: Captain Silas Redmond, Creech, Hooker
Enemies: Catherine Crane, Neptune, Dick Rogers, Freddy Sykes, Harry Spain
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Astaroth, Beelzebub, Devil, Elimi, Lucifer, Satan; David Jones, Davey Jones
Base of Operations: Atlantic Ocean
First Appearance: (Mentioned) Marvel Mystery
Comics#12 (October, 1940);
(seen) Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3 (September,
1953)
Powers/Abilities: Jones' magic powers were mostly related to sea life. He could live underwater, as well as breathe air, and could also mutate people to live underwater with him. He had a certain degree of control over atmospheric events such as cloud formation, rain, wind, lightning storms, and could even create hurricanes--the control he exerted was not complete, as he sometimes influenced these events subconsciously.
Davy Jones was long-lived, and was probably immortal. He could also transform his appearance and his clothes.
Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (180 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Variable
Hair: Variable
History:
(Journey into Mystery I#33/5) - Bored with living in his little old
house under the sea without friends, Davy Jones built a raft to look for
company in the sea.
It was a warm spring day in 1825 when Davy Jones met a pirate ship and was welcomed aboard by Captain Silas Redmond and his seconds-in-command, Hooker and Creech. Davy Jones didn't approve of pirates very much, but remained aboard nonetheless. In the following weeks, every time the pirates tried to assault or run after prey, the weather changed suddenly--storms, winds and currents saved the other ships, striking only against Redmond's ship; when Redmond or his men threatened Jones for being the one responsible for this black magic, thunderbolts and clouds answered to their threats.
Finally Redmond couldn't bear it anymore--he drew his cutlass against Jones, but a hurricane suddenly unleashed its fury on the pirate ship. Most of the crew escaped in lifeboats, but the captain had to remain on his ship. Davy Jones didn't want to harm anyone, so he saved Redmond, Hooker and Creech by taking them to his house under the sea; Jones then played cards with his new friends.
(Journey Into Unknown Worlds#36/3 - BTS) - A few years before the beginning of World War I, during a wild and dangerous sea storm at night, a sailor was scared that all of them would go down to Davy Jones' locker.
(Sub-Mariner Comics#4/1) - Namor the Sub-Mariner was near Grayson Island, near the US southern coast, when he saved a man who was drowning. Namor himself said that he saved the man "from a trip to Davy Jones' locker".
(Marvel Mystery Comics I#25/2) - During WWII, Jarna, alien queen of the Lavarites, after having drowned an unknown human (actually Sub-Mariner), told that she was sending him to paradise and that they would meet again into "Davy Jones' locker".
(Marvel Mystery Comics I#28/2) - After
having defeated the Flying Dutchman pirates and saved a transatlantic
ship, Sub-Mariner told to an officer that he had just saved his crew
from meeting "Davy Jones".
(Comedy Comics#9/8) - Fin menaced the crew of the ship Alwater, of
the fifth column, to send them to party with "Davy Jones".
(Spellbound#28/4) - Davy Jones' multiple attempts to sink the Nancy, a small cargo schooner captained by Dick Rogers, were foiled by "the Old Man of the Sea," King Neptune.
(Journey into Mystery I#71/1 - BTS / Strange Tales I#72/2 - BTS) - In the 20th Century, Davy Jones and his beard were famous among sailors all over the world--they invoked him when they saw incredible things like a Roc or a ghost ship.
(Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3) - Appearing to be a grizzled old sailor, Davy Jones went to a seaside hotel, where he met the acquaintance of Catherine Crane, a beautiful young gold-digger. Catherine feigned romantic interest in the wealthy old man, whom she knew only as "David," but plotted to kill him for his money. Later, Catherine joined David aboard his sailboat so he could take her to his locker, where all his wealth was hidden; they were miles from land when they were caught in a furious storm. As he revealed his last name to her, David grabbed Catherine, jumped overboard, and dragged her down to his locker.
(Uncanny Tales#13/5) - Looter Harry Spain's air hose got cut during a dive. In an apparent dream he woke up in front of Davey Jones and was offered to sit down on a chair by Davey Jones himself. When Harry heard his treacherous partner Jake, whom Harry believed to have cut his air hose, Jake didn't take the seat and instead attacked Jake. Moments later Harry awakened aboard his salvage vessel for real because Jake had pulled him up, escaping Davey Jones' locker in the process. Jake claimed that Harry's air hose probably got cut on a sharp rock or coral. Harry didn't believe Jake and stabbed him to death. Harry was arrested by the coast guard.
Harry was soon sentenced to death for the murder of Jake and was ended up on death row. When it was time for Harry to take a seat on the electric chair, the prison's warden bowed before Davey Jones, who ultimately became the man to pull the lever to execute Harry Spain. This time Harry couldn't escape Davey Jones.
(Journey into Mystery I#13/text-story) - Three men adrift
on the ocean with no hope of survival--Joseph Rusak, Theodore Standish,
and Herbert Slade--met a devil claiming to be Davy Jones, and they were
offered a contract to ensure their survival:
"We three - Joseph Rusak, Theodore Standish, and Herbert Slade,
adrift in a lifeboat and doomed to death, do for the right to live for
a thousand years, hereby assign our souls to the devil, otherwise
known as Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan, Elimi, Astaroth, and Davy Jones.
In faith where we affix our names below......."
Joseph Rusak was the only one not to sign the contract, and he was saved
by a passing ship; his two companions disappeared from the life-raft,
never to be seen again.
(Tales of Suspense I#17/2) - Davy Jones had gathered immeasurable treasures in his locker underwater. He became a business man in the USA and led a seemingly normal life.
One day, burglar Freddy Sykes heard Davy Jones talking about his wealth, which he kept in a locker. Sykes followed Jones, and when they were alone in the fog on the docks, Sykes pulled out his handgun and threatened Jones. Jones understood that Sykes was cold-blooded killer, so he threw him into the water and dragged him down--he had transformed Sykes so he could breathe underwater; then Jones, wearing a crown, told Sykes that he could not use his treasure, nor could he ever walk on dry land again. Before them was an immense underwater valley of gold and treasures and skulls and wreckage--Davy Jones' locker.
(Strange Tales I#98/2 - BTS) - Davy Jones' name was invoked by a sailor who spotted the Flying Dutchman's ghost ship. The other sailors boarded the ghost ship and looted it, but were then cursed to become the new crew until another evil crew would come and take their place.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Cal Massey (artist).
Davey Jones' locker was first named by the narrator's
voice in Marvel Mystery Comics#12, when Namor's Atlantean forces caused
the sinking of a German U-Boat and a UK Destroyer, during WWII.
In Journey into Mistery#33 Davy Jones did not seem evil. However, the criminals that met him received severe punishments.
It should be noted that Davy Jones is often viewed as
being an evil spirit and another name for Satan. Historically and in
media, he is believed to be the captain of the Flying Dutchman.
--AvatarWarlord72
The book "American Folkore and Legend," mentions that the basis of the name Davy Jones seems to have come from a reference to the Biblical Jonah. The book "Mythologies and Legends" identifies him as the spirit of the sea who claimed sailors lost at sea. There was allegedly a 16th Century publican named Davy Jones who imprisoned drunken sailors in a locker and press-ganged them to serve on ships. The name could also come from the patron saint of sailors, St. David. None of these is supported by any evidence--they are little more than guesses.
The first source of the use of the name comes from Tobias
Smollett's The Adventures of
Peregrine Pickle (1751):
"'By the Lord! Jack, you may say what you wool; but I'll be damned if it
was not Davy Jones himself. I know him by his saucer eyes, his three
rows of teeth, his horns and tail, and the blue smoke that came out of
his nostrils. What does the blackguard hell's baby want with me? I'm
sure I never committed murder, except in the way of my profession, nor
wronged any man whatsomever since I first went to sea.' This same Davy
Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides
over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various
shapes, perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes, shipwrecks,
and other disasters, to which a seafaring life is exposed; warning the
devoted wretch of death and woe."
The first source that mentions Jones' locker is the 1803 Naval
Chronicle:
"...seamen would have met a watery grave; or, to use a seaman's phrase,
gone to Davy Jones's locker."
--Will U
Thanks to AvatarWarlord72 for adding Journey into Mystery I#13, Spellbound#28 and Strange Tales I#98. Thanks to Ron Fredricks for adding Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3. Thanks to Gammatotem for pointing out his appearance in Uncanny Tales#13.
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Davy Jones has no known connections to:
Freddy Sykes has no known connections to:
Catherine Crane has no known connections to:
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Captain Silas Redmond was a normal human. In 1825, he and his crew were pirates who assaulted and looted ships for a living. When Redmond took Davy Jones aboard, he was sure that he'd make Jones a pirate as well. Instead, the powers of Jones scared all the crew, and finally sank the ship. Davy Jones took Redmond, Hooker and Creech to live with him under the sea. --Journey into Mystery I#33/5 |
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Hooker and Creech were normal humans. Like the rest of the crew, the two seconds-in-command realized that Davy Jones could control storms and winds. They were convinced that he used black magic to protect the other ships that they tried to loot. However, Davy Jones didn't want to harm any of the pirates, so he saved Hooker, Creech and Captain Redmond, and took them to live with him on the ocean's floor. --Journey into Mystery I#33/5 |
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Catherine Crane was a normal human. She had checked into a seaside hotel for a week with the intent of finding a wealthy man to marry, then she planned to kill him for his money. On the first day, the gold-digging Catherine met a grizzled old sailor named David; when David mentioned that he was wealthy, Catherine feigned a romantic interest in him. Eventually, David took Catherine out on his sailboat to show her the locker where he kept all his wealth; but as a sudden storm began to toss the boat about, David told Catherine his last name, then he grabbed her and jumped overboard into the churning waters, dragging her down to Davey Jones locker. --Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3 |
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Freddy Sykes was a normal human. One night, after a robbery went bad, Sykes fled to
Grand Central Station; in the crowd, he overheard two men
speaking about valuables, and heard that Mr. Jones had all his
wealth in a very safe locker. --Tales of Suspense I#17/2 |
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In the 19th Century, Davy Jones' locker was probably empty, or contained only a few things. Everything he possessed was contained in a small hut on the ocean's floor. In the 20th Century, his treasure was enormous; it was strewn on the ocean's floor among the wreckage of many ships. Gold and jewels and other precious objects covered the floor and he called everything his "locker". It was well protected because whoever saw his treasure could not return back home to tell about it. --Tales of Suspense I#17/2 |
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images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#33/5, p1, pan1 (main image)
Tales of Suspense I#17/2, p3, pan4 (Davy Jones, head shot)
Tales of Suspense I#17/2, p5, pan5 (Davy Jones and Sykes underwater)
Uncanny Tales#13/5, p3, pan4 (Davey Jones in green)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3, p4, pan4 (David about to reveal his
last name to Catherine Crane)
Journey into Mystery I#33/5, p2, pan7 (Captain Redmond)
Journey into Mystery I#33/5, p2, pan6 (Hooker and Creech)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3, p1, pan3 (Catherine Crane checking
into seaside hotel)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3, p4, pan5 (in sailboat, David tells
Catherine Crane his last name)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3, p4, pan6 (Davy Jones carries Catherine
Crane down to his locker)
Tales of Suspense I#17/2, p2, pan2 (Freddy Sykes)
Tales of Suspense I#17/2, p5, pan5 (treasure)
Appearances:
Journey into Unknown Worlds#22/3 (September, 1953) - unidentified
writer, Cal Massey (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Uncanny Tales#13/5 (October, 1953) - unidentified writer, Russ Heath
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#13/text-story (December, 1953) - unidentified
writer, Carl Burgos (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#36/3 (August, 1955) - unidentified writer,
Jack Katz (pencils), Chris Rule (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#33/5 (April, 1956) - Carl Wessler (writer), Al
Williamson (pencils), Gray Morrow (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Spellbound#28/4 (June, 1956) - unidentified writer, Gene Colan (pencils
and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Tales of Suspense I#17/2 (May, 1961) - unidentified writer, Don Heck
(pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Strange Tales I#98/2 (July, 1962) - unidentified writer, Dick Ayers
(pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First Posted: 02/18/2012
Previously updated:
04/25/2022:
Last updated: 03/28/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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