Tia Dalma

Pirates of the Caribbean character

Tia Dalma (Calypso)
Tia Dalma (Calypso)
Gender	Female
Profession	Obeah sorceress, Hoodoo practitioner, Voodoo Queen
Ship(s) served on	Black Pearl
Appearance(s)	Dead Man's Chest At World's End
Portrayed by	Naomie Harris

Tia Dalma, played by Naomie Harris, is a fictional character from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and a primary character in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, in which a significant amount of the plot revolves around her and her powers. It is revealed in At World's End that she is actually the sea goddess Calypso.

The name implies several linguistic possibilities stemming from Portuguese to Spanish.

Tia is both Portuguese and Spanish for "aunt". Dalma could be a reference to the colloquial Caribbean Spanish del mar, "of the sea". It could also be a reference to Spanish de Alma, or Portuguese da alma, which means "of the soul". It could be derived from "Hypatia" meaning "highest, supreme".

However, it is an anagram of Dalmatia, a region in modern day Croatia infamous for its pirates who were mostly active during the 9th and 10th century.

Prior to the events of the films, Tia Dalma was known as the goddess Calypso. Davy Jones, a human, fell in love with her. Calypso gave him the task of guiding the spirits of the dead lost at sea, and Jones accepted the task out of love for her. Jones was granted immortality on the condition that he could return to shore once every ten years. However, when Jones returned to shore after ten years of service, Calypso failed to appear.

Feeling betrayed, Davy Jones made a secret agreement with the Pirate Lords. He showed them how to bind her to human form using Pieces of Eight; and thus, at the first Brethren Court, the pirates captured Calypso and bound her to a human body. Her binding tamed the seas and satisfied Jones's desire for vengeance. This entrapment could only be reversed if the Brethren Court reassembled, resubmitted the original nine Pieces of Eight they used to bind her, and burned them. Until the events of At World's End, she was unaware of the crucial role that her former lover had played in her imprisonment. After she was bound in human form, Tia Dalma began to practice Voodoo and Obeah magic.

It was thought that Tia Dalma and Sparrow became lovers at some point during the latter's adult life; Sparrow confessed to having "known" her at a time when they had been "inseparable". Tia Dalma provided him with his compass; a mysterious device that pointed to that which its user truly wanted.