"You will have not known fear until aftah ye've known Jones wasted-ah."
Davy Jones' Day Off
is a webcomic created by Swashbookler on DeviantArt, based upon the characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.Davy Jones, captain of the Flying Dutchman, is cursed so that he can only set foot on land one day every ten years. Today is that day. In dire need of a day off from his dreary job, Jones and his crew make port and spend the day goofing off, engaging in silly slapstick, and getting completely drunk. But when Jones accidentally drinks a potion that temporarily makes him human again, he makes a bet with his crew to take a woman out on a date and get her to kiss him by nightfall. The woman in question turns out to be Ella Devylinn, a widowed duchess who doesn't take any crap from anyone, not even the devil of the sea himself. Hilarity Ensues.
This webcomic provides examples of:
- Adaptational Comic Relief: Aside from Hadras, Davy Jones and his crew are always treated as nightmarish threats in the film series, and Lord Cutler Beckett is a serious, cunning Big Bad. They're all goofy idiots in this comic.
- Almost Kiss: Davy Jones and Ella attempt to kiss several times, but neither of them are willing enough to go through with it.
- Art Evolution: An unfortunate case. Starting with
page 75, the detailed colored digital art was phased out in favor of simple cartoony pencil sketches, a compromise that had to be made to combat the comic's notorious Schedule Slip. Still, when the comic needed to be more serious or dramatic, it did receive a temporary boost in quality, as seen on page 91. - Brick Joke:
- At the start of the comic, Maccus convinces Davy Jones not to wear a thong. When Jones gets utterly wasted, Wheelback asks Maccus to confirm that the thong was burned and buried. Comes back again later when Jones is Going Commando, prompting one townsfolk to suggest burning and burying the Goofy Print Underwear he left behind.
- When we're first introduced to Ella Devylinn, she's washing laundry for East India Trading Company, and then she gets kidnapped by Davy Jones. At the theater, Cutler Beckett remarks that he was late because the laundromat was shorthanded and was late with his laundry.
- Burn the Witch!: The angry mob accuses Ella of being a witch due to the fact that she was on a date with Davy Jones, and they try to burn her at stake.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When Ella demands that Davy Jones tell her what he wants with her, he replies that he wants the Thai Chicken Chipotle.
- When Davy Jones notices Cutler Beckett smirking at him, Jones thinks that Beckett wants his Hat of Authority.
- The Comically Serious: In contrast with all the other goofy Flying Dutchman crewmembers, Bootstrap Bill always looks solemn and dead-serious. It becomes hilarious during their Romeo and Juliet performance when Bill has to say ridiculous lines such as "And look, Juliet lies in her blood from being bludgeoned to death with a frying pan" with a straight face.
- Commander Contrarian: When Davy Jones takes Ella out to dinner, he argues with every option she picks.Ella: Well, now that Ah'm a dinner hostage Ah guess Ah'll be havin' the Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Davy: OH SURE! Choose theh most expensive thing on there-ah!
Ella: IT IS NOT! Fine, Ah'll 'ave theh Pea Soup.
Davy: Now yeh choose theh cheapest thing-ah like Ah'm sum sort of cheap skate!
Ella: Then Ah'll 'ave theh Caesar Salad. Right in theh middle of theh prices.
Davy: You choose theh salad cause yeh think yer fat, didn't yeh?
Ella: Then I'll have the MEAT LOVER'S OMELET!
[Beat]
Davy: Fatty. - Crosscast Role: All known members of the Flying Dutchman crew are male. When they are forced to perform Romeo and Juliet, Hadras and Jimmy Legs are cast as Lady Montague and Juliet, respectively. Hadras takes to the role pretty well and even forgets that he's still wearing a dress after the show's over, while Jimmy despises every moment of it (though Davy Jones finds it hilarious).
- Denser and Wackier:
- Aside from Jack Sparrow's antics, the Pirates films tend to be dark and serious. In contrast, this comic is very goofy and doesn't take itself seriously at all.
- An in-universe example. The Flying Dutchman crew's performance of Romeo and Juliet is much goofier and weirder than the tragic source material, not helped by the fact that said crew consists of freaky mutant fish-people. Ella comments on enjoying the abridged play with "abstract cosmetics".
- The Drunken Sailor: Davy Jones and Hadras get utterly wasted, and Jones also challenges Gibbs to a drinking contest.
- Dynamic Entry: When John saved Ella from the tea party, he made his big entrance by crashing through the window.
- Feghoot: The artist's comments for page 68 reveal that the entire comic up to that point was created just to set up the joke of human Davy Jones attempting to impress a woman by playing the organ with his beard.
- Frying Pan of Doom: Bootstrap Bill knocks out Jimmy Legs with a frying pan. When Jimmy starts to regain consciousness, Maccus panics and starts repeatedly bludgeoning Jimmy with the frying pan.
- Funetik Aksent: Several characters, most notably Davy Jones and Ella Devylinn, are given a heavy accent in their dialogue, represented by spelling "I" as "Ah", "the" as "theh", "you" as "yeh", etc.
- Going Commando: Davy Jones can phase through walls... but apparently, his Goofy Print Underwear cannot phase with him. He subsequently loses his underpants when phasing himself, Ella, and a horse through a building to escape the angry mob.
- Humanity Ensues: Madam Moranna gives Wheelback a potion that will make him human until nightfall. Davy Jones (thinking it's alcohol) drinks it instead, setting into motion the rest of the comic's plot.
- I'll Kill You!:
- Jimmy Legs threatens to kill Maccus after the latter kisses him during Romeo and Juliet.
- The stage manager threatens to kill Crash if he messes up his ending narration.
- Large Ham:
- Davy Jones is incapable of introducing himself without dramatically saying his name.
- Cutler Beckett is prone to Skyward Screaming whenever Davy Jones slips by right under his nose.
- Davy Jones is incapable of introducing
- Laxative Prank: Maccus gives Davy Jones a mint for his date. Since Maccus is trying to sabotage the date in order to win the bet, the "mint" is actually a laxative.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Davy Jones and Ella Devylinn bicker so much that everyone around them thinks that they must be a married couple.
- Loophole Abuse: Once the day is done, Davy Jones can no longer walk on land. That doesn't stop him from climbing on rooftops, piggybacking on random townspeople, or even walking around wearing watermelons for boots.
- Magical Romani: Madam Moranna is a stereotypical Romani Fortune Teller who clearly recognizes Wheelback as a damned soul of the Flying Dutchman and gives him a potion that can turn him human.
- Major Injury Underreaction: When Maccus stabs an actor through the torso with his cutlass, the actor simply asks, "Has that always been there?" before slumping over dead.
- Morton's Fork: Jimmy Legs says I'll Kill You! when Maccus kisses him during Romeo and Juliet. Maccus desperately tries to explain that it's just part of the play and he doesn't actually have any feelings towards Jimmy. After a Beat, Jimmy angrily asks if Maccus is breaking up with him, followed by him repeatedly stabbing Maccus with a knife.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The second-best rescue Ella has ever been in was when her husband John rescued her from... the most boring tea party ever. It's treated as just as exciting as him saving her from angry natives.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite being Adaptational Comic Relief, it's clear that the crew of the Flying Dutchman are still very dangerous. They slaughter an innocent cast of actors just to sabotage a bet. Their behavior towards human Davy Jones (before realizing who he is) also suggests that they're not above ganging up and assaulting random drunken sailors wandering the streets.
- Offscreen Teleportation: When Ella tries to leave during their dinner date, Davy Jones magically warps in front of her. Ella is very confused, as well as the waiter in the background.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: When Davy Jones kidnaps Ella Devylinn to take her on the date, he carries her away on his shoulder while she screams.
- Original Character: Unlike the other major characters who all originate from the films, Ella Devylinn was created entirely for this comic.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The only thing Davy Jones needs to do to avoid mass panic is put on a different hat so that nobody recognizes him.
- Performance Anxiety: Crash, cast as the narrator of Romeo and Juliet, suffers from stage fright and stutters his way through the opening narration.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Maccus deduces that he must have won the bet, but inevitably having to face Davy Jones' temper makes him question if it was worth it.
- Running Gag: Random townspeople freaking out when they recognize Davy Jones... due to his hat. Usually followed by Jones putting on a different hat and everyone immediately calming down.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Maccus cheerfully suggests that Davy Jones go out on a date with a woman. Jones, who famously hates women after Calypso broke his heart, furiously dares Maccus to say it again... and Maccus happily obliges in the same exact tone as before.
- Shout-Out: Davy Jones does a karaoke version of "Under the Sea". Later, he gets Sebastian to sing a gender-flipped version of "Kiss the Girl".
- The Show Must Go On: The crew of the Flying Dutchman slaughter the cast of Romeo and Juliet to sabotage the play that Davy Jones and Ella Devylinn were going to see. The stage manager furiously declares that "THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!" and forces the Dutchman crew to perform the play themselves.
- Signature Headgear: According to Davy Jones, a man's hat is his identity. His impressive captain's hat is enough to cause townspeople to flee in terror, and he is convinced that Cutler Beckett is after him for his hat.
- Slapstick:
- Madam Moranna is clubbed in the head by Wheelback on accident.
- Ella Devylinn finds herself on the receiving end of slapstick just as much as the male characters, such as when Jones repeatedly pulls the chair out from under her or when he accidentally crushes her hand.
- Took the Bad Film Seriously: Maccus is the only one giving a damn about his performance when the Flying Dutchman crew are forced to perform Romeo and Juliet. The stage manager even commends him for it and promises to make him famous.
- Tempting Fate: Immediately after Ella remarks that men aren't just going to come by and sweep her off her feet, Davy Jones arrives and carries her away.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Cutler Beckett riles up an angry mob against Davy Jones as part of his plot to capture him.
- Unsound Effect: The sound effects heard while the Flying Dutchman crew slaughter the actors are "kill", "gore", "stab", "die", and "maim".
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Aside from freaking out when seeing Davy Jones' Signature Headgear, the townspeople don't seem to bat an eye when a bunch of mutant humanoid fish-people are roaming about.
- Unwanted Rescue: Ella had just succeeded in talking down the angry mob and convincing them to let her go. Then Davy Jones arrives to rescue her, causing the crowd to immediately turn on Ella again. Ella angrily calls Jones an idiot.
- Worst. Whatever. Ever!: Ella recounts the time her husband John saved her from the "WORST. Tea party. EVER."
