Avatar‘s Six Legged Glowing-Spiritual-Freak-Beasts: Our Massively Obsessive Sci-Fi Nerd Take

Share on Facebook posted 12-14-09 by Angelo D'Argenio

Part 2 of our massively obsessive supercomputing sci-fi nerd look into James Cameron’s Avatar. Today we look at the terrifying but beautiful ecosystem of Pandora. Did I say beautiful? No, I meant just plain old terrifying. Come on, this planet has giant sky jellyfish! Pandora also has the native population called the Na’vi who differ both physiologically and culturally from humans.

Local Wildlife

Most of the wildlife on Pandora are hexapods, which means they have six legs and look damn freaky. None of them appear to be mammals, as far as we would call them at least. Most appear to be slick skinned, or scaled. Even the animals that are most like our own indigenous earth wildlife are remarkably different on Pandora.

Dire Horse has a build similar to equines on earth, except much larger, hexapodal, and featuring strange mandibular tentacles and a head crest.
Prolemuris These are small monkey-like creatures called have conjoined limbs with webbing between them which give them superb aerial mobility.

In fact, a large portion of Pandora’s wildlife seems to be geared toward flight or other sorts of aerial maneuvering, which most likely evolved due to the massive floating islands and mountains that hover through Pandora’s sky. Birds, as we know them, seem to be non-existent. Instead, the flying beasts of Pandora are more reminiscent of the pterodactyl and other flying dinosaurs of old. They appear to be remarkably lizard like and most appear to be predatory. They are many times the size of a human being, and grow to easily rival the size of small aircraft, which once again draws a parallel between them and the dinosaurs of Earth’s past.

Everything on Pandora is supersized.

Viper Wolf: This is the analog to our wolf and can easily take down a human being in one pounce.
Thanator This is the Pandoran version of a large jungle cat, and it can easily topple trees or break combat vehicles in half with its massive jaws. If it wanted to it could swallow a Na’vi, or a human whole, and trust us, it wants to.
Titanotherus: Hammer headed rhino-like creatures which are more reminiscent of our large herbivorous dinosaurs such as the Triceratops.

The sheer volume of primordial life on Pandora is astounding, and the fact that such massive beasts exist suggest that it is a planet that is very young in its evolution.

The Na’vi and Their Culture

Perhaps the only non-hexapodal race on Pandora, the Na’vi are a species of tall, limber, catlike humanoids with blue skin. Though they appear similar to humans in physiology, there are some key differences that may not be able to be seen with the naked eye. For one, the Na’vi’s 4 fingers are actually more like tentacles than digits. They bend without joints and are mostly muscle. This continues the trend of animals on Pandora evolving with tentacle like protrusions. The hair of the Na’vi is actually not hair at all, but an external part of the nervous system. While they style it and decorate it much like tribal humans did, they can use it to transmit thoughts and feelings and it plays a key role in their control of larger beasts such as the Banshee.

They live in a tribal culture, which practices a simple form of nature worship. They use primitive tools and weapons such as bows and arrows and bludgeons in their everyday lives, but they are normally a peaceful race and thus find little use for weapons. They farm the land for edible produce, and tame beasts, such as the flying Banshee and the aforementioned Dire Horse, to help them hunt. The Na’vi, like all native life forms on Pandora, are bio-luminescent, an evolution that most likely formed due to the long periods of darkness Pandora no doubt experiences when it is shadowed by Polyphemus. This trait is shared by every living being on Pandora, plant, animal, micro-organism, or otherwise. The markings on the Na’vi are actually bio-luminescent tracks that glow and change based on their mood. These tracks vaguely mirror the circulatory and nervous systems of the Na’vi themselves. The Na’vi view this as a sign that everything on Pandora is connected somehow in some deeper perhaps spiritual way. Human research has shown that the ecosystem of Pandora is largely symbiotic and that the natural bio-luminescence operates as a sort of “nervous system” for the planet.

The Na’vi’s spirituality encompasses a worldview that holds many things sacred. For one, they hold the Vitraya Ramunon, a specific breed of tree, sacred. The Na’vi believe that this tree is the heart of the connection that all life shares, and the jellyfish like wood sprites that are its seeds light up the night sky and only reinforce this belief. They also hold the Hallelujah Mountains, the massive floating landmasses that travel across Pandora’s sky, sacred as well. This is where their primary conflict with the human race is born. The Hallelujah Mountains house massive deposits of unobtainium which allow them to remain floating in the air. In addition, the Omaticaya Clan of the Na’vi have made their home in a tree that rests upon a large deposit of unobtanium, and don’t plan to be moving any time soon.