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In General
Pandoran Wildlife
- All There in the Manual: Most information about the flora and fauna of Pandora is only revealed in tie-in content like books and websites. This additional material usually has information on the names of several creatures, the Na'vi names for them, and even their ecological role. Heck, a good chunk of Pandoran wildlife are only described in supplementary material and don't even appear in the movies!
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Justified since the wildlife thrives on an alien world. Many of them possess colors that are far more eye catching than most Earth creatures.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Every Pandoran lifeform, whether flora or fauna, has at least some bioluminescence, ranging from freckle-like glowing spots to fanlike glowing appendages. The primary environmental reason for this is that there are long periods when Pandora orbits behind the dark side of Polyphemus, making the bioluminescence the only major source of light.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Most have bioluminescent hairless skin, six limbs, four eyes, spiracles (breathing nostrils located on their torsos) and a pair of antennae that can interface with those of other creatures.
- Death World: If anything, it's deconstructed. Pandora certainly seems as much to the humans, with just about everything on the planet capable of killing them with ease, but that's ultimately because it's not their world; it's an environment they are not suited for, and should not be in. The Na'vi, indeed, are capable of not only surviving, but thriving on Pandora with all its wildlife (though they are still fully mindful of the natural dangers), because it's an ecosystem they evolved to be a part of.
- Extra Eyes: Many have four eyes, though some, such as the banshee and direhorse, have the second pair much smaller and less developed.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: A lot. Titanotheres are rhinos, Thanators are big cats, Direhorses are...well, horses, and Sturmbeest are buffalo, to name a few.
- Game Face: Most of these animals will usually have some sort of physical display on their heads or faces to intimidate other creatures.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: Most of them have six limbs. Notable exceptions include the Na'vi (implied by the prolemuris to have had their two pairs of arms fuse together) and the Banshee, which have four legs with both front and hind ones modified into wings.
Eywa
Eywa
The Na'vi's Great Mother and Goddess of life, effectively their equivalent to Gaia or Mother Earth, central to their monotheistic faith. Eywa is scientifically explainable as the sapient superintelligence created by the electrochemical interactions of Pandoran life, creating a giant world-spanning neural network. This biological internet is analogous to at least 20-100 times the connections between neurons on a human brain.- Gaia's Vengeance: Of the Gaia's Vengeance Proper variety. With the interconnected, interfacing nature of Pandora's flora and fauna, Eywa can in effect relay commands to vast hordes of ferocious wildlife. In this case, the command is "Put a stop to the human incursion. Violently." The sequel reveals this order still stands, as after the RDA returns, any attempt to go too deep into the wild invariably results with them quickly getting attacked and driven away.
- Genius Loci: Being an unimaginably vast and intricate "brain" that stretches across Pandora, Eywa is perhaps best described as a sentient biosphere.
- God: While she mainly resembles Gaia in function, she has some elements of big-G God, being the benevolent source of all life who they worship in a monotheistic religion. And it's implied she even has her own Jesus, in the form of Kiri.
- Neutral No Longer: Na'vi do not call upon Eywa to aid them in conflicts, seeing her as the protector of the balance of life who is above taking sides. Neytiri warns Jake as much when he beseeches Eywa for help against the RDA's forces. However, his warning - and, it's implied, Grace's memories of a devastated Earth - are sufficient to finally spur her to coordinated action against the invaders at the climax of the first film.
- Real After All: The humans initially dismiss Eywa as just a myth. But Grace's studies of Pandoran biota, particularly the trees, convinces her that Eywa is tangibly real as a "superbrain" governing all life on the moon.
Forest Creatures
Great Leonopteryx
Great Leonopteryx (Na'vi name: Toruk)
- Always a Bigger Fish: The Great Leonopteryx is by far the largest creature in the Avatar universe, not to mention the fact that it's a larger relative of the Mountain Banshee.
- The Dreaded: It is feared by the Na'vi just as much as it is revered. When Jake arrives to the Tree of Souls on the back of the Toruk, all of them are startled by its presence and immediately back away before realizing he tamed it.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Closer inspections of its eyes reveal its pupils are more horizontal and shaped like a thick zigzag.
- Giant Flyer: It is much, much bigger than any Ikran. For scale, it also happens to be bigger than the Scorpion helicopters.
- Handy Feet: In the final battle, it grabs onto a Scorpion helicopter using its talons to throw it out of balance.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: Jake rides this bright red beast into battle, which stands out from all the ikrans with less vibrant coloring ridden by the other Na'vi warriors.
- Logical Weakness: Discussed — Jake notes that it being unable to see directly above itself makes sense since it's an apex predator. It can't look up because it has no reason to fear attack from above.
- Meaningful Name: As Jake points out, Toruk's name meaning "Last Shadow" is appropriate for a creature that will more than likely the last shadow any unfortunate prey will ever see.
- Its scientific name Leonopteryx rex also translates to "winged king lion", which is appropriate for a mighty and revered beast that rules the skies.
- Only the Chosen May Ride: The fearsome Toruk has only been ridden five times in recorded Na'vi history, only by the greatest and most courageous warriors, called Toruk Makto, who came to unite the clans in times of great sorrow. Jake himself tames the Toruk to regain the Na'vi's trust, becoming the sixth Toruk Makto.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Takes inspiration from birds of prey and pterosaurs. Its crest in particular resembles the crest of a pterosaur called a Tupandadactylus.
- Power Up Mount: In order to return to the remaining Omaticaya tribe without being slain on sight, Jake is forced to fly his Ikran above the Toruk so he can land on it from above to perform tsaheylu on the creature. After he uses it as his mount for the final battle, he sets the Toruk free.
- Red Baron: It is referred to as "Last Shadow" for a very good reason. Bonus points for actually being a red flying creature.
- Shadow of Impending Doom: Its favorite method of attack is to drop down on its prey from above with the sun directly behind it, hence its Na'vi name.
- Use Your Head: The creature can use its razor sharp crests cut through any jungle foliage it flies through or even any unfortunate animal it preys upon.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: Has four wings and two legs, like most of Pandora's six-limbed animals.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Its prominent bony eyebrow ridges make it unable to see directly above itself, allowing Jake to jump it from above and easily tame it.
Mountain Banshee
Mountain Banshee (Na'vi name: Ikran)
- An Alien Named "Bob": Literally. The ikran Jake Sully trained is officially named Bob according to the toyline.
- Bond Creatures: Forms a lifelong bond with their rider. Once tsaheylu is forged between the Ikran and its rider, it will only fly with one rider for its entire life.
- Eyes Always Averted: It is best not to look an Ikran in the eye, otherwise they will accept your gaze as a challenge.
- Giant Flyer: They are big flying creatures that rival the size of the largest pterosaurs of Earth's prehistoric past.
- If It Swims, It Flies: The Way Of Water reveals that they are capable of swimming quite deftly. However, like seabirds, they have to fold up their wings to do so, instead using their undulating bodies to swim like eels.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Have teeth reminiscent of certain Earth bony fish, as well as similarly-prognostic jaws.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Pterodactyl-like fliers with some fairy dragon elements like the transparent, almost insect-like translucent wing tips, and prismatic color shading. They're a primary aerial transport as well.
- Replacement Goldfish: After Neytiri's ikran Seze dies in the final battle of the first movie, The Way Of Water shows Neytiri with a new currently unnamed ikran.
- Undying Loyalty: They only ever bond with a single Na'vi in their lifetime. It's so prevalent that they even listen and stick with their masters even without tsaheylu active. Neytiri's ikran Seze waits for her to return when she walks with Jake to tame an ikran of his own. Jake's ikran flies in to pick him up after seeing him wake up among the ruins of the destroyed Hometree, implying that it was flying around watching him and waiting for him to wake up.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: One of Pandora's few exceptions, having four wings that all function as legs on the ground, and no visible trace of a third pair of limbs.
Thanator
Thanator (Na'vi name: Palulukan)
- Always a Bigger Fish: Jake taunts a titanothere, which acts frightened and runs away. Turns out it wasn't afraid of Jake himself...but the Thanator creeping up from behind him.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: The Thanator has a thick tail that can be used like a club.
- Cats Are Mean: It is a large, relentless, and very aggressive predatory animal with feline characteristics.
- Chase Stops at Water: The individual chasing Jake abandons him when he leaps down a waterfall.
- The Dreaded: One of the most feared animals on Pandora. While Jake was able to stand his ground against the imposing titanothere, Grace simply tells him to run as fast as he can from a Thanator.
- Game Face: It can raise its lips to expose its gums and extra teeth just like a gelada baboon. The quills on its head also expand to make itself look bigger.
- Lightning Bruiser: It is a graceful yet very strong beast.
- Meaningful Name: Its name is one letter away from Thanatos, the Greek personification of death, which is very fitting for an apex predator of the Pandoran jungles.
- Mighty Roar: Its roar sounds very similar to the roar of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- Noisy Nature: It constantly roars to intimidate its prey.
- Only the Chosen May Ride: During the final battle where all the animals are coming to fight off the RDA, a Thanator shows up and willingly allows Neytiri to ride it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When the RDA returns in the opening to The Way Of Water, the fearless Thanator is seen running away terrified alongside its prey as their large ships descend into the jungle and burn up the land.
- Panthera Awesome: Resembles a panther or a big cat of sorts.
- Power Up Mount: Is ridden by Neytiri to battle Quartich in his mech suit. Unfortunately, the Thanator is killed in the battle.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Chases Jake for far longer than is reasonably possible, though at the very least it decides that a waterfall is going too far.
Hammerhead Titanothere
Hammerhead Titanothere (Na'vi name: Ang'tsik)
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Sports a brightly-colored frill on its head that sharply contrasts with its more muted gray body, which it uses for display.
- The Cavalry: A massive herd of them charges the RDA during the final battle, when Eywa decides to respond to Jake's petition.
- Game Face: If their large size wasn't intimidating enough, they will expand their vibrant frill to make themselves look bigger.
- Mighty Glacier: A massive beast twice the size of an African elephant, it relied more on its sheer strength and bulk, though it's still quite a bit faster than it looks.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Has the body of a rhino, but also has the cephalofoil of a hammerhead shark.
- Rhino Rampage: Resembles an oversized rhino, and is very territorial.
- Super-Toughness: Its tough armored hide is impervious to bullets.
Direhorse
Direhorse (Na'vi name: Pa'li)
- Born in the Saddle: The Horse Clan of the Plains seems to rely on the direhorse far more than most tribes.
- Dire Beast: It's basically a horse, but due to Pandora's lower gravity grows nearly to the size of an elephant. Its scientific name, "Equidirus hoplites", meaning "fearsome armored horse", certainly suggests this.
- Lightning Bruiser: Is incredibly swift of foot and thus one of the Na'vi's mounts of choice.
- Horse of a Different Color: It's a giant horse that is blue, has six legs, and has an anteater-like snout and a long tongue to feed on nectar.
- Overly-Long Tongue: They have long thick tongues that they use to lick nectar out of flowers.
- Vocal Dissonance: Despite resembling a horse, it doesn't neigh, instead making honking sounds akin to a goose, or the raptors of Jurassic Park.
Viperwolf
Viperwolf (Na'vi name: Nantang)
A wolf-like predator that hunts in packs.
- The Cavalry: Many Viperwolves return in the climax to take down RDA ground troops.
- Humanlike Hand Anatomy: Their paws have grasping digits and opposable thumbs, allowing it to climb trees as well as hunt on the ground.
- Heinous Hyena: They make some eerie cackle-like howls that are very reminiscent of hyena sounds while surrounding Jake in the forest.
- Innate Night Vision: Their excellent night vision provides them an advantage when cornering Jake in the dark jungle. Their eyes even glow in the dark.
- Mix-and-Match Critter: While mostly resembling wolves, they have prehensile hands and tree-climbing abilities like monkeys and have a laughing cackle similar to hyenas.
- Monster Is a Mommy: While their first appearance is a rather terrifying scene of them attacking Jake in the dark of night, a more gentle side of them is seen when Jake and Neytiri later encounter a mother viperwolf tending to her litter of pups, which play-fight like adorable Earth puppies.
- Savage Wolves: Portrayed as such when they attack Jake in the darkness.
- Zerg Rush: A pack of them try to attack Jake from all directions.
Prolemuris
Prolemuris (Na'vi name: Syaksyuk)
- Bizarre Alien Limbs: The Prolemuris has its upper pairs of arms fused together and bifurcating at the elbow, seemingly hinting on how the Na'vi evolved to have four limbs while most other Pandoran vertebrates have six.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Of monkeys and apes, with their relationship to the Na'vi as their closest relative being similar to that of humans and chimps.
- Not Quite Flight: They have flaps of skin between their limbs to help them occasionally glide from branch to branch.
Woodsprite
Woodsprite (Na'vi name: Atokirina')
Fan Lizard
Fan Lizard (Na'vi name: Kenten)
- Heli-Critter: These lizard-like creatures fly by fanning out a circular swirly fold of skin and twirling it around like a helicopter rotor.
- Spectacular Spinning: Their bodies spin around whenever they fly. Makes one wonder if they ever get dizzy.
Stingbat
Cat Ear
Hellfire Wasp
Hellfire Wasp (Na'vi name: Zize)
- Beware My Stinger Tail: They have two stingers!
- Scary Stinging Swarm: While getting stung by one wasp isn't deadly, swarms of them are very deadly.
- Wicked Wasps: They can deliver very painful stings with their two stingers. Despite this, their stings are not usually fatal.
Hexapede
Hexapede (Na'vi name: Yerik)
- Cute Creature, Creepy Mouth: They almost look cute for Pandoran fauna, until they bare their teeth and flip back their lips.
- Deer in the Headlights: When one individual spots Jake hunting it, it makes no effort to run away before being killed by his bow and arrow.
- Explosive Breeder: Since these little creatures are prey to just about every predator on Pandora, they breed like rabbits to make up for their population.
- Fragile Speedster: They are spry and maneuverable, but very easy to take down.
- The Marvelous Deer: They are exotic and elusive deer-like animals.
Panopyra
Panopyra (Na'vi name: Tawtsngal)
Sturmbeest
Sturmbeest (Na'vi name: Talioang)
- Animal Stampede: In a sequence of the Extended Collector's Edition of the movie, Jake takes part in a hunt that occurs during a huge Sturmbeest stampede.
- Horn Attack: One uses its horns to stab a person in an AMP suit during the final battle of Extended version.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The females are big, but the males are twice as large as them.
- Lightning Bruiser: As hefty as they look, they are pretty fast runners.
- Noisy Nature: In an establishing shot showing off a herd of Sturmbeest drinking from a river, a large male lets out a load roar for seemingly no real reason.
- The Nose Knows: Their great sense of smell allows them to detect predators from far away.
- One-Hit Kill: A single well placed arrow shot to one of its torso nostrils can immediately kill a Sturmbeest.
- Re-Cut: They are exclusive to the Extended Collector's Edition of the first movie.
Tapirus
Tapirus (Na'vi name: Fwampop)
- Herbivores Are Friendly: In a world where prey and predators alike can easily kill a human, Tapirus are surprisingly docile animals.
- The Scream: They can make loud cries when alerted or scared, which usually attracts predators.
Tetrapteron
Tetrapteron (Na'vi name: Fkio)
- Good Parents: They take the most care of their young out of any other animal on Pandora.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: They are very similar to flamingos.
- Meaningful Name: Tetrapteron translate to “four wings”, which is appropriate for a four-winged creature.
- Multiple-Tailed Beast: Has two tails it uses to balance its body when in flight.
Arachnoid
Arachnoid (Na'vi name: Kali'weya)
- Scary Scorpions: Downplayed; They may look intimating, but they are actually quite shy.
Helicoradian
Helicoradian (Na'vi name: Loreyu)
Binary Sunshine
Binary Sunshine, or lucinaria fibriata, (Na'vi name: penghrrap meaning "danger-teller")
Atlas Beetle
Atlas Beetle
- Tough Beetles: Their carapace is made out of a very strong material that the Na'vi can use for armor and shields.
Red Crested Climber
Crimsysoraus
Fanged Mongrel
Fanged Mongrel
- Fangs Are Evil: Evil is a bit of an overstatement, but these creatures are still vicious predators with long sharp fangs.
Flathead Ram
Glow Worms
Glow Worms
Grody Grueller
Grody Grueller
Kentrocapra
Medusa
Medusa
Dodiapede
Ostrich
Saber Hogs
Sharp-Horned Ram
Sharp-Horned Ram
Sharptooth Lizard
Sharptooth Lizard
- Poisonous Person: They have venomous saliva that they can spit towards predators and prey alike.
Steervane
Steervane
Spider
Spider
Wolf Tick
Wolf Tick
Wind Scorpion
Wind Scorpion
Austrapede
Austrapede
- Beak Attack: Can use its long beak to stab fish in a riverbed.
- Emotion Bomb: Their mood can change in an instance based on the mood of another Austrapede.
- Long Neck: Has a long neck to better fit its crane-like niche.
Slinth
Slinth (Na'vi name: Txumre')
- Monstrous Mandibles: When the slinth opens the four armored plates on its head, two large mandibles appear on the sides of its mouth.
Turtapede
Turtapede (Na'vi name: Mawup)
- Mighty Glacier: They are huge, slow, heavily armored swimming creatures.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: They are a bizarre mix of a turtle and a platypus with large dorsal fins like a shark.
Teylu
Teylu
Slinger
Slinger (Na'vi name: lanay'ka)
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Apparently, the creature's head is actually a juvenile Slinger, which lives with its parent (the lower body) until it reaches sexual maturity, after which it mates, falls off, and becomes a full slinger, compete with a new head. The old body will eventually starve to death, as it cannot eat properly with the head.
- Losing Your Head: It hunts by throwing its head like a poison dart.
- Shout-Out: To the Mummy-Nest Flier and Mummy Nest from Expedition, which was also designed by Wayne Barlowe. That creature also has a head that eventually detached from its body to become a new organisms, but the Mummy Nest Flier would use its old body (which was still alive) as a home in the Tundra that it inhabited.
Shimmyfly
Shimmyfly (Na'vi name: lortsyal)
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: They are almost exactly like Earth butterflies due to feasting mostly on nectar and living the first half of their lives as caterpillars.
- Pretty Butterflies: The Shimmerfly is an eye catching butterfly-like creature with eight wings.
Dorado Verde
Dorado Verde
The smallest observed species of Banshee that live near the oceans of Pandora. They are first seen The Way Of Water.
- Circling Vultures: Many are seen around the Tulkun corpses floating in the water.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: They are the seagulls of Pandora.
- Living Prop: All they do is populate the background of the Metkayina ocean territory in The Way Of Water.
- Underground Monkey: They are basically smaller seafaring versions of the ikran.
Cuirass Crab
Cuirass Crab (Na'vi name: txursum)
Creepy Crawler
Cerebellis Scapularis
Anemonoid
Anemonoid (Na'vi name: fyuatx) (scientific name: Cataracta anemonica or "waterfall anemonoid")
Sea Creatures
Skimwing
Skimwing (Na'vi name: Tsurak)
- Bond Creatures: Like the aerial Banshee, Skimwings can be ridden through "tsaheylu". However, due to their temperamental natures, it takes much longer to develop loyal bonds.
- Flying Seafood Special: At home in both the water and the air.
- If It Swims, It Flies: Can both swim and fly.
- Jack of All Trades: They can breathe air and water, maneuverably swim through coral reefs, and glide effortlessly across the ocean.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Visually resembles a flying fish, with the long snout of a gar and the body-shape of an Echovenator. Their wings are also quite butterfly-like with their bold colors.
- Only the Chosen May Ride: It isn't very easy to ride a Skimwing. They are said to be picky creatures who can only be ridden by the most skilled of riders. Jake is able to handle them.
Ilu
Plesiosaur-like creature who serve as the primary mounts of the Metkayina tribe.
- All Animals Are Domesticated: They are technically a part of the wildlife, but they are easy to tame and are regularly used as mounts by the Metkayina.
- Early-Bird Cameo: First appeared as part of the scenery of the Flight Of Passage simulator ride at Animal Kingdom, five years before their film debut.
- Friendly, Playful Dolphin: Despite their plesiosaur-like body plan, their chirping and whistling vocalizations and playful personalities are inspired by this trope.
- Horse of a Different Color: They are pretty much used as sea horses for the Metkayina tribe.
- Long Neck: Their long necks help them reach their prey and poke their heads out of the water when necessary.
- Stock Ness Monster: Essentially the Pandoran version of a plesiosaur, which is itself the most common depiction of the Loch Ness Monster.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Not a textbook example, but just look into those big eyes and listen to them chirp. D'awwwww!
- Vocal Dissonance: They resemble prehistoric plesiosaurs, but sound like dolphins.
Akula
- A Dog Named "Perro": "Akula" is a Russian word for "shark", which pretty much describes the creature nicely. This aggressive Mososaur-like Sea Monster will stop at nothing to devour its prey once it has its eyes on them.
- Early-Bird Cameo: One can be seen swimming in an overhead shot spanning across a few reefs during the Sully family's travel over the ocean.
- Flower Mouth: It has an upper jaw that splits in two directions when it opens its mouth.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: It has teeth like an extinct Dunkleosteus fish, jaws that open up like a snake, and a body that has a mixture of traits from sharks, eels, and mosasaurs.
- Sea Monster: It's basically a Pandoran Mososaur.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Just like the Thanator, it is very committed to catching its prey. Even when it loses Lo'ak briefly in a thick entanglement of coral, it waits for him to swim out of it to catch him.
- Threatening Shark: While not actually a shark, It seems to be the Pandoran equivalent to the Great White Shark, in comparison to earth's wildlife it would actually be closer in size to the giant prehistoric Megalodon shark.
Tulkun
- Bilingual Dialogue: Since neither side can physically speak the other' language, the Na'vi use a signed language when underwater while the Tulkun sing in response.
- Flower Mouth: Like a number of other Pandoran creatures, they have multiple parallel jawbones that open out like petals. In their case, it gives them an impressively enormous gape for hoovering up fish and plankton.
- Gentle Giant: In spite of their immense size, they're completely averse to violence, and their annual migration to the coasts and islands of Pandora is treated by the Metkayina Clan like a reunion with close friends or family.
- Great Offscreen War: In the past, Tulkun warred over territory and for revenge, and nearly destroyed themselves. This led to the development of their pacifistic culture.
- Human Resources: The RDA knows full well that they're sapient beings, but hunts them anyway for a brain fluid they have that's used to create an anti-aging drug.
- Immune to Bullets: Even more so than other Pandoran megafauna. Their armor plating can shrug off pretty much anything humans can throw at them, and even the massive explosive-tipped harpoons the RDA's whalers use to kill them have to be aimed at their underbellies to stand a chance of penetrating.
- Remember the New Guy?: Being smarter than humans and being able to secrete a liquid that makes people immortal, you'd think they'd have been a bigger deal to human colonists than the Na'vi and unobtainium. Though it's possible that the Tulkun might not have been discovered by the time of the first movie, they may very well have fallen under the radar due to living far away from Hell's Gate.
- Sapient Cetaceans: Giant whale-like creatures that are revealed to be just as intelligent as humans or Na'vi, with their own culture, language, and religious beliefs.
- Shout-Out: Their body plan and nature as sapient filter-feeding creatures seems to be based upon the Sea Emperor Leviathan from Subnautica.
- Suicidal Pacifism: They refuse to engage in violence even though they're being actively hunted by humans. The Metkayena say that this is due to their species-wide Dark and Troubled Past — their Generational Trauma from their history of warfare and bloodshed is so extreme that they really would prefer to die rather than resurrect it. Garvin further notes that their brains allow them to experience emotion with superhuman depth and complexity, which helps explain exactly why violence is so horrifying to them.
- Sworn Brothers: A variation. Bonding with a Tulkun requires a Na'vi to swim into their open mouth to access the queue in the back of their throat, which links their minds. After that point, they're considered spirit siblings. Tonowari and the other Metakayina are infuriated when they learn that Lo'ak has bonded with Payakan, an outcast Tulkun.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Or rather "What Measure Is a Non-Humanoid". Unlike the humanoid Na'vi, who are viewed as lesser beings, but ones who the RDA makes token efforts to be diplomatic with, the non-humanoid tulkuns are simply slaughtered.
Payakan
Payakan, the outcast Tulkun
A Tulkun who has been shunned by both his species and the Metkayina Clan, the latter group claiming that he killed their fellow clan members. Lo'ak discovers him after he saves his life and forges a special bond with him.
- An Arm and a Leg: He lost a fin in the RDA attack that killed his mother and pod. This disability actually ends up helping him when he goes up against the Sea Dragon, as he's able to trick the crews into aiming at where his fin should be, thus dodging the harpoons.
- Androcles' Lion: Inverted. Lo'ak helps him by dislodging a rusty harpoon head embedded in his fin... except that he saved Lo'ak from a hungry Akula and carries him to the surface earlier. Arguably, considering the sentience of the Tulkun, Lo'ak could in fact be considered the Lion to his Androcles.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a Gentle Giant like the other Tulkuns, but when angered by the RDA, he singlehandedly racks up the highest body count of any characters in the movies except Eywa herself on the whalers.
- Big Damn Heroes: He suddenly leaps out of the water to attack the humans just before Quaritch gives the order to shoot Jake, causing a distraction long enough for Jake, his family and the Metkayina to regroup and launch an attack on the RDA whaling crew.
- Dark and Troubled Past: An RDA whaling crew killed his mom. Angered by her death, he led a charge against his mom's killers, but the humans killed off his entire band of fellow Tulkun and their Metkayina Na'vi allies accompanying him, leaving him as the sole survivor of the attack. Because the Tulkun are averse to violence, they deemed him responsible for their deaths and cast him out of their company with the Metkayina shunning him as well.
- The Dog Bites Back: Tried to attack the RDA whaling crew accompanied by some reinforcements to exact revenge against the humans for killing his mom in the past, except that it didn't end well for him. He later manages to get back at the RDA and Captain Scoresby for real by sinking the whaling ship that was there when his mother died, severing one of Scoresby's arms in the process.
- Establishing Character Moment: He is first introduced when he comes out of nowhere to save Lo'ak from an Akula by ramming it several times into a large rock, killing it. Since the Tulkun are later established to be extreme pacifists, showing Payakan killing something cements him as an outsider amongst the Tulkun.
- It's Personal: He's very angry with the humans for killing his mom, which is why he tried to assemble a platoon of his fellow Tulkun and their Na'vi allies to get back at them. He finally gets recompense during the climax, sinking the ship that killed his mother.
- My Greatest Failure: He's shunned by both the Tulkun and the Metkayina because he violated the Tulkun's creed of non-violence. He led a band of young bulls and Na'vi against the whaling ship that killed his mother, leading to a massacre from which he was the sole survivor. Payakan is so ashamed of it that he only shares the memory with Lo'ak after Lo'ak insists he can be trusted.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He's outcast because he's the only Tulkun willing to be violent. He retreated from violence due to his grief, but returns to fight in the finale to save Lo'ak, his spirit brother.
- Nice Guy: Despite his outcast status due to wrong accusations, he's a pretty friendly guy who wouldn't hurt a fly... unless the fly hurt him. He accompanies Jake and Neytiri to the Metkayina's spirit tree after Neteyam's funeral, implicitly to give his best friend's grieving parents moral support.
- Scars Are Forever: Lo'ak notices a scar just over his left eye, which came from the result of the RDA whaling crew attacking him in the past, specifically when he led a platoon of Na'vi and Tulkun bulls against the humans.
- Taught by Experience: He survived a whaling crew attack from the RDA before and thus, he manages to develop a counterattack to use against them, by avoiding their bullets, firearms and harpoons, using his hide to deflect an explosive harpoon into the RDA's whaling flagship and utilizing another harpoon's cable to sink the ship it was launched from.
- Wrongfully Accused: The Metkayina Clan claims that he killed some of their members. Turns out, as Lo'ak discovers, he didn't kill anyone; his mom was killed and his fellow Tulkun and their Na'vi allies were all killed when they all attacked the humans in revenge. The poor Tulkun was blamed for their deaths and he never corrected them because he felt they were right.
- You Killed My Mother: He's furious at the RDA for killing his mom in the past, which was why he led a band of Na'vis and Tulkun bulls to attack his mom's killers. He manages to truly avenge his mom in the climax, making the first attack on their ships and sinking the one that directly killed his mom.
Nalutsa
- Canon Immigrant: They first appeared in the Flight of Passage ride in the Pandora: World of Avatar theme park attraction. Some can briefly be seen in The Way Of Water.
- Jumping Fish: They mostly eat flying creatures by leaping out of the water to catch them.
- Sea Monster: They are gargantuan predators of the sea.
- Your Size May Vary: The ones that have their silhouettes seen above the water in The Way Of Water don't seem much bigger than an akula. In the Flight of Passage ride however, they are shown to be nearly tulkun sized.
Gill Mantle
Gill Mantle (Na'vi name: Txampaysye)
An invertebrate organism found in the oceans of Pandora. Through Tsayhelu, the gill mantle can be used as a "biological diving suit" that feeds oxygen to the Na'vi while diving.
- Artificial Gill: The seashore dwelling Na'vi use them to breathe for extended amounts of time underwater.
Sagittaria
Sagittaria (Na'vi name: skuka)
Reef Tick
Reef Tick (Na'vi name: tsiki)
Pincer Fish
Pincer Fish (Na'vi name: sloapek)
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: An almost literal example. They are not very dangerous to Na'vi, but they are efficient predators to smaller creatures.
Dinicthoid
Dinicthoid (Na'vi name: srakat)
Starbeak
Starbeak
Hammerhead Squid
Hammerhead Squid
Hammerbrow Fish
Glider Fin
Glider Fin
- Explosive Breeder: A single individual can lay up to 200,000 eggs, which is beneficial for a species that is common prey for ocean predators.
- Monster Munch: They are eaten by most of the predatory creatures of the ocean.
Syringil
Syringil
Feathertail Fish
Feathertail Fish
Flat Skate Fish
Flat Skate Fish
