Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite, also known as Neytiri Sully, is a fictional character in the American science fiction film series Avatar, created by James Cameron. While in a Pandoran forest, Neytiri meets a lost Jake Sully, and saves him from a pack of viperwolves. Neytiri soon becomes his teacher, helping him complete several tasks, and eventually falls in love and mates with him. Neytiri fights alongside Jake in the assault on the Tree of Souls and saves him from being killed by Colonel Miles Quaritch, and driving the RDA off of Pandora. Over the following fifteen years, Neytiri has three children with Jake: Neteyam, Lo'ak, and Tuk, and adopts two others: Kiri and Miles "Spider" Socorro.
The character is portrayed by Zoe Saldaña in Avatar (2009) and its sequels, including Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the upcoming Avatar 3. She also appears in literature, including various comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. Various merchandise of the character have also been produced, including action figures and toys produced for McDonald's Happy Meals.
Production history
Origins
The origins for Neytiri date back to the late 1970s, when James Cameron was preparing Xenogenesis, a short film intended to be used as a pitch for a feature-length film that never happened. The film features a painting of a female blue skinned alien. He later stated that after the film was turned down, he kept thinking about the idea of a blue skinned alien and decided to recycle it when developing Avatar in the early 1990s (which was then known as Project 880). Further inspiration for the look of Neytiri came from the description of a dream his mother had in which she saw a blue-skinned woman 12 feet (4 m) tall. In earlier drafts of the screenplay, Neytiri was known as "Zuleika Te Kaha Polenoma".
Casting
In the 1990s, when Avatar began to be developed, Charisma Carpenter was set to play the role. But by the time the film had been greenlit in 2006, Carpenter had become too old for the role and was thus not cast. Cameron then began a worldwide search for actresses to play the role, with Q'orianka Kilcher being considered and Emily Blunt auditioning for the role. Eventually, Cameron cast Zoe Saldaña in the role. Since she was cast early in production, Saldaña helped screen-test actors auditioning for the part of Jake Sully, including eventual co-star Sam Worthington.
Appearances
Films
Avatar (2009)
One day while Neytiri is hunting in the woods of Pandora, she spots Jake Sully's avatar and begins to stalk him. As she is about to kill the armed intruder with a bow, a woodsprite floats down and gently touches her arrowhead, telling her that the avatar is pure. She continues to follow the avatar because of this symbol. When Jake is attacked by a pack of viperwolves, she protects him by fending off the creatures. Although Jake tries to thank her for saving her, she rejects him, as she wants nothing to do with the humans. Suddenly, dozens of woodsprites land on Jake. Amazed by what she just witnessed, Neytiri sees this as a good omen from Eywa and takes him to Hometree; the home of the Omaticaya Clan.
Upon arrival, Tsu'tey attacks Jake and attempts to kill him, but Neytiri stops him explaining the sign she had received from Eywa. Jake is then taken to meet with Eytukan and Mo'at, Neytiri's parents, who decide that they must study Jake, as he is the first Avatar who was a soldier and not a scientist. Much to her chagrin, Neytiri is tasked with teaching Jake the Na'vi ways.
Over the following three months, Neytiri teaches Jake the ways of the Na'vi. She shows him how to move through the Pandoran jungle, make tsaheylu (a bond that allows him to ride direhorses and ikran), how to speak the Na'vi language, and teaches him hunting rituals. She also tells him Na'vi stories, including the story of the Toruk Makto, a mythical Na'vi warrior who was closely linked with Eywa and therefore able to make tsaheylu with the Toruk, a legendary Pandoran creature. During this time, she also falls in love with Jake and eventually, they mate.
After Jake reveals his true mission and explains that the RDA was coming to destroy Hometree, Neytiri furiously rejects him and the Na'vi subsequently take both Jake and Grace captive before preparing for the defense of their home. When the RDA arrives, the Na'vi make a futile stand against them but are quickly overwhelmed and flee into the forest. The RDA destroys Hometree, taking several Na'vi casualties, including Eytukan. Jake finds her and attempts to comfort her, but she again rejects him, demanding he go away and never come back.