Jake Sully, or Tsyeyk te Suli in the Naʼvi language, is a fictional character and main protagonist of the American science fiction film series Avatar, created by James Cameron. Jake Sully served with the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Reconnaissance Battalion but was discharged after an injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. After learning that his identical twin brother Tom has died, Jake agrees to replace him in the RDA's Avatar Program on Pandora, where humans remotely control human/Na'vi hybrids to safely navigate the planet. Lost in the Pandoran woods, Jake is attacked by a group of viperwolves when Neytiri, a Na'vi, saves him. Jake turns against the RDA after sympathizing with the Na'vi and mating with Neytiri. Jake becomes the sixth Toruk Makto and leads the Na'vi in a battle to drive the RDA off Pandora. After the battle, Jake's consciousness is permanently transferred into his avatar via the Tree of Souls. Over the following fifteen years, Jake has three children with Neytiri: Neteyam, Lo'ak, and Tuk, and adopts two others: Kiri and Miles "Spider" Socorro.
The character is portrayed by Sam Worthington in Avatar (2009) and its sequels, including Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the currently untitled upcoming Avatar 3. He also appears in comic books published by Dark Horse Comics.
Production history
Casting
James Cameron offered the role to Matt Damon, with a 10% stake in the film's profits, but Damon turned the film down because of his commitment to The Bourne Ultimatum. Other notable actors who auditioned for the part include Chris Pratt and Chris Pine with the studio pushing Jake Gyllenhaal to play the role. Ultimately, the three finalists for the role were Channing Tatum, Chris Evans, and Sam Worthington, with Cameron ultimately going with Worthington based on his read of the climactic speech, saying: Worthington, who was living in his car at the time, auditioned twice early in development, and signed on for the film's sequels. Cameron felt that because Worthington had not done a major film, he would give the character "a quality that is really real". Cameron said he "has that quality of being a guy you'd want to have a beer with, and he ultimately becomes a leader who transforms the world".
Appearances
Films
Avatar (2009)
Jake Sully served with the United States Marine Corps but was discharged after receiving a severe spinal injury during a deployment to Venezuela, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) inform Jake that his twin brother Tom was killed. Due to their identical genetics, the RDA offer him the opportunity to take his brother's place in the RDA's Avatar Program on Pandora, an Earth-like moon in Alpha Centauri inhabited by the Na'vi; the Avatar Program involves creating human/Na'vi hybrid clones that are genetically linked to their human "pilots", meaning that Jake can control his brother's avatar due to them being twins.
Arriving on Pandora, Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement for Tom but accepts his assignment as a bodyguard. While escorting the avatars of Grace and fellow scientist Dr. Norm Spellman, Jake's avatar is attacked by a thanator. Fleeing into the forest, Jake is rescued by Neytiri, a female Na'vi. Witnessing an auspicious sign, she takes him to her clan. Mo'at, Neytiri's mother and the clan's spiritual leader, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society. Taking advantage of his new position, Colonel Miles Quaritch, head of RDA's private security force, promises to pay for an operation that would give him the ability to walk again, in exchange for giving information about the Na'vi. After learning of this, Grace transfers herself, Jake, and Norm to an outpost.
Over the next three months, Jake falls in love with Neytiri and begins sympathizing with the Na'vi. Jake reveals his change of allegiance when attempting to disable a bulldozer that threatens to destroy a sacred Na'vi site. Quaritch shows a video recording of Jake's attack on the bulldozer and another where he admits that the Na'vi will never abandon Hometree to Administrator Parker Selfridge, who orders them to destroy Hometree. Jake asks Selfridge to give him one hour to convince the Na'vi to evacuate before commencing the attack.