Neytiri

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".

Cameron told the designers to base the character's face on that of a photograph of Q'orianka Kilcher. In 2026, Kilcher sued Cameron and the Walt Disney Corporation for unauthorised use of her face.

Casting

Cameron undertook 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

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 him, 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 by 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 Neytiri and attempts to comfort her, but she again rejects him, demanding he go away and never come back.

Neytiri and the other surviving members of the Omaticaya Clan then seek refuge at the Tree of Souls, where they pray that Eywa will save them. Their prayers are answered when Jake returns, having made tsaheylu with the Toruk. Recognizing his close connection to Eywa, Neytiri forgives him and accepts him again. She then helps Jake rally the other Na'vi clans to prepare for an impending attack from the RDA, who plan to strike and destroy the Tree of Souls. During the subsequent battle, the Na'vi suffer heavy casualties, but are rescued when Pandoran wildlife unexpectedly join the attack and overwhelm the humans, which Neytiri interprets as Eywa's answer to Jake's prayer. Jake destroys a makeshift bomber before it can reach the Tree of Souls; Quaritch, wearing an AMP suit, escapes from his own damaged aircraft, then later finds and breaks open the avatar link unit containing Jake's human body, exposing it to Pandora's poisonous atmosphere. As Quaritch prepares to slit the throat of Jake's avatar, Neytiri kills Quaritch, saving Jake from suffocation and seeing his human form for the first time.

Comics

Two weeks after the Na'vi's victory over the RDA, several clans are still struggling with the losses and damages they suffered during the battle. Neytiri volunteers to help the Olangi Clan, who suffered the most casualties from the war. She finds Jake at the gravesite of his human body, still suffering internal conflicts about his transition into his avatar body. Neytiri warns Jake that this isn't healthy for him before leaving.

Neytiri returns a couple of days later after receiving news that the family of Tsu'tey had poisoned Jake with a knife, leaving him in a coma. She finds Jake at the gravesite, they embrace and she asks him what happened. Jake dismisses the situation and downplays the events, telling Neytiri it's "just a scratch". Neytiri points out that he doesn't seem like himself, but Jake reassures her that he has never felt more like himself and finally leaves his human body behind.

Years before the events of Avatar, Dr. Grace Augustine contacts the Omaticaya Clan and proposes the idea of a school where the Na'vi and humans could interact. Mo'at and Eytukan are against the idea, but consult their daughters Neytiri and Sylwanin, along with other Na'vi children for their opinions on the matter. They request to visit Hell's Gate, and Mo'at takes them there to meet Grace and learn about human operations. Grace gives Neytiri and the other kids a tour of the base and teaches them how to play basketball. After returning home, Mo'at asks the children about what they think about attending the human school. While Neytiri is excited about the idea, Sylwanin points out that at the school, the humans will learn from the Na'vi, but not the other way around. Mo'at and Eytukan agree and decide to open the school, but the latter gets suspicious after children including Neytiri who went to Hell's Gate begin developing symptoms of a mysterious illness.

Mo'at discusses this with Grace, asking if the disease came from Hell's Gate, who is shocked and denies it; Mo'at believes there was no malice, but is unconvinced that the disease didn't come from humans. Grace leaves Mo'at with supplies and returns to her lab in Hell's Gate, where Parker Selfridge assures Grace that the RDA was not responsible for the sickness. Meanwhile, Eytukan questions Mo'at about Grace's supplies informs her that Neytiri's sickness is getting worse.

Grace returns and is told by Mo'at that the sickness has begun infecting adults as well. Mo'at and Grace then begin a journey to visit the Tawkami Clan, Pandora's master botanists, hoping that they will have more knowledge of the sickness.

Merchandise

Mattel made an action figure of Neytiri as part of a range of Avatar action figures produced for the first film. She was also included in a range of Avatar toys produced for McDonald's Happy Meals. Lego has produced figures of Neytiri for its Lego Avatar theme.

Reception

For her performance in Avatar, Saldaña won Best Actress at the 36th Saturn Awards. She was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the Black Reel Awards and for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards. For her portrayal of Neytiri in Avatar: The Way of Water, Saldana won the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Motion Capture Performance, beating out co-stars Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver. She was also nominated at the Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2022 for Best Voice Acting/Animated/Digital Performance. At the 51st Saturn Awards, Saldana was nominated for Best Actress for a second time, but lost to Margot Robbie for her performance in Barbie.