»[1] the na'vi

[Eywas gsgesssss]

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- - - - - - - - - - - - > d e s c r i p t i o n

• The indigenous Na'vi are, on average, three meters (10 feet) tall with smooth cyan-colored skin, large amber eyes, and long, sweeping tails. They are the only known extraterrestrial species discovered to have human-like consciousness and intelligence. They have developed a sophisticated culture based on a profound spiritual connection to other life on their moon, each other, and an encompassing "spirit" they call Eywa.

• Each Na’vi is born with three fingers and one thumb on each hand and four toes on each foot, unlike the Avatars of the Humans who have four fingers and one thumb on each hand and five toes on each foot because of the fusion of DNA.

•The Na'vi seem to have a different evolutionary ancestor to other creatures that share two pairs of eyes and three pairs of arms-legs-or-wings, but they have a queue which provides the ability to make a bond with the environment.

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• Smooth skin is iridescent, cyan color. Long tails. High cheekbones, feline-like ears and nose as well as large golden eyes. Bioluminescent markings that seem to follow the path of the circulatory or nervous system aid in identification and mood display. Average lifespan is unknown.
• Despite skin color, Na'vi have red blood.
• Waist is narrow and elongated. The shoulders are very wide, creating a V-shaped upper back. The neck is long and body slender. Musculature sharply defined, giving no sense of emaciation despite thin proportions.
• Skeleton is reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber. Average male is 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall, females slightly smaller.
• Tail that can be moved and controlled like any other appendage and is used primarily for balance. It is frequently used to express emotion and is the basis for the Na'vi saying: "Watch your tail, Child!"
• Average male has a mass around 162 kg. In Pandoran gravity (0.8 Earth g) they weigh 1271.38 N or 286 lb (compared to 1589.22 N or 357 lb in Earth's gravity.) Female mass slightly less due to lighter build and slightly shorter stature.
• Three long fingers plus opposable thumb on hands; four toes on feet. (It should be noted that the Na'vi/human hybrid Avatars have five digits on both hands and feet.)
• Highly evolved nervous system includes a "Queue" which resembles a long, rather ostentatious hair braid. This seemingly conventional braid actually sheathes a remarkably intricate system of neural tendrils that can be connected to similar structures of other life-forms.
• They have roughly four times the strength of the average human.
• Reproduction mechanics similar to humans and other Terran mammals.

•The Na'vi are fundamentally different from all other Pandoran mammals:
    -They only have four limbs, while every other medium-to-large-bodied animals have a total of six limbs.
    -They have only a single pair of eyes, while most other beings have two pairs of eyes, one primary set and another, smaller set.
    -All other animals have two nerve clusters extending backward from the head, while the Na'vi only have a single nerve cluster located in their queue.
    -Many animals possess twin air intakes on the shoulders that supply air and keep their internal body temperature down, while the Na'vi possess no such structures.
    - While others possess feathers, crests, barbels, and other adornments, the Na'vi are the only Pandoran lifeforms to possess hair.
• Then again, the consistently warm-to-high temperature on Pandora makes it likely that no species had to evolve hair or fur since such body structures are only necessary to maintain warmth.

• So we may conclude that the Na'vi either diverged a long time ago from the common Pandoran evolution tree, or in fact they are outsiders to this world. This latter theory is supported by the fact that DNA fusion is possible between humans and Na'vi, as well as the many cultural aspects they share, such as kissing and the covering of the genital areas. However, the queue present in all Na'vi contradicts this theory.

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• The Na'vi are an omnivorous species. They eat meat as demonstrated by their hunting practices and pronounced canines but have also been seen to forage, demonstrating their consumption of plants and other producers. Their society includes hunters and gatherers with incipient agriculture.

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• Little apparel is worn by the Na'vi. Cloth, most likely woven from native flora of the planet is the basic garment worn by all Na'vi. It is possible that very little clothing is worn by the Na'vi because it is simply what is needed for the Na'vi to work and live taking minimally from the environment. Clothes appear to also show the ranking of one in the hierarchy of a clan. For example, the Omaticaya clan leader, Eytukan, wore a garment made of brilliant or precious materials in comparison to a simple clothing piece worn by a other clan members. Accessories are added to a Na'vi's attire as he or she moves up in the clan hierarchy. For example, Jake Sully, as an apprentice clan member, wore only an undecorated loincloth; as he learned more about the Na'vi culture, however, he wore armbands and necklaces to display his ranking.

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• The Na'vi are humanoid creatures that live in various territorial clans across Pandora. Though their culture is essentially paleolithic, they have an egalitarian social organization, unusual in a society at such a stage in their development. A premium is placed upon young men and women growing up to become exceptional hunters and fearsome warriors, as is necessary due to the nature of the Pandoran environment and the level of Na'vi technological advancement. Like all creatures on Pandora, the population of the Na'vi is controlled by the sentient intelligence they worship as "Eywa". They choose to live in harmony and natural equilibrium with their surroundings. If they become too numerous, Eywa will devise a way to limit their numbers before they cause an ecological imbalance, for she maintains the balance of life. Over the millenia the Na'vi have developed a healthy respect and reverence for their surrounding environment. In return, the environment has provided them with sufficient food and shelter, creatures to ride for ground and air transportation, and an ambient, comfortable temperature throughout the atmosphere of Pandora. Oddly, there is a curious absence of insects and bacterial protists, but whether or not this is intentional will require further research. The Na'vi have failed to develop tools and weapons for purposes beyond primitive warfare with the surrounding clans and hunting/survival, a anomaly stemming perhaps from the fertility of the ecosystem they live in. They do, however, have a rich handicraft tradition and engage in extensive body decoration signifying both rank, activity, and individual tastes. With the caution that it is perhaps spurious to make cross cultural comparisons across star systems, the Na'vi are comparable to now extinct pre-bronze age hunter-gatherer societies that formed in some pre-colonial African, Native American, and Australian indigenous tribes (with trace similarities to the Norse culture of northern Europe before they developed agriculture.) Lacking in any tradition of science as Earth people know it, they view Eywa as an all-knowing, all-powerful provider, and have developed a complex animistic religion based upon their interactions with Eywa, and centered around the "Tree of Souls" and the "Tree of Voices", two of many sacred spiritual locations found across Pandora that provide access to the Pandoran neural network.

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• Na'vi have a queue, originating at the back of the head and hanging down to or below the waist. Braided inside hair for added protection the queue is an external bundle of nerve endings that allows them to tap into the collective, planetary psionic emanations of Eywa, enabling them to "commune" with the planet's flora and fauna.

• While not adding to intelligence, it enables them to share a deep connection and even communicate telepathically with the tree of souls, and any animals with a similar nerve cluster. The Na'vi call it Tsahaylu, or "the bond". When two Pandoran organisms with nerve clusters similar to this engage in Tsahaylu, they gain the ability to share memories and information, and the Na'vi have a special trait that allows them to use the mind-meld to feel as/what their mount does, and as well enables them to move as one under the control of the Na'vi, be it a Banshee/Ikran or Direhorse/Pal'i. This trait is only negated during mating.

• When the Human race begins to search Pandora for valuable minerals, the Na'vi are appalled and angered by the destruction of their jungle home for roads, human bases, and strip mines. They see no need for technology, and hence the damage done by humans in the pursuit of underground minerals seems like nothing more than senseless destruction that violates the basic tenets of their religion. They would look to Eywa for help, but their religion teaches that Eywa cares not for the existence of any one creature, but only for the balance of nature.

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• The Na'vi are monogamous creatures who mate for life. The mechanics of reproduction are similar to that of humans and other Terran mammals. However, their unique physiology provides the Na'vi with a level of intimacy unknown on Earth. Cultural anthropologists believe that when an appropriate mate has been selected (which can take many years), the male and female Na'vi will connect queues (called Tsahaylu) to create an emotional bond that lasts a lifetime. The intertwining of queues is both highly erotic and profoundly spiritual, but does not in itself lead to reproduction.

• Traditionally, once a Na'vi male has passed the tests on the path to manhood and has been accepted into the clan as an adult, he is not only allowed to make his bow from the wood of the Hometree, but he is also expected to choose his woman. After the woman has been chosen, the new couple are mated before Eywa.

• Jake Sully chooses Neytiri to become his mate, and she accepts and mates with him under the Tree of Voices following his acceptance into the Omaticaya clan as 'One of the People'.

• Once Tsahaylu is made between the couple, the ultimate intimacy, pleasure that is unfathomable to humans, causes the somewhat unwillful sharing of the couple's good memories, and is a sign of Eywa's acceptance. If a couple can be foreseen to not have a pleasant or happy future, Eywa has been known to reverse the feeling produced by making Tsahaylu, a sign to the couple that mating would only, in simple words, ruin their lives together, and therefore prevents the mating, because of it's life-long span. After the resulting embracing and kissing, the couple is sent to sleep by Eywa, and the two dream hintings of their future together. The couple will experience the pleasure of Tsahaylu from the moment of connection, until they awaken and have completed mating, when they disconnect and return to the clan, mated for life.

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