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The story takes place in the year 2154 on Pandora, a lush, Earth-like moon in the Alpha Centauri star system. The RDA corporation is mining a valuable mineral called unobtanium. Administrator Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) heads the mining operation of the RDA colony, which has a private security force called Sec-Ops. Pandora's atmosphere is toxic to humans, forcing them to use breathing masks. Pandora is inhabited by the Na'vi, a ten-foot-tall (3 m) blue-skinned species of sapient humanoids, who live in harmony with nature, worshiping a mother goddess called Eywa. To facilitate relations with the Na'vi and research of Pandora's biosphere, scientists grow Na'vi-human hybrid bodies called avatars that are operated via mental link by genetically matching humans. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former Marine, replaces his twin brother, a scientist trained as an avatar operator who was murdered in a robbery. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement for his brother and assigns him as a bodyguard. As Grace, scientist Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) and Jake collect biological samples and data in the forest in their avatar forms, a predator's attack separates Jake from the group. Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na'vi, rescues Jake from other predators in the forest, and seeing portents from Eywa, brings him to her clan's dwelling, Hometree.
Plot
Neytiri's mother Mo'at (C. C. H. Pounder), the clan's spiritual leader, shows interest in the "warrior dreamwalker" and instructs her daughter to teach Jake their ways. The head of Sec-Ops, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), promises Jake restorative treatment for his paraplegia in exchange for intelligence that would enable Quaritch to force the cooperation of the Na'vi. Hometree is on top of massive deposits of unobtanium, and RDA wants the site. As Jake starts delivering information to Quaritch, Grace becomes suspicious and relocates herself, Jake and Norm to a remote outpost with avatar link units. Over three months, Jake grows close to Neytiri and her people, rejecting RDA's agenda. After Jake is initiated into the tribe, he and Neytiri choose each other as mates. Jake reveals his change of allegiance when