Neytiri

Neytiri is a Na'vi woman of the Omaticaya clan on the moon Pandora, and she is the person who brings Jake Sully into Na'vi life. She is played by Zoe Saldaña in all three films, billed second each time behind Sam Worthington, and the credits list her simply as Neytiri.

She first appears in Avatar (2009), set in 2154, when the RDA mines a valuable mineral on Pandora and Jake takes the place of his dead twin brother in the avatar program. After wildlife attacks Jake in the forest, Neytiri saves him and brings him to her clan. Colonel Quaritch meanwhile asks Jake to gather intelligence on the Omaticaya, in return for a promise to restore his legs. Jake learns Na'vi ways, and he begins to fall in love with her.

By Avatar: The Way of Water, sixteen years have passed. Jake leads the Omatikaya, and he and Neytiri have sons Neteyam and Lo'ak, a daughter Tuk and an adopted daughter Kiri. The human boy Spider, who grew up on Pandora, is close to the children. In Avatar: Fire and Ash she is still a mother, now grieving and facing a harsher Na'vi clan. If you want the wider cast, our guide to the Avatar characters places her beside Jake, Quaritch and the rest.

Neytiri's most important relationship is with Jake Sully, and the rest of her circle is mostly defined by what she has lost or protected. Their bond begins when she rescues him and brings him to the Omaticaya, and it is tested when he confesses his part in the attack on Hometree. By the later films they are partners in raising a family and in fighting the RDA together.

Her children are the center of the sequels. Neteyam is killed in The Way of Water. Lo'ak befriends the outcast tulkun Payakan, and Tuk is the Sullys' daughter. Kiri is the adopted daughter, and she saves Neytiri in The Way of Water and again in Fire and Ash. Spider is the human boy who grew up on Pandora and is close to the Sully children, and in Fire and Ash the Na'vi formally take him in as one of their people. Her father Eytukan, played by Wes Studi, dies when Hometree is destroyed. Mo'at, played by CCH Pounder, appears in all three films.

Her enemies are the human soldiers and those who side with them. Colonel Quaritch is the constant one, first as a human officer and later as a recombinant. Fire and Ash adds Varang, whose Mangkwan clan Quaritch arms with firearms and flamethrowers. Among the Metkayina, Tonowari and Ronal give the family shelter, and the larger map of Pandora's peoples is covered in our guide to the Na'vi clans.

In my opinion, Neytiri's best scenes are the ones where her grief and her skill collide, and it could be argued that the series gives her more to do in anger than in calm. These are my picks, and they are opinion, not canon.

First, her rescue of Jake in Avatar (2009). It sets up everything else, because a wounded stranger becomes a member of her clan, and the whole film depends on her choosing to bring him home.

Second, the Tree of Souls battle, where she kills Quaritch and saves Jake after he is exposed to the toxic atmosphere. Perhaps the clearest sign of her place in the saga is that the first film's final blow is hers and not Jake's.

Third, the aftermath of Neteyam's death in The Way of Water. She and Jake attack Quaritch's crew, and the film lets the loss drive her instead of leaving her beside the action. A smaller echo comes in Fire and Ash, when she sneaks into the RDA base while Spider breaks out and Garvin frees Jake. Her capture in the closing battle is a reminder that she is no more invulnerable than the humans she fights.

If you want to see how these films stack up overall, Avatar movies ranked is the place to start.