Pandora is an exomoon within the fictional universe of Avatar, serving as the primary location of the franchise. Slightly smaller than Earth, Pandora is inhabited by native Na'vi and Tulkun, among many other species who call the planet home. Pandora is covered in dense bioluminescent forest, oceans and floating mountains. Appearing across different media, it first appeared as the setting of Avatar (2009) and its sequels, along with the video games Avatar: The Game (2009) and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (2023), various graphic novels, a stage show and a theme park area. In the film series, Pandora is a source of a large amount of unobtainium present beneath the surface, which humanity from a future Earth attempt to exploit. In later movies, humanity shift their focus to hunting the Tulkun, hosts to amrita, a substance that stops humans aging.
Description Pandora is a natural satellite of the gas giant Polyphemus, which orbits Alpha Centauri A in the fictional universe of Avatar. Due to the atmospheric composition containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, humans are unable to safely breathe on the moon, requiring the use of breathing equipment or avatars. The moon harbours vast natural resources, with untouched ecosystems spanning the surface, lacking all traces of technology. These natural resources include unobtainium, a type of "thundering rock", dubbed "lingtskxe" in Na'vi ("ling" from "floating" and "skxe" for "rock"), and a superconductor that is worth millions per kilogram. This large quantity of unobtainium causes chunks of land to be ripped from the ground, creating magnetically aligned "skyborne icebergs" of rock. The moon has expansive landscapes, the rainforests in particular home to alien cycads, ferns and "zooplantae" (lifeforms that are scientifically placed between plants and animals), such as "helicoradian", that respond by physically withdrawing when touched.
Populated by multiple species, the Na'vi, species such as direhorses, thanators and the intelligent Tulkun, and plants all share a larger spiritual connection with Pandora itself, through a god known as Eywa. These connections are described in the movies as being more advanced than the human brain. Known as "The Great Mother", Eywa hosts memories of all beings who live on the moon, including those who have passed on. Using a neural queue (also known as a "kuru") located in their hair, the Na'vi can connect to Eywa at locations of sacred importance, such as the "Tree of Souls". There are multiple known Na'vi clans, these consisting of the Anurai, Aranahe, Hulanta, Hyuticaya, Kame'tire, Kekukan, Li'ona, Mangkwan, Metkayina, Ni'awve, Olangi, Omatikaya, Rey'tanu, Sarentu, Tawkami, Tayrangi, Tipani, Tla'lim, Tomac'ta, Trr'ong, and Zeswa. The Omatikaya live in a large tree, known natively as "Kelutral", and to humans as "Hometree". This tree served as the home of the clan and was a significant part of the clans specific culture and identity. Unlike Earth, where species, for example mammals, are quadrupeds, those found on Pandora are primarily six-legged due to the moon's low gravity and high atmospheric density combination. To be able to accumulate traction, species evolved a third pair of limbs. A real-world comparison being the Mars rovers, which use six-wheel platforms instead of four. Similarly to having multiple pairs of limbs, Pandoran animals, with the exception of Na'vi and their evolutionary link prolemuris, has antennae and two pairs of eyes. Lifeforms of Pandora, including both plants and animals, are bioluminescent. Some species of plants light up when interacted with. The single celled Earth lifeform dinoflagellates, that briefly glow when agitated, are used as the foundation for the concept. Water found in the oceans and rivers also glow when experiencing physical motion.
Development
An 80-page screenplay was originally developed by James Cameron for Avatar and its fictional universe in 1994. Upon analysing the planets within the universe of Star Wars, such as Tatooine and Dagobah, Cameron "figured that's not how complex worlds work", referring to Earth specifically. At the age of nineteen, Cameron dreamt of a "bioluminescent forest" with trees resembling "fibre-optic lamps". A glowing bioluminescent river was also present in the dream. These among other visions of flying lizards resembling frisbees and purple moss, led Cameron to begin drawing the world and wildlife of Pandora. Cameron applied his time observing underwater coral reef ecosystems and deep marine life whilst submarining into the first draft of Pandora. According to designer Neville Page, early on Cameron wanted the designs for Pandoran species to be "super-slick and aerodynamic, like a racecar with racing stripes". Working with Page and fellow designer Wayne Barlowe, Cameron found it difficult to match the design he was hoping for with what was being realised. Page noted that racecars themselves were styled after animal features such as turtle shells or insects, meaning Cameron's vision was circular. The planet was named after the first woman created by the Greek God Hephaestus, under the influence of Zeus. The woman, named Pandora, overwhelmed by curiosity, opened a forbidden box, releasing a plague upon the planet. This box became known as Pandora's box.
Stan Winston Studios was hired in 2005, by which time multiple artists such as Jordu Schell had contributed hundreds of pencil concepts to Cameron's team. The earliest design for Neytiri, originally named Zuleika, is traceable back to 1978 in the original Xenogenesis pilot, where an image of a blue woman can be observed. Schell initially began working on 3D models of Neytiri, but switched to maquettes at Cameron's request, eventually producing fifteen until a finalised version materialised. Cameron was inspired by the facial appearance of Q’orianka Kilcher, whilst Schell had images of ethnic women including Mary J. Blige. Once Cameron had approved the general design of Neytiri and the Na'vi, artists from Stan Winston Studio led by John Rosengrant began transforming them using Photoshop, applying skin texture with stripes and patterns featuring bioluminescence, prioritising organic looking flesh over artificial. Stan Winston Studio hired digital artist Scott Patton eight months into their production. Using ZBrush, Patton created detailed digital sculpts of Page's designs, specifically focusing on "a fleshy feel" directive from Cameron. A similar process was followed for creatures such as the viperwolf, direhorse and banshee, with Cameron approving a drawing, followed by Photoshop rendering and finally 3D sculpturing with ZBrush.
Cameron was inspired by multiple Earth locations when conceptualising the world of Pandora. The Huangshan Mountains in the Anhui Province of China were remodelled for Pandora by Cameron, who said they "had to simply re-create them in outer space." Locals identified the models created by Cameron were actually not the Huangshan mountains due to them being formations of granite, and were instead the Zhangjiajie pillars. Designers Dylan Cole, Steve Messing and their production team visited the mountains for photography during the initial creation of Avatar. The Zhangjiajie pillars were eventually used as the basis for the Hallelujah Mountains on Pandora. The mountains on Pandora are seen to float, the explanation being that superconductors float when in the presence of a magnetic field, with Pandora acting as a powerful superconductor due to the large amount of unobtainium beneath the surface, allowing the mountains to float as they do. The Hawaiian tropical rainforests of Kauai was another area that Cameron visited alongside cast members for experience, camping, cooking using underground fire pits and learning to traverse through areas that would appear very similar in the films. Areas such as Kalalau and Nā Pali were used as the inspiration for the rainforests and landscapes of Pandora, with non-CGI scenes filmed at Wailua.
Appearances Film Avatar (2009)
Set in 2154, Avatar opens with the Resource Development Administration (RDA) on Pandora, a natural satellite of the gas giant Polyphemus which orbits Alpha Centauri A. A native species called the Na'vi (a blue, cat-like humanoid and intelligent species) occupy the moon and have a peaceful, strong connection with Pandora itself, and are against the presence of humans. Using genetically engineered Na'vi bodies, humans working for the RDA, including Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), attempt to ingratiate themself with the natives in an attempt to eventually convince them to leave their Hometree (the sacred home of the Omatikaya tribe), which the RDA plan to destroy to extract valuable unobtainium from beneath the moon's surface. Protagonist Jake Sully is seen bonding with the apex predator Great Leonopteryx after the destruction of Hometree, earning himself the title of Toruk Makto. The atmosphere of Pandora is not breathable to humans, however almost all natural structures and organisms of Pandora's ecosystem resemble those on Earth.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Humans return to Pandora years after the conclusion of the first movie, with the oceans of Pandora becoming the primary setting. The movie introduces the Tulkun, an aquatic human-level intelligent and pacifistic species, with them also having an independently evolved language, emotions and spirituality. The Tulkun become a target of the RDA due to a yellow substance called "Amrita", which is produced by the species' brain. Amrita, when extracted after the death of a Tulkun, stops aging in humans, making the substance very valuable as a result. A new ocean tribe known as the Metkayina allow the family of Jake Sully to integrate into their way of life, with the tribe themself inhabiting an island with a coral reef. Species in the coral reefs and atolls of Earth have equivalents on Pandora, these including amalgams of Earth species including pufferfish and lionfish. Extinct Earth species such as plesiosaurs also have Pandora equivalents in the ilu. Other species such as skimwings resemble Earth's gar and flying fish, whilst Tulkuns are most similar to whales.
Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)
This film introduces the volcano-dwelling Mangkwan tribe, and the Tlalim clan, also known as the Sky traders, who travel on blimp-jellyfish creatures called Medusoid. It is shown that Pandora has the ability to adapt biology, specifically that of Spider in the film, so that species that would never normally be able to breathe on Pandora, are subsequently able to. It is believed that a fungus allowed for this biological change, with further changes showing the growth of a Na'vi specific "kuru" (a neural connection located within Na'vi hair that gives the ability to communicate with other species), along with psychic visions. In The Way of Water, Kiri experiences epileptic symptoms, described in the film as frontal lobe impairment, when connecting with a spiritual tree. Kiri's family reveal to her that she is the "literal child of Eywa", being an immaculate conception of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) from the first movie. Kiri connects to the underwater spirit tree of the Metkayina tribe, and unlocks the power of Eywa, directing the Pandoran ecosystem to attack the hostile RDA and Mangkwan alliance.
Video games Avatar: The Game (2009)