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The Moon, Pandora, from the film "Avatar"
Topic Started: Dec 20 2009, 02:13 PM (8,070 Views)
Yorick
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I took someone's suggestion and created another topic to speculate on the moon's inhabitants' evolution.

So...speculate!
"I believe, that whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you...stranger"

-The Dark Knight (2008)
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Yeah, my dog is easily connected with, but some people are different- humancentric people. And feli- or cani-phobics.

Armour piercing is a bit of a waste vs. scales.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Ddraig Goch
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Ar hyd y nos

I think it's time for a

FULL LIST OF KNOWN PANDORAN FAUNA

Flyers (Supposedly related)

Banshee - dragon-like carnivore, subspecies in mountains and rainforest
Leonopteryx - like an oversized Banshee, but with bright blue vertical head crest
Stingbat - miniature Banshee, with long, poisonous tail-barb
Tetrapteron - beaked animal with two tails, subspecies found in swamp and rainforest

Herbivores (Supposedly related)

Hammerhead Titanothere - huge browser, similar in behavior to Terran Rhinoceras. Herd animal
Sturmbeest - plains dwelling herd beast
Hexapede - gazelle-like creature, with twin membranes on head, used for display

Carnivores (Supposedly related)


Thanator - mighty, lion-like apex predator. Subspecies in rainforest and sub-arctic biomes
Viperwolf - pack hunting, highly intelligent carnivores. Subspecies in rainforest, savannah and sub-arctic habitats

Other

Direhorse - nectar drinking, horse-like animal. Possibly forms herds
Fan Lizard - lizard-like creature, with large, circular flap of brightly coloured skin, used to escape predation
Slinger - bizarre predator, whose body is the adult and whose head is the infant
Dinicthoid - highly aggressive, bottom-dwelling fish. Hunts like Terran crocodiles, dragging prey underwater

Invertebrates


Hellfire Wasp - swarming, wasp-like insect. Two stingers, agonizing venom
Teylu - larval stage of centipede-like invertebrate. Highly nutritious
Arachnoid - scorpion-like animal, six-legs, two stingers
Glow Worms - large, bioluminescent worms. Feed off decaying plant material
Medusa-Aerocoelenterates - massive floating jellyfish, uses tentacles to capture prey
Anemenoid - lifeforms that float on the surface of the water, uses tentacles to grab prey

Simians


Prolemuris - monkey/ lemur-like animal, highly sociable. Odd arm configuration
Na'vi - sentient race
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T.Neo
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Yeah, my dog is easily connected with, but some people are different- humancentric people. And feli- or cani-phobics.


Different people like different things. If you don't like a dog-like or cat-like alien, tough.

And seriously, how many people are "humancentric"? It's an alien, not a human, so by default it will look different.


A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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Oceaniis
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I think that Na'vis are in the midle between humans and animals, some of my friends didn't "linked" to Na'vis and say that they're too beasty...
But others (most of them are my biology collegues) loved them, some even say that Na'vis are sexy and others would like to become one!

Making them more animal like probably would make more people to dislike them...

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T.Neo
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I think that Na'vis are in the midle between humans and animals


They're not. They're tall blue skinned humans with three fingers on each hand and a tail.

You can't make a creature "more animal" btw. Only "less human". Humans already are animals.

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some even say that Na'vis are sexy


Would figure, since the Na'vi (specifically Neytiri) were apparently designed to appeal to "male fantasies".

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Making them more animal like probably would make more people to dislike them...


I'm honestly surprised there would be such a strong negative to realistic aliens in science fiction, especially in a community that is quite knowledgable on the subject of speculative evolution.


A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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TheCoon
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Oceanus
Jan 3 2010, 01:26 PM
Some even say that Na'vis are sexy and others would like to become one!

That's because of their feline characteristics. People known as Furries love anthropomorphic animals. They love them so much, that they often disguise like one of this creatures, or fantasise with them.
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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Ddraig Goch
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Quote:
 
I'm honestly surprised there would be such a strong negative to realistic aliens in science fiction, especially in a community that is quite knowledgable on the subject of speculative evolution.

I don't know if that's the case on this forum, I think the comment was talking about the general public. But, knowledge aside, humans are "programmed" to relate and care about other humans, or human look-alikes. That's probably why they made the queue look like a braid of hair.
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

I don't have anything against Humanoids except probability and their ubiquitousness in sci-fi. I just would like to see a little more randomness and imagination.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Oceaniis
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T.Neo
Jan 3 2010, 02:54 PM
They're not. They're tall blue skinned humans with three fingers on each hand and a tail.

You can't make a creature "more animal" btw. Only "less human". Humans already are animals.
I was referring to the Na'vi's design not to their biology.

If you make a realistic alien a good part of the people would not like to see an avatar (which have a person controlling) falling in love with it, or ending victorious in a war against people..

I heard people saying that didn't like to be the aliens winning the battle, most people aren't worried with animals or the rest of Nature, as you know... those took the side of humans in the film.. "they're just trees" "those salvages are threating the hole operation" people in the real world say these phrases too..

Furies or people that don't have problems in feel connected to a no human life form are just a small part of the public, and J. Cameron wanted to make a movie for everyone like it, Na'vis couldn't be realistic aliens
Edited by Oceaniis, Jan 3 2010, 04:43 PM.
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

And he did create the prolemurids to sort of explain their humanness. The braid of nerve hair, I'd imagine, is for extra protection.

The one problem I have with the Na'vi is really their eyes. The 'vertebrate' animals (the hexapods (aka the animals shown in the film)) all have two pairs of eyes. The Na'vi only have one. The prolemurids don't seem to be merging their eyes. Plus, the Na'vi, an arboreal species, would benefit from a second pair. Why lose one pair of eyes?
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Yorick
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Quote:
 
I can understand the "human-ness" of the Na'vi would be integral to the plot, but not to the audience relating to them.


Trust me. We wouldn't be able to relate to a non-humanoid being. That's why so many writers create humanoid aliens ie. head on a body with two arms and two legs.

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IMO, the Prawns pulled off being humanoid (and thus relatable) without looking too much like humans. To me, they seemed to be plausible as creatures that converged a humanoid bodyplan, instead of essentially being deformed humans.


See. You just proved my point. You used the word 'humanoid.' If the Prawns were more different, audiences would not have cared as much of their plight.
"I believe, that whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you...stranger"

-The Dark Knight (2008)
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T.Neo
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If you make a realistic alien a good part of the people would not like to see an avatar (which have a person controlling) falling in love with it, or ending victorious in a war against people..


Indeed, falling in love with an alien is kinda creepy (it's essentially beastiality). I think from a control point of view, it wouldn't make sense to have a human controlling an alien body, but only marginally less sense then a human controlling a Na'vi. ;)

The "winning against people" thing is fine, as long as you make the humans really, really bad people. :P

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We wouldn't be able to relate to a non-humanoid being.


That simply isn't the case, as people around the world do it all the time.

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You used the word 'humanoid.'


Yes, because the Prawns were humanoid. They were erect bipeds, with two arms, two legs and a definitive "head" (apart from the vestigial arms). I used "humanoid" in the sense of the general bodyplan, not "looking like a human", which the Na'vi do.

If it comes to requiring a humanoid "bodyplan", at least be a bit more creative and original (as Holbenilord said).

Edited by T.Neo, Jan 4 2010, 08:48 AM.
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Ddraig Goch
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Quote:
 
You know, maybe we ought to try to speculate on what creatures could exist on Pandora, besides the ones shown in the movie.

Should we?
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T.Neo
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Why not?

You get fan art, fan fiction... why not fan creatures? :lol:
A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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Ddraig Goch
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I'll start a different thread on the subject - this thread can remain for debate over the Na'vi.
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