Jake Sully lives in the ordinary world as a retired marine, but is not what one might think as an ordinary person. He is paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down from spinal damage. Instead of walking and running like most of us, Jake rolls around in a wheel chair. This is the result of an accident he had as a marine. Jake Sully has yet to be introduced to his journey and is being held in the mundane world through ignorance of existence of another one. Unlike Jake, his twin brother, Tom Sully, was seen as a hero since his birth. Tom was a brilliant scientist with PhD honors. He was killed when a thief attempted to steal his wallet, and was subsequently shot by the assailant, three years into his training for the planet Pandora. Tom was being trained to drive a body called an avatar. Scientists created hybrids of human DNA and of the indigenous people of the Planet Pandora so they could transport their consciousnesses into them. This would make them able to walk amongst the Na’vi tribe to gain their favor that they may obtain the priceless element they lived on top of, Unobtanium. Tom was meant to be a hero. When they found out Tom had a twin brother, they went on a search for Jake and re-called him to the military. This time his mission was not on the battlefield, but to work on the Avatar program. Jake was not destined for greatness in the eyes of society as Tom was, but he was called to fill his shoes. They needed him for his genetically identical body so that Jake would be able to drive his avatar. I believe that Jake Sully was not only called, but he was chosen. He may not have received early recognition for being a hero, but he showed courage and was willing to die for what his brother had set out to accomplish. I believe this event marks the birth of Jake Sully as a hero. He accepted the call to enter the strange world of Pandora and this call was the spark that launched Jake Sully onto the journey.
Once Jake Sully accepted the call and entered the world of Pandora, he first had to overcome his disability and step into the new world. Jake Sully took advantage of the Avatar program and was able to regain the use of his legs in his Avatar body. He was now able to travel the world of Pandora as one of the indigenous Na’vi. Jake had overcome one trial, but with his choice to act upon his call, a road of trials begins. This road contains many challenges for Jake Sully. These challenges are of the mind, body, and spirit and vary in difficulty. On the road of trials, Jake encounters a friend and a foe. Jake’s first foe was Dr. Grace Augustine, a xenobotanist who was in charge of the Avatar Program. She had arrived on Pandora several years before Jake Sully and was reluctant to accept him on her team due to his lack of training and knowledge. Dr. Augustine was forced to let Jake on the team by the military. Colonel Miles Quaritch, the Chief of Security of Hell’s Gate on Pandora, was Jake Sully’s first friend. He had no regards for the Na’vi Tribe of Pandora and neither did Jake Sully due to his military background. Colonel Quaritch told Jake Sully that he would get him a new set of legs back on earth if he got into the Na’vi Tribe and forced them to leave their home so they could collect the Unobtanium underneath.
Jake’s first trial was being separated from the Avatar team as he was chased by a beast in the forest. Dr. Augustine and the team thought he had died in his Avatar body, but they later found out that he was captured by the Na’vi Tribe. Jake Sully was not killed by the Na’vi Tribe, because of a magical symbol sent to Jake by their God figure, Eywah. After learning that Jake was a warrior, the Na’vi Tribe began to teach him their ways. Neytiri, princess of the local Na'vi Tribe, was called to be his trainer.
At the end of a day in the life of the Na’vi, Jake Sully would wake up back in the lab where he would share the information with Dr. Augustine and Colonel Quaritch, which brought him upon his second trial. The Na’vi and their way of life won over the heart of Jake Sully and Dr. Augustine turns from foe to friend as she realizes Jake Sully is smarter than she originally thought. Colonel Quaritch changes from friend to foe as he uses the new information to tear down the Na’vi Tribe from the inside. One of the hardest decisions for Jake Sully was choosing which side. Jake knew that if he did not side with Colonel Quaritch, he would never get his legs back.
The next trial came when the military found out that Jake Sully was on the side of the Na’vi Tribe. Anytime Jake tried to help the Na'vi Tribe, the military marched their way into the lab and unplugged him from his avatar, causing him to wake back up in the lab, helpless. Jake Sully and Dr. Augustine pled for more time before the military attacked. The head of the corporation and Colonel Quaritch agreed to give them time to try to get the Na'vi Tribe out of Home Tree, which was the home of all of the Na’vi Tribe, before the military attacked for their Unobtanium. Jake Sully and Dr. Augustine go back to the Na'vi Tribe at Home Tree and explain to them everything that is about to happen, but they will not leave their home. Jake admits he knew from the beginning that the military was planning this, but he fell in love with Princess Neytiri and Pandora. The Na'vi Tribe no longer trusted Jake Sully or Dr. Augustine and tied them up as the military approached to destroy Home Tree. The Na'vi retaliated with arrows that had no effect. Moat, Neytiri's mother, untied Grace and Jake from the ropes in which they were bound. She believed if they were truly part of their tribe that they would help them. I believe Moat was a mentor placed on Jake Sully’s journey, to help him get through this trial. Many Na'vi people are killed as the missiles caused the giant tree to crack and collapse. Again, Colonel Quaritch interrupted the links and unplugged Jake and Dr. Augustine from their avatar bodies, but this time they were placed in a prison cell.
It is no coincidence that another mentor, Trudy, a helicopter pilot from the military, showed up to break them free from this trial. They were able to sneak out, but Colonel Quaritch spotted them as they hooked the portable lab up to the helicopter. He shot at their helicopter as they flew away to a part of the forest where the military could not interrupt their connection to their avatar bodies. Just as they think they are free from trials, Jake realizes Dr. Augustine has been shot by Colonel Quaritch. Jake knows he has to regain the trust of the Na'vi Tribe and comes up with a plan.
His plan is to ride The Great Leonopteryx. The Great Leonopteryx is a species of airborne predatory animals native to Pandora, also known as Flying King Lion. Leonopteryx is crucial to the Na'vi's sense of destiny and interconnectedness. In the Na'vi culture, those who manage Tsaheylu, or connection, with the Great Leonopteryx are given the title Toruk Makto, or Rider of the Last Shadow. Toruk Makto is, to the Na'vi, a mythical hero who, during times of great sorrow, led the people to victory. Neytiri told Jake that all Na'vi people know the story of Toruk Makto. She also told him that no one has been able to manage tsaheylu to ride The Great Leonopteryx for four generations and only five have ever managed the feat. Jake knew that the preferred method of attack for The Great Leonopteryx was from above. His logic was that if the Leonopteryx attacked from above and it was the biggest thing in the sky, then why would it ever look up? Jake Sully took his Mountain Banshee and attacked from above. He was able to manage tsaheylu with the giant bird and was now its rider forever.
Jake Sully flew The Great Leonopteryx to the Tree of Souls, where the Na'vi had relocated and they were in awe. They knew they had found their hero. Jake brought Dr. Augustine to Moat and she performed a ritual that would put Grace's consciousness permanently into her Avatar body so she might survive. Despite their pleas to their God, Eywa, her injury was too great and she passed away.
After another trial and many emotions, Jake Sully finds out the military, or the Sky People as the Na'vi called them, were returning to attack again. Jake Sully then gives a speech that defines him as a hero,
The Sky People have sent us a message, that they can take whatever they want, that no one can stop them. Well, we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as the wind can carry you. You tell the other clans to come. Tell them Toruk Makto calls to them! You fly now, with me! My brothers! Sisters! And we will show the Sky People that they cannot take whatever they want! And that this, this is our land!
After Jake Sully’s speech came the final battle. No battle is pretty, but it is better for the Sky People to perish than all of Pandora and thousands more as they seek to destroy for material things, only to satisfy their own pleasures. The indigenous people of Pandora, the Na'vi Tribe, win by standing up for the greater good. These people are led by a hero, Jake Sully, who was willing to die for his people and for humanity. This hero was changed forever, but never made it back to the mundane world. At the Tree of Souls, Moat and Neytiri are performing the same ritual they tried to perform with Grace. Jake's consciousness is permanently put in his Avatar form, and he opens his eyes, a hero.
