Heroic archetypes in Avatar

[Sothis]

Originally Posted by neytirifanboy

Neytiri does not fit well into any category. Although she does have aspects of wuite a few. If anything she is closest to the noble savage, but even that doesn't quite fit.

I agree that "noble savage" is close but not quite right for Neytiri. I think one archetype that is not on that list is "the mentor," i.e. the person who serves as the hero's guide and guardian and who acts as a font of wisdom for the audience.

I remember talking about avatar soon after watching it for the first time and saying that, in terms of her role in driving the story, Neytiri almost reminds me of Yoda. Obviously, her relationship with Jake evolves over the course of the story, but for a large portion of the movie, their dynamic is very much a straightforward mentor-mentee relationship that you see in many adventure stories across genres. We even get a trope-tacular training montage and a definitive final fight in which the hero must face a powerful enemy single-handedly while his mentor watches.

Of course, now all I can think of is Neytiri looking at Jake and saying: "Much to learn you have, young Sky Person." :-p