About Grace's avatar...

[swizaw]

Does anyone else notice the difference between the appearance of her avatar and most of the others? Her snout is much thinner and less pronounced, which makes the separation of the eyes less noticeable.

[Maweya tirea]

good observation. I don't know really. The only possible explanation I have is that she is the only female avatar we see in the film. All the other female na'vi are full na'vi. Female avatars may look different than male ones. 

[Srereu Aynantanghu]

well, in the real world I'm sure they were concerned about keeping her likeness intact, I mean it's Sigourney Weaver fpi eywa. They may have had trouble making her look likable by adding the na'vi nose to her facial structure as well.

In terms of movie logic, I'd be willing to bet her's was the first avatar, and as such may have had a higher human/na'vi DNA ratio then the others, or maybe it's just a case by case basis. We really only ever see 3 avatars up close, so who knows. Norm's nose was fairly human as well

[Mako]

Nope. A marine by the name of Ryan was the first experimental Avatar. He was killed by the RDA 2 years prior to Jake's arrival. Shot in the middle of a link because he turned on the RDA.

[Maweya tirea]

where did you learn this?

[Mako]

Ever played the prequl by Gameloft and Fox Studios for the iPhone?

[Srereu Aynantanghu]

that seems very unlikely, they imply pretty strongly that only scientists have had avatar's in the past.

I'd be very concerned over your source and whether or not it is cannon. If it's from a game you can just throw it right out, they totally phoned those in

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Okay, so Grace wasn't the first, but she could still be an earlier model. I stand by the theory that she has a higher amount of human DNA than the more modern models.

[Mako]

that seems very unlikely, they imply pretty strongly that only scientists have had avatar's in the past.

I'd be very concerned over your source and whether or not it is cannon. If it's from a game you can just throw it right out, they totally phoned those in

Fair enough. But it is Fox's official game. Brb.

EDIT: His name was Ryan Lorenz, ex marine. He lost his wife and children, so he pulled some strings and entered the Avatar program.

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

that seems very unlikely, they imply pretty strongly that only scientists have had avatar's in the past.

I'd be very concerned over your source and whether or not it is cannon. If it's from a game you can just throw it right out, they totally phoned those in

I don't think it was to strongly implied that only scientists had been them. I think it would make sense to have an ex marine be the first. It would have been a guinea pig and I bet they had little contact with the Na'vi before that so it would be better to have someone who could defend themselves.

[Mako]

Yeah, what she(?) said! xD

[Ftiafpi]

According to the Avatar wiki (from memory) the Avatar's were first created to be working force and/or security on the planet so that they didn't have to spend some much time/money on the breathing apparatuses as well as better relations with the native Na'vi. However they were too costly so they were relegated to limited science and diplomatic duty.

[Mako]

Ryan experienced something similar to what Jake did. He was providing defensive escort and marking unobtanium deposits when he got lost. He eventually wandered to the tree of souls and had an encounter with Ewya. The Na'vi found him unconcious soon after.

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

This from the itouch game right? Man I need to get that...(And yes to the she)

Yeah, it would seem weird to send some lone scientists out into the big scary forest in brand new avatars for the first time. I'm guessing the Na'vi's first reaction to the dreamwalkers wasn't pleasant.

[Mako]

This from the itouch game right? Man I need to get that...(And yes to the she)

Yeah, it would seem weird to send some lone scientists out into the big scary forest in brand new avatars for the first time. I'm guessing the Na'vi's first reaction to the dreamwalkers wasn't pleasant.

GAME SPOILER ALERT

















Actually, he was pretty beaten, and they didn't quite know what he was. Neytiri's sister Silvan(?) taught him like Neytiri did Jake.

[Fpeioyuyä 'ite]

I did notice that Grace's avatar looks a lot more human than the other avatars. When I look at her avatar, I clearly see Sigourney Weaver, unlike looking at Jake's avatar and seeing a Na'vi.

I think that Norm's avatar was this way, too, though to a lesser degree. When my boyfriend and I saw the movie, we chuckled upon seeing Norm's avatar, because he looked like a blue version of JP from Grandma's Boy (which was because the avatar looked more human than Na'vi).

[To´ji]

the whole ex-marine in first avatar thing might be a good plot for a game based on avatar...but I don't think it can hold up to the movie reality. This is mostly due to logic. If neytiris sister belongs to the omaticaya as well (and I bet she does...all else would make nearly no sense) then a omaticaya trained this ryan marine in beeing na'vi, thus, what Eytukan sais in the movie would be wrong: "This is the first warrior of the skypeople we meet". TIn addition, security chief quaritch sais a martine in the avatar programme is a unique opportunity, therefore, it has not been done before and, if this ryan guy behaved as jake did, meaning turning against the RDA, then why did they shoot him in the head during connection and quarich only punched jake in the face? I see a serious inconsistency here.

I would totally seperate the games and the movie as other sources already pointed out how inaccurate the games are.

[Mako]

Ex marine. He never introduced himself like Jake did. And he was leading an attack against the RDA base when they shot him. That's why.

[‡ Neytiri ‡]

Ever played the prequl by Gameloft and Fox Studios for the iPhone?

True fact here.
I'm not finished with it yet, but I'm rescuing the shaman.
Also, the reason Quaritch refrained from shooting Jake, in my opinion, was the fact that he hadn't actually killed and troops.

But with Grace's Avatar, I don't really understand why the would make her look so much more human than the others. Oh well. It was a great movie, and I'm banking on going to see it again sometime in the near future.

Also, when Ryan Lorenz first came to the Na'Vi in Avatar form, it seemed like they thought he was Na'Vi, but from somewhere else. I could be wrong, but...

[Coyote]

I am in agreement with the notion that Grace's Avatar represents an earlier version, before the refinement that allowed for greater enhancement of Na'vi features.

As for the games, I haven't played them but from what I've heard, if you accept them as canon, they mess up the continuity of the movie. Some people may not care; others may see it as a terrible thing. However, I think it is safe to assume, this being Cameron's baby, that the movie represents the actual intent of Cameron's storytelling, and everything else is primarily just marketing tools to increase the money footprint, so to speak.

After all, McDonald's has Happy Meals that tie into Avatar (never mind the unintentional irony of tying crass commercialism to such a movie  ) but that should not imply that there is a McDonald's at Hell's Gate (unless we see one in the sequel).