Avatar: 10 Largest Creatures on Pandora (Ranked)

Pandora is a fictional planet in the Avatar franchise. It is an Earth-like habitable extrasolar moon in the Alpha Centauri System. This moon is rich with life just like Earth, and it is full of beautiful and deadly flora and fauna. Here are the 10 largest creatures on Pandora as seen in Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water.

10. Thanator (2.5 m tall)

The thanator or palulukan in Na’vi language is a carnivorous animal that lives in the forests of Pandora. Thanator is considered to be the apex land predator on Pandora. They are powerful and ferocious animals, and even the Na’vi are afraid of them even though they are known for their courage and hunting skills.

Some researchers say that thanators can spot their prey even from thirteen kilometers away. They have ten sensory quills that can sprout from sections of their armor that encircle the back of their skulls, the function of these quills is still unknown. Their most deadly weapon, apart from their teeth, is their mighty thin armored tail.

9. Na’vi  (3m tall)

Na’vi is a race of extraterrestrial humanoids that live in the jungle or on the islands of Pandora. Their skin is blue with bioluminescent dots, and their bones are in forced with carbon fibers. They also have feline features with a flat nose, and large, yellow eyes. Their pointed ears, also resemble those of a cat. The Na’vi are much taller than humans, their body is slender, and they have a tail for balance. Their technology is the same as Earth’s Paleolithic technology, but they are highly intelligent, they have a complex culture, and a profound spiritual connection to all other life on Pandora.

8. Direhorse (4m tall)

Direhorse or pa’li in Na’vi are horse-like creatures with long necks and small heads. They are the size of Earth’s elephants, but they have a neck that resembles Earth’s giraffes. They are omnivores, and their diet mostly consists of nectar from certain flowers, and insects trapped in the sap. They are very important to the ecosystem because they enable pollination.

Direhorse can be tamed to help in hunts and battles. The rider needs to bond with the Direhorse via their neural queue. After the Na’vi’s queue and the animal’s antennae touch, they can communicate motor commands through the neural interface.

7. Sturmbeest (4.5m tall)

The strumbeest or talioang in Na’vi is a buffalo-like herbivore that is hunted as the main source of animal products from the Na’vi. They always travel in herds, they are territorial, and their main defense against predators is a stampede. Their anatomy is unlike anything on Earth, they are indigo-orange, they have six legs, and they have bioluminescent patterns on both sides of their body. Average strumbeest wights about 900 kilos. The Na’vi use them not only for food but also for instruments. Their chitinous armor can be used to construct a gong when it is dried.

6. Ilu (7m long)

Ilu is a large sea creature that is used just like the direhorse. They closely resemble Erath’s plesiosaur species that are extinct. Ilu is a sleek and lithe aquatic reptilian that has a large neck, six flippers, and a rudder-like tail. They also have four eyes and two queue antennae used to form a connection with their rider. This species is intelligent, and sociable, and they are very easily domesticated. Ilu’s are very important to communities that live by the reefs like the Metkayina clan.

5. Mountain Banshee (10m long/ 14m wingspan)

Mountain Banshee or ikran in Na’vi language. Mountain Banshees are large, dragon-like predators that live high in the Hallelujah Mountains. They are tamed by jungle Na’vi to be used in hunting from the air and traveling large distances. Just like the ilu and the direhorse, they form a connection with the rider through a neural interface.

But, unlike Ilu and Direhorse, they are much harder to tame, and they only have one rider their whole life. For example, when Omiticaya Na’vi reaches a certain age, they take part in a ritual where they have to over-power an ikran that chooses them, by avoiding death and forming a connection with the animal.

4. Hammerhead Titanothere (11m long)

Hammerhead Titanothere or ‘angtsìk in Na’vi is a very large herbivore, that resembles the Earth’s rhinoceros. The titanothere has four eyes, a small mouth protected by a beak-like jaw, and six legs. Their armor is built from overlapping body plates that cover only the front of their bodies and it protects them from other animals. They have very poor distance vision, but they have amazing hearing and an excellent sense of smell. Just like a rhinoceros, when a titanothere is enraged it lowers its head and charges at the perceived threat, and even mountain banshees are scared of it.

3. Leonopteryx (25m wingspan)

The great leonopteryx or toruk by its Na’vi name is a large flying mammal that rules the skies on Pandora. Because of their magnificence and breathtaking size, they have a central role in Na’vi lore and culture. Their anatomy is very similar to mountain banshees, but toruk are colored red and yellow, with black stripes and blue crests on the top of the head and under their lower jaw.

They are carnivorous, and they mostly eat mountain and forest banshees. The toruk is a solitary creature, and its has no predators. When a Na’vi successfully tames a toruk, they are given the title of Toruk Makto, which describes a hero that will lead the people to victory in times of danger.

2. Nalutsa (40m long)

Nalutsas are behemoths that live in the coastal waters of Pandora, and they can be seen leaping out of the water near shores. These underwater animals have armored skin, six gills, two sets of humpback flippers, and a long tail ending in jagged flukes. Nalutsas have relatively small jaws for their large size, and they live in shallow water, so it is a mystery how they sustain their size in those conditions. Their main hunting strategy is to leap out of the water and catch flying animals.

1. Tulkun (91.4 m long)

Tulkun is a whale-like creature that can reach an impressive size of 91.4 meters.  They are more intelligent than humans and have a developed high society. Due to their superior intellect, they established the tulkun way, which is an ancient doctrine that forbids all forms of killing.

Just like the nalutsa they inhabit near-shore water, and they can leap out of the water. Tulkuns have four eyes, six flippers, six blowholes on their back, and they have a dark grey/blue skin. They have a close bond with the Metkayina clan, and they consider each other spirit siblings.

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