Read more about Mountain Banshee at: Wikipedia Official Site: 20th Century Studios The Pandoran biosphere is a fictional habitat introduced in James Cameron's 2009 science fiction film Avatar. The ecology of the lush moon Pandora, which teems with a biodiversity of bioluminescent species ranging from hexapoda animals to other types of exotic fauna and flora, forms a vast neural network spanning the entire lunar surface into which the Na'vi and other creatures can connect. The strength of this collective consciousness is illustrated when the human invaders are defeated in battle by the Pandoran ecology, after the Na'vi are nearly defeated. Cameron utilized a team of expert advisors to make the various examples of fauna and flora as scientifically feasible as possible. In Avatar, the Na'vi are an indigenous species that live on Pandora. They are humanoid in appearance and are tall, having pairs of eyes, ears, arms, legs and feet like humans, as well as a nose, a mouth, and expressions recognizable to humans. The Na'vi differ from humans in having blue striped skin, pointed and mobile ears, large eyes, catlike noses and tails, and hands each with three fingers and a thumb (hybrid avatars, on the other hand, retain the five-fingered hands of their human DNA). While taller than humans, they have narrower proportions in body frame. Their bones are reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber. The Na'vi also have a distinctive tendril feature protruding from the back of their heads, surrounded by hair (resembling a long plait or queue), feeding directly into the brain. This organ allows them to connect with other organisms around them, transferring electrochemical signals such as thoughts and memories to the trees, plants, and other creatures. In the original script, Cameron refers to these as "Jubilees", although the word is not used in the film and may be changed by the time the novel is published. The Na'vi were initially conceived to be more alien in appearance. Cameron recalled that when one of the main characters, Neytiri, was originally drawn, she had gills and other protuberances. In addition to feline features, the species was redesigned to seem more human so that audiences could better relate to it. According to Cameron, the appearance of the Na'vi character Neytiri had some specific inspirations and requirements: she was inspired by Raquel Welch's character in Fantastic Voyage and by Vampirella, noting in the latter's case, "the fact [Vampirella] didn't exist didn't bother me because we have these quintessential female images in our mind, and in the case of the male mind, they're grossly distorted. When you see something that reflects your id, it works for you.... Right from the beginning I said, 'She's got to have tits,' even though that makes no sense because her race, the Na'vi, aren't placental mammal. I designed her costumes based on a taparrabo, a loincloth worn by Mayan Indians." This is somewhat of a non-sequitor because both marsupials (kangaroos, etc.) and monotremes (platypuses, etc.) are non-placental and yet both lactate. This objective of making the Na'vi as humanlike as possible can also be seen as an explanation as to why they are quadrupedal despite having evolved from common ancestors of the hexapodal lemurs seen in the film. Cameron has described Avatar as more "science fantasy" than true science fiction and has said that he would explain in the novel for the film why in the fictional universe the Na'vi look like humans.
Mountain Banshee has not been a contender in any CBUB matches.
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Mountain Banshee
