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This Avatar movie trivia quiz has 60 free questions with answers about James Cameron's Pandora saga: the 2009 original that became the highest-grossing film ever made, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). It is written for people who have seen the films, not for people who have memorised the wiki, so most questions turn on things you would notice watching: who kills Quaritch, what the RDA is really mining, why Jake was picked for the Avatar Program in the first place, and what the reef clan calls the whale-like creatures they swim with. Alongside the plot there are questions about how the films were made — the underwater performance capture, Kate Winslet's seven-minute breath hold, the constructed Na'vi language, the Weta effects work in Wellington — plus the box-office and awards records, the video games and the Disney theme-park land. Difficulty ranges from questions any casual viewer will get to a handful for people who read the end credits. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and its cited sources before publishing. Play it, share your score, and settle the group-chat argument about which Avatar film is actually best.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year is the first Avatar film set, when the RDA is mining Pandora?
2154
Earth in the film is suffering resource exhaustion and ecological collapse, which is why the mining company is on Pandora at all.
Q 02What is the name of the valuable mineral the RDA is mining on Pandora?
Unobtanium
The word is an old engineers' joke for a material that would be perfect for a job if only it existed.
Q 03Why is Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine veteran, recruited into the Avatar Program?
His identical twin, an operator, has died
Each avatar is genetically matched to its operator, so only Jake could drive the body grown for his twin.
Q 04Which clan takes Jake in after a Na'vi huntress rescues him in the forest?
The Omaticaya
The clan's spiritual leader Mo'at, Neytiri's mother, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society.
Q 05What does the RDA destroy in the first film because it sits on a rich mineral deposit?
Hometree
Cameron has said the fiery destruction of the giant tree deliberately echoed the September 11 attacks.
Q 06Jake regains the Na'vi's trust by bonding with which dragon-like creature feared and revered by the clan?
The Toruk
Cirque du Soleil later built a touring show around the creature, Toruk – The First Flight, set 3,000 years before the film.
Q 07What is the name of the Na'vi mother goddess Jake prays to before the final battle?
Eywa
Neytiri reads the wild animals joining the fight as the goddess answering that prayer.
Q 08Who kills Colonel Quaritch at the end of the first Avatar film?
Neytiri
Quaritch is in an AMP suit and has just cracked open Jake's link unit, exposing his human body to Pandora's air.
Q 09Which actress plays Jake's Na'vi love interest and future mate?
Zoe Saldaña
She was cast so early that she helped screen-test the actors auditioning to play Jake, including her eventual co-star.
Q 10Who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch, the RDA security commander?
Stephen Lang
Cameron first approached Josh Brolin, who did not want to commit to the long shoot; Lang had auditioned unsuccessfully for Aliens two decades earlier.
Q 11Who plays Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program?
Sigourney Weaver
She returned in the sequels in a second role, as Jake and Neytiri's adopted teenage daughter.
Q 12Which actor plays Jake Sully?
Sam Worthington
He was a relative unknown at the time and got the part after an angry outburst at secretive auditions caught Cameron's attention.
Q 13Who plays Trudy Chacón, the pilot who turns on Quaritch and helps Jake escape?
Michelle Rodriguez
Trudy is one of the human allies killed in the final battle alongside Tsu'tey.
Q 21Where did Cameron send the cast before shooting so they could get a feel for a rainforest setting?
Hawaii
The actors were also trained in archery, riding, firearms, hand-to-hand combat and the Na'vi language.
Q 22Who composed the score for Avatar, his third collaboration with Cameron?
James Horner
He recorded parts of the score with a small chorus singing in the Na'vi language, and called it the hardest score he had ever written.
Q 23Which British singer performed "I See You", the theme song from Avatar?
Leona Lewis
The ballad drew constant comparisons to "My Heart Will Go On", the theme its composer had written for Cameron's 1997 blockbuster.
Q 14Which actor plays Parker Selfridge, the RDA's corporate administrator on Pandora?
Giovanni Ribisi
Ribisi was confirmed to reprise the role in all four sequels.
Q 15Which Cherokee actor plays Eytukan, the clan chief and Mo'at's husband?
Wes Studi
Eytukan is killed when Quaritch's forces bring down Hometree.
Q 16Who plays Mo'at, the clan's spiritual leader?
CCH Pounder
She returned as Mo'at in both sequels.
Q 17James Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for Avatar in which year?
1994
He planned to shoot it after Titanic for a 1999 release, but decided the technology to realise it did not yet exist.
Q 18Which linguist created the Na'vi language for the film?
Paul Frommer
The language has a lexicon of about 1,000 words, roughly 30 of them contributed by Cameron himself.
Q 19Which visual effects house, based in Wellington, was the lead effects company on Avatar?
Weta Digital
At one point 900 people there were working on the film, rendering on a farm of 4,000 HP servers.
Q 20Cameron said Avatar was roughly what split of computer-generated to real-world footage?
60% CG, 40% live action
He called it a "true hybrid": a full live-action shoot combined with CG characters in digital and live-action environments.
Q 24Avatar's world premiere on December 10, 2009, was held in which city?
London
It was at the Odeon Leicester Square, the same cinema that hosted The Way of Water's premiere 13 years later.
Q 25Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time in January 2010, taking the record from which film?
Titanic
It was the second time in a row Cameron had broken his own record.
Q 26Avatar was the first film ever to pass which worldwide box-office milestone?
Two billion dollars
It reached $1 billion in 19 days, then the fastest ever, and finished its first run at $2.75 billion.
Q 27How many Academy Awards did Avatar win from its nine nominations?
3
The wins were Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects; it lost Best Picture and Best Director.
Q 28At the Golden Globes, Avatar took the directing prize and which other award?
Best Motion Picture – Drama
At the Saturn Awards it went ten for ten, including Best Science Fiction Film.
Q 29How many minutes of extra footage did the 2010 Avatar: Special Edition re-release add?
9
Cameron said the added footage cost more than $9 million, roughly a million dollars a minute.
Q 30A 2021 re-release in China let Avatar retake the all-time box-office crown from which film?
Avengers: Endgame
The first film was re-released again in September 2022, remastered in 4K, ahead of The Way of Water.