How Did Jake Sully Lose His Legs? Did He Use Prosthetic Legs For The Shooting?

One of the protagonists of the 2009 movie Avatar, Jake Sully is a disabled former marine. In the movie, his introduction begins with him in a bar where he is a paralyzed man confined to a wheelchair. Later, as the movie proceeds, he is thrown out of a bar after he gets into a physical altercation with a man.

It is at that point that he is approached by an RDA member to become a part of the Avatar Program on Pandora. Throughout the events of the film at this point, there is no specific revelation on how Jake Sully lost his legs, leaving several audiences in confusion.

Anyway, we will in this article reveal the circumstance that leads to his paralysis. Let’s begin.

How Did Jake Sully Lose His Legs?

To be precise, Jake lost his legs after a spine injury during a war in Venezuela, during his time as a marine. Because of multiple injuries leading to his paralysis below the waist, he was discharged from the U.S. Navy.

Though the director of the movie James does not show how Jake lost his legs, there is a reference to this matter during the beginning scenes of the movie. In one of the scenes where Jake meets Colonel Miles Quaritch after landing on Pandora, Miles addresses Jake’s situation saying he read all the documents in relation to Jake’s time in Venezuela and found how hard it was for him.

This somewhat clarifies the fact that it was his time in Venezuela that led to his paralysis.

Jake Could Have Fixed His Spine

In one of the scenes of the movie, Jake stated that surgery could have fixed his spine and he could walk again, but he didn’t have enough money to undergo the surgery. Talking about this in one of the scenes, he states, “Not on VA benefits, not in this economy.”

Later as the movie moves forward and Jake in his huge Na’vi avatar explores the world of Pandora in his avatar, legs no more remain his first priority. In fact, eventually in the movie, he falls in love with Na’vi and settles with her in their natural environment.

The movie ends with Jake fighting for the natives and eradicating humans from Pandora back to earth.

Did Sam Worthington’s Character Jake Sully Use Prosthetic Legs For The Shooting?

Yes, Sam had to use prosthetic legs which were cast from a paraplegic in the real life. During the shooting of the scenes that showed Jake’s paralyzed legs, Sam’s real legs were intelligently tucked into the wheelchair. They were later removed using digital technologies in the post-production of the film.