René Harper

René Harper
Biographical Information
Lives in	Pandora Earth
Physical Description
Species	Human Avatar
Status	Deceased
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Brown
Family Information
Family Members	Unknown
Affiliations
Occupation	Xenolinguist
Loyalties	Na'vi
Behind the Scenes
Voice	Ron Orbach
First Seen	James Cameron's Avatar: The Game

My apologies. It's been one of those days. I'm sure we'll be the best of friends... or the worst of enemies.

Harper to Able Ryder

Dr. René Harper is one of the main characters of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game. In the game, he is the chief of the RDA's Avatar Program and one of the 20 original avatar drivers.

Background

Born on the vast man-made atolls off Bermuda, young René Harper was fast-tracked to the very best RDA-funded universities. His seemingly uncanny ability for foreign languages and dialects soon had him on the radar as a top candidate for the xenolinguist posting on the distant moon of Pandora.

He has been working alongside Grace Augustine for nearly a decade and has proven his worth as a top notch xenolinguist in the Avatar Program. Specializing in the Na'vi language of the moon’s native inhabitants, his primary mandate is to accelerate the Na’vi’s understanding of human languages, thus minimizing unwanted misunderstanding between the two cultures. Harper has bonded with many Na'vi and understands their lifestyle and sees the destructive nature of the operations of the RDA. Harper was instrumental in the formation of the Na’vi school and was one of the core instructors in educating the Na’vi on human language and customs.

An audio log by Grace narrates an event with her and Harper: "Today Dr. Harper brought me to meet the leaders of the Tipani clan. This was my second visit. On my first visit, they'd refused to see me. Of all the clans we've contacted on Pandora, the Tipani are by far the most resistant to human interaction. Even avatars have been rejected. So around 10 years ago, we came up with a plan. We'd create avatars that combine human DNA with Tipani DNA. That's how Dr. Harper arrived on the program. He was our first guinea pig I guess you'd call him. To be honest, I was never 100% that this plan would work. It was too simple. But it did work. Harper's avatar was welcomed into the clan. So today, Harper brought me to meet the clan's Tsahik, a Na'vi called Sänume. She remembered my first visit, but it was clear that she had little interest in me. Harper, on the other hand, was treated as a near-equal. It amazes me that they're able to pick up on the subtle differences in our avatars. They must be deciphering patterns in the body pigmentation that we haven't even decoded yet."

Avatar: The Game

Early in the game, it is discovered that Harper covertly sided with the Na'vi and informed them of vital RDA activities. RDA corners Harper, and the player is ordered by Commander Falco to shoot Harper for treason, but Harper angrily attempts to persuade the player to join the Na'vi.

Fate

In the Na'vi storyline, Harper is killed during The Battle of Vayaha Village when a Dragon Assault Ship crash lands on top of his avatar link bed. The Na'vi attempt to transfer his conscious mind into the avatar body, but are unsuccessful.

Ryder fighting Harper at the Lost Cathedral

If the player chooses to side with the RDA, his avatar shoots and nearly kills Harper's avatar, but his avatar is killed in turn by an arrow fired by Harper as he falls off a cliff. However, Harper survives the fall and escapes. The player (as a human RDA grunt) eventually tracks down the location of Harper's avatar, his psionic link facilities, and those of two other rogue scientists. After killing both the avatar and human forms of the two rogue scientists Anson Langley and Jerome Epstein, Ryder finally kills Harper's avatar and human forms at the Lost Cathedral.

Quotes

• "Is that what you're here for? Find the mole. Well you did it. I'm the mole. Great work, Ryder. I smell promotion in the air."
• "The Na'vi could use you. It's now or never. We're two avatars against these guys... We can take them. Let's do it right now. Right now!"

Trivia

• If Harper is attacked by Ryder, Grace can leave a displeased message for Ryder.[1]
• He shares the surname of Trinity Harper from Avatar: Reckoning, possibly implying a relationship, and it can be speculated she may have intended to be his younger sister, wife or girlfriend. Trinity was in Reckoning (her concept dates back to at least 2021) before Avatar: The Game was announced as non-canon by Joshua Izzo in 2023, although whether or not the Reckoning developers were aware of The Game's canonicity beforehand is unclear. If they are somehow related, it would be ironic because René was pro Na'vi while Trinity seems anti-Na'vi.

Gallery

Full body shot

Harper trying to convince Ryder to fight the RDA

Harper's avatar