>>213117796The original film's principal cast is best thought of as a group of 12: 5 human good guys, 4 Na'vi, and 3 human bad guys: Jake Sully, Grace Augustine, Norm Spellman, Max Patel, and Trudy (I forget the last name, it may be Chacon but it's not important). Neytiri, Eytukan, Mo'at and Tsu'Tey. Parker Selfridge, Quaritch, and Lyle Wainfleet. Fike is on screen during a critical "welcome to this world" moment and IIRC he has a credit, maybe a line or two, but it's a bit part that isn't developed.
I think of the sequel as a group of 16: Jake, Ney, Neteyam, Kiri, Lo'ak, Tuk. Recom Quaritch and Recom Wainfleet (distinct characters, technically), the others are filler/cannon fodder non-characters, basically, except for Z-dog who develops a bit of personality *pops bubble-gum* but the whole squad is a rehash of the Aliens squad, which was also a group of 12. Right down to having 2-3 female members. Norm and Max survive the events of the first film as minor characters. The new ones are a group of five: Tonowario, Rotxo, Au'nung, Tsireya, and the mom's name escapes me atm. Oh wait was it Ronal? Then Spider. Payakan also counts as a character, he's sapient, communicates with others, has a past/undergoes a moral crisis, etc.