Miles Socorro

Miles "Spider" Socorro is a sixteen-year-old boy who was born in Hell's Gate as the son of Colonel Miles Quaritch and Paz Socorro.
After the death of his parents, Miles remained on Pandora and was adopted by Nash McCosker and Mary after the Pandoran War. Miles was enamored by Jake Sully's family and spent a considerable amount of his time with them. He received the new name Spider due to his climbing abilities. To feel more adapted to the Na'vi, he has grown his hair in Na'vi-style dreadlocks and paints his body with spartan fruit dye to mimic the Na'vi's body stripes.
He was introduced in the comic Avatar: The High Ground and has a major role in the film Avatar: The Way of Water.
==Biography== 
===Early life===
Miles Socorro was born on Pandora in 2154, in the Resources Development Administration's colony base, Hell's Gate, to Paz SocorroAvatar: The High Ground and Miles Quaritch. Quaritch knew about his birth and before taking the Recom treatment, he belived that he was going to be sent back to Earth.Avatar: The Way of Water His mother was later killed during the assault on the Tree of Souls, while his father was defeated and killed at the hands of Neytiri.Avatar
After the Na'vis' victory over the RDA, Miles was too small to be sent to Earth with the rest of the humans and was therefore taken in by McCosker and Mary who were allowed to remain on Pandora. Despite having a foster mother, Miles wishes his real mother was still alive and he keeps a photograph of her near his bed in his room. He received the nickname "Spider" due to his natural climbing ability even as a young child,https://www.avatar.com/pandorapedia/spider although the low gravity of Pandora has also aided in this.
Despite being a human, Spider always felt like a Na'vi at heart, preferring to spend his time in the Pandoran jungle while donning an exopack and carrying a folding knife for defense. This has frustrated his foster family, who have attempted to get him to spend more time with the humans to little avail. He was enamored by the Sully family, considering Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tuktirey his true family, although he was not as close to Neteyam.In The High Ground, Spider says "Kiri, Tuk and Lo'ak are all the family I got left!" suggesting he is not as close to Neteyam. Neytiri, however, always saw Spider as one of the people who destroyed her home, believing he belonged with his own kind, and thus acted distant with only a basic amount of respect to him. Likewise, Spider did not fully consider Jake and Neytiri his adoptive parents, referring to them as "Mr. and Mrs. Sully." Spider grew especially close to Kiri, the adopted daughter of the family, and she gave him the nickname "monkey boy".
===Return of the RDA===
When Spider was a teenager, he accompanied the rest of the family to Lo'ak's Iknimaya ritual. Although he himself could not be linked with a mountain banshee, he loved the expanse of the Hallelujah Mountains and willingly participated in this difficult journey to the Banshee Rookery.
Not long before the humans returned to Pandora, the Omatikaya clan moved to a new Hometree. On this occasion, Spider wanted to join the Sully family circle, but Neytiri noted that it is a "family" celebration, implying that there was no place for Spider. Kiri, however, insisted that he stay. Soon after, he and Kiri sneaked into the RDA's base where the two watched Jake's old video logs. They also confided their feelings to each other about their parents whom they did not know. Spider also hinted that Neytiri would hate him.
Later, Spider, Kiri, Lo'ak and Tuk decide to secretly go exploring because the clan is involved in a "boring" council meeting. They visit the old battlefield of the Pandoran War where they find a human skeleton in a Samson's cockpit. Lo'ak and Spider end up almost accidentally killing Kiri and Tuktirey when the Samson falls. Spider begins to run low on oxygen and the kids try to find their way back home. Meanwhile, Jake and Neytiri form a search party for the children. They eventually find the children. Jake blames Lo'ak, though Spider admits he also deserves some blame. Neytiri agrees that Spider is at fault and orders him to stay away from Kiri, claiming they will never see each other again.
After the RDA announces their plans to return, Max Patel insists Spider stay with the McCoskers, Kiri insists he come with them to High Camp. McCosker finds the two and tells Spider to go with him. Although Jake and Neytiri think Spider is best with his foster family, Kiri is upset and flees. However, she then resolves to not leave Spider behind. Kiri, Lo'ak and Tuk go get Spider at Hell's Gate after he hears knocking on his bedroom window. They are soon found by McCosker who says they can be useful, however, he traps Spider and the siblings in separate rooms. 
Spider manages to escape his cell using a fire extinguisher to bash the windows, and he rescues the Sully children. The children flee into the forest with the RDA following them. Jake and Neytiri catch up and the whole family reunites. As the family becomes involved in another chase, Spider briefly struggles to catch up due to being a human. After a series of events involving a crash landing into the ocean, the group is rescued by Wu Mingxia and Norm Spellman.
===Capture by the Recombinants===
In 2170, after the Sullys attack a Mag-Lev, Spider, Kiri, and Lo'ak visit the link station, where Grace Augustine's avatar is located. Kiri wanted to visit her mother and see her video records, which Spider watched with a mixture of sympathy and envy. An argument ensued among the boys over who Kiri's father was, unanimously, if jokingly, pointing to Norm. After a while, Spider became serious and said that sometimes it's better not to know his father's identity, referring to Miles Quaritch, to which Kiri assured him that he was not the same as his father and does not have to be.
Later while exploring the forest with Lo'ak, Kiri and Tuk with the exception of Neteyam, they are captured by the Recombinant squad. Quaritch's Recom identifies Spider as the son of his human counterpart. Quaritch is surprised that he has not been sent to Earth, to which he replies that babies cannot be put in cryosleep. While held hostage, Spider witnesses a recording of Quaritch's last moments as a human, the fight with Jake, and Neytiri killing him with her arrows. When Jake and Neytiri rescue their children, Spider accidentally trips and falls down where he is abducted by the squad.
He is soon put in a cell and struggles with trying to get out, hitting the window with a chair like a savage as described by the guard who is watching him. Soon after, he is psychologically tortured by General Frances Ardmore in order to find out where the Sullys are, using a machine called a NeuroSect which can analyze his thoughts, but he is able to withstand it even after it gives him a nosebleed. Quaritch took pity on the boy, who stopped the device and asked Ardmore for a personal audience. While in a cell, Spider is approached by the Recom Quaritch who tries to act like a fatherly figure towards him. Spider is given the human Quaritch's dog tag by him, but he throws it across the room, prompting the Recombinant to claim he is not the same as his father. Although uncooperative, and unaware of Quaritch's assassination mission, Spider does grudgingly agree to assist Quaritch.
During subsequent expeditions into the wilds of Pandora, Spider taught the recombinants, among others, the Na'vi language, laughing at their inept attempts to communicate in it. On another occasion, they travel to the banshee colony in the Hallelujah Mountains to tame their own banshees and ease their passage through Pandora. Quaritch had intended to use tranquilizers to make things easier, but Spider laughed at him, saying that even Na'vi children could handle the ikran with their bare hands. This touched the ambitions of the colonel, who pounced on the chosen banshee, and after a long struggle managed to bond with the animal.
One day, while Spider was flying with Quaritch, he teaches him to say "I see you", but they are interrupted when the Bridgehead staff pick up on radar the presence of a Samson heading to the offshore archipelago several hundred kilometers from the jungle. Quaritch took this as confirmation of his suspicion that Jake had run away from home. Taking Spider and the rest of the Recoms squad with him, he got the crew of the SeaDragon to cooperate and had them drive across the archipelago to find Sully.
During the trip they arrive at the village of the Ta'unui clan, Quaritch begins to forcefully question the villagers about Jake's location in which the villagers along with the Ta'unui Olo'eyktan refused to reveal it under the orders of Tonowari. This lead to Quaritch's squad ordering to kill one ilu, much to Spider's shock along with the clan, and then he threatens to kill the Tsahik if Spider doesn't make that clear to the Olo'eyktan but he replied that he wouldn't and then distressingly pleads for Quaritch to spare her as this was wrong. The clan claims they have no knowledge of Jake Sully's location as they didn't know anything about him, prompting Quaritch to order his squad to burn down the village instead. As the villagers were horrified by their home being burned, Spider tells the people that he is incredibly sorry before being forced to leave.
Spider is taken aboard the Cet-Ops S-76 SeaDragon when Quaritch agrees to let Mick Scoresby, the ship's captain, complete his quota of tulkun hunting. Spider watches a broadcast and witnesses in disgust as the RDA brutally kills the female tulkun Ro'a. While the adults clap and cheer they were able to hunt a tulkun, he instead gets teary-eyed, especially after seeing Ro'a's calf curious about its deceased mother. When the RDA extracts amrita and Ian Garvin explains the process, Spider is appalled that they only extract the amrita and then dump her carcass back into the ocean.
===Skirmish at the Three Brothers===
When Quaritch captured Lo'ak, Tuk and Tsireya the daughter of the leaders of the Metkayina clan, Spider decided to mutiny, he ran to help them but was stopped by soldiers and taken back to the bridge. He was on the bridge during Payakan's attack on the ship and the skirmish at Three Brothers Rocks. When one of the propellers caught fire, Spider takes the opportunity to knock out the pilot Ward with a fire extinguisher. He sabotages the carrier's helm controls and causes it to accelerate uncontrolled towards the nearby reef. It barrels over them, landing hard, immobilized and immediately beginning to sink. Spider is eventually rescued by Lo'ak and Neteyam and the three attempt to escape, although Neteyam is fatally shot.
Spider helps carry Neteyam to the nearby rocks. When Neteyam succumbs to his injury, Spider sheds tears for him. When Jake wants to head back to the SeaDragon to rescue Kiri and Tuk, Spider reveals he knows their location and both go back to the ship. Spider stays out of the way as Jake and Neytiri begin to massacre the survivors. When he sees Neytiri in rage, Spider is horrified and hides from her. When Quaritch holds Kiri at knifepoint, Neytiri grabs Spider and holds him at knifepoint as well. Using him as a bargaining chip, she lightly cuts his chest as a warning. Quaritch releases Kiri due to his compassion for the boy. The ship begins to sink and during Jake's fight with Quaritch, the two begin to drown and Spider and Kiri get separated from Neytiri and Tuk.
They meet Lo'ak and tell him that Jake, Neytiri and Tuk are trapped inside the ship. Spider helps find Jake, but finds Quaritch unconscious and is initially hesitant to save him, however, begrudgingly rescues him, bringing him up to the surface and leaving him on nearby rocks, where he regains consciousness. Quaritch begs his boy to go with him, however, he rejects this and leaves, much to his dismay. Spider returns to the Sully family and is embraced by Jake. During Neteyam's funeral, Spider holds hands with Kiri under the water as Neteyam's body is laid to rest.
==Personality and traits==
Spider is a kind and witty boy who carries guilt due to what the humans have done to Pandora. Having been raised by the Na'vi, he has developed empathy for them and has always looked up to them, both literally and metaphorically, going so far as to paint himself blue in order to be more like them and has displayed several of their mannerisms. He enjoys nature which gives him and Kiri a common interest to bond over. Because he is not as big and fast as the Na'vi, Spider is put into a position where he must persevere and exert himself in order to keep up with the Sully family.
Spider is very loyal to the Na'vi, doing whatever he can to buy them time and even tells Ardmore he would rather die than disclose the Na'vi's location. He tries to mislead the Recombinants away from the Na'vi, while also wanting them turn away from the RDA and reform them by teaching them about the ways of the Na'vi. He is one of the few humans who developed a deep connection with the world of Pandora, trying to learn about the traditions and culture of the Na'vi, similar to Grace or Jake.
Spider also exhibits compassion for other living beings, such as the tulkun, and is visibly distraught upon watching a live broadcast of them being hunted by humans. He is dismayed that the rest of the Cet-Ops don't seem to care about their lives, viewing them only as beings to be harvested and exploited, and he is particularly annoyed when the RDA only extracts their amrita and does not bother to at least use the most of their bodies for resources after. His compassion for others even results in him saving Quaritch's life.
Spider can also have quite the temper and attitude when agitated, using language like "dipshit". He has an exceptionally strong will, able to resist the RDA's interrogation for an extensive amount of time.
==Abilities==
From an early age, growing up in the forest, Spider gained speed, agility, cunning, and fighting abilities virtually unknown to humans. This is partly due to Pandora's lower gravity than Earth. Like the Na'vi, he learned to read clues and pick up the faintest sounds, use a bow, scale the dangerous Hallelujah Mountains, and successfully fight for survival in Pandora's hostile environment. He can also swim and is able to hold his breath for even a few minutes. Unfortunately, despite his deep desire, he is unable to live a full life as a Na'vi, as his weaknesses include his dependence on exopacks and the lack of a queue to connect with other life forms.
==Relationships==
* See Spider Socorro/Relationships.
==Trivia==
*In a violent deleted scene, Spider witnesses Neytiri's brutality as she repeatedly kills human beings and defiles their bodies, even a man who is seen pleading for his life. Even in the final version, blood suddenly appears on Neytiri's face, suggesting Spider did witness the full incident. 
*Later on in the deleted scene, Neytiri is seen holding Spider hostage, even after Quaritch has released Kiri. Jake, Kiri and Quaritch convince Neytiri out of killing Spider. A clip of it is here. However, when Neytiri threatened to stab Spider, her knife blade was facing outward and her arm was in a vertical position, which would have hampered Neytiri if she had wanted to aim for Spider's chest.  This along with her confused look when looking at Spider could suggest that despite her anger and resentment towards him, she did not actually have the determination to kill him.  This would explain why the extra scene where Neytiri threatens to kill him even after Kiri is freed was removed in official version.
*In the original script, Lo'ak says to Neteyam in order to convince him to rescue Spider, "Come on, bro! He's our brother from another mother!"
*In the original script, in the ending of The Way of Water, Spider desperately wants to join the Sully family when they holds hands in a circle after Neteyam's funeral. Kiri invites him to join, but Neytiri shoots him a look to keep out, and he does not join. This is still similar to a scene in The High Ground, but with different context and Spider does join here.
*Apart from the nickname Spider, he has another nickname "Pink" due to his skin color and being human.https://www.thewrap.com/avatar-2-questions-neytiri-spider-payakan-quaritch/
*"Socorro" means "help", "aid" or "relief" in Spanish and Portuguese. It is also a real Hispanic/Latino surname with geographic roots in the Canary Islands.
*He was previously known as "Javier Socorro" during production. At some point, his first name was changed to "Miles" which was confirmed in The High Ground.
*In an early preview, Spider is said to be Jake's and Neytiri's adopted son.Empire article However, the final film contradicts this with Jake saying he was not part of the family and compared him to a stray cat. Whether or not Spider can be considered part of the family in the ending is unknown, as Jake says "a son for a son". Joshua Izzo put emphasis that Spider should not be considered an adopted family member, at least before he is embraced by Jake in the ending.
**An image of Jake's Songcord shows that he had a piece that symbolized Spider's adoption, even before Lo'ak's birth.https://thedirect.com/article/avatar-2-spider-past-photo However, it was dismissed as non-canon by Joshua Izzo in 2024.
*According to his actor, Spider has spent months with Recom Quaritch throughout The Way of Water (hinted at by Ronal's pregnancy) which only shows the more important scenes.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/avatar-3-hard-left-turn-jack-champion-1235285646/ This is likely one of the reasons why Spider saves Quaritch, as he has been building up his relationship with his father's clone for months instead of days.
*He seems to be skilled with the bow, apparently being his weapon of choice.
**There is also almost a running gag of sorts with Spider using fire extinguishers. He uses a fire extinguisher to break his way out of his cell in The High Ground, then he uses a fire extinguisher to bash Ward unconscious in The Way of Water.
*When Spider is in the RDA cell, just before he says, "Let me out of here!" it can be seen that he is giving the camera the finger.
*Spider is very similar to the fictional character Tarzan. They are both teenagers with dead parents, were raised in the wilderness by another species, have dreadlocks, wear loincloths, have strong climbing abilities and have compassion for animals. They both have to challenge a man who has hatred for the species that raised them (Quaritch and Clayton). Both can also be considered Disney characters as well as Disney holds some IP rights to the Avatar series.
*Spider may be considered to be the first Disney character to say the word "fuck". The second appears to be Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, released half a year after The Way of Water, when he tells Nebula to open the fucking door. This movie also features Zoe Saldaña who portrays Neytiri.
*Spider is also the first character to say "fuck" in the Avatar universe.
*Spider's character has received controversy within the Avatar fanbase, with Polygon calling him the most controversial character in The Way of Water.https://www.polygon.com/23521274/avatar-way-water-spider-jack-champion Despite that he does what he can to protect the Sully family, some viewers dislike him anyway, especially due to his moral choice to save Quaritch which can seem bizarre to those who don't think about why Spider decided to do that. They also feel that he is out of place within the universe. However, Spider's status as an awkward out-of-place character, torn between two worlds, can be seen as fitting perfectly within the themes of the Avatar series, seen with characters such as Jake in the first film and Teylan.
==Memorable Quotes==
===Avatar: The High Ground===
*
*
===Avatar: The Way of Water=== 
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
==Appearances==
(2 films)
*Avatar: The Way of Water - Jack Champion
*Avatar: Fire and Ash - Jack Champion
(1 comic)
*Avatar: The High Ground
== References==
Category:Characters
Category:Human
Category:Avatar: The Way of Water
Category:Avatar: Fire and Ash
Category:Comics Characters
pl:Javier Socorro
es:Miles Socorro
fr:Miles Socorro
ru:Майлз Сокорро