Mercer was a shrewd and ambitious businessman who saw the potential of Pandora and aimed to use it to his advantage. He had created The Ambassador Program together with his co-worker Alma Cortez. The program was meant to create raise young Na'vi and create diplomats for the RDA. Though Cortez wished for the program to do good, Mercer aimed to use it win the admiration of the organization.
In 2138, Mercer along with Angela Harding and Alma Cortez kidnapped a group of Na'vi children from the Sarentu clan to use them for TAP. The kidnapping resulted in the decimation of the Sarentu, a deed which Mercer and Harding hid from the RDA by fabricating reports and destroying the bodies with corrosive acid which inadvertently created a toxic mist.[2]
Although Alma Cortez was on the fence about what had been done and had great guilt, Mercer manipulated and convinced her that the Na'vi were primitive and that abducting their children was a necessary evil for the greater good. He claimed to Cortez that the Na'vi were primitive savages, although it is unclear if he genuinely believed this, or if he knew they were more peaceful and complex than his claims were and used it to manipulate her.
Mercer shoots and kills Aha'ri when she tries to leave.
During TAP, he was known to have strict and rather cruel personality. For example, he physically beat Teylan for his bed wetting so badly to the degree he had bruises for weeks. He viewed Aha'ri's songcord as a useless piece of string, and when she touched him and broke the rule of no physical contact, he punished the entire group instead of only her. He also murdered Aha'ri when she tried to leave with her friends. When it was time to update Aha'ri's student profile, he merely vaguely wrote that she died to an unfortunate incident.[3]
When human-Na'vi relations soured throughout the 2140s, he changed the program to teach the Na'vi human combat methods and turn them against their own kind, making do with military assets instead.
Mercer worked on Pandora until 2154. The attack of the Na'vi clans during the battle in the Hallelujah Mountains interrupted the program, and Mercer gave the order to execute the children, from which Alma saved the children and put them in cryogenic sleep, hiding them.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora[]
Angela and Mercer approach the protagonist when they escape from the facility.
Mercer was among the RDA forces return to Pandora in 2168. It is said that he is seeking revenge. He directed Sec-Ops forces against the Na'vi.[4]
After contacting Teylan by chance while both of them were on their communicators, he tries to manipulate Teylan to turn against The Resistance. Mercer gave Teylan a tablet and told him to take notes, and also told Teylan that one day, Teylan would understand Mercer's actions against the Resistance.
Mercer in his final moments.
He is believed to have been killed in the explosion in the facility when his Na'vi student and soldier Teylan rebels against him. His death was eventually confirmed by RDA lieutenant Cassandra Slate in an audio log found after she is defeated by The Sarentu.
Mercer is described as a dangerous visionary who is intelligent, manipulative, and vindictive, hungry for power and the admiration of other people. He has little to no respect for the Na'vi, calling them primitive and savages, and wanting them dead for opposing the RDA.
In the start, Mercer aimed to win the admiration of the organization, though was willing to do whatever he thought necessary to achieve these desired ends and was inclined to hide truths from the RDA. Despite the fact that they attempted peaceful approaches with the Na'vi at first, Mercer was quick to resort to violence and force which culminated in the decimation of the Sarentu and the abduction of several of their children for TAP, something which he worked to cover up so that neither the RDA nor other Na'vi clans would ever know.
Mercer gets into an argument with Aha'ri about how her mother's songcord is not a useless trinket.
When it came to the TAP students, Mercer treated them like property and expected absolute compliance from them. He was disappointed when Alma tried to show them more creative works, like poetry, which could inspire their imagination. Instead, he felt they should learn economics which he believed was real science, saying they should read books such as The Triumph of Hegemony Politics in the Second Space Age and Untangling Entanglement: an Introduction to Quantum Business Analysis.[5] He further committed ruthless and abusive acts towards the students, hurting them several times both physically and emotionally. Mercer would inflict severe punishments on all the students if only one of them defied him and was willing to murder one, Aha'ri for doing so.
Upon his return to Pandora and spearheading the colonization of the Western Frontier, Mercer had become even more determined and aggressive than ever before. Tasked with extracting resources from the area for the RDA, he did so however he saw fit, regardless of the environmental impact and spread massive pollution. Mercer went to extreme lengths do his job and combat anyone who opposed him, seeking to decimate the Na'vi and the Resistance at any cost. He started to show signs of mental instability which disturbed his subordinates whom he cared little for, viewing them all as expendable, and this created resentment towards him amongst them. However, Mercer could also show some measure of respect towards those who seemingly obeyed him without question and those he thought he could control, and would actually let his guard down around them.
Mercer was noted by Harding to be into extreme neatness; his office has objects at right angles. Harding once picked up a stapler and he not only ordered her to put it back, but it had to be at the right angle as his pens were. He is also said to have the belief that first impressions are very important.
A peculiar behavior of Mercer was that he held onto the songcord belonging to Aha'ri after he had killed her, keeping it on his person despite him once claiming it to be worthless. The reason as to why he did this was unclear.
Mercer commands Colonel Harding, his subordinate, for killing all Na'vi that are in their way. Her opinion of him greatly soured during their return to Pandora and she would record an audio log for General Ardmore in which she called Mercer a psycho.
Mercer manipulated Cortez, who subsequently massacred the clan and kidnapped all of the Sarentu Clan's children so he could train them as soldiers loyal to the RDA through TAP. She was complicit in the massacre due to desperation to make TAP a success, but came to regret it and betrayed him for Jake Sully as a member of the Resistance.
Mercer and Aha'ri had a very conflicted relationship, and he did not care about her attachment to her mother's songcord. He would eventually take her life when she defied his orders, and cover her death up by claiming she vaguely died in an unforeseen incident.
Teylan was one of several Na'vi who Mercer imprisoned and abused at TAP, aiming to turn him into a loyal soldier for the RDA. When he was younger, Mercer inflicted terrible acts and punishments onto the boy such as when he had him beaten for wetting his bed.
Despite all this, Teylan was the only Na'vi who did not wish to see Mercer for the monster he was and believed that he had actually saved him. He tried to show as much loyalty as he could towards Mercer which made him calmer than he was with other students, though Mercer would still punish Teylan for something someone else did.
This confused sense of compliance and loyalty was something that Teylan carried with him even after Mercer ordered his execution along with the rest of the TAP students and he was put into cryogenic stasis, waking up several years later and joining the Resistance's efforts against Mercer. When Teylan betrayed the Resistance and briefly sided with Mercer, he showed some measure of respect and appreciation though likely still only saw him as a mere tool. However, because of his apparent loyalty, Mercer mistakenly let his guard down around Teylan which resulted in his defeat when the latter came back to his senses and rejoined the Resistance.
Mercer was obsessed with Selfridge, who was the head administrator of Hell's Gate before Assault on the Tree of Souls. Mercer views him as an obstacle and a cowardly leader, but still expected admiration from him. 15 years later, he returns and seems satisfied that Parker has been punished by the RDA and left his position, because Parker was indifferent to him.
Temperament: Eager to please. Ideal candidate to promote
human aims. Gets distracted by tech. We should keep an eye
on this aspect.
Skills: A malleable mouthpiece for TAP
Additional note: Perhaps we can nurture Teylan's love of
human technology. AC
Subject: Ri'nela
Temperament: Subject appears to be adapting to the program
well. Some of the other subjects have a strong attachment to
this one. Could be used to our advantage.
Skills: Articulate for a Na'vi.
Additional note: Agree that Ri'nela is a great candidate for TAP
and has the trust of her Na'vi peers. She could go far with the
right support. AC
Subject: Nor
Temperament: Can be surly. Needs discipline. Suggest
stronger punishments to bring him in line.
Skills: Shows potential in weapons. Need to breakdown his
resistance to human tech and channel his anger.
Additional Note: Nor needs care, not discipline, in my opinion.
Let's discuss next steps. AC
Subject: Okni
Temperament: Sickly. Subject is weak. Not a good candidate
for TAP. Suggest downgrade to service aspects of the initiative
if they survive.
Skills: Compliant.
Additional Note: Okni had another fever this week. Need to
check in with medical to see what we can do for her. AC
Subject: Yuayt
Temperament: Responds well to discipline and authority. Has
proven useful as eyes and ears for us in exchange for
favorable conditions. Helped us monitor rule-breakers to
maintain discipline.
Skills: Firearms. Recommend for combat missions, once
loyalty to TAP is rock solid.
Additional Note: Yuayt is far too young for combat. He is strong
for his age, but we should proceed with caution. I will take this
up with John myself. AC
Subject: Aha'ri
Temperament: Displays disruptive and insubordinate
behaviors. Strong discipline recommended. Too much
influence over sibling and others. Suggest separation.
Status: Deceased
Notes: Disciplinary issues. Subject was not suited to TAP. An
unfortunate incident led to termination. JM
Additional Note:
I was too much of a coward to write this when it happened. But
I'll write it now. For all the kids.
That was no 'unfortunate incident', John. You killed Aha'ri. A
child. Because you can't stand dissent and you will crush it at
any cost. That spirited girl was snuffed out.
I tried my best to protect the others. But I fear it was not
enough. What started as a dream will haunt me forever. I will
make this right.
Let the record state: John Mercer murdered Aha'ri. In cold
blood!!
AC
Notable Quotes[]
„This is our last chance. They're too primitive to understand what we can do for their children!“
„Hell's Gate is under attack, evacuate now! Kill all the Na'vi children!“
„If you had showed half as much initiative at school, we'd have gotten somewhere. You're such a waste of breath. Do you see this, Teylan? This is what failure looks like.“
„Are you serious? This is how you choose to go out? With a children's song?“
Trivia[]
According to the dossier behind Alma during the briefing in the quest Welcome to the Resistance, Mercer is 1.86m tall and weighs 77kg. The dossier also has his age, and according to the document he is "50+" — an exact age is not given.[6]
