Tulkun are Pandora's intelligent ocean-dwelling species in Avatar: The Way of Water.
The tulkun are enormous whale-like beings with advanced intelligence, language, memory, and social traditions. The film presents them as sentient individuals rather than ordinary animals, and several characters form close bonds with them.
One major storyline follows the tulkun Payakan, who is treated as an outcast by his own kind after an act of violence. The conflict also involves humans hunting tulkun for a substance called amrita, which is portrayed as having anti-aging value.
Tulkun should not be confused with the Na'vi, Pandora's humanoid inhabitants, or the banshees used as flying mounts. The ocean setting and tulkun culture are central additions introduced by the 2022 sequel.