List of The Hunger Games characters
The following is a list of characters in The Hunger Games novels, a series of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins whose original trilogy was later adapted into a series of feature films.
10th Hunger Games tributes[edit]
Lucy Gray Baird[edit]
Lucy Gray Baird is the District 12 female tribute and victor of the 10th Hunger Games. She was not born in District 12 but was a member of the Covey, a group of travelling musicians. Following the war, the Covey were forced to settle down in District 12. Before the Reaping, Lucy Gray was in a relationship with fellow Covey member Billy Taupe, who was also seeing the mayor's daughter, Mayfair Lipp. Both girls discover this, and Lucy Gray believes that Mayfair arranged for her to be reaped. Coriolanus Snow is assigned to be her mentor, and they develop mutual feelings. She dazzles audiences with her charisma and singing ability and has a penchant for snake charming. Coriolanus provides her with a compact to smuggle rat poison into the Games and familiarizes the snake mutations with her smell so they will not attack her. During the games, she poisons Wovey and Reaper, and is able to control the snake mutations. However, due to the illicit assistance she received, she receives very little publicity afterwards.
She is reunited with Coriolanus after he is assigned to District 12 as a Peacekeeper. She is the writer of the song "The Hanging Tree". After Mayfair is killed by Coriolanus, the mayor becomes determined to arrest Lucy Gray for her murder, so she and Coriolanus leave District 12, only for Lucy Gray to realize his role in the death of Sejanus Plinth. Deciding that he is untrustworthy, she flees and possibly leaves a trap. Coriolanus shoots a rifle in Lucy Gray's direction as she flees but is unable to find any evidence of what may have become of her. Lucy Gray's fate is left ambiguous as she never makes an appearance again and is swiftly erased from public memory by Dr. Gaul who destroys all recordings of the games except for one master tape that she keeps for herself. In The Hunger Games, she is indirectly mentioned by Katniss who references a District 12 victor other than Haymitch Abernathy.
Jessup Diggs[edit]
Jessup Diggs is the District 12 male tribute in the 10th Hunger Games. He contracts rabies before the Games begins after being bitten by a rabid raccoon (or in the film, a bat) during his first night in captivity at the Capitol Zoo. By the time that the game begins, Jessup has already started to display symptoms, rejecting food and spitting in Reaper Ash's eye. He initially forms an alliance with his district partner, Lucy Gray, only to go completely rabid and start chasing her. He falls to his death during the chase when his assigned mentor, Lysistrata Vickers, bombards him with water bottles, using Jessup's rabies-induced hydrophobia to cause him to fall to his death. Lysistrata expresses deep sorrow for Jessup's death, having grown close to him, particularly after Jessup had saved Lysistrata's life during a rebel bombing.
74th Hunger Games tributes[edit]
Marvel[edit]
Marvel is the District 1 male tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. Marvel was a Career tribute and was very skilled at throwing spears. He scored a 9 in his private session, a score considered low for a Career. Marvel played a strong part in the initial bloodbath, killing off many of the 13 tributes that died in the first 8 hours. He then took part in the hunt for Katniss during the Games, along with the other Career tributes and Peeta. When the Careers were attacked by the tracker jacker nest, he survived as the sole District 1 tribute. He survived through to the final eight tributes but was then shot in his neck by Katniss (or in the film, his stomach), in self-defense, after he had fatally speared Rue, Katniss' ally. The arrow to his neck caused Marvel to drown in his own blood, halving the time of his suffering. He finished 8th overall.
Glimmer[edit]
Glimmer is the District 1 female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. She was a Career tribute. She chose to use bow and arrows as her weapons during the bloodbath, but it is later revealed that she was incompetent at shooting. Glimmer was later indirectly killed by Katniss after she dropped a tracker jacker nest on the career tributes along with the District 4 female tribute (book). After her death, Katniss managed to steal her bow and arrows from her 'dismembered body'. Katniss had to break several of her bloated fingers to retrieve the bow from her. Glimmer finished 12th overall. Her death was described as extremely disgusting. In the film, she was seen flirting with Cato during the games, but Cato left her to die when she was attacked by tracker jackers.
Cato[edit]
Cato is the District 2 male tribute in the 74th Hunger Games and the main antagonist of the first novel. He was the leader of the Career pack and tall, good-looking, the second largest/physically strongest tribute, being only slightly smaller than Thresh, the District 11 male tribute. In the training centre, he is shown being proficient in a variety of weapons. Katniss states that Cato's training distracted her: "I've been preoccupied with watching the boy from District 2 send a spear through a dummy's heart from fifteen metres." He was the only tribute in the 74th Hunger Games, aside from Katniss, who is confirmed to have volunteered for the Games. Cato was skilled with many weapons and proved this by scoring a 10 in his private session, earning many sponsors in the process. Cato played a strong part in the initial bloodbath, killing off many tributes, one being the District 4 male. He then took part in the hunt for Katniss during the Games, along with the other career tributes and Peeta. He managed to escape the attack of the tracker jackers, caused by Katniss while they were sleeping.
Cato made it through to the final six and was absent from the feast, as Clove had gone to the Cornucopia herself and fought with Katniss. Cato presumably killed Thresh (book) and outfoxed Foxface to make the final three. At this point, gamemakers sent in mutations representing the dead tributes (book) and dogs (film) which drove Katniss, Peeta, and Cato to the cornucopia, where Cato is seen to have received full body armour. After a brief fight on the cornucopia, Cato captured Peeta, but Katniss shoots him in the hand, forcing him to release Peeta. He then falls off the cornucopia and is partially eaten by the mutts for several hours before Katniss mercifully kills him.
Clove[edit]
Clove is the district 2 female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. She was said to have dark hair. Clove was a member of the Career pack and an expert knife-thrower. She scored a 10 in her private session, common for a Career tribute. In the initial bloodbath, she was the first tribute who came close to killing Katniss. She killed the district 9 male, who was about to kill Katniss, and then threw a knife at Katniss, who blocked it with her backpack. She then chased Katniss away into the forest. Clove took part in the hunt for Katniss during the games, along with the Career tributes and Peeta because Katniss beat her in the private session. Once they found Katniss, they chased her up a tree and trapped her by sleeping on the ground beneath her. Clove survives the attack of the tracker jackers caused by Katniss. Katniss then further weakened the Careers, when she destroyed their supplies. Clove and Katniss then came into contact at the feast, where Clove attacked her with a knife, pinned her down, and taunted her about Rue's death. Clove was about to kill Katniss but is then attacked by Thresh, who had witnessed the whole fight. Clove's death is slightly different in the book and the film: in the book Thresh smashed her head with a rock, cracking her skull, but in the film, he violently and lethally slams her against the Cornucopia. She finished 6th overall.
Foxface[edit]
Foxface is the District 5 female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss gives her the nickname Foxface. She scored a 5 during her private session and survived the initial bloodbath. She was next seen by Katniss as she stole food from the Career tributes' mountain of supplies. She then took part in the feast, in which she remained hidden in the Cornucopia, escaping with her district bag. She made it through to the final five tributes but died after eating poisonous nightlock berries that Peeta had collected, mistaking them for edible berries. She finished 4th overall in the book (5th in the film).
Thresh[edit]
Thresh is the District 11 male tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. He was the physically strongest and largest tribute, which lent him an advantage in the Games, and was one of the oldest contenders. He scored a 10 in his private session, which proved he was as strong as the Career tributes. He survived the initial bloodbath and even killed one of the tributes himself. During the games, he stayed hidden away from all the other tributes, which helped him survive through to the final six. When the feast was announced, he made his way to the Cornucopia and witnessed Clove attack Katniss. He then brutally killed Clove, upon hearing her say that she killed Rue, his female counterpart. He spared Katniss' life as she was Rue's ally. His death in the book is very different from that in the film: in the book, he is presumably killed by Cato and finishes fifth overall. However, in the film, he is the first victim of the Mutts and finishes fourth overall.
Rue[edit]
Rue is the District 11 female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. She was the youngest of all the tributes in the Games, at just 12 years old. She scored a 7 in her private session which was unusually high for such a young tribute and survived the initial bloodbath. She spent the first few days climbing through the trees and hiding. On Day 5, she found Katniss up a tree, trapped there by the career tributes. She pointed out a tracker jacker nest to Katniss. Katniss planned to drop the nest on the careers and cut the branch it was hanging under,[9] which caused it to fall on the Careers. This resulted in the deaths of Glimmer (and the female tribute from District 4 in the book). Katniss then collapses, having been stung by some of the tracker jackers, and sleeps for a few days. Rue tends to her tracker jacker stings during this time, stating that it was "lucky that she had the sense to pull out the stingers, otherwise she would have been a lot worse".
Upon her awakening, Katniss and Rue became allies. They talk, hunt, prepare food, and form a friendship. Rue asks questions about if Katniss likes Peeta and if all of it is true. Katniss also protects Rue while she sleeps. In both the film and book it is shown how much Rue reminds Katniss of her sister, Prim. Later, Katniss and Rue make plans to destroy the Careers' supplies. Katniss destroys the supply mountain the next day, shooting a sack of apples that, upon landing, sets off the pedestal mines that the male tribute from District 3 had reactivated, but Rue finds herself trapped in a net set up by the Careers. Katniss comes to her rescue, but, while dodging her own death, Marvel spears Rue in the abdomen. In the ensuing conflict, Marvel is killed by Katniss, who was trying to defend Rue. The dying Rue tells Katniss she has to win and asks her to sing for her as she died. When Katniss sees the violence of the Hunger Games happen personally to Rue, someone she deeply cared about and who was so young, caring, and innocent, it fuels her hate for the Capitol and the games as well. Rue also serves as motivation to the rebellion, her death causing several uprisings as well as Katniss presenting a speech for her. Rue finished seventh overall. Rue had five brothers and sisters, and her father died when she was 9. She was evidently close to her siblings and had some hunting skills, even though the only weapons she had were a slingshot and a rock for a knife. Rue is often mentioned by Katniss in the later books as they were not only allies but friends as well.
75th Hunger Games tributes[edit]
Finnick Odair[edit]
Finnick Odair is the male tribute from District 4 who was reaped into the Third Quarter Quell. He was 24 years old and described as being very handsome, muscular, athletic, and tall with tan skin, bronze hair, and stunning sea-green eyes. He was very popular among the people of the Capitol, both because he was a victorious Career tribute and a sex symbol, known for having many lovers in the Capitol, none of whom he stayed with for long. At age 14, he won the 65th Hunger Games by using a trident and a net against other tributes (a skill unique to District 4's trade of fishing). Katniss remarks that the trident given to him by a sponsor may have been the most expensive gift ever seen in the Games. During the Quarter Quell, Katniss is hesitant to make Finnick her ally, because she does not trust him—to her, he appears to be shallow, arrogant, and superficial. However, Finnick soon proved to be trustworthy by saving Peeta by using CPR to resuscitate him (which Katniss notes as, "one of the things I will never stop owing him for") and using his skills to provide shelter.
When jabberjays that make sounds of the screams of loved ones being tortured appear in the Quell, the one made to target Finnick used the voice of Annie Cresta, his "poor, mad" lover in District 4, who was also a victor of the Games. In Mockingjay, Finnick entered a deep depression, a result of Annie's being held prisoner by the Capitol and formed a close bond with Katniss over their mutual pain and experiences. He assisted with the rebellion by appearing in rebel propaganda. He later revealed that victors of the Games are often prostituted to wealthy citizens of the Capitol by President Snow, which resulted in Finnick's reputation for having many lovers. He also revealed all of the political secrets he learned from clients, including the fact that President Snow only became the leader of Panem by poisoning his opponents. Finnick was reunited with Annie (when District 13 retrieved her, Johanna, and Peeta from the Capitol), and they married.
Finnick was a member of the "Star Squad" that went to fight in the Capitol during the final stages of the rebellion. He and Katniss fought off lizard mutations (or "mutts") during the attempt to infiltrate the Capitol, with Finnick holding them off for Katniss to escape but being dragged back by them before he can escape himself. Katniss says "Nightlock" three times into the Holo, causing it to explode, allowing Finnick to die quickly and painlessly. In the novel, however, Finnick is decapitated by the mutts. Katniss sees moments from Finnick's life pass before her eyes as he dies. Some months after his death, Annie has their son. Finnick and Katniss grew very close in Catching Fire, and he was Katniss' best friend throughout the last novel, being one of the only people who understood what she was going through.
Beetee Latier[edit]
Beetee Latier is the District 3 male tribute in the 75th Hunger Games. He was skilled in electronics and won his game by electrocuting groups of tributes at once. Beetee also contributed substantially to the technology of the Capitol. He joined the alliance to protect Katniss and devised a plan to electrocute the Careers. Although injured, he survived the game and was brought by the rebels to District 13. Beetee joined the district's technology division, working on the military equipment and designing a bomb that President Coin later used to bomb the Capitol children and medics, killing Prim. However, Beetee had no direct role in the actual bombing itself with Gale Hawthorne later admitting that neither he nor Beetee knew for sure if it was their bomb that had been used.
Mags[edit]
Mags is the District 4 female tribute in the 75th Hunger Games. She was the oldest tribute, about 80 years old, and had won the 11th Hunger Games. Mags was frail and spoke fragmented words that Katniss did not understand, though Katniss did understand her body language (in the film, this is all changed to her being a mute). Mags knew she could not survive the game due to her age and frailty, but volunteered as tribute to spare Annie Cresta, Finnick Odair's girlfriend. Mags was skilled at weaving and could make a fishing hook "out of anything". During the game, Mags sacrificed herself to a poisonous fog so she would not slow down Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick. She finished 15th overall.
Johanna Mason[edit]
Johanna Mason is the female tribute from District 7. She won the 71st Hunger Games by pretending she was a weakling and a coward, so no one regarded her as a threat, but when only a few tributes remained, she revealed herself to be a vicious killer. Haymitch implies that she may have been prostituted by President Snow, as Finnick was, but it is also implied that she refused to be prostituted, causing the Capitol to kill her family and friends. She does not consider Snow a threat: "He can't hurt me. There is no one left I love." Sarcastic and rebellious, Johanna's first meeting with Katniss involves her stripping naked out of her tree costume in order to make Katniss uncomfortable. She openly defies and defames the Capitol at every opportunity, but the Capitol usually ignores her, since they had already eliminated those she loved. Johanna teams up with Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick in the Quarter Quell, bringing Beetee and Wiress with her. Johanna takes part in the committee to keep Katniss and Peeta alive and helps by protecting Katniss throughout the Games. Near the end of Catching Fire, she removes the tracker in Katniss' arm by cutting it out with a knife. Johanna is captured by the Capitol at the end of Catching Fire.
In the third book, she is rescued, along with Peeta and Annie, and brought to District 13 where she fights with rebel forces and improves her friendship with Katniss. She is to fight in the Capitol with Katniss (although not as a sharpshooter—being from an area where lumber is the main export, her main weapon is the axe) but during training in District 13, she panics when the training arena is deliberately flooded, as she has developed a fear of water as a result of her Capitol torture (being soaked in water, given electric shocks and shaved bald). Because she and Katniss refuse to be held in the District 13 hospital to treat their supposed mental illnesses, they convince the officials of District 13 to let them room together. Johanna is part of the committee that votes whether to hold one last Hunger Games using the Capitol's children and voted yes.
Enobaria[edit]
Enobaria is the District 2 female tribute in the 75th Hunger Games. She was a Career tribute specializing in the use of swords and the victor of the 62nd Hunger Games. During her games, she bit another tribute's throat to secure her victory. To remind people of her savage victory, she had her teeth filed into fangs and inlaid with gold, which made her extremely popular with the people of the Capitol. Enobaria was the only non-alliance tribute who survived the Third Quarter Quell; she was taken hostage by the Capitol alongside Peeta and Johanna. She was not among the victors rescued by District 13, though Boggs, who led the mission speculated that being from District 2, she may not have been being held anyway, and Katniss thought Enobaria was probably not tortured. Although the book states that Victors were targeted by both sides during the war due to distrust about their loyalties, Enobaria was the only non-rebel victor to have escaped death to the end. In the voting to decide the final Hunger Games with the Capitol children, Enobaria voted yes, stating: "Let them [the Capitol] taste their own medicine". Nevertheless, her inclusion among them seemed out of place to Johanna Mason who threatened to kill her anyway. In the final two film adaptations, Enobaria is neither mentioned as having been captured by the Capitol nor shown rescued alongside the other tributes but later turns up anyway, in the voting to decide the final Hunger Games as well as during the execution of President Snow.
Tributes from Other Games[edit]
Annie Cresta[edit]
Annie Cresta competed in and won the 70th Hunger Games, representing District 4. She has sea-green eyes and dark hair. She became mentally unstable after seeing the male tribute from her district decapitated. When an earthquake broke a dam, the arena was flooded. She won because, being from the fishing district, she was the best swimmer. Annie seems never to have fully recovered after the games and suffers from serious mental trauma. Despite this, she is a kind person. She is chosen at the Reaping for the Quarter Quell, but Mags volunteers to take her place, to spare her. Her scream is used by the jabberjays (birds that can mimic whatever they hear) in the Quarter Quell to torment Finnick Odair, who loves her. In Mockingjay, she and Finnick marry, and she gives birth to their son after his death. Annie votes against another Hunger Games for Capitol children, noting that, if alive, Finnick would do the same.
Maysilee Donner[edit]
Maysilee Donner is Madge's aunt and was reaped along with Haymitch and two others for the 50th Hunger Games, and temporarily became Haymitch's ally. She and Katniss' mother were friends. She teams up with Haymitch after saving him from a fight against 3 other tributes using poisonous darts. After breaking the alliance with Haymitch, Maysilee is killed by a large number of bright, "candy-pink birds", who use their razor-sharp beaks to fatally wound her in the neck. Haymitch stays with her until she dies, as Katniss stayed with Rue until she died. The mockingjay pin Madge gave Katniss belonged to Maysilee.
Titus[edit]
Titus was a male tribute from District 6 who competed in an unspecified Hunger Games. The Arena of that game was a frozen tundra, and the tributes were constantly in dire need of food. Titus became a cannibal by eating the corpses of dead tributes, forcing the Gamemakers to stun him with electric guns to collect the bodies. He was eventually killed by an avalanche, and since then, there is an unspoken rule for the tributes not to eat other tributes. Katniss speculates the Gamemakers staged his death to prevent a "lunatic" from winning the game.
The Capitol[edit]
Effie Trinket[edit]
Effie Trinket is a Capitol-born chaperone who was assigned to oversee District 12's tributes in the Hunger Games, specifically Katniss and Peeta in the 74th and 75th Games. She must carry out such tasks as drawing the tributes' names at the Reaping and escorting them to the Capitol. At first, she detests her association with District 12 and hopes to be promoted to a better, richer district after she pays her dues for a few years. Later, Effie becomes attached to her District 12 charges. During the 74th Hunger Games, Effie expresses no moral qualms about the Hunger Games or the Capitol and appears oblivious to the misfortunes of District 12. She dresses in the expensive, flamboyant manner typical to the Capitol and has a different-colored wig to go with the prevailing color of her clothes, leading Katniss to wonder if Capitol citizens realize "how freakish they look to the rest of us."
Mostly interested in moving up in Capitol society (and thus somewhat resenting getting assigned to manage the tributes from District 12), Effie does not appear to be especially intelligent and tends to get basic facts wrong, such as confusing how diamonds and pearls are made. In keeping with her socialite ambitions, however, Effie is keenly attentive to and highly knowledgeable of customs, courtesies and manners in the Capitol, always showing up on time. Katniss notes in the first book that "although she can be tiresome, Effie has a very keen instinct about certain things" and "a certain determination I admire". Effie's catchphrase in the first book is "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"
During the 75th Hunger Games, Effie's facade of perky civility cracks as she faces the prospect of seeing Katniss and Peeta forced into the arena for a second time. In the film of Catching Fire, Effie starts off trying to plan out a yellow-gold fashion theme that she, Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta will share. She insists this is to "Show them we are a team!" She then struggles to continue, managing "They can't just-" before becoming too emotional to continue. This leads Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta to each gently express empathy, appreciating Effie's concern.
For reasons unknown, however, Effie was not brought in on the scheme to bring down the 75th Hunger Games and rescue the surviving victors to kick off a second rebellion against the Capitol. In Mockingjay, it is said she was imprisoned after Katniss' escape but unlike many others Katniss knew in the Capitol, she is not executed. She meets up again with Katniss before Snow's execution, and Katniss notes that she now has a "vacant look" in her eyes. The book states Haymitch and Plutarch had some difficulty in keeping her from being executed at the end of the war, but her imprisonment had actually helped in that regard. In the films, Effie's role in the third film, Mockingjay Part 1, is expanded as, rather than getting captured by the Capitol, she is instead evacuated against her will by the Rebels and taken to District 13. Though initially hesitant, she eventually consents to help Katniss and effectively replaces the role of Katniss' prep team, who does not appear beyond the second film.
Cinna[edit]
Cinna is Katniss' stylist, responsible for her public appearances. After designing the spectacular outfits for the opening ceremony, which include costumes ignitable with synthetic fire, he nicknames Katniss "the Girl on Fire". Cinna is in his first year as a stylist for the Games and specifically requested to be assigned to District 12. His amazing designs immediately win over the audience in favor of the District 12 tributes. Cinna is better than most at seeing through the superficiality and spectacle of the Games to their barbaric core.[10] Cinna’s role was also to support and calm Katniss down before entering the arena. Although he did this very subtly, he had a unique nonverbal connection, which gave Katniss much strength. He and Katniss establish an easy, comfortable relationship, and he demonstrates a genuine concern for her well-being.
In Catching Fire, Cinna dresses Katniss for her television interview in her wedding dress, as insisted by President Snow, but alters it so that when Katniss raises her arms and twirls, the white dress burns away to be replaced with a black and grey dress of feathers that resembles a mockingjay, which has become the symbol of the resistance in Panem. Because of this, Cinna is savagely beaten in front of Katniss, right before she enters the arena for the Quarter Quell, which unnerves her greatly. It is suggested that he might have been tortured to death after the arena explodes. Effie Trinket states in Mockingjay, Part 1, before showing Katniss sketches of her Mockingjay costume made by Cinna, that he is dead. Cinna is very different from the other inhabitants of the Capitol. He does not use surgery to alter his features, wears simple black clothes, and leaves his hair its natural dark brown color, close-cropped. His only concession to the Capitol's fashion style is a small amount of metallic gold eyeliner, applied with a light hand, that brings out the gold flecks in his green eyes. In Mockingjay he is confirmed as one of the rebels.
Plutarch Heavensbee[edit]
Plutarch Heavensbee is the new Head Gamemaker following the death of Seneca Crane. He is actually the judge who falls into the punch bowl when Katniss shoots the apple out of a pig's mouth during her scoring in the first book, but Katniss does not formally meet him until the Victory Tour celebration in the second book. He is later shown to be the leader of the rebel movement in the Districts and is the mastermind behind the plan to break the tributes out of the arena in Catching Fire. He tries to give Katniss hints about the nature of the arena for the Quarter Quell, but Katniss does not pick up on it until much later. In Mockingjay he has become a "rebel filmmaker",[11] and helps create propaganda featuring Katniss as the Mockingjay for District 13's war against the Capitol. He is elected Secretary of Communications after the war ends.
Seneca Crane[edit]
Seneca Crane is the Head Gamemaker during the 74th Hunger Games. The bait-and-switch tactic of proclaiming two tributes could win if they came from the same district was his idea, and so when it came back to bite the Capitol in the end, Crane was held responsible for the embarrassment. Near the beginning of the Catching Fire book, Snow tells Katniss that he had him executed for letting both her and Peeta live. At the end of the first Hunger Games film, Crane is shown being escorted by Capitol guards and locked in a room containing poisonous nightlock berries to consume. In both the Catching Fire book and film, Katniss hangs a dummy with the words "Seneca Crane" on it before the judges when her skills test is performed, shocking the judges greatly.
Prep team[edit]
Octavia, Venia, and Flavius are Katniss' prep team. They are residents of the Capitol and sport the radically altered appearances typical of Capitol residents, including pea-green skin (Octavia), aqua-colored hair and a face etched with gold tattoos (Venia), and orange corkscrew hair and purple lipstick (Flavius). At first, it appears they are dull-witted and care only about their appearance. However, they prove themselves less shallow when they begin to cry while preparing Katniss for the Quarter Quell, from which they do not expect her to return. Katniss gleans valuable information from them by listening to them gossip about shortages of supplies, giving Katniss clues about which districts have rebelled. In Mockingjay, they are kidnapped and taken to District 13 to help with Katniss' styling, and they very quickly run afoul of District 13's draconian rules and end up cruelly punished for stealing bread. Katniss orders them set free and healed. Venia is said to have always been the strongest: for example, in Catching Fire, Venia is the only one to contain her emotions while working on Katniss' appearance, while Octavia and Flavius both need to leave the room to control their emotions. Katniss' prep team only appears in the first two films (except for Venia, who only appears in the first); their roles in the final two films are filled by Effie.
Caesar Flickerman[edit]
Caesar Flickerman is the Master of Ceremonies and commentator for the Hunger Games, along with Claudius Templesmith. He has served as the master of ceremonies since the 50th Hunger Games, but his unchanged appearance leads Katniss to speculate that he had received extensive surgeries to look and be as young as possible. Caesar interviews each Tribute on live television the night before the Games begin and is renowned for his innate ability to create relaxed, insightful conversations, making each Tribute stand out to the audience and potential sponsors. Flamboyantly outgoing and stylish, Caesar is also known for wearing a different color of hair and suit for each Hunger Games, though not all his selections have gone over well, such as a frightening blood-red hair dye that he used at the 73rd Hunger Games (and did not use again). In the films, he is also known for flashing a huge smile and distinctive laugh. He interviews Peeta after the events of the 75th Hunger Games in Mockingjay and makes no further televised appearances after Peeta's rescue by rebel commandos, his fate unspecified. It is implied that he is a descendant of the first Hunger Games commentator, Lucky Flickerman.
Tigris Snow[edit]
Tigris Snow is a former Hunger Games stylist who later works in a small shop specializing in fur-trimmed underwear in the Capitol. Her face has been altered into a "semi-feline mask" through many surgical operations. It is implied these alterations, too strange for even people in The Capitol, caused her to be shunned and banned as a stylist for the Games; this resulted in Tigris' becoming embittered towards the Capitol. She aids Katniss' squad on their final mission by hiding them in her shop and disguising them. When Katniss offers Tigris food, she says: "I eat next to nothing, and then, only raw meat". After that, Katniss says that Tigris is too into her character.
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, she is revealed as Coriolanus Snow's cousin, three years his senior. She cooks for him and their grandmother as the rest of their family are dead. In this book, she is training to be a fashion designer, and she and Coriolanus are shown to care deeply for each other.
Volumnia Gaul[edit]
Dr. Volumnia Gaul is a sadistic and whimsical mad scientist who is the indirect creator of the Hunger Games. She is the initial Head Gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games. She developed the Hunger Games from an assignment done by two of her university students before the war, Crassus Snow and Casca Highbottom. She views the Games as a way to represent the lack of control and order without the Capitol in a Hobbesian fashion. She is also head of the Capitol's Experimental Weapons Division, creating many muttations as part of her job, and a professor of military theory at the University. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, she behaves eccentrically and sadistically places mentors in dangerous situations. She specifically takes a particular liking to Coriolanus Snow, due to his ideas for the Games and thoughts on control and order. Eventually, she has him honorably discharged from the Peacekeepers, enrolls him at the University, and even makes him an intern for the Gamemakers.
Casca Highbottom[edit]
Casca Highbottom is the academic dean of the Academy, the most prestigious high school in Panem, and publicly credited as the creator of the Hunger Games. While attending the University, Crassus Snow got him drunk during an assignment to get him to give him all his ideas for a thought experiment, this assignment later morphed into the Hunger Games. Traumatized and betrayed by his former best friend, Highbottom became a morphling addict, leading to a young Coriolanus Snow to mockingly call him "High-as-a-kite-Bottom" behind his back. He never forgave Crassus for what he did and so he made his son, Coriolanus, the mentor for Lucy Gray Baird out of revenge. Eventually he proves Coriolanus cheated in the Games and forces him to join the Peacekeepers as punishment, clueless that Dr. Gaul was backing Coriolanus from behind the scenes. Just before Coriolanus started at the University, he visited Highbottom one final time, his mere presence back in the Capitol proof that, despite all Highbottom's efforts to finish his hated enemy for good, "Snow lands on top." Highbottom dies soon after as he takes tainted morphling that Coriolanus intentionally left behind, the first to die from Snow's signature weapon of poison.
District 12[edit]
Katniss' mother[edit]
Katniss' mother, Mrs. Everdeen, has fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, which symbolize that she is not from the Seam. She was raised in town as the daughter of an apothecary and consequently had a fairly comfortable life. During the 50th Hunger Games (2nd Quarter Quell) Reaping, she and Madge's mother were clinging on Maysilee Donner, Madge's aunt, and Ms. Everdeen's friend, who was reaped and killed at the time. She gave it all up to marry Katniss' father and move to the Seam, where she lived in poverty. After her husband died in a mining accident, she fell into a deep depression and did not speak for a long time, neglecting her daughters and forcing Katniss to become Prim's primary parent figure. Mrs. Everdeen eventually recovered enough to set up an apothecary in District 12, but it was not until after Katniss' first Hunger Games that she finally forgave her mother for not offering any support to her and Prim during her depression. In Mockingjay, Mrs. Everdeen is seen working in the hospital in District 13, and following Prim's death at the end of the book, she does not return to District 12 with Katniss. Instead, she stays in District 4, working in a hospital and coping with her grief. She and Katniss maintain contact through telephone calls.
Katniss' father[edit]
Katniss' father, Mr. Everdeen, died in the District 12 mines with Gale's father, when Katniss was 11 and Prim was 7. Memories of him run through Katniss' mind throughout the series, with Katniss mentioning his singing voice, his handsomeness, and the things he taught her. Peeta's father says that although he was in love with Katniss' mother, she chose to marry Katniss' father because of his lovely singing voice. Katniss recalls that when her father sang, "all the birds stopped to listen" (this is one of the memories that Peeta responds successfully to). Katniss misses her father terribly, and the pain of losing him almost destroyed Mrs. Everdeen. He is depicted through flashbacks in the films.
Madge Undersee[edit]
Madge Undersee is the mayor's daughter and Katniss' friend. She is not included in the film adaptations. She is described as having blonde hair and blue eyes, similar to the other merchant kids such as Peeta and Delly Cartwright. She and Katniss were always thrown together at school in the books, as both were solitary in nature. Madge gives Katniss her mockingjay pin,[12] which becomes a symbol of rebellion. After Katniss volunteers in place of her sister, Madge visits Katniss in the Hall of Justice and insists that she wears the pin for the games. In the film, Katniss obtains the pin at the market from Greasy Sae, who lets her take it free of charge. Katniss later learns the pin belonged to Maysilee Donner, a tribute in the 50th Hunger Games, and Madge's aunt, who was also friends with Katniss' mother, who became Haymitch's ally and was killed by candy-pink birds with spear beaks. Katniss and Madge spend more time together during the months after the Games. Katniss finds out that Madge does not see her parents often; her father has to run District 12 and her mother suffers from severe headaches that cause her to stay in bed. Katniss and Madge frequently went over to each other's houses, particularly during Catching Fire. Madge tried to teach Katniss to play the piano, but Katniss preferred to listen to her play. Madge wanted to go out into the woods to hunt, so Katniss took her and showed her how to shoot. Katniss is at Madge's house when she first hears of the uprisings in District 8 on the mayor's television in his room. Madge and her family perish in the District 12 bombings, and Katniss is very sorrowful at Madge's death and recalls how brave and kind she was.
Delly Cartwright[edit]
Delly Cartwright is a girl from District 12 whom Katniss describes as being "the friendliest person on the planet". Delly is Peeta's friend and became one of the refugees in District 13, after escaping the District 12 fire bombing with her younger brother. Her parents, who hid in the shoe shop during the bombing, were not so lucky, as Katniss describes. Delly is first mentioned in The Hunger Games, when Peeta, trying to explain Katniss' reaction upon recognizing an Avox as someone she met on a hunting trip, he lies and says that the Avox is a "dead ringer for Delly". In Mockingjay, after Peeta is rescued from the Capitol, Delly is used as a psychological "balm" to stir his childhood memories and help begin his recovery from the mind-control tortures the Capitol inflicted upon him. In the same book, it was revealed that Delly and Peeta used to create chalk drawings on paving stones, and Peeta's father used to let them make dough people. Delly does not appear in the film series, her role instead being taken by Prim.
Greasy Sae[edit]
Greasy Sae is an old woman who sells bowls of soup from a large kettle at The Hob in District 12. Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne trade with her often, and make a conscious effort to remain on good terms with her, as she could be counted on to buy wild dogs, which most of their other customers decline. Greasy Sae started a collection to sponsor Peeta and Katniss during the 74th Hunger Games, and some people chipped in. She has a granddaughter described as "not quite right" (this probably refers to her having a mental disorder) who is generally treated as a pet by people in The Hob, who give her scraps of food from their stands. At the end of the book, Greasy Sae is one of the few hundred people to return to District 12 following the war, both Greasy Sae and her granddaughter survived the bombing of District 12. When Katniss returns to District 12 after the war, Greasy Sae comes over in the morning and evening to cook and do light housekeeping. It is unclear whether she is doing this out of friendship or if she has been paid. Her granddaughter can be seen fiddling with a ball of yarn. Greasy Sae is not directly mentioned in the Hunger Games films, but is a character who is presumably seen dealing with Katniss; she gives the Mockingjay pin to Katniss in the film although in the book Madge gave Katniss the pin.
Buttercup[edit]
Buttercup is Prim's cat. He is Prim's companion and is loyal only to her, maintaining a years-long mutual dislike with Katniss. Prim cherishes Buttercup, while Katniss finds him to be "the world's ugliest cat."
Katniss was at first hesitant to let Prim keep the cat but Prim pleaded with her to let her keep him. Katniss initially tried to drown Buttercup but later, when she is on the way to the Capitol, states that she is glad she didn't as he would have been a source of comfort to Prim. Initially missing in the chaos after the Capitol's air force bombed District 12, Buttercup survived among the ruins until Katniss visited and brought him back with her to 13. He is said to dislike District 13, due to its underground location and lack of fresh air. After Prim's death and the end of the war, he makes his way back to District 12 on foot and is found again by Katniss. The two mourn Prim's death in Mockingjay and end up comforting each other, burying their lengthy feud as Buttercup takes to guarding Katniss at night.
Buttercup has black and white fur in the first film (contrary to his name), but in later films better fits the books' description of him.
District 13[edit]
President Coin[edit]
President Alma Coin is the leader of District 13. She is described as having gray hair that falls in an unbroken sheet to her shoulders and gray eyes that look like "all the color was sucked away" and "slush that you wish would melt away". She has a special dislike of Katniss and mentions that Katniss is more useful to her dead than alive. It is also revealed that she wanted Peeta rescued from the Third Quarter Quell, not Katniss.
During the assault on the Capitol, Coin deliberately places Peeta in Katniss' squad to endanger Katniss' life, which Snow had warned about for he and Coin had been political rivals. After taking over the Capitol, Coin becomes the "interim" president of Panem and proposes a final Hunger Games with the Capitol children as tributes.
During an encounter, Snow reveals the truth about Coin's actions to Katniss and explains that Coin had always intended to pit the Capitol and the districts against each other and then swoop in to seize power in replacement of Snow once the war was over. After Snow reminds Katniss of their promise to never lie to each other and remembering Coin's various actions, Katniss realizes that Snow is right about Coin and that Coin had set up her sister Prim and many other children to die just to win the war and to secure Katniss' loyalty as Katniss would hold enormous influence over who would become the new leader of Panem after the war and she barely tolerated Coin at best. As a result, instead of killing President Snow at his public execution, Katniss shoots and kills Coin and is arrested for her assassination. Although put on trial for Coin's murder, Katniss is ultimately exonerated due to her poor mental state at the time with the help of Plutarch Heavensbee and Dr. Aurelius.
Boggs[edit]
Boggs is first introduced as President Coin's right-hand man, holding the rank of colonel in District 13's military. At first, Katniss writes him off as someone she will dislike due to his close association with Coin. However, he is shown to be honest, witty, and friendly, and Katniss learns to trust him. He serves as Katniss' bodyguard for part of Mockingjay and is assigned to Squad 451 along with Katniss, Gale, and Finnick. Boggs knew one way or another that Coin did not want or expect for Katniss to come back from the battle to take the Capitol alive, but privately tells her he will not let this come to pass, intending for Katniss to have a long life. When Katniss asks why, Boggs answers "Because you've earned it."
Not long after that conversation with Katniss, Boggs falls victim to a Capitol land mine that his Holo failed to detect, losing both his legs in the blast. The squad drags him into an apartment, where he gives Katniss his Holo and tells her to complete her "mission", to not trust "them" (whom this is referring to is unclear), and to kill Peeta. He dies soon afterward.