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.
Katniss Everdeen, also known as "the girl on fire," is the main protagonist of The Hunger Games. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the first book and is quiet, independent, and fierce. She has long dark hair (usually tied up in a braid), olive skin, and gray eyes, which are given as a characteristic of residents of the coal mining region of District 12 known as "the Seam." She was named for an aquatic plant with edible underwater tubers by her father, who jokingly said that “If you can find yourself, you’ll never be hungry.” She lives with her mother and younger sister, Primrose (nicknamed "Prim"). Her father's death in a mining accident several years ago left her mother deeply depressed, forcing Katniss to become the parental figure and to use the hunting skills taught by her father to feed the family. Her favorite color is green, (as she told Peeta when he offered friendship to her) because of her familiarity with the forest. When Prim is reaped as a tribute who must fight twenty-three other tributes to the death in the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her. Katniss survives the game along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark, who is in love with her. In the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss kills several tributes such as Glimmer, whom she indirectly kills with the tracker jacker nest; a District Four girl [book only], whom she indirectly kills with the tracker jacker nest; Marvel, whom she kills with an arrow after he kills Rue, and Cato, whom she kills as he is being eaten by the muttations to put him out of his misery. To survive, Katniss "pretends" she loves Peeta. When the Gamemakers renege on a promise to let two surviving tributes from the same district live, she defies and embarrasses the government by threatening a double suicide with Peeta, personally antagonizing Panem's leader, President Coriolanus Snow.
In the second installment Catching Fire, she is forced to fight in the next year's Hunger Games, an especially brutal edition known as the Quarter Quell which occurs every 25 years. The twist in that year's Quarter Quell was that previous victors of The Hunger Games would be reaped instead of the usual male and female 12–18-year-olds. In the games, Katniss allies herself with Peeta Mellark, Finnick Odair, Wiress, Beetee Latier, Johanna Mason, and Mags. While in the games, Katniss begins to realize her feelings for Peeta. While in the arena, she kills Gloss after he kills her ally Wiress. At the end of the book, she destroys the force field containing the Games arena and is rescued along with a few surviving tributes by members of an underground rebellion organised by the supposedly destroyed District 13 and Plutarch Heavensbee. In the third installment, she is caught in a love triangle with Gale (her childhood friend) and Peeta. She becomes the Mockingjay, an inspirational symbol of a second civil war against the Capitol. Despite her intentionally limited role as a propagandist, she is drawn into combat by her obsession to kill Snow. As the war progresses, she comes to realize the rebel leader, President Alma Coin, is no less ruthless and power-driven than Snow. Katniss learns that Coin considers her expendable; Coin staged a supposed Capitol atrocity which kills Prim, and after the war, calls for a final Hunger Games using the children of the Capitol war criminals. When finally given the chance to execute Snow, Katniss kills Coin instead. She is deemed not mentally responsible and returns to District 12, suffering trauma and suicidal depression. Peeta's return draws her out of the depression, and she finally realizes she loves him. Fifteen years after they marry, she decides to have children, giving birth to a girl and a boy.
Peeta Mellark is a male tribute from District 12 in both the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. He is the same age as Katniss, with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, characteristic of the town residents of District 12, whose middle-class merchants are slightly more well-to-do than those of the Seam. Peeta is the baker's son and lives with two older brothers, a quiet father, and a strict disciplinarian mother. Peeta's favorite color is orange. His skills include physical strength, personal charm and charisma, public speaking, baking, and painting. He is also known for his kindness and generosity. He is highly intelligent and is always thoughtful, balancing Katniss' impulsiveness. Peeta has been in love with Katniss ever since he first saw her during elementary school and declares his love for her during the pre-Games interview. Katniss believes this is a ploy to gain the support of sponsors to help them survive the Games. When they were young, Peeta saves Katniss and her family from starving to death by giving her bread, which he had accidentally burnt, and his mother had beaten him for. Since then, he is known as the "boy with the bread" to Katniss. During the first game, he carefully formulates a strategy to protect Katniss, part of which involves confessing his love for Katniss on TV in order to make her look desirable enough to have sponsors. Also, he decides to team up with the Careers and misleads them about Katniss. However, when the careers find this out, Peeta fights with them to save Katniss and is severely wounded.
In the Quarter Quell, he volunteers to replace Haymitch Abernathy as the male tribute from District 12, so that he can protect Katniss in the arena. The only time Katniss can sleep without nightmares relating back to the Games is when she is being held in Peeta's arms.
Peeta is captured by the Capitol at the end of the Quarter Quell and submitted to 'hijacking', a process of torture and brainwashing which gives him a fear of Katniss and effectively turns him into an assassination weapon against her. During the civil war, he is rescued and eventually rehabilitated by the rebels. After the Capitol is defeated, he returns to District 12 with Katniss and marries her. Twenty years after the war, they have two children.
Gale Hawthorne is a Seam resident boy who is two years older than Katniss and shares her hunting skill, dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes. Through hunting, they have become best friends. Muscular and handsome, Gale has caught the attention of several girls in District 12. Gale lives with his mother Hazelle and his three younger siblings (Rory, Vick, and Posy) after his father's death in the same mining accident that killed Katniss' father. Being from the Seam, Gale shares a slight resemblance to Katniss. This allows the people of the Seam to cover for his close relationship with Katniss by saying they are cousins to hide the fact that the "star-crossed lovers" storyline with Peeta was staged, as it is presumed her closeness with someone as good looking as Gale would draw suspicion. Though their portrayal as cousins effectively satisfies the press from the Capitol, it makes both Katniss and Gale very uncomfortable on several occasions.
In the second book, Catching Fire, Katniss returns to District 12, but their relationship cannot continue as it was, since Katniss and Peeta must play the part of lovers due to threats from the Capitol. Gale confesses his love for Katniss after she asks him to run away with her. Soon afterward, he is brutally whipped in public for hunting on Capitol land. Katniss rescues him, getting whipped on the left cheek in doing so, and then takes care of him and they share a kiss. He and Katniss prepare to fight as it becomes clear that a rebellion is about to begin. However, Katniss, along with Peeta, is selected for the Third Quarter Quell and must leave District 12 to return to the Games. Once again, Gale is forced to say goodbye to Katniss as she prepares for a fight to the death. The book ends with Katniss waking up to see Gale's face. She is extremely confused, having been in the Hunger Games, and Gale tells her District 12 is no more.
In Mockingjay, Gale fights in the rebellion in an epic war. When District 12 was destroyed, Gale led approximately 10% of the population to safety. The survivors are forced to move to what is left of District 13. Once the people of District 13 are aware of Gale's heroism, they reward him with a higher ranking and a communicuff (which is later taken from him as punishment for helping Katniss). Towards the end of the book, his relationship with Katniss deteriorates because he feels responsible for the death of Prim, Katniss' sister (as the bombs may have been constructed by him, although both are unsure). He mentions that he would always remind Katniss of Prim's death, which Katniss silently agrees with, and the two never see each other again after President Snow's death. Afterwards, Gale decides to remain in District 2, where he obtains a better job. Katniss believes he has long since moved on and possibly has a girlfriend now.
Haymitch Abernathy is a 'paunchy, alcohol-loving, handsome middle-aged man' who won the 50th Hunger Games (the Second Quarter Quell) 24 years before the events of the first book. He comes from The Seam and is described as having similar physical characteristics to Katniss and Gale: greyish hair and olive skin; in the Hunger Games films, he is portrayed with blond straight hair and blue eyes. When he was 16, Haymitch was reaped for the Second Quarter Quell, wherein four, instead of the normal amount of two tributes from each district participated. He became an ally to a girl named Maysilee Donner, the original owner of Katniss' symbolic mockingjay pin, but was later forced to watch her die. During the Games, he discovered a cliff at the edge of the Arena that concealed a force field, which would ricochet anything thrown in its direction. During the final moments of the Games, a severely wounded Haymitch positioned himself by the edge of the force field to face his final opponent, a female tribute from District 1. Since she was a career tribute and stronger than Haymitch, she was favored to win the encounter. However, Haymitch's strategy was to wait for his opponent to fling her ax at him, then he would duck, and the force field would hurl it back at her, burying it in her head. His plan was successful, leaving Haymitch the victor. Within two weeks of his victory, Haymitch's mother, younger brother, and girlfriend were all killed by President Snow as punishment for Haymitch using the force field to his advantage. Haymitch became an example of what happens to anyone who would defy the Capitol.
Following his victory, Haymitch became an alcoholic and has spent almost all of the next 24 years intoxicated. As the only surviving victor from District 12 (one of only two in the history of the Games), Haymitch has been forced to mentor all of its tributes, which consumed him with guilt by being obligated to participate in the Games that he hated. He stumbled through drunken fatalism and bemused curiosity all while teaching his new pupils his tricks. He dealt with these feelings with alcohol and by openly flouting the dignity of the games. He treats Peeta and Katniss with contempt, and initially is sarcastic, expending no effort to help them. However, when Katniss confronts him, he is stirred from his stupor and emerges as the pair's greatest advocate, impressed by her determination and Peeta's patience. Haymitch shows himself to be highly canny as he guides his protégés in a cleverly designed, highly unorthodox strategy aimed at ensuring the survival of both tributes.
In the book Catching Fire, the liquor supply in District 12 runs out. As a result, Haymitch suffers from alcohol withdrawal. It is left to Katniss and Peeta to coax him back to health and get him more liquor. After this incident, Katniss begins to develop a true affection and respect for him. When Katniss discovers Haymitch and his allies from District 13 and the Capitol failed to save Peeta from the arena as they did her, she claws him in the face. In Mockingjay, Haymitch is forced to go through detox in District 13, as they do not permit the consumption of alcohol. During the voting to decide whether the final Hunger Games will use the Capitol children, Haymitch votes yes, understanding Katniss' decision to make President Coin think she is on her side. After this, he continues to serve as a mentor to Katniss and Peeta. However, he never truly repairs his relationship with either of them and resumes his drinking after the war ends. Haymitch and Katniss, despite nearly always working towards the same goals, are usually hostile towards each other because they have similarly prickly personalities. Also, Katniss and Peeta both resent Haymitch for keeping information from both of them, sometimes at the request of the other. At the end of Mockingjay, Haymitch only appears by reference from Katniss who mentions that he is raising geese.
Haymitch is the protagonist of Sunrise on the Reaping which shares the story of his Hunger Game twenty-four years before he mentored Katniss. In the book, Haymitch is childhood friends with Katniss' father, in love with a girl named Lenore Dove, and chosen for the 50th Hunger Games after the original tribute is executed for trying to escape. Much like Katniss, Haymitch proves to be rebellious, actively working to sabotage the Games with the help of Beetee, Wiress, Mags and Plutarch Heavensbee. After killing the last tribute, Haymitch attempts to blow up the arena's generator and is implied to have succeeded. Afterwards, he is imprisoned for weeks and treated like a glorified pet while a heavily edited version of the Hunger Games is shown, one that is viewed by Katniss and Peeta in Catching Fire. When Haymitch returns home, it's to discover his house set on fire, killing his mother and younger brother, while Lenore Dove dies shortly thereafter from a poisoned sweet. As a result, Haymitch pushes everyone away to protect them from Capitol retaliation and descends into alcoholism and depression.
In the novel's epilogue, taking place following the events of the original trilogy, Haymitch is at first reluctant to take part in Katniss and Peeta's memorial book, but he eventually opens up to them, sharing with his friends for the first time his own story and telling them about everyone that he loved and lost along the way. The couple get Haymitch geese to raise in honor of Lenore Dove's memory while Haymitch, although unsure of how much longer he will live given his wrecked liver from decades of drinking, finally finds peace, having kept his promise to Lenore Dove to stop the Games and knowing that the Capitol can never take her from him again.
President Coriolanus Snow is the main antagonist of the series. He is the autocratic ruler of the Capitol and all of Panem. Though seemingly laid-back, his demeanor hides a sadistic and psychopathic mind. He initially appears in The Hunger Games giving the official welcome at the opening of the Games, but he does not speak to Katniss face-to-face until Catching Fire, when he pays her a visit at home and tells her he is angry that both she and Peeta were allowed to survive the Hunger Games, because their act of defiance (preferring joint suicide to the prospect of one killing the other) has ignited rebellion in several of the Districts. She is too prominent to kill, but he threatens her family and Gale unless she proves to the Districts that her act of saving Peeta was merely that of a love-crazed teenager and was not related to any desire to defy the Capitol. Later, Snow indicates to her that she failed in this, meaning that some or all of his threats will come true. President Snow is described as having very puffy lips, which are most likely the result of an appearance-altering operation that is very popular in the Capitol. Katniss describes him as exuding a smell of blood and roses.
In Mockingjay, it is revealed that the smell of blood is due to oral sores he incurred from one of the poisons that he used to kill people in his megalomaniacal efforts to control Panem. He drank the poison in order to allay suspicions, then took the antidote, but resulted in bloody sores in his mouth. He also smells strongly of genetically enhanced roses, as he always wears a white rose in his lapel to cover the scent of blood. The strong smell invariably makes Katniss gag. He is said to have prostituted winning tributes, like Finnick Odair, forcing them to have sex with wealthy Capitol citizens, under threat of killing their loved ones if they refused. Snow claims he only kills for a purpose, and he promises Katniss he will always tell her the truth. Whether these assertions are true or not is left up to interpretation by Katniss, but she ultimately believes Snow due to her own doubts about Coin only being reinforced by his words. He dies at the end of Mockingjay, after Katniss shoots President Coin instead of him at his own public execution, and he laughs maniacally at the irony of said assassination. The rebels are unable to determine whether the cause of death was by choking on his own blood from his untreated mouth sores or because he was trampled by the mob in the panic following President Coin's assassination.
He is the main character of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is set when he is aged 18. Having been orphaned during the war, he lives with his grandmother and his cousin Tigris. His family was once rich but had lost a lot of their wealth in the war, mainly due to their factory in District 13 being destroyed. He is assigned to mentor the female tribute from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird. In the leadup to the Hunger Games, they develop feelings for each other, culminating in a goodbye kiss before she enters the arena. Before and during the Hunger Games, the head gamemaker, Dr. Gaul, takes a personal interest in his education and assigns him to write a number of essays. On the first night of the Games, his friend Sejanus Plinth infiltrates the arena to administer funeral rites to a tribute, and Dr. Gaul forces Coriolanus to enter the arena and bring him out. They are attacked by a number of tributes, one of whom Coriolanus kills in self-defense. Dr. Gaul reveals that this was to educate him about the violence humans were capable of.
Lucy Gray wins the games, in part, due to illicit assistance she receives from Coriolanus: he helps her smuggle food into the arena, as well as a make-up compact filled with rat poison, which she uses to kill two other tributes. He also introduces her scent to the genetically modified snakes, which he suspects will be deployed in the arena as they are trained to only attack those with unfamiliar scents. As punishment for their indiscretions, he and Sejanus are sent to District 12 to serve as Peacekeepers. Coriolanus reunites with Lucy Gray, and they begin a relationship. The two of them get caught up in a rebel plot which Sejanus is part of, and Coriolanus is forced to kill the mayor's daughter, Mayfair Lipp, Lucy Gray's former romantic rival who it is suggested had manipulated her selection at the Reaping. Coriolanus reports the plot to the Capitol, for which Sejanus is hanged. Certain that his part in the scheme will be exposed, and with Mayor Lipp increasingly harassing Lucy Gray, whom he suspects of the murder of his daughter, the two of them run away from District 12 together. However, Lucy Gray realises Coriolanus' part in the death of Sejanus, and, deciding he cannot be trusted, leaves him. Coriolanus follows her, only to walk into a trap she had laid for him. He returns to the place they parted, and hearing her singing nearby, shoots a volley of bullets in all directions. She is not seen again after this, although it is unclear whether she was killed by Coriolanus, or she ran away and managed to survive. Coriolanus returns to District 12 and finds out he has been selected for officer training. He is placed on a hovercraft, ostensibly bound for an officer training school, only to find himself back in the Capitol. Dr. Gaul says that she had arranged for his assignment as a Peacekeeper, with the intent that it would be temporary and educational. He is effectively adopted by Sejanus' wealthy father Strabo, who is unaware of the role he played in his son's death and pays for Coriolanus' university fees. While at university, he interns as a gamemaker under Dr. Gaul and is set to inherit the Plinth fortune.
A number of features of the Hunger Games shown in the trilogy are revealed to be invented by Snow, either as a mentor or a gamemaker, namely the sponsoring of and betting on tributes, the Victors' Village, the Games being compulsory viewing, and payments for a victor's district. The Games themselves were revealed to have been a co-creation of his father, Crassus Snow, and his best friend Casca Highbottom. Casca and Crassus had fallen out after developing the idea of the Hunger Games as Highbottom had thought it an academic exercise and been horrified at the thought of it becoming reality. Later, Casca, recognizing several similarities between Crassus and his son transferred this grudge to Coriolanus. Snow's liking of the smell of roses is also explained: his family grew them on the roof of their house, and his mother used rose-scented cosmetic powder. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes also sees Snow begin the practice of poisoning people: initially indirectly through Lucy Gray, but later directly, when he poisons Casca Highbottom as revenge for mistreating him while serving as dean of his school.
In Sunrise on the Reaping, taking place forty years later and twenty-four years before Katniss' Hunger Games, Snow is now president and has become ill. Snow clashes with the rebellious Haymitch Abernathy and hints at his past with Lucy Gray -- whose fate still remains unknown even forty years later -- to Haymitch who fell in love with a girl from the Covey, the same nomadic group as Lucy Gray belonged to, named Lenore Dove. For Haymitch's rebellious actions in the Second Quarter Quell, Snow has Haymitch's house burned down with his mother and younger brother in it and Lenore Dove poisoned with a sweet.
Primrose "Prim" Everdeen is Katniss' younger sister. She is 12 years old in The Hunger Games and has blonde hair and blue eyes. Kind and compassionate, Prim is a skilled healer, a pupil of her mother. In Mockingjay, Prim is chosen by District 13 to train as a doctor. The events of Catching Fire and Mockingjay force Prim to become more solemn and mature beyond her 13 years. Katniss states that Prim is "the only person I'm certain I love".
At the Reaping for the 74th Hunger Games, Prim is chosen by lottery as the female "representative" of District 12. Katniss volunteers to and takes her place. Before Katniss leaves for the Capitol, Prim makes her promise to try hard to win, and Katniss agrees. This promise guides many of Katniss' actions, and Katniss' sacrifice makes her symbolically popular in the Capitol, prompting Johanna to note that the Capitol cannot afford to threaten Prim to get to Katniss because of the potential outcry.
In Mockingjay, President Alma Coin, head-of-state in District 13 and de-facto political leader of all the rebelling districts, sends Prim as a casualty nurse into the final battle against the Capitol. Prim is one of many medics that rush in to aid survivors when a Capitol-marked hovercraft bombs a group of Capitol children huddled outside the gates of the Presidential palace. Katniss calls out a warning as the disguised bombs fall, and in her final moments, Prim spots Katniss and speaks her name.
Prim's death sends Katniss into a deep depression, leaving her unable to speak or interact with anyone for a time, her spirit nearly broken by the loss. As he awaits execution, an imprisoned President Snow tells Katniss the rebels were in fact behind the bombing and made it resemble the work of the Capitol and timed a second explosion to kill the medical corps assisting the first round of survivors. This leads Katniss to kill Coin instead of Snow, repaying Coin for her leading role in Prim's death.
Buttercup, Prim's beloved cat, held a strong mutual dislike toward Katniss for years, but was so loyal to Prim that he journeyed from District 12 to District 13 to find Prim after the bombings, and back to 12 again at the war's end, hoping to find her a second time. Buttercup and Katniss ultimately united in their grief over losing Prim, with Buttercup taking to guarding Katniss at night. Peeta decided to plant primrose in the garden outside their house in the former Victor's Village, the smell of which was briefly intolerable to Katniss due to the plant's association with her sister, but ultimately, she found comfort in the flowers' presence and valued the deep affection and understanding which led Peeta to plant them.
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.
In Sunrise on the Reaping, taking place forty years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lucy Gray is mentioned several times, but her fate remains unknown and she is mostly considered the mysterious victor who has all but vanished from memory. While searching the Covey's secret graveyard for Lenore Dove's grave, Haymitch stumbled across Lucy Gray's grave. However, the poem on it suggested that the Covey believed her to possibly still be alive, at least when they put up the grave marker. The poem on the grave marker read "yet some maintain that to this day she is a living child; that you may see sweet Lucy Gray upon the lonesome wild."
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.
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.
Maysilee appears in Sunrise on the Reaping which expands upon her story. It's also revealed that the recording that Katniss had seen of Haymitch's games was a heavily edited version created by the Capitol.
Louella McCoy, a thirteen-year-old girl, was reaped along with Haymitch and two others for the 50th Hunger Games, and was Haymitch's first ally. She and Haymitch have been friends since they were kids. She dies during the tribute parade and Haymitch carries her body to the steps of President Snow's mansion. She is later replaced with a body double who has been forced to replace the deceased Louella and drugged by the Capitol to "act normal" via a pump in her chest. Decades later, a young Katniss Everdeen reminds Haymitch of Louella.
Wyatt Callow was the first male tribute reaped along with Haymitch and two others for the 50th Hunger Games. He is an oddsmaker from a family of bookmarkers who take bets on the Hunger Games, a taboo in District 12. He dies trying to protect Lou Lou, Louella's body double, in the arena.
Ampert Latier is the son of Beetee Latier, the victor of the 34th Hunger Games. He is one of the male tributes from District 3 for the 50th Hunger Games. He is Haymitch's ally in the arena and a part of the Newcomers alliance. Haymitch and Ampert work together to hijack the games and take down "the brain" of the arena. He dies by squirrel mutts that leave only his bones and axe behind.
Silka Sharp was one of the girls reaped from District 1 for the 50th Hunger Games. She had a rivalry with Maysilee over her insults about her fasion. She was one of the largest and most lethal tributes during the Games. After the death of the remaining Careers, Haymitch, hiding in a tree, sees her crying and gives her a piece of chocolate. The next day she kills Haymitch's last ally and nearly disembowels him before he tricks her into throwing her axe at the arena's force field resulting in her death.
Panache Barker was one of the boys reaped from District 1 for the 50th Hunger Games. He is related to Palladium Barker, the victor of the 46th Hunger Games, and considered the most likeliest to win. Despite his massive size and skills with a sword he proves to be a vain idiot, with Caesar Flickerman making a fool of him during his interview. He nearly succeeds in killing Haymitch before he's shot with a poisoned dart by Maysilee.
Maritte was one of the girls reaped from District 4 for the 50th Hunger Games. According to Wyatt during his interview she scored an 11. She is Silka's closest ally during the Games. After she kills a Gamemaker she is executed by the squirrel mutts used to kill Ampert.
Wellie was one of the girls reaped from District 6 for the 50th Hunger Games. She was one of Haymitch's first allies after the death of Louella. When Haymitch and Ampert made an alliance of all the non Career tributes she came up with the name Newcomers. After Maysilee's death Haymitch found her and fed her, promising to protect her. While gathering fire wood he discovered Silka had murdered her.
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. He finished 8th overall.
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 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 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, lethally cracking her skull, but in the film, he violently and lethally slams her against the Cornucopia. She finished 6th overall.
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 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 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, 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.
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 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.
In Sunrise on the Reaping, Beetee is the father of one of the tributes for the 50th Hunger Games and plots with Haymitch, Wiress, Mags and Plutarch Heavensbee to sabotage the games. Afterwards, Plutarch reveals that Beetee's life was spared as he simply too valuable and Beetee chose not to commit suicide as his wife is pregnant again.
Mags Flannagan 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.
In Sunrise on the Reaping, it's revealed that Mags won the 11th Hunger Games. As District 12 has no living victors to serve as a mentor, Mags and Wiress serves as the District 12 mentors for the 50th Hunger Games and are a part of a rebel plot. As a result, Mags and Wiress are tortured by the Capitol, leaving Mags in a wheelchair and its implied causing Wiress' mental state that was later seen in Catching Fire.
Johanna Mason is the female tribute from District 7. She won her 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 is the District 2 female tribute in the 75th Hunger Games. She was a Career tribute. 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.
Annie Cresta won the Hunger Games for 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.
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.
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.
Effie appears in Sunrise on the Reaping where she's one of Haymitch's stylists for the 50th Hunger Games.
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. 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 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", 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.
Plutarch appears in Sunrise on the Reaping as a young cameraman covering the 50th Hunger Games. Plutarch offers Haymitch advice about the arena and reveals his involvement in a rebel movement made up of several victors and tributes, some of whom would later be involved in the rebellion in Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Haymitch wonders several times if Plutarch can really be trusted, particularly because he comes out of the failed rebellion fairly well off compared to everyone else. Plutarch tells Haymitch that while their efforts failed, they need someone like him who is luckier and with better timing in the future to succeed, although it may not be in their lifetime. Plutarch speaks of building an army or better yet finding one to that end. When Haymitch accuses Plutarch of exploiting the games for his benefit, Plutarch states that he's no one's idea of a hero, but he's still in the game. He is related to Hilarius Heavensbee, a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games.
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.
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 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 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.
Dr. Volumnia Gaul is a sadistic and misanthropist 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.
In Sunrise on the Reaping, taking place forty years later, Haymitch recalls that Gaul hosted the 25th Hunger Games, the First Quarter Quell, with Lucky Flickerman. Haymitch described Gaul as a relic of a woman at that point who was credited with coining the phrase "may the odds be EVER in your favor." The phrase caught on as a way to wish someone good luck, but Haymitch considered it to be a sadistic thing to say to a tribute given that survival's an impossibility for twenty-three of the twenty-four kids.
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.
Katniss' mother, Asterid 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 Burdock 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. Asterid 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, Asterid 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.
She appears in Sunrise on the Reaping which gives her name as Asterid Everdeen, originally Asterid March. She and her husband were friends of Haymitch's before his games. After the murder of his family and girlfriend, Haymitch pushed everyone away to protect them with the Everdeens being two of the last to give up on him.
Katniss' father, Burdock 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 his wife, Asterid. He is depicted through flashbacks in the films.
He appears in Sunrise on the Reaping which reveals that his name is Burdock and he was a childhood friend of Haymitch Abernathy's. Burdock introduced Haymitch to the love of his life, Lenore Dove, who was Burdock's cousin. After the murder of his family and Lenore Dove following the 50th Hunger Games, Haymitch pushed away all of his friends in order to protect them with Burdock being one of the last ones to give up on him. Burdock later helped Haymitch to find the Covey's secret graveyard and Lenore Dove's grave.
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, 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 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 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 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.
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 recalling Coin’s various actions, Katniss realizes that Snow is right about Coin. Coin had orchestrated the death of her sister Prim and many other children solely to secure victory in the war and to ensure Katniss’ loyalty. Given that Katniss would wield significant influence over the selection of Panem’s new leader after the war, her tolerance for Coin was minimal 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 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.