The Hunger Games

***The Hunger Games*** is an annual televised competition in Panem. The competition takes one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the districts of Panem, and puts them into a fight-to-the-death arena-style competition.

Each year, the winner of the games wins a year-supply of food, water, and other luxuries for their home district, while they and their family are also granted several rights not usually provided to district residents, such as the option to relocate permanently to The Capitol rather than continue residing in the districts, turning themselves into a national celebrity and hero for the rest of their lives.

## History

The Hunger Games were introduced by President Francis Hardwynder-Smythe on 1 January 1 PS as punishment for the districts of Panem due to their roles in the Great Rebellion and the assassination of President Ebenezer Harlowe. The concept of the games was created by Hardwynder-Smythe in collaboration with culture minister Petunia Plutarck, who went on to serve as the inaugural Head Gamemaker upon the implementation of the games. Despite not fighting against the government in the Great Rebellion, Districts 1, 2, 4, and 7 were not immune from participating in the games. Instead, the three districts that fought alongside the government were designated as the Career Districts, with The Capitol opening up programs of study in their academies to instruct students in how to win the games, while District 7 was not awarded any competitive advantages due to their neutrality in the rebellion.

## Format

### Pre-games

The competition takes place annually each summer, and typically lasts through the month of June, although there is no set duration for how long an edition must last. The "Hunger Games season" officially begins in the first week of June during The Reapings, which is the first stage of the competition. During The Reapings, each district is visited by an escort, who is typically a television personality or host from The Capitol, who assists in the drawing the names of one boy and one girl from a large fishbowl containing the names of all eligible children in the district. Normally, children's names are each entered once, although families have the option to enter their children's names several times into the bowl in exchange for additional rations of food. Following the drawing of the names, these two children are selected as competitors in that year's games. It is possible to volunteer for the games, and thus take the place of the children selected in The Reaping, although this is uncommon in most districts.

Following The Reapings, the selected children (now known as "tributes") travel with their escort from their district to The Capitol. After arriving, they begin their physical training for the games, and also meet with their team of stylists. The night prior to the beginning of training, the tributes participate in the tribute parade of the opening ceremony, where they are dressed by their stylists in a theme corresponding to their district, and ride on chariots through a stadium to introduce themselves to the nation. A panel of judges subsequently chooses the stylist with the best-dressed tributes, and the head stylist of the winning team receives an award. Following the tribute parade, the tributes begin their physical training, where they may train in any sort of physical combat or survival skills that they choose. At the conclusion of training, each tribute demonstrates their skills for the Gamemakers, who are the producers of that edition of the games, who assign each tribute with a score of 1–12, intended to demonstrate to viewers who they view as most likely to survive the games.

The night before the beginning of the games, each tribute appears on *The Late Night Show* during a special episode where viewers are personally introduced to each tribute. The tributes are styled by their stylists, and interviewed by the show's host about their personal backgrounds, strategy for the games, and emotions leading into the games.

### Games

The games each began with all 24 tributes standing on an individual platform surrounding a large structure containing food, weapons, and supplies, referred to as "the cornucopia." At the conclusion of a countdown, the games begin and tributes are allowed to step off of their platforms in order to charge the cornucopia for supplies or escape deeper into the arena. If tributes step off of their platform prior to the conclusion of the countdown, landmines will erupt which will kill the tribute in question and possibly other as well tributes standing beside them on their platforms. Each year the arena takes the form of a different location, as decided by the Gamemakers.

In the time immediately following the completion of the countdown, most tributes decide to rush the cornucopia, leading to what is known as "the bloodbath." The bloodbath is typically the most deadly part of the games, occurring within the first several minutes of its start, when several deadly fights occur at the cornucopia; it is common for more than 10 tributes to die in the bloodbath, most often at the hands of the tributes from Career Districts. Following the completion of the bloodbath, tributes form their own strategies on how to survive in the arena and win the games. Every time a tribute dies or is killed, a loud cannon can be heard throughout the arena, announcing that there was a death. At the end of each day, the Gamemakers project the faces of the tributes who had died that day into the sky, for all alive tributes to see, also denoting how long they had survived for and how many other tributes were still alive at that point.

Once there are only about five tributes remaining in the game, the Gamemakers will announce that there is a "feast" prepared for the tributes at the cornucopia. Feasts are not actual feasts, but recreations of the opening of the games, where the cornucopia is stocked with food, supplies, and weapons. Attendance of a feast is not mandatory, but occasionally the Gamemakers will introduce natural disasters or new enemies into the games that forces tributes to attend. Feasts do not always result in bloodbaths like the initial opening of the games at the cornucopia does, but they very often do. After the final tribute in the arena dies, the arena is immediately turned off by the Gamemakers, and the sole survivor is airlifted out by The Capitol, being given food and their injuries or ailments immediately tended to by medics.

### Post-games

In the immediate aftermath of the games, the victor gives a televised interview on *The Late Night Show*, where they discuss their experiences during the games and their hopes for the future. Afterwards, they embark on a victory tour, visiting all twelve districts of Panem for meet-and-greets and photo ops, concluding in their home district where they are given a hero's welcome, and bring a year-supply of food, water, and other luxuries with them.

At the conclusion of their victory tour, victors are given the option to relocate from their home district to The Capitol with their immediate family, where they are given luxury accommodations. If they choose to remain in their district, they are relocated to the most luxurious neighborhood of the district in a home paid-for by the government of The Capitol. Regardless of their choice to relocate, the victor becomes a major celebrity and national hero throughout Panem, and is expected to appear frequently and various television programs aired throughout Panem and The Capitol.

### By district

List of winners of *The Hunger Games* by district

## Gamemakers

The Gamemakers are the producers of the Hunger Games, who are tasked with organizing the games each year, developing its yearly concept, and overseeing the television spectacle. One gamemaker is designated as the Head Gamemaker, who reports directly to the president of Panem as the highest-ranking gamemaker and person in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Hunger Games.

List of Head Gamemakers