Coriolanus Snow

* 10 ATT
* 61 ATT
* 75 ATT

"*Snow lands on top.*"
―A phrase used by the Snow family, signaling Snow's eventual rise to power**Coriolanus Snow** was a tyrannical president of Panem. In his youth, he was known by the nickname **Coryo**, originally given to him by Tigris. Before becoming president, he attended the Academy in the Capitol, where he mentored the winning tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Gray Baird. He served a brief stint in the Peacekeepers, demonstrating such aptitude that he tested successfully for an elite program to become an officer with the Peacekeepers, though ultimately, he did not pursue this path. He later moved on to advanced military studies at the University. While attending the University and studying advanced military strategy, he served as an apprentice Gamemaker, quickly instituting several new reforms to the Games, including the creation of the Victors' Village. He was elected to presidency in 18 ATT, two months after the 18th Hunger Games. He was stampeded by an angry crowd in 75 ATT after Katniss Everdeen killed Alma Coin instead of him.

## Biography

### Early life

He was born into the Snow family, a well-known and once-rich family. His parents and grandparents were well-known, but his family had fallen on hard times and his only real currency in his youth was charm.

By the time Snow was 18, his family status had fallen into decline due to the aftermath of the Dark Days. During the Dark Days, he once witnessed Nero Price sawing off the leg of a maid to eat to avoid starvation. Although living in one of the wealthiest penthouses in the Capitol, he struggled to keep himself fed and bought most of his clothes from the black market due to lack of money. The family's troubles began when Snow and his cousin Tigris were still very young, as his mother died in childbirth when he was five during the Rebellion, resulting in the loss of Snow's little sister that she was carrying as well. His father died not long after, a military general, Crassus Snow, who was killed by fire from a rebel sniper. Despite this, he maintained an outward facade that he and his family were still doing well, though those who knew what to look for could see through it.

He had a bad habit of fixating on one thing, thinking that if he could just solve one problem, it would solve his others. This "tendency towards obsession" was hardwired in his brain, an issue that he felt could be his downfall if he couldn't learn to control it. Many of the rooms of the home in which he lived were entirely empty and closed off due to his family selling off their possessions. Others still had extensive damage from the First Rebellion which they could not afford to repair. Furthermore, he was forced to watch in sadness as many of the picture books he once enjoyed reading with his mother were sacrificed to flames to keep the family warm during the winter.

### Mentor

Snow attended the Academy and was one of its top-performing students. As such, in his senior year he was tapped as a mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games. He realized that something was amiss when his achievement as a top-performing student went unrecognized and he was assigned mentorship of the District 12 female, Lucy Gray Baird, the poorest performing district.

Despite his initial shock and irritation at being assigned what seemed like a throwaway tribute, Snow soon discovered that he had been given an unexpected gift, as at her reaping, Lucy Gray enchanted the audience with a musical performance that made her and Snow the envy of all of the other mentors. He then showed an initiative lacking in the other mentors by choosing to meet Lucy Gray upon her arrival in the Capitol. The risky move saw him end up together with her briefly in a cage in the Capitol Zoo, but also brought him more audience attention.

In the days leading up the Hunger Games, Snow drew the attention of the Head Gamemaker, Volumnia Gaul. Gaul was the Head Gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games and personally made regular visits to the Academy to oversee the newly created mentor program. She was impressed by Snow's actions in meeting his tribute, even though they drew a demerit from Casca Highbottom, the sour and morphling-addicted dean of the Academy. Gaul asked the students of the Academy both to get to know their tributes through interviews and to brainstorm ideas as to way to get people more engaged in the Hunger Games, as they had proved unpopular with audiences. While worrying about his own tribute, Snow also became embroiled in the personal of his classmate, Sejanus Plinth, who was born in District 2 and resented participating in the Hunger Games, particularly having to mentor a former classmate, Marcus.

Snow ended up getting a far more personal taste of the danger of the Hunger Games than he expected when the Capitol Arena was bombed during a "tour" featuring the mentors and tributes. He was saved by his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, further cementing the bond between them, but some of the tributes and mentors were injured or killed in the bombings. Sejanus's tribute, Marcus, however, escaped, and was strung up in the arena upon the start of the Hunger Games. Sejanus sneaked into the arena to try to help him, and Snow was forced by Dr. Gaul to slip into the arena to rescue him. In doing so, he ended up beating and killing one of the tributes, Bobbin, in the process, when the tributes came after them. Later, Dr. Gaul revealed to Snow that another of the mentors, Gaius Breen, had died from his injuries and indicated that she had a special punishment in store for the tributes. Snow realized what she had planned - to unleash her special snake muttations upon the tributes. He then secretly dropped a handkerchief with Lucy Gray's scent into the snake tank to prevent them from attacking her.

Snow's machinations to protect his tribute and endear her to the Capitol audience were successful, but they came at a cost. Lucy Gray was not only not bitten by the snakes, but also charmed them with a song, once again making her the darling of those watching. She later used one of the snakes as a hidden weapon to kill another tribute, before going on to win the Hunger Games. Snow was ecstatic, as her victory seemingly also brought him the Plinth Prize, a newly created award which would pay for all of his tuition to the University. However, he was summoned into the office of Dean Highbottom, who confronted him with the evidence of his cheating. Highbottom then offered him a choice: either enroll for a twenty-year term in the Peacekeepers, or have his actions revealed publicly.

### Peacekeeper

With no other choice, Snow enrolled in the Peacekeepers. In the hopes of seeing Lucy Gray Baird again, he asked to be assigned to District 12. His choice was not questioned, as few newly enrolled Peacekeepers willingly chose to go to District 12, so there was no reason to reject the request of someone who was seemingly so willing. However, upon arrival, Snow began to despair even though he liked his bunkmates Smiley, Bug, and Beanpole. The food was better and more plentiful than he'd usually had for a long time at the Capitol, but the work was tedious and dull beyond belief, and the environmental conditions were terrible. Furthermore, he had no immediate opportunity to see Lucy Gray and no idea when he might. After receiving a discouraging letter from Tigris, he was at the point of contemplating suicide when to his surprise, Sejanus Plinth arrived in his bunk.

Plinth explained that he, like Snow, was in disgrace due to his actions during the 10th Hunger Games. Volumnia Gaul considered him a traitor for his actions in trying to rescue Marcus. On the verge of expulsion, his father Strabo Plinth asked that he be allowed to graduate and sign up for the Peacekeepers, and in return, he would gift a new gym to Agrippina Sickle. Plinth agreed on the condition that Snow be allowed to graduate as well. He presented Snow with his diploma, which even said that he had graduated with High Honors. With this, Snow even had the opportunity to take the Peacekeeper officer's test if he wanted to, as it was a requirement to have graduated in order to take it. Furthermore, Plinth's arrival meant copious gifts from his Ma Plinth, which meant that Snow had the opportunity to see Lucy Gray performing at the Hob.

### Romance and rebels

Snow and Plinth both settled into training exercises with the Peacekeepers and were soon recognized for their abilities. Their Academy training gave them a leg-up and despite his best efforts, Plinth could not hide the fact that he was an expert marksman, having personally trained with his father. The two were ordered to attend the hanging of Arlo Chance, a rebel sympathizer who had killed three at the mines. It was here that Snow first heard the mockingjays, taking up the tune after the jabberjays repeated Chance's last words, "*Run, Lil, Run!*" He took an instant dislike to the birds, an unnatural muttation of the Capitol-bred jabberjays.

Snow was reunited with Lucy Gray Baird, and she seemed to think that the stars had brought them together, them having saved each other's lives. Though there was clearly a strong bond between them, Snow worried over Billy Taupe, Lucy Gray's spurned lover whom she sung about during her interview for the Hunger Games. Taupe kept showing up, trying to get Lucy Gray to take him back, and worse, he seemed to be trying to put together some sort of rebel plot with Plinth.

Still disturbed by the mockingjays, Snow suggested a plan to the Peacekeeper commander, Commander Hoff, to shoot down the birds from the trees. Before this happened, however, Dr. Kay from the Citadel in the Capitol wanted the Peacekeepers to round up fifty jabberjays and fifty mockingjays from the forest in order to be taken back to the Capitol for study. During this time, Plinth revealed to Snow that he had been plotting with the local rebels to assist them in a plan to flee up north, where it was believed that there were still people living free of the Capitol's influence. As he did so, Snow secretly used one of the jabberjays to record what he was saying, then sent it back to the Capitol for his words to be heard by Dr. Gaul.

Things came to a head when, during a performance at the Hob, Snow encountered Plinth together with Billy Taupe and another rebel named Spruce in an old shed with a sack of several weapons. They were finalizing their plans to run away when the mayor's daughter, Mayfair Lipp, stumbled upon the scene. She made it clear that she intended to spill the plot to her father and Snow shot and killed her. He then shouted for Lucy Gray Baird, who had also stumbled upon the scene, to get back onstage. Billy Taupe, however, declared that he swung, she would swing with him, so Spruce shot and killed him.

Afterwards, Snow worried that at any time, someone would find the rifle with his DNA on it, and he would be hanged just like Arlo Chance had. However, it was instead Plinth who hung as a traitor, Dr. Gaul having received the jabberjay back at the Capitol and played its recording. Snow was stunned by the loss of his friend, having realized too late the serious consequences of what he had done. He had thought that Strabo Plinth would buy his son out of the situation like he always had but had not reckoned on the fact that Sejanus Plinth was an adult now and Strabo did not even learn of his situation until it was too late. Meanwhile, he was convinced that he could be executed at any moment and hatched a new plan to flee north, just himself and Lucy Gray Baird. Before they did so, however, he received the news that he had passed his officer's test and was to be transported to District 2 for an elite training program, having scored exceptionally high.

Snow despaired at this ironic chance to have the life he felt he deserved, as the evidence of his crime was still out there. Seemingly not having any other choice, he left with Lucy Gray Baird the next day. However, as they were traveling, he indirectly let slip that he was the one who was responsible for Sejanus Plinth's execution. Then, when they stopped to rest at a shack at the woods, Snow was dumbstruck to discover the rifle he had used to Mayfair Lipp sitting there. As Lucy Gray Baird stepped out, saying that she was going to gather some katniss. Snow decided then and there that living in the wild was not for him. He would get rid of evidence, then return to the village where he would travel to District 2 to begin his new life as a Peacekeeper officer.

However, Lucy Gray Baird was gone too long, and he realized that something was amiss: that she had figured out that he was responsible for Plinth's death and was planning to slip away. He began shouting for her and searching, claiming that they could work things out. He ended up falling for a trap she set for him and bitten by a snake. She then taunted him with the song that she had created, "The Hanging Tree," which was about Arlo Chance, but also could reference him, as he had killed three as well (Bobbin, Mayfair, and Sejanus). He fired randomly into the woods but could not be sure if he actually struck her. He then fled through the lake, submerging the incriminating rifle on the way, and worried that he was going to die from the snakebite. Upon his return, however, the doctor accepted his story that the snake had simply sprung up out of nowhere and told him that it wasn't even venomous. He was going to be just fine. The next morning, he boarded the hovercraft for District 2, and found that everything had improved immediately, from the plush seating to the beverage selection.

### Landing on Top

Snow woke up after a pleasant rest on the hovercraft, the melody of the song "The Hanging Tree" humming in his brain. To his surprise, he was not in District 2, but rather in the Capitol. An attendant informed him that they had orders to drop him off there. He was loaded into a Peacekeeper truck, which took him to the Citadel. There, he met Dr. Gaul, who told him she had received his letter and jabberjay and that she was pleased to see him "continuing his studies" in District 12. She asked him about his opinion on the Hunger Games based on his time there, and he told her that they were part of the eternal war, each its own battle. She informed him that she had erased the recordings of the 10th Hunger Games, except for a private copy kept for her own amusement, feeling that they painted the Capitol as far too vulnerable. She then described Snow's time in the Peacekeepers as a "summer vacation," telling him that she had gotten him an honorable discharge and he was to start classes with her at the University on Thursday.

Snow studied advanced military strategy under Dr. Gaul and was also accepted as an apprentice Gamemaker for the Hunger Games. He immediately began introducing new innovations, such as the creation of the Victors' Villages for each victor of the Hunger Games to live in. Unaware of Snow's betrayal of his son, Strabo Plinth made him his heir, financing his and his family's whole life: the taxes on their apartment, Snow's tuition, their cook and a generous allowance. Snow paid a visit to the Academy, where he met with Dean Highbottom to recover his mother's compact which had been taken as part of the evidence against him. Snow also returned Sejanus Plinth's diploma, claiming charitable motives, that Highbottom would not want it out there, given how he had ended up.

At the meeting, Highbottom revealed the sordid truth of the Hunger Games. It was true that the Hunger Games were his creation, but only thanks to Dr. Gaul and Snow's father, Crassus Snow. The two attended Dr Gaul's class at the University, and the final project was to create a punishment for one's enemies so extreme that they would never be allowed to forget how they had wronged you. Highbottom was drunk at the time and had always been good at puzzles. Crassus plied him with more alcohol, drawing out his evilest impulse, the Hunger Games, and fleshing out the project, all the while promising him that it was only a private joke between him. In the morning, Highbottom awoke, horrified that Crassus had turned in the project, wanting a good grade. Then, after the war was over, Dr. Gaul dusted if off and presented him to the Capitol as the architect of the Hunger Games. Before leaving, Snow told Highbottom that the Games, supported Gaul's view of humanity, that people credited children with innocence, yet even the most innocent could be turned into killers. On the way back home, Snow reflected on a letter he had received in which it was revealed that nobody quite knew what had happened to Lucy Gray Baird, but it was believed by some that she had been murdered by Mayor Lipp in retaliation for Mayfair Lipp's murder. In any case, Lucy Gray Baird could never trouble him again. Nor could Dean Highbottom, as Snow secretly poisoned his morphling supply during the meeting. He hoped that with his dying breath, Highbottom would realize something, something that one day all of Panem would come to know: "Snow lands on top."

During the 17th Hunger Games, at the age of 25, Coriolanus began plotting to become president. He was still incredibly popular and got married to Livia Cardew a month later. He promoted Tigris to a stylist in the Games, but his relationship with her began to strain because of his immoral choices. Snow attended a dinner with a rival politician, Clovis Calor Jr., where he poisoned Calor but evaded being exposed for it because he drank from a glass of wine that came from the same bottle but had an antidote beside him. Clovis' butler was blamed for his death and executed. Snow gave a speech at Clovis' funeral.

Snow devised a series of special Hunger Games, called Quarter Quells, to be played every twenty-five years. He played this idea as having been devised by Casca Highbottom at the conception of the Games, though it was really just him.

Livia Cardew formed the Hunger Games Expansion Initiative with her husband. This campaign helped project Snow into fame and presidential consideration. He poisoned Lia Coin, an immigrant from District 9, when she found out the truth about Clovis' death. Since Dr. Gaul died Snow carefully overlooked the 18th Hunger Games as co-Head Gamemaker's assistant alongside Remus Dolittle while the Head Gamemaker was Nero Paulus. Snow forced the victor of the 17th Hunger Games, Tamora, who was the first Career tribute, to be sold into prostitution, unbeknownst to the public.

In June of 18 ATT, Snow's Grandma'am was murdered by a protestor of his methods. Snow used this to project blame on his opponents to be elected to the presidential office the next week. Snow was inaugurated as the President of Panem on the 28th of July.

### President of Panem

As president, Snow possessed total power in Panem's government and proved to be a cruel and manipulative dictator, ruling over the Capitol and its contained districts. He also worked on the annual Hunger Games and headed the military responsible for oppressing the districts. He had no qualms about using intimidation in pursuit of his agenda, such as when he threatened to kill Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Peeta Mellark, and their families. Two weeks after Haymitch Abernathy won the 50th Hunger Games by performing a stunt with the force field, Snow murdered Haymitch's mother, younger brother, and girlfriend as punishment because Haymitch's move made the Capitol look foolish. He also tried to intimidate Haymitch into prostitution, but he no longer had anything that could be taken away from him.

Finnick Odair was the one who publicly revealed that he poisoned his allies, as he believed that they would become future foes, but he had to drink the poison as well so that he wouldn't attract suspicion. Even though he took antidotes, the poison caused permanent sores inside his mouth that never healed. As a result, he always wore a genetically engineered rose, which covered the scent of blood stained on his breath.

After Johanna Mason won the 71st Hunger Games, he had her family killed because she refused to dabble in prostitution, despite being widely considered to be an attractive tribute. She was sold into prostitution anyways. Finnick also sold himself into prostitution to protect his family and Annie Cresta.

#### 74th Hunger Games

During the pre-games, President Snow welcomed all the tributes during the parade in a high balcony above the chariots and gave a speech about the Hunger Games. He disapproved of the fact that the Gamemakers awarded Katniss the highest score because she shot an arrow at them because he saw it as a sign of rebellion. He then told Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane the reason they had a winner in the Hunger Games was because of hope and that hope was the only thing stronger than fear. However, he believed that only a little hope is effective as long as it is contained and ordered Seneca to contain the hope. Later, he met with Seneca to discuss what he plans to do in response to the uprising in District 11 caused by Rue's death. He disagrees with Seneca's belief that the public love an underdog, as he has personally visited Districts 10, 11 and 12, saying that there are a lot of underdogs there and warns Seneca to be careful. He was alluding to his experience with Lucy Gray Baird.

He watched the Games and became furious when Katniss and Peeta were both crowned victors. He gave Katniss a long, dark look while he placed her half of the crown on her head. At the victors' coronation Snow noticed and examines Katniss' mockingjay pin, remarking "What a pretty pin." He was shown watching Peeta and Katniss's triumphant return to District 12 in a monitor room before silently leaving, pondering what to do about the uprising they have caused within the districts. He had a party, as usual, at his mansion, and observed her during the party. Later he planned to fix all that was unbalanced due to Katniss and Peeta's perceived rebellion. President Snow later had Seneca Crane executed for allowing both Katniss and Peeta to survive.

#### 75th Hunger Games

President Snow visited Katniss in her Victors' Village home and informed her of the rebellion in the other districts because of her suicide threat. He threatened to kill the people she loved unless she proved to all of Panem that what she did was driven by love, not by rebellion, in order to stop the uprising in the districts. He observed Katniss from a distance and made sure she stayed in line. During the victory tour, Peeta proposed to her publicly, but Snow was still unsatisfied. During a ceremony aired all over Panem, he told them about the Quarter Quell and how they differed from regular Hunger Games. President Snow read the card that held the theme of the Quarter Quell which reads "As a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors," although this was changed from what it originally was. Snow greeted the tributes and gave a speech, as usual. President Snow confronted Cinna before interview night and told him to dress Katniss in her wedding dress. Snow was infuriated when Cinna turned Katniss' wedding dress into a mockingjay dress and ordered him killed, because Snow already suspected Cinna was a rebel. President Snow sent in a detail of Peacekeepers to apprehend Cinna and take him to be interrogated for information about the rebellion in front of Katniss to throw her off during the games.

Cinna died during his interrogation two days later because he refused to give information. Snow watched the third Quarter Quell and was shocked when Katniss and a number of other victors escaped the arena. He managed to capture three of them, Peeta, Johanna, and Enobaria. He demanded the others be killed and declared war on the rebel forces.

### Endgame

#### Capture and interrogation

President Snow held Peeta, Annie, Johanna, and Enobaria captive and tortured them for information about the rebellion. Snow let Enobaria off easy since she was from the most loyal district, and he fully trusted her. During the interrogation, he had two avoxes, Lavinia and Darius, electrocuted to death and executed Portia and the other stylists and prep teams from the 75th Hunger Games. He did this not for answers, but for Peeta to be traumatized and intimidated by it. He also ordered Johanna's head be shaved. President Snow kept Peeta healthy so he could use him to break Katniss. The week before Katniss visited the ruins of District 12, he left a white rose in her room to give her a message only she would know: "I can find you. I can reach you. Perhaps I am watching you now."

He made Peeta do an interview with Caesar Flickerman so he could manipulate and break Katniss. President Snow appeared on screen during Peeta's third interview and introduced him and Caesar. After Peeta implied there would be an attack from the Capitol on District 13, President Snow ordered the interview stopped and for him to be taken away. After Peeta was taken away, President Snow ordered for him to be hijacked in order to use him against Katniss. During an interview Katniss and Finnick shot to distract the Capitol from the rescue team, Finnick revealed President Snow killed his enemies and allies who could become threats to him. He also revealed that Snow forced Finnick into prostitution, selling his body to wealthy Capitol citizens for high prices. President Snow was enraged, but he planned to kill Katniss by using the brainwashed Peeta. Boggs revealed that retrieving Peeta was far too easy and suspected that President Snow let them take Peeta so he could kill Katniss.

#### The Thirteenth District unleashed

President Snow went on television to discuss the death of Squad 451. His broadcast was cut short after Beetee Latier hacked into the system and aired a propo. President Snow's forces discovered the remains of Boggs in an apartment of a Capitol citizen and realized he was fooled. President Snow figured out Katniss was still alive and sent a pod of lizard-human mutts to hunt her down and kill her and her squad.

During the final battle of the war, President Snow was in his mansion and was taking in Capitol children whom he was planning on using as human shields. Later on, President Snow was going to call an official surrender, but before he could, there was an explosion outside his mansion that killed the Capitol children and rebel Casualty Aides, including Prim. Snow was arrested and found guilty though it was actually Alma Coin's scheme. Katniss found him in his rose garden, and he told her the bomb that killed Prim and the others was not from him but from President Coin. Katniss refused to believe him, but he reminded her of the promise they made not to lie to each other. Katniss ended up believing him and ultimately killed Coin.

### Death

"*We both know I'm not above killing children, but I'm not wasteful. I take life for very specific reasons. And there was no reason for me to destroy a pen full of Capitol children; none at all.*"
―Snow to Katniss after the fall of the CapitolAfter the overthrow of the Capitol in *Mockingjay*, Snow was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. As the Mockingjay, Katniss was given the opportunity to execute Snow. Snow laughed and grinned at the irony and the thought of Prim's death: he and Katniss were both being used as pawns. When Katniss was supposed to shoot him through the heart with an arrow, she instead assassinated President Coin because of her political schemes and the fact that she devised the idea for another Hunger Games where the Capitol's children would have to compete. In the chaos that followed, Katniss witnessed Snow roaring with laughter and coughing up blood as people surrounded them. When everything calmed down, Snow was found deceased, having been crushed by the crowd.

## Relationships

* Peeta Mellark, Haymitch Abernathy, Gale Hawthorne, Finnick Odair, Katniss Everdeen, Cinna Goldridge, Beetee Latier, Plutarch Heavensbee, Johanna Mason, Boggs, Alma Coin, Cressida, Pollux, Messalla, Paylor, Mitchell, Lyme Turnbull (enemies)
* Lucy Gray Baird (ex-girlfriend, mentee)
* Sejanus Plinth (friend, classmate, bunkmate, enemy)
* Arachne Crane, Lysistrata Vickers, Persephone Price, Pliny 'Pup' Harrington, Io Jasper, Urban Canville, Androcles Anderson, Gaius Breen, Florus Friend, Palmyra Monty, Dennis Fling, Iphigenia Moss, Vipsania Sickle, Juno Phipps, Hilarius Heavensbee, Domitia Whimsiwick (classmates)
* Clemensia Dovecote, Festus Creed, Apollo Ring, Diana Ring (friends, classmates)
* Livia Cardew (classmate, wife)
* Fulvia Cardew (niece, enemy)
* Tigris Snow (cousin, friend, enemy)
* Grandma'am Snow (grandmother)
* Junius "Beanpole", Smiley, Bug (bunkmates, friends)
* Casca Highbottom (dean, enemy)
* Agrippina Sickle, Satyria Click (teachers)
* Felix Ravinstill (classmate, opponent)
* Regulus Snow (son)
* Camilla Snow (granddaughter)
* Crassus Snow, Luciana Snow (parents)

## Victims

Coriolanus Snow has killed hundreds of people during rise to power and his effort to keep it. The first human he ever killed was Bobbin of District 8 during the 10th Hunger Games. Snow snuck into the arena during the night to chase after Sejanus, who had gone to save and apologize to his tribute, Marcus. Bobbin started chasing Snow, so he grabbed a board and smashed it into Bobbin's head violently reapeatedly.

The second person he killed was Mayfair Lipp, the daughter of Mayor Lipp. She had stumbled upon the secret rebel meeting Snow had accidentally gotten himself mixed with, and so she wouldn't get them in trouble, he used a shotgun to kill her. Before he found the weapon he used to commit the murder, he had planned on running away with Lucy Gray to escape punishment. He was also indirectly responsible for the death of Sejanus, as he used jabberjays to record Sejanus' confession of wanting to rebel and run away to District 13. Snow did not expect Sejanus to be hanged for his crimes; he merely expected his father Strabo to throw money at the situation to save his son, but this was not the case.

Coriolanus poisoned Casca Highbottom's morphling supply, resulting in his death. While at a banquet with Clovis Calor Jr., Snow set poisoned wine in the center of the table for both of them to drink from. Most of the glasses of water around the table were just water, but the one where Snow was sitting contained the antidote to the poison in the wine. Clovis was killed, and his death was blamed on his butler, something Snow didn't jump to refute. Lia Coin, the mother of Alma Coin, was murdered by Snow when she figured out from the bottles of wine in Snow's house that he was the one responsible for Clovis' death.

After being inaugurated to presidency he killed the families of ten victors for refusing to prostitute themselves to wealthy Capitol citizens. Seven of these victors were forced into prostitution anyways, even though their families were killed. One example of this is Johanna Mason. Priscus Piso, a Head Gamemaker who was giving tributes from the poorer districts a higher chance of winning, despite years of Snow giving him chances to stop, was executed after the 58th Hunger Games. Another Head Gamemaker he had executed was Seneca Crane due to him allowing two victors in the Hunger Games.

During the Second Rebellion, Snow directly ordered the execution of hundreds of rebels. All of the prep teams and stylists from the 74th Hunger Games, excluding Venia, Octavia, and Flavius were also tortured and killed. As a form of mental torture, the President forced Peacekeepers to interrogate Darius and Lavinia for "information" even though they were both Avoxes. He also killed Antonius, Panem's Minister of Defense, by poisoning his food.

## Appearance

The President was a small, thin man, with paper-white hair, a medium-length neat beard, and thick lips that seemed pulled across his face. In his forties, he went through two lip enhancement surgeries. His lips smelled of blood and genetically enhanced roses. The smell of blood was due to mouth sores he got from one of the poisons that he used to kill people in his monomaniacal efforts to control Panem. He drank the poison in order to allay suspicions, then took the antidote, but he could not be cured of the sores. He always wore a white rose in his lapel to cover the scent of blood. The strong smell invariably made Katniss gag. His eyes were similar to a snake's, causing many people to compare him to one. Barley Mayes even had a dream where while she was standing on Snow's balcony, he transformed into a giant golden snake and ate her. He sometimes wore a dark suit over a white shirt with a gray vest over it, a tie, matching pants and black shoes.

18-year-old Coriolanus Snow was good-looking. He was called "gorgeous" by both Lucy Gray and Sejanus; the District 11 tribute Reaper called him "pretty boy", and many people always noted that he looked like his handsome father. He had pale blue eyes, blond curls (except during his stint as a Peacekeeper, when his hair was shaved very short), trim and athletic physique, and excellent posture. He was said by Lucy Gray to have a pleasant smell similar to roses. He was not as tall as he could have been since the malnourishment during the war stinted his growth, as with many of his generation.

## Personality

As a youth, Snow was raised on the belief that his family name meant prestige and power. His experience, however, was tempered by the fact that he was an orphan and that the loss his family's fortune due to being invested in District 13 munitions meant that he had spent much of his early life in poverty. He had a strong bond Tigris and was a studious student, one of 24 top-performing students at the Academy. He had a tendency to fixate on a single problem, convinced that if he could just fix it, then he could fix everything about his life. He was one of the few classmates of Sejanus Plinth who did not try to make Sejanus Plinth's life a living hell when he arrived in the Capitol. Some took this to mean that such behavior was beneath him while Sejanus took it as decency, though the truth was more complicated than either. Nevertheless, Snow was capable of showing empathy. He was appalled when his long-standing friend Clemensia Dovecote was bitten by Dr. Gaul's snake muttations and Gaul showed no concern whatsoever. While relating the incident to Tigris, he was clearly shaken by the turn of events. As a student, he considered group projects a waste of time, feeling them to be only an opportunity to have his own ideas diluted in the name of collaboration, cut entirely, or watered down until they had lost their bite.

His initial interactions with Lucy Gray Baird were based entirely on the idea that he needed to make her feel welcome, as if she was a guest. Over time, however, their interactions blossomed into genuine affection. Snow came to accept that she had fallen in love with him, though he was not yet sure if he felt the same way at first. He eventually, however, did come to love her, but in the end chose to eschew love in exchange for evil power and ambition. Filled with ideas of control and power from Dr. Volumnia Gaul, he made it his ambition to rule over all, even if people called him an iron-fisted, cruel tyrant.

By the time he was president, any of the few positive qualities he had from his youth were largely unrecognizable. He had become exactly what he had set out to achieve. He was a ruthlessly cruel, sadistic, wrathful, violent, greedy, arrogant, power-hungry, wicked and purely and utterly evil man, one obsessed with keeping the perfection of the established order and maintaining absolutely no respect or care for human life. He was an extremely tyrannical, megalomaniacal, and egomaniacal ruler who ruled over Panem with an iron fist. He constantly threatened and killed people who stood in his way to holding absolute power over Panem. He was not hesitant to use people for his personal advantage. For example, he used Tamora, Finnick, Cashmere, and other attractive victors for prostitution to affluent Capitol citizens. Snow tried to prostitute Johanna Mason as well, but she refused to go along with his plan. Because of this, he ruthlessly killed all of her loved ones as punishment which only inflamed her hatred of him further rather than breaking her.

His obsession with perfection arose from paranoia. He was paranoid that he would lose his power. As a result, he murdered allies and enemies alike (usually by poisoning them), and in his effort to throw off suspicion, he drunk his own murderous poison from the same cup and was left with a mouthful of bloody sores (because the antidotes didn't always work) which are the only outward sign of his insanity. He used the thick perfume of the genetically enhanced roses in his lapel to cover the scent of his bloody mouth. He failed, however, as Katniss described his aroma as that of faux roses and blood.

Noticeably, Snow was an extremely calm and reserved man, never visibly losing his temper at any point (at least, not in public, as this would risk damaging his public image). He was nicknamed "Gent" while serving as a Peacekeeper in District 12 due to his cool and respectful table manners. He remained completely in control, both figuratively and literally, throughout a conversation and maintained his serenity even if his life were in danger or if he were facing a known enemy. He had absolutely no lapses when it came to discussing the execution or omission of other people, as evidenced by his conversations with Seneca Crane and the cynical way in which Snow referenced Crane's execution. When he encountered Katniss after being overthrown, he calmly revealed to her what had really happened in the final battle, in the knowledge that she was confronting him with the belief that he had killed her sister, and even showed sympathy (real or otherwise) for Prim's demise. He also suggested that Coin was more dangerous than he was, and even chastised Katniss for breaking their agreement never to lie to one another.

His name, Snow, and his white roses symbolized his mental need to appear flawless, despite his obvious flaws. Despite all this, he claimed that he was not wasteful. Snow had a very clear understanding of the districts' emotions towards the Capitol, and how fear didn't make them back down if they had hope- which he allowed, in a *very* limited form, as a motivator. He only killed people for well-defined, though still immoral, reasons. President Snow was also willing to take the life of children for his own safety, as he was going to use them as human shields during the rebellion. He was obviously highly intelligent and cunning as evidenced by his manipulation of Katniss and his ability to maintain control of Panem for 57 years. He was also able to almost effortlessly judge whether or not Katniss was still alive after the showdown in District 2, knowing that she would have been martyred if she were truly dead. Despite his intelligence, however, he was fooled and outwitted by Plutarch Heavensbee and Alma Coin. At the very least, he was quite capable of admitting that he had been overwhelmed, outwitted and defeated because of some of his own mistakes and shortcomings and that he had horribly underestimated the ruthlessness of President Coin. To the very end, Snow showed no remorse for his tyranny and murderous desire for power, often acting self-righteous and blaming Katniss for disrupting the status quo, reasoning that for all his authoritarian propaganda Snow believed the games insured order and control.

## Home

Snow resided in a huge mansion in the City Circle previously owned by President Ravinstill where he sometimes hosted parties. It was over 200,000 square feet in size. The mansion contained many beautiful rooms such as bedrooms, offices, ballrooms, bathrooms, a closet with furs, a library, and a room with a long-forgotten bathtub and discarded furniture. Katniss and her mother stayed in one of the rooms while they were in the Capitol.

There was also an internal greenhouse for Snow's roses in a section of the mansion which was kept unoccupied by the rebels after it was captured. Snow was imprisoned in the greenhouse and revealed to Katniss that the rebels had bombed the children in front of the mansion when she found him there. Following the 74th Victory Tour, victors Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark attended one of his ballroom celebrations, where Katniss ended up meeting and eventually dancing with rebel leader Plutarch Heavensbee.

## Family

* **Wife:** Livia Cardew (deceased)
* **Son:** Regulus Snow (deceased)
* **Granddaughter:** Camilla Snow
* **Father:** Crassus Xanthos Snow (deceased)
* **Mother:** Luciana Snow (deceased)
* **Sister:** stillborn (deceased)
* **Paternal grandmother:** "Grandma'am" Snow (deceased)
* **First cousin:** Tigris Snow
* **Niece:** Fulvia Cardew

## Trivia

* In District 5, there is was solar power plant, Coriolanus 9, named after him.
* He is named after the Shakespearean character Coriolanus, who was a scheming politician, much like Snow.