List of The Hunger Games characters

The following is a list of characters in The Hunger Games trilogy, a series of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins that were later adapted into a series of four feature films.

Main characters

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. 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.
In Mockingjay, Gale fights in the rebellion in an epic war. District 12 is destroyed, and Gale leads 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 in the war). Towards the end of the book, his relationship with Katniss deteriorates because he feels responsible for the death of Prim, Katniss' sister (caused by a bomb he had constructed). He mentions that he would always remind Katniss of Prim's death, which Katniss silently agrees with. Afterwards, Gale decides to remain in District 2.
After his victory, he 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 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 that 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 or not 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 one another, 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.
In Mockingjay, it is revealed that the smell of blood is due to oral sores he got 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 it could not cure his sores. 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. He dies at the end of Mockingjay, after Katniss shoots President Coin instead of him, though the rebels are unable to determine whether it was by choking to death 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.
At the Reaping for the 74th Hunger Games, Effie Trinket pulls Prim's name to be the female tribute for District 12. Katniss volunteers to take her place in the Games. Before Katniss leaves for the Capitol, Prim makes her promise to try hard to win the Games. This promise guides many of Katniss' actions in the game, and Katniss' sacrifice for Prim makes her a popular symbol in the Capitol, as people love the story, prompting Johanna to note that the Capitol will never threaten Prim to get to Katniss because of the potential outcry. In Mockingjay, Prim is sent by President Alma Coin into the rebellion battle against the Capitol to serve as a casualty nurse. During this battle, Prim is killed in a bombing, causing Katniss to fall into a deep depression. President Snow later reveals to Katniss that the bombing was planned by the rebels to galvanize public opinion against the Capitol, to make people think that the Capitol caused the accident, and then had timed a second explosion to detonate when the medical corps arrived to assist survivors. Katniss had been told by Gale that this was a strategy being contemplated by the rebels. Knowledge of this information leads Katniss to execute President Coin, instead of President Snow.

Tributes

Minor characters

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 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 gold eyeliner that brings out the gold flecks in his eyes.

References

  1. "Who Will You Support?". Scholastic. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  2. "Character Profile: Haymitch Abernathy". Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  3. Znipp, Yvonne (26 August 2010). "Mockingjay — CSMonitor.com". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  4. Dill, Margo (20 July 2010). "Catching Fire discussion questions (Chapters One through Five)". Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  5. Marglios, Rick (1 August 2010). "The Last Battle: With 'Mockingjay' on its way, Suzanne Collins weighs in on Katniss and the Capitol". School Library Journal. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  6. Franich, Darren (6 October 2010). "'The Hunger Games': How reality TV explains the YA sensation". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  7. "Children's Review: Mockingjay". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  8. John A. Sellers (2009-03-12). "Hungry? The Latest on 'The Hunger Games'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
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