The characters created by Suzanne Collins are well-rounded and highly personable, leaving a distinct impression on the reader. Most of the characters in The Hunger Games have a different relationship with Katniss, and they help her survive her trials in several ways.
Katniss Everdeen
The novel’s protagonist
From District 12
The primary caregiver for her family
Volunteers for the Hunger Games to save her sister
Katniss Everdeen is the protagonist of the novel. She hails from District 12 and has olive skin, dark hair, and grey eyes. She became the primary provider for her whole family after her father died when she was 11, and her mother became deeply depressed. She is extremely mature for her age and takes care of her sister like a parent.
Katniss is a highly skilled hunter – having been taught by her father. She hunts and sells her prey to augment her resources, which is punishable by death in Panem.
Katniss is also self-sufficient and courageous. She volunteers to take her sister’s place in the 74th Hunger Games and uses her skills with a bow and arrow during the Games. She forms special relationships with several people along the way, including her co-tribute, Peeta Mellark, her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, and her stylist, Cinna.
Katniss has a rebellious streak in her nature. This comes out specifically towards the end of the novel, when she decides to defy the authority of the Capitol by committing suicide along with her partner, Peeta – to leave the Games with no victor. However, she is saved from doing so by Gamemakers who hurriedly end the Games.
Peeta Mellark
From District 12
The son of a baker
He is in love with Katniss
Peeta Mellark is the male tribute from District 12 in the 74th Hunger Games. He is blond with fair skin and blue eyes and comes from a little more well-off family than Katniss’s. Peeta is the son of a baker, and he is known as the “boy with the bread” (as quoted from The Hunger Games) by Katniss after he gives a loaf of burnt bread to her one day when she and her family were starving.
Peeta is powerful, and he often couples his brute strength with thoughtfulness and perceptiveness. He knows how to win the affections of sponsors and is consequently charming and flattering at the same time.
Peeta has been in love with Katniss ever since elementary school, and he chooses to reveal his affections during the pre-Games interview with Caesar Flickerman. However, this was a ploy to help Katniss win the Games. He also teams up with the Career tributes, provides them with misleading information about Katniss, and fights them for her. However, he is severely wounded as a result.
Peeta is sure of his identity and admits to Katniss that he wants to die as himself, i.e., not be changed in any way during the Games.
Gale Hawthorne
Katniss’ best friend
Helps provide for Katniss’ family
He is a source of inspiration for Katniss
Gale Hawthorne is an 18-year-old boy from District 12 and Katniss’s best friend. The pair have developed a close relationship after their fathers died (in the same mining accident), and they took on the role of primary providers in their family.
Gale is extremely handsome, and his relationship with Katniss throws suspicion on the image of Katniss and Peeta as star-crossed lovers. To cover this up, Katniss and Gale are projected as “cousins,” something which makes both of them extremely uncomfortable on more than one occasion.
Haymitch Abernathy
A past victor in the Hunger Games
His loved ones were put to death after he used the force field.
He struggles with alcoholism
Haymitch Abernathy is one of two victors of the Hunger Games from District 12 and the only living one. He won the 50th Hunger Games – an occasion that was marked by double the number of tributes as usual – by using the force field in the arena to his advantage. For this act, all his loved ones were put to death as an example of what would happen to rebels in Panem.
Haymitch is a drunkard and a cynic. He acts as a mentor for Katniss and Peeta during the Hunger Games and provides them with valuable advice on how to gain sponsors and survive in the arena.
Effie Trinket
She is known for her showy costumes
Works as Katniss’ and Peeta’s escort
Effie Trinket is Katniss and Peeta’s escort during the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. She is obsessed with her appearance as well as her career and is described as wearing various kinds of showy costumes and accessories. Effie is simple-minded and does not seem to realize the implications of the Hunger Games for Katniss and Peeta. However, she ends up forging a bond with the two of them and is genuinely joyous when they emerge victorious in the end.
Cinna
Katniss’ and Peeta’s stylist
Created the image of the “Girl on Fire”
Cinna is Katniss and Peeta’s stylist during the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. His creations for the “Girl on Fire” became famous after Katniss wins the favor of the public. He becomes friends with Katniss and tries to rebel against the authority of the Capitol in subtle ways. He provides valuable advice to Katniss throughout his time with her and appears to care for her truly.
Primrose Everdeen
Katniss’ younger sister
Katniss volunteers on her behalf for the Hunger Games
Primrose Everdeen (Prim) is Katniss’s younger sister. She is 12-years-old and has her name drawn in the reaping for the first time during the 74th Hunger Games. However, she is not strong enough or skilled enough to survive, which is why she is rescued by Katniss, who volunteers as a tribute in her place.
Katniss’ Mother
A depressed and broken woman who struggles with the loss of her husband
Katniss has to take care of her
Mrs Everdeen, or Carine, is a broken woman. She was devastated by the death of her husband and turned off from the rest of the world as a result. She thus forced Katniss to take on the role of the primary provider in the house.
President Coriolanus Snow
The ruler of Panem
The novel’s antagonist
Smells like blood and roses
President Coriolanus Snow is the autocratic ruler of Panem. He is the main antagonist in the series and is described as having puffy lips (which is probably the result of the plastic surgery that is so common in the Capitol) and reeking of blood and roses. He appears to have a laidback demeanor, but his personality is psychopathic and sadistic.
Alma Coin
Leader of the rebellion
Strong and direct
President Alma Coin is the person behind District 13, and is seen as the leader of the rebels. While having many good motives, Coin’s character is corrupted by her own personal desires for power, which in the later books, becomes her downfall.
Madge Undersee
Daughter of Mayor Undersee
He gives Katniss the Mockingjay pin
Madge is the only girl with who Katniss is friends at school. She is the daughter of Mayor Undersee, and she gives Katniss the Mockingjay pin before she goes off to the Capitol.
Mayor Undersee
The Mayor of District 12
Mayor Undersee is the Mayor of District 12. He is a relatively just Mayor and attempts to improve the conditions of District 12 in several ways.
Caesar Flickerman
The host of the Hunger Games
He is known for changing his appearance
Caesar Flickerman is the garish host of the Hunger Games. He is known for changing the color of his hair, eyelids, and lips for each Hunger Games and turning every event around for the positive.
Cato
A career tribute from District 1
Strong and dangerous
He is killed by Katniss
Cato is a Career tribute from District 1. He is well-built, ruthless, and extremely dangerous. He does not hesitate to kill or wound any of the other tributes during the Hunger Games. He is ultimately killed by Katniss as she mercifully throws an arrow into his head after being torn apart by the mutts.
Rue
A young girl from District 11
She is killed towards the end of the novel
Rue is the petite 12-year-old girl from District 11 who becomes friends with Katniss during the 74th Hunger Games. She helps Katniss survive on several occasions but is ultimately killed by the male tribute from District 1.
Johanna Mason
Physically strong, bold personality
Highly skilled at throwing axes
Johanna Mason, from district 7, grew up performing hard manual labour. This made her grow lean and much stronger than children from other districts, giving her an edge in the 71st Hunger Games. Johanna is a fierce rebel who gets captured along with Peeta by the Capitol. It is speculated that she had a relationship with Finnick Odair.
Thresh
A tribute from District 11
He is kind to Katniss
Thresh is the male tribute from District 11. He shows mercy towards Katniss for everything that she did for Rue.
Foxface
A tribute from District 5
Killed after eating nightlock berries
“Foxface” is the female tribute from District 5. Known for being wily and intelligent, she is killed by the poisonous nightlock berries gathered by Peeta. Foxface is the name given to her by Katniss, and we do not know her real name.
Clove
A female tribute from District 2
Nearly kills Katniss
Clove is the ruthless female tribute from District 2. She forms a deep hatred towards Katniss after having scored lower than her during the evaluation. She almost kills Katniss during the Games but is intercepted by Thresh instead.
Glimmer
A career tribute from District 1
Killed by tracker jackers
Glimmer is the Career tribute from District 1. She is stung to death when Katniss drops a nest of tracker jackers on her and a few other tributes.
Seneca Crane
The Gamemaker for the 74th Hunger Games
Seneca Crane is the head Gamemaker during the 74th Hunger Games. His decision to allow Katniss and Peeta to emerge as victors during the Games did not go down well with President Snow, and he is killed as a result.
Plutarch Heavensbee
The Gamemaker for the 75th Hunger Games
Later a rebel leader
Plutarch Heavensbee is the Head Gamemaker in Catching Fire, taking the place of Seneca Crane. Later, he becomes a commander of the rebel forces of District 13 in the book Mockingjay.
Claudius Templesmith
The announcer for the Hunger Games
Claudius Templesmith acts as the announcer during the Hunger Games.
FAQs
Who almost killed Katniss in The Hunger Games?
Clove, the female tribute from District 1, nearly kills Katniss twice – once at the bloodbath and another time at the feast. She is an expert at throwing knives and nearly gets Katniss but is intercepted by a couple of other tributes just in time.
Did Katniss Everdeen ever kill anyone?
Katniss Everdeen, the female heroine of The Hunger Games, showed compassion towards her fellow beings and only killed out of necessity. She kills four people in the 74th Hunger Games – Glimmer and Marvel, the Career tributes from District 1, Cato, the deadly tribute from District 2, and the female Career tribute from District 4.
Is Katniss deaf?
Katniss is not born deaf, but she becomes deaf in one ear during the Hunger Games. When she proceeds to blow up the supplies of the Career tributes, she is thrown backward, and blood starts oozing out of her left ear. As a result, she becomes deaf in her left ear. However, she is provided with a replacement aid by the Capitol after winning the Hunger Games.
Who is Katniss’s first kill?
Katniss’s first kill was the female career tribute from District 1 called Glimmer. Katniss kills her by unleashing a nest of tracker jackers on her, which stings her multiple times and leaves her to die a slow and painful death. The same nest of tracker jackers also causes the death of the female tribute from District 4.
Is Peeta in love with Katniss?
Not at first, but as the novel progresses, his feelings (which began as a stunt to garner attention and support for the two) become genuine.
Who is the most powerful character in The Hunger Games?
Katniss Everdeen proves herself to be the most powerful and intelligent person to participate in the Hunger Games. She uses all the resources available to her in order to come out of the Games alive.
Why did Peeta and Katniss pretend to be in love?
Peeta and Katniss pretend to be in love in order to gain attention and support from sponsors. The popularity of their romance leads to a rule change, allowing two victors if they are from the same District.
