Johanna Mason

Johanna is a hardcore rebel against the Capitol and joins the cause of the Second Rebellion during the Third Quarter Quell. However, she is captured by the Capitol and heavily tortured, as a result of which she develops a dependence on morphling and debilitating aquaphobia.

Johanna Mason Character Profile

• Name: Johanna Mason
• Age: 17 (71st Hunger Games)
• Gender: Female
• Place of origin: District 7
• Physical appearance: Average height, wide-set brown eyes, spiky brown hair.
• Skills: Highly skilled at throwing axes.
• Strengths: Physically strong, bold personality
• Weaknesses: Cynical mindset, aquaphobia, morphling addiction
• Loyalties: Rebel

Family and Background

Johanna Mason comes from District 7, whose main industry is lumber. As such, she grew up performing hard physical labor, most often with axes. This made her grow lean and much stronger than children from other districts, giving her an edge in the 71st Hunger Games.

After being reaped into her first Games, Johanna developed a strategy to appear weak and vulnerable in front of the other tributes. The training score she received also deceived her fellow tributes into thinking of her as barely a threat. However, Johanna soon revealed her true colors when a sufficient number of tributes had been killed. She let go of her helpless act and ended up achieving first place by viciously killing off the remaining tributes with her signature weapon: the throwing ax.

Johanna was one of the most desirable Victors, and as such, President Snow wished to sell her body to the citizens of the Capitol. However, when Johanna refused to comply with this plan, Snow had everyone Johanna loved murdered. As such, Johanna grew into a spiteful, sarcastic, and highly cynical person with nothing left to lose.

Personality: Brutish, Angry Fighter, Deceptively Intelligent

Johanna Mason is clever and cunning, with some of the best survival instincts among the tributes. She is quick on her feet and uses her cognitive abilities to devise smart strategies. As a contestant, she is also manipulative and deceptive, two qualities that helped her stay alive during the Hunger Games.

Johanna is paradoxical in nature. She does not have any moral pangs about “viciously” killing the tributes in the arena. At the same time, however, she refuses to sell her body to Capitol citizens, even if this decision comes at the cost of the lives of her friends and family. Johanna seems to have her own set of moral rules and does not abide by the rules of anyone else.

Johanna is courageous and bold, unafraid to speak her mind. She does not fear any retaliation, even when she openly expresses discontent at the Capitol for forcing her back into the arena a second time. After the death of her loved ones, Johanna becomes extremely cynical, often making snarky comments about the Capitol in plain view of the whole country. A notable incident is when Katniss and her allies encounter jabberjays in the arena, and Katniss is amazed at the fact that Johanna is unaffected by them, while she herself hears the tortured cries of her beloved sister, Prim, and her friend, Gale Hawthorne. The ferocious female victor then admits that she has no loved ones remaining by the time of her second Games.

Johanna is highly abrasive and crude, often shocking Katniss with her words and actions. However, the Capitol ends up breaking Johanna’s mask of bravery through continuous torture, leaving her with a crippling fear of water and dependence on morphling.

Physical Description

Suzanne Collins describes Johanna Mason in Catching Fire as slightly built with wide-set brown eyes and spiky brown hair. Johanna is of average height and physically much healthier and stronger than tributes from other districts.

Johanna’s head is shaved while she was being tortured by the Capitol, and she returns to District 13 with a thin, emaciated body and wounds all over her. As Johanna is gradually rehabilitated, she begins to regain her strength, while tufts of hair start to grow on her as well.

Relationship with Finnick

It is speculated that Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair shared a romantic relationship at one point. However, this is not confirmed in the novels. Instead, Johanna and Finnick share a good friendship with one another, a friendship that most likely formed when they acted as mentors to their district tributes in past Hunger Games.

Relationship with Katniss and Peeta

Johanna Mason and Katniss Everdeen did not get off to a great start. Katniss found Johanna extremely crude, while Johanna deemed Katniss to be too “pure” to be leading the rebellion. Johanna also disliked the “tacky romantic drama” between Katniss and Peeta. Johanna, therefore, picks on Katniss and makes snide remarks about her. However, Johanna ultimately supports the rebel cause, which is why she protects Katniss from danger in the arena. Johanna not only brings Beetee and Wiress to join Katniss’ alliance (upon Haymitch’s suggestion), but she also supports Beetee’s plan to electrocute the rest of the tributes.

However, the plan fails, and Katniss is exposed to Brutus and Enobaria’s attacks. This is when Johanna jumps to Katniss’ rescue, knocking her out and removing the tracking device from her hand. Unfortunately, while the lack of a tracker helps Katniss be transported to District 13 safely, Johanna herself is captured by the Capitol and tortured in captivity.

After the rescue mission, which brought Johanna from the Capitol, Katniss (who, by now, has become the Mockingjay) and Johanna form a deep bond with each other in the hospital. Katniss allows Johanna to steal her morphling, while Johanna opens up about her childhood and the gut-wrenching loss and pain she has endured in life. The two of them decide to train together to take down the Capitol. While Katniss passes the training, Johanna freezes up in the face of floods and is deemed unfit for training. She, therefore, does not take an active part in the uprising.

Katniss then promises Johanna that she will kill President Snow (a promise that she is, unfortunately, unable to fulfill) and brings her some pine cones to smell. The pine cones remind Johanna of her home district, and she is able to rest easily during the uncertainty of the Rebellion.

Johanna Mason and Peeta Mellark were captured by the Capitol and tortured in rooms next to each other. Thus, Johanna says that she and Peeta have a special bond, as they are familiar with each other’s screams.

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