Tigris Snow

Tigris is a close friend and confidante of 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow in the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Although she is Snow’s cousin, Tigris becomes disillusioned with his philosophies and begins supporting the rebels during the Second Rebellion.

Tigris Snow Character Profile

• Name: Tigris Snow
• Age: 21 (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes)
• Gender: Female
• Place of origin: The Capitol 
• Physical appearance: Cat-like appearance with a stubbed nose (like a snout) and long whiskers.
• Skills: Fashion design
• Strengths: Strong sense of morality 
• Weaknesses: Fearful
• Loyalties: Rebel

Personality and Physical Description

At 21 years old, Tigris was described as skinny with a long-pointed nose and golden brown eyes. Over the years, she surgically altered her appearance to take on a more cat-like appearance. Despite her wrinkles, Tigris had the skin on her face stretched and tattooed with black and gold stripes, similar to those of a tiger. Her nose was flattened to the point where it looked like a snout, and her eyes were altered to look tawny. She also had extremely long whiskers implanted on her face – which Katniss believed to be the longest of anyone in the Capitol.

Tigris’ Background

Tigris comes from the wealthy Snow family, which was a part of the old guard of the Capitol elite. The Snow family enjoyed great status and privilege, being allowed into the amphitheater through an exclusive entrance and having an Avox in their employ.

However, the Snow family loses most of their wealth during the Dark Days (The First Rebellion) as most of their wealth came from labs in District 13. Tragically, Tigris loses her parents to the war as well. She, therefore, moves in with her close cousin, Coriolanus Snow, and her grandmother (known as the Grandma’am) into an opulent Capitol penthouse, although the family lives in abject poverty. 

Tigris begins cooking for the family at age eight and attends the Academy. However, she is more interested in fashion design and chooses to work under a small fashion designer, Fabricia Whatnot, instead of pursuing higher education at the University.

During her years at the Academy, Tigris begins dating someone. However, the relationship does not last as Tigris is unwilling to reveal the conditions she lives in, and her partner perceives this as a lack of commitment.

10th Hunger Games and Later

During the reaping ceremony of the 10th annual Hunger Games, Tigris helps Coriolanus look his best by fixing his shirt for him. She is ecstatic when Coriolanus is chosen as a mentor in the Games and encourages him to meet his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, at the train station, as she believes her to be lonely and vulnerable.

Tigris is deeply disturbed by the violence of the Games and the inhumane treatment of the tributes. She eventually asks Coriolanus to stop interacting with Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the woman responsible for designing the initial Games. However, Coriolanus does not heed her advice.

During the bombing of the Capitol Arena, Tigris firmly believes that Lucy Gray saved Coriolanus’ life. She is extremely compassionate towards Lucy, giving her one of her old dresses to wear for the interview. Tigris even mends her rainbow dress for her. She helps Lucy look presentable during the interviews by dressing her up and applying makeup on her face, possibly inventing the position of stylist in the Games for the first time.

After the 10th Hunger Games

Tigris is taken aback by the events that take place after the conclusion of the 10th Hunger Games. Coriolanus is caught by Dean Casca Highbottom for cheating during the Games and he is sent to District 12 as a Peacekeeper as a consequence. Tigris maintains her composure through everything, helping her cousin pack for his departure and motivating him with encouraging words.

Soon, Tigris becomes unable to pay the taxes on their opulent Capitol house. She informs Snow that she will have to sell their house. However, Snow is discharged honorably from the Peacekeepers and returns to the Capitol, where the wealthy Strabo Plinth names him the heir to his fortune. As a result, the Snow family is returned to their wealth and Tigris strikes up a close relationship with Ma Plinth, who becomes a live-in maid for the Grandma’am.

Over the years, as the Hunger Games developed under the guidance of Coriolanus, Tigris began working as a stylist for some of the tributes in the Games. She also surgically enhances her appearance, getting several procedures done to make herself look like a cat. She soon becomes a prized stylist, with Katniss remembering her working as a stylist during the earliest Games that she could recall. 

Tigris and Snow gradually grow apart from each other, and Tigris eventually harbors deep hatred toward Snow as a result of his brutal oppression of the districts. Notably, Tigris even smiles at the thought of President Snow being assassinated by Katniss during the rebellion.

During an unspecified Games, President Snow fires Tigris as a stylist for being too “surgically enhanced.” However, knowing the history between the two of them, it is highly likely that the reason for Tigris being fired was something much more personal. After being fired, Tigris joins the underground network of rebels with Plutarch Heavensbee and plays a significant role in the Second Rebellion.

The Second Rebellion

In Mockingjay, Tigris owns a shop selling fur-lined clothes in the Capitol. When Squad 451 requires a place of refuge during their mission, Tigris, an old acquaintance of Cressida, allows them to stay in her shop, feeding them and hiding them in a secret cellar behind a rack of clothes.

The next day, Tigris heads out to gather more information to help Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and the others. She finds out that most Capitol residents had shut their doors to refugees, due to which Peacekeepers were assigning refugees to undamaged homes. This meant that Squad 451 could eventually be discovered, and they were forced to move out into the streets. Tigris helps to disguise their appearance by dressing them in Capitol clothes.

Finally, Tigris survives the Second Rebellion, during which she magnanimously housed several refugees.

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