The Hunger Games characters

Appears from the start

A sixteen-year-old girl from the Seam, the poorest quarter of District 12, the coal-mining district of the nation of Panem. Since her father died in a mine explosion she has kept her mother and younger sister alive by hunting illegally in the woods beyond the fence with a bow, trading her kills at the black market. Guarded, self-reliant, and quick to distrust the Capitol that rules the districts, she volunteers to take her sister's place when the girl is chosen for the Hunger Games. She is a practical survivor rather than a natural performer, uneasy with the cameras and public roles the Games force on her.

First appears in chapter 2

The son of District 12's baker, chosen as the male tribute alongside Katniss. Sturdy and strong from hauling flour, he is also warm, well-spoken, and good at charming a crowd. Years earlier, when Katniss and her family were starving, he deliberately burned two loaves of bread so he could give them to her, a kindness she has never forgotten. He decorates the bakery's cakes and has a painter's eye that later proves useful.

Also known as Prim

Appears from the start

Katniss's gentle younger sister, twelve years old, whose name is drawn at the reaping. She loves animals, keeps a scruffy tomcat and a goat, and is learning healing from their mother. She is the person Katniss loves most and the reason Katniss volunteers for the Games.

Appears from the start

Katniss's closest friend and hunting partner, an eighteen-year-old from the Seam who also supports a fatherless family. Skilled with snares and openly resentful of the Capitol, he shares Katniss's illegal trips into the woods and her anger at the district's poverty.

Appears from the start

District 12's only living victor of the Hunger Games and therefore the mentor assigned to guide Katniss and Peeta. He is almost always drunk and appears at the reaping in a stupor, but beneath the wreckage he is shrewd about how the Games and their Capitol audience really work.

Appears from the start

The Capitol escort for District 12's tributes, with elaborate wigs, bright costumes, and fussy, cheerful manners. She conducts the reaping, drawing the names, and is obsessed with schedules, etiquette, and making a good impression in the Capitol, largely oblivious to the horror of what she is arranging.

First appears in chapter 5

Katniss's stylist for the Games, notably understated for a Capitol resident. Rather than making her merely pretty, he dresses her in costumes evoking flame, presenting her as the girl on fire and helping the audience remember her. Calm and quietly sympathetic, he becomes one of the few Capitol figures Katniss trusts.

First appears in chapter 7

The twelve-year-old girl tribute from District 11, small, light, and easy to overlook, who reminds Katniss painfully of her sister Prim. Katniss first notices her during the training days, where Rue proves nimble and knowledgeable about plants and moves through high places with ease.

First appears in chapter 11

A large, aggressive tribute from District 2 and the dominant member of the Career pack, the tributes from wealthier districts who train for the Games and treat them as an honor. Ruthless and physically powerful, he is an early favorite to win and leads the hunt for the other tributes.

First appears in chapter 23

A tribute from District 2 and a member of the Career pack, deadly with thrown knives. She corners Katniss at the feast, taunting her before trying to kill her.

First appears in chapter 23

The powerful male tribute from District 11, large and strong, who keeps to himself throughout the Games. He shares a district with Rue, a fact that shapes a decisive choice he makes toward Katniss at the feast.

First appears in chapter 27

The president of Panem and head of the Capitol, who presides over the ceremony crowning the victors. Composed and coldly controlled, he embodies the regime whose authority Katniss's actions in the arena have quietly challenged.