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** He's less obviously retarded in the book and manga, but still pretty stupid--in the manga, he fakes a death rattle so Kazuo will come close to him and check if he's dead, allowing Oda to stab him with his hidden kitchen knife. [[spoiler: Kazuo doesn't fall for this moronic ruse]].
to:
** He's less obviously retarded stupid in the book and manga, but still pretty stupid--in the manga, he fakes a death rattle so Kazuo will come close to him and check if he's dead, allowing Oda to stab him with his hidden kitchen knife. [[spoiler: Kazuo doesn't fall for this moronic ruse]].
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Reverting vandalism, now reported on Ask the Tropers
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[[quoteright:259:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MockingJay_5707.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:259:[-[[RuleOfSymbolism It's just a bird]], [[BlatantLies nothing more]].-] ]]
->''Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be'' ever ''in your favor!''
''Battle Royal'', by Suzanne Collins, is a trilogy of young adult novels that take place AfterTheEnd in [[MeaningfulName Panem]], a nation in what used to be North America that is divided into numbered districts and a large capital city ([[AWorldwidePunomenon the Capitol]]).
In the first book, heroine Katniss Everdeen [[HeroicSacrifice takes her sister Primrose's place]] when Prim is chosen to be a contestant ("[[SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom tribute]]") in Battle Royal: an annual televised DeadlyGame wherein 24 teenage contestants are [[ClosedCircle locked in an arena]] to fight to the death until only one remains. Her struggle for survival ends up igniting a firestorm that quickly goes beyond her control, until she finds herself embroiled in an all-out war that almost makes the arena look like Disneyland.
The three books are:
* ''Battle Royal'' (2008)
* ''Catching Fire'' (2009)
* ''Mockingjay'' (2010)
A feature film adaption was released in March 2012, staring JenniferLawrence as Katniss, JoshHutcherson as Peeta, LiamHemsworth as Gale, WoodyHarrelson as Haymitch, and DonaldSutherland as [[PresidentEvil President Snow]]. The film has its own page [[Film/TheHungerGames here.]]
Now with a [[Characters/TheHungerGames Character Sheet]]!
[[caption-width-right:259:[-[[RuleOfSymbolism It's just a bird]], [[BlatantLies nothing more]].-] ]]
->''Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be'' ever ''in your favor!''
''Battle Royal'', by Suzanne Collins, is a trilogy of young adult novels that take place AfterTheEnd in [[MeaningfulName Panem]], a nation in what used to be North America that is divided into numbered districts and a large capital city ([[AWorldwidePunomenon the Capitol]]).
In the first book, heroine Katniss Everdeen [[HeroicSacrifice takes her sister Primrose's place]] when Prim is chosen to be a contestant ("[[SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom tribute]]") in Battle Royal: an annual televised DeadlyGame wherein 24 teenage contestants are [[ClosedCircle locked in an arena]] to fight to the death until only one remains. Her struggle for survival ends up igniting a firestorm that quickly goes beyond her control, until she finds herself embroiled in an all-out war that almost makes the arena look like Disneyland.
The three books are:
* ''Battle Royal'' (2008)
* ''Catching Fire'' (2009)
* ''Mockingjay'' (2010)
A feature film adaption was released in March 2012, staring JenniferLawrence as Katniss, JoshHutcherson as Peeta, LiamHemsworth as Gale, WoodyHarrelson as Haymitch, and DonaldSutherland as [[PresidentEvil President Snow]]. The film has its own page [[Film/TheHungerGames here.]]
Now with a [[Characters/TheHungerGames Character Sheet]]!
to:
->''Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be'' ever ''in
->''What we went through...all those deaths must never lose their importance. We don't have much, but what we have has to work. Never forget...never cheapen their deaths by pushing the memory away. Even the worst of them deserved better.''
In the [[PoliceState Greater East Asia Republic]] (a fascist alternate-timeline Japan), one class of high school students is chosen at random every six months, kidnapped, and placed in an isolated area with no chance of escape. The students are then given one weapon each and, under the threat of death, forced to kill each other until only one student is left alive. This is a once-controversial but now regularly recurring military experiment (since 1947) known only as "the Program". ''Battle
In
Originally a
The three books are:
*
One of the main themes of this book/manga/movie is the fear and hatred of the young.Some Japanese government officials completely missed this and blamed ''BattleRoyale'' for the sharp rise in teenage delinquency in Japan.
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. However the term has been used to refer to ''TheHungerGames'' - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of ''The Hunger Games'' maintains she knew nothing of ''Battle Royale'' when she wrote her books).
!!This novel, film and manga provides examples of:
*
* ''Mockingjay'' (2010)
A
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga expands the characters from the novel a lot ([[BrokenBase though whether this is a good thing or not is hotly contested among fans]]), as well as the fight scenes.
* AdultsAreUseless:
** The parents and government of Japan allow this to happen doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, the Defense Forces are the ones that ''had the idea'' and carries out the sick games. Admittedly however, protesting tends to get you shot in the head or arrested, as the Government are wont to showcase at every opportunity.
** On a more personal level, Shiori Kitano and the film
* AffectionateParody: The name "Takako Chigusa", which is a shout out to women's ProfessionalWrestling. The classroom scene in all versions, and the evil instructor Kinpatsu Sakamochi's name is a parody of the heroic teacher Kinpachi Sensei. Naturally this will be lost on Western viewers, hence the occasional misinterpretation of the classroom scene in the film as {{Narm}}.
* AHouseDivided: The girls in the lighthouse.
* AllThereInTheManual: Several of the students' weapons weren't seen in the film version, however what they were given was confirmed in promotional materials released in
* AlternateHistory: The backstory, at least in the original novel and
* ArtisticAge: A lot of the characters in the manga do not even remotely resemble people in their 20's, let alone junior high school students. Shogo Kawada with his beard is the most unrealistically adult-looking character, while Yutaka Seto (who is about one or two years younger) looks like he's ten.
** And the hyper-sexualized manga version of Mitsuko looks and acts like she's in her 20s.
* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Cyanide poisoning renders a person unable to use oxygen. It does ''not'' make you vomit blood.
** Although it's very possible the poison was augmented in some way before it was given out as a weapon.
* AudibleSharpness: In the film. When Kitano pulls his knife out of Fujiyoshi's skull, it inexplicably makes a metallic sound.
* AuthorAppeal: ''Born to Run'' by BruceSpringsteen gets quite a number of mentions due to being a song the author loves.
* AxCrazy: Several students become like this, if they weren't already psychotic before being kidnapped. Yoshio Akamatsu and Kazushi Niida are the most prominent examples. Some just go insane from the stress and paranoia, like Kaori. The Program director in the novel and manga takes great delight in seeing the students suffer and die. On the other hand, Kazuo Kiriyama is so terrifying because he's ''not'' like that. For him, killing his classmates is no different than playing a sport or a musical instrument. Most of the AxCrazy people are violent idiots who don't survive for very long.
* {{Badass}}: About a half of the main cast: Shogo Kawada, Shinji Mimura, [[BoringInvincibleVillain Kazuo Kiriyama]] and Hiroki Sugimura, each in their own right. Among the girls, Mitsuko Souma and Takako Chigusa, who, at the point of the game that Niida found her, was the only girl without a gun or/and well-armed allies in the island. Still, trying to assault her was a ''bad'' idea.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Sakura and Kazuhiko. Yuko as well, during her FreakOut.
* BigBad: The supervisor in all three versions. The secondary antagonists (among the students) are Mitsuko and Kazuo.
* BigDamnHeroes: Kawada gets this trope multiple times. First, against the school president Kyoichi saving Shuya. Later, once again, in the manga, saving Shuya from Kaori.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shuya and Noriko have survived, meaning the Program has failed for the first time ever, and Shogo has found peace at last, but everyone else is dead, including Kitano, and they're doomed to live the rest of their lives as fugitives.]]
** Further emphasized by the events of ''Battle Royale II''.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Many of the subtitling attempts at the film version tend to localise very badly. ({{Channel 4}} and the producers of the Korean Starmax version, here's looking at you!)
** The 2012 North American DVD/Blu-ray edition features some of the worst English dubbing ever, and the dialogue often doesn't even come close to the translation given in the subtitles.
* BloodUpgrade: In the movie, Takako doesn't go off at Niida when he points his crossbow at her and threatens to shoot, but when he [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grazes her face with a crossbow bolt.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Pretty much all the students. Of course excluding Mitsuko, Yoshimi, and Yuko, who came pre-broken.
* BrokenBird: Mitsuko and Yoshimi.
* BondVillainStupidity: Numai's gang in the film fall victim to this, though in their defence (a) it's reasonable to assume that 3 people with guns and a fourth with grenades are going to win in a fight against a guy "armed" with a paper fan and (b) in the film version they don't know how just how dangerous Kazuo actually is. Hirono also makes the mistake in the film by not killing Mitsuko on one of the very rare occasions on which she was actually caught vulnerable. Unlike Numai, Hirono can't justify her actions with the belief that Mitsuko was unarmed, because it's clear Hirono knows her well enough that she realise know such problems don't stop a person like Mitsuko.
* BottomlessMagazines: Kiriyama, He only changes magazine once and fires hundred of rounds.
* {{Bowdlerisation}}: Inevitable for TV showings or those in countries with strict laws regarding violence in films, but the German version was probably the most severe when it came to cuts, cutting back many of the deaths. The director himself produced a version like this though, for release to under 15s in his home country.
* BulletProofVest: Oda's "weapon"; he lets people shoot him, plays dead, then strangles them when they check to make sure he's down. In all three versions, Kiriyama kills him and takes the vest for himself near the end. (In the film, he's only there long enough for Kiriyama to do him in.)
* TheCameo: Sonny Chiba turns up for a scene as Mimura's uncle in the second film (although the character is already dead before BattleRoyale, according to the original novel).
* ChickMagnet:
** Shuya. Quite a large portion of the girls in the manga were revealed to have crushes on him. Noriko, Yukie, Hirono, Yukiko and Yumiko were all shown to like him. And according to Yukie, "half the girls in class are sweet on him," indicating that other girls other than the aforementioned probably harbored an attraction to him as well.
** Shinji had been a womanizer when we first see him. The manga even shows his first appearance as playing basketball and wondering if he has enough condoms to do the whole crowd of fangirls.
* TheCracker: In a slightly more heroic example, formerly PlayfulHacker Shinji Mimura decides to use his skills for something a bit more serious after being forced into the Program. In all three versions, he attempts to hack into the government's computer system to disable the collars in order to make an escape attempt: he is caught in the manga and novel versions halfway through his plan due to the microphones in the collars; but in the movie, he does succeed in doing so. His uncle, particularly in the manga version, is also an example.
* CrapsackWorld: All three versions make it pretty clear that that's what the world has become, though the sequel to the film suggests that in the film continuity things aren't quite as bad as they are in the novel/manga, both of which have a NineteenEightyFour type feel to them.
* CreepyDoll: Mitsuko's alter ego is a giant damaged doll, the same as the one she was given as her mother remarried. Mai's doll also counts, being seen briefly in the first film and again in the second [[spoiler: when it's packed with explosives and hurled at a group of attacking soldiers]].
* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Takako Chigusa's death scene, in Hiroki's arms. Despite having brutally murdered a guy moments beforehand (admittedly, in self defence), she's the object of nothing but sympathy from the audience in her final moments as she begs God for just a few more moments in the world with her best friend and true love. In the manga, it's especially heartbreaking since she has flashbacks from the time when she and Hiroki were kids together.
** Shinji and Yutaka's reconciliation in the manga had a healthy dose of this, [[spoiler: until Kiriyama [[DidntSeeThatComing dropped]] [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath by]]]].
** All of the manga's flashbacks with Shuuya. Especially the one in volume five.
* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Hirono Shimizu's]] manga death. Crosses over with NightmareFuel for more than a few.
* CulturalTranslation: Keith Giffen's work on the manga. Also counts as PragmaticAdaptation to an extent, considering the things that most people find fault with (unrealistic references to Western pop culture) could only be avoided by resorting to ViewersAreGeniuses.
* DawsonCasting: Most of the cast was around fifteen (Aki Maeda as Noriko) or in their late teens (18-year-old Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya), but there are still two glaring examples: Taro Yamamoto (Shogo) and Masanobu Ando (Kiriyama) were 26 and 25 respectively when the film was released. The sequel also has a couple of examples, but not many. Makoto Sakamoso, who played Osamu, was 25 when he played the part. Ironically, his character is one of the youngest-looking.
** FridgeBrilliance: Both characters are outsiders, and one of them is older. Their actor choice already teases this.
* DecoyProtagonist: In the novel, Shinji is shown as being a near-perfect student in a clear attempt to not make it obvious that Shuya is. Thus, Shinji's [[spoiler:death in the middle of the book]] is a huge surprise, after which no attempt is made to hide Shuya's hero status. While this is a commendable idea in theory, it meant turning Shinji into a total Mary Sue. No surprise therefore that the idea was dropped for the film ([[spoiler:with Shinji's death becoming a climactic action sequence]] and in fact the English translation of the book even has on its cover two silhouettes who are blatantly meant to be Shuya and Noriko).
** In the manga, Shuya spends a lot of time reassuring everyone that Shinji's going to come up with a plan to get them all off the island. [[spoiler:Finding his body is a big factor in Shuya's epic HeroicBSOD.]]
* DeadlyGame: The Program.
* DeadStarWalking: Yoshitoki Kuninobu is introduced as Shuya's best friend and comic relief, and it seems like he'll be at Shuya's side for the duration of the series... [[spoiler:until he's killed during the Program briefing.]] [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by ExecutiveMeddling in the film, as a major Japanese star was going to play the boy, before his managers decided it would be dangerous to his career and forbade him from accepting the role.
** The character of Mitsuko is depicted for much of the film as one of the lead villains (and was played by a well-known teen singing star), but [[spoiler: she's killed off suddenly 3/4 of the way through the movie when she encounters Kiriyama, a student she can't seduce or overpower, and gets shot dead.]].
* DefrostingIceQueen: Shiori in the second film, as she comes to a greater understanding of herself and the relationship between her father and Noriko.
* DemotedToExtra: For time constraint reasons, a lot of the characters were given offscreen deaths or given less screen time in general in the film. Particularly Sho Tsukioka.
** Some of these characters' cause of deaths were also changed.
* DepravedHomosexual: Sho Tsukioka is effeminate in manner but humorously masculine in appearance and uses his skills as a StalkerWithACrush to tail Kiriyama. He's also a borderline alcoholic drag queen with an irrational crush on Kiriyama and overall thinks like a total lunatic.
* {{Determinator}}: Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura in the manga. While his initial plan to cripple The Program failed, Mimura is able to come up with his bomb plan which is only foiled by the ImplacableMan. Sugimura also tracks down two people on the island thanks to his tracking device. Unfortunately, he finds the first girl too late and is once more stopped by the ImplacableMan.
* DevelopmentHell: The American remake, for obvious reasons:
** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
** [[AC: Now]] it would be considered too much like ''TheHungerGames''.
* DividedWeFall: In the book, [[spoiler:this turns out to be the whole point of the program. Every six months, everyone in Japan gets to see a broadcast giving the body count of a particular runthrough, categorized by means of death. They all have it ingrained in their minds that the people they grew up with are willing to kill them to survive. If they can't trust each other, they can't coordinate effectively to overthrow the government. Additionally, the government is seeking to actively recruit the winners as people callous and self-interested enough to maintain control.]]
* DoorStopper
* DramaticGunCock: Shogo Kawada does this quite a lot.
* DueToTheDead: In the novel, whenever Shuya finds someone who died [[DiesWideOpen with their eyes open]], he closes their eyes. Well, except for one character who's been so mutilated his head resembles a peanut--only one of his eyes will close properly, and as the narration observes, a winking mutilated corpse is just too much.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: The two cars in the chase sequence at the end of the novel/manga.
* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Many kittens pop up in the story:
** Shuya and Noriko find a cute kitten, play with it as they comment about how cute it is. Then they are attacked by Oki.
** In the novel and manga Kaori is driven mad by the violence and she shoots a kitten with her gun, thinking "Even kittens want to kill me!".
** Hiroki has a flashback about Kayoko when he took with him a very young kitten in the street, hiding it in his desk and wondering why it is meowing so much. Kayoko teaches him that he must rub its crotch with a warm wet towel to make it pee.
* ExplosiveLeash, YourHeadASplode: If someone tries to leave the island, the collar that they are wearing explodes, along with their head. Ditto for trying to remove the collar, or lingering in a danger zone. [[spoiler:In the novel and manga, it only makes one victim, Sho. In the film, Yoshitoki is the only victim]].
** Well, [[spoiler:Kiriyama does get shot in his explosive collar at the climax, which is what finally kills him.]]
* EyeScream: Hiroki and Kiriyama. Makes you wonder why Hiroki bothered making those spearheads. Niida recieves some of this from Takako in the novel and manga too. And, in the manga, Jaguar.
* FanNickname: It's not unheard of for people to refer to the Chigusa/Niida scene as the "Crotch-stabbing scene". [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Take a guess why]].
* FiveManBand: The lighthouse girls, who were a clique before they were put in the Program.
** TheHero - Yukie Utsumi
** TheLancer - Haruka Tanizawa
** TheBigGuy - Yuka Nakagawa
** TheSmartGuy - Satomi Noda
** TheChick - Chisato Matsui
** SixthRangerTraitor - Yuko Sakaki
* FingerLickingPoison: [[spoiler: Yuka]] dies by grabbing a sample of a dish meant for someone else.
* {{Flanderization}}: The manga does this to some of the novel's characters (and the movie to Kiriyama). The good guys are very beautiful, while two of the bad guys are hideous and irredeemably evil. Kazushi Niida is a big victim of this - in the novel, he was merely a horny teenage boy who tried to rape Chigusa when they were alone; in the manga, Niida was portrayed as a CompleteMonster from the beginning. Toshinori Oda was also extremely Flanderized: he's a grotesque little goblin.
** Let's not even mention Mitsuko Souma's ultra-sexual portrayal...she's an actual ''rapist'' in the manga (the novel and film leave it more open about whether she goes that far). Kazuo Kiriyama, however, was massively Flanderized in the film. His AxeCrazy streak is so magnified that it becomes his only characteristic; in the original novel he has a group of friends and can at least put up a facade of normalcy.
* ForeignLanguageTitle
* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
** Similar for Kiriyama, except he [[spoiler: actually has ''severe'' '''brain damage'''.]]
* GangstaStyle: In the manga, this is how Kazuo Kiriyama fires '''every single weapon'''. Apparently, genius though he may be, he fails to realize that this is a highly ineffective method of firing a handgun, to say nothing of firing an automatic weapon.
* GenreBusting: The film is notoriously hard to classify, and the novel is no better. Some consider it horror due to the [[NightmareFuel Nightmare Fuel-laden]] premise, but that classification always causes "traditional" horror fans to balk because it ''isn't'' traditional. Action-adventure may be better, but the satire and themes make it a little misleading. In Western DVD stores the problem is mooted by its placing in the World Cinema section anyway, with the novel being classified by bookstores as sci-fi, presumably due to the SpeculativeFiction and AlternateHistory aspects.
* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: Mitsuko with that sickle - the image of her smiling in Megumi's doorway, shining the torch upwards into her face and grinning maniacally is one of the most iconic from the film.
** [[http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/7641/935323_008.jpg You mean this?]]
* {{Gonk}}: Kamon in the manga. He was so inhumanly ugly he clashed with the manga's art style.
** The artist CANNOT draw children. At least not boys....
*** To be fair, pre-pubescent children are notoriously tough to draw (even by professionals) without making them look too old or produce an UncannyValley effect, assuming the artist is aiming for some sense of realism (which Taguchi does).
* {{Gorn}}: Often believed to be played straight, but actually subverted -- the film is shockingly violent in order to, well, shock. The fact that this is happening to teenagers, and at the hands of their own friends/classmates is in no way meant to titillate, it's meant to horrify. Sadly, many people fail to realise this and believe it's a straight up gorefest.
** The same could be said of the manga, though the artist was a little too eager with the gruesome images, so whether or not it achieves the same purpose or crosses the line is [[YourMileageMayVary up to interpretation]].
* GroinAttack Used by [[spoiler:Chigusa]] against [[spoiler:Niida]] after his attack on her fails.
* HairColors: In the live-action movie, Kazuo Kiriyama's hair is a bright red colour, allegedly to highlight his importance and deliquence. Takako Chigusa's hair is dyed blond in the manga, and Hirono Shimizu's is blue.
* HandsomeLech: Shinji Mimura. His marked misogynistic tendencies don't seem to get in the way of this at all.
* HandWave: The film largely handwaves the premise, which is extremely flawed, by vaguely explaining it in 30 seconds of a 2 hour film and then never touching politics again.
* HeroicSacrifice: In the second film, Shibaki and Osamu each pull one in short succession.
* HeyItsThatVoice: In a rare live action example, the Training Video Girl sounds like a [[NeonGenesisEvangelion possibly recognizable redhead]]
* HollywoodHacking: Complete with RapidFireTyping in what appears to be perfectly valid C.
* HopeSpot: Lots of them, most notably [[spoiler:Hiroki Sugimura's death]].
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The entire plot of the story.
* IdiotHero: Shuya Nanahara. Despite all of the events, losing his best friend and numerous others throughout the course of the Program, still believes that there is good in everyone, even going so far as to [[spoiler:trying to save [[ImplacableMan Kiriyama]] after shooting him in the throat in the manga.]] This is similarly backed up in several character backstories, where Shuya comes rushing in without prior thought and doing something stupid that earns him respect. Shogo makes mention of Shuya's foolishness many, many times.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Lampshaded in the YMMV English translation of the manga: in the beginning of the car chase, when Shogo kicks away the windshield so he doesn't have to "dodge flying glass", he hands Shuuya his Uzi, recommending him to not "go all Marvin in Pulp Fiction" with the weapon.
* ImplacableMan: Kazuo Kiriyama. In all three versions, he just keeps coming...and he can't be reasoned with.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Mai in the sequel, with her explosive-laden ''doll''.
* InSpiteOfANail: In the novel, even though a totally different political situation replaced the Cold War as we know it, it didn't stop Armstrong from being the first man on the moon, or the rock music scene turning exactly in the same way as in our world, with the same stars.
** The totalitarian fascist government also appears to tolerate the otaku subculture (Yuichiro), and flamboyant homosexuality (Sho). (Though it might be in the same way as they "tolerate" rock music).
*** The Director in the book version makes some comment about how those degenerate Americans allow homosexuality, so it's probably not all roses for gays.
* IntimateHealing: In some twisted part of her mind, [[spoiler:this is what Mitsuko thought she was doing to a bleeding/dying Yuichiro in the manga.]]
* ItGetsEasier: Niida doesn't quite lampshade it, but he clearly tries to make clear to Chigusa that having killed before accidentally, he's now in a position to do so again, deliberately.
** In the film, Mitsuko makes several statements to the effect that she killed before the game even started (as shown in the Special Edition version of the film), and so killing again is no big deal to her.
* JokeWeapon: Some students got completely useless weapons, like Yutaka's fork, Noriko's boomerang, Yumiko's darts, Shuya's pot lid and (in the movie) Kiriyama's paper fan.
** That said, Shuya does find a use for the pot lid as a makeshift shield when he's attacked by [[AnAxeToGrind a hatchet wielding student]].
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Used in the film, where Kazuo uses it against Oda. When the target is wearing a bullet proof vest, an Uzi isn't of much use (in the novel, he simply shoots Oda in the face). [[TooDumbToLive Such a pity he had to tell his assailant what had saved his life...]] Technically of course it isn't a katana, but a Wakizashi, but the principle still applies.
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Only two students manage to escape The Program.]]
* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[TagLine Could you kill your best friend?]]
* LargeHam: Taku in the second film; almost everything he says he shouts. Granted, he's rather tame in comparison to Riki Takeuchi, the 'teacher' in the same film. Seriously, check out his [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omS0wE36v44 best moments]] (moderate spoilers).
* LemonyNarrator: The book's narrator lapses into this whenever someone's about to die or has
--> She might have been dead before [she hit the ground]. Physically, several seconds earlier. Emotionally, several years earlier.
* LighthousePoint: At one point a bunch of the girls get holed up in a lighthouse.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A whopping total of forty-two students are press-ganged into The Program. A few of them are killed off immediately and without being developed (moreso in the movie version), but the rest get their own
Now
* LonelyPianoPiece: Shiori Kitano plays "Memories" in the second film, the scene cutting between her abuse of her late father in the past, and as she is now in the present.
* MadeOfPlasticine: The manga version is ''extremely'' graphic. Kegfuls of blood are spilled, brains are frequently blown out, one character is disembowelled, and another is ''torn in half'' when she hits the ground after she jumps off a lighthouse. According to some, even blows the infamous ElfenLied out of the water. Two examples:
** When [[spoiler:Shinji Mimura dies, he is machine gunned, causing his stomach to split open and his intestines to fall out of his body. He puts them back in with duct tape, has the bottom half of his foot blown off, jumps through a window, has a clip from an ingram emptied into him, is still alive enough to aim at Kiriyama, who shoots him through the throat, and we learn later he was alive enough to carve a message into a truck with a
** [[spoiler:Kazuo Kiriyama, shot through the arm, cuts into his arm and sellotapes a tendon onto his arm so his finger works, later, jumps out of car at high speed, jumps out of a second car while it's in mid-air after being shotgunned. Is shot in the stomach at close range by a shotgun (his bullet proof jacket protects him). Is shot through the cheek and out the back of his head, has his eye put out by a wooden spear head, and is finally killed by a bullet through the throat, though it takes him a while to die.]]
* MartialPacifist: Hiroki Sugimura.
* MegaManning: Kazuo Kiriyama in the manga adaptation. He's a genius who can perform flawlessly ''anything'' he's seen (or read about) once, and he employs this fully in his fight against Hiroki Sugimura (an accomplished Kenpo master).
* TheMessiah: Shuya. Heck, the guy is so innocent and wonderful, he actually manages to convert and save the souls of several crazy / bad people by giving them emotional speeches (before [[KillEmAll they die]], of course).
* MoodWhiplash: Niida's extremely brutal attack on Chigusa and her equally violent defense, followed by her [[TearJerker gut-wrenchingly tragic death scene moments later]].
* MoreDakka: In the movie, Kiriyama dispatches quite a few people with the Uzi he takes from the first group that ambushes him. That is not to say that he doesn't use other weapons.
* NoExportForYou: Toei insists that the movie be given a full theatrical run with promotion as if it were a major Hollywood picture rather than allowing it to be released to video. No one in America was willing to accept that deal... that is, until Anchor Bay Films took up the challenge late in 2010, with plans to release the 3D version of the first film theatrically in 2011. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-11/anchor-bay-adds-live-action-battle-royale-3d-in-u.s See here for more details.]]
** So far that hasn't panned out either, but the tropes FINALLY subverted by a DVD release in March 2012 to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the similarly-themed HungerGames movie.
* NoIndoorVoice: There is barely a single word that Takuma Aoi in the second film doesn't shout at the top of his voice.
* NoseTapping: Hiroki does it.
* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Shogo Kawada bluffs a student this way at the end of his first game, then shoots him.
* OCStandIn:
** Mayumi Tendoand Fumiyo Fujiyoshi due to the characters receiving almost no characterisation whatsoever in any of the media - including the novel (they don't live long enough for that).
** Most of the students in the second film.
* OffhandBackhand: Kiriyama kills [[spoiler:Mizuho Inada]] this way in the novel.
* OhCrap: Mitsuko's facial expression says it all when, in the movie, she slashes Kiriyama across the chest, only to discover that he's wearing a bulletproof vest...
* {{Ojou}}: Several prominent examples of the first type, with Noriko in the film moreorless making this a DiscussedTrope with her monologue to Kawada. Kotohiki certainly fits this trope, especially in the novel.
* OneSceneWonder: Almost anyone except the core half dozen may count depending on your preferences. Two are universally agreed upon though, one is Chigusa, who is definitely one of the best known characters despite having only two significant scenes, and they're consecutive. The other is Yukie Utsumi for the Lighthouse scene.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: In the novel and manga, Yoshimi, after learning that Yoji intends to kill her, tells Yoji that he can kill her. Yoji, in shock, does not kill her.
* PowerOfRock: While never actually having rocked out during the program, Shuya's reputation as an amateur rocker is what every character associates with his idealism of love and hope.
** In the novel, this also takes the form of several [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to Bruce Springsteen, particularly ''Born To Run''.
** Discussed with these words, when Shuya says that the PowerOfRock could make the country croumble down.
* PragmaticAdaptation: Despite the many criticisms of the film version for cutting things out of the novel, the one thing just about everybody is agreed upon is that removing the political commentary was a good thing. Sadly, the sequel went in the other direction, though how badly that went down does ironically show what a good idea the treatment of politics in the original film was.
* PsychoForHire: Kazuo Kiriyama, in the movie.
* PunchClockVillain: Kitano in the film is an apathetic man going through a middle-age crisis, having realised how unhappy he is in life. Nonetheless, he's being paid to organise the mutual massacre of his own students.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Kiriyama and Shinji]] are the best examples, though others borderline this.
* RealLifeRelative: Noriko Nakagawa and Shiori Kitano are respectively portrayed by sisters Aki and Ai Maeda in the films.
* ReCut: Both films had an extended version made. The first's extra scenes includes a flashback to Mitsuko's past and a scene of the class playing basketball, shown in pieces throughout the film. The second film added extra characterisation to the main students and Shuya's group. The first film was also cut back so that it would pass the censors' requirements for under 15s to see it, as was the director's original intention.
* RedShirt: The vast majority of students receive at least ''some'' characterisation (at least in the novel and manga). Tendo and Fujiyoshi receive almost none even in those versions. In both films, almost everyone save the core eight or so and a couple of {{One Scene Wonder}}s are this.
* SawedOffShotgun: Shogo Kawada uses a sawed-off M31 Remington shotgun in the novel and manga, and a Franchi SPAS-12 combat shotgun in the movie.
* SayItWithHearts: Various characters in the manga (obviously). Used for a variety of effects, from the very creepy to the heartwarmingly sincere.
* ScreamingWarrior: Mitsuko, during her LastStand in the movie.
* ShoutOut:
** Shiroiwa, the small town the class are from, is Japanese for Castle Rock (a homage to both StephenKing and LordOfTheFlies).
** There are several homages to George Orwell's ''NineteenEightyFour'' in the book.
** There is a disturbing scene in the manga (Niida's attack on Chigusa) that the creator admitted was a ShoutOut to ''Deliverance''.
** While [[spoiler:driving a car]], Shogo hands Shuya a gun, asking him not to go [[PulpFiction Marvin]] [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace on him]]. In the [[FanNickname Giffenized]] [[{{Macekre}} version]], that is.
** In the manga, [[spoiler: Hirono's death]] is a clear ShoutOut to ''An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge''.
** Kinpatsu Sakamochi is a spoof of the character Kinpachi Sakamoto from the Japanese drama ''Year 3 Class B Kinpachi-sensei''. Also, the students in the book, manga and film are Year 3 Class B.
* SlasherSmile: Mitsuko, oh so often, with the start of her encounter with Megumi being the best example.
** The first female winner shown at the beginning of the movie has one of these too.
** In the movie, Kiriyama pulls this off a few times.
* SplitPersonality: Mitsuko basically has two sides to her. One is a child desperate for love, the other is a deranged, cynical killer.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Beautiful classical music is played over the 6 hourly announcements in the movie, a torturing counterpoint to the chaos and death taking place on the island.
** Also in the movie, [[spoiler:Mitsuko's]] death is to the tune of Bach's Air on the G String. It's [[spoiler:Asuka's death in ''EndOfEvangelion'']] all over again.
* StupidSacrifice: Shintaro in the second film accidentally pulls this - not only does his death accomplish nothing, it gets Kazumi killed because he's her partner.
** And let's not forget Riki's final rugby dive.
* SupportingLeader: Shogo is this to Shuya and Noriko, especially in the film. Consider that he's the one with the dark and brooding past, he's the one with a grudge against the Program, and he's the one who knows how to stop it. He does it deliberately though, because he's not interested in his own survival, just wanting revenge and to understand what happened with Keiko. He's happy to let the others take the credit. Consider just how much Shuya and Noriko would actually accomplish (answer: nothing) without Shogo's help and you'll see how he fits.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Played aggravatingly straight in the second film with ''almost every main character''. We're talking several hundred soldiers storming a fortress in a heated and violent battle, all of whom suddenly have a coffee break to allow a character to make a FinalSpeech lasting several minutes. Then, 10 minutes later, it happens again for an even longer speech.
* TechnicalPacifist: Sugimura subverts it; While he refuses to take Shuya's gun because "that's not my way," he's genuinely dedicated to only using his ample martial arts abilities in self defense, because he worries that if he genuinely beats someone up, he'll enjoy it.
* TeensAreMonsters: Or they are ''forced'' to be, by CompleteMonster adults.
** Adults are no better as they start this sick game in first place. Let's just say HumansAreBastards.
*** The main question asked of the movie is a large part of the point of the story. 'Could you kill your best friend?' In a lot of ways it doesn't matter that the protagonists are teens, it's about human nature in general.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The object of the Program.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Sugimura and Kotohiki]] in the manga. Ogawa and Yamamoto in all versions, along with [[spoiler: Kawada and Keiko]].
** To a lesser extent, ''any'' couple who died together ([[spoiler: namely Yoshimi and Youji and Sakura and Kazuhiko]]), because, well, even if they're together before The Program, [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne it obviously couldn't last past the game]].
** Non-romantic example: the [[spoiler:girls' of the lighthouse]] "funeral", so they could be friends again in death.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Quite possibly an audience/reader reaction, given the chances of inadvertently finding yourself wondering if you could do it, how well you'd do, etc. Of course, the question of whether or not you could kill your best friend is the entire point.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano, respectively, in the novel.
* TooDumbToLive: Toshinori Oda in the film only, who is shot with an Uzi by Kazuo but survives because of his awesome BulletProofVest. A fact he screams at the top of his voice the second he realises he's still alive. Cue Kazuo leaping off a small building beside him, wakizashi in hand.
** He's less obviously retarded in the book and manga, but still pretty stupid--in the manga, he fakes a death rattle so Kazuo will come close to him and check if he's dead, allowing Oda to stab him with his hidden kitchen knife. [[spoiler: Kazuo doesn't fall for this moronic ruse]].
* {{Tsundere}}: Chigusa, by Sugimura's account. [[DefrostingIceQueen She's more the original version, though, where as you get to know her she warms up considerably.]]
* TriangRelations: There's a few of these:
** Type 5 with Chigusa, who loves Hiroki, who secretly loves Kotohiki. Chigusa does find out when she flat out asks Hiroki if he loves her, but she's dying when she asks so, while clearly upsetting to her, it's the least of her concerns at the time. Also qualifies as a heartwarming IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy moment, since she'd clearly already worked it out and was just hoping he really did love her. In the novel, when Hiroki admits that he does have crush, Takako comments that he'd better ''not'' say her (i.e. "You know better than to say it just to try to make me happy in my last moments.").
** Type 4 is seen with Shuya, Noriko and Kuninobu; Noriko and Shuya are the OfficialCouple, with Kuninobu also very obviously crushing on Noriko. While Shuya's feelings for Noriko are left slightly ambiguous, this appears to be due to not wanting to go after the girl his best friend was crazy about so soon after his death. That she has feelings for him though she can't hold in, even if she does apparently feel a bit guilty about it.
** Type 4 also occurs with Utsumi, Shuya and Noriko, as Utsumi secretly has feelings for Shuya which she tries to tell him (when he's barely conscious though so not the best time) but appears to realise he doesn't see her the same way. Admittedly we don't know for sure where she would have gone with her feelings given [[spoiler: she and her friends massacre each other moments after their conversation]]
* TheVamp: Mitsuko's strategy mainly involves gaining people's trust and getting them while their guard is down.
* TheVoiceless: Kiriyama in the film, he doesn't say a single word despite being the main antagonist.
* WhenSheSmiles: Hirono, at least in the manga. When she smiled from the heart, Shuya realized that she actually wasn't such a bad person after all. Especially noticeable in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/battle_royale/c064/16.html this page]].
* WideEyedIdealist: Shuya and Yuichiro, though Yuichiro actually made some headway; His refusal to think of Mitsuko as a bad person genuinely touched her to the point that she had a complete mental breakdown when he was shot.
* WithThisHerring: A few of the weapons given out at the start. Including a megaphone, a pair of binoculars, a shamisen, and a squeaky toy hammer.
* WoundedGazelleGambit. Mitsuko in all three versions, though the victim changes. In the novel and manga, it's Hiroki, who has captured her and intends killing her in revenge for Chigusa. A combination of her crocodile tears and his martial pacifism allow her to escape. In the film she pulls it on Hirono, though it doesn't actually work as Hirono knows her too well. Mitsuko still kills her though.
* TheVoice: An extremely interesting case that makes a sub-plot stretching across both films more effective. In the first film, we don't see Shiori Kitano, the teacher's daughter, we only hear her voice on the phone. In the second film, she's a main character. What adds more to this is that Kitano (senior) sees Noriko as his surrogate daughter as Shiori hates him. Noriko and Shiori are played by real life sisters, Aki and Ai Maeda (respectively).
* YamatoNadeshiko: Noriko in the film version is actually a very good example of this, and not a MarySue as she is often perceived as being. It's most apparent just after her dream sequence, where she tells Kawada how she was expected to just leave school, find a man, be a housewife and live a normal, boring life. Now however, with all this, she realises that even if she does somehow survive (and remember that her protector, Shuya, is missing at this point) then nothing will ever be the same again.
* YouDontWantToDieAVirginDoYou: Niida in all three versions tries to persuade Chigusa of this. Unfortunately, he doesn't take "no" for an answer and becomes a bit more forceful. Yukie also acknowledges that she never would have found the courage to make moves on Shuya if not for the whole "surrounded by students trying to kill me" thing.
* ZenSurvivor: Shogo Kawada, of the previous Program.
Changed line(s) 20,585 (click to see context) from:
!!Provides examples of:
* AccidentalMurder: Peeta accidentally kills [[spoiler:Foxface]] with poison. Also, in Mockingjay he accidentally [[spoiler:launches a member of his squad into a trap that killed him.]]
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: [[spoiler:Snow, as part of his gambit when he made his rise to power.]] Subverted in that it wasn't perfect, and he carried long-term damage from it.
* ActionGirl: Katniss and most of the other female contestants.
* AdultFear:
** The point of Battle Royal was for the Capitol to show it has so much control over its citizens, that they can kill their children publicly and there is nothing they could do about it.
** Also the fact that Katniss has sworn off the idea of marriage or children because she knows that any children she had would have to face the Reapings just as she had. [[spoiler: She only breaks this promise to herself ''fifteen years after'' Panem has changed.]]
** [[spoiler: Prim's death.]] A girl who's barely a teenager is mercilessly blown up [[spoiler:by an explosive parachute.]]
* AerithAndBob: On one hand, you've got normal names like Annie and Johanna, but then on the other you've got more unusual names like Katniss, Peeta, Twill, Plutarch, and Beetee.
** During the Games, Katniss wonders why the "Careers" (tributes from Districts 1 and 2) name their children such odd things like "Glimmer" and "Marvel".
* AirstripOne: The Districts are numbered and segregated by industry.
* AfterTheEnd: Some combination of wars and natural disasters destroyed the entire population of the world except for Panem. There are implications that Panem consists of less than 100,000 people and represents the entire human species. District 12, the smallest district (possibly excluding 13), has a population of between 8,000 and 10,000 [[spoiler: before it is bombed (it's stated that the 800 to 900 survivors are just less than 10 percent of the population)]]. That would mean the bare minimum population of the districts 1-12 would have to be about 96,000, and most likely more, since districts 2 and 11 appear to be several times the size of 12.
* TheAlcoholic: Former District 12 champion Haymitch Abernathy. In fact, it seems that a lot of Games champions end up with some kind of drug or alcohol addiction, due to a combination of too much money and time on their hands, having no real way to cope with the horrors they faced in the arena, and having to mentor new tributes year after year who seldom if ever come back alive.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: The people in the Capitol have some strange fashion ideas, among them body dyes. At least one person mentioned has dyed her whole body pea green.
* AmbiguouslyBrown:
** Rue and Thresh are both stated to be dark-skinned, but it's never mentioned ''how'' dark. WordOfGod says that they are black.
** Katniss, Gale and Haymitch sport the "Seam look", meaning olive skin, dark hair and grey eyes.
* AnimalMotifs: Metaphorically, Snow as a snake. Visually, Katniss as a mockingjay. Tigris as a cat-person as both.
* AnnoyingArrows: This happens unless Katniss hits a vital area.
* AnyoneCanDie: Battle Royal is actually an interesting example. Many of the characters are ''guaranteed'' to die, due to the format of the Games, however, as with most other works, main characters are very rarely if ever killed (depending on who you'd be willing to count as a main character), and only in major events. Katniss, as the first person narrator, inevitably survives the entire series.
* ApocalypseHow: In the backstory. It's continental societal disruption at the least, leading to the creation of Panem.
* TheArcher: Katniss. Also Gale.
* ArtisticLicense:
** ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare:
*** In ''Mockingjay'' Katniss stuffs Buttercup into a bag and carries him over her shoulder, even elbowing him to get him to be quiet. She also ''bounces him against the floor''. In the book, this only causes yowling, but in real life this probably would've caused him a great deal of injury.
*** Katniss also picks Buttercup up by the scruff of his neck without supporting his rump. He's a grown tom cat. Any pet owner will tell you that is a ''humongous'' no-no.
*** After Buttercup is forced into a bag, he allows Prim to tie a ribbon around his neck and hold him in her arms. After being bagged? Both of these actions would probably cause a cat a great deal of distress (possibly causing the animal to retaliate in violence) in real life.
** ArtisticLicenseBiology:
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss mistakes evening primrose for rose and implies they're two types of the same species of flower. The thorny roses Snow leaves and primrose are not even mildly similar to look at. Mistaking one for the other would be more or less impossible.
** ArtisticLicensePharmacology:
*** [[spoiler: Snow uses assassination by]] poison to get into power. Apparently the Capitol can neither run basic autopsies nor test surfaces for presence of toxins.
*** "Morphling," an apparent stand in for morphine, appears in most functions to be an opiate, but for some reason the two morphling addicts from ''CatchingFire'' are extremely thin. Thinness from opiate addiction comes from choosing to buy drugs over food, not any effect of the drug. Katniss says that they ''did'' have the money to buy food as well, so their emaciation makes no sense.
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss describes morphling as making her feel numb and empty. For opiate addicts (who've begun to grow 'immune' to the effects) this may be the case, but morphine makes non-addicts feel relaxed, warm and happy, even through emotional depression.
*** Hijacking [[spoiler:specifically tracker jacker venom]], as further explained in HollywoodPsychology below.
** ArtisticLicensePhysics:
*** Beetee's electric trap in ''Catching Fire'' would not be capable of killing all the sealife and the Careers on the beach like he claims. (Ever wonder why lightning doesn't kill fish in lakes?) [[spoiler:Fortunately, the plan wasn't meant to actually work; it was a distraction for his real plan.]]
*** Planes are supposedly not be able to fly very high because of some sort of vague, inadequately explained "destruction of atmosphere." This is either implying that there are issues of human ability to survive in aircrafts because of low pressure, or that destruction of atmosphere causes the atmosphere to lessen in physical size rather than density. With regard to the first, planes alread fly in much lower pressures than what humans can survive on their own (think cabin pressurization and those emergency oxygen masks)--the height of planes' flight ability in-universe is given at 100 yards and accounting for current ability to fly in low pressure, if planes are limited to 100 yards, sea level would ''not'' be within comfortable, easy to survive human pressure. This would make the tall buildings in the Capitol extraordinarily implausible (unless all of these buildings are pressurized, which is in and of itself implausible). With regard to the latter, destruction of atmosphere would cause atmosphere to expand to fill the same space, not a lessening of physical size in the atmosphere surrounding the earth. In other words, "destruction of atmosphere" is not a reason that high-flying planes would not exist.
* AsianAndNerdy: Everyone from District 3 (which produces electronics). "Nuts" Wiress and "Volts" Beetee, the two engineers in Catching Fire, "are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair." The explosives expert in Battle Royal is described by Katniss as "scrawny, ashen-skinned" and by Rue as "not very big." The narrator of the Scholastic audio books puts on a distinct stereotypical Asian accent that is especially noticeable in ''Catching Fire''.
* AxCrazy: Some of the Careers. Clove would've given Katniss a GlasgowSmile if Thresh hadn't stepped in. And Cato explodes so violently when Katniss takes out his supplies that he snaps a nearby boy's neck. Enobaria rips someone else's throat out.
* AnAxeToGrind: Johanna Mason in the Quarter Quell; after all, she's from the lumber district.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta]] have two kids.
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter:
** [[spoiler: Peeta]] deliberately invokes this trope [[spoiler: by claiming Katniss is pregnant after the two are forced back into the arena for the Quarter Quell.]] Apparently not even the bloodthirsty denizens of the Capitol seem to want to watch a pregnant woman be killed.
** Subverted in the series epilogue: while [[spoiler:Peeta and Katniss have two children, and this is a sign of hope, the world is still far from a good place, and Peeta and Katniss both retain enduring psychological issues as a result of the events of the books]].
* BadDreams: Katniss and the rest of the victors seem plagued by them.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: This occurs with regard to [[spoiler:Rue.]]
* BandOfBrothers: The victors.
* BattleCouple: Katniss and Peeta in the first book, but subverted in the second when Finnick is Katniss' [[TheLancer lancer]].
* BattleRoyaleWithCheese: Subverted in that [[spoiler: defeated characters don't come back to help fight the BigBad, they come back in another more sinister form to rip the remaining tributes limb from limb.]]
* [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Because You Were Nice To My Friend]]: Thresh spares Katniss because she helped Rue out [[spoiler:before the latter died.]]
* BecomingTheMask: Katniss pretends to be [[spoiler:in love with Peeta just to keep them both alive in the arena.]] At the end of the first book, she's prepared to kill him to save herself. Contrast the end of the second, [[spoiler:where she's totally prepared to die so he can continue living.]]
* BeeBeeGun: Katniss uses a hive of lethal, genetically-altered wasps to kill some of her opponents. And almost kills herself in the process.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Peeta, though he got better.]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Peeta is the Betty and Gale (despite being Katniss' best friend from early childhood) is the Veronica to Katniss's Archie: Peeta is nice and fairly sweet, while Gale has a revolutionary mindset and a ruthless streak. [[http://apricotteacup.deviantart.com/art/Hunger-Games-Peeta-VS-Gale-152229494?q=sort%3Atime+favby%3ATaylorswifty1&qo=3&offset=130 This picture]] sums it up nicely.
* BigBad: [[PresidentEvil President Coriolanus Snow.]]
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Cameras are waiting to catch every minute of Katniss and Peeta's lives once they become contestants in Battle Royal. Life in the districts is also very closely monitored, leaving people afraid to say anything that might come off as negative about the Capitol. President Snow even [[spoiler: knows Gale and Katniss kissed in the woods outside District 12]].
* BirdsOfAFeather: Katniss and Gale, though ultimately inverted when [[spoiler:Katniss decides that she needs Peeta]] to balance her own personality out.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The freedom]] at the end of the third book [[spoiler:is paid for in a lot of blood, and the characters are burdened with deep emotional scars. However, Panem is rebuilding and there's some BabiesEverAfter for the two lead characters.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality
* BlackMarketProduce: Katniss makes her living poaching game and selling it on the black market. In addition, most food that isn't made from grain rations is expensive and rather rare in the Districts. The decadent Capitol, on the other hand, has tons of food of all kinds.
* BloodFromTheMouth:
** Subverted by President Snow, since it's neither overt nor a sign of his impending death. [[spoiler:Played straight later.]]
** The first tribute Katniss sees die suddenly sprays blood onto her face while fighting with her over supplies, due to a sudden and terminal case of throwing-knife-in-back. Katniss herself narrowly avoids succumbing to the malady a few seconds later.
* BloodKnight: "Careers" are kids who train all their young lives to win glory in the Games, volunteering for them if they're not selected by lottery.
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: About thirty seconds into the 74th Hunger Games, the boy from District 9 coughs blood into Katniss' face after getting knifed by Clove.
* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Invoked with Katniss's wedding dress: [[spoiler: instead of being spattered with blood, it lights itself on fire then turns into a mockingjay dress.]]
* BlueEyes: Prim, Mrs. Everdeen, and Peeta. Implied to be a trait of the merchant class.
* BoomerangComeback: This is how [[spoiler: Haymitch]] won his game. [[spoiler: He made it to the edge of the arena, where he discovered there was a force field that reflected back everything that was thrown at it. The other remaining competitor caught up with him, threw an axe, Haymitch ducked, the axe bounced back, and killed the thrower.]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Peeta. He gets better.]]
* BreadAndCircuses: ''Panem et Circenses''. DiscussedTrope in ''Mockingjay.''
* BreakTheCutie: Peeta's TraumaCongaLine is significantly longer than that of most of the other characters, though for the most part he takes it all in stride.
* BreakfastClub: People who have won Battle Royal tend to become close friends and stick together, because only other tributes can understand what they have gone through.
* BriefAccentImitation: Gale at the beginning of the first novel, inciting one of about five times where Katniss actually ''laughs''.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu:
** In the first book, [[spoiler: Katniss is blown back by the explosion she sets off destroying the Careers' supplies and is rendered completely deaf in her left ear. Unable to escape, she only survives by hiding right under their noses]].
** In the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: Katniss nearly kills herself breaking the force field over the arena]].
* TheBrute: Cato, in the first book, and the aptly named Brutus in the second.
* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: The Capitol plans to do this to [[spoiler: Peeta and Katniss]]. This is later subverted in the end of the third book, where [[spoiler: they voluntarily decide to marry]].
* ButtMonkey: [[spoiler:Poor Boggs. His life is a string of tribulations, from Katniss puking all over him to Gale breaking his nose to getting his legs blown off and dying horribly. The closest he comes to complaining is a sigh when Katniss pukes on him.]]
* CallARabbitASmeerp:
** "Muttation" is a generic in-universe term for a genetically engineered creature, probably derived from "mutt" and "mutation". Lots of things count, like those wolves at the end of the first book, or Jabberjays and Tracker Jackers. Many more exotic variants are introduced in the third book when [[spoiler: they're storming the Capitol]].
** The addictive painkiller in use around Panem is called "morphling" (morphine) and the people addicted to it are called "morphlings."
** Poisonous berries called "nightlock" (nightshade, hemlock).
* CaptainObvious: [[spoiler: Peeta]] in ''Catching Fire'' when after he ran head-first into a force field, died, and then brought back to life by [[spoiler:Finnick]], he mentions there's a force field ahead of them.
* CatsAreMean: Buttercup is to everyone who isn't Prim. [[spoiler:Until Katniss and he finally bond after Prim's death.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Nightlock berries and [[spoiler: Foxface's death]]
* ChekhovsHobby: Frosting cakes turns out to come in really handy.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: President Coin.]]
* ChildrenForcedToKill
* ClosedCircle
* CloseKnitCommunity: District 12
** District 11 gets less limelight, but are this as well. [[spoiler: They pool their money to buy Katniss a thank you gift in the arena for treating Rue well and giving her a proper funeral.]]
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The whole point of life in the Districts, and the Games. Katniss takes a lot of horror in stride in the first book, but over the course of the trilogy the conditioning wears off.
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler:Haymitch]], Snow, [[spoiler:Coin]], Johanna, and Peeta.
* ContrivedCoincidence:
** In-universe. Family members of past tributes are disproportionately likely to be selected as tributes themselves. Katniss figures the drawings must be rigged that way to create [[RuleOfDrama extra drama]].
** The odds of Prim getting reaped in her first year, without any additional buy-ins is staggeringly small.
** In the first book, Katniss finally collapses from dehydration mere feet away from water.
** If Katniss ever thinks that she doesn't want to kill a person during the games, [[spoiler: she won't have to. Either someone/thing else kills them (Rue, Wiress, Thresh, Mags) or they survive (Peeta, Finnick, Beetee)]].
** When Katniss is thinking about betraying [[spoiler:Boggs]] he very conveniently [[spoiler:steps onto a mine]] and then gives command to her so that she doesn't have to technically betray anyone.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Invoked: [[spoiler:A fake miscarriage for Katniss and Peeta's fake baby]].
* CostumePorn: Each tribute gets a personal stylist. Looking flashy outside of the arena serves a practical purpose, though: tributes who catch the audience's eye are more likely to receive sponsors who can help them survive the arena.
* CoveredInMud: Peeta uses a large amount of mud with plants on top to disguise himself as part of a riverbank when he is too injured to move. This probably helps his infection along.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In ''Catching Fire'' [[spoiler: Finnick]] performs CPR on [[spoiler: Peeta]] (whose heart has stopped) for several minutes before he coughs and sputters to life. After being thrown backward by an electrified ''forcefield''.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The arena of the second Quarter Quell (Haymitch's) is this. At first glance it's the "most breathtaking place imaginable." There're blue skies, puffy white clouds, songbirds flying by, [[CoolClearWater crystalline streams]], luscious fruit, gorgeous flowers, butterflies, etc. Then everyone realizes [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything]] is [[DeathWorld deadly poisonous]]. And the [[KillerRabbit fluffy, golden squirrels are carnivorous]].
* CrapsackWorld: Most of the districts are horrible places to live. The people are poor, starving, and oppressed while those in the Capitol live outrageously decadent lives. And that's even without mentioning the eponymous DeadlyGame.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
** Haymitch Abernathy seems like a useless drunk, but he did actually win a Hunger Game after all. In ''Catching Fire,'' we learn that Haymitch survived his Games using extreme cunning. [[spoiler: We also learn that he's a member of the underground resistance.]]
** Johanna Mason famously exploited this trope to win the games, appearing to be helpless when she is actually a ruthless killer.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Anyone who's died in the Games, really. And the last book.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The Capitol is described as being full of colored glass, and the people are obsessed with fashion. Technology also seems to have advanced to the point that it can be completely hidden from view. Although no one wears a toga, Capitol residents almost all have Roman names, establishing them as a decadent and technologically advanced society.
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Wiress knows what she's talking about. The trick is ''figuring out'' just what that is.
* DarkActionGirl: Pretty much any female Career tribute by definition, but Clove fits the trope to a T. Annie is the exception.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The whole series is pretty dark to begin with, but the series finale, ''Mockingjay'', is much more hopeless than even the first two.
* DeadLittleSister: Katniss' father dies five years before the first book, forcing her to toughen up and learn to hunt to support herself and her family. Later, [[spoiler:Rue dies in the Games]], awakening her killer instinct. The threat of this trope becoming ''literal'' drives the whole trilogy.
* DeadpanSnarker: Haymitch and Johanna.
* DeathCourse: Battle Royal, especially when the tributes settle down into a comfortable recovery period / stalemate. [[spoiler:The Capitol defenses use much of the same design aesthetic.]]
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:Plutarch Heavensbee, his assistant, and some of the other people in District 13]] have fled the Capitol. This was also the goal of Lavinia, the redheaded Avox, and the boy she was with when Katniss first saw her, but they didn't make it.
* {{Deprogram}}ming: Has to be done to [[spoiler: Peeta]] in book 3.
* DespairEventHorizon: Katniss passes over it in a matter of paragraphs [[spoiler: at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]] And the rest of the series from there consists of [[ItGotWorse it getting worse]].
* {{Defictionalization}}: You can actually buy mockingjay pins. Interesting, because the citizens of the Capitol displayed this exact behavior in ''Catching Fire''.
* DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: At the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', the president drops by for a terrifying "chat" with [[spoiler: Katniss, during which he threatens to kill her whole family if she doesn't conduct herself properly on the Victory Tour. (Katniss's mother isn't present for this part of the conversation, but she does drop in to serve them tea. Katniss then has to conceal the conversation from her mother, telling her the president was just wishing her luck.)]]
* DisappearedDad: Katniss and Prim's father died in the mines a few years before the book begins. Gale's father also died in the same accident. It's concealed in somewhat of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but Haymitch's father might have been this as well. Haymitch has told Katniss that [[spoiler: President Snow had his mother, baby brother, and girlfriend killed as punishment for making the Capitol look bad in the arena,]] but a father is never mentioned.
* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: Rue]] in the first book. In the others, [[spoiler: Prim. For someone driving the plot of the first book, she]] gets almost no screentime and dies to instigate the ending.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Battle Royal are hateful, deplorable, they ruin their victors psychologically, and the series as a whole is viciously anti-war... but a major part of the story's appeal is the actual excitement of Battle Royal sequences... ''For both the Capitol and the readers!''
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** In District 11, the dark-skinned population is forced to farm and are treated with particular brutality. This sounds a lot like slavery in the American South.
** Panem and [[spoiler:District 13]] are nuclear powers locked in a stalemate. Panem is decadent, wealthy, and corrupt. Its citizens enjoy outrageous luxury while they exploit the surrounding communities to feed their enormous appetites. [[spoiler:District 13]], on the other hand, is a dull and drab place, ruled by an a totalitarian regime that regiments every aspect of its citizens' lives. That's pretty much how the US and the USSR portrayed each other during the Cold War.
* DoomedHometown: [[spoiler: District 12 is firebombed to the ground at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Peeta.
* DrowningMySorrows: Haymitch becomes a drunk due to the horrors he has witnessed.
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: Katniss understandably attempts various suicidal things after the end of the war in the final book. None are fulfilled naturally]]
* DrunkenMaster: Haymitch is a hopeless alcoholic, but his knowledge of people and tactics is astounding.
* DueToTheDead: Katniss covers [[spoiler:Rue's]] body with flowers and sings a funeral lament.
* DyingAlone
* DyingAsYourself: Peeta's wish before going into the arena.
* DysfunctionJunction: Go figure.
* {{Dystopia}}: Panem is not a great place to live.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Johanna Mason gets a brief mention in the first book, then appears in the flesh ([[NakedOnArrival literally!]]) a book later.
** Delly Cartwright is mentioned in the first part of the first book in passing, but doesn't appear until the middle of the third.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: More like earn your bittersweet ending.
* EatTheDog: ''"No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog."''
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: [[spoiler:District 13]].
* EmbarrassingFirstName: While the people themselves don't seem to be, at least Katniss notes that a lot of District 1 ''should'' be embarrassed by their names, the likes of which include Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss.
* EnemyMine: ''Temporary'' alliances are all part of Battle Royal. In ''Catching Fire'', the doomed tributes hold hands in a show of solidarity against the Capitol.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Often used in-universe with Katniss.
** She's never warned about Peeta's interview strategy so that her reaction will be more genuine.
** She's dropped into the warzone to film her candid reactions for propaganda, since she can't act at all.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first two things we learn about Katniss are that she loves her sister and that she has no problem drowning kittens.
* MrFanservice:
** Gale maintains a surprising harem in the fandom for someone who was a tertiary character for the first book.
** Also, Finnick, both in-universe, and out.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Inverted. A group of deadly monkey muttations show up in the arena in ''Catching Fire.''
* EverythingsWorseWithBees: Tracker jacker wasps.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** The gamemakers frown on certain behaviors in Battle Royal, but moreso because it will draw a poor reaction from the audience rather than out of moral disdain. They will not tolerate cannibalism, nor will they allow a psychopath to become a victor (unless they can be charming about it, as the Career Tributes tend to be somewhat... AxCrazy).
** The Capitol citizens will gleefully watch children fight to the death, but send a young woman who's alledgedly pregnant into the arena and they'll call it barbaric.
** In the third book, [[spoiler:Snow never exercises his Nuclear Option, which would damn humanity to extinction, even when he realizes that he's doomed.]] He states that he would never kill someone if it gave him no advantage.
* EvilGloating: When Clove catches [[spoiler:Katniss]], she decides to give her something to think about. Followed- as usual- by a ThwartedCoupDeGrace.
* EvilSmellsBad:
** President Snow smells of blood and cloying roses. It seems symbolic at first, but a reason for it is given in ''Mockingjay'': [[spoiler:Snow killed many rivals with poison. He uses the roses to cover up the smell of poison, and his bloody breath is from the mouth sores left by poisoned drinks he shared with his victims after taking less-than-perfect antidotes.]]
** Snow uses the overpowering smell of roses to intimidate his enemies, especially Katniss. The lizard mutts in ''Mockingjay'' were specifically given this trait to screw with her head.
* EyeScream: When Katniss is hunting squirrels, she shoots them in the eye (to spare the meat).
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Katniss thinks Johanna]] has done this when she "attacks" her. She assumes [[spoiler:Finnick]] must be in on it too.
* FantasticDrug: "Morphling," a heroin-like addictive drug that is obviously a reference to morphine.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Panem is basically a futuristic, sci-fi version of Rome. The country's name is an adoption of Rome's "Bread and Circuses" motto. The Capitol is an incredibly authoritarian superpower that brutally reigns over conquered territories to feed the decadent desires of its own citizens. The gladiatorial parallels with Battle Royal are obvious, of course. The parties feature guests who induce vomiting so that they can consume more food, which is popularly thought to have been common at Roman banquets.
* FailOSuckyname: Plutarch Heavensbee, Effie Trinket, and just about everyone in the Capitol. Except Seneca Crane.
* FalseFlagOperation: Toward the end of ''Mockingjay''.
* FeedTheMole
* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The Capitol requires the Districts to treat the Games as a festival.
* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Peeta]] during a fair bit of ''Mockingjay''.
* FilkSong: Even if one ignores the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCmoAuZgsnE many]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ve-WpgIknc versions]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2obqRINOAg&feature=related of]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSLONTtQqFU&feature=related Rue's]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPR-Vf93q0A Lullaby]], there are a considerable number of these floating around including:
** Rachel Macwhirter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnswUH9Oav8 Mockingjay]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYeWOQfQCQ8 Iron Children]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fqSZDKU-J4 Too Clever By Half (The Ballad Of Foxface)]].
** Alex Carpenter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk In Battle Royal]].
** Kristina Horner and Luke Conard's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2iiRp0I8&feature=related Real Or Not Real]].
** On top of those, an entire unofficial soundtrack exists [[http://www.youtube.com/user/unofficialscore here]].
** Arshad's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRSvoKoU3kk Girl on Fire]]" could count as well. He wrote the song after reading the book and being inspired by the character Peeta. He submitted it as a potential track for the movie soundtrack, but it wasn't selected.
* FilmOfTheBook
* FireForgedFriends: Katniss and [[spoiler:Johanna]].
* FirstKiss: Katniss has hers with Peeta. All she feels is that his lips are very warm, because he has a fever.
* FiveBadBand: The Career tributes from the 74th Games.
** TheBigBad: Cato
** TheDragon: Clove
** TheEvilGenius: [[NoNameGiven the District 3 boy]]
** TheBrute: Marvel
** TheDarkChick: Glimmer
** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler: Peeta, but mostly as TheLoad.]]
* FiveManBand: One of these forms during the Quarter Quell:
** TheHero: [[spoiler: Katniss]]
** TheLancer: [[spoiler: Finnick]]
** TheBigGuy: [[spoiler: Johanna]], though [[spoiler: Finnick]] also .
** TheSmartGuy: [[spoiler: Beetee]]
** TheHeart/TheChick: [[spoiler: Peeta]], who is also something of TheLoad.
* [[FirstGirlWins First Boy Wins]]: Subverted. [[spoiler: Peeta is the first boy chronologically speaking, which should cast him as Unlucky Childhood Admirer, but he is introduced within the story after Gale.]]
* FlashbackNightmare: Used rarely.
* FlatCharacter: Prim. Many of the minor characters. Arguably, ''many'' characters (including Katniss) qualify for this; their motivations are not generally complex. (Survive, hunt, run, and survive.)
* FlawExploitation: Katniss exploits the Capitol's [[spoiler: need for a victor]].
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: The second one, with Peeta and Katniss, respectively.
* FlowerMotifs: Several characters are named after flowers or plants, the President reeks of roses, and of course there's [[spoiler: Rue's death]] scene.
* FloweryInsults: Zig-zagged by Peeta [[spoiler: when he paints the picture of dead Rue covered in flowers for his private session but he never says a word to the Gamemakers]].
* FogOfDoom: A nasty example is encountered by [[spoiler: Katniss and her alliance in the Quarter Quell]]. It's poisonous to the touch, burning skin and clothes and causing seizures and temporary paralysis.
* FoodPorn: Early on, Katniss describes just about everything she eats in detail, which sort of makes sense considering she spent a good portion of her life nearly starving to death.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first book, Katniss mentions she first met the avox in the train while in the forest with Gale. [[spoiler:She ponders where the avox could have been headed since [[BlatantLies there’s nothing beyond the forest of district 12...]]]]
* FragileSpeedster: Rue, who can move deftly in the treetops, but can't face anyone in a confrontation.
* FreudianSlip:
** After Rue is [[spoiler:fatally injured by the District 1 Career]], in a panic, Katniss refers to her as 'Prim' in her narration, though it's not really a secret that Rue has been a surrogate Prim in Katniss' eyes before that.
** And reversed in a later book Katniss sees Prim after [[spoiler:Rue's death]] and calls Prim 'Rue' in the narration.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Prim seems to befriend any animal she meets, and can't bear to go hunting with Katniss.
* FullCircleRevolution: [[SubvertedTrope Nearly]].
* GallowsHumor: Katniss and some of the other Hunger Game tributes/victors learn to have a very droll outlook on their CrapsackWorld. Finnick takes it somewhat literally in ''Catching Fire'' by tying a noose and pretending to hang himself as a joke.
* GenderFlip: Katniss is the ActionGirl and is proficient at hunting with a bow and arrow. Peeta bakes and paints, and is more emotional of the two. They're an inversion of ManlyMenCanHunt and FeminineWomenCanCook, respectively.
* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: More literally than usual. Genetically engineered beasties are the Capitol's favored weapon of war, or at least are coequal with troops and air power. Proper nukes are still around, though.
* GenerationXerox: Katniss looks like Mr. Everdeen, has inherited his hunting abilities, singing voice and, like him, [[spoiler: will marry someone from the town]]. Prim looks like Mrs. Everdeen and has inherited her passion for healing. Also Mrs. Everdeen was close friends with Katniss' friend, Madge's mother, as a teenager and the father of Katniss' love interest Peeta had a crush on Mrs. Everdeen.
* GenghisGambit: In order to rally the people in the Capitol on her side and end things early, [[spoiler: Coin blows up a bunch of children and makes it look like Snow is responsible. It works]].
* GenreSavvy: After spending a life watching Battle Royal, Peeta knows what storylines will excite the audience, and uses it to his advantage. [[spoiler: He also admits he suspected all along that the Gamemakers would never let two people survive the arena]]. Katniss, by contrast, has GenreBlindness.
* GenreShift: ''Mockingjay'' abandons the Games entirely, [[BrokenBase breaking the base]] as it does so.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Just one fight left. Environment is herding the survivors towards the lake for a final brawl. [[spoiler: SUDDENLY WEREWOLVES!]]
* GildedCage:
** The wealthier districts have better living conditions but more brutal and fanatical Peacekeepers. On the other hand, District 12 is one of the poorest districts, but the authorities are far more willing to turn a blind eye to things like poaching and black market trading, or at least until book 2.
** The Capitol itself could also be seen as this - for somewhere that is supposedly very privileged, we see several people willing to risk their lives to escape. The fact that [[spoiler: Seneca Crane was executed for simply [[YouHaveFailedMe failing at his job]]]] implies at least a very restrictive society, where [[BigBrotherIsWatching you're watched constantly]] and not toeing the line has terrible consequences. In 'Catching Fire', Effie actually says 'That sort of thinking...it's forbidden, Peeta. Absolutely.' when Peeta tries to hold the Gamemakers accountable for killing children by [[spoiler: painting a picture of Rue's death]] which implies the Capitol citizens [[{{Thoughtcrime}} may not quite have the freedom Katniss assumes.]]
* GladiatorRevolt: The series, especially the third book, could be seen as a post-apocalyptic version of this, with [[spoiler: Katniss and other Hunger Games winners becoming major figures in the rebellion.]]
* GoodIsNotDumb: Peeta is kind and patient and [[spoiler: totally kills people in the arena, including finishing off one girl in cold blood while he's in the Career pack]], besides being three steps ahead when it comes to manipulating the on-camera narrative.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''Mockingjay'', when [[spoiler: Katniss]] has her uglier scars surgically cleaned up, but is left with some more attractive scars, because she's got to have ''some'' scars to show how bravely she's been fighting. Averted in the end, however, when [[spoiler: she gets ugly skin grafts, and there's no attempt to blend them because District 13 has no more need of her]].
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: [[spoiler:District 13 is just as full of assholes as the Capitol.]] The conflict really boils down to some truly horrible people who happen to be in power and all the innocents who get caught in-between. CrapsackWorld indeed.
* {{Gorn}}: How the Capitol citizens view Battle Royal. In-universe only, hopefully.
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout Battle Royal, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
* TheGovernment
* GRatedSex: The act is alluded to at the end of ''Mockingjay'', then skipped over to a brief conversation between the characters afterward.
* GrayEyes: Apparently fairly common in the Seam, including Katniss and Gale.
* GreatOffscreenWar:
** One or two of them--the civilizational collapse that led to the founding of Panem (we're never sure just what it was or if a war was involved), and the more-recent uprising (~75 years before the books take place) when the Districts rose up against the Capital.
** Most of the fighting in the revolution is also off-screen, up until Katniss gets directly involved in District 2.
* GreenEyedMonster: Gale tries damned hard not to like Peeta.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: In the first book:
** On the female side, Clove uses [[KnifeNut throwing knives]], Glimmer and Katniss use a [[TheArcher bow]], and Rue uses a [[BratsWithSlingshots slingshot]].
** On the male side, Cato uses a [[CoolSword sword]], Marvel uses a [[BladeOnAStick spear]], Thresh uses [[GoodOldFisticuffs brute force]], and Peeta uses a [[KnifeNut combat knife]].
* HairOfGold: Peeta, Prim, Delly Cartwright
* HandsOnApproach: Finnick uses this to show Katniss how to tie a difficult knot.
* HannibalLecture: Katniss' last conversation with President Snow. [[spoiler:She decides HannibalHasAPoint.]]
* HarmfulToMinors: Only minors are selected for the standard Hunger Games. [[spoiler:The 75th Hunger Game changes the rules.]]
* HateSink: Katniss and Peeta can't exactly attack the directors of the Games, the Capitol doesn't send ''its'' children to die in the Games, and most of the other Tributes are from Districts as oppressed as 12. However, "Career Tributes" from Districts 1, 2 and 4 are ''volunteers'', {{Child Soldier}}s have who trained to kill other children since they were able to ''walk''. In addition to their loathsome mindset and superior skills, they always team up to eliminate the weaker Tributes, then gleefully kill each other once everyone else is dead.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Gale, especially after [[spoiler: setting off what is essentially a giant mine explosion in District 2 to win a battle.]]
* HerHeartWillGoOn: Peeta tries to invoke this in a MoreHeroThanThou dispute. Katniss' internal monologue reveals she'll have none of it.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. The only character who really seems to use a sword as their main weapon is [[BloodKnight Cato]].
* HeroicBSOD:
** Katniss at the end of the second book, and all over the third.
** Minor one (compared to the later BSOD's) in the first one occurs for Katniss [[spoiler: after Rue dies]]
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Katniss taking her sister's place.
** [[spoiler: Mags]] in the second book--''twice.''
** And all over the place in ''Mockingjay''.
* HeroSecretService
* HiddenDepths: Just about all the sympathetic characters reveal themselves to be more than they at first appeared.
* HoldingHands: Most notably during the interviews for the Quarter Quell.
* HollywoodHealing: Due to the advanced medicine available in the Capitol, most injuries sustained by the characters are healed completely. Aversions include Chaff's hand and Peeta's leg, though he gets a prosthetic leg that is rarely referred to again. In the end, [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta are both covered in skin grafts and burns that the medics didn't bother replacing]].
* HollywoodTactics:
** When the rebels attack the Capitol, direct siege would have included trying to seize or disable the Capitol's nuclear missiles, or else bombarding the Capitol into submission. The narrator mentions that they can't do aerial bombing because of anti-air defenses -- but what about plain old artillery? Or maybe the rebels could have first attacked the anti-air emplacements, and then bombed the Capitol flat. Or they could have just declared victory and negotiated the Capitol's surrender. All of these options would probably have been easier than block-by-block urban warfare through a maze of boobie traps.
** During that same attack, Katniss takes point immediately after being [[FieldPromotion promoted]] to leader of her squad. In real life, a squad leader never takes point, since the point man is the one most likely to die in an ambush, and the squad leader is someone you don't want to lose.
** There seems to be a lack of any standard infantry weapons besides assault rifles and pistols. No grenades, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, mounted machine guns, battle rifles, submachine guns, etc.
** No one has armored ground vehicles.
** At one point a character mentions the use of an EMP bomb by the Capitol. Why didn't the rebels just EMP bomb the Capitol to disable the pods?
** Katniss's combat bow, given to her by 13, is supposedly accurate to 100 yards. This sounds pretty incredible, until you realize that the assault rifles wielded by the Peacekeepers are accurate to around 500 yards, shoot on a much flatter trajectory, don't need constant reloading... ''and'' can penetrate body armor.
** Capitol attack aircraft drop their bombs from the dizzying altitude of 100-ish yards. As though to lampshade this idiocy, Gale and Katniss then ''shoot down the planes with {{Trick Arrow}}s.'' An arrow taking down a bomber. Wrap your head around that one.
** The third book has Finnick take a trident to war. A trident that he can ''throw''. Tridents are weapons made for spearing and catching things; they are not ideal for killing in a quick-fire situation (though it is certainly possible to kill with one) because things killed with tridents are meant primarily to stick on the prongs. In old warfare, tridents were generally used for disarming (their length and shape allowed them to accurately knock swords out of combatants' hands without having to get too close), but not as a primary weapon except in gladiatorial combat. As for throwing, tridents simply aren't balanced for that at all. Even if a throwing trident were possible, it's extraordinarily unlikely that it would ever be useful in a war fought mainly with guns.
** There is some very odd squad formation. For some reason, the army of District 13 puts two sisters in the same squad, and allows people whom it knows to be psychologically and emotionally unstable (Finnick, Katniss) to go into actual war [[spoiler: for the sole purpose of creating propaganda]]. Boggs, Coin's second in command, is frequently put on the front line.
** District 13 is still shooting propaganda spots long past the point that they would be useful. A huge tactical problem once you realize that people's lives, including the life of Coin's second in command, are put in danger for this purpose.
* HollywoodPsych:
** Though Haymitch is an alcoholic, in the first book he very conveniently decides to stay sober only when he needs to be on the condition that Peeta and Katniss not interfere with his drinking when he feels like it. Real alcoholism isn't quite that convenient. Bit better in later books when we see him at least having difficulty sobering up.
** ''Catching Fire'' describes Annie as hysterical when she's reaped for the 75th games, without going into any sort of detail. This is enough to have Katniss think she's completely insane. Later in ''Mockingjay'', we meet Annie and Katniss seems to think she's just a little quirky, though she occasionally covers her ears with her hands for no apparent reason. In real life, a person covering their ears that way would imply that they are hearing things that aren't there. Being that this isn't a one off (she does it "occasionally") it's a pretty big alarm bell for a psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. This is not to mention that she's also implied to ''see'' things that aren't there. So yeah.
** Hijacking. [[spoiler:The way Tracker Jacker venom works in the first book is somewhat questionable,]] but in Mockingjay it really doesn't make sense as a conditioning tool. For one, the brain really doesn't work that way. Conditioning is an unconscious mechanism that can't be manipulated into a deliberate response the way the book describes. This is why the CIA stopped trying to do this in the first place. For another, the part of the brain that controls fear is so separate from your memory that it's unlikely that a drug designed to affect the fear part of your brain would have any affect on memory whatsoever.
* HotWings: Cinna's outfits.
* HufflepuffHouse: Most of the Districts of Panem are pretty extraneous and we learn little about them.
* HumanSacrifice: Tributes are sacrificed by the Capitol to remember the betrayal of District 13.
* HumanShield: Snow surrounding himself with children.
* HumansAreBastards: At the end of ''Mockingjay'', Katniss hits this trope ''hard.''
* HungryJungle
* {{Hypocrite}}: Various characters have their moments, but a few from Katniss stand out. One being that she judges Madge for having an expensive pin that could feed starving families, yet isn't bothered when she herself is later clad in incredibly expensive outfits. There's also her judgement of fellow tributes because of their killing, when she doesn't make any attempt to restrain her own killing - on a few occasions, she even mentions how her fingers are itching for her knife/arrows just because Johanna snapped at her. She also complains a great deal about the wasting of food, when she, in fact, does it herself (when she threw out the gift of cookies from Peeta's father, for example).
* IGaveMyWord: Subverted. Haymitch promises Katniss that he'll keep Peeta alive and also tells Peeta that he'll keep Katniss alive.
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** Katniss upon finding out [[spoiler: she'll be going back into Battle Royal]] for the Quarter Quell.
** Haymitch, pretty much all the time.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Katniss is surprised at how handsome Haymitch used to be.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: [[spoiler: Mags]].
* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure:
** Snow's favorite tactic.
** The entire premise of the Games itself was a way to punish the rebels by making their children kill each other, and to remind them that the Capitol can and will do things like this if they rebel again.
** Snow directly threatens Gale and indirectly threatens the rest of Katniss' loved ones if she doesn't convince all of Panem (including Snow himself) that she's madly in love with Peeta.
** Snow also uses the threat against loved ones to [[spoiler:force Victors into [[SexSlave prostitution]]]].
* IconOfRebellion: The mockingjay.
* IdiotBall:
** Katniss and Peeta pass this back and forth in the first book: [[spoiler: Katniss for not picking up on Peeta's crush, and Peeta for assuming her reciprocation was real.]]
** Katniss seems to be very bad at reading people, [[spoiler: and Peeta announced his crush on national television. Even if this led to improved sponsor chances, the other contestants would undoubtedly pick up on this and use it to their advantage.]]
** Cinna, Haymitch and Effie all tell Katniss that her high score after firing an arrow at the Gamemasters is a good thing, no one seems to notice the big ol' bullseye that this stunt grants her.
** Katniss seems to be clutching this ball rather firmly for someone who's quite familiar with nature. The fact that she isn't the least bit perturbed by the monkeys' initial behavior is silly. Even if she wasn't familiar with monkeys, she knows how animals behave, and she knows that the gamemakers stick 'mutts' into the games. Not hard to work out there's something sinister about them.
* ImAHumanitarian: A District 6 tribute from a past Games named Titus is said to have gone insane and ate the bodies of the tributes he killed.
* ImportantHaircut: Or rather, [[InvertedTrope important lack of haircut]]. In ''Mockingjay'', all the rebel soldiers have their hair cut short, except for Katniss because she needs to stay recognizable.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Katniss is repeatedly shown hitting small game directly in the eye, seemingly with ease. The fact that her arrows have large enough arrowheads to take down humans and deer and therefore have tips bigger than the eyes of some of the small game she's shooting is never accounted for.
* IncendiaryExponent: Two of Katniss, The Girl On Fire's first [[CostumePorn ceremonial outfits]] in the Capitol fit this theme, though only one of them actually uses fire.
* InformedAbility: Peeta is mentioned as being good with a knife and Katniss makes a point of giving him one during the Quarter Quell, yet he's more proficient at being [[TheLoad The Load]].
* InelegantBlubbering: During Katniss' breakdown after the announcement of the Quarter Quell, most notably.
* InsanityDefense: Used to get [[spoiler:Katniss off for assassinating President Coin]].
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Katniss ]]tries to kill herself at the end of ''Mockingjay'', but [[spoiler: Peeta]] stops her.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: One of Katniss's prep team.
* ItMeantSomethingToMe: [[spoiler: Peeta to Katniss]] at the end of the first book.
* ItWasAGift: Katniss' Mockingjay pin.
* ItsAllAboutMe: For whom is the Quarter Quell a real ordeal?
* ItsPersonal: Between Katniss and Snow.
* JustFriends: Katniss and Gale.
* KarmicDeath: Marvel got an arrow in his neck from Katniss [[spoiler: as revenge for killing Rue.]]
* KillEmAll: The Games are to end with one person left standing. [[spoiler: Both the 74th and 75th end a little differently.]]
* KilledOffForReal: You never know who will stay alive in the arena until the very end.
* KissingCousins: Gale pretends to be Katniss's cousin to explain his close relationship with her when Peeta is supposed to be her lover.
* KissOfLife: When Finnick revives Peeta in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes it initially as "kissing" since she's rarely seen CPR performed.
* KnifeNut: Clove.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Revealed at the end of the second book.]]
* LapPillow: Reversed between Katniss and Peeta, and once each between Katniss/Finnick and Katniss/Gale.
* LastKiss: A couple of times between Katniss and Peeta, [[spoiler: never for real.]]
* TheLastLaugh: [[spoiler:President Snow]] at the very end of the rebellion in book 3.
* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Rue]] asks Katniss to sing for her. Despite not singing for years, Katniss comes through.
* LeaveHimToMe: Katniss insists on being the one to kill [[spoiler: Snow]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: Rue's song.
* LockDown: During the bombing of [[spoiler: District 13]] in book 3.
* LosingTheTeamSpirit:
** [[spoiler: Katniss]] at the end of the second book.
** [[spoiler: She completely loses it in]] the third one as well.
* LotteryOfDoom: The reaping, which selects tributes for Battle Royal.
* LoveAtFirstSight / LoveAtFirstNote: If we take Peeta's word for it, that is.
* LoveHurts: Often literally.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Katniss tries to convince the citizens of Panem she was so crazy with love for Peeta that she can't be held responsible for her actions. To say nothing of Peeta's actions to begin with.]]
* LoveTriangle: Unsurprisingly resolved at the end of Mockingjay.
* MadnessMantra: Wiress repeatedly says, "Tick, tock" during the Quarter Quell. No one initially understands what she's referring to.
* ManiacMonkeys: One of the many delights of the Quarter Quell.
* ManOnFire / WreathedInFlames:
** Katniss gets lit on fire five times: thrice in the name of fashion and twice in combat situations. There is a reason they call her ''The Girl Who Was On Fire''.
** Peeta also gets singed [[spoiler: at the very end, when he was presumably following Katniss.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Peeta is the male version of FeminineWomenCanCook and Katniss is the female version of ManlyMenCanHunt.
* MeaningfulName:
** Katniss is a real plant. Its common name? "Arrowhead". And its scientific name is ''Sagittaria,'' which is a transparent reference to [[WesternZodiac the Zodiac sign Sagittarius,]] a fire sign whose symbol is an archer.
** Peeta the baker sounds like "pita," a type of bread.
** Effie Trinket seems to be trivial and shallow.
** Cinna was the name of [[spoiler:both a doomed opponent of Sulla the dictator and a conspirator against Augustus ''Caesar''.]]
** One of the meanings of "Rue" is "regret." [[spoiler:Her death haunts Katniss, who failed to protect her.]]
** Avox means, in an awkward and incorrect mixture of Greek and Latin, 'without a voice.'
** "Coriolanus," as in "Coriolanus Snow" refers to a hated Roman who betrayed both sides and died loathed and friendless.
** Tigris had plastic surgery to look like a human-tiger hybrid. Katniss wonders which came first, the name or the look.
** A mag is a type of nut. Mags knows a lot about plants and nuts.
** Pollux and Castor, the twin cameramen from ''Mockingjay'' are named for the Gemini of Roman mythology. Like the myth, Castor dies and Pollux is allowed to live - only with some horrible mutilation.
** Titus and Lavinia are names from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Like their counterparts in the Shakespeare play, Titus was known for cannibalism, and Lavinia had her tongue cut out. Given Peeta's comments about 'fingers and toes' an unfortunate implication, given what other things happened to Lavinia in the play.
** In Mockingjay, the expression [[spoiler:"the opposite side of the same Coin"]] comes to mind.
** In addition to any other possible meaning, a lot of the tributes' names related to their district's industry or their personal profession:
** Panem sounds like a mutilation of "Pan America", but is meant as a reference to the Latin phrase "panem et circenses", meaning "bread and circuses", or idiomatically, sustenance and entertainment - the two things you need to give a population to keep them happy.
*** District 1, luxury goods, gives us Marvel, Glimmer, Gloss, and Cashmere.
*** District 3, electronics, has Wiress. And Beetee, which sounds like TV, CD, PC, etc. (Or BD, as in blu-ray disc). For British readers, it invokes BT - British Telecom.
*** District 4, fishing, ''Fin''nick Odair and Annie ''Crest''a.
*** District 7, lumber, gives us the optimistically-named Blight.
*** District 8, textiles, has Twill and Woof (another word for "weft").
*** District 11, agriculture, has Rue, Thresh, Chaff, and Seeder. Chaff is a double example. Not only does it mean "the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing," but it also means, "worthless matter." Chaff never becomes important to the plot.
*** District 12, coal mining, has Peeta(Peter, meaning "stone") and of course Katniss' nickname; "The Girl Who Was On Fire."
*** The Capitol uses Roman names, in reference to their technological superiority as well as their decadent culture.
*** Disctrict 2 is noted for having the closest relationship to the Capitol, and their male tributes also have Roman names: Cato and Brutus.
** In Katniss' case it's a nickname but the drama largely boils down to "The girl who was on fire" against President ''Snow''.
* TheMedic: Katniss's mother and Prim.
* MementoMacGuffin: The pearl in ''Mockingjay''.
* MemeticSexGod: Finnick is an in-universe example.
* MercyKill:
** After Katniss puts [[spoiler: Cato]] out of his misery at the end of the 74th Hunger Games.
** In ''Catching Fire,'' Katniss considers doing this for [[spoiler:Peeta and possibly Beetee as well]].
** [[spoiler:Gale and Katniss]] have an understanding in 'Mockingjay' that they would kill each other before letting the other get captured, to avoid torture. [[spoiler:Both fail to do it in the end.]]
* MindControlEyes: [[spoiler: Peeta]]
* MoralityPet: Katniss has Prim and Rue, and Gale has his own younger siblings.
* MoreHeroThanThou: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Katniss and Peeta]] are each determined the other will be the survivor.
* TheMourningAfter: Katniss's mother goes into a near-catatonic depression after the death of Katniss's father, leaving Katniss to support the family. Even when the mother becomes functional again, she never really gets over his death.
** In Mockingjay Katniss goes into this after [[spoiler:Prim's death]]
* MushroomSamba: A (mostly) [[NightmareFuel extremely unfunny]] version thanks to tracker jacker venom.
* MyOwnPrivateIDo: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Peeta claims he and Katniss did this, so that he can then claim Katniss is pregnant to garner extra sympathy]].
* MysteryMeat
--> "Once it's in the soup, I call it beef."
* NeckSnap: Cato to [[spoiler:the boy from District 3]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** Katniss' main goal through the second book is to find a way to trick Snow into believing she's in love with Peeta. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, she does convince him (and just about everyone else), and therefore manages to give him the leverage to break her during ''Mockingjay''.]]
** One can say that the entire series is this. [[spoiler: Prim dies anyway, which was what the instigation of the plot of the first book was trying to prevent.]]
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: President Snow and the Gamemakers.
* NightmareSequence: Katniss's dreams are usually a horrifying mishmash of bad memories and fear-gripped imagination, like everyone getting their tongues cut out or all her loved ones screaming in agony.
* NobodyPoops: Bears may shit in woods but tributes, apparently, do not. It wouldn't be so noticeable, except that Collins takes pains to make everything about Battle Royal and the horrors of the arena seem dirty and uncomfortable and horrible, so in the first book at least it's a glaring omission. They do, however, urinate. Possible justification: if you're exercising a lot (say, fighting in an arena) and not getting much to eat (say, fighting in an arena), your body makes use of more of the food you eat. But you'd think Katniss would've noticed the ''lack'' of... [[MST3KMantra Well, whatever.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Given the nature of the beast, it's an inevitability. Even outside the arena, [[spoiler: Cinna receives a nasty one as Katniss watches helplessly]]. ''And they never saw him again.''
* NoNameGiven: Katniss never learns the names of most of the tributes. She doesn't find out until well after the games are over that the boy from District 1 was named Marvel, even though [[spoiler:she was the one who killed him]].
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Presidents Coin and Snow.]]
* NonActionGuy: Peeta, whose sole moment of badassery is so early on in the games that it's easily outshined by his persistent habit of being TheLoad.
* NonActionBigBad: President Snow.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Either the books take places very strategically to avoid this problem or Collins simply overlooked it. Even when Katniss becomes well fed and [[spoiler:goes to war in a squad with multiple women]] it's never an issue. and See also: NobodyPoops.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: It takes Katniss a long time to decide to actively help the revolutionaries instead of just looking out for her own survival.
* NotMeThisTime: When confronted with [[spoiler:the bombing of the children in front of the mansion,]] Snow reveals that he had absolutely nothing to do with it, and in fact it was [[spoiler:President Coin]].
* NuclearOption: Discussed. [[spoiler:Both District 13 and the Capitol]] have nukes trained on each other, but mutually assured destruction of all humanity keeps them both at bay.
* ObfuscatingStupidity:
** Katniss remarks this was Johanna Mason's strategy in her Games: everyone thought she was a sniveling, useless weakling and overlooked her... until she turned out to be a vicious killer who ended up the victor.
** Oddly enough, Haymitch counts -- not only is he quite the strategist in the first Games, but he turns out to be a [[spoiler:major figure in the underground resistance by the end of book 2.]] Not bad for someone most people just think of as the town drunk.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome:
** The implied epic two-day battle between [[CoolVersusAwesome Cato and Thresh.]] [[BattleInTheRain In the rain]].
** Peeta killing [[spoiler: Brutus]] in the Quarter Quell could count. Not bad for the guy who's usually seen as TheLoad.
* TheOphelia: [[spoiler:Katniss]] near the end of the third book, after [[spoiler:killing Coin]]. Annie is also presented as unstable at the best of times.
* OppositesAttract
* OrnamentalWeapon: Subverted with Katniss' bow. After all, just because it's pretty doesn't mean it can't be deadly.
* OrphanageOfFear: It isn't actually seen, but the District 12 community home is said to be like this.
* OutrunTheFireball: One of the Gamemakers' traps.
* PlanetOfHats: Each of the districts has a different primary industry, which serves as its theme. This is an InvokedTrope in Battle Royal, since the tributes are each trope are traditionally dressed in ways that reference their theme.
* PerfectPoison: Nightlock berries. Most of the plants in the Second Quarter Quell.
* {{Phobia}}: [[spoiler:Johanna]] develops a fear of water after being tortured with drowning / electrocution.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Katniss is flustered by people's nudity on several occasions.
----> Finnick: "Why? Do you find this... distracting?"
* PoliceState: Panem is one. [[spoiler:District 13]] is less openly cruel but even more restrictive.
* PresentTenseNarrative
* PresidentEvil: President Snow, especially as time goes on. [[spoiler:President Coin of District 13? Not much better]].
* PrimalFear: Suzanne Collins seems to be a fan of these... both Battle Royal and the Underland Chronicles are full of people dying in horrible ways thanks to fire, drowning, bugs (sometimes GIANT bugs) and/or savage animals.
* PromotionToParent:
** The death of [[DisappearedDad Katniss' father]] and her mother's subsequent depression make her the breadwinner of the family.
** Gale is also the primary provider for his family after his father's death; his mother helps as best she can, but she's only able to bring in a pittance doing laundry.
* ProngsOfPoseidon: Since he's from the fishing district, Finnick is dangerously adept with a trident.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Pretty thoroughly.
** With regard to clothing, it starts with Katniss looking down at the shallow, appearance-centered Panemites but then squealing in delight when Cinna makes her look pretty, and continues from there. Earlier she complains in her inner monologue that Madge's pin could feed a starving family for months, but later when she's given a dress covered in jewels, she makes no similar protest, the narrative instead expressing her awe at how amazing she looks in it.
** Early in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss complains about the Capitol needlessly wasting food. She seems to have forgotten the scene in the previous book where she throws out the cookies Peeta's father gave her.
** Later in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss is upset that nothing is different in the arena, saying that she'd hoped the tributes would show restraint. This completely ignores the fact that ''Katniss'' was the first tribute in the 75th games to try and attack anyone (Finnick).
** [[spoiler:District 8]] is so lacking in medical personnel and supplies, people are left with unchanged bandages and untreated infections; their hospital is basically a morgue. Peeta alone, on the other hand, gets a whole team of doctors because he's Katniss's love interest. This is never brought up as morally questionable.
* ProtectedByAChild: Near the end of Mockingjay, this is what Snow does to protect himself.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 tend to come off this way due to those Districts' practice of training children specifically in order to volunteer for Battle Royal. As a result, these "Career" Tributes are also far more likely to win than Tributes from other Districts, although Haymitch describes their arrogance as a flaw that can lead to their defeat.
* PyrrhicVictory: The ending of ''Mockingjay''.
* RaceLift: Katniss's race is never stated. She has "olive" skin, but her mother and sister are both blonde, so it's unclear if this trope is in effect with the casting of Jennifer Lawrence in TheMovie.
* RainOfBlood: ''Literally.''
* RealityEnsues: Pretty much what Mockingjay runs on.
* RealityShow: The eponymous games.
* RegionalSpeciality: Each district's bread is very distinct.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Katniss [[spoiler: forms an alliance with Rue, stays with her while she dies, and vows to win for her]], who reminds her of her own little sister Prim back home.
* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude: Peeta and especially Katniss.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The third book is FULL of this.
* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler: Gale.]]
* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''Battle Royal'', this is invoked: Katniss and Peeta fake a romance in order to woo the audience of the Games (or rather, Katniss is the only one faking). In the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', President Snow decides to force her and Peeta into a marriage in order to convince the Districts that her behavior at the end of the 74th Games wasn't rebellious in nature. The rest of ''Catching Fire'' revolves around [[spoiler: several of the victors in the 75th Games trying to protect Peeta because they think Katniss won't help District 13 in the rebellion if he dies]]. Quite a bit of ''Mockingjay'' is dedicated to gaining Peeta back after he's [[spoiler:kidnapped and brainwashed]].
* RousingSpeech:
** Katniss tries to give one in the middle of a firefight in District 2. [[spoiler:It succeeds in turning the workers against the pro-Capital soldiers, but doesn't keep her from getting shot by one first.]]
** In ''Catching Fire'' Katniss makes a beautiful speech in District 11, about her ally Rue.
** Her "If we burn, you burn with us" speech in ''Mockingjay'' is implied to be received well.
* RuleOfDrama: Ties with RuleOfEmpathy, below. The Capitol loves best those victors who put on a great show.
* RuleOfEmpathy: Tributes must be able to invoke sympathy from the Capitol and District audiences. Sympathy will equal sponsors and money for necessities in the arena, and could therefore make the difference in the Games. Peeta, it turns out, is a natural at invoking the RuleOfEmpathy at the drop of a hat. Katniss is not.
* RuleOfThree: Suzanne Collins loves her powers of three. There are three books. Each book is divided into three parts. Each part contains nine (3x3) chapters.
* SacrificialLion:
** It's debatable whether [[spoiler: Rue in book 1]] was this or SacrificialLamb.
** [[spoiler: Prim and Finnick]] in the third book.
* SayMyName: Especially Katniss' incident in the tree during the first games.
* ScaryBlackMan: Thresh.
* SchizoTech: Justified in that the Capitol deliberately suppresses technology in the Districts, especially weapons tech.
* [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Screw The Rules We Make Them]]: The Gamemakers.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Peeta (sensitive) vs. Gale (manly).
* SexSlave: In book 3, according to [[spoiler:Finnick, this happens to a lot of victors]], himself included.
* ShallowLoveInterest: The fandom seems to be split on who this applies to. Gale is either truly the other half of the OfficialCouple, or he's a [[RomanticFalseLead Paolo]]. Similarly, Peeta is either a cunning yet rather hopeless romantic, or a total idiot. [[TakeAThirdOption Of course, there are also those who think this applies to both characters.]]
* ShellShockedVeteran: All of the Victors have some form of PTSD.
* ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler: President Coin orders a bombing attack on children being used as human shields by President Snow - and makes it appear that the attack was initiated by Snow, in order to destroy any remaining public support for Snow's regime.]]
* ShoutOut:
** WordOfGod has stated that Katniss's family name is a reference to the Thomas Hardy character Bathsheba Everdene.
** Katniss (the "Girl on Fire") is in Squad Four Five One, a reference to Ray Bradbury's ''Fahrenheit 451'', which is another dystopian novel with a fire motif.
* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Lavinia, who has no tongue, is a reference to ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Titus is also name-dropped, a Tribute who goes cannibal in the games.
* ShutUpKiss: Katniss does this to Peeta in the cave when he attempts to give her an IfIDoNotReturn speech. He shuts up.
* SiblingYinYang: Katniss and Prim
* SimulatedUrbanCombatArea
* SingleTargetSexuality: Peeta towards Katniss. He fell in love with her when he was 5 and never fell out of love. [[spoiler:Except of course for the brief time while he was hijacked, and even then it seems that a part of him still loved her.]]
* SlaveToPR: A dominating theme. A likable persona for a tribute wins sponsors: for example, Finnick. It culminates in ''Mockingjay'' when [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the rebels ''bomb a town square full of children'', in a Capitol hovercraft, solely to convince everyone in the nation that the Capitol is evil]]. P.R. is possibly ''the'' most powerful weapon in ''Battle Royal.''
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The cynicism side. Far, far, ''far'' on the cynicism side.
* SlowClap: Not exactly an applause, but the whole community of District 12 uses a cultural gesture to show their support of Katniss when she takes her sister's place. District 11 tries this as well [[spoiler:and pays the price.]]
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Avoided. They exist, they're just the worse alternative.
* SomeKindOfForceField: Prominent in ''Catching Fire,'' causing death or serious injury multiple times.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:Annie gives birth to their baby sometime after Finnick is killed.]]
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Clove talks about [[spoiler: Rue]], while holding down Katniss near the Cornucopia. Of course, karma sweeps in to save the day, via [[spoiler: Thresh]].
* TheSpeechless: Avoxes, traitors who've had their tongues mutilated as punishment.
* SpoiledSweet:
** Katniss's prep team, who are simply too naive to be genuinely mean.
** Though we aren't one hundred percent sure of his financial situation, probably Cinna, who treats Katniss with respect and the games with disgust despite being from the Capitol.
** Madge who is the Mayor's daughter, very kind and is one of Katniss' few friends.
* SpotTheThread: The official, "live-action" shots of District 13 are revealed to be StockFootage by a mockingjay which flies past the screen.
* StrangeSalute: When Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place, the entire crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hands to their lips, and then holds it out to her. Katniss explains that it's an old District 12 gesture that means thanks, admiration, and goodbye to someone you love. [[spoiler:It becomes a little more meaningful later on.]]
* StunnedSilence: The first response to Katniss' exchange.
* StarCrossedLovers: Peeta and Katniss pretend to be this to garner sympathy. [[spoiler:They eventually do become real lovers, but get out of everything alive, so their stars were not crossed.]]
* SuperDoc: Outside the poorer districts, medicine is ''far'' in advance of our own time.
* SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom: The role of the Peacekeepers isn't as sweet as it sounds. (Bit like in RealLife, then?) Pretty much everything surrounding the Games is treated as fun and entertaining; being a "tribute" is an ''honor.''
* SuperPersistentPredator: The tracker jacker wasps do not give up an attack once pissed off. Running away doesn't help.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: When Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss exactly when she first [[spoiler: fell for Peeta]], she's evasive at first (since at this point [[spoiler: she hasn't actually fallen for him yet]]) and then immediately goes along with his first guess.
* SurvivalMantra:
** Although nonverbal, Finnick's compulsive knotting in ''Mockingjay''.
** Katniss shares Finnick's knotting habit for a bit in the third book, but has one of her own.
--> My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in Battle Royal...
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: The climax of Book 1.]]
* TakeMeInstead: In the first book, Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place as tribute for District 12.
* TakeThat: In universe, the mockingjay becomes an increasingly unsubtle one of these towards the Capitol.
* TakingTheBullet: During the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: one of the morphlings is killed by an attack from a vicious monkey that was meant for Peeta]].
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Gale.
* TakingYouWithMe: Book 1: [[spoiler: Cato threatens to take Peeta with him into the jaws of the Muttations if Katniss shoots him with her arrows.]]
* ATasteOfTheLash: [[spoiler:Gale]] in Catching Fire
* TearsOfRemorse: After Katniss's meeting with the Gamemakers.
* TeenageWasteland: Subverted. [[ActorAllusion The kids are all right]], adult authority in the form of [[TheEmpire The Capitol]] is ''forcing'' them to kill or be killed.
* TemptingFate:
** In the first book, Katniss reassures her sister Prim that her name won't be drawn for Battle Royal... Seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
** If you're referred to as "the girl who was on fire" enough times, eventually you do get actually lit on fire.
* ThemeNaming: The Capitol and District 2 use Roman names to highlight their decadent nature and fondness for gladitorial combat. The nation itself is called Panem, the Latin word for bread. The districts often use names referencing their primary industry.
* ThereAreNoTherapists:
** The districts are implied to have therapists, as Katniss's mother was able to somehow gain access to one in order to get hold of drugs to treat her depression. Largely, people do not seem to seek psychological help, though. This could be attributed to a lack of money, however Katniss's family struggles to eat, so...
** Subverted in [[spoiler:District 13]]: all refugees are given psychological help and local specialists do everything they can to get [[spoiler:Peeta]] back to his old self after a MindRape. Before [[spoiler:the final attack on the Capitol]], soldiers are checked for possible psychological problems ([[spoiler:Johanna]] gets sent to a mental facility). Katniss also goes through therapy after [[spoiler:her sister’s]] death, though one might wonder why she didn't get this sort of help earlier.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Played straight [[spoiler: for seventy-three years. Zig-zagged in the first book.]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Here, there and everywhere given the nature of the Games. Big mention to [[spoiler:Cato, who, having lost all his limbs and skin from being gnawed on by at least twenty wolf-like creatures for hours on end, dies from an arrow to the face.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: District 13 is the odd district out.
* TitleDrop: Of sorts. In the third book, "Fire is catching" becomes a slogan for the [[spoiler: rebels.]]
* ToAbsentFriends: [[spoiler:The book that Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch create at the end of Mockingjay.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Katniss and Prim, Katniss and Madge
* TooCleverByHalf: Foxface. [[spoiler:Up until the point where she fails to distinguish poisonous berries from normal ones. Granted, she was starving by then, but still...]]
* TooHappyToLive: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie]] in ''Mockingjay''. As soon as [[spoiler: they got married]], you knew at least one of them was doomed.
* TraumaCongaLine: By the end, try to count more surviving characters that haven't suffered one without running out of fingers. This is especially endemic amongst the victors of the games as the Capitol torments them to keep them from using their elevated status to foment rebellion.
* TrickArrow: Both the flaming and exploding kinds.
* TryNotToDie: Pretty much everyone's last words to Katniss and Peeta.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler: Gale]]
* UnwittingPawn: Katniss feels this way, since she's constantly out of the loop.
* TheUriahGambit:
** Attempted by [[spoiler:President Coin, who sends Peeta out with Katniss's team in the Capitol, with a gun, while he's still BrainwashedAndCrazy and Katniss is his BerserkButton.]] It fails.
** Katniss being sent [[spoiler: back into the arena in book 2]] might also qualify, if you believe it was rigged by [[spoiler: President Snow]].
* UselessSpleen: In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler: Katniss gets shot. Not surprisingly it happens to be her spleen that is destroyed. Good thing she doesn't need it.]]
* VillainBall: The Capitol seems to hold this on occasion, especially in Catching Fire. There is a lot of VillainBall discussion relating to the Games themselves, available on the discussion page.
* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler:President Snow]]
* VoiceOfTheResistance: Katniss and her fellow Victors, throughout book 3.
* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: There's a joke that ''Catching Fire'' and ''Mockingjay'' are written almost entirely in sentence fragments.
* WarIsHell: Absolutely nothing [[WarIsGlorious glorious]] about it.
* WartimeWedding: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie.]]
* WasItAllALie: Peeta's ongoing question to Katniss from the end of the first book all the way to the "Real or not real?" question at the end of the last.
* WaterWakeup: When Haymitch is in a stupor, only this will rouse him.
* WeaponsKitchenSink: Inevitable, given the fact that the Capitol just spreads them around in the Arena and hopes for a sloppy death scenario to increase the "entertainment" value. There's a [[CrossesTheLineTwice blackly-comic]] aside in Book 1 where Katniss mentions how one year the only weapons provided were horribly awkward maces.
* WhamLine:
** The very first chapter of ''Battle Royal'': [[spoiler:"It's Primrose Everdeen."]]
** Chapters have a tendency to end with these, such as, [[spoiler:"Katniss, there is no District 12."]]
** Or how about [[spoiler: "And then the second round of parachutes goes off."]]
** In-universe, Peeta is the acknowledged master of the WhamLine, particularly when onstage with Caesar Flickerman. In the first book he sets up the StarCrossedLovers thing, and in the second he manages an even bigger one: [[spoiler:He claims he and Katniss are having a baby.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never learn ''why'' Cinna requested District 12 (as he says he did in book 1) and we never find out if Portia did the same. We also have no clue why he doesn't have the Capitol accent or the Capitol sense of style, despite that not making much sense if he's a fashion designer who's lived in the Capitol for his entire life.
** In book 2, Johanna says everyone she loves is dead. Elaboration? Explanation? Don't count on it. There's a popular guess in fanon, though.
** In the third book Katniss gets a bow with "special properties." She never once mentions them again, uses them, or even explains what those properties are, besides the fact that it can vibrate to say hello. This could be the reason it's able to shoot down planes, though.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted. [[spoiler: Katniss sees Peeta as TheHeart]] and thinks his power to love is much better than her ability to kill things.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: [[RaceAgainstTheClock Given the nature of the arena used by the Quarter Quell.]]
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The Districts have a few geographical clues but otherwise the readers don't really learn where they are. [[http://aimmyarrowshigh.livejournal.com/32461.html That didn't stop people from trying to map it, though.]]
* WhiteKnighting: Gale subtly blames Katniss of being a female version. The only way for a man to get noticed by her is to suffer so terribly that she feels obliged to tend and care for them.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Tough-as-nails [[spoiler:Johanna Mason]] is undone by water... because when she was a prisoner of the Capitol, they soaked her and then electrocuted her as part of her torture.
* WillNotBeAVictim: Invoked and then exploited. It's how [[spoiler:Johanna]] won her Hunger Games.
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Cato taking out Thresh]] in Book 1.
* WorkingTitle: The working title of the first novel was ''The Tribute of District Twelve''.
* WreathedInFlames: Part of Katniss's symbology (along with being a mockingjay).
* WritersCannotDoMath:
** In ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes the Cornucopia as being 40 yards away from the launch platform, which is located in a circular lagoon. There are twelve spokes of land separating the 24 tributes, and Katniss is equidistant from the land strip and the adjacent tribute platform. If you do all the calculations, it turns out that Katniss is about seven yards from the nearest land strip. Katniss has to swim this distance, and describes it as "a longer distance than [she's] used to swimming" back in the lake outside District 12.
** Reapings are supposed to take place in early springtime. The reaped go to ceremonies, etc, that last about a week or two at most, the 75th Hunger Games last a few days ''tops'', and [[spoiler:Peeta is captured on the last day.]] Roughly four weeks pass between the end of the 75th games and the beginning of ''Mockingjay'', and yet somehow five or six weeks after [[spoiler:Peeta's kidnapping]], it's a week from September.
-->"What day is it?" I ask no one in particular. Boggs tells me September begins next week. September. That means Snow has had [[spoiler:Peeta]] in his clutches for five, maybe six weeks.
* WouldHitAGirl: There are just as many girls as boys in each Hunger Game, ensuring a lot of this. [[spoiler:Marvel kills Rue, and Thresh kills Clove.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Isn't that right, [[spoiler: Marvel]]?
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The people living in the Capitol dye their hair some pretty wild colors.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
** Leads to Cato [[NeckSnap snapping the neck]] of [[spoiler: District 3's]] boy in the first book.
** [[spoiler: President Coin attempts this with Katniss]] towards the end of Mockingjay.
* YouKilledMyFather:
** In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler:either President Snow or President Coin kills Prim.]]
** Katniss understands that if the conditions were not so bad in the coal mines due to the decadent lifestyle in the Capitol and the corrupt government, her father would not have died in the mine accident.
* YourFavorite: Katniss at one point receives food including the stew she stated in an interview was her favorite thing about the Capitol. In ''Mockingjay,'' Peeta finds a can of the same stew and presents it to Katniss when the team scavenges a meal.
* XMeetsY: The media tends to treat the series as ''{{Twilight}}'' with gladiators. The actors have made a point of downplaying the love triangle by answering "Team Peeta or Team Gale?" with "Team Katniss."
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<<|{{Literature}}|>>
* AccidentalMurder: Peeta accidentally kills [[spoiler:Foxface]] with poison. Also, in Mockingjay he accidentally [[spoiler:launches a member of his squad into a trap that killed him.]]
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: [[spoiler:Snow, as part of his gambit when he made his rise to power.]] Subverted in that it wasn't perfect, and he carried long-term damage from it.
* ActionGirl: Katniss and most of the other female contestants.
* AdultFear:
** The point of Battle Royal was for the Capitol to show it has so much control over its citizens, that they can kill their children publicly and there is nothing they could do about it.
** Also the fact that Katniss has sworn off the idea of marriage or children because she knows that any children she had would have to face the Reapings just as she had. [[spoiler: She only breaks this promise to herself ''fifteen years after'' Panem has changed.]]
** [[spoiler: Prim's death.]] A girl who's barely a teenager is mercilessly blown up [[spoiler:by an explosive parachute.]]
* AerithAndBob: On one hand, you've got normal names like Annie and Johanna, but then on the other you've got more unusual names like Katniss, Peeta, Twill, Plutarch, and Beetee.
** During the Games, Katniss wonders why the "Careers" (tributes from Districts 1 and 2) name their children such odd things like "Glimmer" and "Marvel".
* AirstripOne: The Districts are numbered and segregated by industry.
* AfterTheEnd: Some combination of wars and natural disasters destroyed the entire population of the world except for Panem. There are implications that Panem consists of less than 100,000 people and represents the entire human species. District 12, the smallest district (possibly excluding 13), has a population of between 8,000 and 10,000 [[spoiler: before it is bombed (it's stated that the 800 to 900 survivors are just less than 10 percent of the population)]]. That would mean the bare minimum population of the districts 1-12 would have to be about 96,000, and most likely more, since districts 2 and 11 appear to be several times the size of 12.
* TheAlcoholic: Former District 12 champion Haymitch Abernathy. In fact, it seems that a lot of Games champions end up with some kind of drug or alcohol addiction, due to a combination of too much money and time on their hands, having no real way to cope with the horrors they faced in the arena, and having to mentor new tributes year after year who seldom if ever come back alive.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: The people in the Capitol have some strange fashion ideas, among them body dyes. At least one person mentioned has dyed her whole body pea green.
* AmbiguouslyBrown:
** Rue and Thresh are both stated to be dark-skinned, but it's never mentioned ''how'' dark. WordOfGod says that they are black.
** Katniss, Gale and Haymitch sport the "Seam look", meaning olive skin, dark hair and grey eyes.
* AnimalMotifs: Metaphorically, Snow as a snake. Visually, Katniss as a mockingjay. Tigris as a cat-person as both.
* AnnoyingArrows: This happens unless Katniss hits a vital area.
* AnyoneCanDie: Battle Royal is actually an interesting example. Many of the characters are ''guaranteed'' to die, due to the format of the Games, however, as with most other works, main characters are very rarely if ever killed (depending on who you'd be willing to count as a main character), and only in major events. Katniss, as the first person narrator, inevitably survives the entire series.
* ApocalypseHow: In the backstory. It's continental societal disruption at the least, leading to the creation of Panem.
* TheArcher: Katniss. Also Gale.
* ArtisticLicense:
** ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare:
*** In ''Mockingjay'' Katniss stuffs Buttercup into a bag and carries him over her shoulder, even elbowing him to get him to be quiet. She also ''bounces him against the floor''. In the book, this only causes yowling, but in real life this probably would've caused him a great deal of injury.
*** Katniss also picks Buttercup up by the scruff of his neck without supporting his rump. He's a grown tom cat. Any pet owner will tell you that is a ''humongous'' no-no.
*** After Buttercup is forced into a bag, he allows Prim to tie a ribbon around his neck and hold him in her arms. After being bagged? Both of these actions would probably cause a cat a great deal of distress (possibly causing the animal to retaliate in violence) in real life.
** ArtisticLicenseBiology:
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss mistakes evening primrose for rose and implies they're two types of the same species of flower. The thorny roses Snow leaves and primrose are not even mildly similar to look at. Mistaking one for the other would be more or less impossible.
** ArtisticLicensePharmacology:
*** [[spoiler: Snow uses assassination by]] poison to get into power. Apparently the Capitol can neither run basic autopsies nor test surfaces for presence of toxins.
*** "Morphling," an apparent stand in for morphine, appears in most functions to be an opiate, but for some reason the two morphling addicts from ''CatchingFire'' are extremely thin. Thinness from opiate addiction comes from choosing to buy drugs over food, not any effect of the drug. Katniss says that they ''did'' have the money to buy food as well, so their emaciation makes no sense.
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss describes morphling as making her feel numb and empty. For opiate addicts (who've begun to grow 'immune' to the effects) this may be the case, but morphine makes non-addicts feel relaxed, warm and happy, even through emotional depression.
*** Hijacking [[spoiler:specifically tracker jacker venom]], as further explained in HollywoodPsychology below.
** ArtisticLicensePhysics:
*** Beetee's electric trap in ''Catching Fire'' would not be capable of killing all the sealife and the Careers on the beach like he claims. (Ever wonder why lightning doesn't kill fish in lakes?) [[spoiler:Fortunately, the plan wasn't meant to actually work; it was a distraction for his real plan.]]
*** Planes are supposedly not be able to fly very high because of some sort of vague, inadequately explained "destruction of atmosphere." This is either implying that there are issues of human ability to survive in aircrafts because of low pressure, or that destruction of atmosphere causes the atmosphere to lessen in physical size rather than density. With regard to the first, planes alread fly in much lower pressures than what humans can survive on their own (think cabin pressurization and those emergency oxygen masks)--the height of planes' flight ability in-universe is given at 100 yards and accounting for current ability to fly in low pressure, if planes are limited to 100 yards, sea level would ''not'' be within comfortable, easy to survive human pressure. This would make the tall buildings in the Capitol extraordinarily implausible (unless all of these buildings are pressurized, which is in and of itself implausible). With regard to the latter, destruction of atmosphere would cause atmosphere to expand to fill the same space, not a lessening of physical size in the atmosphere surrounding the earth. In other words, "destruction of atmosphere" is not a reason that high-flying planes would not exist.
* AsianAndNerdy: Everyone from District 3 (which produces electronics). "Nuts" Wiress and "Volts" Beetee, the two engineers in Catching Fire, "are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair." The explosives expert in Battle Royal is described by Katniss as "scrawny, ashen-skinned" and by Rue as "not very big." The narrator of the Scholastic audio books puts on a distinct stereotypical Asian accent that is especially noticeable in ''Catching Fire''.
* AxCrazy: Some of the Careers. Clove would've given Katniss a GlasgowSmile if Thresh hadn't stepped in. And Cato explodes so violently when Katniss takes out his supplies that he snaps a nearby boy's neck. Enobaria rips someone else's throat out.
* AnAxeToGrind: Johanna Mason in the Quarter Quell; after all, she's from the lumber district.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta]] have two kids.
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter:
** [[spoiler: Peeta]] deliberately invokes this trope [[spoiler: by claiming Katniss is pregnant after the two are forced back into the arena for the Quarter Quell.]] Apparently not even the bloodthirsty denizens of the Capitol seem to want to watch a pregnant woman be killed.
** Subverted in the series epilogue: while [[spoiler:Peeta and Katniss have two children, and this is a sign of hope, the world is still far from a good place, and Peeta and Katniss both retain enduring psychological issues as a result of the events of the books]].
* BadDreams: Katniss and the rest of the victors seem plagued by them.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: This occurs with regard to [[spoiler:Rue.]]
* BandOfBrothers: The victors.
* BattleCouple: Katniss and Peeta in the first book, but subverted in the second when Finnick is Katniss' [[TheLancer lancer]].
* BattleRoyaleWithCheese: Subverted in that [[spoiler: defeated characters don't come back to help fight the BigBad, they come back in another more sinister form to rip the remaining tributes limb from limb.]]
* [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Because You Were Nice To My Friend]]: Thresh spares Katniss because she helped Rue out [[spoiler:before the latter died.]]
* BecomingTheMask: Katniss pretends to be [[spoiler:in love with Peeta just to keep them both alive in the arena.]] At the end of the first book, she's prepared to kill him to save herself. Contrast the end of the second, [[spoiler:where she's totally prepared to die so he can continue living.]]
* BeeBeeGun: Katniss uses a hive of lethal, genetically-altered wasps to kill some of her opponents. And almost kills herself in the process.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Peeta, though he got better.]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Peeta is the Betty and Gale (despite being Katniss' best friend from early childhood) is the Veronica to Katniss's Archie: Peeta is nice and fairly sweet, while Gale has a revolutionary mindset and a ruthless streak. [[http://apricotteacup.deviantart.com/art/Hunger-Games-Peeta-VS-Gale-152229494?q=sort%3Atime+favby%3ATaylorswifty1&qo=3&offset=130 This picture]] sums it up nicely.
* BigBad: [[PresidentEvil President Coriolanus Snow.]]
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Cameras are waiting to catch every minute of Katniss and Peeta's lives once they become contestants in Battle Royal. Life in the districts is also very closely monitored, leaving people afraid to say anything that might come off as negative about the Capitol. President Snow even [[spoiler: knows Gale and Katniss kissed in the woods outside District 12]].
* BirdsOfAFeather: Katniss and Gale, though ultimately inverted when [[spoiler:Katniss decides that she needs Peeta]] to balance her own personality out.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The freedom]] at the end of the third book [[spoiler:is paid for in a lot of blood, and the characters are burdened with deep emotional scars. However, Panem is rebuilding and there's some BabiesEverAfter for the two lead characters.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality
* BlackMarketProduce: Katniss makes her living poaching game and selling it on the black market. In addition, most food that isn't made from grain rations is expensive and rather rare in the Districts. The decadent Capitol, on the other hand, has tons of food of all kinds.
* BloodFromTheMouth:
** Subverted by President Snow, since it's neither overt nor a sign of his impending death. [[spoiler:Played straight later.]]
** The first tribute Katniss sees die suddenly sprays blood onto her face while fighting with her over supplies, due to a sudden and terminal case of throwing-knife-in-back. Katniss herself narrowly avoids succumbing to the malady a few seconds later.
* BloodKnight: "Careers" are kids who train all their young lives to win glory in the Games, volunteering for them if they're not selected by lottery.
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: About thirty seconds into the 74th Hunger Games, the boy from District 9 coughs blood into Katniss' face after getting knifed by Clove.
* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Invoked with Katniss's wedding dress: [[spoiler: instead of being spattered with blood, it lights itself on fire then turns into a mockingjay dress.]]
* BlueEyes: Prim, Mrs. Everdeen, and Peeta. Implied to be a trait of the merchant class.
* BoomerangComeback: This is how [[spoiler: Haymitch]] won his game. [[spoiler: He made it to the edge of the arena, where he discovered there was a force field that reflected back everything that was thrown at it. The other remaining competitor caught up with him, threw an axe, Haymitch ducked, the axe bounced back, and killed the thrower.]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Peeta. He gets better.]]
* BreadAndCircuses: ''Panem et Circenses''. DiscussedTrope in ''Mockingjay.''
* BreakTheCutie: Peeta's TraumaCongaLine is significantly longer than that of most of the other characters, though for the most part he takes it all in stride.
* BreakfastClub: People who have won Battle Royal tend to become close friends and stick together, because only other tributes can understand what they have gone through.
* BriefAccentImitation: Gale at the beginning of the first novel, inciting one of about five times where Katniss actually ''laughs''.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu:
** In the first book, [[spoiler: Katniss is blown back by the explosion she sets off destroying the Careers' supplies and is rendered completely deaf in her left ear. Unable to escape, she only survives by hiding right under their noses]].
** In the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: Katniss nearly kills herself breaking the force field over the arena]].
* TheBrute: Cato, in the first book, and the aptly named Brutus in the second.
* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: The Capitol plans to do this to [[spoiler: Peeta and Katniss]]. This is later subverted in the end of the third book, where [[spoiler: they voluntarily decide to marry]].
* ButtMonkey: [[spoiler:Poor Boggs. His life is a string of tribulations, from Katniss puking all over him to Gale breaking his nose to getting his legs blown off and dying horribly. The closest he comes to complaining is a sigh when Katniss pukes on him.]]
* CallARabbitASmeerp:
** "Muttation" is a generic in-universe term for a genetically engineered creature, probably derived from "mutt" and "mutation". Lots of things count, like those wolves at the end of the first book, or Jabberjays and Tracker Jackers. Many more exotic variants are introduced in the third book when [[spoiler: they're storming the Capitol]].
** The addictive painkiller in use around Panem is called "morphling" (morphine) and the people addicted to it are called "morphlings."
** Poisonous berries called "nightlock" (nightshade, hemlock).
* CaptainObvious: [[spoiler: Peeta]] in ''Catching Fire'' when after he ran head-first into a force field, died, and then brought back to life by [[spoiler:Finnick]], he mentions there's a force field ahead of them.
* CatsAreMean: Buttercup is to everyone who isn't Prim. [[spoiler:Until Katniss and he finally bond after Prim's death.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Nightlock berries and [[spoiler: Foxface's death]]
* ChekhovsHobby: Frosting cakes turns out to come in really handy.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: President Coin.]]
* ChildrenForcedToKill
* ClosedCircle
* CloseKnitCommunity: District 12
** District 11 gets less limelight, but are this as well. [[spoiler: They pool their money to buy Katniss a thank you gift in the arena for treating Rue well and giving her a proper funeral.]]
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The whole point of life in the Districts, and the Games. Katniss takes a lot of horror in stride in the first book, but over the course of the trilogy the conditioning wears off.
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler:Haymitch]], Snow, [[spoiler:Coin]], Johanna, and Peeta.
* ContrivedCoincidence:
** In-universe. Family members of past tributes are disproportionately likely to be selected as tributes themselves. Katniss figures the drawings must be rigged that way to create [[RuleOfDrama extra drama]].
** The odds of Prim getting reaped in her first year, without any additional buy-ins is staggeringly small.
** In the first book, Katniss finally collapses from dehydration mere feet away from water.
** If Katniss ever thinks that she doesn't want to kill a person during the games, [[spoiler: she won't have to. Either someone/thing else kills them (Rue, Wiress, Thresh, Mags) or they survive (Peeta, Finnick, Beetee)]].
** When Katniss is thinking about betraying [[spoiler:Boggs]] he very conveniently [[spoiler:steps onto a mine]] and then gives command to her so that she doesn't have to technically betray anyone.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Invoked: [[spoiler:A fake miscarriage for Katniss and Peeta's fake baby]].
* CostumePorn: Each tribute gets a personal stylist. Looking flashy outside of the arena serves a practical purpose, though: tributes who catch the audience's eye are more likely to receive sponsors who can help them survive the arena.
* CoveredInMud: Peeta uses a large amount of mud with plants on top to disguise himself as part of a riverbank when he is too injured to move. This probably helps his infection along.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In ''Catching Fire'' [[spoiler: Finnick]] performs CPR on [[spoiler: Peeta]] (whose heart has stopped) for several minutes before he coughs and sputters to life. After being thrown backward by an electrified ''forcefield''.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The arena of the second Quarter Quell (Haymitch's) is this. At first glance it's the "most breathtaking place imaginable." There're blue skies, puffy white clouds, songbirds flying by, [[CoolClearWater crystalline streams]], luscious fruit, gorgeous flowers, butterflies, etc. Then everyone realizes [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything]] is [[DeathWorld deadly poisonous]]. And the [[KillerRabbit fluffy, golden squirrels are carnivorous]].
* CrapsackWorld: Most of the districts are horrible places to live. The people are poor, starving, and oppressed while those in the Capitol live outrageously decadent lives. And that's even without mentioning the eponymous DeadlyGame.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
** Haymitch Abernathy seems like a useless drunk, but he did actually win a Hunger Game after all. In ''Catching Fire,'' we learn that Haymitch survived his Games using extreme cunning. [[spoiler: We also learn that he's a member of the underground resistance.]]
** Johanna Mason famously exploited this trope to win the games, appearing to be helpless when she is actually a ruthless killer.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Anyone who's died in the Games, really. And the last book.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The Capitol is described as being full of colored glass, and the people are obsessed with fashion. Technology also seems to have advanced to the point that it can be completely hidden from view. Although no one wears a toga, Capitol residents almost all have Roman names, establishing them as a decadent and technologically advanced society.
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Wiress knows what she's talking about. The trick is ''figuring out'' just what that is.
* DarkActionGirl: Pretty much any female Career tribute by definition, but Clove fits the trope to a T. Annie is the exception.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The whole series is pretty dark to begin with, but the series finale, ''Mockingjay'', is much more hopeless than even the first two.
* DeadLittleSister: Katniss' father dies five years before the first book, forcing her to toughen up and learn to hunt to support herself and her family. Later, [[spoiler:Rue dies in the Games]], awakening her killer instinct. The threat of this trope becoming ''literal'' drives the whole trilogy.
* DeadpanSnarker: Haymitch and Johanna.
* DeathCourse: Battle Royal, especially when the tributes settle down into a comfortable recovery period / stalemate. [[spoiler:The Capitol defenses use much of the same design aesthetic.]]
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:Plutarch Heavensbee, his assistant, and some of the other people in District 13]] have fled the Capitol. This was also the goal of Lavinia, the redheaded Avox, and the boy she was with when Katniss first saw her, but they didn't make it.
* {{Deprogram}}ming: Has to be done to [[spoiler: Peeta]] in book 3.
* DespairEventHorizon: Katniss passes over it in a matter of paragraphs [[spoiler: at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]] And the rest of the series from there consists of [[ItGotWorse it getting worse]].
* {{Defictionalization}}: You can actually buy mockingjay pins. Interesting, because the citizens of the Capitol displayed this exact behavior in ''Catching Fire''.
* DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: At the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', the president drops by for a terrifying "chat" with [[spoiler: Katniss, during which he threatens to kill her whole family if she doesn't conduct herself properly on the Victory Tour. (Katniss's mother isn't present for this part of the conversation, but she does drop in to serve them tea. Katniss then has to conceal the conversation from her mother, telling her the president was just wishing her luck.)]]
* DisappearedDad: Katniss and Prim's father died in the mines a few years before the book begins. Gale's father also died in the same accident. It's concealed in somewhat of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but Haymitch's father might have been this as well. Haymitch has told Katniss that [[spoiler: President Snow had his mother, baby brother, and girlfriend killed as punishment for making the Capitol look bad in the arena,]] but a father is never mentioned.
* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: Rue]] in the first book. In the others, [[spoiler: Prim. For someone driving the plot of the first book, she]] gets almost no screentime and dies to instigate the ending.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Battle Royal are hateful, deplorable, they ruin their victors psychologically, and the series as a whole is viciously anti-war... but a major part of the story's appeal is the actual excitement of Battle Royal sequences... ''For both the Capitol and the readers!''
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** In District 11, the dark-skinned population is forced to farm and are treated with particular brutality. This sounds a lot like slavery in the American South.
** Panem and [[spoiler:District 13]] are nuclear powers locked in a stalemate. Panem is decadent, wealthy, and corrupt. Its citizens enjoy outrageous luxury while they exploit the surrounding communities to feed their enormous appetites. [[spoiler:District 13]], on the other hand, is a dull and drab place, ruled by an a totalitarian regime that regiments every aspect of its citizens' lives. That's pretty much how the US and the USSR portrayed each other during the Cold War.
* DoomedHometown: [[spoiler: District 12 is firebombed to the ground at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Peeta.
* DrowningMySorrows: Haymitch becomes a drunk due to the horrors he has witnessed.
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: Katniss understandably attempts various suicidal things after the end of the war in the final book. None are fulfilled naturally]]
* DrunkenMaster: Haymitch is a hopeless alcoholic, but his knowledge of people and tactics is astounding.
* DueToTheDead: Katniss covers [[spoiler:Rue's]] body with flowers and sings a funeral lament.
* DyingAlone
* DyingAsYourself: Peeta's wish before going into the arena.
* DysfunctionJunction: Go figure.
* {{Dystopia}}: Panem is not a great place to live.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Johanna Mason gets a brief mention in the first book, then appears in the flesh ([[NakedOnArrival literally!]]) a book later.
** Delly Cartwright is mentioned in the first part of the first book in passing, but doesn't appear until the middle of the third.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: More like earn your bittersweet ending.
* EatTheDog: ''"No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog."''
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: [[spoiler:District 13]].
* EmbarrassingFirstName: While the people themselves don't seem to be, at least Katniss notes that a lot of District 1 ''should'' be embarrassed by their names, the likes of which include Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss.
* EnemyMine: ''Temporary'' alliances are all part of Battle Royal. In ''Catching Fire'', the doomed tributes hold hands in a show of solidarity against the Capitol.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Often used in-universe with Katniss.
** She's never warned about Peeta's interview strategy so that her reaction will be more genuine.
** She's dropped into the warzone to film her candid reactions for propaganda, since she can't act at all.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first two things we learn about Katniss are that she loves her sister and that she has no problem drowning kittens.
* MrFanservice:
** Gale maintains a surprising harem in the fandom for someone who was a tertiary character for the first book.
** Also, Finnick, both in-universe, and out.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Inverted. A group of deadly monkey muttations show up in the arena in ''Catching Fire.''
* EverythingsWorseWithBees: Tracker jacker wasps.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** The gamemakers frown on certain behaviors in Battle Royal, but moreso because it will draw a poor reaction from the audience rather than out of moral disdain. They will not tolerate cannibalism, nor will they allow a psychopath to become a victor (unless they can be charming about it, as the Career Tributes tend to be somewhat... AxCrazy).
** The Capitol citizens will gleefully watch children fight to the death, but send a young woman who's alledgedly pregnant into the arena and they'll call it barbaric.
** In the third book, [[spoiler:Snow never exercises his Nuclear Option, which would damn humanity to extinction, even when he realizes that he's doomed.]] He states that he would never kill someone if it gave him no advantage.
* EvilGloating: When Clove catches [[spoiler:Katniss]], she decides to give her something to think about. Followed- as usual- by a ThwartedCoupDeGrace.
* EvilSmellsBad:
** President Snow smells of blood and cloying roses. It seems symbolic at first, but a reason for it is given in ''Mockingjay'': [[spoiler:Snow killed many rivals with poison. He uses the roses to cover up the smell of poison, and his bloody breath is from the mouth sores left by poisoned drinks he shared with his victims after taking less-than-perfect antidotes.]]
** Snow uses the overpowering smell of roses to intimidate his enemies, especially Katniss. The lizard mutts in ''Mockingjay'' were specifically given this trait to screw with her head.
* EyeScream: When Katniss is hunting squirrels, she shoots them in the eye (to spare the meat).
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Katniss thinks Johanna]] has done this when she "attacks" her. She assumes [[spoiler:Finnick]] must be in on it too.
* FantasticDrug: "Morphling," a heroin-like addictive drug that is obviously a reference to morphine.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Panem is basically a futuristic, sci-fi version of Rome. The country's name is an adoption of Rome's "Bread and Circuses" motto. The Capitol is an incredibly authoritarian superpower that brutally reigns over conquered territories to feed the decadent desires of its own citizens. The gladiatorial parallels with Battle Royal are obvious, of course. The parties feature guests who induce vomiting so that they can consume more food, which is popularly thought to have been common at Roman banquets.
* FailOSuckyname: Plutarch Heavensbee, Effie Trinket, and just about everyone in the Capitol. Except Seneca Crane.
* FalseFlagOperation: Toward the end of ''Mockingjay''.
* FeedTheMole
* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The Capitol requires the Districts to treat the Games as a festival.
* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Peeta]] during a fair bit of ''Mockingjay''.
* FilkSong: Even if one ignores the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCmoAuZgsnE many]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ve-WpgIknc versions]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2obqRINOAg&feature=related of]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSLONTtQqFU&feature=related Rue's]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPR-Vf93q0A Lullaby]], there are a considerable number of these floating around including:
** Rachel Macwhirter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnswUH9Oav8 Mockingjay]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYeWOQfQCQ8 Iron Children]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fqSZDKU-J4 Too Clever By Half (The Ballad Of Foxface)]].
** Alex Carpenter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk In Battle Royal]].
** Kristina Horner and Luke Conard's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2iiRp0I8&feature=related Real Or Not Real]].
** On top of those, an entire unofficial soundtrack exists [[http://www.youtube.com/user/unofficialscore here]].
** Arshad's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRSvoKoU3kk Girl on Fire]]" could count as well. He wrote the song after reading the book and being inspired by the character Peeta. He submitted it as a potential track for the movie soundtrack, but it wasn't selected.
* FilmOfTheBook
* FireForgedFriends: Katniss and [[spoiler:Johanna]].
* FirstKiss: Katniss has hers with Peeta. All she feels is that his lips are very warm, because he has a fever.
* FiveBadBand: The Career tributes from the 74th Games.
** TheBigBad: Cato
** TheDragon: Clove
** TheEvilGenius: [[NoNameGiven the District 3 boy]]
** TheBrute: Marvel
** TheDarkChick: Glimmer
** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler: Peeta, but mostly as TheLoad.]]
* FiveManBand: One of these forms during the Quarter Quell:
** TheHero: [[spoiler: Katniss]]
** TheLancer: [[spoiler: Finnick]]
** TheBigGuy: [[spoiler: Johanna]], though [[spoiler: Finnick]] also .
** TheSmartGuy: [[spoiler: Beetee]]
** TheHeart/TheChick: [[spoiler: Peeta]], who is also something of TheLoad.
* [[FirstGirlWins First Boy Wins]]: Subverted. [[spoiler: Peeta is the first boy chronologically speaking, which should cast him as Unlucky Childhood Admirer, but he is introduced within the story after Gale.]]
* FlashbackNightmare: Used rarely.
* FlatCharacter: Prim. Many of the minor characters. Arguably, ''many'' characters (including Katniss) qualify for this; their motivations are not generally complex. (Survive, hunt, run, and survive.)
* FlawExploitation: Katniss exploits the Capitol's [[spoiler: need for a victor]].
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: The second one, with Peeta and Katniss, respectively.
* FlowerMotifs: Several characters are named after flowers or plants, the President reeks of roses, and of course there's [[spoiler: Rue's death]] scene.
* FloweryInsults: Zig-zagged by Peeta [[spoiler: when he paints the picture of dead Rue covered in flowers for his private session but he never says a word to the Gamemakers]].
* FogOfDoom: A nasty example is encountered by [[spoiler: Katniss and her alliance in the Quarter Quell]]. It's poisonous to the touch, burning skin and clothes and causing seizures and temporary paralysis.
* FoodPorn: Early on, Katniss describes just about everything she eats in detail, which sort of makes sense considering she spent a good portion of her life nearly starving to death.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first book, Katniss mentions she first met the avox in the train while in the forest with Gale. [[spoiler:She ponders where the avox could have been headed since [[BlatantLies there’s nothing beyond the forest of district 12...]]]]
* FragileSpeedster: Rue, who can move deftly in the treetops, but can't face anyone in a confrontation.
* FreudianSlip:
** After Rue is [[spoiler:fatally injured by the District 1 Career]], in a panic, Katniss refers to her as 'Prim' in her narration, though it's not really a secret that Rue has been a surrogate Prim in Katniss' eyes before that.
** And reversed in a later book Katniss sees Prim after [[spoiler:Rue's death]] and calls Prim 'Rue' in the narration.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Prim seems to befriend any animal she meets, and can't bear to go hunting with Katniss.
* FullCircleRevolution: [[SubvertedTrope Nearly]].
* GallowsHumor: Katniss and some of the other Hunger Game tributes/victors learn to have a very droll outlook on their CrapsackWorld. Finnick takes it somewhat literally in ''Catching Fire'' by tying a noose and pretending to hang himself as a joke.
* GenderFlip: Katniss is the ActionGirl and is proficient at hunting with a bow and arrow. Peeta bakes and paints, and is more emotional of the two. They're an inversion of ManlyMenCanHunt and FeminineWomenCanCook, respectively.
* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: More literally than usual. Genetically engineered beasties are the Capitol's favored weapon of war, or at least are coequal with troops and air power. Proper nukes are still around, though.
* GenerationXerox: Katniss looks like Mr. Everdeen, has inherited his hunting abilities, singing voice and, like him, [[spoiler: will marry someone from the town]]. Prim looks like Mrs. Everdeen and has inherited her passion for healing. Also Mrs. Everdeen was close friends with Katniss' friend, Madge's mother, as a teenager and the father of Katniss' love interest Peeta had a crush on Mrs. Everdeen.
* GenghisGambit: In order to rally the people in the Capitol on her side and end things early, [[spoiler: Coin blows up a bunch of children and makes it look like Snow is responsible. It works]].
* GenreSavvy: After spending a life watching Battle Royal, Peeta knows what storylines will excite the audience, and uses it to his advantage. [[spoiler: He also admits he suspected all along that the Gamemakers would never let two people survive the arena]]. Katniss, by contrast, has GenreBlindness.
* GenreShift: ''Mockingjay'' abandons the Games entirely, [[BrokenBase breaking the base]] as it does so.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Just one fight left. Environment is herding the survivors towards the lake for a final brawl. [[spoiler: SUDDENLY WEREWOLVES!]]
* GildedCage:
** The wealthier districts have better living conditions but more brutal and fanatical Peacekeepers. On the other hand, District 12 is one of the poorest districts, but the authorities are far more willing to turn a blind eye to things like poaching and black market trading, or at least until book 2.
** The Capitol itself could also be seen as this - for somewhere that is supposedly very privileged, we see several people willing to risk their lives to escape. The fact that [[spoiler: Seneca Crane was executed for simply [[YouHaveFailedMe failing at his job]]]] implies at least a very restrictive society, where [[BigBrotherIsWatching you're watched constantly]] and not toeing the line has terrible consequences. In 'Catching Fire', Effie actually says 'That sort of thinking...it's forbidden, Peeta. Absolutely.' when Peeta tries to hold the Gamemakers accountable for killing children by [[spoiler: painting a picture of Rue's death]] which implies the Capitol citizens [[{{Thoughtcrime}} may not quite have the freedom Katniss assumes.]]
* GladiatorRevolt: The series, especially the third book, could be seen as a post-apocalyptic version of this, with [[spoiler: Katniss and other Hunger Games winners becoming major figures in the rebellion.]]
* GoodIsNotDumb: Peeta is kind and patient and [[spoiler: totally kills people in the arena, including finishing off one girl in cold blood while he's in the Career pack]], besides being three steps ahead when it comes to manipulating the on-camera narrative.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''Mockingjay'', when [[spoiler: Katniss]] has her uglier scars surgically cleaned up, but is left with some more attractive scars, because she's got to have ''some'' scars to show how bravely she's been fighting. Averted in the end, however, when [[spoiler: she gets ugly skin grafts, and there's no attempt to blend them because District 13 has no more need of her]].
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: [[spoiler:District 13 is just as full of assholes as the Capitol.]] The conflict really boils down to some truly horrible people who happen to be in power and all the innocents who get caught in-between. CrapsackWorld indeed.
* {{Gorn}}: How the Capitol citizens view Battle Royal. In-universe only, hopefully.
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout Battle Royal, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
* TheGovernment
* GRatedSex: The act is alluded to at the end of ''Mockingjay'', then skipped over to a brief conversation between the characters afterward.
* GrayEyes: Apparently fairly common in the Seam, including Katniss and Gale.
* GreatOffscreenWar:
** One or two of them--the civilizational collapse that led to the founding of Panem (we're never sure just what it was or if a war was involved), and the more-recent uprising (~75 years before the books take place) when the Districts rose up against the Capital.
** Most of the fighting in the revolution is also off-screen, up until Katniss gets directly involved in District 2.
* GreenEyedMonster: Gale tries damned hard not to like Peeta.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: In the first book:
** On the female side, Clove uses [[KnifeNut throwing knives]], Glimmer and Katniss use a [[TheArcher bow]], and Rue uses a [[BratsWithSlingshots slingshot]].
** On the male side, Cato uses a [[CoolSword sword]], Marvel uses a [[BladeOnAStick spear]], Thresh uses [[GoodOldFisticuffs brute force]], and Peeta uses a [[KnifeNut combat knife]].
* HairOfGold: Peeta, Prim, Delly Cartwright
* HandsOnApproach: Finnick uses this to show Katniss how to tie a difficult knot.
* HannibalLecture: Katniss' last conversation with President Snow. [[spoiler:She decides HannibalHasAPoint.]]
* HarmfulToMinors: Only minors are selected for the standard Hunger Games. [[spoiler:The 75th Hunger Game changes the rules.]]
* HateSink: Katniss and Peeta can't exactly attack the directors of the Games, the Capitol doesn't send ''its'' children to die in the Games, and most of the other Tributes are from Districts as oppressed as 12. However, "Career Tributes" from Districts 1, 2 and 4 are ''volunteers'', {{Child Soldier}}s have who trained to kill other children since they were able to ''walk''. In addition to their loathsome mindset and superior skills, they always team up to eliminate the weaker Tributes, then gleefully kill each other once everyone else is dead.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Gale, especially after [[spoiler: setting off what is essentially a giant mine explosion in District 2 to win a battle.]]
* HerHeartWillGoOn: Peeta tries to invoke this in a MoreHeroThanThou dispute. Katniss' internal monologue reveals she'll have none of it.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. The only character who really seems to use a sword as their main weapon is [[BloodKnight Cato]].
* HeroicBSOD:
** Katniss at the end of the second book, and all over the third.
** Minor one (compared to the later BSOD's) in the first one occurs for Katniss [[spoiler: after Rue dies]]
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Katniss taking her sister's place.
** [[spoiler: Mags]] in the second book--''twice.''
** And all over the place in ''Mockingjay''.
* HeroSecretService
* HiddenDepths: Just about all the sympathetic characters reveal themselves to be more than they at first appeared.
* HoldingHands: Most notably during the interviews for the Quarter Quell.
* HollywoodHealing: Due to the advanced medicine available in the Capitol, most injuries sustained by the characters are healed completely. Aversions include Chaff's hand and Peeta's leg, though he gets a prosthetic leg that is rarely referred to again. In the end, [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta are both covered in skin grafts and burns that the medics didn't bother replacing]].
* HollywoodTactics:
** When the rebels attack the Capitol, direct siege would have included trying to seize or disable the Capitol's nuclear missiles, or else bombarding the Capitol into submission. The narrator mentions that they can't do aerial bombing because of anti-air defenses -- but what about plain old artillery? Or maybe the rebels could have first attacked the anti-air emplacements, and then bombed the Capitol flat. Or they could have just declared victory and negotiated the Capitol's surrender. All of these options would probably have been easier than block-by-block urban warfare through a maze of boobie traps.
** During that same attack, Katniss takes point immediately after being [[FieldPromotion promoted]] to leader of her squad. In real life, a squad leader never takes point, since the point man is the one most likely to die in an ambush, and the squad leader is someone you don't want to lose.
** There seems to be a lack of any standard infantry weapons besides assault rifles and pistols. No grenades, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, mounted machine guns, battle rifles, submachine guns, etc.
** No one has armored ground vehicles.
** At one point a character mentions the use of an EMP bomb by the Capitol. Why didn't the rebels just EMP bomb the Capitol to disable the pods?
** Katniss's combat bow, given to her by 13, is supposedly accurate to 100 yards. This sounds pretty incredible, until you realize that the assault rifles wielded by the Peacekeepers are accurate to around 500 yards, shoot on a much flatter trajectory, don't need constant reloading... ''and'' can penetrate body armor.
** Capitol attack aircraft drop their bombs from the dizzying altitude of 100-ish yards. As though to lampshade this idiocy, Gale and Katniss then ''shoot down the planes with {{Trick Arrow}}s.'' An arrow taking down a bomber. Wrap your head around that one.
** The third book has Finnick take a trident to war. A trident that he can ''throw''. Tridents are weapons made for spearing and catching things; they are not ideal for killing in a quick-fire situation (though it is certainly possible to kill with one) because things killed with tridents are meant primarily to stick on the prongs. In old warfare, tridents were generally used for disarming (their length and shape allowed them to accurately knock swords out of combatants' hands without having to get too close), but not as a primary weapon except in gladiatorial combat. As for throwing, tridents simply aren't balanced for that at all. Even if a throwing trident were possible, it's extraordinarily unlikely that it would ever be useful in a war fought mainly with guns.
** There is some very odd squad formation. For some reason, the army of District 13 puts two sisters in the same squad, and allows people whom it knows to be psychologically and emotionally unstable (Finnick, Katniss) to go into actual war [[spoiler: for the sole purpose of creating propaganda]]. Boggs, Coin's second in command, is frequently put on the front line.
** District 13 is still shooting propaganda spots long past the point that they would be useful. A huge tactical problem once you realize that people's lives, including the life of Coin's second in command, are put in danger for this purpose.
* HollywoodPsych:
** Though Haymitch is an alcoholic, in the first book he very conveniently decides to stay sober only when he needs to be on the condition that Peeta and Katniss not interfere with his drinking when he feels like it. Real alcoholism isn't quite that convenient. Bit better in later books when we see him at least having difficulty sobering up.
** ''Catching Fire'' describes Annie as hysterical when she's reaped for the 75th games, without going into any sort of detail. This is enough to have Katniss think she's completely insane. Later in ''Mockingjay'', we meet Annie and Katniss seems to think she's just a little quirky, though she occasionally covers her ears with her hands for no apparent reason. In real life, a person covering their ears that way would imply that they are hearing things that aren't there. Being that this isn't a one off (she does it "occasionally") it's a pretty big alarm bell for a psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. This is not to mention that she's also implied to ''see'' things that aren't there. So yeah.
** Hijacking. [[spoiler:The way Tracker Jacker venom works in the first book is somewhat questionable,]] but in Mockingjay it really doesn't make sense as a conditioning tool. For one, the brain really doesn't work that way. Conditioning is an unconscious mechanism that can't be manipulated into a deliberate response the way the book describes. This is why the CIA stopped trying to do this in the first place. For another, the part of the brain that controls fear is so separate from your memory that it's unlikely that a drug designed to affect the fear part of your brain would have any affect on memory whatsoever.
* HotWings: Cinna's outfits.
* HufflepuffHouse: Most of the Districts of Panem are pretty extraneous and we learn little about them.
* HumanSacrifice: Tributes are sacrificed by the Capitol to remember the betrayal of District 13.
* HumanShield: Snow surrounding himself with children.
* HumansAreBastards: At the end of ''Mockingjay'', Katniss hits this trope ''hard.''
* HungryJungle
* {{Hypocrite}}: Various characters have their moments, but a few from Katniss stand out. One being that she judges Madge for having an expensive pin that could feed starving families, yet isn't bothered when she herself is later clad in incredibly expensive outfits. There's also her judgement of fellow tributes because of their killing, when she doesn't make any attempt to restrain her own killing - on a few occasions, she even mentions how her fingers are itching for her knife/arrows just because Johanna snapped at her. She also complains a great deal about the wasting of food, when she, in fact, does it herself (when she threw out the gift of cookies from Peeta's father, for example).
* IGaveMyWord: Subverted. Haymitch promises Katniss that he'll keep Peeta alive and also tells Peeta that he'll keep Katniss alive.
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** Katniss upon finding out [[spoiler: she'll be going back into Battle Royal]] for the Quarter Quell.
** Haymitch, pretty much all the time.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Katniss is surprised at how handsome Haymitch used to be.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: [[spoiler: Mags]].
* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure:
** Snow's favorite tactic.
** The entire premise of the Games itself was a way to punish the rebels by making their children kill each other, and to remind them that the Capitol can and will do things like this if they rebel again.
** Snow directly threatens Gale and indirectly threatens the rest of Katniss' loved ones if she doesn't convince all of Panem (including Snow himself) that she's madly in love with Peeta.
** Snow also uses the threat against loved ones to [[spoiler:force Victors into [[SexSlave prostitution]]]].
* IconOfRebellion: The mockingjay.
* IdiotBall:
** Katniss and Peeta pass this back and forth in the first book: [[spoiler: Katniss for not picking up on Peeta's crush, and Peeta for assuming her reciprocation was real.]]
** Katniss seems to be very bad at reading people, [[spoiler: and Peeta announced his crush on national television. Even if this led to improved sponsor chances, the other contestants would undoubtedly pick up on this and use it to their advantage.]]
** Cinna, Haymitch and Effie all tell Katniss that her high score after firing an arrow at the Gamemasters is a good thing, no one seems to notice the big ol' bullseye that this stunt grants her.
** Katniss seems to be clutching this ball rather firmly for someone who's quite familiar with nature. The fact that she isn't the least bit perturbed by the monkeys' initial behavior is silly. Even if she wasn't familiar with monkeys, she knows how animals behave, and she knows that the gamemakers stick 'mutts' into the games. Not hard to work out there's something sinister about them.
* ImAHumanitarian: A District 6 tribute from a past Games named Titus is said to have gone insane and ate the bodies of the tributes he killed.
* ImportantHaircut: Or rather, [[InvertedTrope important lack of haircut]]. In ''Mockingjay'', all the rebel soldiers have their hair cut short, except for Katniss because she needs to stay recognizable.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Katniss is repeatedly shown hitting small game directly in the eye, seemingly with ease. The fact that her arrows have large enough arrowheads to take down humans and deer and therefore have tips bigger than the eyes of some of the small game she's shooting is never accounted for.
* IncendiaryExponent: Two of Katniss, The Girl On Fire's first [[CostumePorn ceremonial outfits]] in the Capitol fit this theme, though only one of them actually uses fire.
* InformedAbility: Peeta is mentioned as being good with a knife and Katniss makes a point of giving him one during the Quarter Quell, yet he's more proficient at being [[TheLoad The Load]].
* InelegantBlubbering: During Katniss' breakdown after the announcement of the Quarter Quell, most notably.
* InsanityDefense: Used to get [[spoiler:Katniss off for assassinating President Coin]].
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Katniss ]]tries to kill herself at the end of ''Mockingjay'', but [[spoiler: Peeta]] stops her.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: One of Katniss's prep team.
* ItMeantSomethingToMe: [[spoiler: Peeta to Katniss]] at the end of the first book.
* ItWasAGift: Katniss' Mockingjay pin.
* ItsAllAboutMe: For whom is the Quarter Quell a real ordeal?
* ItsPersonal: Between Katniss and Snow.
* JustFriends: Katniss and Gale.
* KarmicDeath: Marvel got an arrow in his neck from Katniss [[spoiler: as revenge for killing Rue.]]
* KillEmAll: The Games are to end with one person left standing. [[spoiler: Both the 74th and 75th end a little differently.]]
* KilledOffForReal: You never know who will stay alive in the arena until the very end.
* KissingCousins: Gale pretends to be Katniss's cousin to explain his close relationship with her when Peeta is supposed to be her lover.
* KissOfLife: When Finnick revives Peeta in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes it initially as "kissing" since she's rarely seen CPR performed.
* KnifeNut: Clove.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Revealed at the end of the second book.]]
* LapPillow: Reversed between Katniss and Peeta, and once each between Katniss/Finnick and Katniss/Gale.
* LastKiss: A couple of times between Katniss and Peeta, [[spoiler: never for real.]]
* TheLastLaugh: [[spoiler:President Snow]] at the very end of the rebellion in book 3.
* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Rue]] asks Katniss to sing for her. Despite not singing for years, Katniss comes through.
* LeaveHimToMe: Katniss insists on being the one to kill [[spoiler: Snow]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: Rue's song.
* LockDown: During the bombing of [[spoiler: District 13]] in book 3.
* LosingTheTeamSpirit:
** [[spoiler: Katniss]] at the end of the second book.
** [[spoiler: She completely loses it in]] the third one as well.
* LotteryOfDoom: The reaping, which selects tributes for Battle Royal.
* LoveAtFirstSight / LoveAtFirstNote: If we take Peeta's word for it, that is.
* LoveHurts: Often literally.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Katniss tries to convince the citizens of Panem she was so crazy with love for Peeta that she can't be held responsible for her actions. To say nothing of Peeta's actions to begin with.]]
* LoveTriangle: Unsurprisingly resolved at the end of Mockingjay.
* MadnessMantra: Wiress repeatedly says, "Tick, tock" during the Quarter Quell. No one initially understands what she's referring to.
* ManiacMonkeys: One of the many delights of the Quarter Quell.
* ManOnFire / WreathedInFlames:
** Katniss gets lit on fire five times: thrice in the name of fashion and twice in combat situations. There is a reason they call her ''The Girl Who Was On Fire''.
** Peeta also gets singed [[spoiler: at the very end, when he was presumably following Katniss.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Peeta is the male version of FeminineWomenCanCook and Katniss is the female version of ManlyMenCanHunt.
* MeaningfulName:
** Katniss is a real plant. Its common name? "Arrowhead". And its scientific name is ''Sagittaria,'' which is a transparent reference to [[WesternZodiac the Zodiac sign Sagittarius,]] a fire sign whose symbol is an archer.
** Peeta the baker sounds like "pita," a type of bread.
** Effie Trinket seems to be trivial and shallow.
** Cinna was the name of [[spoiler:both a doomed opponent of Sulla the dictator and a conspirator against Augustus ''Caesar''.]]
** One of the meanings of "Rue" is "regret." [[spoiler:Her death haunts Katniss, who failed to protect her.]]
** Avox means, in an awkward and incorrect mixture of Greek and Latin, 'without a voice.'
** "Coriolanus," as in "Coriolanus Snow" refers to a hated Roman who betrayed both sides and died loathed and friendless.
** Tigris had plastic surgery to look like a human-tiger hybrid. Katniss wonders which came first, the name or the look.
** A mag is a type of nut. Mags knows a lot about plants and nuts.
** Pollux and Castor, the twin cameramen from ''Mockingjay'' are named for the Gemini of Roman mythology. Like the myth, Castor dies and Pollux is allowed to live - only with some horrible mutilation.
** Titus and Lavinia are names from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Like their counterparts in the Shakespeare play, Titus was known for cannibalism, and Lavinia had her tongue cut out. Given Peeta's comments about 'fingers and toes' an unfortunate implication, given what other things happened to Lavinia in the play.
** In Mockingjay, the expression [[spoiler:"the opposite side of the same Coin"]] comes to mind.
** In addition to any other possible meaning, a lot of the tributes' names related to their district's industry or their personal profession:
** Panem sounds like a mutilation of "Pan America", but is meant as a reference to the Latin phrase "panem et circenses", meaning "bread and circuses", or idiomatically, sustenance and entertainment - the two things you need to give a population to keep them happy.
*** District 1, luxury goods, gives us Marvel, Glimmer, Gloss, and Cashmere.
*** District 3, electronics, has Wiress. And Beetee, which sounds like TV, CD, PC, etc. (Or BD, as in blu-ray disc). For British readers, it invokes BT - British Telecom.
*** District 4, fishing, ''Fin''nick Odair and Annie ''Crest''a.
*** District 7, lumber, gives us the optimistically-named Blight.
*** District 8, textiles, has Twill and Woof (another word for "weft").
*** District 11, agriculture, has Rue, Thresh, Chaff, and Seeder. Chaff is a double example. Not only does it mean "the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing," but it also means, "worthless matter." Chaff never becomes important to the plot.
*** District 12, coal mining, has Peeta(Peter, meaning "stone") and of course Katniss' nickname; "The Girl Who Was On Fire."
*** The Capitol uses Roman names, in reference to their technological superiority as well as their decadent culture.
*** Disctrict 2 is noted for having the closest relationship to the Capitol, and their male tributes also have Roman names: Cato and Brutus.
** In Katniss' case it's a nickname but the drama largely boils down to "The girl who was on fire" against President ''Snow''.
* TheMedic: Katniss's mother and Prim.
* MementoMacGuffin: The pearl in ''Mockingjay''.
* MemeticSexGod: Finnick is an in-universe example.
* MercyKill:
** After Katniss puts [[spoiler: Cato]] out of his misery at the end of the 74th Hunger Games.
** In ''Catching Fire,'' Katniss considers doing this for [[spoiler:Peeta and possibly Beetee as well]].
** [[spoiler:Gale and Katniss]] have an understanding in 'Mockingjay' that they would kill each other before letting the other get captured, to avoid torture. [[spoiler:Both fail to do it in the end.]]
* MindControlEyes: [[spoiler: Peeta]]
* MoralityPet: Katniss has Prim and Rue, and Gale has his own younger siblings.
* MoreHeroThanThou: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Katniss and Peeta]] are each determined the other will be the survivor.
* TheMourningAfter: Katniss's mother goes into a near-catatonic depression after the death of Katniss's father, leaving Katniss to support the family. Even when the mother becomes functional again, she never really gets over his death.
** In Mockingjay Katniss goes into this after [[spoiler:Prim's death]]
* MushroomSamba: A (mostly) [[NightmareFuel extremely unfunny]] version thanks to tracker jacker venom.
* MyOwnPrivateIDo: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Peeta claims he and Katniss did this, so that he can then claim Katniss is pregnant to garner extra sympathy]].
* MysteryMeat
--> "Once it's in the soup, I call it beef."
* NeckSnap: Cato to [[spoiler:the boy from District 3]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** Katniss' main goal through the second book is to find a way to trick Snow into believing she's in love with Peeta. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, she does convince him (and just about everyone else), and therefore manages to give him the leverage to break her during ''Mockingjay''.]]
** One can say that the entire series is this. [[spoiler: Prim dies anyway, which was what the instigation of the plot of the first book was trying to prevent.]]
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: President Snow and the Gamemakers.
* NightmareSequence: Katniss's dreams are usually a horrifying mishmash of bad memories and fear-gripped imagination, like everyone getting their tongues cut out or all her loved ones screaming in agony.
* NobodyPoops: Bears may shit in woods but tributes, apparently, do not. It wouldn't be so noticeable, except that Collins takes pains to make everything about Battle Royal and the horrors of the arena seem dirty and uncomfortable and horrible, so in the first book at least it's a glaring omission. They do, however, urinate. Possible justification: if you're exercising a lot (say, fighting in an arena) and not getting much to eat (say, fighting in an arena), your body makes use of more of the food you eat. But you'd think Katniss would've noticed the ''lack'' of... [[MST3KMantra Well, whatever.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Given the nature of the beast, it's an inevitability. Even outside the arena, [[spoiler: Cinna receives a nasty one as Katniss watches helplessly]]. ''And they never saw him again.''
* NoNameGiven: Katniss never learns the names of most of the tributes. She doesn't find out until well after the games are over that the boy from District 1 was named Marvel, even though [[spoiler:she was the one who killed him]].
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Presidents Coin and Snow.]]
* NonActionGuy: Peeta, whose sole moment of badassery is so early on in the games that it's easily outshined by his persistent habit of being TheLoad.
* NonActionBigBad: President Snow.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Either the books take places very strategically to avoid this problem or Collins simply overlooked it. Even when Katniss becomes well fed and [[spoiler:goes to war in a squad with multiple women]] it's never an issue. and See also: NobodyPoops.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: It takes Katniss a long time to decide to actively help the revolutionaries instead of just looking out for her own survival.
* NotMeThisTime: When confronted with [[spoiler:the bombing of the children in front of the mansion,]] Snow reveals that he had absolutely nothing to do with it, and in fact it was [[spoiler:President Coin]].
* NuclearOption: Discussed. [[spoiler:Both District 13 and the Capitol]] have nukes trained on each other, but mutually assured destruction of all humanity keeps them both at bay.
* ObfuscatingStupidity:
** Katniss remarks this was Johanna Mason's strategy in her Games: everyone thought she was a sniveling, useless weakling and overlooked her... until she turned out to be a vicious killer who ended up the victor.
** Oddly enough, Haymitch counts -- not only is he quite the strategist in the first Games, but he turns out to be a [[spoiler:major figure in the underground resistance by the end of book 2.]] Not bad for someone most people just think of as the town drunk.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome:
** The implied epic two-day battle between [[CoolVersusAwesome Cato and Thresh.]] [[BattleInTheRain In the rain]].
** Peeta killing [[spoiler: Brutus]] in the Quarter Quell could count. Not bad for the guy who's usually seen as TheLoad.
* TheOphelia: [[spoiler:Katniss]] near the end of the third book, after [[spoiler:killing Coin]]. Annie is also presented as unstable at the best of times.
* OppositesAttract
* OrnamentalWeapon: Subverted with Katniss' bow. After all, just because it's pretty doesn't mean it can't be deadly.
* OrphanageOfFear: It isn't actually seen, but the District 12 community home is said to be like this.
* OutrunTheFireball: One of the Gamemakers' traps.
* PlanetOfHats: Each of the districts has a different primary industry, which serves as its theme. This is an InvokedTrope in Battle Royal, since the tributes are each trope are traditionally dressed in ways that reference their theme.
* PerfectPoison: Nightlock berries. Most of the plants in the Second Quarter Quell.
* {{Phobia}}: [[spoiler:Johanna]] develops a fear of water after being tortured with drowning / electrocution.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Katniss is flustered by people's nudity on several occasions.
----> Finnick: "Why? Do you find this... distracting?"
* PoliceState: Panem is one. [[spoiler:District 13]] is less openly cruel but even more restrictive.
* PresentTenseNarrative
* PresidentEvil: President Snow, especially as time goes on. [[spoiler:President Coin of District 13? Not much better]].
* PrimalFear: Suzanne Collins seems to be a fan of these... both Battle Royal and the Underland Chronicles are full of people dying in horrible ways thanks to fire, drowning, bugs (sometimes GIANT bugs) and/or savage animals.
* PromotionToParent:
** The death of [[DisappearedDad Katniss' father]] and her mother's subsequent depression make her the breadwinner of the family.
** Gale is also the primary provider for his family after his father's death; his mother helps as best she can, but she's only able to bring in a pittance doing laundry.
* ProngsOfPoseidon: Since he's from the fishing district, Finnick is dangerously adept with a trident.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Pretty thoroughly.
** With regard to clothing, it starts with Katniss looking down at the shallow, appearance-centered Panemites but then squealing in delight when Cinna makes her look pretty, and continues from there. Earlier she complains in her inner monologue that Madge's pin could feed a starving family for months, but later when she's given a dress covered in jewels, she makes no similar protest, the narrative instead expressing her awe at how amazing she looks in it.
** Early in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss complains about the Capitol needlessly wasting food. She seems to have forgotten the scene in the previous book where she throws out the cookies Peeta's father gave her.
** Later in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss is upset that nothing is different in the arena, saying that she'd hoped the tributes would show restraint. This completely ignores the fact that ''Katniss'' was the first tribute in the 75th games to try and attack anyone (Finnick).
** [[spoiler:District 8]] is so lacking in medical personnel and supplies, people are left with unchanged bandages and untreated infections; their hospital is basically a morgue. Peeta alone, on the other hand, gets a whole team of doctors because he's Katniss's love interest. This is never brought up as morally questionable.
* ProtectedByAChild: Near the end of Mockingjay, this is what Snow does to protect himself.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 tend to come off this way due to those Districts' practice of training children specifically in order to volunteer for Battle Royal. As a result, these "Career" Tributes are also far more likely to win than Tributes from other Districts, although Haymitch describes their arrogance as a flaw that can lead to their defeat.
* PyrrhicVictory: The ending of ''Mockingjay''.
* RaceLift: Katniss's race is never stated. She has "olive" skin, but her mother and sister are both blonde, so it's unclear if this trope is in effect with the casting of Jennifer Lawrence in TheMovie.
* RainOfBlood: ''Literally.''
* RealityEnsues: Pretty much what Mockingjay runs on.
* RealityShow: The eponymous games.
* RegionalSpeciality: Each district's bread is very distinct.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Katniss [[spoiler: forms an alliance with Rue, stays with her while she dies, and vows to win for her]], who reminds her of her own little sister Prim back home.
* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude: Peeta and especially Katniss.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The third book is FULL of this.
* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler: Gale.]]
* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''Battle Royal'', this is invoked: Katniss and Peeta fake a romance in order to woo the audience of the Games (or rather, Katniss is the only one faking). In the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', President Snow decides to force her and Peeta into a marriage in order to convince the Districts that her behavior at the end of the 74th Games wasn't rebellious in nature. The rest of ''Catching Fire'' revolves around [[spoiler: several of the victors in the 75th Games trying to protect Peeta because they think Katniss won't help District 13 in the rebellion if he dies]]. Quite a bit of ''Mockingjay'' is dedicated to gaining Peeta back after he's [[spoiler:kidnapped and brainwashed]].
* RousingSpeech:
** Katniss tries to give one in the middle of a firefight in District 2. [[spoiler:It succeeds in turning the workers against the pro-Capital soldiers, but doesn't keep her from getting shot by one first.]]
** In ''Catching Fire'' Katniss makes a beautiful speech in District 11, about her ally Rue.
** Her "If we burn, you burn with us" speech in ''Mockingjay'' is implied to be received well.
* RuleOfDrama: Ties with RuleOfEmpathy, below. The Capitol loves best those victors who put on a great show.
* RuleOfEmpathy: Tributes must be able to invoke sympathy from the Capitol and District audiences. Sympathy will equal sponsors and money for necessities in the arena, and could therefore make the difference in the Games. Peeta, it turns out, is a natural at invoking the RuleOfEmpathy at the drop of a hat. Katniss is not.
* RuleOfThree: Suzanne Collins loves her powers of three. There are three books. Each book is divided into three parts. Each part contains nine (3x3) chapters.
* SacrificialLion:
** It's debatable whether [[spoiler: Rue in book 1]] was this or SacrificialLamb.
** [[spoiler: Prim and Finnick]] in the third book.
* SayMyName: Especially Katniss' incident in the tree during the first games.
* ScaryBlackMan: Thresh.
* SchizoTech: Justified in that the Capitol deliberately suppresses technology in the Districts, especially weapons tech.
* [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Screw The Rules We Make Them]]: The Gamemakers.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Peeta (sensitive) vs. Gale (manly).
* SexSlave: In book 3, according to [[spoiler:Finnick, this happens to a lot of victors]], himself included.
* ShallowLoveInterest: The fandom seems to be split on who this applies to. Gale is either truly the other half of the OfficialCouple, or he's a [[RomanticFalseLead Paolo]]. Similarly, Peeta is either a cunning yet rather hopeless romantic, or a total idiot. [[TakeAThirdOption Of course, there are also those who think this applies to both characters.]]
* ShellShockedVeteran: All of the Victors have some form of PTSD.
* ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler: President Coin orders a bombing attack on children being used as human shields by President Snow - and makes it appear that the attack was initiated by Snow, in order to destroy any remaining public support for Snow's regime.]]
* ShoutOut:
** WordOfGod has stated that Katniss's family name is a reference to the Thomas Hardy character Bathsheba Everdene.
** Katniss (the "Girl on Fire") is in Squad Four Five One, a reference to Ray Bradbury's ''Fahrenheit 451'', which is another dystopian novel with a fire motif.
* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Lavinia, who has no tongue, is a reference to ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Titus is also name-dropped, a Tribute who goes cannibal in the games.
* ShutUpKiss: Katniss does this to Peeta in the cave when he attempts to give her an IfIDoNotReturn speech. He shuts up.
* SiblingYinYang: Katniss and Prim
* SimulatedUrbanCombatArea
* SingleTargetSexuality: Peeta towards Katniss. He fell in love with her when he was 5 and never fell out of love. [[spoiler:Except of course for the brief time while he was hijacked, and even then it seems that a part of him still loved her.]]
* SlaveToPR: A dominating theme. A likable persona for a tribute wins sponsors: for example, Finnick. It culminates in ''Mockingjay'' when [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the rebels ''bomb a town square full of children'', in a Capitol hovercraft, solely to convince everyone in the nation that the Capitol is evil]]. P.R. is possibly ''the'' most powerful weapon in ''Battle Royal.''
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The cynicism side. Far, far, ''far'' on the cynicism side.
* SlowClap: Not exactly an applause, but the whole community of District 12 uses a cultural gesture to show their support of Katniss when she takes her sister's place. District 11 tries this as well [[spoiler:and pays the price.]]
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Avoided. They exist, they're just the worse alternative.
* SomeKindOfForceField: Prominent in ''Catching Fire,'' causing death or serious injury multiple times.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:Annie gives birth to their baby sometime after Finnick is killed.]]
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Clove talks about [[spoiler: Rue]], while holding down Katniss near the Cornucopia. Of course, karma sweeps in to save the day, via [[spoiler: Thresh]].
* TheSpeechless: Avoxes, traitors who've had their tongues mutilated as punishment.
* SpoiledSweet:
** Katniss's prep team, who are simply too naive to be genuinely mean.
** Though we aren't one hundred percent sure of his financial situation, probably Cinna, who treats Katniss with respect and the games with disgust despite being from the Capitol.
** Madge who is the Mayor's daughter, very kind and is one of Katniss' few friends.
* SpotTheThread: The official, "live-action" shots of District 13 are revealed to be StockFootage by a mockingjay which flies past the screen.
* StrangeSalute: When Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place, the entire crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hands to their lips, and then holds it out to her. Katniss explains that it's an old District 12 gesture that means thanks, admiration, and goodbye to someone you love. [[spoiler:It becomes a little more meaningful later on.]]
* StunnedSilence: The first response to Katniss' exchange.
* StarCrossedLovers: Peeta and Katniss pretend to be this to garner sympathy. [[spoiler:They eventually do become real lovers, but get out of everything alive, so their stars were not crossed.]]
* SuperDoc: Outside the poorer districts, medicine is ''far'' in advance of our own time.
* SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom: The role of the Peacekeepers isn't as sweet as it sounds. (Bit like in RealLife, then?) Pretty much everything surrounding the Games is treated as fun and entertaining; being a "tribute" is an ''honor.''
* SuperPersistentPredator: The tracker jacker wasps do not give up an attack once pissed off. Running away doesn't help.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: When Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss exactly when she first [[spoiler: fell for Peeta]], she's evasive at first (since at this point [[spoiler: she hasn't actually fallen for him yet]]) and then immediately goes along with his first guess.
* SurvivalMantra:
** Although nonverbal, Finnick's compulsive knotting in ''Mockingjay''.
** Katniss shares Finnick's knotting habit for a bit in the third book, but has one of her own.
--> My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in Battle Royal...
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: The climax of Book 1.]]
* TakeMeInstead: In the first book, Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place as tribute for District 12.
* TakeThat: In universe, the mockingjay becomes an increasingly unsubtle one of these towards the Capitol.
* TakingTheBullet: During the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: one of the morphlings is killed by an attack from a vicious monkey that was meant for Peeta]].
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Gale.
* TakingYouWithMe: Book 1: [[spoiler: Cato threatens to take Peeta with him into the jaws of the Muttations if Katniss shoots him with her arrows.]]
* ATasteOfTheLash: [[spoiler:Gale]] in Catching Fire
* TearsOfRemorse: After Katniss's meeting with the Gamemakers.
* TeenageWasteland: Subverted. [[ActorAllusion The kids are all right]], adult authority in the form of [[TheEmpire The Capitol]] is ''forcing'' them to kill or be killed.
* TemptingFate:
** In the first book, Katniss reassures her sister Prim that her name won't be drawn for Battle Royal... Seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
** If you're referred to as "the girl who was on fire" enough times, eventually you do get actually lit on fire.
* ThemeNaming: The Capitol and District 2 use Roman names to highlight their decadent nature and fondness for gladitorial combat. The nation itself is called Panem, the Latin word for bread. The districts often use names referencing their primary industry.
* ThereAreNoTherapists:
** The districts are implied to have therapists, as Katniss's mother was able to somehow gain access to one in order to get hold of drugs to treat her depression. Largely, people do not seem to seek psychological help, though. This could be attributed to a lack of money, however Katniss's family struggles to eat, so...
** Subverted in [[spoiler:District 13]]: all refugees are given psychological help and local specialists do everything they can to get [[spoiler:Peeta]] back to his old self after a MindRape. Before [[spoiler:the final attack on the Capitol]], soldiers are checked for possible psychological problems ([[spoiler:Johanna]] gets sent to a mental facility). Katniss also goes through therapy after [[spoiler:her sister’s]] death, though one might wonder why she didn't get this sort of help earlier.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Played straight [[spoiler: for seventy-three years. Zig-zagged in the first book.]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Here, there and everywhere given the nature of the Games. Big mention to [[spoiler:Cato, who, having lost all his limbs and skin from being gnawed on by at least twenty wolf-like creatures for hours on end, dies from an arrow to the face.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: District 13 is the odd district out.
* TitleDrop: Of sorts. In the third book, "Fire is catching" becomes a slogan for the [[spoiler: rebels.]]
* ToAbsentFriends: [[spoiler:The book that Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch create at the end of Mockingjay.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Katniss and Prim, Katniss and Madge
* TooCleverByHalf: Foxface. [[spoiler:Up until the point where she fails to distinguish poisonous berries from normal ones. Granted, she was starving by then, but still...]]
* TooHappyToLive: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie]] in ''Mockingjay''. As soon as [[spoiler: they got married]], you knew at least one of them was doomed.
* TraumaCongaLine: By the end, try to count more surviving characters that haven't suffered one without running out of fingers. This is especially endemic amongst the victors of the games as the Capitol torments them to keep them from using their elevated status to foment rebellion.
* TrickArrow: Both the flaming and exploding kinds.
* TryNotToDie: Pretty much everyone's last words to Katniss and Peeta.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler: Gale]]
* UnwittingPawn: Katniss feels this way, since she's constantly out of the loop.
* TheUriahGambit:
** Attempted by [[spoiler:President Coin, who sends Peeta out with Katniss's team in the Capitol, with a gun, while he's still BrainwashedAndCrazy and Katniss is his BerserkButton.]] It fails.
** Katniss being sent [[spoiler: back into the arena in book 2]] might also qualify, if you believe it was rigged by [[spoiler: President Snow]].
* UselessSpleen: In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler: Katniss gets shot. Not surprisingly it happens to be her spleen that is destroyed. Good thing she doesn't need it.]]
* VillainBall: The Capitol seems to hold this on occasion, especially in Catching Fire. There is a lot of VillainBall discussion relating to the Games themselves, available on the discussion page.
* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler:President Snow]]
* VoiceOfTheResistance: Katniss and her fellow Victors, throughout book 3.
* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: There's a joke that ''Catching Fire'' and ''Mockingjay'' are written almost entirely in sentence fragments.
* WarIsHell: Absolutely nothing [[WarIsGlorious glorious]] about it.
* WartimeWedding: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie.]]
* WasItAllALie: Peeta's ongoing question to Katniss from the end of the first book all the way to the "Real or not real?" question at the end of the last.
* WaterWakeup: When Haymitch is in a stupor, only this will rouse him.
* WeaponsKitchenSink: Inevitable, given the fact that the Capitol just spreads them around in the Arena and hopes for a sloppy death scenario to increase the "entertainment" value. There's a [[CrossesTheLineTwice blackly-comic]] aside in Book 1 where Katniss mentions how one year the only weapons provided were horribly awkward maces.
* WhamLine:
** The very first chapter of ''Battle Royal'': [[spoiler:"It's Primrose Everdeen."]]
** Chapters have a tendency to end with these, such as, [[spoiler:"Katniss, there is no District 12."]]
** Or how about [[spoiler: "And then the second round of parachutes goes off."]]
** In-universe, Peeta is the acknowledged master of the WhamLine, particularly when onstage with Caesar Flickerman. In the first book he sets up the StarCrossedLovers thing, and in the second he manages an even bigger one: [[spoiler:He claims he and Katniss are having a baby.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never learn ''why'' Cinna requested District 12 (as he says he did in book 1) and we never find out if Portia did the same. We also have no clue why he doesn't have the Capitol accent or the Capitol sense of style, despite that not making much sense if he's a fashion designer who's lived in the Capitol for his entire life.
** In book 2, Johanna says everyone she loves is dead. Elaboration? Explanation? Don't count on it. There's a popular guess in fanon, though.
** In the third book Katniss gets a bow with "special properties." She never once mentions them again, uses them, or even explains what those properties are, besides the fact that it can vibrate to say hello. This could be the reason it's able to shoot down planes, though.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted. [[spoiler: Katniss sees Peeta as TheHeart]] and thinks his power to love is much better than her ability to kill things.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: [[RaceAgainstTheClock Given the nature of the arena used by the Quarter Quell.]]
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The Districts have a few geographical clues but otherwise the readers don't really learn where they are. [[http://aimmyarrowshigh.livejournal.com/32461.html That didn't stop people from trying to map it, though.]]
* WhiteKnighting: Gale subtly blames Katniss of being a female version. The only way for a man to get noticed by her is to suffer so terribly that she feels obliged to tend and care for them.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Tough-as-nails [[spoiler:Johanna Mason]] is undone by water... because when she was a prisoner of the Capitol, they soaked her and then electrocuted her as part of her torture.
* WillNotBeAVictim: Invoked and then exploited. It's how [[spoiler:Johanna]] won her Hunger Games.
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Cato taking out Thresh]] in Book 1.
* WorkingTitle: The working title of the first novel was ''The Tribute of District Twelve''.
* WreathedInFlames: Part of Katniss's symbology (along with being a mockingjay).
* WritersCannotDoMath:
** In ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes the Cornucopia as being 40 yards away from the launch platform, which is located in a circular lagoon. There are twelve spokes of land separating the 24 tributes, and Katniss is equidistant from the land strip and the adjacent tribute platform. If you do all the calculations, it turns out that Katniss is about seven yards from the nearest land strip. Katniss has to swim this distance, and describes it as "a longer distance than [she's] used to swimming" back in the lake outside District 12.
** Reapings are supposed to take place in early springtime. The reaped go to ceremonies, etc, that last about a week or two at most, the 75th Hunger Games last a few days ''tops'', and [[spoiler:Peeta is captured on the last day.]] Roughly four weeks pass between the end of the 75th games and the beginning of ''Mockingjay'', and yet somehow five or six weeks after [[spoiler:Peeta's kidnapping]], it's a week from September.
-->"What day is it?" I ask no one in particular. Boggs tells me September begins next week. September. That means Snow has had [[spoiler:Peeta]] in his clutches for five, maybe six weeks.
* WouldHitAGirl: There are just as many girls as boys in each Hunger Game, ensuring a lot of this. [[spoiler:Marvel kills Rue, and Thresh kills Clove.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Isn't that right, [[spoiler: Marvel]]?
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The people living in the Capitol dye their hair some pretty wild colors.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
** Leads to Cato [[NeckSnap snapping the neck]] of [[spoiler: District 3's]] boy in the first book.
** [[spoiler: President Coin attempts this with Katniss]] towards the end of Mockingjay.
* YouKilledMyFather:
** In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler:either President Snow or President Coin kills Prim.]]
** Katniss understands that if the conditions were not so bad in the coal mines due to the decadent lifestyle in the Capitol and the corrupt government, her father would not have died in the mine accident.
* YourFavorite: Katniss at one point receives food including the stew she stated in an interview was her favorite thing about the Capitol. In ''Mockingjay,'' Peeta finds a can of the same stew and presents it to Katniss when the team scavenges a meal.
* XMeetsY: The media tends to treat the series as ''{{Twilight}}'' with gladiators. The actors have made a point of downplaying the love triangle by answering "Team Peeta or Team Gale?" with "Team Katniss."
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to:
* AccidentalMurder: Peeta accidentally kills [[spoiler:Foxface]] with poison. Also, in Mockingjay he accidentally [[spoiler:launches a member of his squad into a trap that killed him.]]
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: [[spoiler:Snow, as part of his gambit when he made his rise to power.]] Subverted in that it wasn't perfect, and he carried long-term damage from it.
* ActionGirl: Katniss and most of the other female contestants.
* AdultFear:
** The point of Battle Royal was for the Capitol to show it has so much control over its citizens, that they can kill their children publicly and there is nothing they could do about it.
** Also the fact that Katniss has sworn off the idea of marriage or children because she knows that any children she had would have to face the Reapings just as she had. [[spoiler: She only breaks this promise to herself ''fifteen years after'' Panem has changed.]]
** [[spoiler: Prim's death.]] A girl who's barely a teenager is mercilessly blown up [[spoiler:by an explosive parachute.]]
* AerithAndBob: On one hand, you've got normal names like Annie and Johanna, but then on the other you've got more unusual names like Katniss, Peeta, Twill, Plutarch, and Beetee.
** During the Games, Katniss wonders why the "Careers" (tributes from Districts 1 and 2) name their children such odd things like "Glimmer" and "Marvel".
* AirstripOne: The Districts are numbered and segregated by industry.
* AfterTheEnd: Some combination of wars and natural disasters destroyed the entire population of the world except for Panem. There are implications that Panem consists of less than 100,000 people and represents the entire human species. District 12, the smallest district (possibly excluding 13), has a population of between 8,000 and 10,000 [[spoiler: before it is bombed (it's stated that the 800 to 900 survivors are just less than 10 percent of the population)]]. That would mean the bare minimum population of the districts 1-12 would have to be about 96,000, and most likely more, since districts 2 and 11 appear to be several times the size of 12.
* TheAlcoholic: Former District 12 champion Haymitch Abernathy. In fact, it seems that a lot of Games champions end up with some kind of drug or alcohol addiction, due to a combination of too much money and time on their hands, having no real way to cope with the horrors they faced in the arena, and having to mentor new tributes year after year who seldom if ever come back alive.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: The people in the Capitol have some strange fashion ideas, among them body dyes. At least one person mentioned has dyed her whole body pea green.
* AmbiguouslyBrown:
** Rue and Thresh are both stated to be dark-skinned, but it's never mentioned ''how'' dark. WordOfGod says that they are black.
** Katniss, Gale and Haymitch sport the "Seam look", meaning olive skin, dark hair and grey eyes.
* AnimalMotifs: Metaphorically, Snow as a snake. Visually, Katniss as a mockingjay. Tigris as a cat-person as both.
* AnnoyingArrows: This happens unless Katniss hits a vital area.
* AnyoneCanDie: Battle Royal is actually an interesting example. Many of the characters are ''guaranteed'' to die, due to the format of the Games, however, as with most other works, main characters are very rarely if ever killed (depending on who you'd be willing to count as a main character), and only in major events. Katniss, as the first person narrator, inevitably survives the entire series.
* ApocalypseHow: In the backstory. It's continental societal disruption at the least, leading to the creation of Panem.
* TheArcher: Katniss. Also Gale.
* ArtisticLicense:
** ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare:
*** In ''Mockingjay'' Katniss stuffs Buttercup into a bag and carries him over her shoulder, even elbowing him to get him to be quiet. She also ''bounces him against the floor''. In the book, this only causes yowling, but in real life this probably would've caused him a great deal of injury.
*** Katniss also picks Buttercup up by the scruff of his neck without supporting his rump. He's a grown tom cat. Any pet owner will tell you that is a ''humongous'' no-no.
*** After Buttercup is forced into a bag, he allows Prim to tie a ribbon around his neck and hold him in her arms. After being bagged? Both of these actions would probably cause a cat a great deal of distress (possibly causing the animal to retaliate in violence) in real life.
** ArtisticLicenseBiology:
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss mistakes evening primrose for rose and implies they're two types of the same species of flower. The thorny roses Snow leaves and primrose are not even mildly similar to look at. Mistaking one for the other would be more or less impossible.
** ArtisticLicensePharmacology:
*** [[spoiler: Snow uses assassination by]] poison to get into power. Apparently the Capitol can neither run basic autopsies nor test surfaces for presence of toxins.
*** "Morphling," an apparent stand in for morphine, appears in most functions to be an opiate, but for some reason the two morphling addicts from ''CatchingFire'' are extremely thin. Thinness from opiate addiction comes from choosing to buy drugs over food, not any effect of the drug. Katniss says that they ''did'' have the money to buy food as well, so their emaciation makes no sense.
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss describes morphling as making her feel numb and empty. For opiate addicts (who've begun to grow 'immune' to the effects) this may be the case, but morphine makes non-addicts feel relaxed, warm and happy, even through emotional depression.
*** Hijacking [[spoiler:specifically tracker jacker venom]], as further explained in HollywoodPsychology below.
** ArtisticLicensePhysics:
*** Beetee's electric trap in ''Catching Fire'' would not be capable of killing all the sealife and the Careers on the beach like he claims. (Ever wonder why lightning doesn't kill fish in lakes?) [[spoiler:Fortunately, the plan wasn't meant to actually work; it was a distraction for his real plan.]]
*** Planes are supposedly not be able to fly very high because of some sort of vague, inadequately explained "destruction of atmosphere." This is either implying that there are issues of human ability to survive in aircrafts because of low pressure, or that destruction of atmosphere causes the atmosphere to lessen in physical size rather than density. With regard to the first, planes alread fly in much lower pressures than what humans can survive on their own (think cabin pressurization and those emergency oxygen masks)--the height of planes' flight ability in-universe is given at 100 yards and accounting for current ability to fly in low pressure, if planes are limited to 100 yards, sea level would ''not'' be within comfortable, easy to survive human pressure. This would make the tall buildings in the Capitol extraordinarily implausible (unless all of these buildings are pressurized, which is in and of itself implausible). With regard to the latter, destruction of atmosphere would cause atmosphere to expand to fill the same space, not a lessening of physical size in the atmosphere surrounding the earth. In other words, "destruction of atmosphere" is not a reason that high-flying planes would not exist.
* AsianAndNerdy: Everyone from District 3 (which produces electronics). "Nuts" Wiress and "Volts" Beetee, the two engineers in Catching Fire, "are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair." The explosives expert in Battle Royal is described by Katniss as "scrawny, ashen-skinned" and by Rue as "not very big." The narrator of the Scholastic audio books puts on a distinct stereotypical Asian accent that is especially noticeable in ''Catching Fire''.
* AxCrazy: Some of the Careers. Clove would've given Katniss a GlasgowSmile if Thresh hadn't stepped in. And Cato explodes so violently when Katniss takes out his supplies that he snaps a nearby boy's neck. Enobaria rips someone else's throat out.
* AnAxeToGrind: Johanna Mason in the Quarter Quell; after all, she's from the lumber district.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta]] have two kids.
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter:
** [[spoiler: Peeta]] deliberately invokes this trope [[spoiler: by claiming Katniss is pregnant after the two are forced back into the arena for the Quarter Quell.]] Apparently not even the bloodthirsty denizens of the Capitol seem to want to watch a pregnant woman be killed.
** Subverted in the series epilogue: while [[spoiler:Peeta and Katniss have two children, and this is a sign of hope, the world is still far from a good place, and Peeta and Katniss both retain enduring psychological issues as a result of the events of the books]].
* BadDreams: Katniss and the rest of the victors seem plagued by them.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: This occurs with regard to [[spoiler:Rue.]]
* BandOfBrothers: The victors.
* BattleCouple: Katniss and Peeta in the first book, but subverted in the second when Finnick is Katniss' [[TheLancer lancer]].
* BattleRoyaleWithCheese: Subverted in that [[spoiler: defeated characters don't come back to help fight the BigBad, they come back in another more sinister form to rip the remaining tributes limb from limb.]]
* [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Because You Were Nice To My Friend]]: Thresh spares Katniss because she helped Rue out [[spoiler:before the latter died.]]
* BecomingTheMask: Katniss pretends to be [[spoiler:in love with Peeta just to keep them both alive in the arena.]] At the end of the first book, she's prepared to kill him to save herself. Contrast the end of the second, [[spoiler:where she's totally prepared to die so he can continue living.]]
* BeeBeeGun: Katniss uses a hive of lethal, genetically-altered wasps to kill some of her opponents. And almost kills herself in the process.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Peeta, though he got better.]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Peeta is the Betty and Gale (despite being Katniss' best friend from early childhood) is the Veronica to Katniss's Archie: Peeta is nice and fairly sweet, while Gale has a revolutionary mindset and a ruthless streak. [[http://apricotteacup.deviantart.com/art/Hunger-Games-Peeta-VS-Gale-152229494?q=sort%3Atime+favby%3ATaylorswifty1&qo=3&offset=130 This picture]] sums it up nicely.
* BigBad: [[PresidentEvil President Coriolanus Snow.]]
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Cameras are waiting to catch every minute of Katniss and Peeta's lives once they become contestants in Battle Royal. Life in the districts is also very closely monitored, leaving people afraid to say anything that might come off as negative about the Capitol. President Snow even [[spoiler: knows Gale and Katniss kissed in the woods outside District 12]].
* BirdsOfAFeather: Katniss and Gale, though ultimately inverted when [[spoiler:Katniss decides that she needs Peeta]] to balance her own personality out.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The freedom]] at the end of the third book [[spoiler:is paid for in a lot of blood, and the characters are burdened with deep emotional scars. However, Panem is rebuilding and there's some BabiesEverAfter for the two lead characters.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality
* BlackMarketProduce: Katniss makes her living poaching game and selling it on the black market. In addition, most food that isn't made from grain rations is expensive and rather rare in the Districts. The decadent Capitol, on the other hand, has tons of food of all kinds.
* BloodFromTheMouth:
** Subverted by President Snow, since it's neither overt nor a sign of his impending death. [[spoiler:Played straight later.]]
** The first tribute Katniss sees die suddenly sprays blood onto her face while fighting with her over supplies, due to a sudden and terminal case of throwing-knife-in-back. Katniss herself narrowly avoids succumbing to the malady a few seconds later.
* BloodKnight: "Careers" are kids who train all their young lives to win glory in the Games, volunteering for them if they're not selected by lottery.
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: About thirty seconds into the 74th Hunger Games, the boy from District 9 coughs blood into Katniss' face after getting knifed by Clove.
* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Invoked with Katniss's wedding dress: [[spoiler: instead of being spattered with blood, it lights itself on fire then turns into a mockingjay dress.]]
* BlueEyes: Prim, Mrs. Everdeen, and Peeta. Implied to be a trait of the merchant class.
* BoomerangComeback: This is how [[spoiler: Haymitch]] won his game. [[spoiler: He made it to the edge of the arena, where he discovered there was a force field that reflected back everything that was thrown at it. The other remaining competitor caught up with him, threw an axe, Haymitch ducked, the axe bounced back, and killed the thrower.]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Peeta. He gets better.]]
* BreadAndCircuses: ''Panem et Circenses''. DiscussedTrope in ''Mockingjay.''
* BreakTheCutie: Peeta's TraumaCongaLine is significantly longer than that of most of the other characters, though for the most part he takes it all in stride.
* BreakfastClub: People who have won Battle Royal tend to become close friends and stick together, because only other tributes can understand what they have gone through.
* BriefAccentImitation: Gale at the beginning of the first novel, inciting one of about five times where Katniss actually ''laughs''.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu:
** In the first book, [[spoiler: Katniss is blown back by the explosion she sets off destroying the Careers' supplies and is rendered completely deaf in her left ear. Unable to escape, she only survives by hiding right under their noses]].
** In the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: Katniss nearly kills herself breaking the force field over the arena]].
* TheBrute: Cato, in the first book, and the aptly named Brutus in the second.
* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: The Capitol plans to do this to [[spoiler: Peeta and Katniss]]. This is later subverted in the end of the third book, where [[spoiler: they voluntarily decide to marry]].
* ButtMonkey: [[spoiler:Poor Boggs. His life is a string of tribulations, from Katniss puking all over him to Gale breaking his nose to getting his legs blown off and dying horribly. The closest he comes to complaining is a sigh when Katniss pukes on him.]]
* CallARabbitASmeerp:
** "Muttation" is a generic in-universe term for a genetically engineered creature, probably derived from "mutt" and "mutation". Lots of things count, like those wolves at the end of the first book, or Jabberjays and Tracker Jackers. Many more exotic variants are introduced in the third book when [[spoiler: they're storming the Capitol]].
** The addictive painkiller in use around Panem is called "morphling" (morphine) and the people addicted to it are called "morphlings."
** Poisonous berries called "nightlock" (nightshade, hemlock).
* CaptainObvious: [[spoiler: Peeta]] in ''Catching Fire'' when after he ran head-first into a force field, died, and then brought back to life by [[spoiler:Finnick]], he mentions there's a force field ahead of them.
* CatsAreMean: Buttercup is to everyone who isn't Prim. [[spoiler:Until Katniss and he finally bond after Prim's death.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Nightlock berries and [[spoiler: Foxface's death]]
* ChekhovsHobby: Frosting cakes turns out to come in really handy.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: President Coin.]]
* ChildrenForcedToKill
* ClosedCircle
* CloseKnitCommunity: District 12
** District 11 gets less limelight, but are this as well. [[spoiler: They pool their money to buy Katniss a thank you gift in the arena for treating Rue well and giving her a proper funeral.]]
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The whole point of life in the Districts, and the Games. Katniss takes a lot of horror in stride in the first book, but over the course of the trilogy the conditioning wears off.
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler:Haymitch]], Snow, [[spoiler:Coin]], Johanna, and Peeta.
* ContrivedCoincidence:
** In-universe. Family members of past tributes are disproportionately likely to be selected as tributes themselves. Katniss figures the drawings must be rigged that way to create [[RuleOfDrama extra drama]].
** The odds of Prim getting reaped in her first year, without any additional buy-ins is staggeringly small.
** In the first book, Katniss finally collapses from dehydration mere feet away from water.
** If Katniss ever thinks that she doesn't want to kill a person during the games, [[spoiler: she won't have to. Either someone/thing else kills them (Rue, Wiress, Thresh, Mags) or they survive (Peeta, Finnick, Beetee)]].
** When Katniss is thinking about betraying [[spoiler:Boggs]] he very conveniently [[spoiler:steps onto a mine]] and then gives command to her so that she doesn't have to technically betray anyone.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Invoked: [[spoiler:A fake miscarriage for Katniss and Peeta's fake baby]].
* CostumePorn: Each tribute gets a personal stylist. Looking flashy outside of the arena serves a practical purpose, though: tributes who catch the audience's eye are more likely to receive sponsors who can help them survive the arena.
* CoveredInMud: Peeta uses a large amount of mud with plants on top to disguise himself as part of a riverbank when he is too injured to move. This probably helps his infection along.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In ''Catching Fire'' [[spoiler: Finnick]] performs CPR on [[spoiler: Peeta]] (whose heart has stopped) for several minutes before he coughs and sputters to life. After being thrown backward by an electrified ''forcefield''.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The arena of the second Quarter Quell (Haymitch's) is this. At first glance it's the "most breathtaking place imaginable." There're blue skies, puffy white clouds, songbirds flying by, [[CoolClearWater crystalline streams]], luscious fruit, gorgeous flowers, butterflies, etc. Then everyone realizes [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything]] is [[DeathWorld deadly poisonous]]. And the [[KillerRabbit fluffy, golden squirrels are carnivorous]].
* CrapsackWorld: Most of the districts are horrible places to live. The people are poor, starving, and oppressed while those in the Capitol live outrageously decadent lives. And that's even without mentioning the eponymous DeadlyGame.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
** Haymitch Abernathy seems like a useless drunk, but he did actually win a Hunger Game after all. In ''Catching Fire,'' we learn that Haymitch survived his Games using extreme cunning. [[spoiler: We also learn that he's a member of the underground resistance.]]
** Johanna Mason famously exploited this trope to win the games, appearing to be helpless when she is actually a ruthless killer.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Anyone who's died in the Games, really. And the last book.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The Capitol is described as being full of colored glass, and the people are obsessed with fashion. Technology also seems to have advanced to the point that it can be completely hidden from view. Although no one wears a toga, Capitol residents almost all have Roman names, establishing them as a decadent and technologically advanced society.
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Wiress knows what she's talking about. The trick is ''figuring out'' just what that is.
* DarkActionGirl: Pretty much any female Career tribute by definition, but Clove fits the trope to a T. Annie is the exception.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The whole series is pretty dark to begin with, but the series finale, ''Mockingjay'', is much more hopeless than even the first two.
* DeadLittleSister: Katniss' father dies five years before the first book, forcing her to toughen up and learn to hunt to support herself and her family. Later, [[spoiler:Rue dies in the Games]], awakening her killer instinct. The threat of this trope becoming ''literal'' drives the whole trilogy.
* DeadpanSnarker: Haymitch and Johanna.
* DeathCourse: Battle Royal, especially when the tributes settle down into a comfortable recovery period / stalemate. [[spoiler:The Capitol defenses use much of the same design aesthetic.]]
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:Plutarch Heavensbee, his assistant, and some of the other people in District 13]] have fled the Capitol. This was also the goal of Lavinia, the redheaded Avox, and the boy she was with when Katniss first saw her, but they didn't make it.
* {{Deprogram}}ming: Has to be done to [[spoiler: Peeta]] in book 3.
* DespairEventHorizon: Katniss passes over it in a matter of paragraphs [[spoiler: at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]] And the rest of the series from there consists of [[ItGotWorse it getting worse]].
* {{Defictionalization}}: You can actually buy mockingjay pins. Interesting, because the citizens of the Capitol displayed this exact behavior in ''Catching Fire''.
* DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: At the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', the president drops by for a terrifying "chat" with [[spoiler: Katniss, during which he threatens to kill her whole family if she doesn't conduct herself properly on the Victory Tour. (Katniss's mother isn't present for this part of the conversation, but she does drop in to serve them tea. Katniss then has to conceal the conversation from her mother, telling her the president was just wishing her luck.)]]
* DisappearedDad: Katniss and Prim's father died in the mines a few years before the book begins. Gale's father also died in the same accident. It's concealed in somewhat of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but Haymitch's father might have been this as well. Haymitch has told Katniss that [[spoiler: President Snow had his mother, baby brother, and girlfriend killed as punishment for making the Capitol look bad in the arena,]] but a father is never mentioned.
* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: Rue]] in the first book. In the others, [[spoiler: Prim. For someone driving the plot of the first book, she]] gets almost no screentime and dies to instigate the ending.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Battle Royal are hateful, deplorable, they ruin their victors psychologically, and the series as a whole is viciously anti-war... but a major part of the story's appeal is the actual excitement of Battle Royal sequences... ''For both the Capitol and the readers!''
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** In District 11, the dark-skinned population is forced to farm and are treated with particular brutality. This sounds a lot like slavery in the American South.
** Panem and [[spoiler:District 13]] are nuclear powers locked in a stalemate. Panem is decadent, wealthy, and corrupt. Its citizens enjoy outrageous luxury while they exploit the surrounding communities to feed their enormous appetites. [[spoiler:District 13]], on the other hand, is a dull and drab place, ruled by an a totalitarian regime that regiments every aspect of its citizens' lives. That's pretty much how the US and the USSR portrayed each other during the Cold War.
* DoomedHometown: [[spoiler: District 12 is firebombed to the ground at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Peeta.
* DrowningMySorrows: Haymitch becomes a drunk due to the horrors he has witnessed.
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: Katniss understandably attempts various suicidal things after the end of the war in the final book. None are fulfilled naturally]]
* DrunkenMaster: Haymitch is a hopeless alcoholic, but his knowledge of people and tactics is astounding.
* DueToTheDead: Katniss covers [[spoiler:Rue's]] body with flowers and sings a funeral lament.
* DyingAlone
* DyingAsYourself: Peeta's wish before going into the arena.
* DysfunctionJunction: Go figure.
* {{Dystopia}}: Panem is not a great place to live.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Johanna Mason gets a brief mention in the first book, then appears in the flesh ([[NakedOnArrival literally!]]) a book later.
** Delly Cartwright is mentioned in the first part of the first book in passing, but doesn't appear until the middle of the third.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: More like earn your bittersweet ending.
* EatTheDog: ''"No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog."''
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: [[spoiler:District 13]].
* EmbarrassingFirstName: While the people themselves don't seem to be, at least Katniss notes that a lot of District 1 ''should'' be embarrassed by their names, the likes of which include Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss.
* EnemyMine: ''Temporary'' alliances are all part of Battle Royal. In ''Catching Fire'', the doomed tributes hold hands in a show of solidarity against the Capitol.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Often used in-universe with Katniss.
** She's never warned about Peeta's interview strategy so that her reaction will be more genuine.
** She's dropped into the warzone to film her candid reactions for propaganda, since she can't act at all.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first two things we learn about Katniss are that she loves her sister and that she has no problem drowning kittens.
* MrFanservice:
** Gale maintains a surprising harem in the fandom for someone who was a tertiary character for the first book.
** Also, Finnick, both in-universe, and out.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Inverted. A group of deadly monkey muttations show up in the arena in ''Catching Fire.''
* EverythingsWorseWithBees: Tracker jacker wasps.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** The gamemakers frown on certain behaviors in Battle Royal, but moreso because it will draw a poor reaction from the audience rather than out of moral disdain. They will not tolerate cannibalism, nor will they allow a psychopath to become a victor (unless they can be charming about it, as the Career Tributes tend to be somewhat... AxCrazy).
** The Capitol citizens will gleefully watch children fight to the death, but send a young woman who's alledgedly pregnant into the arena and they'll call it barbaric.
** In the third book, [[spoiler:Snow never exercises his Nuclear Option, which would damn humanity to extinction, even when he realizes that he's doomed.]] He states that he would never kill someone if it gave him no advantage.
* EvilGloating: When Clove catches [[spoiler:Katniss]], she decides to give her something to think about. Followed- as usual- by a ThwartedCoupDeGrace.
* EvilSmellsBad:
** President Snow smells of blood and cloying roses. It seems symbolic at first, but a reason for it is given in ''Mockingjay'': [[spoiler:Snow killed many rivals with poison. He uses the roses to cover up the smell of poison, and his bloody breath is from the mouth sores left by poisoned drinks he shared with his victims after taking less-than-perfect antidotes.]]
** Snow uses the overpowering smell of roses to intimidate his enemies, especially Katniss. The lizard mutts in ''Mockingjay'' were specifically given this trait to screw with her head.
* EyeScream: When Katniss is hunting squirrels, she shoots them in the eye (to spare the meat).
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Katniss thinks Johanna]] has done this when she "attacks" her. She assumes [[spoiler:Finnick]] must be in on it too.
* FantasticDrug: "Morphling," a heroin-like addictive drug that is obviously a reference to morphine.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Panem is basically a futuristic, sci-fi version of Rome. The country's name is an adoption of Rome's "Bread and Circuses" motto. The Capitol is an incredibly authoritarian superpower that brutally reigns over conquered territories to feed the decadent desires of its own citizens. The gladiatorial parallels with Battle Royal are obvious, of course. The parties feature guests who induce vomiting so that they can consume more food, which is popularly thought to have been common at Roman banquets.
* FailOSuckyname: Plutarch Heavensbee, Effie Trinket, and just about everyone in the Capitol. Except Seneca Crane.
* FalseFlagOperation: Toward the end of ''Mockingjay''.
* FeedTheMole
* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The Capitol requires the Districts to treat the Games as a festival.
* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Peeta]] during a fair bit of ''Mockingjay''.
* FilkSong: Even if one ignores the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCmoAuZgsnE many]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ve-WpgIknc versions]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2obqRINOAg&feature=related of]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSLONTtQqFU&feature=related Rue's]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPR-Vf93q0A Lullaby]], there are a considerable number of these floating around including:
** Rachel Macwhirter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnswUH9Oav8 Mockingjay]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYeWOQfQCQ8 Iron Children]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fqSZDKU-J4 Too Clever By Half (The Ballad Of Foxface)]].
** Alex Carpenter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk In Battle Royal]].
** Kristina Horner and Luke Conard's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2iiRp0I8&feature=related Real Or Not Real]].
** On top of those, an entire unofficial soundtrack exists [[http://www.youtube.com/user/unofficialscore here]].
** Arshad's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRSvoKoU3kk Girl on Fire]]" could count as well. He wrote the song after reading the book and being inspired by the character Peeta. He submitted it as a potential track for the movie soundtrack, but it wasn't selected.
* FilmOfTheBook
* FireForgedFriends: Katniss and [[spoiler:Johanna]].
* FirstKiss: Katniss has hers with Peeta. All she feels is that his lips are very warm, because he has a fever.
* FiveBadBand: The Career tributes from the 74th Games.
** TheBigBad: Cato
** TheDragon: Clove
** TheEvilGenius: [[NoNameGiven the District 3 boy]]
** TheBrute: Marvel
** TheDarkChick: Glimmer
** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler: Peeta, but mostly as TheLoad.]]
* FiveManBand: One of these forms during the Quarter Quell:
** TheHero: [[spoiler: Katniss]]
** TheLancer: [[spoiler: Finnick]]
** TheBigGuy: [[spoiler: Johanna]], though [[spoiler: Finnick]] also .
** TheSmartGuy: [[spoiler: Beetee]]
** TheHeart/TheChick: [[spoiler: Peeta]], who is also something of TheLoad.
* [[FirstGirlWins First Boy Wins]]: Subverted. [[spoiler: Peeta is the first boy chronologically speaking, which should cast him as Unlucky Childhood Admirer, but he is introduced within the story after Gale.]]
* FlashbackNightmare: Used rarely.
* FlatCharacter: Prim. Many of the minor characters. Arguably, ''many'' characters (including Katniss) qualify for this; their motivations are not generally complex. (Survive, hunt, run, and survive.)
* FlawExploitation: Katniss exploits the Capitol's [[spoiler: need for a victor]].
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: The second one, with Peeta and Katniss, respectively.
* FlowerMotifs: Several characters are named after flowers or plants, the President reeks of roses, and of course there's [[spoiler: Rue's death]] scene.
* FloweryInsults: Zig-zagged by Peeta [[spoiler: when he paints the picture of dead Rue covered in flowers for his private session but he never says a word to the Gamemakers]].
* FogOfDoom: A nasty example is encountered by [[spoiler: Katniss and her alliance in the Quarter Quell]]. It's poisonous to the touch, burning skin and clothes and causing seizures and temporary paralysis.
* FoodPorn: Early on, Katniss describes just about everything she eats in detail, which sort of makes sense considering she spent a good portion of her life nearly starving to death.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first book, Katniss mentions she first met the avox in the train while in the forest with Gale. [[spoiler:She ponders where the avox could have been headed since [[BlatantLies there’s nothing beyond the forest of district 12...]]]]
* FragileSpeedster: Rue, who can move deftly in the treetops, but can't face anyone in a confrontation.
* FreudianSlip:
** After Rue is [[spoiler:fatally injured by the District 1 Career]], in a panic, Katniss refers to her as 'Prim' in her narration, though it's not really a secret that Rue has been a surrogate Prim in Katniss' eyes before that.
** And reversed in a later book Katniss sees Prim after [[spoiler:Rue's death]] and calls Prim 'Rue' in the narration.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Prim seems to befriend any animal she meets, and can't bear to go hunting with Katniss.
* FullCircleRevolution: [[SubvertedTrope Nearly]].
* GallowsHumor: Katniss and some of the other Hunger Game tributes/victors learn to have a very droll outlook on their CrapsackWorld. Finnick takes it somewhat literally in ''Catching Fire'' by tying a noose and pretending to hang himself as a joke.
* GenderFlip: Katniss is the ActionGirl and is proficient at hunting with a bow and arrow. Peeta bakes and paints, and is more emotional of the two. They're an inversion of ManlyMenCanHunt and FeminineWomenCanCook, respectively.
* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: More literally than usual. Genetically engineered beasties are the Capitol's favored weapon of war, or at least are coequal with troops and air power. Proper nukes are still around, though.
* GenerationXerox: Katniss looks like Mr. Everdeen, has inherited his hunting abilities, singing voice and, like him, [[spoiler: will marry someone from the town]]. Prim looks like Mrs. Everdeen and has inherited her passion for healing. Also Mrs. Everdeen was close friends with Katniss' friend, Madge's mother, as a teenager and the father of Katniss' love interest Peeta had a crush on Mrs. Everdeen.
* GenghisGambit: In order to rally the people in the Capitol on her side and end things early, [[spoiler: Coin blows up a bunch of children and makes it look like Snow is responsible. It works]].
* GenreSavvy: After spending a life watching Battle Royal, Peeta knows what storylines will excite the audience, and uses it to his advantage. [[spoiler: He also admits he suspected all along that the Gamemakers would never let two people survive the arena]]. Katniss, by contrast, has GenreBlindness.
* GenreShift: ''Mockingjay'' abandons the Games entirely, [[BrokenBase breaking the base]] as it does so.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Just one fight left. Environment is herding the survivors towards the lake for a final brawl. [[spoiler: SUDDENLY WEREWOLVES!]]
* GildedCage:
** The wealthier districts have better living conditions but more brutal and fanatical Peacekeepers. On the other hand, District 12 is one of the poorest districts, but the authorities are far more willing to turn a blind eye to things like poaching and black market trading, or at least until book 2.
** The Capitol itself could also be seen as this - for somewhere that is supposedly very privileged, we see several people willing to risk their lives to escape. The fact that [[spoiler: Seneca Crane was executed for simply [[YouHaveFailedMe failing at his job]]]] implies at least a very restrictive society, where [[BigBrotherIsWatching you're watched constantly]] and not toeing the line has terrible consequences. In 'Catching Fire', Effie actually says 'That sort of thinking...it's forbidden, Peeta. Absolutely.' when Peeta tries to hold the Gamemakers accountable for killing children by [[spoiler: painting a picture of Rue's death]] which implies the Capitol citizens [[{{Thoughtcrime}} may not quite have the freedom Katniss assumes.]]
* GladiatorRevolt: The series, especially the third book, could be seen as a post-apocalyptic version of this, with [[spoiler: Katniss and other Hunger Games winners becoming major figures in the rebellion.]]
* GoodIsNotDumb: Peeta is kind and patient and [[spoiler: totally kills people in the arena, including finishing off one girl in cold blood while he's in the Career pack]], besides being three steps ahead when it comes to manipulating the on-camera narrative.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''Mockingjay'', when [[spoiler: Katniss]] has her uglier scars surgically cleaned up, but is left with some more attractive scars, because she's got to have ''some'' scars to show how bravely she's been fighting. Averted in the end, however, when [[spoiler: she gets ugly skin grafts, and there's no attempt to blend them because District 13 has no more need of her]].
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: [[spoiler:District 13 is just as full of assholes as the Capitol.]] The conflict really boils down to some truly horrible people who happen to be in power and all the innocents who get caught in-between. CrapsackWorld indeed.
* {{Gorn}}: How the Capitol citizens view Battle Royal. In-universe only, hopefully.
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout Battle Royal, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
* TheGovernment
* GRatedSex: The act is alluded to at the end of ''Mockingjay'', then skipped over to a brief conversation between the characters afterward.
* GrayEyes: Apparently fairly common in the Seam, including Katniss and Gale.
* GreatOffscreenWar:
** One or two of them--the civilizational collapse that led to the founding of Panem (we're never sure just what it was or if a war was involved), and the more-recent uprising (~75 years before the books take place) when the Districts rose up against the Capital.
** Most of the fighting in the revolution is also off-screen, up until Katniss gets directly involved in District 2.
* GreenEyedMonster: Gale tries damned hard not to like Peeta.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: In the first book:
** On the female side, Clove uses [[KnifeNut throwing knives]], Glimmer and Katniss use a [[TheArcher bow]], and Rue uses a [[BratsWithSlingshots slingshot]].
** On the male side, Cato uses a [[CoolSword sword]], Marvel uses a [[BladeOnAStick spear]], Thresh uses [[GoodOldFisticuffs brute force]], and Peeta uses a [[KnifeNut combat knife]].
* HairOfGold: Peeta, Prim, Delly Cartwright
* HandsOnApproach: Finnick uses this to show Katniss how to tie a difficult knot.
* HannibalLecture: Katniss' last conversation with President Snow. [[spoiler:She decides HannibalHasAPoint.]]
* HarmfulToMinors: Only minors are selected for the standard Hunger Games. [[spoiler:The 75th Hunger Game changes the rules.]]
* HateSink: Katniss and Peeta can't exactly attack the directors of the Games, the Capitol doesn't send ''its'' children to die in the Games, and most of the other Tributes are from Districts as oppressed as 12. However, "Career Tributes" from Districts 1, 2 and 4 are ''volunteers'', {{Child Soldier}}s have who trained to kill other children since they were able to ''walk''. In addition to their loathsome mindset and superior skills, they always team up to eliminate the weaker Tributes, then gleefully kill each other once everyone else is dead.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Gale, especially after [[spoiler: setting off what is essentially a giant mine explosion in District 2 to win a battle.]]
* HerHeartWillGoOn: Peeta tries to invoke this in a MoreHeroThanThou dispute. Katniss' internal monologue reveals she'll have none of it.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. The only character who really seems to use a sword as their main weapon is [[BloodKnight Cato]].
* HeroicBSOD:
** Katniss at the end of the second book, and all over the third.
** Minor one (compared to the later BSOD's) in the first one occurs for Katniss [[spoiler: after Rue dies]]
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Katniss taking her sister's place.
** [[spoiler: Mags]] in the second book--''twice.''
** And all over the place in ''Mockingjay''.
* HeroSecretService
* HiddenDepths: Just about all the sympathetic characters reveal themselves to be more than they at first appeared.
* HoldingHands: Most notably during the interviews for the Quarter Quell.
* HollywoodHealing: Due to the advanced medicine available in the Capitol, most injuries sustained by the characters are healed completely. Aversions include Chaff's hand and Peeta's leg, though he gets a prosthetic leg that is rarely referred to again. In the end, [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta are both covered in skin grafts and burns that the medics didn't bother replacing]].
* HollywoodTactics:
** When the rebels attack the Capitol, direct siege would have included trying to seize or disable the Capitol's nuclear missiles, or else bombarding the Capitol into submission. The narrator mentions that they can't do aerial bombing because of anti-air defenses -- but what about plain old artillery? Or maybe the rebels could have first attacked the anti-air emplacements, and then bombed the Capitol flat. Or they could have just declared victory and negotiated the Capitol's surrender. All of these options would probably have been easier than block-by-block urban warfare through a maze of boobie traps.
** During that same attack, Katniss takes point immediately after being [[FieldPromotion promoted]] to leader of her squad. In real life, a squad leader never takes point, since the point man is the one most likely to die in an ambush, and the squad leader is someone you don't want to lose.
** There seems to be a lack of any standard infantry weapons besides assault rifles and pistols. No grenades, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, mounted machine guns, battle rifles, submachine guns, etc.
** No one has armored ground vehicles.
** At one point a character mentions the use of an EMP bomb by the Capitol. Why didn't the rebels just EMP bomb the Capitol to disable the pods?
** Katniss's combat bow, given to her by 13, is supposedly accurate to 100 yards. This sounds pretty incredible, until you realize that the assault rifles wielded by the Peacekeepers are accurate to around 500 yards, shoot on a much flatter trajectory, don't need constant reloading... ''and'' can penetrate body armor.
** Capitol attack aircraft drop their bombs from the dizzying altitude of 100-ish yards. As though to lampshade this idiocy, Gale and Katniss then ''shoot down the planes with {{Trick Arrow}}s.'' An arrow taking down a bomber. Wrap your head around that one.
** The third book has Finnick take a trident to war. A trident that he can ''throw''. Tridents are weapons made for spearing and catching things; they are not ideal for killing in a quick-fire situation (though it is certainly possible to kill with one) because things killed with tridents are meant primarily to stick on the prongs. In old warfare, tridents were generally used for disarming (their length and shape allowed them to accurately knock swords out of combatants' hands without having to get too close), but not as a primary weapon except in gladiatorial combat. As for throwing, tridents simply aren't balanced for that at all. Even if a throwing trident were possible, it's extraordinarily unlikely that it would ever be useful in a war fought mainly with guns.
** There is some very odd squad formation. For some reason, the army of District 13 puts two sisters in the same squad, and allows people whom it knows to be psychologically and emotionally unstable (Finnick, Katniss) to go into actual war [[spoiler: for the sole purpose of creating propaganda]]. Boggs, Coin's second in command, is frequently put on the front line.
** District 13 is still shooting propaganda spots long past the point that they would be useful. A huge tactical problem once you realize that people's lives, including the life of Coin's second in command, are put in danger for this purpose.
* HollywoodPsych:
** Though Haymitch is an alcoholic, in the first book he very conveniently decides to stay sober only when he needs to be on the condition that Peeta and Katniss not interfere with his drinking when he feels like it. Real alcoholism isn't quite that convenient. Bit better in later books when we see him at least having difficulty sobering up.
** ''Catching Fire'' describes Annie as hysterical when she's reaped for the 75th games, without going into any sort of detail. This is enough to have Katniss think she's completely insane. Later in ''Mockingjay'', we meet Annie and Katniss seems to think she's just a little quirky, though she occasionally covers her ears with her hands for no apparent reason. In real life, a person covering their ears that way would imply that they are hearing things that aren't there. Being that this isn't a one off (she does it "occasionally") it's a pretty big alarm bell for a psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. This is not to mention that she's also implied to ''see'' things that aren't there. So yeah.
** Hijacking. [[spoiler:The way Tracker Jacker venom works in the first book is somewhat questionable,]] but in Mockingjay it really doesn't make sense as a conditioning tool. For one, the brain really doesn't work that way. Conditioning is an unconscious mechanism that can't be manipulated into a deliberate response the way the book describes. This is why the CIA stopped trying to do this in the first place. For another, the part of the brain that controls fear is so separate from your memory that it's unlikely that a drug designed to affect the fear part of your brain would have any affect on memory whatsoever.
* HotWings: Cinna's outfits.
* HufflepuffHouse: Most of the Districts of Panem are pretty extraneous and we learn little about them.
* HumanSacrifice: Tributes are sacrificed by the Capitol to remember the betrayal of District 13.
* HumanShield: Snow surrounding himself with children.
* HumansAreBastards: At the end of ''Mockingjay'', Katniss hits this trope ''hard.''
* HungryJungle
* {{Hypocrite}}: Various characters have their moments, but a few from Katniss stand out. One being that she judges Madge for having an expensive pin that could feed starving families, yet isn't bothered when she herself is later clad in incredibly expensive outfits. There's also her judgement of fellow tributes because of their killing, when she doesn't make any attempt to restrain her own killing - on a few occasions, she even mentions how her fingers are itching for her knife/arrows just because Johanna snapped at her. She also complains a great deal about the wasting of food, when she, in fact, does it herself (when she threw out the gift of cookies from Peeta's father, for example).
* IGaveMyWord: Subverted. Haymitch promises Katniss that he'll keep Peeta alive and also tells Peeta that he'll keep Katniss alive.
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** Katniss upon finding out [[spoiler: she'll be going back into Battle Royal]] for the Quarter Quell.
** Haymitch, pretty much all the time.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Katniss is surprised at how handsome Haymitch used to be.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: [[spoiler: Mags]].
* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure:
** Snow's favorite tactic.
** The entire premise of the Games itself was a way to punish the rebels by making their children kill each other, and to remind them that the Capitol can and will do things like this if they rebel again.
** Snow directly threatens Gale and indirectly threatens the rest of Katniss' loved ones if she doesn't convince all of Panem (including Snow himself) that she's madly in love with Peeta.
** Snow also uses the threat against loved ones to [[spoiler:force Victors into [[SexSlave prostitution]]]].
* IconOfRebellion: The mockingjay.
* IdiotBall:
** Katniss and Peeta pass this back and forth in the first book: [[spoiler: Katniss for not picking up on Peeta's crush, and Peeta for assuming her reciprocation was real.]]
** Katniss seems to be very bad at reading people, [[spoiler: and Peeta announced his crush on national television. Even if this led to improved sponsor chances, the other contestants would undoubtedly pick up on this and use it to their advantage.]]
** Cinna, Haymitch and Effie all tell Katniss that her high score after firing an arrow at the Gamemasters is a good thing, no one seems to notice the big ol' bullseye that this stunt grants her.
** Katniss seems to be clutching this ball rather firmly for someone who's quite familiar with nature. The fact that she isn't the least bit perturbed by the monkeys' initial behavior is silly. Even if she wasn't familiar with monkeys, she knows how animals behave, and she knows that the gamemakers stick 'mutts' into the games. Not hard to work out there's something sinister about them.
* ImAHumanitarian: A District 6 tribute from a past Games named Titus is said to have gone insane and ate the bodies of the tributes he killed.
* ImportantHaircut: Or rather, [[InvertedTrope important lack of haircut]]. In ''Mockingjay'', all the rebel soldiers have their hair cut short, except for Katniss because she needs to stay recognizable.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Katniss is repeatedly shown hitting small game directly in the eye, seemingly with ease. The fact that her arrows have large enough arrowheads to take down humans and deer and therefore have tips bigger than the eyes of some of the small game she's shooting is never accounted for.
* IncendiaryExponent: Two of Katniss, The Girl On Fire's first [[CostumePorn ceremonial outfits]] in the Capitol fit this theme, though only one of them actually uses fire.
* InformedAbility: Peeta is mentioned as being good with a knife and Katniss makes a point of giving him one during the Quarter Quell, yet he's more proficient at being [[TheLoad The Load]].
* InelegantBlubbering: During Katniss' breakdown after the announcement of the Quarter Quell, most notably.
* InsanityDefense: Used to get [[spoiler:Katniss off for assassinating President Coin]].
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Katniss ]]tries to kill herself at the end of ''Mockingjay'', but [[spoiler: Peeta]] stops her.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: One of Katniss's prep team.
* ItMeantSomethingToMe: [[spoiler: Peeta to Katniss]] at the end of the first book.
* ItWasAGift: Katniss' Mockingjay pin.
* ItsAllAboutMe: For whom is the Quarter Quell a real ordeal?
* ItsPersonal: Between Katniss and Snow.
* JustFriends: Katniss and Gale.
* KarmicDeath: Marvel got an arrow in his neck from Katniss [[spoiler: as revenge for killing Rue.]]
* KillEmAll: The Games are to end with one person left standing. [[spoiler: Both the 74th and 75th end a little differently.]]
* KilledOffForReal: You never know who will stay alive in the arena until the very end.
* KissingCousins: Gale pretends to be Katniss's cousin to explain his close relationship with her when Peeta is supposed to be her lover.
* KissOfLife: When Finnick revives Peeta in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes it initially as "kissing" since she's rarely seen CPR performed.
* KnifeNut: Clove.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Revealed at the end of the second book.]]
* LapPillow: Reversed between Katniss and Peeta, and once each between Katniss/Finnick and Katniss/Gale.
* LastKiss: A couple of times between Katniss and Peeta, [[spoiler: never for real.]]
* TheLastLaugh: [[spoiler:President Snow]] at the very end of the rebellion in book 3.
* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Rue]] asks Katniss to sing for her. Despite not singing for years, Katniss comes through.
* LeaveHimToMe: Katniss insists on being the one to kill [[spoiler: Snow]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: Rue's song.
* LockDown: During the bombing of [[spoiler: District 13]] in book 3.
* LosingTheTeamSpirit:
** [[spoiler: Katniss]] at the end of the second book.
** [[spoiler: She completely loses it in]] the third one as well.
* LotteryOfDoom: The reaping, which selects tributes for Battle Royal.
* LoveAtFirstSight / LoveAtFirstNote: If we take Peeta's word for it, that is.
* LoveHurts: Often literally.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Katniss tries to convince the citizens of Panem she was so crazy with love for Peeta that she can't be held responsible for her actions. To say nothing of Peeta's actions to begin with.]]
* LoveTriangle: Unsurprisingly resolved at the end of Mockingjay.
* MadnessMantra: Wiress repeatedly says, "Tick, tock" during the Quarter Quell. No one initially understands what she's referring to.
* ManiacMonkeys: One of the many delights of the Quarter Quell.
* ManOnFire / WreathedInFlames:
** Katniss gets lit on fire five times: thrice in the name of fashion and twice in combat situations. There is a reason they call her ''The Girl Who Was On Fire''.
** Peeta also gets singed [[spoiler: at the very end, when he was presumably following Katniss.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Peeta is the male version of FeminineWomenCanCook and Katniss is the female version of ManlyMenCanHunt.
* MeaningfulName:
** Katniss is a real plant. Its common name? "Arrowhead". And its scientific name is ''Sagittaria,'' which is a transparent reference to [[WesternZodiac the Zodiac sign Sagittarius,]] a fire sign whose symbol is an archer.
** Peeta the baker sounds like "pita," a type of bread.
** Effie Trinket seems to be trivial and shallow.
** Cinna was the name of [[spoiler:both a doomed opponent of Sulla the dictator and a conspirator against Augustus ''Caesar''.]]
** One of the meanings of "Rue" is "regret." [[spoiler:Her death haunts Katniss, who failed to protect her.]]
** Avox means, in an awkward and incorrect mixture of Greek and Latin, 'without a voice.'
** "Coriolanus," as in "Coriolanus Snow" refers to a hated Roman who betrayed both sides and died loathed and friendless.
** Tigris had plastic surgery to look like a human-tiger hybrid. Katniss wonders which came first, the name or the look.
** A mag is a type of nut. Mags knows a lot about plants and nuts.
** Pollux and Castor, the twin cameramen from ''Mockingjay'' are named for the Gemini of Roman mythology. Like the myth, Castor dies and Pollux is allowed to live - only with some horrible mutilation.
** Titus and Lavinia are names from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Like their counterparts in the Shakespeare play, Titus was known for cannibalism, and Lavinia had her tongue cut out. Given Peeta's comments about 'fingers and toes' an unfortunate implication, given what other things happened to Lavinia in the play.
** In Mockingjay, the expression [[spoiler:"the opposite side of the same Coin"]] comes to mind.
** In addition to any other possible meaning, a lot of the tributes' names related to their district's industry or their personal profession:
** Panem sounds like a mutilation of "Pan America", but is meant as a reference to the Latin phrase "panem et circenses", meaning "bread and circuses", or idiomatically, sustenance and entertainment - the two things you need to give a population to keep them happy.
*** District 1, luxury goods, gives us Marvel, Glimmer, Gloss, and Cashmere.
*** District 3, electronics, has Wiress. And Beetee, which sounds like TV, CD, PC, etc. (Or BD, as in blu-ray disc). For British readers, it invokes BT - British Telecom.
*** District 4, fishing, ''Fin''nick Odair and Annie ''Crest''a.
*** District 7, lumber, gives us the optimistically-named Blight.
*** District 8, textiles, has Twill and Woof (another word for "weft").
*** District 11, agriculture, has Rue, Thresh, Chaff, and Seeder. Chaff is a double example. Not only does it mean "the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing," but it also means, "worthless matter." Chaff never becomes important to the plot.
*** District 12, coal mining, has Peeta(Peter, meaning "stone") and of course Katniss' nickname; "The Girl Who Was On Fire."
*** The Capitol uses Roman names, in reference to their technological superiority as well as their decadent culture.
*** Disctrict 2 is noted for having the closest relationship to the Capitol, and their male tributes also have Roman names: Cato and Brutus.
** In Katniss' case it's a nickname but the drama largely boils down to "The girl who was on fire" against President ''Snow''.
* TheMedic: Katniss's mother and Prim.
* MementoMacGuffin: The pearl in ''Mockingjay''.
* MemeticSexGod: Finnick is an in-universe example.
* MercyKill:
** After Katniss puts [[spoiler: Cato]] out of his misery at the end of the 74th Hunger Games.
** In ''Catching Fire,'' Katniss considers doing this for [[spoiler:Peeta and possibly Beetee as well]].
** [[spoiler:Gale and Katniss]] have an understanding in 'Mockingjay' that they would kill each other before letting the other get captured, to avoid torture. [[spoiler:Both fail to do it in the end.]]
* MindControlEyes: [[spoiler: Peeta]]
* MoralityPet: Katniss has Prim and Rue, and Gale has his own younger siblings.
* MoreHeroThanThou: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Katniss and Peeta]] are each determined the other will be the survivor.
* TheMourningAfter: Katniss's mother goes into a near-catatonic depression after the death of Katniss's father, leaving Katniss to support the family. Even when the mother becomes functional again, she never really gets over his death.
** In Mockingjay Katniss goes into this after [[spoiler:Prim's death]]
* MushroomSamba: A (mostly) [[NightmareFuel extremely unfunny]] version thanks to tracker jacker venom.
* MyOwnPrivateIDo: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Peeta claims he and Katniss did this, so that he can then claim Katniss is pregnant to garner extra sympathy]].
* MysteryMeat
--> "Once it's in the soup, I call it beef."
* NeckSnap: Cato to [[spoiler:the boy from District 3]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** Katniss' main goal through the second book is to find a way to trick Snow into believing she's in love with Peeta. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, she does convince him (and just about everyone else), and therefore manages to give him the leverage to break her during ''Mockingjay''.]]
** One can say that the entire series is this. [[spoiler: Prim dies anyway, which was what the instigation of the plot of the first book was trying to prevent.]]
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: President Snow and the Gamemakers.
* NightmareSequence: Katniss's dreams are usually a horrifying mishmash of bad memories and fear-gripped imagination, like everyone getting their tongues cut out or all her loved ones screaming in agony.
* NobodyPoops: Bears may shit in woods but tributes, apparently, do not. It wouldn't be so noticeable, except that Collins takes pains to make everything about Battle Royal and the horrors of the arena seem dirty and uncomfortable and horrible, so in the first book at least it's a glaring omission. They do, however, urinate. Possible justification: if you're exercising a lot (say, fighting in an arena) and not getting much to eat (say, fighting in an arena), your body makes use of more of the food you eat. But you'd think Katniss would've noticed the ''lack'' of... [[MST3KMantra Well, whatever.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Given the nature of the beast, it's an inevitability. Even outside the arena, [[spoiler: Cinna receives a nasty one as Katniss watches helplessly]]. ''And they never saw him again.''
* NoNameGiven: Katniss never learns the names of most of the tributes. She doesn't find out until well after the games are over that the boy from District 1 was named Marvel, even though [[spoiler:she was the one who killed him]].
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Presidents Coin and Snow.]]
* NonActionGuy: Peeta, whose sole moment of badassery is so early on in the games that it's easily outshined by his persistent habit of being TheLoad.
* NonActionBigBad: President Snow.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Either the books take places very strategically to avoid this problem or Collins simply overlooked it. Even when Katniss becomes well fed and [[spoiler:goes to war in a squad with multiple women]] it's never an issue. and See also: NobodyPoops.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: It takes Katniss a long time to decide to actively help the revolutionaries instead of just looking out for her own survival.
* NotMeThisTime: When confronted with [[spoiler:the bombing of the children in front of the mansion,]] Snow reveals that he had absolutely nothing to do with it, and in fact it was [[spoiler:President Coin]].
* NuclearOption: Discussed. [[spoiler:Both District 13 and the Capitol]] have nukes trained on each other, but mutually assured destruction of all humanity keeps them both at bay.
* ObfuscatingStupidity:
** Katniss remarks this was Johanna Mason's strategy in her Games: everyone thought she was a sniveling, useless weakling and overlooked her... until she turned out to be a vicious killer who ended up the victor.
** Oddly enough, Haymitch counts -- not only is he quite the strategist in the first Games, but he turns out to be a [[spoiler:major figure in the underground resistance by the end of book 2.]] Not bad for someone most people just think of as the town drunk.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome:
** The implied epic two-day battle between [[CoolVersusAwesome Cato and Thresh.]] [[BattleInTheRain In the rain]].
** Peeta killing [[spoiler: Brutus]] in the Quarter Quell could count. Not bad for the guy who's usually seen as TheLoad.
* TheOphelia: [[spoiler:Katniss]] near the end of the third book, after [[spoiler:killing Coin]]. Annie is also presented as unstable at the best of times.
* OppositesAttract
* OrnamentalWeapon: Subverted with Katniss' bow. After all, just because it's pretty doesn't mean it can't be deadly.
* OrphanageOfFear: It isn't actually seen, but the District 12 community home is said to be like this.
* OutrunTheFireball: One of the Gamemakers' traps.
* PlanetOfHats: Each of the districts has a different primary industry, which serves as its theme. This is an InvokedTrope in Battle Royal, since the tributes are each trope are traditionally dressed in ways that reference their theme.
* PerfectPoison: Nightlock berries. Most of the plants in the Second Quarter Quell.
* {{Phobia}}: [[spoiler:Johanna]] develops a fear of water after being tortured with drowning / electrocution.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Katniss is flustered by people's nudity on several occasions.
----> Finnick: "Why? Do you find this... distracting?"
* PoliceState: Panem is one. [[spoiler:District 13]] is less openly cruel but even more restrictive.
* PresentTenseNarrative
* PresidentEvil: President Snow, especially as time goes on. [[spoiler:President Coin of District 13? Not much better]].
* PrimalFear: Suzanne Collins seems to be a fan of these... both Battle Royal and the Underland Chronicles are full of people dying in horrible ways thanks to fire, drowning, bugs (sometimes GIANT bugs) and/or savage animals.
* PromotionToParent:
** The death of [[DisappearedDad Katniss' father]] and her mother's subsequent depression make her the breadwinner of the family.
** Gale is also the primary provider for his family after his father's death; his mother helps as best she can, but she's only able to bring in a pittance doing laundry.
* ProngsOfPoseidon: Since he's from the fishing district, Finnick is dangerously adept with a trident.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Pretty thoroughly.
** With regard to clothing, it starts with Katniss looking down at the shallow, appearance-centered Panemites but then squealing in delight when Cinna makes her look pretty, and continues from there. Earlier she complains in her inner monologue that Madge's pin could feed a starving family for months, but later when she's given a dress covered in jewels, she makes no similar protest, the narrative instead expressing her awe at how amazing she looks in it.
** Early in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss complains about the Capitol needlessly wasting food. She seems to have forgotten the scene in the previous book where she throws out the cookies Peeta's father gave her.
** Later in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss is upset that nothing is different in the arena, saying that she'd hoped the tributes would show restraint. This completely ignores the fact that ''Katniss'' was the first tribute in the 75th games to try and attack anyone (Finnick).
** [[spoiler:District 8]] is so lacking in medical personnel and supplies, people are left with unchanged bandages and untreated infections; their hospital is basically a morgue. Peeta alone, on the other hand, gets a whole team of doctors because he's Katniss's love interest. This is never brought up as morally questionable.
* ProtectedByAChild: Near the end of Mockingjay, this is what Snow does to protect himself.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 tend to come off this way due to those Districts' practice of training children specifically in order to volunteer for Battle Royal. As a result, these "Career" Tributes are also far more likely to win than Tributes from other Districts, although Haymitch describes their arrogance as a flaw that can lead to their defeat.
* PyrrhicVictory: The ending of ''Mockingjay''.
* RaceLift: Katniss's race is never stated. She has "olive" skin, but her mother and sister are both blonde, so it's unclear if this trope is in effect with the casting of Jennifer Lawrence in TheMovie.
* RainOfBlood: ''Literally.''
* RealityEnsues: Pretty much what Mockingjay runs on.
* RealityShow: The eponymous games.
* RegionalSpeciality: Each district's bread is very distinct.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Katniss [[spoiler: forms an alliance with Rue, stays with her while she dies, and vows to win for her]], who reminds her of her own little sister Prim back home.
* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude: Peeta and especially Katniss.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The third book is FULL of this.
* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler: Gale.]]
* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''Battle Royal'', this is invoked: Katniss and Peeta fake a romance in order to woo the audience of the Games (or rather, Katniss is the only one faking). In the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', President Snow decides to force her and Peeta into a marriage in order to convince the Districts that her behavior at the end of the 74th Games wasn't rebellious in nature. The rest of ''Catching Fire'' revolves around [[spoiler: several of the victors in the 75th Games trying to protect Peeta because they think Katniss won't help District 13 in the rebellion if he dies]]. Quite a bit of ''Mockingjay'' is dedicated to gaining Peeta back after he's [[spoiler:kidnapped and brainwashed]].
* RousingSpeech:
** Katniss tries to give one in the middle of a firefight in District 2. [[spoiler:It succeeds in turning the workers against the pro-Capital soldiers, but doesn't keep her from getting shot by one first.]]
** In ''Catching Fire'' Katniss makes a beautiful speech in District 11, about her ally Rue.
** Her "If we burn, you burn with us" speech in ''Mockingjay'' is implied to be received well.
* RuleOfDrama: Ties with RuleOfEmpathy, below. The Capitol loves best those victors who put on a great show.
* RuleOfEmpathy: Tributes must be able to invoke sympathy from the Capitol and District audiences. Sympathy will equal sponsors and money for necessities in the arena, and could therefore make the difference in the Games. Peeta, it turns out, is a natural at invoking the RuleOfEmpathy at the drop of a hat. Katniss is not.
* RuleOfThree: Suzanne Collins loves her powers of three. There are three books. Each book is divided into three parts. Each part contains nine (3x3) chapters.
* SacrificialLion:
** It's debatable whether [[spoiler: Rue in book 1]] was this or SacrificialLamb.
** [[spoiler: Prim and Finnick]] in the third book.
* SayMyName: Especially Katniss' incident in the tree during the first games.
* ScaryBlackMan: Thresh.
* SchizoTech: Justified in that the Capitol deliberately suppresses technology in the Districts, especially weapons tech.
* [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Screw The Rules We Make Them]]: The Gamemakers.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Peeta (sensitive) vs. Gale (manly).
* SexSlave: In book 3, according to [[spoiler:Finnick, this happens to a lot of victors]], himself included.
* ShallowLoveInterest: The fandom seems to be split on who this applies to. Gale is either truly the other half of the OfficialCouple, or he's a [[RomanticFalseLead Paolo]]. Similarly, Peeta is either a cunning yet rather hopeless romantic, or a total idiot. [[TakeAThirdOption Of course, there are also those who think this applies to both characters.]]
* ShellShockedVeteran: All of the Victors have some form of PTSD.
* ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler: President Coin orders a bombing attack on children being used as human shields by President Snow - and makes it appear that the attack was initiated by Snow, in order to destroy any remaining public support for Snow's regime.]]
* ShoutOut:
** WordOfGod has stated that Katniss's family name is a reference to the Thomas Hardy character Bathsheba Everdene.
** Katniss (the "Girl on Fire") is in Squad Four Five One, a reference to Ray Bradbury's ''Fahrenheit 451'', which is another dystopian novel with a fire motif.
* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Lavinia, who has no tongue, is a reference to ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Titus is also name-dropped, a Tribute who goes cannibal in the games.
* ShutUpKiss: Katniss does this to Peeta in the cave when he attempts to give her an IfIDoNotReturn speech. He shuts up.
* SiblingYinYang: Katniss and Prim
* SimulatedUrbanCombatArea
* SingleTargetSexuality: Peeta towards Katniss. He fell in love with her when he was 5 and never fell out of love. [[spoiler:Except of course for the brief time while he was hijacked, and even then it seems that a part of him still loved her.]]
* SlaveToPR: A dominating theme. A likable persona for a tribute wins sponsors: for example, Finnick. It culminates in ''Mockingjay'' when [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the rebels ''bomb a town square full of children'', in a Capitol hovercraft, solely to convince everyone in the nation that the Capitol is evil]]. P.R. is possibly ''the'' most powerful weapon in ''Battle Royal.''
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The cynicism side. Far, far, ''far'' on the cynicism side.
* SlowClap: Not exactly an applause, but the whole community of District 12 uses a cultural gesture to show their support of Katniss when she takes her sister's place. District 11 tries this as well [[spoiler:and pays the price.]]
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Avoided. They exist, they're just the worse alternative.
* SomeKindOfForceField: Prominent in ''Catching Fire,'' causing death or serious injury multiple times.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:Annie gives birth to their baby sometime after Finnick is killed.]]
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Clove talks about [[spoiler: Rue]], while holding down Katniss near the Cornucopia. Of course, karma sweeps in to save the day, via [[spoiler: Thresh]].
* TheSpeechless: Avoxes, traitors who've had their tongues mutilated as punishment.
* SpoiledSweet:
** Katniss's prep team, who are simply too naive to be genuinely mean.
** Though we aren't one hundred percent sure of his financial situation, probably Cinna, who treats Katniss with respect and the games with disgust despite being from the Capitol.
** Madge who is the Mayor's daughter, very kind and is one of Katniss' few friends.
* SpotTheThread: The official, "live-action" shots of District 13 are revealed to be StockFootage by a mockingjay which flies past the screen.
* StrangeSalute: When Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place, the entire crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hands to their lips, and then holds it out to her. Katniss explains that it's an old District 12 gesture that means thanks, admiration, and goodbye to someone you love. [[spoiler:It becomes a little more meaningful later on.]]
* StunnedSilence: The first response to Katniss' exchange.
* StarCrossedLovers: Peeta and Katniss pretend to be this to garner sympathy. [[spoiler:They eventually do become real lovers, but get out of everything alive, so their stars were not crossed.]]
* SuperDoc: Outside the poorer districts, medicine is ''far'' in advance of our own time.
* SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom: The role of the Peacekeepers isn't as sweet as it sounds. (Bit like in RealLife, then?) Pretty much everything surrounding the Games is treated as fun and entertaining; being a "tribute" is an ''honor.''
* SuperPersistentPredator: The tracker jacker wasps do not give up an attack once pissed off. Running away doesn't help.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: When Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss exactly when she first [[spoiler: fell for Peeta]], she's evasive at first (since at this point [[spoiler: she hasn't actually fallen for him yet]]) and then immediately goes along with his first guess.
* SurvivalMantra:
** Although nonverbal, Finnick's compulsive knotting in ''Mockingjay''.
** Katniss shares Finnick's knotting habit for a bit in the third book, but has one of her own.
--> My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in Battle Royal...
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: The climax of Book 1.]]
* TakeMeInstead: In the first book, Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place as tribute for District 12.
* TakeThat: In universe, the mockingjay becomes an increasingly unsubtle one of these towards the Capitol.
* TakingTheBullet: During the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: one of the morphlings is killed by an attack from a vicious monkey that was meant for Peeta]].
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Gale.
* TakingYouWithMe: Book 1: [[spoiler: Cato threatens to take Peeta with him into the jaws of the Muttations if Katniss shoots him with her arrows.]]
* ATasteOfTheLash: [[spoiler:Gale]] in Catching Fire
* TearsOfRemorse: After Katniss's meeting with the Gamemakers.
* TeenageWasteland: Subverted. [[ActorAllusion The kids are all right]], adult authority in the form of [[TheEmpire The Capitol]] is ''forcing'' them to kill or be killed.
* TemptingFate:
** In the first book, Katniss reassures her sister Prim that her name won't be drawn for Battle Royal... Seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
** If you're referred to as "the girl who was on fire" enough times, eventually you do get actually lit on fire.
* ThemeNaming: The Capitol and District 2 use Roman names to highlight their decadent nature and fondness for gladitorial combat. The nation itself is called Panem, the Latin word for bread. The districts often use names referencing their primary industry.
* ThereAreNoTherapists:
** The districts are implied to have therapists, as Katniss's mother was able to somehow gain access to one in order to get hold of drugs to treat her depression. Largely, people do not seem to seek psychological help, though. This could be attributed to a lack of money, however Katniss's family struggles to eat, so...
** Subverted in [[spoiler:District 13]]: all refugees are given psychological help and local specialists do everything they can to get [[spoiler:Peeta]] back to his old self after a MindRape. Before [[spoiler:the final attack on the Capitol]], soldiers are checked for possible psychological problems ([[spoiler:Johanna]] gets sent to a mental facility). Katniss also goes through therapy after [[spoiler:her sister’s]] death, though one might wonder why she didn't get this sort of help earlier.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Played straight [[spoiler: for seventy-three years. Zig-zagged in the first book.]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Here, there and everywhere given the nature of the Games. Big mention to [[spoiler:Cato, who, having lost all his limbs and skin from being gnawed on by at least twenty wolf-like creatures for hours on end, dies from an arrow to the face.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: District 13 is the odd district out.
* TitleDrop: Of sorts. In the third book, "Fire is catching" becomes a slogan for the [[spoiler: rebels.]]
* ToAbsentFriends: [[spoiler:The book that Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch create at the end of Mockingjay.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Katniss and Prim, Katniss and Madge
* TooCleverByHalf: Foxface. [[spoiler:Up until the point where she fails to distinguish poisonous berries from normal ones. Granted, she was starving by then, but still...]]
* TooHappyToLive: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie]] in ''Mockingjay''. As soon as [[spoiler: they got married]], you knew at least one of them was doomed.
* TraumaCongaLine: By the end, try to count more surviving characters that haven't suffered one without running out of fingers. This is especially endemic amongst the victors of the games as the Capitol torments them to keep them from using their elevated status to foment rebellion.
* TrickArrow: Both the flaming and exploding kinds.
* TryNotToDie: Pretty much everyone's last words to Katniss and Peeta.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler: Gale]]
* UnwittingPawn: Katniss feels this way, since she's constantly out of the loop.
* TheUriahGambit:
** Attempted by [[spoiler:President Coin, who sends Peeta out with Katniss's team in the Capitol, with a gun, while he's still BrainwashedAndCrazy and Katniss is his BerserkButton.]] It fails.
** Katniss being sent [[spoiler: back into the arena in book 2]] might also qualify, if you believe it was rigged by [[spoiler: President Snow]].
* UselessSpleen: In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler: Katniss gets shot. Not surprisingly it happens to be her spleen that is destroyed. Good thing she doesn't need it.]]
* VillainBall: The Capitol seems to hold this on occasion, especially in Catching Fire. There is a lot of VillainBall discussion relating to the Games themselves, available on the discussion page.
* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler:President Snow]]
* VoiceOfTheResistance: Katniss and her fellow Victors, throughout book 3.
* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: There's a joke that ''Catching Fire'' and ''Mockingjay'' are written almost entirely in sentence fragments.
* WarIsHell: Absolutely nothing [[WarIsGlorious glorious]] about it.
* WartimeWedding: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie.]]
* WasItAllALie: Peeta's ongoing question to Katniss from the end of the first book all the way to the "Real or not real?" question at the end of the last.
* WaterWakeup: When Haymitch is in a stupor, only this will rouse him.
* WeaponsKitchenSink: Inevitable, given the fact that the Capitol just spreads them around in the Arena and hopes for a sloppy death scenario to increase the "entertainment" value. There's a [[CrossesTheLineTwice blackly-comic]] aside in Book 1 where Katniss mentions how one year the only weapons provided were horribly awkward maces.
* WhamLine:
** The very first chapter of ''Battle Royal'': [[spoiler:"It's Primrose Everdeen."]]
** Chapters have a tendency to end with these, such as, [[spoiler:"Katniss, there is no District 12."]]
** Or how about [[spoiler: "And then the second round of parachutes goes off."]]
** In-universe, Peeta is the acknowledged master of the WhamLine, particularly when onstage with Caesar Flickerman. In the first book he sets up the StarCrossedLovers thing, and in the second he manages an even bigger one: [[spoiler:He claims he and Katniss are having a baby.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never learn ''why'' Cinna requested District 12 (as he says he did in book 1) and we never find out if Portia did the same. We also have no clue why he doesn't have the Capitol accent or the Capitol sense of style, despite that not making much sense if he's a fashion designer who's lived in the Capitol for his entire life.
** In book 2, Johanna says everyone she loves is dead. Elaboration? Explanation? Don't count on it. There's a popular guess in fanon, though.
** In the third book Katniss gets a bow with "special properties." She never once mentions them again, uses them, or even explains what those properties are, besides the fact that it can vibrate to say hello. This could be the reason it's able to shoot down planes, though.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted. [[spoiler: Katniss sees Peeta as TheHeart]] and thinks his power to love is much better than her ability to kill things.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: [[RaceAgainstTheClock Given the nature of the arena used by the Quarter Quell.]]
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The Districts have a few geographical clues but otherwise the readers don't really learn where they are. [[http://aimmyarrowshigh.livejournal.com/32461.html That didn't stop people from trying to map it, though.]]
* WhiteKnighting: Gale subtly blames Katniss of being a female version. The only way for a man to get noticed by her is to suffer so terribly that she feels obliged to tend and care for them.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Tough-as-nails [[spoiler:Johanna Mason]] is undone by water... because when she was a prisoner of the Capitol, they soaked her and then electrocuted her as part of her torture.
* WillNotBeAVictim: Invoked and then exploited. It's how [[spoiler:Johanna]] won her Hunger Games.
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Cato taking out Thresh]] in Book 1.
* WorkingTitle: The working title of the first novel was ''The Tribute of District Twelve''.
* WreathedInFlames: Part of Katniss's symbology (along with being a mockingjay).
* WritersCannotDoMath:
** In ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes the Cornucopia as being 40 yards away from the launch platform, which is located in a circular lagoon. There are twelve spokes of land separating the 24 tributes, and Katniss is equidistant from the land strip and the adjacent tribute platform. If you do all the calculations, it turns out that Katniss is about seven yards from the nearest land strip. Katniss has to swim this distance, and describes it as "a longer distance than [she's] used to swimming" back in the lake outside District 12.
** Reapings are supposed to take place in early springtime. The reaped go to ceremonies, etc, that last about a week or two at most, the 75th Hunger Games last a few days ''tops'', and [[spoiler:Peeta is captured on the last day.]] Roughly four weeks pass between the end of the 75th games and the beginning of ''Mockingjay'', and yet somehow five or six weeks after [[spoiler:Peeta's kidnapping]], it's a week from September.
-->"What day is it?" I ask no one in particular. Boggs tells me September begins next week. September. That means Snow has had [[spoiler:Peeta]] in his clutches for five, maybe six weeks.
* WouldHitAGirl: There are just as many girls as boys in each Hunger Game, ensuring a lot of this. [[spoiler:Marvel kills Rue, and Thresh kills Clove.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Isn't that right, [[spoiler: Marvel]]?
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The people living in the Capitol dye their hair some pretty wild colors.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
** Leads to Cato [[NeckSnap snapping the neck]] of [[spoiler: District 3's]] boy in the first book.
** [[spoiler: President Coin attempts this with Katniss]] towards the end of Mockingjay.
* YouKilledMyFather:
** In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler:either President Snow or President Coin kills Prim.]]
** Katniss understands that if the conditions were not so bad in the coal mines due to the decadent lifestyle in the Capitol and the corrupt government, her father would not have died in the mine accident.
* YourFavorite: Katniss at one point receives food including the stew she stated in an interview was her favorite thing about the Capitol. In ''Mockingjay,'' Peeta finds a can of the same stew and presents it to Katniss when the team scavenges a meal.
* XMeetsY: The media tends to treat the series as ''{{Twilight}}'' with gladiators. The actors have made a point of downplaying the love triangle by answering "Team Peeta or Team Gale?" with "Team Katniss."
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Fixed my last edit
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''The Hunger Games'', by Suzanne Collins, is a trilogy of young adult novels that take place AfterTheEnd in [[MeaningfulName Panem]], a nation in what used to be North America that is divided into numbered districts and a large capital city ([[AWorldwidePunomenon the Capitol]]).
In the first book, heroine Katniss Everdeen [[HeroicSacrifice takes her sister Primrose's place]] when Prim is chosen to be a contestant ("[[SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom tribute]]") in the Hunger Games: an annual televised DeadlyGame wherein 24 teenage contestants are [[ClosedCircle locked in an arena]] to fight to the death until only one remains. Her struggle for survival ends up igniting a firestorm that quickly goes beyond her control, until she finds herself embroiled in an all-out war that almost makes the arena look like Disneyland.
In the first book, heroine Katniss Everdeen [[HeroicSacrifice takes her sister Primrose's place]] when Prim is chosen to be a contestant ("[[SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom tribute]]") in the Hunger Games: an annual televised DeadlyGame wherein 24 teenage contestants are [[ClosedCircle locked in an arena]] to fight to the death until only one remains. Her struggle for survival ends up igniting a firestorm that quickly goes beyond her control, until she finds herself embroiled in an all-out war that almost makes the arena look like Disneyland.
to:
In the first book, heroine Katniss Everdeen [[HeroicSacrifice takes her sister Primrose's place]] when Prim is chosen to be a contestant ("[[SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom tribute]]") in
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* ''The Hunger Games'' (2008)
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* ''The Hunger Games'' ''Battle Royal'' (2008)
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** The point of the Hunger Games was for the Capitol to show it has so much control over its citizens, that they can kill their children publicly and there is nothing they could do about it.
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** The point of the Hunger Games Battle Royal was for the Capitol to show it has so much control over its citizens, that they can kill their children publicly and there is nothing they could do about it.
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* AnyoneCanDie: The Hunger Games is actually an interesting example. Many of the characters are ''guaranteed'' to die, due to the format of the Games, however, as with most other works, main characters are very rarely if ever killed (depending on who you'd be willing to count as a main character), and only in major events. Katniss, as the first person narrator, inevitably survives the entire series.
to:
* AnyoneCanDie: The Hunger Games Battle Royal is actually an interesting example. Many of the characters are ''guaranteed'' to die, due to the format of the Games, however, as with most other works, main characters are very rarely if ever killed (depending on who you'd be willing to count as a main character), and only in major events. Katniss, as the first person narrator, inevitably survives the entire series.
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* AsianAndNerdy: Everyone from District 3 (which produces electronics). "Nuts" Wiress and "Volts" Beetee, the two engineers in Catching Fire, "are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair." The explosives expert in The Hunger Games is described by Katniss as "scrawny, ashen-skinned" and by Rue as "not very big." The narrator of the Scholastic audio books puts on a distinct stereotypical Asian accent that is especially noticeable in ''Catching Fire''.
to:
* AsianAndNerdy: Everyone from District 3 (which produces electronics). "Nuts" Wiress and "Volts" Beetee, the two engineers in Catching Fire, "are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair." The explosives expert in The Hunger Games Battle Royal is described by Katniss as "scrawny, ashen-skinned" and by Rue as "not very big." The narrator of the Scholastic audio books puts on a distinct stereotypical Asian accent that is especially noticeable in ''Catching Fire''.
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* BigBrotherIsWatching: Cameras are waiting to catch every minute of Katniss and Peeta's lives once they become contestants in the Hunger Games. Life in the districts is also very closely monitored, leaving people afraid to say anything that might come off as negative about the Capitol. President Snow even [[spoiler: knows Gale and Katniss kissed in the woods outside District 12]].
to:
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Cameras are waiting to catch every minute of Katniss and Peeta's lives once they become contestants in the Hunger Games.Battle Royal. Life in the districts is also very closely monitored, leaving people afraid to say anything that might come off as negative about the Capitol. President Snow even [[spoiler: knows Gale and Katniss kissed in the woods outside District 12]].
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* BreakfastClub: People who have won the Hunger Games tend to become close friends and stick together, because only other tributes can understand what they have gone through.
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* BreakfastClub: People who have won the Hunger Games Battle Royal tend to become close friends and stick together, because only other tributes can understand what they have gone through.
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* DeathCourse: The Hunger Games, especially when the tributes settle down into a comfortable recovery period / stalemate. [[spoiler:The Capitol defenses use much of the same design aesthetic.]]
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* DeathCourse: The Hunger Games, Battle Royal, especially when the tributes settle down into a comfortable recovery period / stalemate. [[spoiler:The Capitol defenses use much of the same design aesthetic.]]
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* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The Hunger Games are hateful, deplorable, they ruin their victors psychologically, and the series as a whole is viciously anti-war... but a major part of the story's appeal is the actual excitement of the Hunger Games sequences... ''For both the Capitol and the readers!''
to:
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The Hunger Games Battle Royal are hateful, deplorable, they ruin their victors psychologically, and the series as a whole is viciously anti-war... but a major part of the story's appeal is the actual excitement of the Hunger Games Battle Royal sequences... ''For both the Capitol and the readers!''
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* EnemyMine: ''Temporary'' alliances are all part of the Hunger Games. In ''Catching Fire'', the doomed tributes hold hands in a show of solidarity against the Capitol.
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* EnemyMine: ''Temporary'' alliances are all part of the Hunger Games.Battle Royal. In ''Catching Fire'', the doomed tributes hold hands in a show of solidarity against the Capitol.
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** The gamemakers frown on certain behaviors in the Hunger Games, but moreso because it will draw a poor reaction from the audience rather than out of moral disdain. They will not tolerate cannibalism, nor will they allow a psychopath to become a victor (unless they can be charming about it, as the Career Tributes tend to be somewhat... AxCrazy).
to:
** The gamemakers frown on certain behaviors in the Hunger Games, Battle Royal, but moreso because it will draw a poor reaction from the audience rather than out of moral disdain. They will not tolerate cannibalism, nor will they allow a psychopath to become a victor (unless they can be charming about it, as the Career Tributes tend to be somewhat... AxCrazy).
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* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Panem is basically a futuristic, sci-fi version of Rome. The country's name is an adoption of Rome's "Bread and Circuses" motto. The Capitol is an incredibly authoritarian superpower that brutally reigns over conquered territories to feed the decadent desires of its own citizens. The gladiatorial parallels with the Hunger Games are obvious, of course. The parties feature guests who induce vomiting so that they can consume more food, which is popularly thought to have been common at Roman banquets.
to:
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Panem is basically a futuristic, sci-fi version of Rome. The country's name is an adoption of Rome's "Bread and Circuses" motto. The Capitol is an incredibly authoritarian superpower that brutally reigns over conquered territories to feed the decadent desires of its own citizens. The gladiatorial parallels with the Hunger Games Battle Royal are obvious, of course. The parties feature guests who induce vomiting so that they can consume more food, which is popularly thought to have been common at Roman banquets.
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** Alex Carpenter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk In The Hunger Games]].
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** Alex Carpenter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk In The Hunger Games]].Battle Royal]].
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* GenreSavvy: After spending a life watching the Hunger Games, Peeta knows what storylines will excite the audience, and uses it to his advantage. [[spoiler: He also admits he suspected all along that the Gamemakers would never let two people survive the arena]]. Katniss, by contrast, has GenreBlindness.
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* GenreSavvy: After spending a life watching the Hunger Games, Battle Royal, Peeta knows what storylines will excite the audience, and uses it to his advantage. [[spoiler: He also admits he suspected all along that the Gamemakers would never let two people survive the arena]]. Katniss, by contrast, has GenreBlindness.
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* {{Gorn}}: How the Capitol citizens view the Hunger Games. In-universe only, hopefully.
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout the Hunger Games, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout the Hunger Games, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
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* {{Gorn}}: How the Capitol citizens view the Hunger Games.Battle Royal. In-universe only, hopefully.
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughoutthe Hunger Games, Battle Royal, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout
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** Katniss upon finding out [[spoiler: she'll be going back into the Hunger Games]] for the Quarter Quell.
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** Katniss upon finding out [[spoiler: she'll be going back into the Hunger Games]] Battle Royal]] for the Quarter Quell.
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* LotteryOfDoom: The reaping, which selects tributes for the Hunger Games.
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* LotteryOfDoom: The reaping, which selects tributes for the Hunger Games.Battle Royal.
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* NobodyPoops: Bears may shit in woods but tributes, apparently, do not. It wouldn't be so noticeable, except that Collins takes pains to make everything about the Hunger Games and the horrors of the arena seem dirty and uncomfortable and horrible, so in the first book at least it's a glaring omission. They do, however, urinate. Possible justification: if you're exercising a lot (say, fighting in an arena) and not getting much to eat (say, fighting in an arena), your body makes use of more of the food you eat. But you'd think Katniss would've noticed the ''lack'' of... [[MST3KMantra Well, whatever.]]
to:
* NobodyPoops: Bears may shit in woods but tributes, apparently, do not. It wouldn't be so noticeable, except that Collins takes pains to make everything about the Hunger Games Battle Royal and the horrors of the arena seem dirty and uncomfortable and horrible, so in the first book at least it's a glaring omission. They do, however, urinate. Possible justification: if you're exercising a lot (say, fighting in an arena) and not getting much to eat (say, fighting in an arena), your body makes use of more of the food you eat. But you'd think Katniss would've noticed the ''lack'' of... [[MST3KMantra Well, whatever.]]
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* PlanetOfHats: Each of the districts has a different primary industry, which serves as its theme. This is an InvokedTrope in the Hunger Games, since the tributes are each trope are traditionally dressed in ways that reference their theme.
to:
* PlanetOfHats: Each of the districts has a different primary industry, which serves as its theme. This is an InvokedTrope in the Hunger Games, Battle Royal, since the tributes are each trope are traditionally dressed in ways that reference their theme.
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* PrimalFear: Suzanne Collins seems to be a fan of these... both The Hunger Games and the Underland Chronicles are full of people dying in horrible ways thanks to fire, drowning, bugs (sometimes GIANT bugs) and/or savage animals.
to:
* PrimalFear: Suzanne Collins seems to be a fan of these... both The Hunger Games Battle Royal and the Underland Chronicles are full of people dying in horrible ways thanks to fire, drowning, bugs (sometimes GIANT bugs) and/or savage animals.
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* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 tend to come off this way due to those Districts' practice of training children specifically in order to volunteer for the Hunger Games. As a result, these "Career" Tributes are also far more likely to win than Tributes from other Districts, although Haymitch describes their arrogance as a flaw that can lead to their defeat.
to:
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 tend to come off this way due to those Districts' practice of training children specifically in order to volunteer for the Hunger Games.Battle Royal. As a result, these "Career" Tributes are also far more likely to win than Tributes from other Districts, although Haymitch describes their arrogance as a flaw that can lead to their defeat.
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* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''The Hunger Games'', this is invoked: Katniss and Peeta fake a romance in order to woo the audience of the Games (or rather, Katniss is the only one faking). In the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', President Snow decides to force her and Peeta into a marriage in order to convince the Districts that her behavior at the end of the 74th Games wasn't rebellious in nature. The rest of ''Catching Fire'' revolves around [[spoiler: several of the victors in the 75th Games trying to protect Peeta because they think Katniss won't help District 13 in the rebellion if he dies]]. Quite a bit of ''Mockingjay'' is dedicated to gaining Peeta back after he's [[spoiler:kidnapped and brainwashed]].
to:
* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''The Hunger Games'', ''Battle Royal'', this is invoked: Katniss and Peeta fake a romance in order to woo the audience of the Games (or rather, Katniss is the only one faking). In the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', President Snow decides to force her and Peeta into a marriage in order to convince the Districts that her behavior at the end of the 74th Games wasn't rebellious in nature. The rest of ''Catching Fire'' revolves around [[spoiler: several of the victors in the 75th Games trying to protect Peeta because they think Katniss won't help District 13 in the rebellion if he dies]]. Quite a bit of ''Mockingjay'' is dedicated to gaining Peeta back after he's [[spoiler:kidnapped and brainwashed]].
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* SlaveToPR: A dominating theme. A likable persona for a tribute wins sponsors: for example, Finnick. It culminates in ''Mockingjay'' when [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the rebels ''bomb a town square full of children'', in a Capitol hovercraft, solely to convince everyone in the nation that the Capitol is evil]]. P.R. is possibly ''the'' most powerful weapon in ''The Hunger Games.''
to:
* SlaveToPR: A dominating theme. A likable persona for a tribute wins sponsors: for example, Finnick. It culminates in ''Mockingjay'' when [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the rebels ''bomb a town square full of children'', in a Capitol hovercraft, solely to convince everyone in the nation that the Capitol is evil]]. P.R. is possibly ''the'' most powerful weapon in ''The Hunger Games.''Battle Royal.''
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--> My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games...
to:
--> My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games...Battle Royal...
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** In the first book, Katniss reassures her sister Prim that her name won't be drawn for the Hunger Games... Seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
to:
** In the first book, Katniss reassures her sister Prim that her name won't be drawn for the Hunger Games...Battle Royal... Seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
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** The very first chapter of ''The Hunger Games'': [[spoiler:"It's Primrose Everdeen."]]
to:
** The very first chapter of ''The Hunger Games'': ''Battle Royal'': [[spoiler:"It's Primrose Everdeen."]]
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<<|{{Literature}}|>>
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<<|{{Literature}}|>>
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Fixed a couple examples
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[[quoteright:332:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/513NN5WSQ9L_9776.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:332:Could you kill your best friend?]]
->''What we went through...all those deaths must never lose their importance. We don't have much, but what we have has to work. Never forget...never cheapen their deaths by pushing the memory away. Even the worst of them deserved better.''
In the [[PoliceState Greater East Asia Republic]] (a fascist alternate-timeline Japan), one class of high school students is chosen at random every six months, kidnapped, and placed in an isolated area with no chance of escape. The students are then given one weapon each and, under the threat of death, forced to kill each other until only one student is left alive. This is a once-controversial but now regularly recurring military experiment (since 1947) known only as "the Program". ''Battle Royale'' describes the ordeals and struggles of the 'contestants' in one such class, centering on the attempts of aspiring rock musician and orphaned teenager Shuya Nanahara to escape the Program.
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]].
One of the main themes of this book/manga/movie is the fear and hatred of the young.Some Japanese government officials completely missed this and blamed ''BattleRoyale'' for the sharp rise in teenage delinquency in Japan.
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. However the term has been used to refer to ''TheHungerGames'' - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of ''The Hunger Games'' maintains she knew nothing of ''Battle Royale'' when she wrote her books).
[[caption-width-right:332:Could you kill your best friend?]]
->''What we went through...all those deaths must never lose their importance. We don't have much, but what we have has to work. Never forget...never cheapen their deaths by pushing the memory away. Even the worst of them deserved better.''
In the [[PoliceState Greater East Asia Republic]] (a fascist alternate-timeline Japan), one class of high school students is chosen at random every six months, kidnapped, and placed in an isolated area with no chance of escape. The students are then given one weapon each and, under the threat of death, forced to kill each other until only one student is left alive. This is a once-controversial but now regularly recurring military experiment (since 1947) known only as "the Program". ''Battle Royale'' describes the ordeals and struggles of the 'contestants' in one such class, centering on the attempts of aspiring rock musician and orphaned teenager Shuya Nanahara to escape the Program.
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]].
One of the main themes of this book/manga/movie is the fear and hatred of the young.Some Japanese government officials completely missed this and blamed ''BattleRoyale'' for the sharp rise in teenage delinquency in Japan.
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. However the term has been used to refer to ''TheHungerGames'' - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of ''The Hunger Games'' maintains she knew nothing of ''Battle Royale'' when she wrote her books).
to:
->''Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be'' ever ''in your
->''What we went through...all those deaths must never lose their importance. We don't have much, but
''The Hunger Games'', by Suzanne Collins, is a trilogy of young adult novels that take place AfterTheEnd in [[MeaningfulName Panem]], a nation in what
In the
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell
One of
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. However the term has been used to refer to ''TheHungerGames'' - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of
The three books are:
* ''The Hunger Games''
* ''Catching Fire'' (2009)
* ''Mockingjay'' (2010)
A feature film adaption was released in March 2012, staring JenniferLawrence as Katniss, JoshHutcherson as Peeta, LiamHemsworth as Gale, WoodyHarrelson as Haymitch, and DonaldSutherland as [[PresidentEvil President Snow]]. The film has its own page [[Film/TheHungerGames here.]]
Now with a [[Characters/TheHungerGames Character Sheet]]!
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!!This novel, film and manga provides examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: The film distills the original novel down to feature length.
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga expands the characters from the novel a lot ([[BrokenBase though whether this is a good thing or not is hotly contested among fans]]), as well as the fight scenes.
* AdultsAreUseless:
** The parents and government of Japan allow this to happen doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, the Defense Forces are the ones that ''had the idea'' and carries out the sick games. Admittedly however, protesting tends to get you shot in the head or arrested, as the Government are wont to showcase at every opportunity.
** On a more personal level, Shiori Kitano and the film version of Shuya consider their parents (particularly their fathers) to have failed them in that role.
* AffectionateParody: The name "Takako Chigusa", which is a shout out to women's ProfessionalWrestling. The classroom scene in all versions, and the evil instructor Kinpatsu Sakamochi's name is a parody of the heroic teacher Kinpachi Sensei. Naturally this will be lost on Western viewers, hence the occasional misinterpretation of the classroom scene in the film as {{Narm}}.
* AHouseDivided: The girls in the lighthouse.
* AllThereInTheManual: Several of the students' weapons weren't seen in the film version, however what they were given was confirmed in promotional materials released in Japan along with the film.
* AlternateHistory: The backstory, at least in the original novel and the manga, is that Japan still has a military dictatorship past WorldWarII--in fact, it looks like it had one back in 1917. The first Battle Royale Program took place as early as 1947, shortly after the Japanese victory. In other words, it's become so commonplace by the time the story takes place (in 1997, at least in the novel) that no one really cares. The movie takes place in modern Japan, but TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture after an economic collapse and sharp rise in juvenile crime. Which is better depends on [[BrokenBase who in the fandom you're talking to]].
* ArtisticAge: A lot of the characters in the manga do not even remotely resemble people in their 20's, let alone junior high school students. Shogo Kawada with his beard is the most unrealistically adult-looking character, while Yutaka Seto (who is about one or two years younger) looks like he's ten.
** And the hyper-sexualized manga version of Mitsuko looks and acts like she's in her 20s.
* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Cyanide poisoning renders a person unable to use oxygen. It does ''not'' make you vomit blood.
** Although it's very possible the poison was augmented in some way before it was given out as a weapon.
* AudibleSharpness: In the film. When Kitano pulls his knife out of Fujiyoshi's skull, it inexplicably makes a metallic sound.
* AuthorAppeal: ''Born to Run'' by BruceSpringsteen gets quite a number of mentions due to being a song the author loves.
* AxCrazy: Several students become like this, if they weren't already psychotic before being kidnapped. Yoshio Akamatsu and Kazushi Niida are the most prominent examples. Some just go insane from the stress and paranoia, like Kaori. The Program director in the novel and manga takes great delight in seeing the students suffer and die. On the other hand, Kazuo Kiriyama is so terrifying because he's ''not'' like that. For him, killing his classmates is no different than playing a sport or a musical instrument. Most of the AxCrazy people are violent idiots who don't survive for very long.
* {{Badass}}: About a half of the main cast: Shogo Kawada, Shinji Mimura, [[BoringInvincibleVillain Kazuo Kiriyama]] and Hiroki Sugimura, each in their own right. Among the girls, Mitsuko Souma and Takako Chigusa, who, at the point of the game that Niida found her, was the only girl without a gun or/and well-armed allies in the island. Still, trying to assault her was a ''bad'' idea.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Sakura and Kazuhiko. Yuko as well, during her FreakOut.
* BigBad: The supervisor in all three versions. The secondary antagonists (among the students) are Mitsuko and Kazuo.
* BigDamnHeroes: Kawada gets this trope multiple times. First, against the school president Kyoichi saving Shuya. Later, once again, in the manga, saving Shuya from Kaori.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shuya and Noriko have survived, meaning the Program has failed for the first time ever, and Shogo has found peace at last, but everyone else is dead, including Kitano, and they're doomed to live the rest of their lives as fugitives.]]
** Further emphasized by the events of ''Battle Royale II''.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Many of the subtitling attempts at the film version tend to localise very badly. ({{Channel 4}} and the producers of the Korean Starmax version, here's looking at you!)
** The 2012 North American DVD/Blu-ray edition features some of the worst English dubbing ever, and the dialogue often doesn't even come close to the translation given in the subtitles.
* BloodUpgrade: In the movie, Takako doesn't go off at Niida when he points his crossbow at her and threatens to shoot, but when he [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grazes her face with a crossbow bolt.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Pretty much all the students. Of course excluding Mitsuko, Yoshimi, and Yuko, who came pre-broken.
* BrokenBird: Mitsuko and Yoshimi.
* BondVillainStupidity: Numai's gang in the film fall victim to this, though in their defence (a) it's reasonable to assume that 3 people with guns and a fourth with grenades are going to win in a fight against a guy "armed" with a paper fan and (b) in the film version they don't know how just how dangerous Kazuo actually is. Hirono also makes the mistake in the film by not killing Mitsuko on one of the very rare occasions on which she was actually caught vulnerable. Unlike Numai, Hirono can't justify her actions with the belief that Mitsuko was unarmed, because it's clear Hirono knows her well enough that she realise know such problems don't stop a person like Mitsuko.
* BottomlessMagazines: Kiriyama, He only changes magazine once and fires hundred of rounds.
* {{Bowdlerisation}}: Inevitable for TV showings or those in countries with strict laws regarding violence in films, but the German version was probably the most severe when it came to cuts, cutting back many of the deaths. The director himself produced a version like this though, for release to under 15s in his home country.
* BulletProofVest: Oda's "weapon"; he lets people shoot him, plays dead, then strangles them when they check to make sure he's down. In all three versions, Kiriyama kills him and takes the vest for himself near the end. (In the film, he's only there long enough for Kiriyama to do him in.)
* TheCameo: Sonny Chiba turns up for a scene as Mimura's uncle in the second film (although the character is already dead before BattleRoyale, according to the original novel).
* ChickMagnet:
** Shuya. Quite a large portion of the girls in the manga were revealed to have crushes on him. Noriko, Yukie, Hirono, Yukiko and Yumiko were all shown to like him. And according to Yukie, "half the girls in class are sweet on him," indicating that other girls other than the aforementioned probably harbored an attraction to him as well.
** Shinji had been a womanizer when we first see him. The manga even shows his first appearance as playing basketball and wondering if he has enough condoms to do the whole crowd of fangirls.
* TheCracker: In a slightly more heroic example, formerly PlayfulHacker Shinji Mimura decides to use his skills for something a bit more serious after being forced into the Program. In all three versions, he attempts to hack into the government's computer system to disable the collars in order to make an escape attempt: he is caught in the manga and novel versions halfway through his plan due to the microphones in the collars; but in the movie, he does succeed in doing so. His uncle, particularly in the manga version, is also an example.
* CrapsackWorld: All three versions make it pretty clear that that's what the world has become, though the sequel to the film suggests that in the film continuity things aren't quite as bad as they are in the novel/manga, both of which have a NineteenEightyFour type feel to them.
* CreepyDoll: Mitsuko's alter ego is a giant damaged doll, the same as the one she was given as her mother remarried. Mai's doll also counts, being seen briefly in the first film and again in the second [[spoiler: when it's packed with explosives and hurled at a group of attacking soldiers]].
* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Takako Chigusa's death scene, in Hiroki's arms. Despite having brutally murdered a guy moments beforehand (admittedly, in self defence), she's the object of nothing but sympathy from the audience in her final moments as she begs God for just a few more moments in the world with her best friend and true love. In the manga, it's especially heartbreaking since she has flashbacks from the time when she and Hiroki were kids together.
** Shinji and Yutaka's reconciliation in the manga had a healthy dose of this, [[spoiler: until Kiriyama [[DidntSeeThatComing dropped]] [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath by]]]].
** All of the manga's flashbacks with Shuuya. Especially the one in volume five.
* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Hirono Shimizu's]] manga death. Crosses over with NightmareFuel for more than a few.
* CulturalTranslation: Keith Giffen's work on the manga. Also counts as PragmaticAdaptation to an extent, considering the things that most people find fault with (unrealistic references to Western pop culture) could only be avoided by resorting to ViewersAreGeniuses.
* DawsonCasting: Most of the cast was around fifteen (Aki Maeda as Noriko) or in their late teens (18-year-old Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya), but there are still two glaring examples: Taro Yamamoto (Shogo) and Masanobu Ando (Kiriyama) were 26 and 25 respectively when the film was released. The sequel also has a couple of examples, but not many. Makoto Sakamoso, who played Osamu, was 25 when he played the part. Ironically, his character is one of the youngest-looking.
** FridgeBrilliance: Both characters are outsiders, and one of them is older. Their actor choice already teases this.
* DecoyProtagonist: In the novel, Shinji is shown as being a near-perfect student in a clear attempt to not make it obvious that Shuya is. Thus, Shinji's [[spoiler:death in the middle of the book]] is a huge surprise, after which no attempt is made to hide Shuya's hero status. While this is a commendable idea in theory, it meant turning Shinji into a total Mary Sue. No surprise therefore that the idea was dropped for the film ([[spoiler:with Shinji's death becoming a climactic action sequence]] and in fact the English translation of the book even has on its cover two silhouettes who are blatantly meant to be Shuya and Noriko).
** In the manga, Shuya spends a lot of time reassuring everyone that Shinji's going to come up with a plan to get them all off the island. [[spoiler:Finding his body is a big factor in Shuya's epic HeroicBSOD.]]
* DeadlyGame: The Program.
* DeadStarWalking: Yoshitoki Kuninobu is introduced as Shuya's best friend and comic relief, and it seems like he'll be at Shuya's side for the duration of the series... [[spoiler:until he's killed during the Program briefing.]] [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by ExecutiveMeddling in the film, as a major Japanese star was going to play the boy, before his managers decided it would be dangerous to his career and forbade him from accepting the role.
** The character of Mitsuko is depicted for much of the film as one of the lead villains (and was played by a well-known teen singing star), but [[spoiler: she's killed off suddenly 3/4 of the way through the movie when she encounters Kiriyama, a student she can't seduce or overpower, and gets shot dead.]].
* DefrostingIceQueen: Shiori in the second film, as she comes to a greater understanding of herself and the relationship between her father and Noriko.
* DemotedToExtra: For time constraint reasons, a lot of the characters were given offscreen deaths or given less screen time in general in the film. Particularly Sho Tsukioka.
** Some of these characters' cause of deaths were also changed.
* DepravedHomosexual: Sho Tsukioka is effeminate in manner but humorously masculine in appearance and uses his skills as a StalkerWithACrush to tail Kiriyama. He's also a borderline alcoholic drag queen with an irrational crush on Kiriyama and overall thinks like a total lunatic.
* {{Determinator}}: Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura in the manga. While his initial plan to cripple The Program failed, Mimura is able to come up with his bomb plan which is only foiled by the ImplacableMan. Sugimura also tracks down two people on the island thanks to his tracking device. Unfortunately, he finds the first girl too late and is once more stopped by the ImplacableMan.
* DevelopmentHell: The American remake, for obvious reasons:
** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
** [[AC: Now]] it would be considered too much like ''TheHungerGames''.
* DividedWeFall: In the book, [[spoiler:this turns out to be the whole point of the program. Every six months, everyone in Japan gets to see a broadcast giving the body count of a particular runthrough, categorized by means of death. They all have it ingrained in their minds that the people they grew up with are willing to kill them to survive. If they can't trust each other, they can't coordinate effectively to overthrow the government. Additionally, the government is seeking to actively recruit the winners as people callous and self-interested enough to maintain control.]]
* DoorStopper
* DramaticGunCock: Shogo Kawada does this quite a lot.
* DueToTheDead: In the novel, whenever Shuya finds someone who died [[DiesWideOpen with their eyes open]], he closes their eyes. Well, except for one character who's been so mutilated his head resembles a peanut--only one of his eyes will close properly, and as the narration observes, a winking mutilated corpse is just too much.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: The two cars in the chase sequence at the end of the novel/manga.
* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Many kittens pop up in the story:
** Shuya and Noriko find a cute kitten, play with it as they comment about how cute it is. Then they are attacked by Oki.
** In the novel and manga Kaori is driven mad by the violence and she shoots a kitten with her gun, thinking "Even kittens want to kill me!".
** Hiroki has a flashback about Kayoko when he took with him a very young kitten in the street, hiding it in his desk and wondering why it is meowing so much. Kayoko teaches him that he must rub its crotch with a warm wet towel to make it pee.
* ExplosiveLeash, YourHeadASplode: If someone tries to leave the island, the collar that they are wearing explodes, along with their head. Ditto for trying to remove the collar, or lingering in a danger zone. [[spoiler:In the novel and manga, it only makes one victim, Sho. In the film, Yoshitoki is the only victim]].
** Well, [[spoiler:Kiriyama does get shot in his explosive collar at the climax, which is what finally kills him.]]
* EyeScream: Hiroki and Kiriyama. Makes you wonder why Hiroki bothered making those spearheads. Niida recieves some of this from Takako in the novel and manga too. And, in the manga, Jaguar.
* FanNickname: It's not unheard of for people to refer to the Chigusa/Niida scene as the "Crotch-stabbing scene". [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Take a guess why]].
* FiveManBand: The lighthouse girls, who were a clique before they were put in the Program.
** TheHero - Yukie Utsumi
** TheLancer - Haruka Tanizawa
** TheBigGuy - Yuka Nakagawa
** TheSmartGuy - Satomi Noda
** TheChick - Chisato Matsui
** SixthRangerTraitor - Yuko Sakaki
* FingerLickingPoison: [[spoiler: Yuka]] dies by grabbing a sample of a dish meant for someone else.
* {{Flanderization}}: The manga does this to some of the novel's characters (and the movie to Kiriyama). The good guys are very beautiful, while two of the bad guys are hideous and irredeemably evil. Kazushi Niida is a big victim of this - in the novel, he was merely a horny teenage boy who tried to rape Chigusa when they were alone; in the manga, Niida was portrayed as a CompleteMonster from the beginning. Toshinori Oda was also extremely Flanderized: he's a grotesque little goblin.
** Let's not even mention Mitsuko Souma's ultra-sexual portrayal...she's an actual ''rapist'' in the manga (the novel and film leave it more open about whether she goes that far). Kazuo Kiriyama, however, was massively Flanderized in the film. His AxeCrazy streak is so magnified that it becomes his only characteristic; in the original novel he has a group of friends and can at least put up a facade of normalcy.
* ForeignLanguageTitle
* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
** Similar for Kiriyama, except he [[spoiler: actually has ''severe'' '''brain damage'''.]]
* GangstaStyle: In the manga, this is how Kazuo Kiriyama fires '''every single weapon'''. Apparently, genius though he may be, he fails to realize that this is a highly ineffective method of firing a handgun, to say nothing of firing an automatic weapon.
* GenreBusting: The film is notoriously hard to classify, and the novel is no better. Some consider it horror due to the [[NightmareFuel Nightmare Fuel-laden]] premise, but that classification always causes "traditional" horror fans to balk because it ''isn't'' traditional. Action-adventure may be better, but the satire and themes make it a little misleading. In Western DVD stores the problem is mooted by its placing in the World Cinema section anyway, with the novel being classified by bookstores as sci-fi, presumably due to the SpeculativeFiction and AlternateHistory aspects.
* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: Mitsuko with that sickle - the image of her smiling in Megumi's doorway, shining the torch upwards into her face and grinning maniacally is one of the most iconic from the film.
** [[http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/7641/935323_008.jpg You mean this?]]
* {{Gonk}}: Kamon in the manga. He was so inhumanly ugly he clashed with the manga's art style.
** The artist CANNOT draw children. At least not boys....
*** To be fair, pre-pubescent children are notoriously tough to draw (even by professionals) without making them look too old or produce an UncannyValley effect, assuming the artist is aiming for some sense of realism (which Taguchi does).
* {{Gorn}}: Often believed to be played straight, but actually subverted -- the film is shockingly violent in order to, well, shock. The fact that this is happening to teenagers, and at the hands of their own friends/classmates is in no way meant to titillate, it's meant to horrify. Sadly, many people fail to realise this and believe it's a straight up gorefest.
** The same could be said of the manga, though the artist was a little too eager with the gruesome images, so whether or not it achieves the same purpose or crosses the line is [[YourMileageMayVary up to interpretation]].
* GroinAttack Used by [[spoiler:Chigusa]] against [[spoiler:Niida]] after his attack on her fails.
* HairColors: In the live-action movie, Kazuo Kiriyama's hair is a bright red colour, allegedly to highlight his importance and deliquence. Takako Chigusa's hair is dyed blond in the manga, and Hirono Shimizu's is blue.
* HandsomeLech: Shinji Mimura. His marked misogynistic tendencies don't seem to get in the way of this at all.
* HandWave: The film largely handwaves the premise, which is extremely flawed, by vaguely explaining it in 30 seconds of a 2 hour film and then never touching politics again.
* HeroicSacrifice: In the second film, Shibaki and Osamu each pull one in short succession.
* HeyItsThatVoice: In a rare live action example, the Training Video Girl sounds like a [[NeonGenesisEvangelion possibly recognizable redhead]]
* HollywoodHacking: Complete with RapidFireTyping in what appears to be perfectly valid C.
* HopeSpot: Lots of them, most notably [[spoiler:Hiroki Sugimura's death]].
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The entire plot of the story.
* IdiotHero: Shuya Nanahara. Despite all of the events, losing his best friend and numerous others throughout the course of the Program, still believes that there is good in everyone, even going so far as to [[spoiler:trying to save [[ImplacableMan Kiriyama]] after shooting him in the throat in the manga.]] This is similarly backed up in several character backstories, where Shuya comes rushing in without prior thought and doing something stupid that earns him respect. Shogo makes mention of Shuya's foolishness many, many times.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Lampshaded in the YMMV English translation of the manga: in the beginning of the car chase, when Shogo kicks away the windshield so he doesn't have to "dodge flying glass", he hands Shuuya his Uzi, recommending him to not "go all Marvin in Pulp Fiction" with the weapon.
* ImplacableMan: Kazuo Kiriyama. In all three versions, he just keeps coming...and he can't be reasoned with.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Mai in the sequel, with her explosive-laden ''doll''.
* InSpiteOfANail: In the novel, even though a totally different political situation replaced the Cold War as we know it, it didn't stop Armstrong from being the first man on the moon, or the rock music scene turning exactly in the same way as in our world, with the same stars.
** The totalitarian fascist government also appears to tolerate the otaku subculture (Yuichiro), and flamboyant homosexuality (Sho). (Though it might be in the same way as they "tolerate" rock music).
*** The Director in the book version makes some comment about how those degenerate Americans allow homosexuality, so it's probably not all roses for gays.
* IntimateHealing: In some twisted part of her mind, [[spoiler:this is what Mitsuko thought she was doing to a bleeding/dying Yuichiro in the manga.]]
* ItGetsEasier: Niida doesn't quite lampshade it, but he clearly tries to make clear to Chigusa that having killed before accidentally, he's now in a position to do so again, deliberately.
** In the film, Mitsuko makes several statements to the effect that she killed before the game even started (as shown in the Special Edition version of the film), and so killing again is no big deal to her.
* JokeWeapon: Some students got completely useless weapons, like Yutaka's fork, Noriko's boomerang, Yumiko's darts, Shuya's pot lid and (in the movie) Kiriyama's paper fan.
** That said, Shuya does find a use for the pot lid as a makeshift shield when he's attacked by [[AnAxeToGrind a hatchet wielding student]].
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Used in the film, where Kazuo uses it against Oda. When the target is wearing a bullet proof vest, an Uzi isn't of much use (in the novel, he simply shoots Oda in the face). [[TooDumbToLive Such a pity he had to tell his assailant what had saved his life...]] Technically of course it isn't a katana, but a Wakizashi, but the principle still applies.
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Only two students manage to escape The Program.]]
* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[TagLine Could you kill your best friend?]]
* LargeHam: Taku in the second film; almost everything he says he shouts. Granted, he's rather tame in comparison to Riki Takeuchi, the 'teacher' in the same film. Seriously, check out his [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omS0wE36v44 best moments]] (moderate spoilers).
* LemonyNarrator: The book's narrator lapses into this whenever someone's about to die or has just died.
--> She might have been dead before [she hit the ground]. Physically, several seconds earlier. Emotionally, several years earlier.
* LighthousePoint: At one point a bunch of the girls get holed up in a lighthouse.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A whopping total of forty-two students are press-ganged into The Program. A few of them are killed off immediately and without being developed (moreso in the movie version), but the rest get their own chapters (usually involving a flashback to their days at school). The second film is the same, but kills off many more straight away so as to only focus on half a dozen or so main characters.
* LonelyPianoPiece: Shiori Kitano plays "Memories" in the second film, the scene cutting between her abuse of her late father in the past, and as she is now in the present.
* MadeOfPlasticine: The manga version is ''extremely'' graphic. Kegfuls of blood are spilled, brains are frequently blown out, one character is disembowelled, and another is ''torn in half'' when she hits the ground after she jumps off a lighthouse. According to some, even blows the infamous ElfenLied out of the water. Two examples:
** When [[spoiler:Shinji Mimura dies, he is machine gunned, causing his stomach to split open and his intestines to fall out of his body. He puts them back in with duct tape, has the bottom half of his foot blown off, jumps through a window, has a clip from an ingram emptied into him, is still alive enough to aim at Kiriyama, who shoots him through the throat, and we learn later he was alive enough to carve a message into a truck with a stick.]]
** [[spoiler:Kazuo Kiriyama, shot through the arm, cuts into his arm and sellotapes a tendon onto his arm so his finger works, later, jumps out of car at high speed, jumps out of a second car while it's in mid-air after being shotgunned. Is shot in the stomach at close range by a shotgun (his bullet proof jacket protects him). Is shot through the cheek and out the back of his head, has his eye put out by a wooden spear head, and is finally killed by a bullet through the throat, though it takes him a while to die.]]
* MartialPacifist: Hiroki Sugimura.
* MegaManning: Kazuo Kiriyama in the manga adaptation. He's a genius who can perform flawlessly ''anything'' he's seen (or read about) once, and he employs this fully in his fight against Hiroki Sugimura (an accomplished Kenpo master).
* TheMessiah: Shuya. Heck, the guy is so innocent and wonderful, he actually manages to convert and save the souls of several crazy / bad people by giving them emotional speeches (before [[KillEmAll they die]], of course).
* MoodWhiplash: Niida's extremely brutal attack on Chigusa and her equally violent defense, followed by her [[TearJerker gut-wrenchingly tragic death scene moments later]].
* MoreDakka: In the movie, Kiriyama dispatches quite a few people with the Uzi he takes from the first group that ambushes him. That is not to say that he doesn't use other weapons.
* NoExportForYou: Toei insists that the movie be given a full theatrical run with promotion as if it were a major Hollywood picture rather than allowing it to be released to video. No one in America was willing to accept that deal... that is, until Anchor Bay Films took up the challenge late in 2010, with plans to release the 3D version of the first film theatrically in 2011. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-11/anchor-bay-adds-live-action-battle-royale-3d-in-u.s See here for more details.]]
** So far that hasn't panned out either, but the tropes FINALLY subverted by a DVD release in March 2012 to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the similarly-themed HungerGames movie.
* NoIndoorVoice: There is barely a single word that Takuma Aoi in the second film doesn't shout at the top of his voice.
* NoseTapping: Hiroki does it.
* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Shogo Kawada bluffs a student this way at the end of his first game, then shoots him.
* OCStandIn:
** Mayumi Tendoand Fumiyo Fujiyoshi due to the characters receiving almost no characterisation whatsoever in any of the media - including the novel (they don't live long enough for that).
** Most of the students in the second film.
* OffhandBackhand: Kiriyama kills [[spoiler:Mizuho Inada]] this way in the novel.
* OhCrap: Mitsuko's facial expression says it all when, in the movie, she slashes Kiriyama across the chest, only to discover that he's wearing a bulletproof vest...
* {{Ojou}}: Several prominent examples of the first type, with Noriko in the film moreorless making this a DiscussedTrope with her monologue to Kawada. Kotohiki certainly fits this trope, especially in the novel.
* OneSceneWonder: Almost anyone except the core half dozen may count depending on your preferences. Two are universally agreed upon though, one is Chigusa, who is definitely one of the best known characters despite having only two significant scenes, and they're consecutive. The other is Yukie Utsumi for the Lighthouse scene.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: In the novel and manga, Yoshimi, after learning that Yoji intends to kill her, tells Yoji that he can kill her. Yoji, in shock, does not kill her.
* PowerOfRock: While never actually having rocked out during the program, Shuya's reputation as an amateur rocker is what every character associates with his idealism of love and hope.
** In the novel, this also takes the form of several [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to Bruce Springsteen, particularly ''Born To Run''.
** Discussed with these words, when Shuya says that the PowerOfRock could make the country croumble down.
* PragmaticAdaptation: Despite the many criticisms of the film version for cutting things out of the novel, the one thing just about everybody is agreed upon is that removing the political commentary was a good thing. Sadly, the sequel went in the other direction, though how badly that went down does ironically show what a good idea the treatment of politics in the original film was.
* PsychoForHire: Kazuo Kiriyama, in the movie.
* PunchClockVillain: Kitano in the film is an apathetic man going through a middle-age crisis, having realised how unhappy he is in life. Nonetheless, he's being paid to organise the mutual massacre of his own students.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Kiriyama and Shinji]] are the best examples, though others borderline this.
* RealLifeRelative: Noriko Nakagawa and Shiori Kitano are respectively portrayed by sisters Aki and Ai Maeda in the films.
* ReCut: Both films had an extended version made. The first's extra scenes includes a flashback to Mitsuko's past and a scene of the class playing basketball, shown in pieces throughout the film. The second film added extra characterisation to the main students and Shuya's group. The first film was also cut back so that it would pass the censors' requirements for under 15s to see it, as was the director's original intention.
* RedShirt: The vast majority of students receive at least ''some'' characterisation (at least in the novel and manga). Tendo and Fujiyoshi receive almost none even in those versions. In both films, almost everyone save the core eight or so and a couple of {{One Scene Wonder}}s are this.
* SawedOffShotgun: Shogo Kawada uses a sawed-off M31 Remington shotgun in the novel and manga, and a Franchi SPAS-12 combat shotgun in the movie.
* SayItWithHearts: Various characters in the manga (obviously). Used for a variety of effects, from the very creepy to the heartwarmingly sincere.
* ScreamingWarrior: Mitsuko, during her LastStand in the movie.
* ShoutOut:
** Shiroiwa, the small town the class are from, is Japanese for Castle Rock (a homage to both StephenKing and LordOfTheFlies).
** There are several homages to George Orwell's ''NineteenEightyFour'' in the book.
** There is a disturbing scene in the manga (Niida's attack on Chigusa) that the creator admitted was a ShoutOut to ''Deliverance''.
** While [[spoiler:driving a car]], Shogo hands Shuya a gun, asking him not to go [[PulpFiction Marvin]] [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace on him]]. In the [[FanNickname Giffenized]] [[{{Macekre}} version]], that is.
** In the manga, [[spoiler: Hirono's death]] is a clear ShoutOut to ''An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge''.
** Kinpatsu Sakamochi is a spoof of the character Kinpachi Sakamoto from the Japanese drama ''Year 3 Class B Kinpachi-sensei''. Also, the students in the book, manga and film are Year 3 Class B.
* SlasherSmile: Mitsuko, oh so often, with the start of her encounter with Megumi being the best example.
** The first female winner shown at the beginning of the movie has one of these too.
** In the movie, Kiriyama pulls this off a few times.
* SplitPersonality: Mitsuko basically has two sides to her. One is a child desperate for love, the other is a deranged, cynical killer.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Beautiful classical music is played over the 6 hourly announcements in the movie, a torturing counterpoint to the chaos and death taking place on the island.
** Also in the movie, [[spoiler:Mitsuko's]] death is to the tune of Bach's Air on the G String. It's [[spoiler:Asuka's death in ''EndOfEvangelion'']] all over again.
* StupidSacrifice: Shintaro in the second film accidentally pulls this - not only does his death accomplish nothing, it gets Kazumi killed because he's her partner.
** And let's not forget Riki's final rugby dive.
* SupportingLeader: Shogo is this to Shuya and Noriko, especially in the film. Consider that he's the one with the dark and brooding past, he's the one with a grudge against the Program, and he's the one who knows how to stop it. He does it deliberately though, because he's not interested in his own survival, just wanting revenge and to understand what happened with Keiko. He's happy to let the others take the credit. Consider just how much Shuya and Noriko would actually accomplish (answer: nothing) without Shogo's help and you'll see how he fits.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Played aggravatingly straight in the second film with ''almost every main character''. We're talking several hundred soldiers storming a fortress in a heated and violent battle, all of whom suddenly have a coffee break to allow a character to make a FinalSpeech lasting several minutes. Then, 10 minutes later, it happens again for an even longer speech.
* TechnicalPacifist: Sugimura subverts it; While he refuses to take Shuya's gun because "that's not my way," he's genuinely dedicated to only using his ample martial arts abilities in self defense, because he worries that if he genuinely beats someone up, he'll enjoy it.
* TeensAreMonsters: Or they are ''forced'' to be, by CompleteMonster adults.
** Adults are no better as they start this sick game in first place. Let's just say HumansAreBastards.
*** The main question asked of the movie is a large part of the point of the story. 'Could you kill your best friend?' In a lot of ways it doesn't matter that the protagonists are teens, it's about human nature in general.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The object of the Program.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Sugimura and Kotohiki]] in the manga. Ogawa and Yamamoto in all versions, along with [[spoiler: Kawada and Keiko]].
** To a lesser extent, ''any'' couple who died together ([[spoiler: namely Yoshimi and Youji and Sakura and Kazuhiko]]), because, well, even if they're together before The Program, [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne it obviously couldn't last past the game]].
** Non-romantic example: the [[spoiler:girls' of the lighthouse]] "funeral", so they could be friends again in death.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Quite possibly an audience/reader reaction, given the chances of inadvertently finding yourself wondering if you could do it, how well you'd do, etc. Of course, the question of whether or not you could kill your best friend is the entire point.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano, respectively, in the novel.
* TooDumbToLive: Toshinori Oda in the film only, who is shot with an Uzi by Kazuo but survives because of his awesome BulletProofVest. A fact he screams at the top of his voice the second he realises he's still alive. Cue Kazuo leaping off a small building beside him, wakizashi in hand.
** He's less obviously retarded in the book and manga, but still pretty stupid--in the manga, he fakes a death rattle so Kazuo will come close to him and check if he's dead, allowing Oda to stab him with his hidden kitchen knife. [[spoiler: Kazuo doesn't fall for this moronic ruse]].
* {{Tsundere}}: Chigusa, by Sugimura's account. [[DefrostingIceQueen She's more the original version, though, where as you get to know her she warms up considerably.]]
* TriangRelations: There's a few of these:
** Type 5 with Chigusa, who loves Hiroki, who secretly loves Kotohiki. Chigusa does find out when she flat out asks Hiroki if he loves her, but she's dying when she asks so, while clearly upsetting to her, it's the least of her concerns at the time. Also qualifies as a heartwarming IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy moment, since she'd clearly already worked it out and was just hoping he really did love her. In the novel, when Hiroki admits that he does have crush, Takako comments that he'd better ''not'' say her (i.e. "You know better than to say it just to try to make me happy in my last moments.").
** Type 4 is seen with Shuya, Noriko and Kuninobu; Noriko and Shuya are the OfficialCouple, with Kuninobu also very obviously crushing on Noriko. While Shuya's feelings for Noriko are left slightly ambiguous, this appears to be due to not wanting to go after the girl his best friend was crazy about so soon after his death. That she has feelings for him though she can't hold in, even if she does apparently feel a bit guilty about it.
** Type 4 also occurs with Utsumi, Shuya and Noriko, as Utsumi secretly has feelings for Shuya which she tries to tell him (when he's barely conscious though so not the best time) but appears to realise he doesn't see her the same way. Admittedly we don't know for sure where she would have gone with her feelings given [[spoiler: she and her friends massacre each other moments after their conversation]]
* TheVamp: Mitsuko's strategy mainly involves gaining people's trust and getting them while their guard is down.
* TheVoiceless: Kiriyama in the film, he doesn't say a single word despite being the main antagonist.
* WhenSheSmiles: Hirono, at least in the manga. When she smiled from the heart, Shuya realized that she actually wasn't such a bad person after all. Especially noticeable in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/battle_royale/c064/16.html this page]].
* WideEyedIdealist: Shuya and Yuichiro, though Yuichiro actually made some headway; His refusal to think of Mitsuko as a bad person genuinely touched her to the point that she had a complete mental breakdown when he was shot.
* WithThisHerring: A few of the weapons given out at the start. Including a megaphone, a pair of binoculars, a shamisen, and a squeaky toy hammer.
* WoundedGazelleGambit. Mitsuko in all three versions, though the victim changes. In the novel and manga, it's Hiroki, who has captured her and intends killing her in revenge for Chigusa. A combination of her crocodile tears and his martial pacifism allow her to escape. In the film she pulls it on Hirono, though it doesn't actually work as Hirono knows her too well. Mitsuko still kills her though.
* TheVoice: An extremely interesting case that makes a sub-plot stretching across both films more effective. In the first film, we don't see Shiori Kitano, the teacher's daughter, we only hear her voice on the phone. In the second film, she's a main character. What adds more to this is that Kitano (senior) sees Noriko as his surrogate daughter as Shiori hates him. Noriko and Shiori are played by real life sisters, Aki and Ai Maeda (respectively).
* YamatoNadeshiko: Noriko in the film version is actually a very good example of this, and not a MarySue as she is often perceived as being. It's most apparent just after her dream sequence, where she tells Kawada how she was expected to just leave school, find a man, be a housewife and live a normal, boring life. Now however, with all this, she realises that even if she does somehow survive (and remember that her protector, Shuya, is missing at this point) then nothing will ever be the same again.
* YouDontWantToDieAVirginDoYou: Niida in all three versions tries to persuade Chigusa of this. Unfortunately, he doesn't take "no" for an answer and becomes a bit more forceful. Yukie also acknowledges that she never would have found the courage to make moves on Shuya if not for the whole "surrounded by students trying to kill me" thing.
* ZenSurvivor: Shogo Kawada, of the previous Program.
----
* AdaptationDistillation: The film distills the original novel down to feature length.
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga expands the characters from the novel a lot ([[BrokenBase though whether this is a good thing or not is hotly contested among fans]]), as well as the fight scenes.
* AdultsAreUseless:
** The parents and government of Japan allow this to happen doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, the Defense Forces are the ones that ''had the idea'' and carries out the sick games. Admittedly however, protesting tends to get you shot in the head or arrested, as the Government are wont to showcase at every opportunity.
** On a more personal level, Shiori Kitano and the film version of Shuya consider their parents (particularly their fathers) to have failed them in that role.
* AffectionateParody: The name "Takako Chigusa", which is a shout out to women's ProfessionalWrestling. The classroom scene in all versions, and the evil instructor Kinpatsu Sakamochi's name is a parody of the heroic teacher Kinpachi Sensei. Naturally this will be lost on Western viewers, hence the occasional misinterpretation of the classroom scene in the film as {{Narm}}.
* AHouseDivided: The girls in the lighthouse.
* AllThereInTheManual: Several of the students' weapons weren't seen in the film version, however what they were given was confirmed in promotional materials released in Japan along with the film.
* AlternateHistory: The backstory, at least in the original novel and the manga, is that Japan still has a military dictatorship past WorldWarII--in fact, it looks like it had one back in 1917. The first Battle Royale Program took place as early as 1947, shortly after the Japanese victory. In other words, it's become so commonplace by the time the story takes place (in 1997, at least in the novel) that no one really cares. The movie takes place in modern Japan, but TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture after an economic collapse and sharp rise in juvenile crime. Which is better depends on [[BrokenBase who in the fandom you're talking to]].
* ArtisticAge: A lot of the characters in the manga do not even remotely resemble people in their 20's, let alone junior high school students. Shogo Kawada with his beard is the most unrealistically adult-looking character, while Yutaka Seto (who is about one or two years younger) looks like he's ten.
** And the hyper-sexualized manga version of Mitsuko looks and acts like she's in her 20s.
* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Cyanide poisoning renders a person unable to use oxygen. It does ''not'' make you vomit blood.
** Although it's very possible the poison was augmented in some way before it was given out as a weapon.
* AudibleSharpness: In the film. When Kitano pulls his knife out of Fujiyoshi's skull, it inexplicably makes a metallic sound.
* AuthorAppeal: ''Born to Run'' by BruceSpringsteen gets quite a number of mentions due to being a song the author loves.
* AxCrazy: Several students become like this, if they weren't already psychotic before being kidnapped. Yoshio Akamatsu and Kazushi Niida are the most prominent examples. Some just go insane from the stress and paranoia, like Kaori. The Program director in the novel and manga takes great delight in seeing the students suffer and die. On the other hand, Kazuo Kiriyama is so terrifying because he's ''not'' like that. For him, killing his classmates is no different than playing a sport or a musical instrument. Most of the AxCrazy people are violent idiots who don't survive for very long.
* {{Badass}}: About a half of the main cast: Shogo Kawada, Shinji Mimura, [[BoringInvincibleVillain Kazuo Kiriyama]] and Hiroki Sugimura, each in their own right. Among the girls, Mitsuko Souma and Takako Chigusa, who, at the point of the game that Niida found her, was the only girl without a gun or/and well-armed allies in the island. Still, trying to assault her was a ''bad'' idea.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Sakura and Kazuhiko. Yuko as well, during her FreakOut.
* BigBad: The supervisor in all three versions. The secondary antagonists (among the students) are Mitsuko and Kazuo.
* BigDamnHeroes: Kawada gets this trope multiple times. First, against the school president Kyoichi saving Shuya. Later, once again, in the manga, saving Shuya from Kaori.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shuya and Noriko have survived, meaning the Program has failed for the first time ever, and Shogo has found peace at last, but everyone else is dead, including Kitano, and they're doomed to live the rest of their lives as fugitives.]]
** Further emphasized by the events of ''Battle Royale II''.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Many of the subtitling attempts at the film version tend to localise very badly. ({{Channel 4}} and the producers of the Korean Starmax version, here's looking at you!)
** The 2012 North American DVD/Blu-ray edition features some of the worst English dubbing ever, and the dialogue often doesn't even come close to the translation given in the subtitles.
* BloodUpgrade: In the movie, Takako doesn't go off at Niida when he points his crossbow at her and threatens to shoot, but when he [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grazes her face with a crossbow bolt.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Pretty much all the students. Of course excluding Mitsuko, Yoshimi, and Yuko, who came pre-broken.
* BrokenBird: Mitsuko and Yoshimi.
* BondVillainStupidity: Numai's gang in the film fall victim to this, though in their defence (a) it's reasonable to assume that 3 people with guns and a fourth with grenades are going to win in a fight against a guy "armed" with a paper fan and (b) in the film version they don't know how just how dangerous Kazuo actually is. Hirono also makes the mistake in the film by not killing Mitsuko on one of the very rare occasions on which she was actually caught vulnerable. Unlike Numai, Hirono can't justify her actions with the belief that Mitsuko was unarmed, because it's clear Hirono knows her well enough that she realise know such problems don't stop a person like Mitsuko.
* BottomlessMagazines: Kiriyama, He only changes magazine once and fires hundred of rounds.
* {{Bowdlerisation}}: Inevitable for TV showings or those in countries with strict laws regarding violence in films, but the German version was probably the most severe when it came to cuts, cutting back many of the deaths. The director himself produced a version like this though, for release to under 15s in his home country.
* BulletProofVest: Oda's "weapon"; he lets people shoot him, plays dead, then strangles them when they check to make sure he's down. In all three versions, Kiriyama kills him and takes the vest for himself near the end. (In the film, he's only there long enough for Kiriyama to do him in.)
* TheCameo: Sonny Chiba turns up for a scene as Mimura's uncle in the second film (although the character is already dead before BattleRoyale, according to the original novel).
* ChickMagnet:
** Shuya. Quite a large portion of the girls in the manga were revealed to have crushes on him. Noriko, Yukie, Hirono, Yukiko and Yumiko were all shown to like him. And according to Yukie, "half the girls in class are sweet on him," indicating that other girls other than the aforementioned probably harbored an attraction to him as well.
** Shinji had been a womanizer when we first see him. The manga even shows his first appearance as playing basketball and wondering if he has enough condoms to do the whole crowd of fangirls.
* TheCracker: In a slightly more heroic example, formerly PlayfulHacker Shinji Mimura decides to use his skills for something a bit more serious after being forced into the Program. In all three versions, he attempts to hack into the government's computer system to disable the collars in order to make an escape attempt: he is caught in the manga and novel versions halfway through his plan due to the microphones in the collars; but in the movie, he does succeed in doing so. His uncle, particularly in the manga version, is also an example.
* CrapsackWorld: All three versions make it pretty clear that that's what the world has become, though the sequel to the film suggests that in the film continuity things aren't quite as bad as they are in the novel/manga, both of which have a NineteenEightyFour type feel to them.
* CreepyDoll: Mitsuko's alter ego is a giant damaged doll, the same as the one she was given as her mother remarried. Mai's doll also counts, being seen briefly in the first film and again in the second [[spoiler: when it's packed with explosives and hurled at a group of attacking soldiers]].
* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Takako Chigusa's death scene, in Hiroki's arms. Despite having brutally murdered a guy moments beforehand (admittedly, in self defence), she's the object of nothing but sympathy from the audience in her final moments as she begs God for just a few more moments in the world with her best friend and true love. In the manga, it's especially heartbreaking since she has flashbacks from the time when she and Hiroki were kids together.
** Shinji and Yutaka's reconciliation in the manga had a healthy dose of this, [[spoiler: until Kiriyama [[DidntSeeThatComing dropped]] [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath by]]]].
** All of the manga's flashbacks with Shuuya. Especially the one in volume five.
* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Hirono Shimizu's]] manga death. Crosses over with NightmareFuel for more than a few.
* CulturalTranslation: Keith Giffen's work on the manga. Also counts as PragmaticAdaptation to an extent, considering the things that most people find fault with (unrealistic references to Western pop culture) could only be avoided by resorting to ViewersAreGeniuses.
* DawsonCasting: Most of the cast was around fifteen (Aki Maeda as Noriko) or in their late teens (18-year-old Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya), but there are still two glaring examples: Taro Yamamoto (Shogo) and Masanobu Ando (Kiriyama) were 26 and 25 respectively when the film was released. The sequel also has a couple of examples, but not many. Makoto Sakamoso, who played Osamu, was 25 when he played the part. Ironically, his character is one of the youngest-looking.
** FridgeBrilliance: Both characters are outsiders, and one of them is older. Their actor choice already teases this.
* DecoyProtagonist: In the novel, Shinji is shown as being a near-perfect student in a clear attempt to not make it obvious that Shuya is. Thus, Shinji's [[spoiler:death in the middle of the book]] is a huge surprise, after which no attempt is made to hide Shuya's hero status. While this is a commendable idea in theory, it meant turning Shinji into a total Mary Sue. No surprise therefore that the idea was dropped for the film ([[spoiler:with Shinji's death becoming a climactic action sequence]] and in fact the English translation of the book even has on its cover two silhouettes who are blatantly meant to be Shuya and Noriko).
** In the manga, Shuya spends a lot of time reassuring everyone that Shinji's going to come up with a plan to get them all off the island. [[spoiler:Finding his body is a big factor in Shuya's epic HeroicBSOD.]]
* DeadlyGame: The Program.
* DeadStarWalking: Yoshitoki Kuninobu is introduced as Shuya's best friend and comic relief, and it seems like he'll be at Shuya's side for the duration of the series... [[spoiler:until he's killed during the Program briefing.]] [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by ExecutiveMeddling in the film, as a major Japanese star was going to play the boy, before his managers decided it would be dangerous to his career and forbade him from accepting the role.
** The character of Mitsuko is depicted for much of the film as one of the lead villains (and was played by a well-known teen singing star), but [[spoiler: she's killed off suddenly 3/4 of the way through the movie when she encounters Kiriyama, a student she can't seduce or overpower, and gets shot dead.]].
* DefrostingIceQueen: Shiori in the second film, as she comes to a greater understanding of herself and the relationship between her father and Noriko.
* DemotedToExtra: For time constraint reasons, a lot of the characters were given offscreen deaths or given less screen time in general in the film. Particularly Sho Tsukioka.
** Some of these characters' cause of deaths were also changed.
* DepravedHomosexual: Sho Tsukioka is effeminate in manner but humorously masculine in appearance and uses his skills as a StalkerWithACrush to tail Kiriyama. He's also a borderline alcoholic drag queen with an irrational crush on Kiriyama and overall thinks like a total lunatic.
* {{Determinator}}: Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura in the manga. While his initial plan to cripple The Program failed, Mimura is able to come up with his bomb plan which is only foiled by the ImplacableMan. Sugimura also tracks down two people on the island thanks to his tracking device. Unfortunately, he finds the first girl too late and is once more stopped by the ImplacableMan.
* DevelopmentHell: The American remake, for obvious reasons:
** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
** [[AC: Now]] it would be considered too much like ''TheHungerGames''.
* DividedWeFall: In the book, [[spoiler:this turns out to be the whole point of the program. Every six months, everyone in Japan gets to see a broadcast giving the body count of a particular runthrough, categorized by means of death. They all have it ingrained in their minds that the people they grew up with are willing to kill them to survive. If they can't trust each other, they can't coordinate effectively to overthrow the government. Additionally, the government is seeking to actively recruit the winners as people callous and self-interested enough to maintain control.]]
* DoorStopper
* DramaticGunCock: Shogo Kawada does this quite a lot.
* DueToTheDead: In the novel, whenever Shuya finds someone who died [[DiesWideOpen with their eyes open]], he closes their eyes. Well, except for one character who's been so mutilated his head resembles a peanut--only one of his eyes will close properly, and as the narration observes, a winking mutilated corpse is just too much.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: The two cars in the chase sequence at the end of the novel/manga.
* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Many kittens pop up in the story:
** Shuya and Noriko find a cute kitten, play with it as they comment about how cute it is. Then they are attacked by Oki.
** In the novel and manga Kaori is driven mad by the violence and she shoots a kitten with her gun, thinking "Even kittens want to kill me!".
** Hiroki has a flashback about Kayoko when he took with him a very young kitten in the street, hiding it in his desk and wondering why it is meowing so much. Kayoko teaches him that he must rub its crotch with a warm wet towel to make it pee.
* ExplosiveLeash, YourHeadASplode: If someone tries to leave the island, the collar that they are wearing explodes, along with their head. Ditto for trying to remove the collar, or lingering in a danger zone. [[spoiler:In the novel and manga, it only makes one victim, Sho. In the film, Yoshitoki is the only victim]].
** Well, [[spoiler:Kiriyama does get shot in his explosive collar at the climax, which is what finally kills him.]]
* EyeScream: Hiroki and Kiriyama. Makes you wonder why Hiroki bothered making those spearheads. Niida recieves some of this from Takako in the novel and manga too. And, in the manga, Jaguar.
* FanNickname: It's not unheard of for people to refer to the Chigusa/Niida scene as the "Crotch-stabbing scene". [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Take a guess why]].
* FiveManBand: The lighthouse girls, who were a clique before they were put in the Program.
** TheHero - Yukie Utsumi
** TheLancer - Haruka Tanizawa
** TheBigGuy - Yuka Nakagawa
** TheSmartGuy - Satomi Noda
** TheChick - Chisato Matsui
** SixthRangerTraitor - Yuko Sakaki
* FingerLickingPoison: [[spoiler: Yuka]] dies by grabbing a sample of a dish meant for someone else.
* {{Flanderization}}: The manga does this to some of the novel's characters (and the movie to Kiriyama). The good guys are very beautiful, while two of the bad guys are hideous and irredeemably evil. Kazushi Niida is a big victim of this - in the novel, he was merely a horny teenage boy who tried to rape Chigusa when they were alone; in the manga, Niida was portrayed as a CompleteMonster from the beginning. Toshinori Oda was also extremely Flanderized: he's a grotesque little goblin.
** Let's not even mention Mitsuko Souma's ultra-sexual portrayal...she's an actual ''rapist'' in the manga (the novel and film leave it more open about whether she goes that far). Kazuo Kiriyama, however, was massively Flanderized in the film. His AxeCrazy streak is so magnified that it becomes his only characteristic; in the original novel he has a group of friends and can at least put up a facade of normalcy.
* ForeignLanguageTitle
* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
** Similar for Kiriyama, except he [[spoiler: actually has ''severe'' '''brain damage'''.]]
* GangstaStyle: In the manga, this is how Kazuo Kiriyama fires '''every single weapon'''. Apparently, genius though he may be, he fails to realize that this is a highly ineffective method of firing a handgun, to say nothing of firing an automatic weapon.
* GenreBusting: The film is notoriously hard to classify, and the novel is no better. Some consider it horror due to the [[NightmareFuel Nightmare Fuel-laden]] premise, but that classification always causes "traditional" horror fans to balk because it ''isn't'' traditional. Action-adventure may be better, but the satire and themes make it a little misleading. In Western DVD stores the problem is mooted by its placing in the World Cinema section anyway, with the novel being classified by bookstores as sci-fi, presumably due to the SpeculativeFiction and AlternateHistory aspects.
* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: Mitsuko with that sickle - the image of her smiling in Megumi's doorway, shining the torch upwards into her face and grinning maniacally is one of the most iconic from the film.
** [[http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/7641/935323_008.jpg You mean this?]]
* {{Gonk}}: Kamon in the manga. He was so inhumanly ugly he clashed with the manga's art style.
** The artist CANNOT draw children. At least not boys....
*** To be fair, pre-pubescent children are notoriously tough to draw (even by professionals) without making them look too old or produce an UncannyValley effect, assuming the artist is aiming for some sense of realism (which Taguchi does).
* {{Gorn}}: Often believed to be played straight, but actually subverted -- the film is shockingly violent in order to, well, shock. The fact that this is happening to teenagers, and at the hands of their own friends/classmates is in no way meant to titillate, it's meant to horrify. Sadly, many people fail to realise this and believe it's a straight up gorefest.
** The same could be said of the manga, though the artist was a little too eager with the gruesome images, so whether or not it achieves the same purpose or crosses the line is [[YourMileageMayVary up to interpretation]].
* GroinAttack Used by [[spoiler:Chigusa]] against [[spoiler:Niida]] after his attack on her fails.
* HairColors: In the live-action movie, Kazuo Kiriyama's hair is a bright red colour, allegedly to highlight his importance and deliquence. Takako Chigusa's hair is dyed blond in the manga, and Hirono Shimizu's is blue.
* HandsomeLech: Shinji Mimura. His marked misogynistic tendencies don't seem to get in the way of this at all.
* HandWave: The film largely handwaves the premise, which is extremely flawed, by vaguely explaining it in 30 seconds of a 2 hour film and then never touching politics again.
* HeroicSacrifice: In the second film, Shibaki and Osamu each pull one in short succession.
* HeyItsThatVoice: In a rare live action example, the Training Video Girl sounds like a [[NeonGenesisEvangelion possibly recognizable redhead]]
* HollywoodHacking: Complete with RapidFireTyping in what appears to be perfectly valid C.
* HopeSpot: Lots of them, most notably [[spoiler:Hiroki Sugimura's death]].
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The entire plot of the story.
* IdiotHero: Shuya Nanahara. Despite all of the events, losing his best friend and numerous others throughout the course of the Program, still believes that there is good in everyone, even going so far as to [[spoiler:trying to save [[ImplacableMan Kiriyama]] after shooting him in the throat in the manga.]] This is similarly backed up in several character backstories, where Shuya comes rushing in without prior thought and doing something stupid that earns him respect. Shogo makes mention of Shuya's foolishness many, many times.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Lampshaded in the YMMV English translation of the manga: in the beginning of the car chase, when Shogo kicks away the windshield so he doesn't have to "dodge flying glass", he hands Shuuya his Uzi, recommending him to not "go all Marvin in Pulp Fiction" with the weapon.
* ImplacableMan: Kazuo Kiriyama. In all three versions, he just keeps coming...and he can't be reasoned with.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Mai in the sequel, with her explosive-laden ''doll''.
* InSpiteOfANail: In the novel, even though a totally different political situation replaced the Cold War as we know it, it didn't stop Armstrong from being the first man on the moon, or the rock music scene turning exactly in the same way as in our world, with the same stars.
** The totalitarian fascist government also appears to tolerate the otaku subculture (Yuichiro), and flamboyant homosexuality (Sho). (Though it might be in the same way as they "tolerate" rock music).
*** The Director in the book version makes some comment about how those degenerate Americans allow homosexuality, so it's probably not all roses for gays.
* IntimateHealing: In some twisted part of her mind, [[spoiler:this is what Mitsuko thought she was doing to a bleeding/dying Yuichiro in the manga.]]
* ItGetsEasier: Niida doesn't quite lampshade it, but he clearly tries to make clear to Chigusa that having killed before accidentally, he's now in a position to do so again, deliberately.
** In the film, Mitsuko makes several statements to the effect that she killed before the game even started (as shown in the Special Edition version of the film), and so killing again is no big deal to her.
* JokeWeapon: Some students got completely useless weapons, like Yutaka's fork, Noriko's boomerang, Yumiko's darts, Shuya's pot lid and (in the movie) Kiriyama's paper fan.
** That said, Shuya does find a use for the pot lid as a makeshift shield when he's attacked by [[AnAxeToGrind a hatchet wielding student]].
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Used in the film, where Kazuo uses it against Oda. When the target is wearing a bullet proof vest, an Uzi isn't of much use (in the novel, he simply shoots Oda in the face). [[TooDumbToLive Such a pity he had to tell his assailant what had saved his life...]] Technically of course it isn't a katana, but a Wakizashi, but the principle still applies.
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Only two students manage to escape The Program.]]
* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[TagLine Could you kill your best friend?]]
* LargeHam: Taku in the second film; almost everything he says he shouts. Granted, he's rather tame in comparison to Riki Takeuchi, the 'teacher' in the same film. Seriously, check out his [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omS0wE36v44 best moments]] (moderate spoilers).
* LemonyNarrator: The book's narrator lapses into this whenever someone's about to die or has just died.
--> She might have been dead before [she hit the ground]. Physically, several seconds earlier. Emotionally, several years earlier.
* LighthousePoint: At one point a bunch of the girls get holed up in a lighthouse.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A whopping total of forty-two students are press-ganged into The Program. A few of them are killed off immediately and without being developed (moreso in the movie version), but the rest get their own chapters (usually involving a flashback to their days at school). The second film is the same, but kills off many more straight away so as to only focus on half a dozen or so main characters.
* LonelyPianoPiece: Shiori Kitano plays "Memories" in the second film, the scene cutting between her abuse of her late father in the past, and as she is now in the present.
* MadeOfPlasticine: The manga version is ''extremely'' graphic. Kegfuls of blood are spilled, brains are frequently blown out, one character is disembowelled, and another is ''torn in half'' when she hits the ground after she jumps off a lighthouse. According to some, even blows the infamous ElfenLied out of the water. Two examples:
** When [[spoiler:Shinji Mimura dies, he is machine gunned, causing his stomach to split open and his intestines to fall out of his body. He puts them back in with duct tape, has the bottom half of his foot blown off, jumps through a window, has a clip from an ingram emptied into him, is still alive enough to aim at Kiriyama, who shoots him through the throat, and we learn later he was alive enough to carve a message into a truck with a stick.]]
** [[spoiler:Kazuo Kiriyama, shot through the arm, cuts into his arm and sellotapes a tendon onto his arm so his finger works, later, jumps out of car at high speed, jumps out of a second car while it's in mid-air after being shotgunned. Is shot in the stomach at close range by a shotgun (his bullet proof jacket protects him). Is shot through the cheek and out the back of his head, has his eye put out by a wooden spear head, and is finally killed by a bullet through the throat, though it takes him a while to die.]]
* MartialPacifist: Hiroki Sugimura.
* MegaManning: Kazuo Kiriyama in the manga adaptation. He's a genius who can perform flawlessly ''anything'' he's seen (or read about) once, and he employs this fully in his fight against Hiroki Sugimura (an accomplished Kenpo master).
* TheMessiah: Shuya. Heck, the guy is so innocent and wonderful, he actually manages to convert and save the souls of several crazy / bad people by giving them emotional speeches (before [[KillEmAll they die]], of course).
* MoodWhiplash: Niida's extremely brutal attack on Chigusa and her equally violent defense, followed by her [[TearJerker gut-wrenchingly tragic death scene moments later]].
* MoreDakka: In the movie, Kiriyama dispatches quite a few people with the Uzi he takes from the first group that ambushes him. That is not to say that he doesn't use other weapons.
* NoExportForYou: Toei insists that the movie be given a full theatrical run with promotion as if it were a major Hollywood picture rather than allowing it to be released to video. No one in America was willing to accept that deal... that is, until Anchor Bay Films took up the challenge late in 2010, with plans to release the 3D version of the first film theatrically in 2011. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-11/anchor-bay-adds-live-action-battle-royale-3d-in-u.s See here for more details.]]
** So far that hasn't panned out either, but the tropes FINALLY subverted by a DVD release in March 2012 to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the similarly-themed HungerGames movie.
* NoIndoorVoice: There is barely a single word that Takuma Aoi in the second film doesn't shout at the top of his voice.
* NoseTapping: Hiroki does it.
* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Shogo Kawada bluffs a student this way at the end of his first game, then shoots him.
* OCStandIn:
** Mayumi Tendoand Fumiyo Fujiyoshi due to the characters receiving almost no characterisation whatsoever in any of the media - including the novel (they don't live long enough for that).
** Most of the students in the second film.
* OffhandBackhand: Kiriyama kills [[spoiler:Mizuho Inada]] this way in the novel.
* OhCrap: Mitsuko's facial expression says it all when, in the movie, she slashes Kiriyama across the chest, only to discover that he's wearing a bulletproof vest...
* {{Ojou}}: Several prominent examples of the first type, with Noriko in the film moreorless making this a DiscussedTrope with her monologue to Kawada. Kotohiki certainly fits this trope, especially in the novel.
* OneSceneWonder: Almost anyone except the core half dozen may count depending on your preferences. Two are universally agreed upon though, one is Chigusa, who is definitely one of the best known characters despite having only two significant scenes, and they're consecutive. The other is Yukie Utsumi for the Lighthouse scene.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: In the novel and manga, Yoshimi, after learning that Yoji intends to kill her, tells Yoji that he can kill her. Yoji, in shock, does not kill her.
* PowerOfRock: While never actually having rocked out during the program, Shuya's reputation as an amateur rocker is what every character associates with his idealism of love and hope.
** In the novel, this also takes the form of several [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to Bruce Springsteen, particularly ''Born To Run''.
** Discussed with these words, when Shuya says that the PowerOfRock could make the country croumble down.
* PragmaticAdaptation: Despite the many criticisms of the film version for cutting things out of the novel, the one thing just about everybody is agreed upon is that removing the political commentary was a good thing. Sadly, the sequel went in the other direction, though how badly that went down does ironically show what a good idea the treatment of politics in the original film was.
* PsychoForHire: Kazuo Kiriyama, in the movie.
* PunchClockVillain: Kitano in the film is an apathetic man going through a middle-age crisis, having realised how unhappy he is in life. Nonetheless, he's being paid to organise the mutual massacre of his own students.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Kiriyama and Shinji]] are the best examples, though others borderline this.
* RealLifeRelative: Noriko Nakagawa and Shiori Kitano are respectively portrayed by sisters Aki and Ai Maeda in the films.
* ReCut: Both films had an extended version made. The first's extra scenes includes a flashback to Mitsuko's past and a scene of the class playing basketball, shown in pieces throughout the film. The second film added extra characterisation to the main students and Shuya's group. The first film was also cut back so that it would pass the censors' requirements for under 15s to see it, as was the director's original intention.
* RedShirt: The vast majority of students receive at least ''some'' characterisation (at least in the novel and manga). Tendo and Fujiyoshi receive almost none even in those versions. In both films, almost everyone save the core eight or so and a couple of {{One Scene Wonder}}s are this.
* SawedOffShotgun: Shogo Kawada uses a sawed-off M31 Remington shotgun in the novel and manga, and a Franchi SPAS-12 combat shotgun in the movie.
* SayItWithHearts: Various characters in the manga (obviously). Used for a variety of effects, from the very creepy to the heartwarmingly sincere.
* ScreamingWarrior: Mitsuko, during her LastStand in the movie.
* ShoutOut:
** Shiroiwa, the small town the class are from, is Japanese for Castle Rock (a homage to both StephenKing and LordOfTheFlies).
** There are several homages to George Orwell's ''NineteenEightyFour'' in the book.
** There is a disturbing scene in the manga (Niida's attack on Chigusa) that the creator admitted was a ShoutOut to ''Deliverance''.
** While [[spoiler:driving a car]], Shogo hands Shuya a gun, asking him not to go [[PulpFiction Marvin]] [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace on him]]. In the [[FanNickname Giffenized]] [[{{Macekre}} version]], that is.
** In the manga, [[spoiler: Hirono's death]] is a clear ShoutOut to ''An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge''.
** Kinpatsu Sakamochi is a spoof of the character Kinpachi Sakamoto from the Japanese drama ''Year 3 Class B Kinpachi-sensei''. Also, the students in the book, manga and film are Year 3 Class B.
* SlasherSmile: Mitsuko, oh so often, with the start of her encounter with Megumi being the best example.
** The first female winner shown at the beginning of the movie has one of these too.
** In the movie, Kiriyama pulls this off a few times.
* SplitPersonality: Mitsuko basically has two sides to her. One is a child desperate for love, the other is a deranged, cynical killer.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Beautiful classical music is played over the 6 hourly announcements in the movie, a torturing counterpoint to the chaos and death taking place on the island.
** Also in the movie, [[spoiler:Mitsuko's]] death is to the tune of Bach's Air on the G String. It's [[spoiler:Asuka's death in ''EndOfEvangelion'']] all over again.
* StupidSacrifice: Shintaro in the second film accidentally pulls this - not only does his death accomplish nothing, it gets Kazumi killed because he's her partner.
** And let's not forget Riki's final rugby dive.
* SupportingLeader: Shogo is this to Shuya and Noriko, especially in the film. Consider that he's the one with the dark and brooding past, he's the one with a grudge against the Program, and he's the one who knows how to stop it. He does it deliberately though, because he's not interested in his own survival, just wanting revenge and to understand what happened with Keiko. He's happy to let the others take the credit. Consider just how much Shuya and Noriko would actually accomplish (answer: nothing) without Shogo's help and you'll see how he fits.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Played aggravatingly straight in the second film with ''almost every main character''. We're talking several hundred soldiers storming a fortress in a heated and violent battle, all of whom suddenly have a coffee break to allow a character to make a FinalSpeech lasting several minutes. Then, 10 minutes later, it happens again for an even longer speech.
* TechnicalPacifist: Sugimura subverts it; While he refuses to take Shuya's gun because "that's not my way," he's genuinely dedicated to only using his ample martial arts abilities in self defense, because he worries that if he genuinely beats someone up, he'll enjoy it.
* TeensAreMonsters: Or they are ''forced'' to be, by CompleteMonster adults.
** Adults are no better as they start this sick game in first place. Let's just say HumansAreBastards.
*** The main question asked of the movie is a large part of the point of the story. 'Could you kill your best friend?' In a lot of ways it doesn't matter that the protagonists are teens, it's about human nature in general.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The object of the Program.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Sugimura and Kotohiki]] in the manga. Ogawa and Yamamoto in all versions, along with [[spoiler: Kawada and Keiko]].
** To a lesser extent, ''any'' couple who died together ([[spoiler: namely Yoshimi and Youji and Sakura and Kazuhiko]]), because, well, even if they're together before The Program, [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne it obviously couldn't last past the game]].
** Non-romantic example: the [[spoiler:girls' of the lighthouse]] "funeral", so they could be friends again in death.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Quite possibly an audience/reader reaction, given the chances of inadvertently finding yourself wondering if you could do it, how well you'd do, etc. Of course, the question of whether or not you could kill your best friend is the entire point.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano, respectively, in the novel.
* TooDumbToLive: Toshinori Oda in the film only, who is shot with an Uzi by Kazuo but survives because of his awesome BulletProofVest. A fact he screams at the top of his voice the second he realises he's still alive. Cue Kazuo leaping off a small building beside him, wakizashi in hand.
** He's less obviously retarded in the book and manga, but still pretty stupid--in the manga, he fakes a death rattle so Kazuo will come close to him and check if he's dead, allowing Oda to stab him with his hidden kitchen knife. [[spoiler: Kazuo doesn't fall for this moronic ruse]].
* {{Tsundere}}: Chigusa, by Sugimura's account. [[DefrostingIceQueen She's more the original version, though, where as you get to know her she warms up considerably.]]
* TriangRelations: There's a few of these:
** Type 5 with Chigusa, who loves Hiroki, who secretly loves Kotohiki. Chigusa does find out when she flat out asks Hiroki if he loves her, but she's dying when she asks so, while clearly upsetting to her, it's the least of her concerns at the time. Also qualifies as a heartwarming IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy moment, since she'd clearly already worked it out and was just hoping he really did love her. In the novel, when Hiroki admits that he does have crush, Takako comments that he'd better ''not'' say her (i.e. "You know better than to say it just to try to make me happy in my last moments.").
** Type 4 is seen with Shuya, Noriko and Kuninobu; Noriko and Shuya are the OfficialCouple, with Kuninobu also very obviously crushing on Noriko. While Shuya's feelings for Noriko are left slightly ambiguous, this appears to be due to not wanting to go after the girl his best friend was crazy about so soon after his death. That she has feelings for him though she can't hold in, even if she does apparently feel a bit guilty about it.
** Type 4 also occurs with Utsumi, Shuya and Noriko, as Utsumi secretly has feelings for Shuya which she tries to tell him (when he's barely conscious though so not the best time) but appears to realise he doesn't see her the same way. Admittedly we don't know for sure where she would have gone with her feelings given [[spoiler: she and her friends massacre each other moments after their conversation]]
* TheVamp: Mitsuko's strategy mainly involves gaining people's trust and getting them while their guard is down.
* TheVoiceless: Kiriyama in the film, he doesn't say a single word despite being the main antagonist.
* WhenSheSmiles: Hirono, at least in the manga. When she smiled from the heart, Shuya realized that she actually wasn't such a bad person after all. Especially noticeable in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/battle_royale/c064/16.html this page]].
* WideEyedIdealist: Shuya and Yuichiro, though Yuichiro actually made some headway; His refusal to think of Mitsuko as a bad person genuinely touched her to the point that she had a complete mental breakdown when he was shot.
* WithThisHerring: A few of the weapons given out at the start. Including a megaphone, a pair of binoculars, a shamisen, and a squeaky toy hammer.
* WoundedGazelleGambit. Mitsuko in all three versions, though the victim changes. In the novel and manga, it's Hiroki, who has captured her and intends killing her in revenge for Chigusa. A combination of her crocodile tears and his martial pacifism allow her to escape. In the film she pulls it on Hirono, though it doesn't actually work as Hirono knows her too well. Mitsuko still kills her though.
* TheVoice: An extremely interesting case that makes a sub-plot stretching across both films more effective. In the first film, we don't see Shiori Kitano, the teacher's daughter, we only hear her voice on the phone. In the second film, she's a main character. What adds more to this is that Kitano (senior) sees Noriko as his surrogate daughter as Shiori hates him. Noriko and Shiori are played by real life sisters, Aki and Ai Maeda (respectively).
* YamatoNadeshiko: Noriko in the film version is actually a very good example of this, and not a MarySue as she is often perceived as being. It's most apparent just after her dream sequence, where she tells Kawada how she was expected to just leave school, find a man, be a housewife and live a normal, boring life. Now however, with all this, she realises that even if she does somehow survive (and remember that her protector, Shuya, is missing at this point) then nothing will ever be the same again.
* YouDontWantToDieAVirginDoYou: Niida in all three versions tries to persuade Chigusa of this. Unfortunately, he doesn't take "no" for an answer and becomes a bit more forceful. Yukie also acknowledges that she never would have found the courage to make moves on Shuya if not for the whole "surrounded by students trying to kill me" thing.
* ZenSurvivor: Shogo Kawada, of the previous Program.
----
to:
*
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga expands the characters from the novel
* AdultsAreUseless:
** The parents and government
** On a more personal level, Shiori Kitano and the film version of Shuya consider their parents (particularly their fathers) to have failed them in that role.
* AffectionateParody: The name "Takako Chigusa", which is a shout out to women's ProfessionalWrestling. The classroom scene in all versions, and the evil instructor Kinpatsu Sakamochi's name is a parody of the heroic teacher Kinpachi Sensei. Naturally this will be lost on Western viewers, hence the occasional misinterpretation of the classroom scene in the film as {{Narm}}.
* AHouseDivided: The girls in the lighthouse.
* AllThereInTheManual: Several of the students' weapons weren't seen in the film version, however what they were given was confirmed in promotional materials released in Japan along with the film.
* AlternateHistory: The backstory, at least in the original novel and the manga, is that Japan still has a military dictatorship past WorldWarII--in fact, it looks like it had one back in 1917. The first Battle Royale Program took place as early as 1947, shortly after the Japanese victory. In other words, it's become so commonplace by the time the story takes place (in 1997, at least in the novel) that no one really cares. The movie takes place in modern Japan, but TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture after an economic collapse and sharp rise in juvenile crime. Which is better depends on [[BrokenBase who in the fandom you're talking to]].
* ArtisticAge: A lot of the characters in the manga do not even remotely resemble people in their 20's, let alone junior high school students. Shogo Kawada with his beard is the most unrealistically adult-looking character, while Yutaka Seto (who is about one or two years younger) looks like he's ten.
** And the hyper-sexualized manga version of Mitsuko looks and acts like she's in her 20s.
* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Cyanide poisoning renders a person unable to use oxygen. It does ''not'' make you vomit blood.
** Although it's very possible the poison was augmented in some way before it was given out as a weapon.
* AudibleSharpness: In the film. When Kitano pulls his knife out of Fujiyoshi's skull, it inexplicably makes a metallic sound.
* AuthorAppeal: ''Born to Run'' by BruceSpringsteen gets quite a number of mentions due to being a song the author loves.
* AxCrazy: Several students become like this, if they weren't already psychotic before being kidnapped. Yoshio Akamatsu and Kazushi Niida are the most prominent examples. Some just go insane from the stress and paranoia, like Kaori. The Program director in the novel and manga takes great delight in seeing the students suffer and die. On the other hand, Kazuo Kiriyama is so terrifying because he's ''not'' like that. For him, killing his classmates is no different than playing a sport or a musical instrument. Most of the AxCrazy people are violent idiots who don't survive for very long.
* {{Badass}}: About a half of the main cast: Shogo Kawada, Shinji Mimura, [[BoringInvincibleVillain Kazuo Kiriyama]] and Hiroki Sugimura, each in their own right. Among the girls, Mitsuko Souma and Takako Chigusa, who, at the point of the game that Niida found her, was the only girl without a gun or/and well-armed allies in the island. Still, trying to assault her was a ''bad'' idea.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Sakura and Kazuhiko. Yuko as well, during her FreakOut.
* BigBad: The supervisor in all three versions. The secondary antagonists (among the students) are Mitsuko and Kazuo.
* BigDamnHeroes: Kawada gets this trope multiple times. First, against the school president Kyoichi saving Shuya. Later, once again, in the manga, saving Shuya from Kaori.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shuya and Noriko have survived, meaning the Program has failed for the first time ever, and Shogo has found peace at last, but everyone else is dead, including Kitano, and they're doomed to live the rest of their lives as fugitives.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Many of the subtitling attempts at the film version tend to localise very badly. ({{Channel 4}} and the producers of the Korean Starmax version, here's looking at you!)
** The 2012 North American DVD/Blu-ray edition features some of the worst English dubbing ever, and the dialogue often doesn't even come close to the translation given in the subtitles.
* BloodUpgrade: In the movie, Takako doesn't go off at Niida
* ActionGirl: Katniss and most of the other female contestants.
* AdultFear:
** The point of the Hunger Games was for the Capitol to
** Also the fact that Katniss has sworn off the idea of marriage or children because she knows that any children she had would have to face
* BrokenBird: Mitsuko and Yoshimi.
* BondVillainStupidity: Numai's gang in the film fall victim to this, though in their defence (a) it's reasonable to assume that 3 people with guns and a fourth with grenades are going to win in a fight against a guy "armed" with a paper fan and (b) in the film version they don't know how just how dangerous Kazuo actually is. Hirono also makes the mistake in the film by not killing Mitsuko on one of the very rare occasions on which she was actually caught vulnerable. Unlike Numai, Hirono can't justify her actions with the belief that Mitsuko was unarmed, because it's clear Hirono knows her well enough that she realise know such problems don't stop a person like Mitsuko.
* BottomlessMagazines: Kiriyama, He only changes magazine once and fires hundred of rounds.
* {{Bowdlerisation}}: Inevitable for TV showings or those in countries with strict laws regarding violence in films, but the German version was probably the most severe when it came to cuts, cutting back many of the deaths. The director himself produced a version like this though, for release to under 15s in his home country.
* BulletProofVest: Oda's "weapon"; he lets people shoot him, plays dead, then strangles them when they check to make sure he's down. In all three versions, Kiriyama kills him and takes the vest for himself near the end. (In the film, he's only there long enough for Kiriyama to do him in.)
* TheCameo: Sonny Chiba turns up for a scene as Mimura's uncle in the second film (although the character is already dead before BattleRoyale, according to the original novel).
* ChickMagnet:
** Shinji had been a womanizer when we first see him. The manga even shows his first appearance as playing basketball and wondering if he has enough condoms to do the whole crowd of fangirls.
* TheCracker: In a slightly more heroic example, formerly PlayfulHacker Shinji Mimura decides to use his skills for something a bit more serious after being forced into the Program. In all three versions, he attempts to hack into the government's computer system to disable the collars in order to make an escape attempt: he is caught in the manga and novel versions halfway through his plan due to the microphones in the collars; but in the movie, he does succeed in doing so. His uncle, particularly in the manga version, is also an example.
* CrapsackWorld: All three versions make it pretty clear that that's what the world has become, though the sequel to the film suggests that in the film continuity things aren't quite as bad as they are in the novel/manga, both of which have a NineteenEightyFour type feel to them.
* CreepyDoll: Mitsuko's alter ego is a giant damaged doll, the same as the one she was given as her mother remarried. Mai's doll also counts, being seen briefly in the first film and again in the second
* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Takako Chigusa's death scene, in Hiroki's arms. Despite having brutally murdered a guy moments beforehand (admittedly, in self defence), she's the object of nothing but sympathy from the audience in her final moments as she begs God for just a few more moments in the world with her best friend and true love. In the manga, it's especially heartbreaking since she has flashbacks from the time when she and Hiroki were kids together.
** Shinji and Yutaka's reconciliation in the manga had a healthy dose of this, [[spoiler: until Kiriyama [[DidntSeeThatComing dropped]] [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath by]]]].
** All of the manga's flashbacks with Shuuya. Especially the one in volume five.
* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Hirono Shimizu's]] manga death. Crosses over with NightmareFuel for more than a few.
* CulturalTranslation: Keith Giffen's work on the manga. Also counts as PragmaticAdaptation to
* DawsonCasting: Most of the cast was around fifteen (Aki Maeda as Noriko) or in their late teens (18-year-old Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya), but there are still two glaring examples: Taro Yamamoto (Shogo) and Masanobu Ando (Kiriyama) were 26 and 25 respectively when the film was released. The sequel also has a couple of examples, but not many. Makoto Sakamoso, who played Osamu, was 25 when he played the part. Ironically, his character is one of the youngest-looking.
** FridgeBrilliance: Both characters are outsiders, and one of them is older. Their actor choice already teases this.
* DecoyProtagonist: In the novel, Shinji is shown as being a near-perfect student in a clear attempt to not make it obvious that Shuya is. Thus, Shinji's [[spoiler:death in the middle of the book]] is a huge surprise, after which no attempt is made to hide Shuya's hero status. While this is a commendable idea in theory, it meant turning Shinji into a total Mary Sue. No surprise therefore that the idea was dropped for the film ([[spoiler:with Shinji's death becoming a climactic action sequence]] and in fact the English translation of the book even has on its cover two silhouettes who are blatantly meant to be Shuya and Noriko).
** In the manga, Shuya spends a lot of time reassuring everyone that Shinji's going to come up with a plan to get them all off the island. [[spoiler:Finding his body is a big factor in Shuya's epic HeroicBSOD.
*
* DeadStarWalking: Yoshitoki Kuninobu is introduced as Shuya's best friend and comic relief, and it seems
** During the Games, Katniss wonders why the "Careers" (tributes from Districts 1 and 2) name their children such odd things like "Glimmer" and "Marvel".
* AirstripOne: The Districts are numbered and segregated by industry.
* AfterTheEnd: Some combination of wars and natural disasters destroyed the entire population of the
** The character of Mitsuko is depicted for much of the film as one of the lead villains (and was played by a well-known teen singing star), but
* TheAlcoholic: Former District 12 champion Haymitch Abernathy. In fact, it seems that a lot of Games champions end up with some kind of drug or alcohol addiction, due to a combination of too much money and time on their hands, having no real way
* DefrostingIceQueen: Shiori
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: The people in the
* AmbiguouslyBrown:
** Rue and
** Katniss, Gale and Haymitch sport the "Seam look", meaning olive skin, dark hair and grey eyes.
*
* AnnoyingArrows: This happens unless Katniss hits a vital area.
* AnyoneCanDie: The Hunger Games is actually an interesting example. Many of the characters
** Some
* DepravedHomosexual: Sho Tsukioka is effeminate in manner but humorously masculine in appearance and uses his skills
* {{Determinator}}: Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura in the manga. While his initial plan to cripple The Program failed, Mimura is able to come up with his bomb plan which is
* ApocalypseHow: In the backstory. It's continental societal disruption at the least, leading to the creation of Panem.
* TheArcher: Katniss. Also Gale.
* ArtisticLicense:
** ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare:
*** In ''Mockingjay'' Katniss stuffs Buttercup into a bag and
* DevelopmentHell: The American remake, for obvious reasons:
** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
** [[AC: Now]] it would be considered too much like ''TheHungerGames''.
* DividedWeFall:
*** Katniss also picks Buttercup up by the scruff of his neck without supporting his rump. He's a grown tom cat. Any pet owner will tell you that is a ''humongous'' no-no.
*** After Buttercup is forced into a bag, he allows Prim to tie a ribbon around his neck and hold him in her arms. After being bagged? Both of these actions would probably cause a cat a great deal of distress (possibly causing the animal to retaliate in violence) in real life.
** ArtisticLicenseBiology:
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss mistakes evening primrose for rose and implies they're two types of the same species of flower. The thorny roses Snow leaves and primrose are not even mildly similar to look at. Mistaking one for the other would be more or less impossible.
** ArtisticLicensePharmacology:
*** [[spoiler: Snow uses assassination by]] poison to get into power. Apparently the Capitol can neither run basic autopsies nor test surfaces for presence of toxins.
*** "Morphling," an apparent stand in for morphine, appears in most functions to be an opiate, but for some reason the two morphling addicts from ''CatchingFire'' are extremely thin. Thinness from opiate addiction comes from choosing to buy drugs over food, not any effect of the drug. Katniss says that they ''did'' have the money to buy food as well, so their emaciation makes no sense.
*** In ''Mockingjay'', Katniss describes morphling as making her feel numb and empty. For opiate addicts (who've begun to grow 'immune' to the effects) this may be the
*** Hijacking [[spoiler:specifically tracker jacker venom]], as further explained in HollywoodPsychology below.
** ArtisticLicensePhysics:
*** Beetee's electric trap in ''Catching Fire'' would not be capable of killing all the
* DramaticGunCock: Shogo Kawada does this quite a lot.
* DueToTheDead: In
* EveryCarIsAPinto: The two cars
* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Many kittens pop up in the story:
** Shuya and Noriko find a cute kitten, play with it as they comment about how cute it is. Then they
** In the novel and manga Kaori is driven mad by the violence and she shoots a kitten with her gun, thinking "Even kittens want to kill me!".
** Hiroki has a flashback about Kayoko when he took with him a very young kitten in the street, hiding it in his desk and wondering why it is meowing so much. Kayoko teaches him that he must rub its crotch with a warm wet towel to make it pee.
* ExplosiveLeash, YourHeadASplode: If someone tries to leave the island, the collar that they are wearing explodes, along with their head. Ditto for trying to remove the collar, or lingering in a danger zone. [[spoiler:In the novel and manga, it only makes one victim, Sho. In the film, Yoshitoki is the only victim]].
** Well, [[spoiler:Kiriyama does get shot in his explosive collar at the climax,
* AsianAndNerdy: Everyone from District 3 (which produces electronics). "Nuts" Wiress and "Volts" Beetee, the two engineers in Catching Fire, "are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair." The explosives expert in The Hunger Games is described by Katniss as "scrawny, ashen-skinned" and by Rue as "not very big." The narrator of the Scholastic audio books puts on a distinct stereotypical Asian accent that is especially noticeable in ''Catching Fire''.
* AxCrazy: Some of the Careers. Clove would've given Katniss a GlasgowSmile if Thresh hadn't stepped in. And Cato explodes so violently when Katniss takes out his supplies that he snaps a nearby boy's neck. Enobaria rips someone else's throat out.
* AnAxeToGrind: Johanna Mason in the Quarter Quell; after all, she's from the lumber district.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta]] have two kids.
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter:
** [[spoiler: Peeta]] deliberately invokes this trope [[spoiler: by claiming Katniss is pregnant after the two are forced back into the arena for the Quarter Quell.]] Apparently not even the bloodthirsty denizens of the Capitol seem to want to watch a pregnant woman be killed.
** Subverted in the series epilogue: while [[spoiler:Peeta and Katniss have two children, and this is a sign of hope, the world is still far from a good place, and Peeta and Katniss both retain enduring psychological issues as a result of the events of the books]].
* BadDreams: Katniss and the rest of the victors seem plagued by them.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: This occurs with regard to [[spoiler:Rue.]]
*
* BattleCouple: Katniss and
*
* FiveManBand: The lighthouse girls, who were a clique before they were put
** TheHero - Yukie Utsumi
** TheLancer - Haruka Tanizawa
** TheBigGuy - Yuka Nakagawa
** TheSmartGuy - Satomi Noda
** TheChick - Chisato Matsui
** SixthRangerTraitor - Yuko Sakaki
* FingerLickingPoison:
* {{Flanderization}}: The manga does this to some of the novel's
** Let's not even mention Mitsuko Souma's ultra-sexual portrayal...she's an actual ''rapist'' in the manga (the novel and film leave it more open about whether she goes that far). Kazuo Kiriyama, however, was massively Flanderized in the film. His AxeCrazy streak is so magnified that it becomes his only characteristic; in the original novel he has a group of friends and can at least put up a facade of normalcy.
* ForeignLanguageTitle
* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
** Similar for Kiriyama, except he [[spoiler: actually has ''severe'' '''brain damage'''.
*
* GenreBusting: The film is notoriously hard to classify, and the novel is no better. Some consider it horror due to the [[NightmareFuel Nightmare Fuel-laden]] premise, but that classification always causes "traditional" horror fans to balk
* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: Mitsuko with that sickle - the image of her smiling in Megumi's doorway, shining the torch upwards into her face and grinning maniacally is one of the most iconic from the film.
** [[http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/7641/935323_008.jpg You mean this?]]
* {{Gonk}}: Kamon in the manga. He was so inhumanly ugly he clashed with the manga's art style.
** The artist CANNOT draw children. At least not boys....
*** To be fair, pre-pubescent children are notoriously tough to draw (even by professionals) without making them look too old or produce an UncannyValley effect, assuming the artist is aiming for some sense of realism (which Taguchi does).
* {{Gorn}}: Often believed to be played straight, but actually subverted -- the film is shockingly violent in order to, well, shock. The fact that this is happening to teenagers, and at the hands of their own friends/classmates is in no way meant to titillate, it's meant to horrify. Sadly, many people fail to realise this and believe it's a straight up gorefest.
** The same could be said of the manga, though the artist was a little too eager with the gruesome images, so whether or not it achieves the same purpose or crosses the line is [[YourMileageMayVary up to interpretation]].
* GroinAttack Used by [[spoiler:Chigusa]] against [[spoiler:Niida]] after his attack on her fails.
* HairColors: In the live-action movie, Kazuo Kiriyama's hair is a bright red colour, allegedly to highlight his importance and deliquence. Takako Chigusa's hair is dyed blond in the manga, and Hirono Shimizu's is blue.
* HandsomeLech: Shinji Mimura. His marked misogynistic tendencies don't seem to get in the way of this at all.
* HandWave: The film largely handwaves the premise, which is extremely flawed, by vaguely explaining it in 30 seconds of a 2 hour film and then never touching politics again.
* HeroicSacrifice: In the second film, Shibaki and Osamu each pull one in short succession.
* HeyItsThatVoice: In a rare live action example, the Training Video Girl sounds like a [[NeonGenesisEvangelion possibly recognizable redhead]]
* HollywoodHacking: Complete with RapidFireTyping in what appears to be perfectly valid C.
* HopeSpot: Lots of them, most notably [[spoiler:Hiroki Sugimura's death]].
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The entire plot of the story.
* IdiotHero: Shuya Nanahara. Despite all of the events, losing his best friend and numerous others throughout the course of the Program, still believes that there is good in everyone, even going so far as to [[spoiler:trying to save [[ImplacableMan Kiriyama]] after shooting him in the throat in the manga.]] This is similarly backed up in several character backstories, where Shuya comes rushing in without prior thought and doing something stupid that earns him respect. Shogo makes mention of Shuya's foolishness many, many times.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Lampshaded in the YMMV English translation of the manga: in the beginning of the car chase, when Shogo kicks away the windshield so he doesn't have to "dodge flying glass", he hands Shuuya his Uzi, recommending him to not "go all Marvin in Pulp Fiction" with the weapon.
* ImplacableMan: Kazuo Kiriyama. In all three versions, he just keeps coming...and he can't be reasoned with.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Mai in the sequel, with her explosive-laden ''doll''.
* InSpiteOfANail: In the novel, even though a totally different political situation replaced the Cold War as we know it, it didn't stop Armstrong from being the first man on the moon, or the rock music scene turning exactly in the same way as in our world, with the same stars.
** The totalitarian fascist government also appears to tolerate the otaku subculture (Yuichiro), and flamboyant homosexuality (Sho). (Though it might be in the same way as they "tolerate" rock music).
*** The Director in the book version makes some comment about how those degenerate Americans allow homosexuality, so it's probably not all roses for gays.
* IntimateHealing: In some twisted part of her mind, [[spoiler:this is what Mitsuko thought she was doing to a bleeding/dying Yuichiro in the manga.
*
* BeeBeeGun: Katniss uses a hive of lethal, genetically-altered wasps to kill some of her opponents. And almost kills herself in the process.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Peeta, though he got better.]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Peeta is the Betty and Gale (despite being Katniss' best friend from early childhood) is the Veronica to Katniss's Archie: Peeta is nice and fairly sweet, while Gale has a revolutionary mindset and a ruthless streak. [[http://apricotteacup.deviantart.com/art/Hunger-Games-Peeta-VS-Gale-152229494?q=sort%3Atime+favby%3ATaylorswifty1&qo=3&offset=130 This picture]] sums it up nicely.
* BigBad: [[PresidentEvil President Coriolanus Snow.]]
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Cameras are waiting to catch every minute of Katniss and Peeta's lives once they become contestants in the Hunger Games. Life in the districts is also very closely monitored, leaving people afraid to say anything that might come off as negative about the Capitol. President Snow even [[spoiler: knows Gale and Katniss kissed in the woods outside District 12]].
* BirdsOfAFeather: Katniss and Gale, though ultimately inverted when [[spoiler:Katniss decides that she needs Peeta]] to balance her own personality out.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The freedom]] at the end of the third book [[spoiler:is paid for in a lot of blood, and the characters are burdened with deep emotional scars. However, Panem is rebuilding and there's some BabiesEverAfter for the two lead characters.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality
* BlackMarketProduce: Katniss makes her living poaching game and selling it on the black market. In addition, most food that isn't made from grain rations is expensive and rather rare in the Districts. The decadent Capitol, on the other hand, has tons of food of all kinds.
* BloodFromTheMouth:
** Subverted by President Snow, since it's neither overt nor a sign of his impending death. [[spoiler:Played straight later.]]
** The first tribute Katniss sees die suddenly sprays blood onto her face while fighting with her over supplies, due to a sudden and terminal case of throwing-knife-in-back. Katniss herself narrowly avoids succumbing to the malady a few seconds later.
* BloodKnight: "Careers" are kids who train all their young lives to win glory in the Games, volunteering for them if they're not selected by lottery.
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: About thirty seconds into the 74th Hunger Games, the boy from District 9 coughs blood into Katniss' face after getting knifed by Clove.
* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Invoked with Katniss's wedding dress: [[spoiler: instead of being spattered with blood, it lights itself on fire then turns into a mockingjay dress.]]
* BlueEyes: Prim, Mrs. Everdeen, and Peeta. Implied to be a trait of the merchant class.
* BoomerangComeback: This is how [[spoiler: Haymitch]] won his game. [[spoiler: He made it to the edge of the arena, where he discovered there was a force field that reflected back everything that was thrown at it. The other remaining competitor caught up with him, threw an axe, Haymitch ducked, the axe bounced back, and killed the thrower.]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Peeta. He gets better.]]
* BreadAndCircuses: ''Panem et Circenses''. DiscussedTrope in ''Mockingjay.''
* BreakTheCutie: Peeta's TraumaCongaLine is significantly longer than that of most of the other characters, though for the most part he takes it all in stride.
* BreakfastClub: People who have won the Hunger Games tend to become close friends and stick together, because only other tributes can understand what they have gone through.
* BriefAccentImitation: Gale at the beginning of the first novel, inciting one of about five times where Katniss actually ''laughs''.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu:
** In the first book, [[spoiler: Katniss is blown back by the explosion she sets off destroying the Careers' supplies and is rendered completely deaf in her left ear. Unable to escape, she only survives by hiding right under their noses]].
** In the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: Katniss nearly kills herself breaking the force field over the arena]].
* TheBrute: Cato, in the first book, and the aptly named Brutus in the second.
* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: The Capitol plans to do this to [[spoiler: Peeta and Katniss]]. This is later subverted in the end of the third book, where [[spoiler: they voluntarily decide to marry]].
* ButtMonkey: [[spoiler:Poor Boggs. His life is a string of tribulations, from Katniss puking all over him to Gale breaking his nose to getting his legs blown off and dying horribly. The closest he comes to complaining is a sigh when Katniss pukes on him.]]
* CallARabbitASmeerp:
** "Muttation" is a generic in-universe term for a genetically engineered creature, probably derived from "mutt" and "mutation". Lots of things count, like those wolves at the end of the first book, or Jabberjays and Tracker Jackers. Many more exotic variants are introduced in the third book when [[spoiler: they're storming the Capitol]].
** The addictive painkiller in use around Panem is called "morphling" (morphine) and the people addicted to it are called "morphlings."
** Poisonous berries called "nightlock" (nightshade, hemlock).
* CaptainObvious: [[spoiler: Peeta]] in ''Catching Fire'' when after he ran head-first into a force field, died, and then brought back to life by [[spoiler:Finnick]], he mentions there's a force field ahead of them.
* CatsAreMean: Buttercup is to everyone who isn't Prim. [[spoiler:Until Katniss and he finally bond after Prim's death.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Nightlock berries and [[spoiler: Foxface's death]]
* ChekhovsHobby: Frosting cakes turns out to come in really handy.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: President Coin.]]
* ChildrenForcedToKill
* ClosedCircle
* CloseKnitCommunity: District 12
** District 11 gets less limelight, but are this as well. [[spoiler: They pool their money to buy Katniss a thank you gift in the arena for treating Rue well and giving her a proper funeral.]]
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: The whole point of life in the Districts, and the Games. Katniss takes a lot of horror in stride in the first book, but over the course of the trilogy the conditioning wears off.
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler:Haymitch]], Snow, [[spoiler:Coin]], Johanna, and Peeta.
* ContrivedCoincidence:
** In-universe. Family members of past tributes are disproportionately likely to be selected as tributes themselves. Katniss figures the drawings must be rigged that way to create [[RuleOfDrama extra drama]].
** The odds of Prim getting reaped in her first year, without any additional buy-ins is staggeringly small.
** In the first book, Katniss finally collapses from dehydration mere feet away from water.
** If Katniss ever thinks that she doesn't
** When Katniss is thinking about betraying [[spoiler:Boggs]] he very conveniently [[spoiler:steps onto a mine]] and then gives command to her so that she doesn't have to technically betray anyone.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: Invoked: [[spoiler:A fake miscarriage for Katniss and Peeta's fake baby]].
* CostumePorn: Each tribute gets a personal stylist. Looking flashy outside of the arena serves a practical purpose, though: tributes who catch the audience's eye are more likely to receive sponsors who can help them survive the arena.
* CoveredInMud: Peeta uses a large amount of mud with plants on top to disguise himself as part of a riverbank when he is too injured to move. This probably helps his infection along.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In ''Catching Fire'' [[spoiler: Finnick]] performs CPR on [[spoiler: Peeta]] (whose heart has stopped) for several minutes before he coughs and sputters to life. After being thrown backward by an electrified ''forcefield''.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The arena of the second Quarter Quell (Haymitch's) is this. At first glance it's the "most breathtaking place imaginable." There're blue skies, puffy white clouds, songbirds flying by, [[CoolClearWater crystalline streams]], luscious fruit, gorgeous flowers, butterflies, etc. Then everyone realizes [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything]] is [[DeathWorld deadly poisonous]]. And the [[KillerRabbit fluffy, golden squirrels are carnivorous]].
* CrapsackWorld: Most of the districts are horrible places to live. The people are poor, starving, and oppressed while those in the Capitol live outrageously decadent lives. And that's even without mentioning the eponymous DeadlyGame.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
** Haymitch Abernathy seems like a useless drunk, but he
** In
** Johanna Mason famously exploited this trope to win the games, appearing to be helpless when she is actually a ruthless killer.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Anyone who's died in the Games, really. And the last book.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The Capitol is described as being full of colored glass, and the people are obsessed with fashion. Technology also seems to have advanced to the
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Wiress knows what she's talking about. The trick is ''figuring out'' just what that is.
* DarkActionGirl: Pretty much any female Career tribute by definition, but Clove fits the trope to a T. Annie is the exception.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The whole series is pretty dark to begin with, but the series finale, ''Mockingjay'', is much more hopeless than even the first two.
* DeadLittleSister: Katniss' father dies five years before the
* DeadpanSnarker: Haymitch and Johanna.
* DeathCourse: The Hunger Games, especially when the tributes settle down into a comfortable recovery period / stalemate. [[spoiler:The Capitol defenses use much of the
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:Plutarch Heavensbee, his assistant, and
* JokeWeapon: Some students got completely useless weapons, like Yutaka's fork, Noriko's boomerang, Yumiko's darts, Shuya's pot lid
** That said, Shuya does find a use for the pot lid as a makeshift shield
*
* DespairEventHorizon: Katniss passes over it in a matter of paragraphs [[spoiler: at the
* {{Defictionalization}}: You can actually buy mockingjay pins. Interesting, because the citizens of the Capitol displayed this exact behavior in ''Catching Fire''.
* DidMomJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: At the beginning of ''Catching Fire'', the president drops by for a
* DisappearedDad: Katniss and Prim's father died in the
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Only two students manage to escape The Program.]]
* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[TagLine Could you kill your best friend?]]
* LargeHam: Taku in the second film; almost everything he says he shouts. Granted, he's rather tame in comparison to Riki Takeuchi, the 'teacher'
* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: Rue]] in the first book. In the others, [[spoiler: Prim. For someone driving the plot of the first book, she]] gets almost no screentime and dies to instigate the ending.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The Hunger Games are hateful, deplorable, they ruin their victors psychologically, and the series as a whole is viciously anti-war... but a major part of the story's appeal is the actual excitement of the Hunger Games sequences... ''For both the Capitol and the readers!''
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** In District 11, the dark-skinned population is forced to farm and are treated with particular brutality. This sounds a lot like slavery in the American South.
** Panem and [[spoiler:District 13]] are nuclear powers locked in a stalemate. Panem is decadent, wealthy, and corrupt. Its citizens enjoy outrageous luxury while they exploit the surrounding communities to feed their enormous appetites. [[spoiler:District 13]], on the other hand, is a dull and drab place, ruled by an a totalitarian regime that regiments every aspect of its citizens' lives. That's pretty much how the US and the USSR portrayed each other during the Cold War.
* DoomedHometown: [[spoiler: District 12 is firebombed to the ground at the end of ''Catching Fire''.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Peeta.
* DrowningMySorrows: Haymitch becomes a drunk due to the horrors he has witnessed.
* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide: Katniss understandably attempts various suicidal things after the end of the war in the final book. None are fulfilled naturally]]
* DrunkenMaster: Haymitch is a hopeless alcoholic, but his knowledge of people and tactics is astounding.
* DueToTheDead: Katniss covers [[spoiler:Rue's]] body with flowers and sings a funeral lament.
* DyingAlone
* DyingAsYourself: Peeta's wish before going into the arena.
* DysfunctionJunction: Go figure.
* {{Dystopia}}: Panem is not a great place to live.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Johanna Mason gets a brief mention in the first book, then appears in the flesh ([[NakedOnArrival literally!]]) a book later.
** Delly Cartwright is mentioned in the first part of the first book in passing, but doesn't appear until the middle of the third.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: More like earn your bittersweet ending.
* EatTheDog: ''"No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog."''
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: [[spoiler:District 13]].
* EmbarrassingFirstName: While the people themselves don't seem to be, at least Katniss notes that a lot of District 1 ''should'' be embarrassed by their names, the likes of which include Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss.
* EnemyMine: ''Temporary'' alliances are all part of the Hunger Games. In ''Catching Fire'', the doomed tributes hold hands in a show of solidarity against the Capitol.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Often used in-universe with Katniss.
** She's never warned about Peeta's interview strategy so that her reaction will be more genuine.
** She's dropped into the warzone to film her candid reactions for propaganda, since she can't act at all.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first two things we learn about Katniss are that she loves her sister and that she has no problem drowning kittens.
* MrFanservice:
** Gale maintains a surprising harem in the fandom for someone who was a tertiary character for the first book.
** Also, Finnick, both in-universe, and out.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Inverted. A group of deadly monkey muttations show up in the arena in ''Catching Fire.''
* EverythingsWorseWithBees: Tracker jacker wasps.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** The gamemakers frown on certain behaviors in the Hunger Games, but moreso because it will draw a poor reaction from the audience rather than out of moral disdain. They will not tolerate cannibalism, nor will they allow a psychopath to become a victor (unless they can be charming about it, as the Career Tributes tend to be somewhat... AxCrazy).
** The Capitol citizens will gleefully watch children fight to the death, but send a young woman who's alledgedly pregnant into the arena and they'll call it barbaric.
** In the third book, [[spoiler:Snow never exercises his Nuclear Option, which would damn humanity to extinction, even when he realizes that he's doomed.]] He states that he would never kill someone if it gave him no advantage.
* EvilGloating: When Clove catches [[spoiler:Katniss]], she decides to give her something to think about. Followed- as usual- by a ThwartedCoupDeGrace.
* EvilSmellsBad:
** President Snow smells of blood and cloying roses. It seems symbolic at first, but a reason for it is given in ''Mockingjay'': [[spoiler:Snow killed many rivals with poison. He uses the roses to cover up the smell of poison, and his bloody breath is from the mouth sores left by poisoned drinks he shared with his victims after taking less-than-perfect antidotes.]]
** Snow uses the overpowering smell of roses to intimidate his enemies, especially Katniss. The lizard mutts in ''Mockingjay'' were specifically given this trait to screw with her head.
* EyeScream: When Katniss is hunting squirrels, she shoots them in the eye (to spare the meat).
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Katniss thinks Johanna]] has done this when she "attacks" her. She assumes [[spoiler:Finnick]] must be in on it too.
* FantasticDrug: "Morphling," a heroin-like addictive drug that is obviously a reference to morphine.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Panem is basically a futuristic, sci-fi version of Rome. The country's name is an adoption of Rome's "Bread and Circuses" motto. The Capitol is an incredibly authoritarian superpower that brutally reigns over conquered territories to feed the decadent desires of its own citizens. The gladiatorial parallels with the Hunger Games are obvious, of course. The parties feature guests who induce vomiting so that they can consume more food, which is popularly thought to have been common at Roman banquets.
* FailOSuckyname: Plutarch Heavensbee, Effie Trinket, and just about everyone in the Capitol. Except Seneca Crane.
* FalseFlagOperation: Toward the end of ''Mockingjay''.
* FeedTheMole
* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The Capitol requires the Districts to treat the Games as a festival.
* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Peeta]] during a fair bit of ''Mockingjay''.
* FilkSong: Even if one ignores the [[http://www.youtube.
* LemonyNarrator:
** Rachel Macwhirter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnswUH9Oav8 Mockingjay]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYeWOQfQCQ8 Iron Children]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fqSZDKU-J4 Too Clever By Half (The Ballad Of Foxface)]].
** Alex Carpenter's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRA7_MnRKmk In The
--> She might have been dead before [she hit
** Kristina Horner and Luke Conard's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2iiRp0I8&feature=related Real Or Not Real]].
** On top of those, an entire unofficial soundtrack exists [[http://www.youtube.com/user/unofficialscore here]].
** Arshad's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRSvoKoU3kk Girl on Fire]]" could count as well. He wrote the
* LighthousePoint: At one point a bunch of
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A whopping total of forty-two students are press-ganged into The Program. A few of them are killed off immediately
*
* FireForgedFriends: Katniss and
*
** When [[spoiler:Shinji Mimura dies, he is machine gunned, causing his stomach to split open and his intestines to fall out of his body. He puts them back in
* FiveBadBand: The Career tributes from
** TheBigBad: Cato
** TheDragon: Clove
** TheEvilGenius: [[NoNameGiven the District 3 boy]]
** TheBrute: Marvel
** TheDarkChick: Glimmer
** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler: Peeta, but mostly as TheLoad.]]
** TheHero: [[spoiler: Katniss]]
** TheLancer: [[spoiler: Finnick]]
** TheBigGuy: [[spoiler: Johanna]], though
** TheSmartGuy: [[spoiler: Beetee]]
** TheHeart/TheChick: [[spoiler: Peeta]], who is also something of TheLoad.
* [[FirstGirlWins First Boy Wins]]: Subverted. [[spoiler: Peeta is the first boy chronologically speaking, which should cast him
*
*
* FlawExploitation: Katniss exploits the Capitol's [[spoiler: need for a victor]].
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: The second one, with Peeta and Katniss, respectively.
* FlowerMotifs: Several characters are named after flowers or plants, the President reeks of roses, and of course there's [[spoiler: Rue's death]] scene.
* FloweryInsults: Zig-zagged by Peeta [[spoiler: when he paints the picture of dead Rue covered in flowers for his private session but he never says a word to the Gamemakers]].
* FogOfDoom: A nasty example is encountered by [[spoiler: Katniss and her alliance in the
* FoodPorn: Early on, Katniss describes just about everything she eats in detail, which sort of makes sense considering she spent a
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first book, Katniss mentions she first met the avox in the train while in the forest with Gale. [[spoiler:She ponders where the avox could have been headed since [[BlatantLies there’s nothing beyond the forest of district 12...]]]]
* FragileSpeedster: Rue, who can
* FreudianSlip:
** After Rue is [[spoiler:fatally injured by the District 1 Career]], in a panic, Katniss refers to her as 'Prim' in her narration, though it's not really a secret that Rue has been a surrogate Prim in Katniss' eyes before that.
** And reversed in a later book Katniss sees Prim after [[spoiler:Rue's death]] and
* TheMessiah: Shuya. Heck,
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Prim seems to befriend any animal she meets, and
* FullCircleRevolution: [[SubvertedTrope Nearly]].
* GallowsHumor: Katniss and
* GenderFlip: Katniss is the ActionGirl and is proficient at hunting with a bow and arrow. Peeta bakes and paints, and is more emotional
* MoodWhiplash: Niida's extremely brutal attack on Chigusa
*
* GenerationXerox: Katniss looks like Mr. Everdeen, has inherited his hunting abilities, singing voice and, like him, [[spoiler: will marry someone from the
* GenghisGambit: In order to rally the people in the Capitol on her side and end things early, [[spoiler: Coin blows up a bunch of children and makes it look like Snow is
* GenreSavvy: After spending a life watching the Hunger Games, Peeta knows what storylines will excite the audience, and uses it to
* NoExportForYou: Toei insists
* GenreShift: ''Mockingjay'' abandons the Games entirely, [[BrokenBase breaking the base]] as
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Just one
* GildedCage:
** The wealthier districts have better living conditions but more brutal and fanatical Peacekeepers. On the other hand, District 12 is one of the poorest districts, but the authorities are far more willing to
** The Capitol itself could also be seen as this - for somewhere that is supposedly very privileged, we see several people willing to risk their lives to escape. The fact that [[spoiler: Seneca Crane was executed for simply [[YouHaveFailedMe failing at his job]]]] implies at least a very restrictive society, where [[BigBrotherIsWatching you're watched constantly]] and not toeing the
* NoseTapping: Hiroki does it.
* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Shogo Kawada bluffs a student this way at the end of his first game, then shoots him.
* OCStandIn:
** Mayumi Tendoand Fumiyo Fujiyoshi due to the characters receiving almost no characterisation whatsoever in any of the media - including the novel (they don't live long enough for that).
** Most of the students in the second film.
* OffhandBackhand: Kiriyama kills [[spoiler:Mizuho Inada]] this way in the novel.
* OhCrap: Mitsuko's facial expression says it all when, in the movie, she slashes Kiriyama across the chest, only to discover that he's wearing a bulletproof vest...
* {{Ojou}}: Several prominent examples of the first type, with Noriko in the film moreorless making this a DiscussedTrope with her monologue to Kawada. Kotohiki certainly fits this trope,
* OneSceneWonder: Almost anyone except the core half dozen may count depending on your preferences. Two are universally agreed upon though, one is Chigusa, who is definitely one of the best known characters despite having only two significant scenes, and they're consecutive. The other is Yukie Utsumi for the Lighthouse scene.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: In the novel and manga, Yoshimi, after learning that Yoji intends to kill her, tells Yoji that he can kill her. Yoji, in shock, does not kill her.
* PowerOfRock: While never actually having rocked out during the program, Shuya's reputation as an amateur rocker is what every character associates with his idealism of love and hope.
** In the novel, this also takes the form of several [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to Bruce Springsteen, particularly ''Born To Run''.
** Discussed with these words, when Shuya says that the PowerOfRock
* PragmaticAdaptation: Despite the many criticisms of the film
* PsychoForHire: Kazuo Kiriyama, in the movie.
* PunchClockVillain: Kitano in the film is an apathetic man going through a middle-age crisis, having realised how unhappy he is in life. Nonetheless, he's being paid to organise the mutual massacre of his own students.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Kiriyama and Shinji]] are the best examples, though others borderline this.
* RealLifeRelative: Noriko Nakagawa and Shiori Kitano are respectively portrayed by sisters Aki and Ai Maeda in the films.
* ReCut: Both films had an extended version made. The first's extra scenes includes a flashback to Mitsuko's past and a scene of the class playing basketball, shown in pieces throughout the film. The second film added extra characterisation to the main students and Shuya's group. The first film was also cut back so that it would pass the censors' requirements for under 15s to see it, as was the director's original intention.
* RedShirt: The vast majority of students receive at least ''some'' characterisation (at least in the novel and manga). Tendo and Fujiyoshi receive almost none even in those versions. In both films, almost everyone save the core eight or so and a couple of {{One Scene Wonder}}s are this.
* SawedOffShotgun: Shogo Kawada uses a sawed-off M31 Remington shotgun in the novel and manga, and a Franchi SPAS-12 combat shotgun in the movie.
* SayItWithHearts: Various characters in the manga (obviously). Used for a variety of effects, from the very creepy to the heartwarmingly sincere.
* ScreamingWarrior: Mitsuko, during her LastStand in the movie.
* ShoutOut:
** Shiroiwa, the small town the class are from, is Japanese for Castle Rock (a homage to both StephenKing and LordOfTheFlies).
** There are several homages to George Orwell's ''NineteenEightyFour'' in the book.
** There is a disturbing scene in the manga (Niida's attack on Chigusa) that the creator admitted was a ShoutOut to ''Deliverance''.
** While [[spoiler:driving a car]], Shogo hands Shuya a gun, asking him not to go [[PulpFiction Marvin]] [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace on him]]. In the [[FanNickname Giffenized]] [[{{Macekre}} version]], that is.
** In the manga, [[spoiler: Hirono's death]] is a clear ShoutOut to ''An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge''.
** Kinpatsu Sakamochi is a spoof of the character Kinpachi Sakamoto from the Japanese drama ''Year 3 Class B Kinpachi-sensei''. Also, the students in the book, manga and film are Year 3 Class B.
* SlasherSmile: Mitsuko, oh so often, with the start of her encounter with Megumi being the best example.
** The first female winner shown at the beginning of the movie has one of these too.
** In the movie, Kiriyama pulls this off a few times.
* SplitPersonality: Mitsuko basically has two sides to her. One is a child desperate for love, the other is a deranged, cynical killer.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Beautiful classical music is played over the 6 hourly announcements in the movie, a torturing counterpoint to the chaos and death taking place on the island.
** Also in the movie, [[spoiler:Mitsuko's]] death is to the tune of Bach's Air on the G String. It's [[spoiler:Asuka's death in ''EndOfEvangelion'']] all over again.
* StupidSacrifice: Shintaro in the second film accidentally pulls this - not only does his death accomplish nothing, it gets Kazumi killed because he's her partner.
** And let's not forget Riki's final rugby dive.
* SupportingLeader: Shogo is this to Shuya and Noriko, especially in the film. Consider that he's the one with the dark and brooding past, he's the one with a grudge against the Program, and he's the one who knows how to stop it. He does it deliberately though, because he's not interested in his own survival, just wanting revenge and to understand what happened with Keiko. He's happy to let the others take the credit. Consider just how much Shuya and Noriko would actually accomplish (answer: nothing) without Shogo's help and you'll see how he fits.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Played aggravatingly straight in the second film with ''almost every main character''. We're talking several hundred soldiers storming a fortress in a heated and violent battle, all of whom suddenly have a coffee break to allow a character to make a FinalSpeech lasting several minutes. Then, 10 minutes later, it happens again for an even longer speech.
* TechnicalPacifist: Sugimura subverts it; While he refuses to take Shuya's gun because "that's not my way," he's genuinely dedicated to only using his ample martial arts abilities in self defense, because he worries that if he genuinely beats someone up, he'll enjoy it.
* TeensAreMonsters: Or they are ''forced'' to be, by CompleteMonster adults.
** Adults are no better as they start this sick game in first place. Let's just say HumansAreBastards.
*** The main question asked of the movie is a large part of the point of the story. 'Could you kill your best friend?' In a lot of ways it doesn't matter that the protagonists are teens, it's about human nature in general.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The object of the Program.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Sugimura and Kotohiki]] in the manga. Ogawa and Yamamoto in all versions, along
** To a lesser extent, ''any'' couple who died together ([[spoiler: namely Yoshimi and Youji and Sakura and Kazuhiko]]), because, well, even if they're together before The Program, [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne it obviously couldn't last past the game]].
** Non-romantic example: the [[spoiler:girls' of the lighthouse]] "funeral", so they could be friends again in death.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Quite possibly an audience/reader reaction, given the chances of inadvertently finding yourself wondering if you could do it, how well you'd do, etc. Of course, the question of whether or not you could kill your best friend is the entire point.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano, respectively,
* TooDumbToLive: Toshinori Oda in the film only, who is shot with an Uzi by Kazuo but survives because of his awesome BulletProofVest. A fact he screams at the top of his voice the second he realises he's still alive. Cue Kazuo leaping off a small building beside him, wakizashi in hand.
** He's less obviously retarded in the book and manga, but still pretty stupid--in the manga, he fakes a death rattle so Kazuo will come close to him and check if he's dead, allowing Oda to stab him with his hidden kitchen knife. [[spoiler: Kazuo doesn't fall for this moronic ruse]].
* {{Tsundere}}: Chigusa, by Sugimura's account. [[DefrostingIceQueen She's more the original version, though, where as you get to know her she warms up considerably.
*
* GoodScarsEvilScars: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''Mockingjay'', when [[spoiler: Katniss]] has her uglier scars surgically cleaned up, but is left with some more attractive scars, because she's got to have ''some'' scars to show how bravely she's been fighting. Averted in the end, however, when [[spoiler: she gets ugly skin grafts, and there's no attempt to blend them because District 13 has no more need of her]].
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: [[spoiler:District 13 is just as full of assholes as the Capitol.]] The conflict really boils down to some truly horrible people who happen to be in power and all the innocents who get caught in-between. CrapsackWorld indeed.
* {{Gorn}}: How the Capitol citizens view the Hunger Games. In-universe only, hopefully.
* GottaKillThemAll: Throughout the Hunger Games, Katniss quite literally counts the number of remaining contestants on her fingers and toes. [[spoiler:Although she only personally kills two or three in the end.]]
* TheGovernment
* GRatedSex: The act is alluded to at the end of ''Mockingjay'', then skipped over to a brief conversation between the characters afterward.
* GrayEyes: Apparently fairly common in the Seam, including Katniss and Gale.
* GreatOffscreenWar:
** One or two of them--the civilizational collapse that led to the founding of Panem (we're never sure just what it was or if a war was involved), and the more-recent uprising (~75 years before the books take place) when the Districts rose up against the Capital.
** Most of the fighting in the revolution is also off-screen, up until Katniss gets directly involved in District 2.
* GreenEyedMonster: Gale tries damned hard not to like Peeta.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: In the first book:
** On the female side, Clove uses [[KnifeNut throwing knives]], Glimmer and Katniss use a [[TheArcher bow]], and Rue uses a [[BratsWithSlingshots slingshot]].
** On the male side, Cato uses a [[CoolSword sword]], Marvel uses a [[BladeOnAStick spear]], Thresh uses [[GoodOldFisticuffs brute force]], and Peeta uses a [[KnifeNut combat knife]].
* HairOfGold: Peeta, Prim, Delly Cartwright
* HandsOnApproach: Finnick uses this to show Katniss how to tie a difficult knot.
* HannibalLecture: Katniss' last conversation with President Snow. [[spoiler:She decides HannibalHasAPoint.]]
* HarmfulToMinors: Only minors are selected for the standard Hunger Games. [[spoiler:The 75th Hunger Game changes the rules.]]
* HateSink: Katniss and Peeta can't exactly attack the directors of the Games, the Capitol doesn't send ''its'' children to die in the Games, and most of the other Tributes are from Districts as oppressed as 12. However, "Career Tributes" from Districts 1, 2 and 4 are ''volunteers'', {{Child Soldier}}s have who trained to kill other children since they were able to ''walk''. In addition to their loathsome mindset and superior skills, they always team up to eliminate the weaker Tributes, then gleefully kill each other once everyone else is dead.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Gale, especially after [[spoiler: setting off what is essentially a giant mine explosion in District 2 to win a battle.]]
* HerHeartWillGoOn: Peeta tries to invoke this in a MoreHeroThanThou dispute. Katniss' internal monologue reveals she'll have none of it.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Averted. The only character who really seems to use a sword as their main weapon is [[BloodKnight Cato]].
* HeroicBSOD:
** Katniss at the end of the second book, and all over the third.
** Minor one (compared to the later BSOD's) in the first one occurs for Katniss [[spoiler: after Rue dies]]
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Katniss taking her sister's place.
** [[spoiler: Mags]] in the second book--''twice.''
** And all over the place in ''Mockingjay''.
* HeroSecretService
* HiddenDepths: Just about all the sympathetic characters reveal themselves to be more than they at first appeared.
* HoldingHands: Most notably during the interviews for the Quarter Quell.
* HollywoodHealing: Due to the advanced medicine available in the Capitol, most injuries sustained by the characters are healed completely. Aversions include Chaff's hand and Peeta's leg, though he gets a prosthetic leg that is rarely referred to again. In the end, [[spoiler:Katniss and Peeta are both covered in skin grafts and burns that the medics didn't bother replacing]].
* HollywoodTactics:
** When the rebels attack the Capitol, direct siege would have included trying to seize or disable the Capitol's nuclear missiles, or else bombarding the Capitol into submission. The narrator mentions that they can't do aerial bombing because of anti-air defenses -- but what about plain old artillery? Or maybe the rebels could have first attacked the anti-air emplacements, and then bombed the Capitol flat. Or they could have just declared victory and negotiated the Capitol's surrender. All of these options would probably have been easier than block-by-block urban warfare through a maze of boobie traps.
** During that same attack, Katniss takes point immediately after being [[FieldPromotion promoted]] to leader of her squad. In real life, a squad leader never takes point, since the point man is the one most likely to die in an ambush, and the squad leader is someone you don't want to lose.
** There seems to be a lack of any standard infantry weapons besides assault rifles and pistols. No grenades, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, mounted machine guns, battle rifles, submachine guns, etc.
** No one has armored ground vehicles.
** At one point a character mentions the use of an EMP bomb by the Capitol. Why didn't the rebels just EMP bomb the Capitol to disable the pods?
** Katniss's combat bow, given to her by 13, is supposedly accurate to 100 yards. This sounds pretty incredible, until you realize that the assault rifles wielded by the Peacekeepers are accurate to around 500 yards, shoot on a much flatter trajectory, don't need constant reloading... ''and'' can penetrate body armor.
** Capitol attack aircraft drop their bombs from the dizzying altitude of 100-ish yards. As though to lampshade this idiocy, Gale and Katniss then ''shoot down the planes with {{Trick Arrow}}s.'' An arrow taking down a bomber. Wrap your head around that one.
** The third book has Finnick take a trident to war. A trident that he can ''throw''. Tridents are weapons made for spearing and catching things; they are not ideal for killing in a quick-fire situation (though it is certainly possible to kill with one) because things killed with tridents are meant primarily to stick on the prongs. In old warfare, tridents were generally used for disarming (their length and shape allowed them to accurately knock swords out of combatants' hands without having to get too close), but not as a primary weapon except in gladiatorial combat. As for throwing, tridents simply aren't balanced for that at all. Even if a throwing trident were possible, it's extraordinarily unlikely that it would ever be useful in a war fought mainly with guns.
** There is some very odd squad formation. For some reason, the army of District 13 puts two sisters in the same squad, and allows people whom it knows to be psychologically and emotionally unstable (Finnick, Katniss) to go into actual war [[spoiler: for the sole purpose of creating propaganda]]. Boggs, Coin's second in command, is frequently put on the front line.
** District 13 is still shooting propaganda spots long past the point that they would be useful. A huge tactical problem once you realize that people's lives, including the life of Coin's second in command, are put in danger for this purpose.
* HollywoodPsych:
** Though Haymitch is an alcoholic, in the first book he very conveniently decides to stay sober only when he needs to be on the condition that Peeta and Katniss not interfere with his drinking when he feels like it. Real alcoholism isn't quite that convenient. Bit better in later books when we see him at least having difficulty sobering up.
** ''Catching Fire'' describes Annie as hysterical when she's reaped for the 75th games, without going into any sort of detail. This is enough to have Katniss think she's completely insane. Later in ''Mockingjay'', we meet Annie and Katniss seems to think she's just a little quirky, though she occasionally covers her ears with her hands for no apparent reason. In real life, a person covering their ears that way would imply that they are hearing things that aren't there. Being that this isn't a one off (she does it "occasionally") it's a pretty big alarm bell for a psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. This is not to mention that she's also implied to ''see'' things that aren't there. So yeah.
** Hijacking. [[spoiler:The way Tracker Jacker venom works in the first book is somewhat questionable,]] but in Mockingjay it really doesn't make sense as a conditioning tool. For one, the brain really doesn't work that way. Conditioning is an unconscious mechanism that can't be manipulated into a deliberate response the way the book describes. This is why the CIA stopped trying to do this in the first place. For another, the part of the brain that controls fear is so separate from your memory that it's unlikely that a drug designed to affect the fear part of your brain would have any affect on memory whatsoever.
* HotWings: Cinna's outfits.
* HufflepuffHouse: Most of the Districts of Panem are pretty extraneous and we learn little about them.
* HumanSacrifice: Tributes are sacrificed by the Capitol to remember the betrayal of District 13.
* HumanShield: Snow surrounding himself with children.
* HumansAreBastards: At the end of ''Mockingjay'', Katniss hits this trope ''hard.''
* HungryJungle
* {{Hypocrite}}: Various characters have their moments, but a few from Katniss stand out. One being that she judges Madge for having an expensive pin that could feed starving families, yet isn't bothered when she herself is later clad in incredibly expensive outfits. There's also her judgement of fellow tributes because of their killing, when she doesn't make any attempt to restrain her own killing - on a few occasions, she even mentions how her fingers are itching for her knife/arrows just because Johanna snapped at her. She also complains a great deal about the wasting of
* IGaveMyWord: Subverted. Haymitch promises Katniss that he'll keep Peeta alive and also tells Peeta that he'll keep Katniss alive.
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
**
** Haymitch, pretty much all the time.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Katniss is surprised at how handsome Haymitch used to be.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: [[spoiler: Mags]].
* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure:
** Snow's favorite tactic.
** The entire premise of the Games itself was a way to punish the rebels by making their children kill each other, and to remind them that the Capitol can and will do things like this if they rebel again.
** Snow directly threatens Gale and indirectly threatens the rest of Katniss' loved ones if she doesn't convince all of Panem (including Snow himself) that she's madly in love with
** Snow also uses the threat against loved ones to [[spoiler:force Victors into [[SexSlave prostitution]]]].
* IconOfRebellion: The mockingjay.
* IdiotBall:
** Katniss and Peeta pass this back and forth in the first book: [[spoiler: Katniss for not picking up on Peeta's crush, and Peeta for assuming her reciprocation was real.]]
** Katniss seems to be very bad at reading people, [[spoiler: and Peeta announced his crush on national television. Even if this led to improved sponsor chances, the other contestants would undoubtedly pick up on this and use it to their advantage.]]
** Cinna, Haymitch and Effie all tell Katniss that her high score after firing an arrow at the Gamemasters is a good thing, no one seems to notice the big ol' bullseye that this stunt grants her.
** Katniss seems to be clutching this ball rather firmly for someone who's quite familiar with nature. The fact that she isn't the least bit perturbed by the monkeys' initial behavior is silly. Even if she wasn't familiar with monkeys, she knows how animals behave, and she knows that the gamemakers stick 'mutts' into the games. Not hard to work out there's something sinister about them.
* ImAHumanitarian: A District 6 tribute from a past Games named Titus is said to have gone insane and ate the bodies of the tributes he killed.
* ImportantHaircut: Or rather, [[InvertedTrope important lack of haircut]]. In ''Mockingjay'', all the rebel soldiers have their hair cut short, except for Katniss because she needs to stay recognizable.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Katniss is repeatedly shown hitting small game directly in the eye, seemingly with ease. The fact that her arrows have large enough arrowheads to take down humans and deer and therefore have tips bigger than the eyes of some of the small game she's shooting is never accounted for.
* IncendiaryExponent: Two of Katniss, The Girl On Fire's first [[CostumePorn ceremonial outfits]] in the Capitol fit this theme, though only one of them actually uses fire.
* InformedAbility: Peeta is mentioned as being good with a knife and Katniss makes a point of giving him one during the Quarter Quell, yet he's more proficient at being [[TheLoad The Load]].
* InelegantBlubbering: During Katniss' breakdown after the announcement of the Quarter Quell, most notably.
* InsanityDefense: Used to get [[spoiler:Katniss off for assassinating President Coin]].
* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Katniss ]]tries to kill herself at the end of ''Mockingjay'', but [[spoiler: Peeta]] stops her.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: One of Katniss's prep team.
* ItMeantSomethingToMe: [[spoiler: Peeta to Katniss]] at the end of the first book.
* ItWasAGift: Katniss' Mockingjay pin.
* ItsAllAboutMe: For whom is the Quarter Quell a real ordeal?
* ItsPersonal: Between Katniss and Snow.
* JustFriends: Katniss and Gale.
* KarmicDeath: Marvel got an arrow in his neck from Katniss [[spoiler: as revenge for killing Rue.]]
* KillEmAll: The Games are to end with one person left standing. [[spoiler: Both the 74th and 75th end a little differently.]]
* KilledOffForReal: You never know who
* KissingCousins: Gale pretends to be Katniss's cousin to explain his close relationship with her when Peeta is supposed to be her lover.
* KissOfLife: When Finnick revives Peeta in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes it initially as "kissing" since she's rarely seen CPR performed.
* KnifeNut: Clove.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Revealed at the end of the second book.]]
* LapPillow: Reversed between Katniss and Peeta, and once each between Katniss/Finnick and Katniss/Gale.
* LastKiss: A couple of times between Katniss and Peeta, [[spoiler: never for real.]]
* TheLastLaugh: [[spoiler:President Snow]] at the very end of the rebellion in book 3.
* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Rue]] asks Katniss to sing for her. Despite not singing for years, Katniss comes through.
* LeaveHimToMe: Katniss insists on being the one to kill [[spoiler: Snow]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: Rue's song.
* LockDown: During the bombing of [[spoiler: District 13]] in book 3.
* LosingTheTeamSpirit:
** [[spoiler: Katniss]] at the end of the second book.
** [[spoiler: She completely loses it in]] the third one as well.
* LotteryOfDoom: The reaping, which selects tributes for the Hunger Games.
* LoveAtFirstSight / LoveAtFirstNote: If we take Peeta's word for it, that is.
* LoveHurts: Often literally.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Katniss tries to convince the citizens of Panem she was so crazy with love for Peeta that she can't be held responsible for her actions. To say nothing of Peeta's actions to begin with.]]
* LoveTriangle: Unsurprisingly resolved at the end of Mockingjay.
* MadnessMantra: Wiress repeatedly says, "Tick, tock" during the Quarter Quell. No one initially understands what she's referring to.
* ManiacMonkeys: One of the many delights of the Quarter Quell.
* ManOnFire / WreathedInFlames:
** Katniss gets lit on fire five times: thrice in the name of fashion and twice in combat situations. There is a reason they call her ''The Girl Who Was On Fire''.
** Peeta also gets singed [[spoiler: at the very end, when he was presumably following Katniss.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Peeta is the male version of FeminineWomenCanCook and Katniss is the female version of ManlyMenCanHunt.
* MeaningfulName:
** Katniss is a real plant. Its common name? "Arrowhead". And its scientific name is ''Sagittaria,'' which is a transparent reference to [[WesternZodiac the Zodiac sign Sagittarius,]] a fire sign whose symbol is an archer.
** Peeta the baker sounds like "pita," a type of bread.
** Effie Trinket seems to be trivial and shallow.
** Cinna was the name of [[spoiler:both a doomed opponent of Sulla the dictator and a conspirator against Augustus ''Caesar''.]]
** One of the meanings of "Rue" is "regret." [[spoiler:Her death haunts Katniss, who
** Avox means, in an awkward and incorrect mixture of Greek and Latin, 'without a voice.'
** "Coriolanus," as in "Coriolanus Snow" refers to a hated Roman who betrayed both sides and died loathed and friendless.
** Tigris had plastic surgery to look like a human-tiger hybrid. Katniss wonders which came first, the name or the look.
** A mag is a type of nut. Mags knows a lot about plants and nuts.
** Pollux and Castor, the twin cameramen from ''Mockingjay'' are named for the Gemini of Roman mythology. Like the myth, Castor dies and Pollux is allowed to live - only with some horrible mutilation.
** Titus and Lavinia are names from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Like their counterparts in the Shakespeare play, Titus was known for cannibalism, and Lavinia had her tongue cut out. Given Peeta's comments about 'fingers and toes' an unfortunate implication, given what other things happened to Lavinia in the play.
** In Mockingjay, the expression [[spoiler:"the opposite side of the same Coin"]] comes to mind.
** In addition to any other possible meaning, a lot of the tributes' names related to their district's industry or their personal profession:
** Panem sounds like a mutilation of "Pan America", but is meant as a reference to the Latin phrase "panem et circenses", meaning "bread and circuses", or idiomatically, sustenance and entertainment - the two things you need to give a population to keep them happy.
*** District 1, luxury goods, gives us Marvel, Glimmer, Gloss, and Cashmere.
*** District 3, electronics, has Wiress. And Beetee, which sounds like TV, CD, PC, etc. (Or BD, as in blu-ray disc). For British readers, it invokes BT - British Telecom.
*** District 4, fishing, ''Fin''nick Odair and Annie ''Crest''a.
*** District 7, lumber, gives us the optimistically-named Blight.
*** District 8, textiles, has Twill and Woof (another word for "weft").
*** District 11, agriculture, has Rue, Thresh, Chaff, and Seeder. Chaff is a double example. Not only does it mean "the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing," but it also means, "worthless matter." Chaff never becomes important to the plot.
*** District 12, coal mining, has Peeta(Peter, meaning "stone") and of course Katniss' nickname; "The Girl Who Was On Fire."
*** The Capitol uses Roman names, in reference to their technological superiority as well as their decadent culture.
*** Disctrict 2 is noted for having the closest relationship to the Capitol, and their male tributes also have Roman names: Cato and Brutus.
** In Katniss' case it's a nickname but the drama largely boils down to "The girl who was on fire" against President ''Snow''.
* TheMedic: Katniss's mother and Prim.
* MementoMacGuffin: The pearl in ''Mockingjay''.
* MemeticSexGod: Finnick is an in-universe example.
* MercyKill:
** After Katniss puts [[spoiler: Cato]] out of his misery at the end of the 74th Hunger Games.
** In ''Catching Fire,'' Katniss considers doing this for [[spoiler:Peeta and possibly Beetee as well]].
** [[spoiler:Gale and Katniss]] have an understanding in 'Mockingjay' that they would kill each other before letting the other get captured, to avoid torture. [[spoiler:Both fail to do it in the end.]]
* MindControlEyes: [[spoiler: Peeta]]
* MoralityPet: Katniss has Prim and Rue, and Gale has his own younger siblings.
* MoreHeroThanThou: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Katniss and Peeta]] are each determined the other will be the survivor.
* TheMourningAfter: Katniss's mother goes into a near-catatonic depression after the death of Katniss's father, leaving Katniss to support the family. Even when the mother becomes functional again, she never really gets over his death.
** In Mockingjay Katniss goes into this after [[spoiler:Prim's death]]
* MushroomSamba: A (mostly) [[NightmareFuel extremely unfunny]] version thanks to tracker jacker venom.
* MyOwnPrivateIDo: In ''Catching Fire'', [[spoiler: Peeta claims he and Katniss did this, so that he can then claim Katniss is pregnant to garner extra sympathy]].
* MysteryMeat
--> "Once it's in the soup, I call it beef."
* NeckSnap: Cato to [[spoiler:the boy from District 3]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** Katniss' main goal through the second book is to find a way to trick Snow into believing she's in love with Peeta. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, she does convince him (and just about everyone else), and therefore manages to give him the leverage to break her during ''Mockingjay''.]]
** One can say that the entire series is this. [[spoiler: Prim dies anyway, which was what the instigation of the plot of the first book was trying to prevent.]]
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: President Snow and the Gamemakers.
* NightmareSequence: Katniss's dreams are usually a horrifying mishmash of bad memories and fear-gripped imagination, like everyone getting their tongues cut out or all her loved ones screaming in agony.
* NobodyPoops: Bears may shit in woods but tributes, apparently, do not. It wouldn't be so noticeable, except that Collins takes pains to make everything about the Hunger Games and the horrors of the arena seem dirty and uncomfortable and horrible, so in the first book at least it's a glaring omission. They do, however, urinate. Possible justification: if you're exercising a lot (say, fighting in an arena) and not getting much to eat (say, fighting in an arena), your body makes use of more of the food you eat. But you'd think Katniss would've noticed the ''lack'' of... [[MST3KMantra Well, whatever.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Given the nature of the beast, it's an inevitability. Even outside the arena, [[spoiler: Cinna receives a nasty one as Katniss watches helplessly]]. ''And they never saw him again.''
* NoNameGiven: Katniss never learns the names of most of the tributes. She doesn't find out until well after the games are over that the boy from District 1 was named Marvel, even though [[spoiler:she was the one who killed him]].
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Presidents Coin and Snow.]]
* NonActionGuy: Peeta, whose sole moment of badassery is so early on in the games that it's easily outshined by his persistent habit of being TheLoad.
* NonActionBigBad: President Snow.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Either the books take places very strategically to avoid this problem or Collins simply overlooked it. Even when Katniss becomes well fed and [[spoiler:goes to war in a squad with multiple women]] it's never an issue. and See also: NobodyPoops.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: It takes Katniss a long time to decide to actively help the revolutionaries instead of just looking out for her own survival.
* NotMeThisTime: When confronted with [[spoiler:the bombing of the children in front of the mansion,]] Snow reveals that he had absolutely nothing to do with it, and in fact it was [[spoiler:President Coin]].
* NuclearOption: Discussed. [[spoiler:Both District 13 and the Capitol]] have nukes trained on each other, but mutually assured destruction of all humanity keeps them both at bay.
* ObfuscatingStupidity:
** Katniss remarks this was Johanna Mason's strategy in her Games: everyone thought she
** Oddly enough, Haymitch counts -- not only is he
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome:
** The implied epic two-day battle between [[CoolVersusAwesome Cato and Thresh.]] [[BattleInTheRain In the rain]].
** Peeta killing [[spoiler: Brutus]] in the Quarter Quell could count. Not bad for the guy who's usually seen as TheLoad.
* TheOphelia: [[spoiler:Katniss]] near the end of the third book, after [[spoiler:killing Coin]]. Annie is also presented as unstable at the best of times.
* OppositesAttract
* OrnamentalWeapon: Subverted with Katniss' bow. After all, just because it's pretty doesn't mean it can't be deadly.
* OrphanageOfFear: It isn't actually seen, but the District 12 community home is said to be like this.
* OutrunTheFireball: One of the Gamemakers' traps.
* PlanetOfHats: Each of the districts has a different primary industry, which serves as its theme. This is an InvokedTrope in the Hunger Games, since the tributes are each trope are traditionally dressed in ways that reference their theme.
* PerfectPoison: Nightlock berries. Most of the plants in the Second Quarter Quell.
* {{Phobia}}: [[spoiler:Johanna]] develops a fear of water after being tortured with drowning / electrocution.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Katniss is flustered by people's nudity on several occasions.
----> Finnick: "Why? Do you find this... distracting?"
* PoliceState: Panem is one. [[spoiler:District 13]] is less openly cruel but even more restrictive.
* PresentTenseNarrative
* PresidentEvil: President Snow, especially as time goes on. [[spoiler:President Coin of District 13? Not much better]].
* PrimalFear: Suzanne Collins seems to be a fan of these... both The Hunger Games and the Underland Chronicles are full of people dying in horrible ways thanks to fire, drowning, bugs (sometimes GIANT bugs) and/or savage animals.
* PromotionToParent:
** The death of [[DisappearedDad Katniss' father]] and her mother's subsequent depression make her the breadwinner of the family.
** Gale is also the primary provider for his family after his father's death; his mother helps as best she can, but she's
* ProngsOfPoseidon: Since he's from the
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Pretty thoroughly.
** With regard to clothing, it starts with Katniss looking down at the
** Early in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss complains about the Capitol needlessly wasting food. She seems to have forgotten the scene in the previous book where she throws out the cookies Peeta's father gave her.
** Later in ''Catching Fire'', Katniss is upset that nothing is different in the arena, saying that she'd
** [[spoiler:District 8]] is so lacking in medical personnel and supplies, people are left with unchanged bandages and untreated infections; their hospital is basically a morgue. Peeta alone, on the other hand, gets a whole team of doctors because he's Katniss's love
* ProtectedByAChild: Near the end of Mockingjay, this is what Snow does to protect himself.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 tend to come off this way due to those Districts' practice of training children specifically in order to volunteer for the Hunger Games. As a result, these "Career" Tributes are also far more likely to win than Tributes from other Districts, although Haymitch describes their arrogance as a flaw that can lead to their defeat.
* PyrrhicVictory: The ending of ''Mockingjay''.
* RaceLift: Katniss's race is never stated. She has "olive" skin, but her mother and sister are both blonde, so it's unclear if this trope is in effect with the casting of Jennifer Lawrence in TheMovie.
* RainOfBlood: ''Literally.''
* RealityEnsues: Pretty much what Mockingjay runs on.
* RealityShow: The eponymous games.
* RegionalSpeciality: Each district's bread is very distinct.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Katniss [[spoiler: forms an alliance with Rue, stays with her while she dies, and vows to win for her]], who reminds her of her own little sister Prim back home.
* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude: Peeta and especially Katniss.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The third book is FULL of this.
* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler: Gale.]]
* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''The Hunger Games'', this is invoked: Katniss and Peeta fake a romance in order to woo the audience of the Games (or rather, Katniss is the only one faking). In the
* RousingSpeech:
** Katniss tries to give one in the middle of a firefight in District 2. [[spoiler:It succeeds in turning the workers against the pro-Capital soldiers, but doesn't keep her from getting shot by one first.]]
** In ''Catching Fire'' Katniss makes a beautiful speech in District 11, about her ally Rue.
** Her "If we burn, you burn with us" speech in ''Mockingjay'' is implied to be received well.
* RuleOfDrama: Ties with RuleOfEmpathy, below. The Capitol loves best those victors who put on a great show.
* RuleOfEmpathy: Tributes must be able to invoke sympathy from the Capitol and District audiences. Sympathy will equal sponsors and money for necessities in the arena, and could therefore make the difference in the Games. Peeta, it turns out, is a natural at invoking the RuleOfEmpathy at the drop of a hat. Katniss is not.
* RuleOfThree: Suzanne Collins loves her powers of three. There are three books. Each book is divided into three parts. Each part contains nine (3x3) chapters.
* SacrificialLion:
** It's debatable whether [[spoiler: Rue in book 1]] was this or SacrificialLamb.
** [[spoiler: Prim and Finnick]] in the third book.
* SayMyName: Especially Katniss' incident in the tree during the first games.
* ScaryBlackMan: Thresh.
* SchizoTech: Justified in that
* [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Screw The Rules We Make Them]]: The Gamemakers.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Peeta (sensitive) vs. Gale (manly).
* SexSlave: In book 3, according to
* ShallowLoveInterest: The fandom seems to
** Type 4
* ShellShockedVeteran: All of the Victors have some form of PTSD.
* ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler: President Coin orders a bombing attack on children being used as human shields by President Snow - and makes it appear that the attack was initiated by Snow, in order to destroy any remaining public support for Snow's regime.]]
* ShoutOut:
** WordOfGod has stated that Katniss's family name is a reference to the Thomas Hardy character Bathsheba Everdene.
** Katniss (the "Girl on Fire") is in Squad Four Five One, a reference to Ray Bradbury's ''Fahrenheit 451'', which is another dystopian novel with
* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Lavinia, who has no tongue, is a reference to ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. Titus is also
* ShutUpKiss: Katniss does this
* SiblingYinYang: Katniss and Prim
* SimulatedUrbanCombatArea
* SingleTargetSexuality: Peeta towards Katniss. He fell in love with her when he was 5 and never fell out of love. [[spoiler:Except of course for the brief time while he was hijacked, and even then it seems that a part of him still loved her.]]
* SlaveToPR: A dominating theme. A likable persona for a tribute wins sponsors: for example, Finnick. It culminates in ''Mockingjay'' when [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that the rebels ''bomb a town square full of children'', in a Capitol hovercraft, solely to convince everyone in the nation that the Capitol is evil]]. P.R. is possibly ''the'' most powerful weapon in ''The Hunger Games.''
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The cynicism side. Far, far, ''far'' on the cynicism side.
* SlowClap: Not exactly an applause, but the whole community of District 12 uses a cultural gesture to show their support of Katniss when she takes her sister's place. District 11 tries this as well [[spoiler:and pays the price.]]
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Avoided. They exist, they're just the worse alternative.
* SomeKindOfForceField: Prominent in ''Catching Fire,'' causing death or serious injury multiple times.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:Annie gives birth to their baby sometime after Finnick is killed.]]
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Clove talks about [[spoiler: Rue]], while holding down Katniss near the Cornucopia. Of course, karma sweeps in to save the day, via [[spoiler: Thresh]].
* TheSpeechless: Avoxes, traitors who've had their tongues mutilated as punishment.
* SpoiledSweet:
** Katniss's prep team, who are simply too naive to be
** Though we aren't one hundred percent sure of his financial situation, probably Cinna, who treats Katniss with respect and the games with disgust despite being from the Capitol.
** Madge who is the Mayor's daughter, very kind and is one of Katniss' few friends.
* SpotTheThread: The official, "live-action" shots of District 13 are revealed to be StockFootage by a mockingjay which flies past the screen.
* StrangeSalute: When Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place, the entire crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hands to their lips, and then holds it out to her. Katniss explains that it's an old District 12 gesture that means thanks, admiration, and goodbye to someone you love. [[spoiler:It becomes a little more meaningful later on.]]
* StunnedSilence: The first response to Katniss' exchange.
* StarCrossedLovers: Peeta and Katniss pretend to be this to garner sympathy. [[spoiler:They eventually do become real lovers, but get out of everything alive, so their stars were not
* SuperDoc: Outside the
* SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom: The role of the Peacekeepers isn't as sweet as it sounds. (Bit like in RealLife, then?) Pretty much everything surrounding the Games is treated as fun and entertaining; being a "tribute" is an ''honor.''
* SuperPersistentPredator: The tracker jacker wasps do not give up an attack once pissed off. Running away doesn't help.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: When Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss exactly when she
* SurvivalMantra:
** Although nonverbal, Finnick's compulsive knotting in ''Mockingjay''.
** Katniss shares Finnick's knotting habit for a bit in the third book, but has one of her own.
--> My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games...
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler: The climax of Book 1.]]
* TakeMeInstead: In the first book, Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place as tribute for District 12.
* TakeThat: In universe, the mockingjay becomes an increasingly unsubtle one of these towards the Capitol.
* TakingTheBullet: During the Quarter Quell, [[spoiler: one of the morphlings is killed by an attack from a vicious monkey that was meant for Peeta]].
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Gale.
* TakingYouWithMe: Book 1: [[spoiler: Cato threatens to take Peeta with him into the jaws of the Muttations if Katniss shoots him with her arrows.]]
* ATasteOfTheLash: [[spoiler:Gale]] in Catching Fire
* TearsOfRemorse: After Katniss's meeting with the Gamemakers.
* TeenageWasteland: Subverted. [[ActorAllusion The kids are all right]], adult authority in the form of [[TheEmpire The Capitol]] is ''forcing'' them to kill or be killed.
* TemptingFate:
** In the first book, Katniss reassures her sister Prim that her name won't be drawn for the Hunger Games... Seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
** If you're referred to as "the girl who was on fire" enough times, eventually you do get actually lit on fire.
* ThemeNaming: The Capitol and District 2 use Roman names to highlight their decadent nature and fondness for gladitorial combat. The nation itself is called Panem, the Latin word for bread. The districts often use names referencing their primary industry.
* ThereAreNoTherapists:
** The districts are implied to have therapists, as Katniss's mother was able to somehow gain access to one in order to get hold of drugs to treat her depression. Largely, people do not seem to seek psychological help, though. This could be attributed to a lack of money, however Katniss's family struggles to eat, so...
** Subverted in [[spoiler:District 13]]: all refugees are given psychological help and local specialists do everything they can to get [[spoiler:Peeta]] back to his old self after a MindRape. Before [[spoiler:the final attack on the Capitol]], soldiers are checked for possible psychological problems ([[spoiler:Johanna]] gets sent to a mental facility). Katniss also goes through therapy after [[spoiler:her sister’s]] death, though one might wonder why she
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Played straight [[spoiler: for seventy-three years. Zig-zagged in the first book.]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Here, there and everywhere given the nature of the Games. Big mention to [[spoiler:Cato, who, having lost all his limbs and skin from being gnawed on by at least twenty wolf-like creatures for hours on end, dies from an arrow to the face.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: District 13 is the odd district out.
* TitleDrop: Of sorts. In the third book, "Fire is catching" becomes a slogan for the [[spoiler: rebels.]]
* ToAbsentFriends: [[spoiler:The book that Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch create at the end of Mockingjay.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Katniss and Prim, Katniss and Madge
* TooCleverByHalf: Foxface. [[spoiler:Up until the point where she fails to distinguish poisonous berries from normal ones. Granted, she was starving by then, but still...]]
* TooHappyToLive: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie]] in ''Mockingjay''. As soon as [[spoiler: they got married]], you knew at least one of them was doomed.
* TraumaCongaLine: By the end, try to count more surviving characters that haven't suffered one without running out of fingers. This is especially endemic amongst the victors of the games as the Capitol torments them to keep them from using their elevated status to foment rebellion.
* TrickArrow: Both the flaming and exploding kinds.
* TryNotToDie: Pretty much everyone's last words to Katniss and Peeta.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler: Gale]]
* UnwittingPawn: Katniss feels this way, since she's constantly out of the loop.
* TheUriahGambit:
** Attempted by [[spoiler:President Coin, who sends Peeta out with Katniss's team in the Capitol, with a gun, while he's still BrainwashedAndCrazy and Katniss is his BerserkButton.]] It fails.
** Katniss being sent [[spoiler: back into the arena in book 2]] might also qualify, if you believe it was rigged by [[spoiler: President Snow]].
* UselessSpleen: In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler: Katniss gets shot. Not surprisingly it happens to be her spleen that is destroyed. Good thing she doesn't need it.]]
* VillainBall: The Capitol seems to hold
* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler:President Snow]]
* VoiceOfTheResistance: Katniss and her fellow Victors, throughout book 3.
* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: There's a joke that ''Catching Fire'' and ''Mockingjay'' are written almost entirely in sentence fragments.
* WarIsHell: Absolutely nothing [[WarIsGlorious glorious]] about it.
* WartimeWedding: [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie.]]
* WasItAllALie: Peeta's ongoing question to Katniss from the end of the first book all the way to the "Real or not real?" question at the end of the last.
* WaterWakeup: When Haymitch is in a stupor, only this will rouse him.
* WeaponsKitchenSink: Inevitable, given the fact that the Capitol just spreads them around in the Arena and hopes for a sloppy death scenario to increase the "entertainment" value. There's a [[CrossesTheLineTwice blackly-comic]] aside in Book 1 where Katniss mentions how one year the only weapons provided were horribly awkward maces.
* WhamLine:
**
** Chapters have a tendency to end with these, such as, [[spoiler:"Katniss, there is no District 12."]]
** Or how about [[spoiler: "And then the second round of parachutes goes off."]]
** In-universe, Peeta is the acknowledged master of the WhamLine, particularly when onstage with Caesar Flickerman. In the first book he sets up the StarCrossedLovers thing, and in the second he manages an even bigger one: [[spoiler:He claims he and Katniss are having a baby.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never learn ''why'' Cinna requested District 12 (as he says he did in book 1) and we never find out if Portia did the same. We also
** In book 2, Johanna says everyone she loves is dead. Elaboration? Explanation? Don't count on it. There's a popular guess in fanon, though.
** In the third book Katniss gets a bow with "special properties." She never once mentions them again, uses them, or even explains what those properties are, besides the fact that it can vibrate to say hello. This could be the reason it's able to shoot down planes, though.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted. [[spoiler: Katniss sees Peeta as TheHeart]] and thinks his power to love is much better than her ability to kill things.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: [[RaceAgainstTheClock Given the
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The Districts have a few geographical clues but otherwise the readers don't
* WhiteKnighting: Gale subtly blames Katniss of being a female version. The only way for a man to get noticed by her is to suffer so terribly that she
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Tough-as-nails [[spoiler:Johanna Mason]] is undone by water... because when she was a prisoner of the Capitol, they soaked her and then electrocuted her as part of her torture.
* WillNotBeAVictim: Invoked and then exploited. It's how [[spoiler:Johanna]] won her Hunger Games.
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Cato taking out Thresh]] in Book 1.
* WorkingTitle: The working title of the first novel was ''The Tribute of District Twelve''.
* WreathedInFlames: Part of Katniss's symbology (along with
* WritersCannotDoMath:
** In ''Catching Fire'', Katniss describes the Cornucopia as being 40 yards away from the launch platform, which is located in a circular lagoon. There are twelve spokes of land separating the 24 tributes, and Katniss is equidistant from the land strip and the adjacent tribute platform. If you do all the calculations, it turns out that Katniss is about seven yards from the nearest land strip. Katniss has to swim this distance, and describes it as "a longer distance than [she's] used to swimming" back in the lake outside District 12.
** Reapings are supposed to take place in early springtime. The reaped go to ceremonies, etc, that last about a week or two at most, the 75th Hunger Games last a few days ''tops'', and [[spoiler:Peeta is captured on the last day.]] Roughly four weeks pass between the end of the 75th games and the beginning of ''Mockingjay'', and yet somehow five or six weeks after [[spoiler:Peeta's kidnapping]], it's a week from September.
-->"What day is it?" I ask no one in particular. Boggs tells me September begins next week. September. That means Snow has had [[spoiler:Peeta]] in his clutches for five, maybe six weeks.
* WouldHitAGirl: There are just as many girls as boys in each Hunger Game, ensuring a lot of this. [[spoiler:Marvel kills Rue, and Thresh kills Clove.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Isn't that right, [[spoiler:
*
* TheVoiceless: Kiriyama
* WhenSheSmiles: Hirono, at least in the manga. When she smiled from the heart, Shuya realized that she actually wasn't such a bad person after all. Especially noticeable in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/battle_royale/c064/16.html this page]].
* WideEyedIdealist: Shuya and Yuichiro, though Yuichiro actually made
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
** Leads to
* WithThisHerring: A few
* WoundedGazelleGambit. Mitsuko
* TheVoice: An extremely interesting case that makes a sub-plot stretching across both films more effective. In
** [[spoiler: President Coin attempts this
* YouKilledMyFather:
** In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler:either President Snow or President Coin kills Prim.]]
** Katniss understands that
* YamatoNadeshiko: Noriko
* YourFavorite: Katniss at one point receives food including the stew she
* YouDontWantToDieAVirginDoYou: Niida in all three versions tries to persuade Chigusa of this. Unfortunately, he doesn't take "no" for an answer
* XMeetsY: The media tends to treat the series as ''{{Twilight}}'' with gladiators. The actors have
* ZenSurvivor: Shogo Kawada, of the previous Program.
----
----
<<|{{Literature}}|>>
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* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Hirono Shimizu's]] manga death. Crosses over with NightmareFuelUnleaded for more than a few.
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* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Hirono Shimizu's]] manga death. Crosses over with NightmareFuelUnleaded NightmareFuel for more than a few.
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* GenreBusting: The film is notoriously hard to classify, and the novel is no better. Some consider it horror due to the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel High Octane Nightmare Fuel-laden]] premise, but that classification always causes "traditional" horror fans to balk because it ''isn't'' traditional. Action-adventure may be better, but the satire and themes make it a little misleading. In Western DVD stores the problem is mooted by its placing in the World Cinema section anyway, with the novel being classified by bookstores as sci-fi, presumably due to the SpeculativeFiction and AlternateHistory aspects.
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* GenreBusting: The film is notoriously hard to classify, and the novel is no better. Some consider it horror due to the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel High Octane [[NightmareFuel Nightmare Fuel-laden]] premise, but that classification always causes "traditional" horror fans to balk because it ''isn't'' traditional. Action-adventure may be better, but the satire and themes make it a little misleading. In Western DVD stores the problem is mooted by its placing in the World Cinema section anyway, with the novel being classified by bookstores as sci-fi, presumably due to the SpeculativeFiction and AlternateHistory aspects.
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''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. However the term has been used to refer to TheHungerGames - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of the ''Hunger Games'' maintains she knew nothing of ''Battle Royale'' when she wrote her books).
to:
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. However the term has been used to refer to TheHungerGames ''TheHungerGames'' - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of the ''Hunger ''The Hunger Games'' maintains she knew nothing of ''Battle Royale'' when she wrote her books).
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Erring on the side of caution with regard the new content policy, and removing all reference to sexual scenes or inspiration. They\'re not a significant aspect of the work, so I\'d think we can keep the page if they\'re removed.
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* AttemptedRape: Kazushi Niida against Chigusa. [[GroinAttack It ends]] [[EyeScream badly for him.]]
** In the Special Edition version of the movie, this happens to Mitsuko as a young child. But it [[StaircaseTumble ends badly for him too]].
** In the Special Edition version of the movie, this happens to Mitsuko as a young child. But it [[StaircaseTumble ends badly for him too]].
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* AuthorAppeal: The artist who drew Mitsuko Souma in the manga must have a very sticky handshake. The manga being chock-full of this often detracts from its value. ''Born to Run'' by BruceSpringsteen gets quite a number of mentions due to being a song Takami loves, too.
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* AuthorAppeal: The artist who drew Mitsuko Souma in the manga must have a very sticky handshake. The manga being chock-full of this often detracts from its value. ''Born to Run'' by BruceSpringsteen gets quite a number of mentions due to being a song Takami loves, too.the author loves.
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* BloodUpgrade: In the movie, Takako doesn't go off at Niida when he points his crossbow at her and threatens to shoot or says he'll rape her, but when he [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grazes her face with a crossbow bolt.]]
to:
* BloodUpgrade: In the movie, Takako doesn't go off at Niida when he points his crossbow at her and threatens to shoot or says he'll rape her, shoot, but when he [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking grazes her face with a crossbow bolt.]]
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* ChickMagnet: Shuya. Quite a large portion of the girls in the manga were revealed to have crushes on him. Noriko, Yukie, Hirono, Yukiko and Yumiko were all shown to like him. And according to Yukie, "half the girls in class are sweet on him," indicating that other girls other than the aforementioned probably harbored an attraction to him as well.
to:
* ChickMagnet: ChickMagnet:
** Shuya. Quite a large portion of the girls in the manga were revealed to have crushes on him. Noriko, Yukie, Hirono, Yukiko and Yumiko were all shown to like him. And according to Yukie, "half the girls in class are sweet on him," indicating that other girls other than the aforementioned probably harbored an attraction to him as well.
** Shuya. Quite a large portion of the girls in the manga were revealed to have crushes on him. Noriko, Yukie, Hirono, Yukiko and Yumiko were all shown to like him. And according to Yukie, "half the girls in class are sweet on him," indicating that other girls other than the aforementioned probably harbored an attraction to him as well.
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* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Takako Chigusa's death scene, in Hiroki's arms. Despite having brutally murdered a guy moments beforehand (admittedly, a guy trying to ''rape'' her), she's the object of nothing but sympathy from the audience in her final moments as she begs God for just a few more moments in the world with her best friend and true love. In the manga, it's especially heartbreaking since she has flashbacks from the time when she and Hiroki were kids together.
to:
* CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Takako Chigusa's death scene, in Hiroki's arms. Despite having brutally murdered a guy moments beforehand (admittedly, a guy trying to ''rape'' her), in self defence), she's the object of nothing but sympathy from the audience in her final moments as she begs God for just a few more moments in the world with her best friend and true love. In the manga, it's especially heartbreaking since she has flashbacks from the time when she and Hiroki were kids together.
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* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed and repeatedly raped as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
to:
* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed and repeatedly raped as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
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* {{Gainaxing}}: Mitsuko, in the manga.
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* GroinAttack Used by [[spoiler:Chigusa]] against [[spoiler:Niida]] after his AttemptedRape of her fails.
to:
* GroinAttack Used by [[spoiler:Chigusa]] against [[spoiler:Niida]] after his AttemptedRape of attack on her fails.
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* HotterAndSexier: The manga was this, including borderline-hentai images and lots of rape against living, dying, and dead people.
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* InterplayOfSexAndViolence
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* OCStandIn: Mizuho Inada, Mayumi Tendo, Fumiyo Fujiyoshi. The latter two are due to the characters receiving almost no characterisation whatsoever in any of the media - including the novel (they don't live long enough for that)- whereas the former is primarily because of a single slightly obsessed and highly prolific FanFic writer on the main forum.
to:
* OCStandIn: Mizuho Inada, OCStandIn:
** MayumiTendo, Tendoand Fumiyo Fujiyoshi. The latter two are Fujiyoshi due to the characters receiving almost no characterisation whatsoever in any of the media - including the novel (they don't live long enough for that)- whereas the former is primarily because of a single slightly obsessed and highly prolific FanFic writer on the main forum.that).
** Mayumi
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* ParentalIncest: Mitsuko is the victim of this in the book and manga versions.
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* RapeAsBackstory: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then beaten by her mother.
* RapeAsDrama: Among a few others, Niida's attempted rape of Takako.
* RapeIsLove: In the manga, Mitsuko, completely shaken by Yuichiro being shot, tries touching and kissing the wound to "make it better" before straight up raping him in the belief that it'll keep him alive, murmuring to herself about "love" while he screams that she's killing him.
* RapeAsDrama: Among a few others, Niida's attempted rape of Takako.
* RapeIsLove: In the manga, Mitsuko, completely shaken by Yuichiro being shot, tries touching and kissing the wound to "make it better" before straight up raping him in the belief that it'll keep him alive, murmuring to herself about "love" while he screams that she's killing him.
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* TheVamp: Mitsuko's strategy mainly involves gaining people's trust and getting them while their guard is down. Like when she tried to slit Tadakatsu's throat during sex.
** In the film most of this aspect is removed, except for one brief sequence showing her getting dressed and walking away from two naked, and now dead, male classmates.
** In the film most of this aspect is removed, except for one brief sequence showing her getting dressed and walking away from two naked, and now dead, male classmates.
to:
* TheVamp: Mitsuko's strategy mainly involves gaining people's trust and getting them while their guard is down. Like when she tried to slit Tadakatsu's throat during sex.
** In the film most of this aspect is removed, except for one brief sequence showing her getting dressed and walking away from two naked, and now dead, male classmates.
** In the film most of this aspect is removed, except for one brief sequence showing her getting dressed and walking away from two naked, and now dead, male classmates.
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* TheDanza: Kitano in the film, portrayed by Takeshi Kitano.
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* RapeAsBackstory: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then her mother.
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* RapeAsBackstory: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then beaten by her mother.
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** [[http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/7641/935323_008.jpg You mean this?]]
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Changed to correct wick
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* FanNickname: It's not unheard of for people to refer to the Chigusa/Niida scene as the "Crotch-stabbing scene". [[AptlyNamed Take a guess why]].
to:
* FanNickname: It's not unheard of for people to refer to the Chigusa/Niida scene as the "Crotch-stabbing scene". [[AptlyNamed [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Take a guess why]].
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Executing merge as per TRS thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1334415129058618500&page=1#18
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** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
to:
** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-{{Columbine}} post-UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
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Executing merge as per TRS thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1334415129058618500&page=1#18
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Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]].
to:
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]].
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** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other.
to:
** [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. The shooting at Virginia Tech especially hurt the project.
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** And the hyper-sexualized manga version of Mitsuko looks and acts like she's in her 20s.
** Although it's very possible the poison was augmented in some way before it was given out as a weapon.
** In the Special Edition version of the movie, this happens to Mitsuko as a young child. But it [[StaircaseTumble ends badly for him too]].
** Further emphasized by the events of ''Battle Royale II''.
** The 2012 North American DVD/Blu-ray edition features some of the worst English dubbing ever, and the dialogue often doesn't even come close to the translation given in the subtitles.
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* BreakTheCutie: Pretty much all the students? Of course excluding Mitsuko, Yoshimi, and Yuko, who came pre-broken.
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* BreakTheCutie: Pretty much all the students? students. Of course excluding Mitsuko, Yoshimi, and Yuko, who came pre-broken.
** The character of Mitsuko is depicted for much of the film as one of the lead villains (and was played by a well-known teen singing star), but [[spoiler: she's killed off suddenly 3/4 of the way through the movie when she encounters Kiriyama, a student she can't seduce or overpower, and gets shot dead.]].
** In the film, Mitsuko makes several statements to the effect that she killed before the game even started (as shown in the Special Edition version of the film), and so killing again is no big deal to her.
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** So far that hasn't panned out either, but the tropes FINALLY subverted by a DVD release to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the similarly-themed HungerGames movie.
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** So far that hasn't panned out either, but the tropes FINALLY subverted by a DVD release in March 2012 to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the similarly-themed HungerGames movie.
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** In the film most of this aspect is removed, except for one brief sequence showing her getting dressed and walking away from two naked, and now dead, male classmates.
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''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese.
to:
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. \n However the term has been used to refer to TheHungerGames - a book series with a similar premise to ''Battle Royale'' - in a derogatory manner by those who feel the later series was a rip off (the author of the ''Hunger Games'' maintains she knew nothing of ''Battle Royale'' when she wrote her books).
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* RapeAsBackstory: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then her mother.
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* RapeIsLove: In the manga, Mitsuko, completely shaken by Yuichiro being shot, tries touching and kissing the wound to "make it better" before straight up raping him in the belief that it'll keep him alive, murmuring to herself about "love" while he screams that she's killing him.
* RapeIsTheNewDeadParents: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then her mother.
* RapeIsTheNewDeadParents: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then her mother.
to:
* RapeIsLove: In the manga, Mitsuko, completely shaken by Yuichiro being shot, tries touching and kissing the wound to "make it better" before straight up raping him in the belief that it'll keep him alive, murmuring to herself about "love" while he screams that she's killing him.
* RapeIsTheNewDeadParents: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then her mother.him.
* RapeIsTheNewDeadParents: Mitsuko. In the book and film, her mother prostituted her. In the manga, she was raped by her perverted stepfather and then her mother.
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Doesn\'t apply, and most of the manga came after the film anyway
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* LighterAndSofter: To an extent, the film scrapes away some of the more explicitly sexual stuff from the book and manga. Particularly Mitsuko in the original cut, where her backstory involving rape, prostitution, and incest is implied at best, and instead she is portrayed as being more of a broken loner who wants to be loved.
** Against this, the film has the brief but telling scene of Mitsuko casually pulling her blouse on while walking away from the bloodied, naked bodies of two boys...
** Against this, the film has the brief but telling scene of Mitsuko casually pulling her blouse on while walking away from the bloodied, naked bodies of two boys...
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* DividedWeFall: In the book, [[spoiler:this turns out to be the whole point of the program. Every six months, everyone in Japan gets to see a broadcast giving the body count of a particular runthrough, categorized by means of death. They all have it ingrained in their minds that the people they grew up with are willing to kill them to survive. If they can't trust each other, they can't coordinate effectively to overthrow the government.]]
to:
* DividedWeFall: In the book, [[spoiler:this turns out to be the whole point of the program. Every six months, everyone in Japan gets to see a broadcast giving the body count of a particular runthrough, categorized by means of death. They all have it ingrained in their minds that the people they grew up with are willing to kill them to survive. If they can't trust each other, they can't coordinate effectively to overthrow the government. Additionally, the government is seeking to actively recruit the winners as people callous and self-interested enough to maintain control.]]
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** Against this, the film has the brief but telling scene of Mitsuko casually pulling her blouse on while walking away from the bloodied, naked bodies of two boys...
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One of the main themes of this book/manga/movie is the fear and hatred of the young. Hilariously, some Japanese government officials completely missed this and blamed ''BattleRoyale'' for the sharp rise in teenage delinquency in Japan.
to:
One of the main themes of this book/manga/movie is the fear and hatred of the young. Hilariously, some Some Japanese government officials completely missed this and blamed ''BattleRoyale'' for the sharp rise in teenage delinquency in Japan.
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* LighterAndSofter: To an extent, the film scrapes away some of the more explicitly sexual stuff from the book and manga. Particularly Mitsuko in the original cut, where her backstory involving rape, prostitution, and incest is implied at best, and instead she is portrayed as being more of a broken loner who wants to be loved.
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* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko, who uses being betrayed and repeatedly raped as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
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* FreudianExcuse: Mitsuko, Mitsuko in the manga, who uses being betrayed and repeatedly raped as a child as a mental excuse to slaughter her classmates. But then, she rationally doesn't have any other choice than kill or be killed...
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* ParentalIncest: Mitsuko is the victim of this.
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* ParentalIncest: Mitsuko is the victim of this.this in the book and manga versions.
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* HandWave: The film largely handwaves the premise, which is extremely flawed, by explaining it in 30 seconds of a 2 hour film and then never touching politics again.
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* HandWave: The film largely handwaves the premise, which is extremely flawed, by vaguely explaining it in 30 seconds of a 2 hour film and then never touching politics again.
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Letsss try not to give any potential for flame wars on that.
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Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]]. And, as of March 2012, it looks like it's not going to happen due to fears that American audiences [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny would view the remake as a ripoff of]] ''[[TheHungerGames The Hunger]] [[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/23/the-hunger-games-vs-battle-royale/ Games]].''
to:
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]]. And, as of March 2012, it looks like it's not going to happen due to fears that American audiences [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny would view the remake as a ripoff of]] ''[[TheHungerGames The Hunger]] [[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/23/the-hunger-games-vs-battle-royale/ Games]].''
obvious]].
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''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. Also not to be confused with ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', despite how many times [[FanDumb the fans]] [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks bring it up]].
to:
''Definitely'' not to be confused with BattleRoyaleWithCheese. Also not to be confused with ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', despite how many times [[FanDumb the fans]] [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks bring it up]].\n
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In the [[PoliceState Greater East Asia Republic]] (a fascist alternate-timeline Japan), one class of high school students is chosen at random every six months, kidnapped, and placed in an isolated area with no chance of escape. The students are then given one weapon each and, under the threat of death, forced to kill each other until only one student is left alive.
This is a once-controversial but now regularly recurring military experiment (since 1947) known only as "the Program". ''Battle Royale'' describes the ordeals and struggles of the 'contestants' in one such class, centering on the attempts of aspiring rock musician and orphaned teenager Shuya Nanahara to escape the Program.
This is a once-controversial but now regularly recurring military experiment (since 1947) known only as "the Program". ''Battle Royale'' describes the ordeals and struggles of the 'contestants' in one such class, centering on the attempts of aspiring rock musician and orphaned teenager Shuya Nanahara to escape the Program.
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In the [[PoliceState Greater East Asia Republic]] (a fascist alternate-timeline Japan), one class of high school students is chosen at random every six months, kidnapped, and placed in an isolated area with no chance of escape. The students are then given one weapon each and, under the threat of death, forced to kill each other until only one student is left alive. \n This is a once-controversial but now regularly recurring military experiment (since 1947) known only as "the Program". ''Battle Royale'' describes the ordeals and struggles of the 'contestants' in one such class, centering on the attempts of aspiring rock musician and orphaned teenager Shuya Nanahara to escape the Program.
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* [=~Everything's Cuter With Kittens~=]: Many kittens pop up in the story:
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* [=~Everything's Cuter With Kittens~=]: EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Many kittens pop up in the story:
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** Then: nobody in a post-{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. **Now: it would be considered too much like TheHungerGames.
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** Then: [[AC: Then]] nobody in a post-{{Columbine}} Hollywood could seriously contemplate making a film about high school students killing each other. **Now: other.
**[[AC: Now]] it would be considered too much likeTheHungerGames.''TheHungerGames''.
**[[AC: Now]] it would be considered too much like
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* AdultsAreUseless: The parents and government of Japan allow this to happen doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, the Defense Forces are the ones that ''had the idea'' and carries out the sick games. Admittedly however, protesting tends to get you shot in the head or arrested, as the Government are wont to showcase at every opportunity.
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* AdultsAreUseless: AdultsAreUseless:
** The parents and government of Japan allow this to happen doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, the Defense Forces are the ones that ''had the idea'' and carries out the sick games. Admittedly however, protesting tends to get you shot in the head or arrested, as the Government are wont to showcase at every opportunity.
** The parents and government of Japan allow this to happen doing absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, the Defense Forces are the ones that ''had the idea'' and carries out the sick games. Admittedly however, protesting tends to get you shot in the head or arrested, as the Government are wont to showcase at every opportunity.
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** Although, considering her characterization in the manga, the major sexualization fits. Though the former could definitely be considered AuthorAppeal anyway.
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** Some of these characters' cause of deaths were also changed.
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Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]]. And, as of March 2012, it looks like it's not going to happen due to fears of that American audiences [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny would view the remake as a ripoff of]] ''[[TheHungerGames The Hunger]] [[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/23/the-hunger-games-vs-battle-royale/ Games]].''
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Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]]. And, as of March 2012, it looks like it's not going to happen due to fears of that American audiences [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny would view the remake as a ripoff of]] ''[[TheHungerGames The Hunger]] [[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/23/the-hunger-games-vs-battle-royale/ Games]].''
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Changed line(s) 9,10 (click to see context) from:
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]].
to:
Originally a novel by Koushun Takami, ''Battle Royale'' was adapted into a live-action movie and a DoorStopper manga series (it has over ''3000 pages''). The plots of these adaptations have minor differences, but with the same general events occurring. An [[ForeignRemake American remake]] was announced in 2006, but has been stuck in DevelopmentHell for reasons that [[TooSoon should be]] [[{{Columbine}} fairly obvious]].
obvious]]. And, as of March 2012, it looks like it's not going to happen due to fears of that American audiences [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny would view the remake as a ripoff of]] ''[[TheHungerGames The Hunger]] [[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/23/the-hunger-games-vs-battle-royale/ Games]].''
