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Characters / The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

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Characters from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a prequel novel to The Hunger Games.

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Main Characters

    Lucy Gray Baird 
The female District 12 tribute of the 10th Hunger Games as well as its eventual victor (making her the only District 12 victor until Haymitch Abernathy). A strange girl who gains the attention of her Capitol mentor, future Panem president Coriolanus Snow.
  • Animal Motifs: Songbirds and snakes. She has an affinity for both, and they usually return it. She often uses bird metaphors while speaking, is referred to as a "songbird" throughout the book due to her singing, is part of a group called "the Covey", and her last name is 'Baird' — at one point she even refers to herself as being "of the Covey Bairds." At the Reaping, she uses a snake that she calls "a particular friend" of hers to get revenge on Mayfair for trying to kill her, manages to befriend the snake mutts in the arena (with help from Coriolanus) and uses one to kill Treech, and according to Maude Ivory, can always tell where snakes will be.
  • Beautiful Singing Voice: She is the singer of a band of traveling musical troupe, so this is to be expected. She uses her singing to help win her sponsors.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Falls for Coriolanus Snow because he did his best to care for and guide her both before and during the Games (while knowing it was for their mutual benefit).
  • Colourful Theme Naming: Like other members of the Covey, Lucy Gray has two given names, one of which is taken from a traditional ballad while the other is a colour. She's always referred to by both names, and is quick to correct a Capitol reporter who addresses her simply as "Lucy".
  • Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Lucy Gray's Games were released as a prequel to Katniss', and Lucy Gray fittingly contrasts her successor in several ways. Both are dark-haired, 16-year-old tributes of District 12. However, while Katniss was born district, Lucy Gray is "Covey", a group of travelling performers who happened to come by District 12 but were forced to live there. Both have a Beautiful Singing Voice, but while Katniss hates being forced to perform for the Capitol and only sings on special occasions, Lucy Gray is a professional singer and frequently performs on stage. While Katniss is physically strong and can use a bow since she was a child, Lucy Gray is only equipped with her wits and the help of Coriolanus Snow. And while both confront President Snow directly, Katniss is his Arch-Enemy, while Lucy Gray is his former lover.
  • Deuteragonist: She is the second most important character in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, after Coriolanus Snow.
  • Establishing Character Moment: We first see her at the Reaping, where she slides a snake down Mayfair Lipp's dress while wearing an eye-catching rainbow dress and sings a song afterwards about how you can't keep her down.
  • Final Girl: She survives the 10th Hunger Games.
  • Friend to All Children: Is notably good with kids. The Capitol children she interacts with adore her.
  • Girly Girl: Likes dramatic makeup, pretty dresses, and weaves wildflowers in her hair.
  • Good Bad Girl: Downplayed. Is sensual and flirtatious, although she uses her charms to entertain, rather than seduce. She's also one of the more good-hearted characters in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, despite not being "made of sugar". She'll kill in self-defense and will play a humiliating prank on someone who tried to murder her, but she'll do anything for her family and is able to empathize with Mayfair even after the latter arranged for her to be sent into the Hunger Games.
  • Guile Hero: Both she and Coriolanus know she's not really a physical threat, especially against the boys, so their strategy to is to be smart. She charms the audience into getting enough sponsorships to keep her well fed and from there it's just a waiting game to let the crowd thin from fighting, disease, and starvation. She gets the hell out of dodge as soon as it starts and stays hidden with Jessup, only coming out for food. From there, she lets the poison do its thing and never directly has to fight anyone.
  • History Repeats: Her conduct during her Hunger Games is similar to that of Katniss and Peeta, future tributes from her district. They both end up singing for the audience, become close with their mentors, calm down a fellow tribute as they lay dying, and poison another tribute (though Peeta does this unwittingly). The only difference is that she wins her Games alone, while Katniss and Peeta do it together. Her victory by playing smart and dirty also has echos of how Haymitch was able to win.
  • Iconic Outfit: Her ruffled rainbow dress is her most remembered outfit, in part because she wears it so often and it receives more description than her other outfits. It also functions as this in-universe. She wears it to comfort herself on Reaping Day because it belonged to her mother, and its colorfulness stands out on such a somber occasion where most people are dressed for the serious event that Reaping is. It gets her so much attention that one in-universe fan dresses their dog in similar rainbow ruffles to show support.
  • I Don't Want to Die: She eventually admits that she is scared of dying in the Hunger Games after she becomes close with Snow. This motivates him to start helping her win the Games for real.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • 'Lucy Gray' is the title of a poem by William Wordsworth. In the poem, the titular Lucy Gray disappears during a snowstorm, though her body was never found. Like her namesake, Lucy Gray eventually disappears after Snow tries to kill her, although it's not explicitly stated whether she dies, decides to retreat to the wilderness, attempts to make it to what we know is District 13, or changes her identity to escape her pursuers.
    • Her last name, Baird, sounds similar to 'bird' and 'bard', which fits both her connection to mockingjays and her occupation as a writer and singer of ballads.
  • Mistaken for Murderer: Mayor Lipp suspects Lucy Gray of murdering his daughter, Mayfair. The actual murderer was Coriolanus Snow.
  • Mysterious Waif: Her past and overall life is an enigma. She herself states that, as a Covey, she didn't actually come from District 12 and only got stranded there because of Capitol policies. Her parents and two siblings are all dead, she shares her name with a very old poem in which her namesake died a mysterious death, and finally, she disappears from the face of the earth without any explanation at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
  • Never Found the Body: After she finds out Snow's betrayal of Sejanus, she disappears without leaving a trace on the world.
  • Proud Beauty: Is a pretty girl who likes to take care of her appearance.
  • Rainbow Motif: One of the most memorable pieces of imagery in The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes is her attending the Reaping in her rainbow dress. She wears the same dress during her time at Capitol Zoo, at her Interview, and in the Arena.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: Turns up at the Reaping in a frilly rainbow dress with flowers in her hair... and then proceeds to stuff a snake down Mayfair Lipp's dress. Repeats this at the Arena; she hides the snakes she uses to kill other tributes in the ruffles of her dress.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Develops feelings for Snow because he worked hard to care for her and protect her during the Games. Unfortunately, his ambition and loyalty to the Capitol eventually overshadow any feelings he had for her in return.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With Snow. Even after she wins her Games, she's a District 12 citizen and Snow is a Capitol loyalist. They do eventually get a chance to be together, but it falls apart after Snow inadvertently reveals that he killed Sejanus.
  • Theme Naming: All Covey have a system on how to name their children. Their first name is a reference to a ballad, while their second name is a color. Lucy Gray is special in that regard, as both her names refer to the poem "Lucy Gray", though she herself says that the "Gray" part also refers to the gray sky of a snowy day.
  • Uncertain Doom: Just what happens to her at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? Does she return to District 12 and adopt a new persona after she's sure Snow has left the woods? Does she succeed in escaping Panem? Or does she die in the woods trying to get what we know is District 13 in the north (since the climax happens in August, it would have been almost impossible for her to travel all the way there on foot by winter) or when Snow shoots her? Like the character from the poem she was named for, her fate is unclear.
  • Unseen No More: She's the unnamed previous District 12 victor who's mentioned a handful of times in the original books.

    Coriolanus Snow 
See his entry here.

District 12

The Covey

    In General 
The Covey are the family of musicians Lucy Gray Baird comes from. They were originally nomads who travelled around the country to entertain, but by the time of The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes, they are stranded in District 12 due to the Capitol's polices. It's implied that Katniss Everdeen from the main trilogy is related to the Covey on her father's side.
  • Colourful Theme Naming: Members of the Covey all have two given names, one of which is taken from a traditional ballad while the other is a colour. They are always referred to by both names.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Covey seem to be inspired by the Romani, being a group of itinerants who feel that they don't belong to any single regional border and provide musical entertainment to make a living.
  • Meaningful Name: A covey is a group of quails, tying in with Lucy Gray's avian theme.
  • Musical Theme Naming: All members of the Covey are named after real-life ballads and poems. The most prominent, of course, is Lucy Gray (named after the poem by William Wordsworth; this is even pointed out in-universe). Another is Barb Azure (named after Barbara Allen).

    Maude Ivory 
The 9 year old cousin of Lucy Gray Baird. She can remember a song after only hearing it once.
  • Ambiguously Related: The book heavily implied that Katniss is related to someone in the Covey but never makes it clear who exactly it is. However, she’s the strongest candidate of the bunch. Lucy Gray says that she can remember a song after only hearing it once. The hanging tree song is only sung once but somehow Katniss knows it, implying she was the one who passed it down.
  • Beautiful Singing Voice: As a member of the Covey, this is a given.
  • The Cutie: Is a sweet child who loves to sing.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: She loves butter. Tam Amber fashions a butter churn for her birthday.

    Barb Azure 
The bass player of the Covey. She is a cousin of Lucy Gray Baird.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Lucy Gray mentions she's "seeing a gal down the road."
    • Might be Ambiguously Bi, as at one point, Lucy Gray lies and says Snow is actually dating Barb, a cover story which no one questions.
  • Team Mom: From what little we see of her, it's pretty clear that she's the one taking responsibility for the rest of the Covey.
  • True Blue Femininity: Wears an ankle-length, checkered blue dress.

    Clerk Carmine 
The fiddle player of the Covey and brother of Billy Taupe. His nickname is "CC".

    Tam Amber 
The mandolin player of the Covey. He was found abandoned in a cardboard box as a baby and was taken in by the Covey.

    Billy Taupe 
The brother of Clerk Carmine and a former member of the Covey. Dated Lucy Gray Baird until Lucy Gray found out he was cheating on her with Mayfair Lipp and broke up with him.
  • Domestic Abuse: He acts entitled and controlling towards Lucy Gray both during and after their relationship, and two-times her for the mayor's daughter, Mayfair, whom he continues to date even after she tries to get Lucy Gray killed. Despite this, he continues to pursue her, even though she made clear that she wants nothing to do with him.
  • Inter-Class Romance: Billy Taupe, who comes from the Seam, is in a relationship with Mayfair Lipp, the Mayor's daughter.
  • Morality Pet: He actually seems to care about Mayfair to the point of turning on his fellow Rebels when they shoot her.
  • Token Evil Teammate: The only member of the Covey to be antagonistic, and he was kicked out because he cheated on Lucy Gray.

Other District 12 Residents

    Jessup Diggs 
The male District 12 tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Lysistrata Vickers.
  • Heroic Bystander: During the arena bombing, he saves Lysistrata's life.
  • Hunk: Described as strong-looking and bigger than average, because of his work in the District 12 mines. Coriolanus notes that he is a fine specimen compared to previous tributes from District 12.
  • Meaningful Name: His surname refers to the act of digging, which is something coal miners would do a lot.
  • Undignified Death: He contracts rabies from the raccoons who inhabit the monkey cage he was thrown in before the Games starts. In his death throes, he runs around in a confused state as he tries to reach Lucy Gray, who understandably stays away from him, and is startled by water bottles delivered by sponsors (his mentor sent them to prevent him from harming Lucy Gray). He becomes a source of entertainment among the Capitolians as he dies slowly and painfully from the disease, though Lucy Gray at least has the decency to calm him as he dies.
  • What You Are in the Dark: During the arena bombing, he saves his mentor's life by throwing his body over hers.

    Arlo Chance 
A District 12 rebel who tried to shut down the mines using explosives. He was one half of the couple "The Hanging Tree" was written about.
  • La Résistance: Gets hung for his involvement in a botched rebel plot to stop coal production at the District 12 coal mines.

    Lil 
The lover of Arlo Chance. She was one half of the couple "The Hanging Tree" was written about. Ends up executed, along with Sejanus.

    Spruce 
A District 12 rebel who wants to escape Panem.
  • Big Brother Instinct: He is prepared to attack the Peacekeeper barracks to save Lil (who is heavily implied to be his sister) from being hanged.
  • Gun Nut: He has a large cache of firearms.
  • Nice Guy: He's cordial to Snow and Mayfair, feeling that it's pointless to hate someone because of their ancestral or family ties to his enemies.
  • Run for the Border: He was already planning to get out of there but really lights out of there after being forced to shoot Billy Taupe. Unfortunately, he ends up caught.

    Commander Hoff 
The Head Peacekeeper in District 12 during Coriolanus Snow's and Sejanus Plinth's time working there.
  • Bad Boss: An inverted example; he's good to the Peacekeepers under his command and not so good to the citizens that they police.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Hoff is generally pleasant with his men but quick to order executions. Hoff is aware that he is in the backwater province and seems like a mostly decent guy who would be glad to look away from the informal economy and be generally lax on non-violent criminals, but it has just been 10 years since a brutal civil war and a few rebel veterans still haven't gotten the memo. One gets the impression that had he been in post for a few more years and as the veterans start aging and being disillusioned on the old cause he'd end up a mostly benign figure, but he is replaced (and given his age, likely retired) soon after Snow returns to the capital.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Commander Hoff is good-tempered and decent to the Peacekeepers he commands, and shows empathy towards Snow by telling him that it can't have been easy to inform on his friend.

    Smiley 
A roommate of Coriolanus Snow and Sejanus Plinth during their time as Peacekeepers.
  • Category Traitor: Smiley was born in District 8 but helps the Capitol oppress the District's so he can have a better life.
  • Friend in the Black Market: Wheeling and dealing in the black market is described as his forte from before he joined the Peacekeepers, and in District 12 he acts as his squad’s chief barterer, getting them liquor and other goods.
  • The Nicknamer: Smiley gives nicknames to everybody who rooms with him. Snow gains the nickname "Gent" because of his excellent table manners, and Sejanus is given the nickname "Bulls-Eye" because he's a crack shot with a gun.

    Beanpole 
One of Snow's roommates during his time as a Peacekeeper. His real name is Junius, but he's rarely called that.
  • Ironic Nickname: 'Beanpole' is a nickname usually given to tall people. Junius is short.
  • Nervous Wreck: Beanpole is constantly worried, even panicking that he would be executed for treason just for being roommates with Sejanus Plinth, despite having no involvement at all in the rebel plot and not even having a motive due to being from the Capitol.

    Cookie 
The Peacekeeper cook.

    Mayfair Lipp 
The daughter of Mayor Lipp. Has a personal vendetta against Lucy Gray due to Lucy Gray being the ex-girlfriend of Mayfair's boyfriend, Billy Taupe.
  • Asshole Victim: She was a horrible person, so there isn't much sympathy for her when she's shot to death by Snow.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Madge Undersee from the original series. Madge is Spoiled Sweet and a close friend of Katniss, Mayfair is a Spoiled Brat and hates Lucy Gray. The only thing they have in common is that they are both the mayor's daughter.
  • Rich Bitch: She's the mayor's daughter and uses her wealth and status for her advantage, like getting rid of Lucy Gray by sending her off to the Hunger Games.
  • Uptown Girl: Is the Mayor's daughter, and is dating Billy Taupe, a boy from the Seam.

    Mayor Lipp 
The Mayor of District 12 during President Snow's youth and father of Mayfair Lipp.
  • Corrupt Politician: Uses his power to try and get the innocent Lucy Gray killed, all because his daughter has her eyes on Lucy Gray's boyfriend and wants her out of the way.
  • Mayor Pain: He's the evil variety. He sends Lucy off to what he thinks is her death, and assaults her.
  • Outliving One's Offspring:Mayfair, his only known child, dies in the book.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Hits Lucy Gray, leaving a purple bruise.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Sends at least nineteen kids, some of whom may have been as young as twelve years old, to their deaths.

Other Tributes of the 10th Hunger Games

    Facet and Velvereen 
The District 1 tributes of the 10th Hunger Games. They are mentored by Livia Cardew and Palmyra Monty, respectively.
  • Desecrating the Dead: For trying to escape the stadium, both have their bodies dragged by horses during the opening of the Games.
  • Meaningful Name: Since both Facet and Velvereen hail from District 1, both of their names reference their District's industry of producing luxury items for the Capitol.
    • The word 'facet' refers to a small flat surface cut onto a precious stone.
    • Velvereen is one letter away from 'velveteen', a type of cloth which imitates velvet.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: They take advantage of the sabotage to try and run for their lives.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Before the Games even start, both are shot dead when they attempt to flee the arena during the rebel bombing.

    Marcus 
The District 2 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Sejanus Plinth, who also happens to be his former classmate from school.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: After the Capitol captures him, they put him on display during the opening of the Games, still alive but battered and bloodied and an easy prey for other tributes to kill.
  • Commonality Connection: Defied; he and his mentor Sejanus come from the same district and were even once classmates, but this only serves to make Marcus hate Sejanus more, and thus he refuses to engage with Sejanus on any level, not even to improve his own chances of survival in the Games.
  • Great Escape: When the stadium is bombed, Marcus flees and tries to escape the Capitol through the underground. However, sometime before the Games start, he is captured and then put on display in the stadium.
  • History Repeats: Like Cato, the District 2 male tribute in the 74th Hunger Games, he was tortured by the Gamemakers and eventually mercy killed by a female tribute.
  • Hunk: The biggest and most physically imposing tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, he can toss two boys with one hand. Coriolanus briefly considers swapping him for Lucy Gray, before he realizes that winning with Marcus as his tribute is too easy.
  • Mercy Kill: Lamina killing him could be seen as this, as if she hadn't killed him, he would have died of his torture or by someone else's hand.
  • Slashed Throat: Lamina kills him by slashing his throat three times.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Marcus' role in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is rather minor, as he is killed before the Games properly begin. However, his predicament is what motivates Sejanus to openly rebel against the Capitol, a big plot point of the rest of the book.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Or rather, classmates. Before Sejanus moved to the Capitol, he and Marcus attended the same school. Sejanus still keeps a class photo featuring him and Marcus.
  • Wrong Side of the Tracks: He and Sejanus. They were both raised in the same District 2 neighborhood and even attended the same school. However, Sejanus' family rose up the ranks and moved to the Capitol, freeing him from having to participate in the Hunger Games. Marcus, on the other hand, did not. He is still bitter about this and refuses to talk to Sejanus during their mentorship.

    Sabyn 
The District 2 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Florus Friend.
  • Desecrating the Dead: Like the District 1 tributes, for trying to escape the stadium, she has her body dragged by horses during the opening of the Games.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Alongside Marcus and the District 1 tributes, she attempts the jailbreak from the stadium during the bombing and nearly manages to escape. However, she mistimes her jump and dies in her fall.

    Circ 
The District 3 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Io Jasper.
  • Devoured by the Horde: Is killed alongside Coral by the snake trap.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He came from District 3, so is presumably adept at technology. He claims to be able to set fires with his glasses and is seen planning on creating something with Teslee using a battery. Unlike Teslee, however, he is killed before he is able to properly show his skills.
  • Meaningful Name: His name is a clipped form of 'circuit', and he's likely a Gadgeteer Genius from the technology district.
  • Solar-Powered Magnifying Glass: During the tribute interview, he claims to be able to start fires using his glasses.
  • Those Two Guys: He works with his fellow tribute from District 3, Teslee, so they always appear together, at least until Circ is killed by the snake trap.

    Teslee 
The District 3 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Urban Canville.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: She is able to reverse engineer the drones used to deliver the sponsor's gifts, inciting them to attack Mizzen and causing him to fall to his death.
  • Hope Spot: She kills Mizzen through a clever trick... seconds before Treech falls from the sky and strikes her head with an axe, instantly killing her.
  • Meaningful Name: When thinking of her name, the inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla comes to mind.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: It's highly likely that her trick with the drones is what led to parachutes for sponsor gifts eventually being implemented, given that the Capitol really doesn't appreciate District citizens attempting to weaponize the secrets of their arenas.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Not with Circ, but with Urban, whom she refuses to tell about herself, seeming to resent his mentorship.
  • Teen Genius: She's between the ages of 12 and 18, likely on the younger end, and managed to kill another tribute using hacked drones.
  • Those Two Guys: She works with her fellow tribute from District 3, Circ, so they always appear together, at least until Circ is killed by the snake trap.
  • Weak, but Skilled: She's one of the smaller and physically weaker tributes, but managed to kill Mizzen, a tribute bigger and stronger than her using her technology skills.

    Mizzen 
The District 4 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Persephone Price.
  • Coup de Grâce: He slits the throat of the injured Tanner.
  • Death by Irony: He refused to help Teslee on the beam when poisonous snakes are set on them. Teslee kills him on the same beam.
  • Handicapped Badass: Despite being handicapped by Lamina, he still manages to outlast four tributes, finishing fifth.
  • Hunk: Described as sturdy and powerful for a thirteen-year-old.
  • Little Miss Badass: Gender-Inverted Trope. He's thirteen, but is able to use a trident, nearly kills Coriolanus, and ends up placing fifth in the Games on an injured knee.
  • Meaningful Name: His name brings to mind the mizzen-mast of a ship.
  • Not the Fall That Kills You…: He is killed when he falls from a height and breaks his neck.
  • Prongs of Poseidon: Wields a trident as his weapon.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: He tried to use Lamina's strategy of staying on the beam, believing that since the four remaining tributes were less likely to team up to take him out, since it was so late in the Games and they all come from different districts. However, his position instead made him an easy target for Teslee's drones.

    Coral 
The District 4 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Festus Creed.
  • Badass and Child Duo: With her as the badass and Mizzen as the child, though Mizzen's not bad himself.
  • Big Sister Instinct: She seemed protective of Mizzen, her thirteen-year-old district partner.
  • Combat Pragmatist: She betrays Tanner and uses the beam to kill Lamina.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: She was killed by being bitten to death by the snake mutts.
  • Devoured by the Horde: She meets her end when snake muttations grab her feet and bite her to death.
  • In the Back: Kills Tanner by stabbing him with her trident from behind while he is doing a victory slap with Mizzen.
  • Meaningful Name: She's most likely named after the underwater organism known as coral.
  • Prongs of Poseidon: Like Mizzen, her weapon of choice is a trident.
  • Screaming Warrior: She briefly does this after Lamina injures Mizzen, driving her to physically attack her.

    Hy 
The District 5 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Dennis Fling.

    Sol 
The District 5 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Iphigenia Moss.
  • The Generic Girl: She doesn't stand out much, to the point that her mentor doesn't know her name for sure.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: In-universe. Her name in Snow's mentorship list is listed as "Sol", but Iphigenia claims that her name is "Sal".
  • Meaningful Name: "Sol" is Latin for 'sun', and brings to mind solar power.
  • Slashed Throat: Coral kills her by slashing her throat with her trident.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Both in-universe and out-of-universe. She is such a forgettable tribute even her mentor doesn't know her name for sure.

    Otto and Ginnee 
The District 6 tributes of the 10th Hunger Games. They are mentored by twins Apollo and Diana Ring, respectively.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: They are killed by shrapnel bombs, which disfigure their bodies horribly.
  • Dancing Is Serious Business: They dance in the monkey cage for food.
  • Meaningful Name: Since both of them are from the transportation district, both of their names relate back to it.
    • "Otto" sounds the same as 'auto', which might be short for 'automobile'.
    • "Ginnee" brings to mind the engine of a vehicle.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Both die during the stadium bombing, alongside their mentors.

    Treech 
The District 7 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Vipsania Sickle.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Right after conducting a surprise attack on a tribute, he is killed by a sneak attack from another tribute, when Lucy Gray discreetly inserts a snake to bite him.
  • In the Back: He kills Teslee by doing a surprise attack, striking her head with an axe from behind.
  • Lightning Bruiser: One of the better tributes physically, he is fast and strong. Throughout the Games, Snow notes that Treech tends to move on camera to quickly pick gifts before leaving. His memorable kill is catching Teslee off-guard before striking her from above with an axe. Ultimately, he finishes third, dying right before Reaper.
  • Meaningful Name: His name is Treech, from the District filled with trees. You do the math from there.
  • Mighty Lumberjack: He's a very good fighter from the lumber District.

    Lamina 
The District 7 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Pliny Harrington.
  • History Repeats: She gets cornered by a pack of tributes, just like Katniss does in her Games. Unlike her, however, Lamina does not survive the encounter, being speared by Coral.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gets skewered by Coral using her trident.
  • Knee-capping: During her last stand, she is able to wound Mizzen's knee using an axe.
  • Last Stand: Coral, Mizzen, and Tanner corner her in the stadium and ultimately kill her. Nevertheless, she puts up a good fight, managing to wound Mizzen's knee.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name refers to the botanical term of the flat part of the leaf, or in layman's terms, the leaf blade.
  • Mercy Kill: Does this to Marcus on the first day of the Games to put him out of his suffering.
  • Morton's Fork: Coral and Mizzen force Lamina into one of these by cornering her on the beam from opposite sides, giving her only enough time to attack one before the other is upon her. While Lamina manages to injure Mizzen, she is subsequently knocked off the beam by Coral and falls to her death.
  • Mighty Lumberjack: A skilled axe-wielder.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: She thought that staying on the beam would keep her safe, and didn't expect Coral, Mizzen and Tanner to team up on her.

    Bobbin 
The District 8 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Juno Phipps.
  • Asshole Victim: Downplayed given he is ultimately a victim of an extremely unjust system that sends him to a death game, but a “tiny boy” is described in early chapters as actively egging on Reaper Ash to kill Coriolanus and later cheekily takes a sandwich meant for Marcus (who refused it) from Sejanus. Bobbin is later described as tiny (and is the District 8 boy) and attacks Coriolanus and Sejanus in the arena (despite the fact that, as the former later points out, it nothing to advance his victory and Sejanus was fairly kind to the tributes) resulting in Coriolanus brutally killing him.
  • Combat Pragmatist: He claims that he knows five different ways to kill someone with a sewing needle.
  • Meaningful Name: He's most likely named after the spindle/cylinder which holds thread in a sewing machine.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He is tiny, but still able to spar with Coriolanus and Sejanus at the same time.
  • Start of Darkness: Bobbin is Coriolanus' first kill. Even when he tries to justify his murder as self-defense, his death obviously impacts his mental state, as he becomes more ruthless after that.

    Wovey 
The District 8 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Hilarius Heavensbee.
  • Anti-Climax: In-universe. She is absent for most of the Games, making her mentor unable to deliver her gifts. When finally she emerges after several days, she is delirious, having been poisoned by Lucy Gray's rat poison, and promptly dies.
  • The Generic Girl: Her mentor describes her as having zero personality.
  • Meaningful Name: "Wove" is the past simple form of 'weave', which is something her District is known for — woven products.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Even though she finishes eighth in the Games, she doesn't appear in the cameras until she is in her death throes.

    Panlo and Sheaf 
The District 9 tributes of the 10th Hunger Games. They are mentored by Gaius Breen and Androcles Anderson, respectively.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Sheaf survived the original bombing, but the Capitol only let a veterinarian treat her, refusing her access to a human doctor, and she eventually died of her wounds.
  • Dancing Is Serious Business: Sheaf danced for food in the monkey cage.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Panlo's name likely derives from the Latin word for 'bread', panis.
    • Sheaf's name brings to mind sheaves of wheat. She's from the District that produces grain.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Panlo and Sheaf both die because of the stadium bombing that happens before their Games start.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Sheaf was refused access to a human doctor after the bombing of the stadium and was only treated by a vet, i.e. a doctor for animals, which implies the Capitol saw Sheaf, or to an extent, the Tributes and even District citizens in general, as subhuman. This lines up with the other information given in the book, where Capitolites of District descent were treated badly (e.g. Sejanus was bullied by his classmates at elementary school) and District citizens in general would be looked down upon by Capitolites (e.g. Grandma'am Snow's Racist Grandma tendencies).

    Tanner 
The District 10 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Domitia Whimsiwick.
  • Blood Knight: Somewhat. Since he came from the livestock district, he chats happily about the workings of a slaughterhouse during the interviews to the point that Lucky Flickerman has to cut him off. This still earns him high ratings among sponsors.
  • Commonality Connection: His mentor Domitia happens to be a dairy heiress and he comes from the livestock district, so they actually manage to get along well enough in their interview.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He never thought that Coral and Mizzen woul betray him.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gets impaled by Coral, then finished off by Mizzen.
  • Meaningful Name: His name is a occupational name denoting a person who makes leather from animal skins.
  • Odd Friendship: His mentor is a dairy heiress, which gives them a Commonality Connection that most of the other mentor/tribute pairs don't have. They seem to have some rapport during the interviews, and Domitia comments that she liked him somewhat after his death.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: He teams up with Coral and Mizzen, expecting them to increase his chance of winning. He never thinks for a moment that, since they came from the same district, they might plan to kill him.

    Brandy 
The District 10 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Arachne Crane.
  • Berserk Button: Being treated like an animal. Arachne plays with her by baiting her with food, causing Brandy to snap and slit her throat.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Arachne mentions how her tribute is quite knowledgeable about different ways of butchering hogs. She finds out the hard way that this skill readily translates to humans as well.
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: Takes one defiant last bite of the sandwich Arachne was taunting her with before being gunned down, asserting a small victory over the Capitol and the fittingly named Hunger Games.
  • Desecrating the Dead: For killing a Capitol citizen in public, her dead body is paraded and humiliated during Arachne's funeral.
  • The Dog Bites Back: After Arachne treats her like an animal too many times, Brandy slits her throat. Though she is immediately gunned down after this, making it a Pyrrhic Victory.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name references the branding of farm animals to mark who they belong to.
  • Sympathetic Murderer: She killed Arachne. But after Arachne teased her with a sandwich when she was in the monkey cage and starving.

    Reaper Ash 
The District 11 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. He is mentored by Clemensia Dovecote.
  • The Grim Reaper: Befitting his name, he picks up bodies of dead tributes and respectfully arranges them inside the stadium, wrapping them with Capitol flags.
  • History Repeats: He shares elements with Thresh, a future male tribute from his district. Like Thresh, he is isolated during the Games, as no one dares to approach him because of his reputation. He is also close with the female tribute from his district, as he carries a dying Dill into the stadium so she can die while watching the sun, calming her as she dies.
  • Martial Pacifist: Throughout his Games, he never actually attacks anyone. Despite this, he lasts the second longest, dying only because he drinks a water puddle that has been poisoned by Lucy Gray.
  • Meaningful Name: Outside of his status as a Scary Black Man as perceived by others, to 'reap' means to "cut and collect a grain crop".
    • His mentor, Clemensia, points out that his name being "Reaper" is rather ironic considering he's a victim of the Reaping, although someone else reminds her that the Reaping hadn't yet been invented when he was born.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A person named Reaper is not someone you want to mess with.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: When he finds and inspects Wovey's body, he quickly realizes that her death wasn't from natural causes, but with no knowledge of Lucy Gray's poison, he seems to attribute it to the food from the Capitol instead, given that this is the point he stops eating or drinking anything from the drones.
  • Sanity Slippage: As the Games go on, he begins showing the effects of the rabies he contracted from Jessup, although he dies before it progresses nearly as far as Jessup's case did.
  • Scary Black Man: Described as dark-skinned, like the rest of District 11 citizens. Aside from Lucy Gray, he is the most mysterious and undoubtedly the most feared tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, having killed a Peacekeeper back home and not afraid to physically intimidate Snow, a mentor, when he wanders into the tributes' truck. During the Games, nobody dares to approach him, even though he never kills anyone. He ends up being the last tribute to die.

    Dill 
The District 11 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games. She is mentored by Felix Ravinstill.

The Capitol

    President Ravinstill 

The President of Panem in the years before and after the Dark Days.

  • Corrupt Politician: For funding the reconstruction of Panem, the president allowed the Plinths to move to the Capitol. It's mentioned that the Plinths can get away with basically everything, since they have money.
  • Evil Old Folks: His great-nephew Felix is about to graduate high school, and he's still running Panem as an oppressive dictatorship that forces children into fights to the death.
  • Last-Name Basis: His first name is never revealed.
  • Predecessor Villain: The Dark Days started and ended under his rule. After the war, he continues to wear a military uniform in public, to show that he has been ruling Panem since before there was ever a war.
  • Would Hurt a Child: While Dr. Gaul was the catalyst for the start of the Hunger Games, the president was likely the one who approved it, since he had the final say in state matters.

    Volumnia Gaul 

The Head Gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games who oversees the Capitol's experimental weapons division, including the infamous muttations.

  • Disproportionate Retribution: Gaul has Clemensia injected with snake venom for lying to her about working on an assignment that both she and Snow were supposed to do.
  • Eviler than Thou: However terrible a person Coriolanus is, Snow never even comes close to just how sociopathic, vindictive, petty, insane and misanthropic Gaul was. Case in point, she arranges for Clemensia to be poisoned due to the girl lying to her over an assignment Clemensia was supposed to work on with Snow. Snow himself indulges in Disproportionate Retribution, but never for something so banal as lying on a homework assignment.
  • Evil Old Folks: Gaul is described as elderly, and she is a vile woman who performs experiments on innocent people and was responsible for the Hunger Games becoming a part of Panem.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Volumnia is this for the entire series, and in multiple ways.
    • Even though Casca Highbottom was the one who wrote it and Crassus Snow suggested it, it was Gaul who proposed to actually implement the Hunger Games as a way to punish the Districts to the extent that their ability to rise again will be severely diminished. As a result, she's responsible for the deaths of at least 23 children every year up until the 74th Hunger Games, even though by that time, she's long dead.
    • She is also the one who grooms Snow into the ruthless president he is today, by engaging him in mind games to harden him up and make him believe that only the Capitol is able to provide control over the Districts.
  • Karma Houdini: By the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, she gets everything she wants, including an understudy to succeed her reign of terror. Since there's no mention of her in the main series, it can be assumed that she died in peace. On the other hand, Finnick in Mockingjay reveals that Snow killed allies as well as enemies, so there's a strong possibility that Snow killed her and took her resources once he graduated and had learned everything he could from her.
  • Mad Scientist: To say that she's a mad scientist is putting it mildly. Even the future President Snow is disturbed by her muttations and callous treatment of her subjects, including actively harming a teenage girl's life simply because she lied to her.
  • Meaningful Name: Volumnia is the name of the domineering mother of Caius Martius Coriolanus, the protagonist of the Shakespearean tragedy from whom President Snow got his name. Gaul was the nation that would become France, and was an enemy of Rome's characterized as barbarians who needed to be civilized. Dr. Gaul is a cruel, ruthless person in power in the Roman-styled Capitol who believes all people are barbarians and need to be tamed with measures like the Hunger Games.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: She is firmly of the opinion that all humans are inherently evil and in fact uses this to justify the Capitol's totalitarian rule over Panem, because of course those savage animals of the Districts couldn't possibly dream of placing themselves to order.
  • Psychological Projection: Gaul believes people are brutes and animals who must be kept in check with reminders of their cruelty, while being the objectively most brutal and cruel person in the story as an authoritarian Mad Scientist who engineers death for a living. It's implied she has placed her own alarming flaws onto society to create a worldview that justifies herself.
  • Secret Test of Character: She sends Snow to take part in Peacekeeping duties in District 12 to make him be able to see the chaotic world, realize that the Capitol's domination over the Districts is right, and, by sneaking and reporting on Sejanus' treachery, prove that he is loyal to the Capitol.
  • The Sociopath: She shows no remorse for the various atrocities she commits.

Capitol Academy Faculty

    Casca Highbottom 

The dean of the Capitol Academy in the early years of the Hunger Games who presides over its first mentorship program. He is historically significant as the man who drafted the plan to pit District children against each other in a game of death as punishment for their rebellion during the Dark Days, a spectacle that later came to be called the Hunger Games.

  • Drowning My Sorrows: After his plans for the Hunger Games were carried out without his consent, Highbottom became addicted to Morphling and is always seen intoxicated as a result.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: Coriolanus' nickname for Highbottom is "High-as-a-Kite Bottom".
  • Et Tu, Brute?: He felt personally betrayed when his erstwhile best friend, Crassus Snow, stole his plans for the Hunger Games and then presented it to Dr. Gaul without his consent.
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • Highbottom never intended for the Hunger Games to be carried out. No matter how much he hates the Districts, even he puts a line on pitting their children into gladiator games.
    • It's also seen in how he treats Lucy Gray. He could easily have had her executed for her role in cheating in the Hunger Games, but he states that sending her back to District 12 is punishment enough, and in private he apologizes to her for what she's been through and gives her a wad of money, which she admits that she's grateful to have since the Covey couldn't perform while she was gone.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Highbottom was horrified when his draft plan of the Hunger Games was stolen and subsequently proposed by Crassus Snow, as he considers it inhumane. However, he was too late to stop the plan from being carried out.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His decision to send Snow to the Peacekeepers gave Gaul a chance to fully assess the boy's loyalties and cement his devotion to the Capital, ensuring the perpetuation of the Hunger Games. More generically, his intentional humiliation of Coriolanus and unwillingness to explain why he hates Snow only cemented the boy's classism and other issues, which play a large role in Snow turning out so evil in the future.
  • Opposed Mentors: He and Gaul are this to Snow, with Casca being the good mentor to Gaul being the evil one. Deconstructed, though, in that Casca hates Coriolanus for being the son of the man who betrayed him and treats Snow like shit, making Snow much more receptive to Gaul's advice than his.
  • Revenge by Proxy: He has a personal vendetta against Crassus since their falling out. Since Crassus died during the first rebellion, however, he resorted to making the life of his son, Coriolanus, a living hell as a result.
  • Tampering with Food and Drink: At the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Coriolanus poisons Highbottom to eliminate a potential opponent of his rise to power.

    Satyria Click 

Coriolanus Snow's Communication's Professor who he served as a teaching aide for. She helped campaign to ensure Snow received one of the 24 mentor slots. She is a frequent chaperone for the Mentors during the 10th Hunger Games, usually overseeing events when Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom aren't present.

  • Cool Teacher: For the most part, as far as Coriolanus is concerned. She's comparatively laid back, usually with a drink in hand, and often gives words of encouragement to her star pupil. She even visits him in the hospital and calls to his home (making multiple phone calls) to ensure he comes to an important mentor-tribute meeting on time.
  • Establishing Character Moment: When Snow first sees her at the Reaping Day party she's noticeably tipsy but they smoothly exchange compliments in front of their social circles reflecting her ability to maintain appearances in refine Capital Society. The social lessons Snow learns under her likely translated well into his role as a Mentor for Lucy Gray, and his career as a politician later on.
  • Meaningful Name: Satyria is a genus of plants, their name derived from Satyrs which are known for their drinking, crass humor, and charisma.
  • Ms. Exposition: Pops in and out of the story, usually to give Snow relevant information about what is going on within the faculty, what the people in the capital are thinking, and update him on how close he is to getting the scholarship/prize he is trying to claim. Other than that she mostly is relegated to supporting roles in the background.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: As far as Capital Authority figures who are willing participants in the annual death games go. She accepts Coriolanus's suggestion to feed the tributes with no pushback, frequently gives him encouraging updates about his chances at receiving his coveted accolades (as opposed to Casca and Gaul, who frequently torment him over it), and is implied to be part of the faculty that advocated for Coriolanus to be allowed to graduate.
  • Shipper on Deck: Sejanus describes how Dean Highbottom was outvoted on the topic of allowing Snow to graduate by romantics among the faculty who sympathize with Coriolanus's Star-Crossed Lovers routine with Lucy Gray. Given her high status within the Academy and positive predisposition towards Coriolanus and positive comments towards Lucy Gray, it is likely Satyria was one of them.
  • Teacher's Pet: Snow is one for her, serving as her aide despite her "unpredictability", an early sign of his Parental Issues and his desire to please her foreshadows his future relationship with Dr. Gaul.

    Agrippina Sickle 

The Academy's Gymnasium Mistress. Described as muscular and of formidable stature. She, like Click, often serves as chaperones for the Mentors during the 10th Hunger Games, filling in as an minor authority figure for the story when Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom aren't present.

  • Bad Boss: Sejanus is not very happy to be her assistant, forced to lug a heavy shield given to her for overseeing safety drills during the war. She casually insults his choice of outfit and Sejanus notes that she does not hesitate to make demands of him outside of normal hours.
  • Competition Freak: Described as incredibly competitive, a trait she apparently shares with her niece. The fact that her first scene sees her insisting that her heavy ornamental shield that she won a decade prior be part of the group photo every year lends credence to this. She then proceeds to barrel her way into Professor Sickle's conversation, pushing aside the crowd with her muscular shoulders, "scattering her inferiors" and putting down others present for their choice of dress.
  • Corrupt Bureaucrat: A well-placed offer for a new gym proves to be sufficient for her to endorse two previously disgraced students (one of which committed treason on national television) be allowed to graduate, overriding concerns from other faculty.
  • Drill Sergeant Nasty: Rather harsh towards her students, barking orders at them and treating them like miniature soldiers (which, given her wartime background and the continued militarization of Panem, is sort of true). This actually works to Coriolanus's benefit when he actually does end up as a Peacekeeper, the narration noting that her insistence of rigorous exercise and marching in formation since age 12 prepared him much better than his district born counterparts.
  • Meaningful Name: Agrippina the Younger was the mother of Nero and wife of Claudius noted for her ambition and ruthlessness.
  • Nepotism: Helped ensure her niece Vipsania was admitted to the Academy.

Capitol Academy Students

    Sejanus Plinth 

A student of the Capitol Academy who is the son of an influential Capitol family and Coriolanus Snow's best friend. His family originally came from District 2.

  • All the Other Reindeer: Even though he spends most of his life in the Capitol, in Sejanus' mind, home is District 2. The fact that he is bullied precisely because he came from the Districts doesn't help.
  • Child of Two Worlds: His family were residents of District 2 who moved to the Captiol in his youth thanks to his father's wealth and influence. This earns him disdain from both the Capitol natives, who view him as a Nouveau Riche District boy, and the District 2 citizens, who see him as a Category Traitor for escaping subjection to the Hunger Games and participating as a mentor.
  • Death by Newbery Medal: Sejanus is Coriolanus' first real friend, and Coriolanus' betrayal of him, which leads to his death, serves as his definite Start of Darkness.
  • Defector from Decadence: Sejanus always has a rebellious mind and loudly voices his opinion against the Capitol's mistreatment of the Districts. It all culminates with him joining the District 12 rebels' plot to escape Panem and head north, which eventually costs him his life.
  • Due to the Dead: He goes to cover up Marcus's corpse while the Games are still going on.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Tragically averted. Even though he is largely silent, Coriolanus notes that Sejanus is mortified at the prospect of being executed. And when the execution is carried out, he screams for his mother.
  • Friendless Background: The only friend he ever had was Coriolanus Snow. Who betrayed him.
  • Hot-Blooded: Is impulsive and prone to having pro-District/anti-Capitol outbursts in class.
  • I Want My Mommy!: Played seriously. His last words, which the jabberjays pick up and which visibly haunt Coriolanus, are "Ma! Ma! Ma!".
  • La Résistance: Is sympathetic to the rebels and ends up betraying the Capitol in order to aid them.
  • Momma's Boy: He is closer to his Ma than his father, since she shares his longing for District 2.
  • Meaningful Name: "Sejanus" was the name of a powerful friend and confidant of the Roman emperor Tiberius. This story's Sejanus is powerful and influential due to his family's wealth and is a confidant of future president Coriolanus Snow. Like the historical Sejanus, he is also suddenly executed on accusations of treason.
  • Nice Guy: He's a kind, caring, young man who has compassion for the people in the Districts.
  • Nouveau Riche: His family were wealthy residents of District 2 who were allowed to move into the Captiol after the Rebellion was crushed. They're still viewed with disdain from Capitol natives.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red (impulsive, passionate, outspoken) to Coriolanus Snow's Blue (reserved, composed, less emotional).
  • The Rival: Coriolanus Snow considers him this. Not that Sejanus is aware of it.
  • Treachery Cover Up: Since his family is still influential, the Capitol opts not to reveal the fact that Sejanus is working with the rebels. Even after he is publicly executed, he is merely reported to have died in his Peacekeeping duties and his parents decide to financially adopt Coriolanus in good faith, believing that he is upholding Sejanus' legacy, when in truth he betrayed him.
  • With Friends Like These...: Having Coriolanus Snow as a best friend does not work out well for Sejanus.

    Livia Cardew 

The mentor of the District 1 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Facet.

  • Awful Wedded Life: Invoked. In the epilogue, Coriolanus thinks of planning to marry her. Not because they warmed up to each other, but because he still genuinely hates her, coming to believe that the genuine love that Lucy Gray gave him was poisonous.
  • Big "YES!": She gives a very unsportsmanlike one after being assigned a promising tribute.
  • The Bully: According to the narration, she and Coriolanus never got along, she seems to be quite the Jerkass even towards other people.
  • Dirty Coward: When Arachne dies, she immediately runs to the exit, saving her own butt instead of doing anything to help.
  • Humiliation Conga: Downplayed, but her tribute is killed before the Games even begin and she repeatedly fails in her efforts to still get to do something for the games.
  • Hypocritical Humor: She once called Snow self-centered for not figuring out the meaning of a poem but is pretty selfish herself.
  • Maybe Ever After: Coriolanus notes in the epilogue that he’s planning to marry her because he now believes love is a weakness but it’s never confirmed they did get married. We do know he married someone eventually because his granddaughter is offered up by Johanna as a potential tribute in the revenge Hunger Games.
  • Meaningful Name: Livia Drusilla was the wife of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor noted for her political cunning and her queenly image. The ending implies Snow will marry her as part of his political ascent and he envisions her as his First Lady majestically looking over the Hunger Games.

    Arachne Crane 

The mentor of the District 10 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Brandy.

  • Due to the Dead: Snow describes her as dressing up in black and apparently being genuinely respectful at the funeral of his mother.
  • The Gadfly: She always knows how to rile people up and she loves doing so. This ends up costing her her life when she pushes the buttons of her tribute too much.
  • Hidden Depths: She enjoys balancing spoons on her nose, which Snow considers to be her only real talent or quirk.
  • Jerkass: Outside of them having a familiar relationship, Coriolanus can't tell anything nice about her.
  • Like Brother and Sister: Snow notes that they never liked each other, but they were always constant presences in each others life. It's implied that he liked her unseen brother better than her, given the mention that he cheered at said brother's graduation the previous year.
  • No Indoor Voice: Snow describes her as loud.
  • Unperson: Gaul works hard to erase the records and knowledge of her fate to keep the Districts from being emboldened at the thought of killing Capitolites.

    Clemensia Dovecote 
The mentor of the District 11 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Reaper Ash. She is the daughter of the energies secretary.
  • Body Horror: After she is bitten by the snake muttation, her skin turns scaly, the white of her eyes change into the color of egg yolk, her body twitches horribly, and her tongue juts out. She eventually heals from this, though.
  • Everyone Has Standards: While not to the extent of Sejanus, Clemensia disapproves of the Hunger Games, considering it cruel and sadistic.
  • Hate Plague: The snake venom not only affects her physically, but mentally as well. She becomes much more quick to anger and deliberately stalls the delivery of the gifts to Reaper until the very end, deciding that he does not match her standards.
  • Make It Look Like an Accident: Non-lethal example. Everyone except Coriolanus, Dr. Gaul, and the doctors think that Clemensia just has a bad flu. The truth is that she is infected by a powerful snake venom which requires days to heal.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name means "mild" or "merciful". She is usually one of the nicest students in the Academy and forgives Coriolanus after a falling out.
  • Token Good Teammate: One of the few mentors who actively questions the Games, viewing them as amoral.
  • Trauma Button: Snakes become this after she is bitten by the muttation. The moment she sees the snake trap being released, she lets out a blood-curdling scream and is only calmed by Coriolanus giving her a Cooldown Hug.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Despite being leading competitors for the Academy prizes, Clemensia and Coriolanus were fairly close friends to one another - described by the latter as one of his best. The snake incident and his failure to visit or support her in the hospital (ironically she visited him when he got hospitalized himself), combined with the effects of the venom on Clemensia’a personality, caused a wedge between them. They partially make up later in the games, but she is not one of the three students that came to check on Coriolanus’s fate after he was whisked away to District 12.

    Pliny Harrington 
The mentor of the District 7 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Lamina.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Even the narration simply calls him "Pup".
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Pretty much everyone can't stand him because he's so unsportmanlike.
  • Unsportsmanlike Gloating: He keeps droning on how clever Lamina is and how she will win the games. While having that much trust in your candidate is normally a good thing, it's misplaced in a battle for life and death.

    Vipsania Sickle 
The mentor of the District 7 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Treech. She is niece of Agrippina Sickle, the gymnasium professor of Capitol Academy.
  • Competition Freak: Coriolanus says that she shares her aunt's love of competition and suspects that she is trying to sabotage his chance of winning when she offers to lend Lucy Gray her guitar. Downplayed during the Games themselves where she's noted as wanting to win (and is described as having gritted teeth when she leaves), but she isn't particularly intense or hostile compared to others like Urban, Livia and Pliny.
  • Crazy-Prepared: She's the only mentor who thinks to bring sleeping bag to the viewing center their operating out of.
  • Hidden Depths: Snow describes her as not seeming like a very musical person but she claims that she used to have a guitar when the war was going on and offers to give it to Lucy Gray if she can find it. Of course, Snow thinks she's lying and is plotting to sabotage him, but he's established to be a paranoid character prone to wrongly suspecting people of ill intentions, and his theory is never confirmed.
  • Penny Among Diamonds: Implied. She is far better off than the average tribute but makes a comment about not having much money to spend on sponsor gifts and her aunt works at the academy, when most of the other mentioned relatives of the student mentors are government ministers or tycoons.

    Apollo and Diana Ring 
The collective mentors of District 6 in the 10th Hunger Games. They are fraternal twins and always appear together.
  • Affectionate Nickname: They are generally called "Pollo" and "Didi" respectively.
  • The Dividual: Rarely seen apart and never given individual character moments.
  • The Pollyanna: They're known for being bright and cheerful.
  • Theme Naming: They are named for the Roman gods Apollo and Diana, who were also fraternal twins.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Both are described as very nice individuals, who are polite to Coriolanus and make an effort to get support for their tributes before they are tragically killed in the rebel bombing in the arena.

    Urban Canville 
The mentor of the District 3 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Teslee.
  • Good with Numbers: Coriolanus mentions that he consistently scores perfect in calculus tests.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: He is always ill-tempered.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: At least from the Capitol's point of view, Urban isn't wrong to suggest that the host of the Games should be more focused and professional than Lucky Flickerman (who he is clearly frustrated by).
  • Sore Loser: His parting words to Lepidus are very unsportsmanlike. Then again, he's just humiliated since Teslee was killed seconds after she killed Mizzen, which he had been smug at.

    Festus Creed 
The mentor of the District 4 female tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Coral.
  • Best Friend: With Coriolanus. The two are shown and said to be close, with the Creeds having supported him during some difficult times and Festus frequently visits Coriolanus outside of the academy at various points in the novel. That said, given Coriolanus’s character, this friendship has its limits: at one point he mulls whether or not they would actually be willing to take a bullet for one another.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: While generally nice, he has some Kick the Dog moments: attending dog fights, and suggesting that anyone not watching the Games should be executed when Gaul requests ideas to encourage viewership.
  • Gentle Giant: Described as taller and larger than the other students, but he's quite nice, if a bit grumpy, even sharing food with the other mentors. He's one of the few people that Coriolanus considers a friend.
  • Ship Tease: Corionlanus notes that Festus is "developing a crush" on Persephone Price, and they are almost exclusively seen together afterwards.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He's upset at Clemensia when she withholds food from Reaper.

    Persephone Price 
The mentor of the District 4 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Mizzen. She is the daughter of Nero Price, who works in the railroad industry.
  • Alliterative Name: Persephone Price.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Well, she did not know, but during the Dark Days, her father had once brought home meat cut from a human leg, which he proceeded to serve to his family.
  • Meaningful Name: In Greek mythology, Persephone is the goddess of the dead. Persephone Price is an (unwitting) cannibal, having been served a dead body once.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: The image of Nero Price cutting a meat from a human and bringing it home was burned to Coriolanus' mind forever. As a result, he always sees his daughter, Persephone, as a cannibal, and the thought of getting close to her repulses him.
  • Ship Tease: As mentioned above, she has one with Festus Creed — she is almost exclusively seen with him after Coriolanus notes Festus is "developing a crush" on her.
  • Trying Not to Cry: Shortly after the death of Arachne she and Snow walk to school together and she eventually is noted as crying.

    Lysistrata Vickers 
The mentor of the District 12 male tribute of the 10th Hunger Games, Jessup Diggs.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Coriolanus briefly calls her "Lyssie".
  • Beneath Notice: Snow describes her and her family as trying to keep a low profile despite their job as presidential physicians.
  • Enemy Mine: Since both are mentoring District 12 tributes, she briefly teams up with Coriolanus to look out for their tributes together.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Like Sejanus and Clemensia before her, she realizes how cruel the Hunger Games are. When Jessup is rabid and delirious, Lysistrata manages to protect Lucy Gray from him by sending water bottles to distract him, and in her interview after the Games are finished she insists that Jessup contracted rabies in the Capitol rather than bringing it in from the Districts.
  • I Owe You My Life: Much like Coriolanus and Lucy Gray, Lysistrata was saved in the rebel bombing by Jessup. Thus she promises to keep him safe as much as she can.

    Iphigenia Moss 
The Mentor of the female District 5 tribute, Sol. Her father oversees the Agriculture Department of Panem.
  • Apathetic Student: She takes little interest in mentoring and openly admits that she can't remember Sol's name after the girl's death.
  • Meaningful Name: In Greek Mythology, King Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to please the gods. In TBOSAS, it's hinted that Iphigenia Moss' father has done something unforgiveable to her, causing her to starve herself in order to get revenge on him.
  • Nothing but Skin and Bones: She's a noticeably thin person who tends to give her lunches away to other students. Rumor has it that she deliberately starves herself as a form of rebellion against her father for unspecified reasons.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite her apathy, she does send a lot of food to her dying tribute in an effort to keep her alive longer.

    Androcles Anderson 
The Mentor of the District 9 female tribute, Sheaf. He wants to become a reporter for Capitol News, like his mother.
  • Distressed Dude: He's badly injured in the bombing and is last mentioned as being in the hospital.
  • In the Blood: He wants to be an Intrepid Reporter like his mom.
  • Sole Survivor: Of the tributes and mentors caught in the brunt in the arena bombing, he is the only one whose wounds are nonfatal.

    Gaius Breen 
Mentor of the male District 9 tribute, Panlo.
  • Class Clown: He's described as always joking, such as asking how many Rebels it takes to tie a shoe.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: He loses his legs in the arena bombing and lingers for a while before dying.

    Hilarius Heavensbee 
The glum mentor of Wovey from District 8 and a presumed ancestor of Plutarch Heavensbee.
  • Alliterative Name: Hilarius Heavensbee.
  • Blue Blood: He comes from an established family, with a wing named after them in the Academy.
  • The Eeyore: Hilarius is often depressed and pessimistic.
  • It's All About Me: He does send Wovey supplies despite her poor chances, but his dialogue indicates he's mostly concerned about his tribute based on how the girl reflects on him.
  • Rise of Zitboy: The picture of him displayed for the Games shows a face of acne.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: He's concerned about his parents disapproving if his tribute does poorly.

    Io Jasper 
The mentor of District 3 male Tribute Circ.

    Felix Ravinstill 
The grand-nephew of the President and the mentor of Dill, the District 11 girl.
  • Cynical Mentor: His tribute is pretty sickly and he has little interest or optimism towards her chances, commenting that he's surprised she's still alive as the Games actually begin. About the best thing that can be said for his mentorship is that he makes an effort to build Dill up in the interviews when some of the mentors didn't even show up for them.
  • Graceful Loser: He isn't upset when Dill loses, likely due to having been pessimistic about her chances.

    Domitia Whimsiwick 
The mentor for the District 10 boy Tanner during the 10th Hunger Games, and a dairy heiress. She earns her tribute some sponsorship by encouraging him to talk about slaughtering cows in the interview.
  • Genki Girl: The narrative describes her as friendly, bubbly and sensitive.
  • Graceful Loser: Zigzagged. She's polite and calm when leaving after Tanner is killed and tells a reporter she was happy to be participate, but shoots a pointed comment at the mentors of Tanner's killer, and describes his death as disillusioning about being able to trust people, hinting at some hidden anger and/or sadness.
  • Non-Idle Rich: Downplayed, but she seems to actually know some things about the running of her family's business, unlike some of her classmates.
  • Odd Friendship: She does seem to get along with her tribute, calling him a good-natured person after his death.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: In a somewhat negative way, believing that there is a purpose behind the Games and the sacrifice they entail, and feeling proud to be part of it.

Family of Coriolanus Snow

    Grandma'am 
The patriotic, slightly senile grandmother of Coriolanus Snow and Tigris.
  • Fantastic Racism: She makes no secret of the fact she views people from the Districts as inferior, although she eventually warms slightly to Lucy Gray, who saves her grandson's life.
  • No Name Given: We never find out her real name.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Tigris and Coriolanus call her "the Grandma'am" and we never find out her real name.
  • Racist Grandma: Sort of. While Panem is a post-racial dystopia, the Grandma'am sees District people as barbaric and inferior to Capitol culture.
  • Riches to Rags: Comes from the Old Money Snow family, who lost their money during the Dark Days.
  • Sanity Slippage: Wavers between this and sheer denial for most of the novel. Takes a turn for the worse after Coriolanus is sent to District 12 as a Peacekeeper; Tigris notes that she seems to have forgotten Coriolanus has left and keeps asking if they should hold dinner for him.
  • Something about a Rose: Grows roses on the roof of the Snow's penthouse apartment.

    Crassus Snow 
The father of Coriolanus Snow. He was killed by a rebel sniper during the Dark Days.
  • Blue Blood: The patriarch of the aristocratic Snow family.
  • Disappeared Dad: Died when Snow was a child.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: While he doesn't appear in any of the books, and we only know of him from Snow and Casca Highbottom talking about him in the prequel, his actions had a big influence on the series. He was the one who presented Casca Highbottom's draft of the Hunger Games to Volumnia Gaul, who thought they were a good idea and put them into action (despite Highbottom not wanting his idea to become a reality), so the Hunger Games are partially his fault.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Casca Highbottom notes that Coriolanus Snow greatly resembles his father, Crassus.

    Mrs Snow 
The deceased mother of Coriolanus Snow.

    Tigris Snow 
See her entry here.

Other Capitol Residents

    Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman 
The Capitol TV weatherman around the events of the 10th Hunger Games. He is assigned to interview tributes before the Games, in a show called The Hunger Games: A Night of Interviews, as well as to provide commentary during the Games itself.
  • Ambiguously Related: To Caesar Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games 65 years later. While they share a last name and job, no exact relation is confirmed, as this is a prequel. This is emphasized in the film adaptation, where Jason Schwartzman as Lucky is made up to look very similar to Stanley Tucci's take on Caesar.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: While commenting on the Games, Lucky sometimes brings a pet parrot and tries to teach it to say words, all the while ignoring everything that's happening around him, including the Games that he is supposed to comment.
  • The Host: The very first host of the Hunger Games, in fact.
  • Large Ham: He is overly excited about everything.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Coriolanus notes that Lucky is way too clownish and inappropriate to serve as commentator for the gladiatorial Hunger Games.
  • Weather Report: His permanent job is this. Whenever the Hunger Games runs slow, he will return back to providing weather forecast.

    Pluribus Bell 
A neighbour of Coriolanus Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes who sells goods on the black market. He's one of the few people that the young Snow doesn't feel he has to keep up appearances around.
  • Ambiguously Gay: His old partner, who had a masculine name (Cyrus), is briefly mentioned as the love of his life.

    Strabo Plinth 
A very wealthy man who made his money in the munitions industry. Originally from District 2, he managed to buy his family a place in the Capitol with his incredible wealth. He is the father of Sejanus Plinth.
  • Nouveau Riche: He's originally from District 2, but made a fortune in munitions during the war and managed to buy his family a place in the Capitol.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: His only known child is executed.
  • The Quisling: He's a district resident who sold out to the Capitol for citizenship.

    Ma Plinth 
The mother of Sejanus Plinth. Like her son, she misses her home of District 2.
  • Nice Girl: Probably one of the clearest cases in the series. She loves her son dearly and is willing to cook for Coriolanus, despite not knowing the latter all too well.
  • Supreme Chef: Coriolanus Snow calls her "something of an artist in the kitchen". She's particularly good at baking.

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