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    District 12 in general 
The smallest and poorest district in Panem, located in Appalachia. It has a population of about 8,000 and its industry is coal mining.
  • Crapsack World: To put it simply, District 12 isn't a great place to live. Practically everyone is poor as dirt (unless you're lucky enough to be born into the merchant class) and the only industry is the highly dangerous coal mines, where you work 12 hours a day for your entire adult life, starting from the age of 18. There's almost no resources for those who are unable to work or don't have family to support them, and the only place that takes orphaned children is an Orphanage of Fear. Food is so scarce that people regularly starve to death in the streets, including children and the elderly.
  • Death of a Child: District 12 tributes have the lowest survival rate in the Hunger Games. Before the 74th Games, only two tributes have ever returned to District 12 alive, meaning 148note  children from District 12 have been chosen as tributes and died in the arena.
  • Doomed Hometown: The whole place is firebombed to ashes by the Capitol at the end of Catching Fire, leaving only a few hundred survivors.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: At the end of the second rebellion, after years of oppression, starvation, war, and other trauma, the survivors return to District 12 and rebuild it into a better, happier place.
  • Everybody's Dead, Dave: Downplayed. "Everybody" is quite a stretch, but it might as well be this trope. Less than 900 survivors escape unburned through the woods as the Capitol destroys their now former home. Considering the population right before that was around 8000 citizens, that makes the almost 900 survivors stand as less than 15% of the former civilization. And if it wasn't for Gale, whose quick thinking is the only reason any of them survived, they would ALL be dead.
    • This is even worse for the Merchant class. While most of the survivors were in the Seam because the mining area was so near the border, the Merchant class was near the center of the district, which made getting to the fence in under fifteen minutes very difficult. And most of the survivors from that area were apparently children, such as Delly. As for the adults, Katniss mentions that less than a dozen made it out.
  • Everyone Is Related: Most of the miner families resemble each other, with the same olive skin, dark hair, and grey eyes. And most of the merchant families resemble each other with the same pale skin, light hair, and blue eyes.
  • Floral Theme Naming: Many residents of the Seam are named after flowers or plants. Examples include Katniss (a plant commonly referred to as "arrowhead") and Primrose Everdeen, Buttercup, Thorn, Hazelle and Posy Hawthorne, and Spruce.
  • Healing Herb: The district's working poor can't afford doctors, so apothecaries treat them using medicinal plants.
  • Motif:
    • Elemental Motifs: Fire. The district's industry is coal, which is burned to heat homes. A long-held wedding tradition involves the newlywed couple toasting a bit of bread over some fire. Katniss and Peeta's chariot costumes involve fake flames, and later the former's interview dress is covered in reflective gems that give her the appearance of being on fire. And then District 12 itself is burned to the ground by Capitol firebombs.
    • Bread. The staple food for the working class is rough bread made from tessera grain. Children 12 or older almost always put their names in the reaping balls more times in exchange for grain and oil for their families. Bakery bread is a luxury reserved for special occasions. Peeta, one of the series' principal characters, is a baker's son. There's also the toasting ritual mentioned above. Panem, the country to which District 12 belongs, is Latin for "bread" and derived from the phrase panem et circenses, "bread and circuses" — a philosophy that means to pacify the people with food and entertainment (in this case, the annual Hunger Games) while taking away their rights.
  • Orphanage of Fear: The community home, which takes orphans and children whose parents can no longer care for them. Katniss remembers seeing these kids at school with bruises on their faces and hunched shoulders from hopelessness.
  • People of Hair Color: Most of the population in the Seam are described as having dark hair and gray eyes, while most in the Merchant class have blonde hair and blue eyes. One of the few exceptions is Katniss' mother and her sister, who used to be part of the higher class, but gave that up to move in with her poorer husband at the Seam. This makes the surviving population more noticeable when the reader thinks about it. Since most of the people who made it out alive were from the Seam, that means most of the survivors are dark-haired and gray-eyed.
  • Poverty Food: The working class of District 12 subsists on low-quality bread made from tessera grain, wild dog meat, pine bark, and in the winter, a local stew made from mice meat, tree bark and pig entrails.
  • Strange Salute: Touching the lips with the middle three fingers and then holding them outwards, a gesture that means thanks or good-bye to someone you love.
  • A Taste of the Lash: In the time before Cray was Head Peacekeeper, lawbreakers were often punished with public whipping. Afterwards, someone would take them to Mrs. Everdeen to be healed up. When Thread replaces Cray in Catching Fire, he decides to bring back the good old days.
  • Too Desperate to Be Picky: Stealing is punishable by death in District 12, but starving children from the Seam sometimes resort to searching the trash bins of the shops that serve the merchant class.
  • Unluckily Lucky: District 12 might be the poorest, smallest district, but that means they're mostly ignored by the Capitol, which means the residents can get away with more than they do in places like District 11. Hunting and black market selling are two things that help people get by.
  • Urban Segregation: The whole district is divided into two areas. The area that is slightly better off has people of mostly light skin while the Seam, the ghetto area that is worse off, has mostly darker skin.

The Seam

    Primrose "Prim" Everdeen 
"Just try to win, maybe you can!"
Katniss' beloved younger sister, a kind, lovely All-Loving Hero. When her name is drawn against all odds at the Reaping, Katniss volunteers to take her place in the arena.
  • All-Loving Hero: Prim seems incapable of bearing any ill will towards anything.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: In the 3rd book, she grows impatient with Plutarch when he initially doesn't allow her to see Katniss after she is choked by a deranged Peeta and ends up in the hospital, threatening to bring her mother in to intervene.
  • Born Unlucky: She's born into extreme poverty, is drafted into the Hunger Games on her first year of eligibility despite her having minimal odds of being chosen, and ends up being killed brutally in a False Flag Operation.
  • Break the Cutie: Averted. Despite all that happens, she manages to remain relatively optimistic and kind. Later turns into Kill the Cutie.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Prim is burned alive by a detonating bomb.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: Not her, but her brutal death completely breaks the already cynical Katniss’ faith in humanity in two.
  • Floral Theme Naming: Primrose is a kind of flower, while her sister's name comes from an aquatic plant.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Animals love her. The family cat, Buttercup, only responds positively to her. She has a pet goat named Lady as well.
  • Generation Xerox:
    • Katniss looks like Mr. Everdeen, has inherited his hunting abilities and talent for singing and, like him, 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.
    • Like her father, Prim dies horribly in an explosion.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Prim is a compassionate young blonde girl with blue eyes who loves all living creatures and becomes a good healer at an early age, often helping her mother with patients. When Katniss leaves her family she doesn't bother suggesting that Prim learn to hunt because her attempts were disastrous, since the woods terrified Prim and whenever Katniss shot something it would make Prim teary and she'd talk about how they might be able to heal it.
  • Hollywood Genetics: Prim managed to inherit her mother's blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin despite her father having dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin. It's strongly implied that merchants and Seam people have rarely interbred for generations which makes it rather unlikely that Prim would inherit her mother's looks (although it's not impossible).
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Prim is practically like a shining light in the Crapsack World she lives in. Unfortunately, this doesn't prevent her from being killed.
  • Innocent Blue Eyes: While Prim is Wise Beyond Her Years, her softness, kindness, and sweetness qualify her for this trope.
  • In-Series Nickname: Prim's full name is Primrose, but everyone calls her Prim.
  • Kill the Cutie: She is killed in the third book, and is a driving reason for Katniss's renewed pessimism and apathy.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Prim; she simply adores her cat Buttercup, who is utterly nasty to everyone except her, but then, she's the only one who seems to treat him with kindness.
  • Like Brother and Sister: Her relationship with Gale, who takes pains to protect her when Katniss can't. Until the end of Mockingjay, where he implies he may have helped cause her death.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: Prim starts out as being this for Katniss. Eventually, Peeta takes over the role instead.
  • The Medic: She grows into one like her mother.
    Katniss: ...What's funny was, Prim, who's scared of her own shadow, stayed and helped [with the man's burnt leg]. My mother says healers are born, not made.
  • Morality Pet: Prim, for Katniss and Buttercup; she is one of few people they show any kindness to.
  • Nice Girl: Her defining qualities are her kindness and being well-loved.
  • Not Enough to Bury: She was right next to a fiery bomb that went off, which eviscerated her body.
  • Pets as a Present: Katniss tells Peeta the story of how she bought Lady the goat as a gift for Prim's birthday. A goat herder was milking a female goat who had a bad shoulder injury and was about to be sold to Rooba the butcher, but she refused, saying half the carcass would be too rotten even for sausage. Katniss bought the goat at a low price and took her home, where an overjoyed Prim immediately set to work fixing her wound.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The "blue" (kind, gentle, sweet, naive) to Katniss' red (brutal, cold, guarded, aggressive).
  • Sacrificial Lion: Her death in Mockingjay utterly shatters Katniss.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: In the first book. She isn't present for most of the plot, but it's because of her that Katniss ends up in the Games in the first place. And by extension, Katniss's role in those Games is what ends up sparking the rebellion.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She’s the nicest and most pure member of the cast, which marked her for an extremely brutal death.
  • Wardrobe Flaw of Characterization: Prim's shirt is always untucked. Katniss describes this as resembling a ducktail. She uses this fact to express how innocent and unready for combat Prim would be if thrust into the Arena.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: In Mockingjay, she becomes a hardier medic and encourages Katniss at dire moments.

    Buttercup 
Prim's pet cat, who gets rid of the mice around the Everdeen house.
  • Adaptational Attractiveness: In the films, he looks perfectly healthy and doesn't have a mashed-in nose or torn ear.
  • Born Lucky: He survives the firebombing of District 12 and the transition to District 13, and makes it to the end of the series in one piece, discounting the epilogue where he presumably dies of old age. He even makes his way back to District 12 on his own to try and find Prim after she didn't come back.
  • Cats Are Mean: He doesn't really like anyone but Prim. The closest he gets to showing affection for Katniss is not hissing at her when she feeds him entrails from her kills. Subverted after Prim's death, when he and Katniss form a genuine bond.
  • Ear Notch: Exaggerated; he has half of one ear missing.
  • Floral Theme Naming: Like the Everdeen sisters, he's named after a flower.
  • From Stray to Pet: Prim found him as a stray kitten, roaming the streets of District 12.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Buttercup is usually a female name, but he's a tomcat.
  • A Shared Suffering: In Mockingjay, he and Katniss mourn Prim's loss together, as they're the ones that knew her best. He protects Katniss during the night and cuddles with her while she cries, and his companionship keeps her grounded until Peeta returns.
  • To Serve Man: Implied in Mockingjay, when Katniss finds him alive after returning to what remains of District 12.
    Thousands of people are dead, but he has survived and even looks well fed. On what? He can get in and out of the house through a window we always left ajar in the pantry. He must have been eating field mice. I refuse to consider the alternative.
  • You Don't Look Like You: In the first film, he's a black-and-white cat rather than a yellow one as described in the books. This was corrected in the other films.

    Mr. Everdeen 
Katniss and Prim's father, a coal miner who was killed in a mine explosion. He taught Katniss everything she knows about hunting.

    Mrs. Everdeen 

Katniss and Prim's mother, who was born into the merchant class but fell in love with and married a poor coal miner. She works as an apothecary in District 12.


  • Broken Bird: Never gets over her husband's death, and after she finally gets over her Heroic BSoD, her youngest daughter dies and her oldest daughter moves back home, leaving her all alone.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Living things just seem to like Katniss's mother, although moreso before Mr. Everdeen was killed and she fell into a Heroic BSoD.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Mrs. Everdeen is described with blonde hair and blue eyes, the typical merchant look. Katniss is always amazed when her mother brought a wounded or sick patient: "she morphs from someone who calls her daughter to kill a spider to a woman immune to fear", Katniss says.
  • Healing Herb: She uses these in her apothecary work. They're not as strong as the high-tech medicines made in the Capitol's labs, but they're what District 12 can afford.
  • Heroic BSoD: After her husband's death, she fell into a severe depression that left her unable to take care of herself or her daughters, leaving an eleven-year-old Katniss to look after the family.
  • Hero of Another Story: Mrs. Everdeen is a (relatively) upper class woman who falls in love with an impoverished miner, seemed to have a Love Triangle with Peeta's father, and was best friends with Maysilee Donner, who died in Haymitch's games.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: In Catching Fire, Katniss said that she was told her mother used to be quite beautiful before her husband's death.
  • The Medic: Mrs. Everdeen runs District 12's apothecary. She ends up teaching Prim.
  • No Full Name Given: Her first name is never mentioned.
  • Open Heart Dentistry: Mrs. Everdeen is described as an apothecary yet seems to treat any number of medical emergencies. Justified in that District 12 doesn't seem to have much by way of doctors (at least, not if you live in the Seam) so they'd have nowhere else to go.
  • Parental Neglect: Katniss felt left alone to provide when her father died because her mother no longer functioned and was unable to care for them. She improved, but Katniss is still forever wary of her ability to protect her and Prim.
  • Riches to Rags: Mrs. Everdeen was born into one of the wealthier families in District 12, but fell in love with and married a coal miner. Katniss comments that her mother must have loved her father very much if she was willing to leave her home for the Seam.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: She becomes calm and fearless when in the presence of a patient who needs her healing skills, instantly getting into action to treat them no matter how gruesome the injury or illness is. Katniss comments, "This is the only time I think my mother knows who she is."
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Mrs. Everdeen is said to look like Prim, with blue eyes and pale blonde hair typical of the District 12 merchant class.
  • The One That Got Away: Mrs. Everdeen and Peeta's father used to be fond of each other, but Mrs. Everdeen married Mr. Everdeen instead of him.
  • Unnamed Parent: We never find out her first name.
  • Uptown Girl: Mrs. Everdeen was born into the merchant class but married a coal miner.

    Gale Hawthorne 
"They just want a good show, that's all they want."
Katniss' childhood friend, who became the primary breadwinner for his family after his father died in the same accident that killed Katniss' father. She sees him as a big brother/role model due to his proficiency with snares and his loyalty to his family, although there could be something more.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Olive-skinned and black-haired.
  • Anti-Hero: Cynical and hot-tempered, with a burning hatred of the Capitol.
  • Ascended Extra: He doesn't see much action until Mockingjay with smaller roles in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.
  • Aggressive Categorism: Gale has something of a prejudiced streak against those in District 12 who he considers part of the "privileged class" like Madge and Peeta. This further fuels his hostility to the fact that Katniss is attracted to Peeta.
  • Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Peeta's Betty for Katniss. Unusual considering he is the childhood friend.
  • Big Brother Instinct: For all of Gale's other flaws, he takes his Promotion to Parent very seriously and is absolutely dedicated to helping his mother take care of the kids. He and Katniss first meet illegally hunting to provide for them and it's implied said hunting is what kept the five of them from starving. He also puts his name in for the tesserae, even though it puts his name in to be reaped more times, to get the extra food. Katniss says several times that she has no doubt he'd have volunteered like she did if Rory was reaped. In Catching Fire, he's aged out of being eligible but Katniss says that he and Hazelle are determined for the boys to not have to take the tesserae. He's very upset when Rory does after he gets publicly whipped for hunting and dries up their mom's clientele. He also works six days in a week in the mine to provide for them. We only see him briefly interact with Posy very briefly but it's implied the three of them see him as their father figure when Katniss explicitly tells Leevy to only fetch Hazelle after he gets whipped because the kids seeing him like that would upset them too much.
  • Birds of a Feather: Him and Katniss. Both lost their fathers in a mine explosion and became the breadwinners of their respective families. According to Katniss, they're also very alike personality-wise. They even look similar enough to pass for relatives. In the end, this is part of the reason she chooses Peeta over him.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: Explicitly defied by the Capitol highers-up, who think that Gale's Tall, Dark, and Handsome childhood friend character could damage viewers' opinions of Katniss and Peeta's onscreen romance.
  • Die for Our Ship: In-universe. President Snow threatens to have him killed if Katniss shows romantic interest in him over Peeta.
  • Disappeared Dad: His dad died in the same explosion that killed Katniss's.
  • Everybody's Dead, Dave: He delivers news of District 12 at the end of Catching Fire.
    Gale: (to Katniss) There is no District Twelve.
  • Floral Theme Naming: Like Katniss and Primrose, his last name refers to a type of plant. In addition, his mother is named Hazelle (hazel) and his sister is named Posy.
  • Free-Range Children: Begins to go out to the woods (which is strictly forbidden) at the age of fourteen and spends a lot of time hunting out there. What's worse, his mother doesn't even have the option to object, because Gale's illegal hunting is the only thing keeping the family from starving to death.
  • The Gentleman or the Scoundrel: The love triangle evolves into this as the series progresses, with Gale being the scoundrel revolutionist who desires to entangle Katniss in that world.
  • Graceful Loser: Eventually becomes this, as evident when Katniss overhears him talking to Peeta during the night in Tigris' basement.
  • Hormone-Addled Teenager: Fits the bill from time to time, occasionally focusing more on his attraction to Katniss and his jealousy than on more pressing matters such as the war.
  • Hypocrite: Wants revenge more than anything on the Capitol after it carpet-bombed District 12, screaming how he was forced to watch the District 12 children burn to death. However, he sees nothing wrong in killing Capitol children out of revenge, due to them being general citizens of the Capitol and, therefore, considers them just as guilty for the atrocities committed against the Districts. This ends up biting him in the ass; Coin uses his bombs on the Capitol children, killing them like he declared he would..and Prim as well, destroying his friendship with Katniss.
  • Hunk: Noted to be tall and muscular, to contrast Peeta's "boy next door" looks.
  • It's All My Fault: He helped create the bombs that killed Prim, which leads to the final shattering of his and Katniss' already fragile relationship. After what happened to Prim and knowing his indirect guilt in it, neither can face each other again without this grim reminder.
  • The Lancer: Becomes Katiniss' most trusted ally in Mockingjay. He's even given the Code Name Mockingjay-1. Unfortunately, it gradually falls apart as the story goes on, and by the end, the two of them sever ties with each other after Prim's death.
  • Leave No Survivors: When besieging the Nut, Gale suggests causing an avalanche to destroy the fort, a plan that ended up killing thousands. He wanted to bomb the entrance to ensure nobody could escape from the Nut, but the others would not agree to this part of the plan. See "Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide"" below.
  • Like Brother and Sister: Surrogate big brother to Prim. Katniss thinks of him this way in the first book as well, but by the second book, it starts getting... complicated.
  • Manly Men Can Hunt: Just like in the days of old, Gale provides for his family by hunting.
  • Meaningful Name: He has a stormy personality.
  • Mr. Fanservice: He maintains quite a healthy amount of fangirls for someone who was a tertiary character in the first book.
  • Noble Male, Roguish Male: The roguish male to Peeta's noble male. Gale is hot-blooded and passionate, believes that the ends justify the means, is eager to go out and fight, and became his family's main provider at age thirteen when he began poaching.
  • The Not-Love Interest: Katniss' handsome best friend and hunting partner, who makes the Capitol nervous that people will see him as a rival to Peeta. He turns out to have romantic feelings for Katniss but they are never requited. Word of God has revealed that he was initially Katniss' cousin but the publisher insisted on a love triangle so he was changed to Katniss' best friend who has feelings for her.
  • Promotion to Parent: After his father died, Gale took it upon himself to care for his many younger siblings.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: In the end, Gale gets what he wanted — to secure victory for the rebellion and overthrow the tyrannical Capitol. However, it cost the life of his surrogate little sister, Prim, who was killed by a double-exploding bomb that he invented, and this would lose him the love and friendship of her big sister Katniss forever.
  • Roguish Poacher: He hunts illegally in the woods outside District 12, but mainly does so to feed his family while living under a tyrannical regime where people routinely starve to death in poverty.
  • Romantic False Lead: While Katniss certainly loved him for a while, she could never quite conjure up romantic love.
  • Romantic Runner-Up: In the end, Katniss picks Peeta over him.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Katniss begins to see potential love interests in two guys, Peeta, the baker's son who decorates the cakes and Gale, her hunting partner. Gale is angry with the Capitol for making them participate in the games while Peeta is reflective on how he can maintain his identity in the games despite the Capitol using them.
  • Stealth Expert: Part of his skill set as a hunter is being able to sneak up on prey in the woods without making a single sound. Katniss remarks on it when she compares him to Peeta, who can't seem to get around in the wilderness without making a ton of noise.
  • Suicide Pact: A variation in Mockingjay; they agree that should one of them be captured by the Capitol, the other should shoot to kill. Ultimately subverted; the pivotal choice comes up for both Katniss and Gale towards the end, and neither of them can bring themselves to kill the other.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Gale shares Katniss' dark hair, olive skin, and grey eyes and is said to be over six feet tall by Katniss. Muscular and good-looking, girls flock to him — Katniss herself says that Gale would have no trouble finding a wife because he's handsome and strong.
  • A Taste of the Lash: After he's caught hunting in Catching Fire.
  • Too Much Alike: One of the reasons why Katniss ends up falling in love with Peeta over Gale.
  • The Unfettered: Sort of leaning into this territory in Mockingjay.
    If I could hit a button and kill every living soul working for the Capitol, I would do it. Without hesitation.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: Appears to be the case for one chapter of Catching Fire, however, it is far more likely to be Katniss' fear of losing him in general after he was flogged rather than any genuine romantic interest. She may appear to have chosen him in that chapter, but when she leaves his side to go to bed, her first thought is that she wishes Peeta would come to bed with her.
  • Why Can't I Hate You?: Despite Peeta being a rival for Katniss (and in Catching Fire her fiancé) he admits to Katniss that Peeta is so nice it's difficult to dislike him.
  • Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": During the assault on a Peacekeeper mountain fortress in District 2, Gale comes up with the idea of causing a landslide to trap them inside; he even wanted to bomb the railway leading out of it to ensure there are no survivors (they decide to leave the railway open). When told that there were District 2 civilians inside, he said that he felt they deserved to die as well. The rebels go through with the plan, and hundreds (if not thousands) die as a result of Gale's actions.

    Hazelle Hawthorne 
The loving, hardworking mother of Gale and his siblings, Rory, Vick, and Posy. Katniss likes and respects her a great deal.
  • Alliterative Name: Hazelle Hawthorne.
  • Determinator: Not in the fighting way like Katniss, but she works hard to provide for her four children, even with Gale bringing home fresh meat from the woods and the money from selling his kills. Katniss notes in Catching Fire that both she and Gale are absolutely determined to make sure Rory and Vick never have to put their names in for the tessera as he ages out of being eligible and they age into it.
  • Floral Theme Naming: Both her first and last name refer to types of plants. Her daughter Posy is also named after a type of flower.
  • Kindly Housekeeper: During the crackdowns in District 12, Katniss gets Haymitch to hire Hazelle as a housekeeper so his house in the Victor's Village won't be constantly reeking of alcohol and filled with trash.
  • Nice Girl: So nice that she's one of the very few people Katniss will voluntarily open up to.
  • Someone to Remember Him By: She and her husband already had three children, but she was heavily pregnant with a fourth at the time of his death.

    Rory, Vick, and Posy Hawthorne 
Gale's two brothers and sister. Katniss is close to them as well, so much that Posy’s voice is among those she hears in the arena in the second book.
  • Adorably Precocious Child: Posy is very comforting to Katniss's prep team when they have trouble fitting in with the other refugees, and Katniss thinks of her as a sweet and helpless girl.
  • Adapted Out: Katniss only mentions Gale’s brothers in the first movie, implying Posy doesn’t exist in the film universe.
  • The Apprentice: A few scenes in Catching Fire mention that Katniss and Gale are trying to teach Rory some of their hunting tricks to help feed their families.
  • Pink Means Feminine: Posy is a Cheerful Child who likes bright pink.

    Greasy Sae 
A vendor at The Hob, District 12's black market. She usually sells and buys food from Katniss. She and her granddaughter survive the bombings of District 12 and live in District 13 with the other survivors.
  • Big Damn Heroes: A minor one; Gale mentions to Katniss that it was Greasy Sae who started a collection to help sponsor Katniss and Peeta in the 74th Hunger Games.
  • Cool Old Lady: Katniss likes her enough, and she seems pretty alright, despite her odd choices in cooking ingredients.
  • Demoted to Extra: In the films, Greasy Sae doesn't have as much of a role. However, she gives Katniss the Mockingjay pin instead of Madge, who is Adapted Out.

    Greasy Sae's granddaughter 
A young girl from District 12.

    Bristel 
A coal miner who works alongside the Seam.
  • Crisis Catch And Carry: Helps Thom carry Gale to the Victors' Square to have him patched up after being tortured as punishment.
  • Cute Bruiser: Is pretty, and is also very muscular.
  • Uncertain Doom: It is never mentioned whether she made it to the woods and away from firebombing.

    Thom 
A coal miner who works the same shift as Gale in the second book.
  • Bearer of Bad News: As District 12 is being resettled, he tells Katniss that bodies were found in the Undersee home.
  • Crisis Catch And Carry: He carries Gale over to Mrs. Everdeen's to be treated after his whipping.
  • Remember the New Guy?: He's apparently been friends with Gale since before he met Katniss, but was unmentioned in the first book.

    Leevy 
The Everdeen family's teenaged neighbor.
  • Good Samaritan: She summons Gale's mother after his whipping and then babysits his siblings so she can sit with him while he heals.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Katniss calls her one of the few people she considers a friend, but Leevy first appears in the second book.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: She recalls crucial and important uplifting moments that Katniss invoked while vouching for her at her meeting. These would play out to becoming a step into Katniss being the Mockingjay.

    Ripper 
The local moonshiner and a retired miner.
  • An Arm and a Leg: She lost an arm in a mining accident and only survived the accident through unspecified resourceful reactions.
  • Hillbilly Moonshiner: Vaguely comes across as one, being an impoverished resident of a mountain community and selling alcohol to Haymitch and Cray.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate after the District 12 bombing is unknown.

    The Goat Man 
A short-tempered goat farmer who Katniss bought Lady from.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Everyone calls him The Goat Man and Katniss doesn't know his real name.
  • Hidden Depths: He's an impatient man, but it's noted he saved up enough money to make a good livelihood for himself outside of the mines.
  • Uncertain Doom: His fate during the Rebellion is unclear, although considering that his job kept him working further outside of town, his odds of surviving the bombing are somewhat good.

Merchant Class

    Madge Undersee 
The mayor's daughter and Katniss's schoolmate, Madge gives the Mockingjay pin to Katniss. She is later revealed to be the niece of one of Katniss's mother's best friends and Haymitch's District partner Maysilee, who was killed in the second Quarter Quell.
  • Adaptation Distillation: No Madge = no Maysilee's niece = no meaningful Back Story for the source of the heroine's In-Series Nickname.
  • Adapted Out: She's cut out entirely from the film adaptation.
  • Alliterative Family: Madge's (whom she never met, due to said aunt dying several years before her birth) is named Maysilee.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Shows up in the middle of a snowstorm to bring medicine for Gale after he was nearly flogged to death... and disappears just as quickly.
  • Bus Crash: After not being seen for the better part of two books, Madge is killed in the District 12 bombing.
  • Elegant Classical Musician: A lovely girl who plays the piano.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Young, sweet, and feminine.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Being the mayor's daughter, she leads a much more privileged life than a lot of the other District 12 residents and has never had to worry about her survival in the same way that they do. Some of the comments she makes to Gale prior to the reaping make him angry, but Katniss sticks up for her, knowing that the blame lies with the Capitol and not with Madge or her family.
  • Interclass Friendship: With Katniss. It's downplayed in the first book, but in Catching Fire she and Katniss start spending more time together after Katniss returns from the Capitol.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Being financially well off in the poor and starving District 12 isolates her from most of her classmates.
  • Lonely Together: With Katniss. The two of them would always sit alone together during lunch at school.
  • Nice Girl: Madge is a very kind person and one of Katniss' few friends, in spite of Katniss being a prickly Broken Bird.
  • Only Friend: For Katniss, along with Gale.
  • Pink Means Feminine: She wears a pink hair ribbon with her white dress to the reaping of the 74th Hunger Games.
  • Sacrificial Lion: She and her family are the only nominal District 12 residents killed in the bombing. Especially painful for Katniss, as Madge was her only other friend besides Gale.
  • Ship Tease: After she shows up with morphling for Gale, Haymitch teases Katniss that Madge and Gale might be involved. Nothing comes out of it.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: The Mockingjay pin that she gives to Katniss ends up becoming a symbol of the revolution.
  • Taking Up the Mantle: Subverted. In Catching Fire, she is trained by Katniss in the woods to hunt in case Katniss is gone and can't provide for her family. But since she is killed in a bombing, this turns out to be pointless.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: She and Prim are the girly girls to Katniss's tomboy. To drive this home, at one point Katniss teaches her how to shoot and Madge teaches Katniss how to play the piano.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Strawberries.

    Mayor and Mrs. Undersee 
Madge's parents, the mayor of District 12 and his wife.
  • Ambiguous Situation: Whether Mayor Undersee was born in District 12 or sent there from elsewhere in Panem is unclear (although his wife was definitely born in the district).
  • Angsty Surviving Twin: Mrs. Undersee's twin sister, Maysilee, died in the 2nd Quarter Quell, and she is a drug addict.
  • Delicate and Sickly: Mrs. Undersee suffers from very painful headaches that sometimes force her to stay in bed for days.
  • No Full Name Given: Their first names are never revealed.
  • Puppet King: Despite his title, Mayor Undersee has no authority or leverage to defy the Capitol or the peacekeepers.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Mayor Undersee shows subtle disgust for the Hunger Games and does his best not to enforce laws that are unfair to the populace.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Mayor Undersee loves strawberries. When Katniss gathers them in the woods, she always sells them to him.

    Peeta's Family 
Peeta's mother, father, and two older brothers, who work as bakers. They are part of of District 12's merchant class.
  • Abusive Parents: When Peeta was 11, his mother hit him in the face and called him a "stupid creature" for accidentally burning two loaves of bread. Catching Fire implies that she also whipped him on occasion.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Mr. Mellark wanted to marry Katniss' mother, but she fell in love with Mr. Everdeen instead.
  • Henpecked Husband: At the Hob, Gale and Katniss always wait to trade with Mr. Mellark when his wife isn't around, because he's much nicer then.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Mr. Mellark takes a liking to Prim, probably because of her resemblance to her mother. When she sells her goat cheeses at the Hob, she always saves two for him and he gives her plenty of bread in return.
  • No Full Name Given: Their first names are never stated.
  • Nice Guy: Like his son, Mr. Mellark is a kind person, much kinder than his wife.
  • No Sympathy: When Katniss was 11 and desperately trying to find food for herself and her family, she resorted to digging through the Mellarks' trash bin. Mrs. Mellark saw her and started shouting at her to go away and that she was going to call the Peacekeepers and that she was so tired of "those brats from the Seam pawing through their trash."
  • Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: In the past, Mr. Mellark (who was presumably born in the merchant class) wanted to marry Katniss' mother, but she married a poor coal miner from the Seam.
    Mr. Mellark: See that little girl [Katniss]? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner.
    Young Peeta: A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could've had you?
    Mr. Mellark: Because when he sings, even the birds stop to listen.
  • Single Sex Offspring: Peeta's parents have three sons, including him.
  • Tastes Like Friendship: Peeta's father gives Katniss a packet of cookies before she leaves for the Hunger Games.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Peeta's father always buys Katniss' squirrels at the Hob. He comments on how the arrows always pierce the eye, never the body.
  • Unnamed Parent: Peeta's parents are just called "Mr. and Mrs. Mellark".
  • Useless Bystander Parent: Peeta's father allowed his wife to be both physically and verbally abusive towards Peeta, and presumably towards his two elder sons as well.

    Delly Cartwright 
Peeta's childhood friend and one of few of the merchant class who survives the bombing of District 12. Like Peeta she is genuinely nice and sweet and she plays an important role in his recovery from the hijacking.
She is mentioned in passing in the first book but doesn't actually appear until "Mockingjay".
  • Beware the Nice Ones: She is usually very sweet, but she gets pretty mad at Peeta when he acts coldly towards Katniss, who is trying to be polite to him. She ends up shouting at him so loud that it caused most of the people in the cafeteria to stare.
  • Big Fun: Comparatively. Katniss says that Delly wasn't really fat, but she had a few pounds to spare (in contrast to the majority of District 12). Fittingly, she's friendly, cheerful, and a total Nice Girl.
  • Braids of Action: While usually wearing her hair in curls, after moving to District 13, she adopts a more practical hairstyle in the form of a braid.
  • Childhood Friends: She and Peeta are of the Like Brother and Sister variety.
  • Cute, but Cacophonic: When she shouts angrily, it sounds like someone stabbing a mouse with a fork.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Peeta mentions her in the first book but she doesn't appear until "Mockingjay".
  • Like Brother and Sister: With Peeta when they were children. They have shades of this in the present as well, to the point that Delly is one of the few people who can calm him down after his brainwashing by the Capitol.
  • Nice Girl: Katniss says of her, "She may also be the friendliest person on the planet — she smiles constantly at everybody in school, even me."
  • Parental Abandonment: Her parents died in the District 12 bombing.
  • The Pollyanna: Always remains optimistic and upbeat despite the bad things that happen to her.
  • Shipper on Deck: Ships Peeta and Katniss. Hard.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: It isn't clear what happens to her after the war. Considering she is not one of the people mentioned in the epilogue to have been killed, she probably survived.

    Rooba 
District 12's butcher. She's known for her refusal to haggle, but also for setting a fair price with her initial offer.
  • Pet the Dog: Literally, she let Katniss buy Prim's goat by refusing to buy and kill it herself, doing so with a wink.
  • Stout Strength: She's described as short but tough.
  • Uncertain Doom: Her fate after the second book is unclear but with less than a dozen merchants left alive, her odds aren't good.

Peacekeepers

    Cray 
Head Peacekeeper at District 12. Replaced by Romulus Thread in the second book.
  • The Alcoholic: He drinks more than anyone Katniss knows, besides Haymitch.
  • Demoted to Extra: Not that he has a major role in the second book, but the second film reduces his appearance to a single scene.
  • Dirty Cop: He turns a blind eye to the activities in the Hob (District 12's black market) because it's his source of booze, as well as Gale's and Katniss' poaching because they are his source for wild turkey.
  • Dirty Old Man: Cray takes advantage of poor, starving young women of District 12 to get them to sleep with him. Katniss says that if had been older when her father died, and she didn't know how to hunt, she'd have been forced to go to Cray.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: It is implied that at least he isn't a pedophile, since 11-year-old Katniss didn't try offering herself to him when her family was starving.
  • Lesser of Two Evils: Katniss notes that, despite his preying on young women, Cray is nothing compared to Romulus Thread.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: He always buys wild turkey from Katniss.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Cray's whereabouts are unknown after Romulus comes to District 12.

    Darius 
A friendly Peacekeeper in District 12. He gets made into an Avox for trying to protect Gale from Thread.

    Purnia 
Another friendlier District 12 peacekeeper.
  • Going Native: She's one of the friendlier and more assimilated peacekeepers and tells Thread to stop whipping Gale because he's already passed the number of lashes for a first time offender, citing a regulation that Katniss mentally refers to as an outright made-up one.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: A rare positive example. She defuses a potentially lethal standoff between Thread and the District 12 Victors by citing a probably bogus regulation that lets Thread save face while saving Gale's life.
  • Only Sane Woman: Unlike Darius, her method of stopping the whipping is to act "smart and official", avoiding directly challenging Thread's authority and potentially setting him off while still giving him a way to deescalate.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Similar to Darius and other low level District 12 Peacekeepers, she's ultimately a underpaid mook sent to a backwater district to enforce the law for an Evil Empire. She does not seem to personally hate the people of District 12 and is a regular customer at the hob. She is willing to lie to help prevent the new Head Peacekeeper from going too far.
  • Uncertain Doom: Katniss notes that she does not recognize any of the Peacekeepers in the square later on, indicating that they have all been replaced. Whether or not the faced any severe punishment or were simply Reassigned to Antarctica for their (sometimes benevolent) corruption and/or whether or not she survived the coming war is never made clear.

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