Protagonists | Other District 12 Residents | Tributes of the 74th Hunger Games | Past Tributes | The Capitol | Spoiler Characters
This is the page for character tropes exemplified by the book versions of the tributes of the 74th Hunger Games. The tropes exemplified by the film versions can be found at The Hunger Games (Film): Tributes.
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District 1
Marvel
"As I try to avoid looking at his family, I learn that his name was Marvel. How did I never know that? I suppose that before the Games I didn't pay attention and afterwards I didn't want to know."
—Katniss on Marvel
The male tribute from District 1.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: Katniss shoots him in the throat; he reflexively pulls the arrow out and chokes to death on his own blood.
- Karmic Death: He really should not have killed Rue in front of Katniss, who promptly gets revenge by shooting him.
- Meaningful Name: A "marvel" is something extraordinary or amazing. Indeed, he's from the top Career District and the Gamemakers gave him a score of 9.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Killing Rue indirectly led to Katniss being saved by Thresh.
- No Name Given: His name is never given in The Hunger Games, because Katniss never knew learned what it was. In Catching Fire, she learns his name on the Victory Tour.
- Tyke Bomb: As a Career, he's trained from childhood to kill in the Games.
- Would Hurt a Child: Responsible for young Rue's death.
Glimmer
"Are you sure we shouldn't just kill him now?"
The female tribute from District 1.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted dreadfully when she's stung to death by tracker-jackers. After being attacked by swarms of them, she's not a pretty sight.
- Beauty to Beast: Glimmer's beauty is destroyed and her face is horribly disfigured when she is stung by the trackerjackers.
- Braids of Action: She has elaborate braids but is actually not that skilled of a fighter, but it still suits her as a Career.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Dies from trackerjacker stings after Katniss cuts down the nest.
- Death by Disfigurement: Glimmer dies from the trackerjacker stings that horribly disfigure her.
- Death by Irony: Her hook in the Games is that she's very beautiful. She dies by being horrifically stung to death and mutilated by genetically-engineered wasps. She was also supposed to be on guard duty that night to boot.
- Due to the Dead: Averted. Katniss, while suffering from the hallucinations brought on by the tracker-jacker stings, has no problem with prying a bow and quiver of arrows from her corpse. Given that Glimmer and Katniss were enemies, this is justified.
- Dumb Blonde: Only a Games version. Katniss scorns Glimmer for having no idea how to use her bow.
- Establishing Character Moment: Cinna's throwaway comment that Glimmer had a poisoned ring taken from her before the Games demonstrates that Glimmer is not likeable and not to be sympathised with.
- Everyone Loves Blondes:Katniss's narration: The girl from District 1, looking provocative in a see-through gold gown, steps up the center of the stage to join Caesar for her interview. You can tell her mentor didn't have any trouble coming up with an angle for her. With that flowing blonde hair, emerald green eyes, her body tall and lush... she's sexy all the way.
- Facial Horror: Her horribly mangled face after the trackerjackers sting her.
- Faux Action Girl: She's one of the Careers, who are said to have been intensely trained their whole lives for the Games beforehand and are usually the winners if nothing in the arena takes out all their food supplies at once first. However, she doesn't display any notable skills, is noted by Katniss to be an incompetent shot with a bow, and gets brutally killed by tracker-jackers early on in the Games before she can actually do anything.
- Femme Fatale: It's implied that this is the strategy she planned to use in the Games, given her Ms. Fanservice angle at getting sponsors, but she doesn't live long enough to use it to its full extent.
- Fingore: Posthumously when Katniss breaks her swollen fingers to free the bow.
- Ms. Fanservice: In-universe, this is her entire gimmick for getting sponsors. She shows it off by wearing a sleek, see-through gold gown as her interview costume.
- There is a bit of Fridge Horror to this. Given what happens to the more attractive victors of the Hunger Games, and that Glimmer's prep team and mentor probably knew this, any of her sponsors could have an ulterior motive for helping Glimmer win the Games.
- Ninja Looting: That bow was meant for Katniss, but it doesn't stop Glimmer from claiming it when she gets there first.
- Poisoned Weapons: Her district token is a ring that reveals a poisoned spike when the gemstone is twisted. She doesn't get to use it in the Hunger Games, though, because it gets confiscated.
- Tyke Bomb: As a Career, she's trained from childhood to kill in the Games.
- Unskilled, but Strong: She's a Career, so she should be very brutal and strong as the rest of them but she has no idea how to use a bow and it gets her killed when Katniss drops the tracker-jackers on her.
District 2
Cato
"I'm comin' for you!"
A brutish "Career" tribute from District 2 and one of the deadliest opponents in the arena.
- Arch-Enemy: To Katniss in the first book, or at least both he and Katniss seems to consider him as such. Deconstructed towards the end.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Katniss puts him out of his misery instead of letting him die a slow and painful death from the mutts. In the sequels, she realises he was just as much a pawn of the Capitol as everyone else.
- The Alleged Expert: Despite advertising himself as a “ruthless killing machine” he fails to deliver an immediately fatal wound twice and compounds it by angrily insisting to the contrary (the first time that the District 8 girl was dead despite a clear lack of a cannon, the second claiming Peeta’s wound was inevitably fatal and while true Peeta hangs on for several days) leaving his victims to die slowly from their wounds. This comes to bite him in the ass.
- Arc Villain: He's the most prominent threat during the 74th Hunger Games.
- Ax-Crazy: Shown numerous times, such as when he breaks the boy from District 3's neck in retribution for the food blowing up.
- Blood Knight: Enjoys fighting and killing for the sake of it.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Katniss notes that while Careers are bred and trained for the actual combat, their Fatal Flaw is actually surviving without their supplies. Cato completely loses it after Katniss destroys his supplies.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Being slowly eaten alive by the Mutts. Thankfully, Katniss helps him out of it.
- Eaten Alive: Happens to him because of the twenty-some Mutts that gnaw at his flesh.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's audibly distraught when Thresh kills Clove, begging her to stay with him as she dies from her crushed skull. While any actual feelings he had for her are unknown, at that time they could have won together, benefiting from the same rule amendment the Gamemakers had created to encourage Katniss and Peeta together.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's got a short fuse, and Heaven help whoever is in his way when it goes off.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: He and the other Careers spend their entire lives training for the Games, only to be beaten by a relative novice from an outlying district.
- The Heavy: In the first book. Since Big Bad President Snow and the game masters are far outside Katniss' capability to confront, he is the one who serves as the most prominent physical threat to her.
- Human Shield: He ends up using Peeta as a human shield in case Katniss tries to kill him with the bow. Unlike most examples of the Human Shield trope, where it's done to discourage someone from killing them, the way he is talking to her when doing so implies that he wants her to kill him, or at least doesn't care whether she kills him or not at this point.
- Jumped at the Call: He lunges forward to volunteer at the reaping.
- Mercy Kill: Courtesy of Katniss. As mutts slowly eat him alive, she shoots an arrow at his temple to end his misery.
- Neck Snap: Does this to the District 3 boy after Katniss destroys the supplies.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: When it's down to the final five, the narration follows Katniss and Peeta, but we hear the cannon signaling the death of Thresh. Assuming that they fought since last time Katniss saw them two days ago then, Cato killing such a powerful opponent definitely counts as this.
- Only I Can Kill Her: Demands this audibly from the other Careers. Katniss speculates that he already held a particular grudge against her because she outscored him in training but humiliating him at the tree and dropping a trackerjacker nest on him was the last straw. Subverted in that Clove says he allowed her to kill Katniss, but only if she gave the audience a good show. This does not go well.
- Pet the Dog: He seemed genuinely saddened by Clove's death, begging for her to stay with him as he watched her die.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Like the other "Career" tributes, he comes across this way to some extent due to his District's practice of training kids for the Games.
- Tyke Bomb: Raised from childhood to fight and to kill.
- Villainous Breakdown: Completely loses it near the end, savagely attacking Katniss and Peeta like a wild animal.
- Would Hit a Girl: Never actually does so, but he's perfectly willing to hunt down and kill Katniss himself.
- You Have Failed Me: He breaks the District 3 boy's neck after the boy's trap failed to kill Katniss, instead destroying their supplies.
Clove
"Where's lover boy? Oh, I see. You're gonna help him, right? Well, that's sweet."
Cato's fellow tribute from District 2, who relishes killing her competitors with an array of knives she keeps in her jacket.
- Blood Knight: She loves her throwing knives.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Even though Katniss can't fight back, she forgets that there are other Tributes around who can take advantage of her moment of distraction. Like Thresh.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Brutally slain by Thresh after she boasts about killing Rue when he smashes her head with a rock.
- Dark Action Girl: One of the strongest fighters of the Career pack.
- The Dragon: Cato's Number Two.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: Cato is visibly distraught by her death.
- Evil Gloating: She can't resist rubbing her victory in Katniss' face and mocking her after pinning her down on the ground.
- Karmic Death: She really shouldn't have bragged about Rue's death in the presence of Thresh, which quickly results in Thresh killing her in revenge.
- Proud Warrior Race Girl: Like the other "Career" tributes, she comes across this way to some extent due to her District's practice of training kids for the Games.
- Psycho Knife Nut: She's very good at handling knives, and is an excellent shot when it comes to throwing them. She's also a tad unhinged, if her Blood Knight tendencies are anything to go by.
- Smug Snake: Too sadistic and arrogant for her own good. While she is a more than dangerous fighter, her Evil Gloating proves to be her undoing.
- Tempting Fate: Bragging about how your team killed the little girl while her Scary Black Man of a partner is nearby isn't the brightest of things to do.
- Tyke Bomb: Raised from childhood to fight and to kill.
- Too Dumb to Live: Seriously bragging about Rue's death when her large and powerful district partner, Thresh, is in earshot in the middle of a group fight to the death predictably results in Thresh targeting and killing her.
- Villainous Breakdown: She can more than handle herself in a fight, even against the more powerfully-built tributes like Katniss, but after the enormous Thresh gets his hands on her, she realizes she stands no chance and immediately goes from smug and sadistic to completely terrified and screaming her lungs out for Cato to help her... until she dies.
District 3
District 3 Tributes
The unnamed tributes of District 3 during the 74th Hunger Games.
The girl died in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. The boy survives the first day and joins with the "Career" tributes, acting as a supply guard and setting up booby traps around the area. When Katniss blows all of it up, Cato kills him in a fit of rage.
- Butt-Monkey: The female, in the eyes of the Careers, as they laugh at her in a deleted scene. They even get her district partner to laugh at her as well!
- Evil Genius: The male was not actually evil, but the boy is still recruited by the Careers to set a deathtrap with his Gadgeteer Genius skills, providing a major obstacle for Katniss to overcome.
- Gadgeteer Genius: The boy managed to re-arm the mines around the starting area to be used as booby traps.
- Neck Snap: Cato kills the boy this way.
- No Name Given: The male tribute's only referred to as "the boy from District 3".
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: It's pretty impressive that the guy rigged the explosives to protect the food.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about the girl is that the she is the female District 3 tribute and she dies on the first day of the 74th Hunger Games. We only know a little more about the boy, that he rigs an explosive trap to keep anyone from stealing the food the Career tributes gather, and that Cato kills him when it works a little too well and blows up the food supply when Katniss triggers it.
District 4
District 4 Tributes
The unnamed "Career" tributes of District 4 during the 74th Hunger Games.
The boy died in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. The girl survives the first day and joins the "Career" pack but is killed shortly after when Katniss drops the tracker jacker nest on the group.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The girl had a tracker jacker nest dropped on her!
- No Name Given: They're only referred to by their district and gender.
- Tyke Bomb: Raised from childhood to fight and to kill.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about the boy is that he is the male tribute from District 4 and he dies in the 74th Hunger Games on their first day. We only know a little more about the girl, that she's the female tribute from District 4 in the 74th Hunger Games and that she dies on the second day of them, and her manner of death — Katniss kills her by setting tracker jackers on her and the rest of the Career pack.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Gets hit with this even worse than the District 1 children, to the extent they don’t even get names (though to be fair Marvel didn’t get named until the second book despite his relative prominence). Despite ostensibly being Careers, one didn’t make it past the Bloodbath (to Katniss’s In-Universe surprise) and the other got dispatched with little fanfare (though just after Glimmer, meaning District 4 avoided getting knocked out of the running before any of the rest of the career pack). The movie goes so far as to write them out of the Career pack altogether, and of the Career scores none got an 8 (in the book the careers ranged from 8-10) implying the District 4 children were the least competent of the bunch. Really their role seems to be to stress that Anyone Can Die and that the Careers are Not So Invincible After All, while the other Careers play more substantiative roles in the story.
District 5
"Foxface"
"I'm always dreading the others, but maybe Foxface is the real opponent here."
Katniss on "Foxface"
A tribute from District 5. Extremely resourceful and survives in the Games by stealing from the other Tributes.
- Action Survivor: Manages to make it to the Top 4 in the Hunger Games mostly by evading others and stealing their supplies.
- Animal Motifs: Foxes, of course, because of her fox-like appearance, which includes red hair and her foxy cunning.
- Anti-Villain: The only thing bad about her is that she's Katniss' opponent. She does not hurt anyone or do anything evil. While Katniss doesn't bear any hatred toward her, she believes that teaming up with Foxface is inviting a knife in the back. (It should be noted that Katniss repeatedly believes people to be worse than they actually are.)
- Badass Pacifist: She doesn't win, but considering she never fights or hurts anyone directly, it's amazing she survives as long as she did.
- Beneath Notice: As part of her strategy to outlast the others, she deliberately underperforms during her evaluation so that the dangerous tributes will not target her.
- Color-Coded Eyes: She has amber eyes, tying in with her fox motif.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Foxface's strategy in the game is to out-survive everyone. First, she hides near the career tributes and steal bits of their food. When Katniss destroys that, Foxface hides near Katniss and Peeta to watch how they survive. They never suspect she is there, but she misjudges Peeta's wilderness skills and eats the poisonous berries he picked.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: While all deaths in the arena probably qualify as this, the narration describes what's left of her corpse as emaciated. Given that she could only take a little food at a time, that her bag at the Feast was only medium sized, and that the Gamemakers deliberately triggered an overwhelming, multi-day storm that prevented even Katniss from hunting, it's likely she got to experience the worst of the "Hunger" in the Hunger Games in her last days.
- Cunning Like a Fox: Katniss nicknames her "Foxface" because of her fox-like appearance. She is described by Katniss as sly and elusive. Foxface demonstrates her cleverness by figuring out the path into the Careers' supply pyramid and reached the bulk of supplies, takes an unnoticeable amount of food, and then runs back to the safety of the woods.
- Fragile Speedster: A variant, as her speciality is hiding and agility. While her running speed isn't really commented upon, she is clearly extremely fast at stealing food and sneaking in and out of others' camps. She never fights anyone.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Her strategy of copying Katniss and Peeta might have taught her enough survival skills to eventually outlast them, but then Peeta unknowingly picks poisonous berries.
- Hold the Line: Her strategy is to hide from the other tributes, steal their food to survive and wait for them to all kill each other.
- In-Series Nickname: Katniss, not knowing her real name, refers to her as "Foxface" in her head.
- No Name Given: Katniss never mentions her actual name, only referring to her by the nickname "Foxface."
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Only scores a 5 in her evaluation. Based on her caginess in the interview, Katniss realizes that Foxface did this on purpose so the other tributes would underestimate and ignore her.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name isn't known, so she's just called "Foxface".
- Spanner in the Works: Two times. The first time, she unknowingly helps Katniss to understand the nature of the trap protecting the Careers' food supplies. The second time, her actions at the Cornucopia during the Feast distract Katniss and make her lose a few precious seconds, that later put her at a disadvantage against Clove.
- Too Clever by Half: Has a resourceful and cunning brain, but no skills for foraging or hunting. She assumes that Peeta knew what berries were poisonous — but Katniss is the great survivalist.
- The Trickster: Katniss even wonders if she's the real threat due to this.
- Weak, but Skilled: Not strong physically, but smart and good at sneaking around and hiding herself.
- Wild Card: Neither on Katniss' nor the Careers' side during the Games.
- Worthy Opponent: Katniss is constantly shown to respect Foxface and admire her tactics, often wishing she'd thought of them herself.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Both she and her mutt-version are noted to have amber eyes.
District 5 Male
The unnamed male tribute of District 5 during the 74th Hunger Games. (His partner Foxface has her own section above).
He is killed in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia.
- No Name Given: He's only referred to as "the boy from District 5," not by name.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about him is his gender, district, and that he dies off-screen in the 74th Hunger Games on the first day.
District 6
District 6 Tributes
The unnamed tributes of District 6 during the 74th Hunger Games.
They are both killed in the bloodbath at the cornucopia.
- Named by the Adaptation: In the movie, the boy is given the name "Jason".
- No Name Given: The narration never mentions their names. Somewhat subverted for the boy, who's Named by the Adaptation.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about them is their district, their genders, and that they are killed off-screen in the 74th Hunger Games on the first day.
District 7
District 7 Tributes
The unnamed tributes of District 7 during the 74th Hunger Games.
They are both killed in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia.
- No Name Given: Their names are never mentioned, only their district.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about them is their district, their genders, and that they are killed off-screen in the 74th Hunger Games on the first day.
District 8
District 8 Tributes
The unnamed tributes of District 8 during the 74th Hunger Games.
The boy died in the initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia. The girl survives the first day, but due to a lack of supplies, she foolishly starts a fire that allows the "Career" pack to find and attack her. She is mortally wounded, but does not die quickly, so Peeta returns and Mercy Kills her, Katniss is close by and hears everything.
- No Name Given: They're only referred to by their district and gender, not their names.
- Too Dumb to Live: As Katniss said, when the girl lights a campfire, at night, which makes her a sitting duck for the Careers who viciously attack and kill her.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about the boy is his gender, district, and that he dies in the 74th Hunger Games on the first day. We only know a little more about the girl — her gender, district, and that the Career Pack kills her after she builds a fire the first night of the 74th Hunger Games, with Peeta delivering the final blow.
District 9
District 9 Tributes
The unnamed tributes of District 9 during the 74th Hunger Games.
They are both killed in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. The boy is the first tribute killed in the 74th Hunger Games, stabbed by Clove while he was fighting with Katniss over a backpack.
- Blood from the Mouth: The boy when he gets stabbed by Clove.
- No Name Given: Their names are never mentioned.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: The boy is killed immediately the first time he makes an appearance. All we know about the girl is her gender, district, and that she's killed off-screen in the 74th Hunger Games on their first day.
District 10
District 10 Tributes
The unnamed tributes of District 10 during the 74th Hunger Games.
The girl died in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. The boy escaped with supplies into the forest, but is killed offscreen later.
- Bury Your Disabled: The boy has a crippled foot and dies by the end of the first book.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite being crippled, the male manages to survive for quite some time. He dies the same day the supplies are destroyed.
- No Name Given: Their names are never mentioned.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: All we know about the girl is that she's from District 10 and dies in the 74th Hunger Games on the first day. We only know a little more about the boy, that he's from District 10, has a crippled foot, is quiet in his interview, and dies in the 74th Hunger Games on the 10th day.
District 11
Thresh
Thresh: "Just this time, Twelve. For Rue."
A tall, powerfully-built young man from District 11. Survives on his own in the fields of tall grass on the opposite side of the arena from Katniss. Asked to join the Career pack, but he refuses the offer.
- Ambiguously Brown: Like Rue, he's just described as "dark-skinned" in the book.
- Berserk Button: Clove found out the hard way that talking smack about Rue when Thresh is within earshot is not a good idea.
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards Rue. Hearing Clove mock her death leads to him brutally smashing her skull in a fit of rage. It also makes him spare Rue's friend Katniss, at least once.
- The Big Guy: He is tall, large and strong.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: He completely pulverizes Clove until she dies, though to be fair he did catch her by surprise.
- Debt Detester: He spares Katniss because he feels that he owes her something for the way she treated Rue. Katniss understands that it's because he doesn't want to have a debt towards her.
- The Dreaded: Even the Career pack (five strong with Peeta accompanying them) didn't dare venture into the field of long grass where Thresh had made his home. Together with Cato he was almost unquestionably the most physically dangerous Tribute in the 74th Hunger Games.
- Genius Bruiser: Thresh spent the majority of the Game camped out in a wheat field that not even the Careers wanted to risk trespassing. Katniss and Peeta notes that not only did it give Thresh the advantage of being the most nourished competitor, but because of all the potential hazards in the field, it would have made going after him risky.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Takes District 2's backpacks at the Feast, forcing Cato to chase after him and luring him away from Katniss.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Implied. He cares deeply for Rue and he spares Katniss when it would've been wise to let Clove kill her then kill Clove himself.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: He seemed to have taken in Rue, the girl from his district, as a sister because when she died, he was infuriated by her death. During the feast, Thresh overheard Clove gloating about Rue's death to Katniss. Thresh grabbed Clove off Katniss, strangled her while holding her one foot off the ground, and furiously yelled at her before killing her in retribution.
- Meaningful Name: Threshing is the task of beating harvested wheat with a flail to separate the grain from the chaff. This name fits a person who camps in a wheat field. It is also related to the word thrash, which he is surely capable of doing to his enemies.
- Not So Stoic: Clove discovers that, when he's angry, he becomes an unstoppable killing machine.
- Pet the Dog: Spares Katniss in return for her making a burial for Rue earlier on. He does warn that it's a one-time offer.
- The Quiet One: Doesn't speak much. Except when he's angry, as Clove fatally discovered.
- Raised by Grandparents: Catching Fire reveals that only his grandmother and sister are still alive, implying this trope.
- Scary Black Man: In his interview, he was seen as the one with silent, deadly power. He mostly keeps to himself and it's shown in the arena that he will shout when something matters to him and he will kill.
- Wild Card: Neither on Katniss' nor the Careers' side during the Games. Even though he ends up helping Katniss once, by killing Clove and sparing her in return for her making a burial for Rue earlier.
- The Worf Effect: He's established as one of the strongest of the tributes, yet he is killed offscreen by Cato towards the end.
- Would Hit a Girl: His only known kill is Clove.
Rue
A twelve-year-old from District 11 and one of the younger arena contestants, who develops a sisterly relationship with Katniss. Her special skills include tree-climbing, extensive knowledge of edible wildlife, and outstanding accuracy with a slingshot.
- Ambiguously Brown: In the book, she's described as "dark-skinned", but her ethnicity isn't elaborated on.
- Animal Motifs: Described as having bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and standing tilted up on her toes with her arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It's impossible not to think of a bird. Her swift and almost invisible movements through the treetops added to the bird-like description. Rue's pre-games interview costume is described as a sheer dress with shimmering gossamer wings. Of course, she can also communicate to the birds through song.
- The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest tribute of the 74th Hunger Games, at just 12 years old. Ironically, she herself is the oldest of six siblings at home.
- Badass and Child Duo: She is the "child" to Katniss's "badass", although Katniss herself is only a teenager.
- Big Sister Instinct: She's the eldest of six children and fiercely protective of her siblings. She usually gives her food rations to them, and forages in the fields to provide more food for them even though the Peacekeepers are far less lenient than in District 12.
- Brats with Slingshots: Her weapon is a slingshot, though Katniss notes to herself that it won't do much good against the strong and heavy Career Tributes.
- Combat Pragmatist: She's the one who directs Katniss towards the tracker-jacker hive that gets dropped onto the Careers.
- Floral Theme Naming: Rue is a small yellow flower that grows in the Meadow.
- Fragile Speedster: She's not much of a physical threat due to her age and small size, but she's agile and sure-footed, able to climb trees and leap through them easily enough that Katniss is impressed. She leans into this as her best chance to survive the games, especially during her interview, when she says, "If they can't catch me, they can't kill me."
- Go Out with a Smile: Katniss sings to her as she dies, and she smiles at Katniss.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: She dies this way, after being captured and impaled in the stomach by a spear held by Marvel, a District 1 tribute.
- Kill the Cutie: Introduced as an adorable and innocent child, the youngest and smallest of the tributes, she doesn't survive her Hunger Games.
- Last Request: She asks Katniss to sing for her. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: She's the oldest of six children.
- Meaningful Name: 'Rue' means "regret". Katniss deeply regrets that she couldn't save her.
- The Medic: At the very least, she knows which leaf can cure a tracker-jacker sting.
- Morality Chain: For Katniss, especially when she thought Peeta betrayed her.
- Morality Pet: Seems to have been this for Thresh, who is only seen as the one with the silent, deadly power until he kills Clove in a fit of rage for mocking her death, and lets Katniss go for making a burial for Rue.
- Plucky Girl: Despite being Reaped for the Hunger Games, Rue is still very brave and manages to maintain her gentle, kind-hearted nature.
- Replacement Goldfish: To Katniss, who can't help but see her little sister Prim in Rue. When Rue is dying, Katniss actually refers to her as Prim in her narration, before correcting herself.
- Sacrificial Lion: She's the first of Katniss' major allies who dies in the trilogy.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Katniss has said that Rue reminded her of her younger sister, Prim, in demeanor and personality. Naturally, Rue ends up dead.
- Weak, but Skilled: She's not physically strong, but she's stealthy, fast, quick on her feet, can climb trees easily, and knows which plants are safe to eat, a vital survival skill.
