Cornucopia bloodbath



A Cornucopia bloodbath always occurs at the very beginning of every Hunger Games, as most of the tributes compete for valuable weapons, food, water and packs full of other valuable supplies spread in and around the Cornucopia.

Tributes always die at the bloodbath, averaging eight to twelve each year--a third to half of the total tributes. Some common weapons in the Cornucopia are knives, spears, and swords. In most of the Games, there were backpacks containing various items. Some examples may be weapons, medical supplies, or food or water. In the 74th Hunger Games, the ones closer to the Cornucopia hold more valuable items, while the ones farthest away hold less valuable items. The Gamemakers or the Capitol probably set it up this way for optimal entertainment value and quick deaths at the beginning of the game to keep audiences interested. In the end, the Cornucopia is often taken over by a group of tributes who fought in the bloodbath, usually the Career Tributes. The Cornucopia is usually located in the center of the arena.

Tactics
There are a variety of ways tributes approach the bloodbath, but these strategies depend on how the Cornucopia has been positioned. For example, in the 74th Hunger Games, the Cornucopia contained everything from weapons, food, and survival provisions. The weapons are almost always arranged from the Cornucopia in terms of usefulness. For example, backpacks containing basic survival provisions were spaced far away while valuable weapons such as bows and swords were placed in the mouth. In contrast, during the 75th Hunger Games or Third Quarter Quell, the Cornucopia was piled high with weapons in an attempt to ensure a more brutal bloodbath between the tributes. In this instance, any victor tribute who did not want to gain weapons had no use in approaching the Cornucopia.



Some tributes ignore the Cornucopia completely and try to put as much distance as they can between themselves and the armed tributes with weapons from the Cornucopia. This means they will get little or no supplies at all and will have to rely on the arena and their skills or perhaps a rich sponsor to give them some. Peeta Mellark avoided the Cornucopia at first under Haymitch Abernathy's orders, but later joined the Career Tributes and had access to their supplies until he betrayed them. Other tributes, including Katniss Everdeen, grab what they can from the outskirts of the Cornucopia and flee before things get too dangerous. This means they still get supplies, but these are not very valuable and they have little or no weapons. Other tributes, mostly Careers like Marvel, Clove, Glimmer and Cato, dash for supplies as an opportunity to kill as many opponents as possible while they are all together. This means they will get the most weapons and supplies. But they also run the highest risk of getting killed or badly injured. In the 74th Hunger Games, the Careers, possibly after the bloodbath was over, made camp by the Cornucopia. This allowed them to take any leftover supplies. However, the high quantity of supplies taken by the careers allowed other tributes like Foxface to steal some supplies and escape undetected. Rue managed to get some water bottles and socks used to cover her hands at night.

50th Hunger Games
In the 50th Hunger Games, 18 people were killed in the opening bloodbath, most of them likely by the Careers. However, the arena was so beautiful, the tributes were awed at first sight. Haymitch Abernathy, the victor from District Twelve, managed to get supplies before the bloodbath began, being the only one not stunned by the beauty of the arena.

74th Hunger Games
In the 74th Hunger Games, eleven people (twelve in the film) were killed in the opening bloodbath, most of them killed by the Careers. The only explicit death in the bloodbath is the District 9 Male, who was killed by Clove.

In the film, almost every death is shown in detail as following: Marvel grabs the girl from District 3 and pulls her to the ground making her roll. He then starts stabbing her. The boy from District 5 runs, but Cato impales him with his sword injuring and making him collapse. Marvel finds a spear and a tent pack, then approaches the girl from District 7 whilst crawling away. Glimmer continues stabbing the girl from District 10. The District 5 boy slashes the District 3 girl. The District 8 boy begins strangling the District 5 boy. The District 4 girl cuts the District 6 boy's legs with an axe. Katniss is running and trips over a backpack. Glimmer slashes at the District 6 girl, killing her. As the District 7 boy is about to kill Katnisswith an axe, Clove from District 2 throws a knife into his back. Cato then pushes the girl from district 4, causing her to fall and trip over the cases on the ground, it is unknown if she died.The District 10 boy starts slamming the District 6 boy's head on a case in the Cornucopia as Glimmer is watching in horror. Then the District 8 boy attacks Thresh. Thresh dodges his spear and hits the 8 boy's neck with his sword and backpack. The District 7 girl is then pushed back by the District 3 boy. The District 4 boy looks around and tries to escape but doesn't see Cato. Cato slices his throat, killing him. These were On-Screen deaths. We later see the District 8 boy with a slash mark on his throat, the District 10 girl with a bloody abdomen, the District 4 boy laying on his tent pack, the District 5 boy with a huge wound on his stomach, and the District 3 girl's corpse with her eyes open. It's also known that both tributes from District 9, along with the girl from District 4 died in the bloodbath, but their deaths were not shown.

75th Hunger Games
In the 75th Hunger Games, eight people were killed in the opening bloodbath. Finnick Odair killed the male from District 5. District 10 female, Seeder, Cecelia, Woof, the Male Morphling both from district 9 were also killed.