Rue

"You have to win, Katniss."

- Rue

Rue was the female tribute from District 11 who was selected to participate in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. She is described as being small and easily underestimated by other competitors. Rue died in The 74th Hunger Games at the age of 12 when Marvel thrust a spear in her stomach. She formed an alliance with Katniss Everdeen after warning her about a nest of tracker jackers hidden in a tree.

Biography
Rue worked in the orchards in District 11. She would always work from sunrise to sunset and sing her four note song when work was over. This tune was picked up by the mockingjays in the area, which spread the message throughout the orchards. Rue claimed that these mockingjays were her special friends. Rue was the oldest child in her family. She liked to help others. Though small, she was able to jump from tree to tree. Her considerable agility and skill at traveling through the tree tops are probably the reason she earned a good score after the private training sessions preceding the 74th Hunger Games (later, Katniss thinks her score was much too low). This ability, and her small stature, made her able to climb the tallest trees in District 11, allowing her to see the flag signaling quitting time first.

74th Hunger Games
Rue was chosen during the reaping at the age of twelve for the 74th Hunger Games along with Thresh District 11's male tribute. When Rue was chosen her District escort asked if anyone would like to volunteer for Rue's place but the district answered with silence. She managed to get a seven out of twelve on her evaluation with the Gamemakers, probably showing them her skill to move about along treetops swiftly and unnoticed, although it was never confirmed.

During her interview with Ceasar, she told him not to count her out and that she's fast and swift and if they can't catch her, they can't kill her. Ceasar replies by saying he wouldn't count her out in a million years. He then continues Rue's interview.

In the arena, it is likely that Rue managed to stay alive by staying off the ground, much like Katniss did. She used her extensive knowledge of plants to collect food. She also got a backpack and a slingshot at the Cornucopia in the beginning of the games. She has a sharp shard of rock she uses as a knife. Her pack contained a small water skin and an extra pair of socks she uses for her hands. Her stalking Katniss in the training center followed her into the arena, as she had followed Katniss most likely before the tracker jacker incident.

After this, Rue follows Katniss. While Katniss is attempts to make a fire, she hears a branch crack and she knows it's Rue. She tells Rue the careers aren't the only ones who can make an alliance. This makes her eye peek out of the corner of the tree. Rue comes out from behind the tree and says she can heal Katniss' tracker jacker wounds with leaves. Katniss is relieved by her wounds being fixed and offers Rue treatment for her fire burns. Rue says Katniss has good sponsors, and Katniss ask her if she had gotten anything yet, to which Rue replies no. Katniss tells Rue not to worry becuase the more she advances in the games the more sponsors will line up and help her. Katniss offers her a groosling leg which surprises Rue becuase she never had a whole leg to herself. Katniss and Rue talk about their life in their District. After the conversation, Rue tells Katniss about the career's camp and the food and supplies. This gives Katniss the idea of evening the playing field between them and the careers, by destroying the supplies.

Rue trusted Katniss when she saw that Katniss had on a mockingjay pin. She then proceeded to help her with a plan to destroy the career alliance. Katniss shares her plan with Rue. Rue must act as a decoy and light up three fires to distract the careers away from the camp site, while she destroys the food somehow. Rue manages to light the first fire, But soon after the second fire was lit, Rue stumbled into a trap set up by Marvel, who stabbed her through the stomach with his spear while Katniss ran to save her. After dispatching Marvel, Rue begged Katniss to sing to her as she died. As a way to honor her death and show her anger at the Capitol, Katniss covers Rue's body with brightly colored flowers and gives her Disrict 12's farewell gesture.

Rue's tactic in the Games was to stay off the ground and in the trees. In this way, she could stalk and gain information on enemies without them noticing. Since most of the tributes can't climb trees, they would have trouble killing her. She used berries and other plants to eat.
 * Tactics

Rue reminded Katniss Everdeen of her sister, Primrose. Like Prim, Rue stood on her toes with her arms slightly extended. Katniss describes her as "birdlike" and can barely look at Prim without noticing Rue in her and being reminded of her death. Small, quick, intelligent, and young, the two had many similarities, which led Katniss to make Rue her ally. Rue had already made the decision to trust Katniss upon seeing her mockingjay pin, and accepted the older girl's offer.
 * Alliance

The two worked together to survive, and learned much about each other and their districts. They shared stories together and became close, although their alliance was short lived. Like Katniss, Rue was able to find edible and medicinal plants in the arena. Among the edible plants she found were some berries and roots. She was also able to pick out a plant that could help extract tracker jacker venom out of Katniss' wounds as well. When it came time to eat, Rue was shy in taking such a large quantity in food, saying that she had never had a whole leg of groosling to herself. However, Katniss insisted that she took it, feeling pity for the younger girl.

The first and only night that the two spent together, Rue was surprised by the sleeping bag that Katniss had gotten. When Katniss asked how she had kept warm every night, she said that she would pull out her extra socks and put them on her hands. Rue also told Katniss about the night vision sunglasses that Katniss had gotten and how important they were in Rue's District. Rue was very comfortable with Katniss indicated by the fact that she immediately snuggled up close to her in the sleeping bag. When Rue told Katniss about the mockingjays in her district, Katniss offered her the gold mockingjay pin she was wearing that Madge had given her, but Rue told her to keep it because it was how she knew that she could trust Katniss.

Katniss and Rue knew that the Careers needed to be eliminated, and the only way they could possibly make that happen was to take away their ample food and supplies. At first, the feat seemed nearly impossible, but Katniss and Rue devised a plan with the intention of stealing the supplies. Rue, being the smaller of the two, was in charge of setting three fires in various areas around the arena. This would distract the Careers and get them moving as Katniss would try to figure out a way to get their precious supplies. Katniss and Rue decided to communicate by fires and the mockingjays. Rue would sing her four-note melody if all was well but she couldn't get to Katniss at the moment. The four-note melody was also the tune that Rue sang to the mockingjays in District 11 to signal the end of the workday; because she worked high in the trees, she was the first out of the workers in the orchard to know when it was time to go home.

Rue died soon after Katniss' attempt to destroy the Careers' stash of supplies, while she was creating her diversion. After successfully lighting the first two fires, she stumbled upon a net on her way to start the third and final fire. After following the sound of the mockingjays, Katniss found Rue. But the moment she heard her name escape Rue's lips, Marvel speared Rue in the abdomen, earning him an arrow through the neck, as Katniss tried in vain to save her.
 * Death

Katniss rushes over to Rue and puts Rue's head on her lap. Rue asks if she blew up the food and Katniss says every last bit. Rue pleads for Katniss to win and Katniss promises she'll win for the both of them. When Marvel's cannon fires Rue told Katniss to stay with her and Katniss stayed right by her side. As a last wish, Rue asked Katniss to sing to her, and Katniss sang a lullaby until Rue's eyes fluttered shut and she died. The mockingjays soon picked up Rue's Lullaby and sang it throughout the entire arena.

To show the Capitol that Rue was more than a piece in the Games, Katniss covered her corpse in brightly colored flowers she found nearby. As a final goodbye, Katniss gave her the same farewell salute that the entire District 12 gave Katniss when she left for the Games, placing the three middle fingers of the left hand to her lips, then lifting her arm out toward Rue. The gesture was often used by the residents of District 12 at funerals, signifying respect and admiration. District 11 then sends Katniss a loaf of bread as a gift of appreciation.

At the end of The Hunger Games, it was mentioned by Katniss that when the Capitol showed Katniss and Peeta the video of the 74th Hunger Games, they did not show the part where Katniss puts the flowers on her body.

In Catching Fire, when Katniss and Peeta are on their victory tour, she thanks Rue for everything she has done for her. Katniss says that she feels Rue is still with her and that everything beautiful brings Rue to mind. Katniss then thanks District 11 for their tributes, including Rue. Later, when asked to show his skill for the 75th Hunger Games, Peeta painted her likeness on the floor, earning a 12 from the Gamekeepers. Later, she also describes to Peeta her only "good" dream since the Games, explaining how she followed Rue as a mockingjay, singing and "talking". Peeta asks where Rue was taking her, to which Katniss replies, "they never arrived, but they felt happy".

In Mockingjay, Katniss compiled a book about all the people who died because of the Hunger Games. She described how Rue stood leaning forward with arms slightly extended to make her look like a bird.

Description
"And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she's very like Prim in size and demeanor."

- Katniss Everdeen, while watching Rue's reaping.

Being the youngest of the tributes at the age of 12, Rue was naturally the smallest - but this still gave her a heavy advantage for being light on her feet and quick. Suzanne Collins has stated that Rue is African-American, with thick dark hair, dark satiny brown skin and "golden eyes". She always stood leaning forward, on her toes, with both arms slightly extended. This is how Prim, Katniss's sister, stands also, which brings back memories of Rue whenever Katniss sees her own sister. This made her look like a bird, ready to take flight. Her swift and almost invisible movements through the treetops added to the bird-like description. Rue says that the thing she enjoys most in life is music.

Family
Rue was the eldest of six children. She had five younger siblings, all living in poverty in District 11.

She usually gave her food rations to her younger siblings, and foraged in the fields to provide more food for them. District 11 has very strict laws and could be punished for helping her family in this way. On the victory tour (in Catching Fire), Katniss sees her family and they all look like Rue. Her parents were also seen weeping. A man in the back whistles her four note tune, getting himself shot and starting a small uprising. After Katniss sees the man get shot, she hears two more shots, which could possibly mean someone in the family was shot and killed. Seeder tells Katniss that her family is safe.

Personality
Rue had a sweet nature, loving those close to her, and hates to see them hurt. Her greatest joy in life was music, and she loved singing with the mockingjays at home. The mockingjays back home liked her and are used to her because she was the one who sang a four-note melody that signals the end of a work day out in the field.

She is also very observent of her surroundings, noticing every piece of information she saw when spying on the Careers.

Rue fully understood the inhumane and brutality of the Hunger Games, but couldn't sink down to the level of the others. Instead of attacking at the first sight of other tributes, she spied and gathered information that helped her and Katniss form a plan on how to wipe out the careers. Katniss supplied a bit of emotional support to Rue, giving her the hope that maybe it wouldn't be all bad.

It is also her personality that set her apart from Prim. Prim could not stand to see anything get hurt and would have definitely not been able to harm anyone in the games, but Rue was ready and willing to go forth with the plan, seeing it as an adventure (Prim sees adventures as an ordeal). Teaching Prim to hunt was a disaster, with her crying over the shot animal and wondering if there was time to rush it home and nurse it back to health, whereas Rue was prepared to do whatever to survive. Rue was also very bird-like, the way she was able to move swiftly through the trees without being noticed.

Skills
Rue had a talent for singing, her greatest joy was music. During work she would sing to the Mockingjays and they would sing back. She was also able to whistle a four note song meaning the day of work is over.

Exceptionally well at climbing, she could jump from one tree to another without being noticed, Katniss compared her skill like it were a bird. Rue was able to stalk and track Katniss and other tribute during the games to gain information and no one picked up that they were being followed or watched by another tribute.

Rue was also intelligent. She was able to survive by herself before she formed her alliance with Katniss. She survived mostly on berries that she found and discovered they could be eaten. It is expected to have survived by staying off the ground. She is very observant as well, picking up every small and important detail about the career's camp and some useful information about other tributes.

Rue is assumed to be is good with a slingshot.

Possesions
Rue possesed a grass necklace with a wooden star and used it for good luck in the games. During Bloodbath day she ran into the Cornucopia and got a slingshot and a bag. The bag held a pair of socks, a water skin and idoline. She had a sharp rock shard and used it as a knife. Rue was also able to find leaves, berries and plants that were safe to eat.

Mutt
Rue's mutt was one of the wolf creatures that appeared at the end of the 74th Hunger Games. It was described as the smallest of the wolf creatures with a dark brown coat. It also wore a woven collar made of plant fibers. Rue's district number, 11, was woven into the collar as well. Her mutt seemed to have no connection to Katniss whatsoever, and tried to kill her.

Film portrayal
Amandla Stenberg has been cast to portray her in the upcoming The Hunger Games film.

Trivia

 * Rue received her name from a small mountain flower (Ruta graveolens), just as Katniss received her name from a waterside plant, and Prim received her name from a bush (Primrose bush). Symbolically, both Ruta graveolens and primrose blossoms close at night.
 * "Rue" also means "to regret."
 * If Katniss had not volunteered for Prim, there would have been two 12 year olds in the 74th Hunger Games from very poor districts.