Commander Paylor

Commander Paylor first appears in Mockingjay. She is a leader among the rebels in District 8.

Katniss first meets Paylor when she comes to District 8's hospital in order to film a propo for the Airtime Assault on the Capitol. Paylor takes Katniss along with Gale, Boggs, and the TV crew into the hospital. Paylor watches Katniss closely, to see what she is made of and if they have been right to count on her. After Katniss leaves the hospital, hoverplanes sent from the Capitol fly in and begin to bomb the hospital. In an effort to fight against the bombers, Katniss and Gale get to the roof of a warehouse that has machine guns nests. This is where she again runs into Commander Paylor. Together, they all work to destroy the other waves of hoverplanes that fly overhead.

Commander Paylor later returns in the story when Katniss is living in President Snow's mansion, awaiting his execution. Katniss follows the strong scent of Snow's roses until she finds a room that is being guarded by two soldiers who at first do not permit her entrance to the room because they are following President Coi's orders. However, when Paylor appears she instructs the soldiers to let Katniss go in and they obey her authority. Katniss goes into the room to find President Snow and the two of them have a breif conversation. Snow informs Katniss that it was not he who bombed the children and ultimately killed Prim but that instead it was President Coin who was behind it. When Katniss emerges, Paylor asks "Did you find what you were looking for?" This seems to imply that Paylor was somehow aware of Coin's betrayal and wanted Katniss to find out.

After Katniss assassinates President Coin, an emergency election was thrown together and Paylor was voted in as president. Under her rule, The Hunger Game were abolished, the arenas were destroyed, and memorials were built.

Physical Description
Paylor has dark brown eyes that are puffy with fatigue and she smells of metal and sweat. She has a bandage around her throat that looks as though it needs changing. She carries an automatic weapon with a strap that digs into her neck. She is in her early thirties but she has an authoritative tone to her voice.