Haymitch Abernathy

Haymitch Abernathy was the only living Hunger Games victor from District 12 before Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the 74th Hunger Games, and works as a mentor to subsequent tributes from the district.

Biography
Haymitch Abernathy was the only living tribute from District 12 up until the 74th Hunger Games. A survivor from the 50th Hunger Games, Haymitch participated in the second Quarter Quell at the age of sixteen.

The Second Quarter Quell
Haymitch was reaped in the Second Quarter Quell along with another male tribute and two female tributes. During his interview with Caesar Flickerman, he asked what does he think of the games having 100% more tributes and Haymitch replies by saying he doesn't see much diffrence and just sees that they'll be just as stupid which makes the audience laugh.

During the Games, He was able to get a knife from the Cornucopia. At an uncertain point of time Haymitch ran into three Career tributes. Haymitch was able to take out two tributes with his knife but the third Career tribute got him and was about to slit his throat until he was shot in the back with a poison dart by one of his district tributes. He formed a temporary alliance with Maysilee Donner, his fellow District 12 tribute. The two of them went to the end of the arena thinking that there could be something useful there. Near the end of the Games, when there were only a few tributes left alive, they reached the end of the arena and saw nothing. She suggested going back but Haymitch refused to leave. Maysilee then broke up the alliance not wanting to kill him herself. Haymitch kicked a pubble off the edge of the cliff and it bounced back to the spot, he picked up a rock and throw it off the cliff and to his pleasure the force field throw it back. Maysilee died a few minutes later, killed by deadly pink birds which speared her throat with their beaks (reminding Katniss, rewatching the game with Peeta Mellark, of Rue's tragic death) Haymitch rushed over to her side and stayed with her until she died, which makes Katniss only feel worse about Rue and how she was too late to save her as well. Haymitch won the 50th Hunger Games less than a day later, Haymitch and District 1's female tribute made it to the final two. The two fought and both were severly injured. Haymitch at a point sliced her eye and later was disarmed and hit in his stomach by her axe. A weakened Haymitch rushed to the cliff while holding in his intestines and reached the cliff with District 1 female right behind him. Haymitch fell to his knees due to his injuries. District 1 female tribute throw her axe to his head but he dodged it. By using the arena's force field at the bottom of the cliff to repel an axe thrown by the District 1's female tribute, which buried itself in her head and killed her. After winning the Games, Haymitch became an alcoholic due to the mental and physical torture the Games inflicted on him. In Mockingjay, it is revealed that two weeks after he was crowned victor of the Second Quarter Quell his mother, younger brother and girlfriend were all killed by President Snow because of the stunt that Haymitch pulled off with the force field. For the next 23 years, Haymitch trained the tributes for District 12 alone. Due to the horror of the Games, his grief over his family's deaths, and the fact that every tribute he trained was killed in the arena, Haymitch turned to drinking and isolated himself from the rest of District 12. He began sleeping with a knife in his hand and refused to let anyone into his house.

The Hunger Games
Haymitch first appears when he goes on stage during the reaping drunk and passes out after he face-dived on the ground. He is then seen on the train taking them to the Capitol and is yet again drunk and vomits on the expensive carpet floor which disgusted Effie. Peeta cleans him up and puts him to bed. He eats breakfast with them and gets in to a fight with Peeta and Katniss breaks it up by throwing a knife at them. He is pleased to have finally gotten a pair who will put up a fight and examines them and begins to formulate a plan for them.

During the parade he is surprised with their costume and takes this advantage with making more future plans to help them. He takes them and tells them about their training for the games and asked if they want to be trained together or private. He learns their skills during the argument her and Peeta have. He tells them to train and learn new things at the training center and to not reveal their full skills and to stay by each other side.

He is humored and laughs when Katniss tells him how the Gamemakers looked after she almost shot them with an arrow. He is pleased with their training score and tells Katniss she got a high score due to her attitude. Later he informs her that Peeta will be coached in private. He helps and fails to teach Katniss how to speak in front of the crowd during her interview with Caesar Flickerman but in only angered and says she has the charm of a dead slug. Before the games begin he gives them a final piece of advice and strategy for the arena.

During the games, Haymitch assisted by Effie line up sponsors and help Katniss and communicates with her with sponsor gifts. He does not help Peeta during the games as he could only save one of them and decided it to be Katniss. He is happy when both of them come back alive and hugs them both. Before Katniss goes to her final interview with Caesar, he tells her that the Capitol are furious about her and Peeta act in the arena with the berries seeing it as an act of rebellion and tells her she must act in love with Peeta so the Capitol and Panem will see it was not rebellion but an act of love. After the interview, he is positive that the Capitol is convinced she was in love and not rebelling. He goes back to District 12 with Katniss and Peeta. When he gets home he yet again drinks until he is drunk.

Work
Haymitch doesn't work, but before the war he mentored tributes yearly. However, after the war he raises geese in addition to obsessively drinking.

Description
Haymitch is described as paunchy and middle-aged in The Hunger Games. In Catching Fire, he is described as formerly being young, strong, and "something to look at" 25 years ago when he won the games; he had curly dark hair, his gray Seam eyes bright and dangerous.

Relationships
It is mentioned in Mockingjay that 2 weeks after being crowned victor his girlfriend, mother, and brother were killed because of the stunt he pulled with the force field in the 50th Hunger Games because he made the Capitol look stupid, knowing the advantage of the force field before the Gamemakers or anybody else.

Katniss Everdeen
Haymitch first meets Katniss when she volunteered to go in instead of Prim at the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games. He stated that she had "spunk." He was impressed by Katniss but he collapsed afterwards because he was drunk, falling off the stage. At first, he dismissed her as well as Peeta but decides that they may be worthy of winning the Games after they gang up on him. Katniss is convinced that Haymitch hates her and he does not try to contradict her. He is hard on them but his teachings are the only things that help them through the Games. During the Games, Katniss and Haymitch, albeit being apart, develop an understanding and a strong bond is forged. Haymitch is the first whom Katniss thanks when she leaves the arena.

In Catching Fire, Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch are closer and always deal with whatever threat comes in front of them. Haymitch keeps his role as a mentor despite the end of the Games.

After Peeta is captured by the Capitol, Katniss becomes angry with Haymitch and rejects him. It isn't until she decides to be the Mockingjay that they speak again. Haymitch cares about her, understanding her more than others. For instance, when she realizes how Snow is using Peeta, Katniss runs to Haymitch as she breaks down, for they both care about him. Later, Katniss goes to Haymitch to confide in her idea of Coin killing Prim, and when he teases her, causing her to flee, he tries to follow her (but trips) and get her to talk of her problems. He continues to be her "mentor" when she is sent back to District 12.

Personality
Haymitch is often drunk and surly, harsh, but on rare occasions understanding. District 12's hero is often sarcastic and unfriendly, but it is revealed in Mockingjay that, even though he doesn't say it, he adores Peeta and Katniss.

He and Katniss are on the same "wavelength" for most of the books, as he can "communicate" with Katniss by unconventional means, such as the timely deliverance of a sponsor's gift. After the war is over, Haymitch is sent to District 12 to look after Katniss, but for a long period after arriving he does not visit her, opting to stay in his house and drink. It is indicated that his relationship with Katniss and Peeta is somewhat repaired as time goes on.

Haymitch doesn't sleep at night because of nightmares pertaining to the Hunger Games. When he does sleep he always clutches a knife. Drinking is Haymitch's way of tuning out the present and the pain of his Hunger Games. His alcoholism was also prompted by the loss of his entire family shortly after he won the Games, at the hand of President Snow, due to his rebellious victory. Haymitch did not have access to his liquor while he was in District 13, as the intoxicating substance is banned. He was mostly unaffected by this after therapy, but his skin became noticeably yellower. As soon as they returned District 12, he began drinking again. When Haymitch is in withdrawal, he becomes violent, incoherent, and prone to hallucinations.

Skills
Haymitch is quite handy with a knife as proved when he killed two Career tributes with just his knife. He is also quite intelligent, outsmarting his fellow tributes and making the Capitol look stupid with the force field. He was remarkably strong and quite handsome when he was younger. Although he has low endurance. He is good at lying as well being able to keep Katniss clueless about the rebellion. He is most likely good with words, he was able to convince Districts 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11 about the rebellion and to protect Katniss. Haymitch is good with communication, he could communicate with Katniss through sponsor gifts and sending them on time to tell her what to do next.

Film portrayal
He will be portrayed by Woody Harrelson in The Hunger Games film.