Hunger Games (event)

The Hunger Games are played each year in the country of Panem. They are not actually a game, but rather a fight to the death between 24 children, called tributes, between the ages of twelve and eighteen. One boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts are forced to participate in this event in a large, outdoor arena. The event is televised to the people of Panem, and the last living tribute is declared the winner.

History
75 years before the 74th games, the thirteen districts of Panem revolted against the Capitol. Together, they stood strong. But when District 13 was obliterated by the Capitol, resistance became pointless. They submitted to the Capitol and lost their hope.

Now, every year since the rebellion, the Capitol forces a girl and a boy from each district to participate in the Hunger Games, in front of hidden cameras that show everything live as entertainment to the citizens of the Capitol and a reminder to the 12 Districts that they had lost the rebellion. Each year, twenty-three children die. Only one can survive. Only one time in the history of The Hunger Games has there ever been more than one victor, the 74th Games.

Reaping
Every year, a reaping ceremony is held. Two large glass balls contain slips of paper. Each child from the age of twelve to eighteen has their name submitted. The entries are cumulative, so by the time they are 18 they have a minimum of seven entries. However, they can choose to add their name more times in exchange for tessera, which is a small ration of oil and grain. One glass ball contains the girls' names and another is for the boys. The district representative (Effie Trinket for District 12) picks a name out of the ball. The people whose names are chosen are then entered into the Games, unless someone is willing to volunteer, which is normally quite rare unless it is in one of the "Career Districts", districts in which kids have been training their whole life to enter the Games.

Mentoring
Each surviving tribute has to mentor the next two tributes from their district the following year, and so on. Any living winner of the Hunger Games can be a guest to the Capitol if they are not mentoring in the present games, and can go to the Capitol to view the action.

Tokens
Each tribute is allowed one token from their district, to represent and remind them of home. They must not be able to be used as weapons, and cannot be dangerous. They are very carefully examined and checked for any possible hidden weapons. In the 74th Hunger Games, Glimmer, the female tribute from District 1, had her token, a ring, confiscated because it carried a hidden poisoned spike. Katniss's token was a pin showing a mockingjay in both the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. It was almost confiscated because some poeple believed that it could be used as a weapon. It is mentioned that one girl's token was a small wooden ball, which she dropped while on her starting plate, setting off the mines around her, killing her. This girl was not part of Katniss's first games, but a few years ago.

Sponsors
As tributes battle to stay alive they also have to win over the audience, since they sometimes need help. A sponsor is most often a rich viewer from the Capitol or a group from a district combining together to cheer on a certain tribute. A sponsor will pay the Capitol money so they can send something to a tribute like food, water, medicine, or weapons. It can be a big help to have sponsors but it can also be frustrating for those tributes to win over the crowd while also focusing on staying alive. Katniss mentions that one year the two tributes from twelve had no sponsors and they both died early in the Games.

Bloodbaths
Always, in the beginning of the Games, there is a huge bloodbath where roughly half of the Tributes die right off. The area it takes place in is the Cornucopia, near the starting point. Surrounding the tributes are tables full of goods--weapons, food, water--just about everything tributes could want or need to survive.

This is where the fighting always starts. Either tributes stay to collect food or weaponry and fight, or they run and risk their chances without it. Either way, up to half of the tributes are slaughtered in the initial fight for these seemingly luxurious items of survival. If the need of supplies is not the reason for some of the fighting, it's the need to kill.

There is usually more than one bloodbath in the Games, oftentimes at feasts. In the 74th Hunger Games, A feast is held in which the remaining six tributes meet to get what they most need. During that particular feast, Katniss receives medicine that later on cures Peeta's damaged leg. Cato from District 2 receives a strong armor which protects him from predators.

Quarter Quells
Every twenty-five years, the president of Panem selects a card from a box of cards made by the maker of the Hunger Games that makes a change in the rules of the reapings. For the first Quarter Quell, or the 25th Hunger Games, each district had to choose the children who went into the arena. For the second Quarter Quell, or the 50th Hunger Games, twice as many tributes had to be reaped to go into the arena. That was the year Haymitch Abernathy won. For the third Quarter Quell, or the 75th Hunger Games, the tributes were reaped from the pool of existing victors. Katniss Everdeen despaired when she heard this, because it meant she was going back into the arena as she was the only living female victor from District 12. The last six tributes (Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, Beetee, Johanna, and Enobaria) were broken out of the arena, but Peeta was captured by the Capitol.

The 25th Hunger Games (First Quarter Quell)
The 25th Hunger Games was the first Quarter Quell in the history of the Games, and each district had to elect its own tributes. The Victor of these Games was killed shortly after winning by unknown causes, most likely through President Snow's manipulations as he would still have been alive when the Third Quarter Quell started, just like Mags and Woof, who are both older than the said victor.

The 45th Hunger Games
The 45th Hunger Games included Chaff, of District 11. It ended with Chaff being victorious, though losing his left arm from the elbow down in the process. He refused to get a prosthetic replacement.


 * Known Tributes:
 * Chaff (Winner)

The 50th Hunger Games (Second Quarter Quell)
The 50th Hunger Games included Maysilee Donner and Haymitch Abernathy of District 12. There were 48 Tributes rather than 24 as it was a Quell. Maysilee and Haymitch made an Alliance to help each other survive and this lasted until the top 5 Tributes. Maysilee was killed by Bird muttations, 2 tributes were eaten by the carnivorous squirrel mutts, and Haymitch managed victory by using the Arena's force-field to deflect an attack from the Career girl from District 1, which killed her instead.


 * Known Tributes:
 * Maysilee Donner- District 12
 * Haymitch Abernathy- District 12 (Winner)

The 62nd Hunger Games
Enobaria of District 2 won these games with the classic Career Alliance Strategy, and killed one of the Careers towards the end of the game--after the split--when she ripped open the tribute's throat with her teeth. This later became what Enobaria was best known for. She was encouraged her to surgically alter all her teeth, so they now end in points and are coated in gold, making them a flashy and deadly weapon.


 * Known Tributes:
 * Enobaria- District 2 (Winner)

The 65th Hunger Games
Finnick Odair won the 65th Hunger Games by using physical abilities he had obtained during his life as a career tribute. His athleticism, skill as well as his good looks that the other tributes didn't have helped him especially. When the split happened, Finnick received a trident as a sponsor gift, the most expensive gift ever given to a tribute in the games. Being from 4, he knew how to use it well. Finnick crafted nets out of rope, using them to capture his victims and spear them with his trident, leading to his victory.


 * Known Tributes:
 * Finnick Odair- District 4 (Winner)

The 70th Hunger Games
Annie Cresta of District 4 won these Games. It is assumed she followed the typical Career Alliance strategy, but when her fellow District 4 tribute was decapitated, she went insane and hid out for the remainder of the game. She won only because a dam broke in the arena and flooded it; Annie was the best swimmer (being from District 4) and out lasted all the remaining Tributes.


 * Known Tributes:
 * Annie Cresta- District 4 (Winner)

The 74th Hunger Games
Effie mentioned that both tributes from 12 ate like savages and had no sense of etiquette or manners. This angered Katniss, as both were from the Seam and therefore they had never had a decent meal in their lives. To make a point to Effie, Katniss started eating with her hands and eating like a "savage". Katniss and Peeta were both the Victors, the first and only time this happened.


 * Glimmer- District 1
 * Marvel- District 1
 * Clove- District 2
 * Cato- District 2
 * Foxface- District 5
 * Rue- District 11
 * Thresh- District 11
 * Katniss Everdeen- District 12 (Winner)
 * Peeta Mellark- District 12 (Winner)

The 75th Hunger Games (Third Quarter Quell)
For the 75th Hunger Games the tributes were reaped out of their pool of victors.
 * Cashmere- District 1
 * Gloss- District 1
 * Enobaria- District 2
 * Brutus- District 2
 * Wiress- District 3
 * Beetee- District 3
 * Mags- District 4
 * Finnick Odair- District 4
 * Morphlings- District 6
 * Johanna Mason- District 7
 * Blight- District 7
 * Cecelia- District 8
 * Woof- District 8
 * Seeder- District 11
 * Chaff- District 11
 * Katniss Everdeen- District 12
 * Peeta Mellark- District 12

Unknown Games

 * Either the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th HG - Mags - District 4 (Winner)
 * Unknown HG - Woof - District 8 (Winner)
 * Unknown HG - Seeder - District 11 (Winner) - Won her Games by being able to go without food longer then the other tributes.
 * Unknown HG - Beetee - District 3 (Winner) - Won his Games by some how surviving until the end was close, then created an electrical trap, which he used to kill the remaining Tributes.
 * 2 Unknown HG - Morphlings - District 6 (Winners)
 * Unknown HG - Lyme - District 2 (Winner) - Games not explained but Katniss and Peeta watched them before the Quarter Quell.
 * Either the 39th, 40th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, or 44th - Brutus - District 2 - Volunteered when he was 17 and won his games.
 * Unknown HG - Wiress - District 3 (Winner)
 * Unknown HG - Cecelia - District 8 (Winner)
 * Unknown HG - Titus - District 6 - A promising Tribute in his Games, but he went insane and started eating his victims. He died in an avalanche, though it is suspected the Game Makers set it up to make sure their victor was sane.
 * Either the 66th, 67th, 68th or 69th HG - Johanna Mason - District 7 (winner) - Won her games by pretending to be weak and fragile but in reality, Johanna was a cold hearted killer and easily won her Games as the other Tributes didn't see her as a threat.
 * Unknown HG - Blight - District 7 (Winner)
 * Either the 63rd, 64th, 66th, 67th, 68th or 69th HG - Cashmere - District 1 (Winner) - Won Consecutive Games with her brother when Katniss was younger.
 * Either the 63rd, 64th, 66th, 67th, 68th or 69th HG - Gloss - District 1 (Winner) - Won consecutive Games with his sister when Katniss was younger.
 * Unknown HG - Katniss mentioned in the Hunger Games that she remembered a Games from when she was younger where Tributes had to bludgeon each other with spiked maces as they were the only available weapons.
 * Unknown HG - Katniss mentioned in the Hunger Games that she remembered a Games from when she was younger where the terrain was boulders, sand and scruffy bushes. Many Tributes were either bitten and killed by venomous snakes or went insane from thirst.
 * Unknown HG - Katniss mentioned in the Hunger Games that she remembered a Games from when she was younger where the arena was a woodless landscape. It was freezing cold and most Tributes died from hypothermia because they had no wood to make torches, fires or anything to keep them warm. These Games were considered unsatisfying in the eye of the Capitol for all the bloodless death and lack of action.
 * Unknown HG - Katniss mentioned in the Hunger Games that she remembered a Games from when she was younger where a female Tribute dropped her token, a small wooden ball, on the ground before the gong sounded and she was blown apart by explosives and had to be collected in parts.
 * Unknown HG - Katniss mentioned in the Hunger Games that she remembered a Games from when she was younger where the stylist from district 12 sent both Tributes out completely naked and covered in black powder, to simulate coal dust, for the Chariot Rides through The Capitol. Their appearance did not endear them in the eyes of the Capitol, and neither tribute received any sponsors and both died as a result.
 * Unknown HG- Katniss mentioned in The Hunger Games that she remembered a Games where the victor only received a 3 as their training score.

Trivia

 * Throughout history there have been 1824 Tributes in the Hunger Games, yet only 1800 unique Tributes (due to the natures of the 50th and 75th Quarter Quells). By the end of the war (in Mockingjay) 1793 of them died, 1743 in the Games as tributes. The other 50 either died in the Victor's Purge during the War, or before the war.
 * There were two other "Hunger Games" that technically never occured, but were seen as hypothetical. The defensive system of the streets in the Capitol consisted of pods that unleashed death traps when activated. When looking at the schematics of the Capitol, it looks eerily similar to the set-up at the Cornucopia before the combat starts at a regular Hunger Games. Plutarch Heavensbee, Katniss, and possibly even other former tributes took note of this, as Katniss and Finnick recited the infamous line, "let the 76th annual Hunger Games begin". In addition, prior to Snow's assassination, Katniss was pulled into a meeting where surviving tributes and leaders took votes on whether or not to hold another Hunger Games with Capitol children. The majority voted in favor but it was never actually held following Coin's and Snow's assassinations. This proposed Hunger Games could have been considered the actual 76th Hunger Games and from an inside perspective, the 77th Hunger Games.