Peeta Mellark

Peeta Mellark is one of the main characters and protagonists of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. His name is pronounced the same way as "pita", as in "pita bread"; his parents are bakers, but it is unknown if this is what Collins intended when creating the character. Peeta is the boy tribute from District 12, picked alongside Katniss Everdeen (volunteered to participate for her sister, Primrose Everdeen) to participate in the 74th annual Hunger Games, a competition that forces children to kill each other on live television to remind the futuristic nation of Panem to not rebel against the controlling Capitol. Peeta and Katniss both win, though this is against the rules.

Biography
Peeta is the baker's son, which makes him wealthier than most people in District 12, the coal mining district. His family never goes hungry, although they can't afford to eat the delicious fresh bakes goods, just the stale things that no one bought. Peeta also attends school with Katniss Everdeen. When Peeta is chosen for the Games, Katniss recalls that he once saved her life by giving her bread when she was eleven. At this time, the district had given her family money for her mother to get a job after Mr. Everdeen died, but as she didn't find nor look for a job, their family was slowly starving. Katniss was looking for something in the streets to look for something when she passed the bakery. Peeta secretly gave her two loaves of burnt bread even though his mother hit him for doing it. This act of kindness gave Katniss the will to survive, and throughout The Hunger Games, she feels in debt to him. In her mind, she owes him her life and the life of her mother and sister, Prim. However, Katniss never talked to Peeta until the Games.

Early life
Peeta Mellark did not have a desirable childhood. Although he grew up in the merchant area of District Twelve, his family life needed major improvement. Although his father was kind, his mother was known as a witch, and was liable to beat Peeta and his two brothers if things didn't go her way. The family devotion was lax, and his mother didn't place faith in him even as he was chosen as a tribute for the 74th Hunger Games.

Ever since he was was five years old, Peeta Mellark had a crush on Katniss Everdeen. He remembered eleven years before, on his first day of school, his father pointed out another small child entering the school yard with him. Peeta was fascinated with the girl, in her red plaid dress and her hair in two braids. He related to Katniss that his father said, "See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner." Peeta had then replied, "A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner when she could have had you?" His father answered, "Because when he sings...even the birds stop to listen."

Years later, Peeta gave two steaming hot, but slightly burned, loaves of bread to Katniss. She and her family had been starving at the time, and she was heading home after another failed attempt to gain food. Peeta had seen her, and purposely burned the loaves of bread he was working on. His mother yelled and smacked him for his deed, insisting that no decent costumer would ever buy burned bread. He went outside after his mother ordered him to feed them to the pigs, but instead quickly threw them to her. The two never spoke again until the 74th Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games
Peeta is introduced when he is chosen for the boy tribute in the Games. When interviewed before the competition, he confesses that he has secretly been in love with Katniss since he first saw her at school. In the Games, Peeta surprisingly joins up with the "Careers," a pack of tributes from the higher, richer districts who band together and usually one of them wins due to their "illegal" pre-competition training. Later, Peeta is injured, but Katniss joins up with him after the new rule, which states that if both tribunes from a district are alive at the end, then both can be crowned victors. The two decide to pretend to be the "star-crossed lovers" to win sympathy from the viewers which may result in gifts. Eventually, Katniss is able to get medicine for Peeta's blood poisoning. At the end, Katniss and Peeta are the last alive, but suddenly the rule is reversed. Katniss suggest that they attempt suicide so they will both die together, and they are reluctantly allowed to live. However, Peeta finds out that Katniss was pretending to be in love with him, and he is a bit heartbroken.

Catching Fire
Peeta and Katniss go on the Victory tour, an event strategically placed in between each games where the victors visit the other districts and remind them of the Games and Capitol control. Peeta proposes to Katniss because the president is forcing them to show they are madly in love, but supposedly it fails his inspection. Soon it becomes known that there are uprising in several of the districts, which seems to be sparked by the fact that two tributes were allowed to live. Katniss and Peeta think they are going to become mentors for the Quarter Quell, a Hunger Games every twenty-five years that comes with a change in rules, but the new criteria is that the tributes will be chosen from the living victors. District 12 only has 3 victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy, their drunken mentor who won the 50th Hunger Games (the 2nd Quarter Quell). Katniss is obviously drawn for the girls' and Haymitch is drawn for the other, but Peeta volunteers to take his place, wanting to keep Katniss alive. During the Quell, Peeta runs into a force field and his heart stops, but their ally Finnick Odair restarts it by using CPR. At the end, a hovercraft arrives and tries to take the Katniss, Peeta, and their allies, ready to reveal that a team consisting of people from some disticts were planning to bail them out. But Peeta is among those captured by the Capitol, while Katniss goes with the others to District 13, which supposedly still exists.

Mockingjay
The third and final book, Mockingjay, Peeta is held captive by President Snow, and is held against Katniss. He first appears in an interview with Caeser Flickerman, stating that a cease-fire is the best option for the rebels, otherwise, human life man cease to exist. Katniss notes he appears healthy, and fine.

Katniss also decides to be the Mockingjay, one condition being that once Peeta, Johanna, and Enobaria are rescued, they must not be held liable for any mistakes they may make.

After more propos begin airing from the rebels, Peeta appears in another interview, fifteen pounds thinner, and completely exhausted looking. He states that Katniss shouldn't trust anyone, and also implies that District Thirteen will be bombed. As Beetee fights for reception with the Capitol, Peeta is seen being beaten, and his blood splatters across the screen. After the bombing, and much thinking, whilst in the middle of shooting a propo, to say tha Katniss is alright, Katniss breaks down, now knowing of how the Captiol is using Peeta. They're torturing him, trying to break her, and get Katniss, the 'Mockingjay', to stop the rebellion, and to let the Capitol regain power.

After witnessing both Finnick, and Katniss's breakdowns, a rescue mission is staged, and after distracting the capitol with live propoganda, Peeta is rescued, unconcious. Katniss runs to his side, only to have him nearly kill her. It is revealed that he was 'hijjacked', which is the term for when someone is tortured with tracker jacker venom. Peeta's memories of the world, including Katniss, are now morphed. Delly Cartwright is the only one able to make contact with him in the beginning, as Peeta's perception of Katniss improves.

After Katniss is shot in District Two, Peeta is noted to have improved slightly, even being able to frost Annie and Fredrick Odair's wedding cake. Haymitch states that he has certain episodes, sometimes becoming rabid, or even primal.

In the very end Katniss and Peeta finally get together and have two children, a girl and a boy.

Characterization
Peeta is described as having "ashy blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead", blue eyes, and a stocky build. He is also very strong from lifting hundred-pound bags of flour at the family bakery.

Personality
Peeta is bold, having announced that he was in love with Katniss to the whole nation; smart, figuring out strategies to use in the Games; and willing to go to extremes to keep Katniss alive. However, in the first book, Peeta told Katniss that he did not expect he would win.

Abilities
Peeta's main talents are baking, painting and camouflage. His larger build also gives him an advantage during hand-to-hand combat and wrestling. In the Games, he usually carries a knife or a sword, although he rarely uses them in battle, as he is not particularly violent and dislikes killing unless it's completely necessary. In their first Game, Peeta successfully camouflaged himself so well that Katniss claimed she couldn't see him when his eyes were closed. Peeta has a lot of strength from working at the bakery; Katniss says she's seen him lift bags of flour over a hundred pounds.

Family
Peeta's family consists of four other people. His father, a baker, is known for being gentle and kind to everyone. Also a buyer of poached squirrels when the wife isn't around (Peeta's father told Peeta that he loved Katniss's mother but she went off with the coal miner). Peeta's mother, on the other hand, is commonly known as a witch. She snaps at people and is very harsh and unmoving (like when Peeta was younger and he burnt bread it was implied that she slapped him on the face). Peeta also has two unnamed, older brothers, one who was too old to take his place in the 74th Hunger Games and the other who could have taken his place but wouldn't. As Katniss says, "Family devotion only goes so far for most people on reaping day." His eldest brother would be around age 19-23, and the other would be around 17-18 in the first book.

It is quite obvious that Peeta's family is neither close nor very happy. Peeta angrily states how his mother put no confidence in him winning the Games, but in fact placed Katniss higher on the totem pole than her own son. He didn't try to hide his hurt or anger over the encounter. In Catching Fire, Peeta says to Katniss that his family wouldn't be too worried about his death and that they could go on living without him, further implying the fact.

Victims
In the 74th Games, Peeta killed a girl as part of the career pack. Cato had thought he killed her but Peeta went to finish her off. Later, as an ally to Katniss, he accidentally killed Foxface when she ate some of the nightlock berries he had been gathering. No other victims are attributed to Peeta, though it is possible that he may have caused some of the bloodbath deaths on the first day. This, though, is never actually told in the books. In Mockingjay, it is revealed that, in the 75th Hunger Games, Peeta killed Brutus after watching him kill Chaff.