Weapons

Weapons are used many times in The Hunger Games trilogy. They are mainly used in the actual games. They are kept in a place called the Cornucopia, and are acquired in the bloodbath. Weapons are also used in many places outside of the games - mainly when the rebellion begins. Outside of the games, Peacekeepers are the only people who are allowed to have them. Katniss Everdeen, however, gets most of her food by trekking into the woods and shooting animals with her bow and arrow that her father made for her.

Axe
An axe is a weapon found in some games. Like any other weapon, it would be found in the Cornucopia or received in a parachute from a sponsor. The axe is likely to be used by the District 7 tributes like Johanna Mason, due to their focus on lumber. It is also the weapon that Haymitch Abernathy used to defeat to the District 1 female tribute in the 50th Hunger Games.

Awl
An awl is a tool with a blade like a screwdriver and a handle made from wood or plastic. An awl is usually used to poke holes in wood or leather, but it can also be used as a weapon.

In Catching Fire, Katniss grabs an awl from the Cornucopia which she later gives to Mags.

Blowgun
The blowgun is a handheld weapon that, when blown into, shoots out darts.

During the 50th Hunger Games, Maysilee Donner dipped darts in poisonous substances to make them deadly. She then used a blowgun to shoot a Career and he fell to the ground. He died instantly

Blowtorch
During the 50th Hunger Games, one of the career tributes had gotten this weapon during the bloodbath of the cornucopia which he/she uses as his/her weapon until he/she was killed by either Haymitch or Maysilee. Haymitch then uses this to get through the impossible hedge to the edge of the arena.

Bow and arrow
The bow is mostly a springy piece of wood, usually ash or yew, with the ends tightly connected by catgut or a linen string coated in beeswax. The arrows are straight pieces of wood tipped with sharp bits of metal or stone and fletched with goose feathers or plastic. A bow's power is expressed in pounds, being the strength with which the user has to pull to bring the bow back to a certain extent.

Although the bow on many occasions was used successfully by Gale Hawthorne, it was favored by Katniss Everdeen in the 74th, 75th Hunger Games, and also many times in the woods next to District 12 and 13 to shoot animals to eat. In Mockingjay, Katniss and Gale are given special, military-grade bows for the rebellion in District 13. Katniss's is highly advanced, specifically crafted to fit her, and is equipped with explosive and incendiary arrows alongside regular ones. Gale's is a militarized one, with a scope and other helpful gadgets.

Dagger
A dagger is a double-edged fighting knife with a central spine and full-length cutting edges. It differs from a regular knife in that it has a double-edged blade. A knife is a tool as well as a piece of silverware, and although it can be used as a weapon, this is not its primary function. A dagger's sharply pointed dual-edged blade allows it to be used either for slashing cuts or for thrusts to an opponent's body. The blade is similar to that of a sword, but much shorter.

Electrocution
Electrocution is a process favored by District 3 tributes. By using electrocution, you are conducting electricity with a metal wire usually to blow up a force field or electrocute someone to death. In the 75th Hunger Games, Beetee coils a wire to Katniss's arrow, and is instructed to shoot at the force field when a bolt of lightning strikes the coil a top a tree. When this was executed properly she blew a hole in the barrier of the Hunger Games creating an escape.

Explosives
Explosives are a rare but effective weapon in the Hunger Games. In the 74th Hunger Games, a boy from Disrtrict 3 dug up the inactive mines at the Cornucopia, reactivated them, and positioned them around the career pack's supplies. Katniss manages to out smart them by shooting an arrow at a bag of apples to set off the mines, blowing up the supplies, and injuring her ear in the process. She soon recovers once she wins the games.

Knife
A knife is a sharp blade with a handle. It is used as a weapon, a piece of silverware, and a useful tool. Although Katniss prefers her bow, she uses knives on more than one occasion, including when she drops a tracker jacker nest on the Career pack.

Peeta Mellark appears to favor this weapon in combat, as do Haymitch and Clove, the female District 2 tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. Peeta and Haymitch favor knife-fighting and Clove prefers knife-throwing.

Mace
A mace is a heavy wooden club with a spiked metal end. In one unidentified Games, maces were the only weapons in the Cornucopia. It is not said if there were any supplies or only maces. It is unknown if anyone in the 74th or 75th Hunger Games used them.

Net
A net is a bag or other contrivance of strong thread or cord worked into an open, meshed fabric, for catching fish, birds, or other animals.

Nets are mainly used by District 4 for fishing, but they were also utilized by Finnick Odair during the 65th Hunger Games. He wove a net from a kind of vine he had found in the arena. He would entangle his opponents with the net and then spear them with a trident. Another person who used a net to kill someone was Marvel, during 74th Hunger Games. He used the net to entangle Rue and killed her with a spear.

Rocks
Rocks are items of nature that can be used as weapons. Thresh smashes Clove's head with a rock during the feast, denting in her skull and ultimately killing her. Rue uses a sharp fleck of rock as a makeshift weapon. They can also be used to start a fire with.

Slingshot
A slingshot is a projectile weapon that can be used to fling small objects, such as stones, short distances. Skilled slingshot users, such as Rue, are highly accurate and can hit a target with each shot. She got the slingshot from the bloodbath at the Cornucopia, this was probably there because she showed the Gamemakers that she was skilled with one in her private sessions (not shown in book or film but it suggests it).

Snare
A snare is a rope or wire that is tied to an object to trap prey and suffocate it. Gale Hawthorne is said to be an expert at making and using them when hunting. In the training just before the 74th Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss try out the snares section and they worked on it for about an hour until they mastered the basic snares that could catch them some food and leave a tribute trapped.

Spear
A spear is a weapon that consists of a wooden shaft with a sharp metal "head" or tip. It is one of the few weapons that is always used in the Hunger Games, found in the Cornucopia at the beginning of the Games. In the 74th Hunger Games, Marvel uses a spear to kill Rue. The spear was then taken from the arena along with Rue's body. Cato also used a spear during the 74th Hunger Games, and presumably killed other tributes with it. In the 75th Hunger Games Brutus used a spear when he attempted to kill Peeta Mellark by throwing it at him.

Sword
A sword is a long, edged piece of forged metal that can be used as a cutting, thrusting, or sometimes clubbing weapon. All swords consist of a blade and a hilt. The blade typically has one or two edges, which are used for cutting and striking, and comes to a point used for thrusting. Cato, a tribute in the 74th Hunger Games, was a known user of the sword and uses one to severely injure Peeta's leg.

Swords are often among the supplies provided in the Cornucopia during the Games. Because swords are the most popular weapon, they are usually at the very back of the Cornucopia (as shown in the Hunger Games film).

Throwing axe
The throwing axe is a weapon favoured by District 7 tributes; Johanna Mason in particular uses one in the 75th Hunger Games when she, Katniss, Peeta, Beetee, Wiress and Finnick journey to the Cornucopia. It is like a normal axe, but easier to throw because it is specially designed for this purpose, being lighter and better balanced. It is also used by the District 1's female tribute in the 50th Hunger Games, and would have potentially delivered Haymitch a deathblow if he had not outsmarted her.

Throwing knives
Throwing knives are one of the main weapons used during the Games. Throwing knives often look different than regular knives. They are easier to throw because they are designed for throwing, not chopping food. In the 74th Hunger Games, many tributes used them. To throw a knife, you mainly hold the blade and then throw it straight. It turns in the air, and if the throw has been executed properly the blade will hit the target. When using throwing knives, you must be able to kill in just a few throws, or else you are giving knives to your opponent.

During the 74th Games, Clove is particularly skilled in throwing knives and uses one to kill the boy from District 9. She has an impressive assortment of them in her jacket and nearly kills Katniss with one, but it instead hits her backpack.

Trident
A trident is a three-pronged spear that can be used both as a weapon and for fishing. Although they are often used in fishing by the residents of District 4, they are deadly weapons and as such, tridents are often utilized during the Hunger Games by tributes from District 4. A silver trident that was given to Finnick Odair during the 65th Hunger Games is said to be "one of the most expensive gifts ever given in the Games."

Whip
A whip is a weapon, mostly used for punishment but also for combat. It is used by "cracking" the whip through the air, making it hit an opponent painfully. Whips also typically feature a hard butt that can be used as a bludgeon.

Some Peacekeepers hold public floggings, like Romulus Thread did to Gale Hawthorne, for crimes such as poaching. These both punish the offending party and scare the local community into submission.