Thresh

"I always respected him. For his power. For his refusal to play the Games on anyone's terms but his own."

- Katniss, on Thresh

Thresh was the male tribute from District 11 in the 74th Hunger Games. Strong and resourceful, he posed as a serious threat, along with Cato, to the other tributes participating in the Games.

The Hunger Games
Thresh was chosen to be in the games along with the female tribute from his district, Rue. Viewed as the strongest tribute in the entire Games, the Career Tributes attempted to recruit him for their alliance during the training sessions, but he refused to join them. In training, he scored a 10, but in the film, he scored a 9. During Thresh's interview, Caesar Flickerman tried to help him to be more comfortable and talk. However, Thresh only answered in curt single word answers and remained surly. Katniss was extremely impressed with this, and envied Thresh as he showed such silent, deadly physical power and had no need to make the Capitol like him with an angle, though this may have been his angle all along.

Bloodbath
Thresh participated in the Cornucopia bloodbath. As Thresh was escaping the bloodbath the District 7 male got in Thresh's way and tried to stab him with his spear. Thresh dodged the attack. The District 7 male attempted to slash him, but Thresh knocked his spear away with his bag, and then hacked the District 7 male's throat open with his sword, knocking him dead into the Cornucopia. He quickly fled and looks back at the scene while the District 7 female and District 3 male push eachother. Thresh retrieved a curved sword, a blue backpack, and a water container from the Cornucopia.

Feast
He came out of hiding during the Feast to claim his backpack with what he needed the most, and overhears Clove's threats to Katniss and taunting her about Rue's death. Furious, Thresh attacks Clove, pulling her away from Katniss and yelling at her, holding her a foot above the ground. Due to Clove's words, Thresh accuses her of killing Rue, which Clove denies. When Clove sees Thresh holding a large rock, she screams for Cato. In the book, Thresh smashes the rock into her temple, cracking and denting her skull. In the film she gets her head smashed against the cornucopia a few times. She died of this injury a few seconds later. Thresh then asks Katniss what Clove meant about Rue being her ally. Katniss tells him that Marvel killed Rue, and that she sang to her as she died. To honor Rue and to repay Katniss for protecting her, Thresh spares her life and tells her to run, as Cato will be there soon. As he leaves, he takes not only his own backpack, but Cato's as well, forcing Cato to chase him instead of Katniss, putting her in less danger to further repay her.

Death
The cause of Thresh's death was not directly revealed in the book. Katniss and Peeta assumed that he was killed by Cato after taking his backpack and killing Cato's district partner, Clove. Katniss and Peeta see Thresh's distorted picture in the sky from their cave, and it can also be assumed that he was killed during the thunderstorm, created by the Gamemakers, as the cannon that announced his death was inaudible. There is a discrepancy between the film and the book in the manner that Thresh was killed. In the book, Thresh is killed 5th, before Foxface and in the movie, Thresh dies after Foxface, resulting in 4th place finish. In the movie, you can hear the wolf mutts howling and Thresh screaming, followed by the sound of a cannon in the movie, meaning he was possibly killed by the mutts.

Muttation
Thresh's muttation was said to be the biggest of them all, once again referring to his massive build. Katniss could tell it was Thresh because of his powerful back legs and that no other tribute could have leapt that high. His mutt was killed by Katniss when it tried to leap on top of the Cornucopia as Cato, Peeta and Katniss tried to stay away from the rest of the pack.

Tactics
In the Hunger Games, Thresh only had one known tactic: to occupy a portion of the arena and to seldom leave its boundaries. In the film Thresh is seen participating in the bloodbath. Thresh chose to enter a field of grass, seeing the area as both a threat and a source of food, water, shelter and safety. Peeta stated that the Careers didn't want to attack Thresh while he was there. He saw it as a place of safety particularly because it resembled his home (District 11).

Victims
At the Feast in the novel, Thresh killed Clove, the female from District 2, by denting her skull with a rock because he heard Clove taunt Katniss about Rue. In the film, he kills Clove by pinning her against the Cornucopia and then slamming her into it, cracking her skull.

In the film, it was shown during the bloodbath at the Cornucopia that Thresh killed the District 7 male by knocking away the attacker's spear and cutting open his throat with his curved sword before running off. It is possible that he only did this because the tribute was trying to kill him, and if he didn't attack Thresh, the District 11 tribute wouldn't have killed anyone in the bloodbath.

Catching Fire
When Katniss and Peeta go to District 11 on their Victory Tour, Katniss gives a speech about Thresh. She says she only spoke to him once, but respected him for his strength and refusal to play the Games on anyone's terms but his own (the Careers wanted him to join their alliance, but he refused), and thanked him for sparing her life. Katniss and Peeta thank District 11 for their Tributes.

Peeta then rewards each of the families from District 11 with one month of their victor gifts every year for the rest of their lives. It is unknown whether Thresh or Rue's families received this gift.

Personality
Thresh showed mercy towards Katniss when they met in the arena, and also at a time when he had the advantage in terms of combat, as he believed that he owed her for being in alliance with and avenging Rue, the female tribute from his district. Through this action, Thresh is shown as having a certain degree of honor and dignity. By attempting to avenge Rue, Thresh also showed a side of kindness, which, in this case, is directed towards an innocent twelve-year-old girl. Another aspect of Thresh's personality is that he is vengeful. Other of Thresh's actions that reveal his personality include his choice of solitude throughout the duration of the Games, demonstrating his preference to work alone.

Throughout the Hunger Games, Thresh was a tribute who commanded respect and was feared by virtually everyone in the arena, even the whole Career pack. Thresh's physical aptitude was often complimented by Katniss. It is also revealed in training that when the Career Tributes asked him to join their pack, he refused.

Family
Thresh had only two known family members, an old hunchbacked woman, presumed by Katniss to be his grandmother, and his sister, whom Katniss referred to as bulky and strong looking like Thresh.

Rue
"Just this once, Twelve. For Rue."

- Thresh to Katniss about Rue

Thresh took pity on Rue. He seemed to take Rue in as a sister because when she died, he was infuriated by her death. During the feast, Thresh overheard Clove talking about Rue to Katniss. Thresh grabbed Clove off Katniss, strangled her while holding her one foot off the ground, and yelled at her about Rue. He then kills Clove by denting her temple (novel)/cracking her skull (film), probably to avenge Rue.

Katniss Everdeen
"You better run now, fire girl."

- Thresh to Katniss

During the feast, Thresh saved Katniss from being killed by Clove. Katniss was shocked at his sudden appearance. After Thresh avenged Rue's death by crushing Clove's skull with a rock, he asked Katniss in a gentle way about Rue. In the film, all he said was,"Just this time twelve. For Rue." Thresh was touched that Katniss took care of Rue and tried to protect her from the other tributes and felt that he owed her. He spared Katniss' life and told her to run as Cato would be there soon, as he had heard Clove's screams before she died. Thresh also took Cato's backpack, as it would force Cato to chase him instead of Katniss, allowing her to escape. This act may have resulted in Thresh's death, which shocked and saddened Katniss, as she liked him and wanted him to win if she or Peeta did not.

During the Victory Tour, Katniss honored Thresh by making a speech about him. She stated that she didn't know him, but deeply respected him for his strength and his refusal to play the Game on anyone's grounds but his own. Katniss also thanks Thresh for sparing her life.

Physical appearance
Thresh had dark brown skin and dark hair. He is described as having strange golden brown eyes, tall and had muscles like an ox. He was nearly the same size as Cato, if not bigger. Katniss often thinks of Thresh as a "physical wonder".

Etymology
Like many other characters in the Hunger Games series, Thresh's name has an actual meaning. "Thresh" is a method of harvesting grain that involves flailing the plant around.

Film portrayal
He is portrayed by Dayo Okeniyi in The Hunger Games film.

Trivia

 * His odds of winning change in the movie. They go from 10-1 to 11-1, these are the only shown moving in betting odds. It is unknown why they dropped, but it could've been when he rejected the offer to be in the Careers.
 * In The Hunger Games: Tribute Guide, his height is 6'0.
 * If Rue didn't die before they told the tributes that "2 people can win if they come from the same district", Thresh and Rue most likely would have formed an alliance. But if the rules had been changed at the end, it would have been guessed Thresh could beat Rue, if not suicide on Thresh's part to save her.

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