Cornucopia bloodbath

A Cornucopia bloodbath is an event that always occurs at the very beginning of every Hunger Games, as most of the tributes compete for valuable weapons, food, water and packs full of other valuable supplies spread in and around the Cornucopia.

Tributes always die at the bloodbath. The Gamemakers or the Capitol probably set up the Cornucopia for optimal entertainment value and quick deaths at the beginning of the game to keep audiences interested. In the end, the Cornucopia is often taken over by a group of tributes who fought in the bloodbath, usually the Career Tributes.

The Cornucopia is usually located in the center of the arena and is where the Career Tributes normally set up camp during the games.

Tactics
There are a variety of ways tributes approach the bloodbath, but these strategies depend on how the Cornucopia has been positioned. Some tributes ignore the Cornucopia completely and try to put as much distance as they can between themselves and the tributes with weapons from the Cornucopia. This means they will get little or no supplies at all and will have to rely on the arena and their skills or perhaps a rich sponsor to give them some. In the 74th Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark avoided the Cornucopia at first under Haymitch's orders, but later joined the Career Tributes and had access to their supplies until he betrayed them. Other tributes, including Katniss Everdeen, grab what they can from the outskirts of the Cornucopia and flee before things get too dangerous. This means they still get supplies, but are not very valuable and have little or no weapons. Other tributes, mostly the Careers, dash for supplies as an opportunity to kill as many as possible while they are all together. This means they will get the most weapons and supplies, but they also run the highest risk of getting killed or badly injured.

Items
In most of the Games, there are backpacks containing various items. Some examples may be weapons, medical supplies, food, or water. The supply of items tempted the tributes to go into the Cornucopia, putting the tributes closer together.

74th Hunger Games
In the novel, Katniss retrieved an orange backpack after fighting with the District 9 male, who was killed after Clove threw a knife into his back. In the film, the items were scattered all around the Cornucopia. In the 74th Hunger Games, the items closer to the Cornucopia were more valuable items, while the ones farthest away were less valuable. Notable items that keep tributes alive in the film include different colors of rolled up sleeping bags like yellow or blue, water canteens, and backpacks of different colors like black and orange. Some weapons were scattered on the ground while others were located inside supply crates. Notable weapons in the 74th Hunger Games were different kinds of swords, spears, knives, sickles, scythes, daggers, axes, bow and arrows, machetes, batons, saws and blades. Katniss Everdeen retrieved an orange backpack from a stash of backpacks. When Cato found his sword inside the Cornucopia, it was on a wall filled with other weapons such as axes.

75th Hunger Games
In the novel, the only items in the Cornucopia were weapons. Katniss retrieves a bow an arrow that she uses to shoot Enobaria and Gloss, hitting Gloss's calf as he is jumping in the water for safety. Finnick gets a trident that he uses to impale the District 5 male.

74th Hunger Games
In the novel and film, Katniss Everdeen was taken to a launch station, where her stylist, Cinna, would be waiting. He put on her arena jacket and gave her the mockingjay pin for good luck. After kissing her, the timer before the elevator would close reaches 10 seconds. Katniss walks inside the tube, and it closes. Cinna nods at her as the elevator elevates her into the arena.

Pedestal Stations (Film): (From left to right) District 5 male, District 4 male, Rue, Glimmer, District 3 male, District 3 female, District 10 male, Peeta Mellark, District 7 female, District 6 male, Cato, District 7 male, Foxface, Katniss Everdeen, Marvel, Clove, District 4 female, District 8 male, District 6 female, Thresh. (Missing: District 8 female, District 9 male and District 9 female, and District 10 female).

When the elevator stops and she is in the arena, everything is blurry until the Cornucopia comes in view. She is now on her pedestal along with the other tributes. Katniss looks towards her left, where Marvel, Clove, the District 4 female tribute, the District 8 male tribute, the District 6 female tribute, and Thresh are standing on their pedestals. The countdown begins and various scenes of the gamemakers' station, Capitol, shots of the tributes, and District 12 are seen. Gale is then seen sitting on the grass, looking at the forest. The scene goes back to Katniss, who looks at a bow and then towards Peeta, who shakes his head to signal her not to get it. The timer reaches 10. The tributes Cato, Glimmer, Thresh, Rue, Foxface, and the District 7 male tribute are seen. The sirens sounds the beginning of the games, and 22 of the tributes race towards the Cornucopia while Peeta and Rue run away.

75th Hunger Games
In the novel, Katniss describes the scene as quick and similiar to the 74th Hunger Games. But when she goes into the tube and is being elevated into the arena, peacekeepers come in and beat up Cinna. Katniss cries and screams as Cinna is dragged away.

50th Hunger Games
In the 50th Hunger Games, 18 people were killed in the opening bloodbath, most of them likely by the Careers. However, the arena was so beautiful, the tributes were awed at first sight. Haymitch Abernathy, the victor from District 12, managed to get supplies before the bloodbath began, being the only one not stunned by the beauty of the arena.

74th Hunger Games
In the novel version of the 74th Hunger Games, eleven people were killed in the opening bloodbath, most of them killed by the Careers.


 * Katniss fights the District 9 male over an orange backpack. Clove throws a knife into the District 9 male's back, causing him to cough out blood onto Katniss's face and fall to the ground dead. Clove throws another knife at Katniss, but she deflects it with her orange backpack and runs away.

In the film version of the 74th Hunger Games, 12 tributes were presumed to be killed in the initial bloodbath, though only 11 are seen dying. The tributes race towards the Cornucopia.
 * Katniss: After grabbing and orange backpack off the floor, Katniss is chased by the District 9 male and trips onto the ground. The District 9 male steps up to her and raises his axe to kill her, but he falls onto the ground. Katniss looks to see a knife sticking out of his back and turns her head to face Clove, who throws a knife towards her head. She deflects it with her orange backpack and scrambles up to run.
 * Clove: As the District 9 male is about to kill katniss with an axe, Clove throws a knife into the tributes back and he drops to the ground dead. She then throws another knife at Katniss, but the latter blocks it with her backpack. She later finds the District 7 female trying to flee the bloodbath and tackles her to the ground, Allowing Marvel to spear the tribute in the heart and kill her. She also badly injures the District 10 female by throwing knives at her legs and right arm, Allowing Marvel to find the tribute trying to play dead and throw a spear into her chest which then kills her.
 * Cato: After pinning the District 6 male onto the ground and punching him in the face, Cato finds a machete on the ground. He swings it at the running District 10 male, who is holding a yellow bag, cleaving him in the chest, knocking him to the ground and causing him to bleed to death. He is then confronted by the District 4 female, who swings an axe towards his head. He ducks, uses a baton to knock her axe down, uses it again to hit her stomatch, grabs her, and throws her into a supply crate, He later finds the tribute in the forest with the rest of career pack and kills her himself. He runs into the Cornucopia to find the District 4 male. When the District 4 tribute turns his head, Cato uses his machete to slash his throat, causing the District 4 male to backup against a crate and fall onto the floor of the Cornucopia. Cato confronts the District 6 male, who's about to kill Glimmer, and shoves him away from her. He uses his hands to grab the District 6 male's arm after he attempts to stab him. He then trips the District 6 tribute with his machete and knocks him onto the ground by hiting him with his machete . He hits him once more, killing him.
 * Thresh: After gathering supplies from inside the Cornucopia, Thresh runs out only to be confronted by the District 7 male, who tries to jab him with his spear. The District 7 male swings his spear at him in a second try to injure or kill him, but Thresh uses his bag to knock it away. He then runs up to the tribute and slashes his neck with his sickle sword. He steps up and then flees the scene.
 * Marvel: After making it a few feet to the Cornucopia, the District 8 male attempts to stab him. Marvel uses his hands to stop the attack, uses his curved knife to slash the District 8 tribute's throat, and immediantly shoves him onto the ground. He uses his curved knife to stab the tribute repeatedly until he dies. He gets closer to the Cornucopia and attempts to steal the District 3 male's throwing axe. When the tribute holds onto it and refuses to let go, he slings his black backpack towards his face, knocking him away and making him let go of the axe. As the District 10 male runs towards the Cornucopia, he attempts to slash him with an axe, but he dodges and crawls away. Later, after Clove tackles the District 7 female to the ground, Marvel runs up to her with a spear and chases her as she crawls away. He uses the spear to skewer her in the heart, killing her. He later finds the District 10 female trying to play dead inside the cornucopia and throws a spear into her chest which then kills her.
 * Glimmer: After seeing the District 6 female and District 10 male quarrel over a yellow bag, Glimmer runs up to the battle and yanks the District 6 female by the hair, pulling her away from the District 10 male, who is laying on the floor. She throws the District 6 female onto a crate and then throws her onto the floor. Glimmer pins her onto the ground and uses a knife to stab and pierce the tribute's body. Then, after Thresh runs out of the Cornucopia, Glimmer runs in. She finds the District 5 male distracted by the District 6 male and pins him onto a crate. She uses her knife to stab him to death in the abdomen. The District 6 male attacks her and shoves her onto the ground. He almost kills her with a small sword, but Cato shoves him away from her and kills him. She gets up and sees the District 9 female hiding. Glimmer slams her into the wall of the Cornucopia and stabs her to death with a small knife. She then goes out to retrieve a bow and a quiver of arrows.
 * The Fallen


 * District 3 female: the District 5 male grabs her backpack and then prevents her from running away. The District 4 female cuts her right knee with a sword and then the District 5 male slashes her in the throat with a sickle and she falls to the ground dead.


 * District 4 female (film): after knocking away her sword, Cato hits her in the stomach with his baton. Cato throws her over into a crate, after fleeing in the woods, the careers find her about 17 minutes later and Cato kills her.


 * District 4 male: after running out of his hiding spot, Cato confronts him and slashes his throat with his machete, causing him to back up into a crate, splattering blood, and fall onto the floor dead.


 * District 5 male: the District 7 male knocks him down with a spear and nearly kills him, but he crawls away as the District 7 tribute is distracted by Thresh. The District 6 male spots him and strangles him with his bare hands. He gains the upperhand inside the Cornucopia and slams the District 6 male's head into a crate, but Glimmer comes in and pins him onto a crate. Glimmer then stabs him in the abdomen with a knife and kills him.


 * District 6 female: while attempting to take a bag from the District 10 male, Glimmer yanks her away from him with the yellow bag and throws her into a crate. She grabs her again and throws her onto the ground. Glimmer then uses a knife to stab and pierce her body until she dies.


 * District 6 male: in the beginning of the bloodbath, Cato pins him onto the ground and punches him in the face, injuring him. He then confronts the District 7 male and punches him in the face. He sees the District 5 male on the ground and strangles him, but the District 5 male slams his head into a crate. While Glimmer is stabbing the District 5 male, he grabs a small sword and shoves her onto the ground. He attempts to kill her, but Cato shoves him away from her. The District 6 male attempts to stab him, but Cato grabs his arm, preventing him from stabbing him. He is then tripped and slammed into the ground by Cato's machete. Cato hits him one more time with the machete, killing him.


 * District 7 female: she stays near the entrance of the Cornucopia. The District 5 male attacks her and hits her with his black backpack, but the District 7 male comes and saves her by knocking the District 5 tribute onto the ground with a spear. She gets the black backpack the District 5 tribute left behind and crawls away after her district partner brawls with Thresh and is killed. She fights the District 3 male over the backpack but is shoved away. After attempting to flee, Clove tackles her onto the ground after dealing with Katniss. The District 7 female then crawls away from Marvel, who chases her with a spear pointed at her heart. He then skewers her in the heart with the spear, killing her.


 * District 7 male: The District 6 male attacks him by punching him. The District 7 male then saves his district partner from the District 5 male and knocks the tribute down with his spear. He confronts Thresh, who had just ran out of the Cornucopia. He swings his spear at him in attempt to slash him, but Thresh uses his blue bag to knock it away and slashes his throat with his sickle sword, killing him.


 * District 8 male: He aggresively fails to attempt a first-attack to stab Marvel, but Marvel grabs his wrist to prevent the injury. He then slices his throat and shoves him onto the ground. Marvel then uses his curved knife to stab him to death.


 * District 9 female: Glimmer finds her hiding in the Cornucopia and slams her against the walls of the Cornucopia. Glimmer stabs her in the back with a knife, killing her.


 * District 9 male: (District 7 male plays his role in the film) He chases Katniss and raises his axe to kill her after she trips. Before he can land the blow, Clove throws a knife into his back, killing him.


 * District 10 female : Clove injures her by throwing knives into her legs and her right arm. Marvel then finds her lying on the ground trying to play dead and throws a spear into her chest, killing her.


 * District 10 male (film): after grabbing a yellow bag off the floor, Cato sees him and swings his machete at him as he runs. The machete cleaves into his chest, and falls to the ground dead with a large gash in his chest.

Time Order (first to last):
 * District 8 male (9")
 * District 10 male (18")
 * District 6 female (24")
 * District 10 female (29")
 * District 3 female (29")
 * District 9 male (35")
 * District 7 male (37")
 * District 4 male (1' 24")
 * District 7 female (2' 31")
 * District 5 male (2' 45")
 * District 6 male (3' 23")
 * District 9 female (4' 50")
 * District 4 female* (17' 23")

Trivia: The District 8 female, District 9 male and female, and District 10 female are not seen at all in the bloodbath.

75th Hunger Games
In the 75th Hunger Games, eight people were killed in the opening bloodbath. Unlike the previous games, the only things held in the Cornucopia were weapons. The District 5 male snuck up on Katniss Everdeen, but Finnick Odair uses a trident and spears him through the chest, killing him. Katniss shoots Gloss's calf. She attempts to shoot Enobaria but misses because she dives into the water. Also, it is mentioned by Johanna Mason that Beetee was stabbed in the Cornucopia before she went to retrieve him.

The Fallen: District 5 male, District 6 male, Cecelia, Woof, both from District 9, District 10 female, and Seeder.