Effie Trinket

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

- Effie Trinket

Effie Trinket is the escort of the District 12 tributes, including Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

Biography
Effie works as the escort for District 12, particularly to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games trilogy. Her responsibilities include drawing the Hunger Games tributes' names every year at reapings and subsequently escorting them to the Capitol via a train which she says travels at a speed of 200 mph. She is very well known for her Capitol accent, upbeat attitude for the Games, and the Capitol phrase, "May the odds be ever in your favor!"

Effie tries to encourage tributes to be happy about their upcoming participation in the Games, though her efforts are mostly in vain. When Katniss volunteered to take her twelve year old sister's place when her name was pulled during the 74th Hunger Games reaping, the audience remained silent and Effie was left on stage clapping by herself in an effort to lighten the atmosphere. During the events of the rebellion, Effie was said to be taken by the Capitol, and Katniss later finds out that Effie had joined the rebels' side in the rebellion, much to her surprise.

Effie lives in the Capitol, and remains there for most of the year. The only reason she travels to District 12 or any the other districts is because of the Games or the Victory Tour.

The Hunger Games
Effie makes her first appearance in The Hunger Games at the reaping, in her pink hair and spring green outfit. She starts with the phrase "ladies first", drawing the name of the female tribute for District 12: Primrose Everdeen. Effie - and all of District 12 - are surprised when Katniss Everdeen runs up to the stage and volunteers for Prim. Ever the hostess, Effie moves the ceremony right along and asks the crowd to give a round of applause for Katniss.

At another point in the reaping, Haymitch Abernathy comes in drunk, and, combined with his poor manners and presentation, annoys Effie to no end. He stumbles upon the stage and hugs her without her consent, causing her wig to become crooked, after which he promptly falls face first off the stage and lies on the floor, unconscious. Effie attempts to shake this off, although her wig remains askew, and continues the reaping ceremony. She then concludes the reaping with her famous line, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Effie takes the tributes on the train to transport them to the Capitol. She tells them about the pre-Games routine on the train and her plans. Effie eats dinner with Katniss and Peeta and is relieved when she saw that Katniss and Peeta had manners unlike the last pair of tributes. To toy with Effie, Katniss begins to eat like an animal by wiping her fingers with the tablecloth, upsetting Effie. Afterwards, she sits with Katniss and Peeta and watches the recap of the reapings in the other districts. Katniss and Peeta play and joke about Haymitch during the reaping which annoys Effie and she yells at them saying he is their lifeline; just after this statement Haymitch enters the room and vomits all over the floor. Effie is obviously disgusted and tells them "So laugh away!" before leaving the room.



Effie eats breakfast with them and retires to her room to make arrangements for their arrival at the Capitol. Effie contributes to the positive preceedings. She is filled with joy and celebrates after their amazing performance in the parade through the Capitol. Effie helps prepare them for the training sessions with Haymitch, hoping they'll achieve high scores in order to attract more sponsors. She is shocked and surprised when Katniss tells them about her seemingly disastrous private session. She can't believe she shot an arrow at the Gamemakers. She attempts to comfort Katniss due to her fear that they'll attack her family. Effie states that it serves them right and that it's not nice to ignore Katniss even if she is from District 12. Effie is overflowing with joy and excitement when Katniss and Peeta both manage a high score from the Gamemakers.



Effie tries but fails to help Katniss with her interview with Caesar Flickerman. She attempts to teach her how to sit, smile and talk like a lady, but only gets frustrated with this. After the interview and Peeta's astonishing declaration of love, Katniss fights with Peeta, pushing him and causing him to trip into an urn. Effie breaks up the fight and cools her down while Haymitch tells her about the logistics of his and Peeta's plan.

The night before the Games begin, she wishes them good luck and is heartbroken because she has grown to like them and leaves the room before she could become more upset. She assists Haymitch in lining up sponsors for Katniss and Peeta and helps them throughout the Games. After Katniss and Peeta's victory, Effie gloats about winning them sponsors by comparing them to coal, explaining that when you put enough pressure on coal they become pearls. Effie helps them get ready for their final interview with Caesar. After their respective interviews, she says goodbye to them before they head back to District 12.

Catching Fire
Effie comes back during Katniss and Peeta's Victory Tour. She tells them they have to start off with District 11. On the way there, the train makes an unplanned stop which angers Effie because it changes her schedule. This also irritates Katniss, causing her to yell at Effie and tells her that no one cares, which in turn hurts Effie's feelings. When Katniss comes back she apologises to Effie who graciously accepts. When they arrive to District 11 she is displeased with the way they are being treated. Later, Effie ensures that everything is prepared for the victory speech Katniss and Peeta must give to Rue and Thresh's family. After the elderly man is killed for whistling Rue's tune, which signaled the end of a working day, the Peacekeepers force them all to leave quickly, which annoys Effie due to their lack of manners. She noted that the Peacekeepers were very strict when she was looking around District 11's justice building. She said they ordered her to get back to her quarters and one even poked her with her gun. After the Victory Tour was complete, she went to the final dinner for Katniss and Peeta in District 12 and was touched when Peeta proposed to Katniss.

Effie leaves to go back to the Capitol and soon comes back to District 12 at Katniss' house for the wedding photoshoot, using her manipulative nature to order the crew about, and watching to make everything go perfectly like her plan. Effie is unaware of the rebellion, President Snow's threats, or of the tension between Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch. When the third Quarter Quell is revealed and is announced to be reaping the victors, Effie had to draw the lots out of the same spherical glass bowl, in the same way as before in the 74th Hunger Games. Effie started much like the 74th Hunger Games, deciding to reap the female tribute first, and calls Katniss' name since she is the only living female victor of District 12, thus being the only eligible girl. Effie then calls Haymitch's name but soon after Peeta volunteers for Haymitch in order to protect Katniss. Effie once again escorts Katniss and Peeta to the train that takes them to the Capitol, where she begins planning.

Effie and the others arrive to the Capitol on time, something which pleases her, because she loves being on time and orderly. She is joyful when Cinna makes Katniss and Peeta unforgettable again with his choice of costume, causing great discord and awe to ripple among the other tributes. Effie celebrates just like last year when the parade goes according to plan. She agrees to let Katniss and Peeta go to the training session alone, but, to satisfy herself, she takes them to the elevator herself and leads them to the door. Effie is even more shocked than last year about their private training sessions with the Gamemakers when it transpires that they deliberately sabotage them to protest the brutality of the Games. She is on the verge of tears when Katniss and Peeta tell her and the others about this and retires to her room until it is time for Katniss and Peeta to receive their training scores. Katniss notes that Effie's eyes are red and puffy from crying. After they get their training scores of 12, she becomes distressed because they were only presented to them so they would be seen as obvious targets in the Games, as explained by Haymitch. She decides to allow them to spend the entire day to themselves before the next day, which is their interview with Caesar Flickerman. After the interview, Effie is asked to leave them and she wasn't able to say goodbye to them.

After Katniss destroys the arena and escapes with the other rebels, Effie is arrested along with Katniss and Peeta's prep teams.

Mockingjay
It isn't known where Effie was taken after she was arrested. Effie was supposed to be executed sometime in between Catching Fire and her release in Mockingjay.

After President Snow is found guilty and is about to be executed, Effie is released from prison and goes back to Katniss to get her ready for Snow's trial. Katniss notes that Effie has a vacant look in her eyes. Katniss makes a mental note to put her on the list of people to be granted immunity since she doesn't want Effie to be killed by President Coin. Effie gets Katniss dressed in her mockingjay uniform and sets everything up to schedule, as usual. Effie watches as Katniss was about to kill Snow but instead sees her kill Coin. Later after Katniss' trial, Effie goes back home to the Capitol.

Physical description
"Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair and spring green suit."

- Katniss, on Effie

Being an eccentric Capitol citizen, Effie has a unique and flamboyant interest in fashion, and is constantly seen throughout the series wearing colorful stylized outfits and wigs. She is regarded as a fashion icon amoungst the people of the Capitol, proceeding Katniss Everdeen's sucessful appearance in the 74th Hunger Games, and eventual victory.

In The Hunger Games, Effie Trinket has pink hair, speculated to be a wig, and during the reaping wears a spring-green suit. As she gives speeches, she constantly adjusts her attire.

In Catching Fire, Effie is adorned with brilliant pumpkin colored locks, just as stunningly vibrant as the beautiful pink. She later changes her hair to a golden color in order to match Katniss' mockingjay pin.

In Mockingjay, Effie continues to wear her resplendant golden wig. It is also mentioned in Mockingjay that she has "a vacant look in her eyes."

Effie is presumably fairly young as she makes multiple references to wanting to get promoted to a better district, indicating that she is in the beginning of her career when the books take place. She is noted throughout the entire series for her distinct Capitol accent.

In the first film, during the reaping, Effie is wearing a purple dress with puffed sleeves and high heel purple shoes, with black socks. On board the train, she sports an aqua colored dress with a blonde wig and darker aqua skirt. Later while in the Capitol she wears a heavily chinese influenced pink and purple mini dress with a puffed skirt and golden yellow trimmings. She also has a pink wig with a golden flower ornament.

In the second film in promotional posters while modeling for Capitol Couture, she is seen with another blonde and pink wig, with silver cylindrical earings. She wears a ruffled furry red dress with matching feathered shoes and pink and purple unique gloves, with silver finger ornaments.

During the 74th Victory Tour, she wears a blondish orange wig, with dark navy feathered sleeves and a fitted blue bodice with golden trims and a matching belt.

While escorting Peeta and Katniss to President Snow's ball, she is seen wearing a blue bun styled wig, with a large blue feathered collar, and matching feathered minidress. On her wrists, she is wearing thick pink bracelets and pink ruffled high heels.

Personality
"At least you two have decent manners. The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion."

- Effie Trinket, on Peeta and Katniss' manners.

Effie can be described as oblivious to the sorrows and misfortunes that fall upon District 12. As the quote above states, she is very strict about manners and being "proper", as that is the Capitol's way. She is not in very good terms with Haymitch at times because he is always drunk and a complete mess, and due to their conflicting personalities. She always tells Katniss and Peeta "You have no manners!" This angers Katniss, due to the fact that she comes from a poorer district, where most people face starvation. Effie is a classic Capitol resident with impeccable manners, although in Mockingjay it is revealed she rebelled against the Capitol.

Effie is a perfectionist and extremely punctual, complaining about how a five minute train delay would hugely affect her tightly packed schedule. However, she is known for being bright and bubbly at times when she is not being publicly humiliated or in the presence of undesirable manners.

Effie, like most Capitol citizens, sees the Hunger Games as just fun entertainment. At the reaping she is extremely happy that tributes are being chosen.

However, Effie is also described as having a "keen instinct" by Katniss, and seems to be at least partially aware of the political uproar caused by Katniss and Peeta's attempted suicide. In the Reaping for the 75th Hunger Games, she is noticeably less excitable than previous years, presumably having grown fond of the two younger Victors. She appears to lose some of her shallow nature as the series progresses, eventually defecting from the Capitol during the Rebellion.

Katniss Everdeen
"Tell her we send our love."

- Katniss, to Haymitch, on Effie Effie annoyed Katniss greatly due to her manners and appearance. Katniss hated this and often bothered Effie by purposely using poor manners. Effie was upset when Katniss and Peeta joked about Haymitch being drunk during the reaping and making a fool of himself on national television. Effie attempted to teach Katniss manners but she continued to struggle with this as well as personality during her preparation for the interviews with Caesar Flickerman. Effie did her best to help Katniss and Peeta. Effie could not bear to say goodbye to Katniss during the 74th Hunger Games since she did care for her. Effie annoyed her during the Victory Tour by flipping out about the sudden stop during the train ride to District 11, which caused Katniss to lose it and yell at Effie. She later apologized to Effie when she cooled down. Effie assisted Katniss again during the third Quarter Quell. Effie let her make more choices during the preparation for the Games. Effie was taken away the night before the third Quarter Quell, which Katniss felt bad about because this could be the last time she saw her and she wasn't able to say goodbye to her in person. However, she told Haymitch to say goodbye for her and to make it extra special since it was Effie. Katniss was surprised when Effie came back to her before Snow's trial and that she was on the rebellion side instead of the Capitol. Katniss made a mental note to give Effie immunity from being killed by Coin, because she liked Effie.

Peeta Mellark
Peeta seemed to get along well with Effie, never giving her much trouble. Peeta did anger her when he and Katniss joked around about Haymitch being drunk during the reaping and making a fool of himself on national television. Effie yells at them telling them he is their only source of real help when it comes to surviving. Peeta is kind to her and always follows her plans. Effie tried to do her best for him and Katniss during the Games. Effie was sad the night before the 74th Hunger Games and couldn't bear say her goodbyes because she truly does love him. When he goes back to the training center he hugs her and they greet each other. Peeta tolerated her nagging during the Victory Tour and was a bit disgusted when Katniss yelled at her. Peeta is a slightly annoyed when Effie nags or goes crazy about her plans. When Effie is taken away by the Capitol, Peeta feels bad because it would be the last time he would see her and he didn't say goodbye. Ultimately, Peeta and Effie do care about each other.

Haymitch Abernathy
"Loosen your corset, have a drink."

- Haymitch, to Effie Effie annoys Haymitch greatly with her prim Capitol ways. Since Haymitch isn't familiar to Effie's points of behaviour like manners, deadlines and appearance, he becomes frustrated when she nags him about this. He annoys Effie as well by being at his worst and demonstrating a horrible appearance and manners like when he eats with his hands like an animal.

They first encounter each other when Haymitch shows up drunk and in poor conditions at the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games. He hugs her which messes up her pink wig. He reappears again when he throws up on the train which only makes Effie more enraged. Haymitch and Effie work together to help Katniss and Peeta, and she helps him line up sponsors. Haymitch and Effie are shown to be the same during the Victory Tour as he shows poor manners and Effie annoys him with her nagging about his overal demeanor. The two seem to let Katniss and Peeta make their own decisions during preparations for the third Quarter Quell.

At the end of Mockingjay, it is hinted that the two do in fact share a friendship, as it is revealed by Katniss' prep team that Haymitch and Plutarch Heavensbee had to "fight to keep her alive" during the rebellion.

Trivia

 * Capitol Couture, a website made to promote The Hunger Games film, wrote an article on Effie about her eccentric clothes, shoes, and wigs. Effie was also a model for Capitol Couture.
 * The name Effie is an Anglicisation of the Greek name Euphemia which means "All-Praised." This ties in to the many Greco-Roman references and allusions of the trilogy.
 * Aside from all the unnamed tributes, Effie was the only other character whose name was not said in the film, even though she is a constant through the movie and her name is mentioned multiple times in the book.
 * Elizabeth Banks, who portrays Effie in the film, has stated that her performance was inspired by actress, Rosalind Russell for her role in the 1958 classical film, Auntie Mame.
 * Effie is the only known named tribute escort in the Hunger Games series.

Film portrayal
Effie is portrayed by Elizabeth Banks in The Hunger Games film.

Gallery

 * Effie Trinket Gallery

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