Claudius Templesmith

Claudius Templesmith
Age	46 (The Hunger Games) 47 (Catching Fire)
Occupation	Hunger Games announcer
Home	The Capitol
Gender	Male
Fate	Unknown (presumed alive)
Book Appearances	The Hunger Games, Catching Fire
Book Mentioned	Mockingjay
Movie Appearances	The Hunger Games (film), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Portrayed by	Toby Jones

Claudius Templesmith was the announcer of the Hunger Games. He had a deep, booming voice.

Biography

As the announcer of the Hunger Games, Claudius Templesmith's voice was occasionally projected to the tributes inside the arena. He usually marked the start of the competition, issued invitations to feasts, and generally ended his announcements with the slogan for the Games: "May the odds be ever in your favor."

74th Hunger Games

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

—Claudius Templesmith

Claudius and Caesar commentate on the tracker jackers.

In the first film, Claudius served as a Hunger Games commentator alongside Caesar Flickerman. En route to the Capitol, Katniss Everdeen watched a broadcast of the pair discussing a previous Games. Later, he and Caesar reacted to the tributes' costumes as they arrived on their chariots, and the two also reacted to Rue pointing out the tracker jacker nest.

Announcements

Just before the sixty-second countdown, Claudius announced the beginning of the Games. However, this announcement was absent from the film.

On the tenth day of the Games, after the nightly playing of the anthem, Claudius announced a rule change. Under the new rule, two tributes from the same district could both be declared the victors if they were the last people standing.

On the twelfth day, Claudius invited the six remaining tributes to a feast. Rather than food, they were promised something they each needed "desperately". These items would be placed into backpacks marked with their district numbers, and tributes could claim their prizes at the Cornucopia at dawn the next day, if they were prepared to fight for it.

On the eighteenth day, after Cato's death, Claudius announced that the earlier revision to the rules had been revoked, so only one winner would be allowed. Rather than turning against each other, Katniss Everdeen and her district partner Peeta Mellark threatened suicide by nightlock berries. A second, more frantic announcement from Claudius quickly followed, declaring them both victors.

75th Hunger Games

In Catching Fire, Claudius only made one announcement to mark the start of the 75th Hunger Games, the same way he had the year previous: "Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!"

Caesar and Claudius at the Quarter Quell.

In the film adaptation, Claudius returned to commentate over the Tribute Parade alongside Caesar. He was once again very surprised by Katniss and Peeta's fiery costumes, chuckling to Caesar and saying jokingly, "Whoa, fire in the house!"

Mockingjay

"Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, burns on."

—Claudius

Claudius's voice featured in one of the rebels' first propoganda films documenting the District 8 hospital bombing. After seeing the propo for the first time, Katniss asked if Claudius was on their side, and Plutarch Heavensbee explained that the line was pulled, unedited, directly from Claudius's commentary during the 74th Hunger Games.