Katniss Everdeen

Spoiler Alert! This page may contain plot details relating to Sunrise on the Reaping or unintentionally spoil elements of the book.

Katniss Everdeen
Biographical Information
Age	16 (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire) 17 (Catching Fire and Mockingjay) 37+ (epilogue)
Also known as	Catnip (by Gale Hawthorne) Girl on Fire (by Cinna) The Mockingjay (by rebels)
Occupation	Hunter Victor (74th HG) Tribute (75th HG) Soldier Mockingjay of the Second Rebellion
Home	Victors' Village in District 12 District 13 (briefly) The Seam (pre-74th HG)
Relatives	Burdock Everdeen (father) Asterid Everdeen (mother) Primrose Everdeen (younger sister) Peeta Mellark (husband) Unnamed daughter and son Lenore Dove Baird (distant cousin) The Covey (distant relations)
Weapon	Bow and arrow Knife Throwing knives Snares Gun
Fate	Alive
Physical Information
Gender	Female
Height	5'7" (film)
Eye Color	Gray (books) Light blue (films)
Hair	Black (books) Brown (films)
Appearances
Book Appearances	The Hunger Games Catching Fire Mockingjay Sunrise on the Reaping
Movie Appearances	The Hunger Games (film) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Mockingjay - Part 1 Mockingjay - Part 2
Portrayed by	Jennifer Lawrence

"Katniss Everdeen; a small town girl from District 12 who survived the Hunger Games and turned a nation of slaves into an army!"

—President Alma Coin describing Katniss

Katniss Everdeen is the main protagonist and narrator of The Hunger Games trilogy. After her younger sister, Primrose Everdeen, was reaped in the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss volunteered to take her place as the female tribute from District 12. This action set in motion the events of the entire series. She is the female victor from District 12 for the 74th Hunger Games, and the female tribute from District 12 for the 75th Hunger Games. Katniss is the oldest daughter of Asterid and Burdock Everdeen.

Quick Answers

Who is Katniss Everdeen?

Katniss Everdeen is the main protagonist and narrator of The Hunger Games trilogy. She was born on May 8th in District 12, and when she was eleven, she lost her father in a mine explosion. She stepped up as the head of her household, hunting to provide for her younger sister Prim and their mother. When Katniss was sixteen, Prim was reaped to participate in the 74th Hunger Games, and Katniss volunteered to take her place. This action set the events of the entire series into motion.

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How old was Katniss when she gave birth?

Katniss was 17 throughout the events of Mockingjay, and she agreed to have children with Peeta Mellark fifteen years after the war, so she was 32-33 when she had her first child, a daughter. Her son was a toddler during the epilogue, narrated more than 20 years after the war, so she was most likely in her mid-to-late 30s when she had him.

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What kind of character is Katniss?

Katniss Everdeen is the main protagonist and narrator of The Hunger Games trilogy. She is a skilled archer, and she is strong-willed, independent, determined, compassionate, and highly goal-oriented.

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What happened during Katniss's pregnancy?

Around fifteen years after the end of the war, Katniss and Peeta had their first child together. In the epilogue, Katniss described experiencing a terrible fear at the feeling of her daughter moving inside her, and it took finally holding her daughter in her arms to get over this fear. Her pregnancy with her son was "a little easier, but not much."

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Biography

Early life

Katniss was born on May 8th in District 12 to Burdock and Asterid Everdeen. Her father was a miner and illegal hunter who traded in the Hob. Her mother was a healer who used to work at her parents' apothecary. Four years after Katniss was born, they had a second daughter, Primrose.

When Katniss was a child, her father would bring her out into the woods beyond District 12 to teach her how to hunt with a bow and arrow, as well as how to forage for edible plants. Later on, this would be where Katniss and Gale would hide out. Katniss's father would sometimes bring her to a lake far into the woods where she learned how to swim. It was during one of these lake visits that Mr. Everdeen introduced Katniss to the edible plant she was named after, and told her, "As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve."

Katniss was close to her father and shared his appreciation for music. He was a good singer; he was so good that the mockingjays in the woods would stop to listen to him and copy his tunes. At some point, he taught her "The Hanging Tree", a song about a man calling for his lover to meet him in death. When Katniss's mother heard her singing it, she began screaming at her father, telling him that it was unsuitable to be heard by small children. This was heightened when she saw Katniss and Prim make actual 'necklaces of rope', with the sisters being oblivious to the fact that the song was talking about voluntarily hanging themselves to death. She then banned the song from their home and forbade Katniss to sing it again outside. Although Katniss never sang it in her mother's presence again, she later sang it during the rebellion when she thought of her father.

When Katniss was eleven years old, her father died in a mine explosion, causing her mother to fall into a deep depression and sadness. She became still and weak, refusing to listen to her daughter's pleas and becoming jobless. Unable to stir her, Katniss became the head and primary breadwinner of the family. In order to be resourceful, Katniss made their rations last as long as possible. When they ran out, she attempted to sell some old clothes to make some money, to no avail. She tried to look in the garbage bins of the houses in the town square but was yelled at by the baker's wife for snooping. Peeta Mellark, the baker's son, gave Katniss some burnt bread that he'd been told to give to the pig. It is implied that Peeta burnt the bread specifically so he could give it to Katniss and her family to save their lives.

Katniss began to remember the knowledge her father taught her about the woods and about feeding herself. As she gained the courage to move deeper into the forest, she found more game and was better able to feed her family. Katniss's mother began to return from her depression, but Katniss could no longer trust her or rely on her. When she turned twelve, Katniss signed up for tesserae, causing her name to be entered four times in her first reaping. Despite this, Katniss was not chosen as tribute.

Katniss first meeting Gale in The Hunger Games: Illustrated Edition

In the woods, twelve-year-old Katniss met fourteen-year-old Gale Hawthorne, an older boy whose father died in the same mining explosion that killed her father. Gale provided for his family by setting traps and snares to catch game. The two eventually became a team, and Katniss provided Gale with one of the bows her father made; she taught him how to shoot and he taught her about snares. The two agreed to protect each other's families if one of them were to be reaped.

Katniss, like all children in Panem, was required to attend school (although she was largely uninterested because she didn't see how it would bring her food on the table) except on certain holidays, including the reaping. Unsure of her social skills and uninterested in making friends, Katniss's only school friend was Madge Undersee, though Katniss felt they were more like acquaintances than friends, as they rarely spoke and mostly just sat together at mealtimes and in classes.

74th Hunger Games

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

—Katniss at the Reaping

Katniss during The Hunger Games.

The Reaping

When she was 16 years old, Katniss volunteered to take the place of her sister, Primrose Everdeen, in the 74th Hunger Games after Prim's name was called during the reaping. Originally, she had no intention of going into the Games, hoping she wouldn't be picked before the female tribute was chosen. It had not even crossed her mind that her sister would be picked, but when Prim was reaped, Katniss volunteered to save her, despite knowing she would likely die in her sister's place. The male tribute was Peeta Mellark.

Before she leaves for the Capitol, Katniss goes to the Justice Building to say her final goodbyes to her mother, Gale, Prim, Madge Undersee, and Mr. Mellark. When she says goodbye to her mother and Prim, Prim makes her promise to try to win, so Katniss complies and tells her mother to make a promise that she won't leave Prim alone to take care of herself. Her mother tries to explain to Katniss that she was ill, but Katniss still makes her promise to take care of Prim, and she finally complies. Madge Undersee comes in to say her final goodbye to her by giving her the mockingjay pin to use as her tribute token. The baker, Peeta's father, comes in and gives her cookies, a luxury, and tells her he will not let her family starve. Gale tries to give her a final piece of advice but is dragged out before he can finish, leaving Katniss to wonder about what Gale wanted to say so badly. The district escort, Effie Trinket, then takes Peeta and Katniss aboard the train to the Capitol. On their way, Katniss and Peeta meet their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy.

In the film, Katniss had gone to visit the Hob before the reaping, and Greasy Sae gave her the mockingjay pin, which Katniss then entrusted to Prim to help her feel safer. During their final goodbyes, Prim gives the pin back to Katniss.

The Parade

Katniss in her outfit for the parade

When Katniss arrives at the Capitol, she is fussed over by her prep team, which consists of Octavia, Flavius and Venia. She then meets her stylist, Cinna, who comes up with an idea to make Katniss and Peeta unforgettable during the parade. Cinna dresses her up in a black unitard to represent coal and lights her and Peeta with synthetic fire that does not burn them. After the parade, they are escorted to their residence. At dinner time, Katniss meets a haunting face from the past, a girl she didn't get to save, who has now become an Avox. When she says that she recognizes the girl, Peeta lies to help cover for her; he suggests that the Avox resembles Delly Cartwright, although they actually look very different.

Training Sessions

The next morning, Katniss goes down to the Training Center to prepare for the Games. Haymitch advises her not to show her all of her skills until the private sessions with the Gamemakers. During training, Katniss and Peeta notice they are being followed by a little girl named Rue, from District 11.

During the private session, Katniss shows the Gamemakers her skills with a bow and arrow. Katniss first shoots at the practice dummy but misses, unaccustomed to the bow she is using. The Gamemakers start ignoring her and pay more attention to a roast pig since she is from District 12, a district that is not known for producing many victors. Along with that, she was the last person who got to show their skills. Out of frustration, Katniss targets the apple in the roasted pig's mouth, successfully hitting it, causing reactions of shock and amazement among the Gamemakers. Katniss is, at first, outraged at her own behavior, later thinking she shouldn't have shot the pig, crying in her bed. However, Katniss scores an 11 for her fiery temper and attitude, and is surprised later on.

Interview

While preparing for interview night, Katniss is stressed out by Haymitch and Effie trying to prepare her. Cinna dresses her in a dress covered in jewels that make her look like she is being engulfed by flames whenever she moves. He gives her advice before she does her interview, being the only one she truly likes and respects. She is interviewed by Caesar Flickerman and she talks about her stay in the Capitol. She becomes something of a celebrity in Panem and is given the advantage of sympathy after Peeta admits to all of Panem that he loves her, making Katniss blush at first. In private, she becomes furious and shoves Peeta before calming down and apologizing.

The Arena

Katniss with Caesar Flickerman.

The night before the Games, she is terrified of the horrors that await her in the arena. She goes to the rooftop and talks with Peeta. Peeta tells her that he wants to die as himself and show that he is more than just a piece in the Capitol's Games. Katniss is enraged and leaves when he doubts he will win.

On the day of the Games, Cinna dresses Katniss in her uniform for the games. While waiting to launch, Katniss and Cinna talk to each other. He tells Katniss that he can't bet on any tributes due to his part in the preparation of the Games, but if he could, he would bet on her. Katniss finds some confidence in this and the speaker announces the tributes to launch.

Cornucopia Bloodbath

When the Games begin, Katniss gets away from the Cornucopia quickly, trying to follow the advice of her mentor, but gets into a minor tussle with the District 9 male over an orange backpack which ends when the boy is cleaved in the back by Clove, the girl from District 2. The backpack contains a sleeping bag, a bottle of iodine (a chemical that purifies water) along with a dropper, a water bottle, crackers, dried beef strips, wire, and a pair of "sunglasses" that turn out to be night vision glasses..

Katniss is almost killed in the bloodbath when Clove aims a knife at her head. She blocks it with her backpack and earns a knife as a result. Clove does not pursue her, and she heads back to the Cornucopia before all the good stuff is taken. Katniss runs into Foxface in the forest and they part ways in a panic. She also has a brief encounter with the District 10 male, but runs in the opposite direction, and he does not pursue her. Over the next few days, Katniss moves farther away from the Cornucopia, though she is slowed down by dehydration. She nearly dies of thirst before she finds a small pond to drink from, stumbling onto it while she camouflages her bright orange backpack with mud so that it wouldn't draw too much attention.

Being Hunted by the Career Tributes

The next morning, she is awoken by a forest fire created by the Gamemakers, including fireballs that are flung at her. She survives the attack but suffers minor burns and cuts on her hands and a severe burn on her calf. She goes to sleep and is woken by the sound of footsteps. Katniss is briefly chased by the Career Tributes and Peeta, but she escapes up a tree. Cato tries to climb up after Katniss, but crashes to the ground because he is too heavy for the branches to hold. Glimmer also attempts to kill Katniss by shooting her with an arrow, but she misses. The Careers realize that they are all too heavy to climb the tree, so they decide to wait for her to come down.

Alliance with Rue

Suddenly, Rue appears high up in a neighboring tree and points to the tracker jacker nest above Katniss, showing her what to do with it.

The next morning, Katniss warns Rue she is about to cut the nest down. Katniss cuts it down with the knife she got from Clove and the tracker jackers attack the Careers, killing Glimmer and the girl tribute from District 4. The Careers run to the lake after being stung by the tracker jackers. Katniss is also stung and starts to run in the other direction. Katniss remembers that Glimmer had a silver bow when the Careers attacked her (the only bow in the entire arena), so she goes back for it. She retrieves it from Glimmer's bloated body, but as she's about to run away, her hallucinations begin. A delusional Katniss is saved by Peeta when she's unable to coordinate herself to run from Cato, who is quickly approaching. After she runs away, she blacks out from the tracker jacker venom.

Katniss alliance with Rue.

When Katniss wakes up, she finds out that Rue is watching her. She then proposes an alliance. She says Rue reminds her of Prim, in both size and demeanor. She tries to give Rue her pin, but Rue says no, saying that that was how she came to trust Katniss in the first place, seeing the mockingjay on her pin. Rue also explains that the mockingjay is used in the District 11 orchards to tell the workers when time is up and when they can go home. Katniss and Rue then plan to destroy the Careers' food and supply pile, with Katniss figuring that the Careers have had plenty of food their whole lives and would struggle if a direct food supply was taken away from them. Rue provides a distraction while Katniss checks out the Career camp. By watching Foxface, the District 5 tribute, she discovers that the food is protected by landmines, and she shoots a sack that spills apples onto the ground, setting off all of the landmines. Nearly everything is destroyed, but due to the explosion and her relative proximity, Katniss becomes deaf in her left ear, though this injury is later surgically repaired after the Games.

Death of Rue

Katniss goes to the woods, listening for Rue. Her four-note melody rings out through the woods as the mockingjays adopt it, but she suddenly cries out for Katniss. Katniss runs through the trees to find Rue entangled in a mesh net, one arm sticking out before a spear is thrown into her abdomen by the boy from District 1, whose name is later revealed to be Marvel. Katniss shoots an arrow at Marvel's neck, killing him. Katniss then goes over to comfort Rue, promising she'll win for the both of them, and sings the valley song, "Deep in the Meadow", that she sang to comfort Prim the morning of the reaping.

Katniss giving the silent salute in the arena.

Rue dies after Katniss finishes the song. Angered at the Capitol's cruelty, Katniss picks white flowers and decorates Rue's body with them, hiding the wound and weaving them into her hair. When she finishes, Katniss realizes how peaceful Rue looks and does the signature District 12 farewell gesture to Rue. Later, this is seen as an act of defiance to the Capitol. She then takes Rue and Marvel's backpacks, knowing that she would have wanted Katniss to have them.

Locating Peeta

By the time of the announcement that two tributes from the same district can win, Katniss's left ear is completely deafened. She cries out for Peeta, but immediately regrets it, realizing the potential danger. She seeks out Peeta and finds him hiding in the mud of a riverbank, totally camouflaged. He's suffering from a severe cut on his leg that Cato gave him, tracker jacker stings, and multiple burns. She washes him off at the river and treats the burns and stings. Unable to fully treat his leg, she stuffs leaves into it, drawing out infection and pus. Katniss does everything she can to care for him, but he eventually gets blood poisoning.

The Feast

Katniss kisses Peeta in the cave to gain the support of sponsors

A feast is then announced by the Gamemakers near the Cornucopia, where Katniss will find the item she needs most: the medicine needed to cure Peeta's blood poisoning. Knowing that going to the feast will be dangerous, Katniss insists on going, though Peeta refuses to let her. Immediately afterward, Katniss receives sleeping syrup from their sponsors and tricks Peeta into consuming it by mixing the sleep syrup with berries, telling him it's "sugar berries." Precisely after eating the berries, he passes out for 24 hours, giving Katniss enough time to go to the feast and get the medicine for his leg.

The feast results in a fight between Katniss and Clove. First, Katniss's forehead gets cut by a knife that Clove throws at her. Clove pins Katniss to the ground, taunting Katniss about Rue's death and Peeta's predicament. Clove tells her that Cato let her "have Katniss," but made her promise to give the audience a "good show". Just as she is about to make the first cut at Katniss' lip, Clove is hurled away from her by Thresh, the boy from Rue's district, who slams a large rock into her head after accusing her of "cutting up" Rue. Katniss is afraid of what Thresh will do to her, but because of her alliance with Rue, he allows her to escape. He does not want to owe Katniss anymore and states that they are now even. She flees the feast with her life and returns to the cave to heal both Peeta and her own wounds.

While they are both recovering, they see that Thresh has been presumably killed at Cato's hands. During one night of rain, Katniss asks Peeta when he started loving her. Peeta tells her it was their first day of school when he heard Katniss sing the Valley Song. After the storm ended, the two go hunting. When Katniss whistles for Peeta and he does not answer, she runs towards him and the two argue until a cannon fires. Peeta had gathered deadly nightlock berries that he didn't know were poisonous. Katniss expects Peeta to die, but it appears he hasn't eaten any yet. They see Foxface's body being taken away. A few days later, the river is found empty, as well as the ponds. They figure out that the Gamemakers want them to go to the lake.

Cato's Death

When they make it there, they wait a few hours for Cato, the only other remaining tribute, to arrive. They are about to give up when he runs towards them. When Katniss sees that he is running away from a pack of wolf mutts, she and Peeta immediately run with him toward the Cornucopia. They reach the Cornucopia and scale it, though one of the mutts manages to injure Peeta. Once at the top of the horn, Cato finally gets back to his senses and fights Katniss. He overpowers the duo and strangles Peeta to the edge. In a last effort, Peeta draws an X in blood on the back of Cato's hand, telling Katniss to shoot there. Katniss shoots Cato on the back of his hand and he releases Peeta. Peeta then pushes him off so he won't attack them again. Cato is later disarmed by the mutts and gnawed at, being left to suffer. After some time, Katniss decides to kill him out of pity, not vengeance. It is then announced that the rule of two tributes winning if they are from the same district has been revoked and so she and Peeta must fight to the death.

Winners Katniss and Peeta watch as a hovercraft descends to pick them up.

Victory

They pitifully realize that the former was just a ruse. Katniss aims her bow at Peeta when she sees he has picked up a weapon, but immediately drops it when he proceeds to throw it into the lake. Feeling guilty, she then takes out some of the nightlock berries and gives a handful to Peeta, and the two of them threaten to commit double suicide so there will be no winner.

Katniss is crowned victor.

They later discover the Capitol sees this as an act of rebellion. The plan works and both her and Peeta are crowned victors of the 74th Hunger Games. After their final interviews and dinner, they board a train that takes them home. Katniss is confused about her feelings for Peeta and becomes even more confused the closer they get to home.

The Aftermath

Victors' Village

In Catching Fire, Katniss is back in District 12 living in the Victors' Village with her mother, Prim, and Buttercup, and neighbors Peeta and Haymitch. Soon, she and Peeta will have to leave again for the Victory Tour where the winners of the previous Hunger Games travel to each district and make various appearances and public speeches. During much of the day, Katniss is bored with her new life, because now she has everything: money, a good home, and a constant supply of food.

Katniss' conversation with President Snow.

One day after Katniss returns home from hunting game outside of the district, she is visited by President Snow, the president of Panem. He explains to Katniss that during the last Hunger Games when she tried to commit double suicide with Peeta by eating poisonous nightlock, she ignited a possible uprising in the districts. President Snow and Katniss have a lengthy conversation about the fact that if she doesn't convince the districts that she made the decision out of temporary lovesickness, then he will personally make sure she suffers.

Katniss, now convinced she has started a fire she cannot control, tries her best to convince everyone that she and Peeta are madly in love. When she and Peeta finally set off for the Victory Tour, everything is going smoothly and Peeta has agreed with Katniss that outside of being star-crossed lovers, they should try to be friends.

Katniss and Peeta giving a speech to District 11.

When the tour arrives at their first destination, District 11, Katniss tells everyone the story of how Thresh spared her life, and how Rue became a valued ally during the Games. After her speech, an old man whistles her and Rue's four-note tune that meant they were safe, and that signals the end of the workday in District 11, the crowd simultaneously does a traditional District 12 gesture to show their thanks to Katniss. Soon after Katniss finishes her speech, a Peacekeeper shoots the man who whistled in the head, along with two others.

Near the end of the Tour, they visit the Capitol and when she and Peeta are being interviewed by Caesar, Peeta performs a fake proposal to Katniss, which she accepts. President Snow makes a surprise visit to congratulate Katniss and Peeta. He motions to Katniss that she was unsuccessful in convincing their love. President Snow decides to hold their wedding in the Capitol. There is a party held in the banquet room of his mansion. Katniss there learns that in order to taste each and every dish the people of Capitol drink a clear liquid which causes them to vomit and empty their stomachs in order to continue eating and do this again and again. This disturbs her since she had seen her mother treating emaciated children whose parents didn't have anything to afford for them, not even their medicine, and she was also poor before winning the games and had almost starved to death once. She is introduced to Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head Gamemaker by Portia. They then travel to District 12. Katniss suffers from nightmares throughout the night on the train, so Peeta sleeps in her bed to calm her and keeps her company. Finally, they get back to District 12 and a huge party is thrown for them at Mayor Undersee's house. While in the mayor's home, Katniss sees on his television that there is an uprising going on in District 8. Katniss arranges a secret meeting with Gale, during which he confesses his love for her. Gale gets angry and disappointed but before he leaves, Katniss accidentally tells him there was a rebellion in District 8. Gale then says that they could have a rebellion in District 12 as well, and he runs off to spread the news.

Gale's Whipping

Katniss then goes to Peeta to ask him if he would run away with her and he agrees to go with her, but while they are discussing the plans, they see that Gale is being violently whipped in the square by an unfamiliar man.

Katniss steps in to stop the man, whose name is Romulus Thread, the Head Peacekeeper but he gives her a lash across the face. Katniss gets severely hurt. Eventually, the people of District 12, including many who frequent the Hob, convince Thread to stop whipping Gale. Haymitch steps in and holds her up and shouts at Romulus since she has a photo-shoot next week. In the movie, Haymitch and Peeta step in to save her.

Purnia, a female commoner, steps in, saying the proper amount of lashes has been given. Romulus warns all of them and leaves with the Peacekeepers including Darius, a male Peacekeeper who had been hit on the head by Thread and was lying unconscious. They manage to pick up Gale on a countertop provided by an old woman in her clothing stall. Katniss tells Leevy, a former neighbor, to call Hazelle, Gale's mother. Bristel and Thom, Gale's crewmembers from the mine told everyone the situation. Gale had killed a wild turkey and went to Cray, the previous Head Peacekeeper to bid for it. Cray was lenient, alcoholic, and overlooked such crimes. But he was replaced by Romulus Thread and Gale didn't have any idea about it. Expecting Cray to pay him, he went to his house and found Thread there. Gale could not say much in his defense and was punished with whiplashes.

Darius, a Peacekeeper who was unconscious had stepped in first after 20 lashes saying that it was enough but didn't do it as smartly and officially as Purnia did and grabbed Thread's arm. In return, Thread hit him on his head with the butt of the whip forming a large purple lump on his head, making him unconscious.

Gale received forty lashes until Katniss showed up and he passed out at around thirty. Katniss and the others take Gale to her mother. Katniss's mother tries to soothe the pain by giving him medicine. Hazelle also comes there and sits beside her son. Madge brings her mother's box of vials containing morphling, a kind of medicine. Mrs. Everdeen injects it into Gale. Later on that night, Katniss says she picks Gale but is still torn between him and Peeta.

Katniss has a nightmare in which Clove turns into a mutt. She wakes up with a start, shivering. The conditions in District 12 worsen. People are punished for their crimes, mines are shut down for two weeks, etc.

Bonnie and Twill

Katniss realizes that she cannot stand to be at home, so she goes into the woods and heads to the lake. There, she meets two women named Bonnie and Twill who have run away from District 8. They say that they are headed to District 13 since they believe that the district was not actually destroyed and there are people living there underground, and that the uprising in District 8 was a planned one. Their evidence was the fact that the Capitol always shows old footage of a destroyed District 13 from 75 years ago; every time it airs, the same Mockingjay's wing can be seen for a brief second in the corner..

Katniss teaches them the essentials of surviving in a forest and gives them food to eat. When the evening comes, they leave, and Katniss returns to District 12. However, she realizes that the fence to the district is now electrified and so she must climb a tree and jump from 25 feet in the air. She lands and hurts her tailbone and heel. She returns home to tell her mother how she fell after slipping on a patch of ice, but there are two Peacekeepers there waiting for her. They are surprised to see her because they knew she was in the forest and believed she would be trapped on the other side of the fence. They were waiting for her not to show up so they can bring her family in for questioning. Luckily, Haymitch, Peeta, and Prim were able to go along with a story to cover for her.

The Third Quarter Quell

Preparation

Once she is healed, her prep team comes to help with her wedding fashion shoot, along with Cinna. She listens to them speak of how they have not had shrimp in the Capitol for weeks and realizes that other districts are rebelling. The next night, there is a view of the photo-shoot and a voting on which was the best dress and later there is an important announcement made by President Snow: in honor of the third Quarter Quell, for the 75th Hunger Games the tributes will be reaped from the existing pool of victors. Since District 12 has only three living winners, Peeta, Haymitch, and Katniss, and being the only female victor, she knows that she is now going to be forced to go back into the arena.

She runs out of the house and into a basement of an empty one to scream, cry, and proceeds to shatter a window of the kitchen. This makes her hand bleed. She makes her way to Haymitch, where he already tells her Peeta has come to visit him and told him that Peeta wants to go back into the arena to protect Katniss. She tells Haymitch that whatever they do, she wants Haymitch to make sure Peeta comes back alive. She and Haymitch get drunk. She returns in an inebriated state to her house and sees Gale at the doorway and Katniss passes out in his arms. She has a horrible hangover the next day and, in the afternoon, she goes back to Haymitch's house, where Peeta has emptied all of his liquor and has threatened to turn them or anyone who gives them alcohol in. He tells them that they will be training for the Quarter Quell because two people will come back alive, and they begin to work out and study footage of past winners to see their competition.

The Reaping

Peeta and Katniss at District 12 before heading to the train.

On the day of the reaping, Katniss is the only choice for the female competitor, and the chosen male competitor is Haymitch. Peeta, however, volunteers to take his place. Instead of being able to tell their families goodbye, they are brought directly to the train and leave for the Capitol.

Training Sessions

Once at the Capitol, they eat and meet their competitors. During training, Katniss befriends Wiress and Beetee Latier from District 3, who point out the force field used to separate the Gamemakers from the tributes. In her solo performance for the Gamemakers, Katniss sees Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head Gamemaker, and decides to tie a noose around a dummy's neck. With berry juice, she writes the name "Seneca Crane," the former Head Gamemaker who was hanged by orders of President Snow. She and Peeta both receive perfect 12s, which Haymitch explains was done to make sure the other tributes are gunning for both of them.

Interviews

Katniss in her mockingjay outfit.

On the day of the interview, the prep team comes into Katniss' room, and they start to cry; they leave one by one. Then, only Venia is left. She does the job of the whole team. At last, Cinna comes in with her wedding gown from the photoshoot, specifically chosen by Coriolanus Snow. She notes to Cinna that it's heavier than before, but he explains that he had to do some alterations and tells her not to lift her arms until she twirls on television. The interview atmosphere is different from the previous year. The tributes are speaking out against the Capitol, asking why President Snow is not stopping this if he is great and powerful. When Katniss comes on stage with the dress on, apologizing to the crowd for not letting them see her get married. She twirls and raises her arms and the wedding dress burns away to reveal a different dress underneath. When she looks towards a television, she realizes that Cinna has turned her into a mockingjay.

Although Caesar knows what the dress represents, they play it off as the bird on Katniss' token. When it comes to Peeta's turn to speak, he lies and tells the audience that he and Katniss are already married, and that Katniss is pregnant. This drives the audience to madness and hysteria.

Cornucopia bloodbath

Katniss in the arena.

Right before the Games are to begin, Katniss is with Cinna and steps on the plate to be taken to the arena, where she is frozen in place. Suddenly three Peacekeepers enter the room, beat Cinna, and drag him out of the room. A frozen Katniss watches in horror but is then transported into the arena. In Mockingjay, it is revealed that Cinna was actually killed as a result of his injuries. The plate leaves her in the middle of blue water, which she realizes "is no place for a girl on fire". While retrieving a bow and arrows, she sees that Finnick is wearing a gold bracelet that once belonged to Haymitch and realizes that this was his way of telling her to form an alliance with Finnick. She and Peeta run into the jungle with Finnick, who carries his 80-year-old district partner, Mags.

Saving Peeta

As they are walking, searching for drinkable water, Katniss notices a shimmering square and realizes that it is a force field surrounding the arena. Before she can stop him, Peeta walks into it and is repelled back, knocking Mags and Finnick to the ground. Peeta is not breathing. Panicked, Katniss begins to slap him, but his heart has stopped. Finnick helps by performing CPR and Peeta] is eventually resuscitated. Finnick asks Katniss how she recognized the force field. She does not want to let them know she can spot them visually, worried that the Gamemakers might do something to retaliate, so she tells them she heard it with her repaired ear.

Escaping the fog

Later that day she notices an unnatural, and poisonous fog in the distance. The mist from the fog causes blisters where it touches. When Peeta stumbles, she notices it also attacks the nerves, as his face droops and his legs stop working. Finnick agrees to carry Peeta if Katniss can carry Mags, which she agrees to. But after a while, Katniss cannot carry Mags anymore as her legs become paralyzed. Finnick comes back and tells Katniss he cannot carry them both. Mags kisses Finnick and runs into the fog, convulsing and dying. Throughout the early morning, Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick help each other as they meet different challenges in the arena..

Alliance with Johanna, Wiress, and Beetee

Later, they meet Johanna Mason, whom Finnick runs to, and they hug. As Katniss and Peeta figure out what to do, they realize they cannot leave Finnick after all he has done and go to Johanna instead. She has Wiress and Beetee with her. Beetee has received a knife in the back, while Wiress is spinning in a circle saying, "Tick tock, tick tock," repeatedly. Johanna explains that Haymitch told her to bring them to Katniss for an alliance. Later that night, when Wiress restates "tick tock," Katniss begins to realize the arena is in the shape of a clock. She also remembers Plutarch Heavensbee showing her his clock watch and saying, "It begins at midnight," as an image of a mockingjay flashed on the watch face.

They go to the Cornucopia to see if they are correct and are proven to be right. While drawing up the map of the clock, Katniss realizes that Wiress has stopped singing because Gloss slit her throat and turns with an arrow ready and hits Gloss in the temple, while Johanna buries an axe in Cashmere's chest. Katniss starts to realize that everyone is protecting Peeta and wonders if they believe that he can be the leader of the rebellion.

Later, Peeta tries to give Katniss a gold locket and tells her he wants her to win, because if she dies, he has nothing to live for. They kiss, and she realizes that she loves Peeta and wants to fulfill her plan of keeping him alive.

Beetee's Plan

The next day, after telling Peeta that they need to leave the alliance, he tells her to wait because he believes Beetee has a plan. The plan is to tie Beetee's wire around a tree that is struck by lightning and run the wire into the ocean, making the beach a conductor to electrocute everything in its path. Katniss and Johanna are in charge of running the wire down to the beach because they are the fastest, however, they are attacked by Brutus and Enobaria of District 2. Katniss is knocked in the head and through her blurred vision sees Johanna on top of her stabbing her arm and telling her to stay down.

Katniss hears Finnick running but stays quiet so as not to alert him to her whereabouts, since she believes that he and Johanna have betrayed them. Realizing that Beetee was trying to blow up the forcefield, she wraps his wire around her bow and shoots it straight into the flaw in the forcefield at the exact moment when the lightning strikes the tree, blowing up the arena. After she is carried out of the arena and transported into a hovercraft, she lays there realizing that the Capitol will not let anyone live after this and sees Plutarch Heavensbee coming over to her as she passes out.

After the Quarter Quell

District 13

She awakes in a hospital bed next to Beetee. She searches for Peeta, believing that the Capitol has captured them, and planning to kill Peeta to save him from being tortured. She blames Haymitch because he promised that he would save Peeta instead of her.

She passes a room and hears Plutarch talking to Finnick and Haymitch about getting someone out of District 4. She enters the room and Haymitch tells her that there was a plan to break them out the minute the Quell was announced. The victors from districts 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11 had varying degrees of knowledge about it. Plutarch had been for several years part of a group planning to overthrow the Capitol. The hovercraft they are in is from District 13, which is where they are headed. She tells them that Johanna tried to kill her, but Finnick explains that she was removing Katniss's tracker, and that all of the victor tributes in those districts have pledged their lives to her and the rebellion; that she is the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion.

She realizes that Haymitch had lied to both her and Peeta. He tells her that everyone kept Peeta alive because they knew that if he died, she would never keep an alliance with the others. She asks where Peeta is, and Haymitch tells her he was picked up, along with Johanna and Enobaria, by the Capitol. In horror and anger, she attacks Haymitch, scratching his face. Finnick and others strap her down and drug her to keep her calm. Finnick tells her that the Capitol will at least keep Peeta alive to use as bait against Katniss.

Later, Gale visits her. He tells her that after the Games, the Capitol sent bombers to District 12. He explains that he was able to get her family out in time, but District 12 has been destroyed.

District 13 Rebellion

"Tonight, turn your weapons to the Capitol! Turn your weapons to Snow!"

—Katniss Everdeen to the citizens of Panem.

Visiting District 12

Katniss in her home, District 12.

In Mockingjay, Katniss is in what's left of District 13 Underground. She goes to visit the ruins of District 12 after the firebombing from the Capitol. She finds that Buttercup (Prim's cat) somehow survived the destruction of District 12. She takes Buttercup and hides him in her hunting bag as a comforting present to Prim who is in District 13 with her mother and the other residents of District 12 that survived the bombing. While examining her old room, she finds a white rose that was left by President Snow as a sign meaning that he was watching her, possibly right then.

Becoming the Mockingjay

Katniss is stressed and overwhelmed by everything that is happening - District 13, wondering if Peeta is still alive, etc. -- but is glad she now has her old relationship with Gale. She gets used to life in District 13 and starts to like it -- but she sees District 13 as an underground prison with nowhere to go. Katniss watches Peeta's interview with Caesar Flickerman and is filled with joy that Peeta is still alive and healthy. However, Peeta shockingly declares a cease-fire, claiming that it is the best course of action for the Rebels and the Capitol. The citizens of District 13 watching begin to call Peeta a "traitor". Katniss runs off to a supply closet and hides there alone until Gale enters. The two talk about the situation, and that is when she decides that she will be "the mockingjay," a symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol. As part of the deal, she demands that the leader of District 13, Alma Coin, grant immunity to all of the victors of the Hunger Games. She demands the right to kill President Snow herself and asks for her family to keep their cat, Buttercup, and to hunt with Gale. After the meeting, Plutarch takes her and Gale downstairs where they are stopped by a guard due to a secret room. Gale makes a distraction, and Katniss rushes in and sees her prep team being held prisoner.

Katniss helps them recover by taking them to her mother for treatment. During the meeting held by President Coin for the announcement of her role and conditions, Katniss sees Finnick distracted and in grief. She calls for him, but he doesn't answer. She shakes him to get his attention, and the two embrace each other. When Katniss is reminded of Annie, she tells Coin to pencil in Annie as one of the victors to receive immunity. Katniss is surprised by Coin's message during the meeting that, if she doesn't meet all of her obligations as the mockingjay, she and her friends and family are dead.

Skirmish in District 8

Katniss and Gale go hunting together like the old times, and they both enjoy it until they get in an argument over the fact that she cares for her prep team. Katniss leaves and is angry with Gale. She is being fixed by her prep team to make her look beautiful for the propo she will film as the mockingjay. When they finish, she and Gale go downstairs to the weapons room where Beetee is making weapons for the rebels. After she receives her weapons, she goes to the room where she will shoot her first propaganda, or propo. After she finishes, Haymitch goes on the speaker and tells them, "That is how you end a revolution." After a brief meeting, they decide to let Katniss speak for herself and to do it in action. Katniss suits up in her mockingjay uniform and heads to District 8 to shoot her first propaganda.

Katniss in the District 8 hospital.

During her visit, the hospital is attacked by the Capitol. The rebel forces fight back and are able to defeat them, but the hospital is destroyed. Katniss speaks her own words after the attack. After viewing the finished propaganda, she sees that it is strong. The group decides to shoot more and to send her back into combat as soon she feels up to it.

Katniss has dinner with Finnick in the hospital. Finnick comforts her, and they watch the propaganda again. Katniss tells him to shut the television off but stops him because Caesar is going to interview Peeta. She notes Peeta lost fifteen pounds and watches the interview. In the interview, Peeta asks Katniss why she joined the rebels, and if she didn't know, she should find out.

After watching it, she pretends to have not seen it because Plutarch walks in and makes sure she is well. She is overwhelmed by Peeta's interview. Katniss and Finnick go to the woods to hunt in District 13. Katniss talks about Peeta's broadcast from last night and questions why no one is talking about it. Katniss is thankful that Finnick is here to listen to her.

Katniss and Gale

The next day, Katniss and Gale have tension between them. Katniss is furious that Gale did not talk or say anything about Peeta's interview. Gale tells her it was to protect her and that he had to lie. Katniss, enraged by this, tells him to leave her alone and to stop lying to her. The next day, Katniss is informed she must go back to District 12 with Gale and the others to shoot more shots for the propaganda. Katniss goes to the remains of her home and feels pain inside of her. Katniss feels more pain when Gale asks to go to his house, but Cressida tells him to react to the night of the bombing.

Katniss goes and communicates with an Avox that escaped the Capitol, Pollux. She sings "The Hanging Tree" to him but is cut off by Cressida. Katniss begins to forgive Gale because the two must stay together. Katniss goes back to the Victor village and searches the area. Katniss and Gale kiss because they are both in pain, and the only way to escape it is by doing this.

Peeta's Warning

A few days later, Katniss watches another interview with Peeta and becomes overwhelmed. Peeta again calls for a cease-fire, pointing out how much damage has been done to the districs' infrastructures and blaming the rebels for all of it. Suddenly, Beetee hijacks the broadcast and begins playing the propo they filmed in District 12. The propo then suddenly cuts back to Peeta, who tries to continue his speech, but fails. Beetee and the Capitol fight for control of the broadcast as it switches back and forth between Peeta and the propos. Suddenly, the Capitol seal flashes on the screen, accompanied by a "flat audio tone." After about twenty seconds, Peeta and President Snow appear on screen again, this time surrounded by turmoil. Snow tells the camera that the rebels are obviously trying to "disrupt the dissemination of information they find incriminating, but both truth and justice will reign." He then asks Peeta if he has any "parting thoughts for Katniss Everdeen." Peeta then speaks directly to Katniss, saying that nobody is safe in Panem and that she will be dead by morning. Katniss and the others realize that Peeta was warning the rebels that the Capitol was about to attack District 13. Beetee hijacks the broadcast again, flashing a short clip of Katniss standing in front of the destroyed hospital. When Peeta returns to the screen, he tries to continue talking, but the camera is knocked to the floor. Peeta is beaten, and his blood splatters across the screen.

Katniss sees this and goes into shock. She backs up Haymitch's theory that it is a warning of a bombing, and the inhabitants of District 13 retreat to a safe bunker. When Mrs. Everdeen arrives and is not with Prim, Katniss deduces that she went back for Buttercup. She stops the doors from being closed and locked in time for Prim and Gale to enter. Katniss stays with her family in one area, and after the first bombing, Mrs. Everdeen leaves to the first aid station to help heal the wounded. Katniss is worried about Peeta, but Prim comforts her and tells her President Snow wouldn't kill him because he needs him to get to her. Katniss asks what she thinks will happen to Peeta, to which Prim replies, whatever it takes to break her. Katniss plays with Buttercup during the night with a flashlight and imagines how she can get Peeta back. She goes to Finnick and shares her ideas on Snow's plan. Finnick tells Katniss he is doing the same but with Annie. The two continue to talk about President Snow's plan.

Rescue of Peeta

Katniss in the remains of District 12.

Katniss, while shooting a propaganda, announces she can't take it anymore, then breaks down along with Finnick. President Coin assembles a rescue team to retrieve all victors in the Capitol, and Gale is the first person to volunteer. In a daring rescue, Peeta and other victors, apart from Enobaria, are rescued from the Capitol. Katniss feels helpless when she is left out of the rescue mission. When she goes to visit Finnick, the two talk about the mission and how if they die, it won't be bad because they won't have to feel any more pain. Haymitch informs them that they can help by shooting a propaganda. Katniss does an interview and tells them how she met Peeta and informs them of the time when President Snow told her the Capitol is fragile. She tells them it is because the Capitol depends on the districts, and without them, they would fall. Katniss is informed the rescue party had arrived home safe. She sees Johanna and Annie are alive and that Peeta has been saved. However, Peeta has been hijacked into hating Katniss, and tries to strangle her to death upon their reunion.

Hijacked Peeta

Katniss receives medical attention after the attempted strangulation. Prim comforts Katniss and they are informed by Plutarch that Peeta was brainwashed by the Capitol and is receiving all the treatment they can give him. Katniss is deeply depressed by this and goes to visit Gale and Beetee. She is sad that Gale and Beetee are building weapons to help their efforts but aren't thinking about the innocent people who may be injured in the process. Katniss meets Delly Cartwright and informs her of Peeta's condition. Katniss watches Delly talk to Peeta and his outburst to her, shouting that Katniss is a muttation and District 12's destruction is her fault. Katniss tells Plutarch if she is going to be the mockingjay, he must send her away from Peeta. She asks to be taken to the Capitol so she can end the war by killing Snow, but Plutarch tells her she can't until all the districts are on the rebels' side.

Going to District 2

Plutarch tells Katniss District 2 is the only district still with the Capitol because District 2 and the Capitol have a close relationship with each other. District 2 supplies the Capitol with Peacekeepers and Stone, and the Capitol pays a lot in return, therefore being a wealthier district, and so she asks to be sent to District 2.

Katniss goes to District 2 with Haymitch, Boggs, Gale, and Beetee and meets Lyme at The Nut. While there, the group tries to think of a way to attack in, which would give them control over District 2. Gale suggests that they blow up the inside of The Nut, which upsets Katniss because Gale is willing to kill innocent people for the rebellion. In the end, and in the absence of Katniss and Gale having gone hunting, they adopt the solution proposed by Boggs of collapsing the mountain, without touching the train tunnel, to thus allow the evacuation of the surviving citizens of District 2. Witness to the attack on the Nut by Gale's bombs from the roof of the Hall of Justice, Katniss remembers the day of her father's death, and only the voice of Haymitch returning to District 13 through her earpiece brings her back to reality, before ordering her to go inside to avoid possible reprisals from the Capitol by air.

Arriving downstairs, she sits down at the foot of one of the immense columns in the entrance hall and, seeing behind the door the marble floor which leads to the steps towards the main square, remembers the feeling of unease she had experienced during the Victory Tour. Joining her, Boggs tells her the decision they have made regarding the attack on the Nut and, feeling that she is freezing, goes to get her a blanket. Meanwhile, Haymitch contacts her to let her know of a small breakthrough regarding Peeta's condition.

The fight between the rebels and the peacemakers and other enemies of District 2 lasts into the night. After midnight, Cressida comes to put a microphone on Katniss' Mockingjay costume and Haymitch asks her to give a speech which he promises to supervise. He asks her to announce to everyone that the Nut is defeated, that the Capitol no longer has any control over District 2, thinking that she will perhaps succeed in convincing the rest of their adversaries to lay down their arms.

Although initially at odds with him, she eventually capitulates, although she has to hurry, as she is too exposed. Her microphone on, she begins her speech to the citizens of District 2. Despite the fight continuing, Katniss continues her speech until she sees a young man stumbling out of the station. The young man being burned, she rushes towards him, preventing the rebels from attacking him. Once standing, the young man aims his gun at her, but Katniss, who instinctively backed away, makes him understand that she means him no harm. When he asks her to give him just one reason not to kill her, Katniss, confused, doesn't know what to say, leaving him undecided and perplexed. Desperate, she ends up reminding him of the recent events concerning them and declares that she no longer wants to kill the slaves of the Capitol for him, as she had to do during her first Games. She adds that although they pass the buck, it is not the Districts who will win in the end, but the Capitol for whom she is tired of being their pawn, echoing the discussion had with Peeta the day before of the 74th Hunger Games. Encouraged by Haymitch, she continues by reminding them who the real enemy is. While many seem convinced by this inspiring speech, someone in the crowd ends up shooting her.

Battle of the Capitol

Katniss and Gale dressed as Capitol citizens.

The rebels take control of the districts and finally begin an assault on the Capitol itself, which Katniss is a part of. However, an assault on a "safe" Capitol neighborhood goes wrong, and Katniss and her team flee further into the Capitol with the intent of finding and killing President Snow. While Peeta is hijacked, he is driven to kill Katniss but fought it off by remembering memories of Katniss and his deep love for her. Peeta wanted to die because he had impulses to kill her; on several occasions, he asks her to shoot him, give him nightlock, or just leave him to die. Peeta feared he would eventually overpower Katniss. Nonetheless, she stayed by him and comforted him. Eventually, they both became closer, and their love became deeper. The squad goes further into the Capitol, dressed as Capitol citizens. Eventually, Katniss finds herself pressing on alone towards Snow's mansion which has supposedly been opened to shelter Capitol children (but is actually intended to provide human shields for Snow). Afterward, bombs placed in supply packages kill many of these children and a rebel medical team, including Katniss' sister, Prim.

Katniss is burned by the explosion but receives medical attention at the Capitol hospital. President Coin visits her and tells her the rebels have won and she has saved Snow for Katniss to kill. Though Snow is tried and found guilty, he tells Katniss the final assault that killed Prim was ordered by President Coin, not the Capitol. Katniss realizes that if that was true, the bombing may have been the result of a plan originally developed by Gale. Katniss doubts this, but still realizes that she will never be able to look at Gale the same way, regardless of whether he was directly involved in Prim's death.

Death of President Alma Coin

Coin gathers the seven remaining victors who survived and proposes a final Hunger Games but with the children of the most powerful people in the Capitol. Peeta, Annie, and Beetee vote no, but Johanna, Enobaria, Haymitch, and Katniss all vote yes.

Katniss about to kill Snow.

Katniss remembers a conversation with Snow in which they promised not to lie to each other. When she is supposed to execute Snow, she realizes that he was telling the truth and kills Coin instead. A riot ensues and Snow is found mysteriously dead, having possibly choked on his own blood or trampled by the crowd. Katniss is admitted to a secure holding room but acquitted due to her apparent insanity and returns to her home in District 12, while Gale goes to District 2 to work in the military and Mrs. Everdeen begins practicing at a District 4 hospital, unable to go back to District 12 due to the pain. Still destroyed over the death of Prim, Katniss becomes depressed and suicidal.

Peeta returns soon after as well, having recovered immensely from his brainwashing. He plants primroses around Katniss' house as a memorial for her sister. Katniss begins to heal, and her relationships with Peeta and Haymitch recover as well. After a while, Katniss and Peeta put together a book of all of the characters that died at the end of the series. Katniss writes all of the facts about the victims, including Rue, Prim, Boggs, Finnick, and more. Peeta draws all of the pictures in the book, if they had not found a picture of them.

Peeta plays one final round of Real or Not and says, "you love me, real or not real?". Katniss answers back, "real".

Adult life

In the epilogue, Katniss explains that she agreed to have children with Peeta fifteen years after the war, when she was about 32-33. The epilogue itself is set "more than twenty years" after the war. In those five or more intervening years, she and Peeta have had two children, both unnamed: a daughter and a son. The Hunger Games are over, the arenas have been destroyed, and memorials have been built for the tributes and others, who died in the wars. She and Peeta have settled in the Meadow, where their children can play in peace and harmony. She dreads the day her children's innocent world is shattered by learning the details of their parents' involvement in both the Games and the war, though Peeta assures her that they will be okay, that they have each other and the memory book. Katniss is still affected by post-traumatic stress disorder in the years following the Games and the war. When she feels upset, she has taken to reminding herself of every good thing that she has ever seen someone do. She ruefully acknowledges that this routine is a bit of a tedious game for her, but that "there are much worse games to play".

Katniss and Peeta eventually create a memorial book. While Haymitch wants nothing to do with it at first, he eventually shares with them his own story about all of the people that Haymitch had loved and lost. Afterwards, Katniss brings Haymitch some goose eggs and Peeta builds an incubator for them.

Relationships

• Katniss Everdeen Relationships

Victims

During the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss killed Glimmer, the female tribute from District 1, and the female tribute from District 4 by dropping a tracker jacker hive on them while they slept. The two received many stings, which resulted in death. Her next kill was Marvel, the male tribute from District 1, who drowned in his own blood after Katniss shot him in the neck after he threw a spear into Rue's stomach. During the final fight between Katniss, Peeta, and Cato (the male tribute from District 2) Cato was mortally wounded by muttations. Katniss killed him by shooting an arrow at his neck, as an act of mercy.

During the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss killed Gloss, the male tribute from District 1, after he slit Wiress's throat.

After joining the rebellion, Katniss and Gale shoot down several Capitol bombers during an air raid on District 8. During the Battle of the Capitol, she kills Peacekeepers, a female Capitol citizen, and at Snow's execution, President Coin.

Physical description

Katniss in her Reaping clothes.

Katniss has long black hair, which she normally pulls back into a long braid, olive skin, and gray eyes. After the fire in the 74th Hunger Games, after her time in the arena, her hair turned at least six inches short, it is an unknown if it was grown back - though most likely it was after her full body fix in the Capitol. She is small in stature and thin for her age as she was generally malnourished because of her district's poverty. She is thus one of the smallest tributes in her Games, but due to her outdoor life, she is strong for her size. She is also known as "The Girl on Fire" during the Hunger Games; she earns this title from her fierce personality and the outfits created for her by her stylist, Cinna. Katniss is not very image-conscious, to the dismay of Venia, one of her stylists. In the first book, her hearing in her left ear is destroyed because of the explosion caused in the arena, but it is fixed in the Capitol in the end, as are all of her other major and more minor injuries including the erasing of any scars from her years of hunting. Before entering the arena the first time, Katniss had many minor scrapes and cuts, and her outward appearance was very much imperfect. However, after she won, they were repaired by the Capitol doctors, including replacing the hearing in her left ear. Most notable about her appearance and demeanor, however, was the image she unconsciously projected, as noted by her co-tribute Peeta. In Peeta's interview, he says that a lot of boys like Katniss when asked if he likes anyone at home.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss wore worn-out clothes with hunting boots, and sometimes wore her father's old hunting coat. During the reaping, she wore her mother's blue dress. At the parade in the capitol, she wore the costume that Cinna made that gave her the name "The Girl on Fire." She wore a black unitard representing coal and lit them with synthetic fire that doesn't burn but can be quenched by a solution made to counter it. He keeps the theme by designing Katniss's interview dress, a gown made completely of precious jewels in flame colors, reflecting the lighting to make her look like she is "engulfed in flames." During the Hunger Games, she wore a hooded black jacket that fell down to her thighs and reflects body heat, tawny trousers, a sturdy brown belt, and a green button-up shirt. She also wears her Mockingjay pin. Cinna also designs her Victor dress, keeping the theme of fire, yet toning it down to candlelight to symbolize innocence other than the fiery spirit for which the theme was first created.

Katniss Everdeen's Capitol portrait.

In Catching Fire, she wore many dresses due to the victory tour held six months after the games are over. Katniss describes the outfit Cinna designs for the first day of the Victory Tour as having "flowing black pants made of a thick, warm material. A comfortable white shirt. A sweater woven from green and blue and gray strands of kitten-soft wool. Laced leather boots that don't pinch my toes." Another one of Cinna's outfits for the Victory Tour includes a white coat, leather gloves, a bright red scarf, and earmuffs. The outfit Katniss wears in District 11 is described as "a pretty orange frock patterned with autumn leaves." Cinna designs dresses for Katniss to wear to banquets and balls. One is described by Katniss as pale pink and strapless. Another is described by Johanna Mason as a strapless dark blue velvet dress with diamonds that Katniss wore in District 2. The dress worn by Annie Cresta at her wedding was designed by Cinna for Katniss in District 5. After Katniss accepted Peeta's proposal during the Victory Tour stop at the Capitol, Cinna designed a set of wedding dresses. The Capitol audience voted on the finalists to select the one that would have been used for the wedding. Katniss describes the winner as having sleeves that touch the floor and lots and lots of pearls. During the third Quarter Quell, she wore a fitted blue jumpsuit only 1/2 inch thick made of sheer material, with a zipper in front, a six-inch wide padded belt covered in purple plastic, and nylon shoes with rubber soles. Every victor wore a blue jumpsuit, and a belt that was also a flotation device. The belt was filled with a thick, purple liquid. Katniss also wore her Mockingjay pin.

In Mockingjay, she wore a plain grey shirt and pants since all residents of District 13 wear this. Cinna had designed a uniform for Katniss to wear for her role as the mockingjay. The uniform was black body armor. It had a helmet that can turn into a hood, a chest plate to protect vital organs and had special reinforcements over her heart, short sleeves that reach to her elbows, and white folds under her arms. She had hidden weapons in her boots and belt. Katniss wears a bloody bandage to cover the scar on her left arm that Johanna Mason gave her when she cut her tracker out during the 75th Hunger Games. She also wears her Mockingjay pin over her heart. It's also said in the book after the explosion in Capitol where her sister died, that some of her hair was burned off. Her Mockingjay suit is red, symbolizing the rebellion and the revolution.

Personality

"Frankly, I could need some sugarcoating."

—Katniss

Katniss has strong and independent survivalist instincts due to her difficult past and is good at thinking outside the box. She is not socially adept and has a hard time making friends due to the emotional strain on her life which has made her hard and cold. She is more concerned about feeding her family than being social, making her awkward around people. Though Katniss can be rather blunt, misanthropic, sarcastic, bitingly cynical, and cold, she has a very vulnerable side which she only shows around her family, and she has a natural maternal instinct as showed when she comforted Prim and helped Rue. She is not very good at acting for the camera and comes across best when she is herself. She is usually very logical except for times when her emotions get in the way.

Katniss has a habit of biting her nails when she is nervous or anxious and must consciously stop herself from doing so when around others. After she became a victor she could not think of a good reason to break the habit. However, after joining the rebellion she appears to have stopped biting her nails as she does not mention doing so.

"All I know about you is that you're stubborn and good with a bow."
"That pretty much sums me up."

—Peeta and Katniss on the train to District 11.

Katniss is very strong, stubborn, and determined. Often, she will react first and ask questions later. She will do anything to survive. Even when she allied with Rue, she said she hoped that she didn't have to be the one to kill her. Yet when it came to Peeta, she tried her best to figure a way for them both to survive. This independent streak did not go well in the regimented confines of District 13 and Katniss largely did what she wanted and ignored her daily schedule. She had to discipline herself to undergo military training in order to prove that she could be sent into combat, and her unwillingness to take orders was perceived as her greatest weakness. This was targeted during her individual exam, but she was able to realize this and pass.

Even though she can sometimes be a bit self-centered and self-reliant, she does have noble traits, protecting those she loves. For example, caring for Prim, looking out for Rue, and ending Cato's life mercifully even though he caused her so much pain or when she shields Gale to keep him from being whipped, even when it means a lash for herself. Katniss has an instinct to protect those who are weak such as Rue, Wiress, and her prep team.

Unlike her younger sister, she is not a natural born healer. She once ran from the house in fright while Prim and her mother cared for a dying man. She even had trouble healing Peeta, being squeamish, and reluctant to care for him unclothed. Instead, she is more like her father, being skilled at hunting and gathering.

Similar to her father, Katniss had a rebellious streak. She was a fiercely determined and resourceful fighter and was reasonably easy to underestimate. Due to this, she was almost always in disagreement with authority figures and liked to use her own resources when it came to survival (the instincts of a true survivor). Katniss was loyal to no one and had issues when it came to trusting others, but this grew to be her one of her greatest strengths.

In Mockingjay, it is shown that Katniss dislikes being a "pawn" and hates having the weight of Panem on her shoulders.

Katniss suffers from PTSD from her experiences in the Hunger Games throughout the series. This includes frequent nightmares and night terrors of those she killed and tried to kill her, avoidance of others/isolation, irritability, and favoring the wilds of the forest over human contact.

Family

At the start of the trilogy, Katniss's only family members are her sister Prim and their mother. Her father died in a mine explosion when she was eleven. Katniss would do anything to protect Prim,, even if it means her own death. Her mother suffered extreme depression after the death of her husband, leaving Katniss to become the head of the family, despite her young age. Mrs. Everdeen is a skilled healer, and Prim is something of an assistant.

Gale Hawthorne and his family are like family for her. In Catching Fire, it is revealed that during the Hunger Games, Gale was presented to the Capitol media as Katniss' cousin, in order to be interviewed about her without detracting from the romance which Katniss and Peeta were presenting to survive the arena. After the 74th Hunger Games conclude, President Snow threatens Katniss with Gale's life if she does not perpetuate this lie, and so she does. As part of this sham romance, Peeta and Katniss become engaged, and Peeta tells a TV interviewer that Katniss is pregnant. It is revealed early in Catching Fire that Gale loves Katniss. Even though her father is dead, she still misses him dearly. With the possible exception of Prim, there was no one Katniss loved more than her father. He taught her to hunt, swim, and live off the wild, skills that served her well during the games. Katniss inherits a beautiful singing voice from her father, shown when either of them sing the mockingjays stop to listen. He taught her many songs such as "The Hanging Tree" and the lullaby Katniss sang to Rue as she died. But after her father's death, singing reminds her too much of her father so she only does it rarely.

When Katniss's mom heard Katniss singing "The Hanging Tree" she yelled at him for teaching her that, and tells Katniss to forget the song. Katniss runs away to the hideout and of course, because she was told to forget the song, she distinctly remembers it. She remembers it a lot, especially after her father's death. Katniss sings the "Hanging Tree" to Pollux when he wanted her to sing for the mockingjays and a few other times throughout the book Mockingjay. Katniss sings "Deep in the Meadow" to her two children, and many times throughout the series.

The rebellion drives Katniss's family apart. Prim's death in a bombing devastates Katniss. The trauma leaves her a "mental Avox", unable to speak until her encounter with Snow after his imprisonment. Her mother leaves District 12 permanently, taking a position in District 4 to build a hospital. Katniss returns home with Haymitch, where she finds that Peeta has also returned, yet Gale has not. Katniss and Peeta rely on each other while recuperating from the war, and rebuild their relationship.

Fifteen years after the war, Katniss and Peeta have a daughter with black hair like her mother, and blue eyes like her father. Their second child is a boy with his father's blond hair and his mother's gray eyes.

Etymology

"[Katniss Everdeen's] name came later, while I was researching survival training and specifically edible plants. In one of my books, I found the arrowhead plant, and the more I read about it, the more it seemed to reflect her. Its Latin name has the same roots as Sagittarius, the archer. The edible tuber roots she could gather, the arrowhead-shaped leaves were her defense, and the little white blossoms kept it in the tradition of flower names, like Rue and Primrose. I looked at the list of alternative names for it. Swamp Potato. Duck Potato. Katniss easily won the day."

—Suzanne Collins on naming Katniss Everdeen.

The katniss plant is also known as "arrowhead" and belongs to the genus Sagittaria. It is both ornamental and useful, as its tubers are edible.

According to Suzanne Collins, Katniss's last name comes from Bathsheba Everdene, the main character in Far from the Madding Crowd, because "both struggle with knowing their hearts".

She was given two other names due to her symbolic roles: the Girl on Fire and the Mockingjay. The first was a reference to her spectacular costume during the chariot ride before her first Games and her dresses. The second was because of her district token, a gold mockingjay pin, which came to stand for the rebellion. Both names originated from something she wore.

Trivia

Jennifer Lawrence on the set of The Hunger Games.

• Katniss's birthday is May 8th. Despite thematic associations with Sagittarius (the archer), Katniss's birthday actually makes her a Taurus.
• Her favorite color is green, and her favorite food in the Capitol is lamb stew with dried plums served on grain.
• All the tributes she killed in the Games were Career Tributes.
  • Katniss killed both male tributes from District 1 in her two Games after they killed one of her allies; she killed Marvel after he threw the spear into Rue's stomach, and she killed Gloss after he slit Wiress's throat.
• In the first film, Katniss weighed 122 pounds and had 23-1 odds of winning the Games.
• The two people in her family closest to her, her father and Prim, both died in explosions.
• Katniss received burns in all three books.
• Katniss and Peeta are the only tributes to participate in the Games two years in a row.
• In the films, she was District 12's very first volunteer according to Effie. However, in the books, District 12 "hadn't had a volunteer in decades", suggesting that Katniss was not the first.
• Katniss's father made her first bow and arrow.
• Since some of the Covey's songs survived into the trilogy through Katniss, who learned them from her father, fans have theorized that the Everdeens are descendants of the Covey— probably through Maude Ivory Baird, who shared Katniss's ability to memorize music after a listen or two. Francis Lawrence, the director of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes film, supports this theory himself.

Meta

• Katniss's birthday coincides with Victory in Europe Day, celebrating Germany's surrender in WWII. It is also the day that Joan of Arc ended the Siege of Orléans. However, Suzanne Collins has not indicated whether these connections were intentional or coincidental.
  • Katniss has often been compared to Joan of Arc. For example, Jennifer Lawrence described her character as "a futuristic Joan of Arc" while promoting The Hunger Games film, and Donald Sutherland described her as "more dangerous than Joan of Arc" in his initial letter to director Gary Ross.
  • Suzanne Collins has called Katniss a "futuristic Theseus".
• Lionsgate confirmed in March 2011 that about 30 actresses auditioned or read for the role of Katniss, including Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Emma Roberts, Saoirse Ronan, Chloë Moretz, Jodelle Ferland, Lyndsy Fonseca, Emily Browning, Shailene Woodley, Danielle Chuchran, and Kaya Scodelario.
• On March 16, 2011, Jennifer Lawrence was announced as the film's Katniss. She was a fan of the books, but took three days to accept the role because she was intimidated by the size of the production.
  • According to Suzanne Collins, Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book," and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."
• Katniss's promotional posters for the first three films are unique from other characters'. In a poster for the first film, she's the only character who is looking right; in one for the second, she's the only character standing; and for the third, each character has the film's mockingjay emblem behind them, but Katniss's is aflame.

Gallery

• Katniss Everdeen Gallery