Monkey mutts in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
The monkey mutts were primate muttations used in the 75th Hunger Games.[1]
History[]
Katniss and Finnick during the monkey fight.
Toxic fog dissipated around three o'clock in the morning on the second day of the Games. Soon after, Peeta Mellark spotted two monkeys and pointed them out to his allies, Katniss Everdeen and Finnick Odair. Unlike most mutts, the monkeys did not immediately attack them, and the tributes watched the monkeys for a while before retreating to the beach, where they purged the poison by soaking in salt water. When they returned to the jungle to tap a tree for water, Katniss realized that the monkeys had assembled in greater numbers. She tried not to alert Peeta of their presence because she knew eye contact was a sign of aggression, but he realized they were there and looked up.[1]
The female morphling sacrificing herself for Peeta.
At this point, it became clear that the monkeys were mutts due to their peculiar adaptations. The tributes held them off, but since there were so many, Katniss ran out of arrows. She called to Peeta, who had another sheath for her, but one mutt took the opportunity to lunge at his chest. Katniss threw a knife and missed, so she ran towards him to intervene, but the District 6 female got there first, and the monkey sank its fangs into her chest instead.[1]
Peeta killed the monkey that had attacked the female morphling and readied himself to fight off more, but the mutts withdrew into the jungle; Katniss figured that the Gamemakers had called them off. Peeta then carried the District 6 female onto the beach, laid her down on the sand, and talked to her about painting— something she had shown interest in during training— until she died.[2]
Later, Katniss realized that the 75th Hunger Games arena was a clock, with a new threat in a particular section every hour. The monkeys were triggered at three o'clock[3] and left at four.[4]
Film adaptation[]
The District 6 female's death.
In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the female morphling was bitten in the neck instead of her chest. Rather than staying on the sand of the beach, Peeta took her out into the water and told her to focus on the colors of the sky, giving her a sense of peace as she bled to death in his arms.[5]
Description[]
The mutts were tree-climbing monkeys with orange fur, about half the size of an adult human. They had sharp fangs, as well as claws that came out like switchblades. They were also incredibly fast, and they could jump unnaturally far. Katniss described fighting "scores" of them, indicating that the mutts were in a large troop.[1]
Film adaptation[]
In the film, the mutts had the body of a drill and the coloration of mandrills.[6]
The District 6 female's death portrait.
Known victims[]
- District 6 female (75th HG) - died defending Peeta Mellark[2][5]
Trivia[]
- While filming the fight sequence, stunt performers were not used as stand-ins for the monkeys, so the actors were fighting nothing.[7]
- This informed director Francis Lawrence's decision to have the stunt team stand in for the lizard mutts in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.[8]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Catching Fire, Chapter 21
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 22
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 23
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 24
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- ↑ THE HUNGER GAMES – CATCHING FIRE: Guy Williams – VFX Supervisor – Weta Digital
- ↑ Surviving the Game - Making the Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- ↑ The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 audio commentary by Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson