Titus was the male tribute from District 6 during an unknown Hunger Games "a few years" prior to the 74th. He was infamous for committing acts of cannibalism.[1]
Biography
Katniss Everdeen recalled Titus when thinking of "those raging beast tributes, the kind who tries to eat someone's heart after they've killed them." While in the arena, he went "completely savage" and tried to eat the bodies of his victims. As a result, the Gamemakers had to electrically stun him so they could retrieve bodies before he consumed them. Although there were no rules in the arena, cannibalism did not play well with the Capitol audience.[1]
Death
Titus was eventually killed in an avalanche, which was thought to have been set up by the Gamemakers to ensure that the victor was not a cannibalistic "lunatic". This set a precedent that cannibalism would not be tolerated in the Games.[1]
Etymology
The name Titus may be a reference to the Shakespeare play "Titus Andronicus", in which the titular character goes insane after the rape of his daughter, Lavinia. Though the character in the play does not commit cannibalism himself, he kills his daughter's rapists and tricks their mother into eating the remains.
Trivia
- Titus is the only known cannibal tribute.
- Titus was the first named District 6 citizen in the series, and he would be the only one until Otto and Ginnee's appearance in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.[2]
- The prequel novel revealed that some Capitol citizens had to resort to cannibalism during the Dark Days, when rebels cut off food supply to the city.[3] This could be a contributing factor to the audience's discomfort at witnessing it in the Games.