Katniss Everdeen

Katniss Everdeen
'The Hunger Games Trilogy' character
First appearance	The Hunger Games
Last appearance	Mockingjay
In-universe information
Nickname	"Catnip" (Gale)
Gender	Female
Family	Mrs. Everdeen (mother) Mr. Everdeen (deceased father) Primrose Everdeen (sister) Peeta Mellark (fiance)

Katniss Everdeen is the main character and protagonist of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games series. Her name comes from a fictional plant called katniss. She and her family live in District 12, one of the poorer districts. Katniss was picked with Peeta Mellark to be District 12's tributes for the 74th annual Hunger Games, a gruesome competition. With her hunting and archery skills, she became a contender, and set off a rebellion when she and Peeta both lived, though against the rules of the Games.

Character Background

Katniss and her family live in the future in Panem, a country that rose out of the ruins of North America. They live in District 12, a poor district that mines coal for the Capitol, which controls all of Panem. District 12 is located somewhere in Appalachia.

Katniss's father was killed when she was eleven years old in a mining accident. Katniss's mother is a healer for the town. After her father's death, Katniss decided that she would have to illegally hunt out in the woods like she always used to do with him to keep their family from starving. It was there where she met Gale Hawthorne.

In the books

The Hunger Games

Main article: The Hunger Games

At the reaping (when children are drawn to participate in the Games) Katniss's twelve-year old sister, Prim, is chosen. Instead of letting her sister die, she volunteers, thereby submitting herself into the Games instead of Prim. The boy chosen from District 12, Peeta, is also Katniss's age. The two are shipped off for training in the Capitol. When they are giving scores for their training, Katniss surprisingly gets an 11 out of 12. During the interview before the Games begin, Peeta claims that he is in love with her. Katniss is not sure, but she plays along as a strategy to get sympathy from the viewers so they will receive gifts. Halfway through the Games a new rule is introduced: that if both tributes from one district are the last one alive, then they can both become victors. Katniss immediately finds Peeta, but when they are the only ones alive at the end the rule switches back. Katniss suggests that they both eat a poisonous berry and therefore die together, but they are reluctantly interrupted and are allowed to live. Because of this, Katniss became a political target and started a rebellion. Peeta is heartbroken that she was really acting in the arena, but Katniss is unsure of her own feelings.

Catching Fire

Main article: Catching Fire (2009 novel)

Katniss and Peeta go on the Victory Tour, which is a visit to each district by the visitors strategically placed in between each Hunger Games. Katniss becomes aware of an "uprising" occurring in several of the districts. In addition, President Snow is forcing Katniss to show that she is really in love with Peeta, and not with her "cousin," as Gale was pretending to be. Peeta even proposes to her, but Katniss supposedly did not impress Snow. When the Quarter Quell is announced—a special Games every twenty-five years that comes with different rules—the rule for this year's is that the tributes will be reaped from the victors who have won previous Games. District 12 has only 3 victors: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch Abernathy, a drunken mentor who won the 50th Games. Katniss is picked for the girls', naturally, and Peeta volunteers for Haymitch. The couple return to the arena, gathering new friends, but it turns out that several districts had planned to fly to District 13, which might not have been destroyed after all. However, Peeta is captured by the capitol and Gale comes to inform her that Distinct 12 was bombed, but her family is safe.

Mockingjay

Main article: Mockingjay

The third book in the trilogy, Mockingjay, will be released on August 24, 2010. The fate of Katniss is so far unknown, though it is assumed it will be from her point of view.

Characterization

Outward Appearence

Katniss is sixteen years old and is described having long, black hair usually in a braid, gray eyes, and olive skin, though some of her hair was singed off during the games. These traits are common in District 12. Katniss also has supposedly hairy legs, as pointed out by Venia, one of her stylists. In the first book, her hearing in one ear was out because of an explosion, but it was fixed in the Capitol at the end, as were all of her other and more minor injuries.

Personality

Katniss is tough and never will let anything get her down. She will protect anyone she loves, as shown when she volunteers for the Games to save her little sister, Prim, or when she throws herself in front of Gale to keep him from being whipped, although it meant a lash for herself. Peeta describes her as "pure" because she still has humanity left in her and wouldn't undress him during the Games.

Skills

Katniss is a skilled archer and trapper, having learned from her father and Gale. She also has some singing ability, although she is reluctant to take credit for it.

Possessions

Katniss has a gold pin picturing a mockingjay, which was given to her by her friend, Madge. After she wins the Games, it becomes a symbol of rebellion between the Districts. However, many ignorant Capitol citizens sill use it as a symbol of fashion, a remembrance of Katniss's exciting Games.

See also

• The Hunger Games trilogy
• The Hunger Games
• Catching Fire (2009 novel)
• Mockingjay