Fictional world of The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games universe is a fictional dystopia society in which the The Hunger Games trilogy, a series of young adult novels written by American television writer and novelist Suzanne Collins, is set.

In a far but unspecified time in the future, the nation of Panem has risen from the ashes of a post-apocalyptic North America. Panem's seat of power is a veritable utopian city located in the Rocky Mountains called simply "The Capitol." Outside of the Capitol, the nation is divided into twelve districts under the hegemony of a totalitarian government, currently headed by dictatorial President Snow. A thirteenth district once existed but was destroyed 74 years before the beginning of The Hunger Games narrative during a national rebellion called the Dark Days. The Capitol developed the Hunger Games to punish the citizens of Panem for their rebellion and to remind citizens of the absolute power of the Capitol and the consequences for rebelling against it.

As revealed in Mockingjay, the name Panem comes from the Latin phrase "Panem et Circenses" which means "bread and circuses."

Panem

The Capitol

The Capitol is the seat of Panem's brutal, totalitarian government and is located in the northwestern Rocky Mountains of the former United States and Canada. Panem is surrounded by twelve outlying districts over which it exercises hegemony. The Capitol is the home of dictatorial President Coriolanus Snow. Capitol citizens are wealthy and mostly preoccupied with fashion, food, and entertainment. Dyes, wigs, and costumes of vivid colors are common. At parties, the selection of dishes is commonly far greater than one person could sample, so it is common for parties to serve clear liquid drinks that causes a person to vomit in order to "make room for more food". Capitol citizens show little to no concern for or awareness of the desperation, poverty and starvation in which most district citizens live. Many of the citizens of Capitol are "swamped in debt" and have names of ancient Greco-Roman derivation. Citizens of the Capitol speak with a distinctive accent, which Katniss describes as "silly." The accent is high-pitched with clipped tones and odd vowels; the letter 's' is a hiss and the ends of sentences go up as if the speaker is asking a question. Residents of the Capitol cannot be chosen for the Hunger Games, as the Games were instituted as a punishment for the districts of Panem for their failed rebellion.

Several major characters come from the Capitol.

To promote the release of the film, Lionsgate set up a fictional website for the Capitol: thecapitol.pn.

District 1

District 1 specializes in producing luxury items such as jewelery. Children there take pride in competing in the Games, and are among the group of tributes nicknamed "Careers", who illegally train for the Games from a young age and then volunteer to compete. Once the Games begin, the tributes from the Careers districts (typically Districts 1, 2, and 4) tend to bond together until they are forced to fight among themselves for the winner.

In the first book, the tributes from District 1, Marvel and Glimmer, were somewhat important to the story. Katniss was responsible for the death of both Glimmer and Marvel. In the second book, Cashmere and Gloss were the District 1 tributes. They were killed by Johanna Mason and Katniss respectively.

District 2

District 2 is in charge of masonry, though it was revealed in Mockingjay that they specialize in training peacekeepers for The Capitol's army. District 2 is a large district set in the Rocky Mountains not far from the Capitol itself. The district is made up of many small villages, each based around a mine. In the midst of District 2 is a central mountain (referred to as "The Nut" by Katniss) which contains the command and control apparatus for the Capitol's defenses. Originally District 2 specialized only in mining and stone cutting, but after the Dark Days war it was also tasked with production of weapons.

During the Dark Days, District 2 was the Capitol's staunchest ally and after that rebellion was over, it received preferential treatment from the Capitol. Its citizens have better living conditions than most other districts. In the third book, during the second rebellion, District 2 once again supports the Capitol and is the last district to fall to the rebels. It is the only district in which some of its citizens support the Capitol.

District 2 tributes are known as Careers because they begin training for the games before they are even eligible to enter the drawing. Those who represent 2 in the Games are often volunteers. In the 74th Hunger Games, District 2's tributes, Cato and Clove, were formidable opponents. Clove came the closest of anyone to killing Katniss, but was killed by Thresh before she could succeed. Cato was the one to avenge her death and was the final tribute to be killed when he was ripped apart by wolf-like muttations. In the 75th Games, District 2's tributes were Brutus and Enobaria. Enobaria was one of the last 7 victors left after the conclusion of the second rebellion. Brutus was killed by Peeta.

District 3

District 3 specializes in technology. Most of its inhabitants work in factories and are very adept with engineering. Its tributes tend to use this to their advantage. In the The Hunger Games, the District 3 tribute managed to reactivate the mines from the starting area so they could be used to protect the supplies of the careers. One of the previous victors to come from District 3, Beetee, won his Games by setting a trap that electrocuted many of the other tributes. He also used his skills when chosen to compete in the 75th Hunger Games in Catching Fire. The other Victor chosen to compete in the 75th Hunger Games was a woman named Wiress, who discovered that the arena operated like a clock.

District 4

District 4 specializes in fishing. It is another wealthy district from which Careers hail. Katniss finds important allies in the 75th Hunger Games among the Victors from District 4, Mags and Finnick. Mags was an elderly woman and could make a fishing hook "out of anything," and Finnick's weapon of choice is a trident. Mags was Finnick's mentor in the Hunger Games. Annie Cresta, who later becomes Finnick's wife, also comes from District 4 and is a Victor who won by her swimming skill. In the third book, Finnick is killed by the lizard and human mutations. It is said that District 4 has the most "decent-looking" people. Its bread is a salty, fish-shaped loaf tinted green by seaweed. The female District 4 tribute was killed by Katniss when she dropped the "tracker jacker" nest. She died alongside Glimmer (the female District 1 tribute). The male tribute was not mentioned except that he was one of the first 11 to die in the initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia. In the film District 4 is not one of the Careers.

District 5

District 5 specializes in power. The female tribute from District 5 in the 74th Hunger Games is known as "Foxface" because she looks similar to a fox, with a slim face and sleek red hair. Her real name isn't mentioned. She was one of the last to die due to her cleverness- she avoided any form of contact with other tributes. She died after she secretly stole some poisonous nightlock berries from Katniss and Peeta's supply of food, assuming they were safe to eat. No description or name was given to the boy from District 5, except that he was one of the eleven who died on the first day. In the 75th Hunger Games, Finnick killed the male tribute with his trident at the Cornucopia on the first day.

District 6

District 6 specializes in transportation. Not much else is known about this district other than that both tributes in the 75th Games protected Katniss and Peeta. The tributes were both addicted to "morphling," a morphine-like pain relief medication. The book suggesting that morphling addiction may have been a district-wide issue. During the 74th Hunger Games both male and female tributes were killed during the first day.

District 7

District 7 specializes in lumber. One of Katniss' allies in the 75th Hunger Games was Johanna Mason, a resident of District 7, who was very good with an axe. Apparently a large portion of District 7's forest is pine, as Johanna comments that pine needles "smell like home." In the 75th Hunger games, Johanna attacked Katniss to remove the tracking device from her arm. In Mockingjay, Johanna was one of the tributes that got captured and it was revealed that she was tortured by being soaked in water and then electrocuted. However, she was rescued and taken to District Thirteen. She and Katniss soon begin to get along afterward, and actually share a room with each other.

District 8

District 8 specializes in textiles (includes at least one factory where Peacekeeper uniforms are made). Two people from District 8, Bonnie and Twill, escaped during one of the uprisings and informed Katniss of the theory that District 13 still existed. It is implied that security is strict in 8, and the citizens are desperate for hope. District 8 was also one of the first districts to rebel, as Katniss saw on Mayor Undersee's television. In the third book, Katniss visits a hospital in District 8, which is later bombed by the Capitol. The leader of District 8, Paylor, becomes President of Panem after President Snow has died and Katniss has killed President Coin. Even before she became president, Paylor's soldiers were apparently loyal to her, ignoring Coin's orders when she commanded. None of District 8's Tributes are mentioned much in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games other than that Peeta finished off the female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. District 8's victors were mentioned in the 75th Hunger Games. The male tribute that won was Woof and the female victor was Cecelia.

District 9

District 9 specializes in grain. It is mentioned once that District 9 has many factories. The District 9 boy tribute in the 74th Hunger Games is described as having hazel eyes, but whether that is a trait of his region is not stated. He died in the bloodbath after fighting with Katniss over a backpack when he was knifed in the back by Clove, the District 2 female tribute.

District 10

District 10 specializes in livestock. When Katniss arrives in District 13, she meets a man named Dalton, who is a District 10 cattle farmer. His task is to implant frozen cow embryos to increase the diversity of the herd. He seems cynical, and is distrustful of District 13. Katniss does not note any major tributes from District 10, except one boy with a crippled leg who is mentioned several times. At the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss notes that the District 10 tributes, who are dressed as cows, have flaming belts on as if they are broiling themselves, in poor imitation of Cinna's techniques to showcase Katniss at the Games.

District 11

District 11 specializes in agriculture. It is located somewhere in the South and is very large. The people are housed in small shacks and there is a harsh force of Peacekeepers. Common traits are dark skin and brown eyes. According to Rue, many tracker jacker nests were left there, leading the workers to keep medicinal leaves on hand. In the orchards small children were sent into the branches to pick the highest fruit. Sometimes during the height of the harvest they were given night-vision goggles to allow them to work after dark. The district also contained fields of grain and vegetables. The inhabitants apparently have extensive knowledge of herbs.

Thresh and Rue are the tributes from District 11 for the 74th Hunger Games and play important roles. Rue was Katniss's ally and one of her best friends in the arena. She was good at hopping from tree to tree, but was killed by District 1's Marvel. Thresh was a powerful contestant whom Katniss admired for his physical size, his pride and his refusal to join the Careers. Thresh saved Katniss from Clove, whose skull he smashed with a rock, and spared her because of her friendship with Rue. While the novel is not clear as to the circumstances regarding his death, it is implied Thresh was killed by Cato. He was killed in the movie by the mutations that the Capitol had created. The District 11 tributes for the 75th Hunger Games are Chaff and Seeder, both of whom know of the rebellion.

District 12

District 12 specializes in mining (mainly coal). Katniss, Peeta, and other major characters come from District 12. It is located in the Appalachian Mountains, and the district itself is split into two areas housing two distinct social classes. "The Seam" is a slum where those who work in the coal mines live, whereas the mercantile class lives in the town. Both classes are easy to distinguish physically: those from the Seam generally have dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin, and those from merchant families usually have blond hair and blue eyes. Katniss is from The Seam, whereas Peeta is a baker's son.

District 12 is very poor, and starvation is a major issue for the citizens. Due to the lack of food, the local Capitol authority figures — the Mayor and Peacekeepers — often bend the extremely strict Panem laws. The electric fence surrounding the district to prevent access to the woods is usually turned off, and Katniss and her friend Gale often hunt there for food for their families or to raise money by selling their catches in the local black market. The black market, located at an old coal warehouse named the Hob, was where many of the citizens made their money. The Hob was destroyed by the Peacekeepers in Catching Fire. This was followed by the bombing of the whole district after the escape of the tributes during the 75th Hunger Games. However, Gale managed to evacuate about 10% of the population—"a little under 900 people"—to District 13.

District 12 has only won two Hunger Games prior to the events of the first book; its only living victor, Haymitch Abernathy, survived the second Quarter Quell, where there were twice as many tributes as usual.

After the war, it is hinted in Mockingjay that District 12 will produce medicine and start growing some food for Panem instead of producing coal.

District 13

Prior to the Dark Days war, District 13 specialized in nuclear technology and mined graphite. During the Dark Days they were one of the major forces of the rebellion. Near the end of the Dark Days they managed to take control of the nuclear arsenal. District 13 was supposedly bombed and destroyed before the first annual Hunger Games at the end of the Dark Days war, but it is hinted and later confirmed in Catching Fire that they have survived, and in Mockingjay it's confirmed that District 13 literally became an underground district when the population retreated to bunkers. The Capitol has spread the story that District 13 was destroyed after the Capitol and District 13 agreed to leave each other alone since District 13 made nuclear weapons and the Capitol didn't want a nuclear war. Also, this underground district has its own farms that they survive on after the Capitol destroyed everything above ground so as not to arouse suspicion. This was something that, according to Katniss, the Capitol had underestimated. Katniss also states that District 13 is a week away from District 12 if you walk on foot.

In Mockingjay, District 13 is the center of the new rebellion. The lifestyle in 13 is very strict due to their circumstances. When a citizen wakes up, he or she acquires a temporary tattoo of their personalized schedule for the day. They are also very thrifty and ration food carefully—even a small thing wasted is heavily frowned on, and minor theft is punished by cruel detention. Everyone over the age of 14 is addressed respectfully as "Soldier", since almost everyone in District 13 around the time of the novels is being raised for a military rebellion against the Capitol. The leader of District 13 is President Alma Coin, who aspires to succeed Snow as President of Panem and has orchestrated the events of books two and three to circumvent District 13's truce with the Capitol. Coin is later killed by Katniss, due to the revelation that she ordered a bombing on the Capitol that killed Katniss's sister, Prim, and also by the fact she wants the Capitol to suffer just as the Districts did by making a new Hunger Games, in which Capitol children will participate.

The Hunger Games

Every year since the Dark Days (which occurred 75 years before the events of The Hunger Games), the Capitol hosts an event called the Hunger Games. The Games consist of two children aged 12–18 from each district, one boy and one girl, who are chosen by lottery to compete in a tournament.

When a citizen turns 12 years old, his or her name is automatically entered in the "reaping," a lottery from which the tributes are drawn. For every year until they turn 18, they are entered in one additional time. Since many families live in poverty, one may be able to receive additional tesserae (one person's meagre supply of grain and oil for a year) for each family member, in exchange for extra entries in the reaping. Therefore, for each tessera, one extra entry is placed in the reaping ball (these entries are cumulative, and are added every year.) For example, if a family has three members, a 12-year-old child could opt to take three extra tesserae: two for the two family members and one for themselves; thus their name would be entered four times (one is the required entry, and the extra three are for each member of the family). Since these accumulate, if the citizen keeps taking the extra tesserae yearly, they would have their names entered 20 times by the age of 16, 24 by the age of 17, and 28 times by the time they are 18.

On the reaping day, a spokesperson from the Capitol comes and chooses at random one name from each reaping ball, selecting the two tributes who are to compete. However, any other citizen of the same gender, from ages 12 to 18, can volunteer for the tribute, as Katniss did for Prim. The tributes are then taken immediately to the Capitol, where they are given a makeover by a team of stylists to look appealing for a TV audience (Katniss' stylist was named Cinna), learn strategy with mentors (as Katniss' and Peeta's was Haymitch), and participate in a parade and interviews along with the other tributes. They also receive training with weapons and other supplies which they use to impress a team of judges, the Gamemakers, who then score their skills in accordance. These scores are made public to show who has the best chances of surviving, which can attract sponsors and help with the betting. The day after the final interviews, the Games begin. Most people with the higher scores are targeted first because they are considered to be threats.

The tributes are put into an underground room until game time. The room is referred to in the Capitol as "The Launch Room", and referred to in the Districts as "The Stockyard", where animals go before they are slaughtered. The tributes are lifted up by tubes to the arena built specially for the Games by the Capitol (which is usually surrounded by a force field) that differs every year. They are instructed not to move from the plates they were deposited on for 60 seconds, before rushing to the giant, golden, supply-filled Cornucopia; if a tribute steps off his/her plate before 60 seconds have passed, mines in the ground activate and kill the tribute. The Games begins after a loud gong sounds signaling the start of the games, in which the tributes fight to get the best supplies in the Cornucopia, which can be food, water, weapons, tools, or other useful items. The closer to the Cornucopia they are, the more valuable and useful the items are.

The remaining tributes continue fighting. If they do not move fast enough or avoid conflict for too long, the Gamemakers sometimes create hazards in order to get the remaining tributes to fight. Another common occurrence is a "Feast," where a boon of extra supplies or food is granted to the tributes, announced at a particular place and time—though whether it is a lavish feast, carefully relegated supplies, or a single loaf of stale bread for the tributes to fight over is up to the Gamemakers.

In most Games, a well-stocked group of tributes (called "Careers", usually from the well-off Districts of 1, 2, and 4) band together to hunt down other individuals, until they are the only ones left to fight each other. The last living tribute is crowned victor by the president of Panem and is allowed to live in a special area of their district called the Victor's Village, where houses are well furnished and fully supplied with food. All families in their District also receive parcels for a year, packages containing food and other goods. Careers are considered brutal and disliked by many of the other Districts.

It is implied that there are no official rules for the Games except for not stepping off the plate until the first 60 seconds are over. In the first book, Katniss mentions that there is an unspoken rule against cannibalism in the Games. But during the 74th Hunger Games, the rules are altered midway through to allow two tributes from the same district to win – though when Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are the only two left, the rule is revoked in an attempt to have them fight one another. This ultimately fails when they attempt to poison themselves, and at the last moment the rule is reinstated, allowing both of them to win. This leads on to the second book and the rebellion is provoked by Katniss and Peeta when officials in the Capitol realized they had been manipulated by tributes and that the districts, instead of seeing it as a act of love for each other, saw it as inspiration for rebellion.

After the games, the victor (or victors in the previous case) is healed by doctors and sent home (after a final celebration and interview in the Capitol) to reside in the Victor's Village with their families. After about six months, the victor must take a tour through every district in Panem. The victor is given a celebration and ceremony, usually accompanied by a victory rally and dinner with top officials. The tour begins in the highest numbered district and ends in the victor's district. An extra "Harvest Festival" is provided by the Capitol for the winning district, giving the people more food.

Quarter Quell

The Quarter Quell is a special Hunger Games that occurs every 25 years. There always is a weird twist added to the Quell that was supposedly planned out at the time the Games were first created. The president selects the year number from the box and reads aloud the new rule. It is unknown, but likely, that the arenas chosen for these Quarter Quell Games were special. In the 1st Quarter Quell (25th Hunger Games), each district had to vote on which boy and girl would compete in the Games, instead of being drawn at random. In the 2nd Quarter Quell (50th Hunger Games), an additional boy and girl from each district were chosen to compete, raising the number of tributes to 48. The winner was Haymitch Abernathy, who won by dodging the axe thrown by his opponent; the axe fell off the edge of the arena and hit the force field that Haymitch had previously discovered. The force field sent the axe back into the throwers skull killing her instantly. Because he used the Capitol's actions to his advantage, the Capitol was humiliated, and killed his whole family and girlfriend shortly after the games as punishment. This caused Haymitch to sink into depression and alcoholism, but also caused the Capitol to have no hold over him.

The rule in the 3rd Quarter Quell (75th Hunger Games) was that the tributes from each district were to be reaped from its living victors. This Quell's message was that not even the strongest among the Districts could hope to defy the Capitol. The only living female victor from District 12 was Katniss, which meant that she would automatically go back to the arena. Of the two male victors, Haymitch's name was drawn, but Peeta volunteered to go in his place. The 75th Games had no winner, as Katniss destroyed the force field surrounding the arena on the third day of the Games by taking advantage of a lightning strike and wires tied around her arrow. Six of the 24 tributes survived: Enobaria from District 2, Beetee from District 3, Finnick from District 4, Johanna from District 7 and Katniss and Peeta from District 12. Unknown to Katniss and Peeta, some of the Districts and even some high ranking figures from the Capitol had formed a plan to rescue the tributes and start a new rebellion. In the confusion of the force field explosion, Enobaria, Johanna, and Peeta were captured by the Capitol. Only Beetee, Finnick, and Katniss were rescued and brought to District 13, which was the base of operations for the rebellion.

All other Quarter Quell instructions are unknown. Only the first three are certain, though Katniss mentioned that whoever planned the Quarter Quells assumed the Hunger Games would go on for centuries.

The Arena

The official arena is nowhere in particular, and it can be anywhere without human population. For example, in the 3rd Quarter-Quell, (the 75th Hunger Games) Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and all of the other members are placed near an island in a saltwater lake. The shore is far away so that contestants must swim to relative safety; those who could not and who could swim had a life belt used as a flotation device.The arena was also a clock. In each hour after midnight there was a new horror.

In Haymitch's case, he was placed into a beautiful meadow with flowers and a fruit-bearing forest and mountains, but everything was designed by the Gamemakers to be poisonous, including all of the food and water. The Gamemakers can create any hazard they wish, such as setting the forest on fire in the 74th, creating a thunderstorm, etc. In the 3rd Quarter-Quell (the 75th Hunger Games), the Gamemakers set the arena up as a clock with the Cornucopia at the center, its tail pointing to twelve. At each hour section, a different terror is set up by the Gamemakers, to go off during its specific hour. One section of the clock features a fog-like gas that paralyzes and kills anyone who breathes it in and causes the skin to develop rashes. In another there is a risk of being caught in the jungle cut off from shore where jabberjays repeated what sounded like loved ones' screams to drive tributes in the area mad. At the number twelve section of the clock a lightning storm occurs with rain. The tenth section of the clock experiences a tidal wave. The eleventh section has carnivorous insects.

Fauna unique to Panem

Muttations

Muttations, usually shortened to "mutts," is the term for genetically altered animals bred in the Capitol.

Jabberjays

Jabberjays are small black birds with a crest that were bred during the Dark Days in the Capitol's lab. They were engineered to be able to remember human conversations and repeat them back verbatim with human voices. They were used to spy on the rebels in a form the rebels would never expect. Figuring this out, the rebels fed lies to the jabberjays, and they were abandoned by the Capitol and left in the wilderness to die. Because the jabberjays were bred to be male, it was thought that they would die off in the wild. However, when released they bred with female mockingbirds and created the species "mockingjay". They no longer had the capability of human speech, but they could repeat back songs that they heard humans sing.

During the third Quarter Quell, one of the hours in the clock-like arena featured jabberjays that voice screams. While Finnick hears the screams of Annie, the insane girl he loves, Katniss hears Prim's scream. Katniss attempts to escape the sound by shooting all the screaming birds, but she eventually gives up. To add to their torture, the Capitol puts up invisible force fields to keep them within screaming distance of the "horrible" birds.

Tracker jackers

The tracker jackers are genetically altered wasps created in the Capitol during the Dark Days. Disturbing the nest causes them to chase or 'track' the offender, and the stings bring on extreme pain, hallucinations and often death. Katniss drops a tracker jacker nest on several tributes during her first Hunger Games, and causing the death of two: Glimmer, the girl from District 1 and the unnamed girl from District 4. Katniss and several other tributes are stung and hallucinate after the attack. Their venom is used by the Capitol to brainwash Peeta also known as "hijacking". This method is used in the book "Mockingjay".

Wolf mutts

Wolf mutts appeared at the end of the 74th Hunger Games to draw Katniss, Peeta, and Cato into a final fight. The wolf-like creatures mimicked the other tributes, particularly in fur and eye color, but also with collars which match the tributes' district numbers. One wolf Katniss identifies as Rue, and others as Glimmer, Foxface, and Thresh. They were created by the Gamemakers to draw the tributes together for the finale. Peeta later paints the one supposed to be Glimmer, the female tribute from District 1. It took him three days to find the right shade for sunlight on white fur. He "kept thinking it was just yellow, but it was so much more than that." Katniss hates these paintings because he brings the arena back to life, but thinks they are beautiful in a different way.

Rose-scented reptiles

These mutts are seen in Mockingjay in the underground tunnels of the Capitol, supposedly created especially to hunt Katniss down. They are described as having tight, white skin, long sharp claws and teeth. They also smell of roses, thought to be so because Katniss hates the smell of the Capitol's altered roses, due to their association with President Snow. They can jump extremely far. Katniss has a Holo device self-destruct by repeating 'nightlock' three times, and then throws it into the underground tunnel to kill the mutts. These mutts are responsible for the death of Finnick Odair, Jackson, Castor, Homes and Leeg 1 by decapitation.

Monkey mutts

There were also muttation monkeys with switchblade claws and orange fur that would attack during the 4th hour of the "clock" in the 75th Games. They attacked the tributes in packs when Peeta glanced up at them in the 75th Hunger Games, but the woman victor from 6, or 'female morphling', as Katniss calls her, jumps in front of Peeta to save his life, as she was part of the alliance formed to defend Katniss and Peeta with their lives. On the clock, the monkeys are the 3:00-4:00 session.

Other mutts

In the 50th Hunger Games, several other muttations are mentioned. These include poisonous butterflies with stingers, "carnivorous fluffy golden squirrels", and candy-pink birds with skewerlike beaks. One of these creatures killed Maysilee Donner in the Second Quarter Quell. During the third Quarter Quell (75th Hunger Games), an unknown beast occupies the six-to-seven-o'clock zone.

Mockingjays

Mockingjays are the result of the genetically created Capitol jabberjays mated with female mockingbirds and created a unique species, called a mockingjay. They reproduced, and jabberjays became "as rare and tough as rocks," as Katniss stated in Catching Fire. Mockingjays lost the jabberjay's ability to enunciate words, but are halfway between jabberjays and actual mockingbirds — they can perfectly copy, down to the last note, any human tune. If a singer with a voice the mockingjays respect sings, they will fall silent. Katniss, Peeta, and Peeta's father note throughout the series. Katniss, her father, and Rue are singers that have caused mockingjays to fall silent as mentioned in Mockingjay and The Hunger Games. District 11 is known to have an especially large mockingjay population, as confirmed by District 11 tribute Rue.

Mockingjays have a certain level of symbolism in Panem. In the Capitol the pin stands for a very exciting Hunger Games. For the rebels it is a symbol of rebellion. At the beginning of The Hunger Games, Katniss was given a mockingjay pin by Madge Undersee, the daughter of District 12's mayor. She recognized this not immediately but while she was waiting for guests to say their 'final' goodbyes before going into the arena, and said that it was a huge "slap in the face" to the Capitol, because mockingjays were never intended to exist. Katniss wears the pin as her token in the Games, and by Catching Fire it becomes a symbol of rebellion. In Mockingjay, Katniss becomes the titular character, a person who speaks to the districts for the rebels, and she wears a mockingjay-inspired costume and the pin.

Flora unique to Panem

Nightlock

Nightlock is a wild berry plant that Katniss first heard of from her father. This berry is extremely toxic and will kill the consumer almost instantly. Nightlock becomes a major plot device in The Hunger Games, and is first shown as the berries Peeta has gathered. Katniss doesn't know he has picked them but once she sees them she identifies them as nightlock. Luckily he has not eaten any before one of the remaining tributes, District 5's "Foxface" (as Katniss calls her), steals them, and eats them. She dies immediately. Katniss and Peeta take some with them just in case Cato falls for the same trick as Foxface, they are needed once more at the climax of the novel, where the previously-instated rule of a District's two tributes being allowed to win together is revoked. Instead of battling each other, Katniss suggests that they eat the berries and both die at the same time hoping that the Gamemakers will change their minds and allow both of them to live. It works and they are both announced as winners before they swallow because the Capitol would rather have two winners than none (this would ruin the Hunger Games if no one survived). The plant nightlock may have some resemblance to and likely takes its name from the real plants nightshade and hemlock, both of which are deadly poisons.

Unnamed tracker jacker venom absorbing plant

In the 74th Hunger Games, Rue uses them to treat the various tracker jacker stings on Katniss. Katniss recognizes the leaves as something that her mother used, albeit in a different way to Rue. Rue applies the leaves of the plant by chewing them into a pulp, then applying them to the tracker jacker stings. Katniss' mother stews the leaves to make an infusion which the patient then drinks.

Katniss applies the leaves of the unnamed plant to Peeta's leg wound, caused by Cato in the 74th Hunger Games.

References

Bibliography

• Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. Scholastic. ISBN 0-439-02348-3.
• Collins, Suzanne (2009). Catching Fire. Scholastic. ISBN 978-0-439-02349-8.
• Collins, Suzanne (2010). Mockingjay. Scholastic. ISBN 978-0-439-02351-1.