Katniss Everdeen

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Katniss Everdeen
The Hunger Games character
Katniss Everdeen, as portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
First appearance	Literature: The Hunger Games (2008)
Last appearance	Literature: Mockingjay (2010)
Created by	Suzanne Collins
Portrayed by	Jennifer Lawrence
In-universe information
Aliases	The Girl on Fire The Mockingjay
Nickname	Catnip (by Gale) Sweetheart (by Haymitch) Girl on Fire (by Cinna and Caesar Flickerman)
Gender	Female
Title	Victor of the 74th Hunger Games The Mockingjay
Family	Mr. Everdeen (father, deceased, mine explosion) Mrs. Everdeen (mother) Primrose Everdeen (sister, deceased, bomb in the Capitol)
Spouse	Peeta Mellark
Children	Rye son Willow daughter

Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the main protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy written by American author Suzanne Collins.^[1] She is portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film adaptations The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

Katniss and her family live in District 12, a coal-mining region that is the poorest, least populated, and smallest domain in Panem—a dystopian autocratic nation ruled over by the wealthy class living in the Capitol. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss competes as a "tribute" in a yearly battle royal event known as "The Hunger Games", volunteering to fight in place of her little sister, Primrose "Prim" Everdeen, who was randomly selected to represent the district during a "reaping" ceremony. The Games are used as both a form of punishment for past revolt and a tool of political manipulation, forcing 24 children from 12 districts to compete in televised deathmatch. An unwitting participant, Katniss evolves from protector of her younger sister into a primary symbol of revolution over the course of the books through disobedience.

While in the arena, Katniss forms an alliance with Rue, the young female tribute from District 11, as Rue reminds her of Prim. When Rue is mortally wounded by another tribute, Katniss sings her a lullaby and covers her body in flowers. District 11 shows solidarity with Katniss over Rue's death and gifts her bread shaped like a moon and covered in seeds. Katniss now forms an alliance with her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta, and grows close to him. They outlive every opponent from the other districts to become the remaining two survivors, and they are declared the victors after refusing to obey the Capitol's order to combat one another. The response to Rue's death sparks widespread public unrest in District 11, with Katniss seen as a figure of its resistance; Peeta and Katniss's act of defiance instills an intrepid sense of daring in the marginalized districts, seeing weaknesses in the Capitol's ability to control others, and this forms the basis of insurrection against President Snow and the elites in the Capitol.

Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss becomes a galvanizing symbol of rebellion against the Capitol's oppression. Once the rebellion is victorious, Katniss chooses not to execute President Snow; instead, she shoots Alma Coin, the corrupt leader of District 13, who is shifting rapidly towards totalitarianism and power-grabbing, as an act of defiance of a different kind of tyranny guised as democracy. This leaves President Snow's cause of death ambiguous. She later begins a family with Peeta in the now peaceful Panem. To cope with her trauma, she often plays a game in which she thinks about every kind act she has ever witnessed people do, and reflects that “there are much worse games to play.”