The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.
Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the protagonist of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy. Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss. Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss in the films The Hunger Games, and The Hunger Game:Catching Fire. She will reprise her role in the sequels The Hunger Games:Mockingjay - Part 1 and The Hunger Games:Mockingjay-Part 2.Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district that is the poorest and least populated district in the dystopian fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose "Prim" Everdeen, after she is called forth during Reaping Day, a day in which, annually, one male and one female tribute between the ages of 12 to 18 are called forth from each district to fight to the death in an arena and only one person can come out alive from all 24 people in what are known as the Hunger Games. Katniss, after an alliance with Rue from District 11 (who reminded Katniss of her own sister), a 12-year-old who had a very touching death, she joins up with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark, and the pair compete in the Games together. She uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol's attempt to force one to kill the other. Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss becomes the symbol of a rebellion for the twelve districts against the Capitol's oppression.
Peeta Mellark is a fictional character from The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Peeta Mellark is portrayed by actor Josh Hutcherson in The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and the soon-to-be completed Mockingjay film adaption.
Collins presents Peeta Mellark as the male tribute from District 12, in the 74th Hunger Games, alongside Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence).Then, in the second book, Catching Fire, Peeta is a volunteer for Haymitch in the 75th Hunger Games. He is a baker’s son and, due to the nature of his work around the bakery, exhibits traits such as extensive strength and cake decorating skills. These skills are significant characteristics that help him in the Games. Collins describes Peeta Mellark in the first book of the trilogy as having "medium height with a stocky build" and “ashy blonde hair that falls in waves over his forehead".In the first novel, The Hunger Games, Peeta shows he has a way with people by engaging with the cheering crowds when he first arrives at the Capitol. Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Peeta's mentor throughout the Games, reacted to this moment by saying, "He knows what he's doing"