01. The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is an annual event that takes place in the country of Panem. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen are selected from twelve districts as tributes and are then prepared for one week to fight to the death in an arena that was designed by the government. The event is the most famous of all the ones that takes place in Panem and is televised to all the citizens to watch until one tribute is left standing; this person is then declared the Victor of the Hunger Games. Watching the Hunger Games is mandatory and there is no way out of this.



The first Hunger Game took place one hundred and fifty-seven years ago when the thirteen districts of Panem revolted against the Capitol. The combined districts stood strong against their opponent, but eventually the Capitol completely destroyed District Thirteen and all inklings of a rebellion were destroyed. To prevent another rebellion from taking place the Capitol forced each district to give up one male child and one female child to fight in an arena to the death, televising this to all citizens as a show of their power and to remind them that the Capitol is all powerful.

For seventy-five years the Hunger Games continued peacefully until Katniss Everdeen began the newest rebellion of District Thirteen, throwing down the Capitol government of Panem and reestablishing a new one. However this new government would fall as the Capitol took control once again and reestablished the Hunger Games to show the people that a new attempt would not be tolerated. The Hunger Games became that much more vicious, showing children dying in the most gruesome of ways where all citizens could see.



The Reaping is a ceremony held every year by the districts where one male and one female between the ages of twelve and eighteen are chosen to compete as tribute. For more information please see The Reaping and Tessera.



Each living victor from each district is given the task of mentoring the newest tributes for the Hunger Games. Most of the time one female victor and one male victor will educate the newest tribute, but if there is only one living victor they will mentor both tributes. All living victors are invited to the Capitol to see the newest tributes and watch the Hunger Games live. Mentors are expected to come to help sort out the complications of sponsoring and sending the appropriate gifts to the arena. It is rare that any refuse this offer by the Capitol for fear of what they would say at the Quell.




Each tribute is allowed to take one item from their home district into the arena as long as it is not able to be used as a weapon. Each item is carefully checked before it is gifted to the tribute to ensure that members of the district have not tired to give them an edge and not once has an item made it into the Hunger Games that could break this law. If they were able to somehow conceal it though the tribute would most likely have to suffer harsh punishment by the Capitol during the Hunger Games.



Tributes in battle in the arena often suffer extreme issues such as blood poisoning and infected burns because of the Comucopia Bloodbath. The Comucopia Bloodbath is designed to force the tributes to fight to the death in the initial stages of the Hunger Games. However, some tributes are left with little to no items that they deem necessary in the Comucopia so wealthy viewers are given the option to assist either someone from their district or simply a person they favor; however the cost in sending them gifts is extremely high so most of the poorer districts are never able to send items. Items given are usually something that the tribute needs such as food, shelter, weapons, or medicine.



The bloodbath is what initiates the excitement of the Hunger Games and is one of the most brutal parts of the event. On average, roughly half of the tributes die at the initial battle that takes place at Comucopia, leaving only the strongest tributes standing. During the bloodbath a little more than a dozen backpacks filled with weapons, food, water, and other supplies are placed at the center of the area where the tributes rise up on the arena and each tribute is forced to fight for the one they want. Some use this as valuable time to collect what they may need later while others simply use this to slaughter the competition; it’s all up to the tribute though.



Every twenty-five years, the president of Panem will select a single card from a box that was made during the establishment of the original Hunger Games nearly one hundred years ago. Each card is more vicious than the last but provides specific instruction on how to host the anniversary Hunger Games. People have come to realize that this tradition is the worst possible time to be offered as a tribute and therefore desire to avoid it at all costs.