Katniss Everdeen

Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy written by American author Suzanne Collins. She is portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film adaptations of the trilogy.

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 in the ruins of North America, ruled over by the wealthy class living in the Capitol.

In the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss competes as a "tribute" in a yearly fight to the death known as "The Hunger Games", volunteering to fight in place of her little sister, Primrose "Prim" Everdeen. Over the course of the trilogy, Katniss evolves from protector of her younger sister into a galvanizing symbol of rebellion against the Capitol's oppression. The rebellion against the Capitol is eventually victorious.

Origins

The idea for the trilogy was based in part on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, in which every nine years, seven boys and seven girls from Athens are sent to Crete as tributes to that land to be devoured by the Minotaur, a cycle that continues until Theseus kills the Minotaur. Collins, who heard the story when she was eight years old, was unsettled by its ruthlessness and cruelty. Collins said, "In her own way, Katniss is a futuristic Theseus." Collins also characterized the novels with the fearful sensations she experienced when her father was fighting in the Vietnam War.