The Most Underrated Characters Of The Hunger Games Franchise - Opinion
From Gal Balaban
With the release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, we're reminded of the incredible world-building the books and movies brought to viewers. With each film came a vast roster of rich characters, some of which resonated with us in smaller but still golden ways. We may remember Haymitch, Effie, Caesar, Plutarch and Cinna, but these names also stick with fans of the franchise. (Spoilers ahead!)
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Johanna (Jena Malone)
Not many tributes get to curse on live TV, survive two Hunger Games, get kidnapped by the Capitol, and live to tell the tale. Johanna is a sarcastic wise-cracker who’s as savage as she is lovable. Her best scene comes in Catching Fire when she strips naked in front of Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch in an elevator. Before she leaves, she says, “Let’s do it again sometime!”
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Beetee (Jeffrey Wright)
Jeffrey Wright brings a gravitas to every role he plays. In Catching Fire, Beetee is a past victor who along with fellow District 3 victor Wiress (Amanda Plummer), allies with Katniss and Peeta during the 75th Hunger Games Quarter Quell. In Mockingjay, he becomes an important voice in the rebellion and their propaganda efforts against the capital, and who better to portray such a sophisticated expert than Wright?
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Pollux (Elden Henson)
Though Pollux is an Avox, meaning his tongue was cut off by the Capitol, and therefore has no lines, Elden Henson gives him a very heartfelt presence as he helps the rebellion alongside his brother Castor. He’s very emotionally genuine, and who can ever forget his heartbreaking reaction to his brother’s death at the hands of the Capitol’s sadistic traps in Mockingjay - Part 2?
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Cressida (Natalie Dormer)
Cressida is a film director who films footage across Panem to fuel the districts' rebellion against the Capitol. We'll always remember her guiding Katniss to express her emotions to the camera after the District 8 bombing in Mockingjay - Part 1. Katniss then addresses the Capitol with a battle cry: "If we burn, you burn with us!"
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Commander Paylor (Patina Miller)
Commander Paylor’s presence isn’t overbearing yet her character is integral to the latter half of the series. Paylor is the most reasonable of the heads of the rebellion, valuing human life while strategizing the best way to dismantle the Capitol’s tyrannical rule. Her intelligence and courage matched with her empathy proves why she was the right choice to serve as Panem’s president under a new era for the nation.
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Clove (Isabelle Fuhrmann)
Clove is the most menacing of the female tributes in the 74th Hunger Games. She taunts Katniss and seems to gain the upper hand over her, until she’s suddenly killed by Thresh, who defends Katniss due to her alliance with Rue, who was from District 11 as well. Clove’s appearance is so brief but Fuhrmann makes the best out of it, turning her sadistic arrogance into anguish as she pleads for her ally Cato to save her before she’s mauled to death.
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Marvel (Jack Quaid)
Marvel hails from District 1, and claims to Caesar Flickerman that he always saw himself in the tributes of the Hunger Games, calling himself a hunter like his father. Before Jack Quaid found success as Hughie Campbell in The Boys, he unknowingly planted the seeds for the rebellion by killing Rue right before meeting his demise with an arrow to the chest from Katniss. Rue’s death at his hands makes for the first film’s saddest moment.
Photo from Entertainment Weekly
Commander Lyme (Gwendoline Christie)
Though Lyme is only present at the beginning of Mockingjay - Part 2, Christie portrays the general in District 2 with profundity and grace. Lyme helps discuss how to move forward with the capturing of 2, the only district left with loyalists to the Capitol.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is now playing in theaters.
