The Hunger Games: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Mutts

The Hunger Games series offers its readers insight into a dystopian world where a ruling class sacrifices tributes from various struggling Districts in a deadly gladiatorial game of survival known as “The Hunger Games.” The ruling class lives in a city known as The Capitol. Throughout the series, readers watch as the Games become grounds for rebellion as protagonist Katniss Everdeen goes from an unwilling tribute to the leader of the resistance.

The Capitol has made many advances in technology, but it is used to create anthropomorphic monstrosities that are used as weapons during these “Hunger Games.” They are all created to maim or kill. These creations are known as “mutts,” a play on words of “mutation”.

10 Jabberjays: Capable Of Torture

Jabberjays, as their names suggest, have the gift of gab—but it’s anything but endearing. They are similar to another form of mutt, the mockingjays; Jabberjays can memorize and mimic human speech, making them prominent weapons for the Capitol to oppress the other Districts.

In Catching Fire, Jabberjays were used against the tributes purely for torture. In one of the “sectors,” Finnick and Katniss are overwhelmed by these birds and are subjected to the screams of their loved ones, perfectly mimicked by the birds.

9 Mockingjays: Symbols Of The Rebellion

Mockingjays are prominent symbols throughout the series. They are the product of mating between jabberjays and mockingbirds. Since the Capitol never meant for them to exist, they came to represent rebellion and resistance.

Despite the mutation, they never lost their ability to mimic any sounds that they hear, although they were no longer able to enunciate words. Katniss, after her victory, starts wearing a Mockingjay pin, and it eventually becomes a popular symbol within the Districts.

8 Wolf Mutts: Take On The Shape Of Their Victims

Wolf mutts were used in The Hunger Games as obstacles for the final tributes, Katniss, Peeta, and Cato. The Capitol used technology to combine a human and a wolf, and what makes these mutts especially traumatizing is that they resemble a tribute that has previously died in the Games. This is proven by the District number written on their collars.

The mutts differed from the novel and the movie. In the movie, they had the characteristics of a wolf—running on all fours and looking like large dogs—but they did not have any human characteristics.

7 Lizard Mutts: Have Human DNA

These mutts are introduced in Mockingjay and are used as weapons against Squad 451, an elite squad of rebels created to assassinate President Snow. They are reptilian in nature and appearance, with translucent skin, sharp talons, and long tails. Their jaws are strong enough to decapitate humans.

Their human appearance is because they are created using the human flesh of Capitol prisoners or Avoxes, rebels who were punished with the removal of their tongues. While Katniss and Peeta survive the attack, most of the squad is killed.

6 Come In Many Shapes And Sizes

Any animal can be subject to the Capitol’s technology and become a mutt. As a result, they come in multiple shapes and sizes. For example, they can be rather small like the “Tracker Jackers.” Despite their size, these mutated wasps have venom strong enough to cause madness-inducing hallucinations.

Throughout the novels, there were also mentions of mutation gnats, rats, and other insect-like creatures. The rats and gnats were known to eat flesh and became especially dangerous when they swarmed.

5 Play A Prominent Role In Catching Fire

In Hunger Games, there are only a few mentions of mutts, the most prominent being jabberjays and the wolf mutts. However, the creatures make a much bigger appearance in Catching Fire. Several new mutts are shown throughout the novel, including vicious golden squirrels, killer butterflies, and pink birds with deadly beaks.

There are more examples of mutts that are brought to light in the series’ prequel novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. These include snake mutts, which killed using venom, and rabbit mutts with extremely strong jaws.

4 Jabberjays: Can Be Manipulated

Despite their talents, a jabberjay’s Achilles heel is its ability to mimic. They were initially used as “recording devices” during The First Rebellion, a civil war in Panem that preceded The Hunger Games. They would transmit private conversations of the citizens in the various Districts.

However, when this fact became known, citizens in the Districts began to feed the mutts lies that were then transmitted to the Capitol. Unfortunately, this, in turn, was discovered, resulting in the jabberjays being abandoned. Ironically, they mated with mockingbirds during this period.

3 “The Beast” Can Destroy Bodies Beyond Repair

Throughout the series, readers and viewers get to see a multitude of horrific creatures that are used as weapons against innocent tributes during the Games. However, some are so horrifying that they’re best left to the imagination.

In Catching Fire, Peets recalls coming across a mutt that left a tribute’s body destroyed beyond repair, referring to it as “The Beast.” There is no further development on the creature, but it can be assumed that Suzanne Collins wants the reader to use their imagination in this instance.

2 Reflection Of Their Creators

The Capitol has created advanced technology that they have used to oppress and contain the population in the other Districts. According to Cassandra Grosh, they are a reflection of the Capitol’s murderous tendencies. They use these genetic creations to force compliance.

However, Grosh offers another interpretation: they cause an identity crisis within the victims that come to light in the Games’ survival situations. While Katniss has murdered throughout the Games, her final murder is a mercy killing. It is a reminder that she is still human.

1 Lizard Mutts: Used To Send Katniss A Message

Another reason that the lizard mutts are particularly terrifying is that they are sent specifically to target Katniss, and President Snow is not shy in reminding her of that. They are given her scent to track her. When they meet her, they are reported to have a faint rose scent from those in Snow’s office.

These mutts are usually not able to speak anything more than hisses. However, in a disturbing twist, they can say “Katniss,” letting her know that Snow is in control.