The Hunger Games: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Tributes To Join The Battle Royale

The Hunger Games is among the most successful franchises of the late 2000’s and 2010’s, with a prequel novel set to release this year and a corresponding film adaption anticipated to begin production not long after.

When the first film installment was released in 2012, audiences across the world were introduced to a new and horrific setting. In it, young tributes from 12 districts of a dystopian North America are pit against one another in an annual fight to the death. As tributes are drawn randomly, their capacity to win the Games has varied widely. These are the best and worst of The Hunger Games’ victors and losers.

10 Best: Beetee Latier

As with many of the veteran tributes seen in the 75th Hunger Games, not much is directly known about the context of their victories. However, in many cases just a few sentences are often enough to inform the audience of their adeptness. Beetee explained that he managed to survive and win his first experience as tribute via his technical skill. When there were six other tributes remaining, he lured them to the cornucopia and electrocuted them all. Relative to the more apparent martial prowess of the other tributes shown, this approach was as unique as it was brutally efficient.

9 Worst: Cato

In the 74th Hunger Games Cato assumed a leadership role among the alliance of career tributes. He is shown during the training phase to be very skilled with various weapons usage. He was responsible many deaths, killing four tributes mere minutes after the Games had started. Even after the introduction of the Mutts to further eliminate the remaining tributes, Cato was among the final three to survive. As far as tributes go he was exceptionally skilled, but his inability to survive over two relatively inexperienced tributes prevents him from being remembered as among the absolute best.

8 Best: Johanna Mason

Winner of the 71st Hunger Games, Johanna was not unlike Beetee in her approach to surviving her first games. She made herself out to be a weak non-threat and waited out most of the killing. Once the number of survivors was fairly manageable, Johanna set upon them and ultimately came out on top. During the training phase of the 75th Hunger Games, the veteran showed exceptional skill in close combat. Although this time around there was no victor, Johanna was nevertheless able to survive for the duration of the games.

7 Worst: Clove

Like her fellow District 2 tribute Cato, Clove was extensively trained in preparation for the Games. As the games began, she immediately used throwing knives to kill a tribute and nearly hit Katniss as well. While this turned out to be her only kill, she found great joy in being part of the Careers’ alliance as they pursued Katniss. In the end Clove gained the upper hand against Katniss when the latter was drawn back to the Cornucopia. However, she allowed her arrogance to cloud her special awareness, and was killed by an enraged Thresh after she mocked Rue’s death.

6 Best: Finnick Odair

Finnick Odair was the winner of the 65th Hunger Games. He was the youngest victor of The Hunger Games, and was able to survive through his expertise working in the fishing industry of District 4. One of his sponsors gifted him a trident, which he used in tandem with nets he crafted to entangle and spear the other tributes. At the start of the 75th games, Finnick immediately dispatched a tribute that had been attacking Katniss Everdeen, and was among the few tributes to survive before the external intervention of the Rebels.

5 Worst: Gloss

Gloss was the winner of the 64th Hunger Games. During the training phase of the 75th Games he displayed remarkable skill with throwing knives, similar to Clover of the previous year. During the games he was able to match the speed of the other younger tributes. He managed to reach the Cornucopia despite tripping and having taken an arrow to the leg. Later he and the Careers attacked the District 12, 4, and 3 alliance. Despite their superior experience, this assault was a disaster for them, and Gloss was the first to be killed. While he had managed to kill Wiress, his failure to either go after Katniss first, take her archery skill into account, or otherwise work more closely with his allies led to his quick elimination.

4 Best: Peeta Mellark

Peeta’s approach to navigating the Hunger Games was initially rather underhanded, though evidently it worked. In exchange for not being killed outright, Peeta helped an alliance of mostly career tributes track Katniss Everdeen. He succeeded in this endeavor, and even when the truce between himself and the other tributes collapsed he managed to escape with his life. His artistic abilities allowed him to perfectly blend into bare rock, and was only discovered when Katniss tripped on him.

In the first film Peeta did not kill anyone in the 74th Hunger Games, and in the book he (presumably) only killed an already dying District 8 tribute. Despite this, he managed to not only outlast all tributes other than Katniss, but ultimately survive as an unprecedented second winner of the Hunger Games.

3 Worst: Glimmer

Unlike the other Career tributes, Glimmer had a comparatively rough start. She killed a tribute once the Games began, but another managed to pin her down and was only stopped from killing her in turn by Cato. After acquitting a bow and arrows from the cornucopia she joined the group of Careers in tracking Katniss.

As Katniss ascended a tree Glimmer attempted and narrowly failed to shoot her. When the Tracker Jacker nest was dropped on the sleeping group, Glimmer was the only one to be killed. Her bow was then taken by Katniss, who used it to great effect against Glimmer’s allies.

2 Best: Katniss Everdeen

Katniss entered the Games as did most newly selected Tributes; shocked, confused, and afraid. She experienced multiple near-death experiences in rapid succession before she was trapped in a tree by several experienced Careers. She was able to disperse them from her location and even kill Glimmer by cutting a Tracker Jacker nest from a nearby branch, causing it to fall on them. Once she acquired a bow and allied herself with Rue and Peeta, she was able to outlast the remaining tributes, killing Marvel and Cato in the process. Not only that, but her subsequent manipulation of the Gamemakers into allowing her and Peeta to both live is one of the single most impressive feats in the history of the Hunger Games.

1 Worst: Wiress

Wiress’ participation in the 75th Hunger Games was not without its merits for her allies. She was able to detect faults in the game’s mechanics and deduce that the Cornucopia was the center of a large, clock-like trap. However while she was very perceptive (presumably a trait which contributed to her initial victory), Wiress was also incapable of effective communication. Beetee was the only one who could truly understand her, while Katniss was only able to roughly infer the things she tried to say. In terms of her own survival this left her at a terrible disadvantage, and later in the Games she was unable to fend off Gloss or get the attention of her fellow tributes until it was too late.