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“ | Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. | „ |
~ Another famous quote from President Snow. |
“ | Miss Everdeen. It's the things we love most that destroy us. | „ |
~ President Snow's most famous quote. |
“ | These things happen in war. | „ |
~ President Snow after explaining to Katniss how President Coin was responsible for Prim's death, not himself. |
“ | Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen. I thought we'd agreed never to lie to each other. | „ |
~ President Snow assuring Katniss that he is telling the truth about Prim's death, also his last known words. |
President Coriolanus Snow is the main antagonist of Suzanne Collins' 2008-2010 The Hunger Games novel trilogy and the main protagonist of its 2020 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, having those same roles in the film adaptations. He is the tyrannical president of Panem (North America after the apocalypse) and the archenemy of Katniss Everdeen.
In the trilogy, he was portrayed by the late Donald Sutherland, who also played Jessel in The Avengers, Attila Mellanchini in Novecento/1900, Warden Drumgoole in Lock Up, Ronald Bartel in Backdraft, Donald McClintock in Outbreak, Richard Straker in the 2004 Salem's Lot miniseries, John Bell in An American Haunting and President Stone in Astro Boy. In the prequel film, he was portrayed by Tom Blyth in his first villainous role.
Biography[]
In the Novels[]
A native of the Capitol, Coriolanus Snow is mentioned to have been the president of Panem for at least 25 years, and is shown to have absolute, unlimited power. He is in charge of organizing the annual Hunger Games and heading the military responsible for oppressing the districts. Snow is revealed to have been heavily influenced by the nihilistic and misanthropic ideologies of Dr. Gaul. He has no qualms about hurting or killing those he perceives as threats to his power, and is mentioned to have used poison on his political opponents.
Following the victory of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the 74th Hunger Games, he personally congratulates both tributes, placing crowns on their head. However, he is clearly shown to be displeased at their actions, and months later, he personally visits Katniss at her home in District 12, threatening to kill her family and friends unless she convinces the nation of Panem (as well as Snow himself) that their actions in the Games were just a sign of romantic infatuation and not a sign of rebellion. Later on, he reveals to her that she failed at doing so, meaning that some or all of his threats will come true.
Snow is next seen announcing the 75th Hunger Games, or the Third Quarter Quell. In hopes of stopping the rebellion, he announces that tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of victors, which of course, includes Katniss. However, unbeknownst to him, Plutarch Heavensbee (the Head Gamemaker), was actually an undercover rebel, and uses his position to help ignite the Second Rebellion. Following the destruction of the arena, District 13 rescues some of the tributes, including Katniss Everdeen and Finnick Odair, and the entire nation breaks out into full-scale rebellion.
Death[]
After months of warfare between the rebels (led and supported by District 13) and the Capitol, the rebels succeed in taking control of all twelve administrative districts and the Capitol itself. Snow is captured, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. As the Mockingjay, Katniss is given the opportunity to publicly execute Snow. However, before his execution, she meets up with Snow for the last time in his rose garden, who explains to her that President Alma Coin was responsible for the bombing of Capitol children that killed Primrose, Katniss's younger sister. Such a move would allow her to take power quickly and swiftly, eliminating all opposition.
To avenge her sister, Katniss assassinates President Coin at Snow's public execution. Seeing this, Snow begins to laugh hysterically and cough up blood (since his health was very deteriorated at that point). Simultaneously, a crowd of angry citizens lynch Snow. His body is eventually discovered and the people of Panem speculate that he died by choking on his own blood or simply being crushed by the crowd. He is presumably cremated after his death.
In the Film Adaptations[]
“ | War, terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child. This was the uprising that rocked our land. Thirteen districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained. And then came the peace, hard fought, sorely won. A people rose up from the ashes and a new era was born. But freedom has a cost. When the traitors were defeated, we swore as a nation we would never know this treason again. And so it was decreed, that each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up in tribute, one young man and woman, to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice. The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future. | „ |
~ President Snow's opening monologue in the Hunger Games film. |
As the film adaptations are in a third-person point of view, President Snow appears much more often but still keeps to the character's role and personality. As such, Snow is depicted as having a softer side, displaying affection for his granddaughter.
In The Hunger Games, during the reaping, the districts hear his recorded speech on the reasons for having the Hunger Games (to discourage rebellion). However, he is not seen until he greets the tributes upon their arrival to the Capitol, and unlike the others, he is unimpressed by the flaming entrance of the District 12 tributes, Katniss and Peeta.
Snow is shown meeting with the Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, numerous times. He reveals to Seneca that the reason they organize the Games is to give some hope to the districts, but this must be contained and limited. He warns that a large amount of hope can cause the districts to rebel and put an end to the Capitol's reign, something which happens less than two years following the victory of Everdeen and Mellark in the 74th Games.
Although he favors Seneca, he does not hesitate to intimidate him, and following the controversial victory of the District 12 Tributes, he orders Seneca's execution, locking him into a room with a bowl of nightlock berries, the same berries that Katniss and Peeta were going to use to commit suicide. He congratulates both tributes on their victory during the crowning ceremony, and is last seen watching the two return to District 12.
In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Snow is again portrayed by Sutherland. He is first shown in the Victor Village talking to Katniss. During the conversation, Snow informs Katniss about the mayhem she had caused with her suicide threat, and threatens to kill her family and friends if she fails to convince him that her actions were motivated by romantic craze for Peeta Mellark, and not rebellion.
He is seen next in the balcony of his mansion congratulating Katniss and Peeta on their victory. As he watches the uprisings in various districts, Snow discusses with Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head Gamemaker on eliminating Katniss. Snow introduces the 75th Hunger Games (the 3rd Quarter Quell) and announces that the tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of victors, which includes Katniss herself. Throughout the second half of the film, he (along with Plutarch) is shown watching the Games in his office.
However, near the end of the film, Heavensbee leaves, just before Katniss destroys the arena with an arrow. Snow angrily calls out to Plutarch, but he is nowhere to be found. Following the rescue of Katniss and a few other tributes by District 13, Snow orders the capture of the remaining tributes.
Sutherland returns for both parts of the film adaptation of The Hunger Games Mockingjay as President Snow. In Mockingjay Part 1, he appears near the end, during a rescue mission conducted by District 13 in the Tribute Center. To distract him, Katniss speaks with him in a video call, during which he reveals that he knows that District 13 had in fact, sent a special forces team to rescue the imprisoned tributes. This sends Katniss into a panic attack.
In Mockingjay Part 2, Snow is not seen for most of the film, except while discussing battle plans with his cabinet following the defeat of Capitol Forces in District 2, with the bombing of the Nut. Near the end, as he orders the evacuation of Capitol citizens to his mansion, during the invasion by the rebels. Similar to the novel, he speaks with Katniss for the last time prior to his execution, where he reveals to her that Coin was responsible for the bombing of Capitol children which killed Katniss's sister. As he is about to be executed in public by Katniss, she decides to kill Coin to avenge her sister. Snow starts to laugh hysterically at Katniss' decision, then an angry crowd proceeds to lynch him, and he is presumably cremated afterwards.
In the prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a young Snow is one of twenty-four graduates of the Capitol's university assigned as sponsor to each of the tributes in the Games, and one of a minority among the sponsors to make an effort in good faith to keep his assigned contestant alive and victorious; even going so far as to poison other competitors, knock some of them down with faulty water-carrying robots, and train the vipers released into the stadium at last to recognize his tribute's scent and abstain from biting her. When this last trick is discovered, Snow is conscripted into the military police, but bribes an officer to station him in the home district of his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. Upon discovering she, her local friends, and one of his fellow-recruits are plotting rebellion, he exposes the plot and returns to the Capitol, where he secretly poisons the university's Dean to satisfy a long-standing dislike, and becomes the apprentice of the Head Gamemaker, Dr. Volumnia Gaul.
Appearance[]
The President is a small, thin man, with paper-white hair and thick lips that seem pulled across his face. Katniss once states that his lips smelled of blood and roses and his eyes are that of a snake's. His lips are thought to be changed, to make them more appealing. Overall, his appearance is quite snake-like. His trademark sign is a single white rose, which he always wears, and what Katniss finds in her house in the beginning of the third book.
Personality[]
As the president of Panem, Snow is a cruel and hard man who is firm, strict, and very power-hungry. Snow is obsessed with keeping the established order and had no qualms about using violence and intimidation to pursue his agenda. Snow is also phenomenally ruthless and malevolent, with an extreme degree of paranoia, in that he wants no one to stand in his way of ruling. He is an extremely cunning, dexterous, manipulative, and intelligent individual, capable of manipulating others to suit his purposes, and also to meticulously deduce an advantage for himself in certain situations. This devious and manipulative side is evidenced by his manipulation of Katniss during Catching Fire.
He is a megalomaniacal leader that views himself as a magnanimous and benevolent, even though his actions say otherwise. He maintains little care or respect for human life, and views others as pawns to realize his agenda and carry out his will. President Snow never shows affection for others (except for his own granddaughter). Even his closest allies, such as Seneca Crane, constantly live in fear of their lives, as one misstep could mean death or torture. Up until the very end, he shows no regret nor remorse whatsoever for his actions, and blames Katniss for disrupting the status quo.
In Mockingjay, he even admits that he is not above killing children to Katniss. Despite all this, he does say that he is not wasteful. He will only kill people for specific reasons, although these reasons are not necessarily just. Despite being demented and megalomaniacal, Snow is also honest, and clings to his agreement with Katniss that they do not lie to one another, even if she doesn't. This also leads him to laugh mockingly when he is being executed, entertained by the sheer irony of the situation.
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the young Coriolanus ("Corio") Snow is an idealistic, taciturn student, driven partly by resentment of the authorities but nevertheless loyal to them. When assigned as sponsor to tribute Lucy Gray Baird, he makes an honest (and successful) effort to help her survive the Games, and even becomes her lover afterward, but does not hesitate to betray her when he suspects her of plotting against the government, and shows as little mercy to his fellow-student and best friend Sejanus Plinth, whom he also exposes. His closest relationship is with his cousin and foster-sister, Tigris, and their grandmother.
Residence[]
Snow lives in a huge mansion in the City Circle of the Capitol.
Full Name | Coriolanus Snow |
Allies | the Peacekeepers, the Muttations |
Enemies | Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Finnick, Johanna, Haymitch, Enobaria, Alma Coin, other Rebels, the 12 districts |
Powers | No special power, breath smelled like a mix of roses and blood which makes Katniss feel sick, extremely cunning |
Death | Either choked or crushed to death; exact details are uncertain. |
Occupation | President of Panem for 25 years |
Goal | Keeping Panem under his control, to end the legacy of the Mockingjay (Katniss Everdeen) |
Caused the Deaths of... |
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Known Family |
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Age | 18 (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), 82 (The Hunger Games), 82-83 (Catching Fire, Mockingjay) |
Quotes[]
“ | You really think I gave the order? We both know I'm not above killing children, but I'm not wasteful. I take life for specific reasons, and there was no reason for me to destroy a pen full of Capitol children. None at all. I must concede it was a masterful move on Coin's part. The idea that I was bombing our own helpless children to hold back the rebels... it turned the last of my guards against me. | „ |
~ President Snow to Katniss on how President Coin was responsible for Prim's death and the death of the other Capitol children |
Trivia[]
- Snow was the first villain to be introduced and ironically became the final antagonist die.
- His character design up inspiring the Guest President from The Bacon Hair.
External Links[]
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