The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow

Eighteen, proud, and secretly poor, he mentors Lucy Gray to win the Plinth Prize and restore his family's name. Every kindness he shows is a transaction; by the end he has cheated, informed, poisoned, and killed his way back to the Capitol.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Mentor and the Songbird; Part 2: Bombs, Betrayals, and a Poisoned Compact; Part 3: Peacekeeper, Informer, Murderer; Part 4: The Hanging Tree
Themes:: Spectacle as control; Love as a transaction; Guilt and its inheritances

Lucy Gray Baird

The Covey singer from District 12 who charms the Capitol with a snake and a song. She wins the Games with Coriolanus's help, loves him as best she can, and vanishes into the woods with mockingjays singing her last song.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Mentor and the Songbird; Part 2: Bombs, Betrayals, and a Poisoned Compact; Part 3: Peacekeeper, Informer, Murderer; Part 4: The Hanging Tree
Themes:: How a tyrant is made; Love as a transaction

Sejanus Plinth

A District 2 heir stranded in the Capitol, the only honest conscience in the book and Coriolanus's only friend. He sneaks into the arena to mourn a tribute and is hanged for treason on a recording his friend made.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Mentor and the Songbird; Part 2: Bombs, Betrayals, and a Poisoned Compact; Part 3: Peacekeeper, Informer, Murderer; Part 4: The Hanging Tree
Themes:: How a tyrant is made; Love as a transaction

Dr. Volumnia Gaul

The head gamemaker who breeds snake mutts and believes control and punishment keep humanity civil. She spots Coriolanus's ruthlessness, shapes it during his Peacekeeper exile, and hands him his future.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Mentor and the Songbird; Part 2: Bombs, Betrayals, and a Poisoned Compact; Part 3: Peacekeeper, Informer, Murderer; Part 4: The Hanging Tree
Themes:: How a tyrant is made; Guilt and its inheritances

Dean Casca Highbottom

The academy dean credited with inventing the Hunger Games, a morphling addict crushed by guilt who despises the Snows. He tells Coriolanus the truth of the Games' origin, then drinks the vial Coriolanus has poisoned.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Mentor and the Songbird; Part 3: Peacekeeper, Informer, Murderer; Part 4: The Hanging Tree
Themes:: How a tyrant is made; Guilt and its inheritances

Mayfair Lipp

The mayor's daughter who arranges Lucy Gray's reaping out of jealousy and becomes a Capitol spy. Coriolanus shoots her fleeing through the woods, leaving a rifle full of evidence behind.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Mentor and the Songbird; Part 3: Peacekeeper, Informer, Murderer
Themes:: How a tyrant is made

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Tigris Snow

Coriolanus's cousin and the family's breadwinner, working for a fashion designer and implied to sell her body to keep food on the table. Her sacrifices fund the pride that destroys her cousin's soul.

Jessup Diggs

District 12's male tribute, protective and altruistic, allied with Lucy Gray. He contracts rabies from a Capitol raccoon and is indirectly killed by Coriolanus and Lysistrata to protect Lucy Gray.

How they are connected

Key relationships

Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow Lucy Gray Baird
Eighteen, proud, and secretly poor, he mentors Lucy Gray to win the Plinth Prize and restore his family's name.
Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow Sejanus Plinth
Eighteen, proud, and secretly poor, he mentors Lucy Gray to win the Plinth Prize and restore his family's name.
Dr. Volumnia Gaul Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow
She spots Coriolanus's ruthlessness, shapes it during his Peacekeeper exile, and hands him his future.
Dean Casca Highbottom Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow
He tells Coriolanus the truth of the Games' origin, then drinks the vial Coriolanus has poisoned.
Tigris Snow Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow
Coriolanus's cousin and the family's breadwinner, working for a fashion designer and implied to sell her body to keep food on the table.
Mayfair Lipp Lucy Gray Baird
The mayor's daughter who arranges Lucy Gray's reaping out of jealousy and becomes a Capitol spy.
Mayfair Lipp Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow
Coriolanus shoots her fleeing through the woods, leaving a rifle full of evidence behind.
Jessup Diggs Lucy Gray Baird
District 12's male tribute, protective and altruistic, allied with Lucy Gray.
Jessup Diggs Coriolanus 'Coryo' Snow
He contracts rabies from a Capitol raccoon and is indirectly killed by Coriolanus and Lysistrata to protect Lucy Gray.

Go deeper

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes themes & symbols

How a tyrant is made · Spectacle as control · Love as a transaction · Guilt and its inheritances

Themes explained

Read the full The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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