Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes’ 10th Hunger Games Tributes & Winner

Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book, with possible spoilers for the 2023 film. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will introduce a whole new batch of District tributes—and a new victor, of course. Set during Panem’s 10th Hunger Games, the prequel follows a young Coriolanus Snow, future president of Panem, through his first year involved in the brutal games. He and other Capitol teens had been assigned to the District tributes as the first-ever batch of mentors. Snow’s goal is to help his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, win the Hunger Games and, in doing so, secure a scholarship that will pull his family out of poverty.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book introduced each of the District citizens who had been reaped for the Hunger Games, and it can be assumed the movie will do the same. Like in Katniss games, not all those characters will get much time on screen. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes focuses much more on the mentors than the tributes themselves. However, a few tributes stand out in the prequel novel, both for their roles in the games, their differences from those who would come 65 years later in The Hunger Games, and—since only one can win—their deaths.

Lucy Gray Baird Is District 12’s Female Tribute

Played by Rachel Zegler in the Movie

Coriolanus Snow is assigned to be Lucy Gray Baird’s mentor in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Like Katniss, she is the District 12 female tribute in the Games and is therefore assumed to die early in the arena. However, Lucy Gray is much more of a fighter than anyone expected. She belonged to a group of musicians who were nomads before the war but became stuck in District 12 after the Capitol’s victory. Leading up to her time in the arena, Snow used Lucy Gray’s singing ability and natural charisma to their advantage, leading her to be the first District tribute to earn the adoration of the Capitol audience.

Dill Is District 11’s Female Tribute

Played By Luna Steeples In The Movie

Like Rue in The Hunger Games, Dill is the District 11 female tribute in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. She is one of the first tributes that Snow interacts with leading up to the Games, but his experience with the girl isn’t great. When Snow finds himself trapped in a cage with the tributes, Dill is among those who want to kill the Capitol boy, proving just how violent she was willing to be since being reaped for the Games. However, she never had a chance to make it into the arena in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book since she passed away from complications related to tuberculosis.

Reaper Is District 11’s Male Tribute

Played By Dimitri Abold In The Movie

Reaper, the District 11 boy, was revealed in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book to have murdered a Peacekeeper before being reaped, but he was never officially caught. This centered him as a prime contender for the Hunger Games. During the interview segment (the first in Hunger Games history), Reaper refused to speak and thus didn’t earn much Captiol support. However, his strength became clear once he was in the arena. He slowly picked off the other tributes, ritualistically placing their bodies in a neat row before it was only he and Lucy Gray that were left in the arena.

Coral Is The District 4 Female Tribute

Played By Mackenzie Lansing In The Movie

Coral was among the few District tributes in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with natural fighting ability. Like The Hunger Games‘ Finnick Odair, she had grown up on ships and could easily wield a trident. Upon entering the arena, she teamed up with his District partner, Mizzen, and a boy named Tanner from District 10. The trio worked together to kill the District 7 tribute, whose skill with axes made her a more significant threat, but Coral immediately turned on Tanner once he was no longer helpful. Despite her lethal skill, Coral was killed by poisonous snakes, leaving her to finish 6th place in the 10th Hunger Games.

Mizzen Is The District 4 Male Tribute

Played By Cooper Dillon In The Movie

Mizzen, the District 4 tribute and ally to Coral, didn’t possess the same ability with a trident as his partner. However, he was just as cutthroat. After Coral betrayed Tanner, Mizzen slit the boy’s throat for good measure. When Dr. Gaul’s snakes entered the arena and killed Coral, Mizzen survived by climbing onto a tall beam. However, Teslee, the District 3 female tribute, used some drones she had repurposed to attack Mizzen, knocking him off the tower to his death.

Lamina Is The District 7 Female Tribute

Played By Irene Böhm In The Movie

Leading up to the 10th Hunger Games, Lamina, the District 7 female tribute (like Johanna Mason), did little aside from cry. This led her mentor, Pliny Harrington, to give up on promoting her to the audience. However, once she entered the arena, Lamina revealed she was far more capable than she had let on. She was a wiz with an ax and effortlessly climbed the beam within the arena. From the top, Lamina was safe from most of the tributes, and the position allowed her to keep an eye on everything happening around her. When there were ten tributes left, Coral, Tanner, and Mizzen teamed up against Lamina, causing her to fall to her death.

Every Other Tribute In The 10th Hunger Games

Just like in The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes starts with a total of 24 tributes. Those listed above are the tributes featured in the prequel film’s trailers, but they are far from the only important figures in the 10th Hunger Games. Some of the following died before the tributes ever entered the arena, others were killed in the blood bath immediately after the Hunger Games started, and a few managed even to make it into the finals.

Jessup Is The District 12 Male Tribute

Jessup was Lucy Gray Baird’s District partner in the 10th Hunger Games. He was a mine worker in District 12, but this didn’t give him much of an edge in the arena since he was already very ill by the time the games started. The tributes were kept in a zoo before entering the arena, and while there, Jessup was bitten on the neck by a rat. He contracted rabies, so though he and Lucy Gray became allies in the Hunger Games, his condition led him to turn on her. Jessup ultimately passed away from his condition.

Brandy Is The District 10 Female Tribute

Brandy is another tribute who never made it into the arena. Her mentor, Arachne, brought food to the zoo where the tributes were being kept, hoping to make a spectacle of her generosity in front of the cameras (like Coriolanus did for Lucy Gray). However, Arachne was rather mean-spirited, and after taunting Brandy with the food, the tribute used a cheese knife to murder her mentor. Immediately after, Brandy was shot down by Peacekeepers.

Tanner Is The District 10 Male Tribute

Tanner is the District 10 tribute that the two District 4 tributes, Coral and Mizzen, teamed up with to murder Lamina. He grew up working in slaughterhouses and, therefore, had a good understanding of how to kill an animal or person easily. Unfortunately, after killing Lamina, Tanner was murdered by his supposed allies.

Sheaf Is The District 9 Female Tribute

Not much is ever revealed about Sheaf, aside from the fact that she was from District 9. Before the 10th Hunger Games began, the tributes and their mentors were taken on a tour of the arena, but the detonation of a rebel bomb meant the event ended in catastrophe. Sheaf was among those who were heavily wounded, and a few days later, before the start of the Games, she passed away from her injuries.

Panlo Is The District 9 Male Tribute

Like his District partner, Panlo was injured during the rebel attack on the Hunger Games arena in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. He survived a little longer than Sheaf but still passed away due to his wounds before the official start of the games.

Wovey Is The District 8 Female Tribute

Wovey is another tribute with only a small part to play in the 10th Hunger Games. She remained out of sight for most of the event, even to the audience. When she finally did emerge, she looked close to starving to death. Wovey found a bottle of water and drank from it, not knowing that Lucy Gray had spiked it with rat poison. The girl died almost immediately after.

Bobbin Is The District 8 Male Tribute

Though Bobbin didn’t live long in the arena, his death was among the more important of the 10th Hunger Games. One of Snow’s fellow mentors, Sejanus Plinth, snuck into the arena to perform a funeral ceremony for his tribute, Marcus, and Coriolanus was sent in to retrieve him. Out of sight of the audience, the young Snow managed to find Sejanus and get him out of the arena, but not before Bobbin found and attacked them. Desperate to survive, Snow beat the boy to death with a plank of wood. It was the future dictator’s first (but certainly not last) time committing murder.

Treech Is The District 7 Male Tribute

Treech managed to survive until the last day of the 10th Hunger Games in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. He and Lucy Gray wound up in a one-on-one fight, and though he had an ax, she managed to get the better of him by slipping a snake muttation into his shirt. The poison from the animal caused him to die only a few moments later.

Ginnee Is The District 6 Female Tribute

The female District 6 tribute, Ginnee, was well enough liked by the Capitol citizens since she had her partner, Otto, impressed them with a festive dance from their home. Unfortuantely, Ginnee never made it into the arena since she, her District partner, and both their mentors were killed instantly when the arena was bombed before the start of the 10th Hunger Games.

Otto Is The District 6 Male Tribute

Like Ginnee, Otto might have had a chance at earning sponsors since the District 6 dance he and his partner performed gained a little attention. However, Otto, his partner, and both their mentors were killed during the rebel bombing of the 10th Hunger Games arena in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Sol Is The District 5 Female Tribute

Sol only survived one day in the Hunger Games arena, but this was more than some of her fellow tributes in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, at least. Sol was hunted down by Coral, Mizzen, and Tanner and stabbed through the neck with Coral’s trident.

Hy Is The District 5 Male Tribute

Hy is yet another tribute who died due to the terrible conditions the District tributes were left in before the start of the Hunger Games. The District 5 boy had asthma but no way to care for it. The night before the Games began in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Hy suffered an asthma attack and was found dead the following day.

Teslee Is The District 3 Female Tribute

District 3 is known in The Hunger Games for its technology manufacturing, and this came in handy for Teslee during the 10th Hunger Games. She and her District partner managed to steal and rewire a couple of the drones used to deliver goods to the tributes. Teslee was then able to control the machines, which is how she managed to shove Mizzen off the beam he had been using to stay out of reach. Unfortunately, this took so much focus that the District 3 girl didn’t notice Treech sneaking up behind her with an ax.

Circ Is The District 3 Male Tribute

Like his District partner, Circ had the skills to rewire the arena’s drones in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. However, he never got a chance to use them since he fell victim to Dr. Gaul’s poisonous snake muttations.

Sabyn Is The District 2 Female Tribute

When the rebels bombed the arena before the 10th Hunger Games had begun, a significant hole was blown in the coliseum-like structure. Though she survived the attack, District 2’s Sabyn attempted to take advantage of the chaos to escape. Unfortuantely, this didn’t go unnoted, and Peacekeepers shot her down.

Marcus Is The District 2 Male Tribute

Perhaps the most important of the District tributes in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesbook, Marcus was assigned Sejanus Plinthe as a mentor. Though Sejanus lived in the Capitol, he and his family had been citizens of District 2 during the war, but they were permitted to join Panem’s elite thanks to Mr. Plinthe’s extensive munitions contribution. This led District 2 to despise the Plinthes, and this included Marcus. The tribute refused the help of his mentor even though they had been friendly with one another as children.

When the arena was bombed before the start of the Games, Marcus was the only one who was successful in escaping. However, he was secretly caught by the Capitol’s forces and strung up alive in the arena before the Hunger Games officially started. Once the fighting finally began, Lamina took pity on Marcus and killed him to end his suffering. However, hoping to perform a District 2 funeral ritual over Marcus’ body, Sejanus snuck into the arena, causing Snow to have to follow him.

Velvereen Is The District 1 Female Tribute

Velvereen is another tribute in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes who never had much chance to distinguish herself. Like her District 2 counterparts, she attempted to escape the arena after the District rebels bombed it. However, Velvereen was shot down by Peacekeepers.

Facet Is The District 1 Male Tribute

Like the District 1 tributes from The Hunger Games, Facet appeared to be quite a powerful force. It was he that Coriolanus Snow had hoped to be assigned, but it was ultimately a good thing that he wasn’t. Like Velvereen, Facet attempted to escape during the chaos of the arena bombing and was killed by Peacekeepers. Therefore, the boy never made it into the Hunger Games.

Lucy Gray Baird Wins The 10th Hunger Games

Though Coriolanus Snow had initially believed himself extremely unlucky to have been assigned to the District 12 girl tribute, this would end up being his victory. The girl was deeply loved by the Capitol citizens, inspiring the establishment of the sponsor and betting systems. However, this wasn’t why Lucy Gray won the Games. Everything would have been over for the girl once Dr. Gaul dropped the snake muttations into the arena, but since Snow had secretly dropped a handkerchief with Lucy Gray’s scent on it into the snake’s enclosure, they saw her as one of their own.

Additionally, Snow had given Lucy Gray a makeup compact that had once belonged to his mother as her Hunger Games token, but rather than pressed powder, the thing was full of rat poison. Between the snakes that refused to bite her and the rat poison she kept safely on her person, Lucy Gray was a force to be reckoned with in the arena. Thanks entirely to Snow’s cheating, she wound up the victor in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, something the future president of Panem would pay dearly for.