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| “ | Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. | „ |
| ~ President Coriolanus Snow's mantra, as well as his most famous quote. |
President Coriolanus Snow is the main antagonist of The Hunger Games books series and the villainous protagonist of it's prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. He started out with relatively humble origins and began his journey when he was assigned to mentor Lucy Gray, and he is now the president of Panem, comprising of the Capitol and twelve diverse districts which he efficiently rules with an iron fist.
He was portrayed by the late Donald Sutherland.
His Qualities[]
What Makes Him Entertaining?[]
- He is an extremely charismatic and competent ruler, showing strength and skill in what does.
- Even as a young boy he displayed strength, scaring off a savage dog threatening to hurt his sister.
- He does everything he can for his mentoree, Lucy Gray, during the 10th Hunger Games, and she actually ends up winning. He is also clever enough to drop a handkerchief with Lucy's scent into the tank of snake mutts, which gets them used to her scent so they won't attack her later on.
- He does a fantastic job as a Peacekeeper, resulting in him being promoted rather quickly. It can even be taken from this that he's okay with their brutality since he was once a Peacekeeper himself, hence why he understands why they are so extreme with their methods.
- Shows his toughness and strength once again when he beats down a vicious boy who tried to grab Lucy while she was on stage.
- He goes on a journey of self-discovery throughout the prequel film as he grapples with his blossoming romantic feelings for Lucy and his own power lust.
- He gives Casca Highbottom what he deserves by killing him, marking a streak of cleverly poisoning his rivals to stay two steps ahead of them. He even takes the poison himself to avert suspicion.
- He genuinely believes the Hunger Games are Necessary Evil so there will not be a repeat of the Dark Days, which very nearly caused complete anarchy. While it doesn't justify it, he only kills teenagers to prevent history from repeating itself because the only thing stronger than fear is hope. It's also quite hard to feel sorry for some of the victims like Marvel and Clove since they were such deplorable adolescents.
- He has an extremely prominent "Evil is Cool" vibe with a considerably intimidating presence throughout the films, not to mention his voice as an old man is very epic.
- He loves his family, keeping a rose from his grandmother and being supportive of his granddaughter even when she admires Katniss.
- He's very intelligent, surmising that if Katniss was truly dead, then she would have been martyred.
- He has respect for Katniss even though they understandably have a mutual hatred for one another. They promise to never lie to each other, and Snow willingly honors his end of that. He apparently sees her as Lucy Gray, who disappeared decades ago.
- He sincerely pities Katniss for losing Primrose and expresses his condolences to her.
- His warnings about President Coin ultimately lead to her downfall. When he is subsequently trampled, he accepts his defeat with dignity.
What Makes Him Detestable?[]
- He's been running the Hunger Games for decades, getting hundreds if not thousands of teenagers killed, including Rue, Thresh, and Cato, and even the old lady Mags (although a few of the victims like Marvel, Clove, and Brutus deserved it).
- Most of the severe poverty and immense suffering of Districts like 11 and 12 can be tied back to him.
- He betrays Sejanus Plinth which results in him ending up getting hanged. He also kills Mayfair Lipp (while she was definitely kind of a dolt, she still didn't deserve to get shot).
- He takes some very brutal measures to stop District 13 such as blowing up a hospital for instance when they go there to film.
- Upon capturing several rebels, he has Johanna Mason electrocuted and hijacks Peeta Mellark's mind.
- He infamously forced Finnick Odair and other attractive tributes to have sex with rich people. He attempted to do the same to Johanna Mason and murdered her loved ones when she refused.
- He is far from counting as a Magnificent Baddie due to unjustifiably forcing people into prostitution, getting numerous children killed in gory and brutal ways on live television, betraying Sejanus Plinth to his demise, hijacking Peeta Mellark, and repeatedly trying to mess with Katniss Everdeen in violent ways; all of which can be considered exemplary "Kick the Dog" moments.
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Template:Lionsgate Entertainingly Detestable