Channel-surfing gave the idea
Suzanne Collins has said the idea for The Hunger Games came to her while flicking between television channels late at night: on one, young people competed on a reality show; on another, there was footage of real war. The two began to blur together in her mind, and she imagined a society where children fight to the death on live television.
She also drew on a Greek myth. In the story of Theseus, the city of Athens had to send young people as a TRIBUTE to Crete every few years, to be sent into the labyrinth of the Minotaur. In PANEM, each DISTRICT must send two tributes to the ARENA every year. Each district also produces one kind of goods for the Capitol; Katniss's home, District 12, mines coal.
Panem means bread
The country's name comes from a Latin phrase, panem et circenses, meaning bread and circuses. The Roman poet Juvenal complained that the people of Rome had given up caring about politics as long as they were given free food and entertainment. In the books, the CAPITOL keeps the districts under control with just enough food and the spectacle of the Games.
Our ancient Rome page covers the real games that drew huge crowds to the arena.
A heroine named after a plant
KATNISS Everdeen is named after a real water plant, also known as arrowhead or duck potato, whose roots can be eaten. It has leaves shaped like arrowheads, which suits a girl who hunts with a BOW and ARROW. In the story her father tells her that as long as she can find the plant, she will never starve.
She becomes a VOLUNTEER at the REAPING, taking her younger sister PRIM's place when Prim's name is drawn, and that act of sacrifice sets the whole story going. The first book came out in 2008, and the series has since sold more than a hundred million copies. For the films, Jennifer Lawrence trained in archery with an Olympic archer so that her shooting would look convincing.
A salute that left the screen
In the films, the districts show silent support for Katniss by raising three fingers of the left hand. After the films came out, protesters in Thailand and later Myanmar adopted the three-finger salute as a sign of defiance against their governments, and some were arrested for making it.
The MOCKINGJAY, a bird that can copy human songs, becomes the symbol of the rebellion. It is a cross between a mockingbird and an invented bird the Capitol bred to spy on people.
Mentors, sponsors and the rest of the grid
HAYMITCH, a past winner, becomes the MENTOR for Katniss and PEETA, the boy from her district, and wins them gifts from a SPONSOR during the Games. EFFIE Trinket is the Capitol's cheerful escort, CINNA designs Katniss's famous flaming costume, and President SNOW rules Panem.
GALE is Katniss's hunting friend from home, RUE is the small girl from another district who becomes her ally, and the CORNUCOPIA is the golden horn full of supplies at the centre of the arena where the Games begin.