The Hunger Games: How Old Is Katniss Everdeen When The Series Begins & Ends?

Contains spoilers for "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"

Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" is the franchise poster child for young adult dystopian fiction. Her trilogy of novels and Lionsgate's series of films follow Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a young girl who volunteers to replace her sister in a government-mandated, nationwide gladiatorial duel to the death between children from the far reaches of the losing faction in disastrous civil war. She goes on to basically kill every single person who has ever wronged her, which is both wildly terrifying and kind of impressive for a 16-year-old. That's right — when Katniss first made archery cool again and experienced more trauma than most do in an entire lifetime, she was only 16.

She's not 16 throughout the entire series, though. By the time Katniss kills President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) in "Mockingjay," she's 18. Since she's too valuable to the rebellion and its other leaders for them to kill her for murdering their replacement for the villainous President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), Katniss survives her very public surprise assassination. Instead of a death sentence, word is spread she experienced temporary insanity. By the time she shows up in the epilogue, 15 years have passed, and Katniss is a grown adult at 33. What happens to her, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), and her two children afterward is unknown because that's where Katniss' story ends.

Either 16-year-olds are Suzanne Collins' favorite demographic or she felt particularly powerful during that period in her own life because her prequel novel, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" — which is set to receive a film adaptation this fall — also features a legendary tribute of 16. Set 64 years before the events of the main trilogy, the story follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he uses his cold heart and colder intellect to steer Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Ziegler) to victory in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Throughout the book's entirety, Lucy is 16.

If she ever grows any older, it's not for the reader to know. While Lucy does survive the Hunger Games, her arc is left without resolution. And, as we previously mentioned, the prequel follows President Snow's backstory, not hers. We can't really extend this preference for writing about 16-year-olds to the prequel's primary point of view character, as young Coriolanus is 18 when he becomes one of the first Hunger Games mentors.

Were she still alive during the events of the main trilogy, however, Lucy would be 80 — a wizened woman who lived her entire life in the shadows while her former flame made sure the Hunger Games never stopped being profitable.