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Of District 12's two Hunger Games victors in 72 years, Haymitch is the only one still living. He is a middle-aged man who is always very drunk, but, after seeing some spunk in Katniss and Peeta, he decides that he will sober up enough to mentor them and help them survive the Games. He calls Katniss "sweetheart" in a sometimes abrasive way that angers her. At first, Katniss believes that Haymitch hates her and even withholds gifts from her in the arena so that she'll die. Soon, though, she realizes that Haymitch is communicating with her through his gifts (or lack of them) and that she and Haymitch are more alike than she'd like to let on. He never married and doesn't have any children, and Katniss wonders how hard it must be for Haymitch to watch District 12's tributes die year after year. She grows fond of Haymitch throughout the novel, and he grows fond of her as well, doing his best to train her, coach her, and watch over her when she returns.

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Prim is Katniss' 12-year-old sister. Prim takes after their mother, who has light hair and blue eyes. This reaping is her first, and Katniss has only allowed her to enter her name once into the drawing. Prim is the only person whom Katniss is certain she loves, and she does all she can to provide for and protect her sister, eventually sacrificing herself when, against all odds, Effie Trinket draws Prim's name at the reaping. When Katniss struggles to survive during the Games, she thinks about Prim and the promise she made to her that she would try her hardest to win. This promise gives her the strength she needs throughout the Games.

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Gale, Katniss' 18-year-old hunting partner, is well-liked by many girls in the District 12. When he first meets Katniss in the woods, he believes that her name is Catnip, and so this becomes his permanent nickname for her. Gale's father died in the same mine explosion as Katniss' father and, like Katniss, is very poor and struggles to survive in the Seam. He must take care of two little brothers, his little sister, and his mother, but has told Katniss that he wishes the two of them could run away together in the woods, that they'd have no problem surviving out there. When they hunt, Gale is very vocal about his hatred for the Capitol; only later, in the Games, do his words take true root in Katniss' mind. She thinks of Gale often during the Games, how she is completely at ease with him and tells him everything, and how she wishes he could be there to help her, though she falls short of admitting that she loves him.

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Peeta, the son of a baker, is the boy tribute from District 12 who claims to have been in love with Katniss since they were 5 years old. Even though they don't speak and Katniss doesn't consider Peeta a friend, he saves her life when they are 11 and she is starving behind the bakery. He gives her a loaf of bread, one that he burned on purpose, and ever since that moment Katniss has felt like she owes Peeta.

During his interview before the start of the Games, Peeta professes his love for Katniss, which angers her since she believes that Peeta's comments make her look weak when, in fact, they make her even more desirable. While Peeta doesn't have much faith that he can win, he does tell Katniss that he wants to make sure that when he's in the arena, he remains true to himself, that he doesn't let the Games change him. Peeta causes Katniss to question her own identity and think about making a difference in the Games, wondering how she can be more than just a piece in the Capitol's Games.

From the start, Peeta does everything he can to help Katniss survive. He joins the Careers in order to lead them away from her and even fights off Cato, who wounds him badly. To survive, Peeta uses his exceptional camouflaging skills to hide until Katniss finds him and nurses him back to health. While Katniss doubts Peeta's love for her, thinking that he is only keeping up the "lover boy" act, he seems genuine throughout the novel and feels betrayed in the end when he discovers that Katniss has not been as sincere as he has.

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Katniss, the story's narrator and heroine, is 16 years old and has straight black hair, gray eyes, and olive skin. Her father died in a mine explosion when she is 11. Since then, to keep her family from starving in the Seam, she has had to provide for her mother and sister, using the hunting and gathering knowledge that her father taught her. Her best friend and hunting partner is Gale, and, while they spend a great deal of time together, Katniss is sure that she doesn't see him in a romantic light, something that comes into deep question when she is District 12's Hunger Games tribute and must work hard to maintain a star-crossed-lovers façade with Peeta Mellark. Throughout the novel, she remains a hunter and a survivor, "the girl on fire," but she is also a girl who is very confused about her emotions concerning Peeta and Gale. Katniss must also remember to hide her true emotions about the Capitol: She loathes the Capitol and its tyrannical rule, but to rebel openly is to ask for punishment, oftentimes death. She is brave and daring and returns home from the Games a beloved star to her district but a menace, and perhaps a liability, to the Capitol dictators in charge of Panem.