Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss.
Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss in the films The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. She will reprise her role in the final installment of the franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district that is the poorest and least populated district in the dystopian fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose "Prim" Everdeen, after she is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. Katniss, following an alliance with Rue, a young tribute from District 11 who reminded Katniss of Prim but died in the arena, joins up with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark. The pair compete in the Games together. Katniss uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol's attempt to force one to kill the other.
Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss becomes a galvanizing symbol of rebellion against the oppressive Capitol.