Coral

Coral was the female tribute from District 4 during the 10th Hunger Games. Her mentor was Festus Creed. Coral finished 6th in the Games. She was preceded in death by the District 3 male Circ and succeeded by her district partner Mizzen. She was in an alliance with Mizzen and Tanner, the male tribute from District 10. She was noted as being one of the stronger tributes for these Games.

Biography

Coral grew up in District 4 and became her district's female tribute in the Reaping for the 10th Hunger Games.^[1]

Along with the other tributes, Coral was taken to the Capitol in a dirty cattle car. From there, they were dumped into the monkey house at the Capitol Zoo.^[2]

During the interviews before the Games began, Coral was one of the few mentor-tribute pairs that had something to present. She demonstrated her ability with a trident, wielding an old broomstick in such a way that left little doubt of her skill.^[3] When Festus Creed, her mentor, said goodbye before Coral headed into the arena, she almost broke his wrist.^[4]

10th Hunger Games

When the gong rang Coral sprinted towards the weapons pile along with Tanner, Jessup, and Reaper. After gathering up a few weapons, Coral ran into the tunnels. During the Games, Sejanus Plinth went into the arena to die after holding a traditional District 2 vigil over the District 2 male tribute, Marcus, whom he was mentor to and also happened to be his former childhood classmate and community neighbor in the district. Coriolanus Snow was sent into the arena to coax Sejanus out. Snow was successful, but as they left the arena, they were first attacked by the District 8 male tribute, Bobbin. When he was killed, Coral pursued them, along with Mizzen and Tanner, and they were able to severely injure the mentors.

On the second day of the Games, she, Mizzen, and Tanner teamed up once more to kill Sol, the female tribute from District 5, and Lamina, the female tribute from District 7. The alliance chased Sol until Coral speared Sol's throat with a trident.^[5]

When they targeted Lamina on the third day, Lamina initially choose to target Coral after seeing both tributes from District 4 climb up the beams towards her, but she missed Coral and, seeing that she was hindered, decided to turn to Mizzen instead. After leaving Mizzen dangling precariously on a beam, Lamina turned back to Coral, but by this time Coral was prepared to attack, having easily snatched the trident Tanner had thrown her. After a few blocked jabs, Coral thrust her trident into Lamina's body, and Lamina fell off the beam on which she was standing. On the ground, Tanner rejoiced over Lamina's death, but as he turned to congratulate Mizzen, Coral killed him with a trident. She then bandaged Mizzen's knee, and they headed back into the tunnels.^[6]

Death

When Dr. Volumnia Gaul released snake mutts into the arena to punish them for Gaius Breen's death, which had come about due to rebel bombings, dozens of them attacked Coral, and one dangled from her arm. Even as she shook it off, more mutts swarmed around her, and she died shortly thereafter. Pink, yellow, and blue streaked her body as bright pus came out of her wounds.^[7]

Film adaptation

During the tributes' transport to the Capitol Zoo, Coral made her hostility to Lucy Gray Baird known by showing her contempt for her performance during her reaping. Later, Coral showed active annoyance with her assigned mentor, Festus Creed, during their meetings.

During the trip to the arena in order to survey it and discuss strategy before the Games, Coral had notably begun recruiting multiple allies to help her in the arena. She had already recruited Mizzen, her district partner, and Tanner, the male tribute from District 10, to her alliance in advance. Coral then recruited Treech from District 7, calling out to him to join her group while surveying the arena. When Treech called out for his district partner, Lamina, to come with him, Coral stopped him and made it clear that only he was invited. Treech initially hesitated to leave Lamina, but ultimately decided to side with Coral in order to survive.

When the gong rang, Coral ran to the center and picked up a trident. She began to attack Lucy Gray Baird, but the other tribute dodged her attacks. Coral stabbed Panlo in the chest with her trident, then retrieved it. She targeted Lucy Gray with her next attack, but the trident embedded itself in Circ's chest instead. After she took the trident back, Coral, Mizzen, Treech, and Bobbin gathered before chasing Lucy Gray and Jessup into the tunnels. However, the two tributes narrowly escaped through a door, so they attacked the other alliance, killing Hy. Coral saw Sol in the grate and killed her as well. The group continued to inspect the tunnels until nightfall, when they grabbed Otto, who had been killed by one of them, out of the rubble.

At night, the four saw Coriolanus Snow and Sejanus Plinth running towards the exit and decided to chase him, not stopping even when Bobbin was killed. After Coriolanus and Sejanus escaped, the tributes returned to the center of the arena. The next day, the four had cornered Lucy Gray when Coriolanus sent her several drones with water. The drones crashed into the alliance, and Lucy Gray was able to escape.

The group then attacked Lamina. Coral climbed up the beam she was standing on, attacking her despite Lamina's attempts to defend herself. After driving the trident into the other tribute's stomach, Coral threw her off the beam. Afterward, the alliance saw Lucy Gray and chased her into a ventilation shaft. When Tanner reproached Coral for not being able to kill her, Coral stuck her trident into his chest. They then arrived below Lucy Gray's position inside the ducts. Coral told Mizzen to go to the pile of weapons for a spear, then jammed her own trident into the vent. Lucy Gray fell from the duct, and Coral and Mizzen chased her into the center of the arena, where a drone deposited a large tank that released hundreds of snakes.

Coral, Lucy Gray, and Mizzen began to run, but Mizzen was killed by the snake mutts as he called out to Coral. Coral followed Lucy Gray in climbing up the pile of rubble, but became surrounded by snakes as she pleaded for her life. Coral placed 2nd.^[8]

Etymology

A coral is a hard marine invertebrate that forms coral reefs in the ocean.

Trivia

• Coral and Mizzen may have started the alliance with Tanner to specifically kill Lamina because three people had to block all of her exits.
• Coral is implied to be a strong tribute, as only she, Tanner, Reaper, and Jessup retrieved weapons from the weapons pile at the start of the Games.
• Coral and Mizzen could be seen as an early iteration of a Career Tribute. For the 10th Hunger Games, several new systems and methods to further develop the Games were tested, and Coral could have inspired her district to begin producing Careers, as her performance in the 10th Hunger Games clearly showcased how prior training with a trident greatly increased her chances of surviving.
• In the novel, Coral and Lucy Gray were tied for the most kills at three. Coral's victims were Sol, Lamina, and Tanner.
  • However, in the film adaptation, Lucy Gray killed two, and Coral killed an additional two or three tributes: Panlo, Circ and possibly Teslee.^[8]
• Coral was the first tribute to ever be formally interviewed in the history of the Hunger Games.
• Coral was the only tribute who was killed by the snakes in both the novel and the film adaptation.
• The relationship between Coral and Mizzen is reminiscent of the relationship between Cato and Clove in The Hunger Games.

References