Tanner

Tanner was the male tribute from District 10 in the 10th Hunger Games. His mentor was Domitia Whimsiwick. For a short amount of time, he was in an alliance with the District 4 duo, Mizzen and Coral.

Biography[]

Tanner grew up in District 10 and became his district's male tribute in the reaping for the 10th Hunger Games.^[1] Along with the other tributes, Tanner was taken to the Capitol in a dirty cattle car. From there, they were dumped into the monkey house at the Capitol Zoo.^[2] While at the zoo, his district partner Brandy killed her mentor, Arachne Crane, so she was gunned down by Peacekeepers.^[1]

During the interviews before the Games began, Tanner's mentor, Domitia Whimsiwick, used her knowledge of cows and bubbly nature to get Tanner speaking about slaughterhouse techniques, which he had grown familiar with during his time in District 10, the industry of which is livestock. He became so engaged in the conversation that Lucretius Flickerman, the interviewer, had to cut them off when they ran out of time, and he garnered the most applause of the evening so far.^[3] Because of the interview, many Capitol citizens favored Tanner to win.^[4]

10th Hunger Games[]

Tanner was one of the few tributes that sprinted for the weapons in the center of the Capitol Arena after the gong sounded to signal the beginning of the Games. However, like the others, he quickly dispersed after selecting his weapon. Later that morning, he was seen climbing up and strolling along the top of the arena, but only sat there for a while before vanishing again.^[5]

During the Games, Sejanus Plinth went into the arena to protest the death of Marcus and hold vigil over Marcus' body. Coriolanus Snow was sent into the arena to coax Sejanus out, but as they left, Tanner pursued them, along with Mizzen, Coral, and Bobbin. He managed to cut open the back of Sejanus's calf with his knife, injuring him before Sejanus was able to escape. After this incident, Tanner, Coral and Mizzen formed an alliance.^[6]

On the second day of the Games, he, Coral, and Mizzen teamed up once more to kill Sol, the female tribute from District 5. The alliance chased her until Coral speared Sol's throat with a trident.^[6]

On the third day, the trio prepared to kill Lamina, the female District 7 tribute. At first, Lamina took no notice, but was brought to attention when Tanner banged a sword against one of the poles, as she had taken shelter above. Tanner positioned himself underneath, holding a pair of tridents and directing the District 4 tributes while they climbed up, so they could corner Lamina and prevent her from escaping. When they reached the beam at the top, Tanner threw Mizzen's trident up for him to catch, but didn't toss it high enough and it fell back to the ground. Because Mizzen had been occupied with attempting to catch the trident, Lamina took the opportunity to injure him and knock him off balance. Tanner ran down to the other end and instead tossed a trident to Coral, who caught it easily and used it to kill Lamina.^[7]

Death[]

After the alliance killed Lamina, Tanner rejoiced over her death, performing a kind of dance over her body. However, as he turned to congratulate Mizzen with a "victory slap," Coral drove a trident into his back. Tanner fell to the ground after being shoved away by Mizzen, who then finished him off using a knife to his neck.

Tanner's body was later collected by Reaper Ash, the District 11 male tribute, and taken to his makeshift morgue.^[7]

Film adaptation[]

When the tributes and mentors visited the arena to devise strategies, Tanner was shown to have quickly formed an alliance with Coral and Mizzen, standing with them as they surveyed the arena. He watched as Coral invited Treech to join their alliance, and he witnessed Treech’s decision to abandon his district partner, Lamina.^[8]

When the gong rang, Tanner pushed Lamina and headed to the center. He began fighting Panlo, who was soon killed by Coral. Tanner, Coral, Mizzen, and Treech gathered before chasing Lucy Gray Baird and Jessup Diggs into the tunnels. However, the two tributes narrowly escaped through a door.^[8]

They continued to inspect the tunnels until nightfall, when Tanner 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 them, 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.^[8]

After killing Lamina, the group turned around to retrieve the water. They saw Lucy Gray and chased her into a ventilation duct. When Tanner reproached Coral for not being able to kill her, Coral stuck her trident into his chest. Tanner placed 8th.^[8]

Etymology[]

Tanner's name comes from the word tanning, the process of creating leather from animal skin.

Trivia[]

• Mizzen and Coral may have started the alliance with Tanner to specifically kill Lamina because it required three people to block all of her exits.
• Throughout the book, Tanner is referred to as strong. He was one of the only tributes along with Coral, Reaper, and Jessup to receive weapons from the weapons pile at the start of the Games.

References[]