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Still from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Character · by Priya Nair

Coriolanus Snow: Who He Is, Who Plays Him and What Happens to Him

Coriolanus Snow is the ruthless president of Panem in the Hunger Games films, played by Donald Sutherland as the older ruler in the four main films and by Tom Blyth as the young man in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023). The prequel shows him as a poor Capitol student who hopes to restore his family's fortunes, and the original films end with a mob killing him after the rebels win.

Image: TMDB

Who Plays President Coriolanus Snow?

Who Is Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games?

Coriolanus Snow is the president of Panem and the central figure of the 2023 prequel. Donald Sutherland plays him, credited as President Coriolanus Snow, in The Hunger Games (2012), directed by Gary Ross, and in Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay Part 1 (2014) and Mockingjay Part 2 (2015), all directed by Francis Lawrence. Tom Blyth plays the younger man, credited as Coriolanus Snow, in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), also directed by Francis Lawrence, where Dexter Sol Ansell is credited as Young Coriolanus. So, anyone searching for the Coriolanus Snow actor will find two lead names depending on the era, and a third credit for the youngest version.

How do you describe President Snow? In the original films he threatens Katniss's family and friends, orders her and Peeta to play devoted lovers on the Victory Tour, and answers the rebels with violence, including an air raid on a hospital full of the wounded and a strike on District 13 itself. The prequel gives him a different starting point: he is an ambitious student from a once wealthy Capitol family that has fallen on hard times, and he hopes a mentoring prize will rescue its fortunes.

That prequel is set about ten years after the First Rebellion and more than sixty years before the original Hunger Games, which puts Snow first on the Hunger Games timeline even though his older self reached the screen first. For the full picture of the saga, see the Hunger Games characters page and the Hunger Games movies in order. A new film, Sunrise on the Reaping, is dated for November 20, 2026 in theaters and IMAX, according to TheWrap.

President Coriolanus Snow Films

Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray: How the Young Snow Becomes a TyrantSpoilers

Snow's arc stretches across five films, and the prequel explains how an ambitious young man becomes the ruler the original films show. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes he begins as a Capitol student whose family has lost its money, and the 10th Hunger Games hands him a mentee: Lucy Gray Baird of District 12. Their closeness is real on screen, and his ideas for the broadcast push the event toward harsher, more theatrical territory. When he goes into the arena after her, he helps rescue another mentor and ends up killing a tribute himself.

Cheating is what undoes him. Punished with a posting as a Peacekeeper in District 12, he meets Lucy Gray again, and his friend Sejanus Plinth, who is drawn to the rebel cause, becomes the person he gives up to protect himself. Lucy Gray is willing to leave with him, but once he admits what he did to Sejanus, she turns away. He follows her into the woods hoping to silence her, a snake strikes him, and he never learns whether his shot landed. The film leaves her fate unresolved.

By The Hunger Games (2012) the older Snow already holds power. Katniss and Peeta's berry threat leaves the Capitol little choice but to name two victors, and he reads her defiance as a danger to his grip. The flowers she placed for Rue had already stirred unrest in Rue's district, which is a large part of why he fixates on her.

In Catching Fire he visits Katniss with a warning that her defiance is fueling uprisings, demands that she and Peeta act as a devoted couple on the Victory Tour, and threatens the people she loves. The tour inflames the districts further, so he announces the 75th Games, a Quarter Quell drawing tributes from past victors. In Mockingjay Part 1 he answers the revolt with force, including an air raid on a hospital full of wounded people and a strike on District 13. Peeta, once rescued, has been conditioned to see Katniss as a threat.

In Mockingjay Part 2 the Capitol declares Katniss dead, and Snow lets civilians into his mansion as a supposed shelter. Bombs kill many children and then the medics who rush in, Prim among them. After the rebels win, he tells Katniss that Coin staged the attack.

Who Matters Most to Coriolanus Snow? His Key Relationships

Snow's most important relationships are with Lucy Gray Baird, Sejanus Plinth, Katniss Everdeen and Alma Coin, and each one shows a different side of him.

Lucy Gray Baird. Did Coriolanus Snow love Lucy Gray? The film shows them growing close as mentor and tribute, and he plans to run away with her. It also shows him chasing her into the forest to keep her quiet once she turns against him. Why does Coriolanus turn on Lucy? She learns that he betrayed Sejanus, and he then chases her into the forest to keep her quiet. Her character page, Lucy Gray Baird, covers her side of the story.

Sejanus Plinth. Sejanus is a friend of Snow's who sympathizes with the rebels. Snow betrays him and covers up what he did. This is the clearest early sign that Snow will protect himself at the cost of a loyal friend.

Katniss Everdeen. In the original films Katniss is both his rival and his obsession. He threatens her family and friends in Catching Fire, and in Mockingjay Part 2 he tells her that Coin staged the bombing that killed Prim. Read more at Katniss Everdeen Hunger Games.

Alma Coin. Coin is the rebel president, played by Julianne Moore in the two Mockingjay films. In Mockingjay Part 2 Snow tells Katniss that Coin staged the attack, and Coin later refuses the promised election and proposes one last Games using Capitol children.

Why Was President Snow Killed? His Fate in Mockingjay Part 2Spoilers

President Snow is killed by a mob at his own execution in Mockingjay Part 2, after Katniss shoots Coin instead of him. Coin had refused the promised election and proposed one last Games using Capitol children. At the execution Katniss shoots Coin, the crowd turns on Snow, and he dies at the hands of the mob.

That answers why Snow was killed: the rebels had won, and the crowd at his execution turned on him once Coin was shot. Katniss is arrested, then cleared by a letter from Plutarch that Haymitch reads out, which promises a pardon and an end to the Hunger Games.

The prequel ends with a different kind of loss, because Snow never learns whether Lucy Gray survived. His choices there push him toward the ruthless view of power that defines the tyrant of the original films.

Best Coriolanus Snow Moments: What Made Him Evil

In my opinion, the strongest Snow scene is his Victory Tour warning to Katniss in Catching Fire, where he threatens her family and friends if she fails to play a devoted couple with Peeta. It could be argued that the mansion gambit in Mockingjay Part 2, where he draws Capitol civilians in as a supposed shelter, is the most openly cruel thing he does, and I would say it is also the most effective use of the character as a political animal.

What made Coriolanus Snow evil? It could be argued that the prequel answers this in layers rather than with one event. He begins with ambition and a family in decline, then makes the Games more brutal with his own suggestions, then cheats, then betrays Sejanus, and then chases Lucy Gray to keep her quiet. None of those steps is a single break from decency, and that gradual slide is what makes Tom Blyth's version convincing as the younger form of Sutherland's ruler.

If you are new to the saga, start with The Hunger Games (2012) and watch Sutherland's Snow in context before the prequel. If you already know the original four films, watch The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes next, because the forest scene with Lucy Gray makes his later obsession with control read very differently. Use the Hunger Games movies in order page to pick a route.

Facts

FAQs

Who is the father of Coriolanus Snow?

The 2023 prequel places Snow in a once wealthy Capitol family that has fallen on hard times, and he hopes a mentoring prize will restore its fortunes.

Why does Coriolanus turn on Lucy?

Lucy Gray turns against Snow after he confesses that he betrayed his friend Sejanus Plinth, and he then turns on her. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes she plans to run away with him, but he chases her into the forest to keep her quiet, is bitten by a snake and cannot be sure whether he shot her. The film leaves her fate open.

Why was President Snow killed?

The mob kills Snow at his execution in Mockingjay Part 2 once the rebels have won. Katniss shoots Coin instead of him, after Coin refuses the promised election and proposes one last Games using Capitol children, and the crowd turns on Snow.

Why was President Snow obsessed with Katniss?

Snow saw Katniss as a danger to his control after she and Peeta threatened to eat poisonous berries in The Hunger Games (2012), and her flowers for Rue had already sparked unrest. In Catching Fire he warns her that her defiance has inspired uprisings, and he forces her and Peeta to play lovers on the Victory Tour.

Did Coriolanus Snow love Lucy Grey?

The films leave that to the viewer. The prequel shows Snow and Lucy Gray Baird growing close and bonding over their struggles, and he plans to run away with her, but he also chases her into the forest to keep her quiet once she turns against him.

Did Coriolanus Snow have a child?

No child of Snow's appears in the story the five films tell. It centers on Lucy Gray Baird, Sejanus Plinth and, in the original four films, Katniss Everdeen.