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"Well, yes, I'm angry. You know, I'm getting totally screwed over here. The deal was that if I win the Hunger Games, I get to live the rest of my life in peace. But now, you want to kill me again. Well, you know what? F---THAT! AND F--- EVERYBODY THAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT! "
—Johanna Mason, angrily to the Capitol[src]

Johanna Mason of District 7 was the victor of the 71st Hunger Games.[2] Four years later, she became a tribute in the third Quarter Quell,[3] and she was a prisoner of war in the Second Rebellion.[4] She was the last living victor from District 7 by the end of the rebellion.[5]

Biography

Early life

Johanna Mason was born in District 7, a district known for producing lumber. She became very tough and physically durable as a result of the work she did, and developed great skill with wielding an axe.[6] Katniss notes that she'd probably been able to wield an axe since she could toddle.

71st Hunger Games

"My stylist is such an idiot. District 7, lumber. I'd like to put an axe in her face."
—Johanna Mason[src]

Johanna participated in the 71st Hunger Games[2] at the age of seventeen.[1] The District 7 stylist dressed Johanna and her district partner as trees, just like four decades' worth of tributes before them.[7]

Johanna pretended to be a "sniveling, cowardly fool"[8] so that she would be ignored, and when only a handful of tributes were left, she revealed a "wicked ability to murder".[7] Any loved ones she had died sometime before the Quell,[9] presumably killed by the Capitol.

75th Hunger Games / Third Quarter Quell

Four years after her victory, Johanna was reaped again during the Third Quarter Quell, alongside Blight. At the time, Johanna was 21 years old, the next youngest tribute in the Quarter Quell after 17-year-olds Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.[1]

Johanna and Blight

Johanna and Blight in their chariot

Tribute Parade

JohannaElevator

Johanna stripping in front of Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch.

Johanna first met Katniss and Peeta after the opening ceremonies, in the elevator up to their apartments in the Training Center. Removing her leafy headdress, Johanna complained that tributes from 7 had been dressed as trees for forty years under the same stylist, and she wished that she had gotten Cinna instead. Then she unzipped her costume the rest of the way, leaving nothing else but her forest green slippers. Katniss was immediately turned off by this. Johanna discussed Peeta's paintings with him, and Katniss ignored Peeta after Johanna exited, though she could tell he was grinning. Peeta later explained to Katniss that Johanna did this to get a reaction, since she and the other tributes obviously saw Katniss as being the most "pure" of the Victors. [7]

In the book, Chaff and Seeder were also in the elevator,[7] but in the film, their place was taken by Haymitch Abernathy.[10]

Thgexplorer johanna

Johanna in the Training Center.

Training

On the first morning of training, Johanna was seen naked again, oiling down her skin for a wrestling lesson. Sometime before lunch, she mentioned the nicknames Nuts and Volts to Peeta, in reference to Wiress and Beetee.[11] In the film, she intimidated Katniss with her coordination and precision in wielding an axe.[10] She later received a "low to medium" training score.[12]

Interviews

Before interviews began, when Katniss arrived backstage in her wedding dress, Johanna stopped to straighten Katniss's pearl necklace and told her to "Make him pay for it," meaning President Snow. During Johanna's interview with Caesar Flickerman, she asked if something could be done about the victors going back into the arena, since surely the Gamemakers never anticipated such attachment forming between the victors and the Capitol.[12] At the end of the program, Johanna held hands with the other victors in a show of rebellion, and afterward, she and Finnick Odair tried to get into an elevator with Katniss and Peeta, but they were blocked from doing so by a Peacekeeper.[13]

Catching-Fire-Johanna-Mason-stylist

Johanna and her stylist

In the film, Caesar asked Johanna if she was angry with the victors going back into the arena, and Johanna furiously replied that she was angry because winning the Hunger Games was supposed to exempt her for life, yet the Capitol wanted to try and kill her again. She cursed everyone who was involved, then stormed backstage. Later, her stylist knelt beside her to adjust her dress, and Johanna was met with Katniss in her wedding dress. Johanna then told Katniss to make Snow pay for it, as in the book, and returned to the stage to hold hands with the other victors.[10]

The Games

Day 1

Johanna survived the initial Cornucopia bloodbath, making it away with Blight, Beetee, and Wiress before heading into the jungle.[14] In the film, she tried to kill the District 10 female with one of her axes, but the woman was able to dodge it.[10]

Day 2

Around one in the morning on the second day, Johanna and her alliance were very thirsty and looking forward to a rainstorm when they were caught in the clock arena's blood rain sector. They stumbled around, blinded, until Blight ran into the force field near the end of the sector's time period. He was killed instantly.[14] Sometime after this, Wiress figured out the clock mechanism, and she sang nursery rhymes about clocks for hours before "she started tick-tocking", as Johanna put it.[6]

Between ten o'clock and noon, Johanna, Beetee, and Wiress caught up with Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick. Katniss came to Wiress's defense when Johanna pushed the older woman down on the beach, and Johanna, agitated, claimed to have brought Beetee and Wiress for Katniss. However, before she could say more, Finnick grabbed her and repeatedly dunked her into the salt lake. Once all the blood was cleaned off, Johanna ate and drank voraciously while Finnick caught her up on the events had befallen them. Eventually, Johanna and Katniss took watch while the others rested. Here, she asked Katniss about what had happened to Mags, then informed Katniss that Mags had been Finnick's mentor and "half his family." After this, she clarified that she'd gotten Beetee and Wiress for Katniss on Haymitch's direction, in order to secure their alliance. When Wiress reappeared, Johanna excused herself to go rest beside Finnick.[14]

Johanna and the others were woken a few hours later by Katniss, who explained about the clock, and the group decided to verify the theory and restock at the Cornucopia. There, Johanna obtained a pair of "lethal-looking" axes and several knives before they were ambushed by the Career Tributes. Gloss slit Wiress's throat, Katniss shot Gloss in the right temple with an arrow, and Johanna buried an axe blade in Cashmere's chest. Brutus and Enobaria sprinted down a strip of sand into the jungle, but when Johanna and her allies made to give chase, the Cornucopia spun around. This knocked all three bodies into the water, along with a living Beetee, and disoriented the group. It also erased any advantage they'd gained in figuring out which sectors of the clock corresponded to which hour. With Beetee and his coil of wire recovered, the group returned to the jungle, only for Finnick and Katniss to find themselves trapped in the jabberjay sector at four o'clock.[6]

Johanna and Peeta tried to cut through an invisible wall, but they were separated from their allies until the hour was up. Johanna made to go tap the trees for water with a spile, but Katniss tried to warn her against it because the jabberjays echoed the fabricated screams of tributes' loved ones. However, Johanna replied that she couldn't be hurt because she had no one left. She also collected arrows that Katniss had shot at the birds. After a cannon blast, she returned to the beach to see a tribute's body being extracted from another sector of jungle in pieces. Later that evening, the alliance received a sponsor gift of bread: twenty-four rolls from District 3,[9] corresponding with an agreed-upon rebel code. This meant that they needed to enact their mission at midnight on their third night inside the arena.[4] After joking darkly that they should each have three rolls, and whoever survives till morning can have the rest, Johanna laid down to sleep.[9]

Day 3

Another sponsor gift delivery of bread arrived in the morning on the ten o'clock beach. Johanna kept a "careful eye" on Katniss and Peeta's swimming lesson, but evidently lost interest and took a nap. Finnick later woke her so Beetee could explain his plan to kill the Careers— which was actually a cover story for the real rebel plan Johanna, Beetee, and Finnick were already in on. Around nine in the morning, the alliance left their camp to go inspect the lightning tree. While Beetee did so and Finnick guarded, Johanna tapped the trees for water. Shortly after eleven, Johanna recommended that they leave before the midday lightning storm. In the blood rain sector, they settled down to eat before taking a "circuitous route" back to their camp on the ten o'clock beach. Johanna kept watch as Finnick, Katniss, and Peeta prepared their seafood. More bread arrived to reaffirm the time of the mission.[15]

Around nine in the evening, Johanna and her allies left their camp for the twelve o'clock beach, then hiked up through the jungle to the lightning tree. Beetee had wrapped his wire around the tree by 10:30 when he explained the rest of the cover-story plan. He sent Johanna and Katniss into the jungle together to unspool the wire all the way down to the beach and sink it into the salt lake. The girls took turns unwinding it, and about halfway down, they heard clicking rise from the eleven o'clock sector, marking the time. Shortly after, when Johanna was passing the coil to Katniss, Enobaria and Brutus cut the wire somewhere above them. At this point, Johanna knocked Katniss over the head with the heavy metal cylinder,[16] then cut the tracker out of Katniss's arm so the Capitol would be unable to find her.[4] Johanna also smeared blood across Katniss's face to make Enobaria and Brutus believe she was already dying.[16] Johanna then led the Careers away.[4]

Using the twelve o'clock lightning strike, Katniss was able to blow out the arena's force field with an electrified arrow at midnight. As a result, rebels from District 13 were able to extract Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee, whereas Johanna, Peeta, and Enobaria were captured by the Capitol.[4]

Second Rebellion

Imprisonment and Rescue

Johanna, Peeta, and the kidnapped Annie Cresta were held captive by the Capitol for five or six weeks after the Quell.[17] Upon rescue, Johanna was emaciated, bruised, and covered in oozing scabs, and her head had been completely shaven.[18] During her imprisonment, she had been soaked in water and then tortured with electric shocks. She developed a fear of water as a result.[13]

Johanna received medical attention in District 13,[18] and she had been staying in the hospital for several weeks when they began to cut back on her supply of morphling. Katniss returned from District 2 a few days later, injured, and a curtain separated her bed from Johanna's. Johanna dipped into Katniss's supply, and when Katniss awoke, the two discussed their mutual dislike and Katniss's role as the Mockingjay. When Gale Hawthorne entered, Johanna teased him and left the room. She later attended Finnick and Annie's wedding, and she asked Katniss if she was "going to miss the chance to let Snow see [her] dancing".[19]

In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, this was an excuse for Katniss to be seen in public as an alibi before she snuck onto a hovercraft to the Capitol.[20] That was likely inspired by a line Johanna said in the book: "But I'm going to the stinking Capitol if I have to kill a crew and fly there myself." The film entirely skipped the training arc that followed.[21]

Military Training

After being refused the opportunity to go fight in the Capitol, Johanna and Katniss trained together as soldiers for three weeks leading up to the battle. Initially, they were assigned to train alongside fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds, who were the youngest trainees in 13's army. The pair suffered together and bonded as Johanna fought both her hydrophobia and morphling withdrawals. Eventually, the girls moved into a compartment together in order to stop being seen as hospital patients.[21]

At the end of the week, they ate dinner with Gale, Finnick, Annie, and Delly Cartwright, later being joined by Peeta. Johanna patted the empty seat beside her, and she claimed she and Peeta were old friends. Having been held in adjacent cells in the Capitol, she said they were "very familiar with each other's screams." After more tense conversation, Katniss left with Gale. Johanna caught up with her in their compartment later to relay what she'd missed: Delly rebuked Peeta for the way he'd treated Katniss, and Johanna took advantage of the distraction to finish his stew. She also confirmed that what she'd said about the screaming was true.[21]

The Block

Johanna and Katniss were part of a handful of recruits moved to an additional training class: simulated street combat, or SSC, known colloquially as the Block. Johanna and Katniss did well on this track, and a few days before troops were set to deploy, York recommended them for the exam. Johanna and Katniss passed the obstacle course, written tactics exam, and a test of weapons proficiency, before taking on the Block. Johanna went in three people before Katniss. However, aware of her fear of water, they flooded the streets and she suffered a traumatic flashback, ending up in the hospital again. She was visited in the hospital by Finnick, and then Katniss gifted her a bundle of pine needles in a bandage, to remind her of home. Johanna took comfort in the familiar scent, and just before Katniss left, Johanna made her swear "on her family's life" to kill President Snow.[13]

The outfit Johanna wore to Snow's execution

The outfit Johanna wore to Snow's execution

Post-war

On the day of President Snow's execution, President Coin gathered all seven remaining victors and asked them to vote on a 76th Hunger Games, using the children of Capitol officials as tributes. Peeta cast the first vote against this, then Johanna cast the first vote in favor, even pointing out that Snow had a granddaughter. A 4-3 majority approved the proposal. Then Johanna took her place for the execution alongside the other victors, and she watched as Katniss assassinated Coin instead.[5]

Johanna Mason's life after this is unknown. However, since she expressed homesickness while in District 13,[13] she may have returned to District 7. The Games she voted for never came to pass, and the Games were abolished.[22]

Alliances

Johanna initially allied with Blight, Wiress, and Beetee in the 75th Hunger Games, and after Blight's death, she and the District 3 tributes joined up with Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick.[14] However, Johanna, Beetee, and Finnick were also a part of a larger rebel alliance aimed at protecting Katniss and breaking out of the arena. This included tributes from 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11.[4]

Victims

Johanna killed an unknown number of tributes in the later stage of the 71st Hunger Games, when only a handful of people remained.[8] In the Quell, she killed Cashmere on Day 2 by lodging the blade of an axe into her chest.[6] She was not known to have killed anyone during the war.

Personality

"I don't care if you're knocked up. I'll rip your throat out."
—Johanna Mason to Katniss Everdeen[src]

Due to her strategy in the 71st Hunger Games, Johanna was described as being "pretty clever".[8] She could be pert and difficult at times, but she was also capable of being persuasive, as seen in her interview with Caesar in the second book.[12] She was bold and outspoken, unafraid to express her opinion, especially as it pertained to the Capitol and President Snow. She was known to be impatient, cruel, or even vicious, but this was a defense mechanism to cover up how vulnerable and traumatized she was underneath all the bluster.[23]

Physical description

Johannao

Johanna as she appears in Catching Fire

Johanna had spiky brown hair and wide-set brown eyes.[7] In Mockingjay, she returned from her torture in the Capitol with a shaved head.[18] Within a few weeks of rescue, some of the scars on her head were covered by a "soft down",[19] and eventually it grew back enough for the damp edges of her hair to form "little spikes". A slightly built young woman, Katniss believed her ferocity came from her abrasive attitude.[23]

Johanna Mason's Capitol Portrait

Johanna's portrait in her interview dress

Films

In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Johanna had shoulder-length hair with bangs, and several streaks were dyed cherry red.[10]

The gown Johanna wore for her interview was a collaboration between costumer designer Trish Summerville and couture designer Jan Taminiau.[24] Taminiau's solo version of the gown first appeared as part of his Nature Extends Couture collection in July 2011.[25]

In "One Panem" promotional materials for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, she was shown wearing a headwrap, shoes by Alexander Wang, and a white gown from Alon Livné's Spring 2014 collection.[26]

Skills

Johannawithaxe

Johanna with her axe dug into the floor.

Since she was raised in the lumber district, Johanna was adept with axes, and she was able to throw them with enough force to wedge one into the metal Cornucopia. She also had enough skill in combat overall to be able to quickly dispatch Cashmere, a seasoned Career.[6]

During training on the Block, Johanna and Katniss were the only ones able to put on their gas masks in time, so she had quick reflexes. Katniss also said that Johanna was "wicked throwing an ax but about average with a gun,"[13] though it should be noted that Katniss was herself a skilled sharpshooter, and many would look average by comparison.

Relationships

Family

"They can't hurt me. I'm not like the rest of you. There's no one left I love."
—Johanna, to the Victors[src]

In the third Quarter Quell, Johanna said she had no loved ones left,[9] presumably killed by the Capitol. Since Haymitch Abernathy's family was killed after his Games, and he mentioned Johanna's name when he spoke about being held up as an example to younger victors,[18] it's commonly theorized that Johanna refused to be sex trafficked as Finnick had been, so her loved ones were killed in retaliation.

Finnick Odair

"Love is weird..."
—Johanna on Finnick and Annie.

Johanna and Finnick were friends prior to the 75th Hunger Games, most likely having formed a bond during previous Hunger Games where they were mentors. They were allies during the 75th Hunger Games, along with Wiress, Beetee, Katniss, and Peeta.[14] Katniss believed that Johanna was only in the alliance for Finnick, but in reality, Johanna was protecting the Mockingjay for the sake of the rebellion.[4]

In Mockingjay, Katniss stated that she didn't know what was between Finnick and Johanna, but Haymitch said Katniss and Finnick were "as close to friends as she's got."[13]

Katniss Everdeen

"You're a little hard to swallow. With your tacky romantic drama and your defender-of-the-helpless act. Only it isn't an act, which makes you more unbearable. Please feel free to take this personally."
—Johanna to Katniss[src]

When they first met during the 75th Hunger Games, both Johanna and Katniss had a strong dislike for each other; despite their alliance, there was very little in the way of trust between them.[14] Once the escape plan was in motion, Katniss believed Johanna had tried to kill her by cutting open her arm,[16] and it wasn't until she heard otherwise from Plutarch Heavensbee that her opinion of Johanna began to change.[4]

After her rescue from Capitol, Johanna started to form an uneasy trust with Katniss. This was initially built on Johanna's usual brand of dark humor and blunt honesty, as well as the exchange of Katniss's morphling.[19] However, their weeks of training and cohabitating turned their alliance into a real friendship.[13]

Wiress and Beetee

At the Training Center, Peeta told Katniss that Johanna called them Nuts (Wiress) and Volts (Beetee). Peeta thought the nickname had been around for years though, so it may not have been Johanna's invention.[11] After the blood rain in the arena, Johanna roughly handled the District 3 tributes in order to get them to Katniss. Johanna was intolerant of the two, Wiress especially for her constant repetitive behaviors. She even became so aggravated that she pushed Wiress to the ground.[14] Johanna's relationship with Beetee was decidedly more neutral, though he did inspire some impatience in her.[15]

Peeta Mellark

Peeta and Johanna were tortured in the Capitol together along with Annie Cresta. Johanna revealed that they were "familiar with each other's screams", as they had adjoining cells. She also called him an "evil-mutt version" of himself after his hijacking, suggesting a low opinion of him and his behavior.[21]

Etymology

Johanna is a version of the name Joanna, meaning "God is gracious". Another notable variation of the name is Joan, as in the French military leader and saint Joan of Arc. Johanna's surname Mason comes from the profession of masonry, or building with stone— possibly chosen because Johanna helps to lay the groundwork for the rebellion during the third Quarter Quell.

Trivia

  • Johanna is the first victor from another district besides 12 to be mentioned in the trilogy.[8]
  • Like Katniss, Johanna is the only living female victor from her district as of the third Quarter Quell.[3]
  • Despite being advertised as part of the supporting cast, appearing in promotional "One Panem" videos alongside Peeta, and being mentioned at various times in Mockingjay - Part 1, Johanna only makes a brief cameo near the end.[27]
  • In Mockingjay - Part 2, many of Johanna's book scenes were entirely cut and reduced. She appears only after Katniss is hospitalized after being shot in District 2, at Finnick's and Annie's wedding, at the vote for one "final" Hunger Games, and at Snow's execution.[20]
  • In an early version of the Hunger Games script, Effie Trinket mentioned that Johanna cried throughout the entire training week. However, on day one, she hatcheted six tributes within two minutes.[28]
  • The German translation of The Hunger Games says that Johanna won seven years before the 74th Hunger Games. This would mean that at least in the German version of the text, she won the 67th Hunger Games rather than the 71st.
    • In order for her to still be 21 during Catching Fire per Suzanne Collins' Time interview,[1] she would have had to win the 67th Hunger Games at only 13 years old.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://entertainment.time.com/2013/11/20/i-was-destined-to-write-a-gladiator-game-a-conversation-with-suzanne-collins-and-francis-lawrence/
  2. 2.0 2.1 Game Faces: District 7’s Johanna Mason - Capitol Couture
  3. 3.0 3.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 14
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Catching Fire, Chapter 27
  5. 5.0 5.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 26
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Catching Fire, Chapter 23
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Catching Fire, Chapter 15
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 The Hunger Games, Chapter 3
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Catching Fire, Chapter 24
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
  11. 11.0 11.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 16
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Catching Fire, Chapter 17
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Mockingjay, Chapter 18
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Catching Fire, Chapter 22
  15. 15.0 15.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 25
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Catching Fire, Chapter 26
  17. Mockingjay, Chapter 11
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Mockingjay, Chapter 12
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 Mockingjay, Chapter 16
  20. 20.0 20.1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Mockingjay, Chapter 17
  22. Mockingjay, Epilogue
  23. 23.0 23.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 18
  24. Johanna Mason: Branching Out - Capitol Couture
  25. http://spiceprblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/jantaminiau-nature-extends-honor-to.html
  26. Johanna Mason: Statuesque Allure - Capitol Couture
  27. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
  28. https://www.screenwritersnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/The-Hunger-Games-1-Script.pdf


The Hunger Games trilogy
Novels The Hunger GamesCatching FireMockingjay
Main Characters Katniss EverdeenPeeta MellarkGale HawthorneHaymitch AbernathyEffie Trinket
Supporting Characters Primrose EverdeenPresident SnowCinnaMrs. EverdeenMr. EverdeenPresident CoinClaudius TemplesmithCaesar FlickermanMadge UnderseePaylorPlutarch HeavensbeeSeneca Crane
Tributes MarvelGlimmerCatoCloveFoxfaceThreshRueMaysilee DonnerTitus
Past Victors Augustus BraunAnnie CrestaBeetee LatierBlightBrutusCashmereCeceliaChaffEnobariaFinnick OdairGlossJohanna MasonLymeMags FlanaganMorphlingsPorter Millicent TrippSeederWiressWoof
Groups RebellionGamemakersPrep teamTributesVictors
Locations PanemThe CapitolDistrict 1District 2District 3District 4District 5District 6District 7District 8District 9District 10District 11District 12District 13
Behind the Scenes Suzanne CollinsGary RossFrancis Lawrence
Films The Hunger Games (film)Catching Fire (film)Mockingjay - Part 1Mockingjay - Part 2
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