Coriolanus Snow

Coriolanus "Coryo" Snow is a character in The Hunger Games franchise, a book series and film series. In the original book trilogy (2008–2010), President Snow is a fascist dictator who leads the counter-revolutionary movement. In the prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020), he is an ambitious, intelligent and charismatic 18-year-old. He is assigned the role of mentoring a girl competing in the tenth Hunger Games—singer Lucy Gray Baird—and forms a relationship with her.

In the film adaptations, President Snow is portrayed by Donald Sutherland. He asked to be involved in the series as he believed it would engage young viewers in the politics of revolution. Tom Blyth was cast as the younger Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023): he saw the character as progressing through three stages, from naive and ambitious to the more reserved, Sutherland-like character.

Roses are a symbol of the Snow family, connecting Coriolanus to his mother and grandmother. He uses roses to communicate with The Hunger Games' main character, Katniss Everdeen. His signature method of eliminating his enemies is with poison. Snow is influenced by Dr. Gaul's view of state control as necessity to prevent disorder. He initially acts to help Lucy Gray out of self-interest but develops feelings for her. Lucy Gray bears similarities to Katniss, including their musicality, home and experience in the Hunger Games.

Critics of both the book and film disapproved of the choice to center Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as it is known that he will become a villain. However, Sutherland's performance in four The Hunger Games films—which expanded the role of President Snow from the books—garnered acclaim. Sutherland was nominated for a Teen Choice Award and an MTV Movie Award.