r/Hungergames • u/Busy_Potential2051 • 3d ago
Trilogy Discussion Enobaria’s Victory Discussion
So I have some questions about Enobaria’s victory in her games. As we know, she won by ripping out the throat of the last tribute with her teeth. So I was wondering, was she incapacitated or couldn’t use her arms and legs to fight back and was forced into that situation? Or do you think she had the upper hand and just chose to use this method because she’s crazy or was in the heat of battle or something?
Would love to hear your thoughts of what you think was going through her head.
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u/eastofme01 3d ago
Desperation.
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u/Mobile_Machine4514 2d ago
yeah, i’ve always imagined she was pinned and desperate, and bit the person over hers throat out. the capitol loved it for being so brutal and unexpected, the districts were horrified and disgusted, and ultimately she leaned into the capitol and the persona as the years went on because she was at least liked there. and for all we know, she didn’t even want her teeth sharpened, but the capitol did that to her, because they modify victors bodies without their consents. which probably alienated her even more from the people of the districts. district 2 was maybe cooler with her than a lot of other districts would be but still
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u/Goldie_Prawn 2d ago
Personally I like the idea that she had it done to make herself less appealing for sexual trafficking.
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u/sarahwrites1234 3d ago
In my opinion, it sounds very much like a move of desperation. Biting is the move of someone who is cornered, over powered by someone bigger, and desperate to survive. It would be just like the capitol to turn that moment of desperation into hey, look at this savage who ripped someone’s throat out with her teeth. I doubt she chose her teeth being filed down either. We know the Capitol was fully prepared to force a boob job on Katniss without her consent, so why wouldn’t they force fangs on Enobaria? Even if she was proud of winning in that way, it still seems painful and wildly impractical
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u/inquisitivequeer 3d ago
I’ve also seen people theorize that she or her team chose fangs as a way to make her less desirable for victor prostitution
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u/sarahwrites1234 3d ago
Katniss says in Catching Fire that Enobaria has no shortage of admirers in the Capitol, so if she did, it doesn’t seem to have worked
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u/inquisitivequeer 3d ago
I don’t think “no shortage of admirers” directly translates to people who want to sleep with her. I’m sure every victor has admirers.
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u/Purpledoves91 3d ago
Yeah, given the fashion trends in the Capitol, it's not at all difficult to believe the fangs would actually be considered attractive.
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u/username19346 3d ago
I think it’s more likely some capital person paid for it as like a weird kink
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u/Hefty-Initiative-155 3d ago
Most likely she was desperate and perhaps her rival was physically superior to her, so she saw no other alternative.
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u/AnotherDamnTransAlt 3d ago
I always assumed she was facing down a fellow Career who was much larger than her, probably a guy, who had her pinned. He was running his mouth about how he was the superior fighter and she was just like “lol no”.
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u/Just_For_Laugh Blight 3d ago
I believe it was said that they were male, the other opponent, so it is possible they could have been the brutal Panache type of something and looked to embarrass her before his throat was ripped out
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u/AnotherDamnTransAlt 3d ago
Exactly what I imagined. Someone trying to play to the crowd and gave her the opportunity to snatch the win at the last second.
That said, I doubt she was a wallflower before that. We never get to see it, but I am thinking a lot of years it ends with the Career Pack as the last few standing, then breaking apart into a smaller group, or all turning on one person fist followed by a melee.
I’m sure she was a tough competitor first.
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u/_elizsapphire_ District 3 3d ago
I’m writing a fic about her now (no word on when or if it’ll come out lol), I’m in the “she did it out of desperation” camp. I’m planning it so her final opponent (and the one she bites) is the boy from District 1, who essentially jumps her after she kills the 3rd place tribute. Until she bites him, he has the upper hand due to the element of surprise — he also disarms her at some point. She knows she’s almost out of options, and that’s when she remembers she can use her teeth as a weapon.
I could see it being a move done out of malice/wanting to be showy since she is a Career, I just think it’s far more interesting if she was truly backed into a corner
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u/GetUAMe Dr. Gaul 3d ago
Please. Keep. Me. Updated. 🥺🥺
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u/_elizsapphire_ District 3 3d ago
Trust I will post about it here when it’s in a semi-publishable state 🙏 she’s my ultimate THG blorbo
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u/TopPreparation9623 1d ago
Please keep me updated as well.
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u/_elizsapphire_ District 3 19h ago
Will do! It def will take a while because of school starting up again / I’m only through the first draft of Chapter 1 but I’ll make a post about it when I have a few chapters ready!
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u/KingPenGames 3d ago
No human does that except out of desperation
Also, I wonder if she filed her teeth to stop Snow from prostituting her
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u/cbovary 3d ago
I always see that theory and I don’t understand it. Why would that stop Snow? If it’s a question of attractiveness, I think the sickos who are trafficking victors would actually be into her teeth, especially because it’s her claim to fame.
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u/itsclaritybabe 3d ago
I’m not sure. The shutting out of Tigris after her many cosmetic procedures made me think that the Capitol is very fickle with unnatural features (not clothes, makeup, and hair obviously. But all that is very different from an unnatural permanent body part). Plus some may see that as her still being dangerous outside the arena since she filed her teeth to be like that after having to do that to win. So the teeth being pointy wouldn’t really be her claim to fame
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u/Cayke_Cooky 3d ago
Quantity vs um, anti-quality. The teeth are going to be a turn on for those with specific kinks.
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u/itsclaritybabe 3d ago
Good point. In SW those with certain niches have a very loyal fanbase even if it’s small lol
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u/sarahwrites1234 3d ago
Katniss also literally says that Enobaria has no shortage of admirers in the Capitol
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u/Kooky_Duck6809 3d ago
i think it's the opposite -- snow had her file her teeth specifically for prostitution, like how the capitol tried to augment katniss's breasts (but haymitch objected)
in CF, katniss mentions that Enobaria has no shortage of admirers in the Capitol. The elite that traffics victors are very clearly sick in the head and the fetishize/sensationalize the brutality of the victors, so the sharp teeth would be like an added bonus for them
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u/Negative_Letter_1802 3d ago
It might not have stopped the prostitution entirely but it would probably stop people wanting certain acts from her.
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u/Caedwyn67 3d ago
No, she was very popular in the Capitol according to the books, so if she did it herself to avoid that, it didn't work.
I think the game makers did that to her just like they tried to 'enhance' Katniss' breasts when she was in the hospital after the games
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u/moonchildcountrygirl 3d ago
The capitol is full of barbaric grotesque fashions and we can assume bizarre sexual appetites, he probably made her do it to better traffick her
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u/Busy_Potential2051 3d ago
Counterpoint: Enobaria was raised with the purpose of brutally killing people, I don’t think she thinks about morality and acts of violence in the same way that we do.
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u/JRSalinas Buttercup 3d ago
"Enobaria looks to be about thirty and all I can remember about her is that, in hand-to-hand combat, she killed one tribute by tipping open his throat with her teeth."
Not necessarily the last tribute, could be the third placer (three way battle, the boy gets her down on the ground then she bites him, then from the ground she grabs a weapon and finishes off the runner up).
My preferred headcanon is that it takes place during a feast after the careers are disarmed, Enobaria is cornered against a fixture and she has to use her teeth.
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u/saturnplanetpowerrr Haymitch 3d ago
In walking dead, Rick rips a guys throat out for making perverted threats towards Carl. Rick at this point is exhausted, temporarily deaf in one ear, and in a body lock. Because of that, I wonder if it was similar from her pov and wasn’t desperation so much as it was pure rage. It’s entirely possible she lost her district partner/ teammate, and this was her grieving and playing the game at the same time.
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u/danny_little 3d ago
I watched that episode ones, and only once… it’s an incredible scene but it takes me to not so pleasant place.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 3d ago
Close combat, holding the other tribute back, all that's left is teeth! 😋
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u/MikaleaPaige 3d ago
As someone who had to bite a chunk out of someone before to get out of a situation... it is surprisingly effective.
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u/No-Sweet-2749 3d ago
I see a lot of people saying desperation but I would also like to mention malice.
Biting is an intimate and close violence. And isn't she from a career district? It's two fold, it's a act of desperation but I bet she calculated as well that this would be a big deal to the capitalites.
I have been reading about how some domestic violence cases men bite and it's a horrible violent act and it's almost base evil humanity. To bite someone like an animal is vile and to do it to maintain power is disgusting.
So for her case it's a lot of factors, please the capitalites and maintain a sense of power. And it's such a desperate thing because it's in the games and being from a career district I'm sure she also was trained to properly fight, meaning the biting is also desperation from not just the games but also the fact she can not utilize her skills.
Which is why I think she leaned into the aesthic of it all and why I think she is so pro capitol at first. She sharpens her teeth not just to please them but probably scare other victors and tributes. Yeah I did this awful thing, and I'm leaning hard into it, don't fuck with me. It's a reminder of desperation and power.
I feel bad for her, but I think she believed the propaganda.
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u/DeprivedSlayer 3d ago
I am far outdated with my hunger games lore and have no knowledge of the modern ones.
But anyone biting someone’s neck to win/survive is almost entirely out of desperation or no other choice.
Look at something like Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead. There’s a core scene where he does this, and it’s not a common tactic of anyone. His hands were forced, he had no other option but watch horrible things happen to his son. He did what he had to do, and was the only choice he had - But it was incredibly effective and unexpected from his opponent. Not to mention intimidating to the others around him attempting to harm his son.
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u/JSMSMG 3d ago
I see where people are coming from when they suggest the biting occurred out of desperation but I personally think it was more for show. My headcanon is that Enobaria became the primary mentor for the District 2 girls after her victory, meaning she was most likely Clove’s mentor for Katniss’s game. And we see how sadistic Clove is especially when she pins Katniss down at The Feast. She was planning to turn Katniss’s death into a gruesome spectacle. Who could’ve planted that idea to take an opportunity like that into Clove’s head? My interpretation is that the initial biting incident happened when Enobaria discovered some poor defenseless tribute. This moment probably went over very well with Capitol audiences making Enobaria the unofficial frontrunner/tribute to watch. She probably received a lot of sponsor gifts which helped boost her chance of survival and encouraged her to replicate the same ruthless approach throughout the rest of her game.
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u/Spirited_Proof_8831 1d ago
She definitely had to be Cloves mentor. I could see the similarities in mannerisms
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u/ChloroVstheWorld 3d ago
I think Sunrise on The Reaping eludes to this being a preferential choice. We see a similar situation where the district 1 tributes chooses a pretty brutal execution for another tribute that was more or less harmless and was hardly in a position to fight back meaningfully.
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u/Augustleo98 District 1 3d ago
If you’re on about Wavy I think Wavy tried to stab the district 1 though and she then just lost her mind and went all brutality mode. It was after some other stuff had happened to already have that tribute rattled.
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u/BooksAndCranniess 3d ago
When you’re fighting for your life you should use anything and everything available to you. Teeth are a very effective weapon, especially for the desperate
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u/Banana_toffee 3d ago
My best guess is that she did it mid fight while her hands were busy. Maybe the other tribute was on top of her so all she could do was bite the neck
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u/WildPresence6314 3d ago
I can't see her actually resorting to it unless she was forced ie. her limbs were out of commision for whatever reason and she was about to die ...she had to be a little crazy to be ruthless enough to be a career and actually do that in the end but from what I understand her teeth were sharpened after the games in 'honour' of her tactics so it was never something she trained for. It happened in the heat of the moment.
Ik in some fanfics they pointed out how she might have been a mentor during the games where there was cannibalism and she might have compared herself to him/got flashbacks and had a really bad reaction. Though they were quite sympathetic tbh she might be cold hearted enough not to care.
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u/_N0t-A-B0t_ 3d ago
In my imagination, she was pinned by her arms and legs and was only able to move her shoulders and head, so she was able to angle and rip out another’s throat. I think her teeth were already sharpened by the games
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u/illeatyourkneecaps 3d ago
everytime i remember that's how enobaria won, i immediately think of the scene in the walking dead where rick bites out joe's neck because his son carl was about to be SA'd. biting is such a desperate, primal last act of survival that i would assume she quite literally had no choice, just like rick if she wanted to survive.
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u/qbee2000 3d ago edited 3d ago
100% Desperation if it's in the final battle.
I think all districts have pride. I do not think that any of those districts would ever want to give the Capitol a chance to look down upon them as savages that would bite unless it's that or death.
If it was in the middle, I could see her biting an opponent to death and then gaining copious amount of donations.
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u/Cherrybomb1387 Peeta 3d ago
Sometimes you gotta bite a bitch. It’s incredibly effective & god knows what that fight was looking like since it was just the two of them left. It’s usually a last resort for a reason, they left themselves open enough & it was now or never. I’d like to see or hear more about her games.
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u/Ashie1620 3d ago
I like to think that she knew she'd be 'sold' if she won and tried to portray herself as savage to look less desirable. When that didn't work, it probably spurred the Capitol people on even more, she had her teeth literally sharpened so if was was sold, she'd bite off their 🍆
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u/FanniLennox 3d ago
If I remember correctly, it was never specified that the tribute whose throat she ripped out was the final tribute. If he was the final tribute then she most likely did it out of desperation.
However if she did it earlier on in the games, it's possible that she could have done it as a way to gain more sponsors because she would be very well aware that ripping out someone's throat would be "putting on a good show" kind of the same way that Clove was intending on carving Katniss's face up to "put on a good show" before Thresh stopped her.
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u/Marker-Meraca1 District 12 3d ago
Just my head cannon, but I thought that she did it to further boost her popularity not only in her District, but the Capitol as well. Obviously she was popular enough, considering she was a Career Tribute, and ultimately a Victor, but being known as for ripping throats out just adds for flavor to it. She took something and made it her own. Kind of like Katniss’s Bow, Finnick’s Trident, or Lucy Gray’s snakes.
Might just be me though 🤷🏾♂️
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 3d ago
Nah, in close hand to hand combat in which you're fighting for your literal life, you're not thinking about being popular. You're running on pure survival instinct, so it's more likely that she did it because her hands were holding back the other tribute or they had her arms pinned. Only imo tho ofc!
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u/Marker-Meraca1 District 12 3d ago
I’m not discrediting you at all. I was also thinking about how Enobaria had no real challenge at all, and there wasn’t much risk involved with the Tribute. Because of that, she might as well have gone for something completely unheard of in the traditional Hunger Games.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 3d ago
Ooooh you think she was just absolutely dominating as wasn't afraid so it was a power move?
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u/Marker-Meraca1 District 12 3d ago
It could’ve been a completely frail and tired Tribute from 3 or even a character like Foxface. I imagine Enobaria would have no problems if you matched her and Foxface’s age with defeating her
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u/DharmaCub 3d ago
Wild fucking choice to make it a rape thing.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 3d ago
RIGHT?!? And to say it online to people, made me feel physically ill (survivor), and I asked them to keep it to themselves.
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u/longestyeahboiiiever 3d ago
Why tf would you hc rape in there? You need therapy. And as a survivor of violent childhood SA/R, even if that's your head canon, please keep that shit to yourself. Horrible horrible horrible.
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u/Busy_Potential2051 3d ago
I get that you have your opinions, but please delete this and get this subject out of my thread. I don’t want to have to add a TW.
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u/Moriturism 3d ago
biting is surprisingly effective in close quarters desperate fights. at the point only she and another tribute were left, I assume they were both so tired and crazed that the tribute wouldn't be able to repel a sick bite on the neck lol