All of District 12 gets one early on, with their refusal to applaud Katniss volunteering to take her sister's place in the Games, described as the highest form of rebellion available to them.
To the everlasting credit of the people of District 12, not one person claps. ...Silence. Which says we do not agree. We do not condone. All of this is wrong.
"I like her! Lots of..." He can't think of the word for a while. "Spunk!" he says triumphantly. "More than you!" He releases me and starts for the front of the stage. "More than you!" he shouts, pointing directly into a camera.
Katniss' performance in her private archery session, scoring several hard bullseyes after getting the feel of the bows, and getting angry because they don't bother watching so she shoots the apple out of the mouth of the pig that the Gamemakers are eating, causing one (later revealed to be Plutarch Heavensbee) to lose his footing with surprise and fall into a bowl of punch. She storms out and immediately thinks that the consequences of her impulsive behavior may be dire, they may even give her an immediate death sentence. They actually give her a score of 11 out of 12, making her the highest ranked before the games start.
Which was, in itself, a death sentence, as now she will be seen as a potential threat by the Careers and will therefore be a primary target.
The next year, there's a forcefield protecting the Gamemakers.
Peeta's announcement that he's in love with Katniss in his interview for the 74th games counts. Even in-universe, as it proves just how adept he is at manipulating the audience.
Peeta going back to find Katniss after she dropped the tracker jacker nest on him and the Careers. Not only does he risk getting stung by the deadly wasps, he blows his cover with the Careers and after encouraging Katniss to run he goes one-on-one with Cato to buy her time, getting a life-threatening wound in the process.
Katniss blowing up the mines around the Careers' food stash with three well-placed arrows. Upon reflecting on the fact that she has made the top eight, Katniss starts feeling a lot bolder - she has gone from hunted to hunter:
Not that Cato is the final word on anything. Didn’t he just lose his entire stash of supplies? Let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin, Cato, I think. Let them begin for real.
Where are you, Cato? I think as I roast the birds and Rue’s roots. I’m waiting right here. Who knows where the Careers are now? Either too far to reach me or too sure this is a trick or...is it possible? Too scared of me?
By this point she has not only outshone the feared Careers in the pre-game activities, but she has cleaved through half their pack, destroyed their supplies and now are forcing the surviving two to cower and starve (or their Mentors will have to waste precious sponsor money keeping them fed). The fact that the pair back down from her challenge show just how much the initiative has shifted in Katniss's favor and likely played a major role in the ensuing rule change and Feast.
I really think I stand a chance of doing it now. Winning. It’s not just having the arrows or outsmarting the Careers a few times, although those things help. Something happened when I was holding Rue’s hand, watching the life drain out of her. Now I am determined to avenge her, to make her loss unforgettable, and I can only do that by winning and thereby making myself unforgettable.
Thresh killing Clove after Clove taunts Katniss about Rue's death. Bonus points for not even bothering with a weapon. Instead, simply beating Clove in the head with a rock (in the book) or slamming her into the Cornucopia (in the movie).
"YOU SAID HER NAME!"
Foxface's whole game strategy, which ends up getting her at third place, being second to last to die, without ever having to fight or kill a single person herself. This feat even impresses Katniss, who decides that Foxface was definitely the smartest of all the tributes. In fact, the only reason she died when she did was because she stole the poisonous berries Peeta had been gathering, incorrectly assuming someone who had managed to stay alive so long wouldn't risk eating berries unless they were sure they were safe to eat. In other words, whereas many tributes have died from underestimating rivals, Foxface died from overestimating a rival.
Perhaps made more awesome if you subscribe to the theory that she knew exactly what she was eating when she stole the berries, intending to kill herself rather than attempt to kill any other tribute.
Not only was it implied that Cato managed to succeed in killing Thresh, but he actually managed to hold the muttations at bay for over an hour before he finally got overwhelmed.
Katniss managing to bluff the Gamemakers and Take a Third Option, therefore making the 74th Hunger Games the first time in history that two tributes were allowed to live.
Even better, it wasn't a bluff! They had the berries in their mouths, and had to run to the water to wash them out after spitting them out. If the Gamemakers hadn't conceded the very instant they did, she and Peeta would have died rather than kill each other for the Capitol's entertainment.
The reason Haymitch was yelling outside of Katniss's hospital room after the Games: the Gamemakers wanted to surgically alter her chest, but he wasn't having it. Might also be his only real Papa Wolf moment, too.
Catching Fire
Katniss' character development is awesome. She goes from a scared teenage girl whose main concern is the well-being of her loved ones to someone who is excited for a revolution and is willing to die for Peeta and the rebellion. She even enthusiastically tells Haymitch that she wants to start an uprising at one point.
Katniss blowing out the forcefield in the Arena in the climax with nothing more than an arrow, a wire, and a big bolt of lightning.
The discovery that Haymitch won the 50th Hunger Games Quarter Quell by using the arena force field as a weapon.
Added to the fact that he outlived forty-seven other tributes. When Katniss mentioned what his Quell twist was I became very impressed and intrigued, even before we find out how he did it.
Even better: he was literally holding his innards for the last moments of the Quell.
Katniss shooting so well during training that even Brutus, a Career victor who's more experienced than her in the art of killing, wanted her as an ally.
"You... hung... Seneca Crane?"
"Yes. I was showing off my new knot-tying skills, and he somehow ended up at the end of the noose." Definitely one of Katniss's funniest and sharpest snarks. And it wasn't even in her inner monologue, she flat out SAID that!
Then you have Peeta's showing off his skills - painting Rue the way she appeared in flowers when Katniss gave her the closest she could get to a decent burial in the arena. The best part? He and Katniss didn't plan to be subversive together - they just both did it.
The Quarter Quell Interviews
All the victors are awesome in that series of interviews, as they remind you that, unlike most tributes, they are not scared kids dazzled by the spotlight, but hardened mentors who know exactly how to manipulate the crowd. One after the other, they talk about how sad they'll be to leave the people of the Capitol, how they wonder whether the new rules are actually legal, whether President Snow maybe doesn't understand/care/have the power to resolve the problem and so on until Peeta drops his bomb in the final interview. Basically, they turn the Quarter Quell into a spectacular own-goal for Snow, and leave his hold on the hearts and minds of Panem far weaker than it was before he changed the rules to avoid this precise situation.
Katniss, before the Quarter Quell interviews: However much President Snow may hate me, this Capitol audience in mine. The poor girl has been scared and desperate the whole book, been personally threatened by Snow, had a minor Heroic BSoD after the Quell announcement, didn't get to say goodbye to her family and friends before leaving, and is pretty sure she won't come out alive this time. But the Capitol citizens adore her and Peeta, so she isn't even nervous about the interview this year, and may even get in on the Victors' collective guilt trip about sending them back into the Games. It's the first time she seems truly confident in the book, you just want to cheer because she's basically saying, "To hell with President Snow, I got this."
Cinna sends Katniss to the Quarter Quell's interview in her wedding dress, which starts out as a Dethroning Moment of Suck until she starts spinning,setting her dress on fire and turning her wedding gown into a mockingjay dress. Of course, it's apparent to some that Cinna's as good as dead for what he just did, but it's a huge Take That! to the Capitol, and the fact that he did it knowing full well what it might cost him served as an inspiration to all the rebels still on the fence because of what they stood to lose.
Peeta sets the entire Capitol afire and destroys President Snow's plans to use the Quarter Quell to bring Panem fully back under his control with six words: "if it weren't for the baby."
Katniss spontaneously reaches for Chaff's amputated arm, causing the other Victors (even the Careers) to join hands together in "the first public show of unity among the districts since the Dark Days". This, combined with all the other heroics that night causes rioting even within the Capital, forcing them to cancel their usual theatrics before games. Haymitch suggests that for the first time, their actions have inspired even the pampered ordinary citizens of the Capital to resist.
The Career Pack, who are used to being hunters rather than the hunted, notice the extended enemy alliance gathering by the cornucopia. Either due to their hubris or believing they have little better options, they gamble on a surprise attack to knock out their leading competitors. The result is effectively a Curb-Stomp Battle, but unlike most games it goes the other way - two of the careers are killed almost immediately and the other two are forced to flee in disarray, barely saved by Gamemaker intervention. The only thing they accomplished in their blunder was killing the ultimately harmless Nice Girl Wiress and wounding Finnick slightly.
Catching Fire has an extended group one with the conspiracy to break out of the Quarter Quell.
Let's lay this one out: first, the organizer, Plutarch Heavensbee, has to become Head Gamemaker, designing both the entire arena and the equipment to facilitate the escape. He not only provided the wire, tree, and lightning storm needed to down the forcefield, he made the arena closed in enough to allow them to reach the field quickly, and provided enough fixed destruction to avoid being forced into throwing random destruction to spice things up.
Then Haymitch set up a code for communicating with the tributes through bread.
Johanna managed to convince the Capitol to overlook how Heavensbee slipped in the wire for the escape.
Mags ran into a cloud of blister agent to keep the alliance on track.
Finnick both was generally highly competent and was the person to first meet up with Katniss.
Wiress figures out the arena's theme before anyone else.
Beetee designed the forcefield, figured out how to overcome it, and electrocuted himself stabbing it in order to help Katniss figure out how to overcome it without tipping off the Gamemakers, as he had to know that wouldn't work.
Katniss actually took down the forcefield by shooting it with an arrow.
Peeta despite having walked less than a year on his prosthetic leg and having had his heart stopped by an electric shock only hours before still manages to fight as good as the rest of them and physically carry Beetee around the arena.
Several other rebel tributes are implied to have laid down their lives to aid in the plot, most explicitly the female Morphling who jumped in front of Peeta to save him from a monkey-like mutt. Tragically (and pointed out in-universe), neither Peeta or Katniss knew her (or her district partner's) name. We find out later that almost all the other named Victors who died off-screen and weren't careers (Blight, Cecelia, possibly Woof, Seeder, and Chaff) had at least some knowledge of the rebel plan.
The kicker? They planned and carried out the whole thing while under constant surveillance and then on live national television without tipping the capital off at any point.
Mockingjay
District 13 in general. Prior to the first rebellion, their principal industry was nuclear development and they were the center of the capitols military (which was then passed to district two after the dark days when they won their freedom). Meaning any uprising there would have most likely been the hardest place to start one in Panem (similar to how District 2 was the most difficult and last District to liberate from Capitol control in the second rebellion), and yet they not only started the first rebellion but led it as well, on their own (District 2 took all the district rebels led by 13 to win against "The Nut" base). When it became clear a rebel victory for all the districts was no longer possible, they threatened to blow up the Capitol itself to get them to agree to a deal for their independence in exchange for playing dead for the other districts for Propaganda. Then, for 75 YEARS, they have done nothing but prepare to take down the Capitol in the next rebellion to help the other districts win their freedom. Even after their surface city was destroyed, driven underground, cut off from the outside world, no one to turn to for help, even facing a small pox that killed so many of them and left many survivors infertile, they still did not give up, made their own government, learn to survive on their own, turn their people into an army of freedom fighting soldiers, set up a conspiracy throughout the districts, even into the Capitol itself (Plutarch Heavensbee the prime example and he was the head game maker for the hunger games quarter quell), got plenty of victors on their side, rebuilding rebel strength, uniting their fellow districts (with help from Katniss as their Mockingjay) to defeat the Capitol, and win freedom for all their fellow districts once and for all. Now THAT'S determination.
The First thing they do after they unmask themselves to Panem is save Katniss, the symbol of the rebellion who they were gunning for the most, two other victor tributes, Finnick and Beetee, from the hunger games, during the third quarter quell (that's victors vs victors) in Catching Fire. No other district has ever even dreamed of rescuing tributes from the dreaded hunger games, especially during a quarter quell, which is extra special due to the rule changes and how much more glorified the arena's and games would be, showcasing how strong District 13 has become to accomplish such a feat
The Second thing they do is rescue Gale and over 800 survivors of the district 12 bombing, evacuating them to District 13 where they would be safe and trained for work and help fight the Capitol, basically solving their infertility problem, as well as show absolute defiance to President Snows decision to destroy district 12 completely as retribution to Katniss destroying the arena to escape. Talk about Big Damn Heroes and Combat Pragmatist rolled into one
How they act during the air raid on the district is also worth mentioning. Most people would be terrified in a sudden attack from a powerful enemy like the Captiol, but the citizens of 13 are perfectly calm during the whole thing. No one shoved, screamed, panicked or otherwise the entire time. They all just moved calmly in an orderly fashion to the bunker levels, not even needing Katniss to be an example of calm for them like Coin thought. Seems that even she underestimated her own people.
The sacrifices of the rebels at large do not get much screen time, but are noted to be significant. If one keeps track of the timeline, in just three months after the Quarter Quell all twelve districts successfully rallied and thrown off Capitol control, leaving the Capitol besieged (it takes another few months for the war to be won however). Of special note are the rebels of District 11 - in the original book and Catching Fire we are given vivid descriptions of Capitol brutality, armed guards and armored cars, massive towers and fences, and a soul-crushing sense of dystopian slavery. Despite these obstacles, the District is one of the first to experience organized unrest in Catching Fire as well as make significant progress (seizing transportation) on the onset of the revolution. By the time of Mockingjay they and District 3 are the first two districts to fully free themselves.
Finnick revealing the dirty secrets of all the important people in the Capitol in front of the entire country. Particularly awesome since we know what he had to go through that inadvertently allowed him to get this information, so when he reveals it he is basically throwing it back in the faces of the people who abused him for years. Katniss notices the broadcast of Snow's secrets doesn't get interrupted, suggesting even the people responsible for the Capitol's official television programming were curious about those particular secrets.
Katniss assassinating the current president Coin with the arrow she was meant to use for executing the former president Snow. Not exactly a big moment in terms of what happens but the fact that she did so and wasn't killed on the spot and is ultimately let go with basically a slap on the wrist make it pretty awesome for her to get the jump on someone who caused her so much pain.
Fire is catching. And if we burn, you burn with us!
Peeta essentially cures himself from the hijacking through sheer force of will, making him the only known case of a person recovering from it.
Also, Peeta managing to warn Katniss and the rest of the people in District 13 about the impending bombing, despite the hijacking having already begun and despite knowing that he's going to be tortured for it. Just think about it.
Katniss throwing herself between the rebels and the district 2 survivors, who just crawled their way out of a collapsing mountain, in an attempt to keep them from killing each other. Katniss might think of herself as a bad person, but it's clear she really isn't.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Sejanus, who throughout most of his appearances in the first and second parts of the book stood up for the Districts and even told one of his teachers no, which was unheard of, if the reactions of his classmates were anything to go by.
"You have not been dismissed," said Dr. Gaul. "Sit down, boy." "No." Sejanus said it quietly, but it still caused several people to jump.
Of course, Lucy Gray managing to win the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Sure, with a bit of interference from Coriolanus, but an incredible feat considering that District 12 seemed to be no better off than where we first read about it in the first book of the series... and that was just in the early Games.
The Films
The Hunger Games
As with the books, the aforementioned scene where she shoots the apple, but with bonus points for the line she gives afterwards:
The delivery of the line — as well as the small, mocking curtsy that goes along with it — make it even grander.
Even Haymitch, who at this point has not shown Katniss a great deal of respect, says he wishes he could have been there to see it.
On President Snow's side of things, his talk with Seneca about why the Hunger Games have a winner:
Snow: I mean, if we wanted to intimidate the districts why not round up 24 of them at random and execute them all at once? It'd be a lot faster, hope. Seneca: Hope? Snow Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it's contained. Seneca: So? Snow: So, contain it.
When Marvel throws a spear at her, Katniss twists to the side and fires an arrow into his chest, all in the space of about a second. But then we turn to see Rue behind Katniss...
Katniss' failed rescue of Rue. Or more precisely, her Due to the Dead, which sets off a riot. She leaves Rue's body as if she is sleeping among flowers in the sunshine grasping a bouquet with mockingjays singing around her, and then salutes the camera. We're then shown District 11, where the crowd return the salute, and then turn to attack the Peacekeepers.
And the first man to attack the Peacekeepers is implied to be Rue's father.
Peeta gets one in the movie that wasn't in the book. Namely, picking Cato up and judo-throwing him off of Katniss during the fight at the end.
The Tribute's parade. Lalala, the Tributes look lovely, blahblahblah... what is that in the background?
Making it even more awesome is Peeta and Katniss holding their hands up high. "Come on, they'll love it" is right.
One of the most simply awesome moments of the film however is when Thresh in a rage kills Clove in revenge after hearing her boasting about her group killing Rue. He simply grabs her head and slams it against the Cornucopia until she stops yelling. The guy's largely a walking Offscreen Moment of Awesome, but we get to see exactly why everyone respects him.
In addition right before he kills her, you can see the girl who was incredibly cocky seconds earlier crying in fear just by his anger.
It's just topped off by him letting Katniss go for being Rue's friend and treating her body properly.
Seneca Crane's implied Better to Die than Be Killed moment at the end with the nightlock berries. Not for Seneca himself, mind you- for President Snow, who is strongly implied to have set this up and cements himself as a Magnificent Bastard with it. Guy might be a villain, but the irony is truly delicious and you can literally see him dreaming it up.
Haymitch managing to save both his tributes by convincing Seneca Crane to calm the riots by letting the viewers focus on young love.
Then you consider hindsight. Haymitch manages to doom Seneca by suggesting that. If words could kill, then Haymitch is the first character to actually kill off a Capitol member in the entire trilogy. Although, if actions speak louder than words, Katniss managed to strike a blow to the Capitol before she and Peeta even got their hands on the Nightlocks by how she sent off Rue and inadvertently caused the riots in the first place.
Four words: "I volunteer as tribute".
Peeta throwing the weight across the room (by Katniss' insistence) to let the Careers know that he's not just another piece of easy meat. According to Word of God that thing was between 50 and 75 pounds.
Check the floor just before Peeta throws the weight. There are orange markers on the ground to measure distance. Peeta flings the weight past the marker and hit a heavy rack of spears. If the spears hadn't been in the way, Peeta would have thrown it twice as far as the training facility was measuring. And it hit the spears hard enough that you could see some of them in pieces on the floor.
In 2017, a 12 year old girl in Massachusetts possibly saved her friend's life with a tourniquet after a bad leg injury, due to remembering the scene in the film where one is used.
