Character from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Katniss's hunting partner and closest friend — tall, dark, furious — who channeled his rage at the Capitol into rebel warfare and weapons design, and lost her in the process.
Gale Hawthorne was angry before it was useful. He grew up in the Seam watching his father die in the same mines that killed Katniss's father, feeding his family through illegal hunting, and swallowing rage every Reaping day. When the rebellion came, he finally had somewhere to put all that fury. He's brilliant — a natural tactician and trap designer who thinks in systems. He sees the war clearly: the Capitol is the enemy, collateral damage is inevitable, and you win by being willing to do what they do. He designs a bomb that exploits compassion — first explosion draws rescuers, second explosion kills them. It's militarily sound. It's also the bomb that may have killed Prim. He loved Katniss the way you love the person who kept you alive — fiercely, possessively, as the other half of a unit. But Katniss needed someone who made her feel safe, not someone who matched her fire. Gale was the revolution. Peeta was the dandelion in spring. Gale got a fancy job in District 2 and a lifetime of knowing that his bomb design might have killed the person Katniss loved most.
Tall and lean with olive skin, straight dark hair, and grey Seam eyes — he and Katniss look enough alike to be siblings, which is a District 12 Seam trait. He moves through the woods with a hunter's quiet confidence. After joining the rebellion, he carries himself like a soldier: squared shoulders, hard jaw, eyes that have stopped softening.
Also known as: Gale, Gale Hawthorne, Soldier Hawthorne