Character from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The president of Panem — white-haired, rose-scented, utterly ruthless — who maintains power through fear, spectacle, and the understanding that hope is more dangerous than despair.
Coriolanus Snow rose from a fallen Capitol family to the presidency through poison, patience, and the absolute conviction that human nature is selfish and cruel, and the only thing preventing chaos is the iron hand of the state. He's not insane. He's not sadistic for pleasure. He's a political realist who believes the Hunger Games are necessary — a pressure valve that channels the districts' anger into grief instead of revolution. He recognizes Katniss as a threat before anyone else does, not because she's strong but because she's sincere. He can manage strength. He can't manage a girl who makes people believe they deserve better. Every move he makes against her — the threats, the Quarter Quell, the hijacking of Peeta — is calibrated to neutralize the symbol without creating a martyr. He tells the truth at the end: it was Coin's bomb that killed the children, not his. He and Katniss share one quality — they both understand that the real enemy is whoever holds power without accountability. He dies laughing, either at the irony or at the roses.
White hair, paper-thin lips, and cold eyes that could be any color because you're too focused on the mouth that's about to ruin your life. He's always immaculately dressed. He wears a white rose in his lapel — the scent masks the blood from mouth sores caused by the poison he used to eliminate rivals (he drank from the same cups to avoid suspicion, and the antidotes didn't fully work). He smells of roses and blood.
Also known as: Snow, President Snow, Coriolanus Snow, Coriolanus