Ever since it first hit bookshelves in 2008, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series has been a pop culture phenomenon. As the Twilight series started to fade away, The Hunger Games was the next book-based franchise starring a female protagonist to successfully make the jump from literary success to massive Hollywood hit.

Collins had a variety of literary, classic and contemporary inspirations when it came to penning the series. The ancient myth of Minos, the son of Zeus and first king of Cretes, forcing Athens to sacrifice seven male youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur's labyrinth was a primary inspiration for The Hunger Games' title event. The rising popularity of trashy, reality TV shows was also a catalyst for the creation of the series.

The Hunger Games, especially when it comes to its earlier entries, often gets a lot of comparisons to the Battle Royale manga and movie series. It's about a group of high school-aged youths who get forced into a battlefield where they must fight one another to the death until one person is left alive. In Running Man-fashion, the events of the battle are televised and watched by everyone. The main female and male characters on the battlefield partner up as the government and TV officials try to hype up their love for one another in order to make the show even more marketable to the masses, knowing that they'll have to fight one another in the end, and much to the government's disapproval, both of them survive the entire event and end up creating a massive rebellion against the oppressive regime in power. Are we describing Battle Royale or The Hunger Games by this point? Your guess is as good as ours.

As The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 arrives in theaters, it's time we rallied up the best of the best when it comes to fan art starring Katniss and the gang. It doesn't matter what district your from; make like you're in the Capitol, grab some popcorn, and tune in for The Best Hunger Games Fan Art Ever.

 

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