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I've seen it claimed on the Hunger Games wiki that President Snow is 76 in The Hunger Games and 76-77 in Catching Fire and Mockingjay. This claim is repeated (and quoted) on quite a few other sites.

However, it doesn't seem to reference anything. I've had a brief look in the novels and I can't find any mention of Snow's age.

Is there a canonical source for Snow's age?

Andrew Martin
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    Highly related: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/22656/31936. The age is given, but it's a Wiki link that isn't well sourced. – Null Feb 10 '16 at 22:22
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    The Hunger Games Wikia is really bad even as Wikias go. I'll hunt around a bit, but I suspect there's nothing too detailed in canon (he was a young man when he became president, which was between the 25th and 50th HGs, might be the best we have). – Rand al'Thor Feb 10 '16 at 22:28
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    I am guessing the Wikis say 76 because that is the age Donald Sutherland was when he first portrayed President Snow in The Hunger Games. – Jack B Nimble Feb 10 '16 at 22:33
  • @JackBNimble: Very astute of you. I hadn't thought of that. – Andrew Martin Feb 10 '16 at 22:34
  • @randal'thor: Where is that from? – Andrew Martin Feb 10 '16 at 22:34
  • Read 'Snoke'. Then the tags. Sigh. – Deer Hunter Feb 10 '16 at 22:38
  • @AndrewMartin In Catching Fire Katniss watches videos of earlier HGs, and Snow is president for the 2nd Quarter Quell but not the 1st. Then in Mockingjay we have Finnick's quote, "Such a young man when he came to power. Such a clever one to be able to keep it" (or something along those lines - quoting from memory). – Rand al'Thor Feb 10 '16 at 22:41
  • The Trivia at the bottom of the Wiki entry says he was 1-year-old when the first games were commenced. Of course there is no citation. But perhaps that is the other source to the aged 76 when the 75th Hunger Games started. – Jack B Nimble Feb 10 '16 at 23:02
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    @AndrewMartin Oi, what are you doing on our stack? jks, welcome, come 'round more often mate! – Möoz Feb 10 '16 at 23:14
  • @Mooz: :) Thanken you! – Andrew Martin Feb 10 '16 at 23:22
  • @AndrewMartin : I'm sure the 76 is referring to the quote from Donald Sutherland in my answer. Are you happy with a source related to the character as portrayed in the film? – Praxis Feb 10 '16 at 23:42

4 Answers4

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76 in the first Hunger Games film, according to Donald Sutherland

In 2012, around the time that the first film was released, Donald Sutherland was quoted in an interview as saying:

And those scenes aren't in the book. He wrote them and Suzanne Collins loved them. But it so perfectly described what someone — an administrator, a bureaucrat, not even a leader — that Coriolanus Snow is and that he has to do. How do you keep that underclass in control? You offer them a little bit of hope. He thinks that Wes Bentley's character would probably take over his position. He [President Snow] is 76 years old, he was two years old when the Hunger Games started. And he's looking for a successor. And he tests Wes' character. "You've allowed this girl, this underdog. Do you like underdogs? You've allowed her to take some kind of position of power"... When you fail, you die...

(Source)

The uncredited claims about his age in the Wikia and on various other sites almost certainly originate in this interview.

Praxis
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  • Good find, but the films are only secondary canon... – Rand al'Thor Feb 10 '16 at 23:37
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    @randal'thor : Thanks. Regarding the level of canon, that's not really how I interpret the question. The OP stumbled upon an uncredited reference to Snow's age and wants to know the original source. I believe this interview is, in fact, the source. – Praxis Feb 11 '16 at 00:35
  • Yep, so +1 for finding the original source :-) I was hoping we might be able to get at least an estimate from the novels, but "at least 50" is the best I've managed. – Rand al'Thor Feb 11 '16 at 00:37
  • @randal'thor : Unfortunately, the novels don't place his birth in relation to the first Hunger Games. – Praxis Feb 11 '16 at 00:38
  • I think this is the best we'll get. Thanks for this! – Andrew Martin Feb 11 '16 at 11:28
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A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place with Snow being 18 for the 10th Hunger Games, that would make him 82 for the 74th Games.

Tony Meyer
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Drekno
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    Nice, it's great to get updated information for questions like this! You could improve your answer if you could insert a direct quote from the book or its marketing materials. – DavidW Mar 11 '20 at 18:40
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Like somebody else said , Snow would be 82 during the 74th hunger games. I just wanted to put some math behind this. Based on what we know about the book so far Coriolanus Snow is 18 during the 10th hunger games, 74 - 10 = 64. 64 + 18 = 82.So As of the 74th games Coriolanus Snow would be 82.

(74-10 gets you the distance between the two games) (64+18 Adds his age during the 10th games to the years separating the 10th and 74th games)

Ash
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In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, page 4, it says he was 5 the first year of the war, and then it says "...the remaining two years of the war." So he'd be at least 7 when the war ended. On the next page it says the rebels had been silent for a decade (plus it's the 10th hunger games) so he's at least 17 for the tenth hunger games, so at least 82 in Mockingjay

Jennifer
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