A/N: Thanks to Cheive and Queen of the Mockingjays for reviewing the last chapter! I'm glad to hear your feedback on this story :)
This is the first chapter that features a victor neither created by myself nor Suzanne Collins; this victor was created by MJElliot, who won a competition that I ran when writing 75 Games, 75 Victors, 75 Oneshots way back in 2013. The only information that I gave was that a seventeen-year-old boy from District 10 called Toby Denham would win the 51st Hunger Games. Nothing about the character is my own information.
Of course, some of the views on this character differ to his perspective in my aforementioned story, but then again this is from the Capitol perspective, not his own.
I hope you enjoy this tribute profile :)
Tribute Profile
Toby Denham
Age: 41
District: 10
First Hunger Games: 51st, aged 17
Mentored By: Fernando James (51st and 75th Games)
Kills in the Arena: 2
Mentoring Record: 6 Games/ 0 Victors
Training Score: 6
Preferred Weapons: Unknown
Stylist: Vanessa Clarke
Prior to the Third Quarter Quell, the last time Toby Denham, District 10's latest victor, ventured to the Capitol, it was during the 67th Hunger Games eight years ago. His last appearance in the Capitol as a mentor, however, was for the 62nd Games, so you can be forgiven if Toby has passed you by among all the other bright stars that the Hunger Games have forged.
A quiet victor who won a Hunger Games well and truly in the shadow of Haymitch Abernathy's victor in the Second Quarter Quell the year before, Toby's Hunger Games were dominated by the Gamemakers, leading to a shocking conclusion to the Games. After days of freak lightning storms, terrifying heat and vicious attacks from grotesque creatures that seemed to spring out of nowhere, eventually only the tributes of District 10 were left standing when Toby killed off the boy from District 2 with his bare hands. He certainly had some strength during his Games.
From there, the end of the Hunger Games were touching, if anticlimactic. Toby and his district partner Jessie, close friends back in District 10, had stuck together throughout the Games, vying for a District 10 victory. Late in the Games, when the tributes of Districts 1 and 2 attacked the pair from District 10, Jessie was gravely injured, and although the duo outlasted the rest of the opposition, Jessie died of her wounds shortly afterwards, giving Toby the victory by default as the sole survivor.
In the period shortly after the 51st Games, there were plenty of rumours going around the Toby and Jessie had been more than close friends during their time in the arena, but nothing was ever confirmed. Regardless of what rumours were going around, Toby's victory ceremonies took place over a month after the end of the Games, an abnormally long amount of time for a victor with no major injuries. Given his lifeless behaviour in his post-Games interviews, many were convinced that Toby had lost more than a friend in the arena. But nothing ever came of the rumours, and soon the 51st Games became in blur in our memories.
Since winning the Hunger Games, Toby has spent almost all of his time in District 10, returning to the Capitol only when he has been called to mentor the male tribute from his district, or for other official business. In many ways, that means that Toby's interview stands out more than most tonight, as this is his first official, televised interview in over a decade. Last time Toby Denham spoke out on screen, he was in his twenties.
Many things have changed in the years since then - a new Head Gamemaker, a new record youngest tribute, a new record oldest tribute, not to mention all the drama of last summer's Hunger Games; one I'm sure we won't be forgetting in a long, long time.
But many things have remained the same. This is still the Hunger Games, and whatever the arena may be, being able to use your body as a weapon is a useful asset. Toby's strength and ability in weaponless combat has already won him one Hunger Games. Considering all the myriad possibilities for the arena that the twenty-four victors will find themselves in tomorrow morning, strength is a quality that will come in handy anywhere. Even if the Gamemakers deal Toby a bad hand in the arena, he always has at least one thing to fall back on.
I guess that's why, despite us having barely seen the man from District 10 in over a decade, many of us still think he has a shot of winning this thing and escaping the arena alive.
