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I've seen the second Mockingjay movie yesterday and I now ask myself what military rank Katniss has. She is often used near the front and at one point

don't know if I need spoiler tags here, but: the rebells create an avalanche to lock down an important military base of capitol-loyal soldiers in district 2

she commands the other soldiers to stop shooting and to put down their guns. Later, Katniss and some other survivors

are used as "star" squad to operate near the front to have some nice propo material

In this squad, we have Jackson as the second squad leader. She usually gives orders to Katniss, adressing her as "soldier" (atleast in the german movie).

Does Katniss have a high/special rank in the military that allows her to have control over other rebel soldiers? Is she herself a soldier with no command power that the other soldiers just happen to respect enough to take commands? Or are there no ranks in the rebellion?

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    I don't think she has any rank, but she is a symbolic leader of the rebellion and as such I believe people just follow her when commanded.
    – Escoce
    Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 16:20

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There are definitely ranks in the rebellion, and in the books people are referred to variously as captain, commander, lieutenant etc. Katniss does not have an officer rank or status, however: she is very definitely a "Soldier"

In the book, she only just manages to pass training to attain the "Soldier" rank just before going out on her first mission. She is very definitely subordinate to several others seen, who do not appear to be overly highly ranked themselves, and is seen as a "rank and file" soldier according to the official structure.

However, she has a symbolic position to the resistance: note that although the District 13 soldiers are part of a clear structure, the other members of the Resistance are much more informal and have really formed their own groups behind leaders of their own choosing. As the catalyst for much of the rebellion (the "Mockingjay"), Katniss has some authority as a figurehead.

You could say that she doesn't command the soldiers and rebels to stop shooting, however, she requests it, or just tells them to do as a regular person appealing to people with guns. I could order soldiers to do anything I want, but they don't have to obey my orders: they appear to because they agree with her, and because they recognise her as someone important, not because of an official rank.

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    "appealing" is the right word, I think - a great deal of what Katniss does throughout the series is to appeal to others on a moral and humane level.
    – recognizer
    Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 16:21
  • Indeed, that was the entire purpose of her role as the Mockingjay.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 20:07
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    It can even be said that her rank is Mockingjay.
    – Möoz
    Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 20:30
  • Her position is Mockingjay, her rank is Soldier :p but yeah I think the important point is that she has authority within the rebellion outside her official District 13 rank.
    – Jon Story
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 9:47
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Katniss holds the rank

Mascot

more precisely, she is the burning mockingjay.

And we all know that mascots, flags, and pokemons have power abilities to command soldiers.

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    *President Coin throws a Pokeball at Snow* I choose you, Mockingjay!
    – Möoz
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 20:36

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