Tribal Council

Tribal Council both refers to the elimination ceremony that usually happens at the end of every cycle and the edifice where it is held. Here, the contestants are being held accountable for their actions in the game, usually concluding with one person being voted out of the tribe.
==U.S. Tribal Council Sets==
* : A wooden platform in the jungle.
* : Tall stone rocks beside a waterfall, covered in aboriginal paintings.
* : A Kenyan indigenous village.
* : A traditional Marquesan hut.
* : A Thai temple on a pier.
* : Amazonian ruins.
* : An abandoned colonial fortress.
* : A Panamanian treehouse.
* : A stone ring with skulls and a Vanuatu hut in the background.
* : An authentic abandoned military base.
* : Authentic Mayan pyramids.
* : A makeshift cave filled with candles and Haitian voodoo symbols.
* : A colonial shipwreck.
* : A Fijian stilt house adorned with skulls.
* : A Chinese temple.
* : A Micronesian stilt village over water.
* : A Gabonese village.
* : A Brazilian hut.
* : A Samoan fale.
* : Huts inspired by Swiss Family Robinson.
* : An abandoned church.
* : A Mesoamerican hut.
* : A Polynesian hut.
* : A mangrove village.
* : A Maranao-inspired hut.
* : An Igorot-inspired village.
* : A Chinese trading port.
* : Balinese pagodas.
* : Mesoamerican ruins.
* : A shipwreck village raised above the ground.
* : Cambodian Khmer ruins.
* : A Cambodian fishing village.
* : A Fijian village of bure kalou huts.
* : Authentic shipwrecks from Hurricane Winston, and a lighthouse as the voting booth.
* : An abandoned trading port inspired by Fiji's shipping trade history.
* : Ghostly tiki totems.
* : Ancient ruins inspired by Maori, Marquesan, Fijian and Aztec culture.
* : An Asian cargo shipwreck.
* : A Polynesian village.
* : A damaged medieval fort.
* : A colonial village made of wood and boat parts.
* : Same set as Survivor 41, but filled with slightly different props.
* : A village of sphere-shaped huts adorned with skulls and other artifacts.
* : A gothic medieval castle in ruins, filled with armor, weapons and artifacts.
* : A village of octagonal huts adorned with tribe patterns, filled with ceramic pots, vines and other artifacts.
* : A village inspired by traditional Japanese architecture with red wooden and bamboo pagodas adorned with ceramic pots, plants, and other artifacts.
==International Tribal Council Sets==
==Format==
The Tribal Council area is designed to strike fear into the contestants, adding up to the tension of voting. Intricately designed by the Survivor Art Department, the Tribal Council area can range from looking like a makeshift hut, a temple, or an enormous stilt house, depending on the theme of the season. It should be noted however that the and Tribal Council sets were actual archaeological sites.
Tribal Council usually starts at sundown. When a tribe visits Tribal Council for the first time, its members are given torches and are to dip them in the central fire pit. The host then reminds the castaways that the fire on their torch symbolizes their life in the game, and once it is extinguished by him, their time in the game is over. This metaphor is used commonly within the show's theme. The castaways will have a conversation with the host that could last for hours, usually shortened on television to feature the highlights, regarding camp life, strategy, social interactions, and events he witnessed at the challenges throughout the cycle. The session oftentimes leads to tension-filled discourses among tribe members, and contestants in precarious situations may reveal important information or plead their case to keep themselves in the game. If a castaway fails to give a satisfying answer to the host, could pepper them with more incriminating questions. 
Once the host finishes interrogating the contestants, they will, one by one, proceed to a distant voting booth where they will write the name of the castaway they want to vote out and state the reason why they are voting for that player. Occasionally, these confessionals are shown on television, but to increase suspense, not all voting confessionals are aired. Up until , these confessionals could be viewed in full through CBS's YouTube account and the show's DVD releases. After voting, the players insert their ballot inside an urn, which the host later collects. The host tallies the votes and reveals the results to the players. When the votes are read, the order that the votes are pulled has also usually been manipulated by production to extract the most suspense from the players during the tally. All votes are final and cannot be further altered though, in theory, there could have been an exemption in , , , , and due to the powers of a special Hidden Immunity Idol that could be used to negate votes after the deciding vote is revealed. Beginning in , the host would ask the tribe if any one of them possesses a Hidden Immunity Idol and feels the need to use it before the votes are read. Once the host reads the votes, any advantages possessed by the players cannot be passed on to other players until the results are final.https://ew.com/tv/survivor-43-jeff-probst-idol-transfer-tribal-council/
Once the vote tally has exceeded the plurality needed, the host stops tallying, pronouncing that player eliminated from the game, keeping the remaining votes a secret, though typically, the unread votes are implied to be for the eliminated contestant. The eliminated player presents the host their torch and the host extinguishes it (known in the series as "snuffing"), telling that contestant the parting words, "The tribe has spoken," before asking the player to leave the Tribal Council area. Eliminated players walk away from the Tribal Council grounds into a small confessional booth, where they can air out their grievances and reflections, which are shown during the end credits.
In rarer cases, if a starting tribe has been decimated to its last two members, only two players can be voted for following technicalities from multiple advantages played in a single Tribal Council, they will compete in a fire-making challenge where the winner stays and the loser is eliminated from the game. Beginning in , the final four Tribal Council has the winner of the final Immunity Challenge take one player with them in the Final Tribal Council while the remaining two players compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.
If multiple advantages are played in a single Tribal Council where there is only one player is eligible to receive votes, they are eliminated from the game by default.
==Double Tribal Councils==
Following the increase of contestants in some seasons beyond 16, Double Tribal Councils have occurred, wherein multiple tribes go to separate Tribal Council sessions to eliminate one of their own. This is to quickly reduce the number of remaining castaways since having an expanded cast breaks the conventional three-day cycle. The first Double Tribal Council happened in to give way for the returning Outcasts, which, in giving two players a chance to return, meant that 16 vote outs had to occur this season rather than the standard 14. In , , , and , the tribes competed in a Reward Challenge for a feast to be eaten at Tribal Council, where the winning tribe gets to listen to the losing tribe's Tribal Council. Regardless of the result of the Reward Challenge, both tribes would vote someone out. In each of those four instances, the winning tribe voted someone out first, and all included an opportunity for individual immunity either for one player on just one or both tribes. In and , the two tribes that lost a pre-determined three-tribe Immunity Challenge would attend Tribal Council to vote off one member each.
In , a Double Tribal Council was slated to occur on Day 15, but it was postponed when Russell Swan suffered severe exhaustion during the Reward Challenge, which led to his evacuation. The said challenge was called off with neither tribe winning the reward; instead, they were merely instructed to proceed to a Joint Tribal Council for further notice. There, the castaways were relieved when host Jeff Probst announced that Russell's condition was improving and that the planned double elimination was canceled due in part to his impressive tenure as "chief" of Galu.
==Joint Tribal Councils==
Some seasons have held Joint Tribal Councils, wherein more than one tribe would attend Tribal Council as a single group. The first Joint Tribal Council occurred in in lieu of the planned Double Tribal Council after Russell Swan was medically evacuated from the game. This occurred again in after Colton Cumbie was evacuated, where it was announced that the two tribes had merged. In both cases, no elimination occurred at Tribal Council in lieu of the evacuations. 
In and , only the first-place tribe in a particular three-tribe Immunity Challenge won immunity, while the two losing tribes were sent to a Joint Tribal Council to vote as one group, with only one player being eliminated that night.
==Tie Votes==
Please see Tiebreaker.
==Jury Phase==
See main article: Jury.
==Final Tribal Council==
For more information, see Final Tribal Council.
==Tribal Council-related twists==
For more information, see Double Elimination.
In , a special twist caused the Rarotonga tribe to vote another player out immediately after they had already eliminated a tribe member. During their Tribal Council, Rarotonga eliminated two tribe members in two separate voting rounds. This also occurred in , , , , , and .
Unlike Cook Islands, Redemption Island and South Pacific each had an impromptu Immunity Challenge between the votes, and the Tribal Councils in question were conducted after the two starting tribes had merged. In Ghost Island, Island of the Idols, Survivor 41, Survivor 42 and Survivor 43, a single Immunity Challenge was held, with the merged tribe being divided into two groups that would attend two separate Tribal Councils. Individual immunity was offered to each group in an endurance-style challenge, and whoever lasted the longest overall would win their group the privilege of attending Tribal Council second, thus knowing who was voted out from the other group.
==Gallery==
Borneo Tribal Council by Day.png| Tribal Council set by day.
Borneo Tribal Council.png|Survivor: Borneo Tribal Council.
Australia Tribal Council by Day.jpg| Tribal Council set by day.
Australia TC.png|Survivor: The Australian Outback Tribal Council.
Africa Tribal Council HQ.png| Tribal Council.
Marquesas Tribal Council by Day.jpg| Tribal Council set by day.
Marquesas Tribal Council.jpg|Survivor: Marquesas Tribal Council.
Survivor thailand tribal council by day.JPG| Tribal Council set by day.
Thailand Council Inside.png|Survivor: Thailand Tribal Council.
Amazon Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Pearl Islands Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council aerial view.
Pearl Islands Council Inside.png|Survivor: Pearl Islands Tribal Council.
All-Stars Tribal Council.jpeg| Tribal Council.
Vanuatu Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Palau Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Guatemala Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council.
Panama Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Cook islands tribal.jpg|The Tribal Council set by day.
Cook Islands Council HQ.png|Survivor: Cook Islands Tribal Council.
Fiji tc.jpg| Tribal Council set by day.
Fiji Council Inside.png|Survivor: Fiji Tribal Council.
TribalCouncil.jpg| Tribal Council.
China Council Inside.png|Survivor: China Tribal Council interior.
Micronesia Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council set by day.
Survivor micronesia tc.PNG|Survivor: Micronesia Tribal Council aerial view.
Micronesia Council Inside.png|Survivor: Micronesia Tribal Council.
Gabon Tribal Council Aerial.png| Tribal Council aerial view.
Gabon Tribal Council.png|Survivor: Gabon Tribal Council.
Tocantins Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council aerial view.
Tocantins Tribal Council Interior.png|Survivor: Tocantins Tribal Council.
Samoa Tribal Council Aerial.png| Tribal Council aerial view.
Samoa Tribal Council.png|Survivor: Samoa Tribal Council.
Heroes vs. Villains tribal.jpg| Tribal Council.
Heroes vs Villains Council Inside.png|Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Tribal Council interior.
Nicaragua Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Redemption Island Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
South Pacific Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
S24tc.jpg| Tribal Council set by day.
S25 tribal council md.jpg| set by day.
Philippines Tribal Council.png|Survivor: Philippines Tribal Council.
101917 d22231b.jpg| Tribal Council.
Blood vs Water Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council.
Blood vs Water Voting Booth.jpg|Survivor: Blood vs. Water voting booth.
Cagayan Tribal Council Aerial.png| Tribal Council aerial view.
1033489 d23066b.jpg|Survivor: Cagayan Tribal Council.
San juan del sur two.jpg| Tribal Council.
SJdS Voting Booth.png|Survivor: San Juan del Sur voting booth.
Worlds apart tribal council.jpg| Tribal Council.
Cambodia Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council.
Cambodia Voting Booth.png|Survivor: Cambodia voting booth by day.
Kaoh Rong Tribal Council By Day.jpg| Tribal Council set by day.
Kaoh Rong Tribal Council.jpg|Survivor: Kaôh Rōng Tribal Council.
Millennials vs Gen X Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Game Changers Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Heroes Healers Hustlers Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council.
Survivor ghost island tc.PNG| Tribal Council aerial view.
Ghost island voting booth.jpg|Survivor: Ghost Island voting booth.
David vs Goliath Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council.
David vs Goliath Voting Booth.jpg|Survivor: David vs. Goliath voting booth.
Survivor- edge of extinction set 2 embed.jpg| Tribal Council.
Edge of extinction voting booth.jpg|Survivor: Edge of Extinction voting booth.
IotI Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
Winners at war tribal.png| Tribal Council entrance.
Winners at War Tribal Council.png|Survivor: Winners at War Tribal Council.
Winners at War Voting Booth.jpg|Survivor: Winners at War voting booth.
S41 Tribal Council Aerial.png| Tribal Council aerial view.
S41 Tribal Council.png|Survivor 41 Tribal Council.
Kulakula tribal council 1.jpg| Tribal Council.
S43 Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
S44 Tribal Council.jpg| Tribal Council.
S44 Tribal Council Voting Booth.jpg|Survivor 44 voting booth.
S45 Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
S46 Tribal Council.png| Tribal Council.
==Trivia==
* Tribal Council sets may or may not have a roof, so in some seasons, castaways might suffer getting wet during a rainy Tribal Council.
* The castaways are told where to sit by producers at Tribal Council. In the case of Ricard Foyé who was deaf in his right ear, he was specifically told to sit on the rightmost stool to hear better.https://twitter.com/RicardFoye/status/1448836987817918464
* The Tribal Council set was repaired several times, because the roof caught on fire during hot days.
* There are nine tribes that have never visited Tribal Council: Viveros, Bayoneta, Puka Puka, Tandang, Tavua, Yanuya, Tiva, Kama and Luvu.
** Tandang and Luvu are the only starting tribes to have all of their original members enter the merge. 
* There are seven contestants who have never attended Tribal Council: Jonathan Libby, Wanda Shirk, Gary Stritesky, Kourtney Moon, Dana Lambert, Pat Cusack, and Jackson Fox.
* winner Denise Stapley became the first contestant to go to every single Tribal Council in a season.
* Ian Rosenberger was the first contestant to be voted out outside of Tribal Council. He was followed by Brandon Hantz.
* Beginning from , the walkway to the voting booth is specifically designed to hide the booth away from the contestants to prevent them from catching those who will play game advantages that are such as the Idol Nullifier and Shot in the Dark die.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-david-goliath-jeff-probst-season-37-1139268
** Beginning in , the voting booth is where players who either made a decision during the summit or opened the Beware Advantage were informed whether or not their gamble had paid off via a note put on top of the unused parchments.
* Prior to the show being filmed in high-definition, Tribal Council sets were lit only by the fire pit and torches. By Gabon, a few electric lights with red gel were installed to provide better exposure of the vicinity and the contestants.
* Red fire, which symbolically represents life, is used to light the entire Tribal Council set, except the walkway where the eliminated contestants exit, where the color of the torches is blue, which represents death and sorrow.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOB5p4m2Dvk
* Tribal Council can actually last from 45 to 90 minutes, but is edited down to the 10 minutes of it that is actually aired.http://www.today.com/popculture/last-secrets-survivor-revealed-2D80554451
* After collecting the votes, host Jeff Probst consults with producers, who have been watching the voting confessional footage live in a production booth far away from Tribal Council. Based upon what they have seen and the actual outcome of the vote, they decide the order in which Jeff will read the votes aloud, organizing them for maximum drama and selecting which contestants' votes will be shown on television. This is why the votes Jeff reveals first are the ones viewers have already seen.http://www.today.com/popculture/last-secrets-survivor-revealed-2D80554451
* The Tribal Council had a secret hut where the mentors Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine watched the proceedings.
* is the first season of the U.S. version to reuse a previously built Tribal Council set.
==See also==
* Final Tribal Council
* Immunity Challenge
* Jury
* Ponderosa
* Torch
* Tribe
==References==
Category:Gameplay
Category:Survivor (franchise)
Category:Survivor (U.S.)