Duel

A duel is a challenge that occurs at between two or more contestants who have been voted out at a prior Tribal Council. The challenge format first appeared in , and has since been seen in all subsequent seasons featuring Redemption Island: and .
The challenge accommodates two to four contestants in an individual challenge. The winner(s) of the challenge remain at Redemption Island to await their next duel, or at certain points (immediately prior to a merge or before the final five Immunity Challenge), re-enter the game. The losing contestant(s) are permanently eliminated from the game, represented by the burning of their buff as they exit Redemption Island Arena.
In seasons featuring duels, Reward Challenges tend not to occur, being replaced by duels in the running time of an episode for brevity purposes, or are combined with Immunity Challenges. On two occasions, control over the traditional family visit reward was awarded to the person who finished first in the duel.
==Overview==
At , duels determine who would stay on the island and who would be permanently eliminated. On the day of each duel, the castaways would receive Tree Mail instructing them to proceed to Redemption Island Arena, a special challenge area where all of the duels take place.
Upon reaching the arena, they will be welcomed by the host. Also in the arena are selected players from the competing tribes who are there to watch the duel. After the duel, it is up to the observers to decide if they will spoil the goings-on at the arena, or stretch the truth. In Blood vs. Water, all members of both tribes were in attendance due to the switch-out twist, and after the first re-entry point (the merge) of each respective season, the entire tribe attends each duel.
Unlike other times when tribes convene to meet with host Jeff Probst, players on Redemption Island line up in a particular order, typically with the most recent eliminated on the right whilst the current champion(s) are to the left. In Redemption Island and South Pacific, the challenge props were colored in greyscale, while in Blood vs. Water, they were comprised of three colors: blue indicating the longest serving duelist, red for second longest duelist, and yellow for the newest duelist.
In this special challenge, the winner(s) of the duel will stay on Redemption Island and continue their pursuit for the title of Sole Survivor, while the loser(s) will be permanently eliminated from the game (this is denoted by the loser tossing his/her buff in a fire wok). Theoretically, should the first person voted out make it to the re-entering stage, he/she must win all succeeding duels, meaning the castaway must defeat all subsequent castaways sent in the island.
In certain cases, there are more than two people residing on Redemption Island, with them participating in multi-person duels. In this format, the number of eliminated castaways varies. A three-person duel is unofficially known as a "truel", as coined by Mike Chiesl, Matt Elrod, and David Murphy in a secret scene before the first three-person duel took place. All Redemption Island duels in Blood vs. Water were of the three-person variety.
Head-to-head challenges reminiscent of duels have appeared in other seasons, but these challenges were for tribal reward, and are not considered as duels. The separate term "Hero Duel" was used to refer to the head-to-head challenges in .
The re-entry portion of this challenge was spun off into its own challenge, the re-entry challenge, in . In addition, the second re-entry challenge in that season was functionally the same as Redemption Island duels in that all remaining castaways on the competed for the right to re-enter the game, with the losing contestants all being permanently eliminated.
==History==
==Gallery==
===Redemption Island===
22031a.jpg|Francesca and Matt compete in the first Redemption Island duel, Jail Break.
Survivor 2204.jpeg|Matt and Russell compete in Domino Effect.
220502.jpg|Matt and Kristina compete in Cube Crisis.
220603.jpg|Matt and Krista compete in Grapple & Maze.
Concentration-ri.jpg|Matt and Stephanie compete in Concentration.
220802.jpg|Matt and Sarita compete to re-enter the game in the final pre-merge duel, Chimney Sweeps.
221002.jpg|Matt, Mike, and David compete in the first three-person and first post-merge duel, House of Cards.
Shuffle redemption is.jpg|Matt, Mike, and Julie compete in Survivor Shuffle Board.
221202.jpg|Matt, Mike, Ralph, and Steve compete in the first four-person duel, Rock Block.
221302.jpg|Matt, Mike, Ralph, and Andrea compete in A Maze 'N Jig.
221402.jpg|With Grant and Matt eliminated, Mike and Andrea compete to re-enter the game in the final duel, A Leg Up.
===South Pacific===
Redemption-duel.jpg|Semhar and Christine compete in the first duel, Over-Extended.
Chrsyigs4.png|Christine and Mark compete in Sandbagging.
Spsim.jpg|Stacey loses to Christine in Simmotion.
Shuffleboard duel.jpg|Christine and Elyse compete in Lost in the Shuffle.
Playing bridge.jpg|Christine and Mikayla compete in Game of Bridge.
Jail break christine.jpg|Christine loses to Ozzy for a chance to re-enter the game in the final pre-merge duel, Jail Break.
425 survivor ls 111611.jpg|Keith, Ozzy, and Jim compete in the first post-merge duel, Keep It Up.
Offer it up duel.jpg|Ozzy, Dawn, and Whitney compete in Offer It Up.
Cochran ozzy puppet master.JPG|Ozzy and Cochran compete in Puppet Master.
OzzyEdnaDuel.jpg|Ozzy and Edna compete in Block It Out.
Survivor-23-ozze-brandon-redemption.jpg|Ozzy and Brandon compete to re-enter the game in the final duel, Get a Grip.
===Blood vs. Water===
Survivor.S27E02.HDTV.x264-LMAO 148.jpg|Rupert loses to Candice and Marissa in the first duel, Operation Balance Build.
Domino effect truel.jpg|Candice, Marissa, and Rachel compete in Domino Effect.
S27 press images ep4 0021.jpg|Candice, Marissa, and John compete in Odd Shaped Bottoms.
Candice bridge.jpg|Candice loses to John and Brad in A Game of Bridge.
Survivor.S27E06.HDTV.x264-LMAO 086.jpg|John, Brad, and Laura M. compete in A Numbers Game.
Survivor.s27e07.hdtv.x264-2hd 113.jpg|John, Laura M., and Kat compete in Build a Fire.
S27 press images ep8 0002.jpg|John, Laura M., and Laura B. compete to re-enter the game in the final pre-merge duel, Get a Grip.
Survivor.s27e10.hdtv.x264-2hd 066.jpg|Aras, Vytas, and Tina compete in the first post-merge duel, Puppet Master.
Survivor.s27e11.hdtv.x264-2hd 031.jpg|Vytas, Tina, and Laura M. compete in Block It Out.
S27 ep12 Promo 11.jpg|Tina, Laura M., and Caleb compete in House of Cards.
Jail break bvw.jpg|Tina, Laura M., and Katie compete in Jail Break.
Survivor.s27e14.hdtv.x264-2hd 0179.jpg|Tina, Laura M., and Hayden compete to re-enter the game in the final post-merge duel, A Leg Up.
==Trivia==
* Matt Elrod has won the most duels overall, winning 10 out of the 11 duels he competed in. He is also the first person to win a duel, and the only castaway to compete in all duels in a single season.
** Andrea Boehlke is the first woman to win a duel.
** Laura Morett has won the most duels for a woman, winning 6 out of the 7 duels she competed in.
* Ozzy Lusth is the only contestant to return twice from via winning duels.
==References==
Category:Gameplay
Category:Challenges
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: Redemption Island
Category:Survivor: South Pacific
Category:Survivor: Blood vs. Water
Category:Recurring Challenges
Category:Redemption Island Challenges
Category:South Pacific Challenges
Category:Blood vs. Water Challenges
Category:Survivor (franchise)