Kaden

**Kaden** is a contestant from Tropic Survivor: Kauai.

## Cast Assessment

Kaden is almost indescribable, and yet so captivating at the same time. He referred to himself as a “psycho in the making” during his application, a statement that is just as interesting as it is alarming. Kaden isn’t afraid to speak his mind and he’ll never shy away from calling someone out and putting them in their place. Not for any game reasons, simply because he feels certain things need to be said. He’s extremely sarcastic and loves to flirt, and highlights making people uncomfortable as a specialty of his. You never know what you’re going to get with Kaden, and he thrives off it.

## Kauai

Quite possibly the biggest underdog of the season, Kaden was essentially a cat with nine lives. He attended eleven tribal councils throughout the season and received votes at nine of them, finally getting eliminated on the ninth. His game ended up being a historic one that displayed a strong sense of resilience. As a member of the core 5head alliance on the Lā tribe Kaden had some influence, but his position within the tribe wasn’t always as safe as his alliance made it seem.

From the first tribal council Kaden and Velma instantly starting butting heads over who the 5head alliance should target. Kaden wanted to eliminate Dani while Velma wanted to eliminate Jaysia. Velma got their way due to the rest of the alliance not really clicking well with Jaysia either. Seeing the first vote as an early sign of how the alliance would treat Kaden moving forward, he felt somewhat uneasy sticking with the alliance but knew he had to for the time being. After receiving a vote from Saturn at the first tribal council, Kaden was adamant about voting for him at the second, but again the 5head alliance dismissed his interests and settled on voting for Dani instead. Finally, with Saturn being the only person left outside of the 5head alliance after 3 loses, the alliance targeted him but only after Aidan and Brandon convinced Logan who then convinced Velma not to flip on Kaden.

When the tribes swapped Kaden was given a breath of fresh air, but one that he had to work for. He was swapped onto the Kai tribe with fellow original Lā tribemate and 5head alliance member Brandon in a 4-2 minority. But a quick connection with Jacob gave him the avenue he needed to secure his own safety. After clicking well with them, Jacob came up with a plan to try and save Brandon and Kaden in a 3-2-1 vote. He ultimately backed out of this plan out of fear that he might be making a move too early, but he informed Kaden of this and gave him the opportunity to save himself if he voted for Brandon. Knowing that it would be him or Brandon anyway, Kaden took the risk and voted out his only ally on the tribe. In the process he gained a new one.

After losing Brandon Kaden continued to develop a strong relationship with Jacob that would benefit him greatly throughout the game. With the help of Alyssa, they shook up the game and successfully blindsided JC at the next tribal council, putting a stop to tribal line based voting. The trio eliminated Sparks at the final pre-merge tribal council and entered the merge shrouded in secrecy as the opposing tribe had no idea how Kaden survived three tribal councils in a minority and why the Kai members seemed to have flipped on each other. Suspending disbelief, the Kai tribe members who were swapped onto the Lā tribe rekindled their relationships with Alyssa and Jacob and planned on staying Kai strong. Their first target was Logan, who they successfully eliminated in a 6-3 vote that was thought to have ended up 5-4. While it was nice to have such a secure majority, it didn’t feel that way to Shaun and Tris who were concerned due to the vote revealing just how close Kaden was to Alyssa and Jacob.

Now worried about the trio, Shaun targeted Kaden in an attempt to refocus the Kai tribe. Aidan and Velma no longer trusted Kaden after he joined the Kai tribe in voting out Logan, which allowed for them to form a new voting block with Shaun and Tris to vote Kaden out. Naturally Kaden fired back. He still had Alyssa and Jacob on his side, and since Raini felt closest to Jacob out of anyone from the original Kai tribe he swung over to their side as well. The numbers were tied 4-4, but after playing his idol Kaden was able to secure his safety and eliminate Shaun.

After his idol play Kaden needed to lay under the radar and lower his threat level. He had already entered the merge with a massive target on his back and a successful idol play that resulted in the elimination of one of the biggest castaways left in the game. Despite his massive target, Kaden was still successful in getting his way at the final seven. After Aidan won immunity Tris and Velma were left as the only options for the foursome alliance. They settled on Velma, thus eliminating Kaden’s rival of the season.

At the final six Kaden’s game was starting to decline. After he and Jacob blatantly lied to Alyssa in order to eliminate Velma, Alyssa started to slip away from them and decided to join Aidan and Tris in an attempt to blindside Kaden. When the votes tied Kaden was given another chance to make amends with her. He and Jacob were able to convince her to flip back to their side, eliminating Tris on the revote. But this was only temporary as Alyssa still knew she needed to take both of them out to have a better shot at winning the game. After Aidan secured his third immunity both Jacob and Kaden were incredibly desperate due to knowing that if Alyssa and Raini were going to make a move against them they were going to do it now. They did, resulting in Kaden’s elimination in a 3-2 vote.

### Voting History

**^1**  In "The Obsession Honestly", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Kaden and Tris, forcing a revote. Kaden was saved on the revote when Alyssa changed her vote.