Hidden Immunity Idol

The **Hidden Immunity Idol** is a small talisman that prevents the user from being voted out from Tribal Council. Since its introduction in *All-Stars - Solomon Islands*, critical strategic decisions revolved around the idol, from when to use it, who to use it for, or how to minimize its effect in the game.

## Format

The format of how the Hidden Immunity Idol is used every season differs, and as of now, there are three different formats of how it is used based on the time it can be used in Tribal Council.

### Negating Idol

**Appeared in:** *All-Stars - Solomon Islands* onwards

**Played:** Before the reading of regular votes.

The idol must be used after the votes have been cast, but before the host reveals them.

This mechanic makes it possible for the idol to be wasted, as a castaway must play the idol on someone that can be voted against, but who is not guaranteed to have the most number of votes, making timing a crucial factor in playing it. A way to counter this type of idol is to force the user to waste it (i.e. if they do not have the most number of votes), a strategy several castaways refer to as *flushing*. Once the idol is used, it is usually re-hidden. Typically, these idols are valid up until there are only five castaways remaining in the game.

Per the current tiebreaker rules, those who play an idol (or had an idol played for them) are exempted from the deadlock-breaking rock draw.

## Trivia

* *All-Stars - Solomon Islands* currently hold the record for the most idols found, with six.
* *All-Stars - Solomon Islands* currently holds the record for the most successful idol plays, with six.
* From Mike Merryman's idol in *All-Stars - Solomon Islands* to Charlotte Murray's idol in *All-Stars - Solomon Islands*, six idols were played, all successfully. This is the record for the most consecutive successful idol plays.

### Firsts

* Madeeha Rattani (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) is the first castaway to possess a vote-negating Hidden Immunity Idol.
* Mike Merryman (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) is the first castaway to use a vote-negating Hidden Immunity Idol successfully.
* No castaway has possessed a vote-negating idol after its expiration.
* No castaway has been voted out with a Hidden Immunity Idol in their possession.
* No castaway has used a Hidden Immunity idol and only receive minority votes.
* No castaway has been medically evacuated while in possession of a Hidden Immunity Idol.

### Records

* The earliest use of a Hidden Immunity Idol was on Day 23 (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) when Mike Merryman played it on Kat Heuser successfully.
* The latest use of a Hidden Immunity Idol was on Day 51 (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) when Charlotte Murray played it on herself successfully.
* Neda Jaksic (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) is the youngest castaway to find an idol, being 23 at the time she found her first idol.
* Charlotte Murray (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) is the oldest castaway to find an idol, being 43 at the time she found her second idol.

### Miscellaneous

* Neda Jaksic (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) is the first eventual Sole Survivor to use a Hidden Immunity Idol successfully in the season they won.
* Harry Calderon (*All-Stars - Solomon Islands*) holds the record for holding a single idol for the longest continuous timespan, having the Niupani idol from Day 10 up to Day 35 (25 days total).
* Harry Calderon ({{S2}9}}) holds the record for most votes negated at one Tribal Council using an idol, with 6.
* No castaway has played idols successfully on themselves at two Tribal Councils in the same season.
* No castaway used an idol to negate a unanimous vote.