Survivor

***Survivor*** is a strategic numbers game, where individuals compete against each other in order to win the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollar prize.

## Format

Between sixteen to thirty-two people, referred to as "castaways" or "survivors" are originally split into two or more groups, referred to as "tribes", would be taken to a remote location, most often tropical, and forced to live off the land for 39 days (58 in *Survivor: Panama*). Every so often, the tribes would meet together to compete for reward, usually items to improve island living conditions or meals, or for immunity from being voted out at Tribal Council.

Usually signalling the halfway point of the season, the competing tribes would form one final tribe in an event called the merge. At this point, the castaways would be competing in challenges individually (though some post-merge Reward Challenges may divide the remaining castaways into teams). At least one person will have win individual immunity in the form of a necklace, preventing that castaway from being voted out at the next Tribal Council. Most castaways eliminated after the merge will begin forming the jury. Once the season gets down to the Final Two or Final Three, the finalists will plead their case to the jury. The jury will then cast their vote for the castaway they considered should be the Sole Survivor, in addition to the $1 million prize.

Since the original format, the game has introduced several twists to keep players on their toes and to make the season more exciting and fresh to the audience.

### Finalist and Jury composition

Depending on the season, the finalists plead their case one final time in front of the jury. The jury are responsible for taking into consideration the game of every finalist and crowning a winner based on who they believe deserves the title from their season. The size of the finalists and the jury itself will often depend on the size of the original cast; smaller casts tend to have smaller juries and finalists compared to seasons with a larger cast.

* Final Two
	+ **Final Two and Jury of Seven:** First appeared during *The Australian Outback*, before then appearing in *Guatemala*, *Marquesas*, *Vanuatu* and *Borneo*.
	+ **Final Two and Jury of Eight:** First appeared during *Palau*, it later appeared during *Tocantins*, *All Stars* and *Malaysia*.
	+ **Final Two and Jury of Nine:** This composition first appeared for *Micronesia* and then appeared during *Thailand*, *Thailand II*, *Australia II* and *Cloncurry*.

* Final Three
	+ **Final Three and Jury of Seven:** This form of the jury has only appeared so far in *Gabon*.
	+ **Final Three and Jury of Eight:** First appeared during *Philippines*, *Cook Islands*, *Blood vs. Water*, *Samoa*, *South Pacific*, *Worlds Apart*, *Caramoan*, *New Zealand* and *Mamanuca Islands*.
	+ **Final Three and Jury of Nine:** The original and most common, this composition of the jury first appeared during *Panama*. It then appeared in *Redemption Island*, *SJDS*, *China*, *Nicaragua*, *Heroes vs. Villains*, *Cagayan*, *Fiji*, *One World*, *Japan*, *The Amazon*, *Argentina*, *Australia*, *Africa*, *The Congo* and *Shipwheel Island*.
	+ **Final Three and Jury of Ten:** First appeared during *Cambodia* before then appearing for *India*, *Millennials vs. Gen X*, *Indonesia*, *David vs. Goliath*, *Island of Secrets* and *Ghost Island*.
	+ **Final Three and Jury of Eleven:** A jury of ten was intended for *Island of the Idols*. However, a tied vote at the Final Tribal Council meant that the third place finisher became the eleventh member of the jury to break the tie.

## Tribe Division

The castaways are originally split into two or more tribes, where they meet together to compete for reward, usually items to improve island living conditions or meals, or for immunity from being voted out at Tribal Council.

### Number of Members per Tribe

* Two Starting Tribes
	+ **Two Tribes of Eight**: First used in *The Australian Outback*, it later appeared during *Guatemala*, *Vanuatu* (though two castaways were voted out before the castaways were even divided into tribes) and *Australia II*
	+ **Two Tribes of Nine**: First used in *Gabon*, it later appeared during *China*, *Palau*, *Tocantins*, *Marquesas*, *Samoa*, *Malaysia* (with a division by gender), *Thailand II* and *New Zealand*.
	+ **Two Tribes of Ten**: After first appearing in *Redemption Island*, this combination is the most commonly found division of tribes in *Survivor* history. It has been subsequently used in *SJDS*, *Nicaragua*, *South Pacific*, *Borneo*, *The Amazon*, *Millennials vs. Gen X* (with a generational division), *Indonesia*, *Australia*, *David vs. Goliath*, *Island of the Idols*, *The Congo* and *Ghost Island*. This tribe division has also been common in specific twists that divide the castaways, including Blood vs. Water (*Blood vs. Water* and *One World*), Fans vs. Favorites (*Micronesia* and *Caramoan*) and Brains vs. Brawn (*Cloncurry*).
	+ **Two Tribes of Eleven**: This has currently been used only during *Cambodia*.
	+ **Two Tribes of Twelve**: This has currently been used only during *Africa*.
	+ **Two Tribes of Fourteen**: This has currently been used only for *Heroes vs. Villains*, where the castaways were divided by their past performances as either Heroes and Villains.

* Three Starting Tribes
	+ **Three Tribes of Six**: First used in *Worlds Apart*, it later appeared in *Japan* (as part of the Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty twist), *Kaôh Rōng*, *Mamanuca Islands* and *Shipwheel Island*.
	+ **Three Tribes of Seven**: This composition has only been used in *Cagayan* (as part of the Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty twist).
	+ **Three Tribes of Eight**: First used in *Philippines*, it later appeared *All Stars*.
	+ **Three Tribes of Ten**: This has currently only appeared during *India*, where the cast of winners was divided by the era in which they won.

* Four Starting Tribes
	+ **Four Tribes of Five**: First used in *Cook Islands*, this also appeared during *Argentina* (where the tribes were divided by race).
	+ **Four Tribes of Six**: For *Fiji*, the returning players were divided based on their past performances as either pre-mergers, jurors, finalists or winners. This composition later appeared as part of a geographical divide twist on *Island of Secrets*.
	+ **Four Tribes of Eight**: This composition has only been used in *Panama*.

* Five Starting Tribes
	+ **Five Tribes of Four**: This composition has only been used in *Thailand*, where the cast was divided by horoscopes.

### Themed Seasons

As per consensus of the producers, a batch of contestants could be sorted into tribes with a common theme, sometimes based on the cast's personal attributes. Some seasons have contestants be joined with returning players, all of which have certain similar attributes.

* **All returning players**: In many seasons, the entire cast has included all returning players. In some instances, the cast is then separated based on a specific theme or trait but this is not always the case.
* **One returnee per tribe:**: In both *Cagayan* and *Island of Secrets*, one returning contestant joined one tribe, making them full-fledged players of the game. This has often been referred to as 'Captains' seasons.
* **Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty**: In *Cagayan* and *Japan*, the tribes were divided into 3 tribes of 6 according to the contestants' best attribute that gets them by in life: Intellect, physical strength, or physical appearance and social skills. *Cloncurry* introduced a variation of this twist, where new and returning players were divided based on the Brains vs Brawn theme.
* **Blood vs. Water**: *Blood vs. Water* and *One World* featured pairs of contestants with a pre-existing relationship. It features returning castaways competing against loved ones, such as mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, aunts, nieces, biological siblings, step siblings, cousins, boyfriends and girlfriends.
* **Fans vs. Favorites**: *Micronesia* and *Caramoan* had ten self-proclaimed "super-fans" of the show that were pitted against ten fan favorites from seasons past.
* **Battle of the Sexes**: The tribes were divided based on their gender during *Malaysia*, pitting the men against the women. Typically the tribes are switched up later in the game.
* **Ethnicity**: In a rather controversial move, the castaways of *Argentina* were divided into four tribes of five according to their ethnicity: Hispanic, Caucasian, African, and Asian.
* **Age**: In *Millennials vs. Gen X*, the tribes were defined according to age. The younger tribe consisted of castaways who were apart of the Millennial generation whilst the older tribe consisted of castaways who were apart of the Gen X generation.
* **Geography**: In *Island of Secrets*, the tribes were originally divided based on the castaways home state (East, South, East or Midwest) within the United States of America during the time of filming.
* **Gender**: In *Malaysia*, the tribes were originally divided based on their gender, pitting the men against the women before the tribes were switched up later in the game. A variation of this twist appeared again in *The Congo*, where the entire cast only comprised of female castaways.

### Merge and Un-Merge

Usually occurring near the halfway point of the season, the merge sees the the dissolution of any tribes in the game, with all remaining players forming a new tribe, and the challenges going from tribal to individual.

The unmerge was a twist currently only used in *Survivor: Thailand II*, where Chuay Gahn and Sook Jai were under the impression that they had permanently merged. However, the castaways at the Final Eleven were divided back into the two original tribes and forced to compete against each other once more. After three immunity challenges, the remaining nine castaways merged for the rest of the game.

### Tribe Switch

First introduced in *Survivor: Panama*, a Tribe Switch reassigns castaways into new tribe compositions. Tribe Switches can occur at any point in the game. There are a few variations of a Tribe Switch:

* A **swap** occurs when the number of members switched from each tribe are even.
* A **shuffle** is when a tribe can consist of any number of members from either tribe.
* A **mutiny** is when castaway(s) are offered to voluntarily switch tribes.
* An **absorption** occurs during three tribe seasons. This is one one tribe is dissolved and spread among the other two tribes without the other two tribes' members switching tribes.
* A **disbanding** is when one or more tribes are dissolved with all remaining castaways in the game being shuffled into new tribes.
* An **expansion** is when a third tribe is introduced in a season starting with two tribes, with all remaining castaways being shuffled into new tribes.

## Twists

### Redemption Island

First introduced in *Survivor: Redemption Island*, Redemption Island would see eliminated castaways compete in duels to reenter the game. It provides an opportunity for an eliminated player or eliminated players to re-enter the game and continue their pursuit to the million-dollar prize and the title of Sole Survivor. In order to do so however, eliminated contestants will compete in head-to-head challenges (known as Duels) in order to remain on the island and avoid permanent elimination.

### Kidnapping

Kidnapping is the right to take one member of the opposing tribe for a short period of time. This twist was first used in *Survivor: Cook Islands*, where the winner of the Days 13 and 24 Immunity Challenges would kidnap one member of the losing tribe until after the following Reward Challenge, skipping Tribal Council. *Survivor: Worlds Apart* would also use this twist, for Tribal Council on both Day 16 and 19.

### Double Tribal Council

A Double Tribal Council is when both pre-merge tribes are informed they will both be voting someone out on the same night in-back-to-back Tribal Councils. This twist is usually used in seasons with a large cast, sometimes with multiple Double Tribal Councils in the same season. In *Survivor: Panama*, a Triple Tribal Council also occurred in which three tribes each had to vote someone out. A variation of this Double Tribal Council is where one tribe has to send home two castaways on the same night.

## Exile Island

First introduced in *Survivor: Palau* as a one-time twist, Exile Island sees a castaway being banished to a secluded island for a short period period of time. Exile Island would first appear as a season-long twist in *Survivor: Tocantins*, where the Hidden Immunity Idol is hidden.

### Island of the Idols

Island of the Idols is a variant on Exile Island. Similar to Exile Island, a castaway is banished to Island of the Idols for a short amount of time. On the island, the castaway meets a *Survivor* legend who acts as a mentor in strategy or aid the player in finding an advantage.

### Island of Secrets

The Island of Secrets is another variation of Exile Island. Unlike Island of the Idols, the exiled castaways were not greeted by a former player but would be offered twists and advantages from previous seasons that were unsuccessful or poorly executed. During the pre-merge, each winning tribe would elect one player to visit the island and the exiled castaways would compete in a challenge to win the advantage. During the post-merge, challenge performance would determine which castaways would visit the Island of Secrets.

### Ghost Island

Ghost Island is a third variation of Exile Island, where one member of each tribe was sent. The players were not met by former castaways nor were they competing for advantages from past seasons like previous seasons, but competed for an anonymous advantage. The player/s from the tribe/s that won immunity would return to camp whilst the player from the losing tribe would remain on Ghost Island and skip Tribal Council. However, players from the losing tribe who also lost the Ghost Island competition would lose their ability to vote at the next Tribal Council they attend.

### Shipwheel Island

Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island where they were given a choice between protecting or risking their vote on their next visit to Tribal Council. If all of them chose “protect”, they kept their votes. If all of them chose “risk”, none of them were able to vote at their next Tribal Council. If there was a split decision, those who chose “protect” get to keep their vote, but those who chose “risk” obtained an Extra Vote.

## Advantages

### Hidden Immunity Idol

First introduced in *Survivor: Philippines*, the Hidden Immunity Idol grants protection for the person who finds it. Its purpose is to, one way or another, prevent the user from being voted out in a Tribal Council vote. The idol has influenced many of the contestants' strategies, whether they use the object, or defuse its powers.

### Voting Advantages

The Voting Advantage (also known as the Extra Vote or the Vote Blocker) was a twist introduced in *Survivor: The Amazon*. Since its inception, the advantage has taken different forms; it has allowed the holder to have an extra vote, block a player's vote or a combination of both powers at Tribal Council.

### Legacy Advantage

The Legacy Advantage is an advantage that is found early in the game, only for its power to be used at a later date. Currently, the Legacy Advantage works like a Hidden Immunity Idol. Unlike other advantages, if a castaway is voted out with the Legacy Advantage in their possession, the eliminated castaway must will it over to someone currently in the game.

### Idol Nullifier

Introduced in *Survivor: David vs. Goliath*, the Idol Nullifier negates the use of a Hidden Immunity Idol. The advantage can only be played at the voting booth, where the user must state who the Idol Nullifier is to be used on. If the user correctly guesses that person will use a Hidden Immunity Idol on themselves or have an idol played for them, the advantage will be revealed, negating the idol. The Idol Nullifier will not be revealed if the user guessed incorrectly.

## Gallery

*Survivor: Kaôh Rōng* cast*Survivor: Australia* cast*Survivor: Australia II* cast*Survivor: Island of Secrets* cast*Survivor: Africa* cast*Survivor: The Congo* cast*Survivor: Ghost Island* cast*Survivor: Shipwheel Island* cast*Survivor: Cloncurry* cast