The Brains

**Highest Ranked**: Quentin (11/22)

The Brains was an alliance from Survivor: Japan.

This alliance originally appeared to be in a strong position because they formed a tight trio at the very beginning of the game. After eliminating their adversaries, the alliance broke apart at the tribe switch and was eventually dissolved at the merge by the majority alliance.

## History

### Origins

The black Jishin tribe was formed on Day 1 of *Survivor: Japan* containing six returning *Survivor* players who were given the 'Brains' label due to the original Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty tribe division. At the beginning of the game, Harriet, Jaymi and Quentin formed a tight Final Three deal. The Brains were the most dysfunctional of the three original tribes, losing the first immunity challenge on Day 3. The trio of Brains wanted to target Logan first because they perceived him as the weakest, but were threatened by his *Borneo* connections on the other tribe. This led to Logan's unanimous elimination at Jishin's first tribal council.

Jishin continued their losing streak into the following immunity challenge. The Brains controlled the votes and unanimously eliminated Lucy. After only 5 days of the game, Jishin was reduced to four members. Bailey, who originally competed on *The Australian Outback*, was the only player left on the tribe who wasn't apart of the core Brains alliance. The Brains sensed a tribe switch coming up and felt threatened by Bailey because of her connections to fellow *Australian Outback* veterans Dion and Shawna. After winning an immunity challenge, Jishin lost again on Day 9. Bailey tried to force The Brains to turn on each other, but their bond was too strong and she was voted out instead.

### Tribe Switch

At the tribe switch, the remaining fourteen castaways were thrown a curveball when four intruders (Dustin, Igor, Jessica and Vikki) entered the game. Harriet and Jaymi remained on Jishin along with the four intruders, which put The Brains in a minority position. At Jishin's only tribal council, Harriet and Jaymi were forced to turn on each other because the Intruder Alliance had the majority. At tribal council, Harriet flipped on The Brains in order to unanimously eliminate Jaymi. Meanwhile, Quentin was isolated from The Brains because he was switched to the green Chikara tribe. He appeared to be in a minority position, but was protected because the rest of the tribe wanted Cami out first at their only tribal council.

### The Merge

Harriet and Quentin from The Brains reconnected when the Final Twelve castaways merged on Day 24. However, the pair was placed in the minority against the Intruder and Heiwa Alliances. At the first merged tribal council, the pair tried to get the Intruders to vote with them for Peighton in order to force a tie. This was unsuccessful and the Heiwa Alliance made Harriet the first member of the jury. Quentin was irritated that the Intruders didn't work with the Brains because it put everyone in a minority position. Quentin tried to get Heiwa to vote for an Intruder and told the Intruders to vote for Dion. At tribal council, Quentin was powerless and The Brains were permanently dissolved when the Heiwa Alliance voted him out.