Joaquin

Joaquin was one of the 10 "fans" cast on Unleashing the Underworld and was placed on the ill-fated "villainous" Megara tribe. He is noteworthy for perhaps being the only one to truly live up to this labelling. Throughout the season, he was infamous for his unscrupulous and denigrating demeanor towards his fellow players at times.

Joaquin got off to a good start, being in a core 3 alliance with Sophie and Nehemiah, leaving Zach and Dom on the outs. Unfortunately for them all, they would go on to lose every challenge for as long as their tribe existed. Dom and Zach were picked off, yet Joaquin never was in discussion to be eliminated at any point. In fact, he never received a vote against him during this period of the game. When it came down to just the 3 members of Joaquin's alliance, the vote was Sophie vs Nehemiah, with Joaquin and Sophie joining forces as they perceived Nehemiah as scheming against them both.

At the final 17, Joaquin and his sole remaining ally Sophie were swapped to the Pain tribe, where they were quick to bond with Mo, the only other fan. Joaquin was able to slide by for the chaotic first Myno vote, and decided to form a guys alliance with Jro, Ha, and later on Boofus. Unbeknownst to him, Sophie had come to distrust him pretty quickly due to bonding more with Roman. When his tribe lost a second time, this is where things really got crazy. Joaquin attempted to target Roman, although Jro and Ha were not on board. Jro was the only one who knew Ha was the other target, whereas Ha actually wanted to target Joaquin due to finding him annoying. Joaquin had no idea about either of these facts and thought the plan was set, even trying to convince Sophie of it, albeit timidly.

Ultimately, due Roman and Boofus not having their votes, Jro bit the bullet and filled Joaquin in at the last minute, knowing Ha was doomed. Joaquin didn't believe the truth until he saw Ha's vote for him, which enraged him. Ha went on to mock Joaquin's poor challenge ability on the way out, calling him undeserving. Joaquin was further enraged by this sleight, and he complained for a long time, annoying everyone further.

At this point, Joaquin's antics had caught up to him and he, along with Emmy, were at the bottom of the tribe. Joaquin knew this and was angered that an accidental unofficial vote for Roman he had made was erroneously shown at tribal. Joaquin, eager to improve his position, tried to throw Emmy under the bus. He embellished the story of a conversation he had had with her, telling Sophie of Emmy's infamous and confusing "Lapdog" comment that to this day, nobody seems to fully understand or even know that it really happened. Sophie and Roman were furious, meaning Joaquin's plan was successful. Emmy and Sophie were enemies as a result.

Luckily for him, he was sent to exile during the tribe's next loss, and he was safe. This was one of the most dramatic rounds of the game as well. To make a long story short, a vote against Emmy shifted against Mo instead, but she left the game. Joaquin returned without incident.

At the final 12, he was swapped to Atropos alongside Patrick, Boofus, and Lex. They would go on the lose that same immunity challenge, which lent itself to a dynamic tribal. Lex attempted to rally the tribe into targeting Joaquin, which would cement a running theme in the season. However, Patrick distrusted Lex, as he had been outside the Panic power structure, and Boofus was quick to jump at the opportunity to vote out Lex instead as well. Joaquin survived as Lex was indeed voted out 3-1. This would be the last time he visited tribal until the merge at final 10.

At the merge, Joaquin didn't get much of a break as the opposing Panic alliance decided to target him, although they fought amongst themselves over if it should be him or Patrick they definitively targeted. Jordan was amongst the most vocal against Joaquin, but due to his lack of subtlety and Joaquin's own allies warning him, Joaquin caught on pretty quick. He was absorbed into the Pain alliance by Jro, Roman and Boofus alongside Patrick, where he participated in a blindside against Quinn, who was known to have an idol. Through the use of a single vote nullifier Patrick had won at exile, Joaquin was able to survive the vote against Quinn by a 5-4 margin.

At the final 9, Joaquin played under the radar, and managed to escape the vote unscathed and without facing much danger as Jordan was ultimately voted out through a convoluted sequence of events. It was at the final 8 where Joaquin played more actively. Despite Jro's best efforts to align with him closely, Joaquin perceived him as playing the middle, which is what he wanted his own position to be. Boofus had already decided he wanted Jro out for reasons unknown, so Joaquin was quick to jump on this opportunity. Together, they worked to turn the rest of the tribe against Jro, and this is where Joaquin and Boofus really became close. First, they redirected Amelia's rage from Roman to Jro, which despite Joaquin's consistent and open hostility towards Amelia, he was more than willing to do now. Then, they convinced Roman and Patrick to flip against him, as they had been more reluctant. This was enough to send Jro out of the game, although he developed a hatred for Joaquin on the jury due to his actions.

At the final 7, Joaquin was ready to take out Uni next, as was the rest of the tribe. However, Boofus went against them all by using his second idol on her, leaving Joaquin befuddled when his close ally Patrick was then eliminated instead. This was a wake up call for Joaquin, and he would change course at the final 6. Here, he attempted to target Roman, and he had Amelia and Emmy on board. They tried to get Uni to their side, but she did not comply and instead sided with Boofus and Roman, showing loyalty to them for saving her. Joaquin was the other target of the vote, and this is when it got crazy once again. It was a 3-3 deadlock, which meant a rock draw. Joaquin thus slid by to the final 5, but at the cost of losing Amelia due to rocks, despite having previously acknowledged her as one of his best final 2 options.

At the final 5, Roman won immunity. Joaquin took the opportunity to instead take out another perceived big threat in Boofus. He and Emmy got Roman to vote with them, which finally sent a bitter Boofus out of the game in a 3-2 vote. At the final 4, Emmy won immunity, which allowed Joaquin to slide by once more to the final 3 when she sent Roman and Uni into the firemaking duel instead of him. Roman would go on to defeat Uni here.

Unfortunately for Joaquin, his game would come to an end here when Roman won final immunity. She deemed him a bigger strategic threat than Emmy, and thus voted him out in 3rd place. He became the 9th and final member of the jury.

At FTC, Joaquin did not have too much to say and had one of the more positive attitudes amongst the jurors, which was a far cry from some of his questionable conduct in the game. He voted for Roman to win, which she did over Emmy in a 5-4 vote.