Survivor

**Survivor** is a U.S. reality-based competition television show, based on the Swedish television series, *Expedition Robinson* created by Charlie Parsons in 1997. It is currently hosted by Jeff Probst.

## Format

*Main article: Twist*
Twenty four to forty people, referred to as "castaways" or "survivors", 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 from 50 to 60 days. 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 in *Raja Ampat* (two tribes of twelve, merge at fourteen, jury at thirteen, and Final Two), the game has introduced several twists to keep players on their toes and to make the season more exciting and fresh to the audience.

#### Number of Members per Tribe

* **Two Tribes of Twelve**: First used in *Raja Ampat*, and subsequently used in *Madagascar*, *Greece*, *China Sea*, *Peru*, *Fans vs. Favorites*, *Blood vs. Water*, *Caribbean*, *Japan*, *Dynamic Duos*, *Mexico*, *India*, *Australian Outback*, *Arabia*, *Bhutan*, *South Africa*, *Tuvalu*, *Myanmar*, *Tonga*, and *Mauritius*, the castaways were divided into two tribes of twelve. Except for *Greece* and *Tuvalu*, the tribes consisted of six men and six women on each tribe. In *Greece* and *Tuvalu*, the tribes were divided by gender with twelve men on one tribe and twelve women on the other.
* **Three Tribes of Eight**: First used in *Vietnam*, and subsequently used in *Guyana*, *Hawaii*, *Rivals*, *Egypt*, and *Belize*, the castaways were divided into three tribes of eight, consisting of four men and four women on each tribe.
* **Four Tribes of Seven**: Only used in *All-Stars*, the castaways were divided into four tribes of seven. The tribes consisted of either four men and three women or three men and four women.
* **Two Tribes of Thirteen**: First used in *Honduras*, and subsequently used in *Malakula*, *Khao Laem*, *Wild West*, *Melanesia* and *Roman Empire*, the castaways were divided into two tribes of thirteen. Except for *Malakula* and *Wild West* the tribes consisted of either seven men and six women or six men and seven women. In *Malakula*, the tribes were divided by gender with thirteen men on one tribe and thirteen women on the other. In *Wild West*, the castaways divided themselves into the tribes via Schoolyard Pick. Because of that one tribe consisted of eight men and five women, and the other one consisted of five men and eight women.
* **Four Tribes of Six**: First used in *Unfinished Business*, and subsequently used in *Mamanuca Islands*, the castaways were divided into four tribes of six, consisting of three men and three women.
* **Three Tribes of Nine**: First used in *Kiribati*, and subsequently used in *Polynesia*, the castaways were divided into three tribes of nine. In *Kiribati*, two tribes consisted of five men and four women, while the last tribe consisted of four men and five women. In *Polynesia*, two tribes consisted of four men and five women, while the last tribe consisted of five men and four women. In both seasons, the one person that was not a member of any tribe, would join the tribe that lost fist immunity challenge and voted one of their members out.
* **Three Tribes of Ten**: First used in *Venezuela*, and subsequently used in *Second Chance*, *Game Changers*, *Spain*, *New Beginnings*, and *South Korea*, the castaways were divided into three tribes of ten, consisting of five men and five women on each tribe.
* **Two Tribes of Sixteen**: Only used in *Heroes vs. Villains*, the castaways were divided into two tribes of sixteen, consisting of eight men and eight women.
* **Four Tribes of Eight**: Only used in *Nauru*, the castaways were divided into four tribes of eight, consisting of four men and four women.
* **Two Tribes of Fourteen**: First used in *Moon Islands*, and subsequently used in *Ngorongoro Crater*, and *Suriname*, the castaways were divided into two tribes of fourteen, consisting of seven men and seven women on each tribe.
* **Two Tribes of Fifteen**: Only used in *Congo*, the castaways were divided into two tribes of fifteen, with two tribes consisting of eight men and seven women, and the other two consisting of seven men and eight women.

#### "Versus"/Themed Seasons

* **Gender**: in *Greece*, followed by *Malakula*, and *Tuvalu*, the tribes were divided based on their gender, pitting the men against the women. In *Greece* and *Malakula*, the tribes were switched up later in the game.
* '*All returning players**: in*** **All-Stars*,* Unfinished Business*,* Rivals*,* Dynamic Duos*,* Venezuela*,* Mamanuca Islands*,* Second Chance*,* Heroes vs. Villains*,* Game Changers*,* Nauru*,* Moon Islands*,* Congo*,* Spain*,* Champions vs. Challengers*,* New Beginnings*,* Zero to Hero**, and , twenty four to thirty six castaways returning to play the game.
	+ **Second Chance**:
	+ **Heroes vs. Villains**: ***Survivor*** featured two tribes defined by popularity or infamy. The Heroes were picked for being deemed to play the game with integrity, courage and honor, while the Villains were picked due to their skills in manipulation, deception and overall notoriety.
* **Age**: in *Caribbean*, followed by *Myanmar*, the tribes were defined according to age, with an entire tribe of younger players and an entire tribe of older players.
* **Haves vs. Have-Nots**: *Guyana* and *Mamanuca Islands* had the Haves vs. Have Nots twist. The "Haves" tribe was given all of the luxuries needed for living, and the "Have Nots" tribe was given little to nothing. After each Immunity Challenge, the winning tribe had to choose between better camp or immunity.
* **Few returnees per tribe**:
* **Blood vs. Water**: *Kiribati*, *Dynamic Duos*, *Khao Laem*, *Second Chance*, *Heroes vs. Villains* and *Melanesia* featured pairs of contestants with a pre-existing relationship. In the *Khao Laem* and *Melanesia*, a tribe of former contestants were pitted against their loved ones who were playing for the first time. In *India*, an all-new batch of contestants underwent the same twist. In *Tonga*, newbie pairs of castaways started on the same tribe, and *Suriname* reused the same format, but with fourteen returning players.
* **Fans vs. Favorites**: *Mexico*, *Venezuela*, *Australian Outback* and *South Africa* had fourteen self-proclaimed "superfans" of the show that were pitted against fourteen fan favorites from seasons past.

#### Merge

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

##### Fake Merge

*Main article: Fake Merge*
First in *Rivals*, this twist saw Akamaru and Taravai under the impression that they had merged, until the following Immunity Challenge, where Jeff Probst revealed that the tribes had not actually merged and still had to compete for the tribal immunity. The twist returned in *Japan*.

##### Delayed Merge

A delayed merge is when the merge occurs with less than fourteen castaways remaining. The first delayed merge occurred in *Greece* with twelve castaways remaining. The delayed merges in *Peru*, *All-Stars*, *Unfinished Business*, *Caribbean* were done with thirteen remaining castaways.

##### Early Merge

An early merge is when the merge occurs with more than fourteen castaways remaining. The first early merge occurred in ***Survivor***, merging with fifteen castaways remaining. In *Guyana*, *Kiribati* and ***Survivor***, castaways also merged at fifteen.

### Tribe Switch

*Main article: Tribe Switch*
First introduced in *Madagascar*, 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 when one tribe is dissolved and spread among the other two tribes without the other two tribes' members switching tribes.
* A **conquering** is when the remaining members of one tribe are absorbed into another tribe, where the season has no merge.
* 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.

### Previously Eliminated Castaways

A few seasons have made it possible for eliminated castaways to reenter the game.

#### Redemption Island

*Main article: Redemption Island*
First introduced in *Peru*, followed by *All-Stars*, *Kiribati*, *Khao Laem*, *Venezuela* and *Heroes vs. Villains*, Redemption Island would see eliminated castaways compete in duels to reenter the game at one of two points: the merge or Final 5. In *Khao Laem* and *Melanesia*, three castaways would compete in each duel, with only one castaway being eliminated per duel, except for the two reentry duels. In addition, loved ones would be able to switch out, putting themselves on Redemption Island in place of their loved one.

#### Edge of Extinction

*Main article: Edge of Extinction*
First introduced in *Egypt*, the Edge of Extinction allows castaways to wait for an opportunity to reenter the game, either at the merge or at Final 5. After each castaway is eliminated, up until there are six in the main game, they will be given the option to go to the Edge of Extinction or finish their journey, permanently eliminating them from the game. While on the Edge of Extinction, a castaway may quit by hoisting a white flag. Unlike Redemption Island, castaways are not permanently eliminated until the reentry duel.