Rotu

**Highest Placing Member**: Emma (3/18)

Rotu was a tribe from Survivor: Marquesas.

A tribe where previous relationships mattered, one couple emerged as the powerful two. They built relationships, won challenges and soon blindsided their allies if they felt threatened. Once the switch came, original members were in such a good position that the minority had to follow their ideas or be voted out. Their tribe colour was light blue.

## Members

### Original

* Aaron, originally in the powerful Nakúm alliance, he wanted to make big moves too early that lead to his own demise one cycle short of the jury during Survivor: Guatemala.
* Amalia, after being able to slide through tribal council after tribal council on the ill fated Ulong tribe, she was voted out just short of the Survivor: Palau merge at the next vote.
* Brooklyn, after suffering dips to the minority and majority, she is most notable for being apart of the Anti-Raro Alliance during Survivor: Cook Islands but was soon voted out in the cross fire of warfare.
* Emma, who remained loyal to Cecilia and the Favorites Alliance until she made the first move that led to her eventual demise during Survivor: Micronesia.
* Jade, a scrappy underdog and almost ringleader during much of Survivor: Guatemala, her survivor resume came to an abrupt end when she had to compete in a fire-making tiebreaker against Nick.
* Kurtis, after being in the majority alliance at the start of Survivor: Guatemala, he was soon targeted once the tribe switch came and his ally Harry flipped on him.
* Oliver, in a tight position during the early stages and post-dissolve of Survivor: Panama but was the first member of the jury when the rival alliance gained control.
* Quentin, although apart of the dominating Koror tribe during Survivor: Palau, he was on the bottom of the tribe and was their target once they started losing challenges.
* Scott, who was in the minority of men that led to his elimination from Survivor: Redemption Island, he was unsuccessful in winning his first duel that had the potential to keep him in the game.

### Tribe Switch

* Aaron
* Belle, originally in a powerful girls alliance at the start of Survivor: Micronesia until the tribe switch left her in the minority and as the target.
* Emma
* Harriet, apart of the Survivor: Guatemala majority Nakúm Alliance, she was only targeted once they turned on each other instead of getting rid of an easy goat.
* Harry, an originally shy and go with the wind type castaway during Survivor: Guatemala until his under the radar style game was soon seen as a threat to the larger alliance.
* Quentin
* Scott

## Tribe History

The nine castaways of Rotu were all first time players who returned for *Survivor: Marquesas* trying to improve their conditions the second time around. Jade and Aaron, who had previously worked together during Survivor: Guatemala formed their own alliance and planned on bringing in more members to have a majority. They soon brought in Scott, who they deemed to be the most physical male on the tribe and Amalia, who they believed had connections with other Survivor: Palau castaways if a tribe switch was to occur. Emma and Brooklyn, in their original seasons were known for merely following the majority and decided to connect with each other. This left Oliver, Quentin and Kurtis without real alliances and aligned with each other. Rotu was lucky enough to win the first two immunity challenges.

Unfortunately, Rotu lost the third challenge. Emma and Brooklyn voted for Quentin because they believed he had too many connections on the other side, giving him an unfair advantage. Quentin, Kurtis and Oliver, seeing how Jade played in her first attempt were threatened and the trio voted for her. Jade and Aaron, who were in control of the Rotu Alliance, thought the best option was to vote out castaways who had the potential to overthrow them. The pair agreed that Oliver had the most time to plot between his season and this one. They, along with Amalia and Scott voted him out. Aaron and Jade, shortly after the tribal council decided to bring in another member to reduce the threat of a 4-4 tie. They agreed that Emma was the best person to bring along because she would be an easy sway and someone who could be loyal to them. They also brought in Quentin for the time being in order to get all the Survivor: Palau castaways on board.

    Rotu continued to spiral down, losing their second immunity challenge in a row. The new alliance of six which had control decided that Brooklyn was a viable option. However, when Amalia and Quentin started to suggest Kurtis, Aaron and Jade became worried. This was because Kurtis originally competed on their season, meaning they felt it was a way of taking away numbers. They then approached Scott and Emma who saw this move by Amalia as threatening to the core of the alliance. When confronting Quentin, he apologised for any misconceptions and agreed Amalia was more a ring leader. At tribal council, Brooklyn and Kurtis as outsiders voted for Quentin and Amalia, realising she was being thrown under the bus, voted for him as well. Meanwhile, the majority alliance of five blindsided Amalia. Rotu then won the next immunity challenge and spared the minority members who were clearly outsiders.

At this point, the tribes switched and the remaining thirteen castaways were split into the new Maraamu and Rotu tribes. Aaron, Emma, Scott and Quentin remained on Rotu and were joined by Maraamu members Harry, Harriet and Belle. The original tribal lines were drawn and no castaway would switch. Aaron had previously worked with Harriet and Harry during Survivor: Guatemala but they didn't see eye to eye on this new tribe. Luckily for the tribe, Rotu won their first challenge together. On Day 19, both tribes had to vote someone out at a Double Tribal Council. With the 4-3 advantage to original Rotu and no flip in allegiances, the original Rotu members voted out Belle.The Rotu alliance continued to exercise their power which greatly scared Harry. He soon talked to them and planned on voting out Harriet. When Rotu lost the next immunity challenge, Harry told Harriet he was aligned with her and to vote for Scott. However, this was only a lie and the tribe unanimously voted her out. On Day 22, the remaining nine second chance castaways merged into one tribe and were one step closer to the title of Sole Survivor.

## Trivia

* Rotu and Maraamu are the latest of eight tribes to have uneven split of castaways when a tribe switch occurred.
	+ Other tribes with this feat include Fei Long and Zhan Hu from Survivor: China, Galang and Tadhana from Survivor: Blood vs. Water and Nakúm and Yaxhá from Survivor: Guatemala.