James Melendez

**James Melendez** is a contestant from *Simvivor: Selvadorada* and *Simvivor: Superstar*. He also competed on *The Duel*.

## Profile

* Selvadorada
* Superstar
James is everything you’d expect from a Service Sim. James first faced adversity in his career when the lack of fire alarms almost forced the local government in San Myshuno to lay off every firefighter working at their non-existent firehouse, but a patch fixed everything and now he’s flourishing! James is a big fan of *Simvivor*, having seen every season and possibly finding clips of the previous generation, too. He is currently in a relationship with his long-distance girlfriend.

James is one-part of the most iconic rivalry in *Simvivor* history, with a heated feud between him and Finnegan looming around the corner. Should these two fiery contestants meet up, it’ll be a battle for the ages. James says he’s not normally one to hold grudges, but with Finnegan, it’s completely personal. “I’m ready to prove to the world that I deserved that win, not him.” A little bit delusional but very confident in himself, James could either go down in flames or actually pull off an impressive finish. Either way, James stands as arguably one of the heaviest hitters on the cast.

## Simvivor

### Selvadorada

James was a notorious figure in *Selvadorada*. Known for his loud mouth and "flip-flop" strategy, James found himself in a sweet spot within the game and felt completely untouchable due to the fear he generated within his tribe. A member of the prominent The Faction alliance, James assisted in garnering crucial affiliate alliance members to take control of the game. James had a tight friendship with Finnegan Bloxham that carried the two through the premerge of the game. However, these two allies slowly but surely began to distrust the other, leading to an eventual falling out that transpired across multiple episodes.

At the merge, James tried to make a big move by flipping his allies against Tahira Ridley, as he felt completely intimidated by her challenge prowess. Yves Miguel disagreed to the move, standing strong in eliminating Tulio Elwes that round instead. This eventually caused a rock draw tiebreaker to occur, much to the chagrin of Finnegan and Carey Samuel. This, coupled with James's increasing paranoia, was what caused Finnegan to finally turn the target towards James instead.

When offered with the chance to turn on his alliance, James refused, voting out Cyne Gabrielli the round after the rock draw. This placed him in a minority position, and unable to win the favor of anybody except Tulio, he was the next person voted out of the game. Joining the Jury, James was very bitter towards former friend Finnegan, trying to hurt his chances at winning when it seemed like an inevitable. James voted for Yves to win.

#### Voting History

**^1**  In Episode 9, the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Tahira and Tulio, forcing a revote. James did not change his vote on the revote.

### Superstar

James started *Superstar* on the flailing Warhol tribe, losing the first two Immunity Challenges in a row. He developed an intimate relationship with tribemate Maritza La Playa and the two became inseparable allies. Their original goal was to eliminate former winners on the season, starting with Ignacio Gomez and eventually getting around to Kat Indie and Maritza's ex DeWitt Hubbell. James, however, started to develop a new strategy separate from his partner, getting close to Kat and shifting the vote off of her at the second Tribal Council to alienate Jordan Daniels and eliminate Hawthorne Rafferty.

Important for his physical strength, James was known to be lazy around camp which drew the ire of multiple tribemates, but especially Jordan. Not one to hold his tongue, James found himself in the center of a massive feud with Cornelia Tennison. He blamed this on ever-building paranoia in the game, but his apology was not accepted.

At the merge, the pressure continued to build, which led to James and Maritza quickly falling out of each others' good graces. James believed Maritza still had feelings for her ex-boyfriend DeWitt Hubbell, who vehemently denied any sort of romantic entanglement with Maritza since their original season. James's blowup led his allies to question his true intentions, and while working on getting Jordan out once and for all, James soon found himself on the bottom of the totem pole and became the second person to join the Jury.

During the season's live Reunion Show, James found himself in another heated argument, this time with former rival Finnegan Bloxham. It led to an infamous quote by James where he compared Finnegan to a participation trophy for his lackluster showing. Eventually James was escorted off the stage and tore his shirt off in a fit of rage.

## Post-Simvivor

* After *Selvadorada*, James announced he had split from his girlfriend.
* James walked in multiple runways and appeared in several magazine ad campaigns for different fashion brands following *Simvivor*.
* James and Maritza La Playa were issued a fine from *Simvivor* producers after making multiple derogatory comments about each other after *Superstar* had premiered. Due to their spoiling of their eventual falling out within the game, both were forced to make public apologies after their subsequent elimination from the show.

### The Duel

James has a bad history with the ladies, but at least he has a pretty squeaky reputation on *Simvivor*. Nowadays, James is a "freelance model" and always posts to his Simstagram about his adventures at the gym. Somewhat full of himself, James may not have the best chance at winning *The Duel*, but he's sure to serve up some interesting television competing with his ex-girlfriend Maritza La Playa.