Survivor (TV series): Difference between revisions

** Some seasons subvert this when a winner comes from a tribe that was in a minority during the merge. (Vecepia being the earliest instance. She was only one of ''three'' members of the hapless Maraamu tribe to make the merge during ''Marquesas'' and ended up winning)

* [[Captain Obvious]]: Jeff whenever he announces for a challenge; usually in the form of "Player X, doing Y." After Jonathan Penner got irritated at his announcements during a ''Cook Islands'' challenge and told him to shut up, Jeff [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|broke the fourth wall]] for the first time with this immortal line:

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Jeff Probst has several, to the point where he's ritualized half his dialogue. Some of the Tribal Council lines fall under [[Rules Spiel]].

** "Everybody, drop your buffs" is one, said by Jeff every time there's a tribal switch or merge. This one was played with a bit in ''Heroes vs. Villains'' as Jeff said "drop your expectations" due to the Villains tribe incorrectly guessing that there would be a merge with 12 castaways left; the merge was later done at 10 castaways instead.

** The ''Heroes Vs Villains'' reunion included a [[Good Times Montage|brief]] [[Obituary Montage|memorial]] to the late Jenn Lyon, with warm and respectful words from Jeff Probst ([[Romance on the Set|who met up with her after she left her season]]).

* [[The Dulcinea Effect]]: There's occasionally a guy whose thought process amounts to "whatever the pretty girl wants to do". Chase and Sash's loyalty to Brenda in ''Nicaragua'', for example, as [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] by Brenda herself:

** When the Villains lose ''Heroes Vs Villains'' ep. 3's combo challenge, Randy says this is one of the reasons he [[Confession Cam|predicts he'll be the next to leave]]; [[Muscles Are Meaningful|the other]] is even more common. (He is indeed evicted that night.)

** Parvati made this her strategy, to great effect. She's very smart, very ruthless... and very, very pretty. Men have a habit of falling in line around her (unless they're named Yul Kwon or part of the Heroes tribe).

** Wearing clothes suitable for the game environment. Although, this is somewhat justified - in seasons like ''Pearl Islands'', ''Palau'', and perhaps ''China'', they weren't actually ''told'' they were going right to the game, they were told they were going to a promo event. Do you think Andrew Savage or David would have worn business suits if they knew they were going straight to the game in ''Pearl Islands'' and ''Redemption Island'' respectively, or that Ashley would have worn high-heel boots if she knew she was going directly to the game from the plane?

** Another justification for the above list is that some contestants are "recruited" to be on the show and thus have never watched it before, such as most of ''Fiji'''s cast. This is lampshaded by Taj from ''Tocantins'':

** They also manage to not realize that there is a social aspect to the game too. The Jury players have to ''like'' you or at least ''respect'' you if you want to have any chance of winning. They also have not figured out that the producers may be unable to fix the game, but they can ''slant'' it, so therefore returning players become a liability.

** Honestly, returning players. One would honestly assume after ''Micronesia'' that they'd toss the returnees ASAP, yet both times they've done it in the past year they haven't.

* [[Take That]]: The jury, ''especially'' the bitter ones, are prone to do this to the finalists. The [[Ur Example]] is Sue Hawk's "Rats and Snakes" [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|speech]], and just about everyone ''except'' Michelle and maybe Yau-Man pretty much said [[Take That]] to Dreamz in ''Fiji''. Edgardo and Lisi were ''particularly'' vicious.

** Edna from ''South Pacific'' performs one to both Mikayla and more subtly to the recurring nature of "[[Fan Nickname|Mactors]]", actors or models who seemingly don't care about Survivor and are only on the show for exposure, in her voting confessional towards her:

* [[Tall Poppy Syndrome]]: This guy's stronger than everyone else? He's a threat. Get rid of him.

** All the winners that returned in ''All-Stars'' got hit by this, and again in ''Heroes vs. Villains''; Tom Westman in particular was targeted by the Heroes due to his impressive win in ''Palau'', while according to post-game interviews, Randy attempted to target the winners on the Villains tribe in the days before he was voted out.

** ''Redemption Island'', wherein it was pretty obvious Rob had the game because, with the exception of Kristina, everybody on his tribe was too stupid to vote him out. It also had a pretty boring merge because all the interesting players like Ralph, Dave, and Mike were on Redemption Island and the most interesting events were Julie burying Phillip's shorts and the strange Expy of Brett that was Ashley.

* [[The Atoner]]: After starting ''Guatemala'' on a sour note, (see [[Smug Snake]], below), Jamie [[Heel Face Turn|suddenly got better]]. He traded the nice food Reward he earned in episode 9 for the lowest-quality food item available; he explained that he realized how much of an asshole he'd been. As the contestants sit to eat, Jeff reminds everyone of the sacrifice:

'''Jeff''': Well put. }}

* [[Awesomeness By Analysis]]: Yau-Man from ''Fiji'' and Bob Crowley from ''Gabon'', who effectively used maths and physics in challenges. Stephen from ''Tocantins'' also used math in at least one challenge to win

* [[Badass]]: In real life, Rudy Boesch is a retired Navy SEAL. Hunter Ellis from ''Marquesas'' saved a man's life while in the service and was the resident survival expert on his tribe. Gretchen Cordy was also a desert and jungle survival expert for the US Army. Tom Westman was a fireman for years before ''Palau''.

* [[Badass Decay]]: [[In-Universe|James laments]] [[The Ace|Colby]]'s disappointing struggling early in ''Heroes Vs Villains''.

* [[Badass Grandpa]]: While possibly not technically a Grandfather, Bob Crowley entered this trope when he not only became the oldest winner of ''Survivor'' by a good fifteen years, he did it by going on an immunity challenge streak. Despite not winning, former Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch from ''Borneo'' fits this trope to a T.

* [[Bald of Awesome]]: Gervase Peterson, "Big Ted" Rogers Jr., James Clement and Jaison Robinson.

* [[Epic Fail]]: ''Palau'''s Ulong tribe. Infamous in that they lost ''every single immunity challenge'', and all but three reward challenges. The only reason anyone from the other tribe was voted out was that one episode featured a contestant getting voted out from both tribes as part of a twist. At one point, there is only one member of the Ulong tribe. As a result, no official merge happened, Ulong was considered "conquered", and Stephanie was assimilated into the other tribe. She didn't last too long after that, and the Ulong tribe officially became the shortest-lived tribe in Survivor history. "Ulonging" has since become a [[Fan Nickname]] for losing repeatedly.

* [[Erotic Eating]]: Jerri toyed the idea with a chocolate to Amber during ''Australian Outback''. [[Hilarity Ensues]] when Colby, aware of the [[Double Entendre]], [[Confession Cam|reacted]] uncomfortably.

'''[[Mr. Fanservice|Colby]]''': [[The Ace|I may be a lot of things,]] but I ain't no Hershey bar! (chuckles) }}

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Colby, Ethan, "Boston" Rob, Bobby Jon, Aras, Yul, Ozzy, JT, Brett, Brendan.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Natalie sums up the [[Amazon Brigade|Micronesia women]]'s intentions in ep. 11:

* [[Everybody Remembers the Stripper]]: Jenna and Heidi stripping for peanut butter and chocolate during ''Amazon''. So much that they even posed for [[Playboy]]. [[In-Universe|Jenna lampshaded this]] during ''America's Tribal Council'' saying people will remember her stripping instead of actually winning that season.

* [[Everything's Better with Bob]]: Subverted with Bobby Jon Drinkard in ''Palau''. He did better in his following stint in ''Guatemala''. Meanwhile, there's Bob Crowley, the winner of ''Gabon''.

** The Villain tribe from ''Heroes vs Villains''. Their dramatic entrance alone was all kinds of cool, the descent of their chopper literally [[A Handful for An Eye|blowing sand right at the Hero tribe's faces]].

* [[Exact Words]]: In the ''Tocantins'' premiere, the players are about to begin an hours-long hike to the campsites, when the host suckers them good:

'''Jeff''': "Let's be clear: I said you will not take part in this adventure. 'This adventure' is a four-hour trek to camp. ''(Sandy screams happily and others laugh upon realizing what Jeff meant.)'' [...] while these guys are [[Blessed with Suck|trekking for four hours, carrying all of the camp supplies]], you're gonna fly to camp in a helicopter." Hilarious. }}

** Before that, there was the time in ''Thailand'' where Jeff told the tribes they were together now, but later took great joy in informing them "'Merge'? I never said you ''merged''."

** In ''Redemption Island'', Kristina as well as just about all the old people. You're put with two of the most (in)famous survivors and they're vulnerable. Russell Hantz was stealing rice with his harem and saying he was going to play a different game...while doing the exact same thing he was known for in the previous games. All the people in Zapatera who were older than 30 (Sans Russell Hantz himself) decide that he ''has'' to go, and that he cannot have the idol under any circumstances. Meanwhile over in Ometepe, Kristina immediately begins idol hunting and pulls it out of the sand ''within the first three days'' and immediately points out that Rob ''has'' to go. Unfortunately, she winds up using the idol, is voted out and eliminated, and the Zapateras are pagonged, while the jury ends up writing Rob a check for a million dollars. Phillip displayed this himself in the same season, spotting the obvious numbers flaw in Kristina's plan. His [[Beware the Honest Ones]] moment distanced himself from the doomed alliance immediately, intentionally getting hooked onto Rob's side all the way to the end instead of being wiped out like everyone else. The only thing that held him back from becoming [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] was fumbling his Jury discussion, letting Rob take the win. He ''did'' steal one of Rob's votes in the finale, though, preventing it from being a unanimous victory for Rob.

** In ''Guatemala's'' 4th episode, the tribes were polled to find out which Survivors most deserved various rewards. Amy and 3 others were granted a "picnic lunch" and are about to see what's in their reward basket:

'''Amy''': What is it -- [[Hope Spot|a tarantula]]?<br />

'''Jeff''': [[Blatant Lies|I wouldn't do that to you.]] <br />

** The girls from ''One World'', arguably the most successful female alliance in Survivor history.

* [[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger]]: [[Sassy Black Woman|Alicia]]'s claim to fame in ''Australia'':

'''Alicia:''' I will ''always'' wave my finger in your face! }}

* [[Good Is Dumb]]: Most of the cast of ''Samoa'', with the major exceptions of Natalie and Brett. Also the Heroes tribe in ''Heroes Vs Villains'', considering they went along with JT's plan to give Russell an idol.

** Randy from ''Gabon'' was the first notable user of this strategy, both pre-merge and post-merge: first name was "Operation Let Everyone Else Crash And Burn", where he'd make his tribe as miserable as possible to capitalise on any mistakes they made, and the second name was "Operation Strongarm" - he'd make everyone loathe him, pile their votes onto him, then idol whoever him and his alliance wanted, which would have actually worked had Bob not made him a fake immunity idol.

** Russell in ''Samoa'', who in the premiere secretly emptied everyone's canteens and burned a guy's socks, claiming that it was manipulating his teammates to his advantage. He also tried to stir things up later by making it possible for the tribe's chickens to escape their coop, but they did not flee on that occasion.

** [[Ironic Echo|Sandra also burned Russell's hat]] at the end of ''Heroes Vs Villains'', something he admitted that he was fazed by, but by then Russell had proved himself an [[Asshole Victim]].

** Sandra also tried to sabotage her tribe towards the end of ''Pearl Islands'' when she thought she was going to be voted out. She changed her mind when a plan to save her came into play.

** Chase and Jane, as well as Marty and Fabio from ''Nicaragua''.

* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: ''South Pacific'' gives us this exchange:

'''Ozzy''': Of course you have a chance. Everyone has a chance. ''(Cut to the [[Confession Cam]])'' He doesn't have a chance... }}

* [[I Surrender, Suckers]]: Some of those who find Hidden Immunity Idols ''want'' to encourage the others to try to vote against them. (They may talk of being ready to leave, irritate tribemates, or otherwise draw drama and disfavor. Having allies reinforce these perceptions can help.) [[Batman Gambit|If the finders can attract enough soon-to-be-worthless votes in this way, the Idol holder's partner(s) can complete the minority that ends up controlling the vote.]] Amanda did this brilliantly in ''Micronesia'', and didn't even have to lie to keep her plan with Parvati a secret (Amanda didn't find the idol in exile - because it was hidden at camp).

* [[Underdogs Never Lose]]: The main story of Gabon is how four of the most unlikeliest people could make the final four despite being in the minority and apposing possibly the tightest core alliance in the season: Bob, an elderly physics teacher who survived Kota's Pagonging; Susie, a middle-aged mother and hairstylist who was always the lowest woman on the totem pole and eventually survived long enough to put her alliance, joined out of desperation, on the chopping block; Sugar, a waitress/pin-up model who many tried to break the spirit of by sending her to Exile Island a record number of times, and eventually ended up controlling the game, and Matty, the personal trainer and supposed physical threat who stayed on one of the worst tribes in the show's history despite the various number of tribal swaps, and came out of the whole mess anyway.

* [[The Unintelligible]]: Big Tom of ''Africa'' and ''All-Stars''. To quote Jeff Probst:

** Rupert Boneham could go this way too, as well as Chicken in ''China'', although Chicken only lasted one episode and Rupert was only that way sometimes.

* [[Unknown Rival]]: Russell to Boston Rob, at least in the early stages of ''Heroes Vs Villains'' (but certainly no longer unknown as of ''Redemption Island''). Early in ''Nicaragua'' ep. 1, two of the La Flor "alpha males" [[Defied Trope|agree to avoid this]], after noting that Russell and Boston Rob could have done even better if they had been partners in ''Heroes vs. Villains''.

* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Russell was arguably positioned as one of these in ''Samoa''.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Ethan and Big Tom on ''Africa''.

** Rob Cesternino and Matthew Von Ertfelda in ''Amazon'' sort of had this. Rob and the most of the others made fun of Matthew for sharpening the machete all the time and for being socially awkward. Even though most the cast would have decided to boot Matthew for being an outcast, Rob decides to make fun of Matt even more by turning him and Butch into unwitting pawns of his during the merge (see [[Survivor (TV series)/Funny]]). However, Rob and Matthew later develop a working relationship with one another when Rob decides to blindside Deena and Alex, two fair weather allies of his , and over time as they bond, both of them begin to realize that Rob accidentally gave Matthew too much voting power by the time there were six people left.

* [[Wacky Marriage Proposal]]: Six seasons before Rob famously proposed to Amber at the live ''All-Stars'' reunion, ''Australian Outback'''s Keith proposed to his girlfriend via instant message during a internet reward challenge. She said yes. Matty also proposed to his girlfriend during the loved ones visit in ''Gabon''.

* [[Who Will Bell the Cat?]]: Comes up in several seasons, and is a major reason for the trend of conservative play in recent ones: even if everyone wants a guy in a position of power voted out, nobody wants to be targeted for trying. Especially if said person has an immunity idol that can lead to a vote going against the people attempting the coup.

* [[Whole-Plot Reference]]: Given that ''Survivor'' is a [[Lighter and Softer|minimally violent]] version of war, frequently [[Shout-Out|highlighting]] [[The Art of War]] in the ''China'' season was a stroke of genius. Each tribe receives [[Big Book of War|a list of its main points]] and is [[All There in the Manual|encouraged by Jeff to review all that wisdom]]. Hidden Immunity Idol notes and some of the tree-mail occasionally cite the book. Certain major events are apparently inspired by passages from the text, such as the tribal swap in episode 5:

* [[Wolverine Publicity]]: Russell vs Rob in ''Redemption Island''. Subverted in Russell's case when most of his tribe decided to go [[Off the Rails]] and eject him ASAP.

** ''South Pacific'' continues to sponge off of Russell's infamy. He's not back ''again'', but the cast includes his nephew, Brandon Hantz.

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