This is Survivor: Game Changers. And like all seasons of Survivor, spoilers are going to be unmarked.
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The Tribes
Mana
- Butt-Monkey: Before Episode 4, the tribe didn't win a single immunity challenge in either incarnation (original and tribal shuffle), and have lost 4 original members in a row.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Fortunately, they managed to win the 5th immunity challenge, while coming in first place.
- Dwindling Party: An original Mana has been eliminated almost every episode (except for episode 5) during the Premerger. Coming to the merge, they have only 4 members left. Coming up to the finale, Aubry and Troyzan are the only original Mana members left. Troyzan is the only one to make Final 3.
- Hope Spot: In the second challenge, they were trailing behind the Nuku tribe, but Malcolm managed to catch up to them and almost win, but the Nuku tribe still won anyway.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: All of the men (except Troyzan) from original Mana are voted out before the merge.
- Took A Level In Bad Ass: The second tribe shuffle had the new formation win the next two immunity challenges before the merge.
Nuku
- Badass Crew: New Nuku consists of some of the most well-liked and skilled players in Survivor.
- Invincible Villain: They're the closest the game has to an "evil" faction, but they never lost a challenge until episode four.
- Moreover, coming up to the merge, JT is the only original Nuku to have been eliminated during the pre-merge.
- Out of Focus: Largely in the premier due to winning both immunity challenges.
- Total Party Kill: The second iteration of the tribe is completely annihilated.
Tavua
- Emerald Power: In the three episodes they were around, they did not lose a single immunity challenge. They were just short of a Flawless Victory however as they lost a reward challenge.
- Invincible Hero: During their brief time in the game, they were utterly unstoppable. Not only that but at the second tribe swap, every member is in a favorable position in their new tribes.
- Out of Focus: Troyzan is the only player to receive any consistent focus during their three episodes as they kept winning immunity and never went to tribal council.
The Sole Survivor
Sarah Lacina - Cagayan
Tribe: Nuku —> Tavua —> Nuku
Age: 32
Previous Seasons: Cagayan (11th)
- Action Girl: Tavua's strongest female competitor.
- Affably Evil: Her gameplay is extremely cutthroat and ruthless, but Sarah the person is constantly friendly and amicable.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Though given Brad Took a Level in Jerkass in the finale and Troyzan had no gameplay to sway the jurors, a villain winning was pretty much inevitable.
- Becoming the Mask: In the reunion, Sarah admits that she took a page from undercover operations as cop and assumed the role of a villainous persona in the game. Scary and very unlikeable, but not the real her.
- Character Development: Due to being conservative and not knowing too many LGBT-oriented people, Sarah was really surprised with herself at how easily she accepted and understood Zeke. Having gotten to know him as a person before his outing, she learned that someone's orientation and gender doesn't define who they are, which made her realize the game didn't just change her as a player —- it changed her as a person.
- Chekhov's Skill: As a cop, she's alert and trained to observe every detail of her surroundings. This allowed her to swoop in and take a secret advantage that was meant for the odd person out of a reward challenge, and ultimately helped carry her forward and win the game.
- The Chessmaster: She, along with Cirie, has been dictating the votes since the merge.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: She's betrayed almost every single person on the jury. However, it did not stop them from voting her as the Sole Survivor.
- Darker and Edgier: Plans to play like a "criminal" instead of a cop this time. It's zig-zagged in terms of her game, as while she's more cutthroat, she's still very noble and was absolutely distraught at Zeke's forced outing. There are some lines she won't cross.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Tony Vlachos. Like him, Sarah has back-stabbed everyone, found advantages, flipped back and forth between alliances to get threats out, made up lies and blew up other people's games. Jeff Probst also compares her to Russell Hantz with how hard she's playing.
- Face–Heel Turn: With the exception of the bit where she went Drunk with Power in her previous season, Sarah was one of the more ethical and friendly players. Here, she went straight-up villain.
- Final Boss: Sarah turned out to be the most dangerous player of them all this season, ramping up her strategy to villainous.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Started out the season heavily Out of Focus, she starts finding her footing after the merge becoming a villain with a massive stronghold on the game.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: When she realizes that everyone in her alliance wants Zeke gone, she concedes and votes with them.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Comes off as this at times, especially with how she treate Sierra.
- Mama Bear: The reason she's far more cutthroat this season? She wants to win the money for her family, especially for her child.
- Manipulative Bitch: She was able to obtain the Legacy Advantage from Sierra despite voting her out.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Played entirely straight with her winning the whole thing.
- Only Friend: Implied to be this to Troyzan while they were on Tavua. Is definitely Zeke's only friend, as no one else trusts him.
- Out of Focus: She doesn't get too much screen time or confessionals until episode six and beyond.
- Playing Both Sides: Probably her main strategy. She's going back and forth between the Sierra/Brad and Cirie/Andrea alliances, is also working with outsider Zeke, and even before the merge when Troyzan was on the outs she approached him for a secret alliance while keeping ties to the Tavua group.
- Sole Survivor: The 33rd winner of the game.
- This Is Unforgivable!: She's the only one in the tribe who didn't forgive Varner, even though she understood he didn't intentionally mean to hurt Zeke.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: As a result of turning heel, Sarah is a lot less easier to work with and much more scathing toward others. She won in doing that. Coincidentally, this was right around the time Nicole Franzel of Big Brother 18, a well-liked player from a past season, also decided to play mean and won for doing so.
- Villain Protagonist: More sympathetic than most, but her tactics were more than enough for her to be labeled a villain.
Runners-Up
Brad Culpepper - Blood Vs Water
Tribe: Nuku —> Mana
Age: 46
Previous Seasons: Blood vs. Water (15th)
- Action Dad: Brad is consistently athletic, having been a former NFL player, and it shows. He won various reward challenges and won five individual immunities.
- The Chessmaster: Seems to be developing into this, as he successfully orchestrated the blindside of Caleb and Malcolm with Sierra.
- Climax Boss: He became the big threat to everybody after Sandra lost out in the game, effectively becoming the king to her queen.
- Fatal Flaw: His bullying attitude towards Tai in the finale really soured his appearance to the jury (he possibly forgot the jury can look at events from previous tribal councils). When he chose to pick Sarah over Tai for the final 3, it pretty much meant he lost note .
- Graceful Loser: Accepted his loss and owned up to his mistakes.
- Happily Married: Even when they're not playing together, Brad makes it clear he adores and respects Monica. Naming one of the chickens after her, and creating the hashtag "What Would Monica Do?" when he's figuring out how to play the game, it's rather sweet. He even ran to her instead of waiting for her when she came for the loved ones visit, crying tears of joy and giving her his hat.
- The Hero: His good nature, leadership, natural charisma, and central role in every tribe he's on easily paints him as this.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Troyzan.
- Hidden Depths: He is actually into antiques and interior decorating.
- History Repeats: A Culpepper was eliminated on day 14 on their first season, but made it to the end as runner-up on their second try.
- Kick the Dog: His treatment of Tai during the endgame. It bites him hard at Final Tribal.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Bully Tai into submission instead of taking him with you to the end? Sucks to be you on judgement day.
- The Leader: Of Mana.
- Magnetic Hero: He's very charismatic guy with the ability to draw people to him (even Debbie, who had lashed out at him in episode five).
- My Greatest Second Chance: Played straight, as he surpassed his days, made it into the finale, and his gameplay was much more respectable.
- Nice Guy: Is a friendly and welcoming guy. And despite Debbie's claims he's a dictator, Survivor editing itself has proven that conception wrong as Brad always asks for everyone's opinion, and he seems genuinely hurt and sad Debbie suddenly turned on him in episode five. He also gave up his chance at eating so the rest of the tribe could.
- Precision F-Strike: After his first of several consecutive immunity challenges wins, the first one meaning the difference between him going home and setting his resolve in place to uphold an unbroken streak so he can't be voted out, he belts out, "YEAH! VOTE FOR SOMEBODY F-CKING ELSE!"
- Revenge Before Reason: His antagonistic bullying of Tai, culminating in voting him out, despite the fact that Sarah easily had the best chance of beating him.
- Team Dad: To almost everyone. Best seen when he gives up his chance to eat just so everyone else can, sort of like Monica did in Blood vs. Water.
- Took a Level in Badass: Brad's a lot more strategically and socially aware this time around. Best seen when he managed to convince Tai to vote out his real life friend in a very gentle and thoughtful way, by asking if Tai thought Caleb would be good for him in the long run. People are even starting to be aware of how threatening he is as they tried to vote him out episode 13.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Not that Brad was necessarily mean before, but this season is showing a more affable, open-minded side to him, which is endearing him to his tribe.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In the last episode, due to Tai's flip-flopping aggravating him. He profusely apologized at the finale, joking that he needed a Snickers bar because he wasn't himself.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: GOOD LORD. His arrogance and spite in the finale after winning the first Individual Immunity Challenge soared so high he became a complete dillhole.
Troy "Troyzan" Robertson - One World
Tribe: Mana —> Tavua —> Mana
Age: 54
Previous Seasons: One World (8th)
- Demoted to Extra: Got a lot of focus during the premerge portion of the game, but lost all of that focus when he aligned with Brad.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's on the outs with Tavua, especially after single-handedly botching a Reward challenge. This changed in the second swap and merge, as he's a part of Brad and Sierra's alliance.
- Graceful Loser: Knew he lost at FTC, and when he realized it, he instead thanked everyone for a good game.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Brad.
- Ineffectual Loner: Some things never change... until the merge, where he's in a majority alliance with Brad and Sierra.
- The Lancer: To Brad.
- Large Ham: Has retained this from last season, though he is slightly more subdued in comparison from his first season.
- Last of His Kind: The only original member of Mana to make it to the end of the game.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Played straight, as he made it to FTC.
- No-Damage Run: Defied in the end. He almost made it to the final three without a single vote, until Tai decided to pick on him.
- Once a Season: Became the underdog who was once again outnumbered by the majority alliance. Also, he found an idol.
- One Degree of Separation: He competed with Brad, the husband of fellow One World castmate Monica.
- Out of Focus: Though he gained more screen time in episode 13.
- Satellite Character: He tried to remain in the background and play quietly, which kept him from being voted for during the tribal councils until he began to work with Brad. Unfortunately, this approach promptly bit him in the butt in front of the jury, who basically asked, "what have you done, anyway?" and accused him of apeing Sandra's strategy. Naturally, he didn't get a single vote from them.
- Spanner in the Works: He's ultimately the one who sets the stage for the dissolution of Sandra and Tony's alliance by talking to her about Tony at the exact moment he was eavesdropping on them.
Jury
Tai Trang - Kaoh Rong
Tribe: Nuku —> Mana —> Nuku
Age: 52
Previous Seasons: Kaoh Rong (3rd)
- Anti-Hero: As with his last season, Tai is pretty unscrupulous when it comes to tactics, including betraying his friend Caleb, trying to divert Sandra and Varner's votes toward Ozzy during Tribal Council, and being the first to jump ship when his alliance starts to fall apart.
- Berserk Button: Varner pushed it when he outed Zeke, causing Tai to actually scream at him.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: His utter downfall; Tai chose to completely blab about his secret stash of idols, and one wouldn't be surprised when Tai was harassed for holding onto them and coerced into using them unwillingly, then used them just to be rid of them and get some peace, and finally found himself unable to progress much further into the game before finally being voted out. Tai, next time, don't tell the world about your leg up on them, because they'll pull you down with it.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: And not to Cirie, that's for sure.
- He also accidentally spills the beans on the plan to blindside Sandra. Fortunately, it did not ruin the plan to get rid of her.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Once again, Tai tends to flit between allies and betray them at the drop of a hat.
- Cry for the Devil: In-universe. After Varner outed Zeke and felt terrible about it, Tai was simply gently massaging Varner's back.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: He actually beat Ozzy at the pole challenge, which is the only challenge he's NEVER lost at.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Had to choose between protecting Caleb, or going with his tribe's majority. He chose the latter.
- Friend to All Living Things: Became the designated chicken guy due to his love for animals and he was openly opposed to killing the goats on the island.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Betrays Brad at the Final 6 Tribal council by giving an immunity idol to his target, Aubry, purely as revenge for the way Brad treated him earlier that round.
- Nice Guy: He's still very sweet, even if he's trying to play less with his heart.
- No Social Skills: Tai is a very smart and sweet guy, but his social graces are very much lacking. It almost gets him voted out at one point. It ultimately ensures that no one in the game trusts him.
- Sanity Slippage: In his last days on the island, he started to succumb to paranoia and began insecurely throwing all his plans out into the open, self-destructing his entire game.
- Taught by Experience: Instead of being shady and withholding his idol, Tai instead chose to share it with everyone and managed to save his tribe.
- Too Dumb to Live: During the finale, Tai makes a series of strategic mistakes that culminate in his elimination: Revealing his duplicity to Sarah, which causes her to lose her trust in him. Feeling the need to show he has integrity, he reveals his two idols to Brad, only to find that Brad is now demanding Tai use the idols the way he wants him to and that Aubry is the target of the vote. Tai responds by saving Aubry out of frustration with Brad and then lets Brad intimidate him into voting Aubry out the very next round, rather than working with Aubry and Sarah to blindside Troyzan. Ultimately, he is left in the Final Four with no allies, and a seriously angry Brad. And his last-ditch effort to convince Sarah to force a tie fails because she's not willing to take a risk on him, resulting in him being bonked from the game with 3 against one.
Aubry Bracco - Kaoh Rong
Tribe: Mana —> Nuku —> Mana
Age: 29
Previous Seasons: Kaoh Rong (2nd)
- Action Girl: Wins immunity in episode 13.
- A Day in the Limelight: After being nearly invisible the entire game, she gets more screen time in episode thirteen as she won immunity and was the center of attention during the episode.
- Aloof Ally: She's aligned with Sandra's alliance, but isn't particularly close to any of them.
- Butt-Monkey: She's on the wrong end of every pivotal vote, and constantly finds herself in the dark.
- Doom Magnet: When Andrea is voted out, Aubry breaks down and claims that this always happens to her, as people she's closest with are always voted off.
- History Repeats: She's once again second to the last. In her original season, she's the runner-up. Here, she's the penultimate jury member.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Became this with Michaela post-merge, as she, Michaela, Cirie, and Andrea are in an alliance together.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Constantly, much to her annoyance.
- Out of Focus: Had only a few confessionals so far, but gained more prominence after the merge.
- The Stoic: She's calm and fairly reserved compared to the more bombastic personalities of the season.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Tai used his spare idol on her at the final six Tribal Council when she otherwise had nothing to cover her and was at risk of being voted out.
Cirie Fields - Exile Island note
Tribe: Nuku —> Tavua —> Mana
Age: 46
Previous Seasons: Exile Island (4th), Micronesia (3rd), Heroes vs. Villains (17th)
- Arch-Enemy: Ozzy. Until the merge.
- Arc Number: 4. This is her fourth time playing the game. In her original season she placed fourth. In Micronesia, she became part of one of the most dominant Amazon Brigade in the series. In Heroes vs. Villains, she's the fourth boot. Also, the seasons in between those seasons were four (Panama was Season 12, Micronesia was Season 16, Heroes vs. Villains was Season 20). This very season is also the 34th season. And finally, 4 forms of hidden immunity are sprung at the Tribal Council that results in her elimination here.
- Also, as of 2020 she ranks fourth in total number of days played at 121.
- Big Bad: As the leader of the faction opposing Brad's, the one behind many of the eliminations in the game, and considered by everyone to be the biggest threat, Cirie fills this role quite well.
- Bittersweet Ending: Even though she was unable to win she was able to defy expectations by making the third deep run of her career, and while she was eliminated it was due to unavoidable circumstance rather than her getting outplayed strategically or socially.
- Book Ends: When you look back to the Exile Island Reunion, Cirie told the potato couches in America to "stay on the couch". But in this Reunion, she urges them to get off the couch as it led her to do things she would never have thought off 11 years ago.
- Also, she got eliminated on the same day she got eliminated on Exile Island.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Jeff lends her the "Tribe has spoken" catchphrase after she gets eliminated
- Cassandra Truth: Warned Sarah that Tai was trying to take her out after he tried to get Aubry on board, but wasn't believed.
- The Chessmaster: She still has her ability to plan her Alliance's votes so that exactly who she wants to go home will.
- Complexity Addiction: Cirie's plans are extremely risky and convoluted. Which means that one thing going wrong can throw her entire plan off.
- Diabolus ex Machina: Was eliminated solely because she was the only one who could be eliminated, as everyone else was immune.
- Enemy Mine: With Ozzy on Tavua, as they're in the majority.
- Face Elimination With Dignity: Went out in a classy way, and was given a standing round of applause due to being such a respected player.
- Failed a Spot Check: Didn't read the fine print on Sarah's advantage, which backfired on her when she tried to make a move to get out Tai.
- An interview with Michaela explained that Cirie got the advantage as they left for Tribal Council, which meant Cirie didn't even have the chance to read it.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Ozzy on Tavua, which culminates in Cirie and Ozzy staying aligned post-merge and with Cirie attempting to save him.
- Foil: To Zeke. Both are charismatic players who rely on their social game as they aren't very athletic, but unlike Zeke who's an impatient Smug Snake Control Freak who is willing to throw anyone under the bus to make a move, to the point that nobody trusts anymore due to his shadiness, Cirie is bonafide chessmaster who is patient and seen as trustworthy - even by those on the opposing alliance like Sierra - and will go out of her way to save people she's in an alliance with.
- Guile Heroine
- Let's Get Dangerous!: As she said, "The merge is where I thrive best."
- The Mentor: To Michaela, who she feels compassion towards as she recalls being a young hothead when she was her age and does her best to protect and teach her.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Played straight regarding her previous stint in Heroes vs. Villains as she surpasses her rank there. And while she was unable to match her first two placements she was able to last 36 days, which is how long she played in Panama.
- No-Damage Run: Sort of. She's the only player of the season to not have a single vote cast against her and was only eliminated by virtue of every other player having immunity.
- Older and Wiser: With Varner's elimination she became the senior player of the cast and as of Ozzy's elimination every player left in the game played their first season after she had already played three times. Her seniority makes her something of an elder stateswoman to the tribe.
- Older Than She Looks: Despite being forty-six, Cirie looks like she did in Panama, if not better as she's a lot more fit this time around.
- Once a Season: For the fourth time her game was tripped up by a twist. In Panama she was forced into a tiebreaker because Terry had the super idol. In Micronesia she was locked out of final tribal council by the surprise Final 2. In Heroes vs Villains she was idoled out of the game. And in Game Changers she made a huge blunder by mishandling an advantage and was ultimately eliminated when three immunity idols and the Legacy Advantage were played.
- Out of Focus: Since being on Tavua, she hasn't gotten many prominent scenes since the premiere. This changed during the merge.
- She's Back: After a relatively quiet beginning, Cirie comes back swinging in the merge and quickly reminds everyone why she's considered one of greatest players to have never won.
- The Woman Behind The Woman: Many were convinced that Andrea was the leader of her alliance. Upon effortlessly arranging Andrea's blindside, everyone learns that Cirie was the real mastermind of her alliance.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As evidenced in episode ten, where the whole tribe rallied behind her and encouraged her to finish the reward challenge, even though she felt she couldn't do it. But thanks to their belief in her, she did.
Michaela Bradshaw - Millennials Vs Gen X
Tribe: Mana —> Nuku —> Mana
Age: 25
Previous Seasons: Millennials vs. Gen X (14th)
- Action Girl: The best female competitor on Mana and new Nuku.
- The Apprentice: She seems to be this to Sandra and Cirie, as they protected her and taught her valuable lessons during the game.
- Bad Liar: Invoked, she knows she can't lie so she said she'll always make awkward facial expressions so it'll be hard to tell whether she's lying or not. Surprisingly subverted in episode five, as she convinced J.T. that she was going home and knew there was nothing she could do about it only to blindside him.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Brad accused her of blackmailing him when while he was searching for an idol, in which she disagreed and claimed she was merely suggesting that he go fishing. Regardless, it was clear she was trying to get him to stop looking for an idol as her group wanted him eliminated.
- Dead Sidekick: Non-lethally, of course, to Cirie. Even worse, she gets sent home because Cirie makes a huge mistake.
- Death by Irony: It gets brought up in the FTC that she finds it a little hilarious that she got eliminated by an advantage that was open in front of her eyes, but she was too frustrated to pay attention.
- The Dragon: Spent most of the Post-Merge as Cirie's unofficial enforcer.
- Everyone Has Standards: Was horrified at the thought of eating a baby goat.
- Failed a Spot Check: When she sat out of the reward challenge, she failed to notice a secret advantage under her seat. Sarah calls her out on this in her confessional and steals the advantage. Notably, Michaela is too blinded by anger and frustration at being forced to sit out the reward that she doesn't pause to think there could be a silver lining hidden in with the unusually deliberate setup, in a very clear case of Genre Blind.
- Fatal Flaw: Her anger. Her own mother has to stop her from losing control after losing the reward challenge to be with her, and she's too upset to stop sulking and actually pay attention to her surroundings while benched from another reward, while highly trained observer Sarah snatches a hidden advantage right out from under her nose.
- Foil: To Zeke. Both of them are Millennials who came from the same season, the same initial tribe that season, and were even in an alliance together this season. But Michaela actually learned her lesson about being too open and emotional, whereas Zeke didn't learn his lesson about using and discarding people. In addition, Michaela is more of a physical threat, while Zeke is more of a strategic threat.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: It's incredibly easy to set her off. Although, she seems to be reeling it in after the first episode.
- History Repeats: Invoked and Averted. Michaela notes that the last time she competed, her tribe lost a challenge that had a slingshot, and she was eliminated. While Nuku did lose in the same exact challenge, she barely survived thanks to Varner putting his vote against J.T.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's loud, rude, abrasive and a Sore Loser, but she's also very loyal to the people's she's with, adores Cirie and Sandra, and openly cried at Zeke's elimination.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Played straight as not only did her placement go up seven notches, but she also played a relatively better game than her first time around.
- Sassy Black Woman: Isn't afraid to make a witty remark or over-the-top expressions.
- The Scapegoat: When Michaela became a bit too annoying and prissy, Sandra took a moment to notice she was frequently draining their tribe's stash of sugar and coffee. In that vein, Sandra gleefully ate all the sugar for herself and framed Michaela for it, and Zeke was in on it. However, both Sandra and Zeke got their comeuppances and Michaela outlasted both of them.
- Sore Loser: Challenge-wise. She really hates losing and hates the fact she has to downplay her skills to avoid being a target. She also wasn't very happy about Sarah's betrayal, although that's more downplayed than last season as she didn't curse her out or hit things on her way out.
Andrea Boehlke - Redemption Island
Tribe: Nuku —> Tavua —> Nuku
Age: 26
Previous Seasons: Redemption Island (5th), Caramoan (7th)
- The Ace: Andrea is an excellent player who's a threat physically, mentally, and socially.
- Action Girl: Lead her tribe to victory in episode four because of her skills in challenges. She also won the first individual immunity challenge this season.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's super angry after discovering Zeke's shadiness.
- The Dreaded: What she becomes post-merge, as she becomes the main target due to everyone seeing Andrea as a major threat, even one seemingly over Cirie too.
- Enemy Mine: She worked with Zeke to eliminate Debbie, despite being really angry with him. However, come the next vote...
- Even Evil Has Standards: Jeff outing Zeke was so hurtful and personal it brought her to tears.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Troyzan seems to think so, as he calls her a little devil as she tries to pretend he's not on the outs.
- Out-Gambitted: Andrea dictated the vote for three straight episodes. And upon trying to betray Sarah, Cirie's goat, she finds herself being utterly schooled by Cirie.
- Out of Focus: Doesn't get too much screen time or confessionals until the merge.
- Puppet Queen: Finds out the hard way that all this time, Cirie was the real power behind her alliance, and not her.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Zeke. It's especially harsh considering they were friends outside the game, having played Survivor Brooklyn together.
Sierra Dawn Thomas - Worlds Apart
Tribe: Nuku —> Mana
Age: 26
Previous Seasons: Worlds Apart (5th)
- Action Girl: One of the strongest girls on the Nuku and new Mana Tribe.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once she realized she was on the bottom and a target, she pleaded with Cirie and Andrea to keep her as an extra vote for at least one more day. Luckily for her, they did, using her, Brad and Troyzan as a distraction vote while they (with the help of Sarah, Michaela, and Aubry) eliminated Zeke.
- The Chessmaster: Was this on Mana, as she leads the charge for Malcolm and Caleb's elimination.
- History Repeats: Starts on a blue tribe.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Trusted Sarah, the woman who repeatedly flipped on her, so much that she revealed her legacy advantage to her and promised to give it to her if she was ever voted out. Sarah then promptly voted her vote, and faked her shocked expression, leading Sierra to believe she was loyal and gave her the legacy advantage.
- Kiss of Death: Gave Malcolm a quick smooch on the cheek just before his elimination.
- The Lancer: To Brad.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Although her placement was knocked down a couple of notches, Sierra played a much more strategic and threatening game as opposed to her previous season, as she actually made moves - like finding the advantage, spearheading Caleb and Malcolm's elimination, and displayed a more cutthroat demeanor - instead of standing in the background and relying on her likability.
- Took a Level in Badass: Sierra made promises pre-game that she would play harder, and seems to be living up to her promises by finding the Legacy Advantage. And then comes episode three, where she identifies Caleb and Tai's relationship as potentially dangerous and makes the decision with Brad and Debbie to gun for him first rather than go for Hali.
- True Blue Femininity: Just like in Survivor: Worlds Apart.
- The Woman Behind the Man: Everyone in the tribe believes that Sierra is controlling Brad.
Zeke Smith - Millennials Vs Gen X
Tribe: Nuku —> Tavua —> Nuku
Age: 28
Previous Seasons: Millennials vs. Gen X (9th)
- Ascended Fanboy: Is absolutely thrilled to be on the same tribe as "Goddess Cirie".
- Backstab Backfire: Taking out Ozzy and gunning for Andrea early really did end up backfiring on him.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He spent all of his time trying to take control of the game, but not only did he fail to get a single scheme off the ground, he alienated everyone but Sarah and Michaela doing so, and neither felt like sticking their necks out for him.
- Control Freak: His Fatal Flaw.
- Dark Secret: Told absolutely nobody outside his closest inner circle at home that he is transgender. Varner blew the lid off that one and left him feeling so sickened that he froze up for a while, and the rest of the tribe immediately rushed to his aid.
- Fatal Flaw: He's a Control Freak who wants things to go his way. This gets him eliminated.
- It's All About Me: He doesn't care that he's in a good position because he wants to be the one in control. And he's willing to throw anyone under the bus as long as he gets his way. He doesn't understand that loyalty and patience are needed in the game of Survivor.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Averted. Not only was Zeke's placement knocked down a notch, but the reason he was voted out was due to the very same thing that got him out the last time; treating people like pawns and always wanting things to go his way. Whereas Michaela learned her lesson and is trying to control her emotions, he learned nothing and made the same mistake again.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech: Delivered a pretty epic one after recovering from his Heroic BSoD at Tribal.
- Out of Focus: Until Episode 6 where he spearheaded Sandra's elimination.
- The Reveal: He's trans. In his debut season, Zeke had never made this public. Unfortunately, Varner did a background check on him and went public with it, leading to one of the most controversial moments on the show and primetime television in a serious question of morality. What Varner did wasn't just going to have an effect on Zeke in the game, but a permanent, damaging effect on Zeke's private life as a normal human being that could never be undone.
- Smug Snake: How everyone is starting to see him during the merge, due to his shadiness and trying to backstab his alliance members Cirie and Andrea.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Zeke goes into one after being outed by Varner.
- We Used to Be Friends: Zeke has mentioned in interviews that he has trouble forgiving Varner for his actions, but recently he has forgiven him.
- Played straight with Andrea. It's especially harsh considering they were friends outside the game, having played Survivor Brooklyn together.
- The Woobie: In-Universe, as Varner outing Zeke shook the poor boy to the core and made everyone feel upset and protective for him.
Debbie Wanner - Kaoh Rong
Tribe: Nuku —> Mana —> Nuku
Age: 50
Previous Seasons: Kaoh Rong (9th)
- Beware the Silly Ones: As Ozzy found out.
- Broken Tears: Broke down and cried when Cochran came in and gave her much needed advice and an advantage.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's kooky, but also very perceptive about others.
- Character Development: She actually took Cochran's advice to heart, swallowed her pride and reconciled with Brad and her old alliance. This proved pivotal as it allowed her to steer the votes onto Ozzy.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She played up her kookiness during the merge, only to quickly remind the audience why she was on the brains tribe her season by eliminating Ozzy.
- Didn't Think This Through: While she put her extra vote to good use, Ozzy already had enough votes against him to go home, so she pretty much burned out such a useful advantage.
- Actually, she thought it through quite a bit. If Sarah had decided not to flip over to Debbie's alliance, she figured Zeke would have been sent home in a 6-5-1 vote. Debbie figured that if she played her extra vote, it would have been 6-6-1, and that would scare people (like Sarah or Zeke) into flipping on Ozzy to avoid rocks. Besides, it was better to be safe than sorry, and now everyone knows she can claim Ozzy's elimination as her own move.
- Fatal Flaw: Overconfidence, as lampshaded by Cochran. It gets her voted out.
- History Repeats: She's the third member of the jury again.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Heavily implied. Upon failing to perform in a challenge, she becomes irritable and temperamental, claiming to be angry at Brad, and yet, she believes that she is being targeted for elimination.
- I Reject Your Reality: In episode four, she blames Brad for forcing her to handle the balance beam, when in fact she volunteered for the role. She also claims that Hali destroyed their lead on the first balance section while Debbie breezed through it, while the exact opposite is true. (Careful viewing shows that this is not a case of Manipulative Editing.) After Cochran's visit and counseling, she grew out of it.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Zig-Zagged. She managed to exceed her previous number of days in the game, got a secret advantage, swallowed her pride for a bit, and pulled a much better power move by eliminating Ozzy than she did last season. Ignoring her earlier debacle (which was resolved), Debbie played a much better game this time around even if she did become the third juror again. However, her ranking fell two notches.
- Never My Fault: She refuses to accept responsibility for her poor challenge performance, blaming Brad instead. She grows out of this at the merge.
- No-Sell: Does this to Cirie when she tries to tell Debbie everyone is gunning for her.
- Plucky Comic Relief: But don't take it for granted, or she'll surprise you.
- Sanity Slippage: Is beginning to lose her mind. Her tribe's constant failure, as well as her inability to live up to her self-image, is heavily implied to be the reason.
- Small Name, Big Ego: She's a capable player, but still nowhere near as good as she thinks she is.
- Tranquil Fury: It was obvious she wanted Brad to win, seeing him as the good guy. When Sarah won... you can tell Debbie was reeeeeallly salty.
Ozzy Lusth - Cook Islands
Tribe: Nuku —> Tavua —> Nuku
Age: 34
Previous Seasons: Cook Islands (2nd), Micronesia (9th), South Pacific (4th)
- The Ace: Even 10 years after his first appearance in the Cook Islands, Ozzy proves he is still strong in challenges.
- Arch-Enemy: Cirie... except they actually reconciled.
- Bittersweet Ending: He lost, but at least he and Cirie reconciled, and he regained likability to a good portion of the fanbase
- Dumbass No More: His social and strategic game is far stronger this time around. This is best shown when he does not let Sandra manipulate him in episode 6.
- Even Former Jerkasses Have Standards: Was utterly appalled at the audacity of Varner outing Zeke.
- Four Is Death: His fourth time playing the game and placed in the lowest rank in his Survivor career.
- Heel–Face Turn: Was originally despised for being a jerk jock after having a more villainous role in South Pacific. Yet here, he's considerably nicer to geekier players like Zeke and considers Tai a worthy opponent.
- History Repeats: Much like in his second season, he ends up being the 2nd jury member following a female boot.
- Humiliation Conga: A mild one. Losing the challenge you had won twice before to a guy in his fifties then getting voted out isn't the most fun way to go
- The Hero: Getting a more heroic edit here than in South Pacific.
- The Hero Gets Voted Out: Became the second member of the jury, just like in Micronesia.
- The Leader: Of Tavua, and currently the leader of Nuku.
- Reconstruction: He redeemed his heroic image this time around by acting less like a Jerk Jock and more like the likable surfer dude he was in the Cook Islands.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's clearly itching to take out Cirie for blindsiding him in Micronesia. However, it's on hold right now as the Tanuva tribe is united for their constant wins. Except they actually DID reconcile, and planned to work together through the merge before he was blindsided by the other alliance.
- Rugged Scar: Now has a fairly distinctive scar from the corner of his lip to his jawline.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Part of the reason behind his elimination was for being too good at challenges. Ironically, he was eliminated in the same episode he lost the challenge he had been so good at
- Took a Level in Kindness: True, he's been arrogant and a smug snake, but he's shown to be a lot calmer this season. Possibly due to getting older, and possibly finding love.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He calls Varner out for outing Zeke during tribal council.
- Worthy Opponent: Considered by Brad Culpepper and especially Tai (especially shown with how sad Tai was to vote him out if his vote was any indication and even hugged him) to be this.
Hali Ford - Worlds Apart
Tribe: Mana
Age: 26
Previous Seasons: Worlds Apart (11th)
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Calls herself the Cobra, who's going to suddenly lash out and bite people when they least expect it.
- Cassandra Truth: Tried to warn her former tribemates and told them to vote off Brad Culpepper. Sandra was the only one willing to listen, but the majority chose to stick with Sierra... resulting in Malcolm's elimination.
- The Cutie: With her big blue eyes and adorable smile, she fit this perfectly.
- History Repeats: Much like in her original season, she ends up being the 1st jury member.
- Ms. Fanservice: Episode three showed off quite a bit of her rear.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Averted. Not only did she ended up being the first merge boot and jury member like in Worlds Apart, but her rank fell two notches. She arguably also played a worse game.
- No-Sell: Managed to take everything Caleb said about himself and managed to turn it back on him to make him seem like a bigger threat.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: She came into the game wanting to redeem herself, but was at the bottom nearly every tribal. But once she makes the merge, she believed herself to be safe as she didn't consider herself a threat... only to be the first person voted out.
Voted Out
Jeff Varner - The Australian Outback note
Tribe: Mana —> Nuku
Age: 50
Previous Seasons: Australian Outback (10th), Cambodia (17th)
- Broken Tears: Once My God, What Have I Done? below started to kick in, Jeff loses it. Even during his Elimination Statement.
- Disregard That Statement: He tries to retract his outing of Zeke, but Probst points out "you can't unring the bell".
- Downer Ending: Because of his poor use of outing Zeke, he is unanimously voted out by his tribe, and his reputation is pretty much ruined because of it. Just recently (04-15-2017) he was fired from his real life job.
However...- Come to the reunion, he and Zeke are back on speaking terms, he has gotten a new job, and he is writing a book based on that experience. It seems that owning up to that blunder seems to have made the situation a little better.
- Epic Fail: The first contestant who managed to upset his fellow tribe so much he got himself effectively expelled from the game for misconduct, having done something so taboo that nobody needed to cast votes for him to make it clear they wanted him off the island.
- Coming into the season Varner was in a select group of poor performers, one of four players to be eliminated pre-jury twice. Caleb joined their ranks this season but Varner surpassed them all by being eliminated pre-jury for a third time. And the other players in the group, minus Francesca, had at least one elimination caused by an evacuation while Varner was voted out each time.
- Face Palm: Once he realized the seriousness of the situation of outing Zeke is, he makes a visual My God, What Have I Done?
- Friend to All Living Things: Having been in the same tribe as Kimmi twice has given him some serious empathy for animals when shown when both he and Malcolm stop their tribemates from killing a mother goat or its baby. He was also pissed at Sandra's adamant attitude about killing said goats.
- The Gadfly: Watched Sandra eat the rest of the sugar and giggled about it with her in secrecy.
- History Repeats: Much like in his first two tries, he still never made it as a jury member.
- Innocently Insensitive: He uses Zeke not telling anyone he's transgender as proof to make a point that the latter is good at deception, without considering the consequences it has for Zeke and his loved ones. It blew up in his face, big time.
- Kick the Dog: It doesn't matter what you think of Zeke, Jeff outing Zeke was inexcusable.
- Large Ham: His narrating is quite bombastic and hammy.
- The Load: Deconstructed. Jeff's constant nitpicking of Varner's lack of challenge prowess drives Varner to breakdown and cry in episode four.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe, everyone was so floored by Jeff outing Zeke they voted him out right on the spot.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When he realizes that he went too far in outing Zeke. He even couldn't go through his final words without feeling terrible. Continued post show, as he suffered depression and was suicidal, and required a lot of therapy.
- Non-Action Guy: His challenge performance is... quite poor. But he made up for it with strong strategic and social gameplay until his last episode, where it all unraveled.
- Non-Gameplay Elimination: Subverted- Varner was forcefully eliminated for reprehensible behavior, but he was removed from the game with a vote, only it was taken out in the open.
- Oh, Crap!: Once he realizes the insensitivity on his part when he outed Zeke.
- Straight Gay: One of the three gay men in the game.
- Tragic Flaw: His willingness to antagonize other players by using whatever ammunition he can find to use against them. While it served him well in other seasons, it blew up in his face when he revealed something deeply personal about Zeke in an attempt to paint him as a liar.
- Tragic Mistake: "Why haven't you told anyone you were transgender?" Whatever chance he had of surviving the vote was undone by those eight little words. This is because Jeff assumed Zeke had already made this public, but then Zeke confides that in the two seasons he's been on Survivor, he told nobody. That's when Jeff realizes he made a huge mistake. As a result, a quick voice vote was held and Probst decided there was no need to actually vote, eliminating Varner on the spot- because the rest of the tribe was that clearly unified in getting rid of him.
- The Unfettered: Horrifically deconstructed in his boot episode. His willingness to do anything to survive not only potentially destroys his friendship with Zeke but gets him voted out unanimously.
- Wham Line: "Why haven't you told anyone you're transgender?" That single line secured his elimination, made him
The Scrappy, cost him his job, and most likely ruined any chance of him being asked to compete again. - What the Hell, Hero?: Pretty much anyone at tribal chews him out for outing Zeke. Even Jeff Probst himself.
- You Are What You Hate: Varner is a member of the LGBT community who suffered from the ignorance of others because of his identity, and he tried to throw Zeke under the bus by using his own LGBT identity against him. While he does regret what he said, the damage is done.
- Zero-Approval Gambit: Maybe the worst on record in Survior history- he resorted to outing someone as transgender as leverage that they were distrustworthy. Not only is this a very insidious breach of personal privacy, but it went past the reasonable limits of gameplay and hit upon a politically incorrect sore spot not seen on CBS's reality game shows since the infamous Season 15 of Big Brother in 2013. And Jeff suffered the same fate as multiple contestants of that season (Aaryn Gries, Spencer Clawson, GinaMarie Zimmerman, and Andy Herren)- so much complaining came about from the insensitive remark he made that it cost him his real life job (but at least in his case, the public outcry was caused by making only one bad comment- for these folks, it was nonstop ignorant/vulgar/bigoted comments).
Sandra Diaz-Twine - Pearl Islands
Tribe: Mana —> Nuku
Age: 41
Previous Seasons: Pearl Islands (Winner), Heroes vs. Villains (Winner)
- Arc Number: 7. Last time she played was seven years ago, and another seven before that. Ironically, she was the 6th boot this season.
- Anti-Villain: She is quite ruthless in her game, but everything she does is to win for her family.
- Badass Boast: "The Queen stays Queen. Adios."
- The Bad Guy Wins: She might have lost the game, but she made sure she'd remain the only two-time winner.
- Big Bad: Sandra is as large and in charge as she ever was this season.
- Disc-One Final Boss: People finally recognized her strategy of grooming players to her usage and disposal, which prompted the others to vote her out of the game.
- Bittersweet Ending: For the first time ever, Sandra was voted out. However, she's still the only two-time winner of Survivor, played a very dominating game that made many detractors finally admit she's a good player, and her tribe gave her an applauding send-off that conveyed nothing but respect. And in the end, she isn't even bitter about it.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak: Doesn't win the game for the first time.
- The Cassandra: As usual.
- Cassandra Truth: Noticed something was up during episode four tribal council and wanted to switch the vote onto Brad, but followed the majority when they insisted on Sierra. It resulted in Malcolm's blindside.
- She warned Ozzy that he would be a target at the merge and promised to protect him, and at tribal council when Tai openly targeted Ozzy she attempted to get Tai voted out. They didn't listen and voted her out. Come the merge Ozzy is not only targeted as Sandra said she'd be but he loses a crucial immunity challenge to Tai, who proceeds to vote against him.
- Cassandra Truth: Noticed something was up during episode four tribal council and wanted to switch the vote onto Brad, but followed the majority when they insisted on Sierra. It resulted in Malcolm's blindside.
- Cruella to Animals: Wanted nothing more than to kill a baby goat and its mother for food, and had an adamant attitude about it, which disgusted the others.
- Deadpan Snarker: As usual.
- Diabolus ex Machina: The tribe swap put her in the minority with Varner, and despite trying to shake things up to get Tai out, she was voted out for being a threat.
- The Dreaded: Many players admitted to being frightened of her, with Varner even calling her The Devil in a pre-game interview.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While she was eager to kill a baby goat, she was disgusted with JT's idiocy and apparent lack of concern for his friend and voted him out as revenge for Malcolm's blindside.
- Evil Mentor: To Michaela.
- Freak Out: A hilarious one when a bug landed in her hair during the second Tribal Council.
- Graceful Loser: She took her elimination well, wishing everyone good luck as she was applauded.
- Guile Heroine: Although Sandra is not a physical player, her ability to make herself seem non-threatening and turn situations around make up for it. As seen when she managed to turn Tony's own alliance on themselves.
- Hunter of Her Own Kind: She led the charge against both Tony and J.T. to preserve her status as the sole two-time winner.
- It's Personal: While she already had her own motive to get rid of him, the betrayal of Malcolm made her go after J.T. guns blazing.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's a mean, but she's a loyal player with nothing but respect and love for the game that changed her life.
- Kick the Dog: Needlessly insults Tony on his way out of the game.
- In the episode after Tony's boot, we have her wanting to brutally kill a baby goat or its mother for food, when they have chickens, which even the people who originally wanted to eat the goat were disgusted by and thanks to Varner and Malcolm didn't kill either goat and set them both free... and yet, as revealed in interviews, peculiarly averted a few days later, as it was revealed that at a moment when Sandra was away from the tribe filming a confessional, they ended up killing the goats to eat after all, and as soon as Sandra returned and saw what had happened, she knew she'd be getting the blame for it in the eyes of the audience anyway.
- Last of Her Kind: The last winner standing, by her own hand.
- Manipulative Bitch: She ate the tribe's supply of sugar knowing it would aggravate the conflict between Michaela and J.T. and keep the target off her back. Yet, Laser-Guided Karma swept in, resulting in a second shake-up of the tribes, and she got involved with a whole new group who was too savvy to fool with her antics.
- Once a Season: As in her previous two seasons she quickly develops a rivalry with an aggressive male strategist. Unlike Jonny Fairplay and Russell Hantz, she is able to vote him out immediately after setting her sights on him.
- Pet the Dog: Despite how abrasive and rude she is, Sandra seems to genuinely care about Hali and vice versa. She was the first person Hali went to out of everyone in the tribe and tried to push for Brad's elimination instead of Sierra's when Hali insisted on it. And when Hali didn't want to vote, Sandra sounded very gentle and almost motherly in reassuring her they were ready. She also seems to have taken on a sort of mentor role for Michaela, coaching her to pretend she's going home and saving her from elimination.
- And the reason she voted out J.T.? He screwed over Malcolm, and Sandra personally swore that he would be avenged.
- Despite being voted out, she was nothing but respectful and kind to everyone as she wished them well.
- Spicy Latina
- A Taste of Defeat: She loses for the first time after over a decade and a half of being undefeated. She's cool with it.
- Too Clever by Half: It never occurred to Sandra that one day people might catch on to her Metagame and she should try to switch it up (because if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? WRONG!) People noticed Sandra is The Charmer who uses her charisma to sweet-talk people into following her lead and deliberately plays Affably Evil so that she appears harmless but can take you down if you aren't watching your back and only goes after people who have wronged her so these actions appear justified and the target stays off her back. And for the very first time, they cracked her strategy- the end result of putting a ton of savvy people together who could collectively decode her facade.
- Took a Level in Badass: She's coming into the game as a much more aggressive and is able to quickly build her own alliance and dispatch Tony.
- The Unfettered: As always, Sandra's only loyalty is to herself and she will never hesitate to do what benefits her. Her enthusiasm for eating a baby goat showed viewers, as well as Michaela and Malcolm, exactly why she landed on the Villains tribe.
- Worthy Opponent: Tony, Aubry and many others consider her this, and her being voted out was because most of the players didn't want to risk her getting to the merge because they knew she'd be even more dangerous then.
James "J.T." Thomas - Tocantins
Tribe: Nuku
Age: 31
Previous Seasons: Tocantins (Winner), Heroes vs. Villains (10th)
- Aesop Amnesia: Even after his infamous move in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, J.T. still hasn't learned that you should never assume that people on another tribe will vote the way you want them to.
- Backstab Backfire: Told members of his former tribe who they were planning to vote for, then voted with his current tribe anyway, which led to an idol play on Sierra and Malcolm being eliminated. All in the effort to get Sandra out without getting any blood on his hands. Oops?
- Even Evil Has Standards: Unlike Malcolm, who seemed hesitant to catch goats to eat, J.T. was pretty eager at what he saw as an opportunity to get in good graces with his tribemates, particularly Sandra. However, after learning that the two goats they caught were mother and child, he immediately refused to kill them and agreed to let them go.
- Subverted, as according to Sandra, J.T. DID kill the goats.
- Subverted, as according to Sandra
- Failure Gambit: Which resulted in his ONLY ally on Nuku to get voted out.
- Failure Hero/Idiot Hero: J.T. is a very good guy, but his strategies always bite him and his allies in the ass. It leaves him voted out fifth.
- Fatal Flaw: Him putting too much trust into people always gets him in trouble. He puts trust into Brad into thinking he will vote out Sandra but he voted out Malcolm instead. Varner, Michaela, and Sandra made him very convinced that he would not be voted out the episode afterwards. However, they ended playing him like a fiddle then.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: No one on his current tribe or former tribe trusts him anymore, and Malcolm's last words were very bitter towards J.T.
- The Gadfly: Pretty much abandons his tribe during fishing to search for the idol. Jeff and especially Malcolm were not amused.
- History Repeats: As noted above at Aesop Amnesia.
- For the second time he is directly responsible for the obliteration of his tribe.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He put his trust in the person he had been gunning for since the swap, and she got him out instantly. And with an idol in his pocket, too.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After his plan backfires and gets Malcolm eliminated he is visibly distressed.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: Goat incident aside (see up at Even Evil Has Standards), Sandra, Michaela, Aubry, Candice, and Courtney have admitted that J.T. isn't quite as golden as his editing suggests. Sandra in particular notes that J.T. would intentionally antagonize Michaela by offering everyone a coconut except her, and snapped at her over the sugar incident because he was the only one who drank coffee with sugar and Michaela just wanted to try it once.
- Pyrrhic Victory: His goal in colluding with Brad was for Sandra to be eliminated. In the end, he was successful, except he was eliminated first.
- The Starscream: Toward Sandra.
- Tears of Remorse: Visibly teared up as Malcolm is eliminated due to his hand in it.
- Too Dumb to Live: Had an idol and a chance to stay safe while getting out Sandra. Instead, he withheld his idol and trusted her word, which got him out of the game.
- Tragic Hero: This is ultimately his story. He came into the game as the only player to play a perfect game in a previous season, but his trusting nature destroyed his tribe in his second season. He came back this season, having failed to learn his lesson, thus making a Tragic Mistake in trusting the Mana tribe that leads to his only ally being voted out. Once again, JT fails to learn his lesson and doesn't even take his immunity idol to Tribal Council, taking his enemy Sandra at her word that she would vote out Michaela, but getting blindsided instead. (JT has clarified that he would've taken his idol to Tribal Council, but it was hidden away from camp and he wasn't able to go and get it in time.)
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Told Brad that his tribe was voting for Sierra in the hopes that they would play the idol on her and vote out Sandra. Instead, Mana turns around and votes J.T.'s only ally, Malcolm, leaving him on the bottom, and Nuku lacking one of it's biggest powerhouses.
- Ultimately, as a direct result of his actions, four members of the Nu Nuku tribe were eliminated consecutively, himself included, with Aubry and Michaela being the only ones to make the merge. Both of them are eliminated in the final and penultimate episode, respectively, meaning he is single-handedly responsible for his tribe's Total Party Kill.
Malcolm Freberg - Phillipines
Tribe: Mana —> Nuku
Age: 29
Previous Seasons: Philippines (4th), Caramoan (9th)
- The Ace: While he's had a rough start, Malcolm has shown to be one of the best men at challenges rivaling Ozzy in that regard.
- An Elimination in the Limelight: He got tons of screentime compared to other famous veterans like Ozzy and Cirie, and yet he's eliminated in Episode 4 by a total blindside.
- Broken Tears: After being eliminated.
- The Cutie: A rare badass example. He's handsome and idealistic and won't hesitate to call people out on their jerkass behavior and even saved a goat's life. This guy is definitely a genuinely sweet guy.
- Decoy Protagonist: Malcolm held a comfortable majority, got plenty of screentime, and seemed to be built up as The Hero of the season. Then J.T. goes and tells Brad who Nuku is voting for and...
- Diabolus ex Machina: His solid position on his tribe was undermined by the unprecedented twist of having two tribes attend tribal and vote as one.
- Et Tu, Brute?: He's (unwittingly) betrayed by JT, despite being JT's only friend on the new Nuku tribe, and he takes it hard.
- Genius Bruiser: Malcolm graduated from Dartmouth: an Ivy League College, so this is expected.
- History Repeats: Malcolm had a comfortable majority just like Caramoan, and was blindsided, leaving his ally nowhere to run. He was also on the blue tribe just like his first game.
- Lovable Jock
- Mis-blamed: In-universe thought J.T. organized his blindside and yet it was Sierra, the same person they were gunning for.
- Zig-zagged. While JT didn't organize Malcolm's blindside he still enabled it by telling Brad who to play the idol on.
- Nice Guy: Malcolm has shown to be a lot less manipulative than previous seasons, and is a cheery fellow, who is willing to avoid taking the "darker path" most of the time.
- Sacrificial Lion: One of the strongest physical competitors in the season, and voted out for it.
- Shipper on Deck: Jokingly this for Caleb and Tai, egging them to kiss.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Placed much higher making Jury in both his previous seasons. Here? He's the fourth out.
Caleb Reynolds - Kaoh Rong
Tribe: Mana
Age: 28
Previous Seasons: Kaoh Rong (15th, medevac)
- Downer Ending: Was voted out unanimously on the same day as his evacuation, and by his own friend.
- Graceful Loser: Even though Tai voted him out, Caleb holds no ill will and still considers him his friend.
- History Repeats Itself: Like last time, he gott eliminated on Day Nine.
- Hypocrite: Calls himself the most loyal player, but turns on Tony as soon as it's made clear he's doomed. Though, it was probably a smart move.
- Last Kiss: Gives Tai a kiss on the head as he leaves.
- My Greatest Second Chance: No and yes. He finished on the exact same day as his evacuation and was constantly on a losing tribe. But, he actually got to play the game this time around and showed potential to be a strategic player when he flipped on Tony.
- Sensing You Are Outmatched: The reason he voted for Tony - because everyone else was going to, and he didn't want to be the odd man out.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Came back because of his Could Have Been A Contender situation in his first season. A big deal was made of his getting to show off his strategic chops. He was reunited with his close friend at the merge, as well as fellow alumna Debbie, only to be voted out third for being a threat.
Tony Vlachos - Cagayan
Tribe: Mana
Age: 42
Previous Seasons: Cagayan (Winner)
- Bullying a Dragon: Picking a fight with Sandra, the only two-time winner of Survivor and well known for taking on aggressive players head-on (as Fairplay and Hantz can attest), was a fatal mistake.
- Dead Star Walking: Similar to Jonny Fairplay, Tony's return was a major selling point of the season but he only lasted one episode.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Tried to take out Sandra to become the "King" of Survivor, only for her to turn all his allies against him and get him first.
- Also at the first TC, he claimed that he couldn't do any of the crazy things in this season he did in Cagayan (like making spy shacks) in this season as people would get suspicious of him. Guess what turned the tribe against him in Episode 2.
- The Mentor: Surprisingly revealed in the reunion that he was one to Sarah. Though then again it could have been him calling her and trying to pump himself up.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Subverted. With people now aware of his gameplay, they decided he wasn't worth keeping around much longer.
- Sacrificial Lion: The most threatening of the three winners, the first one gone.
- Sore Loser: Mostly played straight, as he's clearly angry and mouths off at the tribe after his ouster, but in his final Confession Cam and subsequent interviews, he admits that Sandra did outplay him.
- Starter Villain: Tony tried to be as villainous and manipulative as he was in Cagayan through eavesdropping on other tribemate conversations, his invention of the "Spy Shack 2.0", and through trying to make an alliance with all of the physical powerhouses on the Mana tribe but he becomes the second person voted off after his antics cause too much drama in the tribe and invoked Sandra's wrath against him.
- Sudden Sequel Elimination Syndrome: Winner of Survivor: Cagayan, didn't make it past the first episode of Game Changers.
Ciera Eastin - Blood Vs Water
Tribe: Mana
Age: 27
Previous Seasons: Blood vs. Water (5th), Cambodia (10th)
- History Repeats: Lost again on the same puzzle she did back in Survivor: Blood vs. Water.
- Sacrificial Lion: After being hyped up as the biggest game changer of the season, she's the first person voted out.
- Third Time's The Charm: Nope.
- You Were Trying Too Hard: Playing the game hard right away caused her tribe to vote her out first.
