History YMMV / Survivor

*** '''You'd Expect:''' Russell to have wised up after his past two failures and, knowing that his tribemates know his game well since the producers kept him perpetually in the spotlight, try to back off a little in the initial stretch, thus making him actually ''likable''. Afterwards, ''then'' he could start picking people off like old times.

*** '''Instead:''' Russell claims to his tribemates that he's gonna play differently... and then plays the ''exact same game'', right down to assembling his typical harem, scrambling for the HII (in ''[[TooDumbToLive plain sight]]'' without even knowing that people would have, by now, learned to never let him out of their sight for a minute) as early as possible, and then convincing weak players to flip on their alliances based on flimsy promises. [[hottip:*: Oh, I need a majority - so how about I take someone who ''knows'' there's a final three, who ''knows'' that ''I'' have an alliance of three...and essentially ask her to be the fourth wheel, and promise to take her to the finals. Hey, it worked for Shambo!]] Unfortunately for him, the latter two parts backfired horribly: Ralph got to the HII first (meaning he was [[AllForNothing drawing all that negative attention to himself for nothing]]), and Julie didn't take Russell's flip bait, resulting in him being the first voted off the Zapatera tribe, [[AndTheFandomRejoiced much to the fandom's enjoyment]]. (Course granted, you just ''know'' they'll [[ExecutiveMeddling try to slant the duels so that Russell would be returning to the game]] the same way they fixed ''Heroes Vs. Villains''.)
*** He's now gone for good.

** Redemption Island was rescued from the scrappy heap of seasons when [[TheWesley Russell Hantz]] was ''finally'' eliminated pre-merge before the producers could forget the other 16 players existed.

** Also from the season; Fabio brought a lot of these on himself...hoewver the obvious one was where they tried to protect the fire...by ''surrounding it with wood''. They were then surprised that the camp burned down

** Russell Hantz, who either comes across as a brilliant player who ''knows'' the game and doesn't get enough recognition from his fellow players, or a terrible sport who needs to learn that people don't ''just'' win by playing ''his'' way.
*** His being voted out ''third'' but second eliminated total in ''Redemption Island'' is a DethroningMomentOfSuck due to the cheap ass way he was eleminated, most of his haters wanted him to be voted out in a more awesome manner fitting how much of an jackass he was, more expecting of a KarmicDeath.

*** And there was much ''further'' rejoicing when he was finally voted off for the first time ever after his plan to get Julie to flip on her alliance [[EpicFail failed spectacularly]]. [[hottip:*:Granted, since this is Redemption Island, Russell anti-fans aren't out of the woods just yet, but at least he's one step closer to finally seeing a proper demise in the game of Survivor.]] But then he lost the duel and became the ''second'' person eliminated from the game for real. Cue montages of ''FinalFantasy'' victory themes as well as "Ding Dong the witch is dead".

** In ''Nicaragua'', Jane was already feeling like she was the odd-man out of her alliance with Sash, Chase, and Holly. Already things weren't going well merely because there were ''four'' and there could only be ''three'' of them. So when Chase brings Sash and Holly along to an immunity...not a good idea. Unfortunately, their target Fabio wins immunity. So you have to vote someone else...why not the other person Dan? Nope...guess you gotta blindside Jane. Unfortunately they practically told Jane ''to her face'' that they were going to vote her out, and at the same time exposed their ''entire alliance'' to Fabio and Dan. ''WHOOPS''. Suffice to say, Chase and Sash more or less ''had'' to bring Holly with them to the final three if they didn't want a very ugly attempt on Jane's side to turn the Jury towards Dan or Fabio if they made it to the final three. (However, Jane actually voted for Chase)

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Any winner who most fans deemed as "undeserving" solely for not being both physically and/or strategically dominating and aggressive compared to their [[TheRunnerUpTakesItAll runners-up]]. Notable cases are Tina Wesson from ''Australia'', Amber Brkich from ''All-Stars'' and Natalie White from ''Samoa''. Sandra from ''Pearl Islands'' and ''Heroes vs. Villains'', as well because she isn't exactly a "Badass" in terms of challenge - she's just ''that'' good at people.

*** And there was much ''further'' rejoicing when he was finally voted off for the first time ever after his plan to get Julie to flip on her alliance [[EpicFail failed spectacularly]]. [[hottip:*:Granted, since this is Redemption Island, Russell anti-fans aren't out of the woods just yet, but at least he's one step closer to finally seeing a proper demise in the game of Survivor.]] But then he lost the duel and became the ''second'' person eliminated from the game for real. Cue montages of ''FinalFactory'' victory themes as well as "Ding Dong the witch is dead".

*** His being voted out ''third'' but second eliminated total in ''Redemption Island'' is a DethroningMomentOfSuck due to the cheap ass way he was eleminated, most of his haters wanted him to be voted out in a more awesome manner fitting how much of an jackass he was.

** The Final Three. Jeff Probst likes that rule better because normally people would intentionally bring someone with them to the final two who was TheLoad and dislikable so they could say almost ''anything'' to the jury or just play the lesser of two evils card. However plenty of the fans hate it partly ''because'' they liked seeing someone bring TheLoad to the final two or because it's more traditional. Not to mention; only once have all three contestants actually received at least one vote in the final three. (''China'', where the votes were 1-2-4.) The other times, it was really in between two contestants anyways. There's also a ''slight'' chance that, with a Jury of nine and final three that there can be a three way tie but the Jury's often united enough to give someone a majority.

* DethroningMomentOfSuck: Even for some of Russell's fans, his behaviour at the reunions at ''Heroes Vs. Villains'' caused this. He pretty much showed himself GenreBlind to the fact that evicted players have to ''like'' you, or at least ''respect'' you if you want to have any chance at winning. Immediately, he begun saying that the rules were flawed and need to be changed, because ''he didn't win''. (See "CompletelyMissingThePoint") Chances are; Jeff Probst wasn't too fond of his behaviour there, either.

** J.T. doing the singlehandedly ''stupidest move'' in the season.
*** The Tocantins trio pretty much getting themselves voted out from J.T. giving ''Russell'' the hidden immunity idol, Tyson getting himself screwed up, and Coach not doing anything to save himself.

** But there is hope - Russell Hantz, whom the producers have a freaking ''fetish'' for was voted out third...and became the ''second'' person voted out overall. YES.

** The Final Three format gets hit with this a lot. Probst actually says he prefers the final three because people would bring someone to the finals for perverse incentives, whereas others argue that this is part of the game, Others also point out that it's still in between two people in the end, since there has only been one season in which all three members in the final three received at least one vote (China: Amanda received one vote, Courtney received two, Todd received four)

* UnfortunateImplications: On ''Cook Islands'', the original tribes were [[strike:segregated]] divided according to race.

*** His being voted out ''third'' but second eliminated total in ''Redemption Island'' is either a DethroningMomentOfSuck or a CrowningMomentOfAwesome because his reign of terror has ''finally'' ended. Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!

*** And there was much ''further'' rejoicing when he was finally voted off for the first time ever after his plan to get Julie to flip on her alliance [[EpicFail failed spectacularly]]. [[hottip:*:Granted, since this is Redemption Island, Russell anti-fans aren't out of the woods just yet, but at least he's one step closer to finally seeing a proper demise in the game of Survivor.]]

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: Oh no...[[TheWesley Rob and Russell]] are back '''AGAIN'''? Great, we'll ''never'' see any of the sixteen other players on that season...wait...Russell got voted out ''third''?! And was the ''second'' person eliminated over all? '''YES'''! There ''is'' hope for this season!

** In-show, Eric had a lot of Jury time to watch [[SmugSnake Russell's]] unstoppable rise to power in ''Samoa'', and to see Mick and Natalie follow their deceitful leader to the success of the final Tribal Council. Long disgusted by this cruelly unfair chain of events, he uses his talk time during that Council to [[FridgeBrilliance cast Natalie and Mick in new lights]]:
-->"Mick: Day One, they put a leadership necklace around your neck. I go 39 days, struggling to find a reason that you deserve that title. You did nothing: you did nothing with your team, you did nothing to encourage them. Nobody on that team had any guts; ''you're'' responsible for that.
-->"Russell: this hurts me. We had '''nothing''' in common... You played an unethical game, ''[[EvilIsCool admittedly]]'' played an unethical game. The crazy thing about it is you're sittin' there; I'm standing here. Did you get to [[MagnificentBastard the right place by]] [[CardCarryingVillain behaving the wrong way]]? I've never been in a situation [in] my entire life where that was the case, but you sit [[EvilIsCool there proud of it]]!
-->"Natalie: [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass people will call you weak, people will say that you are undeserving...]] but you know what? Why are [[RealWomenNeverWearDresses those characteristics any less 'admirable']] [than] lying, cheating, and stealing? Why does [Russell] get a free pass but your 'wrong' way of playing is admonished? If there's one thing that I learned in this game, it's that ''(to the jury)'' '''perception is not reality'''! Reality is reality, and ''(to Natalie)'' you are sitting there, and [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass that makes you]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes just as dangerous]] as any one of those guys there. [[HumbleHero You]] [[HeroicSelfDeprecation would say that you are least deserving of the title]] of SoleSurvivor, but maybe (just maybe) in an environment filled with arrogance [and] delusional entitlement, maybe the person who thinks she's least deserving is probably the most."

* BadassDecay: James laments [[TheAce Colby]]'s disappointing struggling early in ''Heroes Vs Villains''.
-->"[[ConfessionCam My Superman sucks!]]"

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: Three out of three times now, Russell's strategy was always "Ally with some pretty little bimbo that I can manipulate." Even though it didn't work the first two times - both of those girls were at least as savvy as he was, and the first time it actively backfired when ''she'' manipulated ''him'' and won! Lampshaded during the third time, where other members of his tribe knew what he was up to from the start.

* EverybodyRemembersTheStripper: Obviously, Jenna and Heidi stripping for peanut butter and chocolate during ''Amazon''. So much that they even posed for {{Playboy}}. Jenna lampshaded this during ''America's Tribal Council'' saying people will remember her stripping instead of actually winning that season.
* EvilIsCool: Some contestants believe this (as it ''is'' a game of deception), and swear to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the million. YourMileageMayVary as to how cool they actually are though. (Not that they care, [[AttentionWhore as long as it keeps the camera on them]].)
** ''Samoa'''s Russell Hantz, who was not only one of the wickedest bastards to ever play the game, but also has his share of fans. It helped him that, in that season, GoodIsDumb; the choice was between repulsive (and, outside of idol-hunting, not that great) strategy, and no apparent strategy at all.
** The Villain tribe from ''Heroes vs Villains''. Their dramatic entrance alone was all kinds of {{Badass}}, the descent of their chopper literally [[AHandfulForAnEye blowing sand right at the Hero tribe's faces]].

* GameBreaker: The Hidden Immunity Idol in ''Exile Island'' and ''Cook Islands''. Although Yul used it strategically to sway Jonathan, it otherwise pretty much made him invincible the entire game. You can see why they added a rule stating you can only use it until the final six.

* NeverLiveItDown: The especially manipulative, deceitful, or heavy-handed contestants tend to get treated this way, along with the WhatAnIdiot contestants.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: One or two guys get the bulk of the screentime each season. Usually the main one's a Machiavelli wannabe that CBS thinks we'll "LoveToHate" -- but we just hate him, making him TheWesley.
** ''Samoa'' might as well have been called "The Russell Hantz Show" given how much they worked his ramblings into ''every single episode'' and the viewers can probably think "...who're these guys in the purple? And who's that 'Mick' person they keep dragging along...?"".
*** When it was confirmed Russell and Rob were returning to ''Redemption Island'', suffice to say, you can pretty much expect to ''only'' see Rob and Russell unless they were voted out.
**** Surprisingly; they actually ''haven't'' forgotten that there was a total of ''eighteen'' players this time...so far. It also helps that Russell got booted in the third episode (he's still on Redemption Island, but nothing happens there so they don't spend much screentime on it).
** Russell was easily the worst, but other spotlight stealers were Rupert of ''Pearl Islands'', Stephenie of ''Palau'' and ''Guatemala'', and Coach of ''Tocantins''.
** Some of Rob and Amber's fellow Survivors actually did call ''All-Stars'' "The Rob & Amber Show."

* TooCoolToLive: The strong, cool and outstanding players are usually the first ones to be targeted for elimination (post-merge) by their fellow castaways because they see him/her as a great threat in the game. Usually leads to a ShockingElimination.

** Somewhat inverted if you watch Probst in the first season, before he had fully ritualized his routine. Viewers have become so used to Jeff's never-changing dialogue and calm demeanor that watching a somewhat nervous, not-so-smooth version of Jeff that stumbles over much of his even more long-winded dialogue, which borders on DisorganizedOutlineSpeech, is highly entertaining

*** '''You'd Expect:''' Russell to have wised up after his past two failures and, knowing that his tribemates know his game well, try to back off a little in the initial stretch, thus making him actually ''likable''. Afterwards, ''then'' he could start picking people off like old times.
*** '''Instead:''' Russell claims to his tribemates that he's gonna play differently... and then plays the ''exact same game'', right down to assembling his typical harem, scrambling for the HII (in ''[[TooDumbToLive plain sight]]'') as early as possible, and then convincing weak players to flip on their alliances based on flimsy promises. Unfortunately for him, the latter two parts backfired horribly: Ralph got to the HII first (meaning he was [[AllForNothing drawing all that negative attention to himself for nothing]]), and Julie didn't take Russell's flip bait, resulting in him being the first voted off the Zapatera tribe.

*** '''Instead:''' Russell claims to his tribemates that he's gonna play differently... and then plays the ''exact same game'', right down to assembling his typical harem, scrambling for the HII (in ''[[TooDumbToLive plain sight]]'') as early as possible, and then convincing weak players to flip on their alliances based on flimsy promises. Unfortunately for him, the latter two parts backfired horribly: Ralph got to the HII first, and Julie didn't take Russell's flip bait, resulting in him being the first voted off the Zapatera tribe.

** Happened to ''[[MagnificentBastard Russell]]'' of all people in ''Redemption Island''. It's the first season he was in where people have actually seen him before and thus knew the hard-balling, ruthless game he played both years previous.\\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Russell to have wised up after his past two failures and, knowing that his tribemates know his game well, try to back off a little in the initial stretch, thus making him actually ''likable''. Afterwards, ''then'' he could start picking people off like old times.\\\
'''Instead:''' Russell claims to his tribemates that he's gonna play differently... and then plays the ''exact same game'', right down to assembling his typical harem, scrambling for the HII (in ''[[TooDumbToLive plain sight]]'') as early as possible, and then convincing weak players to flip on their alliances based on flimsy promises. Unfortunately for him, the latter two parts backfired horribly: Ralph got to the HII first, and Julie didn't take Russell's flip bait, resulting in him being the first voted off the Zapatera tribe.

** Happened to ''[[MagnificentBastard Russell]]'' of all people in ''Redemption Island''. It's the first season he was in where people have actually seen him before and thus knew the hard-balling, ruthless game he played both years previous.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Russell to have wised up after his past two failures and, knowing that his tribemates know his game well, try to back off a little in the initial stretch, thus making him actually ''likable''. Afterwards, ''then'' he could start picking people off like old times.\\

*** May also be FridgeBrilliance from Fabio - he actually suggested getting rid of Jane over Dan to them; and Chase & Sash made the idea their own, while Fabio watched it crash and burn. Still not a good idea to tell someone who ''thinks they're with you'' that you're going to blindside them.

** When [[EntitledBastard Russell]] lost - ''twice''. And the second time, he got ''no votes'' cast in his favour. For some, a CrowningMomentOfAwesome; since Russell has a HateDom, too. Even if one appreciated his gameplay methods, [[SpotlightStealingSquad seeing him brag how good he was in every episode got old half way through Samoa]].

* JumpedTheShark: For many people, ''Redemption Island'' with the [[RatingsStunt unnecessary return]] of Boston Rob and [[TheWesley Russell]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Some of the earlier seasons can be a little hard to watch nowadays because so many twists (Hidden Immunity Idols, Tribal swaps, final three) are now so commonplace it can be seen as boring. And for strategy, many people had played the strategy game so well (Cirie, Russell Hantz, Sandra, Boston Rob, Parvati, Amanda, Bob) some of the early players seem like utter fools in comparison. Even predesignated roles - Jerri proudly wears the title of ''Survivor'''s original Villain, but seeing her in ''Australian Outback'' after the likes of Russell Hantz, Boston Rob, Johnny Fairplay, and Parvati can make her look like just a rude girl in comparison. (She admits as much in the premiere of ''Heroes Vs Villains'', and she wasn't ''that'' villainous thereafter.)
** But you are forgeting that the earlier seasons had a different mindset than what we are used to today. Richard Hatch was HATED by the audience not just for being arrogant, but for daring to play the game at all, because at the time most people(including most of the earlier contestants) considered alliances and shrewd gameplay to be unethical.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Any winner who most fans deemed as "undeserving" solely for not being both physically and/or strategically dominating and aggressive compared to their [[TheRunnerUpTakesItAll runners-up]]. Notable cases are Tina Wesson from ''Australia'', Amber Brkich from ''All-Stars'' and Natalie White from ''Samoa''.

*** The Tocantins trio pretty much getting themselves voted out from J.T. giving ''Russell'' the hidden immunity idol, Tyson getting himself screwed up, and Coach not doing anything to save himself.

** To Russell and Rob's fandoms, the confirmation of ''Redemption Island'' being "Russell vs. Rob", while at the same time, a BigNo came from their hatedoms.
* BigNo: Russell and Rob are coming back '''AGAIN'''?!? DARN IT! We won't see ''any'' of the sixteen other players in Redemption Island, knowing how the producers ''love'' the shit out of them.

** To Russell and Rob's fandoms, the confirmation of ''Redemption Island'' being "Russell vs. Rob", whiel at the same time, a BigNo came from their hatedoms.

* AndTheFandomRejoiced:

** Some people's victories, like Yul.