WARNING: Contestants are listed in order of elimination and there are unmarked spoilers on this page, potentially including spoilers for previous seasons.
Main (RuPaul, hosts and judges)
RuPaul's Drag Race (USA) seasons:
Drag Race around the world:
All Stars & Vs. the World
All names, ages, and locations stated are at the time of filming.
Serena ChaCha (13th)
Original Appearance: Season 5 (13th)
"Representing Panama, it's Serena Cha Cha ... Olé!"
- All of the Other Reindeer: From the moment Ra'jah reacts to Serena's entrance with befuddlement, it's clear Serena has an uphill battle winning over the other queens. She never really does - she's almost unanimously voted out in the first episode, even over Trinity's embarrassing stumble in her stand-up comedy routine.
- Bilingual Bonus: When she pleads her case to Yara in the first episode, they briefly start talking in their native Spanish.
- Butt-Monkey: Along with Pandora Boxx, Serena is arguably this for the entire franchise, though for polar opposite reasons. While Pandora competed for weeks and narrowly missed wins, Serena spends all three of her total episodes up for elimination and with most of the cast actively rooting for her elimination. In All Stars, all the queens vote against her with the exception of top all star Yara, who picks Trinity’s lipstick for the express reason that Yara considers her (and not Serena) competition. To add insult to injury…
- Irony: The lip sync assassin who eliminates Serena is Coco Montrese, who once famously told her to chacha her way out of the competition.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Serena was infamous on her original season for her elitist attitude, which she has no trace of here. Instead, she's humble and forthright of how out of her depth she was back then.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Serena was eliminated episode 2 of her original season, and the first episode of this season, so the audience really doesn't get to know much about her other than she is very talented at doing wigs. Even though she does technically return in Episode 10 for the "game within a game" redemption; she is immediately re-eliminated by Jiggly Caliente. note
Jiggly Caliente (12th)
Original Appearance: Season 4 (8th)
"Well mother did say 'may the best woman win'!"
- Achilles' Heel: The one thing Jiggly just cannot do is costume construction. Back in Season 4 she failed both construction challenges (Apocalypse and Float Your Boat, respectfully), and ends up getting eliminated this season for the same thing during the Blue Ball with her party dress made out of a blue blanket and rhinestones.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Parodied during her one-on-one with Ra'Jah after the latter wins the Blue Ball, in which she jokingly offers Ra'Jah her loyalty... or her Netflix password, if she keeps her in the competition.
- Discredited Meme: Played with; while she acknowledges the "May I call you Jiggly?" meme sensation, she does attest that fans need to know there are times when it is inappropriate ... such as 7 a.m. on a cruise ship.
- Dresses the Same: When facing off again Silky during the lip-synch extravaganza both of them end up wearing leopard-print.Jiggly: Two fat bitches in fucking leopard print, I can't! How did this happen?!
- Hard Work Hardly Works: As pointed out by Trinity after her elimination; Jiggly worked hard from start to finish for her subpar Blue Ball outfit, while Yara made hers at the last minute. However, when it came down to choosing lipsticks nearly everyone picked Jiggly as Yara just had a better track record thus far in the competition.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Both herself and Kylie use a Borrowed Catchphrase retired by RuPaul for being insensitive to the transgender community repurposed to be a positive transgender message for themselves as their entrance quote.
Silky Nutmeg Ganache (11th)
Original Appearance: Season 11 (3rd=)
"Season 11, I came for the lunch; All-Stars 6, I'm coming for the dinner; look out bitch, I am your winner!"
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 10 most certainly is this, what with Silky dominating the "game within a game" Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown from week 3 all the way to week 9 when she faces off against Eureka!, she even performs a week she didn't have to just because she wanted to show what she could do.
- Badass Boast: During the "game within a game" Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown, when Pandora claims she'll beat Silky, her answer is this:"That's what the last five bitches said."
- The Determinator: Silky went out third, but come the "game within a game" she proves her statement that if given a second chance she would fight to be very accurate. She lip synchs every week with everything she's got, surviving seven weeks into the redemption right up until the finale against Eureka!
- Dresses the Same: When facing off again Jiggly during the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown both of them end up wearing leopard-print.
- Gospel Music: Silky's talent show performance is her singing "This Little Light Of Mine" in this style, and she gets everyone to clap along and everything. Somehow, it just doesn't hit the heights Silky wants it to (not helped by Silky oversinging just a tad) and she narrowly escapes the bottom two.
- Graceful Loser: After her second elimination at the hands of Eureka! in the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown Silky is proud of what she's accomplished, that she got to fight for several more weeks even though she was eliminated third, and even cracks Ru up by making a spetacle of her leaving the stage in typical Silky fashion showing there were no hard feelings.
- Hero of Another Story: Of the Game within a Game.
- Humble Pie: Silky reveals she was devastated by the fan hate from Season 11, and promised to come back to All-Stars a softer Silky. Backfires HARD in episode 3 and leads to her elimination.
- Incoming Ham: It's Silky, are you surprised? As if her little entrance poem (quoted above), with a cookie and a glass of milk hidden in her chest, didn't go big enough, there's one of her entrances during the lipsync smackdown in episode 10. Scarlet Envy stands on stage, waiting for the curtain to come up and reveal her opponent... only for Silky to get impatient, stick her head down under the halfway-up curtain, and yell:Silky: YEAH IT'S ME, BITCH!!!
- Insult Comic: Silky can trash-talk with the best of them when she's really feeling her oats - she may have missed her calling as a roaster. She shit-talks her Lip-Sync Smackdown opponents one after the other with a cool, confident veneer, right before sending them home for good.Jan: Silk, Silk, with the good milk!Silky: Jan, Jan, she's a man! [the judges cackle, while Jan looks pressed]
- Just for Fun: For her fifth straight week as the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown assassin, she actually gets a free pass since A'keria decided not to accept the invitation to return. However, Silky decides she wants to perform by herself anyway just because she wanted to, and delivers a hilarious routine with her painted half male/half female to "Barbie Girl" by Aqua.
- Momma's Boy: Silky dedicates her final lipsync performance during the "game within a game" extravaganza to her mother.
- My Greatest Second Chance: During Season 11 Silky touted her lip sync skills loud, proud, and often ... only to end up getting the infamous "meh" from Ru when she faced off against Nina West. Come this season for the "game within a game" redemption in spite of going home third, Silky powers through five separate lip syncs and makes it to the final show-down against Eureka! to return to the competition, even choosing to lip sync by herself one week when she didn't even need to just to prove she could. While she didn't return to the competition, at least she went out fighting.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: She promises to be a team player this time around, but ends up getting lost in her group's commercial and doesn't give it her all. It leads to her elimination.
- Red Baron: Gives herself one during the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown: she isn't just the lipsync assassin, she's the "lipsync guru." Exaggerated in her final showdown with Eureka!:Silky: I am the lipsync battle royale, extravaganza, dragapalooza, Black Lives Matter, Black excellence queen. Now get into that, bitch.
- Run the Gauntlet: What she does in the "game within a game". Silky works her way through seven weeks of lip syncs against the other eliminated queens. While she gets a pass from A'Keria, Silky has to beat the just-eliminated queen to continue, and does.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Silky survives six straight weeks in the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown only to be finally eliminated by Eureka!.
- Shout-Out: Silky using her top as a Victoria's Secret Compartment is a reference to this comedy routine.
- Shrinking Violet: Subverts her It's All About Me persona of Season 11 upon her return, resulting in her dimming her light (in her own words) and sending her packing. Once Ru reveals she's got a second shot at the competition, she cackles, vows to invoke the trope and play like her Season 11 self (which she does, dominating the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown for six weeks!)
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Despite the "Shaggy Dog" Story conclusion, Ru makes sure to tell Silky she's accomplished something that's never been done on the show before and that she is truly "legendary".
- Token Religious Teammate: Silky is a devout Christian, and is not afraid to show it. Her talent has her singing gospel music accompanied by her own piano playing, and in the third episode expresses hope they will be handing out pamphlets as "Ru"hovah's Witnesses.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: During her entrance look she pulls a chocolate chip cookie and a full glass of milk out of her cleavage. Taken to the extreme during the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown in which during a performance Silky pulls out a glass, a bag of ice, a mixer, and a bottle of alcohol out of her cleavage to mix herself a cocktail on stage!! Just keeps going from there, with Silky pulling out a water bottle to douse herself, a flag for a color-guard routine, and eventually a guitar, the last of which even perplexes the other queens on just where the heck she was hiding it!
- Wardrobe Malfunction: During her Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown against Eureka! she wears a sauna suit she plans on tearing off to reveal her dance costume ... only for it to get stuck during her reveal. She ends up continuing the performance even though the suit is still wrapped around her leg.
- Weight Woe: Talks about how her weight was one of the many things fans attacked her over online after Season 11; she even seems to pay homage to her weight journey during her Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown against Eureka!, in which Silky wears a sauna suit and does aerobics before tearing it off to reveal a dance costume underneath.
Yara Sofia (10th)
Original Appearances: Season 3 (4th + Miss Congeniality), All Stars 1 (6th=)
"Awooooooo ... I hope you like it doggy-style!"
- Break the Haughty: First episode Yara wins the talent show, and it seems to give a massive boost to her ego; during the second episode she goes on and on about what everyone else is doing for the Blue Ball, constantly giving critiques and saying how she'll just pound out her outfit in ten minutes and win again like she did last episode. She ends up in the bottom two and up for elimination for a look the judges call busy and unfocused.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Those familiar with season 3 and All Stars 1 are already well aware that Yara is just nonsense in human form.
- Defiant to the End:
- Subverted, since it did not lead to her elimination, but when she is in the bottom two after the ball challenge, she refuses to defend her right to stay or beg her competitors to save her, citing she has too much self-respect to debase herself like that.
- Played straight in episode 4 when she's in the bottom again, with that same attitude, and the other queens don't get the sense that she wants to fight for herself. This time, it proves to be Yara's downfall.
- Insufferable Genius: Comes off this way towards Jamal Sims during the Half-Time Show challenge when learning her Shakira choreography. At first Sims accepts Yara's feedback, even acknowledging her ideas are sometimes better, but eventually Yara has to critique about every move Jamal gives to her, with him trying to keep her focused on just finishing the routine as given.
- Laser-Guided Karma: She spends most of the episode for the ball challenge bragging about her renowned design abilities, roaming around the Werkroom doing nothing and rubbing it in the other queens' faces. Her ploy is to do all of her work quickly and at the last minute so the others don't know what to expect. Come time for the judge's critique though, her constructed outfit is read for not being edited enough and her blue collar look for not coming across blue collar. This lands her squarely in the Bottom Two.
- Precision F-Strike: Her exit line leaves everyone in either Stunned Silence or nervous laughter.Yara: FUCK YOU ALL!
- Tempting Fate: Happens during the Half-Time Show challenge when she boasts that she plays Shakira twice a week in Vegas. Like many queens who declare the challenge is 'what they do', she stumbles during the actual performance and ends up being eliminated.
Scarlet Envy (9th)
Original Appearance: Season 11 (10th)
"Off to the races!"
- Book Dumb: For the Commercial challenge when trying to figure out their exercise/exorcist angle Scarlet starts doing "crunches" ... which are actually bicep curls. Her teammates are quick to read her for that plus for her confused reaction upon being corrected.
- The Burlesque of Venus: Her Rudemption look rethinks her Season 11 entrance look decorated by William-Adolphe Bouguereau's The Birth of Venus, revising it from a swimsuit into a full, flowy Greek-like dress.
- Cringe Comedy: For the Table Talk challenge, Ru says that Scarlet's tendency to put on her drag character even when she's trying to be genuine (such as when Scarlet was talking about her two moms) actually made Ru uncomfortable to watch.
- Momma's Boy: Self-admitted, Scarlet proudly has two moms and loves and supports them both.
- Out of Focus: With a lack of drama with the other queens and a shortage of confessionals, Scarlet is getting very little screen-time during this season. While she is killing it on the runway, in challenges she has not crested past just being "safe" by the fourth episode, and is eliminated in the fifth episode.
- Stepford Smiler: Receives critiques from the judges that she is uncomfortable or just inexperienced in letting down the mask of her drag character and showing genuine emotion and vulnerability. Sadly, this ends up leading to her elimination.
A'keria C. Davenport (8th)
Original Appearance: Season 11 (3rd=)
"The one most fit to meet all the criteria...screw all that, just say 'Hey, Miss A'keria!'"
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": In addition to believing in ghosts, A'keria expresses interest in one day owning multiple funeral homes.
- Mooning: This is part of A'Keria's halftime show routine as Prince/The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, when she turns around and reveals a "butt window" in her pants. For those who don't know, this is a Shout-Out to Prince's famous butt window from his 1991 VMAs performance.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Sort of a Running Gag is the fact everyone thinks Trinity is the "trade" of the seasonnote ... everyone except A'keria who vehemently states Trinity will never be trade whenever its brought up.
- Out of Focus: Her confessionals are noticeably (and significantly) scaled back early on, compared to her run as the "whistleblower" during season 11. The only time she starts getting spotlight on the show is when she's consistently hitting the bottom two/three.
- Recursive Crossdressing: For the Half-Time Show challenge she decides to portray Prince/The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. She ends up in the bottom two for not elevating Prince's already grandiose style of performing.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Is the only queen to decline the opportunity to return for the "game within a game" redumption, deciding her time was done and that she still has room to grow.
- Saying Too Much: After her team lands in the bottom for the Commercial challenge, A'keria calls out herself and Silky as being the obvious bottom two. As Ra'jah notes, had A'keria not so plainly put herself and Silky in the bottom, it was very likely they could have convinced some of the other queens (in particular her Season 11 sisters) to vote for Jan or Ginger instead.
Jan (7th)
Original Appearance: Season 12 (8th)
"I'm back, pack, back, pack, back again!"
- Ascended Fangirl: Jan mentions in episode 1's Untucked that she's so excited to be on All Stars so she can meet people she's looked up to for years. Of course, then there's a Moment Killer when Scarlet Envy has to go vote out one of the bottom two.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 4 probably has the most focus on Jan of any episode she's been in, outside of maybe the infamous Madonna Rusical in her original season. And this time, Jan finally - finally - wins the challenge.
- Broken Tears: Has a small metldown in the confessionals when reflecting on how the judges and her fellow queens don't think she is being genuine or authentic, claiming her 110% personality is really her since she just naturally enjoys being a big cheerleader.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor Jan. She lands in the bottom three times, the second time the vote is split and she is saved because the top queen voted in her favor. The third time, the same happens but this time the top queen voted against her. The confessionals have a rather high incidence of the other queens complaining about how annoying and fake they find her. Her critiques on the main stage are hardly better, with the final critique from Rupaul that her lyrics lacked soul. Despite giving it her all in her rudemption lip sync, she loses against Silky, bringing her grand total of drag race lip sync losses to 3.
- Dramatic Irony: Jan goes into the commercial challenge, ready to push herself out of "safe." She gets her wish- and lands in the bottom four. Ginger even lampshades it.
- Dresses the Same: For the "Hot Tropics" runway, both herself and Ginger presented looks based on the Jennifer Lopez Versace dress from the 2000 Grammy Awards.
- Genki Girl: As enthusiastic and always-at-a-10 as ever. Deconstructed as the competition goes on, and the judges start finding her constant energy disingenuous and/or exhausting. This frustrates Jan, who's just always been like this. Thankfully, come episode 6, she gets a role in the Ru-Merican Horror Story that serves her enthusiasm perfectly.
- Genre Savvy: For the Half-Time Show challenge, she points out that she needs to prove someone can actually impersonate Lady Gaga correctly for once (previously done poorly by Phi Phi O'Hara, Miz Cracker, and even Kylie during her original season). She knows if she fails this time as well, she'll never hear the end of it (she kills the performance and ends up winning the challenge!).
- History Repeats: Once again, Jan gets negatively critiqued for always being at 110% and seeming incapable of bringing her energy down to show nuance or range.
- Humiliation Conga: Her elimination episode is not a pretty one. Despite being considered In-Universe the strongest singer in the cast, she receives the harshest critiques for her lyrics, which Rupaul calls missing ‘soul.’ When the lipstick is revealed she gets a rather painful moment of Yank the Dog's Chain when it appears Pandora is eliminated, but it turns out to be a tie. Then Trinity eliminates her anyway. To add insult to injury, ALL her teammates that episode voted against her.
- It's All About Me: Gets critiqued for her verse in the Girl Group challenge for being mostly fluff about herself instead of giving any sort of positive message to the gay community.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In Episode 6, Jan walks into the werkroom on elimination day narrating herself; "It's a new day in the werkroom!" like the producers usually have someone say in the confessionals.
- Lost in Character: Enforced. Jan's persona throughout Season 12 was built out via several wry nods to Jan Brady, the try-hard, overlooked middle sister of the Brady Bunch, though she presented herself as a more positive, empowered version of the character. However, this character link proved to be something of a noose come All-Stars, as her narrative was seemingly constructed in such a way that she became the Jan Brady of the competition, never really catching a break, being presented as something of a Butt-Monkey throughout, and never quite measuring up to her more talented sisters — in true Jan Brady style.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Downplayed when she uses the Blue Ball as an excuse to remake her Ball Ball outfit from Season 12, in spite of the queens warning her just doing the same thing again (even if better) won't impress the judges. As expected, while the resulting outfit is good, it's deemed safe by the judges.
- Oh, Crap!: Has two during Episode 5; first when every other remaining queen revealed they saved A'keria from elimination, Jan realizes she was the only one to save Yara. Later when the queens are getting ready for the runway, the group pretty much comes to the decision "track records" aren't enough to save anyone from elimination; this happening immediately after Jan won her first episode ever!
- Political Overcorrectness: Parodied during the commercial challenge; when Ginger sells themselves as a drag queen escort service, Jan cuts in that the correct term is "social companion" service. Ginger promptly tells Jan to go fuck herself.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: Shoots herself in the foot when after winning the Half-Time Show challenge she picks A'keria for elimination, when every other queen voted for Yara (except Yara herself, obviously). Jan tries to claim she wanted to 'vote with her heart' and save A'keria, but assumed everyone else was going to save Yara due to her track record. Ironically, by trying to vote with the group and not rock the boat she outed herself as a wild card for eliminations, exactly what she was trying to avoid.
- Rules Lawyer: Has shades of this when she's up for elimination for the Table Talk challenge; when Scarlet brings up the fact Jan had the worst critiques of the night, Jan counters she only had the worst critiques from the judges as a whole. (In Jan's opinion) Scarlet had the worst critique from RuPaul herself, which Jan feels should hold more weight since this is RuPaul's Drag Race, afterall.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Jan being declared safe in the season 12 Rusical is one of the most infamous safe placements ever, and Jan being safe has been a Running Gag among fans and queens ever since. In episode 4, Jan finally gets that coveted win when she performs as Lady Gaga in the halftime show challenge. Of course, that high doesn't last come lipsync time, when season 2's Jessica Wild (of all people) shows up and just curb-stomps Jan.
- Despite giving it her all in her rudemption lip sync, she comes short against Silky. Before he eliminates her, Rupaul offers Jan some heartwarming words of comfort and praise.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Poor, poor Jan. She gets to enjoy staying over Pandora for about 5 seconds before Alexis Mateo reveals the second lip stick. Then Trinity eliminates her a second time.
- You Keep Using That Word: Ever since Episode 3, she keeps using the judge's critique that she needs to "bring the funk" as a reason why she should be able to always give the 110% Jantasy. The other queens keep trying to tell her that "Funk" does not mean "Energy", and Jan needs to learn different challenges require different levels of performance. As a final punch to her ego, after declaring she's bringing the "funk" in her Girl Group verse, Ru tells Jan her performance is lacking "soul" now.
Pandora Boxx (6th)
Original Appearances: Season 2 (5th + Miss Congeniality), All Stars 1 (12th=)
"I have a box for delivery, but I heard you only accept them in the rear!"
- Auto-Tune: Her song in the talent show is dripping with this.
- Boring, but Practical: For the Half-Time Show challenge, Pandora decides to impersonate Carol Channing again (after she killed the impersonation already during the Snatch Game of her season). While she justifies her choice in that Channing was among the first celebrities ever to perform at the Superbowl, she does acknowledge the concern her choice could be seen as being safe. Unfortunately, she ends up being correct as her performance gets little attention from the judges.
- Butt-Monkey: Arguably of the entire franchise, despite being very beloved by the fandom. Pandora has managed to compete in three separate seasons and a grand total of 17 competitive episodes, without winning a single challenge (or lip sync, since she loses to rudemption champion Silky).
- Call-Back: For the Girl Group challenge her verse tries to intentionally invoke her CD-skipping quirk from her Talent Show performance from episode 1 ... it doesn't go over well, since not only have the judges heard it before, but per Michelle, Pandora wasted two lines of lyrics just by skipping "ha-ha-ha" over and over again.
- Catchphrase: Defied for laughs with both of her eliminations; during her first exit she just states she doesn't have a catch phrase before walking off, and when she loses the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown she leaves the stage once again stating she never bothered coming up with a catch phrase.
- Dresses the Same: For the Pop Art runway, she's one of three queens (along with Ginger and Eureka!) to use the famous Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe piece as inspiration for their outfit.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Gets annoyed that for the group vote in Episode 7 that it was a tie between herself and Jan; she argues that while she hasn't won any challenges she's also never been in the bottom, while that was Jan's third time being up for elimination.
- Flat Character: Gets critiqued for her celebrity choice of Kim Cattrall for Snatch Game of Love, while the judges admit she said a few funny things, Cattrall's character is a fairly one-note sex joke which got old quickly.
- I Can't Dance:
- Her talent show performance comes off like a parody of the typical dance extravaganzas that queens like Aja and Kennedy Davenport have done in the past. Pandora does a minor reveal, and... just makes awkward, uncomfortable faces before filling the empty space by shooting foam out of her top. It's so ridiculous and played for comedy that she lands a high placement.
- Comes back to bite her in the Girl Group challenge; while Pandora tries her best to keep up with her teammates it's just painfully obvious she is not up to par with them wheN it comes to dancing. That coupled with her lackluster song lyrics lands her in the bottom.
- Out of Focus: During the season's airing, Pandora noted on social media, with a hefty dose of Sarcasm Mode, that she didn't seem to have much in the way of confessionals or screen time in general. Pandora's not alone in this, since A'Keria also has very little confessionals early on. Still, episode 2 is especially notable in Pandora's case, in that she's barely even shown at all, to the point that some fans forgot she was even there till she walked the runway. Ironically in episode 7 when she finally gets some attention, its due to the fact she was out of focus in the Girl Group challenge.
- Overshadowed by Awesome:
- Makes the comment that she felt steamrolled in Snatch Game of Love by Eureka!'s loud and filthy portrayal of Divine, although Eureka! counters that she tried giving Pandora plenty of chances to show off and just didn't take advantage of them.
- This is true of Pandora to herself as well; she came into Snatch Game of Love knowing that she would have to fight against being overshadowed by her previous Snatch Game of Carol Channing, one of the most famous impersonations in Drag Race history.
- Shrinking Violet: Of her own admission.
- The Quiet One: Gets critiqued by the judges during the Table Talk challenge when she comes off as demure and soft-spoken compared to her teammates. Michelle Visage personally calls Pandora out, having worked with her on tour Michelle points out she knows Pandora has it in her to be loud and vibrant.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: In the third episode, the queens are tasked with coming up with adverts for drag side hustles. This falls straight into Pandora's wheelhouse, since she designs ads for a local TV station in her hometown for a job. While she doesn't quite manage to win the challenge, the inspired silliness of the resulting ad puts Pandy and her team in the top.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Although she loses the Rudemption lip sync to Silky, Rupaul offers Pandora some heartwarming words of comfort and praise for her star power throughout the season and career.
Trinity K. Bonet (5th)
Original Appearance: Season 6 (7th)
"You know they done fucked up right?"
- Achilles' Heel: Self-admitted (and demonstrated) during the Snatch Game of Love, Trinity has come back this season proving time and time again she has grown since Season 6; however Trinity just lacks the quick wit that is needed for improv challenges. Snatch Game was one of her worst moments, as any time Ru would ask her a question she would get tongue-tied and not have a response.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Although she made no effort in concealing her displeasure at the lip sync smack down, she was amused by Silky’s antics.
- Bad Impressionists: Her Whitney Houston impression in the Snatch Game of Love was an outright disaster. With flat characterization and an even worse performance, in which had to be asked the same question twice, she ended up in the bottom two for this.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While "Bitch" may be a strong word, Ginger accuses Trinity of this after she delivers a Rousing Speech to the bottom queens from the Commercial challenge, telling them they 'have nothing to worry about'. Ginger rightly points out while it's nice and all that Trinity is trying to uplift her competition, at the end of the night Trinity is still going to have to send one of them home.
- Blessed with Suck: Trinity is the first ever queen to be the Tie-Breaker for an elimination vote (normally the winning queen's vote does not count in the group vote should they lose the lip sync). This means Trinity gets all the responsibility of sending someone home, but doesn't earn the $10,000 tip that usually comes with it.
- Butt-Monkey: Noteworthy given how greatly she Took a Level in Badass. Nevertheless, she constantly struggled in multiple ways. For example:
- Trinity bombs the talent show and just barely survives elimination because Yara lost the lip sync against Coco.
- The next episode Yara lands in the bottom two and the group votes unanimously to save her…except for Trinity who ends up looking like a petty "mess", in her own words.
- She’s then forced to work with Yara in the episode, where she wins her very first challenge by playing a Butt-Monkey in the commercial and feels ignored by the queens who do not immediately congratulate her.
- Her victory ends by being promptly flattened in a lip sync against Dance Battler extraordinaire Laganja.
- After she scores her second win and becomes the statistical frontrunner in the competition, Trinity bombs the lip sync by losing her wig against Alexis Mateo, who despite being a decade older, executes flawless wardrobe reveals to the visible admiration of Carson Kressly and the other queens.
- Since the group vote is tied, Trinity has to eliminate Jan anyway. This makes Trinity the only remaining queen to lose a lip sync and earn not a single dollar in tips. (Yara and Jan also lost, but are already eliminated, Rajah, Ginger and Kylie either tied or won their lip syncs).
- Trinity goes from being the frontrunner in the competition to delivering one of the worst Snatch Game performances in the history of the show, not simply a bad characterization, but an outright defeated performance.
- Only gets to enjoy being the frontrunner for a week, before Ginger also wins her second challenge, plus Ginger has won every lip sync and has earned over half the grand prize in prizes and cash tips technically making her the frontrunner instead. To add insult to injury, both of Ginger's inflated tips came at the expense of Trinity losing her previous lip syncs and the pot rolling over.
- In the Episode 9 mini-challenge, she's tied as the next queen most likely to be eliminated, this in spite of Trinity having two wins, while two of her fellow queens only have one and Eureka! having none. However ... she only tied that vote because Trinity voted for herself to avoid drama.
- Akeria never accepts Trinity as trade.
- Finally, she is eliminated after making it to the final four and having it snatched away by Eureka! being allowed to return the competition. What's worse, it was Eureka! who won that episode's challenge (after Eureka! and Trinity have grown very close during the season) and then tied the resulting lip sync, where Trinity was eliminated twice, both by her bestie and the group vote.
- Call-Back: During the Snatch Game of Love episode Ru questions Trinity's ability to make Whitney Houston funny by asking her "what did you have for breakfast?" for her to respond in-character, with Trinity unable to reply and admitting being quick on her feet is a struggle for her. After bombing the aforementioned challenge, Ru tries one more time to get Trinity to give her a quip, asking her on the main stage "what did you have for breakfast?", only for Trinity to throw up her hands and reply with "nothing", a Whitney reference to the song 'I Have Nothing' but clearly also being over the celebrity improv.
- Cat Folk: Her character for the Drag Tots challenge, Fierce Felicia the Feline, a literal pussycat person who is a master of strutting the catwalk.
- Confidence Sabotage: Discussed when for the Half-Time Show challenge Trinity decides to do Beyoncé, and how Bianca Del Rio epically shot down her dream of impersonating Beyoncé during Season 6. In spite of this, Trinity doesn't let it bother her and goes on to get greatly positive critiques for her performance.
- Dating Service Disaster: Her Monologue challenge story involved her being catfished by a superfan using his roommate's photos who wanted to tell Trinity coming out as HIV positive on Drag Race saved his life ... Trinity responds by telling him to have his hot roommate call her (after thanking him, of course!)
- Despair Event Horizon: When Eureka! wins the monologue challenge at the final five after being brought back, Trinity, knowing she has the worst track record of the group, officially gives up as she tearfully mumbles "I was so close" over and over again.
- Doomed Defeatist: Episode 11 was this on the nose after Eureka! who had previous been eliminated was brought back into the competition. Trinity just can't get out of her own head that if Eureka! does well she will be the next to go, bringing it up or being dour so often the other queens outright call her out on it. Unfortunately, Trinity's fears are brought to reality after Eureka! wins the monologue challenge and she's the only 'safe' choice left to eliminate due to how many times she's been in the bottom. Even during deliberation, all Trinity can do is delay the inevitable and hold back her tears as she keeps repeating "I was so close" over and over.
- Epic Fail: Utterly fails the Snatch Game of Love with her Whitney Houston, it wasn't even that she wasn't funny in a "so bad, it's good" or a "point and laugh at the cringe" way, she literally had no responses to Ru and mostly sat struggling to come up with anything to say in-character.
- The Eeyore: Touched on when she's voted "Most Moody Queen", but exacerbated the following episode; while none of the other queens were too thrilled at the prospect of an eliminated queen returning, most eventually came around when they saw how hard their sisters were working for the opportunity ... everyone except Trinity who remained grumpy the entire time talking about how letting someone come back was a load of BS. Kylie calls out Trinity using the trope by name in confessionals.
- Fatal Flaw: While Trinity is undeniably talented, her biggest issue throughout the competition is her self-destructive behavior, which can cause her to stumble heavily in challenges or alienate the other queens.
- Genre Savvy:
- Subverted. She's fully aware that stand-up comedy - namely, Jasmine Masters' improvised stand-up, and Derrick Barry's long series of impressions - tends to do poorly on the talent show. Since she aced the comedy challenge on her season, she's confident that she can buck that trend. She fails miserably, since her delivery is a mess, and narrowly avoids elimination.
- Trinity also points out that everyone who's done Beyoncé on the show has stumbled hard (Tyra Sanchez, Kenya Michaels, and Asia O'Hara), but is still convinced in the halftime show challenge that she can pull it off. Trinity's dancing abilities are perfect for Beyoncé, and she places high and finally breaks the "curse."
- Greek Chorus: During the lip sync smack down.
- Hairstyle Malfunction: During a Lipsync for your Legacy against Alexis Mateo, Trinity was holding her own until her wig came flying off. You could see all the other queens watch in horror, as they know losing your wig almost guarantees a loss (which it does).
- His Own Worst Enemy:
- Few queens provide a better example of what Rupaul calls the "Inner Saboteur". Trinity is incredibly talented and charismatic, but also prone to self-destructive and defeatist behavior, which can lead her to shut down in the face of criticism or alienate the other queens because of her defensiveness.
- Gets upset after she ties with Eureka! as queen most likely to be eliminated next in the superlative mini-challenge ... but the only reason she even tied was because she voted for herself because she wanted to avoid drama.
- I Resemble That Remark!: In the Episode 9 mini-challenge after being called out for being the "Most Moody" of the cast, Trinity immediately tells the other queens they can go fuck themselves (although in a joking manner). She later expresses their picking her as moody actually did hurt her feelings, although also reluctantly agrees they aren't exactly wrong, either.
- Informed Loner: She initially worries because, unlike her fellow competitors, she has no friends in the competition to rely on in case she ends up in the bottom — and sure enough, this happens to her in the very first episode. When the group votes are revealed after Serena's elimination, she's very relieved to know that nobody voted for her, except for Serena herself and Yara (whose vote didn't count since she lost the Lip-Sync For Your Legacy), meaning that they believe in her all the same.
- It's All About Me: Has a moment of this after she wins the Commercial challenge, yet all the bottom queens come back to the werkroom and immediately start pleading their cases on why they should stay. Trinity is deeply annoyed that no one (aside from her own teammates) could give her a moment of their time to congratulate her.
- Motor Mouth: Trinity has a habit of talking fast, which can cause her to stumble. It tanks her in the first episode during her stand-up routine, tripping over her own words; and then again in the monologue episode, where in spite of her routine being very touching the judges point out she didn't give herself room to breath and them a chance to absorb her story.
- Person as Verb: After Trinity called out the other girls for not giving her kudos for winning in Episode 3, the queens have coined the term of being "Trinity'ed"; meaning to not immediately congradulate someone for winning a challenge above and before all other comments or discussion and risking them getting butthurt over it. Trinity is unamused.
- Psycho Ex-Boyfriend: Played for laughs (probably?); but Trinity reveals she once dated a "White Witch", who she fears might have cursed her after they broke up.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: While the likes of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are infamously known to be ill-advised choices for Snatch Game, Whitney Houston has also been rather lackluster the couple of times its been tried (Sahara Davenport's was fairly boring, Monét X Change's was considered manic and confusing for being the sweaty "Bobby!"-yelling Being Bobby Brown version, and Asia O'Hara was outright told she wasn't allowed to play her drugged-out version as it was in poor taste). Trinity still gives her Whitney a try since she knows all the mannerisms ... but because Whitney does not have a big personality, she has nothing to fall back on and ends up giving almost no responses during the challenge.
- The Resenter: She is, of her own admission, very sensitive. Unfortunately, the sentiments she clinches tend to be negative, such as Yara voting against her or the other queens not celebrating her first victory.
- Squee: Has this reaction to finding out Episode 8's guest judge will be Tina Knowles-Lawson, Beyoncé's mother.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Trinity, after finally getting her first win, is then tasked with facing the lip sync assassin: Laganja Estranja, one of the best dancers in the whole show, who makes her entrance by jumping into frame with a split. With a little sardonic humor, Trinity immediately turns to the judges and says "That first stunt don't count." The Oh, Crap! is just all over her face, and sure enough, Trinity's season 6 sister just eats her alive.
- Took a Level in Badass: Alongside Kylie, one of the biggest in All Stars. Back in season six Trinity struggled a lot with the challenges, such as the commercials or the RuSical. In All Stars, she wins both challenges!
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gets upset that the other queens called her the "Most Moody" in the Episode 9 mini-challenge, even after when she reflects that there may be some truth to it she still didn't like being called out on it. In addition, she didn't like the vote was tied including her as most likely to go home next ... even though she only won that vote because she voted for herself.
Eureka! (runner-up)*
Original Appearances: Season 9 (11th / departed), Season 10 (runner-up)
"Ahahaha! Eureka, you found it!...again...and again...and again. Well, maybe third time's a charm, hell!"
- Big Fun: This season is easily the most jovial Eureka's ever been.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Her Monologue challenge story involved the time she stuffed herself with cheddar jalapeño corn dogs before a show she had to pull a double for, only for her to shit herself during a split.
- Chewing the Scenery: Plays the legendary filth queen Divine for the Snatch Game of Love, and true to most of her performances she dominates the show ... although not always in the best way. Pandora quips at some point she felt railroaded by Eureka!'s character, although Eureka! takes issue with that since she stands firm she tried to give Pandora opportunites to shine.
- Control Freak: Working with Kylie and Ginger in the Girl Group challenge, Eureka! tries to critique their choreography and constantly insert her own opinions into their routine, to the chagrin of her teammates. Fortunately by the actual performance the group has come together to pull off a decent showing. During the Episode 9 mini-challenge, she's voted "Most Bossy" by the other queens.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Managed to defeat Silky, who had won six lipsyncs in a row, earning her place back into the competition.
- Dresses the Same: For the Pop Art runway, she's one of three queens (along with Ginger and Pandora) to use the famous Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe piece as inspiration for their outfit.
- Due to the Dead: She makes no secret of the fact that her run is in tribute to her recently-deceased mother, from her variety show performance right to the finale.
- Fat and Proud: As the self-proclaimed "Elephant Queen", she is very vocal over the fact she is a proud and outspoken plus-sized queen, and doesn't shrink away from talking about it.
- Final Boss: Plays this role for Silky, as the final opponent during the lip sync smack down.
- Flat Character: In spite of the fact Eureka! always gives high-energy, by Episode 6 the judges warn her that her performance can come off as manic and one-note. They appreciate that Eureka! is always willing to give a huge performance but that she's not good at taking critique in reigning it back.
- Gasshole: Voted "Most Gassy" by the rest of the queens during the Episode 9 mini-challenge, Eureka does not deny this claim.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Her character for the Drag Tots challenge, the evil villain Alexandria McQueen. The judges love the idea of a villain as her character, but critique she just didn't push it far enough with her mannerisms and demeanor.
- In Memoriam: Her variety show incorporates a lip-sync to her original song and projections on her large white gown to honor her mother, who passed away in 2019.
- Momma's Boy: Eureka! dedicates her Talent Show number to the memory of her mother, as well as her lip sync during the Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown. Much of her finale episode is spent talking about how she is trying so hard for her mother, knowing she's looking down on her and how proud she surely has to be.
- My Greatest Second Chance: In general All-Stars is her third chance, but this trope is played more straight after her elimination for just being safe the entire season versus her competitors who all have wins. After leaving the show Eureka! gets to compete in the "game within a game" Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown, taking down 6-week lip-sync champion Silky, then goes on to officially win her first episode and a $20,000 tip for the monologue challenge, cementing her spot in the final four.
- Oh, Crap!: Shares a brief but visible one with Ginger when it’s revealed Jan is eliminated instead of Pandora, whom she and Ginger voted against.
- Really Gets Around: Eureka! is proud to come forward that she's a big girl who likes sex; she cracks jokes about people who identify as "Chubby Chasers" during the Table Talk challenge, as well as refers to herself as a "sex magnet" in Episode 6 when herself and Trinity are sharing a cuddle in the werkroom.
- The Rival: Discussed after Ginger manages to win the Table Talk challenge in spite of Eureka!'s team doing better as a group. Eureka! points out the fact both Ginger and herself hit the same demographic as white, comedic, plus-sized queens, although she does say she doesn't want to discount Ginger's accomplishments nor try and declare that there isn't enough room in the show for both of them.
- Sadistic Choice: Being responsible for picking one of your fellow queen's lipsticks is this in general, but Eureka! points out when she finally gets her win in the penultimate challenge that her choice will literally select the final four, and that the only 'safe' choice is Trinity, her best friend in the competition. She spends the better part of deliberations trying to justify any other choice but coming up empty-handed.
- Second Place Is for Losers: Has been doing very well in the competition, hitting the top three several times but not scoring a win. When her team (with A'keria and Trinity) wins for the Table Talk challenge yet Ginger Minj is suddenly delcared the winner overall, Eureka! expresses her frustration that it felt like her week, and she's sick of being "safe". Pretty much becomes her character arc for the season; when it becomes time for her eventual elimination its solely due to the fact she's the only remaining queen who doesn't have a win.
- So Okay, It's Average: Her track record on All Stars; she's never won a challenge, however she's also never been up for elimination. Sadly, when the competition eventually reaches the point where everyone is up for elimination, her perfectly "safe" run this season isn't enough to save her over queens who actually have challenge wins. Finally breaks this narrative when she wins the "game within a game" Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown to make it back into the competition and wins the proceeding monologue episode.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Her justification for creating a villain character for the Drag Tots challenge, after the other queens labeled her as the most bossy, messy, gassy, and shady queen of the cast.
- Tragic Keepsake: During her lip sync for the "game within a game" Rudemption Lip-Sync Smackdown, Eureka! is wearing her late mother's Life Alert for good luck.
Ginger Minj (runner-up)
Original Appearances: Season 7 (runner-up), All Stars 2 (8th)
"Feeling froggy?"
- Aborted Arc: For the Pink Table Talk challenge, Ginger had wanted the topic of "motherhood" in order to share her story about wanting to adopt and start a family. Since Scarlet got that topic instead through a game of Rock–Paper–Scissors we never do find out about Ginger's journey towards motherhoodnote .
- The Ace: The second queen in the franchise to win Snatch Game twice (after Bendelacreme) and has won 60 grand between lip syncs and challenge prizes, already snatching more than half the grand prize money.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: While up against Lip-Sync Assassin Heidi N Closet and asked if she's ready to perform, Ginger says she's feeling "soft and supple", to Heidi's amusement and delight.
- Break the Haughty: Speaks about how fans of the show cite her failed run on All-Stars 2 as this, but argues the fact since filming happened immediately after Season 7 she didn't even have time to enjoy being "haughty" before being knocked off her supposed pedestal.
- Contractual Obligation Project: Has openly stated All-Stars 2 was this; she did not want to immediately film another season after Season 7, but her contract pretty much forced her to participate. She also says All-Stars 6 is not this and she actually feels prepared to compete this time.
- Do Well, But Not Perfect: Gets told during the monologue challenge that her delivery can come off too "Pageant" and therefore can be seen as disingenuous. Comes up again during final deliberations, that Ginger just comes off as too practiced sometimes.
- Dresses the Same:
- For the "Hot Tropics" runway, both herself and Jan presented looks based on the Jennifer Lopez Versace dress from the 2000 Grammy Awards.
- Happens again for the Pop Art runway, being one of three queens (along with Pandora and Eureka!) to use the famous Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe piece as inspiration for their outfit.
- Flat Character: For the Half-Time Show challenge, she ends up in the bottom 3 less for her actual performance, but moreso because the diva she selected to perform as, Fergie, just isn't a bombastic personality. Ginger did the best with what she had to work with, but it still came up a little short compared to some of the other performances.
- Greek Chorus: During the lip sync smack down.
- Hairstyle Malfunction: Invoked for her "Fashion Faux Pas" runway, burning off her bangs with a curling iron, thereafter burning her dress and her hand with it.
- Oh, Crap!: Shares a brief but visible one with Eureka! when it’s revealed Jan is eliminated instead of Pandora, whom she and Eureka! voted against.
- Overly Long Name: Her Drag Tots character Terralynne DuBois Devereaux Belle Jr. III, but you can just call her Terri-Belle.
- History Repeats: Just like in All-Stars 2, Ginger is in the bottom in the third episode after receiving praise for her performance in the challenge but bad feedback for her outfit, whose All-Stars 6 incarnation was a revisitation of the All-Stars 2 one. Adding onto the coincidences, the subsequent Lip-Sync for Your Legacy was won by a queen from the House of Edwards. Not quite Rule of Three however - she ultimately survives the elimination.
- Never Live It Down: Self-invoked when talking about her John Waters was one of her highest points in the competition, and she still receives eggs as gifts from fans. However, she doesn't like getting them because they're not that easy to carry around, especially when she's on tour.
- Never My Fault: When her team lands in the bottom for the Commercial challenge, she is quick to throw her teammates under the bus, stating had it not been for them she would clearly have been in the top. While Ginger may have been the strongest in her group their commercial just wasn't on par with the other teams, and Ginger was critiqued very harshly on her unflattering redemption runway look, yet during deliberation she is quick to agree the elimination was between A'keria and Silky (and maybe Jan), but she was safe.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: As a bit of a Running Gag, Ginger has wagered two challenge roles she wanted on a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (against Scarlet for the topic of "Motherhood" for the Table Talk challenge, and against Kylie for the lead role in the Ru-Merican Horror Stories challenge), and both times lost.
- Southern Belle: In addition to being her MO in general, directly invoked for her Drag Tots character Terri-Belle; drag daughter to Horri-Belle she can throw shade with her parasol but tries to be more lady-like like a good belle.
- Wallpaper Camouflage: Ginger wears bright pink camouflage into the Werk Room in episode 7, and it blends in almost perfectly with the pink walls. She gets a laugh out of the opposing girl group team by spying on them while pressed against the wall.
- Weight Woe: Discussed during the Table Talk challenge; Ginger is a plus-sized queen, however her weight is really out of her control. When she was fourteen she had severe intestinal blockage, requiring invasive surgery to fix, and as a result Ginger just started putting on weight no matter what she did. Sharing her history is such an important moment of vulnerability she wins the challenge in spite of the fact both her partners being on the bottom/safe.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Her Monologue challenge story involved her being caught by her step-father putting on her mother's shoes and feeling deeply ashamed, only for her mother to take her aside and gift her a pair of women's shoes of her own, showing that one of her parents did support her unconditionally.
Ra'jah D. O'Hara (runner-up)
Original Appearance: Season 11 (9th)
"Your salty homegirl's back, and she's sweeter than before!"
- Catchphrase: "Oh my gawd!" said in a sing-song voice.
- Subverted Catchphrase: In episode 10 at the revelation of the possible return of an eliminated queen, Ra'jah twists her own catch phrase around into a sing-song of "Oh no ma'am!" with the same inflection.
- Double Entendre: Invoked for the initial name of her Drag Tots character, Queen See-Me which Ru says outright sounds more like Queen Semen, she ends up changing it to I-See-You Queen.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: The basis of her character in the Drag Tots challenge, I-See-You Queen, a Purple Person with eyeballs all over her hands. The judges adore the concept, the it nets Ra'jah her second win this season.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Seen all season and called out in Episode 9, purple has become Ra'jah's signature color. Works out because everyone agrees it looks great on her! Since that episode everyone from Ra'jah to the judges turn her love of purple up to eleven, right up to her finale look.
- Greek Chorus: During the lip sync smack down.
- History Repeats: When both she and A'keria end up in the bottom together after the Ru-Merican Horror Stories challenge Ra'jah can't help but to continuously draw parallels between her current situation and her elimination in Season 11, since that also saw A'keria and herself in the bottom as well (only this time it's A'keria who gets eliminated).
- Momma's Boy: Discussed during the Table Talk challenge; while her relationship with her mother is a "work in progress", Ra'jah admits in her youth she was a total momma's boy and wants to get to that point again.
- Must Make Amends: Just because Ra'jah's improved her outlook on life doesn't mean she's forgotten her bitchy ways on season 11. On episode 3's Untucked, Ra'jah winds up having a conversation with Scarlet about how prickly she was - to Scarlet and pretty much everyone else - during their original season. She admits that she was just projecting, and apologizes for the way she treated Scarlet in particular. Scarlet immediately forgives her, praises Ra'jah for her growth, and gives her a hug.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Sees the Blue Ball as this, since in Season 11 she went home after an unconventional materials design challenge. Fortunately for her, this time the result's the polar opposite and she bags her first win.
- Plant Person: Her Rudemption outfit is a redo of the infamous Farm to Runway look from Season 11, with Ra'jah now pairing a form-fitting brown velvet gown (the "trunk") with a headpiece full of green leaves (the "foliage") to look like an anthropomorphic tree.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: During the Ru-Merican Horror Story challenge she decides to outright ignore Ross and Michelle's directions to stop using the Child-Like Voice during her performance. During critiques even though guest judge Emma Roberts liked Ra'jah's acting overall, Ross and Michelle (who were and always are main judges) critisize her inability to take direction, landing her in the bottom two.
- So Okay, It's Average: Invoked by the judges for her Snatch Game of Love impersonation of La Toya Jackson; Ra'jah got some zingers in but overall didn't give the judges what they wanted. They even suggest had Ra'jah worn a sailor hat or a headband it might have pushed the impersonation past just being average.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Confidently claims her personality is this, after Season 11 showed how salty she could be she is ready to show her sweet side in All-Stars.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Proudly notes sewing as her strongest talent, and she swiftly delivers on this promise by placing high in the variety show (throwing together a dress in just a minute), and winning both the Blue Ball and the Drag Tots sewing challenge. In fact, Ra'jah proudly states she personally created all of her All-Stars looks!
- Took a Level in Badass: In her original season she never placed more than safe, ending up in the bottom in four out of seven episodes she was in. On All-Stars, she nets herself a high placement and a win — cashing in $25,000 in tips — over the first two episodes.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Ra'jah realized how snippy and bitchy she was on season 11, and makes a point to be more approachable this season; refreshingly, she smiles a lot more. She even prevents a potential fight between Yara and Trinity in episode 3.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Her Monologue challenge story involved her mistakingly using masking tape instead of duct tape for her tuck, and her bits and pieces coming loose during a performance.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Gets critiqued for her delivery choices during the Ru-Merican Horror Story challenge; while the character was written to have a lisp, Ra'jah decided to couple the character with a higher-pitched Child-Like Voice as well, which the judges were not a fan of and attempted to talk her out of on-set to no avail.
Kylie Sonique Love (winner)
Original Appearance: Season 2 (9th)
"Oooooh girl...you got female."
- Be Yourself: Her biggest takeaway of her finale speech was learning that she didn't have to suppress her feminine side as a child, or her masculine side as a transgender woman; that she can feel proud and comfortable with who she is.
- Cure Your Gays: Her Monologue challenge story involved coming home from military school that her mother had shipped her off to to cure her of her homosexuality; only for Kylie to be put in drag by her friend and experience being openly accepted for being feminine for the first time in her life.
- Cute Witch: Her character for the Drag Tots challenge, Miss Behave. While the judges love the adorable witch character, they do feel Kylie could have delivered her lines with more gusto.
- Darkhorse Victory: Downplayed, since there's no apparent frontrunner in the final four, but it is true that Kylie was tied with Ginger for three bottom placements (compared to Ra'Jah's two, and Eureka's one where she was eliminated outright before returning), plus even Ginger had two challenge wins to Kylie's single win. Still, it's hard to argue that Kylie had a pretty consistently strong season despite this, including barely being pipped to the post in the Snatch Game Of Love by Ginger. However, as we learned from Sasha Velour, finishing strong is a major factor in the finale, and Kylie crushes the final musical number, and then in the lip-sync, she memorably stumbles and immediately saves it in spectacular fashion. And with that, Kylie Sonique Love wins the crown, eleven years on from her original season.
- Death or Glory Attack: During the final lip sync for the crown, Kylie slips and begins to fall, and the world gave a collective gasp…when Kylie seamlessly transitioned it into an Unnecessary Combat Roll. It may very well have been what pushed her ahead of her competitors and wins her the crown.
- Fanservice: Kylie has no qualms about showing off her immaculate figure. For example, her entrance look is a red mesh bodysuit. During the finale though, the judges both acknowledge Kylie's talents in this, but also that she is a multifaceted character that can deliver so much more.
- Greek Chorus: During the lip sync smack down.
- Meal Ticket: During Episode 9 she's voted "Most Likely to have a Sugar Daddy", after which she jokes that she's had a sugar daddy, she's been a sugar daddy, and has been a sugar momma too.
- Meaningful Rename: She now competes under her full (legal) name, to show that she wants to be authentically herself.
- My Greatest Second Chance:
- Kylie is notable for having been the first queen ever to be eliminated from Snatch Game with her lackluster Lady Gaga, however come Snatch Game of Love she kills it with her Dolly Parton (even keeping up with Snatch Game savant Ginger Minj). Ru tells Kylie outright during critiques she's redeemed herself for Season 2's performance.
- Really, her run as a whole during this season. She went home fourth in season 2, despite a famously hard-fought lipsync with Morgan McMichaels. Over the ensuing decade, she properly transitioned, began performing under her full name, and returned to reintroduce herself to the modern fan. Thanks to her renewed confidence as a performer and as a person, she went on to win her first challenge 11 years after her first appearance. And then she went on to win the season as a whole, in one of the show's biggest-ever comebacks in a season of big comebacks.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Has attempted to suppress her Southern twang for years, however by the finale's Country Song challenge, she finally embraces her natural Southern tones to the delight of the judges. On the main stage Kylie admits she used to be ashamed of her accent, but has learned to love it as part of herself.
- The Pratfall: Averted, in a particularly heart-stopping moment. During the final four's individual lip-syncs, Kylie trips, which the editors show in slow-motion, only for her to turn it into a somersault and keep performing from the floor without missing a beat. It's that level of bravado that wins her the crown.
- The Quiet One: Her natural softspoken demeanor becomes a hindrance when she's assigned as moderator for the Table Talk challenge. She claims she can turn up the volume, but doesn't like to do so since when she does she 'gets real country' as she puts it. Luckily she finally finds her volume button for the Ru-Merican Horror Stories challenge, securing her first-ever win 11 years after her original season.
- Recursive Crossdressing: For the Half-Time Show challenge she decides to impersonate Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Kylie even points out the fact she's a transgender woman portraying a man, quipping she's had over 20 years practice pretending to be the male gender already.
- Retraux: Her overall aesthetic is inspired by late 90s-early 2000s pop diva fashion. For example, she explicitly names Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as the inspirations for her Blue Denim Baby look.
- Shout-Out: Her Pop Art runway was a direct reference to the 1986 Andy Warhol-designed Barbie doll.
- Spirited Competitor: Subtly throughout the competition, but especially visible during the lip sync smack down. She was impressed by the effort the eliminated queens put.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Both herself and Jiggly use a Borrowed Catchphrase retired by RuPaul for being insensitive to the transgender community repurposed to be a positive transgender message for themselves as their entrance quote.
- Stripperific: Kylie's body looks incredible post-transition and she is not shy in showing it off, in fact her signature look could almost be all legs coupled with Underboobs while showing as much skin as possible, best exemplified by her skimpy yellow lipsync outfit against Manila Luzon. That being said, during final deliberations Michelle compliments Kylie that while she knows how to sell sex, there is so much more to her character beyond that.
- Took a Level in Badass: Along with TKB, one of the standout examples of this trope in the entire franchise. In her original season, Kylie was criticized for hiding behind a mask, struggled with the acting challenges, performed mediocrely in design challenges, had little in way of screen time because of a standoffish personality, and was the first queen eliminated in Snatch Game with a sloppy (though gymnastically impressive) lip sync. Come All Stars? Kylie presents her authentic self in show stopping runways, delivers some iconic lines of the season both hilarious and heartwarming, earns high praise for the design challenge, wins the acting challenge, and defeats Lip Sync Assassin and fan favorite Manila Luzon with a slick and clean, but not less acrobatic, performance. Her Snatch Game impersonation of Dolly Parton is (with the possible exception of Naomi Smalls) the single greatest improvement of any queen, with the general agreement that she would have won against anyone other than Ginger Minj. Kylie cements this by winning the whole season.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head:
- Her Blue Denim Baby outfit includes baby blue and pink, the colors of the transgender flag, which she also carries in one hand.
- Her finale runway has her in a shimmery American Flag outfit, Kylie stating she wants to reclaim the flag for herself and the people she represents.
