Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Survivor: Philippines

Go To

    open/close all folders 

The Tribes

    Matsing 

  • Adam and Eve Plot: Subverted. Malcolm and Denise were separated and became Sixth Rangers to each of the remaining two tribes.
  • A House Divided
  • Animal Motif/Animal Theme Naming: The Monkey.
  • Butt-Monkey: Which is very appropriate.
  • Can't Catch Up: Initially, the season was set up for a tribal Mêlée à Trois, but they were always in the losing end. Fortunately, the other two tribes still treated them as Worthy Opponents and not as Unknown Rivals.
  • Dark Horse Victory: From the ruins of this tribe came the Sole Survivor. It also gave birth to one of this shows' most dangerous and popular all-stars.
  • Dwindling Party: With the fact they lost the first four immunity challenges, it quickly led to just Malcolm and Denise being the last two remaining. However, instead of waiting to get voted off, the two persevered in their situation, making it to the final four.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Despite their disastrous performance, the last two members did great post merge, with one being ultimately crowned as the season's Sole Survivor, while the other became the season's Breakout Character which resulted in the latter becoming an all-star.
  • Epic Fail: They lost every single immunity challenge in the first four episodes! In some cases, it could even make them worse than Ulong! However, the fact that Denise and Malcolm made if farther than expected lessens this.
  • Failure Hero: Survivor's Trope Codifier. While Ulong and Maraamu are known for being dwindling parties, Ulong at least won a few reward challenges, and Maraamu won an immunity challenge. Matsing never won anything.
    • To be fair, for the first four episodes, the rewards and immunity were awarded together in a single challenge, rather than in separate ones. Still doesn't excuse the dismal performances of everyone but Malcolm and Denise, though.
  • Four-Philosophy Ensemble: The first four eliminated players.
    • Russell = The Cynic.
    • Angie = The Conflicted.
    • Roxy = The Realist.
    • Zane = The Optimist.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Likewise.
    • Russell = Choleric and Melancholic.
    • Angie = Sanguine.
    • Roxy = Leukine.
    • Zane = Phlgmatic.
  • Hope Spot: The fourth immunity challenge.
  • The Jinx
  • Meaningful Name: They are the Butt-Monkey of the season (if not the entire franchise). Guess what their Animal Motif and name is?
  • Primary-Color Champion
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The final two members fit, with Denise being blue to Malcolm's red.

    Tandang 

  • Divided We Fall: Once the merge happened, members started to flip on each other, and it went from the strongest tribe of the season, to a broken mess.
  • No-Damage Run: The entire tribe never went to a single tribal council pre-merge.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The final two members fit, with Lisa being blue to Skupin's red.
  • Showy Invincible Hero: Tandang has the distinction of being the first tribe to not lose a single representative before the merge. Not even Koror has the honor of achieving that.

    Kalabaw 

The Sole Survivor

    Denise Marie Stapley 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_denise_stapley.jpg

Allegiance: Matsing, Kalabaw, Dangrayne
Born: Jan 1971 (age 41)
From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Sex therapist and one of the two remaining members of Matsing after losing four straight immunity challenges. Absorbed to Kalabaw in Episode 5, then manages to become the Sixth Ranger to Kalabaw, somehow makes her way to the Final Three and win. Quite a good feat for one her age combined with being perhaps one of the unluckiest contestants to play the game.
  • Badass Boast: Her final plea to the jury.
  • Born Unlucky: Was placed with ill-fated Matsing and had to go through four straight tribal councils until she was absorbed into Kalabaw, which in turn saw two tribal councils and a medical evacuation. Yet despite that, she still managed to survive through to the merge and win the game - not so bad a feat for the first castaway in the series' history to attend every tribal council in a given season.
  • Brainy Brunette
  • Cool Old Lady: Unlike other old women who fulfilled a more motherly role (e.g. Tina, T-bird, Leslie and this season's Lisa, she was cool in her own way.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Abi.
  • Genius Bruiser
  • Guile Heroine: Helped organize Artis' ouster. Not only that, but her observational skills allowed her to find cracks and exploit them, keeping her alive until the very end of the game.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With her husband. Also with Malcolm as the last remaining members of Matsing.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Malcolm, who looks young enough to be her son. She was even tearful when she voted him out.
  • Jack of All Stats: While she wasn't seen as The Ace like Malcolm, Denise is still considered to be equally great at the physical, strategical and social aspects of the game.
  • Lady of War
  • Last of Her Kind: At the Final 3 she was both the last Matsing and Kalabaw member left.
  • Magnetic Heroine: Even Abi-Maria, her Sitcom Archnemesis, voted for her to win the prize.
  • Odd Friendship: She and Malcolm quickly became island best friends. She is a middle-aged therapist and he is a young bartender.
  • Pintsized Powerhouse: She's five-foot flat, but built as an ox and definitely no slouch in challenges.
  • Plucky Girl: Attended every single Tribal Council in the game and won, a first in the series.
  • The Smart Girl: Of Matsing.
  • Sixth Ranger: To Kalabaw, having been sent to their tribe after Matsing's dissolution.
  • Sole Survivor: Of the season
  • Warrior Therapist: Literally. She was an incredible athletic asset, but the major contributing factor to her victory were the skills she picked up as a therapist. She was incredibly good at reading people, so she knew what to say and when to say it. Jeff will also occasionally ask her for insights as a therapist during tribal councils.
    • The closest thing she actually had to a session was when Russel confessed to her that he was attacked as a child, which is why he takes losses to heart.
  • Worthy Opponent: The main reason that she was voted 6-1-1 was that she had fought her way to the top, having every disadvantage unlike the other two finalists who had both been on the dominating tribe.

Runners-Up

    Lisa Diane Whelchel 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_lisa_whelchel.jpg

Allegiance: Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: May 28, 1963 (age 49)
From: Dallas, Texas
Former teen star famous for playing rebellious rich kid Blair Warner in the 1979-1988 sitcom The Facts of Life and another player for Tandang. In contrast to her colorful personality onscreen, she admits to being a quite introverted woman behind the camera, as well as a huge Survivor fan. One of the recurring themes of the season was Lisa trying to find it in herself to play deceptively, despite being as far away from a deceptive person as one could get. She ended up in a tight alliance with Michael, which made it all the way to the Final Tribal Council. Unfortunately, the two of them were ravaged by the jury for their supposed "Holier Than Thou" attitudes, and Lisa came a tied second with Michael, having been beaten by Denise in the jury vote 6-1-1.
  • Ascended Fangirl: She's not only never missed a season, she's never missed an episode.
  • Celebrity Survivor: Already famous for her starring role on The Facts of Life.
  • Character Development: She starts off the game on the outs, feeling sorry for herself because she's unable to keep up with the game and the alliances that have already been formed. She becomes an incredibly ruthless strategist that reaches the finals, primarily using her wits. One can pinpoint Jeff's boot as the hinge pin of her transformation.
  • Cool Old Lady: Lisa was the oldest woman of the season and won the Fan Favorite award of the season.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: People expected her to be wishy-washy and disjointed at Final Tribal. Even though she lost to Denise, she put up a surprisingly strong Final performance, particularly in her answer to Penner.
  • Dark Secret: Supposedly, Lisa thought her past as Blair Warner would be this. That's why she kept her identity so guarded.
  • Easily Forgiven: For trying to blindside Malcolm.
  • Guile Heroine: Probably the worst physical performer (bar Abi) of Dangrayne. This was a non-issue because she still ended up a finalist.
  • Idiot Ball: She's way too honest, which caused her plan to blindside Malcolm to fail spectacularly and inadvertently gives him more power.
  • Large Ham: During the final six.
  • Loners Are Freaks: She was slow to form bonds with most of her tribemates, thanks to her introverted nature, which subsequently resulted in her being an outcast from the very beginning.
    • Later becomes Misunderstood Loner. As Tandang keeps winning challenges and avoiding Tribal Council, more of the bigger personalities start colliding and Lisa becomes the person everyone comes to with their problems.
  • My Tribe, Right or Wrong: Zig-zagged - she initially wanted the original Tandang members to stick together, but only because she had a stronger chance of winning against most of them. She still stuck to her vow once she realized that Pete and Abi may not be loyal in return, but admitted it was because she doesn't want to sound hypocritical after preaching loyalty earlier in the game. However, once Artis had been booted and the power shifted, she turned on the remaining members of her tribe with Mike.
  • Nice Girl: Easily the most friendly female of Tandang, and later Dangrayne. Even when she tried to blindside Malcolm, they reconciled quickly after Tribal Council.
  • No-Damage Run: Received no eviction votes.
  • Pink Means Feminine
  • Spanner in the Works: Achieved this in back-to-back episodes - first by accidentally finding Malcolm's hidden immunity idol and locking him into an alliance with her, and then by revealing he had it next episode, setting off a chaotic Gambit Pileup that ultimately got Jeff Kent eliminated.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad
  • Team Mom: Of Tandang.
  • Token Religious Teammate
  • You Never Asked: Part of why she never revealed who she was.

    Michael David Skupin - The Australian Outback 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_michael_skupin.jpg

Allegiance: Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: January 29, 1962 (age 50)
From: Farmington Hills, Michigan
Software publisher and alumnus of Australian Outback, and the series' first forced evacuee, after passing out from inhaling smoke from a bonfire and burning his hands. On his first outing in 11 years, he still proves to be a capable player at age 50 - but we can kind of see how he had such an accident his first time around. While he made it to the Final Tribal Council, he and Lisa were ravaged by the jury for the moves they made and their supposed "Holier Than Thou" attitudes, and lost in the jury vote to Denise, 6-1-1.
  • Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: He gets distracted in the middle of a conversation with Lisa by an ant.
  • Big Eater: According to Artis, he eats them out of house and home, much to the latter's annoyance.
  • Bitter Sweet Ending: Lost in the finale in a Curb-Stomp Battle, but he was finally able to finish the game in an impressive showing unlike what happened 12 years ago.
  • Broken Pedestal: Majority of the Tandang players were visibly pleased when they learned that they'll have him on their tribe. As the season progresses, not so much.
  • The Bus Came Back
  • Butt-Monkey: Spent the first half of the game perpetually on the outs with his tribe, while constantly suffering painful injuries.
  • Character Development: He is more matured compared to his stint in The Australian Outback, and also a little bit more strategic.
    • Subverted in one sense, however. Michael was widely disliked by his Tandang tribe this season, which might seem surprising at first, but if one recalls the episodes of The Australian Outback before his accident, he wasn't very well liked by Kucha either.
  • Cool Old Guy
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: He nearly beat Malcolm in several challenges. His victory in the final immunity challenge was the final nail in Malcolm's coffin.
  • Drunk on Milk: Doesn't eat sugar in real life, so when he had his first soda in 30 years during a reward, it messed with his head a little.
  • Freudian Trio: Of the three returnees, he is the Ego.
  • Glass Cannon: Despite being The Klutz, he still proved himself as a great physical player.
  • Graceful Loser
  • Happy Dance: He does one leaving Tribal Council when Abi was voted out.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Due to being Innocently Insensitive, as well as (allegedly) being an Insufferable Genius Destructive Savior, he became unpopular by majority of his teammates. During the final tribal, only Carter and RC made positive comments about him, with the former giving him his only vote to win (the latter voted for Lisa).
  • Innocently Insensitive: While he had good intentions for the tribe, his actions/decisions doesn't translate well to most of his teammates. Artis' post-game revelation about their Noodle Incident doesn't help things.
  • Irony: During the premiere of The Australian Outback, he claimed that anyone over 50 years old is a liability. That was 11 years prior, and he was 39 years old then.
  • Keet
  • The Klutz: If there was any possible way to injure himself, Michael found it.
  • Last-Name Basis
  • Like Father, Like Son: His oldest child, Michael, other than sharing his name, also shares his tendency towards injuries. In the day he was there, he managed to injure himself climbing a tree with injuries across his arms and torso; the irony was not lost on Skupin, who was immensely amused.
  • Loophole Abuse: One of the challenges required the contestants to balance a wooden statue in their hand while trying to knock the opponent's statue to the ground with their other hand. Probst never said that they couldn't simply toss their statue into the air and attack with both hands, so when his turn rolled around he did just that.
  • My Greatest Second Chance: Played entirely straight.
  • Nice Guy
  • No-Damage Run: Continues his trend from The Australian Outback - receives no votes to evict from the game.
  • Older and Wiser
  • Out of Focus: Surprisingly for a returning player, the only prominent screentime he received before the merge was in the premiere when his accident-prone nature was established and when other people were talking about him after that.
  • Real Men Love Jesus
  • Religious Bruiser
  • Running Gag: He manages to hurt himself practically every day.
  • Supporting Leader: On account of being Out of Focus.
  • Team Dad: Shared the role with Artis for Tandang.
  • Took a Level in Badass

The Jury

    Malcolm Scott Freberg 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_malcolm_freberg.jpg

Allegiance: Matsing, Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: May 7, 1986 (age 26)
From: Hermosa Springs, California
A bartender and the physical powerhouse of Matsing, and one of its two last remaining members follow four straight immunity losses. Once it was just him and Denise left, they were absorbed into apposing tribes, where Malcolm finally found new life in the game due to being immediately accepted by his tribemates. His wit and physical prowess also became some of his defining features, and he used those skills to bring himself to the Final Four, where he ended up choking on an immunity challenge when he needed it most, and was sent home in 4th place when the other three feared him beating them in a jury vote.

Being one of the fan favorites of the season, he was soon invited back to play in Survivor: Caramoan.

  • The Ace: Physically competent? Check. Adept at puzzles? Check. Awareness of the game and its strategies? Check. Survived the worst tribe in the show's history? Check. Beloved by the jury? Check. There's a damn good reason he was voted out when they reached the finals.
  • Action Survivor: Played with - he's a competent physical powerhouse, so he's naturally considered a threat by the other players. He has nothing but a smooth tongue, a sharp mind and an amiable personality to help him stay afloat for much longer in the game.
  • Affably Evil: Once he managed to survive Matsing's decimation, he started to get more and more powerful as the numbers dwindled. And all without having anything but a smile on his face.
  • Anti-Hero/Anti-Villain: By the finale he's morphed into more of a "villain", albeit more in terms of gameplay than in his actual personality. He's a Type I Anti Villain in gameplay, but a Type II Anti Hero in personality.
  • Ascended Fanboy: and how!
  • Big Brother Worship: His younger brother Miles mentions how he was always trying to follow in Malcolm's footsteps before going his own way.
  • The Big Guy: Of all the tribes he was on. Also doubles as The Smart Guy for being a Genius Bruiser.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Although he didn't win the game, he at least survived one of the worst tribes in the show's history, and got to win some individual immunity challenges along the way.
  • Born Unlucky: Starts of on Matsing and loses almost every single pre-merge challenge.
  • Breakout Character: Easily one of the most popular characters in a while. He was invited to play in the following season because of this.
  • The Charmer
  • The Chessmaster: Shown to be controlling Pete at the Final 10, performs an amazing Batman Gambit forcing everyone to be more careful about casting votes against him, and kept his idol despite the fact that everyone knows he has it. He also makes sure that Carter, Abi-Maria and Pete don't talk strategy while on reward with them.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally.
  • The Determinator: Clawed himself up from the wreckage of Matsing into a position of power.
    • At the Final 5 immunity challenge, he fell off the crawl-bridge and had to go back to the beginning, putting him FAR behind the other four, and being the last one to even start to put his puzzle together. He came from behind to win it handily. And note that he did this despite already being completely safe at Tribal Council with the Hidden Immunity Idol.
  • 11th-Hour Superpower: This is the reason by final 6 he became so hard to get rid of.
  • Friendly Enemy: To Peter and Abi.
  • Friend to All Children: Justified, as he was a teacher in Micronesia for a year.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: He was on one of the worst tribes in Survivor history pre-merge and was basically done for. Through some crazy strategy he makes the merge. At the merge he becomes the guy who controlled the entire game. Then even when he loses at the last minute he becomes an all-star. All on his first time playing.
  • Genius Bruiser: Attended Dartmouth, an Ivy League College. Also an ex-football player.
  • Genre Savvy: Having grown up watching the series (and eventually living the life), he proves this at the Final 10 through a daft combination of social prowess with Pete and managing to manipulate his entire tribe into not voting for him, despite there already being a plan in motion to oust him, not only keeping a grip on his hidden immunity idol but also ensuring trust in the people he was aligned with. He managed to get his way into the Final 4 with every single person singling him out as a physical and strategic threat.
  • Guile Anti-Villian: While he is a powerhouse in the physical sense, his most dangerous attribute is his cunning mind as it has helped him avoid going home since the merge and got him to the Final 4 long since he was targeted.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Take Troyzan, mix him with Ozzy, and you get Malcolm.
  • Nice Guy: To the point that he was immediately welcomed into his new tribe rather than being on the outs, as has happened before.
  • Noble Demon: A bit villainous after the merge but still a really Nice Guy.
  • Nothing Personal: After Lisa tried to have him blindsided to save Mike, Malcolm seemed to take it in stride and said this to her at Tribal Council.
  • Sixth Ranger: To Tandang. Subverted as he was not only welcomed with open arms, he managed to help usurp the control of the tribe from RC and Mike to Abi and Pete.
  • Spiteful Spit: Spits on his Matsing buff after the tribe is dissolved.
  • Talking Your Way Out: He manages to avoid elimination at the Final 10 simply by talking down anybody who considered voting for him, despite him being very much on the chopping block as an individual threat and a Hidden Immunity Idol in his possession. Lampshaded at the Final 4 where he mentions having to do damage control after every Tribal Council because people keep trying to vote him out and he keeps on having to talk everyone else down.
  • The Strategist: He's very good at being this to the point where, come Final 8, he achieved a dangerous position of power, even with everybody else knowing he had a Hidden Immunity Idol in his possession.
  • Too Clever by Half
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Lisa and Denise even had a conversation where they remarked that Malcolm is the kind of person who would put his arm around you with a big smile on his face as he sticks a knife between your ribs, and later, after he comes to visit you in the hospital with flowers—still smiling!—you'd be left thinking, "That was so sweet of him to come visit me!".
  • Worthy Opponent: The reason he was voted out before the Final Tribal Council - since Michael and Lisa didn't want him to win, they had no reason to take him.

    Abi-Maria Gomes 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_abi_maria_gomes.jpg

Allegiance: Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: October 21, 1979 (age 32)
From: Los Angeles, California
A Brazilian-born business major student and member of Tandang. She began the game allying with RC, but paranoia quickly got the better of her and she lashed out against perceived "betrayal". After being manipulated by Pete, she was turned on RC and started to inadvertently alienate herself from her tribemates, and quickly became the villain of the season, with most of the post-merge being spent trying to get her eliminated. Eventually, her former tribemates turned on her and ousted both Artis and Pete, after which she lost all the power she had. After making it to the Final 5, she tried to get everyone to take her to the end because there was little chance of her winning a jury vote, but the threat of Malcolm winning his way into the end was too much on everyone else's minds, so she was booted over Denise at 5th place.

Being one the more notable people from her season, Abi was on the ballot to return for an Second Chance season and was chosen by public vote to return for Survivor: Cambodia.

  • Break the Haughty: The fallout resulting from Pete's elimination sure did a number on her confidence.
  • Cassandra Truth: She repeatedly warned Lisa and Skupin that if they didn't eliminate Denise, they would lose to her. This prediction proved to be correct.
  • Character Development: After seeing how she acted during the game after the fact, she had a Heel Realization and Took a Level in Kindness by the time of the reunion.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: The mere appearance of RC being close with Mike caused her to accuse RC of disloyalty.
  • Dumb Blonde: Definitely not stupid, but often impulsive, hotheaded and socially unaware.
  • Entitled Bitch
  • Foreign Fanservice: Abi was Brazilian and good looking.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: The tribe openly stated that they disliked her, and she was not chosen for the reward challenge at the Final 9 because of being The Load. The only person who seemed willing to put up with her in the long term was Pete.
  • Funny Foreigner: Unintentionally this from time to time.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Especially at the Final 9, while trying to confront Lisa.
  • Heel Realization: Had one after watching the show.
  • Hypocrite: Turns on RC with a vengeance, thinking the latter had moved the immunity idol clue without telling her (though in reality Pete did), even angrily mentioning her "betrayal" at tribal council. This is an obvious double standard given that she found the idol herself and shared it with Pete, all behind RC's back.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Was originally portrayed as clueless as to how or why she was pissing off everyone else. But once she continued her behavior even after finding out nobody liked her, it became less innocent.
  • It's All About Me
  • Jerkass Has a Point: See Cassandra Truth above. Also, she made a very good point to Lisa and Skupin about the fact that they should take her to the end because she's unlikable and won't get jury votes.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's abrasive, obnoxious and certainly loudmouthed, but not a bad person, and she ultimately regretted her actions and redeemed herself.
  • The Load: Sat out of every challenge but the first one before Matsing's dissolution. On one challenge where she did take part, her not grasping its rules actively worked against her team (though they won anyway).
  • Male Gaze
  • Ms. Fanservice
  • Never My Fault
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: By playing her hidden immunity idol at the Final 8, she negates the three votes cast against her - only to break a planned tie with her ally Pete, sending him over to the Jury and leaving her all alone.
  • No Social Skills: Not quite as bad as the usual example of this trope, but it has been observed that one of her main problems is that she misses social cues. Jeff noted during tribal that some of the friction was likely due to her different cultural background, since Abi herself completely failed to even pick up on the fact that her tribemates disliked her.
  • Older Than They Look: She's in her early 30s.
  • Reality Is Unrealistic: Some people didn't believe she was Brazilian because she's "too white" and blonde.
  • Sitcom Archnemesis: To Denise.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Acted very arrogant at times, but it was revealed as the season went on that none of her tribemates, even close allies like Artis and Pete, liked her very much.
  • Spicy Latina: Well, she is Brazilian.
  • Ship Tease: With Pete and, following his elimination, briefly with Malcolm.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Breaks down crying during Tribal Council at the Final 8 once she discovers that everybody at Dangrayne (save Pete) hates her, saying that she's used to being very loved at home and that she had no idea she was considered unlikable.
  • Manchild: Can be quite immature for a 32-year-old.

    Carter J. Williams 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_carter_williams.jpg

Allegiance: Kalabaw, Dangrayne
Born: 1988 (age 24)
From: Shawnee, Kansas
Track-and-field coach and a player for Kalabaw. Despite receiving the least amount of screentime of anyone who made the merge, the one thing every one of his tribemates could agree on when talking about Carter was that he was a great kid who nobody could say a bad thing about. He initially played second-fiddle to Jeff Kent before the merge, and after Jeff was eliminated he found himself working with Jonathan Penner. However, once Jonathan was eliminated he was left on his own, and after he lost immunity at the Final 6 he was put on the chopping block against Abi-Maria, and the desire to use Abi as a finals goat sent Carter home in 6th place.
  • Ambiguously Gay: His appearance and some of his mannerisms (occasional limp-wristage, high voice) suggest this.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Why he was voted out of game. Everyone deemed him a jury and physical threat.
  • Camp Straight: Alternative possibility to Ambiguously Gay above.
  • Cool Teacher: A track-and-field coach.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A slow-learning, slightly effeminate castaway, right? Yes, except for outright winning two highly physical individual immunity challenges almost uncontested. Also part of why he had to go.
  • The Dragon: To Jeff Kent and, after Kent's elimination, Jonathan Penner.
  • Dumb Blonde: With moments of genius sprinkled in sometimes, such as coming up with the idea that won his team the Philippine village reward.
  • Dumb Muscle: He faltered at the mental challenges of the game, but tore through and won the physical individual challenges in a Curb-Stomp Battle.
  • Freudian Slip: When asking Penner who should they vote...
    "Penner or Katie? (Beat) I mean, Denise or Katie?"
  • Last of His Kind: Survived to become the last original Kalabaw member standing thanks to everyone else from his tribe being a bigger threat and a more desirable target than he was.
  • Worthy Opponent: More so in the challenges, which is why he was initially voted out over Abi.

    Jonathan Lindsay Penner - Cook Islands 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_jonathan_penner.jpg

Allegiance: Kalabaw, Dangrayne
Born: March 5, 1962 (age 50)
From: Los Angeles, California
Film/TV writer and alumnus from Cook Islands and Micronesia, now playing for Kalabaw in what he considers his third chance to win, after his first outing ended with eviction, and the second saw him forcibly evacuated due to a knee infection (the latter which served as his reason to enter this season). After initially having it good for the first half of the game, his rejection of a pact with Lisa and Michael, compounded with Abi-Maria winning immunity, meant that Jonathan was the only ideal target, and he was voted out once again in 7th place.
  • Character Development: Plays a much better social game here than in either of his preceding seasons.
  • The Chessmaster: Despite being a target from the very first day, he managed to survive well past the extinction of most of Kalabaw and into Dangrayne with his diplomacy skills alone.
  • Cool Old Guy: Jonathan was the oldest member of Kalabaw. He was very witty and competent in the game.
  • Determinator
  • Fourth-Wall Observer: Approaches this at the Final 9, when he tried to convince Lisa to turn against her alliance by asking her to consider what "story" she'd like to tell.
  • Freudian Trio: Of the three returnees, he is the Id.
  • Graceful Loser: Zig-Zagged. He wasn't a Sore Loser when voted off, but he refused to hug the remaining players except Carter in his exit.
  • Idiot Ball: He made a few crucial blunders that cost him the game. It was his rogue vote for Abi that sent Jeff Kent in 10th place, and it was his refusal of Michael and Lisa's offer of an alliance that led them to make a final four deal with Malcolm and Denise.
  • My Greatest Third Chance: He won his first individual immunity challenge in three attempts at the game, even lampshading the fact. This season is also regarded as when his social game was at his best, especially when he was targeted three times in a row.

  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: To all three of the finalists - he calls Denise a bitch in more-or-less words, tells Skupin he'll never have his name written down.
  • Spanner in the Works: Had he not won the Final 10 immunity challenge, the subsequent Tribal Council would have been far more predictable.
  • Team Dad: As seen when Dana was evacuated.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Overall better game and was able to win challenges.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Compare Cook Islands to Philippines.
  • Warrior Therapist: See his talk with Lisa at the Final 9, where he helps her work out some of her issues while simultaneously trying to influence her vote to spare him.
  • Worthy Opponent: The other players know how much of a threat he is which is why he is targeted to be voted out. Pete even compliments him for this when voting for him at the Final 9.

    Peter Gregory "Pete" Yurkowski 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_pete_yurkowski.jpg

Allegiance: Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: March 3, 1988 (age 24)
From: Holmdel, New Jersey
Ukrainian-blooded engineering graduate, fashion model and another power player for Tandang - or so he was initially billed. As time passed, his manipulative ways - not the least of which is pitting RC and Abi against each other - started to wane once he tried to bring Malcolm to his side, unaware that he's a lot smarter than he looked. He eventually gets booted out after Abi plays her hidden immunity idol, only to negate their 3-vote tie, putting him out of the game in 8th place.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: Pete was more than content to let Abi and R.C. think he was just a pretty face. Pete was the only who cause the falling out between Abi and R.C.
  • The Chessmaster: He's billed as one at first, by managing to break up the trust Abi and RC had in each other by turning them against each other, but it just so happened that Jonathan and Malcolm were better.
  • Evil Gloating: Started to slip into this once he turned Abi and RC against each other, and later on once Tandang started to run the game.
  • Genius Bruiser: He fills both The Big Guy and The Smart Guy roles for Tandang well.
  • Graceful Loser: His final words were nothing but nice things about Abi-Maria, whom everyone else loathed throughout the game.
  • Hidden Depths: One would expect him to be much like the jock stereotype thanks to his looks and portrayed personality, but in real life he's actually a huge gamer and nerd, openly posting gaming pictures and World of Warcraft screenshots on his social media outlets.
  • Idiot Ball: Things would've gone a lot differently had he followed Lisa's plan to blindside Malcolm instead of running right to him.
  • Tall, Dark, Handsome and Snarky
  • The Trickster: Pete was the third recurrence of the Survivor Trickster archetype following Jonny Fairplay (the prototype), Edgardo Rivera and Tyson Apostol. Pete tried to create chaos pre-mege to his advantage. At Tandang after Abi-Maria found the hidden immunity idol, her ally Pete intentionally planted Abi's idol clue in RC's bag at the top so that it would fall out easily at the shelter. When this happened, Abi-Maria was enraged at RC and told her, "If you fuck with me, you're dead!" Pete meanwhile was revelling in his successful creation of chaos in confessional. He laughed, "I think it's hilarious. All you have to do is just create a little chaos because keeping people on their toes is a big part of my strategy. I don't want anybody to be able to play their game. I want them to play my game."

    Artis Lewis Silvester 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_artis_silvester.jpg

Allegiance: Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: April 1, 1959 (age 53)
From: Terry Town, Louisiana
Computer engineer, cancer survivor and player for Tandang. Aligned with "villains" Pete and Abi after RC was pushed out of the group. Was targeted at the Final 9 because he was the least likely of the three to have Tandang's idol, and was ultimately voted out in 9th place.

    Jeffrey Franklin "Jeff" Kent 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_jeff_kent.jpg

Allegiance: Kalabaw, Dangrayne
Born: March 7, 1968 (age 44)
From: Austin, Texas
Former Major League Baseball player, five-time All Star, 2000 National League MVP and a player for Kalabaw. Desired to get rid of Penner since the beginning, and tried voting him out the first chance he got. This ended up backfiring on at the next Tribal Council: Penner ended up winning immunity, and in the resulting scramble, the very people he schemed with to vote Penner out end up voting him out instead in 10th place.
  • Celebrity Survivor: Already famous as an All-Star MLB baseball pitcher.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: To Penner.
  • Enemy Mine: From the very beginning he had intended to get rid of Penner, but despite this they formed a strong alliance for the first half of the game. He quickly turned on him after they made it to the merge, however
  • Entitled Bastard: Former professional baseball player, which made for a contrast with Lisa Whelchel, who like Kent was moderately famous before Survivor but who was way nicer to her fellow contestants.
  • Game-Breaking Injury: Subverted. While it's played up in both the advertisements and the episodes that his twisted knee might hinder him or have him taken out of the game, it barely came up after the second episode.
  • Good Ol' Boy: Jeff's casting archetype is this. In Jeff Probst's cast assessment of Kent, Probst articulates that they would have cast Kent on the show regardless of his baseball career. "He's that tough farmer type that gets it done", Probst said. Some other men who were cast for the same Good Old Boy character trope in other seasons are Rodger Bingham, Big Tom Buchanan, Travis 'Bubba' Sampson, James Clement, Brandon Bellinger, Boo Bernis, Chicken Morris, J.T. Thomas, Ralph Kaiser, Rick Nelson, Caleb Bankston, Jeremiah Wood, Keith Nale, Mike Holloway, Caleb Bankston, Ben Driebergen and Carl Boudreaux.
  • Properly Paranoid: Believed Dawson was on to him and his past as a ballplayer just because she brought up sports at camp, so he convinced his alliance to boot her to keep it a secret. Luckily for him, he helped eliminate the one person in the game who knew who he was.
  • The Resenter: While majority of the castaways are against returning players, Jeff seems to despise them in a very different level.
    "I don't want Russell, Skupin or Penner to win."
  • Retired Badass: Former baseball player.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Refused to ally with Penner against Pete solely because he was a returning player. That cost him dearly.
  • Unknown Rival: Was obsessed with getting Penner out, even giving him a four-fingered handshake to show the world his disdain for him. Penner had no clue.
    • Even better is that it was ultimately Penner's screw up that lead Jeff to be eliminated and it was a pure accident.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Played straight: As a professional baseball player, Jeff Kent was widely reviled as an asshole by teammates everywhere he played and generally had a horrible reputation as a human being. However, he was a solid baseball player who largely kept most of his darker beliefs (such as his homophobia, going so far as to contributing funds to an anti-gay legislation for a state he didn't even live in) on the downlow and who lucked up in that he spent most of his days playing alongside Barry Bonds, who was an even bigger Jerkass than Kent, which allowed Kent to downplay his reputation professionally for the bulk of his career. As such, Jeff Kent received a favorable edit from the producers and was widely liked by his teammates, though the bulk of his teammates were uninterested in baseball and as such, only knew him from the press release given about his career and Kent removed the only player who showed any interest in sports, simply on the FEAR that she MIGHT have heard one of the many stories about him.

    Roberta Christine "R.C." Saint-Amour 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_rc_saint_amour.jpg

Allegiance: Tandang, Dangrayne
Born: 1985 (age 27)
From: New York City, New York
Investment banker and a major player for Tandang. While she was initially in a position of power, with a solid alliance with Abi-Maria, Pete and Michael, Abi-Maria and Pete pulled a coup once Malcolm arrived, sending her original game crumbling to the ground. At her first Tribal Council, in the merged tribe, Jonathan played his hidden idol, blocking the five votes that would have eliminated him, and caused her to fall through the trapdoor on four, eliminating her at 11th place.
  • Butt-Monkey: Was bullied by most of Tandang for majority of the pre-merge game (one explanation for Nice Character, Mean Actor below), and then became the first person voted off the game at her first and only tribal council.
  • Fall Guy: Pete decides to sow chaos in the camp by hiding the clue in RC's bag, so Abby is pissed and everyone wants RC out.
  • Fur Bikini: Wears a (fake) leopard-skin designed swimsuit.
  • Hidden Depths: She's actually a member of her college's swimming team.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Lisa.
  • The Lancer: Of Tandang.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Let's be real, she's practically leaking out of her bathing suit.
  • Nice Character, Mean Actor: Many stories have popped up about RC and her behavior both on the show and off the show, but listing them all would take up an entire page - what can be said, however, is that RC received a much more generous portrayal than someone who acted like she did off-camera should have.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: RC
  • The Tease: Knowing she was on the bottom of the Tandang totem pole, she tried to flirt with Malcolm in order to get him on her side. Nothing came out of this and she was voted off

Voted Out

    Kathryn J. "Katie" Hanson 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_katie_hanson.jpg

Allegiance: Kalabaw
Born: 1990 (age 22)
From: Newark, Delaware
2011 Miss Delaware and a player for Kalabaw. After being forced to align with Dana and Dawson thanks to Penner pulling in Carter and Jeff, Dana's sudden sickness and her unwillingness to cause a tie to save Dawson end up leaving her to the odd woman out. Despite Carter and Jeff debating the possibility of voting Jonathan out before the merge, they end up voting out Katie instead in 12th place.

    Sarah Naomi Dawson 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_sarah_dawson.jpg

Allegiance: Kalabaw
Born: November 15, 1983 (age 28)
From: Silver Spring, Maryland
An insurance saleswoman and member of Kalabaw. The only person on Kalabaw to recognize Jeff Kent, she was forced to align with the other females once Jeff and Carter aligned with Penner, but her game came crashing to the ground after Dana was evacuated, and once Jeff realized she knew who he was, she was the first target, and the first person voted out of Kalabaw in 13th place.
  • Cloudcuckoolander
  • Last-Name Basis: "Dawson", and she even refers to Jeff Probst in the same way. (Helps that she's playing with a player that is also named Jeff, to help circumvent confusion.)
  • Loony Fan: Of Jeff Probst himself, as she took the opportunity once she was voted out to hug him seemingly against his will. During the reunion show, the minute Probst addressed her she ran up and gave him a big smooch on the lips.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Hinting that she knew who Jeff Kent was did much more damage than outright telling Kalabaw.
  • She Knows Too Much: Played a role in her boot, as she knew about Jeff Kent's past.
  • Three First Names

    Dana Michele Lambert note  
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_dana_lambert.jpg

Allegiance: Kalabaw
Born: December 13, 1979 (age 32)
From: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Cosmetologist and a power player for Kalabaw. While she was initially a well-liked, well-respected member of her tribe, she was stricken with illness shortly after the tribe dissolution, and the medical team was called in to check on her. While they told her she could stay in another 12 hours before checking up on her condition again, the pain was too much for her and she agreed to pull herself out of the game for her personal health, finishing up in 14th place.
  • No-Damage Run: Technically, she never had to go to tribal council, and therefore, received no votes throughout the season.
  • Non-Gameplay Elimination: Although she did not have a life-threatening condition, she pulled out due to concerns about her recovery time. Pretty shocking for one of Kalabaw's strongest players. As a result, she was considered to have "Quit", but Probst was a lot more sympathetic than he normally is to people who quit.
  • Spiky Hair: Dana stated her friends believed they was her claim to fame.

    Russell Sherman Swan - Samoa 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_russell_swan.jpg

Allegiance: Matsing
Born: February 17, 1967 (age 45)
From: Glenside, Pennsylvania
Blacking out twice from dehydration during his outing in Samoa and being forcibly evacuated, Philadelphia attorney Russell comes back with a mission to win the second time around. Unfortunately, his pushy, loud-mouthed attitude didn't win him many friends in the tribe, who only kept him around for 10 days because they needed his experience. Their loss in four straight challenges also didn't help his temper and sanity. Come the fourth tribal council, Russell was shocked when Malcolm and Denise, whom he thought were now gunning for each other (and believing himself a swing vote), instead joined forces (which was their plan all along) to boot him out of the game in 15th place.
  • Genre Blindness: Survivor is a game where people take the word "trust" with a grain of salt. Alas, Russell is too quick to trust Malcolm and Denise when they approached him with an offer to vote "the other", not thinking for a second that they may have him on their minds.

    Angelia Nichole "Angie" Layton 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_angie_layton.jpg

Allegiance: Matsing
Born: October 8, 1992 (age 20)
From: Provo, Utah
The youngest of the 18 castaways, Angie, a college student, model and beauty queen. She comes across as nothing but a flirt to Matsing's resident hot guy Malcolm, and nigh-useless when she tried to contribute to her tribe. Despite doing everything she could to prove her more worthy of staying than Russell, she was voted out in 16th place.

    Roxanne R. Morris 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_roxanne_morris.jpg

Allegiance: Matsing
Born: 1984 (age 28)
From: Brooklyn, New York
Seminary student and an outspoken member of Matsing, being the first to suspect something going on between Malcolm and Angie. That, however, came back to bite her when they targeted her for elimination, and she was voted out in 17th place.

    Gary Zane Knight 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s25_zane_knight.jpg

Allegiance: Matsing
Born: February 20, 1984 (age 28)
From: Danville, Virginia
Tire repair boy and the first person voted out of the season. During the first tribal council, Zane made a gamble to volunteer for eviction by taking the blame for their loss in the first immunity challenge (after running short of breath, which he attributes to withdrawal symptoms from smoking) just to see who would want him around. And it worked too well: the entire tribe, then rearing to boot Russell out, instead voted him off in 18th place.
  • The Chessmaster: Inverted; seeing as he applied a checkers term to a statement of him being this trope, he's probably never played chess in his life.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top