History EliminationHoudini / TotalDrama

[[folder: Ridonculous Race]]
* Like many seasons before it, an episode will oftentimes conveniently be a non-elimination round if [[SpotlightStealingSquad a more important character]] happens to have placed last.
* Rock & Spud placed near the bottom of the rankings in almost every leg in the first few episodes, and have skirted elimination on multiple occasions, yet they keep on surviving due to either other teams making game-ending errors or certain legs of the race being non-elimination. This is even [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] InUniverse, as Rock points out their consistent poor performances to Spud. Rock steps up his game, getting them a few deserved higher placements around the midgame, but Spud... [[TheLoad doesn't]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, their elimination inverts this, with them being taken out by a completely-unprecedented double elimination after seemingly beating Chet and Lorenzo, after only placing so low in that particular challenge due to a few freak accidents.]]
* Ryan & Stephanie, despite having [[TeethClenchedTeamwork worse teamwork skills]] [[ManChild and acting more immature]] [[UpToEleven than the Stepbrothers]], somehow kept avoiding elimination and made it to [[spoiler: 6th place]]. They came within a hair's breadth of being eliminated in an early leg only to beat [[spoiler: Tom & Jen]] in a footrace to the Chill Zone, and survived two utterly disastrous legs, including arguably the worst-run leg of the entire race, thanks to them turning out to be non-elimination rounds meaning that they technically lost the race a total of '''three''' times before being eliminated.
* Jacques and Josee, the season's [[BigBad antagonists]], received more penalties than any other team, and yet still managed to stay in the race. The most blatant/notorious examples are in "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Darjeel with It" which are back-to-back episodes. In the former, Josee sabotages the Sisters during the challenge by stealing their ball and knocking out Kitty's light on her hard hat which they're penalized a half-hour for, only to ''still end up placing 1st'. In the latter, they get an ''hour long'' penalty for decoupling the rest of the teams' train cars, and the Daters [[spoiler:[[TooDumbToLive stop right before the Chill Zone to tell Don that they're dating again and make out just long enough for]]]] the Ice Dancers' penalty to end, and allow them to jump onto the carpet.
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* Ryan & Stephanie, despite having [[TeethClenchedTeamwork worse teamwork skills]] [[ManChild and acting more immature]] [[UpToEleven than the Stepbrothers]], somehow keep avoiding elimination. They came within a hair's breadth of being eliminated in an early leg only to beat [[spoiler: Tom & Jen]] in a footrace to the Chill Zone, and have survived two utterly disastrous legs, including arguably the worst-run leg of the entire race, thanks to them turning out to be non-elimination rounds.
* Jacques and Josee, the season's [[BigBad antagonists]], have received more penalties than any other team, and yet still manage to stay in the race. The most blatant example is in "Darjeel with It" when they get an ''hour long'' penalty for decoupling the rest of the teams' train cars, and the Daters [[spoiler:[[TooDumbToLive stop right before the Chill Zone to tell Don that they're dating again and make out just long enough for]]]] the Ice Dancers' penalty to end, and allow them to jump onto the carpet.

* Jacques and Josee, the season's [[BigBad antagonists]], have received more penalties than any other team, and yet still manage to stay in the race. The most blatant example is in "Darjeel with It" when they get an ''hour long'' penalty for decoupling the rest of the teams' train cars, and the Daters [[spoiler:TooDumbToLive stop right before the Chill Zone to tell Don that they're dating again and make out just long enough for]] the Ice Dancers' penalty to end, and allow them to jump onto the carpet.

* Ryan & Stephanie, despite having [[UpToEleven worse teamwork skills]] [[ManChild and acting like bigger men children]] [[UpToEleven than the Stepbrothers]], somehow keep avoiding elimination. They came within a hair's breadth of being eliminated in an early leg only to beat [[spoiler: Tom & Jen]] in a footrace to the Chill Zone, and have survived two utterly disastrous legs, including arguably the worst-run leg of the entire race, thanks to them turning out to be non-elimination rounds.

* Ryan & Stephanie, despite having [[UpToEleven worse teamwork skills than the Stepbrothers]], somehow keep avoiding elimination. They came within a hair's breadth of being eliminated in an early leg only to beat [[spoiler: Tom & Jen]] in a footrace to the Chill Zone, and have survived two utterly disastrous legs, including arguably the worst-run leg of the entire race, thanks to them turning out to be non-elimination rounds.

* Rock & Spud placed near the bottom of the rankings in almost every leg in the first few episodes, and have skirted elimination on multiple occasions, yet they keep on surviving due to either other teams making game-ending errors or certain legs of the race being non-elimination. This is even [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] InUniverse, as Rock points out their consistent poor performances to Spud. Rock steps up his game, getting them a few deserved higher placements around the midgame, but Spud... [[TheLoad doesn't]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, their elimination inverts this, with them being taken out by a completely-unprecedented double elimination after seemingly beating Chet and Lorenzo.]]

* Rock & Spud placed near the bottom of the rankings in almost every leg in the first few episodes, and have skirted elimination on multiple occasions, yet they keep on surviving due to either other teams making game-ending errors or certain legs of the race being non-elimination. This is even [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] InUniverse, as Rock points out their consistent poor performances to Spud. Rock steps up his game, getting them a few deserved higher placements around the midgame, but Spud... [[TheLoad doesn't]].

* Rock & Spud placed near the bottom of the rankings in almost every leg in the first few episodes, and have skirted elimination on multiple occasions, yet they keep on surviving due to other teams making game-ending errors. This is even [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] InUniverse, as Rock points out their consistent poor performances to Spud. Rock steps up his game, getting them a few deserved higher placements around the midgame, but Spud... [[TheLoad doesn't]].

* Rock & Spud place near the bottom of the rankings in almost every leg, and have skirted elimination on multiple occasions, yet they keep on surviving due to other teams making game-ending errors. This is even [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] InUniverse, as Rock points out their consistent poor performances to Spud.

* Duncan. In ''World Tour'' episode "Greece's Pieces", when he got the most votes against him, Chris "eliminates" an intern instead of him, stating that he is keeping Duncan around for the drama. He was also notorious in ''Action'' for being in the bottom two a ''lot'' after the merge with "Rock n' Rule" being the most infamous example.

* Owen stays on the show simply for not having any enemies, despite often contributing nothing to his team. The most prominent examples being "Trial By Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass, as well as in "Haute Camp-ture" where Leshawna was accidentally eliminated for being popular when Owen was clearly more loved at the time. Very little justification is given as to how he lasts so long other than being a CreatorsPet.

* Duncan qualifies as well. He's been targeted for elimination three challenges in a row, yet he managed to escape all of them because of manipulation and, in the case of the latter two, sheer luck. It's also worth noting that the third of these elimination ceremonies was the first time [[OhCrap Duncan ever looked nervous during it, as if he knew that he couldn't keep this streak up for this long]].

* Duncan qualifies as well. He's been targeted for elimination three challenges in a row, yet he managed to escape all of them because of manipulation and, in the case of the latter two, sheer luck. It's also worth noting that the third of these elimination ceremonies was the first time Duncan ever looked nervous during it, as if he knew that he couldn't keep this streak up for this long.

* [[ManipulativeBastard Alejandro]] escapes a definite elimination in the Final 4 due to [[spoiler: Sierra blowing up Chris's plane.]]

* Scott. In ''ROTI'', despite [[TeamKiller deliberately sabotaging his own team]], he manages to outwit and outplay everyone [[spoiler:up until the final four]]. While he developed into a much more sympathetic character in ''All-Stars'', he rarely did anything useful or strategic, and yet somehow ended up [[spoiler: in the final ''three'']].

* [[SturgeonsLaw For obvious reasons,]] most fan competitions make their favorite character and/or the villain of the season into this. One particularly bad example was a remake where in the cliff diving challenge, Bridgette simply ''tripped'' over the cliff instead of diving, which counted as her doing the challenge accidentally and getting invincibility from it.

* Heather does this numerous times, often avoiding elimination by either winning invincibility or somehow manipulating someone else into being sent home. One of the most blatant examples is in "Wawanawka Gone Wild" where she gets hit by a tranquilizer dart which makes her perfect elimination bait after every stunt she's pulled all season yet Izzy is the one eliminated because... Actually, it's not really explained why nobody jumped at a rare opportunity to vote Heather off.

* Duncan. In "Greece's Pieces", when he got the most votes against him, Chris "eliminates" an intern instead of him, stating that he is keeping Duncan around for the drama. He was also notorious in ''Action'' for being in the bottom two a ''lot'' after the merge with "Rock n' Rule" being the most infamous example.
* [[ManipulativeBastard Alejandro]] in escapes a definite elimination due to [[spoiler: Sierra blowing up Chris's plane.]]

* Scott. Despite [[TeamKiller deliberately sabotaging his own team]], he manages to outwit and outplay everyone [[spoiler:up until the final four]].
* Lightning. He somehow manages to make it through the entire season despite making little to no plot contribution, or winning any challenges, simply because he's never targeted despite being such a huge threat. This changes next season when he is second out.

* Scott (again). While he developed into a much more sympathetic character, he rarely did anything useful or strategic, and yet somehow ended up [[spoiler: in the final ''three'']].

* Max. In episode 6 of he is spared from elimination by [[spoiler: Sugar selling Ella out to Chris for breaking her no singing promise during the challenge (even though it helped them win)]]. He also unknowingly hindered all of Scarlett's plans to get rid of him prior to [[spoiler:his actual elimination]] in episode 10. He may have sucked at being evil but he sure was good at sticking around to make it all the way to [[spoiler: 5th place]].
* Topher is one as well. Outside of his plot of trying take Chris' job, he contributes little to nothing in the season. He fails to take part in more than half the challenges as well as not interacting with anyone other than Chris (and Sugar in the first episode) until the 7th episode. This is a more low-key example compared to Max though as he managed to make it as far as [[spoiler: the Final 5]] while Topher got [[spoiler: 8th place]] and was the last contestant to be eliminated before the merge.

* Owen stays on the show simply for not having any enemies, despite often contributing nothing to his team. The most prominent examples being "Trial By Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass, as well as in "Haute Camp-ture" where Leshawna was accidentally eliminated for being popular when Owen was clearly more loved at the time. Another blatant example is "Are We There Yeti?" where he causes himself and Duncan to lose the challenge yet Chef picks Duncan to be eliminated without even trying to come up with a reason for his decision. Very little justification is given as to how he lasts so long other than being a CreatorsPet.

* Owen stays on the show simply for not having any enemies, despite often contributing nothing to his team. The most prominent examples being "Trial By Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass, as well as in "Haute Camputure" where Leshawna was accidentally eliminated for being popular when Owen was clearly more loved at the time. Very little justification is given as to how he lasts so long other than being a CreatorsPet.

* Despite [[TeamKiller deliberately sabotaging his own team]], Scott manages to outwit and outplay everyone [[spoiler:up until the final four]].

* Heather does this numerous times in ''Island'', often avoiding elimination by either winning invincibility or somehow manipulating someone else into being sent home. One of the most blatant examples is in "Wawanawka Gone Wild" where she gets hit by a tranquilizer dart which makes her perfect elimination bait after every stunt she's pulled all season yet Izzy is the one eliminated because... Actually, it's not really explained why nobody jumped at a rare opportunity to vote Heather off.
* Courtney has pulled this trope off more than anyone else, especially in ''Action'', where she would have been immediately voted out if she wasn't using her lawyers to cheat the show and getting to win every challenge. Ironically, her first elimination in ''Island'' was one of the most unfair in the entire series and thus an ''inversion'' of this trope.
* Owen stays on the show simply for not having any enemies, despite often contributing nothing to his team. The most blatant example of this is in "Trial By Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass. Another obvious example is in "Are We There Yeti?" where he costs both himself and Duncan the challenge yet Chef picks Duncan to be the one eliminated because... They don't even try to come up with some half-assed reason as to why.
* Duncan in ''World Tour''. In "Greece's Pieces", when he got the most votes against him, Chris "eliminates" an intern instead of him, stating that he is keeping Duncan around for the drama. He was also notorious in ''Action'' for being in the bottom two a ''lot'' after the merge with "Rock n' Rule" being the most infamous example.

* Sierra would often save Cody from elimination during ''World Tour''. He even acknowledges this during ''I'm Gonna Make It'', noting that he would never have made it as far as he did without Sierra's help. Another advantage he had was that [[NotWorthKilling neither of the season's antagonists though he was enough of a threat to bother targeting him]].
* Despite [[TeamKiller deliberately sabotaging his own team]], Scott manages to outwit and outplay everyone [[spoiler:up until the final four]]. Interestingly, Scott is this in ''All-Stars'', as well; while he developed into a much more sympathetic character, he rarely did anything useful or strategic, and yet somehow ended up [[spoiler: in the final ''three'']].
* Cameron. While his lengthy time on ''Revenge of the Island'' was somewhat justified due to his CharacterDevelopment, he evaded elimination a ridiculous amount of times in ''All-Stars'' (even Cameron himself thought it was strange).
* In episode 6 of ''Pahkitew Island'', Max is spared from elimination by [[spoiler: Sugar selling Ella out to Chris for breaking her no singing promise during the challenge (even though it helped them win)]]. He also unknowingly hindered all of Scarlett's plans to get rid of him prior to [[spoiler:his actual elimination]] in episode 10. He may have sucked at being evil but he sure was good at sticking around to make it all the way to [[spoiler: 5th place]].
* Topher in ''Pahkitew Island'' as well. Outside of his plot of trying take Chris' job, he contributes little to nothing in the season. He fails to take part in more than half the challenges as well as not interacting with anyone other than Chris (and Sugar in the first episode) until the 7th episode. This is a more low-key example compared to Max though as he managed to make it as far as [[spoiler: the Final 5]] while Topher got [[spoiler: 8th place]] and was the last contestant to be eliminated before the merge.
* And, [[SturgeonsLaw for obvious reasons,]] most fan competitions make their favourite character and/or the villain of the season into this. One particularly bad example was a remake where in the cliff diving challenge, Bridgette simply ''tripped'' over the cliff instead of diving, which counted as her doing the challenge accidentally and getting invincibility from it.

* Heather does this numerous times in ''Island'', often avoiding elimination by either winning invincibility or somehow manipulating someone else into being sent home.

* Owen stays on the show simply for not having any enemies, despite often contributing nothing to his team. The most blatant example of this is in "Trial By Tri-Armed Triathlon" where Geoff was eliminated for being 'too nice' even though he was shown to go along with some of Duncan's pranking while Owen (who was arguably the nicest contestant left by this point) is given a free pass.

* In episode 6 of ''Pahkitew Island'', Max is spared from elimination by [[spoiler: Sugar selling Ella out to Chris for breaking her no singing promise during the challenge (even though it helped them win)]]. He also unknowingly hindered all of Scarlett's plans to get rid of him prior to [[spoiler:his actual elimination]] in episode 10. He may have sucked at being evil but he sure was good at sticking around.

* In episode 6 of ''Pahkitew Island'', Max is spared from elimination by [[spoiler: Sugar selling Ella out to Chris for breaking her no singing promise during the challenge (even though it helped them win)]]. He also unknowingly hindered all of Scarlett's plans to get rid of him prior to [[spoiler:his actual elimination]] in episode 10. He may have sucked at being evil but he sure was good at sticking around (which gave the people who hated him more reasons to do so).