Examples of Character Perception Evolution in the reality series Survivor
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Winning Contestants
- Back in 2000, Richard Hatch's win in Borneo was considered very surprising due to his arrogance and "unethical" gameplay (Survivor turning into a cutthroat game of numbers and social politics due to him came as a complete surprise to almost everyone including the producers despite it being common sense today). Nowadays, he is arguably the most famous and respected contestant ever and is the standard to which all contestants on the show are judged. His previously "evil" tactics have become Survivor 101. However
- Vecepia Towery from Marquesas was considered by many to be the first "undeserving" winner mostly due to her Out of Focus edit. However, over the years, many people found a lot of things she did right such as starting out in the minority alliance at the merge tribe but then going to the top, and preparing herself for the fallen comrades challenge by writing down notes of her other castaways. Her move to betray Kathy at the final three was also hated due to how much of a fan favorite Kathy. People now realized that she is just doing what she needs to do to get to the end, while her Out of Focus is blamed not on her for being a bad player, but because she played under the radar and editors preferring to focus on flashier players.
- Sandra Diaz-Twine has gotten this treatment for both of her wins.
- Many fans believe that Sandra won Pearl Islands just because she was sitting next to a player that got voted out before. However, a lot of people went on realize she did a lot of things correctly just as being the only person to realize how untrustworthy Fairplay was (as well as not falling for his "Dead Grandma" lie), and organizing the blindside of Burton. She was further vindicated by becoming the show's first two time winner (and was already well liked for being Rupert's ally and Fairplay's enemy). While Tony followed her to become a two-time winner, his second win was an all-winners season, so when Sandra left the game, she guaranteed someone would follow in her footsteps.
- Sandra's win in Heroes vs. Villains was also controversial as plenty of fans felt like Parvati and/or Russel was robbed. But in the years, it came out that Parvati allegedly read J.T's letter from home and laughed at it in front of people she was going to send to the jury, as well as people pointing out that Parvati still made a few stupid moves like keeping unnecessary secrets from alliance members, agreeing to take Sandra to the final three*, and blindsiding multiple allies at bad times. Meanwhile it's finally become apparent to people that regardless of "good strategy", the jury is not entitled to vote for you if you make needless deals with people, make your allies cry, evict allies who won't write your name down, and personally make people at tribal feel bad before they go to the jury.
- Out of all of the winners, J.T. Thomas probably has the biggest hit to his legacy. After Tocantins, J.T. was seen as an extremely good winner as he was actually first person to reach a Perfect Game (a.k.a. when somebody ends up winning the game by an unanimous jury vote with no votes being casted against them as well). However, all that changed in his returning appearances where he made a bunch of infamous blunders such as giving his idol to Russell Hantz in Heroes vs. Villains, indirectly getting his ally Malcolm voted out by telling Brad about his plan to get out Sandra in Game Changers, and getting voted out after leaving his idol at camp within the latter season. Because of that, many people end up no longer believing that J.T. was a good player as they'll state Stephen Fishbach is now seen as being the better player out of those two.
- Natalie White, the winner of Samoa, was trashed by everyone for seemingly not being as much of a strategic player as Russell. Nowadays people have seen just how poorly Russell treats members of the jury, and realized that much of his strategic control (and Natalie's lack therof) were more due to unbalanced editing than anything, and she's a fairly respected winner these days (Even praised for her Social Game and winning without any idols or immunity wins).
- After Boston Rob's run in All-Stars, many people claim that he was one of the best people to never win the game to the point where they believe that he should have won that season while also believing he only lost just because Lex, Alicia, and Big Tom took the game far more personally than they would in any other season. However, his reputation came crashing down after Redemption Island in which while he ended up winning the season, many people felt as if he won against a bunch of starstrucked idiots on his fourth time playing. As a result, many people tend to associate him more as a Memetic Loser now these days than being extremely good player like people thought he was in All-Stars.
- Sophie Clarke was criticized as being an undeserving winner in South Pacific due to her gameplay not being as standout as Coach's. Years later, many people who rewatched the season saw that she was one of the more likable players in a season full of boring players, Jerkasses, and Smug Snakes and she actually played a pretty good game being heavily involved in the strategic decisions, stopping Albert from making unnecessary moves that would blow up their alliance, winning 3 Immunity Challenges, and actually owning up to her gameplay at Final Tribal Council unlike the hypocritical and sanctimonious Coach. In Winners At War she played a very strong social and strategic role resulting in many fans not only respecting her, but even pegging her as the winner.
- Michele's win in Kaoh Rong was very controversial at the time the season aired, mainly thanks to runner-up Aubry being much more popular at the time (to the point where This Very Wiki had people upset about it). However, after Ben Driebergen and Chris Underwood won their seasons thanks to the inclusion of very controversial twists, people are more respectful towards Michele winning the game as she won the game without much aid from twists or advantages*, especially with people noticing that she had a very decent social game. It also helps that while Aubry's still well liked overall, she has had progressively less impressive showings every time she comes back.
- She became even more vindicated when she returned for Winners at War. She revealed that she is actually well aware of how many people felt she didn't deserve to win and is trying to prove them wrong. With more screen time, she started to prove herself, saving herself on multiple occasions and becoming one of the few people to realize that Tony is a major threat to win the game. Quite a few fans began rooting for her to take him out of the game and win. Additionally, though Tony's win was met with overwhelming approval, most fans truly believe that Michele was robbed of second place, feeling like an underdog who fought from the very bottom and still made it to the end deserved votes over Natalie, who won her way back in thanks to a twist and wouldn't take the shot at Tony that Chris Underwood did to Rick Devens. note She's actually got a very impressive claim to fame in Survivor: Being one of the very few players to have played twice, made it to the final three both times, and even won once (An honour shared only by Sandra). She's given some pretty impressive showings on The Challenge as well.
Non-Winning Contestants
- From Borneo, Joel Klug. He was voted out of Pagong mainly because he thought this whole "alliance" thing might be a good idea to advance himself and his friends further in the game, and was promptly voted out for being arrogant to even bring up the idea and not just going with the flow and voting out whoever you feel like. Many viewers today may feel sorry for him for ending up on a tribe like Pagong, and wonder how he would fare on a season with modern players.
- Sue Hawk in Borneo was despised as a hateful character, especially for being in the alliance and delivering an infamous speech to Kelly Wiglesworth at Final Tribal. Nowadays people see her as one of the most complex characters in the franchise. Notably people turned around on her before she received a second appearance (a rarity among these), showing just how little she deserved this label at the time. Her quit in All-Stars was portrayed more sympathetically than Osten's in the previous season, but after the Dan controversy in Island of the Idols, her feelings towards Rich's behaviour are very much more understanded.
- Yet another Borneo example would be Gervase Peterson. While he was loathed for his sexist "cow" comment and uselessness in challenges (to the point where he consistently received 40+% of the votes to be eliminated next in CBS polls before the merge), he quickly became sympathetic at the point where he and Colleen (everyone's favorite character at the time) were seen as the underdog heroes fighting against the "unethical" alliance. The sheer amount of post-show work he did only increased his popularity, as did his return appearance in Blood vs. Water.
- Jerri Manthey from The Australian Outback and somewhat in All-Stars. Back when it aired, Jerri was absolutely hated and portrayed as a villain for America to boo and hiss at... when the worst thing she did was critique people's cooking (considering Keith burned the rice, it's understandable), accuse someone of smuggling beef jerky into the game (which was later proven true) and play aggressively. Nowadays, she's viewed sympathetically as there are villains much worse than her, which was evident in Heroes vs. Villains. Come that season, she shows up and realizes that she looks like a lightweight compared to people like Russell and Parvati, becomes one of the most likable people on the Villains tribe, and is finally cheered in that seasons' reunion. By contrast, some people came around to see Tina and Colby more as the villains of Australia, and as some people have noted a lot of people from her original cast turned out to be a lot less sympathetic than they did at the time the season aired.
- Relating to above case, many of Jerri's detractors at that time when Australia is airing would go on to believe Kel was unfairly voted out due to Jerri "lying" about the beef jerky incident. However, as Jeff Probst as well as many of the Australia cast members would back-up Jerri's claim, and it was revealed that Kel tried to bring-in stuff into the game that wasn't approved by production, very few people these days would state that Kel was screwed over, as they're more likely to state that Kel had his elimination coming.
- Silas Gaither and Lindsey Richter were absolutely hated in Africa and their eliminations were seen as epic moments that everyone was supposed to enjoy. Nowadays people see just how much class they had upon their eliminations that were caused by a twist one could see as unfair, and are seen as more interesting characters these days. (In Silas's case, the same clause as Richard Hatch applies; as a person, he remains one of the most reviled contestants.)
- "Big" Tom Buchanan was at first viewed as a fan favorite due to him being an extremely funny Large Ham. However, over the years, people began to notice his Racist Grandpa tendecies, and how it pretty much went into Values Dissonance territory. These days, he is viewed in a more divisive light.
- Sean Rector from Marquesas at the time was seen as The Slacker that talked about race too much. Needless to say with this perception, he was very unpopular. Nowadays with the emergence of racial discussion on the show he's seen as more of a trailblazer, and is a contestant many people want to see return.
- Rupert Boneham was a huge fan favorite in Pearl Islands, and was pretty much a huge Breakout Character that season. However, over the years, people grew tired of his Gentle Giant pirate schtick as well him coming back four times when people believe he has zero chance to win, and he's now more-so seen as a huge Base-Breaking Character among the fandom.
- Osten in Pearl Islands was initially seen as a "quitter" who "Gave up his shot" at winning Survivor and was simply unwilling to just ask to be voted out. Since then, people have come forth to his defence and say that he had justifiable reasons to quit since it turns out he had multiple Staph infections and the game was taking a huge toll on his body due to having very little body fat or water weight (Exacerbated by him having bargained off all his clothes except his boxers leaving him Exposed to the Elements). Allegedly, the fact he had multiple Staph infections wasn't even known until his post-game medical clearance.
- James Miller in Palau was initially seen as hilarious due to being a bumbling idiot who constantly fell flat on his face. Nowadays he's just seen as a bigot who constantly making a fool of himself didn't make up for and weighed down Ulong.
- Cindy Hall accepting the car rather than giving the other four remaining castaways cars in Guatemala was panned by several castaways as a poor gameplay move because they wouldn't want to vote her out for doing that (though others, including Stephenie and Lydia, agreed with her decision). 15 seasons later, in Caramoan, Brenda Lowe gave up her loved ones visit to give others their loved ones and was voted out that night. Now, Cindy's move at least assured her she went home with something.
- Ozzy Lusth was initially seen as a huge fan favorite due to his challenge prowess. However, his popularity took a major hit in South Pacific since he Took a Level in Jerkass, and he outright became a huge Base-Breaking Character after the season ended. Even after he Took a Level in Kindness in Game Changers, he's still considered to be divisive among the fans.
- During the initial airing of Fiji, it wouldn't be an understatement to say Dreamz was 'the most hated contestant of all time after going back on his car deal with Yau-Man. In response, the jury (with the exception of Yau-Man himself) mercilessly tore into Dreamz for the move, with Alex and Lisi especially being critical of every aspect of him as a person. This led to him getting no votes at the jury and becoming despised by the Survivor viewing audience, and while he walked away with 100,000 dollars, it later came to light that the car was repossessed anyway because he couldn't pay the taxes on it! In recent years, however, after reevaluating the conditions he was facing back home and how genuinely conflicted he was about the whole thing, most fans have gone on to feel sorry for the guy, and he's even developed something of a fanbase with time that desperately hopes he could get another chance one day.
- Benjamin "Coach" Wade in Tocantins. Before the season began, Jeff Probst claimed that he would be the most popular contestant since Rupert. He then became the focus of the entire season, often getting more screentime than the entire rest of the cast combined. To say there was a backlash would be putting it mildly. After Heroes vs. Villains however, he was seen in a more comedic light (thanks to Boston Rob, Courtney, and Sandra's sniping) causing him to become one of the most retroactively beloved characters ever. This only increased after South Pacific, in which people lamented he was more fun when he was being used for comedy.
- Also from Tocantins is Stephen Fishbach. Post-show, he's been very active in explaining his side of the story, and despite not winning, many praised his strategies (a few of the jurors even admitted that they'd have switched their votes if they'd known that he was as strong of a strategist as he was). J.T.'s blunder in Heroes vs. Villains certainly helped with this, too. Come to Game Changers where J.T. made another series of blunders that got Malcolm and then himself out of the game, many fans felt he was vindicated further as J.T.'s brains.
- Russell Hantz of Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains, for reasons alongside Natalie was seen as a strategic mastermind who controlled the game but was robbed by a bitter jury. However, thanks to people such as Mario Lanza of the Funny 115
and worsening performances with every return (Especially Redemption Island) have caused him to become somewhat of a cautionary tale that the Jury is not obligated to vote for you, especially if you spent all your time on the island treating them like utter trash, and that you can not use your same strategies. - During The New '10s, "Purple Kelly" of Nicaragua was seen as one of the weakest players in what's still considered to be one of the weakest seasons of Survivor and the first indicator of the show's Audience-Alienating Era in the new '10s. However, it's since been revealed that her choice in clothing was actually enforced by the producers, she was a "Recruit", and Nicaragua was actually one of the harsher seasons in terms of environment with chilly nights. Her decision to quit actually made a bit of sense in hindsight - since the producers downplayed how cold it got at night. Now, she's seen as somewhat of a woobie who didn't deserve the edit that was ignorant at best and at worst malicious.
- Ciera Eastin was initially very well-liked in Blood vs. Water due to her pluckiness, being one of the most savvy players within her debut season, voting against her mom was being considered to be an emotional moment for the season, and ultimately being the one to flip on Tyson's alliance in order to draw rocks just to not play for 4th place. However, as the years go by, she became a massive victim of Hype Backlash, with many claiming the show was attempting to state Ciera was the reason why they went to rocks in Blood vs. Water while ignoring the fact that Hayden was the one to convince her to draw for rocks in the first place, and the show's attempts to state that Ciera voting her mom out was a big move when her mom was getting voted out with or without her vote. These days, Ciera is more-so now in Base-Breaking Character territory, with her detractors stating that she is an overrated player.
- When Kaoh-Rong aired, many thought Aubry should have won the season, and allegedly a few jurors said had they known how Aubry controlled the season, would have voted for her instead of Michele. During Game Changers and Edge of Extinction, her placements and performances got less and less impressive. This caused some people to question whether or not her reputation was based off of an Informed Attribute, especially as Michele proved herself to be a fairly impressive player on her own right. (See her entry) However, others have taken a second look and pointed out that Aubry's reputation of someone who "Should have won" and being a player who largely flew under the radar was actually her biggest downfall. She didn't get to go into Game Changers as some relatively unknown player like Michaela and Zeke - she went in with a large "Don't let me out of your sight / Vote me out" sign on her back which meant she had a much harder path to the end than people who were relatively unknown / had more pregame connections.
Misc.
- The perception towards players who quit has also changed - both in and out of universe. Since Jenna and Sue's quits in All-Stars and Janu's quit in Palau, the show has taken much more effort to showcase why these people chose to quit. Especially when medical reasons are cited such as Dana in Philippines, Bi in Davis vs. Goliath, and even Colton in One World. A few quitters, such as NaOnka and Kelly in Nicaragua and Colton in Blood vs. Water, however, were not portrayed sympathetically, which further helped to lead this perception evolution on that sometimes people were quitting to avoid a MedEvac Non-Gameplay Elimination.
- Tina Wesson and Colby Donaldson were at first seen as the heroes of Australia who took down the "evil" Jerri. However, as Jerri went on to become vindicated, some people have turned their opinion on Tina and Colby, as they noticed a more arrogant side to them (such as outright asking Rodger if he or Elisabeth needed the money more), and believe their actions towards Jerri are now more of a case of Disproportionate Retribution rather than deserving.
