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The Tribes
Baka
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Subverted. They lost a member in the very first episode but then didn't go to tribal council again for the rest of the pre-merge. On top of that, they were helped by Vesi to finish a puzzle in an immunity challenge before Coco.
- Enemy Mine: With Vesi against Coco.
Coco
- Dwindling Party: Started off as easily the strongest team but were then whittled down to four members like Vesi before the merge. The remaining four however started to regain their composure after the merge by narrowly surviving the first two tribal councils, only to then see James and Ryan go out back-to-back in a double tribal council. Karla and Cassidy were able to ride it out for the rest of the season before Karla was taken out at the Final 5 and Cassidy was left at the end.
- The Smurfette Principle: Both Cassidy and Karla were not only the last two remaining tribe members from Coco but also the last two women remaining in the game after Noelle’s elimination. Because of this it was guaranteed that the last woman left in this game would be from Coco if either Karla or Cassidy got voted out. Cassidy ultimately ended up serving as the example of this by the end, making it to Final Tribal Council as the lone woman.
Vesi
- Enemy Mine: With Baka, against Coco.
- Took a Level in Badass: Started off behind but by second time they were sent to tribal council, they managed to get back in the game albeit by conspiring with the other team to get Coco sent to tribal council the first time. Unfortunately...
- Total Party Kill: No one from Vesi made it to the Final Tribal Council.
The Sole Survivor
Mike Gabler
Tribe: Baka
Age: 52
From: Houston, Texas
Current Residence: Meridian, Idaho
Occupation: Heart Valve Specialist
- Advantage Ball: Gains an Immunity Idol that is valid for the first two Tribal Councils. However, that idol’s power is negated after the first merge tribal council due to failing to play it as he had immunity at the time.
- And This Is for...: A variation. In an immunity challenge, Gabler dedicates every minute to a specific person in his life. The focus helps him win.
- Arch-Enemy: He and Elie were at each other's throats for the entirety of the premerge. Gabler throws her name out in the merge episode just to get rid of her.
- Beneath the Mask: In the first episode, many of his confessionals involves him worrying about his age and how that would make him a target, despite no one bringing this up. These insecurities are so bad that he shoulders the blame of losing the first Tribal Immunity challenge and offers to play his Shot in the Dark, saying he should be targeted.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Gabler is a very eccentric person, but also a very skilled social player who had alliances with everyone. In the end, his surprisingly skilled gameplay nets him the win.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Gabler is... out there to say the least.
- Cool Old Guy: The oldest contestant of the season, but thanks to his easy-going personality, he's able to ingratiate himself with his younger co-stars very easily.
- Dark Horse Victory: Nobody expected Gabler to win as he only had one big move under his belt (getting Elie out), and was often seen as an eccentric person that joined in the majority. But he surprised everyone with a well versed jury speech that ended up making him the winner.
- Honor Before Reason: Has a Hidden Immunity Idol that is valid for the first two Tribal Councils he attends. States that he does not want to play it that way and effectively asks his tribe to vote for him, and that he will use his Shot in the Dark due to feeling guilty for losing the challenge.
- Keep the Reward: After winning the game, Gabler announces that he will be donating the entirety of the prize money to charity, specifically to help veterans in need.
- Loved by All: On the island, everybody likes Gabler and wants to work with him. In the end, he nets all but one jury vote.
- Last-Name Basis / The Name Is Bond, James Bond: Actually introduces himself as Gabler, Mike Gabler. As such, he's referred to as Gabler the entire season.
- Nice Guy: Is consistently friendly and thoughtful towards everyone. His excellent social game is the reason he ultimately wins.
- No-Damage Run: He acknowledged this in the finale as being the only person in the final three not to receive a vote against him. Part of it was his friendly nature towards everyone and the fact he was overlooked by everyone.
- One-Steve Limit: Zigzagged as he's the second Mike in the show's pool of winners after Worlds Apart's Mike Holloway, but what sets them apart is that this Mike goes by his last name, Gabler.
- Opportunistic Bastard: Gabler's gameplay in a nutshell. Rather than drive the game to a desired outcome, he had a relationship with every player in the game that allowed him to always have multiple options and always have a path to the next phase of the game.
- Sole Survivor: The 43rd one.
- Spanner in the Works: His one comment about Elie looking through his bag shook up the early merge phase of the season. If he kept his mouth shut about it, then Elie would have rallied a Baka-Vesi alliance to pagong Coco. Instead, Gabler's actions got Elie and her number two Jeanine voted out.
- Token Good Teammate: In his alliance with Jesse and Cody. The two were the villains of the season, Gabler was a nice guy who rolled with them out of convenience.
- Underdogs Never Lose: Older, eccentric, dismissed as a non-threat by everyone in the game, it is an achievement that Gabler was not only able to make it to the end, but win it all.
The Runners-Up
Cassidy Clark
Tribe: Coco
Age: 26
From: Plano, Texas
Current Residence: Austin, Texas
Occupation: Designer
Eliminated: Lost in Final Tribal Council Vote 7-1-0 (received one vote), Day 26
- Action Girl: Ties with Owen for the most individual immunity wins of the season.
- Backstab Backfire: Possibly. Before voting her out, Karla warns Cassidy that betraying her would lead to a direct effort by her to poison the jury pool. Given that Cassidy only received one vote, it's possible Karla followed through on her threat.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Though quiet and willing to play an under-the-radar game, she is quite vengeful. When she realized Geo and Ryan wanted her out, she struck first with the help of her allies, eliminating Geo pre-merge and later Ryan post-merge.
- Big Bad Ensemble: After turning on Karla, she winds up competing for the title of Big Bad against Jesse and Karla herself. In the end, Cassidy emerges as the sole remaining Big Bad, but lost to Gabler.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Cassidy spent much of the game convinced that she was running the game, only for it to be revealed to her at final tribal that the votes she thought she had control over had been decided without her and the other players simply allowed her to believe she was the mastermind.
- The Dragon: To Karla. Cassidy is a skilled challenge player and vote-wrangler, but Karla is always the one with the plan.
- Final Boss: Winds up being this for Gabler. Since Owen has no chance at winning Final Tribal, Cassidy is the only player that can compete with Gabler to get votes. In the end, she only gets James'.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Despite definitely being one of the villains of the season, she's not as ruthless as Jesse, nor is she as cutthroat as Karla.
- Nice Mean And In Between: In her alliance with Karla and James, Cassidy is definitely the nicest of the three, generally trying to avoid rocking the boat and treating other players courteously.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Cassidy ends up getting out everyone who is gunning for her and making it to the end. However, ending on bad terms with Karla before voting her out ends up backfiring on her due to Karla's charismatic sway possibly turning most of the jury against Cass. Winning her personal battle, but not the war to be Sole Survivor.
- Smug Snake: While Cassidy is a skilled player, she's nowhere near as in-control of the game she things she is.
- The Starscream: She turns on Karla near the end of the game. She winds up winning their brief feud.
- We Used to Be Friends: Cassidy and Karla's friendship ends in a nasty feud when Sami manipulates them into thinking they were planning to backstab each other.
Owen Knight
Tribe: Baka
Age: 30
From: Bethesda, Maryland
Current Residence: New Orleans, Louisiana
Occupation: College Admissions Director
Eliminated: Lost in Final Tribal Council Vote 7-1-0 (received no votes), Day 26
- Action Hero: Winds up being this. Despite never having the numbers or being able to get his plans off the ground, Owen is a skilled challenge player, winning a third of the individual immunity challenges, and always when he needs them most.
- Arch-Enemy: James. Owen and James developed a vicious mutual hostility from the beginning of the merge, to the point that Owen willingly surrendered his vote just to trick James into not playing his advantage.
- Born Unlucky: Owen always had a bad hand in the game, mostly through no fault of his own.
- Butt-Monkey: Lampshades this claiming to only have been on the right side of the number during the Morriah vote.
- Failure Hero: Owen had to fight tooth and nail to stay in the game, but he was never able to get his plans off the ground and always lost allies as soon as they made them. Even in final tribal, he is unable to secure any votes. He even ends the season admitting he feels like a failure.
- Graceful Loser: He accepts his status as a 0-vote finalist with a great deal of grace, acknowledging that many other great players were also no-vote finalists.
- Happily Adopted: While being adopted did cause him some issues, Owen makes it clear that he greatly cares for his parents and is very thankful for them.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Raised by two Caucasian parents and often feels left out having grown up in a mostly white neighborhood.
- Mr. Fanservice: Easy on the eyes and has definitely caught the attention of several men and woman fans alike. He also has long hair.
- Rage Breaking Point: After an entire season of everything going wrong and having opportunities snatched from him, Owen finally loses his cool when Karla takes an advantage he was seconds away from winning himself, causing him to go on a rage-fueled rampage across the beach.
- Self-Deprecation: Compares his situation to a post-secondary student trying to get into college.
- Shout-Out: Appropriately enough for Charles M. Schultz's 100th birthday being around the time of the episode airing, he is once again self depreciating this time comparing constantly being on the wrong side of the votes to Charlie Brown trying to kick the football from Lucy van Pelt and it constantly being taken away only this time he says Linus, Pig Pen, and "that dumb Piano Kid" (Schroeder) are doing it too. Amusingly enough, there was a comic strip where at least three different Peanut characters held the football.
- Unknown Rival: Is targeted by James for his challenge prowess when really he hasn't won that many, with the second individual immunity challenge being his first major win.
- Unluckily Lucky: Despite things in his game always going wrong, Owen was still able to claw his way into Final 3, thanks in part to the fact that his atrocious luck caused other players to dismiss him as a threat.
The Jury
Jesse Lopez
Tribe: Vesi
Age: 30
From: Venice, California
Current Residence: Durham, North Carolina
Occupation: Political Science Ph.D.
Eliminated: Lost Fire Making to Gabler, Day 25
- Achilles' Heel: Despite being good socially and strategically, Jessie was consistently poor in most of the challenges. This ends up costing him the game when he fails at making fire.
- Affably Evil: Despite being the villain of the season, Jesse goes out of his way to treat his competition, especially the people he eliminates, well.
- Anti-Villain: Jesse is a manipulator who has been running the game from the beginning, but his goal is and always was to use the money to provide for his family.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Cody, the two were running the game for almost the entirety of the post-merge, with Karla as their only real opposition.
- Big Bad Ensemble: After eliminating Cody, Jesse becomes one of three Big Bad candidates along with Karla and Cassidy.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Reveals he met his wife in elementary school.
- Climax Boss: Even though he doesn't make it to Final Tribal, he is the biggest threat in the game at Final Five, and Gabler beating him in fire is one of the largest factors in his victory.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Was a gang member in his teens and did time in juvenile hall. There, with the help of a program, he was able to turn his life around and become a political scientist.
- Evil Virtues: Love. Everything he does in the game, he does out of love for his family. Even reluctantly betraying his best friend in the game, because he knew Cody was seen as the mastermind behind their equal partnership, and desperately wanted the money so his kids could have the stability he never had.
- Fatal Flaw: His consistently terrible challenge performances ultimately get him eliminated.
- Genocide from the Inside: Jesse was directly responsible for the eliminations of every member of his original Vesi tribe, each of whom thought of him as an ally.
- He joined Cody and Nneka in taking Justine out as he was put off both by how she bragged about being able to lie very well and by her outright stating she wasn't sure if she could trust him.
- He and Cody decided to cut Nneka in favor of Noelle when it became clear that Nneka's poor performance in challenges made her a liability to the tribe pre-merge.
- When Dwight secretly entrusted him with Jeanine's idol as a way of safeguarding it from James' Knowledge-Is-Power advantage, Jesse saw the chance to keep it for himself and was happy to help boot Dwight right before he could make the jury stage (thus making sure nobody knew he had the idol since everyone assumed it was sent out of the game with Dwight).
- After Noelle won the Final 8 Reward Challenge, it was made apparent that Noelle was a strong player with a very sympathetic story that could make her unbeatable in a Final Tribal Council, and Jesse helped cut her at the next vote.
- Realizing that he and Cody had been playing very similar games thanks to their tight-knit alliance, Jesse reasoned that he couldn't go into Final Tribal Council with Cody because his own gameplay would be overshadowed by Cody's flashier style and personality (especially if Cody pulled off his move of blindsiding Karla, giving his resume an even bigger boost). He also knew that he couldn't let Cody get to the Final 5 since Cody would use his immunity idol there by default. So he blindsided Cody at the Final 6 Tribal Council (using Cody's own idol that had been given to him for safekeeping, placing it on Owen, and scaring Karla into flushing her own idol on herself), getting rid of his closest ally in one of the biggest moves of the season.
- Last of His Kind: The last Vesi member left standing, and the only one who made the Final 5 finale episode.
- Manipulative Bastard: Jesse's specialty is manipulating people into making decisions and votes that benefit him more than themselves.
- Near-Villain Victory: Jesse had everything he needed to win going into the finale. He had the respect of the jury, an impressive resume, a secret hidden immunity idol, and excellent public speaking skills. In the end, he lost only because of his inability to win challenges or make fire.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Jesse's grasp of the strategic and social game is impressive, but his atrocious challenge performance is the lynchpin of his downfall. Losing both the final immunity challenge and the final fire-making challenge put an end to a run that could have resulted in a guaranteed win.
- Paper Tiger: He's well-built and tough-looking, but his challenge performance is consistently terrible.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The straight man to Cody's wise guy. Cody is always engaging in antics that make his fellow castaways laugh, while Jesse is somewhat less humorous and more focused on the game.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Everybody liked Jesse. Everyone. Even his enemies. The jury couldn't hide their abject disappointment when Jesse lost the final firemaking challenge, despite his being directly responsible for most of their eliminations.
- Xanatos Gambit: Pulls off an incredibly impressive one in the final six tribal council. He plays Cody's idol on Owen, while having his own secret idol, with two possible results in mind. Either Karla plays her own idol, flushing it, but causing Cody to get voted out, or she doesn't and gets voted out herself. Either way, one of Jesse's biggest obstacles is out of the game.
Karla Cruz Godoy
Tribe: Coco
Age: 28
From: San Diego, California
Current Residence: Newark, Delaware
Occupation: Educational Project Manager
Eliminated: 4-0 (Jesse played an idol on himself, negating 1 vote against him), Day 24
- Advantage Ball: Gained an Immunity Idol from a Beware Advantage that nobody was aware of until later in the season.
- Action Girl: Despite having a broken finger, Karla managed to outlast her team and win individual immunity episode 8.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The final five is essentially a contest to see who the biggest bad is between her, Jesse, and Cassidy. Karla is the first one out of the three.
- The Big Girl: She's one of the toughest members of Coco.
- Butt-Monkey: She's constantly on the receiving end of physical injuries serious enough to handicap her, but not remove her from the game. By the end, her body is simply unable to keep up with her game and she's unable to win a challenge she needed.
- The Chessmaster: Of Coco, which carries over in the merge as even fellow chessmasters like Cody, Jesse and Sami want to work with her.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She grew up poor having to fight for everything which goes a long way to explain her tenacity.
- Determinator: The word quit is not in Karla's vocabulary, never quitting in spite of several injuries, which, by the end of the season, come to include a sprained ankle and broken finger.
- Evil Is Petty: When she and Cassidy turn on each other, Karla threatens to poison the jury against Cassidy if she gets voted out. Considering Cassidy only got one vote, it seems Karla followed through on her threat.
- Handicapped Badass: Downplayed, as her injury is not permanent or severe, but she still managed to win an immunity necklace in a challenge that required lifting despite being in pain due to a broken finger. However, as the game continues, Karla's injuries get worse and at one point, she took herself out of a challenge because her body was shutting down.
- Lesbian Jock: Karla occasionally mentions that she has a wife back home, and is one of the season’s strongest challenge performers, despite sustaining multiple injuries.
- Nice Mean And In Between: In her alliance with James and Cassidy, she's the in-between. Karla is a ruthless schemer, and while she can be nice most of the time, she also does have moments of pettiness and ruthlessness, such as her decision to poison the jury against Cassidy, that make her not quite as nice as the latter.
- The Social Expert: Everybody on Coco wanted to work with Karla and tells her their secret advantages. This continued post-merge, as players like Cody, Sami and Jesse all want to work with her.
- We Used to Be Friends: Cassidy and Karla's friendship ends in a nasty feud when Sami manipulates them into thinking they were planning to backstab each other.
- The Woman Behind the Man: Is this for James, as although most players see him as a Godfather-type player, she's the one who has final say and rallies people behind the vote.
Cody Assenmacher
Tribe: Vesi
Age: 35
From: Preston, Iowa
Current Residence: Honolulu, Hawaii
Occupation: Elevator Sales
Eliminated: 4-0-0 (Jesse played an idol on Owen and Karla played an idol on herself, each negating one vote against them), Day 23
- Advantage Ball: He found the “Choose Your Champion” Advantage that gave him the power to bet on one of his tribe mates to win, and he choose Owen, who along with Karla, won the The Last Gasp immunity challenge.
- Affably Evil: Despite being one of the villains of the season, Cody is a cheerful and easy-going guy who gets along with everyone.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: He ran the game with Jesse after the merge, and is only eliminated just before final five.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He comes across as a bit of a weirdo and goofball, but he is remarkably cunning and charismatic.
- The Charmer: Cody's greatest asset his is his charisma and ability to get people on his side with a good pitch, strong logic, and a friendly personality.
- Chekhov's Gun: The palm frond hat he weaves at the start of the second episode ends up being the hook that he, Jesse, and Nneka use to collect the rest of the tribemates' beads to activate Cody's idol and restore his vote.
- Consummate Liar: One of Cody's most dangerous skills is his ability to make anything he says sound convincing.
- Evil Virtues: Comradery. As ruthless as he can be, Cody treasures his allies and trusts them with with everything, best shown with the fact that he trusted Jesse to hold onto his idol for him. However, Jesse did not reciprocate Cody's trust.
- The Face: He's this for the Ride-or-Die alliance. While Jesse is the schemer and Gabler is the information-gatherer, Cody is the representative of the trio, gathering votes and making pitches to the other players on why they should vote with him.
- Fatal Flaw: In the end, Cody's game came crashing down because he was too trusting. Too trusting that Jesse would stay loyal, too trusting that Jesse wouldn't use his idol against him, too trusting that Jesse would have a good reason to ask for the idol back just before tribal council.
- Graceful Loser: After Jesse betrays him with his own idol, Cody manages to swallow his pride and congratulate Jesse for this excellent move, despite clearly being hurt and angry at Jesse.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Targets Justine for being a salesperson, saying that salespeople are dangerous. Cody is a salesperson himself.
- Hypocrite: Targets Justine for being a salesperson. Lies to everyone else about being a salesperson himself. Lampshades this.
- Lovable Rogue: Big time. Cody is a manipulative schemer and excellent liar, but he's just so charming that no one can hold these things against him.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The wise guy to Jesse's straight man. Cody is always engaging in antics that make his fellow castaways laugh, while Jesse is somewhat less humorous and more focused on the game.
- Wild Card: Described as this by his tribemates. This proves true as he manages to force Coco to give up part of their fishing gear as well as some papayas and to their surprise, it makes Coco a sinking ship.
Sami Layadi
Tribe: Baka
Age: 19
From: Las Vegas, Nevada
Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
Occupation: Pet Cremator
Eliminated: 6-0 (Sami lost his vote by unsuccessfully playing his Shot in the Dark), Day 21
- Big Bad Wannabe: Sami clearly wanted to slowly build power for himself and take control of the game. Unfortunately, he failed to realize that everyone else was making the same move and saw him as an easy threat to stamp out.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: His "swing vote" status meant he got this reputation.
- Do Not Go Gentle: Realizing he was going to be voted out, he decided to risk his vote so he could play his Shot In The Dark. It didn't work.
- Dumb Jock: Attempts to be seen as this, in order to hide his skill and intelligence.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After betraying everyone at least once, everyone in turn betrays him and leaves him on the bottom before voting him out.
- Neutrality Backlash: What ultimately does him in. After spending so long as the swing vote, Sami decides he's finally gained enough trust to dictate a vote and takes a swing at Cassidy. The sudden burst of initiative causes the other players to realize what he's been up to and abandon him, sending him home in the first unanimous vote since the pre-merge.
- Playing Both Sides: His strategy for the season. But unlike Gabler, he's more upfront about it.
- Turn Coat: He's this for Baka. Rather than joining the rest of his tribe in an attempt to remain strong, Sami instead ingratiates himself with Karla's alliance and then as a third party.
- Willfully Weak: Attempts this, as he is much more skilled and perceptive than he would like to be perceived as, but he can't help using his problem solving and fire-making skills when the tribe needs them.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: While he can come off as immature or naïve in his initial interviews, he actually shows that he is very perceptive, mature, and craftier than you expect a teenager to be. However, he could be seen as a subversion as he has a tendency to act like a big-shot in the confessionals is very much like a 19 year old.
- Younger Than They Look: Is 19, but tells people he is 22. It was only during the reunion when he finally told everyone the truth.
Noelle Lambert
Tribe: Vesi
Age: 25
From: Londonderry, New Hampshire
Current Residence: Manchester, New Hampshire
Occupation: U.S. Paralympian
Eliminated: 5-2-1, Day 19
- Action Girl: Easily one of the best challenge performers of the season. Makes sense since she is a paralympian.
- Advantage Ball: Gains a Vote Steal advantage in Episode 3. She later uses this advantage against Owen in an effort to blindside James. Unfortunately this caused the other tribe members to realize that she was a huge threat and vote her out at the next tribal council.
- Batman Gambit: Her move to eliminate James is this. She uses a vote steal on Owen, knowing it will lull James into a false sense of security and not play his knowledge is power, which she uses to vote him out.
- Came Back Strong: Constantly. The dominant alliance votes out her closest allies, only for Noelle to have another, better ally in their place the very next round.
- Handicapped Badass: She lost her leg at age 19 yet is a Paralympian and has already shown herself to be a strong challenge performer. She even proves she can compete without her prosthetic during episode 3 and even outperforms some of her abled body competitors.
- The Smurfette Principle: Is the only woman left on the Vesi tribe after Nneka is eliminated.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Why she's voted out. The other players realize she's far too dangerous to keep in the game after her excellent challenge performance and her brilliant elimination of James.
Ryan Medrano
Tribe: Coco
Age: 25
From: Savannah, Georgia
Current Residence: El Paso, Texas
Occupation: Warehouse Associate
Eliminated: 4-1, Day 17
- The Brute: He's an excellent challenge performer, but far from the brightest. The others vote him out because his challenge performance makes him too big of a threat.
- Death by Irony: The homunculi from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood were representative of the seven deadly sins. His pride takes him out because he thinks he's in control and therefore doesn't try to make things happen his way. In the manga (and the 2003 adaptation) Pride was regarded as the most deadly of the seven.
- Freudian Excuse: At least for his actions on the show, he grew up with Cerebral Palsey and was told he'd never walk again. Several surgeries later, and here he is.
- Shout-Out: He has a tattoo on his right shoulder of the ouroboros the homunculi had in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
- Smug Snake: Much like his ally, Geo, he believes he is running the show. He realizes he's wrong when Geo is sent home.
James Jones
Tribe: Coco
Age: 37
From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Event Planner
Eliminated: 4-1, Day 17
- Advantage Ball: He found the Knowledge is Power advantage, and rather than using it, is parlaying it to allow him to dictate the votes.
- Arch-Enemy: Owen. The two quickly develop a vicious mutual animosity. Eventually, Owen surrenders his vote just to trick James into wasting his advantage and get voted out instead.
- Arc Villain: James was just another member of Karla's alliance until the merge, during which he found the Knowledge is Power advantage, kicking off a two-episode long story arc in which he became a tyrant over the tribe, using his advantage to cow other players into voting his way. Eventually, his reign of terror comes to an end when the other players get sick of him.
- Disc-One Final Boss: One of the more strategically competent players in Coco along with Karla and was taken out behind her back when Sami realized he couldn't work with him.
- Drunk with Power: The power from his Knowledge is Power advantage rapidly goes to his head, and he quickly becomes a spiteful and vindictive bully.
- History Repeats: For the third season in a row, the Knowledge is power advantage was not utilized correctly only this time, it wasn't used at all.
- Jerkass: His belief that he is protected from retaliation by his advantage causes him to antagonize, threaten, and demean the other players during his brief stint in power.
- Irony: James used his knowledge is power advantage as a blunt instrument to cow the other players into submission. Noelle uses an advantage to lull him into a false sense of security. His lack of knowledge caused him to lose his power in one night.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Big time. Noelle, sick of his atrocious attitude, joins forces with Owen, playing her vote-steal on Owen to trick James into being convinced of his own safety, rather than playing it it so secure his place in the game.
- Nice Mean And In Between: In his alliance with Cassidy and Karla, he is the mean. Using his knowledge is power advantage to force the other players to play on his terms for two straight rounds, James became Drunk with Power and bullies players he didn't like, particularly Owen, until his well-deserved boot.
- One of the Girls: Expressed that he was happy to be apart of the girls alliance, as Lindsay is his closest ally and the other two girls feel the most comfortable working with him compared to Geo and Ryan.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out Owen for writing his name down during the merge tribal council when Owen tried to mend fences several times, and has written his name down ever since the tribal council after. Owen decides he's not worth keeping around if he's going to constantly try to take him out.
- Sore Loser: The tension from his hostility towards the people who voted him out could cut the air.
- Smug Snake: James spent the entirety of the early merge convinced he was running the game. He was not.
Jeanine Zheng
Tribe: Baka
Age: 24
From: South Hamilton, Massachusetts
Current Residence: San Francisco, California
Occupation: UX Designer
Eliminated: 9-2, Day 16
- Advantage Ball: Acquires the Baka tribal idol but she loses it when Dwight was eliminated because she gave it to him out of paranoia of James and his knowledge is power advantage.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: One of the biggest aversions to date, as she is seen with a series of wounds on her body as early as the second episode.
- Butt-Monkey: Over the course of her last three episodes, her closest ally, Elie was blindsided, then her idol gets stolen by Jesse in a chaotic scramble and is then subsequently an easy consensus target the following round and is blindsided herself.
- Failed a Spot Check: After James gets the Knowledge is power advantage, Jeanine become so paranoid that James would steal her idol that she gives it to Dwight. Unfortunately for her, she fails to consider that Dwight could be targeted for elimination, which causes her to lose her idol as Dwight was voted out with Jeanine’s idol in his possession, or so she thinks.
- Foregone Conclusion: With her biggest ally voted out and her immunity idol gone, all Jeanine could do was delay the inevitable.
- Jaw Drop: Her mouth was completely open in shock over Elie's elimination and it stayed there while everyone else celebrated making it to the merge. She had a bigger one when Jesse pulled out her hidden immunity idol as she, along with everyone else, thought it was taken out of the game when Dwight went home.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Got karma in terms of her hidden immunity idol. After finding it, she uses huge deception to get the beads needed to activate it’s power, deceiving Gabler especially. A few episodes later she loses her idol when she gives it to Dwight out of fear and he gets blindsided in an act of deception from Cody and Jesse with Jesse obtaining the idol from Dwight before that tribal council. Turns out one episode later that this move proved to be Jeanine’s ultimate downfall as she gets voted out due to being rendered vulnerable.
Voted Out
Dwight Moore
Tribe: Vesi
Age: 22
From: Palo Alto, Calif.
Current Residence: Collierville, Tennessee
Occupation: Graduate Student
Eliminated: 7-3-2, Day 14
- The Everyman: From everything seen about him, Dwight is an easy-going, normal guy, who simply doesn't stand out compared to his more eccentric tribemates.
- Flat Character: Notice how he didn't get any tropes listed for the entirety of the duration of the game? That's mostly because the edit never really fleshes out his personality.
- Living Prop: Very little is revealed about his personal life or his strategic game. His only shown strategic move, the idol shuffle, is only significant for how it benefitted Jesse's game.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Dwight had exactly one notable contribution to the game: running an idol shuffle that left everyone believing he had been voted out with Jeanine's idol. He was not. He gave that idol to Jesse, who in turn used that idol to parlay votes against Karla.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He gives Jeanine's idol to Jesse for an extra layer of protection against James' advantage, but gets voted out before he can tell anyone about it, leaving Jesse with a secret idol that everyone else thought was flushed.
Elisabeth "Elie" Scott
Tribe: Baka
Age: 31
From: Atlanta, Georgia
Current Residence: Salt Lake City, Utah
Occupation: Clinical Psychologist
Eliminated: 7-2-1-1 (Jeanine and Jesse both lost their votes at the Day 11 journey), Day 13
- Arch-Enemy: Gabler. Elie spent the entirety of the premerge gunning for Gabler, who in turn threw her name out at the merge feast, causing her to be an easily-agreed upon first boot.
- Badass Bookworm: Is a clinical psychologist with a 4.0 GPA in her Masters and Doctoral Courses. She also drives the votes in the season's first Tribal Council.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She opens up about a traumatic event that lead to her sister becoming addicted to drugs in order to cope. The effects drug abuse had on her family lead to her pursuing a career in clinical psychology. Her sister would later pass away to a drug overdose.
- Disc-One Final Boss: She was the Big Bad of Baka during the early game, but once the merge hit, her attempts to assume control of the game fell apart and left her voted out with no one to help her.
- Hidden Depths: Her bio shows that she actually was advised not to go to college due to having a low GPA in high school. Through hard work she raised her GPA, and then got a 4.0 GPA in all her masters and doctoral courses.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: She attempted to take control of the game during the transition period of the merge by attempting to secure herself and Baka in an alliance with the members of Vesi to try to get Coco pagonged out of the competition. Thanks to Gabler however, her plan backfires and results in not only further fracturing in the Baka members but also results in her elimination.
- Properly Paranoid: Directly tells Jeanine she's going home. She's right.
- After getting voted out, she warned everyone that trusting Gabler was dangerous. She was also right.
- The Social Expert: Is a Clinical Psychologist, and early on bonds with the women in her tribe, while being approached and bonding with the men. After losing the first Immunity Challenge, she successfully steers the vote towards the perceived weakest challenge performer despite there being a good argument for that person to stay.
- She is also shown to talk people out of strategies that are detrimental to her game, by having Jeanine vote with her despite her own anxieties, and talking Mike Gabler out of playing his Shot in the Dark.
- Tragic Mistake: Talking Gabler out of falling on his own sword after the first immunity challenge. Had she not done this, Gabler would not have been able to turn the vote against her.
- Underestimating Badassery: The biggest flaw in her game is her underestimation of Gabler. It costs her being the merge boot.
Geo Bustamante
Tribe: Coco
Age: 36
From: Miami, Florida
Current Residence: Honolulu, Hawaii
Occupation: Project Manager
Eliminated: 3-2, Day 11
- Smug Snake: He believed that he and Ryan were on top of the tribe and running the show. He quickly realizes he was wrong when he gets blindsided.
- Starter Villain: Geo is the first big villain of the season to be voted out, and was the Big Bad Coco's storyline during the pre-merge.
Lindsay Carmine
Tribe: Coco
Age: 42
From: Greensboro, North Carolina
Current Residence: Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
Occupation: Pediatric Nurse
Eliminated: 4-1-1, Day 9
- The Generic Girl: Out of the Coco women, Lindsay did not stand out too much. While part of it was her early elimination, Karla and Cassidy took up more camera time prior to that.
- Improperly Paranoid: Despite Geo being the target at Coco's first tribal council, she starts to question whether if she was really safe in the game. As a result, she accidentally puts the target on herself for being untrustworthy and is voted out.
Nneka Ejere
Tribe: Vesi
Age: 43
From: Weatherford, Texas
Current Residence: Weatherford, Texas
Occupation: Pharmacist
Eliminated: 4-1, Day 7
- Fatal Flaw: Her insistence on doing all the puzzles during challenges results the tribe booting her after she fails her second in a row.
- Graceful Loser: She's okay with losing, even being happy she fell victim to a "cool" blindside.
- It's All My Fault: Takes most of the blame for failing the puzzle in episode 3. It ends up getting her voted out.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Her intention when doing the puzzle in episode 3. It backfires badly.
Justine Brennan
Tribe: Vesi
Age: 29
From: Sunnyvale, California
Current Residence: Marina Del Rey, California
Occupation: Cyber Security Sales
Eliminated: 3-1-1 (Dwight lost his vote at the Day 3 journey), Day 5
- Amazonian Beauty: Very attractive and her body is notably physically toned.
- Determinator: Her tribe notably struggles to make fire in the first episode and takes shifts trying to start one. She notably takes more shifts than her tribemates, determined to accomplish making fire.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Is very feminine and attractive. She also is very competitive, grew racing dirtbikes and going to fishing derbies, and spends the most amount of time trying to start the fire.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is one of the more attractive players this season and has scenes in her high-waisted panties.
- Saying Too Much: Her downfall was primarily caused by Jesse turning on her, which he did because Justine was loose-lipped two times. First, she casually told him she was good at lying; second, she openly said to him that she didn't fully trust that he would vote with her.
- Unknown Rival: Is targeted early on by Cody for being a Salesperson. Cody is a salesperson himself.
Morriah Young
Tribe: Baka
Age: 28
From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Teacher
Eliminated: 5-1, Day 3
- Black Girl Dies First: Self-explanatory.
- Fatal Flaw: Is shown making bonds and connecting with the other members of the tribe, and comes up with a reasonable strategy to take out Owen (the guy least likely to have an advantage). However, her social and strategic game is not enough to overlook her perceived weak challenge performance.
- Graceful Loser: While heartbroken, she only has encouraging words for her tribemates and wishes them well, solely putting the blame for her elimination on herself.
- I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Subverted. Her first few lines lampshades this saying that she is here to make friends.
- Informed Flaw: There's no evidence on camera to support the supposed challenge weakness that she was voted out for.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Those same friends painfully deem her the weakest challenge performer and eliminate her.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Is shown bonding with the other female tribe members and talks a lot about connecting with people and making friends. Despite their pained expressions, her tribe still decides to sacrifice her after citing her as the weakest challenge performer.
- The Social Expert: Is a school teacher and is used to dealing with groups of people, planning to make strong connections with people. Her social and strategic skill nearly swayed votes away from her.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Not much information is given towards the reasons for her elimination aside from being cited as the weakest challenge performer, and the tribe wanting to keep strength.
