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Total Drama

Thanks to Chris gleefully indulging in Screw the Rules, I Make Them!, this is the only reality show that will openly admit to keeping characters on for drama through the most ridiculous plot conveniences and only sending characters home when Chris wants them to go. Note: The name(s) in bold represented someone who dodged elimination in that particular episode.

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     Overall 
  • Izzy, who is actually brought back into the competition after being eliminated, twice in two different seasons.
  • Owen. Very little justification is given as to how he lasts so long other than being a Creator's Pet. In Island, he stayed on the show simply for not having any enemies. The most egregious examples being "If You Can't Take the Heat" where he singlehandedly costs his team the challenge, yet isn't even in the bottom two during the elimination ceremony, "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 and in "Are We There Yeti?" where he costs both him and Duncan the challenge, but Chef eliminates the latter due to his conflict towards him. Tom McGillis has stated the idea of Owen being a finalist to have the guy who didn't care whether or not he won, making it to the end. Then in Action, he was eliminated halfway in only to be brought back during the last six episodes by Chris in order to be his mole and dish up some drama. Despite this plot having no actual impact on the season (outside of Harold's elimination which likely would've happened even if Owen wasn't there to do it), he manages to make it all the way to the final 3.
  • Duncan. In Action he was 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 third, the sheer luck of Lindsay accidentally voting for herself. It's also worth noting that the third (and most infamous) 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. Also in the World Tour episode "Greece's Pieces", when he got the most votes against him, Chris "eliminates" an intern instead of him, outright stating that he was keeping him on for drama.
  • Courtney. In Action she pulled this trope off more than anyone else, 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. And in World Tour she manages to dodge being eliminated two episodes in a row! The former in "Picnic at Hanging Dork" being a result of arguably the show's most poorly written contrivance up to that pointnote , and the latter in "Sweden Sour" being a result of the same thing Chris did to Duncan in "Greece's Pieces" by just randomly vetoing all of the votes against her thus sparing her once again. Ironically, her first elimination in Island was one of the most unfair in the entire series, and thus an inversion of this trope, although the first elimination ceremony is an example because Ezekiel saved her at the last minute.
  • Alejandro escapes a definite elimination in the Final 4 in World Tour, due to Sierra blowing up Chris's plane. He evades elimination again in All-Stars due to a slip-up by Heather, allowing him to acquire the immunity idol, and ultimately ranking 6th despite being mostly superfluous after the aforementioned's elimination.
  • Scott. In Revenge of the Island, despite deliberately sabotaging his own team, he manages to outwit and outplay everyone 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 was ultimately completely irrelevant to the season, yet somehow ended up in the final three.

     Total Drama Island (2007) 
General
  • Heather, often avoiding elimination by either winning invincibility or somehow manipulating someone else into being sent home. In fact, there are a few situations where Heather is perfectly vulnerable to get eliminated, but another camper is sent home because of unrelated reasons.

Not So Happy Campers - Part 2

  • After annoying her teammates with her bossy personality and constant reminding of being a CIT, coupled with the fact that she didn't complete the first challenge, Courtney manages to escape elimination thanks to Ezekiel saying an offensive remark at the last minute.

Not Quite Famous

  • The entire Killer Bass, likely with Bridgette in particular, can be counted as such, considering the Gophers actually scored one more point than the Bass. This is fixed in the Netflix airing by reducing the points earned by Trent.
  • Heather was spared from at least a tie-breaker, considering she gathered the votes against Justin from only half of her team. However, it can be assumed that either Cody or Justin or both voted for Trent instead, allowing the 5 votes for Justin to become majority.
Phobia Factor
  • Once again, Courtney. Being given a chance to triple her team's points, she was the direct cause of their loss. However, likely as a result of the friendships between her, Bridgette, DJ, Duncan, and Geoff, and perhaps because of Tyler's clumsiness, Tyler was voted out instead.
Paintball Deer Hunter
  • Cody's Deus ex Machina injury as a result of being mauled by a bear causes most of the Gophers to vote for him instead of Heather.
If You Can't Take The Heat...
  • On a similar note, the Gophers finding out about Beth's cursed Tiki Idol from Boney Island is what makes them vote for Beth instead of Heather. However, since it received more build-up over the past few episodes, this example feels less like a Deus ex Machina when compared to the previous episode.
  • Owen ruins the Gophers' chances to win the challenge by eating almost entirety of their ribs, yet he's not even in the bottom two. On a similar note, no one thinks of blaming Leshawna for putting Owen in charge of looking after their food.
Who Can You Trust?
  • DJ ultimately loses for his team, as they would've won had he not taken off his blindfold to see his pet bunny during his challenge. However, likely as a result of the friendships between him, Bridgette, Courtney, Duncan, and Geoff, as well as due to Courtney wanting Sadie out for a petty reason; he's not even in the bottom two.
Basic Straining
  • Throughout the episode, Harold is an outsider to Bridgette and Courtney's friendship (though Bridgette is the nicest to him) and DJ, Duncan, and Geoff's group, with his role as a victim to Duncan and Geoff's pranks. As well as the reactions of everyone sans Bridgette during the elimination ceremony clearly indicate that Harold would've been eliminated in this episode had he not rigged the votes.
  • Considering Duncan was the one who was actually being mean to Harold, had Harold not witnessed Courtney and Duncan's kiss, Duncan would have arguably been eliminated through his rigged votes instead.
Brunch of Disgustingness
  • Judging by the conflicts on the girls' team and Bridgette joining Gwen and Leshawna's side, Heather would've been eliminated had this not been the only reward challenge of the season, with Gwen or more likely Leshawna in the bottom two.
No Pain, No Game
  • As indicated by her being in the bottom two despite not having a major role in the episode, Heather would've likely been voted out had Eva, someone considered the scariest of all, not returned to the competition.
Search and Do Not Destroy
  • Heather manipulates Trent into smooching him, getting everyone to hate both Trent and herself. Even though this plan worked, Heather had a very good chance at going home over him. Luckily for her, she wins Invincibility at complete random. note 
Hide and Be Sneaky
  • Heather is once again saved by winning invincibility, as Geoff wanted his alliance to vote for her and Duncan had to remind him she's immune.
  • Assuming Geoff didn't lie about not voting for Bridgette and Izzy indeed didn't go through with voting for Owen, Duncan was spared solely because Izzy voted for Bridgette for some reason rather than voting with the other group of girls for Duncan.
That's Off the Chain!
  • Duncan and Owen, who didn't get to finish the last part of the challenge; DJ, Geoff, and Gwen, who were eliminated in the first round of the challenge; as well as Izzy and Leshawna, who didn't even participate in the challenge, with Leshawna not even building a bike, all avoided elimination solely because for some reason the challenge included a sudden elimination for crossing the finish line last in the final part of the challenge.
Wawanawka Gone Wild
  • Heather 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.note note 
Trial By Tri-Armed Triathlon
  • For the second time in a row, Heather is once again saved despite not being immune and being hated by everyone at this point, solely because Geoff was eliminated for being "too nice," which could've made him a threat had the season included a jury to decide the winner.
  • Owen is also spared from an elimination as a result, as one could argue he's even nicer than Geoff. Keep in mind that Geoff still went with pranking Harold even after the latter promised not to leave his dirty clothes behind.
Haute Camp-ture
  • As shown by the eliminated contestants' opinions, none of them wanted Heather to win. However, Katie and Sadie start a chain of accidentally voting for Leshawna, all because they liked her and would love to see her again. Chris also counts Lindsay's and a parrot's votes twice for this to happen, as otherwise the other eliminated contestants would still have a chance to gather a majority of proper votes against Heather. It's unknown whether the original premise of this episode also included this trope.
Camp Castaways
  • Judging by Owen being in the bottom two and the other contestants' surprised reactions to the fact that there was a marshmallow for each of them, it can be assumed that Owen would've been voted out had Chris not decided to "eliminate" Mr. Coconut instead.
Are We There Yeti?
  • Owen outruns the girls, but wastes his chance to win by running to Chef's sticky buns instead of the pole, being directly responsible for the guys' loss. In spite of this, he's been spared likely as a result of Chef's greater dislike of Duncan.

     Total Drama Action 
The Sand Witch Project
  • Judging by Beth's explanation of why Lindsay was in the bottom two, DJ quitting the show saved her from elimination. Since Chris didn't get to reveal the result of the Grips' elimination ceremony, it could be argued that DJ saved Justin as well.
Ocean's Eight - Or Nine
  • Courtney would've been eliminated with 4 votes against 1 had her lawsuit not guaranteed her being immune on her first day after her return to the competition.
Million Dollar Babies
  • As shown by Duncan and Harold's confessional, Leshawna apologizing for her actions through her cheer was what spared her in favor of Heather.
Super Hero-ld
  • As shown when everyone is talking about whom they are voting for, Courtney would've likely been voted out had she not won invincibility.
  • Duncan and Courtney making Harold mistrust Leshawna, even after Beth told him about the girls' plan to eliminate Duncan, was what saved Duncan from elimination over Leshawna.
Rock n' Rule
  • Courtney is once again saved thanks to winning invincibility, as the others made it clear they'd vote for her had she not been immune.
  • Lindsay accidentally voting for herself, thus losing in a 3-2-1 vote, is what spared Duncan from an elimination once again. Owen wasting his vote on an immune Courtney also contributed to this, since that also saved Duncan from elimination.

     Total Drama World Tour 
General
  • Chris mentions the "If you don't sing, you're out" rule a few times throughout the series. However, multiple times over the course of the season, someone doesn't sing and isn't eliminated. This is especially jarring in Cody's case, as despite making it to the final episode, he didn't sing in the most songs, it's even ironic seeing that he became a singer before World Tour as well.
  • Cody. Sierra would often save him from eliminations throughout the season. 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 neither of the season's antagonists thought he was enough of a threat to bother targeting him.
  • DJ, believing to be cursed to hurt innocent animals, attempts to lose on purpose several times, yet ironically goes on to become his team's final member.
  • Sierra herself. It genuinely wouldn't have been hard for the target to shift to her considering Cody was voting for her every single time. Luckily for her, her team manages to win challenges until it fractures later.
Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 1
  • Owen technically doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, Chris may have excused him for still having speaking lines in the song, or because he himself knocked Owen unconscious, rendering him unable to sing for the rest of the song.
Super Happy Crazy Fun Time Japan
  • Chris was about to announce DJ to be eliminated when Harold quit the show, sparing him from the elimination.
Anything Yukon Do, I Can Do Better
  • Cody doesn't sing with Bridgette and his teammates, but isn't eliminated. However, Chris may have excused him for his frozen state.
  • Bridgette's teammates vote her off for costing them the challenge, but no one thinks of blaming Leshawna, who was the one who came up with the idea not to stop at the checkpoints to collect their teammates.
Broadway, Baby!
  • Alejandro, Cody, DJ, Izzy, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them are eliminated. DJ did have a speaking line, though.
Slap Slap Revolution
  • Cody, DJ, Izzy, Sierra, and Tyler don't sing, but none of them are eliminated. Tyler did have speaking lines, though.
The Am-AH-Zon Race
  • Courtney doesn't sing a song meant solely for her team, yet she isn't eliminated.
  • Heather is spared in the first fake elimination ceremony of the season.
Can't Help Falling in Louvre...
  • Only Noah, Owen, and Sierra sing while Cody and Heather have speaking lines, but the remaining contestants aren't eliminated. However, although Chris never says this outright, it can be assumed this song was meant only for Cody and Sierra and Cody might have been spared for having speaking lines.
  • Even though he tries to leave the show to end his curse and attempts to lose a tie-breaker, the judges' decision kept DJ in the game over Lindsay, who was actually singlehandedly completing the challenges for her team.
Newf Kids on the Rock
  • Noah doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. Meanwhile, DJ attempts to be eliminated via refusing to sing, but Heather successfully tricks him into singing anyway.
I See London...
  • Alejandro, Cody, and Tyler don't sing, but neither is eliminated. However, Alejandro may have been excused due to already being caught by Jack the Ripper at this point.
  • Chris's Screw the Rules, I Make Them! is what spares the entire Team Amazon, with Heather in particular, from elimination. Although, it is possible that he could have also announced a non-elimination round to reward both teams in some way.
  • Noah is an inversion. While pretty much the entire cast Took a Level in Jerkass this season, he was one of two characters (the other being Heather) who Took a Level in Kindness, becoming the Only Sane Man of the season. He was voted out simply for being the first person (aside from Heather, who wouldn't have much credibility) to see Alejandro for what he really was and was perhaps the only character that season who was completely undeserving of elimination.
Greece's Pieces
  • Chris outright says he ignores the results of the voting to keep Duncan in the show for the drama and "eliminates" an intern instead. Unlike the other fake elimination ceremonies, this was the only one that was without a doubt decided last-minute and wasn't planned beforehand.
The EX-Files
  • Cody, Gwen, and Sierra don't sing a song meant solely for their team, but neither is eliminated. However, it is possible that Sierra was excused for having a speaking line whereas Cody and Gwen were excused due to the anti-Gwen nature of the song.
Picnic at Hanging Dork
  • Cody and Sierra don't sing a song meant only for their team, but aren't eliminated. However, they might have been excused for their speaking parts.
  • Courtney is saved from an elimination not only because of Gwen's convienient allergy, but also because a delirious Cody accidentally voted for Sierra, instead of Courtney as he had planned.
Sweden Sour
  • Cody doesn't sing but isn't eliminated.
  • Courtney was spared from an elimination via a fake elimination ceremony, as all of her teammates showed an intent to vote her off right before it was announced.
Niagara Brawls
  • Alejandro, Cody, and Sierra don't sing, but aren't eliminated. However, Cody might have been excused for having speaking lines.
Chinese Fake-Out
  • Courtney doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, it's possible that the song was meant only for the contestants who made it to the second challenge, thus excluding Courtney from it.
African Lying Safari
  • Cody doesn't sing, but isn't eliminated. However, he was likely excused for being at a different location at the time of the song, thus not knowing that the song started.
Rapa Phooey!
  • Sierra is spared after a 3-1 vote as a result of the last fake elimination ceremony of the season.
Awwwwww, Drumheller
  • Cody and Sierra don't sing and aren't eliminated. However, considering Chris announced the song in a scene with just Alejandro and Heather, it's likely that the song was meant only for the latter two.
  • Alejandro is spared from an elimination as a result of 3-1 vote after Chris instead disqualifies Sierra for blowing up the plane.

     Total Drama: Revenge of the Island 
General
  • Lightning. He somehow manages to make it through the entire season despite making little to no plot contribution, simply because he's never targeted despite being such a huge threat.
Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!
  • The entire Mutant Maggots can be counted since they actually failed to complete the challenge properly while the Toxic Rats actually succeeded to bring their totem to the camp stite before its bomb exploded.
Finders Creepers
  • Brick attempts to quit, but Chris instead makes him switch teams and hurls an already eliminated Dakota in his place, all because Chef had been captured by Izzy, resulting in Chris not being able to hand the toxic marshmallow to the loser.
Runaway Model
  • Sam is voted out, likely for failing right when it seemed like he would win, as well as due to his gaming addiction making him The Load for his team. One could argue Brick deserves this title for actually causing the second challenge to happen, with his clothing choice for Sasquatchanakwa causing it to flee in rage, kidnapping Lindsay.
The Treasure Island of Dr. McLean
  • Scott avoids being voted out thanks to using his McLean-Brand Chris Head, causing Dakota, with the second-most votes, to be eliminated instead.

     Total Drama All-Stars 
General
  • Cameron. While his lengthy time on Revenge of the Island was somewhat justified due to his Character Development, in All-Stars he evaded elimination a ridiculous amount of times with little to no justification (even Cameron himself thought it was strange).
Moon Madness
  • Cameron attempts to quit in order to get away from Sierra. However, Chris doesn't respect his wish and instead makes him switch over to the Villainous Vultures, similarly to what happened in "Finders Creepers," with the only difference being that this time there was no excuse to justify a non-elimination round.
  • Mike who was outrun to the finish line by Courtney and Gwen, thus being the only contestant to never make it and losing the challenge for his team. However, because of the event described above, he's not even up for elimination. Admittedly, being close to both Cameron and Zoey would've likely saved him anyway.
No One Eggspects The Spanish Opposition
  • Alejandro steals and uses Heather's immunity idol, thus making only his vote for her valid, making her eliminated in his place.
Suckers Punched
  • Mike is spared from possible elimination due to Chris announcing that the winners of the boxing challenge (Villainous Vultures) will decide on which Hero will be eliminated. They chose Sierra.
  • On the topic of Sierra, the Vultures inexplicably choosing to vote her off instead of Duncan is what spares the delinquent for another episode. This is despite the fact Duncan is not only a far stronger competitor than Sierra, but his conflict with both Gwen and Courtney and their ability to convince Cameron and Scott to vote for him too also made Duncan a strong candidate for elimination (and given what happens to Duncan in the following episode, it's likely that even his fans would have preferred to see him go here).
You Regatta Be Kidding Me
  • Cameron manages to avoid being eliminated with the votes rigged by Mal because Duncan had already left the competition as a result of being arrested. Interestingly, there's no justification as to why this wasn't a double elimination instead.
Zeek And Ye Shall Find
  • Cameron's medical evacuation saved Alejandro, who likely would've been voted out by Cameron, Mal, Zoey, and their newest friend - Gwen, who sent him to Boney Island.
The Bold and the Booty-ful
  • Chris mentions that whoever comes back last would be automatically eliminated, but if someone came back empty-handed, it'd be considered even worse. Gwen comes last, but is disqualified by Chris for ruining his painting. Meanwhile, both Mal and Scott came back empty-handed (although Mal won Chris over, claiming he brought an injured contestant).

     Total Drama: Pahkitew Island 
General
  • Max unknowingly hindered all of Scarlett's plans to get rid of him prior to 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 5th.
  • 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 more low-key since Topher got 8th and was the last contestant to be eliminated before the merge.
So, Uh This Is My Team?
  • Leonard, as his idea for a tower failed, and yet it was Beardo who was voted out instead.
Twinning Isn't Everything
  • Samey manages to avoid being voted out, pretending to be her sister and rendering Amy unable to explain things as a result of tricking her into stealing Manchineel Fruit from her. Interestingly, their teammates did plan to vote out the "evil twin," but it was Amy's manipulation that made them believe Samey was the evil one.
Mo Monkey Mo Problems
  • Max is spared from elimination by Sugar selling Ella out to Chris for breaking her no singing promise during the challenge (even though it helped them win).
Sky Fall
  • Sugar somehow manages to avoid a sudden-death elimination despite yet having to do the climbing portion of the challenge. With Jasmine being able to lift up the tree trapping her by the time, it can be assumed that if the last portion of the challenge had actually been shown, Jasmine would've likely beat Sugar to it.
Pahk'd With Talent
  • Sky manages to avoid being eliminated this episode with her having the lowest score come the third and final round. A talent competition that Sugar suggested. Despite her performance being labelled as weak, she stays in the game after Sugar was automatically eliminated because of how horrible her performance was.

     Total Drama Island (2023) Part 1 
General
  • Similarly to DJ in World Tour, Damien wants to leave the show by any means necessary. However, Chris threatened that if he were to simply quit the show, he'd owe the producers one million dollars, causing him to continuously vote for himself, try to convince his teammates that their loss was his fault and even make a campaign to vote himself off similar to Dave. Of course, just like in DJ's case, it only works once he actually wants to compete.
  • Ripper is Hated by All for being The Bully with disgusting Toilet Humor but constantly ends up barely surviving eliminations.
  • Similarly to Heather, Julia ends up making it far despite being Hated by All mostly thanks to often winning immunity or, on rare occasions when she doesn't, someone else coming off as a better target.
Pirates of the Cabbagean
  • Zee ultimately loses for his team, as they would've won had he not closed his eyes, thus not noticing a seagull sitting on the ship's wheel which changes its course, therefore failing at crashing it against the ship of the Frogs of Death like Scary Girl proposed. However, likely as a result of the friendships between him and most of his teammates as well as Axel and Ripper getting on the rest of the team's nerves, he's not even in the bottom two.
Paddle Field Earth
  • Both Bowie (whom Julia's alliance initially voted for) and Priya (whom Bowie's alliance initially voted for as a result of Julia having immunity) avoided potentially losing in a tie-breaker thanks to Zee revealing that he was a member of both Bowie's and Julia's alliances and trying to get everyone to vote off Chris, an act so dumb that it causes everyone to re-evaluate their opinions of Zee and prompts Bowie to ask for a re-vote, something completely unprecedented in the entire history of the series up until this point, even during eliminations where someone voted for the wrong person by accident or the votes had been tampered with, which Chris surprisingly allows, resulting in Zee getting sent home instead.

     Total Drama Island (2023) Part 2 
General
  • Despite being a competition powerhouse and the winner of the previous season, Priya is never once targeted for elimination due to being a threat.
  • Julia continues to never get voted off despite her antagonistic attitude and athletic threat to the game. Even in episodes where she doesn’t win immunity, Julia is never even considered for elimination.
Choosin' for a Bruisin'
  • Priya avoids getting eliminated for costing her team the challenge by convincing Emma to go against her gut the one time it was right thanks to Emma's poor performance in the challenge overall as a result of her being a Horrible Judge of Character.
Ice To Beat You
  • Zee likely avoided getting eliminated for urinating on one of the ice pillars his team needed to cross in order to reach the last key, causing it to melt down to half of its original size, thanks to Nichelle deciding to quit after falling for a fake Hollywood contract written by Julia that said that she would be needed for filming the very next day.
Canoe You Believe It?
  • MK avoided being eliminated for being exposed as a cheater by Chris thanks to Julia successfully convincing the members of Team Rat Face that the cheating was Bowie's idea so they'd vote for him instead and he got eliminated.
Haulin' n' Ballin'
  • Caleb avoids being eliminated after Zee reveals that he only got close to Priya so that he could form an alliance with her, not knowing that Caleb had developed genuine feelings for Priya since then, thanks to Zee also revealing some of the other campers’ secrets. This is made stranger by the fact that Damien, Wayne, Raj and MK heavily imply in their confessionals right before the elimination ceremony that, despite Zee being a blabbermouth, they’re all still going to vote for Caleb, and since there are only 8 campers left by this point, they would make up 50% of the votes and since there’s no indication of Zee intending to vote for himself, he realistically only should have received three votes at most (though given Wayne and MK were also shown to be angry with Zee at the elimination ceremony and avoiding sitting near him, it is possible they may have also voted him off for revealing their own secrets (or best friend's secret in Wayne's case), and the following episode confirms that Damien voted off Zee over Caleb, though he does state that Zee did the right thing by ratting out Caleb and admits that he feels guilty for having voted him off).
Circling the Drain
  • Priya avoids getting eliminated thanks to Damien getting his Immunity Idol stolen offscreen, leaving him unable to nullify the votes against him, causing him to get eliminated instead.
Working K9 to 5
  • Priya avoids elimination thanks to Raj and Wayne deciding to flip a coin to decide who to vote off between her and Caleb, which lands on moose for Caleb and causes them to refuse to go with Julia's plan to vote off Priya purely because of that, leading Julia to get Priya to vote off Raj instead.
Off the Hook!
  • Julia avoids being eliminated thanks to stealing aforementioned Damien's immunity idol and using it to save herself, making only her vote for Priya count.

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