Hated characters from the Survivor franchise who've subsequently been Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.
A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. Examples shouldn't be added for 9 months. This is measured from the point when the character was introduced or became hated.
Returning players
Returned for All-Stars- Jenna Morasca wasn't all that popular in Amazon due to being viewed as being rather bitchy and somehow winning the show in a landslide over a positively edited Matthew. In All-Stars however, many had sympathized with her heart-breaking story and her new found kindness had led to viewers seeing her in a different light. Her former relationship with Africa winner Ethan Zohn helped as well.
Returned for Heroes vs. Villains
- Coach Wade. He was less obnoxious and became good at challenges (and we were less exposed to his... "eccentricities" thanks to Russell). Compare him in Tocantins to South Pacific.
- Likewise, Jerri became very well liked by fans throughout Heroes vs. Villains, especially when you compare how she was booed off the stage in her previous appearance in the All-Stars reunion show and how the crowd cheered and applauded her in HvV. Her smile could've just lighted up the whole studio.
Returned for Caramoan
- Corrine Kaplan from Gabon was not very well-liked for being a Jerkass and giving a brutal "Reason You Suck" Speech to Sugar about how she wasn't sincere about her grief towards her father's death. Come to Caramoan, she showcases a lot more personality that made fans like her better, and many fans were sad to see her not on the jury as they wanted to see her jury reactions. Her constant Rob Has a Podcast appearances also help as well in addition to the fact that she was on a tribe with even more controversial figures such as Brandon and Phillip.
Returned for Blood vs. Water
- Candice Cody (née Woodcock). While she wasn't hated, she wasn't particularly iconic when she was cast on Heroes vs. Villains, and flipping on the Heroes after the merge didn't exactly increase her favor. In addition, she and her husband John were last-minute replacements for R.C. (from Philippines) and her father Craig (whose low blood pressure caused them to be pulled right before filming), coloring the perceptions of both fans and players, to the point that Candice was voted out before the game even started! However, her underdog status, her attempts to influence the game from Redemption Island, and the fact that she and her Ensemble Dark Horse husband had both an interesting story arc and were the last romantic couple in the game gained her plenty of fan favor.
Returned for Cambodia
- The opinion of Kelley Wentworth was divided right down the middle in the online fanbase when she was announced to be on the Second Chance ballot. One half was insistent that she showed a lot of potential in San Juan Del Sur and was charmed by her eagerness to get back on the show, while the other side argued that she was an irrelevant pre-merge boot who was not worthy of a spot on an All-Stars season and found her enthusiastic campaigning obnoxious. This rift blew up when she unexpectedly made the cast of Survivor: Cambodia with the side against her becoming vocal against her inclusion claiming that she was undeserving of making the cut and stole Teresa "T-Bird" Cooper's spot on the show. While she wasn't necessarily hated, her inclusion in the Cambodia cast was quite a shock to many viewers, as she was an early boot in a season with a lackluster premerge. By the premier episode though most people had come around and realized that her pre-game promises to play hard were legitimate. By the time the season ended it was agreed upon that her inclusion was worthwhile and she is indeed a very capable player, with many wishing that she was the winner of the season.
Returned for Game Changers
- While Ozzy Lusth was initially very popular due to his challenge strength, he went on to become less well-liked by fans after his appearances following his first season had him Took a Level in Jerkass as well as him becoming a Spotlight-Stealing Squad in South Pacific. It is rather telling the casting choice for him to be on Game Changers had many people to believe that that he was a Questionable Casting choice while many fans tend to have had the opposite reaction for him being cast in Micronesia. Then in Game Changers, as he reconciled with fan favorite Cirie Fields, became nicer to everyone, and editing toned down his screen time so he was no longer a Spotlight-Stealing Squad. He got a much more positive reaction this season and some people were actually upset he was voted out. Some people have even taken more kindly to his appearance on South Pacific in retrospect.
- Sandra Diaz-Twine has always received flak for not being as badass as some fans expect she would be due to her being a two-time winner. Come to Episode Five of Game Changers where she manages to play J.T. like a fiddle and got him voted out even though he knows that he was on the bottom of his tribe and he even had an unplayed hidden immunity idol on him. Many fans regarded that as an extremely good move on her part and many people was convinced that she was the best player of all-time after that move.
- Brad Culpepper in Blood vs Water was a polarizing character, to say the least. Many were not happy to see him return for Game Changers, especially because he was not voted into Cambodia. However, in Game Changers, he has noticeably changed his strategy and has become a lot nicer and more savvy strategically, which has won him some fans. Although he did momentarily slip back into the scrappy status after getting cocky and aggressive with Tai the last episode, he was once again rescued when he profusely apologized to Tai at the reunion and owned up to his actions and mistakes.
Returned for Edge of Extinction
- Joe Anglim from Edge of Extinction, while by no means a terrible player or person, wasn't very popular in the hardcore fanbase of Survivor due to being considered a Creator's Pet by production and Jeff, and his arrival as a captain in Edge of Extinction was met with a very mixed to negative reception. However, the first double episode allowed fans to warm up to him as he showed some strategic chops by managing to convince Ron and Julia that he should be kept due to being a shield and provider, which threw off Julie's plan to possibly throw the challenge in hopes of getting him out. And his unceremonious blindside in the merge episode caught fans off-guard for how stupid and shocking it was, making the fans feel genuinely bad for Joe and with some hoping that he could win his way back in on Edge of Extinction.
Returned for Winners at War
- Sarah Lacina in Cagayan was never anyone's scrappy, being seen more as a hilarious example of power getting to one's head before a downfall. This changed in Game Changers, where people complained about her dominating edit and obvious victory, actually labeling her as a Creator's Pet on this very wiki even. In Winners at War she delivers an Armor-Piercing Response to this and is generally enjoyed more throughout the season, with people taking the time to reflect on her Game Changers appearance.
- Michele Fitzgerald is a mixture of this trope and a positive Character Perception Evolution. Back when she won, there was a bunch of backlash from some fans due to how popular Aubry was. While there was a bunch of elements that made her win more vindicatednote , this season really got most people to no longer be mad at her as the story that season goes on to put a heavy emphasis on her gameplay. Additionally, she was one of the few people to realize how much a huge threat Tony was as well as being the only person that season to never get voted out once in their Survivor career.
First-time players
- Clarence Black from Africa. After being ostracized by his tribe for most of the game because he ate a can of beans from said tribe's food rations while the others were away searching for a water source, he later shapes up, works hard at camp and in the challenges, and eventually earns back their respect.
- Along the lines of Africa is Lindsey Richter, who was not well liked by the viewers due to her awful attitude towards the minority alliance and siding with Silas, who was being built up as the Big Bad of the season. However, when a swap came around and the vote came down between her and her friend Brandon, Lindsey told everyone she wouldn't vote out her friend, that she wouldn't ask them to keep her around, and she would go home with her dignity knowing she was loyal to her friend - which drove Brandon to tears as she was voted out. Needless to say, it redeemed her.
- Caleb Reynolds. While he wasn't on Survivor before, he was a well-known reality TV star from Big Brother who was absolutely hated because of his obsessive, entitled crush on one of his housemates, and as well as some less-than-politically-correct things he said outside the game. However, three episodes into Kaoh Rong already saw him beginning to redeem himself, as he treats the other women on his tribe with respect, and even developed a good friendship with Tai, a gay man. Having a fiancée probably helped him grow up, too. His medical evacuation in Episode 4 was seen as very tragic, even by people who disliked him.
- During the initial first few episodes of Millennials vs. Gen X, David Wright was a bit divisive due to how much airtime he got during those episodes. However, after his airtime got toned down, and he gone through massive Character Development where he went from a paranoid wreck to a more confident power threat, he ended up becoming much more well-liked by fans. Many felt disappointed that he didn't return to Game Changers though his appearance on Edge of Extinction can make up for it.
- Prior to David vs. Goliath, Alec Merlino got into controversy where he broke his contract by posting Instagram pictures with Kara, and got banned from the reunion by doing so. This causes people to think that he will end up as a huge Jerkass on the show, and some people disliked him before the season began. However, once the episodes aired out, he was far nicer than what people thought he was, and some folks wanted him to be unbanned from the reunion.
- Karishma was less a Scrappy and more a Base-Breaking Character in Island of the Idols, but her detractors came around after she immediately rushed over to Jamal's aid when he was about to pass out from fatigue. She's also one of the only people left on Janet's side after the controversial merge episode. The fact that because of her, Missy got voted out boosted her popularity even more.
- Jamal from Island of the Idols wasn't liked from the start due to his arrogant start, and light sexist behavior. However, he made up for it in his final episode by supporting Kellee during the Dan incident, and calling out Aaron when the latter made a sexist statement about how women should go to the strong men for support. It's very telling that fans were upset at his elimination in a very controversial episode.
- Evvie from Survivor 41 was a player many fans were dreading due to a controversial statement they made about men in their pre-game interview. Once the season started airing, they treated the men with the same level as respect as the women assuaging what many fans feared they were gonna see from them. Their gameplay and overall personality were both well received and by the end of the season, they were one of the most well-liked players that season and one the fans were least divided on.
Twists/Other
- The Hidden Immunity Idol once it stopped being a Game-Breaker for the people on top in Fiji.
- The show did it to an actual season in the form of San Juan del Sur. The first six episodes was more-so boring with the exception of Drew Christy boot episode. After the merge though, it was filled with a lot of blindsides, unpredictability, and bold moves with the winner being extremely likable. Plus, Cambodia managed to have that season be Vindicated by History, as all three representatives from SJDS made it the final five, and one of them won the game by an unanimous vote.
