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  • Advertised Extra: Amber B, the winner of season 36, was featured prominently in the season 37 trailer despite going home fairly early.
  • Base-Breaking Character: Most contestants could qualify as this, but nobody is more broken than Johnny Bananas. Some fans love him for his consistent success on the show, as well as loving his funny and sarcastic commentary. Others hate him for being an arrogant Jerkass who needs to retire.
  • Broken Base: The rebranding of the show after "Spies, lies, and Allies", whereas "The Challenge: All Stars" is relegated to Paramount Plus. See also Seasonal Rot as The challenge: USA (2022) has not a single person from Real World or Road Rules.
  • Catharsis Factor: Many people rejoice seeing a Creator's Pet, The Scrappy, or a dislikable person for whatever reason lose.
    • In the first season of the "The Challenge: USA":
      • For those who felt the Cookout in Big Brother 23 had treated Alyssa poorly seeing her outlast all of the returning Cookout players was this.
      • Also those who hated the Cookout seeing Xavier who benefited the most go out due to his own arrogance and be a whiny bitch on his way out was so satisfying.
      • Those who didn't like James creating the steamroller alliance in Amazing Race 32 will love seeing him be absolutely clobbered by the algorithm which he had no control over
      • Seeing how everyone Took a Level in Kindness towards David was also very cathartic.
      • Justine and Cashay in particular was hit very hard with Not Badass Enough for Fans by the Survivor and Big Brother crew for simply being from Love Island. Watching Justine outperform people in challenges was very cathartic to watch them show-up people.
      • After the whole season of Alyssa and Angela being incredibly arrogant, the finale is a massive one watching Sarah get back at them by pitting them against each other in the arena then Angela gets clobbered in the finale culminating in her intentionally timing out only for the judges to rule it a quit.
    • From the "World Championship", seeing Sarah stay with her partner who twisted his ankle until the medics came to get him was very cathartic in a heartwarming way.
    • For fans who didn't like Tori's attitude in World Champs will enjoy her being seen as a pariah in The Challenge USA 2 then floundering in the final run.
    • Seeing Desi win the second season was very cathartic after she got screwed out in the first season of USA.
  • Creator's Pet: Again, Johnny Bananas. Chris "CT" Tamburello to a lesser extent. It is obvious that MTV loves them both for their longevity on the show, however, many fans dislike them for the very same reason, along with taking away screentime from the newer "rookie" players.
  • Elimination Houdini: Loads of them. Notable contestants being Sarah in The Gauntlet being nominated for elimination five times. Wes/Casey also count for being placed up five times as well. Casey during her subsequent challenges also, especially The Ruins.
  • Not Badass Enough for Fans: The Love Island and The Amazing Race players in The Challenge: USA rebranding were similarly mocked because they were seen as much "Easier" games. This proceeded to backfire when Justine and Cashay showed that they were very much there to win and not just play around.
  • Old Shame: Certain Housemates definitely see the show as this. Genesis being a good example of somebody who wishes that they never did the show.
    • Meanwhile, Dustin still has people antagonizing him over his porn past.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Cayla was not very well-liked in Amazing Race 33 for playing up the cameras focusing more on her female empowerment storyline than actually trying to win. This time around, she was actually pretty popular for this time focusing her efforts on the game playing both the physical and mental portions very well even making the finale.
  • Romantic Plot Tumor: Perhaps the most notable example being CT and Diem, which lasted years. They dated only about 18 months initially, broke up before The Duel 2, and then later came back twice as a couple on Battle of the Exes, with the Will They or Won't They? get back together driving fans crazy.
  • The Scrappy: Any contestant who comes there and just does not care about winning at all. Shauvon (who left voluntarily not once, but twice) for being a horrible competitor, and Casey, especially during The Ruins, for causing her team to lose basically every challenge. Luckily, Shauvon always left pretty early, but Casey lasted very long on The Ruins, because of the way the format played out, the Champions team found it beneficial to keep her for a long time.
  • Scrappy Mechanic: In any season with a "Pair" mechanic, if one person gets disqualified for whatever reason the partner ends up having to get disqualified as well - even if they are perfectly able to compete.
  • Seasonal Rot: Debatable among fans of all ages. The older fans hate when they stopped doing "Road Rules" vs "Real World" teams, some say its when they introduced Fresh Meat, others may say later challenges.
    • Most fans hate The Island, not only for the strange setting of putting the contestants on a beach with little food and supplies, but also for its' strange, unusual format.
    • For people who watch the more recent challenges, some dislike how the show stopped focusing solely on The Real World and Road Rules and began to introduce people from other reality shows instead (Big Brother, Are You the One?, Ex on the Beach, etc.), to the point that people from the former are in the minority. In fact, the first season of The Challenge: USA (the show's spinoff) has not a single person from either Real World or Road Rules.
  • Squick: any of the eating challenges they sometimes have to do, where they have to eat disgusting items such as bugs, or strange animal parts.
  • Tearjerker: Diem's last episode during Battle of the Exes II, when she has to go home because she got sick again. She talks about how she dreams of starting a family one day, and that she would have spent her prize money on a surrogate. Knowing that her dream never came true, as she died several months after the episode was filmed makes it even harder to watch.
  • That One Task: Any food challenge. Period. People always throw up and get dehydrated which makes it harder for them to compete.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Chris Underwood was one of Survivor's most controversial winners. He proved himself as being way way more badass in the second season of The Challenge USA and actually won!
  • The Woobie: Several.
    • Paula (especially at the end of The Island), Sarah (at the end of Rivals 3), Cara Maria could even qualify at times.
    • Desi, she stood a good chance of winning the finale, only to go home because her partner Enzo quit a water challenge.
    • James Lock who showcased an aversion of Soft Water in "The Challenge UK" and had multiple fractures in his face.

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