Survivor (TV Series) - Variations in The Format

Variations in The Format

Aside from the U.S. version, other franchises introduced variations and twists for the game. Somehow, most of these twists and variations are used in other franchises as well:

• Expeditie Robinson Belgium/Netherlands
  • During the 2005 season the tribes were initially divided up by age into "Old" and "Young", with the old contestants being forty and older and the young contestants being under the age of thirty. This twist was later used during Survivor: Nicaragua and Robinsonekspedisjonen 2009.
  • During the pre-merge portion of the 2006 season two former contestants returned to the game to lead the tribes. As leader they were allowed to give individual immunity to any member of their tribe when they went to tribal council. Neither of these two contestants were eligible to win and both left shortly before the merge.
  • When there were only three contestants left during the 2006 season all of the contestants that had lost on "Losers Island" voted to eliminate one of the finalists.
  • The 2007 season began with one hundred contestants. Because many of these contestants weren't on the show for more than a couple of episodes many of their surnames are unknown.
  • When it came time to reveal the winner of the 2008 season it was revealed that the jury vote was tied at 3-3. This led to seventy four former contestants voting for a winner.
  • During the 2009 season the two tribes were initially composed of only women while a smaller tribe of men were hidden on a secluded beach. The men eventually entered the main competition in episode four. A similar twist was later used during Robinson 2011.
• Koh-Lanta (France)
  • In every season of Koh-Lanta, just before the tribe merge, an ambassador is chosen in each tribe. They had the power to give one more vote to any contestant for the first Tribal Council of the merged tribe, until season 8. On season 9 and onwards (including the two All-Stars seasons), they can directly eliminate a contestant. However, if none of the ambassadors agree to vote for/eliminate one contestant, they must draw one pearl in a bag. The one who gets the black pearl loses and gets a vote, or is directly eliminated depending of the season.
  • During season 3 (Bocas del Toro), the oldest man and woman had the possibility to compose their respective tribes, as long as the gender parity was respected.
  • During season 4 (Panama), the two tribes were divided by gender. However, after 8 days, the tribes were mixed. A variation was used during season 10 (Vietnam) were the tribes were divided by gender, but one person per tribe was from the opposite gender.
  • During season 5 (Pacific) and season 6 (Vanuatu), the tribes were divided by age: older or younger than 31 years old.
  • During season 7 (Palawan) and season 8 (Caramoan), there was a challenge before the tribes were composed: the best man and woman got the privilege to compose their tribes, while the last man and woman were directly eliminated. The latter rule was also applied in season 9 (Palau) and in the first All-Stars season.
  • During the second All-Stars season, seven previous contestants were part of a tribe, while the other tribe was composed by famous French sportsmen.
  • In season 11 (Raja Ampat), two new rules were introduced: the hidden immunity idol, known in its appearance in the US version, and a new rule called the "vote noir" (black vote). After a contestant gets voted out at the Tribal Council, he can vote one more time against one of the remaining contestants of his tribe, before quitting the game. This vote counts for the next Tribal Council of the tribe.
  • The third All-Stars season featured sixteen former contestants who, despite their performances, didn't become the Sole Survivor.
  • In season 12 (Malaysia), four contestants out of the starting 20 won't be part of the two starting tribes and will be on a sort of "Exile Island", and they'll need to prove themselves in order to integrate one of the two tribes. Also, for the first time in the history of the program, two contestants will be eliminated at once in a single Tribal Council.
• Robinson Ekspeditionen Denmark
  • As the fifth season was originally thought to be the last season of Robinson that would air in Denmark, Robinson Ekspeditionen 2002 was the first ever "All-Stars" version of Survivor to air in the world. Since then there have been several All-Stars versions including ones in America, Belgium/Netherlands, France, Israel, and Sweden.
  • During the 2005 season the contestants were divided up into tribes based on where they were from within Denmark.
  • During the 2006 season all of the contestants were well known Danish athletes.
  • In keeping with the theme of the season, during the 2006 season none of the contestants were eliminated through voting but rather through duels.
  • During the 2007 season the tribes were composed of past contestants from Robinson Ekspeditionen and contestants of another show known as Paradise Hotel.
  • During the 2008 season the tribes were composed of fans of Robinson Ekspeditionen and former contestants from Paradise Hotel.
  • During the 2009 season the tribes were initially divided into "Smart" and "Dumb" based on the results of an IQ test the contestants took prior to the start of the competition.
  • During the 2010 season the contestants took part in a challenge that would ultimately divide them into "Masters" and "Slaves" within their own tribes (one tribe was composed of male masters and female slaves while the other was composed of female masters and male slaves).
• Robinsonid (Estonia), Robinsoni (Latvia), Robinzonai (Lithuania)
  • As a representative for each participating country was necessary for the finale, when there was only one member of any given tribe left they were immune from all remaining eliminations.
  • In all seasons of Baltic Robinson the jury would vote for who they didn't want to win as opposed to who they did. These votes would be added along with those given to the losers of plank (in all seasons) and those of the public (in the first two seasons) or of the finalists (in season 3).
• Survivor Israel
  • Introduced the "Double-Power Challenge" in Survivor 10: The Caribbean. The double-power challenge is an individual challenge, which is played after the Immunity challenge. Every person going to Tribal Council had to compete, and the winner of the challenge won an additional power at Tribal Council.
  • Introduced the "Veto Armlet" in Survivor 10: Pearl Islands. Aside from the Immunity Challenge, where the winner of the challenge wins the immunity, the Israel version introduced the Armlet Veto, wherein the winner of the Veto Challenge gets the armlet. The Veto Armlets purpose is to cancel the vote of a castaway.
• Robinsonekspedisjonen Norway
  • In November 2011 it was announced that the 2012 season of Robinsonekspedisjonen will be known as "Robinson: Vinter" (Robinson: Winter) and it will be the first ever season of Robinson or Survivor to ever take place in a cold climate as it will be filmed in Norway.
• Survivor Philippines
  • Introduced the "Cursed and White Pearls", both roughly the size of a standard billiard ball. During the merge stage, the person voted out, before having his/her torch snuffed out, will receive either one or both of the Pearls and give each Pearl to one of the remaining castaways. The castaway who receives the Cursed Pearl gets one vote in the following Tribal Council. In case the Cursed Pearl is lost, the holder would then receive two votes. In-show, the Cursed Pearl is called the "Black Pearl" (though in the first season, its actual color is really silver). On the other hand, the White Pearl will have one vote subtracted from the count in the receiver's favor in the next Tribal Council, should at least one such vote comes up. This was introduced in the first season of Survivor Philippines.
  • Introduced the "Blood Pearl" in Survivor Philippines: Palau. The Blood Pearl served the same purpose as the Cursed Pearl, only, the holder would receive two votes in the next Tribal Council. In case the Blood Pearl is lost, three votes would be counted against the holder.
  • Introduced the "doubles format" in Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown, wherein castaways are grouped as couples with preexisting relationships. In this format, the couple is treated as one castaway, wherein both members get immunity after winning Immunity Challenges, both win the reward from the Reward Challenges, and both are voted out in the Tribal Council.
  • Also in Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown, the "Temptation Reward" was introduced. The winning tribe in a Reward Challenge would choose one or two of their own to be the only one/s partaking in the Temptation Reward. After being shown the Temptation Reward, the chosen one/s were then also presented with the consequence that comes upon accepting the Temptation Reward. Declining from the Temptation Reward is also an option, if those chosen would deem accepting it be too harmful for their life in the game.
• Expedition Robinson Sweden
  • During the 1998 and 1999 seasons, during the pre-merge portion of the competition when a tribe lost an immunity challenge the opposing tribe would vote to eliminate one of their members.
  • In the 1998 season a "Joker" joined the game midway through. Since then this twist has become very common among Survivor versions around the world.
  • During the 1999 season the contestants were initially divided into four tribes. This twist would later be used in the American version of Survivor during Survivor: Exile Island and Survivor: Cook Islands.
  • During the 1999 season the twist of "The Black Vote" was introduced. During the merge portion of the competition whenever someone was voted out before they left tribal council they would cast one more vote. This vote would then be carried over to the next tribal council and whoever received the vote, assuming they didn't have immunity, would have an extra vote against them.
  • During the 2002 season when a contestant was voted out they were sent to a secret island where they would take part in a duel with another eliminated contestant. The contestant who lost said duel would be eliminated for good while the winner remained on the island. The person still inhabiting the island when there were only three contestants left in the game would re-enter the competition. This twist would later be used in several different versions of the show and has recently been used on Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific.
  • During the All-Stars version of Expedition Robinson the tribes were initially divided into two tribes, one composed of "Veterans" and the other of "Fans". This type of twist was also used in the American version of Survivor during Survivor: Micronesia.
  • During the 2004 season the twist known as "Team X" was introduced. Shortly after the competition began a new group of contestants entered the game and lived separately and secretly away from the other contestants until a certain point in the game. This twist has since also been used in Norway's 2009 season.
  • During the 2004 and 2005 seasons a former contestant entered the game. This twist has since been used in many different Survivor versions around the world.
  • During the 2005 season the tribes were initially divided up into a "Rich" tribe and a "Poor" tribe. This twist has since been used in the Danish, Norwegian, and American versions, most notably in Survivor: Fiji.
• Twists with unknown origins
  • During the year 2002 several different versions of Survivor used the twist of gender based tribes as a main twist for their seasons. Due to the fact that at the time the Baltic, Belgian/Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish seasons were all traveling together in order to conserve and pool their resources, there is no way to determine which production team came up with the idea of the twist (though it's unlikely to be the Baltic's or Norway's as neither edition has ever used this twist). The same twist was used a few months later in 2003 during Survivor: Amazon and a couple years later in 2004 during Survivor: Vanuatu.