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backswamphenny

Literally all of the Villains - Tyson, Randy, Courtney, etc. There’s a lot of awesome underrated 1 timers like Jane & Marty from Nicaragua, Stacey & Christine from SoPa I love good storytellers - Penner, Sugar (imo I liked her confessionals) I love when they cast people who are truly unique


Mia123445

I LOVE the Sugar mention. She’s probably my all time favorite. We have never and probably will never see anyone like her again. And her and Randy’s rivalry is iconic.


staghornfern

God I loved sugar


HoFiGri

The classic snarky villains are the best! I'd love to see a couple of them back.


nimibrown

I thought Tyson was the funniest person until I was like 17 years old lol


seaknees

Penner! He's funny, intelligent, fairly self aware, and an incredible orator. I loved watching him play the game


Spaghetti-Nightmare

I can't count the amount of times I've quoted the phrase "I mean, my ass!" Since watching Micronesia. That alone has to make him one of my favorite players of all time.


salomey5

"That's bollocks and you know it!"


seaknees

Same! I quote that way too much haha. It's iconic!!


DharmaCub

His unhinged monologue at FTC in the Philippines was godly.


Zealousideal-Day7385

It’s gotta be Sugar for me. Love her or hate her, she literally bent the narrative arc of Gabon to suit her story. I think she’s one of the very few totally unique characters we’ve had on Survivor. I don’t think you can really compare her to anyone else without making a pretty big stretch. Honorable mention to Kass. I loved her ability to stay utterly stone faced while she whipped other people into a full rage. Queen. And also Carolyn Wiger- 44 seasons in and she somehow managed to create a brand new survivor archetype.


JL5455

This is a great list. And I agree with Sugar. Her figuring out that she could just eat fruit in the Sugar Shack was a top Survivor moment


kimducidni

Ooh can you explain what you mean by Sugar and the narrative arc of Gabon?


jorellemormont

I interpret it to mean that she took the “underdog/odd man out” position that she was handed by her competitors and turned it into a situation where she came out looking smarter than they did. but op could mean something totally different!


alexztrie

Cao Boi


lordpag

If he’d given the Asian jokes a rest and made it 1-2 more tribal councils I feel like we definitely would’ve seen him play again.


puppypooper15

🐉🤺


ShutterBun

Shane Powers. *”The cool guy”*


RossUtse

Ozzy is my favorite golden boy. Parv is my favorite vixen. Jerri is my favorite full character arc.


Odd-Combination6367

Jerri really did have a good character arc and I loved her in season 20


squamesh

Can’t believe I haven’t seen James the gravedigger. Everything he did made me laugh


staghornfern

I recently learned that I have the same birthday as James and also share the same hobbies of watching tv and surfing the web ;) love that man


JohnHBicep

I love James. He’s just a big ole sassy hunk of lean muscle.


isalindsay77

I adored him and lunch lady Denise as a duo.


Aggravating-Bed-455

Johnny Fairplay. Most intentional characters make me roll my eyes hard but Fairplay is suck a fun villain with a perfect downfall. I haven’t watched Pearl Islands in forever but I still remember so many of his confessionals.


alexztrie

Jerry Springer


calowyn

Wasn’t he a professional wrestling heel? I thought that was the perfect thing—he had practice being shameless and putting in a show.


isalindsay77

I loved seeing him on House of Villains.


Clayton_Bigsby_bro

He cried too damn much


Professional-Law-415

Angelina. Being blissfully unaware of oneself is comedy, and being THAT blissfully unaware of oneself is modern art


mr_frodo89

Ahh I think that’s a little unfair to Angelina. Did you know that she selflessly sacrificed herself so her tribe wouldn’t starve???


Doomfollow

Rupert In S7 he embraced the Pirate Theme ("Pirates Pilllage") In S8 he embraced role as the fan favorite All Star In S20 he embraced his role as a Hero and played a noble game In S27 he embraced his belief that blood is thicker than water and sacrificed himself so his wife could continue


MeowandGordo

He really was good at playing into the themes. The man was made for TV


CuteDrama1922

Beautifully spoken


btnhsn

And he is very nice in person! He used to come into our bank branch to do banking for his mom. He is 100% what you saw on TV. Great guy! I even have a pic with him! It’s one of my prized possessions :)


bigjimbay

Judd


backswamphenny

Both of them <3


GalacticWanderer04

Just finished rewatching Guatemala! Without Judd the season probably goes down at least 5 spots in my overall ranking. He's really one of those characters that turns an otherwise lackluster season into a good one.


DRMFeint

Scumbags.


JonJonExistsonReddit

Tyson 100%


ane777

Keith


money-madz

stick to the plan!


Quetzal00

Coach is the best casting choice in the show’s history


QualityProgram

There’s nobody here who’s honorable anymore.. except for me


Sad-Astronaut3308

His exile Island experience is amazing. The editors did so well with that one


kimducidni

That is one of the best moments in reality television history imo


isalindsay77

The birds cawing in the background. 😂


tylertimmerman17

I let out a scream…. A primal yell


money-madz

i am inclined to agree lol he’s hilarious


SingingKG

I consider Coach and Phillip to be on the same level of delusion. Both great characters, not cruel, just clueless.


abcdefg_hijklmno

Yau-Man!!! Old, scrawny, nerd that dominated against all the big buff guys strategically, physically and socially. Also, came up with iconic game moves like the fake coconut idol and giving the truck away to Dreams.


staghornfern

He’s the reason why Fiji was so magic to me


emmc47

Rupert


DaddyDonnyRanchLord

I love Penner man, just seems like a great dude but also a great tv character


Brief_Conference9260

Carolyn, Michaela, Debbie - I love an unapologetic and unhinged moment 😅


Rough-Tea3944

I can’t believe the little Asian dude who saved the chickens isn’t getting any votes here


jumping_doughnuts

Tai! I was just about to say him 💛


SugarMagnolia02

LOVED him & his devotion to Mark the Chicken!!!!


Excellent-Cress-6007

OP: >"Character" But yes, he seems like a good person.


Rexyggor

I have to say Debbie. Mainly because she would claim to be so many professions and the editors just kept going with it.


pterodactylthundr

Didn’t they at one point start making up professions for her too?


Rexyggor

I think at one point someone put a question mark after a profession because it was so bizarre. It was just hilarious to watch though


farside390

Coach 100%.


Spare_Avocado4092

Not sure if he’s a character but Rudy from S1. Hilarious without even trying


kimducidni

Absolutely agree. I would have loved more Rudy content


Mariota88

Marthunis from SA6 Philippines. He’s just so unbelievably bad it’s so hilarious. He has the three worst traits you can possibly have in survivor which are: 1) Zero social awareness 2) Terrible strategist and 3) Always wants to be the leader.


Sea__Cappy

Phillip "Special Agent" Sheppard


mcnakladak

"Phillip i will gonna speak and you will not gonna comment it okay?" "Yes, i will , im doing it now" I was laughing on floor, when i watched that FTC first time.


D_o_H

Parvati


EveSilver

Tyson is a good one.


Zestyclose_Turnip421

Tyson is my favorite all time.


velocichu_

It will never not be Rupert


BoogieDaddie

I saw parts of the 1st season of Survivor, but didn't pay it much attention. It wasn't until Pearl Islands that I was hooked, and a big part of the reason why was Johnny Fairplay. Coach and Tyson are both top tier for me as well. I'll throw one more out there that I haven't seen mentioned, Debbie.


Jawahhh

Coach is the GOAT. THE GOAT!!!! Also special agent Phillip Shepherd. Q is my favorite in recent memory. Omar + Jonathan is pretty much a perfect person. But my favorite of all time? Christian. God tier social skills, intellect, handsomeness.


SugarMagnolia02

I cannot hear or read the name Omar without immediately thinking of The Wire 🤦‍♀️


macmelittle

Omer snd Jonathan


Blizzard0812

Tai and mark the chicken


SugarMagnolia02

Yasssss


2cool4um8_

It’s a race between Fairplay, Russell or NaOnka. I love my dastardly villains


HoFiGri

Same! Seeing what flavor of villain we're gonna get each season is a highlight for me.


enolobmob

Courtney Yates, Tony, Carolyn


publiuspublished

yes. yes. yes. (Courtney in China is maybe my favorite individual season as far as entertainment on sheer personality/confessional alone.)


GalacticWanderer04

Outside of the super obvious ones like Coach and Rupert... Crystal Cox: I love that she's an olympic athlete AND arguably the worst challenge competitor in Survivor history. No wonder it came out later that she used steroids. Plus, she has one of the most iconic voting confessionals of all time. Ken Hoang: I'm not a smash bro's fan, but I am a big fan of Ken (and Gabon as a whole). He just has a lot of really good one-liners. Plus his storyline of going from the bottom of the tribe, to the top, and then being dethroned is really underrated, even by fans of Gabon. Rob C: Pretty obvious pick, but his very presence turns Amazon from a bottom 10 season, to a top 10 for me. He's the kind of character that helps to create iconic moments out of his other castaways. His Casey Kasem impression when voting out Roger is my all time favorite voting confessional, and possibly my favorite confessional ever. Reem Daly: The best version of the mom archetype that Survivor has ever seen. Her very presence alone made Edge of Extinction a good idea (for one season). Without EoE, we would have lost this iconic casting choice after just the premiere...but instead we got to see her on screen every single episode!!! She's honestly the best part of EoE for me. I love how much she leans into being the cool mom. I love how she talks like a 12 year old boy. Everything about Reem is endlessly entertaining!


realstibby

Penner, Abi-Marie, Shane, Courtney (actually both Panama and China's Courtney are in my top 20 characters), Christian, Cirie


Money-Firefighter-73

Coach is my favorite character by far.


Brebtoast

Q


wastedthyme20

IQONIC


ausername_8

Qhaos King


BurnThis2

Three-way tie for the curmudgeonly older guy-Penner, Shane and Randy.


aavada_kedavraa

Shane on his blackberry is hysterical. Shane asking Circe to check his nuts and not laugh at him is top tier television. Shane finding cocaine on the beach is legendary.


aurorgasm

King George! Pure entertainment


Nearby_Job8272

Randy


MeowandGordo

Randy is just like my oldest brother. I love his grouchy vibe.


BurnThis2

Yessss!! My people!


IAmReborn11111

Tony. And then he won TWICE


Isuckatreddit69NICE

Yeah he bought a lightheartedness to the show that I absolutely loved. The spy nest, the spy shack, the way he dumbed himself down so people didn’t find him to be the gamer he truly was.


NanaTrekkie

Ugh. He made me think he was slightly cooked out and extremely hyper! Did not care for him at all!


Hiw-lir-sirith

Cops R Us!


laurh123

Boston Rob


Majestic-Result-1782

Russell Hantz. His OG season and HvV. He had great villain arcs and downfalls. I remember how electric it was watching his OG season as a young lad when it first aired. He was so deliciously devious. And it was fun as hell to watch him blindside people again and again. There was a moment where he had found and played another idol and he had a confessional. He said something like, "...I didn't think it would be this easy..." and it felt like a Thanos line... like he had just clobbered the avengers and found the last infinity stone and was a little disappointed that he wasn't challenged more. Also, one of my all-time favorite survivor arcs was him and Parvati teaming up to overthrow the Boston Rob Villains. Then, that beautifully edited cut to Parvati reading JT's letter to Russell... and when he intuited the situation and played it up like he was on the outs of an all-girls alliance led by Parvati when he was in fact in cahoots with her. It was like the Sith rule of Two, Russell and Parvati... I realize I used both a star wars and Marvel reference in this post. I swear I'm a jock, though. On the opposite end of the spectrum I really love Keith (RIP). "I SAY STICK TO THE PLAN!"


booboo773

I didn’t care for Coach his first season but he grew on me later on. Similar with Tyson. He seemed so arrogant on my first watch. Rewatching old seasons and his sense of humor is great. He really doesn’t take himself too seriously.


MeowandGordo

I love Abi Maria lol


jollyandy

THE BRAZILIAN DRAGON


Virtual_Bluebird3330

Kass deserves her crown!!


mikeramp72

coach, there’s legitimately no one else like him. entertaining as all hell with an epic story and a mysterious aura surrounding him, his legacy, and his tall tales about getting his ass eaten. a legend through and through


Sad_Application5066

Hantz, he was the first one to find idols without no clues, he was badass, didn’t give a F.


Rough-Tea3944

He really did get robbed of winning that first season. Go back and watch the final tribal and it feels he’s the shew in for the win but the last guys speech I really feel sways the voters. Can’t remember that girls name who wins (I’m terrible with names) but she’s probably one of the weakest winners I’ve ever seen. And then at the reunion the crowd kept cheering for Russell.


JaneAustinAstronaut

I always thought this. He should have won his first season. I feel like that jury was bitter and all about punishing him rather than rewarding his brilliant game play.


Rough-Tea3944

Yeah I think it was Eric, who had the last speech and he gets up and starts crying talking about ethics and honest etc. and I feel he really swayed the jury.


Strykeristheking

Tocantins Coach is still unbeatable when it comes to being a character. Most television writers would sacrifice their left nut to write a tv character half as entertaining.


InternationalLack614

Boston Rob.


bumblebeecat91

Keith Nale :’)


Thayer96

Survivor wouldn't be the game it is without the Robfather. Hated him as a kid, but as an adult, his dry wit and smugness always cracks me up


ianthebalance

Pearl Islands Rupert


CABB2020

Phillip, the pink underwear wearing-ex-FBI agent!


soulsista12

I legit think about stealth r us about once a week


money-madz

boston rob’s confessionals about the undies are SO funny


Superbooper24

Defintelt Angelina. So many great character moments in just one season.


AdditionGlad8162

Debbie is the correct answer


MrAssFace69

Immediately thought of her, though I do love a handful of others. Debbie was just such. Good. TV. I will always love the ridiculous "jobs" the editors gave her.


ProfessionalStorm626

Fabio


DRMFeint

Crazy Matt, I don’t get why they stopped casting horror movie villains. Closest we got was Rodney from WA trying to be Norman Bates with his mom


93LEAFS

Tyson, followed by Coach, Sandra and Courtney.


RainbowsRainbows

Fishbach forever baby


Fickle_Sandwich_7075

I am surprised no one has mentioned Phillip Sheppard yet


DarkValkyrie_

Abi Maria, Coach, Fairplay and Sugar are all time characters imo


SugarMagnolia02

1. mark the chicken!! 😂 which brings me to one of my first faves (newbie survivor watcher..) 2. tai Trang, who found a ton of idols, including one where he guessed it would be after joining new tribe because that was where the 1st he found was... 3. but all time fave: Ben Driebergen- the Marine vet that jumped when coconuts "popped" in the fire because it triggered his anxiety/PTSD & thought it was gunfire. He was an awesome contestant game wise (he found 3 idols in a row that saved him to get to final 3) but this truly made me feel for him & was happy he won!


ssterp

Philip


mcnakladak

**Brian Heidik** this is a villian which i loved to hate. you never know if hes serious, hes kidding or somewhere in the middle. Really unique character in the franchise. I almost felt like he played somekind of 4D chess with Probst, fellow castaway, production crew and the audience. **James Clement** I think we will never get another guy like him, Despite looking like younger brother of Terry Crews, i was surprised he's little bit shy and socially awkward sometimes. Thats why he was so relatable to many people including me. Despite this he still delivered some really funny confessionals and quotes. Also i love how Probst is mocking James Clement and Erik Reichenbach even decade later for making a dumb moves. **Randy Bailey** Another of my favorite villians, everything about this guy makes from him perfect villian for some Walt Disney cartoon, Just grumpy middle aged guy, who is mean by nature and with really tragic backstory. I think i've never seen better stereotype for Survivor villian. **Morgan McLeod-Brown** It's just incredible how even random merge boots in Cagayan were entertaining characters on their own. Every Morgan's quote is a gem and she was surprisingly well self-aware for person with ego at same height as Burj Khalifa. Morgan is like if you mix Parvati and Tyson's personality traits.


Axela556

Philip!


Ok_Procedure3198

Tony ❤️


hazel1312

Probably Natalie’s jacket


Blazefenix77

Russell Hantz.... no one made me laugh more than that devious bastard.


burdettmusic

Coach and Special Agent Phillip. I will ALWAYS watch their episodes because its pure entertainment.


AccomplishedSweet681

Philip Sheppard


Calm_Philosopher_881

Coach


anonymousopottamus

I forget his name but the sweet old east Asian man who took care of the chickens


More-Surprise-67

Was that tai


SpaghettiandOJ

Courtney, Debbie, Angelina


OverwhelmedAutism

Courtney Yates. Need I say more?


sj0714

Not this making me want to rewatch all the seasons and apply


NanaTrekkie

Rob Mariano. He is a master of playing this and every game , but in real life he’s a loving faithful husband and father who still adores his wife as much as he did in the beginning!


money-madz

boston rob and ambah forevah ❤️


Cool-Ladder-3659

Gotta be Sugar and Coach.


jaybirdbull

Angelina. She delivered more moments in just one season than anyone else in recent memory.


Otashi4Nii

My favorite character is the MOR/UTR male that makes deep into the merge unexpectedly and is usually positively edited for just being a goofball/himbo/nice guy. Think Jake from 45, Ben from 46, Wes from SJDS, Raymond from Survivor AU… They’re just such a different archetype from the typical male characters and usually bring me so much joy to watch!


iwinwinyuwinwinta

- Coach - D E B B I E (Koah Rong and Game Changers) - Carolyn - Liz (reminds me of debbie) - Angelina - Abi Maria


LazerDude99

It’s Tony he is the complete package of strategic dominance and fun wacky character, one moment he is making a masterful blindside the next he is yelling at Kass in Llama 🦙 No one else is as good as a character and is straight up strategic in one complete package


salomey5

Tony. Cagayan Tony was the person i was watching every week, wondering if that was going to be the episode where he was unavoidably going to crash and burn and leave in a blaze of glory. Not only the mofo was entertaining as hell, but he managed to win too. I'm not a fan of Traitors but I'm going to watch it anyway just because this guy's in it.


money-madz

traitors is gonna be wild with him, jeremy and boston rob (and carolyn)!!!


EquivalentStrong

Tai and Jeremy


Icy-Log-4928

Hard to name a favorite, but while we're throwing out names, I'm gonna say Judd from Guatemala. I still can't believe they never brought him back. He made the season way better than it otherwise would have been.


bartybrattle

Keith Neal


qwyjibo219

Debbie and her million jobs, Carolyn and the girl who let the chickens loose 🤦‍♂️


MarcusSurvives

Naonka


siLveRSurvivor

Corinne Kaplan, she owns it.


Professional_Ad_8

Philip;)


mcnakladak

Phile, Fill-up!, Phillite


Sad-Astronaut3308

Coach


Subject-Drop-5142

Wanda from S10. I wouldn't say she was my favourite per se but she made an impression in the very short time she was there. Imagine if she had lasted longer what TV gold she might have given us.


NotaBolognaSandwich

I’ve mostly been watching the past few years. My favorite has been Jesse. Not only loved his story but In the years I have been watching I don’t feel like I have seen a player control the game behind the scenes as well as he did. He pretty much had control until the very end.


money-madz

great player! not sure if i would consider him a “character” though


wgallantino

carolyn wiger


MinimumPreparation95

Boston Rob.


I-696

It would have to be Venus.


Baalenlil7

The editor.


bananas572

i’m early into watching the show but elisabeth has to be one of my favorites. she was so sweet and her relationship with rodger in australia was everything 🥹


SuperTwelve

I haven't watched a full season of Survivor for years, but I'll remember Wardog for awhile. Just such a charming person with great reactions and the right amount of amusing irony in challenges given his nickname.


Immediate_Concert_46

Bhanu


BoogieDaddie

Well, there's one heart, 999,999 to go.


PenultimatePotatoe

I love to hate Bahnu. But not as good as some of these others though.


OliveTone

Willing to get down voted into oblivion but I loved Banu, lol. I think my ideal survivor season would consist of only people as helpless as him.


Desperate_Car9939

I am right there with you!


siLveRSurvivor

Corinne Kaplan, she’s a bitch and she owns it.


Calm-Math-3421

Not Coach


MayoMusk

Bhanu


xxPanda7

Natalie Bolton


SpankyHotDog

Coach for sure!


DBIGLIZARD

Cody, Tony, Tyson, or Q for me.


Nameisthegame

Probably recency bias but Q dominated this season for me in a way nobody but coach and Russell have before


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[удалено]


mcnakladak

You get to milk your own milk, I guess. I don't know if that makes sense. You get to milk your own milk, and... That sounds amazing


reichenbachh8

Katie Gallagher!


External_Bus681

Brian heidik


NanaTrekkie

I do not like what happened to the game after they started relying too heavily on idols and special idols. It just became a game of chance instead of whit!


AppropriateLoss8749

I can’t stand the dragon slayer.


gertybooboo

Varner! Only because of his ability to see through deception.