Heroes

The Heroes were a tribe from.

The tribe was composed of ten previous contestants of Survivor who played valiantly or honestly, or to a degree earning them a "heroic" connotation. The tribe, although physically much stronger on paper, struggled with several injuries, lack of teamwork, and their inability to solve puzzles. Although they merged evenly, the use of Hidden Immunity Idols by the Villains and them not listening to Villain defector Sandra Diaz-Twine destroyed their chance of success. The Heroes' tribe color was blue.

Members

 * Amanda Kimmel, playing for a third time since China and Micronesia. She was most notable for making it to Day 39 in both of her seasons, but lost both times for not answering the Jury's questions adequately.
 * Candice Woodcock, competing for a second time since Cook Islands. Most notable for the infamous mutiny twist in her season. She returned to her original tribe, Rarotonga, to be with her former tribemates Adam Gentry and Parvati Shallow.
 * Cirie Fields, became a fan favorite in Panama and Micronesia. Most notable because she entered her first season with zero camping experience and being the "couch potato," but soon learned to make fire and catch fish on her own, and later became known as one of the show's most strategic players.
 * Colby Donaldson, returning for a third time since The Australian Outback and All-Stars. He accepted the offer to compete again to redeem himself from his flat performance in All-Stars. He is considered to be Survivor's first Hero. He was also famous for his love-hate relationship with former tribemate Jerri Manthey (who attained revenge by voting him out in All-Stars).
 * J.T. Thomas, the winner of Tocantins. Most notable for being the likable, yet duplicitous farm boy. Due to his charm, he played a "perfect game" by getting all jury votes and not having a vote cast against him.
 * James Clement returned for a third time since China and Micronesia. Most notable for his muscular build. He returned to redeem himself from his infamous elimination in China (having two Hidden Immunity Idols, but didn't use either), which he failed to fulfill because he was medically evacuated from Micronesia due to an infected finger.
 * Rupert Boneham, one of the shows most popular players ever, returning for a third time since Pearl Islands and All-Stars. He also won the Fan Favorite Award (known as "America's Tribal Council"), winning a million dollars, even though he did not technically win the competition. Most notable for his distinctive beard, his tie-dyed shirt, stealing shoes in Pearl Islands, and his signature victory cry.
 * Stephenie LaGrossa, returning after Palau and Guatemala. Considered to be one of the show's most athletic female castaways. Most notable for outlasting her entire tribe in Palau. Placed on the Heroes despite her villainous actions in .
 * Sugar Kiper, competing after Gabon. Notable for constantly being sent to Exile Island and successfully voting the "bad people" out of her season, but received no Jury votes, making her popular to fans, but not to her castmates.
 * Tom Westman, the winner of Palau. Known for leading his tribe to the first challenge sweep in Survivor history and the only sweep to completely conquer the opposing tribe.

Tribe History
The Heroes tribe was initially seen as the physically stronger tribe, compared to the more strategic Villains tribe. Of its ten members, all male members were physically able, in contrast to the older, slower male members of the Villains. The team's females were also more athletic, in comparison to their counterparts. As seen in the first Reward Challenge, the Heroes proved to be a powerhouse, winning the first challenge of the season, but not before leaving the challenge area with injuries and other mishaps, such as Stephenie's shoulder dislocation, Rupert's fractured toe, and Sugar's topless finish. Additionally, Colby, who historically became one of the show's strongest male contestants, was questioned because of his poor performance, being shamefully defeated by Coach Wade. In true heroic fashion, the Heroes immediately worked once they arrived at camp, creating a sturdy shelter within hours. Despite this, egos shortly emerged, when Rupert tried to create fire using their flint, only to use up most of its magnesium, while the rest of the males created rules on consuming the tribe's enormous plantain/banana supply. Unknown to many, J.T. started to work on strategy by making conflicting alliances with Tom and James.

At the Day 3 Immunity Challenge, the Heroes gained a healthy lead, but faltered at the puzzle-making segment. This gave the Villains ample time to catch up, and eventually win the challenge. At their first Tribal Council, Sugar was unanimously voted out for her weak physique and emotional breakdown at the challenge.

Puzzle-solving would become more problematic for the Heroes. At the Day 6 Reward/Immunity challenge, the tribe collected the giant puzzle cubes first, but Stephenie and James bickered on the puzzle-building part, unwittingly giving the Villains their second consecutive win. After the loss, James stormed at camp because of communication improprieties, mostly blaming Stephenie for the loss. As Tribal Council loomed, it became apparent that the tribe was torn between three alliances, the alliance of Amanda, James, J.T., and Rupert, the alliance of Colby, Stephenie, and Tom, with both groups vying for Cirie and Candice's support. After a fiery Tribal Council, Cirie and Candice joined Rupert's alliance, sending Stephenie home. After the vote, James apologized for his brutish demeanor, stating that he just wanted the tribe to start winning. After having a bonding moment by catching their escaped chickens, the Heroes' morale was boosted, destroying the Villains in an 8-0 blowout win at the Day 8 Reward/Immunity Challenge, which required pure brawn. Despite this, James was still mean-spirited as ever, hurling his padded bag at Randy Bailey as he plummeted into the mud. This stirred controversy between the two warring tribes.

The Heroes' lack of cohesion caused dissension within the tribe. After learning the existence of a Hidden Immunity Idol, the tribe scrambled to find it. Ultimately, Tom succeeded, knowing that his possession of the idol might save him and Colby from the majority alliance. With Tom having the idol, the majority agreed to split their votes between Tom and Colby to effectively eliminate one of them and waste whatever advantage the idol can provide.

The tribe's disunity reflected on subsequent challenges, losing at the next two. At their third Tribal Council, on Day 11, even Jeff Probst castigated the tribe for honoring alliances despite their losing streak. In the end, Tom used his Hidden Immunity Idol, and much to the tribe's surprise, J.T. switched his vote to Cirie (whom Colby and Tom voted, and J.T.'s biggest threat), sending her home. At the Day 13 Reward Challenge, James was badly injured during the infamous Schmergen Brawl Reward Challenge, leaving him with a bad knee. James' injury proved disastrous for the Heroes, losing the next Immunity Challenge that required communication skills and puzzle building. Unfortunately for Tom, his usage of the idol just delayed the inevitable, with him going home next. Isolated from the dominant alliance, Colby was left alone, with little hope, while his challenge performances were not getting any better.

During the double elimination twist on Day 15, the tribes competed for individual immunity, with Candice being successful. She was pitted against the winner from the Villains for a feast to be enjoyed at rival team's Tribal Council, who happened to become the most physically able of the Villains, Rob Mariano. She lost by a small amount of time. With their roster about to go down to five, the majority alliance realized that James' injury and rash behavior was too obvious to ignore, and was unanimously voted out.

After James' exit, the five remaining Heroes had tremendous odds to overcome, being outnumbered by the Villains, 8-5. Knowing that he had to prove that keeping him was not a mistake, Colby led the tribe to a blowout win at the next Reward Challenge, winning them a feast. During the reward, the Heroes discovered a clue to another Hidden Immunity Idol hidden at their camp. Not wanting to ruin momentum, all five members agreed to find it together so they can use it against the Villains after the merge. The Heroes then went on to win the next Immunity Challenge, which ironically had a puzzle component, much to their delight.

While the Heroes continue to win more challenges, J.T. returned to his devious antics, looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol for his own self-interest (in which he was successful). This gesture irked Amanda and Candice, with both agreeing that the Alabaman was not trustworthy. Despite this, the Heroes won five of the next six challenges.

From this point forward, the five Heroes had noticed that their rival tribe's male members continue to dwindle (Russell Hantz was the only male Villain left), while all five females remained. The Heroes had assumed that the tribe was controlled by an all-female alliance, led by Parvati Shallow (the same strategy which won her ). J.T. even signaled Russell that the Heroes were ready to help him if he needed to (unknown to them, the Villains' majority alliance was actually Russell, Parvati, Danielle DiLorenzo, and Jerri Manthey).

J.T. concocted a bold move that could "save" Russell. He planned to give Russell their tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol at the next Immunity Challenge in order to protect him from the next vote and gain his loyalty post-merger, hoping he would use it to eliminate Parvati. While Amanda and Candice became unsure, the tribe agreed to the plan anyway. After the Heroes won the Day 24 Immunity Challenge, Colby gave a note (with the idol inside) to Russell, while the rest of the Villains congratulated the Heroes for their win.

On Day 25, the Heroes welcomed the Villains at their camp for the merge. The merged tribe stayed at the Heroes' camp for the duration of the game, on the account of the Hero camp's abundance of food.

Trivia

 * The Heroes and Villains are the second and third tribe names in Survivor to come from the English language, following The Outcasts.
 * Stephenie LaGrossa had previously competed for a second time on  with a more devious game. However, the producers placed her on the Heroes tribe based on Palau, for which she is better remembered.
 * The Heroes along with the Villains voted out their representative from first.
 * Additionally, The Heroes is Stephenie LaGrossa's third blue-colored starting tribe, following Ulong and Yaxhá, making her the only castaway who has played at least three times to start on the same colored tribe every time.