Ralph Kiser

Ralph Kiser is a contestant from.

He is best known for finding the Hidden Immunity Idol before veteran player Russell Hantz, who is known for finding the Idols very fast without clues, could do so, as well as masterminding the plan to get rid of Hantz, resulting in Hantz's elimination for the first time in his three seasons of Survivor. Kiser is also known for his constant misspelling of contestants' names at Tribal Council.

Profile
Name (Age): Ralph Kiser (45) Tribe Designation: Zapatera, Murlonio Current Residence: Lebanon, Va. Occupation: Farmer Personal Claim to Fame: Being completely debt-free at age 44. No vehicle payments, no mortgage payments, plus I own two homes on the same farm. Inspiration in Life: I'm inspired by my farm; I've been at it all my life. I'm always amazed at my animals - how they grow and survive. Being able to watch the circle of life go 'round and be a part of it is a very satisfying adventure that I never get tired of. Hobbies: Hunting, hiking and traveling. Pet Peeves: People who are lazy and don’t try to make anything of themselves. 3 Words to Describe You: Determined, strong-willed and stubborn SURVIVOR Contestant You Are Most Like: I'm probably a combo of Big Tom and J.T. Reason for being on SURVIVOR: I've wanted to be on the show for years and knew one day I'd get my chance. I want to be a hometown hero for the folks back home! Why you think you'll "Survive" SURVIVOR: I'm an outdoors mountain man. I know plants, trees and what most of their uses are. I can also build anything; start a fire anywhere and make people believe anything I say! Why you think you will be the sole SURVIVOR: I will be the king at camp because I can build shelter, cook, find food and be the leader.

Survivor: Redemption Island
Ralph entered the game as a member of the Zapatera tribe. On Day 4, Ralph stumbled across the Hidden Immunity Idol while collecting rocks. After winning that day's Immunity Challenge, he witnessed Russell Hantz take the clue to the Immunity Idol out of the reward basket and began to search for it, unaware that it was already in Ralph's possession. While Russell and his allies searched, Ralph and the other five members of Zapatera conspired to throw the upcoming Immunity Challenge, in order to eliminate him. Their plan would later come to fruition on Day 8, where Ralph's alliance voted Russell out of the tribe. However, Ralph did receive votes from Russell's alliance.

The next day, Ralph was selected to attend Russell's Redemption Island duel, along with Sarita White. After losing the duel, Russell began to reveal all of Zapatera's secrets to the Ometepe tribe, including the fact that Ralph possessed the tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol. Despite Sarita's insistence, Ralph confirmed that he did indeed have Zapatera's Idol. Ometepe's Phillip Sheppard then took this information back with him and shared it to the rest of his tribe.

The Zapatera tribe would then go on an extensive losing streak, during which Ralph's alliance voted out Russell's former allies Krista Klumpp and Stephanie Valencia. However, when Zapatera lost Immunity on Day 18, Ralph's alliance was forced to vote out one of their own. Despite most of the tribe voting out Sarita due to her poor challenge performance, Ralph voted for David Murphy, who's loyalty he was skeptical of.

Ralph later made the Merge on Day 19, joining the Murlonio tribe. Although they entered the Merge down in numbers, Ralph and the other Zapatera's attempted to pull Matthew Elrod to their side after he had previously been voted out by Ometepe. Ralph also believed that the Ometepe alliance would vote against Mike Chiesl, who was the strongest former Zapatera, and decided to play his Hidden Immunity Idol on him. However, the Ometepe alliance decided to cast their votes against Matthew, who had pondered defecting to Ralph's side. This move left Ralph still in the minority, and no Idol to protect himself.

In the coming days, Ralph's alliance was Pagonged by Ometepe until only he and Steve Wright remained. During this time, Ralph continued to perform exceptionally well in Immunity Challenges, narrowly winning on several occasions. Thus, the former Ometepe's decided to target Ralph over Steve, believing that he could go on a potential Immunity run later in the game. Thus, after Ralph lost Immunity to Grant Mattos on Day 30, he was voted off 6-2. On Redemption Island, Ralph survived his first duel, but was permanently eliminated on Day 33, after losing to Andrea Boehlke. He became the 4th member of the Jury. At the Final Tribal Council, Ralph didn't seem to favor anyone out of the Final Three, but appreciated the fact that Phillip said he was the nicest and hardest working member of Zapatera. Ralph ultimately voted for Phillip to be the Sole Survivor.

Voting History
In Keep Hope Alive, the vote ended with a 3-3-3 tie between Ralph, Russell and Stephanie, forcing a revote. At the revote, Ralph did not receive enough votes to send him to Redemption Island.

Trivia

 * Ralph is the first person to lose a duel after having survived a previous one. Francesca, Russell, Kristina, Krista, Stephanie, Sarita, David, Julie, and Steve all got eliminated upon losing their first duels.
 * Ralph is the oldest player to win a duel on Survivor: Redemption Island.
 * Ralph was the only jury member to vote for Phillip for the title of Sole Survivor in.
 * This makes Ralph the sixth person to be the only person to vote for a certain finalist while the others voted for the other finalist(s).
 * It was stated by Jeff Probst that Ralph was his favorite Castaway of.
 * Similar to past contestant Susan Hawk, Ralph was also known for casting poorly-spelled votes (i.e. "Ressell", "Krasta", "Stifinie", and "Philite" at the Final Tribal Council).