Sole Survivor

The Sole Survivor is the title held by the winner of the reality TV show Survivor, as determined by a plurality of votes from the jury. It is the task of the jury to award the title to the contestant who most thoroughly embodies the show's three-word slogan: "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast."

Criteria
There are no formal constraints on the rationale that jury members may employ in choosing the Sole Survivor. The only built-in requirement of eligibility for the title is to survive all 39 days of competition (42 in, 39.5 in and ).

At the Final Tribal Council, the finalists are subjected to interrogation by the jury, who may ask any questions or make any statements that they feel will help them make the best decision possible. As there is no objective definition of 'best' in this case, the methods by which contestants have won the game, and the reasons adopted by jury members in voting for them, have varied widely throughout the history of the series.

Jury members are expected, however, to choose Sole Survivors that have credibly embodied the show's three-word premise:
 * Outwit: The strategic element; the ability to outmaneuver other contestants and eliminate them in a manner conducive to one's own long-term success in the game. This component of the game may include alliance formation/management, the execution of blindsides, the use of Hidden Immunity Idols, or any other manifestation of guile, deception or strategic command.
 * Outplay: The social element; the ability to bring about one's desired strategic goals without sacrificing one's social standing or alienating other contestants emotionally. A strong candidate will remain respected while playing an efficacious game.
 * Outlast: The physical element; the ability to withstand the harsh realities of being a contestant for 39 days, such as harsh weather, grueling challenges, and deprivation of the necessities of life. It is expected that the Sole Survivor will have not only endured the physical difficulties of the game but indeed will have borne them with enthusiasm and grace.

It should be noted that in the game of Survivor likeability and respect are not always fungible qualities. In some cases, the winner may have played a game strategically dominant enough to overcome the fact that other finalists were more likeable. At other times, the opposite may be the case, and a more sociable player may win due to the quality of their personality even in the presence of a more strategically "active" but socially inept competitor. It is up to the idiosyncratic interpretation of the jury to determine who has fulfilled all three elements of "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast," and it is up to each finalist to present a compelling argument in their own favor, emphasizing their strengths and eliding their weaknesses, at Final Tribal Council.

Prizes
The Sole Survivor receives a check of $1,000,000, to be received after the season finale. Earlier winners additionally received a car that is usually similar to the one given at the Reward Challenge where a car was also given, though this has been abandoned since. The winner, and all contestants present in the live Reunion Show will also receive an extra $10,000 appearance fee, which immediately follows the finale broadcast. From to, the Sole Survivor was also eligible to win the Fan Favorite Award. All cash prizes are taxable at the U.S. rate of 35% leaving the winner $600,000.

Sole Survivors by age at the time of winning
The following table shows the ages of the Sole Survivors at the time of winning the title, as well as their birth dates. Since there are two different days when the title can be considered won, two ages are presented: the age on the day the contestant was announced Sole Survivor, and the day of the Final Tribal Council during which the voting took place. Note that only Richard Hatch was announced Sole Survivor on the same day the voting took place. Usually the gap between the two dates is about half a year, so there is no difference when it comes to the ranking, except with the case of Michele Fitzgerald, who could have been announced the winner much earlier had production not decided to air her season and the next season filmed out of order, thereby delaying the announcement of the results by about a year.

Trivia
Winning and Perfect Game Tribal Council Hidden Immunity Idol and Twists Challenge Wins Returning Winners
 * Sandra Diaz-Twine is the first, and currently only Survivor contestant to win two seasons, having won both and.
 * So far, 19 men and 13 women have become Sole Survivors, with one woman winning twice.
 * In terms of seasons, 19 have been won by men while 14 have been won by women.
 * Bob Crowley is the oldest Sole Survivor, while Fabio Birza is the youngest by age at the time crowned. However, Michele Fitzgerald is the youngest by birth date.
 * Bob Crowley is the oldest overall winner, being 57 at the time of his win.
 * Denise Stapley is the oldest female winner, being 41 at the time of her win.
 * However, Tina Wesson and Vecepia Towery are older than Denise by birth date.
 * Earl Cole is the first Sole Survivor to win a jury vote unanimously, as he garnered all 9 jury votes in . J.T. Thomas would also later repeat this feat in, but he gained 7 votes as his season featured a Final Two instead of a Final Three. John Cochran was the next Sole Survivor to accomplish this feat when he gained all 8 jury votes on .  Jeremy Collins gained all 10 jury votes on .  The latest Sole Survivor to accomplish this feat is Adam Klein who gained all 10 jury votes on .  Jeremy and Adam both hold the record for the most jury votes received, with 10.
 * Earl, Jeremy and Adam had defeated finalists of both genders, J.T. had defeated a finalist of the same gender, and Cochran had defeated finalists of the opposite gender.
 * J.T. is the first Sole Survivor to get all of the jury votes and win the Fan Favorite Award.
 * J.T. is also the first Sole Survivor to play a "Perfect Game", not receiving any votes against him and receiving every jury vote.
 * Cochran is the second Sole Survivor to play a "Perfect Game". However, he didn't win the Fan Favorite Award.
 * Bob Crowley is the first Sole Survivor to also win the Fan Favorite Award. Later, Sole Survivors J.T., Rob Mariano, and Kim Spradlin would also win that award.
 * There have been two LGBT winners: Richard Hatch and Todd Herzog.
 * With Natalie Anderson's win, she and Natalie White are the first two Sole Survivors to share a name.
 * With Jeremy Collins and Adam Klein's unanimous win in Cambodia and Millennials vs. Gen X, all jury configurations (7-person, 8-person, 9-person, and 10-person juries) have unanimously voted for a Sole Survivor to win.
 * Jeremy and Adam also defeated finalists of both genders
 * In seasons with a Final Two and a 7-person jury, only men have won in a 5-2 vote (Ethan Zohn, Chris Daugherty, and Aras Baskauskas).
 * Coincidentally, each of them defeated a female finalist.
 * Tony Vlachos is currently the Sole Survivor with the most jury votes received in a Final Two, with 8.
 * In seasons with a Final Three and a 9-person jury, only men have won in a 5-4-0 vote (Yul Kwon and Fabio Birza), only women have won in a 6-3-0 vote (Sandra Diaz-Twine and Sophie Clarke), and only women have won in a 7-2-0 vote (Natalie White and Kim Spradlin).
 * Richard Hatch is the only Sole Survivor to be revealed on location rather than on the Reunion Show.
 * Natalie White and Kim Spradlin are tied for the most jury votes received by any female winner, with 7. Coincidentally, the votes on both occasions were 7-2-0.
 * Denise Stapley is currently the only Sole Survivor to attend every Tribal Council of their winning season. However, Natalie White is the Sole Survivor who was eligible to be voted out the most times, with 14.
 * 8 winners have won without ever having a single vote cast against them: Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, Brian Heidik, Sandra Diaz-Twine (in Pearl Islands), Tom Westman, J.T. Thomas, John Cochran, and Natalie Anderson.
 * J.T. and Cochran went on to play a "Perfect Game" and won unanimously.
 * Michele Fitzgerald is the only Sole Survivor to never attend a pre-merge Tribal Council.
 * Aras Baskauskas has the most votes cast against any winner in a single season, with 9.
 * Natalie White has the most votes cast against any female winner in a single season with 8 (however, this includes the 3 votes she received in the revote in ).
 * The most common decision for Sole Survivor by the jury is a 4-3 vote, occurring a total of 6 times. This includes  where Bob won in a 4-3-0 vote.
 * Yul Kwon and Kim Spradlin are the only winners to have found the Hidden Immunity Idol and keep it until Day 39.
 * Kim is the only winner to find the idol without a clue.
 * Mike Holloway and Jeremy Collins are the only Sole Survivors to use a Hidden Immunity Idol to negate a majority of votes cast against them.
 * In both Fans vs. Favorites seasons, favorites won.
 * In both Blood vs. Water seasons, winners won in their third attempt on reality shows. Tyson competed in Survivor thrice, while Natalie participated in The Amazing Race two times before winning on her first try on Survivor.
 * Aras Baskauskas and Tyson Apostol are the only Sole Survivors who experienced both and  twists.
 * While Tyson was never sent to Exile Island nor Redemption Island, Aras was sent to Exile Island twice in his first season and was in Redemption Island before being eliminated in another season.
 * Danni Boatwright is the first new player to defeat a returning player in a jury vote.
 * She was followed by Sophie Clarke and Denise Stapley.
 * Coincidentally, only women have accomplished this feat.
 * To date, none of them have played a second time.
 * Tom Westman and Mike Holloway are tied with the most individual immunity wins out of any winner, with 5.
 * Jenna Morasca and Kim Spradlin are tied with the most individual immunity wins out of all the female winners, with 4.
 * 7 winners have won without ever having won an individual Immunity Challenge: Tina Wesson, Sandra Diaz-Twine (in both Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains), Yul Kwon, Earl Cole, Todd Herzog, Natalie White, and Tony Vlachos.
 * Sandra accomplished this twice, making it an eight-time occurrence.
 * 7 winners have won the game as returnees: Amber Brkich, Parvati Shallow, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Rob Mariano, John Cochran, Tyson Apostol, and Jeremy Collins.
 * Tyson is the first, and only, contestant to win on their third season.
 * Rob is the first, and only, contestant to win on their fourth season.
 * 12 Sole Survivors who had competed more than once had experienced being voted out, either prior to or after the season that each of them had won: Richard, Tina, Ethan, Amber, Tom, Aras, Parvati, J.T., Rob, Cochran, Tyson, and Jeremy.
 * Tina Wesson and Tyson Apostol are 2 winners, both played thrice, who had experienced being eliminated pre-jury, being jury members and being crowned Sole Survivor.
 * Tina Wesson is the only winner to return twice after being crowned Sole Survivor. She is also the only Sole Survivor to be eliminated first on another season.
 * Rob Mariano, who played 4 times, had never been a jury member.
 * J.T. Thomas is the first returning winner to become a jury member, and the first returning winner who was eliminated after the merge.
 * The other two returning winners in Heroes vs Villains made the merge, but they were finalists.
 * Currently, he, Aras Baskauskas, and Tina Wesson are the only winners to become jury members after they won their seasons.