The Immunity Necklace (also called the Talisman in earlier seasons) is awarded to an individual or in rare cases individuals, post-merge who has won an individual Immunity Challenge.
About
Similar to the Immunity Idol that grants a group of Survivors exemption, the Immunity Necklace grants one individual safety at the next Tribal Council.
When a contestant is in possession of the necklace, it is brought back to camp and typically placed on the shelter. While other castaways can "try on" the necklace, ownership lies solely with the winner and cannot be stolen by another, unless the winner decides to give up the necklace.
From Survivor: Borneo to Survivor: Africa, the necklace was non-transferable, leaving allies vulnerable. Starting from Survivor: Marquesas, the necklace became a transferable item, permitting a castaway to hand it to another. This has proven to be a dangerous (and sometimes risky) move. In recent seasons, Jeff Probst has stopped asking the castaways if they want to give up Immunity Necklace, but castaways can still give it up on their own terms if they wish to.
Design
Typically, the Necklace will fit with the motif of the season, with some tribal design or small tiki attached. Other designs include feathers, tiki heads, skulls, and even teeth. A winning contestant will wear the necklace at Tribal Council around their neck to indicate their exemption from being voted against.
One-time only Necklaces
The dual Immunity Necklaces from Nicaragua.
During Survivor: Nicaragua, both tribes competed for individual immunity. In previous seasons, two necklaces would both be similar in appearance; however, La Flor and Espada had their very own unique designs and tribal colors, with either a Fleur de Lis or a Sword.
One-time only Immunity Idol
During Survivor: Micronesia, as a part of a first challenge, a special idol is placed on the front of the raft of both Airai and Malakal tribe. The rule is almost the same as the necklace, only the possession right lasts until their tribe's first Tribal Council. The Immunity Idol was found by Yau-Man Chan and Kathy Sleckman respectively (technically, Jon Dalton found the idol first; however, he mistook the opposing tribe's idol for his, and Yau-Man reached theirs first). The two idols were removed from game after episode 2 as both tribes went to Tribal Council once each in two episodes.
In Survivor: Gabon, there were two individual Immunity Idols, one for each tribe. The Idols was placed at the top of the hill. The first person to each the idol gets it for their tribe. Marcus Lehman and G.C. Brown got to the Immunity Idols for their respective tribes. The idols were removed from the game after episode three, as both tribes went to Tribal Council in the first three episodes.
Description
- Survivor: Borneo: A small tiki with a colorful face with a necklace of shells.
- Survivor: The Australian Outback: A necklace of beads and artifacts with small bones.
- Survivor: Africa: A colorful cloth necklace.
- Survivor: Marquesas: A necklace with shells and a small painted tiki.
- Survivor: Thailand: A golden necklace with jewels and points.
- Survivor: The Amazon: A large feather necklace.
- Survivor: Pearl Islands: A large sword and its scabbard.
- Survivor: All-Stars: A necklace of thread and coins.
- Survivor: Vanuatu: a necklace adorned with shells and four horns.
- Survivor: Palau: A necklace with beads, shark teeth and shark's line of teeth.
- Survivor: Guatemala: A necklace of turquoise beads and ancient Mayan faces.
- Survivor: Panama: A large necklace made of cloth, beads, artifacts and a carved face.
- Survivor: Cook Islands: A necklace of gold spikes with a design in the middle.
- Survivor: Fiji: A necklace of bones.
- Survivor: China: A metallic necklace of symbols and thread.
- Survivor: Micronesia: A necklace of many shells and tiki faces.
- Survivor: Gabon: A necklace of many Gabonese faces and many artifacts.
- Survivor: Tocantins: A colorful feather necklace with symbols and faces at the top.
- Survivor: Samoa: A necklace of artifacts and a hook-shaped object.
- Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains: A necklace of tan, brown and green tiki faces.
- Survivor: Nicaragua: A golden necklace with artifacts and a cross with a red gem in the center.
- Survivor: Redemption Island: A necklace of a set of golden faces with designs and jade stones.
- Survivor: South Pacific: A necklace of shark teeth with a large central tiki.
- Survivor: One World: A necklace of wood, artifacts and a small painted skull.
- Survivor: Philippines: A metallic necklace of beads and a red gem.
- Survivor: Caramoan: A necklace of teeth and a small skull.
- Survivor: Blood vs. Water: A metallic necklace of carved stone and red threads.
- Survivor: Cagayan: A necklace of golden Filipino designs and faces.
- Survivor: San Juan del Sur: A necklace of beads, artifacts and an ancient face.
- Survivor: Worlds Apart: A necklace of of shells, green stones and wood surrounding a compass.
- Survivor: Cambodia: A large red and gold necklace with golden designs, attachments and artifacts.
- Survivor: Kaôh Rōng: a colorful beaded necklace with a set of faces.
- Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X: A necklace of wood, bones and shells around a large tiki face.
- Survivor: Game Changers: A necklace made of rope and nautical objects.
- Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: A colorful metal necklace with several medallions around it.
Gallery
Trivia
- The object that symbolized individual immunity on Survivor: Pearl Islands was the only one to not actually be a necklace, instead being a cutlass in a scabbard.
Firsts
- First contestant to win individual immunity: Greg Buis (Borneo).
- First female contestant to win individual immunity: Kelly Wiglesworth (Borneo).
- First contestant to win individual immunity multiple times: Kelly Wiglesworth (Borneo).
- First male contestant to win individual immunity multiple times: Keith Famie (The Australian Outback).
- Both Kelly and Keith won individual Immunity Challenges consecutively.
- First contestant to win individual immunity multiple times non-consecutively: Lex van den Berghe (Africa).
- First female contestant to win individual immunity multiple times non-consecutively: Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien (Marquesas).
- First contestant to win immunity on more than one season: Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien (Marquesas and All-Stars).
- First male contestant to win immunity on more than one season: Tom Buchanan (Africa and All-Stars).
- First contestant to win immunity for the first time as a returnee: Rob Mariano (All-Stars, did not win immunity on Marquesas).
- First female contestant to win immunity for the first time as a returnee: Shii Ann Huang (All-Stars, did not win immunity on Thailand).
- First contestant to win individual immunity in the tribal phase of the game: John Kenney (Vanuatu).
- First female contestant to win individual immunity in the tribal phase of the game: Candice Woodcock (Heroes vs. Villains).
- The first female contestant to possess individual immunity in the tribal phase of the game was Ami Cusack (Vanuatu), however, she was handed the immunity by John Kenney as part of his reward, and did not win it herself.
- First contestant to give away immunity: Jenna Morasca (The Amazon).
- First male contestant to give away immunity: Burton Roberts (Pearl Islands). Due to the Outcasts twist, he still had individual immunity.
- First contestant to give away immunity, and be voted out: Erik Reichenbach (Micronesia). He was also the first male contestant to give away individual immunity without having another form of immunity.
- First contestant to win immunity twice in one day: Sophie Clarke (South Pacific).
Records
- Most immunity wins in a single season: Colby Donaldson (The Australian Outback), Tom Westman (Palau), Terry Deitz (Panama), Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands), Mike Holloway (Worlds Apart), and Brad Culpepper (Game Changers)- 5 wins.
- Female contestants with most immunity wins in a single season: Kelly Wiglesworth (Borneo), Jenna Morasca (The Amazon), and Kim Spradlin (One World) - 4 wins.
- Most individual immunity wins overall: Rob Mariano - 9 (4 times on All-Stars, 1 time on Heroes vs. Villains, 4 times on Redemption Island).
- In second is Ozzy Lusth with 7 wins (5 times on Cook Islands, 2 times on South Pacific). On Cook Islands Ozzy won 5 out of 6 individual Immunity Challenges, which is the best percentage of winning in a single season (83.3%). This total does not include his individual immunity on Micronesia, which was not the result of winning a challenge.
- In third is a two-way tie between Joe Anglim and Spencer Bledsoe with 6 wins each. Joe won 2 Immunity Challenges on Worlds Apart, and added 4 more wins on Cambodia. Spencer won immunity 3 times on each of his two seasons, Cagayan and Cambodia. Between the two, Joe was the first to reach six wins.
- No woman has won more than four individual Immunity Challenges. The women with four wins are: Kelly Wiglesworth (Borneo), Jenna Morasca (The Amazon), Amanda Kimmel (China - 2, Micronesia - 2), Parvati Shallow (Micronesia - 1, Heroes vs. Villains - 3), Kim Spradlin (One World), and Andrea Boehlke (Redemption Island - 1, Caramoan - 1, Game Changers - 2). Andrea is also the only female contestant to win individual immunity on three different seasons.
By Age
- Oldest contestant to win individual immunity: Rudy Boesch (Borneo).
- Oldest female contestant to win individual immunity: Jane Bright (Nicaragua).
- Oldest contestant to win individual immunity multiple times: Bob Crowley (Gabon).
- Youngest contestant to win individual immunity: Will Wahl (Millennials vs. Gen X).
- Youngest female contestant to win individual immunity: Julia Sokolowski (Kaôh Rōng).
References