Hidden Immunity Idol

The Hidden Immunity Idol (also known as the "Hidden Idol" or simply "The Idol") is perhaps the biggest twist to ever occur in Survivor ORG history. Its purpose is to, one way or another, give the holder immunity when they choose to play it. The idol has influenced many of the contestants' strategies, whether they utilize the object, or defuse its powers. The Hidden Immunity Idol made its debut in Survivor: Laos.

It is not to be confused with the Tribal Immunity Idol or Individual Immunity Necklace, as the Hidden Immunity Idol is not available at challenges. However, clues to the whereabouts of the idol are often either given to the survivors at the start of a season or, in the case of Survivor: Switzerland, given to a player when they are sent to Exile Mountain.

Overview
Despite its potential to make its owner survive longer in the game, it can only be used once (where the idol will be either re-hidden or discarded after its use). With this, owners should be careful about divulging information about possessing one and/or when to use it, because a player can still be eliminated with the idol, thus going home bringing his/her idol with him (dubbed as "flushing"). Another limitation is that, the idol is only valid until a given deadline (usually Until the final 6). A player may hold more than one idol (if available).

Development/Format
Players must use the idol after the votes have been cast, but before the host reveals them. This gesture will force castaways to become more cautious on possessing it and/or divulging information about possessing one. With this format, it is crucial for players to use his/her idol at the right time. Contestants must draw the idol at a Tribal Council where they are sure to receive votes, or else, they will either waste the idol (if they had either no votes against them or if they have votes, there may not be enough to eliminate them) or getting eliminated without even using the idol. This was dubbed by several contestants as flushing. Once the idol is used, it is usually rehidden. From this point forward, the idols are valid up until the Tribal Council where there are only five or six contestants remain.

When the castaway is voted out as a direct result of the use of the Hidden Immunity Idol, that person is said to have been "Idoled out".

Rules
For more information on the rules of the Hidden Immunity Idol, see the Survivor ORG Rule Book

Clues
To find Hidden Immunity Idols easier, clues are provided to castaways. As the season progresses, more clues will be provided, regardless if the idol has already been found or not. These clues can be shared to others by the finder/s' choosing. But it is also possible (however extremely unlikely) to find an idol without a clue.

These clues may be a cryptic message similar to Tree Mail, or advice as to how to find the idol.

Over the years, the clues for the Hidden Immunity Idol have varying ways of how they were given to contestants:
 * In Laos there was a challenge to make an authentic Hidden Immunity Idol where the contestant who had made the most authentic looking one would be given an actual idol. Blaine was chosen to receive the idol.
 * In Hawaii the clues told a mystery story, and the first person from each tribe to figure it out correctly won the hidden immunity idol. Noah of Honu, Kaitlyn of Manu, and Zion of Popoki all figured out the story and were given the idols. However, due to a technical anomaly (a mod revealing to a castaway who has the idol), Kaitlyn's idol was taken away, and the Manu idol was rehidden, in which Yaniv got it.
 * Post-merge in Hawaii there was an immunity challenge where the contestant who had the lowest score would receive a clue to an idol, this clue was won by DB who used it to find another idol with the help of some tribemates.
 * In Cuba the clues were simply riddles, and the first person from each tribe to get every riddle correct got the idol. These idols were found by Alfons and Jeremy.
 * In Egypt the clues to the idols were hidden in the Pyramid pre-merge (A place where the contestant with the second highest number of votes at tribal council would go to receive a "small yet effective reward". One of these rewards being a clue to the idol that were eventually found by Jack Erdmann of Isis and Cowboy of Anubis.
 * In Switzerland the tribe/contestant that wins the reward challenge gets to pick one person to go to Exile Mountain where they will receive a clue to the idol.

Strategy
Several strategies were developed by contestants that has something to do with the Hidden Immunity Idol. Here is a non-exhaustive list of how the idol was used over the series:
 * Making the holder believe that they will not be voted out, but then blindsiding them
 * Splitting votes to defuse any power gained by playing the idol
 * Passing idols to another player to save them
 * Potentially removing the possibility of a tie vote
 * Feigning possession of an idol
 * A player not possessing an idol taunting another player who has one to surrender or use the object, inducing indecision at the side of the owner
 * Handing out multiple idols to shield more potential targets

There have been several instances that a person that is caught looking for the idol has become an immediate target, so it is crucial that searchers must be undetected when looking for it.

If a Hidden Immunity Idol is played, the user would be immune for the Purple Rock tiebreaker. If all players who received votes use idols, and all votes are voided, a revote would happen, but the users would be immune for that round of voting.

Survivor Laos

 * Blaine (Used to protect himself, later was voted out) (Final Confession)

Survivor Hawaii

 * Noah (Didn't use and was voted out) (99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall)
 * Yaniv (Used to protect Sole, was voted out as a result) (Lie to Me)
 * Zion (Used to protect himself, later placed runner-up) (Lie to Me)
 * DB (Used to protect Sole, later was voted out) (The Friendly Zone)
 * Zion (Found DB's rehidden idol and played it, later placed runner-up) (Flag of Ohana)

Survivor Cuba

 * Jeremy (Used to protect Jastine, later was voted out) (Get Me Out of Here!)
 * Alfons (Used to protect Noah, later won) (Out of Town)
 * Zac (Used to protect himself, later was voted out) (Out of Town)

Survivor Egypt

 * Cowboy (Didn't use and was voted out) (Butchered the Snake)
 * Jack (Used to protect himself, later was voted out) (Picture Quiz)
 * Johan-Amir (Didn't use and was voted out) (Silly Boy)
 * Mihai (Used to protect himself, later won) (Not the Perfect Time)

Survivor Switzerland

 * Sam (Didn't use and was voted out) (Go Away From This Game)
 * Jino (Used to protect Cal, quit during a later tribal council) (Gloat in Their Own Tears)

Survivor Nepal

 * Wesley (Didn't use and was voted out) (Out in a Blaze of Glory)

Fake Idols
So far only two fake idols have been made and given to a contestant. The first is Johan-Amir of Survivor: Egypt was given a fake idol that he could use to trick someone into either believing he had an idol or that he could give to another contestant and make them believe they had a real idol. In Survivor: Nepal, Ash won a fake hidden immunity idol in an auction. Much like Johan-Amir, Ash knew the idol was fake, and the mods of Nepal stated in the results that her idol could be used on another contestant, and never outright stated the idol she had was fake.

Survivor Hawaii

 * Yaniv
 * Gerard

Survivor Cuba

 * Adam

Survivor Egypt

 * KJ
 * Mikey