Comprised of the first six eliminated contestants, they returned to compete against a surprised Drake and Morgan in the Immunity Challenge in an attempt to continue their pursuit to win. Their tribe color is purple.
After 18 days of competition, the ten remaining castaways were shocked by what Jeff Probst revealed. The six eliminated players returned as a third tribe that will compete against Morgan and Drake in a high-stakes special Immunity Challenge. If the Outcasts win the challenge, both Morgan and Drake will go to Tribal Council (separately) and must eliminate one of their own, while the departed castaways will then vote two of their own back into the game and will be immune at the next Tribal Council they attend. However, if either Drake or Morgan wins the challenge, all six Outcasts will permanently go home while their opposing tribe will vote someone out of the game.
After a close race between Drake and the Outcasts, the Outcasts managed to do the unthinkable, as they won against the two starting tribes, giving them a chance to get back into the game. After the two tribes' Tribal Councils (with Drake's Shawn Cohen eliminated and Morgan's Osten Taylor quitting), the Outcasts came in to Tribal Council (with Jeff remarked that for the first time since the show's inception, a tribe was excited to go to Tribal Council), in which the tribe will vote for two people back into the game. In the end, it was decided that Drake's Burton and Morgan's Lillian will be "resurrected," while the other four will be going home permanently.
After the special vote, Jeff handed them a canister holding two buffs, one for Drake, and one for Morgan. They must randomly pick one buff and it will designate them to their new tribes (implying that Lillian can potentially go to Drake, and Burton to Morgan). However, Lillian picked an orange buff, leaving Burton with a blue buff, signifying that they will go back to their old respective tribes.
The Outcasts twist received mixed reaction to both contestants and fans alike. As implied by cast members Andrew Savage and Osten Taylor, they showed complete distaste for the twist. Various forums and fans also expressed their disappointments about the twist, stating that it completely hurt the show's integrity by deviating its premise. Survivor host Jeff Probst also revealed that he also hated the twist, but was only overruled by executive producer Mark Burnett. In 2011, Probst stated that the concept of "resurrecting" contestants format would be rehashed in the show's 22nd season, Survivor: Redemption Island.
The Outcasts tribe was the shortest-existing tribe in Survivor history. The tribe only existed for two days (formed on Day 19, disbanded on Day 20).
It is unknown where The Outcasts stayed during their time outside of the game.
If The Outcasts is considered an official tribe, it is the first tribe name to come from the English language.
According to the challenge tracker of the now-defunct Survivor: Pearl Islands website, the challenge was considered to be an Immunity Challenge. If either Drake or Morgan won the said challenge, the Outcasts would not have voted anyone back into the game had they finished in second place, while the losing starting tribe would go to Tribal Council, vote someone off, and the season would have merged with only nine contestants.
The Outcasts is the only tribe in Survivor not to have an official buff. The only thing that symbolized the tribe was mere purple cloth and bandanas, some with skulls and crossbones and "Outcasts" written in white. Additionally, Ryan had "Die Jerks" on his "buff."
These cloths proved helpful at the challenge, using them as extra ropes so their poles will stay secure, giving them an unfair advantage over Drake and Morgan.
However, due to the nature of the tribe, they could not have possibly had more than one visit.
The Outcasts were also the first tribe to enter the individual phase/merge with the highest possible number of representatives from their tribe. This would later be followed by Koror from Survivor: Palau and Tandang from Survivor: Philippines.
This is the only tribe to have existed as the result of a twist.
Due to the individual immunity given to the returnees, both of them were guaranteed a spot in the top nine, and thus the jury stage.