Rock Paper Scissors in Pop Culture
A short source-backed record of screen, business, legal, and technology appearances.
Three well-documented examples show Rock Paper Scissors moving beyond casual play: The Big Bang Theory used Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock in season 2 episode 8; Christie’s won the right to sell a Japanese collection after a 2005 RPS decision; and a 2006 federal court order directed lawyers to use one game to settle a discovery-location dispute. A University of Tokyo robot later made RPS a public high-speed-vision demonstration.
Play a round now: you against the computer
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Television
The official program channel identifies one clear television example:
- The Big Bang Theory: Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock appears in season 2 episode 8, “The Lizard-Spock Expansion.” The episode documents the variant’s screen appearance; it does not establish how many people learned or adopted it because of the show.
Business & Legal
Contemporary reporting and the reproduced court order support these two decisions:
- Christie’s and Sotheby’s (2005): Takashi Hashiyama used Rock Paper Scissors to choose which auction house would handle a collection. Contemporary reporting says Christie’s chose Scissors and Sotheby’s chose Paper, so Christie’s won the decision.
- Federal court order (2006): Judge Gregory A. Presnell ordered lawyers who could not agree on a deposition location to meet at a neutral site and play one game of Rock Paper Scissors. The order resolved that narrow discovery dispute; it was not a general court procedure.
High-speed vision demonstration
- University of Tokyo Janken robot: The Ishikawa Group presents a robot with a reported 100% winning rate. It observes the human hand as motion begins and reacts at high speed, making it an engineering demonstration rather than a fair simultaneous RPS match.
What these examples establish
These records show creators and institutions using a familiar three-choice structure for comedy, a tie-break, or a technology demonstration. They do not establish universal recognition, audience size, daily social-media frequency, or that every appearance uses the same rules.