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Answerman - Why Does Rock-Paper-Scissors Come Up In Anime So Much?

Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comet de Rochambeau,

Quote:

Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comet de Rochambeau,

Isn't it supposed to be Comte?

Wow, I never would have guessed this would have such an in-depth answer/history, simply based on the question. Really interesting stuff, and I find it hilarious that a global Rock-Paper-Scissors society exists.

Wow, I never would have guessed this would have such an in-depth answer/history, simply based on the question. Really interesting stuff, and I find it hilarious that a global Rock-Paper-Scissors society exists.

At any rate, the actual Rock-Paper-Scissors seemed to (re?) emerge in Europe in the mid-1700s where it was, for some reason, associated with the French Army General Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comet de Rochambeau, who supported George Washington in the American Revolution. For this reason, the game is still known as "Roshambo" in Europe (where it does not mean a kick to the nuts).

RPS is serious business.

As for Japan, shoushiling made it there in the 1600s as a Chinese drinking game.

Please note Japanese people use it ALL the time in their daily lives. It helps to take the pressure off one person making a decision and makes the decision making "equal"
They use so much that when I ask my kids to do something and pick a winner they get so confused. Just tell them janken and they start hustling.

The University of Lisbon

Huh, I thought the game actually WAS Japanese in origin, but I guess it makes sense that it was taken from the Chinese. I remember looking this up before because I wanted to see how it managed to spread throughout the world (and when it happened). I mean, I can see WHY it spread everywhere: It's simple to remember, requires nothing more than one hand, and, until recently, was considered random enough to be used to decide things impartially without a third party (at least unless one or more of the participants is caught cheating).

Rock-paper-scissors is one of the few Japanese cultural things that's well known enough that localization never needs to change or explain anything because the viewer is assumed to know what rock-paper-scissors is. (And it's also one of the things so well known that most people nowadays have no idea it originated in Asia.) I've only seen one exception to this, the Pokémon card Misty's Duel, where there's an additional rule in that if neither player knows how to play rock-paper-scissors, you flip a coin instead to decide the outcome.
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I know I was pretty surprised when Goku used it as an attack in Dragon Ball. Prior to that, I had no idea it was a multinational thing.

Please note Japanese people use it ALL the time in their daily lives. It helps to take the pressure off one person making a decision and makes the decision making "equal"

Useful though it may be, I keep experiencing ties, sometimes consecutively. Plus, the robots have already defeated us in such a game.