History Main / DrawingStraws

-->'''Marco:''' Really, it made perfect sense mathematically.

* ''Literature/GhostInTheNoondaySun:'' When three of the sixteen people aboard the ''Bloody Hand'' are washed overboard in a storm, everyone except Oliver and Second Mate Jack o' Lantern is so alarmed at the prospect of sailing on a ship with thirteen men that they agree to maroon one of their number. [[DrawingStraws They draw doubloons (one of which is marked with an x) to determine who will be marooned, while making sure to keep seven doubloons in one bag and six in the other so they don't have thirteen coins together.]]

* In ''Literature/FeetOfClay'', a golem confesses to some murders but is discovered to be lying (via INeverSaidItWasPoison in reverse; he answers "yes" to "did you beat his head in with an iron bar" when that wasn't the murder weapon). Angua follows the trail to where he was and discovers a place where several golems met and drew straws (in fact untreated match sticks, itself a clue to the golems involved) to decide which one of them would confess to the Watch, as they ''all'' felt responsible for building the golem that ''actually'' committed the murders.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Haruhi does this to decide how the alien/esper/time traveler-hunting groups would be divided up.

* In the ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', the boarding house has a drawing to see who they'd play SecretSanta for, with Arnold getting Mr. Hyun. In the initial drawing, everyone was shocked that they all got Oskar, who had wrote his name on ''all'' the slips. In retribution, Ernie, who officially got him as Secret Santa, gave him a bag of coal.

** In the story of Jonah and the Whale, the sailors draw straws to decide who should be thrown overboard. Jonah picks the short straw.

* The groomsmen in ''Series/HarpersIsland'' use this method to chose who buries the bag of money, alone at night in the middle of unfamiliar woods. It goes to poor Booth of course and he ends up [[spoiler:shooting himself in fright when a friend turns up to help and bleeding to death]]. It's an [[IdiotPlot Idiot Subplot]].

* ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'': Harry initially rejects this idea, insisting he be the one to stay behind and detonate the bomb, but the others refuse and demand that they all draw except for the pilots (as they're needed to fly and land the shuttle) and Rockhound (who ''wants'' to do it, but as he's gone crazy, no one will let him). [[spoiler:AJ ends up with the short straw, but Harry pulls out one of AJ's breathing tube, preventing him from being able to go so Harry can make the sacrifice instead, because he thinks it's more important that his daughter gets to keep her fiancé than her father.]]

* The groomsmen in ''Series/HarpersIsland'' use this method to chose who buries the bag of money, alone at night in the middle of unfamiliar woods. It goes to poor [[{{Nerd}} Booth]] of course and he ends up [[spoiler:shooting himself in fright when a friend turns up to help and bleeding to death]]. It's an [[IdiotPlot Idiot Subplot]].

* ''Series/The Head''. There is a killer among the winterers on an Antarctic research station and [[TheRadioDiesFirst the satellite radio has been sabotaged]], so someone has to drive a Snowcat 270 miles in mid-winter to another station to get help. As no-one trusts anyone else, their leader gets everyone to draw straws to decide who will go, but having practised sleight-of-hand tricks as a hobby is able to rig the result so his lover is chosen. The Snowcat is sabotaged and explodes, raising the question of whether he was trying to get the victim to safety or to kill her.

* In 2020 miniseries ''The Head'', there is a killer among the winterers on an Antarctic research station and [[TheRadioDiesFirst the satellite radio has been sabotaged]], so someone has to drive a Snowcat 270 miles in mid-winter to another station to get help. As no-one trusts each other, their leader gets everyone to draw straws to decide who will go, but having practised sleight-of-hand tricks as a hobby is able to rig the result so his lover is chosen. The Snowcat is sabotaged and explodes, raising the question of whether he was trying to get the victim to safety or to kill her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', while on a HorribleCampingTrip, Oscar and Felix pass out straws to decide which pair will have to climb a nearby mountain. Oscar intends for Felix to give the shortest straw to Suga Mama and Papi, but Felix mishears him and gives them the longest straws, leaving him and Oscar with the shortest two.

* A 1990 PSA from the Canadian organization Creator/CompaniesCommittedToKids "Moe Funky" encourages kids to not play games when making important decisions and to "use their heads" instead. Drawing straws is one of the games depicted.

* ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'': Harry initially rejects this idea, insisting he be the one to stay behind and detonate the bomb, but the others refuse and demand that they all draw. [[spoiler:AJ ends up with the short straw, but Harry pulls out one of AJ's breathing tube, preventing him from being able to go so Harry can make the sacrifice instead, because he thinks it's more important that his daughter gets to keep her fiancé than her father.]]
** The only ones who don't draw are the pilots (as they're needed to fly and land the shuttle) and Rockhound (who ''wants'' to do it, but as he's gone crazy, no one will let him).

* In ''Film/DuckSoup'', [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Chico]][[FakeNationality lini]] decides who will join the battle with a variant of "Eeny meeny miny moe":

** Eventually he just points to Harpo's character and says "'''You''' go."

* In an episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', the Doctors draw straws to see what Doctor and what Nurse would go on a mission at the Front. Except...they were out of straws so they drew link sausages Radar saved from lunch out of a bedpan.
** A more in-line example comes from the episode "Edwina", involving a nurse named Edwina Ferguson ("Nurse Eddie") who was accident-prone and had never been on a date before. The other nurses go on a "date strike" until someone goes out with her. The guys draw straws and Hawkeye gets the short straw, meaning he has to ask her out.
** Another in-line example comes when an unexploded bomb lands in the compound. Hawkeye, Trapper, and Frank draw straws to see who has to go out and check the bomb for any serial numbers and see if the bomb is still active. Frank pulls the short straw and promptly faints as he's walking out the door.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': When the expedition accidentally starts destroying an alternate universe while attempting to unlock a power source, Rodney [=McKay=] comes through to tell them to stop, having been chosen to do so because he drew the short straw. In a subversion, this is considered "Winning" by Alternate [=McKay=], since he saw it as a chance to save an entire universe.

* In Myth/GreekMythology, Zeus knew that since Hades was the eldest brother, he would get his pick over which kingdom to rule. Zeus instead persuaded both his brothers to draw straws for their kingdoms, ending with Hades drawing the short straw and getting rule over the land of the dead. Poseidon, of course, got the kingdom of the sea, and Zeus became the king of the gods with command over the heavens.
** This is only in some (often more modern) versions. Hades' realm is not merely the land of the dead, but everything underground including the minerals and ore, gaining the wealthiest part of the inheritance.
* ''Literature/TheBible'' has "casting lots" used this way. For example, when Jesus died, some of the soldiers cast lots for his clothes. And later on, the disciples cast lots to choose who would take Judas's place among the Twelve.
** In the story from ''Literature/TheBible'' of Jonah and the Whale, the sailors draw straws to decide who should be thrown overboard. Jonah picks the short straw.

* At the end of one episode ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1967'', when the titular four are getting off an alien planet, they ship they find has room for three of them in the cockpit, but Mr. Fantastic has an idea on how all of them can go. After drawing straws, in which the Thing ends up being the odd one, it's revealed that Mr. Fantastic's idea was for him to ride in the ship's ''gun barrel''. Thing asks that none of them pull the trigger.

* In the story from ''Literature/TheBible'' of Jonah and the Whale, the sailors draw straws to decide who should be thrown overboard. Jonah picks the short straw.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'' has the girls draw for parts in Snow White. The ends are supposed to be color-coded by role (red for the Evil Queen, black for a dwarf, white for Snow White), but she cheats by marking one straw red and all the others black. When it's her turn to draw, she tears the tip of her straw, turning it white. In the original Japanese version, everyone but Usagi ''did'' fall for her trick... but let her get away with it out of sympathy for the newcomer.

* In a filler scene of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', upon hearing that the Namekian Dragon Porunga could only revive three of them[[note]]those having died being Yamcha, Chaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo[[/note]], Chaotzu suggested doing this to decide who gets revived. Yamcha was against this idea as he remembered that Tien and Chaotzu were telepathic. Chaotzu took offense to being accused of cheating.

* In a filler scene of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', upon hearing that the Namekian Dragon Porunga could only revive three of them[note]those having died being Yamcha, Chaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo[/note], Chaotzu suggested doing this to decide who gets revived. Yamcha was against this idea as he remembered that Tien and Chaotzu were telepathic. Chaotzu took offense to being accused of cheating.

* The groomsmen in ''Series/HarpersIsland'' use this method to chose who buries the bag of money, alone at night in the middle of unfamiliar woods. It goes to poor [[HollywoodNerd Booth]] of course and he ends up [[spoiler:shooting himself in fright when a friend turns up to help and bleeding to death]]. It's an [[IdiotPlot Idiot Subplot]].

* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', a scientist at the entrance to the Lambda Complex mentions that the remaining scientists inside the complex drew straws to decide who would stay back to let you in when you arrived - risking their life in the face of invading, teleporting aliens.
-->'''Scientist:''' Obviously, I drew the short one.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Moe chooses the {{designated driver}} of the night by having the others pick pickled eggs from a jar and seeing who gets the black one, "the same way the Vatican picks the new [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]]".
* Subverted on a Season 2 episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' when the adult authority figures get trapped in a snowstorm while re-enacting when Dr. Mephesto got shot before revealing who Cartman's father was. They drew straws over who would be eaten first, but because it was [[TheDitz Officer Barbrady]] who put together the straws, ''everybody'' got the long straw.
-->'''Jimbo:''' ''Dammit, Barbrady!'' When you draw straws, you're supposed to have one of them ''short''! That's how you decide who loses!\\
'''Barbrady:''' That's not how ''I'' played it!
* Inverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' when Chicken's group of friends decide to draw straws to see who would go into the girls' bathroom. They literally ''draw'' on paper, and determine the loser by who drew the best. It was Chicken.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', Fred had Shaggy and Scooby draw broom straws to determine which of the three would stand guard that night. Scooby drew the shortest straw.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E24BusterAndTheWolverine Buster and The Wolverine]]", Plucky suggests this to decide who gets to capture The Wolverine. Hamton gets an incredibly long straw with a sign that says, "Tough Luck Chum!" at the end of it.
-->'''Hamton''': I guess a pig's gotta do what a pig's gotta do.
-->'''Buster''': "You're a better man than I am, Film/GungaDin."
* In the 2013 ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickey Mouse|2013}}'' short "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS1E1NoService No Service]]", Mickey suggests this to decide who gets to wear each other's clothes and buy food from Goofy's Snack Shack, due to its [[DressCode No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service]] policy. Donald's feathers take the place of straws and Donald picks the longest one, forcing Mickey to surrender his clothes to him and [[NakedPeopleTrappedOutside stay outside naked]] while he orders the food.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'''s "Nobody in Particular," they draw straws using string beans. Shortest string bean had to be the volunteer to try out Jérémie's prototype program. Ulrich draws the shortest bean. Drama ensues.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode, "Spacemageddonocalypse", when a large asteroid is headed towards Earth, Dr. Eggman has an underground bunker to protect the citizens of Bygone Island. When he is unable to figure out who he should allow in his bunker, Eggman sends Cubot out to have the attendees draw straws. After wondering if he should include someone he hates to replace Sonic as his new nemesis, Cubot returns- [[LiteralMinded with drawings of straws]].
-->'''Cubot:''' I like the bendy one!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode, "The Experiment," Butch tells the gang a story about how his teenage brother Joey made out with his own girlfriend Christy and enjoyed it. This leads Gretchen to conduct an experiment in which a boy and a girl of the gang's number should kiss each other. Using straws, they select the boy and girl, who happen to be [[ShipTease TJ and Spinelli]].

* In the ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', the boarding house has a drawing to see who they'd play SecretSanta for, with Arnold getting Mr. Hyun. In the initial drawing, everyone was shocked that they all got Oskar, who had wrote his name on ''all'' the slips. In retribution, Ernie, who officially got him as Secret Santa, gave him a bag of coal.