History Main / LotteryOfDoom

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* An inversion occurs in ''[[FullMetalPanic Full Metal Panic.]]''. When Sousuke accidentally releases a biowarfare agent in class, the students have to draw lots to find who'll get the only vaccine available. Then it seems to go from inversion to reconstruction: When Sousuke wins the lottery, the outraged classmates promptly attack him en masse.

* There's a YA book also called ''The Lottery'' by Beth Goobie where the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil holds a lottery whose "winner" is ostracized by the rest of the school. (Which is a bit silly in my opinion since actual high school students have never needed a lottery to pick who to shun, but that's neither here nor there.)
** Yes, but now it's ''organized'' shunning!

* MercedesLackey's ''One Good Knight'' from the TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms series. There is a weekly lottery from the kingdom's virgins to see who will be sacrificed to a dragon that week. Subverted: the lottery is fixed -- and the "winning" girls aren't actually eaten by the dragon.

** Taken UpToEleven in the Dark Tower series. The ruined town of Lud has speaker towers that play mind-searing music at random [[spoiler: actually a vocals-less rendition of ZZ Top's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6VIuQbjDEQ Velcro Fly]] ]], and whenever it does, its residents hold a lottery to decide who to sacrifice to the 'ghosts' that are putting forth the horrible sound. Several times a day, somebody's name comes out of the hat and is set to dancing the jig at the end of a hangman's rope.

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* ''{{Dragonslayer}}''. To appease a dragon, all of the virginal women in a small kingdom must take part in a twice-yearly lottery: the "winner" is [[ChainedToARock chained up outside the dragon's lair as a meal]].
* ''TheIsland''. The people apparently participate in a lottery, the winner of which is relocated to a paradise island. [[spoiler: Only the people are clones, the lottery's a sham, there is no island, and the winner is harvested for body parts.]]
* ''{{Clonus}}.'' The people apparently participate in a lottery, the winner of which is relocated to America. [[spoiler: Only the people are clones, the lottery's a sham, they don't go to America, and the winner is harvested for body parts.]] If this sounds familiar, know that ''Clonus'' came first and yes, there was a lawsuit.
* ''{{Population 436}}'' does it to keep the town's population at the exact same number. They draw names out of a box, then have a harvest festival, during which the "winner," is hung. Winning is a great honor, and both the winner and her husband are absolutely delighted about the whole thing.
* ''FrauImMond'' (1929). After a struggle punctures the oxygen tank, the two male crewmembers draw straws to see who stays behind. The DirtyCoward gets the short straw and breaks down sobbing, so the hero makes the HeroicSacrifice and stays on the moon instead.

* A variation of this happens in the original ''BattlestarGalactica'' series. On a visit to a planet with a wild west motif, Starbuck is involved in a card game that is rigged for him to win. One of the items he wins is a badge, which forces him to become the town sherrif, a responsibility he can't shrug off easily.

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* In ''AquaTeenHungerForce'' there is an episode where meals from a certain restaurant in town all come with peel off lotteries much like the annual [=McDonald's=]Monopoly game that include free drinks, meals, coupons... [[spoiler:and a one in ten chance to get your dick ripped off.]] That last part is even mentioned in the ''commercial'', but it's said quickly and quietly. Not even thirty seconds after Carl "wins" the lottery, the collectors show up...
* ''{{Squidbillies}}'' had the Tricky Two Jackpot. The winner gets torn in half by monster trucks.

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* If you get three deaths-heads on the slot machine in ''SpaceQuest'', it kills you with a DisintegratorRay.
* ''{{Crimsonland}}'' features its Fatal Lottery perk (not that anybody picks it, though - too ineffective).
* In ''[[FalloutNewVegas Fallout: New Vegas]]'' you come across the town of Nipton where Caesar's Legion has recently held a lottery. [[spoiler: Roughly half the town are enslaved. Most of the other half get ''crucified.'' The second-prize winner gets shot in the kneecaps, with only one person getting the lucky ticket to walk away unharmed. It was all a [[BatmanGambit test of character]] by [[AffablyEvil Vulpes Inculta]]; he had already enlisted their aid to kill some NCR troopers that came to town, and he was seeing if they had any redeeming value at all to the Legion by seeing if they'd rise up against him and his legionnaires after seeing what the prizes were as they worked their way up to the "Winner".]]
** In the same game, theres also [[spoiler: Vault 11]], a very straight example, with the additional twist that there was no actual necessity for the sacrifices, just the impression that they were needed.

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* The 1950's SpaceOpera ''Rick Random: Space Detective''. Lampshaded and averted in the episode "Kidnappers from Mars!" in which SpacePirates are caught in a [[SpaceIsAnOcean space tide]] with the only hope of escape being the two-man space shuttle. After a pause to consider the implications, everyone starts blazing away at each other.
->An escape bid -- but only ''for two!'' For a tense minute, the eight people in the doomed space ship watched one another in cautious silence. There would be no lottery of ''luck!''

* [[HowDidWeMissThisOne How did we miss]] ''LuigisMansion'', [[AllBlueEntry exactly?]]
** ''LuigisMansion'' isn't really an example. There wasn't actually a lottery, it was just an excuse the Boos used to lure the Mario Bros. to the mansion.

* In ''[[FalloutNewVegas Fallout: New Vegas]]'' you come across the town of Nipton where Caesar's Legion has recently held a lottery. [[spoiler: Roughly half the town are enslaved. Most of the other half get ''crucified.'' The second-prize winner gets shot in the kneecaps, with only one person getting the lucky ticket to walk away unharmed.]]

** There is actually a math puzzle similar to this (can't find the name; it was in ProfessorLayton). A given number of people get in a circle, and starting at a specified person and for a given N, every Nth person is killed and removed from the circle until only 1 remains. The puzzle is to figure out who the survivor is.

* In [[FalloutNewVegas ''Fallout: New Vegas'']] you come across the town of Nipton where Caesar's Legion has recently held a lottery. [[spoiler: Roughly half the town are enslaved. Most of the other half get ''crucified.'' The second-prize winner gets shot in the kneecaps, with only one person getting the lucky ticket to walk away unharmed.]]

* In [[FalloutNewVegas Fallout: New Vegas]] you come across the town of Nipton where Caesar's Legion has recently held a lottery. [[spoiler: Roughly half the town are enslaved. Most of the other half get ''crucified.'' The second-prize winner gets shot in the kneecaps, with only one person getting the lucky ticket to walk away unharmed.]]

* PhilipJoseFarmer's ''Attitudes'', a gambler from Earth happens upon a group of non-human locals playing a game similar to roulette and convinces them to let him join in. Since his success as a gambler is the result of psychic powers, he does very well in the game [[spoiler: until the last spin, when his power is suddenly overwhelmed and one of the locals wins. He then witnesses the fate of the winner; it isn't pleasant.]]

** Ancient Romans used "decimation" as a means of group punishment. All soldiers pulled straws, and the losers were executed by the winners. The name comes from the fact that the losing group was one tenth of the legion.

-->An escape bid -- but only ''for two!'' For a tense minute, the eight people in the doomed space ship watched one another in cautious silence. There would be no lottery of ''luck!''

* Lampshaded and averted in the 1950's ''Rick Random: Space Detective'' comic, "Kidnappers from Mars". SpacePirates find their vessel caught in a space vortex and realise that the only means of escape is a two-man shuttle. They immediately start killing each other.
-->There would be no lottery of death...

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* ''FrauImMond'' (1929). After a struggle punctures the oxygen tank, the two male crewmembers draw straws to see who stays behind. The DirtyCoward gets the short straw and breaks down sobbing, so the hero makes the HeroicSacrifice and stays behind on the moon instead.

* ''FrauImMond'' (1929). After a struggle punctures the oxygen tank, the two male crewmembers [[LotteryOfDoom draw straws]] to see who stays behind. The DirtyCoward gets the short straw and breaks down sobbing, so the hero makes the HeroicSacrifice and stays behind on the moon instead.

* MercedesLackey's ''One Good Knight'' from the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. There is a weekly lottery from the kingdom's virgins to see who will be sacrificed to a dragon that week. Subverted: the lottery is fixed. Doubly subverted: the girls aren't actually eaten by the dragon, who turns out to be under a spell.