I say weapon because it gets to complicated with all the super powers you can get. Turning invisible, walking through walls, teleporting. So for this I want to limit it to sci fi weapons that at least attempt to have a tech basis. So like not the masters device that turns people into dolls. However we don’t care if we can completely explain how it might be done now. Like lightsabers are fair game. As for me I would go with the star gate zat guns as initially put in. Both lethal and nonlethas and very portable. I want to put an honorable mention for tthe minority report sonic shotgun that seems to run on wind up energy so you should never theoretically run out of ammo. although not so sure as there was no indication you could power up more than one shot at a time.
EDITED: Its a little late at this point as the answers have went way off the rails but in case it gets more replies my intention was a weapon someone might carry around and could use as one person. not a weapons system or vehicle. Also no robots or things that essentially are their own entities. It should be a weapon used in a weapon like manner. aim and fire. also that quote about sufficiently advance technology looks like magic. if it looks like magic to us instead of technology then its to far afield. I hope this makes it more clear what I was looking for. Honestly I would have like to not use weapons as a basis but there are just to many things when you look at all of sci fi.
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One that immediately eliminates all billionaires and blocks their existence forever.
A lightsaber because it is as defensive as it is offensive.
I kinda feel the lightsaber sans jedi superpowers is just a really dangerous to the user kind of thing.
Lightsabers are incredibly OP even without Force powers. So much so that they had to eventually add in-universe explanations as to why non-Force sensitives couldn’t make or use them.
It is. People have pointed out that if you don’t have the precognition and super-reflexes of a Jedi, a sword with a massless blade is actually really easy to hurt yourself with.
i was just imagining myself, with severe adhd, forgetting that I’m holding something in my hand… xD
Us fire performers would uhh find a way
Coincidentally, we’d also be missing a few fingers
Killy’s gravity beam pistol probably. Shit is just stupid.
lol I had the same thought
Phaser.
- Stun
- Kill
- Vaporize
- Create a source of warmth
- Cook (not shown on screen to my knowledge, but plausible)
- Precisely cut various materials
- Landscape
- asplode
you know I kinda forgot. it is kinda more utilitarian and they do show them running out but like it seems to take a lot to do so.
Phasers can vaporize people or even big piles of rock within seconds. We’re talking hundreds of millions of Joules of energy.
It’s got to be something more exotic than simply dumping energy into the target until it turns to vapor, otherwise there would be horrifying explosions of steam and guts and molten rock, instead of a soft hum and the disappearance of the target.
I choose to believe the vaporize function is actually a one way transporter beam. It digitizes them into the phaser and just deletes the file instead of sending it somewhere to be rebuilt.
That’s a good theory! The development of one could have led to the other. A beam that remotely disassembles something to its subatomic particles without an explosion would have been a necessary part of transporter development, regardless of which was invented first.
Unless they operate on different physics than our universe currently does, there’s no way around it. Energy is energy, it’s the currency of the universe.
Unless they operate on different physics than our universe currently does
It’s Star Trek. Of course it does.
In this case, it’s a fictional particle doing the heavy lifting. Explanations of exactly what it’s supposed to do seem to be inconsistent (it’s Star Trek), but at lower energy levels, it does electromagnetic stuff (including stunning living creatures), at medium energy levels, it does thermal stuff, and at high energy levels, it messes with the strong nuclear force.
Disintegrating something by messing with the strong nuclear force would probably have harmful effects on anything nearby, which is not addressed because it’s Star Trek.
So it must have at least two batteries, right?
I just rewatched Altered Carbon and I love the idea of the magnetic fletchette pistol, mainly because it’s not too unrealistic. A pistol that launches rounds using mag lev and the rounds can be recalled on command putting them right back into the magazine. Too bad he only uses it like twice in the show.
man I don’t recall that but I only saw like one season.
It was in the first season, like I said it was rarely used but when Kovacs bought it they gave it a solid introduction.
I teally wish we got to see more of that thing in the show! It’s such a stupidly over powered and unique gimmick to not immediately become his signature sidearm and I don’t think he ever uses it after the hospital scene.
Hmm, a Culture militarized drone might count as a weapon. If there were one that wanted to be my friend and be helpful to me that would probably be the most generally useful weapon possible.
Definitely a drone from Culture. Probably one like in Inversions. Looks like a normal object (dagger in that case) but is intelligent and will defend you when needed. When it gets into fighting mode there’s no stopping it. The drone from Use of weapons was straight out scary. The defensive and offensive tech they could use was also beyond anything I’ve seen in other series. Antimatter missiles, “tractor beams”, energy weapons. If you realized one is trying to kill you it was only because it wanted to have some fun and was doing it slowly.
ah man that is so tough guideline wise. I mean its one thing. that is by and large used for fighting. kinda feels like we are getting into robots now which would open up a big can of worms.
Yeah Culture drones are on both sides of the line between autonomous person and (potentially, if that’s what kind they are) weapon. Plus I was imagining all of the non-offensive things it could do to be useful when I suggested it.
I could conceivably actually get a P90 and I always wanted to shoot one.
But if Star Trek phasers were real, gimme one of those. Preferably, I’d rather have a tricorder instead of a weapon, tho.
I’m really not a gun guy, actually, I could go on for a while about why guns need to be eliminated from US society… But that’s a rant for another time.
But I am a mechanics and engineering guy, and on a mechanical level, the p90 is very cool! It really manages an impressive number of innovative features for one device. In the field of its competitors, it stands out in a big way. It’s like it tried to be a jack of all trades, and actually came out a master of most.
I think they chose it mostly because it ejects casings upwards, which gave them more freedom for placing the actors closer.
I’m going to cheat a bit and say the wingsuit/grappling hook combo in Just Cause 3 that allows him to glide indefinitely and at high speed.
yeah I have to say this is a reject for the criteria. not really a weapon.
Fine, I’ll settle for the Dubstep Gun in Saints Row 3 (maybe 4?)
I never played. what does it do?
If anyone is interested, the tune the Dubstep Gun plays is called “A Bass Renaissance” and can be found on Youtube.
A Lazy Gun:
A Lazy Gun is roughly half a metre long, 30 cm wide and 20 cm tall. On the front are two short cylinders that end in black lenses. A sight extends from the main body, as do two hand grips. A metallic strap allows the Lazy Gun to be fired from the waist. On one hand grip is a zoom control and on the other grip is a trigger mechanism. The Lazy gun is massy but light, and weighs three times as much when turned upside down. The Lazy Gun is the only weapon known to display a sense of humour.
To fire the Lazy Gun, it is pointed at the target, zoomed in, and then the trigger is pulled. What happens next is unpredictable. When fired at humans, many different things may occur. An anchor may appear above the person, giant electrodes may appear on either side of the target and electrocute them or an animal may tear their throat out. Larger targets such as tanks or ships may suffer tidal waves, implosion, explosion, sudden lava flows or just disappear. When fired at cities and other such targets, thermonuclear explosions are the norm, although in one instance a comet crashed into the city.
Is the idea that it takes the easiest method to kill something?
i think this one crosses the line into the masters doll device. im going to reject it as a contender.
Not a weapon. A medical tricorder.
I want to uptoot this so hard!
yeah I disallowed things like this because then you have all kinds of technology like personal transporters or such to contend with. so wanted to limit it to weapons.
The problem with misclassifying transporters as “non-weapons” is largely down to Starfleet and the sum entirety of its personnel being blithering idiots with the tactical prowess of a beached flounder. Even taking into account all the caveats and technicalities of how and when transporters could or couldn’t be used in canon, the combat utility of such a thing is criminally overlooked.
Myriad are the times when it is apparently perfectly feasible to beam onto the enemy ship, or vise-versa, to engage in merry yet largely ineffective laser beam battles wherein practically nobody hits anybody because in the 31st century everyone forgot how to put sights on their guns.
Or, you could just use your transporters to set them up the bomb. You have got a bomb, haven’t you? I’m sure your replicators can make you one. Or you could just pull the pin on a torpedo and then park it on their captain’s lap.
Have the Scary Dogmatic Aliens boarded your ship? Beam their punk asses out into space. Preferably sans their clothes, especially if your transporter chief is any good.
Sustained some battle damage but your transporters are still working? Just start nicking spare parts from your enemy’s ship. Warp coils, antimater injectors, computer consoles, any or all of their guns… I’m sure you can think of plenty of things you do with some extras of. Or, and I’m just spitballing here, precisely however many square meters of their hull can fit on your transporter pad. Like, maybe the bit of it that separates their bridge from the vacuum of space.
Etc., etc. The possibilities really just suggest themselves. With the technology available in the 'Trek universe, space battles should be significantly shorter, much more chaotic, and an awful lot more interesting than they’re ever depicted on screen. Basically once anyone’s shields are down it should be an out and out prank war, one with lethal stakes that are decided by whoever’s engineers are the most creative and/or vindictive, and who can type the fastest.
That’s before even getting into the wrinkle that photon torpedoes are supposed to travel at warp velocities. Faster than light. There’s no need to even bother to put warheads in the damn things, antimatter based or not. The impact energy alone should be able to core a planet, if only anyone on the writing staff could be trusted to do the math.
if only anyone on the writing staff could be trusted to do the math.
Long story, but a means of transport is still a means of transport, not a weapon.
Like the pen is not a weapon, even though they say it is mightier than the sword.
It’s kind of like saying a missile is a means of transport, not a weapon. Transporters are arguably more useful as weapons than transport, but it would end half the episodes in 2 minutes.
You could also selectively beam away important parts of a thing, or just dematerialize and never rematerialize.
Half Life Grabbity Gun. More useful than just a weapon and no problem finding ammo.
The Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.
boy this kinda hugs the line. I wanted to keep to much utility things from getting in rather than weapons. I think though it stays in bound and is not quite as bad as the masters doll thing. So good one. This might give a run for the money on the phaser as its basically telekinesis.
The gravity gun is definitely a weapon. Notwithstanding having “gun” right there in the name, Gordon spends much of his time in Ravenholm using it to decapitate zombies by chucking saw blades at them, flinging exploding barrels and welding cylinders around, and so on and so forth. All that’s even before it gets inexplicably powered up by the Combine’s confiscation field and turns into a literal lightning cannon that disintegrates people.
I mean, nailgun has “gun” in it, but we don’t consider those weapons. Sure they could be used that way, but so can most industrial tools/equipment.
Tell that to Snoop
BFG 9000 seems cool
The Halo seems… a bit much…
The Warp is… risky, but not in my lifetime.
Unwieldy.
Super-nail club forever.
You can shoot yourself with the Q2 version of the BFG 9000. It would shoot lasers from the plasma ball at all enemies in range. Unfortunately, if an enemy happened to be behind you when you shot the thing, the laser didn’t care that you were in the way.
One of the Lazy Guns from Against A Dark Background by Iain M. Banks. Point at target. Pull trigger. Target is destroyed in some ridiculous way, like having a piano fall on it.
But don’t point it at the sun. It doesn’t like that.
yeah someone mentioned this but its like the masters doll it falls outside the scope.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Lazy Gun was based on science but it was so advanced no one new how it really worked. The theory was it was moving things between parallel universes. The tech was developed before civilization collapsed and the knowledge was lost*. The issue was also that it would self destruct when someone tried to disassemble it trying to figure it out.
*Against a Dark Background happens in a solar system outside of galaxy. The civilization there is trapped with no way of reaching other stars. They colonized their entire solar system thousands of years ago and since then are stuck in a cycle of growth and collapse with many artifacts from previous high points still present.
Knife missile faster, cleaner and can be equally whimsical (opening scene of UoW).
Maybe I don’t want it faster and cleaner…
Skaffen-Amtiskaw certainly didn’t.
M41A Pulse Rifle
I had to look that one up. I kinda thought it might be the gun the terminator asked for at the weapon shop in the first movie that they did not have.
No, that would be a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.
Seems like a vastly underpowered plasma rifle
I feel like it probably breaks one of your rules, but an ironman or gundam suit would be great. For the ironman angle I guess you could just say the repulsors since that gives you flight while still being offensive.
wasn’t the entire second movie about the question, whether it’s a weapon or a walk assistant?
yeah full battlesuits are like weapon systems or vehicles really. I think the gauntlet repulsors alon is fine although I think with out all the computer systems of the suit Im not sure if much controlled flight could be done any more than having a noisy cricket.
