What scifi weapon would you want?
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.
285 replies
An emp that blankets the world, but instead of electromagnetic it's empathy manipulation such that it either eliminates those lacking empathy or forces them to be empathetic.
Goodbye capitalism, pedophilia, corruption, etc. We're facing what I believe is a global empathy crisis through the rise of the far right due to global neoliberal capitalism. To secure profits, which we've tied to survival, we're un-learning empathy, which was an evolutionary advantage for us. Capitalism rewards narcissism, a lack of empathy, being willing to exploit others.
I would set that empathy pulse off in an instant. I'm tired of seeing people brutalized around the world because of greedy people in power.
I think such a weapon is achievable once we understand genetics enough. Create a gene modification that makes people a little more cooperative and more interested in everybody else's welfare - say 20% more - and infuse it into enough of the world's water supplies to give the mutation to a majority of humans. Wait a few years and I think their behavioral changes would turn our whole world around. No need to design a perfect social system and use politics to implement it. It would quickly evolve on its own. .
Isn't this the lore of the Reavers in Firefly?
The flashy thing from Men in Black "my report was great and you have me an A+"
The point of view gun
Brought to you by the Intergalactic Consortium of Angry Housewives. Stop leaving the toilet seat up!!
While a death star is definitely more powerful, I think I would have to choose then BFG9000 from Doom.
yeah I mean the death star is outside of scope but the bfg is within. although i think it is one of those. the hero is so strong they can lug around a weapon thats supposed to be mounted type thing.
Vegetarian forks
Nicoll-Dyson beam. You can fry your enemy anywhere, anytime, at the speed of light, with the power of an entire star.
Cerebral Bore from Turok 2. Not sure why, but that one stuck with me over the years.
A chainsword from 40K.
Dena’s chakrams but laserfied
A Gun That Can Kill The Past
Don't forget the protective footwear.
Now you're thinking with portals!
Yeah, I'd shoot two portals in a vertical line
Undo my belt, lean in and
Change pants without having to look down
Also I’d suck my own diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick
Be your own reach around
I'm pretty sure I can already do that.
Sonic Screwdriver is pretty much a magic wand with lights, so I choose that.
They're scientific instruments, not water pistols!
The ZF-1.
it’s light. Handle’s adjustable for easy carrying, good for righties and lefties. Breaks down into four parts, undetectable by x-ray, ideal for quick, discreet interventions. A word on firepower. Titanium recharger, three thousand round clip with bursts of three to three hundred, and with the Replay button, another Zorg invention, it’s even easier.
Plus a tempting red button
One that immediately eliminates all billionaires and blocks their existence forever.
Ah the hyper-inflation doomsday gun
While a ship, the Lexx was primarily designed as a weapon that could destroy planets, so I'll go for The Lexx.
The Farsight XR-20 from Perfect Dark that can see and shoot through walls.
For no particular reason.
I'd like a Death Star, you can certainly trust me with a Death Star.
Not even sci fi - I always wished that when I had each baby I was issued 5 tranquilizer darts. Not more than 5. With each, there were about 5 times I wished I could just blow a dart at them and have them immediately asleep.
Sci fi I just want a de-escalation gun.
Reason from the book Snowcrash. It's essentially some highly advanced smart minigun that fits in a suit case. Mostly so I can say something like "I'll make them listen to Reason" before I use it.
Wasn't that The Diamond Age?
Edit: Nope, I just can't remember for shit anymore.
It was a rotating barrel railgun, right? Water cooled?
"Water cooled" in that they submerged the nuclear heat-sink array in the ocean to keep it from destroying their boat.
A MAD-3R Marauder. The single best all around Battle mech ever put together.
Have loved the Marauder since MW on my Tandy. Dual ppcs and a long range autocannon? evaporate some jenners and locusts before they can even react to your presence
Portal gun or gravity gun from Halflife
If you get a portal gun, you get the gravity gun included
Phys gun from Gmod
24th century Type II phaser, specifically the ones introduced around 2373. Very multi-purpose, moreso than the zat from Stargate. ;)
But I i just want to go ridiculous firepower and over the top cool factor, any number of weapons from Ratchet'n'Clank would do.
A Death Star. Hugely powerful weapon, but also spacious living space, and travel solution all in one. Just need to get a grate over that exhaust port and we're all good.
Good cafeteria as well.
But the trays are all wet.
Do not underestimate the power of the dishwasher.
Orgazmo's Orgazmorator, a ray gun that forces orgasm upon whomever it is fired.
*for crime fighting, bad politicians, or consensual encounters, only.
I still quote, “I am Sancho!”
My friend quotes/mimics Neutered Man often to hilarious effect.
Oh god! 🤣🤣🤣
A cheap clone of the Tasp. I assume Orgazmo came after 1970.
It did. It’s a 90s movie from Matt Stone and Trey Parker about a Mormon that becomes a superhero genre pornstar. At the time it was funny as fuck, but haven’t seen it in years to know if it still stands up or not.
It does!
If you have a couple drinks first it's still decent
Which is a portable version of the Excessive Machine (Orgasmotron) from Barbarella.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(Film)
The Farsight from Perfect Dark (or the equivalent gun from the last season of Deep Space 9). The scope sees through walls quite a distance away, and when fired the shot teleports to the target.
Phasers on stun!
Portal Gun, no question.
Wish I Had a Portal Gun
Nah, huge limitation that it only works on walls painted with moon dust. Even without that detail, the surface needs to be flat and judging by the main characters height, roughly 1m x 2m. Those details really limit its functionality outside the enrichment center.
Then explain the ending of Portal 2. What flat surface exists on the moon?
Scale is important. Yes, the moon is round, but local flatness could be within the tool's tolerance. Even a surface plate (used by machinists a reference for flatness) has local peaks and valleys if you zoom in on the surface.
Judging by the moon landing pictures, most surfaces on the moon are roughly flat especially in the dusty areas.
The games are also a bit inconsistent about what happens when the surface moves. Sometimes the portal fizzles out, and on rare occasions it doesn’t.
If we really want to get into the specifics technically everything is moving. Could maybe that as long as the object is stationary relative to nearby large mass but then that would start to strain the moon shot since that is a separate large moving mass being linked to another moving mass
idk about flat but it's 100% covered in moon dust.
I never actually played. I assume it creates portals.
Yes. It could technically be a weapon if you placed a portal up high, and another on the ground under someone.
and tele-fragging: stepping into the same space as your target, theoretically exploding them
I don't think this one would work, since they don't occupy any space in the flat plane the portals appear on. You're just making doors.
The best way to use the Portal Device in Hedgewars (especially if you can shoot one end above water), given it doesn't end your turn.
Yes, but every time I get the chance I either miss too many times or something's blocking the way.
Yep, links two portals to each other. Place one over a dangerous area and one below someone, they fall. Boom, a weapon. However, it's also a very useful tool for transportation purposes.
I may be misremembering it but, I think you are forgetting the most limiting part of the portal gun:
::: spoiler spoiler It only works on surfaces painted with moon dust. :::
Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.
You need the boots, though, otherwise it's very easy to accidentally go splat.
One on the wall next to me + one on the wall next to my refrigerator = not having to get up for snacks.
Oh, there's so many other uses for it if you put your mind to it...
lol someone can finally play go fuck yourself
Is that a weapon? The game doesn't let you use it on people.
In Portal 2 there's a multiplayer mode. It can definitely be used as a weapon when you quickly swap out the portal exit so that your companion falls to their demise.
There are some fun community levels where you can race against a friend and there are all sorts of traps you can trigger/set if you plan it right.
The HL2 multiplayer set to gravity gun only was so fun. We called it "pie fight" since it was 3 Stoogles style chaos. The only thing missing was that you couldn't use a person's previous body to kill them. I so wanted to yell "stop hitting yourself" as I bashed someone with their own corpse.
Wow. I didn't know it was multiplayer. I bought an old Xbox 360 a while back and it came with a bunch of games. I played portal 2 on that. Does it have multiplayer on that platform?
I liked it so much I bought Portal 1. I think it's better to play them in order. 2 was better than 1.
Oh yeah 100%, you can play portal 2 local co-op or online co-op. I've never personally done online co-op on the 360, but it probably works fine.
Portal 1 is single player only and you're totally right about playing them in order, that's the way to do it.
Well regrettably my wife didn't really get the hang of portal and we're the only two who live here. Maybe when I have a friend over. I'm kind of old and the only friend I have that really plays games lives in the UK. We pay together online. If you're interested we've played:
Borderlands Borderlands 2 Borderlands 3 Tiny Tina's Wonderland Borderlands the pre-sequel Grim Dawn Aliens elite team Warhammer 40000 space Marines?
And we're currently playing Aliens Elite Team 2.
I may have forgotten some.
Yeah, I didn't realize it for a while as well. The multiplayer has its own whole storyline of what happened before GLaDOS took control.
in the game there are not ppl alive anymore, but you use it to "dispose" a lot of angry turrets and eventually get the endboss to hurt themselves.
It's called a gun, so I vote yes.
You can instantly turn anything into a weapon and you can instantly drop the floor out from anyone and drop them from the highest point you can reach.
Yes. It's a weapon and a tool like an axe is a weapon and a tool
Yeah, I guess so. I only played single player and now I know.
Deathwand from Hyperion. Very useful...
Would the Infinity Gauntlet count?
I was thinking of editing and making what I wanted more clear but honestly overnight sorta became a free for all. for what I was looking for personally it was something one person could carry and use that was a weapon of technology that like we would recognize as technology and not fall into advanced so much it seems like magic. given that yesterday someone said it and I was like that really is beyond scope.
Fair enough 👍
I think maybe you should have also included no cosmic items as well. It sort of overlaps with sci-fi and magic.
Then I choose the blaster/laser sword from the Ulysses cartoon. I mistakenly thought it also had the shield but I think that's a separate item.
I don't know if it counts as science fiction or fantasy, but The Subtle Knife would be my choice (if I could use it to its full potential).
You got an armored bear friend to do repairs?
The Point of View Gun
Pretty sure it can be countered by a towel.
You sound like a hoopy frood
I would be a menace to society with that
So one practical question is, can you effectively 'lie' to the gun? That is, can you forcibly "believe" for a moment (within your own mind) something which you want to project onto a target with the gun? Or does the gun read only your unfiltered, unconscious beliefs? Is there any discretionary control?
Also, notably, the Point of View Gun does not work on women, so there would be some practical limits to your menacing.
I think with drugs or high blood sugar you could lie to it
Can you see it's means it is from my point of view?
That was exactly the answer I had in mind.
Phaser.
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.
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?
BFG 9000
Nerve stapler / punishment sphere
Gravity Gun from Half-life 2 Ravenholm was a brilliant tutorial for that thing!
The Bowel Disruptor from Transmetropolitan:
Non-lethal, untraceable, and thoroughly unpleasant for any unfortunate sod that has earnt my ire!
It does have a “fatal intestinal maelstrom” setting, if I recall correctly... (and I'm not sure about the survivability of “unspeakable gut horror”...)
The "Bobbler" from Vernor Vinge's Peace War series.
It's a device that can remotely enclose arbitrary volumes within "Bobbles", which are impenetrable and in which the time stands still.
It is instantly used as a kind of passive weapon, enclosing all known nuclear sites and big military installations in one go to force peace (although in the story this backfires into a strange kind of authoritarianism).
What's special about it is, that its weaponization is only a kind of secondary use, its later uses propel humanity into a technological golden age.
Does the GCU Grey Area from Iain M. Banks' The Culture series count as a weapon?
I know I can't use it, of course, I wouldn't want to. I just want it to have fun. Right now. On Earth.
I'm sure it'd find plenty of ways to enjoy itself...
Is that Meat Fucker?
Yep. And I'd of of course for "Mistake Not." The scene at the end of THS when it lowers its shields to let the supposedly equivi-tech ship get a peek under the covers.
Yes Grey Area is called meat fucker by the other ships
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.
Knife missile faster, cleaner and can be equally whimsical (opening scene of UoW).
Maybe I don't want it faster and cleaner...
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.
Then I choose the pistol (given the name Rimpoche by an AI Bhudda) from Redrobe by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. It provides target identification, auto-aim and sarcasm.
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.
Original credit to William Gibson of course.
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.
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.
Niven's "Slaver disintegrator".
The Celestial Orrery of The Necrons
Halo 2 energy sword
I can't think of a sci-fi weapon that would be cooler than actual existing weapons but the closest thing would be an Ornithopter from Dune. I guess it probably haves guns - I haven't seen the movies or read the books.
Go see the movies immediately, then immediately go read the books.
Right after I've watched Interstellar first.
They seem so impractical, especially on desert planets. But damn they are cool.
They have been designed to "work" like desert insects, but yes, they are pinnacle impractical for anything that flies. Especially if you see the landing crafts that seem to work without rocket engines, IIRC. Why bother with wings when you could just float away. But what a cool design.
I'm fairly certain Holtzman suspensors attract worms. (As do Holtzman shields.)
With the harvesters it doesn't matter much because the harvesting itself attracts them, but if you want to move around in Arrakis and don't want to find your vehicle eaten when you come back for it, it's probably better for it to use some mechanical means of flight, and ornithopters are probably less noisy than propellers, rotors, or jet engines. Also more capable of handling sandstorms.
I just love the sound they make.
yeah I should have specified but I was more thinking personal weapon than weapon systems or vehicles or such. something one person can carry around and use.
Gonna have to go with something like a lasgun from 40k. Given the restrictions of no vehicles or weapons platforms and nothing magical.
The lasgun is a mass produced rifle which hits something like a modern day 50cal and has basically infinite ammo by being able to recharge the battery packs from literally any available source including sunlight and chucking them in a fire.
Think of the tech advances we could get from that. The battery alone would change how tech functions. Given how ass backwards the imperium is about tech there's also a decent chance we could work out how to reproduce it pretty quickly too.
Other good options are fallout laser or plasma guns for similar reasons. I'm trying to remember if those guns take fusion cores because we've been working on that for a very long time.
Transphasic torpedoes from Star Trek, because only one is needed to destroy a Borg Cube.
Why not pick a borg cube instead?
Why pick something that can be destroyed by a single transphasic torpedo?
The Grille from Men in Black. I want to know how it works.
Not a weapon. A medical tricorder.
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 in the corridors 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 could 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.
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.
I know only 2 kinds of missiles, both are built for very specific purposes. No good general example ...
You could also selectively beam away important parts of a thing, or just dematerialize and never rematerialize.
Torpedos away!
I want to uptoot this so hard!
The nude bomb or the watch from the girl, the goldwatch and everything.
Had to do some looking up to see that that's two different movies.
The Nude Bomb (1980)
The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything (1980)
Veritech Fighter
Maybe closer to OPs restrictions.. Cyclone Body armour!
I think it’s a stretch of the prompt, but someone else said the deathstar. If that’s allowed I’d take the SDF1 itself. But really it’s for that main reflex canon. In the Robotech TTRPG the stats for the main gun was something like “destroys everything in its 1 mile wide path for 10,000 miles” no defense measures work.
Freaking love gerwalker mode.
The Tasp from Larry Nivens' Ringworld universe.
what does it do?
It takes the target out by inducing an orgasm.
thats only like a few seconds!
You have not read the book, have you?
it was supposed to be a self efacing joke about my sexual inadequacies
Well i giggled.
It makes you happy, like heroin does
Ok, that's the most evil one I've read so far in the comments...
It's a long time ago that I read the books, but that was a thing that got stuck. I wonder if that thing was single-target or area-of-effect, but it would actually be a fun weapon to use. Especially on the unsuspecting.
Well, chances are you can't resist using it on yourself and get addicted to it.
I think there even was some mention of it in the books...
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
Only if you can't consistently, precisely, and accurately target a human brainstem.
Depends on context, for warfare probably a shard rifle that can be fed any metal for ammo.
For assassination, maybe a Star Wars disruptor rifle, seems useful to atomise targets.
For my daily life I don't need much killed or destroyed, so I'd probably go for a dual use thing, like the Portal Gun, Grabbity Gun, or perhaps high level psychic powers like Babylon 5's Jason Ironheart.
Wait, was it called The Grabbitty Gun, and my deaf-ass heard Gravity Gun for 25 years???
It's actually a Zero-point Energy Field Manipulator, but yeah, someone else used "Grabbity gun" and I loved it. Great homophone and entirely in line with Valve humor.
But I do believe it canonically is called Gravity gun.
Its gravity gun lol
Not really a weapon but Sonic screwdriver
Captain Jack's sonic pistol fits the bill.
I’d definitely take that for sure
yeah I think that goes outside the bounds. its like some people would prefer to have tricorders but if we open it to all scifi tech it gets messy.
In that case does the infinity gauntlet count?
nah thats a mystical wish making device. definately out.
Persuadatron - a short range weapon that fires a small dose of chemical which renders the target totally open to suggestion. When hit, victims momentarily turn blue, lose all free will and follow the agent who fired around the mission zone like sheep. Civilians are always open to persuasion...
The lesser version is called Rohypnol. It's already used by exactly the people you would normally expect to use a Persuadatron in this world to do exactly the things one would expect such people to do with/to their victims.
Yeah, but it was cool in Syndicate.
Are you so critical of all the other weapons people are nominating? Like the disintegratiaton?
Disintegrators are probably perfect for making toxic waste disposal much easier.
a real Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy
that shit has got to be tops on info, even if the Earth entry is Mostly Harmless
The answer here is a towel.
You sound like a hoopy frood.
yeah but not a weapon although im guessing it must have been chucked at someone at some point in all the variations of the storyies.
Guide 2.0 is definitely a weapon. I'm talking about the one that looked like a bird that Random stole from Arthur.
Cognito hazard
ISSAC NEWTONDOUGLAS ADDAMS IS THE DEADLIEST SON OF A BITCH IN SPACE!but it is a weapon! knowledge is a weapon! It kept Arthur and Ford alive
You know what they say, the penis mightier than the sword
Stargate zats. Stun-kill-delete is really useful.
*Okay, you know what? I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that, because that is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say.
If we can walk through walls, why don't we fall through the floor?
Uhm, okay?
E: took me a while for the reference 🫠
Well I butchered the line. It's unbutchered now.
Ah yes, the plot gun.
A comment above lists a star trek phaser doing similar things, however the zap looks cooler and make a cooler noise
Well, more phallic at least.
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.
Pick up a car and release. Much death.
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.
Not really. You need to press a nail gun against something to fire a nail.
https://youtu.be/JDpvkwBBu6U
Tell that to Snoop
oh yeah I think its fair game but like. right on the edge of it. like in dc they call green lantern rings the most powerful weapons and those would not fit as they are virtually do anything devices.
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.
Like the ones from Oblivion?
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.
Well the op on this said friend not weapon because Drones are fully sentient and autonomous lifeforms in the Culture. Remember only the true misfits get sent to Special Circumstances, and when heavily armed drones become misfits in a culture (small c) where anything goes, that would tell you something.
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.
A Lazy Gun:
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.
A MemoryForm from the Culture.
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.
Downwards
The Rick and Morty portal gun.
ok this is one I had in mind as to far to go. its like magical in function and not really a weapon per se although it can be used as one sorta.
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.
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.
wasn't the entire second movie about the question, whether it's a weapon or a walk assistant?
Probably a weapon like the RYNO from basically any of the Ratchet and Clank games. Only problem is we don't have gadgetron, megacorp, mrs. zircon, or whatever other gun/ammo venders from the games. I would have the ultimate weapon that could murder anyone at all, despite me only having a limite ammo supply and needing to be fairly close.
If not a RYNO, then probably something like the sheepinator from whichever RnC game had it because I not only get a weapon with seemingly infinite usage, but also get to turn enemies into sheep. Just gotta aim and fire long enough while holding a bulky sci-fi looking weapon. What could possibly go wrong? And last I checked, it is listed as a weapon in the franchise, so I'm hoping it's safe enough to include.
If nothing else, the zap gun you start out with in every single Destroy All Humans games would be a good 3rd option. Again, for the seemingly unlimited ammo and lightning shooting out of a gun.
I really wanted to say the plasma whip from Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal, but I really don't feel like accidentally burning myself to death.
Edit:
For a fairly inconspicuous or rather doesn't seem like that big of a threat choice, my brain went to the Walloper from the first RnC game. Basically just a powered boxing glove that would propel me forward a little and really hurt whoever it hits.
it's nice to see that the answers basically all revolve about having someone useful in your hand instead of being good at killing things
yeah honestly that is what got me to see what other people thought as getting utility out of the weapon is what I was thinking about when looking for what I would want.
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.
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
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 very much is so. Back when West End Games made their Star Wars RPG they were given access to all of the Star Wars canon. A lightsaber is not just moved by your hands, it is guided by the force. But you said weapon, not powers... so my answer still stands.
Killy's gravity beam pistol probably. Shit is just stupid.
lol I had the same thought
Technically, that gun does only work in the megastructure
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?
Dubstep
If anyone is interested, the tune the Dubstep Gun plays is called "A Bass Renaissance" and can be found on Youtube.
One of the DLC options for it plays Ride of the Valkyries, which also feels appropriate.
That's fantastic!
Wait, what am I thinking, you can totally grapple enemies in JC3. That’s gotta count!
BFG 9000 seems cool
The Halo seems... a bit much...
The Warp is... risky, but not in my lifetime.
EDIT: Is a borg a weapon?
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.
Unwieldy.
Super-nail club forever.
Death star, without the stupid weakness.
I think blowing up is always a weakness
Unless it's a bomb, then it's kind of a job requirement.
Elysiums combination 50bmg/railgun, the tst chemrail
That was so satisfying in the movie. I was sad that he didn't spend the rest of the movie carrying around a bunch of them to use.
Nuke.
pluribus fan aye.
I'd have to say Reason from Snow Crash. Not terribly practical in many situations, but it's got panache. For everyday practicality, probably a PPG pistol.
im not familiar. what does it do?
It's a minigun style railgun powered by a suitcase nuclear reactor that fires depleted uranium shards. Inscribed on the side is the Latin words "the last argument of kings"
It is from Snowcrash.
ok but a normal person could wield it? I wanted to stay away from what someone would think of as a weapon system rather than a weapon someone walked around with.
In the book, the character more lugged it around rather than walked, but did move it under his own power. As far as plausibility, it didn't seem to me overtly against the laws of physics, as in, you can deliver a lot more kinetic energy to a target than with a conventional gun since it's spread out over a longer Δt, and the real thing would indeed need a lot of cooling water.
You can wield it so long as you're near a body of water to cool its extremely large heat sink. It basically handles like a large water hose based on how the mobsters in the book used it.
I need to reread that book!
Super Shotgun from Doom or the Lancer with chainsaw from Gears of War.
Robot spiders, mass producable, like in the movie Runaway.
They can search for the target person on the whole planet.
Either the Sleeper Simulant from Destiny 1/2, or an AER9 Laser Rifle from Fallout.
I wouldn't mind having Lucille.
I don't recognize. is that just the bat with barbed wire from walking dead?
John Creighton's blaster pistol from Farscape.
was there anything special about it? I mean its something he picked up right because he was from earth.