# Sci-Fi weapons with BAD design flaws **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573 "2017-01-30T07:18:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/141 "2017-02-12T14:18:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I don’t understand why people thought Darth Maul was cool when he had the [dumbest light saber](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/1/1a/Darth_Maul_lightsaber_reveal.png/revision/latest?cb=2014042114355) in the SW Universe. How do you point that thing at anybody without hurting yourself? Yeah. I mean, let’s face it, the original lightsabers never were terribly practical weapons to begin with—but hey, Jedi, force, and rule of cool. But everything they did to them since, trying to one-up the original, has just cheapened the concept, finding its ridiculous (and undoubtedly, temporary) conclusion in the [Rebels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sOvNYYH6Cs) TV-show (link might be considered a spoiler). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/142 "2017-02-12T14:52:43Z")
… the mind boggles. So, when I’m spinning up there at 300 feet and somebody shoots at me and my hands are busy spinning my light saber above my head so I don’t plunge to my death, I’m supposed to do… what? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/143 "2017-02-13T15:17:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As for the bat’leth, its fatal flaw is the damned thing has no _reach_. You hold the thing close to your body, and it’s stable as a rock. It’s clumsy to extend with one hand from one end, though, so a guy comes along with an epee or a foil and pokes you in the eye, because a sword’s got a reach and the tip can move swiftly. The bat’leth is fine for close quarters where your enemy can’t move away (maybe the Klingons used them in tunnel warfare, or something), but a guy with your quarterstaff can stay out of reach and keep bashing Worf over the head. Fan wank: Klingons developed a fighting style where they are always charging forward. (They don’t like to fight in formation. They seem to value personal glory and tradition.) Always charging forward means that (in melee combat) your target won’t be out of reach for long. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/144 "2017-02-13T15:19:39Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Are you kidding? Is there any reason at all that anyone besides R2D2 should be piloting the ship at all? > > For that matter, why is there even such a thing as an “astromech” droid? IOW, why would you ever want to take all the avionics out of an X-Wing and let it go on crazy adventures? Don’t you remember the Great AI War of 25250BY?!? (Explains why they “wipe” droids periodically.) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/145 "2017-02-13T18:02:45Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I always thought that was one of the most impressive feats of technology in both Star Wars and Star Trek. The technology to build an energy weapon that somehow shoots slower than modern ballistic projectiles is some incredible engineering. “I’ve designed a portable hand-held laser pistol!” “Excellent! Now design some sort of beam inhibitor to slow it down to paintball gun velocities, an oscillator to limit the rate of fire to that of a WWII rifle and some sort of tracer to make the beam visible from miles away”. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/146 "2017-02-13T18:28:20Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I don’t understand why people thought Darth Maul was cool when he had the [dumbest light saber](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/1/1a/Darth_Maul_lightsaber_reveal.png/revision/latest?cb=2014042114355) in the SW Universe. How do you point that thing at anybody without hurting yourself? > > Starkiller Base in SW:TFA, a weapon so dumb even [I noticed how idiotic it was](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=795098). Why was it easier to hollow out a planet like an apple core and install a giant gun instead of just building a giant gun in space? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > As for the bat’leth, its fatal flaw is the damned thing has no reach. You hold the thing close to your body, and it’s stable as a rock. It’s clumsy to extend with one hand from one end, though, so a guy comes along with an epee or a foil and pokes you in the eye, because a sword’s got a reach and the tip can move swiftly. The bat’leth is fine for close quarters where your enemy can’t move away (maybe the Klingons used them in tunnel warfare, or something), but a guy with your quarterstaff can stay out of reach and keep bashing Worf over the head. ] Yeah…sure…Maybe it’s a good weapon in the close quarters of a starship if you really insist on bringing a knife to an energy weapon fight. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/147 "2017-02-13T19:22:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Yeah…sure…Maybe it’s a good weapon in the close quarters of a starship if you really insist on bringing a knife to an energy weapon fight. Actually, there is a school of thought that believes knives, swords and the like will come back into style if were ever do start fighting on spaceships. After all, there are lots of things in spaceships that wouldn’t react well to bullets/lasers/blasters. Remember the full quote when Obi-wan introduced the light saber: “Your father’s lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy **or as random** as a blaster. An elegant weapon… for a more civilized age.” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/148 "2017-02-13T19:30:46Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Actually, there is a school of thought that believes knives, swords and the like will come back into style if were ever do start fighting on spaceships. After all, there are lots of things in spaceships that wouldn’t react well to bullets/lasers/blasters. There are other answers, though. The Babylon 5 answer was the [PPG](http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/PPG), which will do wicked things to exposed flesh or thin materials, but dissipate if it hits anything substantial or strongly heat-dissipating. They never did consider the idea of a plasma bolt being subjected to EM and magnetic fields, though. You could botch someone’s aim big time if you were hiding someplace next to a large strong magnet, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/149 "2017-02-13T21:18:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > “I’ve designed a portable hand-held laser pistol!” > > “Excellent! Now design some sort of beam inhibitor to slow it down to paintball gun velocities, an oscillator to limit the rate of fire to that of a WWII rifle and some sort of tracer to make the beam visible from miles away”. In Star Wars’ (but probably not Lucas’) defense, [blasters](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Blaster) were explicitly not lasers. No excuse for the turbolasers, though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/150 "2017-02-13T21:21:19Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Yeah…sure…Maybe it’s a good weapon in the close quarters of a starship if you really insist on bringing a knife to an energy weapon fight. It makes sense as a ceremonial weapon. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/151 "2017-02-13T21:24:11Z")
what about mechs… be they gundams robotech megazords exo suits ect battletech/MechWarrior…any of the at series in starwars … ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/152 "2017-02-13T22:23:31Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > what about mechs… be they gundams robotech megazords exo suits ect battletech/MechWarrior…any of the at series in starwars … Yeah, the humanoid (or leg-based) giant mech has many well-documented flaws, but for my money, one of the least justified is the Jaegers from Pacific Rim. The fundamental theory of the Jaegers was that if you were faced with a humongous creature that was immune to normal kinetic energy weapons, explosives, and missiles, as well as the crippling effects of the cube/squared law, you could still defeat it by punching it really, really, \* really\* hard. The same theory seems to hold for Transformers as well. And I dunno, but I never heard a sonic boom when a Jaeger was punching a Kaiju, which means that my money is still on the much cheaper supersonic chunk of depleted uranium. You may argue that at least one Jaeger had a super cool sword, to which I answer, why not make missiles out of whatever the sword was packing? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/153 "2017-02-14T00:22:15Z")
_Pacific Rim_ makes a lot more sense once you realize that it’s fundamentally a Saturday-morning cartoon, except with a bigger budget. Jaegers don’t make sense, but they make cartoon sense. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/154 "2017-02-14T00:32:57Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > And I dunno, but I never heard a sonic boom when a Jaeger was punching a Kaiju, which means that my money is still on the much cheaper supersonic chunk of depleted uranium. Maybe the Kaiju have the same kind of shield seen in **Dune** , which only stops fast-moving objects. I think the humanoid mechs in space make even less sense. What use are limbs if you’re just going to fly around space shooting at each other? ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/155 "2017-02-14T02:15:58Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Yeah, the humanoid (or leg-based) giant mech has many well-documented flaws, but for my money, one of the least justified is the Jaegers from Pacific Rim. The fundamental theory of the Jaegers was that if you were faced with a humongous creature that was immune to normal kinetic energy weapons, explosives, and missiles, as well as the crippling effects of the cube/squared law, you could still defeat it by punching it really, really, \* really\* hard. The same theory seems to hold for Transformers as well. > > And I dunno, but I never heard a sonic boom when a Jaeger was punching a Kaiju, which means that my money is still on the much cheaper supersonic chunk of depleted uranium. You may argue that at least one Jaeger had a super cool sword, to which I answer, why not make missiles out of whatever the sword was packing? Actually, Pacific Rim is the MOST justified for having giant mechs. You must have missed the first few minutes of the movie. The first time they saw giant monsters on the shore ordinary tanks and planes took care of it. The problem is their blood is a deadly environmental disaster. So, blowing them to smithereens is not a good option. Though you might complain that the battles became more bloody. And I don’t know what lies Michael Bay as been feeding you but Transformers are robots in disguise. They are a race of sentient robots from another planet. Turning into cars and planes is their way of being incognito. Complaining that they turn into walking robots is a backwards way of looking at it. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/156 "2017-02-14T02:44:48Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Maybe the Kaiju have the same kind of shield seen in **Dune** , which only stops fast-moving objects. > > I think the humanoid mechs in space make even less sense. What use are limbs if you’re just going to fly around space shooting at each other? Why do you want to do away with Gunbuster? Sure, the mecha doesn’t make any sense, but at least they got the time dilation right. Along with other bad Japanese-origin weapons, pretty much any JPRG summoning spell. The animations from about FF7 on don’t even make sense in most cases or in most environments, and something like [Bahamut ZERO](https://youtu.be/zhmO9NOFHfo) just seems like a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/157 "2017-02-14T03:07:21Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > Actually, Pacific Rim is the MOST justified for having giant mechs. > You must have missed the first few minutes of the movie. The first time they saw giant monsters on the shore ordinary tanks and planes took care of it. The problem is their blood is a deadly environmental disaster. So, blowing them to smithereens is not a good option. > Though you might complain that the battles became more bloody. Well, that just means that the Kaiju also have bad design flaws. The idea is that they’re trying to clear the way for the Precessors(?). So either the Precessors can tolerate Kaiju toxins or they can’t. If they can’t, then sending them to do battle on a planet they want seems like a really bad idea. And, if they can, why not just release the toxins without going through all the trouble of breeding giant mutant crawdaddies from hell? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/158 "2017-02-14T05:51:57Z")
The only way the Jaegers would make any sense is if they did wrestling or judo moves against the kaiju, thus using the kaiju’s own bodies and momentum against them. Plus having something that weighs 2,500 tons do an elbow drop to a monsters face has to do some damage. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/159 "2017-02-14T16:56:38Z")
> [@TYphoonSignal8](#): > > Dune’s shields. Stop fast projectiles, don’t stop slow melee weapons. How is that a design flaw? In-universe, that’s simply how the shield technology works, it’s a fundamental property of the physics creating them, not a limitation imposed by the designers. This is like complaining that older kevlar has a ‘design flaw’ because it works well against bullets but someone can jam a knife through easily - you might argue that a suit relying only on Kevlar has a design flaw, but Kevlar itself just is what it is. Out of universe, when Herbert designed the shield concept he wanted to stop large-scale firearm battles but retain personal combat. From a world-building perspective it exactly fills it’s goal, so can’t be called badly designed on that count either. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573/160 "2017-02-14T17:05:04Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Out of universe, when Herbert designed the shield concept he wanted to stop large-scale firearm battles but retain personal combat. From a world-building perspective it exactly fills it’s goal, so can’t be called badly designed on that count either. The “tell” that it’s a conceit for the story’s sake is how the shield is not only resistant to ballistic damage, but disastrous against energy weapons (lasgun meets shield; everything gets nuked). It was a thinly-veiled justification for “I want the cultural default for combat to be melee.” A pseudo-medieval conceit, to go along with an explicitly feudal social order. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-weapons-with-bad-design-flaws/778573.md?page=9)