# What is your favourite fictional weapon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947 "2008-09-17T03:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/61 "2008-09-18T00:09:01Z")
If we’re talking Powered Armor, I want (RAH forgive me. Yours was my first, but…) Mike’s suit from John Ringo’s **A Hymn Before Battle**. In the realm of hand-held projectile weapons, give me a SHAAK from John Barnes’ **Timeline Wars**. The sucker even Makes its own ammo. Just add raw materials to the hopper, and it will spit out hyper-velocity projectiles that head for center of mass when they hit something. Shoot a finger, and the target likely loses an arm. It even shoots around corners. Edged Weapon goes to Oscar’s “sabre” from Heinlein’s **Glory Road**. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/62 "2008-09-18T00:29:10Z")
I’ll take the [Power Sword](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Sword). I want to be able to turn into He-Man. And possibly turn cats into giant sabre-toothed steeds. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/63 "2008-09-18T00:38:40Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > D’oh! I meant the Warlock’s Wheel, of course! His glass dagger was nicely subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/64 "2008-09-18T00:49:13Z")
Anduril, the reforged Sword of the King from LOTR: [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Andúril.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:And%25C3%25BAril.jpg&h=741&w=973&sz=627&hl=en&start=13&usg=\_\_j5ra3YfyxA-JRzfW0Dmj1UIFaZE=&tbnid=RESBdGGwWjH\_sM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danduril%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/And%C3%BAril.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:And%25C3%25BAril.jpg&h=741&w=973&sz=627&hl=en&start=13&usg=__j5ra3YfyxA-JRzfW0Dmj1UIFaZE=&tbnid=RESBdGGwWjH_sM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danduril%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG) [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.samurai-swords-for-sale.com/store/images/P/Narsil-LOTR.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.samurai-swords-for-sale.com/store/product.php%3Fproductid%3D1063&h=397&w=325&sz=20&hl=en&start=21&usg=\_\_GIsvh63Vd0CnSIo7u8kB5-0p\_tc=&tbnid=d5zuYQ3lrnU7bM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danduril%26start%3D20%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.samurai-swords-for-sale.com/store/images/P/Narsil-LOTR.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.samurai-swords-for-sale.com/store/product.php%3Fproductid%3D1063&h=397&w=325&sz=20&hl=en&start=21&usg=__GIsvh63Vd0CnSIo7u8kB5-0p_tc=&tbnid=d5zuYQ3lrnU7bM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danduril%26start%3D20%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN) Either Han Solo’s blaster, or Chewbacca’s crossbow-blaster-thingie: [http://acct.tamu.edu/smith/starwars/Chewbacca\_w\_Han\_Solo\_ANH.jpg](http://acct.tamu.edu/smith/starwars/Chewbacca_w_Han_Solo_ANH.jpg) The Sandman gun from _Logan’s Run_, as noted above. With my dad’s help, I even made one out of wood to play with when I was a kid! Finally, the _Ark_, a 30-km-long, immensely powerful Imperial Earth military starship with the technology to create plagues, viruses, spores, molds and other toxins to create planetary ecological disasters, and to clone dinosaurs, other huge carnivores and all manner of smaller but still nasty critters (from George R.R. Martin’s _Tuf Voyaging_). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/65 "2008-09-18T00:54:07Z")
At what point do we disqualify things as “weapons?” The Death Star makes the cut, because that’s its primary function. Dahak slides in under the wire as well. But _Ark_? I don’t think so. It can be _used_ as a weapon, surely. But that wasn’t what it was _designed_ for. Flag on the play, #64. Replay the down. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/66 "2008-09-18T01:00:52Z")
I nominate any incarnation of the hand-wieldable gatling gun (as seen in Terminator 2, Predator, Doom, etc.) The one that can fire 100 rounds per second, for two full minutes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/67 "2008-09-18T01:07:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > At what point do we disqualify things as “weapons?” The Death Star makes the cut, because that’s its primary function. Dahak slides in under the wire as well. But _Ark_? I don’t think so. It can be _used_ as a weapon, surely. But that wasn’t what it was _designed_ for. > > Flag on the play, #64. Replay the down. I protest. Martin is very specific: _Ark_ is bristling with weapons and is a military starship, “a biowar seedship of the Ecological Engineering Corps” (_Tuf Voyaging_, chapt. 1, p. 23, and chapt. 2, p. 103). Says one character, “This is a warship, after all” (chapt. 1, p. 39). Other, similar references are scattered throughout. If the Death Star qualifies, _Ark_ certainly does. It has peaceful applications but was first intended, and still most definitely can serve, as a warship. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/68 "2008-09-18T01:22:15Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I nominate any incarnation of the hand-wieldable gatling gun (as seen in Terminator 2, Predator, Doom, etc.) The one that can fire 100 rounds per second, for two full minutes. 🙂 Well that one isn’t entirely fictional: [GE XM214 minigun](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM214_Microgun). It holds 1000 rounds, so you could get over 2 minutes at 400 rpm, or 15 seconds at 4000 rpm. You have to figure that if your target doesn’t go down after being hammered with 1000 standard NATO rounds, you probably should have been using something else to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/69 "2008-09-18T01:47:43Z")
For use on other people? The Exsexive Machine, from Barbarella. No need to be cruel. For my own personal use? Either an amped up Gravity Gun from Half-Life, the Staff of One from Runaways, or a Sinestro Corps ring (I like the bad guys…). Maybe Quantum Bands, no Guardians looking over your shoulder… ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/70 "2008-09-18T02:19:02Z")
No votes for Vera? ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/71 "2008-09-18T02:53:05Z")
Vera? My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/72 "2008-09-18T02:59:36Z")
The Lepage Glue Gun. It can glue a whole formation of planes together in mid-air! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/73 "2008-09-18T02:59:47Z")
I’ll go with Oddjob’s Hat. (recently sold for more than $33K!) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/74 "2008-09-18T03:09:27Z")
Some of those Jokero digital weapons mentioned in a old Warhammer 40k sourcebook I had when I was in Jr. High. They just looked cool. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/75 "2008-09-18T03:41:25Z")
Calvin’s _Transmogrifier Gun_ Also the _Turbo Plasma Rifle_ from Fallout. Melty melty! ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/76 "2008-09-18T03:55:36Z")
I’ve always had a soft spot for [E E Doc Smith’s Sunbeam:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman) > [@](#): > > Sunbeam: In Second Stage Lensman, an entire solar system is converted to a vacuum tube, with asteroids and planets as grids and plates, to focus nearly the entire output of the sun into a beam capable of melting the surface of a planet in seconds. Thus it is a defense against attack by “free” planets, which are rendered inert when their Bergenholms (inertialess drive units) are destroyed. GURPS Lensman suggests the Sunbeam is an ultrawave vacuum tube rather than a normal one. Nth-Space Planets were pretty nice too: > [@](#): > > “Nth Space,” another space-time continuum where physical laws are different and all matter moves faster than light. There a planet is rendered “free” (see “Free Planet” above) and moved via hyper-spatial tube into our universe. The planet is then moved close into an enemy stellar system and inerted. The result is so violent that the Nth-Space planet launched against Ploor’s sun makes it go supernova, still radiating the energy of 550 million Suns several years later. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/77 "2008-09-18T07:16:07Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Don’t forget, that high power computer is _smart_ and may even be sentient. Whether it is sentient, or not, doesn’t matter, though. What matters is that the Soft Weapon is _paranoid_. Whether it’s truly insane, as a sentient being, or if it’s simply been programmed that way as a tool, the effect remains that if you cannot prove to it that you are on it’s side in that genocidal war I mentioned, it will destroy itself to avoid capture. I believe we’re quite well aware of that, and you’re off on a key factor–it will not destroy itself, it will try to trick _you_ into destroying it. There is no indication that it can change its own settings or trigger itself, so the defense is simply to ignore everything it says, or (better still) just avoid the computer setting entirely. That leaves the slug-thrower, the plasma jet, the sonic gun, the nullifier, and the annihilator functions available (plus any I forgot). Also, you’re assuming the Slaver/Tnuctipun war was real. The possibility has been considered that it’s actually part of the most elaborate hoax in the history of the universe. Of course, either way, the weapon would consider it real, so that makes no practical difference in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/78 "2008-09-18T08:22:09Z")
Another vote for the portal gun! that thing is soooooo awesome. In fact I think I’m gonna go replay portal now. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/79 "2008-09-18T08:23:47Z")
While nostalgic bbs2k would like to have been the first to mention the BFG 9000, the out-of-left-field bbs2k would like to introduce the Cotton Candy Ray Gun from Killer Clowns from Outer Space. Yes, a ray gun that encapsulated it’s victims into giant woven bundles of cotton candy all the while turning thier bodies into gelatinized liquid to be sucked down with party straws. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947/80 "2008-09-18T08:48:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [The Ultimate Nullifier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nullifier) is _my_ favorite weapon. Any weapon that can make Galactus piss his pants is tops in my book. You beat me to it, plus it destroys the user as well, which is not all that practical. I quite like the idea of a space based death ray or the Hell Class (or cache) weapons from Revelation Space. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-fictional-weapon/463947.md?page=5)