I came in to say the soft weapon or ice-9.
Force lance
The Star Brand. Stated elsewhere: “Essentially, the Star Brand is a zero-point energy collector, drawing power from the fabric of space-time itself. It is unlimited in potential, though the upper limits of the star-like tattoo of power are determined by the imagination of its wielder.”
I’ll take the Vorpal Sword. It’s not the fact that it chops off heads, it’s that it goes *snicker-snack *while doing it. How cool is that?
I’ve always been fond of the sandman’s Weapon from the movie Logan’s Run. It had the same effect on its target as a standard sci-fi raygun, but it had a cooler visual effect.
This was the best picture I could find on a quick search.
It looked a lot better in a motion picture, than in a still photograph.
Nifty trivia: The effect was not added in post-production. The actor’s prop actually shot real flames. (Yeah, I know, it was just an oversized cigarette lighter, but it still looked awesome.)
Fully-stocked, fully-operational Death Star.
I wouldn’t use it as a weapon, but it would be nice to know I’d never have to worry about food, air, and shelter for the rest of my life.
For something I’d actually use, I’d go with a Green Lantern Corps power ring.
A 1920’s-style “Death Ray”.
[del]Either the portal gun[/del] No, just the portal gun. Instant teleportation and making the laws of physics your bitch? Sign me up!
:smack:
Sorry Lazy Gun… I don’t love you anymore. GlaDOS has a better weapon for me. (And it comes with cake too, doesn’t it?)
Another Larry Niven creation: the Wizard’s Wheel.
The Wave Motion Gun from Star Blazers
The Sandman blaster pistol from Logans Run: small, black, evil looking with flame jets no less.
When I was nine I wanted a Stereo Zapper for use on my school bus.
I give top marks to anyone who remembers that obscure reference.
The Bowel Disrupter from Transmetropolitan. It may usually be non-lethal but no one wants to mess with someone who has one.
Robot Chicken Star Wars depicted one drawback to light sabers, seen at 2:20 into this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh--7zuPSzM
DAMN YOU!
Beat me to it.
OK, either Alan Scott’s Green Lantern Ring & Battery, or Starman’s Cosmic Rod.
<buckTurgidson>Man, I wish we had one o’ them doomsday machines.</buckTurgidson>
Rob
D’oh! I meant the Warlock’s Wheel, of course!
Brainiac’s shrink ray. It’s the ultimate collector’s weapon.
Excalibur. The original magic sword. Classy. Plus it makes you king of England, which is a nice bonus feature.
The Spear of Destiny. Not flashy, but an interesting conversation piece nonetheless.
Hold on a second. All you people talking about wanting a Soft Weapon. I don’t think you’ve thought things through.
I grant you that this is an incredibly powerful, and sophisticated weapon. But, it’s also a relict of a genocidal war. A genocidal war against a race of telepaths.
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. And since it works on the total conversation of matter to energy, that destruction of itself will probably be enough to destroy you, too.
I don’t want my weapons to be judging whether it is in the weapon’s best intersts to allow me to keep breathing. Especially not if the weapon is insane.
The two weapons I like best are Larry Niven’s variable sword, and David Weber’s warp gun from the Dahak books. The warp gun is an energy weapon that builds a hyper field around the target, sending the target into hyperspace. And leaving it there. Silent and leaving lovely hemispherical divots taken from the battlefield.
ETA: Unless it only sends part of a person into hyperspace…
Elric, by 22 years and 1 month.