I was thinking back on Niven's Known Space stories, and about some of the weapons described. He had flashlight lasers that could work as either a torch or a lightsaber. The Ringworld was protected by an x-ray laser made from focused solar flares. One superweapon fired bullets of pure neutronium. The setting also featured disintegrators, fusion drives used as weapons, monomolecular blades, and projectiles made of antimatter. There were a lot of creative destructive devices for a series that wasn't inherently military in nature.
What other TV shows, movies, or writing had a wicked diversity of high-tech death?
__________________ Baby Marcus is here, 11/17/09 at 8:57pm!
As the Trek universe expanded, so did the weapons. I still remember the cool-factor of ST:NG introducing the Ferenghi Neuro-Whips.
Dune had some nasty weapons, though most were best used by assassins, like the flying poison needle with the force-field on it.
Dr Who has had an amazing number of weapons- manufactured and improvised- over the decades.
Many weapons have popped up in a variety of settings. Mass-Drivers are popular (grab a big rock w/force fields and throw it); Gauss/Rail weapons (take a ferrous projectile and fire it at high fractions of C); and flechette/hand rocket weapons (many based on the RW Gyrojet hand rocketlaunchers Gyrojet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
Also popular are a variety of electrical/neural weapons, monofilament weapons.
And face it, nowhere are you going to find a wider variety of sci-fi weapons than in comic books, videogames and sci-fi/superhero RPGs.
Just out of curiosity, what inspired you to make this thread? Got something planned? Brewing up a campaign?
I wish...sadly, it was just a review of the TV Tropes links for Known Space, and seeing all of the references to various ingenious weapons. It got me thinking about a variety of different "neat" concepts, and wondering if there were concepts that I would find novel after a lifetime of reading and watching sci-fi.
Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos in one of the early novels has a multi-purpose assault weapon that manufactures a variety of ammunition or energy sources using nanotechnology. There were also starship mounted C-beams, and the Archangel class ships, which literally killed the crew with each jump to FTL, then reassembled them using a combination mind recorder/parasite.
David Brin's Uplift books was an all-inclusive space opera where almost anything was possible, from psi bombs to hyperspace mines. In one book, an entire town of aliens is encased in a smothering gel of some type. Some weapons even altered the nature of local reality in unpredictable ways.
The webcomic Schlock Mercenary has weapons based on gravity manipulation, teleporting smart missiles, and large-bore handheld plasma cannons that make an ominous hummmm.
The Nights Dawn series by Peter David featured AI-driven, antimatter powered combat drones, a supernova superweapon, cyborg mercenaries and a handheld device that would, for lack of a better description, erase your soul.
I've read or watch stories with people mangled, exploded, disintegrated, turned into technozombies, irradiated, ripped from the fabric of the universe, sent through or frozen in time, melted, and driven insane. Still, there has got to be an idea out there that is novel to me.
__________________ Baby Marcus is here, 11/17/09 at 8:57pm!
Well, as I pointed out before, you can find a LOT of gear in comic books, especially those with tech-oriented characters: Iron Man, Dr. Doom, Mr. Fantastic, Cyborg, Robot Man and the Metal Men all spring to mind. And don't forget Japanese contributions like AstroBoy, Big O, Voltron, and Robotech...as well as their American counterparts like Iron Giant!
Characters like that inspired my HERO character, Pax (latin for "Peace"), who favored non-lethal combat. Essentially, he was an anti-Power-suit Power-suit pilot. Not as singularly powerful as a true Iron Man ripoff, he took down other Power suits with EMP pulses and nanobot-delivered hacks to make them go haywire or to override their pilot's commands with his own. In addition, he had a special weapon that would super-heat one side of a target while super-cooling the other side- goodbye armor!
And for taking down the normals, he had a special autofire weapon with less-than-lethal rounds comprised of a high-velocity highly-cohesive gel in which spent uranium was suspended. IOW, imagine being hit by a piece of jello with the mass of a bowling ball.
He could also launch a mini-drone that could lay down circular patches of supercold ice. If you've ever used the Grease spell in D&D, you know what happens when someone charges through that.
In addition, he had a special weapon that would super-heat one side of a target while super-cooling the other side- goodbye armor!
That's actually interesting -- I wonder what the real-world physics of that would look like? I know we're talking comic book hero, but if you took a conductor, dumped one end in liquid nitrogen, and applied a blow torch to the other, what would happen? Would it shatter? How would the energy transfer affect the structure of the conductor?
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Originally Posted by Dannyalcatraz
And for taking down the normals, he had a special autofire weapon with less-than-lethal rounds comprised of a high-velocity highly-cohesive gel in which spent uranium was suspended. IOW, imagine being hit by a piece of jello with the mass of a bowling ball.
I guess that counts as "less-than-lethal" if you don't take into account the long-term health effects of exposure to depleted uranium. My understanding is that absorbing that into the body isn't exactly a health tonic. Still, better than lead poisoning (in either the literal or euphemistic sense).
One idea that occurred to me that I can't recall seeing -- what if you could somehow interrupt a foe's ability to go into deep sleep. Over time, their readiness and even general ability to function would suffer dramatically, and it would be subtle. (Of course, keeping somebody awake with things like loud music is relatively common in the real world -- I'm talking about something more insidious.)
__________________ Baby Marcus is here, 11/17/09 at 8:57pm!
I guess that counts as "less-than-lethal" if you don't take into account the long-term health effects of exposure to depleted uranium. My understanding is that absorbing that into the body isn't exactly a health tonic. Still, better than lead poisoning (in either the literal or euphemistic sense).
The round doesn't enter the body: it deforms along the target's surface, transferring the force over a large surface area. IOW, little danger of the depleted uranium entering the target's system.
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One idea that occurred to me that I can't recall seeing -- what if you could somehow interrupt a foe's ability to go into deep sleep. Over time, their readiness and even general ability to function would suffer dramatically, and it would be subtle.
I've seen that done as a hit & run tactic (Battlestar Galactica), a side effect of a device (Stargate SG-1) and as a comic book arch-villain's long-term scheme (usually as some kind of energy field), but never as a pure sci-fi weapon.
I've seen that done as a hit & run tactic (Battlestar Galactica), a side effect of a device (Stargate SG-1) and as a comic book arch-villain's long-term scheme (usually as some kind of energy field), but never as a pure sci-fi weapon.
Yeah, I remember the BG episode 33, where they had 33 minutes to rest before they had to hyperspace out again. The one from Stargate, IIRC, was where they had a disease that wasn't lethal until you went to sleep. If that's the one, it is a little different.
Is it too late to say I know way too much about this stuff?
How do you define the word weapon, though? If I beam low frequency sound over a broad area that only interferes with REM sleep, is that a weapon?
One thing I forgot was the ST: Voyager Videans...they used to transport organs out of the bodies of their targets. That wasn't so much a weapon as a medical device, technically, but that consideration didn't really help the sap whose lungs they stole.
__________________ Baby Marcus is here, 11/17/09 at 8:57pm!
To paraphrase Jay-Z:
And for taking down the normals, he had a special autofire weapon with less-than-lethal rounds comprised of a high-velocity highly-cohesive gel in which spent uranium was suspended. IOW, imagine being hit by a piece of jello with the mass of a bowling ball.
I would imagine getting hit wit a high velocity piece of jello with the mass of a bowling ball would kill me pretty darn quick!
__________________ Scrag 'em all and let the gods sort 'em out!
One idea that occurred to me that I can't recall seeing -- what if you could somehow interrupt a foe's ability to go into deep sleep. Over time, their readiness and even general ability to function would suffer dramatically, and it would be subtle. (Of course, keeping somebody awake with things like loud music is relatively common in the real world -- I'm talking about something more insidious.)
A study was done on that. What would happen is that after several days you'd start hallucinating and basically go crazy. Doesn't matter if you get enough rest or not, its the lack of REM sleep that does it.
__________________ Scrag 'em all and let the gods sort 'em out!
A study was done on that. What would happen is that after several days you'd start hallucinating and basically go crazy. Doesn't matter if you get enough rest or not, its the lack of REM sleep that does it.
So what you're saying is that all of society would fall apart, with the exception of Congress? *ba-dump-ba!*
__________________ Baby Marcus is here, 11/17/09 at 8:57pm!
Yeah, I remember the BG episode 33, where they had 33 minutes to rest before they had to hyperspace out again. The one from Stargate, IIRC, was where they had a disease that wasn't lethal until you went to sleep. If that's the one, it is a little different.
Actually, I was thinking of the side-effects of Teal'c's being trapped in the alien-tech adaptive combat sim that refused to let him claim final victory...
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How do you define the word weapon, though? If I beam low frequency sound over a broad area that only interferes with REM sleep, is that a weapon?
Sure! And if you look around, you can find info about all kinds of RW sonic weapons.
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Originally Posted by Ed_Laprade
A negasphere is a globe of antimatter (this was before the word was coined). He used a planet sized one to take out one of the Bad Guy's planets.
Sorry- I really did get the reference, but I wanted to make that (lame) Jay-Z joke!
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Originally Posted by Ed_Laprade
I would imagine getting hit wit a high velocity piece of jello with the mass of a bowling ball would kill me pretty darn quick!
Ah, but it spreads out upon contact with the target, spreading the force over a large surface. The impact induces hydrostatic shock and knocks you off your feet- and it hurts like hell- but its no more lethal than being hit by a 250lb linebacker.
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So, having thought about it, I was thinking about what qualifies as a weapon. Technically, anything that causes harm to an opponent could be considered a weapon...so what can cause harm?
At relativley low energies, weapons magnify force by concentrating it on a small area (slicing or piercing), or by adding weight to it (bludgeoning), or some combination of the above. Most of the classic D&D weapons fit here. Most sci-fi versions either use exotic materials for strength or other unusual properites, or replace the business end with a supertech alternative like monowire, vibrating material, or limited range energy such as a laser or gravity blade. Some high-tech melee weapons are meant to be concealed or disguised, and may be multipurpose. Still, once you have super-advanced technology, the idea of hitting somebody over the head with a club, even if it is made of vibranium, seems a bit crude.
Firearms transfer energy by shooting a small bit of metal at a high speed at the target, with effects ranging from BB stings to chunky salsa to Deep Impact. These weapons typically use air, various types of chemical explosives, magnetic fields, or even gravity waves. Alternatively, the weapon itself might be self-propelled, either via rockets, jet engines, various space drives if in space (e.g., ion drives), or anti-gravity technology. These are usually referred to as drones or missile if self-guiding. Many (but not all) carry warheads of various types of explosives. Projectiles can be in the form of darts, bullets, or even mini-black holes.
Explosives commonly come in various strengths of chemical explosives, nuclear (fission and fusion), and anti-matter. They can be guided or not, although most sophisticated munitions even today are guided. Depending upon how it works, some supertech forms of disintegration might be an "explosion." Gravity pulses might also count.
Similar to explosives are burning weapons, ranging from actual fire (flame throwers) to chemical (mustard gas and napalm) to high energy (explosives, plasma). Note that weapons that simply heat the target belong more in the category of energy weapons.
Energy weapons use electromagnetic beams (masers, lasers, x-ray lasers, etc.), particles (neutrons, etc.), super-heated plasma, lethal sonic weapons, or exotic concepts like hyper-accelerated mesons. Disintegrators are usually grouped here. Sci-fi has literally tons of these, ranging from Star Wars blasters to Babylon 5 particle cannons.
Next we have weapons that affect the target's nervous system in some fashion. These include tasers, but also neuronic whips, tasps, non-lethal sonic devices, control collars, etc. They either influence your behavior or make your body stop working (possibly temporarily). Psionic weapons are a special category of this, and could have a variety of effects ranging from control to violent death.
There are weapons that interfere in other biological processes: eating, sleeping, procreating, thinking, respirating. These tend to be either biological or chemical weapons, though with supertech you also get nanotechnology. Exotic energy fields might also apply in some settings. An alternative to interference is transformation -- into anything from a superwarrior to zombie to a pile of goo. This could happen at the individual or the ecosystem level.
Teleporters have an obvious military effect, both in terms of transport of various nasty things and in terms of stealing away something your foe needs (ammunition, fuel, body parts). Settings without some way to block teleports will likely get very nasty very quickly.
Some weapons alter the nature of reality. They might shift dimensions (technically what Star Trek phasers do in some descriptions), alter local laws of physics in various ways (e.g., make molecular bonds lose strength), introduce an element of Chaos (literally in WH40K?), or wipe something from existence (e.g., the superweapon that was destroying the universe in one of the Well of Souls books). Planet or star-destroying weapons sometimes fall into this category if they are not of the brute force Death Star variety.
Time travel weapons are a special case. Sending somebody forward in time might happen via wormhole, or only practically in the case of stasis fields. You might cause somebody to blink through time in a way that disorients, or force somebody to age rapidly. Sending somebody into the past is risky, unless your world works on the branching threads theory of time travel.
Deep enough understanding of somebody's psychology might allow you to manipulate them in drastic ways. In the Traveller universe, supposedly the Hivers were able to do this to several Centaur colonies so thoroughly that the Centaur immediately stopped the war and vaporized the colonies in question. This is less of a weapon, per se, than a capability.
Some societies might engineer their own population through cybernatics, nanotechnology, biotech, or various combinations to make individuals into weapons. This is a fairly common sci-fi theme. Animals or quasi-sentient creatures (e.g., Alien), can also be used.
I think that covers most of the ways that authors have invented to destroy, mangle, kill, cripple, or incapacitate characters.
__________________ Baby Marcus is here, 11/17/09 at 8:57pm!
Japanese anime, particularly mecha anime, is full of all kinds of crazy sci-fi weapons and technology. For example, just about every Gundam continuity has at least one super-weapon capable of destroying a city or space colony in one shot. One of the most interesting is the very first: the Solar System, which was nothing more than a massive array of mirrors (each equipped with its own thruster system for adjusting its position) capable of focusing sunlight into a point. The resulting amount of heat was enough to wipe out an asteroid space fortress's defenses. At the same time there were the Solar Ray and Colony Laser weapons, which were space colonies that were converted into massive beam weapons capable of destroying entire fleets of ships.
The Gundam SEED universe probably has the single highest number of super-weapons of any Gundam series. It has the Neutron Jammer (N-Jammer) that creates an energy field that halts nuclear decay, preventing the use of nuclear weapons or power reactors (which was used to trigger an energy crisis on Earth), the N-Jammer Canceler that allows nuclear weapons to operate inside of an N-Jammer's field, and the Neutron Stampeder that explosively accelerates nuclear decay within its effect range, causing otherwise stable nuclear weapons and reactors to detonate. It also had its own share of giant death weapons, like the massive "GENESIS" weapon that focuses a large quantity of gamma rays released from a nuclear detonation into a beam capable of destroying fleets or even irradiating the entire Earth. Later on, one faction builds the even more ambitious Requiem cannon, which combines a massive beam weapon installation on the moon with a series of orbital stations that can be repositioned to bend the beam from the moon so that it can hit anywhere on the Earth or in Earth's local space. I suppose even more minor technologies in the series are pretty interesting, like the Phase Shift Armor used by the Gundams in the series, which somehow uses electrical energy to augment physical armor so that it is completely invincible to any form of kinetic or explosive attack.
Of course, any list of crazy weapons from the Gundam mythos isn't complete without mentioning Turn A Gundam's "moth wings". Turn A's Moonlight Butterfly system releases a massive cloud of nano-machines designed to destroy any electronic circuit or complex machine they come into contact with. A small fraction of Turn A's capabilities allowed it to cover the entire planet with these nano-machines (apparently, Turn A's full capabilities are completely insane, considering it is a weapon designed for inter-galactic warfare).
There are plenty of cool weapons from elsewhere in mecha anime. For example, the Radiant Wave Surger from Code Geass is a very impressive weapon. The Radiant Wave Surger is a claw-like weapon mounted on the arm of a mech that can release a massive burst of energy radiation into anything the mech grabs hold of. Since this energy conducts along metal, the Radiant Wave Surger can completely destroy a mech by simply grabbing one of its limbs. Apparently, the burst of energy can be used to stop incoming bullets as well. Upgraded versions are even capable of firing a long-range beam that is likely to destroy the internal circuitry of anything it doesn't destroy outright.
The Goldion Hammer from the Spper Robot series GaoGaiGar is another cool weapon. The bad guys from GaoGaiGar are a kind of alien made from nanomachines, giving them the ability to absorb surrounding material in order to grow and the ability to regenerate from almost anything. The Goldion Hammer combats them by using graviton shock-waves to completely annihilate any matter it comes into contact with, transforming it into harmless photons. The first time the Hammer is used, it takes out an miniature artificial sun. From the same series is the Solitary Wave Riser (aka Disc X), a weapon that functions a lot like a sound system, but releases waves that can destroy any kind of matter. However, what kind of matter it destroys depends of how the system is tuned. It can be used to specifically target a certain kind of matter or device, and destroy every instance of that object in a wide radius (say, destroy every dilithium crystal on a Star Trek ship, and leave everything else unharmed). However, if the device is used without the right data, it just destroys everything in its effect range, making it a somewhat dangerous weapon.
This should be enough for now. I have a lot more, but this post is getting long enough.
Sure! And if you look around, you can find info about all kinds of RW sonic weapons.
For example, a sonic weapon that projects sound waves at the resonant frequency of body cavities (the skull, the chest cavity or the abdomen) or a particular internal organ (like the heart, the lungs or the liver).
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