Ask Lemmy

Portal Gun, no question.

Phaser.

• Stun
• Kill
• Vaporize
• Create a source of warmth
• Cook (not shown on screen to my knowledge, but plausible)
• Precisely cut various materials
• Landscape

Orgazmo's Orgazmorator, a ray gun that forces orgasm upon whomever it is fired.

*for crime fighting, bad politicians, or consensual encounters, only.

The Point of View Gun

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.

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.

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.

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.

Not a weapon. A medical tricorder.

The nude bomb or the watch from the girl, the goldwatch and everything.

M41A Pulse Rifle

Stargate zats. Stun-kill-delete is really useful.

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).

Not really a weapon but Sonic screwdriver

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.

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.

While a ship, the Lexx was primarily designed as a weapon that could destroy planets, so I'll go for The Lexx.

Would the Infinity Gauntlet count?

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.

The Bowel Disruptor from Transmetropolitan:

Non-lethal, untraceable, and thoroughly unpleasant for any unfortunate sod that has earnt my ire!

Sonic Screwdriver is pretty much a magic wand with lights, so I choose that.

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.

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.

a real Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy

that shit has got to be tops on info, even if the Earth entry is Mostly Harmless

A Lazy Gun:

A Lazy Gun is roughly half a metre long, 30 cm wide and 20 cm tall. On the front are two short cylinders that end in black lenses. A sight extends from the main body, as do two hand grips. A metallic strap allows the Lazy Gun to be fired from the waist. On one hand grip is a zoom control and on the other grip is a trigger mechanism. The Lazy gun is massy but light, and weighs three times as much when turned upside down. The Lazy Gun is the only weapon known to display a sense of humour.

To fire the Lazy Gun, it is pointed at the target, zoomed in, and then the trigger is pulled. What happens next is unpredictable. When fired at humans, many different things may occur. An anchor may appear above the person, giant electrodes may appear on either side of the target and electrocute them or an animal may tear their throat out. Larger targets such as tanks or ships may suffer tidal waves, implosion, explosion, sudden lava flows or just disappear. When fired at cities and other such targets, thermonuclear explosions are the norm, although in one instance a comet crashed into the city.

Portal gun or gravity gun from Halflife

I'd like a Death Star, you can certainly trust me with a Death Star.

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.

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.

A MAD-3R Marauder. The single best all around Battle mech ever put together.

The Tasp from Larry Nivens' Ringworld universe.