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All is not going well, Arnold: the ray-rods are emptying fast, and our attack upon the lower level of the wing has failed. Sanson has placed a ray-gun there. All depends on the air-scouts, and we must hold our positions until the battle-planes arrive.
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Ultimately, rayguns have whatever properties are required for their dramatic purpose. They bear little resemblance to real-world directed-energy weapons, even if they are given the names of existing technologies such as lasers,
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Ray guns draw seemingly limitless power from often unspecified sources. In contrast to their real-world counterparts, the batteries or power packs of even handheld weapons are minute, durable, and do not seem to need frequent
270:
Toy "Space Pilot X Ray Gun" made by the
Japanese Taiyo company in the early 1970s. When the trigger is pulled, the mechanism in the toy makes sounds and causes sparks to appear inside the transparent red cone on the
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Ray guns in movies are often shown as shooting discrete pulses of energy visible from off-axis, traveling slowly enough for people to see them emerge, or even for the target to evade them, although real-life
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In movies, rays are often depicted as having effect instantaneously, with a touch of the beam sufficing for the intended purpose. Raygun victims are generally killed instantaneously, often – as in the
575:. This effect could sometimes be attributed to the beam heating atmosphere that it was passing through. A possible evasion tactic is dodging the firing axis of the gun, theorized in the early story of
318:, etc. In most stories a raygun emits a ray usually lethal if it hits a human target, often destructive if it hits mechanical objects, with properties and other effects unspecified or varying.
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A wide range of non-lethal functions as determined by the requirements of the story: for instance, they may stun, paralyze or knock down a target, much like modern
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was unusual for not depicting them. The term "ray gun" had already become cliché by the 1940s, in part due to association with the comic strips (and later
469:
during 1960, such devices became briefly fashionable as a directed-energy weapon for science fiction stories. For instance, characters of the
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Some rayguns cause their targets to disappear ("de-materialize", disintegrate, vaporize or evaporate) entirely, personal equipment and all.
653:(1964–1970). Many of the more implausible functions are almost farcical and include rayguns that age or de-age people (various cartoons);
485:
748:) do not. Sometimes the end of the barrel expands into a shield, as if to protect the user from back-flash from the emitted beam.
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Some of the effects are what would be expected from a powerful directed-energy beam if it could be generated in reality:
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when he first encountered the series protagonist's machine's beam rifle and seemingly dodging it without any difficulty.
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franchise do not violate known physical laws and theories. He further analyses the problem of rayguns' power sources.
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Rayguns have a great variety of shapes and sizes, according to the imagination of the story writers or movie
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405:
355:. Early science fiction often described or depicted raygun beams making bright light and loud noise like
329:: electroshock weapons which send current along an electrically conductive laser-induced plasma channel.
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This article is about the fictional weapons. For various real weapons which are similar to rayguns, see
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By the late 1960s and 1970s, as the laser's limits as a weapon became evident, rayguns were dubbed "
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The "rays" the guns use vary. They are sometimes equated to real life technologies such as:
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641:. Occasionally the rays may have other effects, such as the "freeze rays" in the TV series
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Alternately, the weapon mechanics can be purely fictional. Fictional ray types include:
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413:' story "When the Green Star Waned"; and "needle ray" and "needler" date to 1934 in
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41:"Laser blaster" redirects here. For the laser version of a sandblaster, see
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as an evidence to illustrate that extremely powerful rayguns such as the
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films – without showing visible wounds or even holes in their clothing.
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of the beam were comparable to that of a bullet shot from a gun.
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Rayguns by their various names have various sizes and forms:
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in 1930. Related terms "disintegrator ray" dates to 1898 in
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Ray guns may be used to cut through hard materials like a
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usually with destructive effect. They have various names:
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Brave New Words: The Oxford
Dictionary of Science Fiction
937:, disruptors, and plasma cannons are a few of the many
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largely impractical as weapons in real life, needing a
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do not have the disadvantages that have, so far, made
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Ray guns were so common on magazine covers during the
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1175:: Computer-generated ray gun art by various artists.
351:(1898). Science fiction during the 1920s described
1051:Peter Nicholls, John Clute, and David Langford, "
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1106:Pontin, Mark Williams (November–December 2008).
731:makers. Most pistol rayguns have a conventional
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571:is invisible from off-axis and travels at the
1127:Science in popular culture: a reference guide
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893:(1927): "hyperboloid", a highly concentrated
872:, weapons used by the Martians in the novel
844:The following is a list of notable rayguns.
123:introducing citations to additional sources
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220:of quality, and to make it neutral in tone.
84:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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593:Ray guns are often shown as transmitting
488:" (1964) carried handheld laser weapons.
254:Learn how and when to remove this message
236:Learn how and when to remove this message
1005:
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558:by a technologically educated audience:
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389:The variant "ray projector" was used by
337:A very early example of a raygun is the
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113:Relevant discussion may be found on the
1016:Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162
372:, the word "ray gun" was first used by
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689:. This can be compared with real-type
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1057:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
369:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
24:
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704:-like; two-handed (often called a
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890:The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin
475:TV series (1965–1968) and of the
65:This article has multiple issues.
630:. This would only happen if the
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106:relies largely or entirely on a
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433:using a raygun on the cover of
73:or discuss these issues on the
1173:The Virtual Ray Gun Exhibition
1125:Van Riper, A. Bowdoin (2002).
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742:Star Trek: The Next Generation
465:. Soon after the invention of
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1:
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445:Golden Age of Science Fiction
409:; "blaster" dates to 1925 in
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7:
1094:Project Rho: Atomic Rockets
1042:Van Riper, op. cit., p. 46.
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670:, and a "dehydration ray" (
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378:The Messiah of the Cylinder
376:in 1917, in a passage from
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1153:Van Riper, op.cit., p. 47.
1090:"Introduction to Sidearms"
988:Weapons in science fiction
946:, standard weapons of the
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40:
29:
708:); mounted on a vehicle;
546:Ray guns as described by
534:'s primary weapon in the
520:Physics of the Impossible
406:Edison's Conquest of Mars
321:Real-world analogues are
1189:Fictional energy weapons
1096:(accessed 3 March 2016).
956:
751:
693:as commonly depicted by
666:Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
1194:Science fiction weapons
1075:, June–September 1917 (
556:suspension of disbelief
552:directed-energy weapons
401:Garrett P. Serviss
323:directed-energy weapons
36:Raygun (disambiguation)
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824:Rapid Nadion particles
440:
420:The Skylark of Valeron
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284:directed-energy weapon
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201:may be written from a
34:. For other uses, see
32:Directed-energy weapon
1112:MIT Technology Review
965:, a large gun in the
875:The War of the Worlds
855:
429:
396:The Black Star Passes
382:
348:The War of the Worlds
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207:neutral point of view
1108:"The Alien Novelist"
1073:Everybody's Magazine
939:weapons of Star Trek
797:Star Wars "Blasters"
712:-sized mounted on a
639:electroshock weapons
511:), "pulse rifles", "
119:improve this article
918:Film and television
885:The Garin Death Ray
612:But sometimes not:
203:fan's point of view
887:, title weapon in
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826:" utilized by the
808:Minovsky particles
578:Mobile Suit Gundam
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447:that Campbell's
415:E. E. Smith
391:John W. Campbell
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840:List of rayguns
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583:Char Aznable
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463:Flash Gordon
455:film serials
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67:Please help
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924:Proton pack
897:beam weapon
880:H. G. Wells
858:E. E. Smith
655:shrink rays
569:laser light
563:recharging.
524:Michio Kaku
459:Buck Rogers
431:Buck Rogers
343:H. G. Wells
214:clean it up
1183:Categories
1077:ISFDB link
994:References
856:Raygun in
848:Literature
532:Death Star
450:Astounding
353:death rays
145:newspapers
70:improve it
952:universe.
949:Star Wars
907:from the
833:Star Trek
810:" in the
776:from the
714:spaceship
710:artillery
618:Star Wars
606:blowtorch
599:heat rays
536:Star Wars
508:Star Wars
498:Star Trek
478:Star Trek
359:or large
357:lightning
304:laser gun
292:death ray
115:talk page
76:talk page
982:See also
944:Blasters
870:Heat-Ray
774:neutrons
718:asteroid
691:firearms
673:Megamind
650:Underdog
632:momentum
542:Function
503:blasters
486:The Cage
345:' novel
339:Heat-Ray
296:beam gun
134:"Raygun"
1053:Ray Gun
935:Phasers
862:Lensman
828:phasers
791:, e.g.
772:and/or
770:protons
768:, e.g.
746:phasers
737:trigger
495:" (for
493:phasers
333:History
316:zap gun
300:blaster
288:ray gun
212:Please
159:scholar
1137:
901:Lasgun
864:novels
819:series
813:Gundam
789:plasma
761:lasers
722:planet
702:pistol
683:masers
644:Batman
628:recoil
467:lasers
312:phaser
277:raygun
271:front.
161:
154:
147:
140:
132:
974:Quake
957:Games
817:anime
752:Types
706:rifle
685:, or
526:used
439:#209.
279:is a
166:JSTOR
152:books
1135:ISBN
971:and
968:Doom
910:Dune
903:, a
735:and
733:grip
729:prop
595:heat
501:), "
461:and
138:news
1055:",
963:BFG
878:by
860:'s
830:in
780:in
720:or
505:" (
417:'s
393:in
325:or
121:by
1185::
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1092:,
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1021:^
1002:^
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724:.
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