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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
259:
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
564:. 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
307:, 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
458:
during 1960, such devices became briefly fashionable as a directed-energy weapon for science fiction stories. For instance, characters of the
612:
Some rayguns cause their targets to disappear ("de-materialize", disintegrate, vaporize or evaporate) entirely, personal equipment and all.
642:(1964–1970). Many of the more implausible functions are almost farcical and include rayguns that age or de-age people (various cartoons);
474:
737:) 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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686:, as tending infallibly to hit whatever they are aimed at (when wielded by the heroes) and seldom depleting their ammunition.
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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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1158:: descriptions and technology and many images of handguns and rifle-sized guns used in space including rayguns.
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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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344:. Early science fiction often described or depicted raygun beams making bright light and loud noise like
318:: 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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Alternately, the weapon mechanics can be purely fictional. Fictional ray types include:
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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:
1001:
Brave New Words: The Oxford
Dictionary of Science Fiction
926:, 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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1164:: Computer-generated ray gun art by various artists.
340:(1898). Science fiction during the 1920s described
1040:Peter Nicholls, John Clute, and David Langford, "
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1095:Pontin, Mark Williams (November–December 2008).
720:makers. Most pistol rayguns have a conventional
1060:, "The Messiah of the Cylinder", serialized in
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1116:Science in popular culture: a reference guide
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882:(1927): "hyperboloid", a highly concentrated
861:, weapons used by the Martians in the novel
833:The following is a list of notable rayguns.
112:introducing citations to additional sources
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209:of quality, and to make it neutral in tone.
73:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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582:Ray guns are often shown as transmitting
477:" (1964) carried handheld laser weapons.
243:Learn how and when to remove this message
225:Learn how and when to remove this message
994:
992:
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547:by a technologically educated audience:
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378:The variant "ray projector" was used by
326:A very early example of a raygun is the
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102:Relevant discussion may be found on the
1005:Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162
361:, the word "ray gun" was first used by
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678:. This can be compared with real-type
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1046:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
358:The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
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693:-like; two-handed (often called a
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879:The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin
464:TV series (1965–1968) and of the
54:This article has multiple issues.
619:. This would only happen if the
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95:relies largely or entirely on a
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422:using a raygun on the cover of
62:or discuss these issues on the
1162:The Virtual Ray Gun Exhibition
1114:Van Riper, A. Bowdoin (2002).
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731:Star Trek: The Next Generation
454:. Soon after the invention of
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434:Golden Age of Science Fiction
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7:
1083:Project Rho: Atomic Rockets
1031:Van Riper, op. cit., p. 46.
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367:The Messiah of the Cylinder
365:in 1917, in a passage from
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1142:Van Riper, op.cit., p. 47.
1079:"Introduction to Sidearms"
977:Weapons in science fiction
935:, standard weapons of the
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697:); mounted on a vehicle;
535:Ray guns as described by
523:'s primary weapon in the
509:Physics of the Impossible
395:Edison's Conquest of Mars
310:Real-world analogues are
1178:Fictional energy weapons
1085:(accessed 3 March 2016).
945:
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682:as commonly depicted by
655:Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
1183:Science fiction weapons
1064:, June–September 1917 (
545:suspension of disbelief
541:directed-energy weapons
390:Garrett P. Serviss
312:directed-energy weapons
25:Raygun (disambiguation)
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813:Rapid Nadion particles
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409:The Skylark of Valeron
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273:directed-energy weapon
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190:may be written from a
23:. For other uses, see
21:Directed-energy weapon
1101:MIT Technology Review
954:, a large gun in the
864:The War of the Worlds
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418:
385:The Black Star Passes
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337:The War of the Worlds
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196:neutral point of view
1097:"The Alien Novelist"
1062:Everybody's Magazine
928:weapons of Star Trek
786:Star Wars "Blasters"
701:-sized mounted on a
628:electroshock weapons
500:), "pulse rifles", "
108:improve this article
907:Film and television
874:The Garin Death Ray
601:But sometimes not:
192:fan's point of view
876:, title weapon in
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815:" utilized by the
797:Minovsky particles
567:Mobile Suit Gundam
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380:John W. Campbell
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829:List of rayguns
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56:Please help
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913:Proton pack
886:beam weapon
869:H. G. Wells
847:E. E. Smith
644:shrink rays
558:laser light
552:recharging.
513:Michio Kaku
448:Buck Rogers
420:Buck Rogers
332:H. G. Wells
203:clean it up
1172:Categories
1066:ISFDB link
983:References
845:Raygun in
837:Literature
521:Death Star
439:Astounding
342:death rays
134:newspapers
59:improve it
941:universe.
938:Star Wars
896:from the
822:Star Trek
799:" in the
765:from the
703:spaceship
699:artillery
607:Star Wars
595:blowtorch
588:heat rays
525:Star Wars
497:Star Wars
487:Star Trek
467:Star Trek
348:or large
346:lightning
293:laser gun
281:death ray
104:talk page
65:talk page
971:See also
933:Blasters
859:Heat-Ray
763:neutrons
707:asteroid
680:firearms
662:Megamind
639:Underdog
621:momentum
531:Function
492:blasters
475:The Cage
334:' novel
328:Heat-Ray
285:beam gun
123:"Raygun"
1042:Ray Gun
924:Phasers
851:Lensman
817:phasers
780:, e.g.
761:and/or
759:protons
757:, e.g.
735:phasers
726:trigger
484:" (for
482:phasers
322:History
305:zap gun
289:blaster
277:ray gun
201:Please
148:scholar
1126:
890:Lasgun
853:novels
808:series
802:Gundam
778:plasma
750:lasers
711:planet
691:pistol
672:masers
633:Batman
617:recoil
456:lasers
301:phaser
266:raygun
260:front.
150:
143:
136:
129:
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963:Quake
946:Games
806:anime
741:Types
695:rifle
674:, or
515:used
428:#209.
268:is a
155:JSTOR
141:books
1124:ISBN
960:and
957:Doom
899:Dune
892:, a
724:and
722:grip
718:prop
584:heat
490:), "
450:and
127:news
1044:",
952:BFG
867:by
849:'s
819:in
769:in
709:or
494:" (
406:'s
382:in
314:or
110:by
1174::
1099:.
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