View source for Raygun

{{Short description|Fictional weapon}}
{{About|the fictional weapons|various real weapons which are similar to rayguns|Directed-energy weapon|other uses}}
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[[File:Space Pilot X Ray Gun made by Taiyo.jpg|thumb|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 front.]]
A '''raygun''' is a [[science-fiction]] [[directed-energy weapon]] usually with destructive effect.<ref name="oxford">Jeff Prucher, ''[[Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction]],''  Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162</ref> They have various names: '''ray gun''', '''death ray''', '''beam gun''', '''blaster''', '''laser gun''', '''laser pistol''', '''phaser''', '''zap gun''', 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.
Real-world analogues are [[directed-energy weapon]]s or [[electrolaser]]s: electroshock weapons which send current along an electrically conductive laser-induced plasma channel.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}
==History==
A very early example of a raygun is the [[Heat-Ray]] featured in [[H. G. Wells]]' novel ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' (1898).<ref name="Van Riper 46">Van Riper, op. cit., p. 46.</ref> Science fiction during the 1920s described [[death ray]]s. Early science fiction often described or depicted raygun beams making bright light and loud noise like [[lightning]] or large [[electric arc]]s.
According to ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'',<ref>Peter Nicholls, John Clute, and David Langford, "[http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ray_gun Ray Gun]", ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', 3rd edition, Jan 15, 2016.</ref> the word "ray gun" was first used by [[Victor Rousseau Emanuel|Victor Rousseau]] in 1917, in a passage from ''The Messiah of the Cylinder'':<ref>[[Victor Rousseau Emanuel|Victor Rousseau]], "The Messiah of the Cylinder", serialized in ''Everybody's Magazine'', June–September 1917 ([http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?899494 ISFDB link]).</ref>
<blockquote>
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.
</blockquote>
The variant "ray projector" was used by [[John W. Campbell]] in ''[[The Black Star Passes]]'' in 1930.<ref name="oxford" /> Related terms "disintegrator ray" dates to 1898 in [[Garrett P.&nbsp;Serviss]]' ''[[Edison's Conquest of Mars]]''; "blaster" dates to 1925 in [[Nictzin Dyalhis]]' story "When the Green Star Waned"; and "needle ray" and "needler" date to 1934 in [[E.&nbsp;E. Smith]]'s ''[[The Skylark of Valeron]]''.<ref>Winchell Chung, [http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/sidearmintro.php "Introduction to Sidearms"], ''Project Rho: Atomic Rockets'' (accessed 3 March 2016).</ref>
[[File:FamousFunniesNo209.jpg|thumb|[[Buck Rogers]] using a raygun on the cover of ''[[Famous Funnies]]'' #209.]]
Ray guns were so common on magazine covers during the [[Golden Age of Science Fiction]] that Campbell's ''[[Astounding Science Fiction|Astounding]]'' was unusual for not depicting them.<ref name="pontin20081020">{{Cite magazine |last=Pontin |first=Mark Williams |date=November–December 2008 |title=The Alien Novelist |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/411039/the-alien-novelist/ |magazine=MIT Technology Review |language=en}}</ref> The term "ray gun" had already become cliché by the 1940s, in part due to association with the comic strips (and later [[serial film|film serials]]) [[Buck Rogers]] and [[Flash Gordon]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}
Soon after the invention of [[laser]]s during 1960, such devices became briefly fashionable as a directed-energy weapon for science fiction stories. For instance, characters of the ''[[Lost in Space]]'' TV series (1965–1968) and of the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' [[pilot episode]] "[[The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Cage]]" (1964) carried handheld laser weapons.<ref name="Van Riper 45">{{cite book |last=Van Riper |first=A. Bowdoin |title=Science in popular culture: a reference guide |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport |year=2002 |page=45 |isbn=0-313-31822-0}}</ref>
By the late 1960s and 1970s, as the laser's limits as a weapon became evident, rayguns were dubbed "[[phaser (fictional weapon)|phasers]]" (for ''[[Star Trek]]''), "[[Blaster (Star Wars)|blasters]]" (''[[Star Wars]]''), "pulse rifles", "[[plasma rifle]]s", and so forth.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
In his book ''Physics of the Impossible'', [[Michio Kaku]] used [[gamma ray burst]]s as an evidence to illustrate that extremely powerful rayguns such as the [[Death Star]]'s primary weapon in the ''Star Wars'' franchise do not violate known physical laws and theories. He further analyses the problem of rayguns' power sources.
==Function==
Ray guns as described by [[science fiction]] do not have the disadvantages that have, so far, made [[directed-energy weapon]]s largely impractical as weapons in real life, needing a [[suspension of disbelief]] by a technologically educated audience:
*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 recharging.
*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,<ref name="Van Riper 46" /> although real-life [[laser light]] is invisible from off-axis and travels at the [[speed of light]]. 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 ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' by the character [[Char Aznable]] when he first encountered the series protagonist's machine's beam rifle and seemingly dodging it without any difficulty.
Some of the effects are what would be expected from a powerful directed-energy beam if it could be generated in reality:
*Ray guns are often shown as transmitting [[heat]], as with Wells' [[heat-Ray|heat rays]].<ref name="Van Riper 46" />
*Ray guns may be used to cut through hard materials like a [[blowtorch]].<ref name="Van Riper 46" />
But sometimes not:
*In movies, rays are often depicted as having effect instantaneously, with a touch of the beam sufficing for the intended purpose.<ref name="Van Riper 46" /> Raygun victims are generally killed instantaneously, often – as in the ''Star Wars'' films – without showing visible wounds or even holes in their clothing.<ref name="Van Riper 46" />
*Some rayguns cause their targets to disappear ("de-materialize", disintegrate, vaporize or evaporate) entirely, personal equipment and all.
*Visible barrel [[recoil]]. This would only happen if the [[momentum]] of the beam were comparable to that of a bullet shot from a gun.
*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 [[electroshock weapon]]s.<ref name="Van Riper 46" /> Occasionally the rays may have other effects, such as the "freeze rays" in the TV series ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' (1966–1968) and ''[[Underdog (TV series)|Underdog]]'' (1964–1970).<ref name="Van Riper 46" /> Many of the more implausible functions are almost farcical and include rayguns that age or de-age people (various cartoons); [[shrink ray]]s (''[[Fantastic Voyage]]'', ''[[Honey, I Shrunk the Kids]])'', and a "dehydration ray" (''[[Megamind]]'').
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, [[maser]]s, or [[particle beam]]s.<ref name="Van Riper 46" /> This can be compared with real-type [[firearm]]s as commonly depicted by [[action movie]]s, as tending infallibly to hit whatever they are aimed at (when wielded by the heroes) and seldom depleting their ammunition.<ref name="Van Riper 47">Van Riper, op.cit., p. 47.</ref>
Rayguns by their various names have various sizes and forms: [[pistol]]-like; two-handed (often called a [[rifle]]); mounted on a vehicle; [[artillery]]-sized mounted on a [[spacecraft|spaceship]] or space base or [[asteroid]] or [[planet]].
Rayguns have a great variety of shapes and sizes, according to the imagination of the story writers or movie [[Theatrical property|prop]] makers. Most pistol rayguns have a conventional [[pistol grip|grip]] and [[trigger (firearms)|trigger]] but some (e.g. ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' [[Weapons of Star Trek#Phasers|phasers]]) 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.
==Types==
The "rays" the guns use vary. They are sometimes equated to real life technologies such as:
* [[laser]]s
* [[particle beam]]s, e.g. [[proton]]s and/or [[neutron]]s from the [[proton pack]]s in ''[[Ghostbusters]]''
* [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]], e.g. [[plasma rifle]]s, [[Blaster (Star Wars)#In-universe technology|Star Wars "Blasters"]]
Alternately, the weapon mechanics can be purely fictional. Fictional ray types include:
*"[[Universal Century Technology#Minovsky particle|Minovsky particles]]" in the ''[[Gundam]]'' [[anime]] series
* "[[Nadion|Rapid Nadion particles]]" utilized by the [[List of weapons in Star Trek#Energy weapons|phasers]] in ''[[Star Trek]]''
==List of rayguns==
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The following is a list of notable rayguns.
===Literature===
[[File:Amazing stories 193401.jpg|thumb|upright|Raygun in [[E. E. Smith]]'s [[Lensman]] novels]]
* [[Heat-Ray]], weapons used by the Martians in the novel ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' by [[H. G. Wells]]
* [[The Garin Death Ray]], title weapon in ''[[The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin]]'' (1927): "hyperboloid", a highly concentrated [[collimated light]] beam weapon
* [[Lasgun]], a [[laser projector]] from the ''[[Dune (franchise)|Dune]]'' series of books
===Film and television===
* [[Proton pack]], an energy weapon used for weakening ghosts and aiding in capturing them in the film ''[[Ghostbusters]]''
* [[Phaser (fictional weapon)|Phaser]]s, disruptors, and plasma cannons are a few of the many [[weapons of Star Trek]]
* [[Blaster (Star Wars)|Blaster]]s, standard weapons of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe.
===Games===
* [[BFG (weapon)|BFG]], a large gun in the ''[[Doom (series)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' series of games
==See also==
* [[Weapons in science fiction]]
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== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3l.html Atomic Rocket]: descriptions and technology and many images of handguns and rifle-sized guns used in space including rayguns.
*[http://www.kurogawa.com/exhibit.htm The Virtual Ray Gun Exhibition]: Computer-generated ray gun art by various artists.
[[Category:Fictional energy weapons]]
[[Category:Science fiction weapons]]