Types of raygun

The following is a partial list of notable rayguns or types of rayguns mentioned in various science fiction scenarios:

• Blasters are the standard raygun of the Star Wars universe.
• Disruptors or disintegrator rays, weapons disruptive of the molecular structure of matter, are used in Star Trek and in Star Wars, among other works.
• Phasers are the standard raygun of the Star Trek universe; see also Weapons of Star Trek.
• Plasma rifles, shooting bolts of very hot ionized gas (plasma), are described by many works of fiction. One well-known example is the BFG 9000 in the Doom video games.
• Pulse rifle is the name for a wide range of fictional weapons in various works.

The ray is usually stated to be one of the following:

• Laser
• A real type of particle beam, e.g. protons and/or neutrons from the proton packs in Ghostbusters
• A fictional type of particle beam, such as:
  • "Minovsky particles" in the Universal Century Gundam series scenario, where Minovsky Physics always operate; in the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 series, they use "GN particles" (a byproduct of a fictional topological defect baryon decay); and other timelines use other unknown particles.
  • Nadions, in the well-known Star Trek phaser
  • "Greek letter" rays other than the well known real-world alpha ray, beta ray, gamma ray. This includes delta rays and epsilon rays, which however have been given real-world meanings.
• Plasma; see also plasma rifle
• Defined by a word not known in real-world science, e.g. "disruptor".
• Concussion beam: A generic term often applied^{[citation needed]} to energy beams when the nature of the weapon is unknown. They are often non-lethal and only disable an opponent temporarily by knocking them out. They are often seen in television cartoons where realistic conventional weaponry is usually disallowed due to restrictions of violence.
• See Blaster (Star Wars)#Technology for an attempt (using unreal technology) at describing how a type of raygun works.
• Undefined

Rayguns are often one-handed, sometimes two-handed, and often artillery-sized fastened to a spaceship.

Rayguns powered by a backpack powerpack are described from time to time in science fiction.

List of rayguns

• Alien film series: "PIG" plasma cannon: powered by a backpack powerpack. Uses an electrolaser to create a magnetic containment bottle.
  • "Particle Beam Phalanx": cannon-sized.
• Babylon 5: "PPG" aka "Phased Plasma Gun"
• BattleTech: BattleMechs carry a wide variety of lasers, ether beamed or pulsed.
• Blake's 7: paragun: Federation standard issue. Image here. More Federation kit images here.
  • a pistol: Federation issue, image here.
• Blood and Blood II: Tesla Cannon: shoots electrical discharges
• Captain Proton: blaster: a lethal white electric ray
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert series
  • Tesla coil technology of the Soviets is in
    • Shock Troopers: elite infantry units equipped with portable Tesla coils
    • Tesla coils: large electric discharge-firing stationary coils
    • Tesla tanks
    • Tesla troopers
  • Prism technology of the Allies is in
    • Prism tanks: fire powerful light beams
    • Prism towers
  • Mirage tank: contains technology very similar to Prism technology and can camouflage
• Command & Conquer: Renegade: "Black Widow" (Volt auto-rifle): an electric beam
  • Firefly: a laser rifle
  • Tarantula: a laser chaingun
  • Merlin: a personal ion cannon: an instantly visible bolt of ions
• Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars (novel): T7: a Tiberium-fueled laser pulse
  • EW1: a laser beam
  • Scrin cannon: a beam of Tiberium particles
• Commander Keen: wielded a red raygun in the first game
• Crash Bandicoot: raygun: plasma of charged particles
• Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops : Raygun is in Nazi Zombie mode and can be obtained in the campaign mission 'Little Resistance' in World at War through an easter egg. (note: Suggests Japanese Origin, as they did experiment with microwave technology). It is also in Black Ops used in Zombie mode can be found on Kino Der Toten, "Five", Dead Ops Arcade, Ascension and Call of the Dead.
• Darwin's World: role-playing game: laser rifle: Nd:YAG laser
• David Weber's novel Apocalypse Troll: blaster: pulse of plasma
• The Day the Earth Stood Still: The alien visitor Klaatu's robotic bodyguard Gort had a conventional laser beam which was shot from his 'eyes'. Not meaning any harm, Gort only used the laser defensively. It could vaporize weapons as large as a tank, or even a rifle in a soldier's hands, though the soldier would not be injured.
• District 9: The film's protagonist Wikus utilizes an extremely powerful directed energy weapon (manufactured by the film's resident aliens, pejoratively called prawns) that thoroughly destroys a human body on contact. Other alien weapons are used that seem to be very advanced and powerful ballistic weapons, and are keyed to the alien DNA, preventing them from being used by humans. None of the prawn's weapons are ever named or their workings explained.
• Doctor Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators: Rayguns utilizing "infra-wave undulation" and "Phlogiston over-charging" amongst other pseudo-scientific concepts.
• Descent series: laser pistols, fusion cannon, omega cannon
• Doctor Who: Daleks' guns: "ruby rays", Time Lord's "Stasers", Silurians "ray guns"
• Doom: Plasma rifle
  • BFG 9000: undefined (named "plasma" in Doom 3), unreal physics
• Dune: Continuous-wave laser projectors called lasguns exist but are rendered obsolete by the use of personal Holtzman shields. The interaction of a lasgun blast and this force field results in a nuclear explosion which typically kills both the gunner and the target, to say nothing of collateral damage. Subsequently, lasguns are mostly mounted on aircraft.
• Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898 sequel to ditto): disintegrator ray
• Fallout: "Solar Scorcher" (runs on solar power), "Alien Blaster", various laser, plasma and pulse weapons (rifles, handguns, gatling guns, grenades)
• Farscape: various weapons
• F.E.A.R.: "Armacham Type-7 Particle Weapon": plasma
• Forbidden Planet: hand blasters & larger blasters
• The Foundation Series
  • Original trilogy: blaster: high-powered nuclear particles, shattering the target. Foundation models were seen to cause extensive damage to the surroundings, like shattering the wall behind the target.
  • Prequels: blaster: weaker. Certain models have been known to kill without producing visible damage.
  • Sequels: microwave gun
• FreeSpace 2: photon beam cannons
• Ghostbusters: proton pack: particle beam
  • Filmation's Ghostbusters: The Dematerializer: disintegrator beam (though it only works on ghosts)
• Gridlinked: pulse-gun: various types of fire mode
• Gundam
  • Universal Century series, mega beam cannons: "Minovsky particles" (and the degenerated Mega particles). (Minovsky Physics operate throughout series.)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00, "GN particles", byproduct of a fictional topological bayon decay.
  • Mobile Fighter G Gundam, some of the martial artist can magnify their Qi by their mobile fighter and make long range attacks similar to rayguns.
  • Undefined for other series.
• Half-Life: The Gluon gun (aka the Egon), a disintegration ray, and the Tau Cannon (aka the Gauss gun)
• Halo (series): various plasma weapons
• Hammer's Slammers: "Powergun": a plasma pulse
• The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (1927 novel): "hyperboloid"
• The Hyperion Cantos: "Death Wand": a laser-like beam weapon
• Independence Day: city-destroyer ray
• James Bond: Moonraker: "Moonraker laser": laser beam. It also appears in some videogames.
• James Bond 007: Nightfire: Phoenix International Experimental Laser Rifle
• Kingdom Hearts II: Gun Arrow: bullet-like laser beams; freezes in midair before homing in on the target
• Kingdom of Loathing MMORPG: Toy Ray Gun: laser beam
• The Librarian: Quest for The Spear (2004): Tesla's "Legendary Death Ray"
• Lucky Starr series: blasters: small slugs which on impact turn a fraction of their mass into energy
• Mars Attacks: Both the cards and movie feature alien weapons used by the Martians capable of disintegrating human/animal flesh, and on some occasions, terrestrial weapons and devices.
• Metroid (video game series): various, see Items in the Metroid series
• Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor: typical blasters, similar to disintegrator guns, near the end of the game, created by the Ancients
• Perry Rhodan (cover of first issue (1961)) shows a rifle-shaped raygun, and a pistol in its holster.
• Phantom Crash (video game): scoobees or mechs carry ether shoulder or arm-mounted lasers
• Predator (franchise): Plasma caster, see Predator technology
• Quake: BFG10K: plasma
• Resistance: Fall of Man: Auger: similar to Half-Life 2's "OSIPIR"
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein: "Tesla Gun": a multi-targeting electric shock gun
• Robotech: Reflex Cannon (artillery-sized)
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: An unnamed raygun firing glowing rings is used by Dex.
• Stargate: Staff Weapon: a yellow plasma-bolt
  • intar: a red ball of energy
  • Kull disruptor: a blue blast
  • zat: a blue electrical discharge
• Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse: raygun: a red/blue bullet of energy
  • laser shotgun: a steady blue beam of energy
  • laser RPG: a swirling mass of red and white energy
• Super Smash Bros. series: "Ray Gun": plasma
• Star Trek: See Weapons of Star Trek
• Star Wars: blaster: see blaster (Star Wars), which describes it in detail, but with unreal physics.
  • lightsaber
  • various weapons: see List of Star Wars ranged weapons
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 cartoon): traditional laser guns, carried by Bebop and Rocksteady
• Terminator (franchise): Beam-weapons
• Total Annihilation: may be a traditional laser, or may use coherent meson or pseudo-boson beams instead
  • Plasma Cannon: Bumble
• Transformers (film): Plasma cannon, Bumblebee's secondary weapon
• UFO: Enemy Unknown: laser pistols, laser rifles, heavy laser
• Unreal Tournament 2004: "Lightning Gun": an electrolaser
• V: shock rifle and pistol: unknown
• Warhammer 40,000: numerous Imperial laser weapons (Lasgun, Laspistol, Lascannon, Volcano Cannon, Turbo-laser destructor, Ship-based Lances)
• War of the Worlds (1898): "Heat-Ray"
• (various): plasma rifle

Gallery

• A typical imaginary raygun
• Imaginary raygun, 2 views, with parts labelled
  
• Small artillery sized version of same, being used.
• Raygun with particle accelerator drum

Real-world development

• Radar is the result of attempts to develop rayguns before WWII
• CBS in their show 60 minutes showed a real weapon described as a raygun. This video of it shows that it is most likely the Active Denial System.
• Recent real developments of laser guns have produced artillery-sized weapons which might be described as rayguns, but usually are not.
• See electrolaser for an electric current sent through a laser beam.
• See Directed-energy weapon for various real weapons which are more or less like rayguns.
• See Directed-energy weapon#Mythology for energy weapons of ancient mythologies.
• See Directed-energy weapon#Tesla for reports that Tesla made a real directed-energy weapon.

Distinguish from

• The "RayTek laser heat gun" (at search for heat gun) is a non-contact infrared thermometer, not a gun.