Editing Weapons in science fiction

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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}}
[[File:Amazing stories 194401.jpg|thumb|Fictional [[raygun]]s are often depicted in science fiction.]]
Strange and exotic weapons are a recurring feature in [[science fiction]]. In some cases, [[weapon]]s first introduced in science fiction have been made a reality; other science-fiction weapons remain purely fictional, and are often beyond the realms of known physical possibility.

At its most prosaic, science fiction features an endless variety of [[Sidearm (weapon)|sidearm]]s—mostly variations on real weapons such as [[gun]]s and [[sword]]s. Among the best-known of these are the [[List of weapons in Star Trek#Phasers|phaser]]—used in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' television series, films, and novels—and the [[lightsaber]] and [[List of Star Wars weapons#Personal ranged|blaster]]—featured in ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies, comics, novels, and TV shows.

Besides adding action and entertainment value, weaponry in science fiction sometimes touches on deeper concerns and becomes a [[Theme (literary)|theme]], often motivated by contemporary issues. One example is science fiction that deals with [[weapons of mass destruction]].

==In early science fiction ==
Weapons of early science-fiction novels were usually bigger and better versions of conventional weapons, effectively more advanced methods of delivering explosives to a target.  Examples of such weapons include [[Jules Verne]]'s "fulgurator" and the "glass arrow" of the [[Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam|Comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam]].<ref name="stableford">{{cite book|
first=Brian|
last=Stableford|
title=Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia|
publisher=CRC Press|
year=2006|
isbn=0-415-97460-7|
pages=[https://archive.org/details/sciencefactscien0000stab/page/563 563–565]|
url=https://archive.org/details/sciencefactscien0000stab/page/563}}</ref>

A classic science-fiction weapon, particularly in British and American science-fiction novels and films, is the [[raygun]]. A very early example of a raygun is the [[Heat-Ray]] featured in [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' (1898).<ref>{{cite news|title=The rise of the ray-gun: Fighting with photons|url= http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12502799|newspaper=The Economist|date=October 30, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2008}}</ref><ref name="Van Riper 46">Van Riper, op.cit., p. 46.</ref>   

The discovery of [[X-ray]]s and [[Radioactive decay|radioactivity]] in the last years of the 19th century led to an increase in the popularity of this family of weapons, with numerous examples in the early 20th century, such as the disintegrator rays of [[George Griffith]]'s future-war novel ''[[The Lord of Labour]]'' (1911).<ref name="stableford" />   Early science-fiction film often showed raygun beams giving off bright light and loud noise like [[lightning]] or large [[electric arc]]s. 

Wells also prefigured modern armored warfare with his description of [[tank]]s in his 1903 short story "[[The Land Ironclads]]", and aerial warfare in his 1907 novel ''[[The War in the Air]]''.

== Lasers and particle beams ==
[[File:Amazing stories 193909.jpg|thumb|A laser tank weapon in a 1939 edition of ''[[Amazing Stories]]'']]
[[Arthur C. Clarke]] envisaged [[particle beam weapon]]s in his 1955 novel ''[[Earthlight]]'', in which energy would be delivered by high-velocity beams of matter.<ref>{{cite web|title= Science fiction inspires DARPA weapon |url=https://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/04/science-fiction-inspires-darpa-weapon.html|date=April 22, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2008}}</ref>

After the invention of the [[laser]] in 1960, it briefly became the death ray of choice for science-fiction writers. For instance, characters in the ''Star Trek'' pilot episode ''[[The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Cage]]'' (1964) and in the ''[[Lost in Space]]'' TV series (1965–1968) 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 Publishing Group]]|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, the raygun began to be replaced by similar weapons with names that better reflected the destructive capabilities of the device. These names ranged from the generic "[[List of fictional pulse rifles|pulse rifle]]" to series-specific weapons, such as the [[List of weapons in Star Trek#Phasers|phasers]] from ''Star Trek''. According to ''The Making of Star Trek'', [[Gene Roddenberry]] claimed that production staff realized that using laser technology would cause problems in the future as people came to understand what lasers could and could not do; this resulted in the move to phasers on-screen, while letting lasers be known as a more primitive weapon style.

In the ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' franchise, a human faction known as the Imperial Guard has a "lasgun", which is described as being a handheld laser weapon, as their main weapon, and larger cannon versions being mounted onto tanks and being carried around by Space Marines. The elf-like [[Aeldari]], meanwhile, have a special unit called the Swooping Hawks equipped with a "lasblaster".

In the ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' video game series, various factions make extensive use of laser and particle-beam technology. The most notable are Allied units Prism Tank from ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2|Red Alert 2]]'' and Athena Cannon from ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3|Red Alert 3]]'', the Nod's Avatar and Obelisk of Light from ''[[Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars|Tiberium Wars]]'', as well as various units from ''[[Command & Conquer: Generals|Generals]]'' constructed by USA faction, including their "superweapon" particle cannon.

== Plasma weaponry ==
{{see|Directed-energy weapon#Plasma}}
{{Expand section|date=February 2021}}
Weapons using [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]] (high-energy ionized gas) have been featured in a number of fictional universes.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

== Weapons of mass destruction ==

[[Nuclear weapon]]s are a staple element in science-fiction novels. The phrase "atomic bomb" predates their existence, and dates back to [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The World Set Free]]'' (1914),  when scientists had discovered that radioactive decay implied potentially limitless energy locked inside of atomic particles (Wells' atomic bombs were only as powerful as conventional explosives, but would continue exploding for days on end). [[Cleve Cartmill]] predicted a chain reaction-type nuclear bomb in his 1944 science-fiction story "[[Deadline (science fiction story)|Deadline]]", which led to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] investigating him, due to concern over a potential breach of security on the [[Manhattan Project]].<ref>[http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0310/ref.shtml "Reflections: The Cleve Cartmill Affair"] by Robert Silverberg</ref>

The use of [[radiological weapon|radiological]], [[biological warfare|biological]], and [[Chemical warfare|chemical]] weapons is another common theme in science fiction. In the aftermath of World War I, the use of chemical weapons, particularly poison gas, was a major worry, and was often employed in the science fiction of this period, for example Neil Bell's ''The Gas War of 1940'' (1931).<ref name="stableford" /> [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s 1940 story "[[Solution Unsatisfactory]]" posits [[radiological weapon|radioactive dust]] as a weapon that the US develops in a crash program to end World War II; the dust's existence forces drastic changes in the postwar world. In ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'', set in the 22nd century,  [[Dalek]]s are claimed to have invaded Earth after it was bombarded with meteorites and a plague wiped out entire continents.

A subgenre of science fiction, [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|postapocalyptic fiction]], uses the aftermath of nuclear or biological warfare as its setting.

[[Death Star|The Death Star]] is the ''[[Star Wars]]'' equivalent to a weapon of mass destruction, and as such, might be the most well-known weapon of mass destruction in science fiction.

== Cyberwarfare and cyberweapons ==
The idea of [[cyberwarfare]], in which wars are fought within the structures of communication systems and computers using software and information as weapons, was first explored by science fiction.

[[John Brunner (novelist)|John Brunner]]'s 1975 novel ''[[The Shockwave Rider]]'' is notable for coining the word "[[computer worm|worm]]" to describe a computer program that propagates itself through a [[computer network]], used as a weapon in the novel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFDE1330F93BA3575BC0A965958260|title=The Evolution of Cyberpunk|work=New York Times | first1=Nick|last1=Ravo|first2=Eric|last2=Nash|date=August 8, 1993}}</ref><ref name=ClassicSci-FiReviews>{{cite web |url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue48/classic.html |title=Classic Sci-Fi Reviews: The Shockwave Rider |author=Craig E. Engler |year=1997 |access-date=July 28, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080703121956/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue48/classic.html |archive-date = July 3, 2008}}</ref> [[William Gibson]]'s ''[[Neuromancer]]'' coined the phrase [[cyberspace]], a virtual battleground in which battles are fought using software weapons and counterweapons. The ''Star Trek'' episode "[[A Taste of Armageddon]]" is another notable example.

Certain [[Dale Brown]] novels place cyberweapons in different roles. The first is the "netrusion" technology used by the U.S. Air Force. It sends corrupt data to oncoming missiles to shut them down, as well as hostile aircraft by giving them a "shutdown" order in which the systems turn off one by one. It is also used to send false messages to hostiles, to place the tide of battle in the favor of America. The technology is later reverse-engineered by the Russian Federation to shut down American antiballistic missile satellites from a tracking station at Socotra Island, Yemen.

[[Cyberwarfare]] has moved from a theoretical idea to something that is now seriously considered as a threat by modern states.

In a similar but unrelated series of incidents involved various groups of hackers from India and Pakistan who hacked and defaced several websites of companies and government organizations based in each other's country. The actions were committed by various groups based in both countries, but not known to be affiliated with the governments of India or Pakistan. The cyber wars are believed to have begun in 2008 following the Mumbai attacks believed to be by a group of Indian cyber groups hacking into Pakistani websites. Hours after the cyber attacks, a number of Indian websites (both government and private) were attacked by groups of Pakistani hackers, claiming to be retaliation for Indian attacks on Pakistani websites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2010/12/20101241373583977.html|title=India and Pakistan in cyber war}}</ref> The back and forth attacks have persisted on occasions since then.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/666537/cyber-warfare-pakistani-hackers-claim-defacing-over-2000-indian-websites/|title=Cyber warfare: Pakistani hackers claim defacing over 2,000 Indian websites|date=February 2, 2014|work=The Express Tribune}}</ref>


== War on the mind ==
{{Original research|section|date=February 2021}}
Themes of [[brainwashing]], conditioning, [[memory-erasing]], and other [[Brainwashing|mind-control]] methods as weapons of war feature in much science fiction of the late 1950s and 1960s, paralleling the contemporary panic about communist brainwashing, existence of [[sleeper agent]]s, and the real-world attempts of governments in programs such as [[Project MKULTRA|MK-ULTRA]] to make such things real.

[[David Langford]]'s short story "[[BLIT (short story)|BLIT]]" (1988) posits the existence of images (called "basilisks") that are destructive to the human brain, which are used as weapons of terror by posting copies of them in areas where they are likely to be seen by the intended victims.  Langford revisited the idea in a fictional [[FAQ]] on the images, published by the science journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in 1999.<ref>[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm BLIT], David Langford, Interzone, 1988.</ref><ref>[http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/c-b-faq.html comp.basilisk FAQ], David Langford, "Futures," [[Nature (journal)|''Nature'']], December 1999.</ref> The [[neuralyzer]] from the [[Men in Black (franchise)|''Men in Black'' films]] are compact objects that can erase and modify the short-term memories of witnesses by the means of a brief flash of light, ensuring that no one remembers encountering either aliens or the agents themselves.

The TV series [[Dollhouse (TV series)|''Dollhouse'']] (2009) features technology that can "mindwipe" people (transforming them into "actives", or "dolls") and replace their inherent personalities with another one, either "real" (from another actual person's mind), fabricated (for example, a soldier trained in many styles of combat and weaponry, or unable to feel pain), or a mixture of both. In a future timeline of the series, the technology has been devised into a mass weapon, able to "remote wipe" anyone and replace them with any personality. A war erupts between those controlling actives, and "actuals" (a term to describe those still retaining their original personas). An offshoot technology allows actual people to upload upgrades to their personas (such as fighting or language skills), similar to the process seen in [[The Matrix (franchise)|''The Matrix'']], albeit for only one skill at a time.

== Parallels between science-fiction and real-world weapons ==
Some new forms of real-world weaponry resemble weapons previously envisaged in science fiction. The early 1980s-era [[Strategic Defense Initiative]], a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic [[strategic nuclear weapon]]s ([[Intercontinental ballistic missile]]s and [[submarine-launched ballistic missile]]s), gained the popular name "Star Wars" after the popular franchise created by [[George Lucas]].<ref>Sharon Watkins Lang. SMDC/ASTRAT Historical Office. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070613175623/http://www.smdc.army.mil/Historical/Eagle/WheredowegetStarWars.pdf Where do we get "Star Wars"?]. ''The Eagle''. March 2007. </ref>

In some cases, the influence of science fiction on weapons programs has been specifically acknowledged. In 2007, science-fiction author [[Thomas Easton]] was invited to address engineers working on a [[DARPA]] program to create weaponized [[cyborg]] insects, as envisaged in his novel ''Sparrowhawk''.
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4VE52EL231HA0QSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202200707&pgno=2|title=Darpa hatches plan for insect cyborgs to fly reconnaissance|publisher=EEtimes|date=February 2009|access-date=February 15, 2009}}</ref>

Active research on powered exoskeletons for military use has a long history, beginning with the abortive 1960s [[Hardiman]] powered exoskeleton project at [[General Electric]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://davidszondy.com/future/robot/hardiman.htm|title=Hardiman|access-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref> and continuing into the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cpr/rpt/108469_.pdf|title=Exoskeleton for Soldier Enhancement Systems Feasibility Study|author=John Jansen, Brad Richardson, Francois Pin, Randy Lind and Joe Birdwell|publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory|date=September 2000|access-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref> The borrowing between fiction and reality has worked both ways, with the [[Powered exoskeletons in fiction|power loader]] from the film ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' resembling the prototypes of the Hardiman system.<ref>{{cite news|title=Meet the army's newest recruit|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/meet-the-armys-newest-recruit-664324.html|first=Owen|last=Dyer|publisher=The Independent on Sunday|date=August 3, 2001|access-date=February 15, 2009|location=London}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> 

American military research on high-power laser weapons started in the 1960s, and has continued to the present day,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6380789.stm|title=Record power for military laser|publisher=BBC News|date=February 22, 2007|access-date=February 17, 2009|first=Paul|last=Rincon}}</ref> with the U.S. Army planning, as of 2008, the deployment of practical battlefield laser weapons.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/army-moves-ahea.html|title=Army Moves Ahead With Mobile Laser Cannon|magazine=Wired|date=August 19, 2008|access-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref> Lower-powered lasers are currently used for military purposes as [[laser designator|laser target designator]]s and for [[Laser rangefinder#Military|military rangefinding]].  Laser weapons intended to blind combatants have also been developed, but are currently banned by the [[Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons]], although low-power versions designed to dazzle rather than blind have been developed experimentally. Gun-mounted lasers have also been used as psychological weapons, to let opponents know that they have been targeted to encourage them to hide or flee without having to actually open fire on them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8275|title=US military sets laser PHASRs to stun|publisher=New Scientist|date=November 7, 2005|access-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=New Laser Technologies for Infantry Warfare, Counterinsurgency Ops, and LE Apps|url=http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=683|publisher=defensereview.com|access-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Speculative fiction}}
* [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|Post-apocalyptic fiction]]
* [[Autonomous weapon]]
* [[List of fictional military robots]]
* [[List of Star Wars weapons]]
* [[Military science fiction]]
* [[Space warfare in fiction]]
* [[Spy-fi (subgenre)]]
* [[Weapons in Star Trek]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*  David Seed. ''American Science Fiction and the Cold War: literature and film'' {{ISBN|1-85331-227-4}}
* John Hamilton. ''Weapons of Science Fiction'' {{ISBN|1-59679-997-8}}
* {{Cite book |last=Westfahl |first=Gary |title=The Stuff of Science Fiction: Hardware, Settings, Characters |date=2022 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-8659-2 |pages=11–21 |language=en |chapter=Weapons—Fifty Ways to Kill Your Lover: The Weapons of Science Fiction |author-link=Gary Westfahl |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7WREAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2023<!-- 8 February --> |title=Weapons |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/weapons |access-date=2023-12-04 |edition=4th |author1-last=Stableford |author1-first=Brian |author1-link=Brian Stableford |author2-last=Langford |author2-first=David |author2-link=David Langford |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |editor3-last=Sleight |editor3-first=Graham |editor3-link=Graham Sleight}}

==External links==
* [http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science_List_Detail.asp?BT=Weapon Weapons in science fiction]
* [http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3l.html Atomic Rockets: Sidearms]

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{{Weapons}}

[[Category:Science fiction weapons| ]]
[[Category:Science fiction themes|Weapons]]