Laser Blade



""Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.""

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Hope

The laser blade is a melee Energy Weapon, with a cutting edge made of Pure Energy, giving it Absurd Cutting Power. Generally a type of Impossibly Cool Weapon, they require a lot of Willing Suspension of Disbelief, but are generally awesome enough to be worth it.

Laser blades exist purely because of the Rule of Cool. Glowing is cool, so Power Glows, therefore a weapon that's actually made out of glow must be really powerful. It also allows for a Clean Cut the way a regular sword does not. However, sword fights between two Laser Blade wielders tend to get difficult because Like Cannot Cut Like.

Note that, although the most prolific inspiration is the lightsaber, you'll almost never see the word "lightsaber" outside of that particular Verse, for understandable legal reasons. Thus, such blades are given any variety of slightly less majestic monikers, such as "beam sword", "energy saber", "plasma knife" and, for the paronomasiacs, "laser blade". The energy blade concept tends to be Older Than They Think; the Trope Maker is the "force knife" from the Lucky Starr novels written by Isaac Asimov under the pen-name Paul French in the 1950s.

A subtrope of Absurd Cutting Power, Energy Weapon, and Hard Light. Its Fantasy counterpart is the Flaming Sword, while a less technologically-advanced version is the Hot Blade.

Anime & Manga

 * Used by all the Iczers in the Iczer anime.
 * Shana of Shakugan no Shana during a computer game. On a related note, she's usually a Flaming Sword user.
 * All the various energy blades in Tenchi Muyo!, although many of these are semi-mystical in nature; the most powerful, the Light Hawk Sword,.
 * In Tenchi Muyo! GXP, energy swords almost identical to Star Wars lightsabers were implied to be both Galaxy Police standard equipment and carried by space pirates. They even had similar color coding - the Galaxy Police used blue laserblades and space pirates used red.
 * Voltron: Three words: Form Blazing Sword! Oddly enough, it was more or less solid. On the other hand, in the CGI-based Revival, "Stealth Voltron" is armed with an N.R.G. Sword.
 * The "Blazing Sword" in question was originally the "Juu-Ou-Ken" (Beast King Sword)
 * Gourry's Ancestral Weapon the Sword of Light from The Slayers, which at least has the advantage of being completely magical, allowing it to deflect, absorb, channel, amplify and emit incoming magical attacks. It's also capable of extending to nearly Sword Beam lengths. Lina used it to cast the Giga Slave in a desperate attempt to destroy Shabranigdo.
 * In Slayers Try, sister weapons to the Swords of Light, including a spear, bow, axe, and trident, all lasery.
 * It also reveals them to be.
 * Then there's the Psi-Blade in the sister series of The Slayers, Lost Universe. They share the same method of empowerment, the mental willpower of the user. A particular episode also features a light-whip.
 * Finally, there's Lina's “Ragna Blade” spell which creates a virtual blade capable of slicing through physical objects, and even reality itself into alternate dimensions. It's the only weapon or spell the monster race cannot avoid by ducking out of our reality.
 * …which, in an odd twist, is actually more of a darksaber.
 * In Bleach, Uryu's Las Noches traveling companion, Pesche Guatiche, has an sword called Ultima. After pulling the sword from his loincloth, Pesche ask Uryu if it reminds him of his "thingy".
 * He's actually referring to the Seeleschneider, a type of multi functional energy blades Uryu likes to use when things get rough.
 * Ryuga's Ray Blade in Mahoromatic. It uses a beam from a starship to power it up.
 * Mahou Sensei Negima has Evangeline emanating some sort of magic energy blade from her hand. She uses it once on the Headmaster (cutting his beard off so he won't interfere in the battle). Later, a weird psuedo-Eva created from a magic scroll and Negi's memories uses it to fight Negi.
 * Negi can also do this, at least when he's fighting a Battle in the Center of the Mind.
 * While deliberately used to invoke this trope, the spell "Ensis Exsequens" is almost the exact opposite of a conventional Laser Blade; rather than pumping energy into its delineated region, it supposedly drains and isolates energy so as to cause the surroundings of every particle in its effect to become colder relative to it... for every particle simultaneously, vaporizing the matter through sublimation. This incidentally produces intense cold in the blade's vicinity (fitting Eva's theme). It's noted that since this spell directly opposes the laws of thermodynamics (and logic), it's very difficult to cast; Negi's only learned an imperfect version of it.
 * In basically every single Gundam show ever released, the protagonist's Super Prototype ALWAYS has at LEAST two of these, if not sometimes more. And in fact, they're almost standard issue.
 * By Mobile Suit Gundam F91, they develop the Beam Shield, which is basically a Beam Sword shaped into wide, flat planes and used as a shield.
 * Other Gundam series' have Beam axes, tonfas, flags, and rotors.
 * Strangely, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny are a bit more realistic about this: while normal beam sabers do exist, there are a number of physical blades with a beam edge, which answers the question of "how does the beam know where to stop?"
 * Well, beam sabers in Gundam aren't lasers so that isn't a problem.
 * Oddly inverted in the case of 00. Whilst Beam Sabers are shown to be highly effective (gradually replacing all other melee weapons), well made solid state blades (like Exia and 00's) are shown to be better.
 * Not exactly. The solid blades are simply more convenient and tend to have a more free range of utility. You can see it in episode 3 of Gundam 00, the beam saber was more effective in cutting through the Tieran. However, beam sabers are power intensive and while they are lighter than the solid blades, they eat up a lot more power especially as the Raiser sword. Another is the fact that since they do not have any actual solid mass, they are poor weapons against GN fields since the particles are dissipated, making solid weapons much more effective.
 * Meta Example: In the G Generation title that Gundam 00 debuted in (G gen Wars), Exia and 00 Gundam's GN Blades are listed as being effective against EVERYTHING, protection be damned. This includes Phase Shift Armor (designed to be impervious to physical weapons).
 * However, you have to note that beam sabers are actually NOT laser blades. Gundam usually differentiates between lasers (the actual ray of light kind, rarely weaponized) and beams (made out of whatever is the Minovsky Particle in the current show, including the Trope Namer).
 * Bonus points go to Paptimus Scirocco of Zeta Gundam and the PMX-003 The O which has four arms all equipped with beam sabres... though he was beaten by Tieria Erde of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, who packs six sabers at once on his Seravee Gundam. Behold.
 * Kuwabara in Yu Yu Hakusho can summon an energy sword at will. It's not technically a laser sword since it's actually a manifestation of his spirit energy, but it functionally serves the same role.
 * In a parody of Metal Heroes, Space Detective Kogoro from Keroro Gunsou uses a laser shinai.
 * Giroro is also seen using a beam sword during a Mobile Suit Gundam pastiche in episode 10.
 * Vegito and Salza from Dragonball Z both create their own Energy Blades.
 * In Phantom Quest Corp, Ayaka has a lipstick case that turns into what appears to be a laser sword.
 * The Digimon franchise offers a few examples:
 * HolyAngemon of Digimon Adventure has one extending from his wrist, named Excalibur. Its evolved form Seraphimon can also form one in a similar manner.
 * Justimon's Critical Arm in Digimon Tamers.
 * Wolfmon of Digimon Frontier dual-wields laser blades with his Licht Sieger technique. His later form, MagnaGarurumon, also wields a laser blade stored in its chest compartment.
 * Dukemon X of Digimon X Evolution, whose Victory Saber technique is a laser blade effectively measured in miles!
 * The knights in Heroic Age have laser bayonets that can be turned on and off.
 * Cure Aqua of Yes! Pretty Cure 5, of all people, gets one of these from her first Mid-Season Upgrade. Apparently Karen's a trendsetter, because when it came time for upgrades in the next season, everyone got laser swords.
 * Mamoru Nagano's Five Star Stories uses its own version, known as a 'spadd': this is often paired with a regular sword, known as a 'speid'. Spadds and speids are used both by human-sized characters and by the giant robots they pilot.
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! GX had the "Elemental Sword" card, which depending on your point of view, was either thankfully or unfortunately used only twice.
 * Umi No Triton featured a laser knife that was an heirloom of the Atlantis nobility. Yoshiyuki Tomino directed this in 1972 before Gundam and well before Star Wars.
 * Amidamaru on Shaman King gets awfully lightsaber-ish.
 * Ideon has such a weapon, and - as appropriate for a Super Robot - dials it Up to Eleven.
 * Just for clarification's sake, it cut an entire planet in half.
 * Aleida & Takane Shishidou in Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo use weapons called Tachyon Swords in battle (usually with each other).
 * This is a specific ability granted to One Piece admiral Kizaru thanks to his light-based Devil Fruit powers.
 * Mina Hazuki of Darker than Black can turn any object she touches into an energy weapon, be it bokken or wire or pebble.
 * In Pokémon, this is how the Oshawott family's Signature Move Razor Shell attack looks like.
 * In Zettai Karen Children, Tim uses his powers to make a Mecha that uses, among other weapons, a Beam-Pick-Axe and Beam-Shovel.
 * Father Remington of Chrono Crusade has a giant laser blade BFS that he deploys from a crucifix.
 * Several characters in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha use variations of this. Fate uses an energy scythe, and later a BFS. Teana can switch her pistol into an energy dagger form. And Deed dual wields laser katanas!
 * Several characters in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha use variations of this. Fate uses an energy scythe, and later a BFS. Teana can switch her pistol into an energy dagger form. And Deed dual wields laser katanas!

Comic Books

 * In Space Usagi "arcane" (ancient) katanas can be adapted to "surge", allowing them to cut through metal and electrify opponents.
 * After giving up the Ebony Blade, The Avengers member the Black Knight designed and constructed a laser sword, often called his photonic or neural sword. The sword resembles a lightsaber in both its appearance and its effects on non-living matter, but it functions differently when used against living beings. Its "laser" blade is actually a neural disruptor; when the Black Knight cuts someone with it, it delivers a massive jolt to the being's central nervous system. This jolt is usually enough to incapacitate someone within just a few hits. Alternately, Whitman can reverse the sword's energy stream so that it encases its hilt and by extension Whitman's fist in a high-energy field. Using the sword in this fashion enables Whitman to punch with some unspecified degree of enhanced strength.
 * Used by Prince Ethan  in Scion.
 * War Machine typically has a laser blade built into his left gauntlet. Considering the trope this superhero usually follows, it's rarely used.
 * War Machine carries a melee weapon??
 * One on the end of each arm. But I admit, I haven't seen the laser blade in use since the original iteration of the armour.
 * In Judge Dredd's universe, Hondo City (what was Japan) Judges in more recent years are issued with laser blades, replacing the traditional katanas from earlier stories.
 * In Matt Wagner's Grendel: War Child series, Grendel-Prime uses a red laser sword.

Fan Works

 * Kyon has one in the prologue of Kyon: Big Damn Hero courtesy of a dead inter-dimensional robot out to kill them.
 * The Life of the Legendaries has Palkia wield a lightsaber-esque sword. It is made from his psychic energy. In this continuity, Psycho Cut can manifest as this form as well.
 * One of the five “Hitler Youth” in the New Zork chapter of With Strings Attached can generate a Laser Blade. The narrative promptly nicknames him Lightsaber Guy.
 * In fan video of Kuso Miso Technique all gay men have laser swords... as penises. Or it's from the flowers that cover their crotch.
 * Apparently in Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality there's something called "The Most Ancient Blade" that only those of a Noble/Ancient House can use. It is described very similar to a lightsaber.

Film
"Chaka Luther King: George Lucas is gonna sue somebody."
 * The lightsabers in Star Wars, which are the original expression of the trope in film, and which have inspired dozens of reappearances since. Canonically plasma swords, lightsabers are occassionally referred to as "laser swords" by less in-the-know characters and were described this way in the original scripts. The beam itself is said to be a semi-circular arc of energy that is very carefully tuned to be very thin without sacrificing any of the height. Realistic speculation of energy blades can be tracked as far back as Isaac Asimov's Foundation in 1951, predating the Jedi order significantly. Dark "lightsabers" have been used in The Clone Wars. Various characters (e.g. Aayla Secura, Starkiller) have also been shown Dual-Wielding lightsabers, although this is rare as it requires much greater dexterity. (Anakin tried once; it didn't work very well) It should be noted that, despite the name, lightsabers are straight and can cut from any side, whereas sabers in Real Life are curved blades with only one sharp edge.
 * The expanded universe shows us that it may present variations depending on how the user designs them; lightwhips, or even (without going too far) Darth Maul's double-bladed saber are examples.
 * Being a sci-fi parody, Spaceballs features an obligatory laser sword fight between Lone Starr and Dark Helmet, and the laser blades get tangled at one point. "I hate it when my Schwartz gets twisted!"
 * Not technically a "blade", the laser arc wielded by Abigail Whistler in Blade Trinity emits UV rays to kill vampires.
 * In Titan A.E., the protagonist seems to be using a friggin' huge laser chainsaw to cut apart space junk. That age-old question of how do you get the energy to stop? You don't.
 * In Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy The Movie, Trillian demonstrates the operation of a laser knife to Arthur, which toasts bread as it's being cut. It also makes the lightsaber sounds.
 * In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Gideon Graves uses a laser sword made of pixels, which is called the Digitana in the script.
 * In Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, their superhero identities Bluntman & Chronic use lightsabers. Bluntman's is called a "bluntsaber" and Chronic's is a double-bladed "bongsaber". Their archnemesis Cock-Knocker (played by Mark Hamill) uses a "cocksaber".

Literature
""...To put it simply, if I could sell a penknife with a force-field blade to a nobleman, it would be to his interest to force laws that would allow him to use it. Put that baldly, it sounds silly, but it is sound, psychologically. To make strategic sales, at strategic points, would be to create a pro-nucleics faction at court.""
 * Variable swords in Larry Niven's Known Space stories, which are simply magnetic fields wrapped around monofilament wires. A notable subversion in that their power doesn't glow (the wires are nearly invisible, so it doesn't look like much of anything, and only the bright red ball on the end tells you where the sword point is), but they function a lot like energy swords.
 * In Ringworld Louis Wu uses a flashlight laser in a similar matter to a bladed weapon, albeit one that has a very long reach and cuts deeper when slashing more slowly, a sort of realistic version of a laser sword.
 * M. John Harrison's early Viriconium novel The Pastel City, another pre-Star Wars work, contains energy swords called baan. These have a thoughtful safety feature: the blade materializes around a solid core, which isn't necessary for the weapon to operate, but prevents the blade from activating improperly while it's pointing into the user's body.
 * Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn carries a pure energy power sword in the Warhammer 40000 novels Xenos and Malleus, by Dan Abnett. He regards it as much less crude than older newer models, which are basically swords with a power field around them.
 * The "force knife" in the Lucky Starr series, published starting in 1952, was the likely origin of the sci-fi version of this weapon. Technically, it's not a laser—it works the same way as a force field—but it's incredibly thin and can cut through anything, making it quite deadly. The hero's sidekick Bigman Jones carries one, and can wield it with great skill if needed.
 * In John Meaney's Nulapeiron Sequence books (and the prequel, To Hold Infinity there may be found a device called a Lattice Blade. Apparently never used as a battlefield weapon, it is quite capable of slicing off a limb and being extended or contracted in size, yet remain pocketable when deactivated.
 * Probably the Ur Example, from Asimov's Foundation (Published in 1951):

""Like two ancient swordsmen, then, the warlock and the deacon dueled together. Their weapons were two endless blades of violet incandescence, but their tactics were those of sabreurs - feint, cut, parry, swift riposte.""
 * More likely, it's from Fritz Leiber's Gather Darkness (published in 1943), where the "rods of wrath" cause a lot of mayhem on bystanders when used in a duel:


 * In the The Bible, a flaming sword was wielded by an angel to keep Man from returning to the Garden of Eden, which would make this trope officially Older Than Dirt.
 * In the 1982 novel The Fires of Paratime by L. E. Modesitt, Jr., one character possesses an actual light saber; it's apparently the genuine article, having been acquired "from some obscure group of galactic-wide do-gooders" during a trip to the distant past.
 * Stephen King had the Wolves use these in the fifth Dark Tower book.

Live-Action TV

 * Bibleman sports one of these, and the Star Wars influence is not subtle in the least.
 * Every Space Sheriff of Toei's Metal Heroes franchise has a sword that can turn into one of these, appropriately called the Laser Blade. Each show has a Leitmotif whenever they use the weapon.
 * In The New Adventures of Robin Hood when Marion is kidnapped to be a demon god's bride, Robin shows up with an Unicorn horn that can changed into different energy weapon's one of which is a energy sword, this dissolves into a light saber duel when the lead worshiper possessed by the god reveals his own energy sword.
 * In Lexx S02E01 Zev uses a light saber like device that looks more like a light saber with a handle of a chainsaw, to cut a dormant gigantic insect into tiny peaces. However this device like most of the devices in Lexx is not named.
 * Kamen Rider Black RX had one of these as one of his attacks. The Macekreed U.S. production preferred to it as an "electro-saber".
 * Kamen Rider Faiz's bike handlebar sword takes on this appearance; it has no cutting edge as the damage comes from the energy in the blade.
 * A few Power Rangers and Super Sentai weapons resemble lightsabers. Red isn't evil; it just means its wielder is The Hero. Blades generally glow when doing a Finishing Move, but not all the time.
 * In VR Troopers, JB's sword can take on a lightsaber glow, and even extend into a laser-lance, with which he does most of his finishing. Sorry, Darth Maul, you were beaten to the punch by quite a few years.
 * Warehouse 13 has one of these in their Eureka crossover, wielded by Fargo. It's a laser cutter from Eureka that was "modified" with Benjamin Franklin's ring from the Warehouse. That turns it into an actual lightsaber that even makes the appropriate sounds when moved. Fargo, being a Hollywood Nerd, is in love with the improvised weapon.
 * An episode of Earth: Final Conflict features an assassin using dual laser blades to assassinate people, while framing others using dreams. Notable for being of human design, as Taelons aren't big on swordfighting.
 * The intro to Even Stevens has Ren and Louis Stevens sitting in front of the TV, each with a remote control trying to change channel to what they want to watch. When they can't agree, they turn their remote controls into lightsabers and begin to battle one another in a display of sibling rivalry.
 * In the Red Dwarf episode, The Inquisitor, Kryten uses a laser chainsaw to hack off the eponymous villain's hand to allow his past self and Lister to take the Inquisitor's time gauntlet. He is killed in the process, but thanks to Lister's later plan he gets better.

Tabletop Games

 * GURPS has forceswords, and the Ultratech supplement even has a Laser Blade on a Stick that is "suitable for guards of the Galactic Emperor".
 * Warhammer 40000, of course (it runs on Rule of Cool instead of fuel - sometimes literally):
 * Power Weapons are surrounded by a field that disrupts matter outside and strengthens the weapon itself, which renders it capable of tearing through pretty much everything, and destroys parried mundane weapons more often than not. Exists in all possible varieties, from dagger to spear.
 * Force weapons are powered by the psychic might of its user, making them more capable of tearing through everything if wielded by a psyker, plus giving ability to channel psychic power for extra damage.
 * In one of the official army lists for a less-than-honest regiment, a wargear option is stolen archeotech. This is a piece of strange and esoteric machinery that has a random effect from playing pretty tunes to blasting plasma at enemies - one of the results is stated as being a beam of coherent light that can be wielded as a sword and ignores armour.
 * Sollex-Aegis Energy Blade - a torch of blazing, roaring, barely contained plasma... which is a clearer Shout-Out, in that it uses "focusing crystals" and due to containment instability hits the wielder when attack or parry is failed too badly (by 5+ degrees, i.e. 50%+ on d100). Stats-wise it's close to plasma pistol, but instead of a ranged attack allows to parry and instead of flat 1/10 chance to overheat and injure the user, it depends on Weapon Skill with all bonuses and maluses, and extra +10% on Parry (thus below WS 40 it's worse, but becomes safe at WS 50+, which is also more than enough to qualify the character for Talents giving more than 1 attack + 1 parry in a round). It consumes fuel like a plasma pistol, but per round instead of per shot.
 * Rifts has Cyber Knights and Mind Melters wielding Psi Swords, which they can create with their minds. Also the Lightblade, a Magitek weapon.
 * Dungeons and Dragons
 * 1st edition had the Wand of Force; one of its powers was to create a 3-foot long luminescent shaft-shaped forcefield emanating from the wand itself that could be wielded as a + 5 longsword. Does This Remind You of Anything??
 * And let's not forget Brilliant Energy weapons, which are often called "lightsabers" by the fandom.
 * Don't forget the Soulknife, a character class that can make an energy sword out of pure will!
 * Forgotten Realms spell Chromatic Blade creates a glowing in erratic colors, needle-thin line of Hard Light. It can be blocked normally, but makes no sound, cuts as sword of sharpness and disrupts many "prismatic" spells.
 * In Planescape Tulani Eladrin can create these already in the hand at will, and depending on their levels the blade may range from formidable to ludicrously powerful.
 * In the less known RPG "Ammo", laser swords are an excellent weapon with variable power settings. Sadly, the higher damage setting drains its energy reserve in a matter of seconds. Psi-blade are more powerful if held by fighters with high willpower, and less consuming.
 * Mekton has rules for not only a laser sword, but also a laser axe.
 * The add-on book Mekton Zeta Tech Manual allows for the construction of nearly any energy melee weapon you can imagine.
 * Exalted has beam weapons, made and most often used by the magitech Alechemicals.
 * One of the characters on the cover of Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals even uses a "beamklave". What do you think it looks like in the art depicting it?
 * This gets even shoutier when Soulsteel caste Alchemicals typically have black armour and red beamklaves. Just add Vader Breath.
 * Laser Knight from Monsterpocalypse
 * Gamma World featured Force Swords that were force-fields shaped into a blade and could cut through anything except another force field (alongside a wide gamut of high-tech melee weapons, including vibro and monofilament blades). Since the first release was in 1978, it's debatable how these weapons correlated with the introduction of Lightsabers in the original Star Wars.
 * Paranoia has force swords, explained as monofilament fiber inside a force field. Too bad they're only available at Blue clearance. This being Alpha Complex, the force field periodically fails, putting the wielder at risk of cutting himself as the fiber whips around loose.
 * Shadowrun has the Centurion Laser Axe, although it's never made quite clear how the laser beam follows the arced blade... All the rules state is that it can lose it's focus when hitting hard materials like heavy armor.
 * Fading Suns has "flux swords", which are said to use forcefield-contained plasma, much like blaster shots (and has the same shield-piercing property). Hopefully, this does something not only about amount of power converted into heat, but the part where boiling metal sprays toward the user, too. Also, there are "Mist Swords", a rare variant that can be attuned to a psychic wielder (all coincidences are coincidental), which provides some advantages.
 * Wireblades also glow, though they are "monofilament" extending from the handle at the press of a button (and presumably kept sticking out straight by repulsion field). Or rather, the device itself illuminates them - because swinging around a wire that cuts through anything way too easily without even being able to see where it ends would be asking for nasty accidents.
 * Tales of the Space Princess has "Laser Swords". And "Laser Axes".

Video Games
"I will destroy you, WITH MY LASERBLADE!!!"
 * In Starcraft, Protoss Zealots wield Psychic Power-fueled energy swords called "Psi Blades". Dark Templar wield similar weapons, but with a different power source, called "Warp Blades".
 * And let's not forget Zero's Z-Saber in the Mega Man X series, which, in addition to being friggin' cool, also had the ability to change shape, length, and power as the situation required. Not to mention elements. He can turn it into a flaming sword of death (which makes sense, sort of) or into a sword made entirely of ice (which just breaks several laws of physics). X8 grants him laser harisen, a laser glaive, and a laser hammer and knuckle dusters.
 * X would later receive this Z-Saber in X6, with Zero getting a new one that's literally exactly like the ones from Star Wars. He can still imbue it with elements however.
 * And in X5 and X6 there is Dynamo who has a variable length dual ended Laser sword.
 * And in the Mega Man Zero series, there's Harpuia (who uses TWO), Omega, and Elpizo, who all use their own laser swords. In addition, Zero also gets a laser spear, laser shield, a laser grappling hook (made from the remains of the laser spear), and laser tonfa.
 * The final boss in the original Mega Man X used, you guessed it, a lightsaber.
 * Also in the Battle network series there is an entire Series of battle chips devoted to this plus Protoman.exe, Zero.exe and Colonel.exe all have one permanently attached to one of their arms.
 * The Energy Sword from the Halo series. According to the fluff, it's actually a envelope of plasma that's held in shape by electromagnetic fields. Also, unlike most examples, the energy sword is mostly used for stealth/sneak attacks, and not for dueling. (Canonically, anyway; how it's used in multiplayer is a different story.)
 * Although the upcoming Halo Legends short The Package seems to feature Master Chief and an Elite dueling with energy swords. And the Graphic Novel tale Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor had two Elites sparring with energy swords.
 * Dual Wielded energy swords at that.
 * Stealth weapons should not glow in the dark.
 * They can be used for stealth if they're not turned on until the split-second before they're rammed through someone's chest.
 * Halo: Reach shows that some Elites, in addition to their plasma swords, wield wrist-mounted plasma daggers.
 * System Shock and its sequel have the Laser Rapier, replete with "growing" animation and constant droning noise (which gets irritating pretty quickly), but it has neither the power, the brightness, the sparks or the cut-everything-to-bits destructive capability of lightsabers. From the in-game description: The unit works by projecting a porous field of reflective material in a shaft shaped region around the base of the rapier. When the material is bent (as when the rapier strikes a target) the intense refracted light inside is released locally, causing intense burns to the target. Of course, the attack animation doesn't display this alleged local release of burning light which, surprisingly consistent with actual lasers, damages mechanical enemies more than biological ones. System Shock 2 also has the Cerebro-Energetic Extension psi power that temporarily generates a semi-transparent psi sword for you to use.
 * It's not technically a laser blade in the first, but just an Absurdly Sharp Blade: This energized lance projects a monofilament thread that is suspended in a contained energy field. Upon contact, the thread slices through organic and synthetic materials, permanently disabling most creatures and robots.
 * While not the a "cut-everything-to-bits" weapon in the second game, in the first there wasn't much point to using anything else once you got it - so long as your batteries didn't run out, it'd happily chop through organics or robots alike. When combined with the cybernetic-super-speed-skate-shoes you picked up, the fact that it was a close-range weapon could be considered irrelevant.
 * The Beam Sword in the Super Smash Bros. series. In the first game it had a definite length, in Melee it started small but got bigger if it was used to land strong attacks. And in the Japanese version, it actually used lightsaber sound effects. (In Brawl, the lightsaber sound effects came overseas as well.)
 * Games after the first also had the blade automatically scale to suit the wielder's size (in addition to having it extend further when actually used).
 * In the Shining Force series, the first game's plot involved the main character wielding a Laser Blade that was made of Light Energy and another one that was made of Dark Energies. The "Chaosbreaker" obtained later in the game (renamed the "Force Sword" in the series' later installments) is made of both of these energies. All three swords are obtained through the normal playthrough and are all considered Swords Of Plot Advancement and Infinity Plus One Swords to boot!
 * Travis' Beam Katana in No More Heroes actually handles this in a sensible and relatively realistic manner. The hilt extends a "cap" to terminate the beam, and the beam is projected along a central filament strung between the hilt and the cap. The downside is that this makes the Beam Katana look like nothing so much as a Fluorescent Light-bulb Of Death. Then again, given the game's sense of humor, this was probably intentional.
 * Then again, he can upgrade to a five-bladed version of the Beam Katana, which looks less like a sword than a large laser club...
 * Then again again, his ultimate weapon plays this trope straight. It is, quite literally, a beam katana,.
 * And when you consider the sequel and the other characters in both games, there's a beam lance, beam zanbatou, beam nodachi, beam ''giant briefcase that transforms into a katana/ludicrously oversized straight-razor"...
 * Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards has Darth Maul-esque double-bladed lightsabers with Cutter+ Spark. A tap of the button kills everything around Kirby, and enemies die just by walking into the blade. Yes, it's as Badass as it sounds.
 * In The Guardian Legend, the eponymous Guardian's Saber Laser (single blade) and Cutter Laser (dual blade) sub-weapons deal lots of damage to enemies at close range. When she's in ship mode, they're not quite as effective.
 * By hunting a little in the sunken city of Thor in Tales of Phantasia, you can get Laser Blades for Cless to wield. If you happen to pick up extras, they sell for quite a price back in Medieval Stasis land. And if you're too lazy to hunt for them, they're storebought a bit later on.
 * You find it (and a Laser Shield) as a weapon for Zelos in Tales of Symphonia as well.
 * Kratos can wield that as well. And if you do have him rejoin you, he comes already equipped with one, rather than his flashy Flamberge. Unfortunately, he comes for a boss fight, and the laser blade is light elemental. Guess what the boss's Element is.
 * Deus Ex has the "Non-Eutectic Blade", a metal blade which is "continually beaten and forged by Nanomachines along its length." Ingame, it's a glowing blue lightsaber knockoff called the Dragon's Tooth Sword.
 * Actually, if you look in the first game, it's closer to Warhammer 40k's idea; you pull the sword out and energy surrounds it.
 * The Dragon's Tooth is not even a true Laser Blade: It's an Absurdly Sharp Blade that's constantly maintained by the nanites on it. The blue glow could either be the nanites themselves or a fancy special effect.
 * The term "non-eutectic" is Techno Babble in this context. A eutectic alloy melts and solidifies at an exact temperature (like solder) rather than gradually softening as temperature rises (like steel). All swords are non-eutectic, unless they're made of the steel alloy we call cast iron.
 * Makai Kingdom has laser blades as a weapon class. They are noticeable for having the highest base attack of all the melee weapons bar none, and are really good against vehicles as well. However, none of the base classes you gain prior to a New Game+ can proficiently use them.
 * Xemnas of the Kingdom Hearts series Dual Wields blades of Pure Energy that manifest from his hands. He can also fire them like projectiles. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, his signature weapon is the "Interdiction" and the other types of Etheral Blades he wields are given more variety, with various shapes and colors and some appearing as blades of energy projected from a central core instead of being entirely energy. Except for his Joke Weapon, a pair of fans.
 * The Unknown aka of Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance dual-wields a pair of blue Laser Blades. The Keyblade associated with him, No Name, is essentially a Laser Blade Keyblade.
 * The local incarnation of Squall / Leon can form one of these out of his Gunblade as a shoutout to Squall's "Blasting Zone" finisher
 * In Birth by Sleep, Terra and Aqua share a Command Style called Bladecharge that forms one of these around their Keyblade.
 * In Disgaea: Hour of Darkness you'll occasionally come across enemies wielding a 'Light Saber' which looks exactly like a Star Wars lightsaber. These can be stolen, and if found as legendary quality weapons can become quite decent Infinity Plus One weapons if levelled properly.
 * The flavor text on them even has a bit of a Shout-Out-- "The force may be with you..."
 * The actual Infinity+1 Sword, the Yoshitsuna, has the appearance of a laser blade.
 * Let's not forget the other laser weapons that were in Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. There were even laser Spears and Axes.
 * Dead Rising, which takes place in a shopping mall, has several toy laser swords you can loot from a toy shop. They do terrible damage, at least in the original as compared to the powerful but fragile ones in Chop Till You Drop, but the fact they make you emit a glow when wielded (and, strangely, when held in your inventory) basically make them the game's torches. There's also a special unlockable Real Laser Sword, but its durability means you can't use it long.
 * In Dead Rising 2, Chuck can make Laser Swords by combining a flashlight with some gems. It gets more lethal when he sees it on a movie poster.
 * Final Fantasy VI's Ultima Weapon may qualify for this trope. It sure looks like a lightsaber, and even extends in length depending on the user's current HP percentage. Very low HP will make it look little less than a dagger, but max HP will have it extend to longer than the character's sprite is tall.
 * Final Fantasy Legend had a weapon called an "L-saber". The Japanese versions straight up call them "lightsabers", and the ones featured in the Nintendo DS remake of Legend II looks exactly like, well...
 * Final Fantasy loves this trope like they love Shout Outs to Star Wars. In addition to the aforementioned weapons, there are elemental weapons. Moreover, there's a "Light Saber" in Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced.
 * One weapon (at circa 1:45) in Super Robot Wars is an enormous laser sword that makes no effort to stop its blade. The bloody thing is visible from space.
 * In Gunstar Heroes, the lightning + fire combo creates a gun that shoots a laser that terminates after a short distance. This pseudo laser sword is one of the best combos in the game because it can deal out a lot of damage and cancel out most enemy shots.
 * Radiant Silvergun has the Radiant Sword, an energy sword wielded by a space fighter.
 * Similarly, from Escape Velocity: Nova comes the ever-popular Thunderhead Lance - essentially a giant beam of damage sticking out the front of your ship. Makes absolutely no sense, but when your end result is space jousting, how could you not?
 * Even more similarly, Einhander has a laser blade weapon pod. The Einhander is a space fighter with a grappling arm specifically built to use enemies guns as it finds them. Enemies using a laser blade do not have a grappling arm. They just have a laser sword sticking out of a hardpoint in their front that may be pointed at you. It is the most beautifully nonsensical thing in the game, especially since doing a fireball motion while activating it will cause it to lance forward about three times its original length for a moment.
 * Even even more similarly, Jets N Guns Gold has not one, but two energy blade weapons: the Tsunami, which when fully upgraded resemles a laser bat'leth, and the Tsunami Beta, which resembles a SPINNING laser bat'leth.
 * They're also amazingly powerful, and (somewhat realistically) create a huge amount of waste heat.
 * The Neverwinter Nights Community Expansion Pack includes alternate blade appearances for weapons from daggers to rapiers to two-bladed swords that look remarkably like lightsabers. They don't actually change the in-game effect, however.
 * In Red Alert 3, Imperial Warriors are armed with beam katanas that they use for banzai charges to instantly kill infantry.
 * All There in the Manual: They're actually superheated regular katanas.
 * One of the potential bonus weapons in Silent Hill 3's New Game+ is a "beam saber." Given that the game is possibly the darkest (both figuratively and literally) of the series, and that the main character is both the youngest of the series' protagonists and the only female among them, the game can feel extremely oppressive. So it's a bit of a Mood Whiplash (though not necessarily in a bad way) when you gain the ability to turn Heather into the Magical Girl "Princess Heart" (complete with Transformation Sequence and appropriate costume), and either fight with a lightsabre or shoot laser beams from your freaking eyes.
 * Magical Girl, or girl-sized Super Robot?
 * Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance has Cyrax with the "Pulse Blade".
 * Before that, in Mortal Kombat 4, Cyrax had an earlier model of his Pulse Blade called the "Sabre of Light". Subtle. Very subtle.
 * Armageddon gives Sektor dual red-color pulse swords. Obvious hinting at his evilness.
 * Soulcalibur II gives Yun-Seong TWO of these as his extra weapons.
 * Funny how two Sith and a Jedi finally jump in and shows everybody how it's really done in Soulcaliber IV.
 * In the third Ratchet and Clank game there's a cheat code that replaces your wrench with one of these.
 * Space Pirates in Metroid Prime use energy blades as melee weapons. In the sequel they only had metal blades (altho they were called "photonic scythes", so they may have been a 40k-style "power field" involved), except for the Pirate Commandoes, who carried a gun that could fire energy projectiles or large exploding balls of every, as well as project a short beam blade.
 * Elite Pirates have energy claws.
 * The Tactical Laser System from Ace Combat acts more like an energy blade, being swept around to cut targets up, rather than a stereotypical laser cannon.
 * Considering that laser beams travel at the speed of light (duh), the TLS operates exactly the way a coherent laser beam should act. It has the advantage over, well, every other air-to-air weapon in that it has excruciatingly long range (capable of hitting enemies before they can even lock on to you) and its instant hit capabilities. Missiles have to fly to their targets and can be evaded during that time. The TLS immediately hits the enemy and destroys it in about one second. This does mean that the TLS is all but useless in a dogfight if you can't use guns for beans, but at range, it is entirely unbeatable.
 * Does the Excalibur count?
 * Star Ocean gave you light sabers called "Force Sword" (with a graphic nearly identical to the Star Wars version) as part of the plot; they were the only weapons that could harm the Big Bad.
 * Taking place in the future, several Phantasy Star weapons are comprised of lasers, or "photons", in the Online/Universe games. Armor, as well; one wonders why they didn't outright call it a force field, but we know the real reason.
 * And just like Mega Man Zero, they liberally apply these lasers to any sort of weapon. Laser boomerangs. Laser whips. Laser fists. Laser grenade launchers.
 * Armored Core had these. The Player Character always started off with a Laser Blade, and two of the most prominent Laserblades were the Moonlight, a heavy LB with some insane stats, and the Toros, a shield that had two Laserblades and was known as Stinger's weapon of choice in one of the games.
 * You can replace your stick with one of these in Ico's New Game+ for no real reason. But only in the Japanese and European versions.
 * This is only if you get the bonus weapon in the first playthrough.
 * It gets bigger when he holds Yorda's hand.
 * The one-use laser knife from Overblood.
 * Touhou has Flandre Scarlet and her Lavaetein. I believe it's supposedly made out of fire, but hey, this is a bullet hell shooter. It sure LOOKS like a Laser Blade to me.
 * In official art, its inactive form looks more like an oddly-shaped wand or whip.
 * Hinanawi Tenshi's Sword of Scarlet Thought also applies, at times.
 * World of Warcraft has a few of those available to players. Among them the retardedly rare, and thus disgustingly expensive, Teebu's Blazing Longsword. Many players probably don't even know this weapon exists. It's that rare.
 * A total of four of these exist in WoW - A red one, which is a rare world drop, a bright orange/pink one which is also a rare world drop, and two blue ones - one is a quest reward, the other has a chance to drop off a boss inside an instance. The blue ones can be enchanted with a fire enchant, which makes them glow purple.
 * At least one more was added in Cataclysm. This one is actually called a "Very Light Sabre", and is among the best weapons you can possibly get at the time of the quest... which is level 3 - and exclusive to gnome warriors. Each gnome class gets its own Star Wars Shout-Out, from the Death Star (rogue mace) and Staff of the Force (priest staff), to the decidedly more obscure Vibro Knife (warlock dagger) and Electro-Staff (mage staff).
 * There's also the Runeforging ability Death Knights get that can be used on swords, that while not making the swords in question in question true Laser Blades, they glow vividly just like real ones.
 * Battle Realms gives the Ronin and Samurai swords that can turn into these. The Wolf Clan Dryad starts off with nature-powered Laser Blades.
 * In the second ''Warriors Orochi game, Yoshitsune Minamoto has a special gauntlet that produces an energy blade. Said gauntlet and blade can even fire energy blades.
 * Constructor X from Bomberman Generations, who forms one from his drill-arm and causes explosions when swung.


 * Multi-Dimensional Thief, an old text adventure game, parodies the Star Wars lightsaber. It can cut anything as long as it's an inventory object, and some versions of the game allow the lightsaber to either cut itself or your fingers (without ill effects other than losing the lightsaber.) Just don't go through a hole while carrying it.
 * Another, lesser known Capcom example is Hayato Kanzaki from Star Gladiators who wielded a laser blade weapon as well. Of course, people will remember more his inclusion in Marvel vs Capcom 2
 * Aion currently has a weapon skin called the "Aether Blade" which can be purchased from their website and used to remodel your character, while it doesn't extend the way a Star Wars style Light Saber would, it does strongly resemble one while remaining legally distinct from it.
 * Not merely content to show Amaterasu up and be a general thorn in her paws, Waka in Okami had to have a better sword than Ammy to boot! While she has to make due with metallic blades (made of divine metals, mind you, but metal nonetheless), he gets the Laser Sword... and a Laser Sword that extends from inside of his flute! Showing her up that bad ought to be considered blasphemy if not a mortal sin!
 * While it does nothing to allieviate the injustice done to Amaterasu, the player can finally get a chance to use Waka's sword in Bayonetta, granted that they can complete the game on the highest difficulty level to obtain it. It might appear to be worthless if one had to tackle the Non-Stop Infinte Climax Mode,but there's one last being left to challenge who justifies use of so much power and then some.
 * Of course one could just ignore that difficulty and input the cheat code instead.
 * Also we have Master Yi's skin,Chosen One in League of Legends. He wears a lightsaber!
 * Johnny Garland has one, but it's less a laser blade and more pure evil channeled into his knife.
 * Fraxy gives us this exact blade in three lengths!
 * Wizardry being full of Schizo-Tech, the top sword of the last three games is the *Light* *Sword* - a Lightsabre that your warriors in full plate can wield. Oh, and it's a weapon of Robot-slaying.
 * Sword-wielders in City of Heroes can get these as unlockables. There's even a laser axe. No change in power and they still do the same type of damage, but hotly pursued nonetheless.
 * The first Shin Megami Tensei has Plasma Swords as a weapon usable only by Law Hero (or a lawful Main Character). Since items didn't have graphics in that game, we don't really know what it looked like, though.
 * The most powerful one-handed sword in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is a laser sword, but getting all the components to craft it takes some work.
 * In Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, combining the Nitesco glyph with any weapon glyph will make Shanoa smack the enemy with a Laser BFS several times her own size. This is the strongest attack in the game, and sufficiently boosted it can take even Dracula himself out with just a few swipes.
 * of Umineko no Naku Koro ni busts out a laser blade in the fantasy scenes.
 * The Komato Assassins in Iji have laser daggers.
 * The Monado from Xenoblade. Extra points for being a BFS Laser Blade.
 * It's a particularly odd example in that it already looks like an odd BFS while inactive. While active, the blade opens up to reveal an even bigger Laser Blade, capable of getting big enough to be wielded by the Bionis, a titan whose body makes up half the known world!
 * According to one of the Mass Effect 3 trailers, Shepard will have an energy blade appearing on the forearm the same way as an omni-tool to be used to finish off enemies in melee combat.
 * It's actually a searing hot silicon-carbide blade flash-forged by your omni-tool and suspended in a mass effect field with warning holograms so you don't accidentally burn yourself.
 * One type of the standard enemies as well as one of the boses of the old arcade game Xain D'Sleena (aka: Solar Warrior) use laser blades. If they hit you with them, you are dead, no matter how much life you've remaining.

Web Animation

 * Haloid. Samus has one that not only cuts things but acts as a tractor beam, blaster and stasis field generator.

Webcomics
"Luke: Oh god, it's a laser sword. Why did it have to be a laser sword? R2-D2: Lando can rescue you guys. Luke: Has he ever used one before? Lando: No!! R2-D2: He's got hands. Luke: For the moment."
 * The multi-purpose "aser-blades" (not a typo) in the space arc of Arthur, King of Time and Space. Described in full in this strip, including comparision to a lightsaber (without actually saying "lightsaber").
 * Darth Maul sells Zexion lightsabers in Ansem Retort. He claims to have a hundred of them in his car to sell to Star Wars geeks for organs.
 * Note that Zexion hasn't really used them since season one, unlike Darth Maul and Xemnas, who use them to this day.
 * In keeping with the general theme of the comic, Darths and Droids offers humorous alternate explanations for the use of lightsabers. Qui-gon and Obi-wan only have lightsabers because they didn't start off with enough money to buy blasters, and the Jedi are only able to block blaster fire because the players fast-talked the GM into letting them do so.
 * And, to boot, they always use the term "laser sword" in lieu of "lightsaber".
 * Also, this:


 * Sinfest has a laser scythe. Because why not to walk this one to the end.
 * Gunnerkrigg Court has Coyote's Tooth looking like this, at least in one of its forms when unsheathed. This thing doesn't hum—it laughs.
 * xkcd made fun of those things... twice.

Web Original
"Wario: So why do we fight with Li.... uhh I mean Beam Swords? Mario: I don't know. They use them in Super Smash Brothers."
 * Spencer uses a Star Wars type lightsaber in the Lonelygirl15 episode "We Have A Plan".
 * In the Whateley Universe, Tennyo can generate a "laser blade" made of anti-matter. How she makes anti-matter at will is a whole 'nother problem. Word of God says the devisors and gadgeteers can't make working lightsabers, even though they all try, sooner or later.
 * Stupid Mario Brothers uses them like in Super Smash Bros., but they are called Beam Swords.
 * which gets Lampshaded by Wario and Mario in Season 4

Western Animation
"Randal: The light sabers in Star Wars. You turn it on, and it goes ye high. How does it know when to stop? Dante: The Force? Randal: That's your excuse for everything!"
 * The Sun Sword from Thundarr the Barbarian.
 * Galtar and his golden lance does the Darth Maul version.
 * In animated Teen Titans, there's an extremely fanboyish villain named Control Freak who, it turns out, is a decent fighter due to The Matrix-style programmed skill. His weapon of choice is a light-lance made of two sets of dual beams. (The colors are red, blue, green, and purple, the four colors of lightsabers in the Star Wars movies.)
 * Kim Possible fights some Ninjas in The Movie who wield energy swords.
 * In the pilot epsidode of Bucky O Hare and The Toad Wars cartoon, Deadeye Duck freaks out because he thinks the "hairless ape" intruder (actually human Willy) is packing a lightsaber (he actually says "lightsaber", too). Turns out it's just a generic flashlight.
 * She Ra Princess of Power featured energy blades in the hands of some secondary characters, meaning they weren't even close to most powerful thing around in that universe.
 * Your mileage may vary...in one episode She-Ra's friendly aerial pirate is trapped in a subterranean cave with an ominous charachter who totally pwns him in personal combat due to various gadgets much cooler than the ones he had access to. The most sever pwnage occourred when said character lighted up a "photon cutlass" with which he sent poor Hawk flying freely around after he tried to deflect a blow with his mere "laser sabre". So photon cutlasses packed punch in She-Ra's universe!
 * Moreover the asskicking charachter was later revealed to be Hawk's long-lost pirate father who was just fooling around and testing his kid's mettle. In the end he donated all of his asskicking equipment to his son.
 * Subverted by The Venture Brothers in "Tag Sale - You're It!". Dr. Venture throws a yard sale, and Henchmen #21 purchases a prototype laser sword that was rejected by the Army. #21 later attempts to take on Brock Samson with his new toy, with predictable consequences when it's demonstrated that the prototype is a glorified flashlight.
 * "The Army said 'we don't swordfight anymore', and Hasbro wasn't interested in a toy that cost over $2 million in parts alone."
 * The eponymous Giant Mecha in Megas XLR has an energy sword, activated by Coop hitting the Big Red Button Labelled "That cool energy sword thing"
 * The first episode of Batman the Brave And The Bold has Batman storing one of these in his utility belt. Where did it come from? Why does he only use it once? Doesn't it violate his technical pacifism? Who cares? It's Batman with a lightsaber!
 * Not just once; in a later episode's cold open, he dual-wields it alongside a demon's sword.
 * The Batman Beyond villain Payback use a laser whip that double as sword.
 * A scene inside a chop shop showed crooks slicing up stolen cars with a laser chainsaw.
 * In Zorro: Generation Z everyone has laser swords, and a lot of people have laser whips. Since it otherwise seems to be The Present Day, it's not clear where they came from, but it wouldn't be Zorro without cool swordplay.
 * The eponymous hero of Ulysses 31 wields a "Raypier" which doubles as an energy pistol and a laser sword. For defence, he has an energy shield (think Captain America (comics) when his usual shield was stolen) which he wears on one wrist like a watch.
 * Parodied in Futurama: police officers use lightsabers as non-lethal batons.
 * In Teamo Supremo, Laser Pirate's main weapon is his laser hook, which can morph into other weapons, such as a laser blade and a laser cannon.
 * The "how is a laser stopping at an arbitrary distance" problem is conversed in Clerks the Animated Series:

"Katara: What's a wind sword? Aang: It's where I get a sword handle, and then I just swing this around and bend air out like a blade. (makes lightsaber noises)"
 * Dead Space Downfall has laser chainsaws; sadly, these do not appear in the game.
 * Duke L'Orange in The Mighty Ducks has one.
 * In 1987, there was a U.S.-produced series called Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, with Sanrio's eponymous character and her friends parodying fairy tales, and even popular movies. One episode featured a parody of Star Wars, complete with Tuxedo Sam (who played the Luke Skywalker character) and Catnip (who played the Darth Vader character) having a lightsaber fight (which also happens in the Title Sequence).
 * In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing" Part II, One of the Jokerz gang working for the time travelling villain Chronos, uses a double-bladed red lightsaber as a weapon.
 * Kat wields one in the Kid vs. Kat episode "Play N'Ice".
 * Seen a couple of times on Galaxy Rangers, mostly among space pirates and other low-level thugs.
 * In an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang says that what he needs to complete his Scary Impractical Armor ensemble is a "wind sword."


 * Used by the Fearsome Hand in Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Real Life

 * On his Sci-Fi Science television series, Dr. Michio Kaku explored the possibility of making a real-life lightsaber out of an extended plasma torch. Unfortunately, this required trillions of nanobatteries, theoretical superceramics, and enough electricity to power a small city. This may be viable in the long-term, but unlikely for the next few decades.
 * Still prone to Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?; that level of technology could easily make powerful guns which are more practical anyways.