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{{trope}}
[[File:WDTGL.jpg|link=One Piece
{{quote|''"With [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] deleting dynamite gags from cartoons, do you find that your children are using explosives less frequently?"''
|'''Mark LoPresti'''}}
In an example of the [[
▲{{quote|''"With [[ABC]] deleting dynamite gags from cartoons, do you find that your children are using explosives less frequently?"''|'''Mark LoPresti'''}}
▲In an example of the [[Nerf|nerfing]] of violence, almost all firearms in animated cartoons made since the late 1970s or early 1980s, if they appear at all, will be radically different from real guns, either in form or in function. [[Ray Gun|Energy weapons]] are a popular choice.
▲Sometimes it gets explained -- but usually, not.
▲==== Several reasons for this have been theorized: ====
* Changes in American gun culture, akin to those that made things like smoking an increasingly rare phenomenon in American media.
* Imitability. Shooting someone with a bullet is [[Don't Try This At Home|an imitable act]] which might result in negative publicity, but a kid can't find his Dad's laser rifle and zapfry his buddy. [[Technology Marches On|Yet]].
* Higher leeway on how much damage it deals and how it is portrayed. It is easy to accept an action hero getting [[Frickin' Laser Beams|blasted away by an energy beam and then jumping back to his feet]], but if he got shot with a bullet, then we'd have to deal with the fact that he has a physical object lodged in his
Note that this is usually limited to bullet-firing weapons. More destructive weapons like RPG's may still be seen in works using this trope, despite (or perhaps ''because'' of) the increased difficulty in obtaining them. In rare cases, it will have [[BFG|large guns]] fire actual bullets, but still no realistic small arms.
* When characters who would be expected to own
* When most or all of the guns in a particular universe are energy-based or use [[Abnormal Ammo]], regardless of the owner or the universe's particular technological level.
* When a firearm looks and acts like a real firearm, even including parts which make sense for bullets but not for lasers, but whose ordnance still looks or sounds like lasers. Inversely, when an unrealistic-looking gun fires actual bullets.
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Goes hand in hand with [[The Lethal Connotation of Guns and Others]]. See also [[Abnormal Ammo]], [[Trick Arrow]], [[Inverse Law of Sharpness and Accuracy]]. Often given to a [[Badbutt]].
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime
* In the first few episodes of [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids!']] ''[[
** In one instance, a poison dart gun was changed to shoot poison ''suction cups''.
** In the flashback to Luffy and Shank's origin stories, Shanks is held up point blank with a gun to his temple and he casually points out that the man holding the gun is in danger of a backblast if his skull causes the bullet to shrapnel, just to show how badass he is. In the 4kids version the man is holding a popgun, although Shank's lines remain mostly unchanged. Shank's man shoots the would-be shooter dead and they didn't bother changing his gun, but left in a comment that it was full of blanks and that the other man simply fainted.
*** Which ironically makes the scene considerably ''less'' family friendly, as it [[Family
** Kaya threatens Kuro with Usopp's slingshot. Which makes a rattling sound suspiciously similar to a gun when she trembles.
* The dub of ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' slightly modifies the names and sound effect of Gargomon's attacks (essentially done with a Gatling gun in the original).
** Beelzemon, on the other hand, got to keep his realistic guns and CGI ''Matrix''-esque bullets, though there were still laser sound effects.
** The Japanese <s> military</s> Self Defense Forces shown were carrying real guns (apparently the Howa 89). Again, only the firing sounds were changed. Not to mention the police officers, who also get to draw their weapons.
** In ''[[Digimon Data Squad]]'', RizeGreymon's bullet sounds were changed to laser sounds, even though he was still shooting from a gun.
*** Oddly, the name of the attack was still "Trident Revolver".
** Also in ''Digimon Data Squad'', BomberNanimon, originally a giant bomb, attacked the amusement park. In the U.S., he was changed to Citramon, a giant orange, and a living [[Homage]] to [[Bobobo-Bo
** An interesting example: The Digimon Revolvermon is basically a giant revolver barrel with limbs and a cowboy hat. While the English dub changed his ''name'' to Deputymon, his appearance and attacks were not altered at all.
** Probably because, if they erased his gun, he would look more like a human than a Digimon.
* The [[Edited for Syndication|broadcast version]] of the dub of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam
** This was edited much less in Canada (''Gundam SEED'' aired at 9PM or later on Fridays) -- mainly editing out the over-graphic deaths had by some "extras" (such as from the radiation
*** One [[Epileptic Trees|fan theory]] is that the gun edits were intentionally ludicrous: Bandai and CN both realized that the fans would see right through the edits, but it still had to be done, so they were made silly-looking to give viewers something to laugh at.
* Not just the broadcast version, but the English Dub period (even on the DVD) replaced the firing sounds of the head vulcans of various Gundams in ''[[G Gundam]]'' to sound more like rapid-fire lasers.
* Both the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' card game and TV show have monsters that wield or resemble guns edited into lasers... [[Memetic Mutation|in]] ''[[Memetic Mutation|America!]]''. The most notable example of this is the monster called "Barrel Dragon", which could be described as resembling several guns welded together in Japan (whether this counts as [[Truth in Television]] is arguable). An exception is the "Ancient Gear Soldier" in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', which uses a submachine gun-arm - it can be argued this was just because editing it would have looked ridiculous.
** Several guns are left intact however, but are slightly redesigned to look less like real guns. One particular trap card features an old fashioned flintlock, in the japanese version, that was covered in gold ornaments for the international release.
** There's also the henchmen who had their guns removed and were considered threatening because they were ''pointing'' at someone. This was parodied several times in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!:
{{quote|
''(...)''
'''Tristan:''' Bakura! Don't be a hero! They've got invisible guns! }}
*** The [[Mooks]] even discuss it during [[The Stinger]].
{{quote|
** A later episode included a goon holding Grandpa at gunpoint. The editors had apparently learned their lesson from the above example: the [[Mooks]] just weren't intimidating armed with only their fingers. They hadn't learned it well enough, however, as they replaced this guy's gun with... a ''slingshot''.
** In the Japanese version of ''Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds'', some character wield realistic-looking guns, but to remain child friendly, these guns shoot "lazer beams" in one arc, and in another arc in the next season, six-shot revolver style guns shoot "Stun Cannons". To be fair, ''5Ds'' does take place in the future, and in one scene the laser beam completely dismembered a mans arm.
* A painful example of this trope can be found in the [[Edited for Syndication]] ''[[Toonami]]'' dub of ''[[Outlaw Star]]'', in which guns were edited to become lasers, but ''almost every scene'' showing Gene buying bullets ''stayed in the show''.
* ''Zatch Bell'' (a.k.a. ''[[Gash Bell]]'') has bizarrely inconsistent censorship. In several episodes, automatic rifles are edited to fire lasers and feature large metal bulbs along the barrels. In others (namely, the episode "Danny Boy"), guns are not censored at all, even when they are fired
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'''s weapon nut Giroro is especially noticeable in that his low-ordinance weapons (e.g., his trademark ''barrelless'' handgun) don't actually seem to use bullets, despite being treated as if they do.
* In the anime version of the manga ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn|Reborn]]!'', Reborn's gun is colored green and is actually a [[Equippable Ally|shape-shifted form of his pet lizard]], and the [[Magic Bullets|special bullets]] it fires transform into energy before they can hit and power-up Tsuna (with the bleeding from the shots removed too). Similarly, Lambo's grenades are colored purple. Oddly enough, the other guns in the series remain untouched. This however was probably done in order to give the show a standard transformation sequence and the Lambo thing because [[Rule of Funny|it's funnier that way]].
** Also, instead of shooting himself with his Ten-Year Bazooka, Lambo now leaps inside of it. Kind of odd...
* An interesting reversal: in the English dub of the ''[[
* In ''[[Mega Man NT Warrior]]'' they have laser guns, and the originally-sharp laser swords were blurred from the original...sometimes. Somewhat justified, as [[Everything Is Online|all combat takes place on the Internet with AI]].
** The names of some battlechips, the universe's weaponry, were also altered or changed entirely if they had specific words in them. Notable changes include Sword to Cyber Sword, Mini Bombs to Mini Boomer, Shotgun to Blaster and Cannon to Mega Blaster. Strangely enough, the upgraded versions of the Cannon weapon, Hi-Cannon and Mega Cannon, retained their original names.
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** This becomes even less believable when lasers that were previously guns are shown being shot around in a Space Station takeover during a flashback of an event which took place fifty years previously. Because of course, they ''had'' lasers in the nineteen-fifties. And space stations.
* In ''[[Transformers Armada]],'' Demolishor's missiles were frequently shown to ''stay in place but fire missile-shaped lasers.'' Of course, it does provide an explanation for the usual "we can see he's only got four, so how come he's been blasting away all day and never runs out?" problem that some Transformers have. Most weapons fire appears to be lasers, but Cyclonus has more than once told an enemy to "eat lead".
* In the [[
* Played literally in one episode of ''[[Full Metal Panic
* In ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', one goon of the Naked Mummy Dark Guild is seen using a shotgun loaded with magic bullets. In the anime it was changed to a more toy-looking rifle.
* In ''[[Pokémon]]'', no Officer Jenny even carries a gun. They just have fire-spewing attack dogs tackle the bad guys, which is obviously much safer. Even when a [[Cowboy Cop|"wild"]] Jenny appears with only a talking bird as a Pokémon, she uses...[[Improbable Weapon User|well, pretty much bowling balls]]. The bad guys prefer to make their Pokémon do the fighting as well, [[Justified Trope|though that's a lot cheaper and easier than using a gun]]. The one episode that had a character with a gun got [[Missing Episode|banned]] [[No Export for You|almost worldwide]], even though no one was shot with it. However, giant mecha and battleships firing a barrage of missiles are apparently just fine, even though most Team Rocket robots fire [[Abnormal Ammo|nets, energy beams or glue]] considering they want to steal and not hurt Pokémon.
** Actually, one episode has a store full of people aim shotguns at Ash, thinking he's a robber, and another has an Officer Jenny aim a rifle at the twerps thinking they're poachers. Both of these episodes aired in America uncensored. Only the one where the Safari Zone warden actually fires his gun was banned, presumably because the gun appeared several times and couldn't have been edited out without completely butchering the episode. That, and it could have landed them with an anti-defamation lawsuit for portraying a trigger-happy park ranger.
* ''[[Asobi
* When Gladstone Publishing reprinted various ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
== Comics ==▼
* In [http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2005-08-04/ one part] of the syndicated comic strip ''[[Dilbert]]'', Dogbert gets a job as a hostage negotiator, telling the assailant to come out unarmed. He then orders a policeman to shoot him... with a ''donut that fires bullets''.▼
** According to one of Scott Adams' books, based on his blog: it was originally a gun, but this was changed to a blank panel with 3 "BAM!" sound effects due to [[Executive Meddling]]. It was subsequently changed to firing from a doughnut after he found out that he could get away with it.▼
▲* When Gladstone Publishing reprinted various ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (Comic Book)|Uncle Scrooge]]'' stories that had first been published in Europe, they had to redraw some scenes involving firearms, leading to scenes of Uncle Scrooge apparently being threatened by having a finger waved under his beak.
* While not a direct use of this trope, it is subverted in one story of [[The Punisher]] 2099. The Punisher runs across a female copycat vigilante of him, who prefers to kill crooks using painful methods and weapons. The Punisher looks down on her for this, saying that he prefers clean kills and doesn't take pleasure in killing. She sneers at him because he uses lasers. According to her, lasers burn into flesh and boil the blood. The wound always go septic and the nerves rarely regrow. They may look nice in the "Holo-dramas", but they're just as nasty as what she uses.
== Films -- Animation ==
* In ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'', Carface's tommy gun is turned into a tommy gun... that fires red lasers. How they got advanced laser weaponry in 1939 is never explained. Oddly enough, they leave in the part where they violently gun down Charlie in front of the apple cart (and a [[Nightmare Fuel|bunch of other things wrong with this movie]]).
* ''[[An American Tail|Fievel Goes West]]'' is a mixed example. While there are some revolvers, those only get aimed at inanimate objects or [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|aimed so badly]] they don't come close to hitting anyone. When the cats (and one dog) have their shoot-out, it's with slingshots that use bullet and ricochet sound effects.
* The [[Disney Animated Canon]] both uses and averts this trope. Played straight in ''[[Saludos Amigos]]'', ''The Three Cabelleros'' (Panchito's gun) and ''[[Pocahontas]]'' (plenty people get shot, but there's no carnage in sight), but averted painfully in ''[[Tarzan]]'', ''[[Atlantis:
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In the ''[[Star Wars]]'' spin-off film ''[[Ewoks the Battle For Endor]]'', the Ewoks fight goblinlike creatures that live in a [[Dark Age Europe|Dark Ages]] castle, get dinosaur-looking aliens to pull their wooden wagons that use log-ends as wheels, and fight with laser
** To make things worse, [[George Lucas|Lucas]] at one point was supposed to be considering removing the "bullet holes" on dead stormtroopers' armors.
** Yeah, but the movie happens not more than a few decades before ''[[Return of the Jedi|RotJ]]'', by which point blasters are common and slugthrowers (what projectile weapons are called in canon) are rare, so using blasters is perfectly acceptable.
** On the subject of ''[[Star Wars]]'', the laser guns and lightsabers are already guilty of this trope; [[Word of God]] says ''[[Star Wars]]'' is intended to be a kids' series.
** The franchise as a whole on the other hand, deliberately invokes the "lasers" that look ''very'' similar to normal firearms part by making all props [http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Star_Wars based on real weapons] with some sci-fi bits glued on in order to create a "lived in" sci-fi setting.
* The 20th Anniversary Edition of ''[[
** Even more so, the same episode has an edited version of ''[[
** Better still, in Australia, so much was "altered" in the 20th Anniversary Edition that the studio was legally required to resubmit it for
* The [[Live Action Adaptation]] ''[[G.I. Joe:
* ''[[
* ''[[Bugsy Malone]]'': The "splurge-guns" and the pies.
* ''[[Captain America:
== Literature ==
* The Random House novelizations of ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' comics have an... ''odd'' view of what is or isn't to be censored. In one story, what was a bullet from a normal gun is changed to an "energy ray" from a futuristic blaster... but an alternate-future Wolverine's zapping by a Sentinel in "Days of Future Past" was described as follows:
{{quote|
''"Eyearrrgh!"''
The most fearless X-Man let out a horrendous, bloodcurdling scream and then he fell to the ground. The blast destroyed him and left behind only a smoking adamantium skeleton.
Wolverine was dead.]] }}
== Live-Action TV ==
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* ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' features a very minor version. In the original ''[[Kamen Rider Agito]]'' G3-X's weapons fired bullets and rockets. In the ''Agito'' [[Alternate Universe]] visited in ''Decade'' the G3's Gatling gun shoots red laser beams. Very slightly justified as well since it is an, well, ''alternate universe equivalent'' and thus not the original armor.
* [[Super Sentai]] is odd about its use of this. Of course, we're dealing with magical/futuristic tech, and so lasers aren't as wildly out of place as in most series that use this trope, Anyway, sometimes the same weapons will shoot beams one day and bullets the next. Sometimes beams will go Matrixy and you'll ''see a bullet inside.'' Sometimes things that really, really shouldn't shoot bullets will (ancient technology, swords, claws, etc.) At one point (the Dekaranger version and SPD version are exactly the same), we get a "tink!" and [[Bullet Sparks]] off of a [[Monster of the Week]]'s new armor. He turns to see Blue pointing at him with his weapon - which he fires again, only ''this time it's a blue beam.''
** [[Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger]] did finally largely pull an [[
* [[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight]] has the bullets from Torque's usual gun changed to lasers (green, the color of his suit), but his finisher (which has [[More Dakka]], [[Beam Spam]], and a [[Macross Missile Massacre]] ''at once!'' [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]], after all.) remains the same as it was in [[Kamen Rider Ryuki]].
** {{spoiler|Possibly justified by the fact the Riders' gear were made by [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]].}}
* ''[[Captain Power and
* A tv comedy pilot "Inside O.U.T." (a parody of ''[[Mission: Impossible]]''), made after the infamous year 1968, made a point to show the good guys' guns shot non-lethal tranquilizer bullets.
▲== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* In [http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2005-08-04/ one part] of the syndicated comic strip ''[[Dilbert]]'', Dogbert gets a job as a hostage negotiator, telling the assailant to come out unarmed. He then orders a policeman to shoot him... with a ''donut that fires bullets''.
▲** According to one of Scott Adams' books, based on his blog: it was originally a gun, but this was changed to a blank panel with 3 "BAM!" sound effects due to [[Executive Meddling]]. It was subsequently changed to firing from a doughnut after he found out that he could get away with it.
== Puppet Shows ==
* When the Gerry Anderson series ''Stingray'' was turned into a movie by mashing a few episodes together, the scenes where the various craft fired torpedoes at each other were changed so that laser beams were fired instead.
* Same creator, same principle, different series: when some episodes of ''[[Captain Scarlet]]'' were mashed together to create a movie, the missiles fired by the Mysteron saucers were turned into lasers, and shoddy-looking ones at that. It is possible that this was simply an attempt to make them more alien, but either way it failed at whatever it was trying to do.
▲== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Super Smash Bros]]. Brawl'', it was specifically said that [[Metal Gear|Solid Snake]] could not use guns... but his rocket launcher, mortar, grenades, and land mines are all good. This may have also been for gameplay reason though, since a projectile that moves almost instantly (like Sheik's needles) that you could [[Spam Attack|fire almost constantly]] would be [[Game Breaker|really cheap]] (also, [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosions]] [[Rule of Cool|are more fun]] and [[Rule of Funny|more hilarious]]). Also, [[Star Fox (Video Game)|Fox, Falco, Wolf]], and [[Metroid|Samus]] get to use energy weapons, but that's more a matter of [[Frickin Laser Beams]] than this.▼
* Occurs within the ''[[Command and Conquer]]'' [[Novelization]] of ''Tiberium Wars''. Within the novel, the regular infantry of Nod (the bad guys) are armed with energy weapons. While Nod do have lasers within the game, its only limited to special forces, while the regular mooks get conventional weapons. The trope is almost invoked by one soldier "Where the hell'd they get-" after seeing the lasers. The change isn't because of censorship, but as a result of a continuity error.▼
** In the expansion to ''Tiberium Wars'', the Black Hand subfaction can upgrade their basic [[Mook|mooks]] to use lasers. That said, they are [[Elite Mooks]], since the Black Hand is apparently Nod's elite.▼
* Inverted (sort of) in ''[[Osu Tatakae Ouendan]]''. At first the cops use real guns to fight rampaging robots which don't do anything. Then they figure out their weakness and attack with water guns instead, which are [[Justified Trope|very effective]].▼
* [[Disney]] ended up doing that in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] II''. In the first game, the only gun we had was in Deep Jungle ([[Tarzan]]'s world), which was Clayton's, and it wasn't censored. In the second game though, there were two occasions of guns in the Japanese version, and both of them were changed in the American release -- the first were the old-fashioned muskets from Port Royal (''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' world), which were replaced by crossbows (though still sounding like muskets and having ''muzzle flashes''); the second was Xigbar's Special Attack in which he merged his two laser guns to create a sniper rifle, which was altered to... well, the same laser guns not merging.▼
** Actually both Will and Jack had flintlock pistols unedited, and even Barbossa too in the boss fight.▼
** There is a part in the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movie when Will puts a gun to his head and threatens to kill himself if his friends are not released (because the pirates can't end their curse without him). In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', he leaps to the edge of the ship, just like the movie, and threatens his own life...while pointing the gun at the ground. You probably don't want to encourage children to point guns at their owns heads, but at the same time it was a bit jarring to anyone familiar with the movie.▼
** Oddly enough, when ''358/2 Days'' came out, they stopped doing that to Xigbar, whose Limit Break has him again merge his gun-arrows into a sniper rifle.▼
** They did not exactly "stop doing it", actually, as ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep|Birth by Sleep]]'' censored [[Significant Anagram|Braig]] combining his Arrowguns into a sniper rifle. This edit manages to be even ''more'' ridiculous than in Xigbar's case, as Braig's Arrowguns are pretty much stylized [[Automatic Crossbows|crossbows]] that [[Frickin Laser Beams|shoot lasers]]. It probably goes without saying that the resulting sniper rifle looks less than realistic.▼
** Clayton's aforementioned rifle was not edited or censored in any shape or form in ''[[Tarzan]]''. It's as realistic as the guns in ''Pirates''... whereas Xigbar's gun-arrows are decidedly not. Children are probably going to see these movies before playing ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' (or at least, it would be more likely for their parents to allow them to see them), so this censoring really makes little sense.▼
** The series' iconic Keyblade was originally planned to be a [http://ds.ign.com/articles/100/1002401p1.html chainsaw-like weapon.] Disney obviously wasn't too happy about this idea.▼
* Nintendo's Famicom Light Gun originally featured a realistic revolver design in Japan. When it was converted into the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] Zapper overseas, it was given a "futuristic" redesign to comply with U.S. safety standards. Later versions of the Zapper even changed the color of the gun's coating from its original gray to orage due to revised standards. This also applies to all light gun peripherals that had been exported from Japan to the overseas market. Light guns such as Sega's Virtua Gun (renamed the Stunner overseas) and Namco's GunCon were originally sold in realistic-looking black coating in Japan but were repainted orange for the overseas market to distinguish them from real guns.▼
* Sort of an in-universe example: [[Commander Keen (Video Game)|Commander Keen]] used rayguns in his first games, the Invasion of the Vorticons trilogy (and the opening story of Keen Dreams), then switched to a Neural Stunner for the rest of his games. This was likely due to how 1.) all the Vorticons Keen slaughtered were mind-controlled instead of evil and Keen didn't want to risk ending up responsible for the annihilation of an alien race again, and 2.) stunned enemies with stars circling their heads are more amusing to look at in a game that pioneered DOS as a gaming platform.▼
* The early ''[[Wolfenstein 3D (Video Game)|Wolfenstein 3D]]'' clone ''[[Nitemare 3D]]'' had you start out with a plasma gun in a modern-day haunted house setting; however, you do later get a revolver. The point of the plasma gun is probably that its ammo is slow to reach the target, whereas [[Revolvers Are Just Better|the more ammo-rationed revolver]] [[Hit Scan|hits its target instantly]], making it a better choice for long-range targets and enemies that can shoot back.▼
* ''[[Chex Quest]]'': The opening movie makes it clear that conventional weapons can pass right through the slime-based phlegmoids, so the protagonist must use "zorching" weapons to return enemies back to their home dimension.▼
* Forgotten character Fang the Sniper from Sonic the Hedgehog was originally meant to have a [[Revolvers Are Just Better|revolver]] for a weapon. The revolver itself was never used in any games (despite some unused sprites of him holding it), but for his playable appearance in ''[[Sonic the Fighters (Video Game)|Sonic the Fighters]]'' he was given a cork-shooting popgun.▼
* [[Night Trap]]. "Weird Eddie", one of the Martin's neighbors, invented a laser gun in order to combat them and the augers. Interestingly, the SCAT team has real guns. (Though no one is shown being shot on-screen.)▼
== Toys ==
* [[LEGO]] have a "no present-day weapons"
** This is why even ''[[Bionicle]]'', easily the most violent Lego franchise ever, is restricted to energy weapons and [[Abnormal Ammo]].
*** Bionicle went so far as to use the words Murder and Thieves for one of their lines, and made it very clear that [[Anyone Can Die]] in their post-Inika Story arcs (whereas in all other stories the characters would get comically blown to pieces, but survive nonetheless since they can just rebuild themselves). The closest they've ever gotten to a real weapon was the Cordak Missile Launchers, which functioned like a Gatling gun (but it only held 6 ammo rounds) and even then it was far too comically short to be taken seriously.
** However, there are pistols and tommyguns in the [[Batman]] and [[Indiana Jones]] sets, albeit still cartoony. And there's always third-party Brickarms to supply your minifigs with firearms.
** The Pirate Lego sets all included muskets and flintlock pistols. Not "present-day" per se, but still firearms.
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** IIRC the "present-day" means "World War II or later".
*** The "present day" rule was actually relaxed at some point - no form of realistic gunpowder weapon was allowed at first, even obviously obsolete ones.
** The [[Lego Adaptation Game
** This is the main gripe of the technic fans, as these older consumers know full well that Lego has the ability to create realistic, working tanks and military aircrafts, and they would be ''awesome''. However due to the above rule, we will never see them officially released. Lego has no problem releasing fictional, futuristic tanks however.
*** This is also why the Lego Starwars line is considered by all to be their best selling line, as they can make movie-accurate guns and war machines without violating their rule. In particular the old technic lines and the larger hobbysets are much well received by the older demographic, who long for realistic tanks, but get close enough with a movie-accurate scale Millenium Falcon.
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* ''[[Transformers]]'': [[Transformers Generation 1|G1]] Megatron's original altmode was a realistic [http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/d/d7/G1Megatron_toy.jpg Walther P-38], though roughly 2/3 actual size. Subsequent releases in America had the toy partially or completely recolored with neon parts to look more like a futuristic laser (though some countries with more restrictive gun laws were not subject to this change). Future incarnations of Megatron had a combat vehicle or spaceship altmode instead, though this could be due to the main villain become an immobile object to be held by [[The Starscream]], of all bots, was less than awesome.
** Some states actually allow gun toys that look like real guns so long as they have the orange cap. However, Hasbro isn't going to make versions for each state and then deal with what happens when someone takes one with them on vacation, etc.
** Averted by Masterpiece Megatron, which again became a realistic
** Legends Class (smallest size class for non-[[Transformers Armada|mini-cons]]. Car characters are about Hot Wheels size.) G1 Megs is even getting an orange cap. Apparently we're worried about squirrel cops shooting squirrel kids, because that's the scale we're dealing in.
* [[Playmobil]] sets include firearms when appropriate ([http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/07/the_17_least_appropriate_playmobil_sets_for_childr.php or not, as the case may be]) - there used to be a Police seaplane set that included not only sidearms for the police officers, but a sniper rifle too.
* The doll for Yukon Cornelius from ''[[Rudolph the Red
== Video Games ==
▲* In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl'', it was specifically said that [[Metal Gear|Solid Snake]] could not use guns... but his rocket launcher, mortar, grenades, and land mines are all good. This may have also been for gameplay reason though, since a projectile that moves almost instantly (like Sheik's needles) that you could [[Spam Attack|fire almost constantly]] would be [[Game Breaker|really cheap]] (also, [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosions]] [[Rule of Cool|are more fun]] and [[Rule of Funny|more hilarious]]). Also, [[Star Fox (
▲* Occurs within the ''[[Command
▲** In the expansion to ''Tiberium Wars'', the Black Hand subfaction can upgrade their basic [[
▲* Inverted (sort of) in ''[[Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan]]''. At first the cops use real guns to fight rampaging robots which don't do anything. Then they figure out their weakness and attack with water guns instead, which are [[Justified Trope|very effective]].
▲* [[Disney]] ended up doing that in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] II''. In the first game, the only gun we had was in Deep Jungle ([[Tarzan]]'s world), which was Clayton's, and it wasn't censored. In the second game though, there were two occasions of guns in the Japanese version, and both of them were changed in the American
▲** Actually both Will and Jack had flintlock pistols unedited, and even Barbossa too in the boss fight.
▲** There is a part in the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movie when Will puts a gun to his head and threatens to kill himself if his friends are not released (because the pirates can't end their curse without him). In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', he leaps to the edge of the ship, just like the movie, and threatens his own life...while pointing the gun at the ground. You probably don't want to encourage children to point guns at their owns heads, but at the same time it was a bit jarring to anyone familiar with the movie.
▲** Oddly enough, when ''358/2 Days'' came out, they stopped doing that to Xigbar, whose Limit Break has him again merge his gun-arrows into a sniper rifle.
▲** They did not exactly "stop doing it", actually, as ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep|Birth by Sleep]]'' censored [[Significant Anagram|Braig]] combining his Arrowguns into a sniper rifle. This edit manages to be even ''more'' ridiculous than in Xigbar's case, as Braig's Arrowguns are pretty much stylized [[Automatic Crossbows|crossbows]] that [[Frickin' Laser Beams|shoot lasers]]. It probably goes without saying that the resulting sniper rifle looks less than realistic.
▲** Clayton's aforementioned rifle was not edited or censored in any shape or form in ''[[Tarzan]]''. It's as realistic as the guns in ''Pirates''... whereas Xigbar's gun-arrows are decidedly not. Children are probably going to see these movies before playing ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' (or at least, it would be more likely for their parents to allow them to see them), so this censoring really makes little sense.
▲** The series' iconic Keyblade was originally planned to be a [https://web.archive.org/web/20120313032805/http://ds.ign.com/articles/100/1002401p1.html chainsaw-like weapon.] Disney obviously wasn't too happy about this idea.
▲* Nintendo's Famicom Light Gun originally featured a realistic revolver design in Japan. When it was converted into the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] Zapper overseas, it was given a "futuristic" redesign to comply with U.S. safety standards. Later versions of the Zapper even changed the color of the gun's coating from its original gray to orage due to revised standards. This also applies to all light gun peripherals that had been exported from Japan to the overseas market. Light guns such as Sega's Virtua Gun (renamed the Stunner overseas) and Namco's GunCon were originally sold in realistic-looking black coating in Japan but were repainted orange for the overseas market to distinguish them from real guns.
▲* Sort of an in-universe example: [[
▲* The early ''[[
▲* ''[[Chex Quest]]'': The opening movie makes it clear that conventional weapons can pass right through the slime-based phlegmoids, so the protagonist must use "zorching" weapons to return enemies back to their home dimension.
▲* Forgotten character Fang the Sniper from Sonic the Hedgehog was originally meant to have a [[Revolvers Are Just Better|revolver]] for a weapon. The revolver itself was never used in any games (despite some unused sprites of him holding it), but for his playable appearance in ''[[
▲* ''[[Night Trap]]''. "Weird Eddie", one of the Martin's neighbors, invented a laser gun in order to combat them and the augers. Interestingly, the SCAT team has real guns. (Though no one is shown being shot on-screen.)
* The ''[[Minecraft]]'' server “Grand Theft Minecart” had to replace their guns with this in June of 2023 after Mojang threatened to block the server for violating their EULA, which states that servers must be “suitable for children and minors” as well as “not harming the [Minecraft] brand”
== Web Animation ==
* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'': "Cheat Commandos", a direct parody of ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', uses conventional guns that make conventional gunfire sounds but fire laser blasts. The enemy faction is actually ''named'' Blue Laser.
** Subverted in the Thanksgiving episode, where Gunhaver actually have a realistic gun.
* Referenced in an episode of ''[[Bonus Stage (
** Also, in the episode where Joel censors the show "to fit the burgeoning five-to-seven-year-old market", the word "gun" is overdubbed with "blaster" (although it's still clearly a real gun).
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Wotch]]'', the members of the [[Straw Feminist]] society D.O.L.L.Y. [http://www.thewotch.com/?epDate=2006-09-08 are armed with lasers and lightsabers in spite of this kind of thing having never appeared in the comic before.]
* Parodied by ''[[Wonderella]]'' in the comic [http://nonadventures.com/2011/03/05/censory-overload/ CENSORY Overload].
** The comics news feed mentions the inspiration for this:
{{quote|
* ''[[Amazing Super Powers]]'' explored the limits of this in [http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/hc/12012008/ this hidden comic].
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160412202958/http://jimbenton.com/page5/files/44dd6a91b2fafe1b6c50b2ef0f5a208c-522.html Balloon animal fencing]'' by Jim Benton shows the next step.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', is probably the first example that comes to mind when thinking of this trope. While there initially existed assorted evidence that the guns weren't meant to be perceived as lasers—more-or-less realistic sound effects, boxes labelled “ammo” with visible bullets—the show eventually came to acknowledge the lasers for what they were, including details such as power settings and whatnot. This effect actually made the Joes' laser-specialist characters, Flash and Sci-Fi, utterly useless in the cartoon. That said, the lasers don't even seem to be that particularly effective, since in the incredibly rare occasion someone gets hit, they tend to get back up fairly quickly.
* The same trope was used almost exactly the same way in future cartoon incarnations, such as ''[[G.I. Joe Extreme]]'', the CGI movies and ''[[G.I. Joe
* ''[[G.I. Joe
* While guns weren't all that prominent in ''[[
* The short-lived ''[[
* Partially justified in ''[[
* ''[[Superman:
* The 1990's ''[[X-Men (
* Alongside ''[[X-Men (
* If projectile-based weaponry existed in the present-day ''[[X-Men
* ''[[The Spectacular Spider
* Special beams aside, ''[[
* An episode of the ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]'' cartoon, "Invasion of the Tomato Snatchers", Professor Gangreen did a bit of [[Lampshade Hanging]], where at one point he complained, "If this were prime-time, I could use real bullets!"
** In the episode "The Tomato from the Black Lagoon", Zoltan and the Gang of Five were piloting warplanes and attacking Chad, F.T., and Tara with live ammo. Chad tells Tara [[Genre Savvy|that kids should not use guns]], have to use their fingers instead!
** In another episode, "Streets of Ketchup", after Chad and Tara gets assaulted by tomatoes, Chad reaches into a shrub, and whips out a pair of guns. [[Media Watchdogs|The Censor Lady]] raises a fuss, but Chad tells her that they are ''water guns'', loaded with salt water. However, the water sprayed onto her reveals a well-delivered [[Take That]]:
{{quote|
'''Chad:''' Nah, a prune... now we're gonna hear from the ''Prune'' Board! }}
* Although ''[[
* Unlike its [[Bruce Timm]]-produced predecessor, ''[[
** Averted in ''[[
* ''[[Teen Titans (
* ''[[
* Everyone in the various ''[[
* While the trope was initially in full effect (with some exceptions, such as a scene involving a wild west shoot-out) in the early episodes of ''[[
* The original ''[[
* While early episodes of ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (
* The American ''[[Street Fighter (
{{quote|
* For some reason, the human [[Cowboy Cop]] reluctant ally of ''[[The Mighty Ducks (
* This trope is part of the reason why the ''[[
* Similarly, the original ''[[
* In ''[[Zorro
* The fantasy world of Perim in ''[[
* Not-quite-a-gun example: in the cartoons based on ''[[The Legend of Zelda (
* ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[
* Justified at great length in ''[[
* While ''[[
* In ''[[
* Averted in ''[[
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