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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"You see the size of that gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him."''|'''Jules''', ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''}}
It's big. It's bulky. It's heavy, [[Awesome Yet Impractical|impractical]], and loud. It looks really, really cool. Sometimes, [[Bling Bling Bang|it has a nickel finish, or better yet, gold.]] It may even [[I Call It "Vera"|have a name.]] It's the
Which type of gun fills this role varies by time period. Back in [[The Seventies]], it was a [[Revolvers Are Just Better|.357 or .44 Magnum revolver]], like the [
Often, the character's hands are barely big enough to support the weapon. In particularly [[Egregious]] cases they're fired [[Firing One-Handed|one-handed]] or even [[Guns Akimbo|dual-wielded]]
The character with the giant handgun is sometimes [[Stock Super Powers|superhuman]], [[Our Monsters Are Different|supernatural]] or [[Cyborg|cybernetically enhanced]] in order to compensate for the weapon's weight and recoil.
Often, in [[Video Games]], the Desert Eagle is used as a symbol of just how badass the military is, never minding the fact that a huge fucking gun like a Desert Eagle would never be used by any unit, Special Ops or otherwise, because they're just too damn heavy and loud (not to mention only having a 7 shot magazine). In series where the heroes battle supernatural or cybernetically enhanced beings, weapons like these may well be necessary to take down their [[Made of Iron]]/[[Nigh Invulnerable]] enemies, which conventional weapons just aren't enough for. Guns that shoot [[Frickin' Laser Beams]] and other such energy weapons are rarely used in this trope, as [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]] works well... better here.
You know you're dealing with either this or a [[
A subtrope of [[Bigger Is Better]]. Differs from [[
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and Manga ==
* The vampire [[Dracula|Alucard]] in ''[[Hellsing]]'': he carries an awesomely huge pistol (39 cm/16" long,
** In
** Although not quite as impressive as the above examples, Luke Valentine uses a cut-down M1 Garand - a rifle firing rounds slightly bigger than the standard 7.62mm.
* [[Human Aliens|Human alien]] Vash the Stampede in ''[[Trigun]]''. His sidearm is a [https://web.archive.org/web/20130708112424/http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Firearms/Revolvers/Mateba_Model_6.jpg Mateba Model 6 Unica] semi-auto revolver (chambered in .45 Long Colt, a slightly shorter predecessor of the .454 Casull round), but it contains a piece of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] that allows it to merge with his arm and become the [[Arm Cannon|Angel Arm]], a [[Wave Motion Gun|beam weapon]] of [[Sphere of Destruction|monstrous destructive power]]. His [[Evil Twin]] Knives (who designed and built the gun in question) has an identical example (which can also form the Angel Arm), except his is black while Vash's is silver ("Blue" and "Nickel" respectively in gun-talk).
** Wolfwood wields a huge cross that doubles as a gun after a point in the series. Also in the Anime there's Chapel the Evergreen who has a similar one but splits into two. However, it is "just" a [[
* In the anime [[OVA]] ''[[Angel Cop]]'', one character totes around a gigantic gun that's actually intended for use by a character in a strength-augmenting suit of armor. She's warned that firing it too often will eventually destroy every muscle in her arms.
* The exact same thing occurs in the OVA ''[[Burn Up
* ''[[Patlabor]]'': Revolvers the size of Volkswagens! Mind you though, they ''are'' for [[Humongous Mecha]].
* ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' has its own vicious way with this trope using a [[Giant Mook]] neo-Nazi who claims that only a man of his gigantic proportions can handle his [[Bling Bling Bang|gold-plated Luger]] chambered for .454 Casull. Revy [[Talk to
** Especially amusing since Revy was out at the time and spent his rant calmly reloading.
** ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' also has plenty of other characters (most of them villains) with oversized weapons, including Yolanda, the old nun from the Church of Violence who fires a gold-plated .50 AE Desert Eagle one handed; Gretel, a small girl and one of a pair of truly [[Creepy Twins]], who fires a BAR from the hip; and even a ''[[Terminator
* Corporal Randel Oland from ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'' and his 13mm armor-piercing hand-gun (the "Door Knocker") - which is used by special infantry to go up against tanks.
* Both Leon and Priss carry Hand Cannons in ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]''.
** Leon especialy has a futuristic break-top style revolver called the "Earth Shaker" chambered in [https://web.archive.org/web/20201113170700/http://www.vincelewis.net/60magnum.html .600 Nitro Express] with only three chambers in the cylinder. Considering that he's a member of a special police force which has to fight killer cyborgs who can shrug off small arms fire with ease, it's kind of understandable that he would carry something with more punch with him.
* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' has a couple of examples of this, the most notable of which are Tres' twin M13 Jerichos.
* In ''[[One Piece]]'',
* David from ''[[
*** Better to die on your feet shooting than unarmed and cowering. I suppose if you found the human before it transformed, it might be good in stopping them right then and there.
* Mana Tatsumiya in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' normally [[Guns Akimbo|dual-wields]] Desert Eagles. They may or may not be air gun replicas, but can certainly fire real bullets, or at least [[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells]]. Keep in mind that firing a Desert Eagle in a single hand could potentially break the user's arm through recoil.
** Contrary to popular belief, large-caliber handguns actually have ''less'' recoil than smaller-caliber ones, due to increased mass which helps compensate for the force and energy of the bullet leaving the gun, and due to the smoothness of the Desert Eagle's action in particular, it wouldn't kick nearly hard enough to break someone's arm.
* Killy's Gravity Beam Emitter in Tsutomu Nihei's ''[[Blame]]'' better fits into a [[Wave Motion Gun]] category, both due to its truly ''[[Earthshattering Kaboom|immense]]'' [[Earthshattering Kaboom|firepower]] and enormous recoil, but it's still a ''pistol''. And it isn't even all that big.
* [http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/2119/blazerm.jpg Blazer Mode] of [[The Gunslinger|Teana's]] [[Handguns|Cross Mirage]], which was introduced in ''[[
* Kurausorasu from ''[[Iono the Fanatics]]'' is another Desert Eagle [[Guns Akimbo|dual-wielder]]. The fact that she can do that so easily was explicitly mentioned to be a sign of her possessing [[Super Strength]].
* ''[[Wicked City]]''{{'}}s protagonist Taki wields a revolver with an undisclosed modification specifically for demon hunting. The resulting force from every shot in the entire film throws him into walls, and unlike some animes the shots always have devastating results.
* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', the spent casings from the Eva-sized handguns and assault rifles are big enough to crush cars.
** Not that the damn things are ever actually useful. Except for Matariel.
* A character in ''[[Guyver]]'' has a pistol which has been "modified" so that it can damage Zoanoids, who are normally [[Immune to Bullets]]
** They're so huge the gun can only hold three of them at once.
* The Arcane Colt Custom in ''[[Witch Hunter]]'' demonstrates the realistic effect a weapon like this would have; After firing it only once, the main character's arm is broken by the recoil.
* Liz and Patti's 'Death Eagle .42' forms in ''[[Soul Eater]]'', being massive versions of their usual Weapon forms. Kid uses one in each hand to shoot down Mosquito's bats.
* ''[[Kurohime]]'' features the title character's weapon, Senryuu (which grows even bigger as the series continues, and can transform into a gatling revolver, a sniper rifle, a shotgun/cannon, and something vaguely semblant of a minigun) and Onimaru's gun.
* In ''[[Ghost in
** It's a real gun. Meet the [
* ''[[Laputa: Castle in
* Parodied [[Trope Overdosed|(and what isn't?)]] in ''[[The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', where [[The Chew Toy|Mikuru]] is made to [[Dual Wield]] airsoft Desert Eagles for the student film. In her hands the guns are comically oversized, which is only made worse by the absurd extended barrels.
* Kiritsugu Emiya from ''[[Fate
** To say "disturb" magic is to massively understate it, whatever the bullets hit is severed and then tied together into a knot, essentially, presumably on a very small scale, if it hit a person, the surrounding area would have all the muscles, nerves, and veins severed and knotted, making them useless and causing fatal bleeding. If it hits an expression of magic, it cuts apart the magic circuits of the caster of the spell, ties them together, and causes the mana in the person to explode out of them
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[Sam and Max
* In Mike Mignola's ''[[Hellboy (
** Well, the [[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells]] are kind of a necessity no matter how crappy a shot he is; if he's firing the thing at all, he's probably up against something that's immune to fists.
** He's a lousy
* In the ''[[The Warlord]]'' comics, Travis Morgan carries a .44 AutoMag which was certainly never a standard issue sidearm for USAF officers. It also qualifies as an instance of [[Rare Guns]].
* Some of these show up in ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)|Preacher]]'': .45 revolvers, .50 pistols, and one piece the [[Big Bad]] maniacally refers to as "Doomcock". The [[The Grim Reaper|Saint]] [[Implacable Man|Of]] [[The Juggernaut|Killers]] also [[Guns Akimbo|wields a pair of]] Walker Colt revolvers, which pack .44 ball and was arguably the most powerful handgun until magnum revolvers appeared in the 20th century. More specifically, they're a pair of Walker Colts forged from what used to be the [[Grim Reaper|Angel of Death's]] sword which makes them [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|Weapons of Mass Destruction]]. Revolvers which can kill {{spoiler|God}}.
* When [[Nick Fury]] makes his return to the mainstream [[Marvel Universe]] during the Skrull invasion of New York in ''Secret Invasion'', he does so wielding a gun that's about as big as he is.
* In ''[[Jon Sable Freelance]]'', one of Sable's preferred weapons is a chrome .357 Magnum pepperbox. As a prototype that never made it into production, it also counts as an instance of [[Rare Guns]].
* Mr. Shlubb and Mr. Klump, [[Those Two Bad Guys|two]] [[Delusions of Eloquence|loquacious]] hitmen in the ''[[Sin City]]'' series, use [[
* ''[[Lobo]]'' uses pretty much nothing but
* Marvel Comics' ''[[Marvel 2099|Punisher 2099]]'' uses as his main weapon the circa-2015 manufactured Smith & Wesson .54 Magnum full-automatic revolver. It's belt-fed and can fire 6 rounds a second (360 a minute). One character later observes that this weapon usually leaves the Punisher's victims with a "hole in the chest...and a missing back."
* In one issue of ''[[ABC Warriors]]'', workcrew on a massive terraforming operation on Mars have been going missing. The woman in charge carries a massive hand cannon with three chambers, but only three rounds. It is capable of killing anything it hits. She is eventually killed by hundreds of Martian animals after using up her three rounds.
* In ''[[Batman
* In what seems to be a [[Shout
* Early in Howard Chaykin's ''[[American Flagg!]]'', an ad is seen for the ".666 Magrum" ('''not''' Magnum, for some reason) semi-automatic pistol. This later appears to be title character Reuben Flagg's preferred sidearm.
== [[Film]] ==
* Deckard's gun from ''[[Blade Runner]]''. Is it a blaster? Naw, but there is nothing like a gun that puts a four foot hole in... well anything.
* Colonel Douglas Mortimer in the [[Western]] ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' wields a Buntline Special that may be cumbersome on the draw, but can pack one hell of a punch with deadly accuracy.
* In ''[[Star Wars]]'', Han Solo's pistol is the [[Energy Weapon]] equivalent - a handgun many times larger than holdout hand blasters and with power closer to blaster ''rifles''. It only gets a few shots per power pack, but it only needs to hit once, being able to blow torso-sized chunks out of concrete walls or instantly incinerating Greedo before [[Han Shot First|he could ever fire a single shot.]]
* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: At World's End'', the midget pirate is seen firing a very large hand cannon that blasts him back out of the frame when Barbossa's meeting with Sao Feng is interrupted by the East India Trading Company.
* ''[[
* Inverted by the Noisy Cricket in ''[[Men in Black (
* ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' and his famous .44 Magnum revolver.
* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]'s character in the movie ''[[
** The Hand Cannon in question was a customised Desert Eagle, presented as the soviet [http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Red_Heat#.22Podbyrin_9.2mm_Pistol.22 "Podbyrin 9.2 mm"]. Arnold's character describes it as "the most powerful handgun in the world".
* The
** Speaking of the Joker, we also have [https://web.archive.org/web/20070106185259/http://www.vacuumboy9.com/tlh/3p9.jpg this charming little panel from ''The Long Halloween''.] (
* In the Prohibition-era gangster parody ''[[Johnny Dangerously]]'', Danny Vermin shows off his .88 Magnum. "It shoots through ''schools''."
* In ''[[
* ''[[Snatch]].'' Bullet Tooth Tony and his "Desert Eagle. Point five-o."
* At one point in ''[[Hard Boiled]]'', Mad Dog, [[The Dragon]], uses a Thompson/Center Contender, a single-shot pistol that uses rifle bullets, and which he's apparently modified to spit the spent cartridges out in slow-mo, to fight Tequila and Alan. This pistol appears to be using a .30-06 barrel.
* In the Woo-directed Van Damme flick ''[[Hard Target]]'' the main villain Fouchon (played by Lance Henriksen) also favored a Thompson single-shot pistol (in .45-70 Gov't!) as his main firearm.
* Hungarian movie ''[[Argo]]'' features a character called Psycho carrying a
* In ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', Jules and Vincent get shot at by a guy with a Hand Cannon, but [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|every shot misses]]. "Did you see that gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him."
* A [[Western]] example from ''[[True Grit]]'':
{{quote|
'''Mattie Ross:''' It belonged to my father, he carried it bravely in the war, and I intend to kill Tom Chaney with it if the law fails to do so.
'''Rooster Cogburn:''' Well, this'll sure get the job done if you can find a fence post to rest it on while you take aim.
** ''[[
* The opening scene of ''[[Desperado]]'' has El Mariachi's buddy spin a story of how he cleared a bar with a sawed-off and a de-stocked [
{{quote|
* In the [[Vigilante Man]] flick
{{quote|
* In ''[[Alien Nation (
* Bohdi (played by Patrick Swaze) also uses the .454 Casull in ''[[Point Break]]''.
* Paul Kersey's friend "Wildey" from ''[[Death Wish 3]]'' is the world's most powerful production semi-automatic. The bullet has as much impact energy at 100 yards as the .44 Magnum has at 1 yard. Unlike most examples here, the .475 Wildey Magnum has a relatively manageable recoil.
* Almost all the major characters in ''[[Harley Davidson and
{{quote|
'''Harley:'''
'''Marlboro:'''
* In ''[[The Boondock Saints
** In the original movie, the two trade in two .50-caliber Desert Eagles used by two Russian mob dudes who tried to murder them, along with a pager and a money clip, in order to get their hands on their original arsenal.
* In ''[[Police Academy
** Any scene involving Tackleberry. Particularly [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vom9iLDfb-Y this scene] from the first movie.
* Every agent in ''[[The Matrix]]'' spawns (literally) with a Desert Eagle .44 Magnum in their jacket pocket. (Some are even outfitted with [[Bottomless Magazines]].)
* ''[[I Come in Peace (
* In ''[[Hellboy (
{{quote|
** In the second movie, he gets an even ''bigger'' gun, that apparently uses clockwork to fire, has about sixteen barrels, and fires pairs of flaming shotgun shells. It is called the "Big Baby" and he uses this to destroy a forest god.
{{quote|
* The toon revolver in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'' is abnormally large. Possibly because all of its bullets are sentient.▼
* Leslie Nielsen briefly wields a ridiculously over-sized Magnum at the end of
▲* The toon revolver in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' is abnormally large. Possibly because all of its bullets are sentient.
▲* Leslie Nielsen briefly wields a ridiculously over-sized Magnum at the end of, ''[[Two Thousand And One A Space Travesty|2001: A Space Travesty]]''.
* In ''[[Drive Angry]]'' John Milton steals a five barreled Hand Cannon from Hell called the Godkiller. It has 3 shots in it and can be used to kill demons.
* The title character of ''[[Bad Lieutenant
* ''[[Judge Dredd (
== [[Literature]] ==
Line 137 ⟶ 132:
* In ''[[The Executioner]]'' series of novels, protagonist Mack Bolan carries a .44 AutoMag, the first automatic pistol to use .44 magnum ammunition. He later switches from that to a Desert Eagle.
* In ''[[Against a Dark Background]]'' by [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks]], protagonist Sharrow has this literally; the model name of her gun is FrintArms HandCannon.
** Another shows up in the form of a gun much like Killy's from "BLAME!" in the short story collection ''State of the Art''.
* In the [[Western]] novels of [[
* In the ''[[Doc Savage]]'' novels, Patricia Savage's signature weapon is an old six-shooter handed down from her grandfather - a Colt Frontier Single Action .44 with the trigger filed off and a fanning spur welded on the hammer, which she carries in her purse.
* [[NUMA Series|Kurt Austin]] carries a Bowen revolver, essentially a .357 Magnum Colt Python custom-built to fire the same .50-caliber rounds that the Desert Eagle is famous for. His partner Joe Zavala calls it "Kurt's Cannon" and likes to joke that it shoots [[Abnormal Ammo|railroad spikes]].
Line 145 ⟶ 140:
*** Considering they were made in another "if", this makes sense.
* Burke from [[Andrew Vachss]]'s books favours large-calibre handguns for quick manstopping.
* Brian Mallory, the protagonist's brother from ''[[The Difference Engine]]'' by [[William Gibson]] and Bruce Sterling, carries a Russian pistol that most definitely qualifies as a
* ''[[
* Inverted in the [[Raymond Chandler]] novellas ''Trouble Is My Business'' and ''Red Wind''. Both stories feature hard guys carrying .22 target pistols. As Chandler puts it: "This guy uses a twenty-two. He uses it because he's good enough to get by with that much gun. That means he's good."
* [[Johannes
* Eddie Chase in Andy McDermott's ''[[Wilde-Chase]]'' novels favours a .50 Wildey automatic, often being mocked by other characters for the overkill. Subverted in ''[[The Sacred Vault]]'' where he loses not one, but two Wildeys over the course of the story before even getting a chance to fire them.
* Dr. Theophilus Algernon Tanner of the Deathlands adventure series and his always trusty [[Le Mat]] revolver. He's blown away many a "mutie" with the .63 caliber "grapeshot" round fired from the gun's underbarrel.
* Deputy Jo Lupo from ''[[Eureka]]'' loves
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Hammer's .44 Magnum in ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]'' is not only a blatant phallic symbol, it's the only thing keeping Hammer sane... well when he isn't talking to it... or sleeping with it.▼
▲* Deputy Jo Lupo from ''[[Eureka]]'' loves [[Hand Cannon|Hand Cannons]], having an entire drop-down rack of them. When she administered the weapon familiarity test to the sheriff, he had to take it several times to pass.
* ''[[Firefly
▲* Hammer's .44 Magnum in ''[[Sledge Hammer]]'' is not only a blatant phallic symbol, it's the only thing keeping Hammer sane... well when he isn't talking to it... or sleeping with it.
▲* [[Firefly|Jayne]] might be better known for his [[I Call It Vera|most favorite gun]], but his one-handed death-dealing implements are not lacking either. (Nor is [[Wall of Weapons|the ''quantity'' lacking]].) In fact, the main sidearm that Jayne uses is a LeMat, a Civil War era revolver with 9 chambers, as well as a second barrel that can shoot buckshot. That's right, a revolver AND a shotgun.
** Zoe's main sidearm is a "Mare's Leg," a cut-down Winchester 1892 carbine worn in a hip-holster.
** Lots of people on Firefly have massive pistols. Jayne's estranged former partner in
** Even Mal gets an honorable mention: his gun fires .303-caliber ''rifle rounds''.
* [[Bones]] acquires an extremely large handgun when she is being threatened by one of the villains of the week. It is clearly too large for her to handle, as shown in the Halloween episode when she fires it at a bad guy with a shotgun, she misses completely, and it knocks her back, so she gives it to Booth. Even he has trouble firing it successfully. But, boy, does it look [[Rule of Cool|threatening]]. Its ridiculous power eventually comes in handy when Booth uses it to shoot a bad guy through an inch-thick solid-steel door.
* Stick-up artist and cat burglar Omar Little uses a Desert Eagle in HBO's ''[[The Wire]]'', mostly to break "bulletproof" glass.
* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAIigNcwYLc Particle Magnum] used by Ronon Dex in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. Given that later in the series, Rodney McKay easily beats him to the girl, I'd say he's compensating for something, except that he already had the magnum long before that.
* Josh Randall's "Mare's Leg" in the series ''[[Wanted
* Parodied on ''[[SCTV]]'' with "Harry Filth
* Averted by ''[[Magnum, P.I.]]''. You'd think a guy named Magnum would use one, but his primary weapon is a 1911 that turns into a Star Model B<ref>In the 1980s film production struggled to make .45 ACP blanks work but had no such problems with 9mm blanks so the Star Model B, a 9mm clone of the 1911, often stood in for a real 1911</ref> when he fires it.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The oversized bolt pistols and SMGs of ''[[Warhammer
** [[Dark Heresy]] has a pistol subtype that is actually named Hand Cannon. While not the most powerful sidearm in the game by any standard, it is fairly effective (especially when loaded with armor-piercing rounds) and its low price makes it attractive to players who can't afford a bolt pistol (there are plasma pistols and Inferno pistols as well, but they're so rare and expensive they only exist in the game to taunt you). Mechanically, it does marginally more damage than most handheld firearms and has at least some armor penetration even without improved ammo. Also, it has penalty for firing with one hand - half of that for rifle-sized weapons (the same goes for Carbine, but Hand Cannon uses Pistol [Solid Projectile] skill and Carbine still uses Basic [weapon type] skill). Has its uses, obviously, but noted to be mostly a [[Weapon for Intimidation]].
** There's also Hellpistol - a smaller version of Hellgun (high-powered, but less reliable type of laser weapon). Only twice as expensive as Handcannon, has greater rate of fire and very good armor penetration (better than standard bolts and more on par with plasma pistol). Of course, it's more of an agile main weapon good in close quarters, rather than a true sidearm: "smaller" here means that laser part is 4 kg rather than 6, but still cable-fed from the same 10 kg power pack (carried under a regular backpack), so there's that. It's not for showing off, it's for the times when you seriously expect something chitin-clad to jump out of bushes or debris and try to chew your face. Amusingly, this weapon still can be legitimately [[Guns Akimbo|used akimbo]] (e.g. with belt powerpack under larger backpack/powerpack - 25 kg of batteries, 40+80 shots total). Though since dealing with threats that already got too close is the reason to carry a hellpistol rather than a full-sized hellgun in the first place, the [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:HSLaspistol.jpg standard usage] is to [[Sword and Gun|complement it with a melee weapon]] which allows parrying.
* The ''[[Shadowrun]]'' Eichiro Hatamoto II is a pistol that fires a single shotgun slug. It's recommended not to miss. Then there's the Remington Roomsweeper, which is kind of like a [[Sawed Off Shotgun]], except not. It's a pistol that fires shotgun slugs. It's noted that it's damn hard to fire.▼
*** Voss Pattern hellpistol - less powerful, but still has armor penetration as good as a heavy machinegun and can use common laspistol charge packs (drains them 4:1). There are also duel laspistols - almost as hot, accurate at longer ranges, but single-shot only.
* ''[[Cyberpunk]]'''s weaponry supplements have many examples of this, as they're intended for use by and against cyber-enhanced combatants. One of the most memorable is the 'Hellbringer,' a 3-round .666 caliber magnum revolver. There's also the Colt AMT, an eight-shot revolver that fires very large bullets. The caliber is not specified but it causes very high damage in-game.▼
▲* The ''[[Shadowrun]]'' Eichiro Hatamoto II is a pistol that fires a single shotgun slug. It's recommended not to miss. Then there's the Remington Roomsweeper, which is kind of like a [[Sawed
▲* ''[[Cyberpunk]]''{{'}}s weaponry supplements have many examples of this, as they're intended for use by and against cyber-enhanced combatants. One of the most memorable is the 'Hellbringer,' a 3-round .666 caliber magnum revolver. There's also the Colt AMT, an eight-shot revolver that fires very large bullets. The caliber is not specified but it causes very high damage in-game.
** Characters who have full body cybernetic conversions or are wearing powered armour can also carry firearms such as "assault rifles" chambered in .50 BMG or 14.5x114 RUS, as well as a 4 gauge autoshotgun and a 10 gauge, 6-barrel gatling shotgun with a back-mounted ammo hopper.
* Subverted in ''[[Iron Kingdoms|Warmachine]]'' where many warcasters carry guns that are called Hand Cannons but which are no bigger than the setting's average handgun. Most of the time.
* While ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Rifts]]'' has a fair number of large handguns, including a plasma Cartridge pistol with a bore two inches wide, weapons deliberately designed for large humanoids, and a laser pistol with its own under-slung ''[[Grenade Launcher]]''.
* The magnum pistol from ''[[GURPS|GURPS: Ultra-Tech]]'' fires a 15mm round, larger than the bullets in a modern anti-materiel rifle. And then there's the shotgun pistol...
* ''[[SLA Industries]]'' has the "Blitzer".
* ''[[Mechwarrior]]'', the tabletop RPG of the ''[[
* In ''[[Scion]]'', Eric Donner, Scion of Thor, (one of the "canned characters" in the gamebooks) has as his signature weapon an oversized revolver called "Giantkiller." In addition to being a huge gun with oversized ammo (which has to have custom-made), thanks to his divine parentage, [[Shock and Awe|it can shoot lightning]].
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Pretty much every revolver in ''[[
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20100616191201/http://www.bungie.net/projects/halo3/content.aspx?link=h3pistol M6 series of pistols] in ''[[Halo]]'' is chambered for 12.7x40mm (necked-down .50 BMG) high explosive armor piercing rounds. Seems like overkill at first, perhaps, but against the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Covenant]], it might just be justified.
* ''[[
* In the Telltale seasons, ''[[Sam and Max]]'' have a huge revolver and Luger, respectively. This is probably to compensate for the fact that they weren't allowed guns in the TV show and "left them at the cleaners" in ''Hit the Road''. Successfully complete the ''Hit the Road'' game however, and you get to watch Sam and Max amuse themselves by unloading on a carnival's BB gun shooting gallery with them.
** [[Older Than They Think|In fact, they've had them since]] [[Adaptation Displacement|the comics.]]
Line 192 ⟶ 187:
** In ''[[Resident Evil]] 2'', Leon gets the .50 caliber Desert Eagle, which is a one-hit kill to zombies and lickers, and a two-hit kill to anything else short of a boss. Apparently unsatisfied with this level of death, however, it's eventually customized with a ten-inch barrel that, in addition to one-hit killing ''everything'' short of a boss, damn near knocks Leon off his feet with each shot.
* The weird, [[The Quiet One|silent]] [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|techno-zombie]] (or Deadman, as called in the series) Beyond the Grave in ''[[Gungrave]]'' wields not one, but [[Guns Akimbo|two]] very large pistols called Cerberus (Left Head and Right Head, respectively). Heck, his frickin' coffin is [[Swiss Army Weapon|a mobile weapons platform!]]
** Then in ''Gungrave Overdose'' there's Fangoram who wields the massive "Center Head" which is bigger than both of them and fires what can only be described as small artillery rounds, and is strong enough to {{spoiler|critically injure Grave to the point where his Regeneration powers can't close his wounds properly, leaving Grave in a near-comatose state for a while...until he [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|snaps out of it by sheer force of will]]}}.
* Carmelita Fox in the ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' games has her shock pistol, a huge red handgun firing bolts of electricity that kicks so hard she has trouble holding onto it when she shoots the thing. Some of the NPC guards can be seen brandishing these as well, either single or akimbo.
* The pistol weapons in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' are rather large for a human being... but since the grip is intended to be large to allow a variety of species' hands to use it, we don't know what it's made of or how the technology would realistically act, it could very well be a [[Justified Trope]].
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** And in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', not only do the Carnifex and Phalanx return, they're outdone by two new weapons. The Paladin is explicitly stated to be an ''even more powerful'' variant of the Carnifex, and the Talon is a shotgun revolver.
** Also making an appearance in 3 is the Scorpion. It's one of the heaviest pistols in the game and fires [[Sticky Bomb|Sticky Grenades]].
* ''[[
* Nero of ''[[Devil May Cry|Devil May Cry 4]]'' has the Blue Rose, a customized Smith & Wesson Model 500 with barrels at the twelve and six o'clock positions of six-shot cylinder(normal M500s have five shots), which [[Hand Wave|somehow]] fires both at once with a single hammer. He can fire it one-handed, and it can later be upgraded to have a [[Charged Attack]] that fires delayed-detonation high-explosive rounds.
** On a similar note, Dante's signature pair of pistols LOOK like handcannons, but they're more like heavily customized Colt .45 M1911s. What gives them they're Handcannon status, however, is that the bullets fired by them are charged(and somehow reloaded) by Dante's power.
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** Justified in an odd way since the outer casing of the gun in Blade Runner is the lock section of a real .222 rifle.
** The 14mm pistol also counts. There's some [[All There in the Manual|background info]] that explains before the end of the world that it was a hunting pistol.
*** And both return in ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' - the 14mm (now 12.7mm) pistol is a bona fide
* The character Max in ''[[
* In Case 3 of ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney|Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]'', the victim is shot with a huge, 45-caliber revolver. The gun is described as being able to not only knock the target off their feet if hit with a shot from it, but capable of dislocating the shoulder of the shooter if they aren't used to firing such a powerful weapon. In appearance, it's described as "making normal revolvers look like water pistols", giving the impression that this is a huge (and very,
* For some reason, the most powerful and second-most accurate gun in ''[[Half Life|Half-Life 2]]'' is a .357 Magnum. [[Revolvers Are Just Better|And this is with the futuristic pulse rifles and sniper-crossbows]]. Balanced by the [[Law of Inverse Recoil|high recoil]], low rate of fire and small amount of ammunition Gordon can cary for it.
** One of the Expansion packs, ''Opposing Force'', gives the HECU marine protagonist the actual desert eagle.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Duke Nukem
{{quote|
* The ''[[Star Wars]]: Empire at War'' [[Expansion Pack]], ''Forces of Corruption'', features Tyber Zann, leader of the corrupt fraction, who has a handgun that can blow away a whole squad of infantry.
** Implied to be the blaster equivalent of a [[Sawed
* ''[[Arcanum:
* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', Meryl stated that she picked up a [[Small Girl, Big Gun|Desert Eagle]] with the long barrel over the only fractionally more reasonable .45 SOCOM that Snake himself uses. Snake [[Lampshade Hanging|remarked]] that "It's an awfully big gun for a girl," and offered to trade guns. In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', Liquid Ocelot has a .45-75 hand rifle that needs reloading after one shot, but when obtained as a [[Infinity+1 Sword|bonus weapon for completing an emblem challenge]], it one shots most PMC [[Mooks]]. Same on multiplayer.
* ''[[Advent Rising]]'' introduces what is described as a handgun that fires ".90 calibre armour-piercing concussive rounds" and can be [[Guns Akimbo|dual-wielded]]. Obtaining a good level of handgun skills allows protagonist Gideon to fire the weapon in rapid three-round bursts that can match the rate of fire of any machinegun in the game. This is trumped by an energy pistol powered by a miniature fusion generator which hits significantly harder and can still be [[Guns Akimbo|dual-wielded]]. Better skill in with this handgun allows Gideon to fire grenades at the cost of more ammo. This is then matched by a Seeker energy pistol which, while it starts off weaker, can become stronger when Gideon learns the skill needed to fire hideously powerful rounds which can bounce between upwards of four enemies at the cost of extra ammo. This, too, can be [[Guns Akimbo|dual wielded]]. About the only thing limiting total arm cannon carnage is ammo consumption.
* Fefnir in ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' has two. Justified as he was built as a heavy weapons specialist and is strong enough to do it.
* The Sniper vs. Spy update for ''[[
* The guns in the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series are all above average as far as size goes, but it's taken to a ridiculous extreme in ''[[Disgaea 4:
* Any and all guns in ''[[
** [[Infinity+1 Sword|Fomalhaut]]'s barrel in ''FFXII'' is roughly as thick as Vaan's arm.
** Interestingly, ''[[
* The Culverin weapon in ''[[
* Vincent Valentine's Cerberus in ''[[
* In ''[[Endless Frontier|Super Robot Wars
* Noel Vermillion in ''[[
* The strongest handgun in ''[[The Godfather (
* In ''[[Saints Row]]'', the in game version of the Desert Eagle is called the GDHC (God damn hand cannon).
* [[Word of God]] says that ''[[Persona 3]]'' villain Takaya's revolver is an S&W 500.
* How could we get this far and not mention the Chaos Dwarf Hand Cannon of ''[[
** The Hand Cannon is a literal example though, as it really is a cannon. That you can carry.
* A better question: How is there no mention of ''[[Dungeon Fighter Online]]''? The Launcher's preferred handgun of choice is two literal hand cannons! ''And'' they have a passive skill called "Hand Cannon Mastery," which increase the attack speed and damage of a hand cannon, which in turn fires by creating small, short-ranged explosions that can hit multiple enemies and ignores obstacles.
** Using them is literally the only way a launcher can use the skill Cannonball, which shoots an orb of energy.
*** Did I forget to mention that it even lowers the MP required to use the Launchers ''other''
* In ''[[
* The Cougar Magnum in ''[[
* Carnby's revolver in ''[[Alone in
* ''[[Soldier of Fortune]]'' has the Silver Talon .44, an [[AKA
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[The House Of The Dead Overkill]]'' has G and Washington using these as their default guns - they're AMS' standard firearm, apparently.
* ''7.62 High Calibre'' has several, including the .357 Colt Python, the Garza 12.7mm (.50 caliber) revolver, and the .44 [[Cool Guns|Desert Eagle]]. They tend to be significantly more powerful than any other handgun weapon, but severely hampered by lack of balance, slow firing, and small clip size. In most cases, a normal handgun (or small submachine gun) is more useful.
* ''[[Septerra Core]]''. Maya's gun.
* ''[[Battlefield Heroes]]'': The Royal army has Harry's Hand Cannon, which falls under the Pistol category.
* The antagonists of the ''[[Modern Warfare]]'' series seem to favour this kind of pistol; Imran Zakhaev in ''Call of Duty 4'' used a .50AE Desert Eagle, while General Shepherd in ''Modern Warfare 2'' had a .44 Colt Anaconda.
* All the handguns in the ''[[
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'': The Desert Eagle has appeared in the series since ''Vice City'' (albeit only cutscenes in that game only so far) and on, it is often regarded as being the most powerful hand gun in the series with great accuracy, making it one of the superior weapons.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' hung a [[Lampshade]] on this - Schlock hauls around BH-209 until the old one was destroyed and he couldn't get another as it was out of production, then got [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-06-25 BH-250] - ''[//www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-07-15 even bigger]'' ([//www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-07-11 19.5 kg]), with forearm brace, but without reserve of gas that lets its smaller cousin [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-05-31 work in vacuum] for a while. Schlock calls this class of weapons "wristbreaker"; he and some other characters ''do'' fire these things with one hand, and thanks to [[Powered Armor]], we have seen this done by a (not obviously augmented otherwise) human, too. Moreover, it's basically a handheld fusion thruster with recoil compensation, and when switched to "rocket mode" gives enough of thrust to let quarter-ton Schlock fly with a human passenger.
** He often refuses an upgrade because the new weapon, despite being far more powerful, is smaller and lacks [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-03-15 the ominous hum and intimidating glow at the business end]. Schlock had to use a [[Guns Akimbo|pair]] of [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-09-01 the same] AP-130 [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-05-29 antimatter-powered guns] once, and after seeing Murtaugh [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-06-18 fire] bigger AP-229 he decided he likes it, hum or not. Later she used it to "[//www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-07-09 shoot a hole in the sky]" - clear the path through an enormous thunderstorm by shorting shear layers from relatively safe distance of 8 km. But he still carries his piece. There's however a trade-off: annie-plants were detected and neutralized (often messily) by enemies more than once, but micro-fusion weapons, while somewhat capricious, so far were detected only along with all other metal and destroyed only via actual action or misuse. E.g. on Credomar the Toughs lost power in their flying tanks and their [[Powered Armor|flying pants]], but Schlock still had [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2008-12-15 a pair of working thrusters].
*** Ezraene Venombrook after personal observation [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2017-08-07 decides to unsubscribe] from wherever she have read a review proclaiming AP-130 "a toy giving creatures with small hands an illusion of true firepower".
** On the ballistic side, there's 15-mm [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2015-10-23 Blattco "Clawhammer"].
* ''[[Chicanery]]'' character [[Trigger Happy|Mr. Saturn]] has a "Modified [[Trope Co|DeathCo]] Magnum", several times larger than the main characters and apparently a cross between a [[Revolvers Are Just Better|revolver]] and a [[Blame|GBE.]] Effects range from [[Your Head Asplode|blowing heads apart]] to [[Ludicrous Gibs|explosively atomising people]] and [[Overdrawn At the Blood Bank|coating the surrounding area in blood.]]
* ''[[Narbonic]]'' Antonio Smith the forensic linguist wields such a weapon.
* Monica of ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' carries her [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/morecivilized/ grandfather's gun] a few times, though she never fires it.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Sycine Kiongozi in ''[[Ilivais X]]'' carries a 15mm pistol. It's capable of shooting down [[Humongous Mecha|Espadas]], though granted, they're fairly inexpensively made and small. Still, that's more indicative of a mounted anti-materiel cannon and not a handgun.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6CXAaI1OAo Huge guns] by freddiew.
* They abound in the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'', from Loophole's .44 Magnum to the .50 caliber one-shot that Samantha Everheart used in "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl". Sam cut off the pistol grip so she could hide it under her bra inside her blouse. She could fire it accurately only because she has super-strength. Or there's the sixty pound anti-mutant weapon Captain Tilley wield in the same story.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Surely this exchange on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' is a potential trope namer:
{{quote|
'''Captain''': "I don't wanna hear it, McBain. Tha-that cannon of yours is against regulation. In this department we go by the book." (The Captain holds up the book of regulations. McBain draws his "cannon", a revolver bigger than his head, and fires it at the book. The book promptly
'''McBain''': "Bye book!" }}
* In ''[[Transformers Generation
* [[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Kaptain Skurvy's]] weapon of choice is a [[Exactly What It Says
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Any of the various [
* Very early hand-guns really were, literal, "hand-cannons", merely reduced-size versions of early artillery weapons, with the same one-piece cast barrel-and-stock, and touch-hole ignition.
** Even later when they used matchlocks (1600s or so) most weapons were at least .50 cal, often closer to .75 cal, since modern round sizes fired with black powder wouldn't go through armor.
* Later, there was the "howdah pistol", a double-rifle elephant gun with the barrel and stock reduced in size to make it holdable, if not sensibly fireable, in one hand. It was said that the sensible way to employ one, should a tiger leap up your elephant toward the howdah in which you were standing, was to hand the giant double-barreled pistol to the tiger and allow him to fire it.
* Magnum Research, designers of the infamous Desert Eagle, also manufacture the "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110309193617/http://www.magnumresearch.com/BFR.asp BFR]." They claim this stands for "Biggest, Finest Revolver," [[
* The [
* There's also a .700 Nitro Express round, currently languishing unloved; it's only a matter of time before a handgun is designed around it.
* The Maadi-Griffin .50 pistol and the Thunder .50 pistol: handguns designed to use the .50 BMG cartridge, one of the most powerful ''rifle'' cartridges in current use. For comparison, the muzzle energy of the .50 BMG round is typically around ten times that of the NATO 5.56mm round used in most modern assault rifles. They are single-shot, but the main practical purpose, apparently, is demonstration of recoil compensation solutions used in heavier weapons.
* Olympic Arms marketed a "pistol" that could fire NATO standard 5.56mm rounds; it bore a passing resemblance to the Mauser C96 and was basically an M16 receiver wedded to a short barrel and a pistol grip. In any realistic sense it was a carbine, however, since it fired a rifle round.
** Kel-Tec also makes a 5.56mm/.223 pistol called the PLR-16, which accepts M16 magazines, although it isn't designed around the AR-15, but rather Kel-Tec's own SU-16 rifle.
* The [[Nerf Brand]] [[Revolvers Are Just Better|Maverick]] chambers darts only slightly longer than the usual ammunition, but the gun itself is big enough to make Dirty Harry blush. That said, even standard Nerf darts are bigger than much pistol bullets.
* The Thompson/Center Contender can fire shotgun shells or various full-power rifle rounds. In fact it's so much like a rifle that when outfitted with the optional stock and longer barrels that T/C sells it basically ''is'' a rifle.
* During an episode of his series ''[[Lock and Load]]'', R. Lee Ermey showed why standard shooting positions are standard. While test firing a .44 Magnum, he was nearly knocked to he floor by the recoil. He then was shown saying he didn't want to shoot it again. This being the same person who had picked up and fired a crew
* The current record-holder (according to the manufacturer) for most powerful ''production'' (see the Pfeifer Zeliska, above) hand-cannon is the Smith & Wesson Model 500, a 5-shot revolver with an 8-3/8" barrel (15 inches long in total) that weighs six pounds ''empty''. In a demonstration on Spike TV's ''[[Manswers]]'', the .357 Magnum blew a chunk out of a watermelon; the .44 Magnum took off the lower three-quarters; and the Model 500 ''exploded'' it. Due to a compensator on the barrel, however, its recoil is actually less than the .44 Magnum
** For the purpose of illustrating scale, [http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/userpix/8724_DSCF3008_1.jpg here's a picture of one with a 20 dollar bill]{{Dead link}}.
* The four-pound Colt Walker and Dragoon models were outrageously oversized to their smaller cousins brought into production a few years later.
** The popular story is that the Colt Walker and the later Dragoon were designed so that once ammo had been spent, the gun would still be useful to [[Pistol
* The Le Mat Revolver, in addition to a nine-chambered cylinder and a regular barrel, has a central shotgun barrel, fired by a special pivoting striker, hence the name "Grapeshot Revolver". The largest ammunition it can use is .44 and one 16ga round. As you can imagine, this is a ''very'' big pistol.
* Any [[LEGO]] handgun. The revolver, which is the smallest, is the size of a minifig's arm.
* The [[Sawn Off Shotgun|sawn-off]] ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNFsUvh078I Mosin-Nagant]''. As in, a ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122422/http://world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl03-e.htm powerful 7,62x54mm rifle]'' cut down to pistol size.
* This [https://web.archive.org/web/20120126080110/http://www.derringer.de/new68.htm 20mm (.79 caliber) Derringer]. And a 30mm derringer is in planning according to the site. Since 20mm is considered to be the point where you start calling it an "autocannon" rather than a "machine gun", those literally ''are'' "hand cannons".
* The Taurus Judge, a 5-shot .45 Colt revolver that
** A later variant is the larger and longer Taurus Raging Judge, which can load the more powerful.454 Casull rounds as well as the .45 Colt and .410.
** Smith & Wesson responded by making the Governor a ''6''-shot revolver that took .45 Colt and .410 shells like the Judge but also (via use of moon clip) .45 ACP, and wasn't made by Taurus (Taurus has a well deserved reputation for poor build quality).
* There are a few images of a sawn-off ''M1 Garand'' floating around the internet.
* Legally in the US if a firearm is rifled and has no shoulder stock and only one vertical grip it is a pistol.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Guns and Gunplay Tropes]]
[[Category:Bigger Is Better]]
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