Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Difference between revisions

* Kinetic weapons are the big thing in ''[[Cannon God Exaxxion]]''. While lasers are common, they cannot penetrate the [[Deflector Shields]] used in the series since they are based on [[Artificial Gravity]] tech & can thus redirect lasers using the gravitational lensing effect. Notably that's the exact opposite of how things should work: solid projectiles would be ''much'' easier to affect with gravity.

* The Buff Clan in ''[[Space Runaway Ideon]]'' uses simple iron rods propelled to an almost-speed of light to bombard human-controlled planets. As you may imagine, [[Earthshattering Kaboom|not much is left of said planets]] afterwards.

* In ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' combat has switched from aircraft to starships, but most of it is still done with good old-fashioned machine guns and pistols. Energy weapons exist, but are implied to be rare and hard to get.

* When the {{spoiler|Earth-aliens}} infiltrate the protagonists' ship in ''[[Vandread]],'' it turns out that said invaders could deflect energy weapons, but not a few .50 caliber clips. Having museum-piece guns lying about onboard ''sure'' was convenient...

* In the ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise beam weaponry is generally much stronger than kinetic (though it's for that exact reason that regular guns are still used; suits often are forced to fight in colonies and a stray beam would destroy the whole thing) but this trope comes into play to a small degree in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', with the presence of anti-beam countermeasures that render all beam weapons affected useless. The only way to combat this is old-fashioned solid ordinance.

** In the meta-series, it is a very notable example of this trope, especially the transition from the First Gundam which aired in the late 70's having mostly beam weaponry starting in mid-to-late of the series(The First Gundam, RX-78 is one of the first Mecha (together with RX-77, which is an older model but saw combat a little later due to circumstances) equipped with a beam rifle, while only large war ships have cannons before that) The Universal Century series sequels in the 80's followed with beam weaponry motif, in late 80's (0080 and Char's Counter Attack) early 90's (0083) kinetic weapons started to increase in number, mainly bazookas, rockets, gatlings; then starting in mid 90's, this trope became quite dominant, first in 08th MS Team(Romeo and Juliet, or better, Romeo Vs Juliet) having both sides showing off tons of kinetic weaponry like wire guided missiles, large cannons, etc. Beam weaponry still remained as the main stay in TV series, but usually [[Macross Missile Massacre]] are also common.

** Don't forget the 'shot-lancer' rocket spears in [[Mobile Suit Gundam F91]] - specifically designed to provide the one-shot-one-kill power of a beam rifle while limiting collateral damage in a colony attack. They're used to devastating effect throughout the movie.

** In ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' most anti-infantry weapons are of the projectile variety. All of the Gundams are equipped with Vulcan cannons in their heads for beating off infantry attacks, and many other mobile suits have outsized machineguns or automatic rifles that serve a similar purpose, as automatic fire is much more effective in breaking up mass infantry attacks than a single shot beam weapon. They also don't run out of power just because the mecha has. On the other hand Phase Shift tech makes Gundams immune to kinetics as long as they have power, which was an issue with early battery-powered models but became much less problematic when N-Jammer Cancellers re-enabled nuclear powerplants.

== Comic ==

* ''[[Judge Dredd]]'':

** Averted by the Stub Gun, introduced during the Apocalypse War. This weapon is a laser capable of cutting through almost anything.

 

* Heinlein's ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' mostly averts it: kinetic weapons are widely used for training, but rarely for the actual combat. [[The Film of the Book|The movie]] plays it straight, though.

* In 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress' (also by Heinlein) the Lunar rebels 'throw rocks' (ie: 100 tonne boulders, jacketed in steel and fired out of magnetic catapult) down Earth's gravity well. It proves VERY effective. Cheap too.

* In ''Tomorrow War'' shields work only against beam weapons, so while lasers are used to shoot missiles and fighters, main weapons are missiles and high-caliber (e.g. 610 or 800 mm) guns with guided shells. At least as far as wars between human are concerned -- others use weirder weapons, up to gravity-based.

* Pretty much anything [[David Weber]] writes, such as the ''[[Honor Harrington|Honorverse]]'' or the ''Empire of Man'' (''March Upcountry'', etc.) series, gives futuristic forces some form of high tech mass accelerator weapon. They don't actually share any technology with gunpowder firearms, but they still have the same "fast pointy thing goes in the soft squishy thing" principle. And if they have 1000 round magazines or can tear apart a tank, all the better.

** Also, the protagonist will inevitably wind up using an old-fashioned gunpowder weapon for ''some'' reason or another, just for [[Rule of Cool]].

** Honor herself practices frequently with a (reproduction) Colt M1911A1 .45 automatic, simply because she enjoys the challenge of hitting a target with a weapon that doesn't do half the work with advanced sensors, etc. In one case this "saved the day", when she was able to sneak her .45 into a hostage situation because it had no electronics or energy cell that would trigger inboard sensors keyed to look for weapons that had both- like pulsers.

** In the ''[[Honor Harrington|Honorverse]]'', while most ship-to-ship missiles come armed with some kind of warhead or electronic warfare suite, anti-missile missiles work by simply smashing their wedges into those of the attacking missiles at ludicrously high fractions of ''c''.

*** It should be noted that the Eridani Edict only forbids kinetic strikes and orbital bombardment so long as you don't control all the orbitals of a planet. If you have taken over space around a world, and they refuse to surrender, you can bomb them with impunity.

** Also [[Averted Trope]], in the ''[[Honor Harrington|Honorverse]]'', in regards to final point-defense systems, where laser point defense clusters are vastly superior to autocannon in engaging any incoming missiles the counter-missile missiles fail to intercept. That said, ship-grade energy weapons are fairly useless when used outside of plot-related battles. The makers of the table-top adaptation specifically tripled canon energy ranges in order for lasers and grazers to even matter in ship-to-ship combat.

* [[H. Beam Piper]]'s assorted science fiction novels, including ''[[Little Fuzzy]]'' and ''[[Uller Uprising]]'', have faster-than-light travel and antigravity, but modern-style guns are still universally used (they also have huge mainframe-style computers programmed by plugboard, but that's [[Science Marches On]]). His justification for this was that Earth had fought a nuclear war in the early 21st Century, that had destroyed most of the Northern Hemisphere. While civilization was being rebuilt in the Southern Hemisphere, such technologies as hyper-space drive were developed, but weapons technology didn't change much, because what they had was more than adequate for the job at hand. This is why the ''Nemesis'' and the ''Enterprise'' (no, not ''that'' [[Star Trek|Enterprise]]) in ''Space Viking'' shot it out, in low planetary orbit, with autocannon and guided missiles. Interestingly enough, in spite of hyper-space drives and contragravity normal-space propulsion, both "field drive"- type systems, Piper never assumed the existence of defensive "deflector shields" or "force fields"; the space warships in his stories relied on heavy hull armor to keep enemy fire out. In ''Uller Uprising'' the weapons used by all concerned were automatic pistols, automatic rifles, machine guns, etc, the main difference with present-day warfighting technology being that self-propelled artillery was on contragravity vehicles, tanks had contragrav in addition to tracks, and contragravity airjeeps, air lorries, lighters, etc., substituted for tactical aircraft like fighter-bombers, helicopter gunships, and so on (the plot of ''Uller Uprising'', by the way, was based on the Sepoy Rebellion in India).

* ''Starworld'' by [[Harry Harrison]] has the rebel admiral explain to the protagonist why energy weapons don't work in the [[Arbitrary Maximum Range|vast distances of space]]. Although missiles are being used by both sides, the rebels use linear accelerators firing unguided ''cannon balls'' to gain the decisive edge, then finish them off with a [[Flechette Storm]] of rocket-propelled bullets.

* The plot of the [[Tom Clancy]] novel ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' centers around the US and USSR developing strategic laser weapons and trying to steal the plans of their counterpart's systems from each other, but after that book, laser weapons are forgotten about. Eventually in ''The Bear and the Dragon'', the lead researcher of the US team reappears and mentions that they never succeeded in making a laser large enough to be useful. All militaries in the series use conventional weaponry when fighting each other.

* ''[[The Killing Star]]'' shows how destructive the liberal application of kinetic energy can be when a barrage of solid matter accelerated to near light speed is used to destroy all advanced life on Earth. They are appropriately called relativistic bombs.

 

 

* The new ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' series: The show uses real-life guns in the show, or at least slightly dressed up ones. Even the starships slug it out like WWII battleships with heavy cannons and [[More Dakka|walls of small-caliber AA fire]], along with nuclear warheads.

* ''Space Rangers:'' Takes place in 2104, however rifles and other projectile weapons are used in combat.

** In "Heart of Gold", a rich cowboy got himself an illegally-modified laser pistol, which caused some severe harm, but becomes useless once the battery runs out. The cowboy throws it away as he flees rather than attempt [[Pistol-Whipping]] (though Mal's larger military pistol has it outclassed for that purpose).

** In "Ariel," as Jayne and the Tams flee the Hands of Blue, Jayne fails to blast open a locked door by shooting it with a high-tech sonic stun rifle. A moment later, Mal and Zoe shoot out the lock from the other side with good old kinetic slugthrowers. Though that might be playing with the trope, because a weapon designed not to cause lasting damage doesn't cause lasting damage.

** In one episode, Thor specifically uses bullets as an example of the human race's [[Humans Are Special|outside-the-box thinking]]. To paraphrase, the idea of "small metal projectiles propelled by thousands of chemical explosions" never even ''occurred'' to the Asgard.

** Partially averted in the series finale and in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' from the third season finale where all Earth ships get upgraded with Asgard plasma beam cannons which go right through any shield and can take out the otherwise invulnerable Ori ships. And they got [[More Dakka|a recharge rate of about five seconds]], but can't track fighters, so railguns still come in handy. The nukes are kept, too.

** While most weapons in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' are energy weapons, in early seasons the planet Narn is devastated by use of simple "mass drivers" -- another word for [[Colony Drop|asteroids dropped onto the surface]]. However, they are banned precisely for that reason.

* In ''[[Andromeda]]'', most large ships only use energy weapons for point defense; most combat uses relativistic missiles or, at extreme close range, anti-proton cannons. As for hand-held weapons, people typically carry gauss pistols with smart bullets or [[Swiss Army Weapon|force lances]] that can fire mini drones or plasma bursts depending on the situation.

 

** As a general rule of thumb, 40k uses [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards|Linear Kinetic, Quadratic Energy]] weapons - on a small scale, kinetic weapons ([[Abnormal Ammo|especially those of the]] [[Space Marines]]) tend to be a lot stronger and more versatile than energy weapons (with a few exceptions). As the weapon size gets larger, kinetic rounds tend to be strictly [[More Dakka|anti-personnel]] (such as the [[Bullet Hell|frankly ridiculous Punisher Cannon]]), whereas the real anti-tank weapons are Lascannon, Volcano Cannon, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Laser Tank Destroyer]], Fusion Gun, Plasma Cannon, and so on. There are two notable exceptions to this rule in the human armies with the Leman Russ's main gun and the Vanquisher gun witch are the best antitank weapons for their size the Imperial Guard has. Other races invert this, on the other hand - the Tau have the best basic infantry weapon in the Pulse Rifle, while their heavy anti-armour weapons are railguns. The railgun's size-equivalent energy weapon is the ion cannon, which is very effective against infantry but markedly less so against vehicles.

** [[Gaiden Game|Spinoff game]] ''[[Necromunda]]'', by virtue of its slum-style setting, makes armour and energy weapons hard-to-get elite gear. Ordinary slug-throwers and shotguns are the predominant weapons in the game.

** Ballistic Weapons do have one clear advantage over Energy, in that they generate a ''lot'' less heat. This means 'Mechs can keep firing for longer without risking damage or shutdown, and vehicles don't have to mount additional equipment to deal with overheating components.

* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'', laser weapons exist, and can penetrate armor better than their kinetic brethren, but several factors keep them from being used that much. They're expensive as hell, their ammo is expensive as hell, they're very hard to find, let alone get your hands on, and they can be quite unreliable in a pitched firefight. For those reasons, most runners tend to stick with cheaper, more reliable weapons.

 

== Video Games ==

** Caldari favor kinetic missiles, which have very low overall damage and suffer against fast-moving targets but [[Always Accurate Attack|never miss if they're in range]], and kinetic railguns, which have a very long optimal range but very low damage.

** Gallente favor kinetic blasters that are essentially particle shotguns. They have extremely high damage but require you to be practically sitting on your target to damage them.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is basically This Trope: The Game. The weapons are highly advanced, but are said to function using a mass driver as opposed to firing energy. They are not [[Magnetic Weapons]], however - instead, the titular mass effect creates artificial gravity, speeding up small pieces of metal, about the size of sand, up to speeds that make it as lethal as a bullet. This for magazines to hold thousands of rounds, thus negating the need to reload over the course of a single mission. The weapons have virtually unlimited power sources as well. Unfortunately, they overheat rapidly unless special weapon modifications are used. And in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' they don't even cool down on their own - you have to ''reload heat sinks'', which end up being completely analogous to ammo. The starships are explicitly stated to be built around railguns, as large as their frames can support.

** The Phasic and Proton Rounds ammunition mods can convert whatever weapon you slot them in into a partially energy-based weapon which combines mass and charged particles, according to the fluff. Even then, though, the trope is upheld; neither of these mods are all that useful, dealing out LESS overall damage in return for some of that damage being dealt to the target's health through their shields. Specialist solid rounds often do better just through sheer damage output.

*** ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' explains that the weapons Sovereign uses that ''look'' like energy weapons actually aren't either -- they instead operate somewhat like coilguns, only firing a stream of molten metal at the target instead of a solid slug so that not only does the target suffer the impact of the jet, but the jet itself burns through the target like a torch. It took less than a year after the end of ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' for the normal races to build a prototype of the same type of weapon, and you can upgrade the ''[[Cool Starship|Normandy]]'' with one [[Wave Motion Gun|(two cannons, actually, which fire together to look like one big weapon)]]. And boy, oh boy is it effective! The one time they're actually used, the Normandy SR2 proceeds to utterly vaporize a much heavier and (ostensibly) more advanced warship with a mere two shots. Suddenly, your Frigate hits like a Dreadnought!

** ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' also features an exposé on kinetic weapons by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bloy8-7vrk an ornery drill sergeant bringing a couple of cadets up to speed on coil guns]. 20kg of solid metal flung at 1.3% of the speed of light impacts with a force of 38kt, and due to the lack of friction in space, should one happen to miss their target, it's ''certain'' to ruin ''someone's'' day somewhere, sometime. Sir [[Isaac Newton]] is the deadliest son-of-a-bitch in space!

** There was also the secret experimental beam weapons in ''Front Mission 3''. One of which was on an enemy mech, the other could be gotten through a secret code used on the in-game internet. It did tremendous damage, but the fact is you wouldn't be very skilled with it due to how late in the game you got it and it was difficult to fire due to it's high AP cost. Pretty though.

* ''[[Homeworld]]'' plays this straight in the first game, where directed-energy weapons are expensive, bulky and slow-firing compared to coilguns and particularly useless against fighters or corvettes. It slips a bit in semi-sequel ''Cataclysm'', [[All There in the Manual|insofar as a gun that fires 'magnetic bottles' full of superheated gas counts as a directed-energy weapon]], but returns in full force in ''Homeworld 2''.

*** However, in ''Cataclysm'', Somtaaw engineers manage to develop an energy weapon system that specializes in destroying fighters and other small craft. Unfortunately, Somtaaw either doesn't share this technology or the Hiigarans promptly forget it since it isn't present in ''Homeworld 2''.

* ''[[Darkest of Days]]'' future weapons are just [[BFG|BFGs]]. Interestingly, the sniper rifles from historical wars are more accurate than the future gun, which is affected by wind and gravity, but historical rifles aren't.

** The latest expansion, however, did introduce the Rail Cannons, two or three of which are mounted on Impactor cruisers and six (or seven... or ten for [[Beware the Nice Ones|Liir]]) on Impactor dreadnoughts. Their decent enough reload rate makes them deadly against most ships. The only way to avoid being destroyed by these is to use [[Deflector Shields|deflectors]] (type of shield that blocks all kinetic weapons) or shield projectors.

*** Even with the shields, the target ship still gets pushed by the impact. This can either cause the ship to collide with another object (such as a planet) or be pushed in such a way that the shield no longer protects it (deflectors only protect from frontal assaults).

* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', you have access to a ridiculous number of ranged damage sets. Most of these are elemental or energy based, but three (Archery, Assault Rifle, and Dual Pistols) rely solely on kinetic weaponry. While firing a bow and Arrow isn't as cool as [[Playing with Fire]], the Weapon Sets certainly aren't starving for damage. They also have a unique advantage in the fact that their "Nuke" powers don't leave them exhausted after user.

* In ''[[Galactic Civilizations]]'' Kinetic weapons (Mass Drivers) were one of the 3 choices you had for weapon tech paths, along with missiles and energy weapons. Which one was better depends on what form of defenses your enemies are using- shields defend against energy weapons, point defence protects ships from missiles and plain old armour plating stops mass drivers.

 

 

* Memorably mentioned in Larry Elmore's ''[[Snarf Quest]]'' comic that used to run in DRAGON Magazine back in the 80's, when a group of space-travellers from a medieval fantasy world, posing as a rock band (it makes sense in context, trust me) angered a group of space miners, resulting in a high-speed chase with both parties exchanging gunfire; while the miners weren't too worried about the heroes' lasers, when Snarf pulled out his ''.357 Magnum'' (that he once killed a ''dragon'' with), they started to panic because "lasers'll burn ya, but them slug-throwers will rip yer head off!" The matter became moot, anyway, after the team wizard hit the miners with a Lightning Bolt spell, but still...

* In both ''[[Star Wars]]'' and the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' blasters rule the day, but some groups use firearms, which are called slugthrowers, since they can be silenced, their rounds cannot be seen like blaster bolts (the former traveling significantly faster), can be made to be explosive/incendiary etc, can not be deflected with a lightsaber, and are cheaper.

** Navy fired BAE systems prototype railgun in late Febuary 2012. Unlike previous models, this railgun is the first model that looks like something that might get mounted on a ship. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uV1SbEuzFU\]

* The only weapons deployed on spacecraft to date were 23mm rapid-fire cannons mounted on the Soviet [[wikipedia:Almaz#Defense measures|Almaz space stations]] (the military versions of their Salyuts).

** On top of the advantages for avoiding collateral damage, concrete is both cheaper and far safer to handle than high explosives are, making this a wonderful alliance of [[Rock Beats Laser|Rock and Laser.]]

* Modern missile interceptors like the [[wikipedia:Kinetic Energy Interceptor|Kinetic Energy Interceptor]] and [[wikipedia:Terminal High Altitude Area Defense|THAAD]] rely on physically striking their targets to destroy them, rather than exploding. The reasoning is that proximity fuse detonations can't reliably knock out a missile, and the explosion risks scattering debris (like the warhead payload) over a wider area, and that's something you '''REALLY''' want to avoid when dealing with nuclear weapons.