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Silver Bullet: Difference between revisions
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* In some epic folk songs about Bulgarian rebel leader Delyo, he is described as invulnerable to normal weapons, driving his enemies to cast a silver bullet in order to murder him.
* "Silverstrike" by Ablazer <ref>Melodic Death Metal band (Finland)</ref>.
== New Media ==
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** ''High-Tech'' is ''wrong''. Silver is ''harder'' than lead, but also less dense. It has also been discovered that a silver bullet will shrink while cooling, and thus a silver bullet cast in a regular bullet mold comes out smaller than the intended size. Also, silver does not "mushroom" in the barrel as much as lead does. Thus, the bullet does not form a proper seal against the grooves of the barrel, allowing much of the gas to escape around the bullet, and the bullet does not get as much spin imparted to it. As a result, a silver bullet has a shorter range and less stopping power (except against werewolves, of course) when compared to a lead bullet.
* A rule of thumb in ''[[Rifts]]'' is: "If Mini-missiles won't work, try silver." Silver is useful not only against werebeasts, but also vampires (damages, and a silver stake works just as good as a wooden one) and most other Undead, demons, and some gods. One country in South America actually issues silver-plated swords to it's [[Humongous Mecha]] because they're at war with a kingdom of vampires.
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. Starting in early editions of the game, the only mundane weapons that could hit a number of monsters are those made of silver. The monsters include not just the usual lycanthropes (e.g. werewolves) but also devils, night hags and many undead (such as ghosts, wights, wraiths - and
** To prevent silver weapons being a [[Game Breaker]] in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', the Dungeon Master guide says the DM should impress upon the players that fighting with swords made of such a soft metal all the time is a bad idea... Silver is harder than bronze, but much softer than steel. It's also less elastic than bronze. In an iron-age setting against heavy armor (like plate), a silver piercing weapon like a short sword or dagger would stay effective longer than a silver slashing weapon like a long sword.
{{quote|'''Guide''': "Oh dear, you stabbed that orc's plate armor with your silver sword and the blade bent!"
'''Guide''': "You know, you've been using that silver spear for so long that the point is dull. It's like hitting that ogre with a clumsy club, only it doesn't work that well!" }}
** In later versions they then decreed that the silver that worked against supernatural beings wasn't ''actually'' silver but "alchemical silver" ... much as "cold iron" was a metal that looked a bit like iron but wasn't. Okay, technically it's normal silver alchemically bonded (whatever that means) to an iron blade, so you get the best of both worlds, but whatever.
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* During the 18th century hunt for the Beast Of Gévaudan, Jean Chastel reportedly loaded his gun with silver bullets. However, in this case the bullets were not 'special' because they were made of silver, but because the silver was obtained from a blessed medallion of the Virgin Mary (the creature was thought to be demonic in nature).
* Silver has a density of 10.5 grams per cubic centimeter. Lead has a density of 11.3 g/cm<sup>3</sup>. In the ballistics game, higher density means better performance, which is why bullets are still made out of lead. (Uranium, it should be noted, has a density of 19 g/cm<sup>3</sup>, which is one of reasons why anti-
* [http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/silver/silverbullets.shtml Book author's husband researches making silver bullets]. It's not as straight-forward as casting bullets from lead. Silver melts at 1761°F (versus 621°F for lead), this makes just melting it a problem for home-made bullets. And silver has a different coefficient of expansion, and the hardness difference means the bullet has to be crafted more precisely. And silver jewelry and coins are made with silver alloys that are harder still. The bottom line is that silver bullets aren't something even someone who home loads can make in a hurry, from materials at hand; they take planning and preparation.
* During the 17th Century, many people believed that only a silver bullet could kill a king.
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