Silver Bullet: Difference between revisions

* In the [[Solomon Kane]] comic book story "The Silver Beast of Tonkertown" (not based on one of Howard's original stories), Kane melts down an inn's silverware to create a silver pistol ball which he uses to slay a werewolf that is terrorising the town.

* In a [[Two Gun Kid]] special from [[Marvel Comics]], Two-Gun uses a silver bullet he obtained from "Kid Clayton" (a [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]] of [[The Lone Ranger]]) to kill a werewolf.

* In The ''Astounding Wolf-Man'', an assassin explains that even if the story about Silver Bullets wasn't true, silver bullets should at least hurt as much as regular ones. As it turns out, there are a few elements harmful to werewolves, but Silver is the most commonly known one.

* [[Doctor Strange]] foe Silver Dagger not only wielded his namesake knives as weapons but also commanded a group of zealot commandos armed with automatic weapons loaded with silver bullets.

** Doc nearly lost his own life to a silver bullet, fired from the very pistol with which Hitler committed suicide. Apparently the combination of the two was enough bad mojo to get through his magical protections.

== Film ==

 

{{quote| '''Crow''': "So...you've got Coors Light in your gun?"}}

* In ''[[The Monster Squad]]'', one of the protagonists crafts silver bullets but neglects to bring a gun. Rudy, the oldest of the Squad, eventually has to use a gun from a fallen cop to deliver the fatal bullet to the Wolf Man.

** He most likely seated them into .38 cartridges with the intention of grabbing a dropped service revolver, as there were going to be plenty of those to go around [[Police Are Useless|once the cops showed up]]. He belonged to a club [[Crazy Prepared|formed around dealing with monsters]], remember?

* ''[[The Howling|Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf]]'' subverts this trope and reveals that silver bullets ''don't'' actually kill werewolves, they just incapacitate them for a while. The real metal of choice when dealing with werewolves is revealed to be titanium.

** This troper's understanding of the dialogue was that silver bullets worked just fine against young werewolves, but ancients like Stirba were immune to silver (hence the titanium). Somewhat amusing in that one of the protagonists somehow manages to get eight shots out of a six-shot revolver without reloading.

* Averted, and mocked, in ''[[An American Werewolf in London]]'': David, the eponymous werewolf, is advised by his undead victims to kill himself. When he asks, "Don't I need a silver bullet?", his dead best friend Jack replies, "Oh, be serious!"

** The same punchline is used in ''[[My Best Friend Is a Vampire]]''.

* In ''[[Brotherhood of the Wolf]]'', Jean-François de Morangias uses a one-handed musket and silver bullets as his signature weapon.

* Silver is good against werewolves ''and'' vampires in ''[[Van Helsing]]'', with silver bullets and stakes being employed against both.

* ''[[Blade]]'' employs silver bullets and stakes as part of his vast vampire-killing arsenal.

 

== Literature ==

** However, the book reveals later that it was not the silver slug, but rather the children's [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|belief in its killing power]], that made it work.

** Silver bullets are used to kill the title creature in King's ''Cycle of the Werewolf''.

** Note that this was a genuine legend; while Dundee was not shot with a silver bullet (or button) that story really was told.

* In the Silver John vignette "You Know the Tale of Hoph" by [[Manly Wade Wellman]], John uses a silver bullet to slay the Hoph. Silver, not necessarily in bullet form, is generally effective against evil creatures elsewhere in the stories.

* In [[The Brothers Grimm (Creator)|Grimm]] [[Fairy Tale]] '' The Two Brothers'', silver bullets are used to kill a [[Wicked Witch|witch]] who is otherwise [[Immune to Bullets]].

* In Brian Lumley's ''[[Necroscope]]'' books silver is deadly to vampires, and the historical use of silver as a backing for mirrors is considered to be the origin of the whole vampires afraid of mirrors in folklore.

* In ''[[The Witcher]]'' series, silver is especially effective at warding off and causing pain for monsters. Hence, it's customary for Witchers, trained monster slayers, to fight them using silver swords and to have silver lining their armor.

* Silver is confirmed to be dangerous to werewolves on the [[Discworld]]. Along with fire, it is one of the few weaknesses they have.

== Manhwa ==

 

 

 

 

* In ''[[Frank and Ernest]]'', Tonto tells the Lone Ranger that he oversold it and everyone thinks silver bullets are the solution to everything.

 

== Radio ==

 

* ''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]'' has silver weapons of any kind do aggravated damage to [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Uratha]] once the silver touches blood. While using silver on other werewolves would be expedient, it's also a sin against the code of werewolf ethics. Still, the Uratha have a step up on their cousins, the Pure, who apparently can't even ''touch'' silver without it messing them up something fierce.

* Silver bullets are hard to make in ''[[GURPS]]'' but have no negative effect on range or damage, against werewolves they do multiplied damage. ''High-Tech'' points out one potential problem: because they are relatively soft silver bullets can mess up rifled firearms.

** ''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.

 

* Spoofed in ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]: Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', where it's ''gold'' bullets (24 [[Incredibly Lame Pun|"carrot"]] gold).

 

== Real Life ==