Stun Guns: Difference between revisions

 

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* Several anime (''[[Lost Universe]]'' and ''[[Gasaraki]]'' immediately come to mind) treat rubber and plastic rounds this way, as somehow enacting the [[Instant Death Bullet]] without the death, rather than just ''hurting''.

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'''s Shion Sonozaki has a habit of knocking people out with tasers, often by pushing it very hard into their ''neck''. She has never given anyone more than a few hours of unconsciousness (at least, [[Torture Cellar|that's all she's done with the]] ''[[Torture Cellar|taser]]''...).

* Zoe of [[Matthew Reilly]]'s ''Six Sacred Stones'' uses one to incapacitate guards at Stonehenge.

* In [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s ''[[The Stars Are Cold Toys]]'', the Russian government has managed to develop one-shot paralyzers that become useless after discharging with no way to recharge the battery. Unlike the typical examples of this trope, the target remains fully conscious but is incapable of movement. It is proven to work on at least one other race. Interestingly, the paralyzer is made by a think tank specifically charged with reading/watching science fiction for ideas. Their other known invention is an [[Explosive Leash]].

 

* In the 1963 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial "The Daleks", the Dalek's weapons are shown to have a secondary 'stun' function which is used on one of The Doctor's companions. However, it should be noted that the blast does not render him unconscious, it only temporarily paralyzes his legs.

** In their defense, Ian was pretty [[Just for Pun|stunned]] when they blasted him.

{{quote|'''Jack''': "This is for Ianto! Risen Mitten, Life Knife, and that old classic...[[Punny Stuff|Stun Gun]]!"}}

* ''[[Lost]]'''s Others have weapons similar to tasers, with multiple settings. They also have dart guns, whose darts inflict an electrical shock that can kill or merely incapacitate a victim.

** [[Star Trek: The Original Series|The original series]] featured a ''stun setting'' (which would handily knock out any non-[[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|godlike]] humanoid) and a ''kill setting'' which would [[Disintegrator Ray|make things go away]] (unless, again, the target was just plain immune). "The Man Trap" and "The Conscience of the King" featured lethal settings that left a body, [[Bloodless Carnage|with no visible damage, as per typical television standards of the time]]. Something similar may have featured in "What Are Little Girls Made Of", when an [[Ridiculously-Human Robots|android]] has a hole shot in it, revealing its electronic workings. Ironically, this is the first episode to show disintegration. On the other hand, phasers also could heat rocks (or heat coffee) as a story might allow, which might have involved a special ''toast'' setting unmentioned in the canon media.

** After ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|The Undiscovered Country]]'', it became canon that movie-era phasers on Stun could kill at point blank range (to the head). On occasion, phasers have been set to "maximum stun" when facing unusually tough enemies, which is implied to have a higher risk of killing someone.

** Scriptwriter guidelines for ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|The Next Generation]]'' specified hand-phasers had about ten settings, from ''give someone a headache'' to ''vaporize a chunk of granite''. They started making marks on walls around 3 or 4. This was later expanded to sixteen settings, with level 3 capable of knocking an average humanoid unconscious for about an hour and level 7 treated as deadly force.

** Similarly, in one episode of ''[[Star Trek]]: [[Deep Space Nine]]'', we see Miles O'Brien [[Driven to Suicide|contemplating suicide]]. He cycles the phaser through about five yellow settings and then five red settings to what we can only assume is 'Maximum Kill.'

** In ''[[Enterprise]]'', and sometimes ''[[Voyager]]'', phasers and similar weapons can be seen to have no effect ''at all'', maybe causing a slight limp from a shoulder wound (Enterprise pilot). [[Fridge Brilliance|So they work a bit like electrolasers, maybe?]]

** Stun grenades, utilizing phaser technology, have also been featured in ''[[Enterprise]]''.

* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' uses "tranq guns" a lot (see [[Instant Sedation]]).

* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' also make use of Goa'uld-made semi-lethal stun guns, called "Zat'nik'tel" or "Zats": one shot will knock the target out (originally an [[Agony Beam]] but no longer starting around season three), two shots are fatal, and three shots completely vaporize a body or a light object. The show's creators later regretted adding the third function, so the Zat never gets used this way anymore.

*** Ronon's weapon also has various power settings, which at the lower end seem to act in a similar manner.

** The Bedrosians in "New Ground" also have staff-like weapons that fire a yellow knockout blast. Their shields also double as stunners.

* In ''[[Firefly]]'', Alliance police officers generally carry some kind of concussion/stunning rifle that knocks people off their feet and leaves them dazed, though it doesn't appear to have any effect on inanimate objects like doors, as Jayne finds out in "Ariel" as he's trying to get the Tams out of the hospital before the Hands of Blue get them:

{{quote|'''Jayne:''' ''Shee-niou'' high-tech Alliance crap!}}

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]''. A newsreader reports that "[[Rule of Funny|rubber nuclear weapons]]" (presumably the WMD version of rubber bullets) were used to suppress a riot over the latest virtual reality game.

** A simulant incapacitates the crew with a laser weapon for a period of three weeks. Somehow, this works on all four of them, considering two are flesh and blood, one is a droid and the other is a hologram.

* For the most part, the ''[[Law and Order]]'' franchise pretends that stun guns don't exist, seeing as they would suck the drama out of chases and stand-offs.

* ''[[The Tomorrow People]]'' used stun guns, due to the "Prime Barrier" preventing them from killing.

* On ''[[Leverage]]'', Parker loves zapping people with various tasers and other stun guns.

== [[Radio]] ==

* The [[Green Hornet]] used a gas gun to [[Instant Sedation|knock out]] criminals (or anyone else he needed to shoot).

{{quote|'''Karla:''' Should we set our lasers on stun?"

'''Captain Kremmen:''' No, this is serious. Set them on [[Agony Beam|Cringing Agony]]! }}

 

* Eddie Izzard parodied this once in a routine about less and less damaging settings for Star Trek Phasers: "Limp," "Bit of a Cough," "Depression," "Bad Eyesight," "Ice Cream Van Nearby," "Sudden Interest In Botany," "Water In The Ear After Swimming," and "Left The Oven On At Home."

** By Voyager the default setting seems to be "mildly annoy".

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' has stun batons, tasers, stun gloves, etc.

* TSR's ''Star Frontiers'' game had electrostunners (ranged stunning weapons).

* A relative of the above FASA property, the tabletop ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' RPG features a variety of stun weapons. [[Instant Sedation|Chemical]], [[Static Stun Gun|electrical]], and [[Sonic Stunner|sonic]] stun weapons are available as ranged weapons, though stun batons are also available. An insidious item known as the neural whip could also technically be used to stun victims, but prolonged use could result in crippling injuries and permanent loss of attribute points.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** Ironically, lethal weapons were almost universally outclassed by the M9 since it's perfectly silent, and enemy soldiers finding unconscious guards didn't sound an alarm. Not to mention you only needed one dart; a soldier hit in the arm by the M9 would walk around for a bit [[Instant Sedation|and then fall asleep]]. A soldier hit in the arm with lethal weapons would sound an alarm and return fire.

*** It's less useful on higher difficultly settings, as the effect wouldn't last all that long and the sedated guard would get suspicious and start searching for you.

** In the fourth game you have a MK. 2 and can unlock the [[Boktai|Solar Gun]], which is unable to damage anyone (except Vamp) but is ''very'' good at stunning and knocking down opponents.

*** In the fourth game, you have a stun ''[[Up to Eleven|knife]]''.

* In the game ''[[Urban Chaos]]: Riot Response'' if you taze someone for too long they will burst into flames killing them.

** The same happens in the ''[[Syphon Filter]]'' series.

* ''[[Oni]]'' has the Van de Graf pistol, which fires a short-ranged bolt of electricity to briefly stun enemies. It does no damage, but gives time to position oneself for a [[Back Stab|Backbreaker]] or other hand-to-hand attack.

* ''[[Fallout]]'' 3 features the [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Mesmatron Mesmatron] an experimental weapon that has a 50% chance of stuning someone, a 30% of making them very angry and a 20% chance of making ''their head explode.''

* ''[[No One Lives Forever]]: A Spy In Harm's Way'' features an electric stun gun (the hand-to-hand kind) and a CT-180 utility launcher that can be loaded with [[Instant Sedation|tranquilizer darts]] which will both quickly and [[Stealth Based Game|quietly]] take down opponents, leaving them alive. Sadly, they recover inside only a few minutes, and then will manifest weapons (even if searched and disarmed) shortly after that, providing an incentive to take out opponents in a more lethal fashion.

* The only weapon you get in ''[[Hydrophobia (video game)|Hydrophobia]]'' is a stun gun, you're meant to use it to keep enemies at bay while you use the environment to kill them but oddly for this trope it can kill if you shoot it enough times....or change the ammo to something more lethal.

* In ''[[Total Annihilation]]'' the Arm Spider unit is armed with a stunner, although this is more probably a weapon to disable ''technology''. The spin-off ''[[Total Annihilation Kingdoms]]'' has magical stun weapons used by Aramonian Mage Archers and Verunan Lighthouses. Interestingly, the logo for the stun arrow is an arrow with a pair of magically glowing handcuffs wrapped around it.

* In the later ''[[Commander Keen]]'' games, your weapon is the Neural Stunner. Most enemies stay "stunned" permanently, but some revive after a few seconds.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', one of the granddaddies of [[Family-Friendly Firearms]], actually showed this... only twice. Once when a character was hit by a laser during a training exercise (and failed to be actually ''stunned'', merely yelping in pain), and once during a closeup of a Joe setting the power slider on a pistol ''from'' "stun" to "max." [[A-Team Firing]] seemed to be their preferred form of less-lethal attack.

* The season 3 finale of ''[[Archer]]'' features "ion pulse" weapons that are supposed to be this. In a bit of a deconstruction, they actually stop your heart and affected persons need immediate defibrillation ("So... 'stun' may be a bit of a misnomer"). Naturally, this doesn't stop [[Jerkass|Archer]] from shooting his co-workers with them anyway.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

** The development problem is, as per all beam weapons, a portable power supply.

** Another problem with electrolasers is that laser beams powerful enough to ionize air between them and a target are usually powerful enough to ''[[Frickin' Laser Beams|make holes in it]]''. Which kinda defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

** There are also a few designs using concentrated jets of salt water, but they face the same issue as peeing on the third rail, lack of a coherent stream.

* Another tool used by riot control police is the "riot ball". This is a big rubber bullet designed to be fired from a shotgun. It will cause a big bruise, and maybe crack a rib, but its intent is to incapacitate its target, not kill it.

** Another note, they could only make it work at all was to fire it from inside giant, specialized lightning generator, and they only had one shot.

** Taser shotguns caused controversy recently when they were used by British police on fugitive gunman Raoul Moat, who then [[Ate His Gun|killed himself with a sawn-off shotgun]]. The controversy arose from the fact that apparently the Home Office hadn't approved their use, as they're still under testing.

* Stun guns are "pain compliance" weapons. They do not render people unconscious, nor even physically incapacitate them (admittedly, they can cause muscles in the targeted zone to lock up, briefly). Another problem with stun guns is that they require skin contact, and have no Taser-like barbs to penetrate clothing. It is necessary to press both prongs of the stun gun onto skin to complete the circuit and enable the current to flow.

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]

[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]

[[Category:Tropes Examined by the Mythbusters]]