This generic energy Weapon, usually hand-held, is one of the best-known sf Clichés established in the Pulp magazine era; hence the Retro-Pulp magazine title Ray Gun Revival. Ray guns may of course project any of the exotic Rays imagined by sf authors: popular varieties include the purely destructive energy of the Blaster or Disintegrator, and the theoretically non-lethal Stunner or paralyser. Star Trek's phasers are famously switchable between these two settings, as are earlier sf handguns like the Denton (an imaginary brand name) in A Tale of Two Clocks (1962; vt Legacy 1979) by James H Schmitz. Another notable ray gun is Isaac Asimov's agony-inducing neuronic whip. [DRL]
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