64
votes
Accepted
Why are turbolasers called "lasers" when they appear to be scaled-up blasters?
There's a nice description of how the turbolaser works in the Star Wars: Official Fact File #45. In essence, the technology uses lasers to energise the plasma which is then ejected at high speed ...
- 709k
63
votes
Is there a difference between Narsil and Andúril?
There's an old philosophical problem called the Ship of Theseus, or Theseus's Paradox. It talks about a ship that was preserved by the people of Athens as a cultural relic; over time, they took away ...
- 16k
56
votes
Accepted
Can goblins or orcs see the light Sting gives off?
Yes. In this passage from The Hobbit, chapter IV, the goblins can clearly see Orcrist and Glamdring. Sting was of the same make, so there is no reason to believe that its light would be any different....
- 1,670
54
votes
If PPGs don't penetrate metal, why didn't people use armour in Babylon 5?
They did.
In the very first pilot episode, The Gathering, Sinclair and Garibaldi suit up in black padded vests when going after the changeling net assassin. Garibaldi takes a PPG hit directly to the ...
- 36.6k
52
votes
Accepted
Why do they fight with knives and not with assault rifles in Dune?
It is because of the personal shield worn by warriors, except in the desert on Arrakis.
A slow moving object will penetrate a shield. A fast moving projectile will be blocked by it.
Paul grew up ...
- 8,496
47
votes
Accepted
Why don't they use dragonglass sword?
Dragonglass, if it is like our obsidian, would be too brittle to make classical swords. But that does not mean that they are limited to arrowheads, spears (by the way, the first picture seems to show ...
- 8,231
40
votes
Accepted
If PPGs don't penetrate metal, why didn't people use armour in Babylon 5?
PPGs aren't common, which is why people don't wear body armor that often.
As the audience, we often see them, but that's because our perspective follows the staff and crew of Babylon 5 around. They ...
- 4,196
35
votes
Accepted
TV series episode about using oxygen in space suit helmet to fire gun
This is the Firefly episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds" as per this entry about Jayne's gun Vera:
In the TV series' episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds", "Vera", Jayne's powerful ...
- 233k
29
votes
Accepted
Earliest use of a prosthetic-integrated gun in speculative fiction?
Assuming newspaper comics fit your "speculative fiction" moniker, and assuming a flamethrower is close enough to a gun, Dick Tracy had Dr. Plain as a villain with a prosthetic arm containing ...
- 4,141
27
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between Narsil and Andúril?
In short: Symbolism
I think Tolkien was using the forging of Andúril to amplify the symbolic effect of the Return of the King as a counter point to the rise of Sauron. There is a good bit of ...
- 394
26
votes
Why did the Elves only create 3 blades that could glow blue?
As I understand it, and by the time in which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place, there are many Elvish blades that have the ability to glow blue when orcs are near.
The elves were the ...
- 3,611
26
votes
Accepted
First science fiction story to use the word "laser" or "maser"?
Just a slightly earlier than any of the references to "laser {x}" listed in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction is this description of a maser weapon, from Poul Anderson's novel ...
- 138k
25
votes
Can goblins or orcs see the light Sting gives off?
The glow is visible to anyone who can see the blade. However it appears the sheath completely masks the glow as Aragorn is unable to see the blade glowing while it was sheathed.
'Let us see what ...
- 32.6k
24
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to construct a multi-colored double-bladed lightsaber?
According to the Star Wars Database, Maul's double-sided lightsaber was just two standard ones joined together.
The Sith apprentice Darth Maul wielded a double-bladed lightsaber made by joining two ...
- 67.1k
24
votes
Earliest use of a prosthetic-integrated gun in speculative fiction?
The earliest I can find is Limbo by Bernard Wolfe (1952). A review by The Nihilist Void explains the nature of the "arms" race:
Little do the citizens of either country realize, however, ...
- 23.8k
23
votes
Is Needle’s portrayal in Game of Thrones faithful to the books? (And is it a shortsword?)
No
George R. R. Martin made the following comment which makes it clear that the show version is not faithful to the book one as he seems to only have used cruciform sword designs.
I recall Valyrian ...
- 144k
23
votes
Accepted
Can dwarves forge magical weapons as well as Elves can?
Dwarves have forged weapons of the same renown
I'm sure Tolkien would have probably rejected such a classification system, but if you consider the weapons named in your question to be "magical&...
- 95.7k
16
votes
Accepted
How does gunplay work in Westworld?
This was discussed with showrunner Jonathan Nolan in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes. In short it's the bullets that are special, not the guns.
With the same guns, the guests can blow the hosts ...
- 709k
16
votes
Accepted
Weapons that glow when the enemy is near. Are there precedents before Tolkien?
In Nigerian mythology, the god of war wields a sword called the Mmaagha Kamalu that glows red when enemies are near. (I can find very little by way of source for this one)
I do not know of any ...
- 32.6k
16
votes
Why don't they use dragonglass sword?
Dragonglass (obsidian) is a brittle material. Daggers are short and less likely to break. Furthermore, obsidian cannot really be forged. You're effectively breaking shards off and hope that one comes ...
- 269
15
votes
Accepted
How powerful were the Fremen projectile weapons?
The gun in question is the Maula pistol. Stilgar explicitly calls it so later in the book from the quote in the question.
lifted the weapon from Paul's waist with the other, tossed it to a ...
- 66.4k
15
votes
Accepted
Which ancestral weapon is the oldest in The World of Ice and Fire (Planetos)?
Since your question is about all ancestral swords, not just the Valyrian steel ones, Dawn is oldest ancestral sword in Westeros. It is claimed to have been passed down to the greatest Swordsmen of the ...
- 48.4k
14
votes
Was Ned Stark using Ice during his fight against Jaime Lannister?
In the book A Game of Thrones the great-sword known as Ice is not mentioned in the encounter between Jaime and Ned.
I have quoted select sentences from the full passage that details the fight.
"...
- 61.2k
13
votes
Accepted
What sci-fi series used an alien weapon that disabled the ship when fired?
This is Crusade, a short-lived spin-off of Babylon 5.
From Wikipedia:
Excalibur features energy and particle beam weapons. The main guns operate at two main power levels. "Level One" provides ...
- 5,992
13
votes
Accepted
What happened to Aragorn's Ranger sword?
We don't know
This sword is never mentioned in the books, so my answer will be completely non-canonical.
Films
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn uses it to fight and defeat the nine Ringwraiths....
- 26.4k
13
votes
Why did Snoke’s ship’s weapons arc like this?
The shots definitely follow an arcing path towards their target. While we can understand why this was styled as such for out-of-universe reasons, I've yet to find any rational in-universe explaination ...
- 15.8k
12
votes
Accepted
Could you destroy the Death Star by having a ship come out of hyperspace in the middle of it?
The (canon) Star Wars novel Tarkin would suggest that a capital ship reverting to realspace near to a large static body could do very severe damage.
Despite being crewed by sentients, the ...
- 709k
12
votes
Accepted
Poisoned weapons in Middle-earth
The main explicit reference to this is a note given in the Maeglin materials in History of Middle-earth 11, which was added to the text by Tolkien at some time after writing it, but which was not ...
12
votes
Accepted
What kind of hand grenade are the Death Troopers using in Rogue One?
Per the film's Visual Guide, they're fragmentation grenades.
MERR-SONN MUNITIONS FRAGMENTATION GRENADE
The C-25 fragmentation grenade consists of a sphere of baradium-impregnated detonite encased ...
- 709k
12
votes
Why is Guinan allowed to have a non-Starfleet issued rifle?
There isn't currently an answer for this in canon, but there is some reasonable speculation that can be made:
"I doubt they would allow her to bring her own weapon on board." There isn't anything to ...
- 251
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