Blaster (weapon)
|
|
A Blaster, along with the ray gun, is a standard science fiction weapon. Indeed the two terms could be considered synonymous, with ray gun being the older term.
In science fiction literature or films, blasters are generally portrayed as hand held Directed Energy Weapons that can fire a beam of energy at an opponent sufficient to kill them. The blaster is often a replacement for guns and may vary from a small hand-held weapon to larger, and presumably more powerful, vehicle and ship or spacecraft mounted weapons.
The precise operating technology of a blaster is generally not explained in too much detail in the literature. However some form of laser, plasma or particle beam technology is generally apparent from the context, in most stories.
The effects of blasters change with the times and the perceptions of science and technology by the population in general, and science fiction authors.
When Isaac Asimov wrote The Foundation Series trilogy in the 1940s and early 1950s, his blasters were atomic-powered devices which let out a dazzling beam of high powered nuclear particles and reduced the target to smithereens. Later in the 1980s and 1990s Asimov wrote sequels to the trilogy where blasters were comparatively limp and puny things which could only disrupt the internal organs of humans and did so with nearly no visible effect and with only a small release of power.
In Forbidden Planet the starship crew were issued with blasters that could kill or vaporize, whilst operators of larger radio controlled weapons were referred to as "blastermen".
In The Apocalypse Troll, David Weber described his version of a blaster as "... a capacitor-fed energy weapon which projects a pulse of plasma at the target. "
In the Bride of Chaotica episode of Star Trek: Voyager blasters were 30s looking things which let out a mortal electric ray with a zap-rich crescendo of sounds and exaggerated visual effects. This was in the context of a series within the series: One of the characters of the Trek series, Tom Paris, had created a string of holodeck adventures where he acted as Captain Proton, a 1930s style science fiction hero. It was a parody, within a "straight" show.
The term "blaster" is more often used in the Star Wars universe.
In many cases the weapons are not even called a blaster but by some other name.