History Main / FamilyFriendlyFirearms

** The trope isn't ''always'' in play. ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'' had a Megazord that had a giant gun that fired bullets (supersized bullets), and ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' had Mooks that used "advanced machine guns" that fired bullets... which were useless against the Rangers anyway. ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' also had giant bullets from mecha, as did ''SPD'' once or twice... apparently, the 'less imitable' factor makes bullets from HumongousMecha more acceptable than bullets from humans (or basically human-shaped PeopleInRubberSuits).

* Not even ''Franchise/StarWars'' was immune to this trope; anytime the stormtroopers appeared in ''WesternAnimation/{{Droids}}'', they wielded "blaster staffs" (later retconned into being force pikes) instead of the usual realistic guns. The good guys' weapons were similarly non-gun shaped; the one time someone did wield a gun, it was a "seed launcher". (Sister show ''WesternAnimation/{{Ewoks}}'' showed the stormtroopers as being completely unarmed the one time they appeared.) Fortunately, subsequent animated entries in the franchise are allowed to use gun-shaped guns, thanks to relaxed standards and either being on cable networks or streaming services.

* The characters in ''WesternAnimation/WildWestCowboysOfMooMesa'' used pistols that fired [[AbnormalAmmo anything]] ''[[AbnormalAmmo but]]'' [[AbnormalAmmo bullets]]. Indeed, no two character's guns ever fired the same thing. Most notably, the protagonist's guns shot star-shaped sheriff badges.

* Any time the dog mafia used guns in the [=DePattie=]/Freleng “Dogfather” shorts none are actually shown on screen, gun shots and smoke are seen but we always cut to the dog who shot the offscreen gun tucking it back into his coat.

* ''WesternAnimation/WildWestCOWBoysOfMooMesa'' had "guns" but each characters weapon fired [[AbnormalAmmo something unique instead of bullets]] (such as spinning shooting stars, whips, etc). These "bullets" also on ever BlastingItOutOfTheirHands or [[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt hit something else to knock the target out]].

* Changes in [[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics American gun culture]], akin to those that made things like [[NoSmoking smoking]] and drinking alcohol an increasingly rare phenomenon in American media.[[note]] Despite restrictions on the ''availability'' of guns in America being loosened quite a lot since the 1970s, the proportion of the American population who actually ''own'' guns has dropped by over a third in that same period. Interestingly, the ''number'' of guns in private hands did not go down during that time period.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is a notable aversion. The series takes place in a far future where aliens, flying cars, and robots are commonplace. However, most of Jack's enemies use guns that look and sound like they are firing bullets, with energy weapons being a rare sight. There is even a closeup shot of a belt magazine with normal ammunition being placed into a robot's ArmCannon.

** Several of the movies, like ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheCastleOfTheUnderseaDevil'', ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSteelTroops'' and ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasChronicleOfTheMoonExploration'' have shootouts against MechaMooks instead of flesh-and-blood opponents, where the gang can destroy multiple enemies using Doraemon's projectile-based gadgets (like the Laser Pistol or Air Cannon) with nary any gore in sight.

* Both the ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh card game]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh TV show]] have monsters that wield or resemble guns edited into lasers... [[MemeticMutation in]] ''[[MemeticMutation America!]]''. The most notable example of this is the monster called "Barrel Dragon", which could be described as resembling several guns welded together in Japan, while in the international version [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Barrel_Dragon the artwork was heavily overhauled to change the guns into bright blue laser cannons]]. An exception is the "Ancient Gear Soldier" in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', which uses a submachine gun-arm - it can be argued this was just because editing it would have looked ridiculous, though a case could also be made for the ClockPunk aesthetic making it look unrealistic enough to get a pass (though that didn't stop the card's international artwork from getting TronLines on the gun just to be sure).

* In episode 60 (54 in the Creator/DiC dubbed version) of ''Anime/SailorMoon R'', Chibi-Usa points a gun at Usagi's forehead, telling her where the Silver Crystal is. It was later revealed that it just a toy gun. This was cut out in the dubbed version.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': According to Scott Adams in his book ''Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!'', he drew a comic that had Dogbert get a job as a police negotiator, and showed a police officer shooting a suspect that was coming out to surrender. Since the police officer was shown firing a gun, this comic got nixed by the editors. Scott Adams changed the panel to just having the "Bang" sound effect, but this didn't get past the editors either. Finally, Scott Adams said "Screw it" [[http://dilbert.com/strip/2005-08-04 and turned the gun into a donut... that fires bullets]]. This one was accepted.

* Franchise/SuperSentai is odd about its use of this. Of course, we're dealing with magical/futuristic tech, and so lasers aren't as wildly out of place as in most series that use this trope. Anyway, sometimes the same weapons will shoot beams one day and bullets the next. Sometimes beams will go Matrixy and you'll ''see a bullet inside.'' Sometimes things that really, really shouldn't shoot bullets will (ancient technology, swords, claws, etc.) Sometimes the weapon will have beamless muzzle flashes and then we see the target dodge beams, or the weapon will fire beams but there will be nothing but BulletSparks when the target is shown. One time, Doggie Kruger deflects a flurry of red beams fired at him by the villain of the week, and then points down; we see he's gotten the ''bullets'' that have not looked or sounded like them for the whole two-parter to land in the shape of an X. And at one point (the ''Dekaranger'' version and ''SPD'' version are exactly the same), we get a "tink!" and BulletSparks off of a MonsterOfTheWeek's new armor. He turns to see Blue pointing at him with his weapon - which he fires again, only ''this time it's a blue beam.''

* Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight has the bullets from Torque's usual gun changed to lasers (green, the color of his suit), but his finisher (which has MoreDakka, BeamSpam, and a MacrossMissileMassacre ''at once!'' ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill, after all.) remains the same as it was in Series/KamenRiderRyuki.
** [[spoiler: Possibly justified by the fact the Riders' gear were made by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s.]]

* Series/ElChapulinColorado has the "Chipote Chillón", a very innocent hammer made out of rubber.

* Zig-Zagged in ''Pinball/BugsBunnysBirthdayBall''; on the playfield, WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam's pistols [[http://vpuniverse.com/forums/files/file/2904-bugs-bunnys-birthday-ball-bally-1991/ are replaced with fireworks]]. He has his pistols on the backglass, but they're firing confetti instead of bullets.

** Legends Class (smallest size class for non-[[Anime/TransformersArmada mini-cons]]. Car characters are about Hot Wheels size.) G1 Megs is even getting an orange cap. Apparently we're worried about squirrel cops shooting squirrel kids, because that's the scale we're dealing in. Perhaps they're deathly afraid of Legends Megatron being mistaken for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2mm_Kolibri Kolibri pistol]].

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' loves this trope. Each Kong gets their own unique firearm that all use AbnormalAmmo. Donkey Kong's gun fires coconuts, Diddy's pistols fire peanuts, Tiny's crossbow fires feathers, Lanky spits grapes out of a straw, and Chunky's bazooka fires pineapples. After the final boss fight, [[spoiler:Funky Kong finishes off King K. Rool with a bazooka that fires a boot directly at his head.]] Interestingly, in the beta of ''Donkey Kong 64'', Diddy has realistic pistols in place of his peanut popguns. Chances are they were just there as a placeholder until they came up with a cartoony weapon that was better suited to the colorful ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' universe, but they might have also been changed to keep an E rating.
* VideoGame/CrashBandicoot's [[https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Fruit_Bazooka Fruit Bazooka]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': In interviews about ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', it was specifically said that [[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake]] could not use guns... but his rocket launcher, mortar, grenades, and land mines are all good[[note]]though the mines were changed to a less realistic design in development[[/note]]. This may have also been for gameplay reasons though, since a projectile that [[{{hitscan}} moves almost instantly]] (like Sheik's needles) that you could [[SpamAttack fire almost constantly]] would be [[GameBreaker really cheap]] (also, [[StuffBlowingUp explosions]] [[RuleOfCool are more fun]], [[RuleOfFunny more hilarious]] and much harder to imitate). The titular protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', showing up as a DLC character ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', gets to keep her firearms, but they're [[BlingBlingBang unrealistic]] and a pretty big part of her style. The ''VideoGame/DuckHunt'' fighter can summon characters from Wild Gunman, but the Wild Gunman characters and their weapons are flat 2D NES sprites thus look even less realistic than Bayonetta's weapons. [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]] has a flintlock blunderbuss, but it fires a comically large and slow moving cannon ball (and somehow acts a vacuum). [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] somewhat averts this. In lore, the gun itself is only an airsoft gun made real by the Metaverse, but ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' never acknowledges this, and the gun looks and acts realistically, with bullet casings exiting the gun. His special that uses it is just called "Gun." Since the Gun is Joker's neutral B, Franchise/{{Kirby}} also can copy the gun, blasting foes while saying, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

* ''Webcomic/AmazingSuperPowers'' explored the limits of this in [[http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/hc/12012008/ this hidden comic]].

* Parodied in Cretor/HarryPartridge's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZpxMyoFpds Bo-Starr]]" short. The titular character is charged at by the [[SarcasmMode ever-menacing]] Grass Man, and his companion tells him to use his laser "stun ray". Bo-Starr does so, only for [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the laser to kill Grass Man in a single shot]]. He than awkwardly flicks a switch he'd forgotten to hit that switches the weapon to stun mode and [[BlackComedy pointlessly shoots it at Grass Man's corpse]].

** ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'' continues the tradition, but makes it clear the lasers are something new and exotic by M.A.R.S. Industries, and that they have just recently begun to replace bullet-based guns. One episode even features Flint remarking on the difference, warning his men to “watch the recoil! These are plasma-pulse rifles, [[NotYourDaddysX not your daddy's M16's]]!” Flashbacks to the Joes' early days feature them carrying regular guns, but this is an exception, as nobody else actually appears to own a firearm: when Zartan and his gang threaten a small town in his intro issue, nobody, not even the town's sheriff, appears to consider using firearms, instead resorting to improvised weaponry when the Joes train the citizens to defend themselves.

** In adition to that, many of the guns used on the show were drawn to resemble real-life guns, such as Glocks and AK47s.

** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' returns to this trope when the heroic Resistance are mainly armed with laser-shooting Wispon weaponry that just so happens to never hit anything on-screen. Amusingly, not only does the Avatar not actually get to use this weapon and instead have a much more strange arsenal of weapons, but Eggman's robots also fire energy shots that.. make stock bullet ping sounds when they hit objects.

** ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'''s single player trailer featured the player character using what looked like an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_P90 FN P90]] as their main weapon. Of course, the final version of the weapon was heavily modified to look more toylike, in line with the other weapons in the game.

* This trope was completely averted by ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'' a cartoon based off the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' movies. Still, no one living was ever hit by the bullets.

* Notably averted by ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'', which features more or less realistic firearms, in contrast to its contemporary ''G.I. Joe''. The show still depicts NonLethalWarfare, but the villains are usually firing bullets rather than lasers when they fail to hit the heroes.
* Any time the dog mafia used guns in the DePattie/Freleng “Dogfather” shorts none are actually shown on screen, gun shots and smoke are seen but we always cut to the dog who shot the offscreen gun tucking it back into his coat.

[[folder: Asian Animation]]

* An interesting reversal: in the English dub of the ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' [=OAVs=] (the 10-episode ones) the ''lasers'' have had their sounds changed to sound like ''guns'' (specifically Kei's blaster has a sound reminiscent of a Desert Eagle). This was due to there not being a Music and Effects track to dub over, so a completely new one had to be made. They still fire laser blasts, however.
* In ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior'' they have laser guns, and the originally-sharp laser swords were blurred from the original... sometimes. Somewhat justified, as [[EverythingIsOnline all combat takes place on the Internet with AI]].

* ''LightNovel/CatPlanetCuties'' both averts and plays it straight. While a lot of real guns are used, the vast majority of time the main good guys use catian weapons, which have both melee and ranged forms that are specifically designed to not harm organic matter. In both cases, getting hit with catian weapon simply causes clothing to disappear, or can apparently vaporize a tank without harming the men driving them. Lots of FanService abound when the female characters get hit with it.

*** Which ironically makes the scene considerably ''less'' family friendly, as it unintentionally delivers the message that [[ArtisticLicenseGunSafety guns are perfectly safe to fire at people when you're firing blanks out of them]]; anyone with even a basic knowledge of gun safety can tell you that it is ''never'' safe to even pretend to fire guns at people, up to and including when they're not loaded with anything at all (As an added twist, this was actually the message that the scene was originally meant to convey, with Shanks informing the bandit threatening them that he shouldn't play around with guns unless he was prepared both to kill with one and to die by one).

** The Japanese [[InsistentTerminology Self Defense Forces]] shown were carrying real guns (apparently the Howa 89). Again, only the firing sounds were changed. Not to mention the police officers, who also get to draw their weapons.
*** In one occasion, the police officers had [[FillingTheSilence added dub lines]] to assure the viewer that the guns weren't ''actually'' loaded.

** An interesting example: The Digimon Revolvermon is basically a giant revolver barrel and cylinder with limbs and a cowboy hat. While the English dub changed his ''name'' to Deputymon, his appearance and attacks were not altered at all (probably because, if they erased his gun, he would look more like a human than a Digimon).
*** ''Anime/DigimonFusion'', however, recolors him in blue. It also recolors anything looking like a gun ''with lightning sparking around it'' in the English dub.

* In the Creator/FourKidsEntertainment broadcast of ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'', [[OneSceneWonder farmer with shotgun]] becomes farmer with... some kind of [[EnergyWeapon laser shotgun]]. Raditz still manages to [[BulletCatch catch the laser]] and [[CatchAndReturn throw it back]] at the farmer. [[FridgeLogic Somehow]].

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'' one goon of the Naked Mummy Dark Guild is seen using a shotgun loaded with magic bullets. In the anime, it was changed to a more toy-looking rifle.

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Officer Jennys DO have guns, and they aren't even censored most of the time. But they'd just rather have fire-spewing attack dogs tackle the bad guys, which is obviously much safer. Even when a [[CowboyCop "wild"]] Jenny appears with only a talking bird as a Pokémon, she uses...[[ImprobableWeaponUser well, pretty much bowling balls]]. The bad guys prefer to make their Pokémon do the fighting as well, [[JustifiedTrope though that's a lot cheaper and easier than using a gun]].[[Recap/PokemonS1E35TheLegendOfDratini The one episode]] that had a character with a gun (and was rather trigger-happy) got [[MissingEpisode banned]] [[NoExportForYou almost worldwide]]. However, giant mecha and battleships firing a barrage of missiles are apparently just fine, though most Team Rocket robots fire [[AbnormalAmmo nets, energy beams or glue]], which makes sense considering that their intents are more focused on larceny rather than straight-up harming or killing Pokémon. The few weapons they ''couldn't'' avoid were referred to as [[CartoonBomb blaster]] [[UnusualEuphemism balls]] and [[AbnormalAmmo ice bazookas]]. This focus towards non-lethality on Team Rocket's part is also likely why the Jennys never draw their guns on them, especially since most of the time said non-lethal weapons [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard are more dangerous towards Team Rocket themselves]] than their intended targets.

** This is typical of Italian Disney stories (one of the reasons it's the DarkerAndEdgier division of Disney), in which characters casually wields and use realistic firearms, especially in those produced in the Sixties and Seventies (where Scrooge would wield a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, cops would shoot at criminals with .38 Special and .357 Magnum revolvers, and ''Donald Duck'' has been shown owning a Colt [=M1911=] and a double-barreled shotgun, the latter of which was used to magnificent effect to [[OneManArmy defeat a whole army]]). Since then, the presence of guns has diminished (usually being Scrooge wielding a blunderbuss or using carronades in place of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII residuates), but you can still find plenty of them in the 'classic' Paperinik stories (in fact that's where Donald's Colt comes from), the ''ComicBook/DoubleDuck'' saga (that shares most of the staff with ''Paperinik New Adventures''), ''Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine'' (yes, ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse''), and ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' (at least those times police officers are involved). [[ValuesDissonance And considering the Italian fans are rather cynical]], [[JustifiedTrope what would you expect?]]
* This trope is pretty much absent in Italian comics, as Italian fans don't really believe in it. The closest thing to the trope being played straight is, as mentioned above, [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]] switching from shotguns and WWII artillery to blunderbusses and carronades -- and still having to deal with the Beagle Boys sometimes having actual revolvers.
** But sadly played straight since 2019, as Disney's tighter rules about what can or cannot be shown in comics banned any instance of guns pointed towards someone's face. As a result, a lot of stories with guns badly edited out were released up until halfway through 2020.

* The Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon both uses and averts this trope. Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'', ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros'' (Panchito's gun), ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' (plenty of people get shot, but there's no carnage in sight) and ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' (even though the movie is set in the Industrial Era, the bad guys still use crossbows and swords when advanced firearms are already developed in that time), but averted painfully in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' and ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange''. Not to mention the number of Disney movies in which non-advanced weaponry (swords, arrows, etc.) are used -- to ''quite'' the effect. Disney averts this trope in its films far more than it plays it straight. Guns appear in a really mind-blowing number of their animated films, even in settings where it would have made perfect sense not to have them, such as ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': In interviews about ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', it was specifically said that [[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake]] could not use guns... but his rocket launcher, mortar, grenades, and land mines are all good[[note]]though the mines were changed to a less realistic design in development[[/note]]. This may have also been for gameplay reasons though, since a projectile that [[{{hitscan}} moves almost instantly]] (like Sheik's needles) that you could [[SpamAttack fire almost constantly]] would be [[GameBreaker really cheap]] (also, [[StuffBlowingUp explosions]] [[RuleOfCool are more fun]], [[RuleOfFunny more hilarious]] and much harder to imitate). The titular protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', showing up as a DLC character ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', gets to keep her firearms, but they're [[BlingBlingBang unrealistic]] and a pretty big part of her style. The ''VideoGame/DuckHunt'' fighter can summon characters from Wild Gunman, but the Wild Gunman characters and their weapons are flat 2D NES sprites thus look even less realistic than Bayonetta's weapons. [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]] has a flintlock blunderbuss, but it fires a comically large and slow moving cannon ball (not to mention somehow acts a vacuum). [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] somewhat averts this. In lore, the gun itself is only an airsoft gun made real by the Metaverse, but ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' never acknowledges this, and the gun looks and acts realistically, with bullet casings exiting the gun. His special that uses it is just called "Gun." Since the Gun is Joker's neutral B, Franchise/{{Kirby}} also can copy the gun, blasting foes while saying, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
* Occurs within the {{novelization}} of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars''. Within the novel, the regular infantry of Nod (the bad guys) are armed with EnergyWeapons. While Nod do have lasers within the game, they're limited to special forces, while the regular mooks get conventional weapons. The trope is almost invoked by one soldier wondering "Where the hell'd they get-" after seeing the lasers. The change isn't because of censorship, but as a result of a continuity error.

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Officer Jennys DO have guns, and they aren't even censored most of the time. But they'd just rather have fire-spewing attack dogs tackle the bad guys, which is obviously much safer. Even when a [[CowboyCop "wild"]] Jenny appears with only a talking bird as a Pokémon, she uses...[[ImprobableWeaponUser well, pretty much bowling balls]]. The bad guys prefer to make their Pokémon do the fighting as well, [[JustifiedTrope thought that's a lot cheaper and easier than using a gun]]. [[Recap/PokemonS1E35TheLegendOfDratini The one episode]] that had a character with a gun (and was rather trigger-happy) got [[MissingEpisode banned]] [[NoExportForYou almost worldwide]]. However, giant mecha and battleships firing a barrage of missiles are apparently just fine, even though most Team Rocket robots fire [[AbnormalAmmo nets, energy beams or glue]] considering they want to steal and not hurt Pokémon. The few weapons they ''couldn't'' avoid were referred to as [[CartoonBomb blaster]] [[UnusualEuphemism balls]] and [[AbnormalAmmo ice bazookas]].

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Officer Jennys DO have guns, and they aren't even censored most of the time. But they'd just rather have fire-spewing attack dogs tackle the bad guys, which is obviously much safer. Even when a [[CowboyCop "wild"]] Jenny appears with only a talking bird as a Pokémon, she uses...[[ImprobableWeaponUser well, pretty much bowling balls]]. The bad guys prefer to make their Pokémon do the fighting as well, [[JustifiedTrope thought that's a lot cheaper and easier than using a gun]]. [[Recap/PokemonS1E35TheLegendOfDratini The one episode]] that had a character with a gun (and was rather trigger-happy) got [[MissingEpisode banned]] [[NoExportForYou almost worldwide]]. However, giant mecha and battleships firing a barrage of missiles are apparently just fine, even though most Team Rocket robots fire [[AbnormalAmmo nets, energy beams or glue]] considering they want to steal and not hurt Pokémon. The few weapons they ''couldn't'' avoid were referred to as [[CartoonBomb blast]] [[UnusualEuphemism balls]] and [[AbnormalAmmo ice bazookas]].

* In [[{{SugarWiki/Watchmen}} "Saturday Morning Watchmen"]] the criminal's gun fires lasers at Nite Owl.

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', Officer Jennys DO have guns, and they aren't even censored most of the time. But they'd just rather have fire-spewing attack dogs tackle the bad guys, which is obviously much safer. Even when a [[CowboyCop "wild"]] Jenny appears with only a talking bird as a Pokémon, she uses...[[ImprobableWeaponUser well, pretty much bowling balls]]. The bad guys prefer to make their Pokémon do the fighting as well, [[JustifiedTrope though that's a lot cheaper and easier than using a gun]]. [[Recap/PokemonS1E35TheLegendOfDratini The one episode]] that had a character with a gun (and was rather trigger-happy) got [[MissingEpisode banned]] [[NoExportForYou almost worldwide]]. However, giant mecha and battleships firing a barrage of missiles are apparently just fine, even though most Team Rocket robots fire [[AbnormalAmmo nets, energy beams or glue]] considering they want to steal and not hurt Pokémon. The few weapons they ''couldn't'' avoid were referred to as [[CartoonBomb blast]] [[UnusualEuphemism balls]] and [[AbnormalAmmo ice bazookas]].

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is rather inconstant with this. [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Clayton]]’s old fashioned gun was untouched in ''VideoGame/{{Kingdom Hearts|I}}'', but in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' the pirates’ muskets were edited to look like crossbows (but still sounded like muskets and had muzzle flashes), while the various flintlock pistols were untouched. Odder still, Xigbar's Special Attack in which he merged his two “arrowguns”, which look nothing like real guns, to create a sniper rifle, which was altered to... well, the same guns not merging.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[ACMEProducts ACME Laser Bullets!]] Military-tested, censor-approved!]]

Goes hand in hand with TheLethalConnotationOfGunsAndOthers. For actual firearms being portrayed as family-friendly toys, see MyLittlePanzer. See also AbnormalAmmo, TrickArrow, InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy. Often given to a {{Badbutt}}. See also FrothyMugsOfWater when alcohol and other drugs receive similar treatment in works.

** The game more or less plays like a multiplayer deathmatch shooter game, but you use colorful ink instead of bullets. Shooting opponents simply sends them back to spawn, and in the main multiplayer mode Turf War, shooting up opponents isn't really the main goal anyway -- it's to cover the arena with as much of your team's color of ink as possible.

[[folder:Animation]]

* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug''. In the OriginsEpisode, Officer Roger orders his men to shoot at Stoneheart, but the firearms themselves aren't seen and apparently shoot energy. In the Season 4 episode "Lies", he aims a realistic ''taser'' at the villain instead of a pistol.

** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheGalaxySuperExpress'' have the gang fighting a race of PuppeteerParasite behind a galaxywide AssimilationPlot, where those parasites are vulnerable to ''soap''. The final shootout have the gang taking down plenty of enemies using squirter guns loaded with shampoo.

* In the anime version of the manga ''* EvilPrince Xanxus from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' has vicious bright red eyes to go with his nasty temper. Seriously, you do ''not'' want to piss him off.Manga/Reborn2004'', Reborn's gun is colored green and is actually a [[EquippableAlly shape-shifted form of his pet lizard]], and the special bullets it fires transform into energy before they can hit and power-up Tsuna (with the bleeding from the shots removed too). Similarly, Lambo's grenades are colored purple. Oddly enough, the other guns in the series remain untouched. This however was probably done in order to give the show a standard transformation sequence and the Lambo thing because [[RuleOfFunny it's funnier that way]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': WW1-era fighter planes whose guns seem to otherwise act like normal weapons shoot darts. The in-world logic is that the planes were designed for a NonLethalKO of Kevin, given that we see them earlier in the traps. Interestingly, in the climax they go to the detail of showing the copper shell ejecting and damage to the house from Muntz's rifle.