History Main / InterstellarWeapon

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' has many examples of this, almost always wielded by transapients. There are DysonSphere powered planet-killer beam weapons, kinetic relativistic kill vehicles aplenty, focused supernovae, monopole-based 'conversion bombs' which can destroy stars... The most extreme example of this trope are [[http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/49fe3e605d052 Metric Bombs]], only accessible to the highest Archai. They can travel across space at near the speed of light almost entirely undetected inside a void bubble, and destroy entire star systems by altering the very nature of spacetime at the heart of the central star and causing it to go supernova regardless of its mass. All that remains afterward is a black hole.

* Creator/CharlesStross' ''Literature/IronSunrise'' features guided, {{ramscoop}}-powered missiles designed to deter interplanetary invasions. If a planet is attacked, the missiles accelerate up to near-lightspeed and (eventually) hit the invaders' home planet.

* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', a [[PlanetOfHats race]] of [[OmnicidalManiac nihilistic]] aliens builds a weapon that supposedly could destroy the rest of the universe.

* The infamous Gigastructural engineering mod for ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' allows one to build a Nicoll-Dyson Laser (imagine a DysonSphere, but instead of absorbing all the output of a sun, it gets pointed in a specific direction) capable of destroying all a star system's planets from a distance.

* ''Astonishing ComicBook/XMen'' had an arc where a giant silver bullet was launched at Earth from some far-off alien world.

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
** "Dreadnought" involved a warp-propelled warhead.
** "Warhead" involved a warp-propelled warhead.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

* Relativistic weapons, if they are ever developed. While they may travel slower than light, they still are nearly impossible to see coming, since its own light would only be slightly outpacing it. Once you see a relativistic weapon being launched towards you, [[OhCrap it's already most of the way here, it's not where it seems to be, and every few seconds it gets millions of kilometers closer to you]]. Fortunately, [[HopeSpot there are ways you can counter it]]. Namely, you use its own ''massive'' kinetic energy against it. [[https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ As explained]] in Creator/RandallMunroe's Blog/WhatIf, any collision involving relativistic speeds is so energetic that atoms ''fuse'' at the site of impact. Even a grapefruit-sized rock standing in the path of a relativistic kill vehicle will cause a large thermonuclear explosion, reducing both it and the kill vehicle to a cloud of hot plasma unless the latter is somehow MadeOfIndestructium. Granted, that plasma is still speeding at you nearly at the speed of light, but at least it's now much more dispersed. If detected sufficiently early (possibly with the help of a SubspaceAnsible), the worst you'll suffer is a mild EMP as the plasma and is deflected by your planet's magnetosphere like a small solar flare.

* "Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem": ** The climax reveals [[spoiler:the Trisolarans]] have already launched one of these in the form of an enormous fleet of warships on a one-way, slower-than-light trip [[spoiler:to Earth]] so it can be conquered and colonized. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, they use sub-atomic drones called sophons to monitor human communications and sabotage any human attempts to develop countermeasures.]]

* In "Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem", the climax reveals [[spoiler:The Trisolarans]] have already launched one of these in the form of an enormous fleet of warships on a one-way, slower-than-light trip [[spoiler:to Earth]] so it can be conquered and colonized. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, they use sub-atomic drones called sophons to monitor human communications and sabotage any human attempts to develop countermeasures.]]

* This turns out to be the First Order's SuperweaponSurprise in ''Film/TheForceAwakens''. Not only can it one-shot a planet from lightyears away, but it can actually fire on multiple planets in one launch. It consumes an entire ''star'' to do this, and is so large that it effectively takes up the entire planet its on.

* Gamma ray bursts. Real-life Death Stars. When a star goes supernova, it lets out a huge, concentrated beam of radiation. Even if it doesn't hit the planet, it will ''obliterate'' the ozone layer and incinerate or irradiate every living thing. And there's one that pops off ''every single day.'' Sleep tight.

** Taken UpToEleven in the later Xeelee novels, where the Photino Birds use entire galaxies as ammunition, and the Xeelee reply by cutting them in half with gigantic cosmic strings.

* In "Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem", the climax reveals [[spoiler:The Trisolarans]] have already launched one of these in the form of an enormous fleet of warships on a one-way, slower-than-light trip [[spoiler:to Earth]] so it can be conquered and colonized. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, they use a sub-atomic drones called sophons to monitor human communications and sabotage any human attempts to develop countermeasures.]]

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' has the Long-Gunner Of The Apocalypse, an energy weapon the size of a planetoid, which fires through instantaneous wormholes and can hit any place in the galaxy. Its later reinvented/rediscovered by other factions, with the technology being dubbed "Long Guns" resulting in a [[MutuallyAssuredDestruction M.A.D.]] scenario that only takes a backseat in story focus due to the war with the [[EldritchAbomination Pa'anuri]] who also demonstrate that with the power of a [[JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit core generator]] behind it, Long Guns can become inter''galactic'' weapons too.

* In ''Literature/AllTheseWorlds'', in response to the aggression of the Others, [[spoiler:Bill attaches SURGE mover plates to a small planet and a large moon and accelerates them to near-light speeds, aiming them at the Others' home star. Several decades later, just after the Battle of Terra, they impact the star at opposite poles. The simultaneous relativistic impact results in a supernova-like explosion that wipes it every living being in that system and for several light years beyond. You do not fuck with the Bobs!]]

* In "Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem", the climax reveals [[spoiler:The Trisolarans have already launched one of these in the form of an enormous fleet of warships on a one-way, slower-than-light trip to Earth so it can be conquered and colonized. Meanwhile, they use a sub-atomic drones called sophons to monitor human communications and sabotage any human attempts to develop countermeasures.]]

* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''[[Literature/{{Worldwar}} Homeward Bound]]'', after the FTL-capable ''Commodore Perry'' shows up in the orbit of Home (the Race's homeworld) in a clear case of GunboatDiplomacy, the Race warns humans that they may have the advantage of speed (the Race doesn't expect to develop FTL-travel for at least 70 more years, now that they know it's possible), but the Race can still build ships capable of accelerating to 50% of the speed of light. Those ships can be launched to impact Earth with their great speed, causing an extinction-level event. While humans claims that they might be able to intercept the relativistic missiles, the Race representatives state that they wouldn't be able to stop them all.
** Actually not exactly correct, because the existence of FTL drive make it possible (at least theoretically) to detect incoming relativistic projectiles and made enough intercept attempt on each to guarantee destruction/deflection during the time they need to crawl between the stars.

* In ''[[Series/{{Farscape}} Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars]]'', a [[spoiler:black hole weapon that could destroy a whole galaxy]] is deployed.

* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': The beings referred to as "Bugs" throw an asteroid at Earth after getting the coordinates from the "Skinnies"[[labelnote:*]] who didn't make it into the live-action movie[[/labelnote]] . In the book, they weren't looking to hit any spot in particular; "hit Earth and damage humans" was the apparent game plan. What it did was tick the humans off and kill a lot of anti-war efforts.

* ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' sees intelligent insects launch an asteroid through interstellar space to take out Buenos Aires. The book has something similar, except its version makes some actual sense. Hitting Buenos Aires with an asteroid from a planet light-years away is the equivalent of hitting someone on the other side of the planet with a pebble. As a result, there's some speculation among fans that the attack on Buenos Aires was done by the humans themselves, in order to justify the war. It could also have been a random asteroid, which the military failed to intercept and decided to blame on the aliens.

* ComicBook/GreenLantern John Stewart once used his ring to create a [[ColdSniper sniper rifle]], which he used to pick off an enemy on the other side of the galaxy.

* The infamous Gigastructural engineering mod for ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' allows one to build a Nicoll-Dyson Laser capable of destroying all a star system's planets from a distance.

* Relativistic weapons, if they are ever developed. While they may travel slower than light, they still are nearly impossible to see coming, since its own light would only be slightly outpacing it. Once you see a relativistic weapon being launched towards you, [[OhCrap it's already most of the way here, it's not where it seems to be, and every second it gets millions of kilometers closer to you]]. Fortunately, [[HopeSpot there are ways you can counter it]]. Namely, you use its own ''massive'' kinetic energy against it. [[https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ As explained]] in Creator/RandallMunroe's Blog/WhatIf, any collision involving relativistic speeds is so energetic that atoms ''fuse'' at the site of impact. Even a grapefruit-sized rock standing in the path of a relativistic kill vehicle will cause a large thermonuclear explosion, reducing both it and the kill vehicle to a cloud of hot plasma unless the latter is somehow MadeOfIndestructium. Granted, that plasma is still speeding at you nearly at the speed of light, but at least it's now much more dispersed. If detected sufficiently early (possibly with the help of a SubspaceAnsible), the worst you'll suffer is a mild EMP as the plasma and is deflected by your planet's magnetosphere like a small solar flare.

* The Creepypasta [[https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/We_Know_You_Are_Out_There We Know You Are Out There]] features an alien race that launches a relativistic missile to destroy Earth before humanity can spread its destructive existence across the stars. To their [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horror,]] they discover that mankind has become a multi-planetary civilization that has embraced pacifism by the time the missile enters the Solar System.