History Main / TranquillizerDart

For some reason, whenever a character gets ambushed with a non-lethal weapon, it's always a tranquilizer dart. Maybe [[RuleOfFunny it's because people on drugs are funny]]. Maybe [[WriteWhatYouKnow it's because the writers don't know enough about other non-lethal weapons]]. Whatever the reason may be, this seems to be the most common non-lethal weapon in fiction.

* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' Mordecai uses a tranq dart on Bloodwing after she is captured, experimented on and attacks the player, in an attempt to calm her down to bring her back to Sanctuary. This triggers possibly one of the saddest lines in the game:

* In ''VideoGame/DaveTheDiver'' the Hush Dart is a small pistol that can tranquilize most small fish and some medium fish allowing them to be captured alive for better rewards (an upgrade eventually allows it to work on larger creatures as well). Additionally the underwater rifle, sniper rifle and triple axel all have a Tranquilizer variant which has a chance to tranquilize any creature with the downside being a risk of killing them since these guns also deal damage to them.
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx''
** JC's mini-crossbow in the first game can be loaded with Tranquilizer Darts which can knock a target out cold indefinitely when shot in the head, otherwise the victim will run around yelling for help before falling unconscious. When the PC is shot with a tranquilizer dart, it causes the screen to darken and sway, but the nanotechnology takes care of the venom fairly rapidly. Of course the game is about lies and conspiracy and those tranquilizer darts are in all probability some form of lethal poison. Which is why ''you'' take damage when you are hit by them.
** Adam Jensen continues, or rather set the precedent for JC to follow in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', and has access to a tranquillizer rifle.

* James Bond again:

** ''VideoGame/AgentUnderFire'', ''VideoGame/{{Nightfire}},'' and ''VideoGame/EverythingOrNothing'' use these in stealth missions where lethality isn't an option...or where shooting, even with a HollywoodSilencer, will still cause guards to cry out in pain. Uniquely, ''Everything or Nothing'' is the only game in which the dart-gun appears in more than one level.
* The Genesis version of ''VideoGame/{{Jurassic Park|RampageEdition}}'' limited Dr. Grant exclusively to non-lethal guns like tranquilizers, tasers, grenades and sedative-laced rockets, only the last of which put down dinosaurs indefinitely. The ActionizedSequel ''Rampage Edition'' added in some more deadly guns and removed the possibility for enemies to get back up (they'll still flash and disappear even if you are just using the tranq guns on them).
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'':
** Hitting somebody in the head or the heart with the tranquilizing weapons (that is, not the stun grenades or the taser-like weapons) knocks out instantly while hitting the belly or the limbs delays the effect. Some of the boss characters are bizarrely resilient to tranquilizer rounds, though, and can take several rounds to the head before passing out, even though Otacon insists that the tranquilizer rounds are potent enough to knock out an elephant. It's worth pointing out that the same bosses can take a similar number of bullets to the head without dying.
** ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2|Sons of Liberty}}'':

* In ''VideoGame/TheSeveralJourneysOfReemus'': Chapter two, Reemus is shot from offscreen by a dart so loaded with sedative that it actually sprays a considerable amount on Liam when it hits. Liam has just enough time to identify the sedative before he, too, is shot and goes under. Later on, they have to collect a sample of it (it's a type of honey made by a particular bee, which is so potent that even a small amount contains enough sugar to induce a temporary diabetic coma) to exploit its faux-sedative properties.

* The short indie horror game, ''VideoGame/SpecimenZero'', has a tranq gun as an alternative weapon. Which proves to be far more effective than the '''shotgun''' - monsters in the game barely slows down even when hit by bullets, whilst tranquilizer darts when hitting a monster's cranium will knock it unconscious for 90 seconds.

* ''[[VideoGame/UltimateSpiderMan2005 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'': Played straight when Silver Sable tries to kidnap Peter Parker by knocking him out with a couple of tranquilizer darts... for a few minutes anyway. Then his enhanced metabolism kicks in allowing him to wake up earlier than he was supposed to and resist all subsequent shots. Cue boss battle where he has to fight off both Silver Sable and her mercenaries while trying not to succumb to the effects of the tranquilizers in his system.

* The Business from Fortuna in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' sells tranq rifles used for animal conservation across the game's landscape areas. These rifles shoot darts that travel in arcs and cause animals hit with them to [[InstantSedation fall unconscious in seconds]], ready to pick up by a drone. Most critters need [[OneDoseFitsAll just one tranq to pacify regardless of size]], though heavier ones like stovers may require up to three.

* ''VideoGame/DangerGirl'' have the level "Museum Mayhem!" where you infiltrate the British Museum's vault to retrieve a doomsday artifact before the Hammer Empire. As the mooks are security guards doing their jobs instead of terrorists, you're stripped of any lethal firearms and instead uses a dart gun for knocking them out.

** Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria are all tranquilized when they are caught by the animal control while inside New York City's Grand Central Station. Alex hallucinates and sees [[DisneyAcidSequence trippy imagery]] set to Music/SammyDavis Jr's "The Candyman"... Then he gets tranq'd again before he gets put into the shipping crate, resulting in a sped-up version of the aforementioned sequence!

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In "Pulling Double Booty", Hayley goes on an animalistic rampage at the mall when [[NotGoodWithRejection Jeff breaks up with her]], forcing mall security to bring her down her with tranquilizer darts. In the next scene, Stan and Francine carry her home with nearly a dozen darts in her back.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': "Operation: Z.O.O." begins with Mrs. Goodwall (a parody of Jane Goodall) knocking out the KND with tranq darts to put them in a "Kids Zoo".
* In the unsold Creator/HannaBarbera pilot ''Duffy's Dozen,'' family patriarch Ted Duffy and his clan are at Yellowstone Park where Ted's bowling ball slips into the paws of a sleeping bear. Ted attempts to retrieve it without waking the bear, as his wife alerts a park ranger. The ranger shoots a tranquilizer dart, which hits Ted right in the keister and knocks him out cold. It was quite intentional as Ted was running the risk of awakening the bear.

** In "The Thin White Line", Peter's boss devises a contest for the company picnic, which involves taking shots at the employees with a tranq rifle and seeing who can last the longest. Most of the employees drop like stones the moment they get shot... except for Peter, who ends up with more than a ''dozen'' tranquillizer needles stuck in him, and still manages to stay conscious long enough to win the contest. It would seem that this is either due to his relatively high body mass, which (in theory) would require longer for the chemicals to spread through his body, or due to the increased amount of fatty deposits, which would help isolate the venom from his bloodstream.
** In "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas", when Stewie manages to calm down Lois after she reaches her RageBreakingPoint and goes on an anti-Christmas rampage, Peter still asks for the police to tranquilize her. Come Christmas morning, she's still loaded with what Peter claims is enough tranquillizer to bring down a bull elephant.

** Goliath gets hit with a dart in "Awakening Part III", which only slows him down for awhile. It does incapacitate him enough he can't get to safety before dawn and Eliza has to distract the guys who did it.

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' TOS episodes:
** "The Quetong Missile Mystery". In what may be a LampshadeHanging of InstantSedation, Race Bannon makes a note of how fast anesthetic darts work on enemy guards.
** "Pirates from Below". Race and Bandit are knocked out by a tranquillizer dart rifle wielded by an enemy operative. Race is a full grown man, and Bandit is a very small dog.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In the episode "Bad Hair Day" multiple are fired to subdue what ''seem'' to be orangutans. (Accidental victims of the boys' latest invention, actually.) However, only two people are hit. An Animal Control worker, and [[MadScientist Doofensmirtz]]. While the worker barely has enough time to say he's going to pass out, Doofenshmirtz is able to make it most of the way through a musical number he himself sings, ''then'' passes out (in 17 seconds as he predicts).

** In the season 1 episode "The Call of the Simpsons", Homer is mistaken for Bigfoot and tranquilized. He has enough time to say "Avenge my death, son," before falling asleep, snoring noticeably.
** Bart has just been "taken" by a monkey at a local zoo, and Homer tries to save him by putting a tranq-dart into a tube and putting it into his mouth. He then inhales, and it gets self-explanatory after that.
** In another episode Barney is shot with a ''bear'' tranquilizer dart. He actually pulls out the dart and drinks the remaining sedative before passing out averting InstantSedation.
** Chief Wiggum tranquilizes Sideshow Bob in "The Great Louse Detective". While he doesn't fall asleep immediately, he does immediately start acting woozy.
** Marge is tranquilized in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Marge" and [[InstantSedation falls down instantly]] but it turns out she was faking, shocking the doctor who blew the darts at her as the dart had "enough tranquilizer to take down John Winston". Homer blows one at her and she falls asleep.

** In "Wawanakwa Gone Wild!", Izzy uses them in a gun to try and bring down the animal she has to capture, a deer. Unfortunately, Heather is hiding behind a bush wearing deer antlers -- Izzy only sees the antlers and tranquilizes her by mistake.
** In "Search and Do Not Destroy", Owen comes back to the campgrounds sticking out of a bear's mouth. Chris uses the darts to sedate the bear, but he gets Owen, too.
** In "Dial M for Merger", Duncan gets shot in the neck with a dart when the interns have to drag the remaining contestants to a cave as part of the challenge.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':

** The pirate captain has an addiction to tranquillizer darts in the episode "The Lepidopterists."

Mostly used by the police, criminals, spies, the army, and island tribes but may occasionally be used by animal control officers. Sometimes the result of a character not being able to be reasoned with due to a LanguageBarrier. May overlap with InstantSedation. Often results in NonSequiturThud or InvoluntarySmileOfIncapacitation. Sister trope to KnockOutGas which works better for area attacks. Often used in a KnockoutAmbush. Sometimes used as FamilyFriendlyFirearms. Compare LaughingGas.

* ''Film/HitmansWifesBodyguard'' parodies this, as it's a both an action movie and a comedy. Darius tells Sonia that there's something he's been meaning to tell her, but before he can he gets tranquilized in the neck, lets out a gurgling sound, and passes out. Sonia lets out a BigWhat before being tranqued herself and sliding down her car. Michael has to be tranquilized multiple times before going down hilariously subverting OneDoseFitsAll.

''[-...maybe permanently.-]'']]