History Main / WeWillUseLasersInTheFuture

* Played with in the ''Franchise/StargateVerse''. Most advanced offworld cultures use energy weapons of some form or another, in contrast to the firearms preferred by the SGC. While the latter are usually superior as weapons of war, the Tau'ri did develop a fondness for the versatility of the Goa'uld [[StunGuns zat'nik'tel]], a weapon that reliably stuns on the first shot and kills on the second. By later episodes it largely replaced the Beretta M9 as their sidearm of choice.

** 26th century humanity mostly averts this, primarily [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter still using bullet weapons]]. The only handheld laser weapon they have is the [[{{BFG}} Spartan Laser]] (introduced in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''), which is AwesomeButImpractical against infantry, since it only has five shots, is difficult to aim, and tremendously expensive to build (it works wonders against tanks, though). However, humanity has been able to develop reasonably reliable lasers for some of its more advanced vehicles and ships, like some types of [[StealthInSpace ONI Prowlers]], ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}''[='s=] Pelican gunship, various experimental prototypes seen in ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', and the Condor gunship in ''VideoGame/HaloWars2''.
** Played straight to some extent by everyone else: Besides their plasma weapons, [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Covenant]] have ship-mounted pulse lasers and energy projectors, as well as particle beam guns. [[{{Precursors}} Forerunner]] [[MechaMooks Sentinels and Monitors]] also fire lasers.
** The Forerunner Promethean robots are primarily armed with weapons that fire HardLight and other exotic energies instead of lasers, though the binary rifle does actually fire an energy beam.

* In universes set on the softer scale of the MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness, a HandWave often explains [[SpaceX energy based EVERYTHING]] is superior to everything older by default, or at least believed to be so until RockBeatsLaser.

** The [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialGuard Imperial Guard]] is primarily armed with lasguns. The reasoning being that they are very low maintenance seeing as they have no moving parts and the power packs can be recharged practically anywhere (''The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer'' specifically recommends charging them by leaving them out in the sun instead of sticking them in your campfire: the latter charges them faster but reduces the battery life). It should be noted that the Imperial Guard's lasguns are pretty much the weakest weapon in the setting (hence their fanon slogan of "Defending the galaxy with T-shirts and flashlights"), despite being able to dismember an unarmored human. The more powerful hellguns are harder to come by and usually reserved for [[EliteMook stormtrooper units]]. Las''cannons'' on the other hand, are extremely effective anti-vehicle weapons.\\
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Note that lasguns' weakness is more of a demonstration of [[TheWorfEffect how powerful the standard military forces out there are by comparison to rank-and-file guardsmen]]. In a sub-setting like ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'', which concerns itself with urban combat between gangs in a WretchedHive, the armor and lasguns of the Imperial Guard are extremely powerful compared to the common "stubbers" (conventional firearms). Just the bad luck of the {{Badass Normal}}s in the Guard to be born into a universe where BioAugmentation and PoweredArmor are ''de rigeur'' and where the basic weapon of at least three other armies (Space Marines, [[EvilCounterpart Chaos Space Marines]], and [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]]) is a [[HandCannon full-auto miniature rocket launcher]].

** The standard weapon of the TL4 infantryman is usually the laser rifle. MagneticWeapons do more damage per shot, but the standard laser rifle is more accurate, can fire in burst mode, and most importantly, ammunition in the form of energy cells is more compact and rechargeable, simplifying logistics.

* From a practical standpoint, energy weapons running off a battery or a reactor have BottomlessMagazines, or, at least, may be recharged expediently in the field between firefights.[[note]]This might be the biggest plus in an energy weapon's abilities - no requirement to be supplied with ammunition means factories can be dedicated to other production, you don't have to distribute bullets to outposts and armies, massively cutting your logistical supply issues, and it allows areas to hold out for far longer, as they can use supply depots more efficiently without packing ammunition. This goes double for an interstellar military - even if the weapons themselves are far inferior to firearms, actually supplying ammunition to different planets, or building new ammunition factories on their surfaces, is massively impractical. It's simpler and cheaper to arm everyone with a weapon you can more effectively supply. See the American Civil War - repeating firearms existed, but they weren't issued to soldiers. Those that were used were private purchase. Why? Because the supply chains weren't capable of handling the rounds for the repeating rifles on top of the powder and shot for the muzzleloaders. If you eliminate a large number of your supply chains, particularly over large, interplanetary distances, you're likely to be able to fight more consistently and with greater effect, even if the weapons themselves are vastly inferior to other firearms. After all, when it runs out of ammo, a rifle is just a short, unwieldy club.[[/note]]

* From a practical standpoint, energy weapons running off a battery or a reactor have BottomlessMagazines, or, at least, may be recharged expediently in the field between firefights.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', virtually all projectile weapons are some sort of RayGun. [[LaserBlade Lightsabers]] are also a main focus of the universe. [[AllThereInTheManual Ancillary materials such as the visual dictionaries]] explain that this is partly because commonplace body armor works beautifully against kinetic penetrators like bullets (turns out stormtrooper armor isn't completely useless after all). Kinetic weapons do exist (they are referred to as [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Slugthrower slugthrowers]]) and they are mostly seen as primitive, but they do have a few advantages over blasters in some situations.

Typical portrayals include FrickinLaserBeams and WaveMotionGun.

* ''Pinball/LaserWar'' is about a futuristic firefight between three armies armed with {{Ray Gun}}s shooting FrickinLaserBeams.

* The ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series has [[FrickinLaserBeams particle beams]] of one form or another as by far the most prevalent weapon in the setting, [[WildMassGuessing possibly because they're cheaper to operate since you don't have to stock ammunition]]. The few kinetic weapons are no less effective, however, and have the advantage of not having to feed off of the ship's reactor, which can be overwhelmed by firing energy weapons too fast, so the only limiting factor is how many boxes of ammo one has shoved in the cargo hold.

** In fluff, by far the most deadliest weapon in the setting are the Talismans of Vaul which annihilate star systems with its dimension-shearing energy weapon.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/LostInSpace https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lostinspace2.jpg]]

* In Level 8's (formerly Chillingo) ''Modern Command'', your futuristic MCA anti-terrorist force starts off using a fire-base that's not much different than what we have today. When the enemy starts using units with force fields, the usual point-defense guns don't cut it anymore. When your base upgrades itself, they replace those with plasma guns and lasers. You'll also have to rely on developing targetting laser turrets to burn through force fields, so your conventional missiles and autocannons can get through - until you eventually research energized ammo. Your ultimate weapon is a targetting laser linked to an orbital ion cannon and that'll rip through any enemy.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', virtually all projectile weapons are some sort of RayGun. [[LightBlade Lightsabers]] are also a main focus of the universe. [[AllThereInTheManual Ancillary materials such as the visual dictionaries]] explain that this is partly because commonplace body armor works beautifully against kinetic penetrators like bullets (turns out stormtrooper armor isn't completely useless after all). Kinetic weapons do exist (they are referred to as [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Slugthrower slugthrowers]]) and they are mostly seen as primitive, but they do have a few advantages over blasters in some situations.

* In ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', the predominant ranged weapons are lasguns. But due to personal deflector shields that generate a fusion reaction when hit with lasers, and because shields are tunable to effectively block anything over a specified speed, making projectile weapons basically useless--any bullet or arrow going fast enough to cause damage from range will just bounce off. Therefore, most soldiers use [[SchizoTech swords]], using techniques designed to get the blade in just slowly enough to get through a shield. The exception is on Arrakis, because sandworms [[BerserkButton really don't like shields]].

* In ''TabletopGame/StarsWithoutNumber'', the standard weapon of the TL4 infantryman is usually the laser rifle. MagneticWeapons do more damage per shot, but the standard laser rifle is more accurate, can fire in burst mode, and most importantly, ammunition in the form of energy cells is more compact and rechargeable, simplifying logistics.

* Focused light travels [[CaptainObvious at the speed of light]], and even more exotic particle bursts are significantly faster than an actual projectile, eliminating the need for leading the target, wind correction, any form of ballistics and recoil compensation. In RealLife, the US Navy is already working on laser point defence because normal bullet-based CIWS [[PointDefenseless can't track antiship missiles reliably]]. Now imagine the difficulties doing so at realistic space fighting ranges... (The energy beam is still likely to be an easily dodgeable, PainfullySlowProjectile when portrayed on screen, though.)

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', virtually all projectile weapons are some sort of RayGun. {{Lightsaber}}s are also a main focus of the universe. [[AllThereInTheManual Ancillary materials such as the visual dictionaries]] explain that this is partly because commonplace body armor works beautifully against kinetic penetrators like bullets (turns out stormtrooper armor isn't completely useless after all). Kinetic weapons do exist (they are referred to as [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Slugthrower slugthrowers]]) and they are mostly seen as primitive, but they do have a few advantages over blasters in some situations.

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/MetalSlug''7, where an army of future Rebels use time travel to assist Morden in the present. Their vehicles turn out to be the exact same WWII/Korean War-era designs, but now they shoot laser beams.

** Originally the WeaponOfChoice of the Astartes was not the bolter, but the Volkite Charger, a kind of literal Martian ray gun which was just as devastating as Tau plasma weaponry and even more effective against armoured targets. However as the Great Crusade wore on and the legions expanded, supply couldn't keep up with demand; the classic boltgun was weaker, but cheaper and easier to manufacture and more of a tactical weapon due to its ability to accept different types of shell. The bolter won out and volkite weapons were relegated to special weapon status, like melta and plasma guns. After the Horus Heresy, the knowledge to create volkite weapons was LostForever, with the Mechanicus clinging to their few working examples.

* In ''Dropzone Commander'' by Hawk Wargames, even the least ultra-tech faction, The United Colonies of Mankind happily spent immense amounts of resources to develop and field a comparatively weak laser cannon. The reason is that all factions have an active point defense system, the missile halo, that will completely chunk missiles and even cannon shells fired from a rail gun are highly ineffective with the missile halo in place. However all energy weapons bypass the missile halo with ease and even the weakest laser weapon is as strong as a typical rail gun, with other more advanced factions capable of fielding deadlier energy weapons.