I'd have to say Reason from Snow Crash. Not terribly practical in many situations, but it's got panache. For everyday practicality, probably a PPG pistol.

The nude bomb or the watch from the girl, the goldwatch and everything.

a real Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy

that shit has got to be tops on info, even if the Earth entry is Mostly Harmless

yeah I think that goes outside the bounds. its like some people would prefer to have tricorders but if we open it to all scifi tech it gets messy.

yeah honestly that is what got me to see what other people thought as getting utility out of the weapon is what I was thinking about when looking for what I would want.

im not familiar. what does it do?

Portal Gun, no question.

yeah but not a weapon although im guessing it must have been chucked at someone at some point in all the variations of the storyies.

I never actually played. I assume it creates portals.

but it is a weapon! knowledge is a weapon! It kept Arthur and Ford alive

The Rick and Morty portal gun.

It's a minigun style railgun powered by a suitcase nuclear reactor that fires depleted uranium shards. Inscribed on the side is the Latin words "the last argument of kings"

It is from Snowcrash.

In that case does the infinity gauntlet count?

Ah yes, the plot gun.

ok this is one I had in mind as to far to go. its like magical in function and not really a weapon per se although it can be used as one sorta.

nah thats a mystical wish making device. definately out.

The Point of View Gun

ok but a normal person could wield it? I wanted to stay away from what someone would think of as a weapon system rather than a weapon someone walked around with.

It was in the first season, like I said it was rarely used but when Kovacs bought it they gave it a solid introduction.

That's fantastic!

Is that a weapon? The game doesn't let you use it on people.

Nuke.

You can wield it so long as you're near a body of water to cool its extremely large heat sink. It basically handles like a large water hose based on how the mobsters in the book used it.

You can instantly turn anything into a weapon and you can instantly drop the floor out from anyone and drop them from the highest point you can reach.

Yes. It's a weapon and a tool like an axe is a weapon and a tool

I wouldn't mind having Lucille.

Yep, links two portals to each other. Place one over a dangerous area and one below someone, they fall. Boom, a weapon. However, it's also a very useful tool for transportation purposes.

Technically, that gun does only work in the megastructure

The Point of View Gun, conveniently, does precisely what it's name suggests. That is, if you point it at someone and pull the trigger, they instantly see things from your point of view.

In Portal 2 there's a multiplayer mode. It can definitely be used as a weapon when you quickly swap out the portal exit so that your companion falls to their demise.

There are some fun community levels where you can race against a friend and there are all sorts of traps you can trigger/set if you plan it right.

Either the Sleeper Simulant from Destiny 1/2, or an AER9 Laser Rifle from Fallout.

if only anyone on the writing staff could be trusted to do the math.

Torpedos away!

Robot spiders, mass producable, like in the movie Runaway.

They can search for the target person on the whole planet.

I need to reread that book!

Long story, but a means of transport is still a means of transport, not a weapon.

Like the pen is not a weapon, even though they say it is mightier than the sword.

Probably a weapon like the RYNO from basically any of the Ratchet and Clank games. Only problem is we don't have gadgetron, megacorp, mrs. zircon, or whatever other gun/ammo venders from the games. I would have the ultimate weapon that could murder anyone at all, despite me only having a limite ammo supply and needing to be fairly close.

If not a RYNO, then probably something like the sheepinator from whichever RnC game had it because I not only get a weapon with seemingly infinite usage, but also get to turn enemies into sheep. Just gotta aim and fire long enough while holding a bulky sci-fi looking weapon. What could possibly go wrong? And last I checked, it is listed as a weapon in the franchise, so I'm hoping it's safe enough to include.

If nothing else, the zap gun you start out with in every single Destroy All Humans games would be a good 3rd option. Again, for the seemingly unlimited ammo and lightning shooting out of a gun.

I really wanted to say the plasma whip from Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal, but I really don't feel like accidentally burning myself to death.

Edit:

For a fairly inconspicuous or rather doesn't seem like that big of a threat choice, my brain went to the Walloper from the first RnC game. Basically just a powered boxing glove that would propel me forward a little and really hurt whoever it hits.

I can't think of a sci-fi weapon that would be cooler than actual existing weapons but the closest thing would be an Ornithopter from Dune. I guess it probably haves guns - I haven't seen the movies or read the books.

No, that would be a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

If anyone is interested, the tune the Dubstep Gun plays is called "A Bass Renaissance" and can be found on Youtube.

You know what they say, the penis mightier than the sword

The Tasp from Larry Nivens' Ringworld universe.

It's kind of like saying a missile is a means of transport, not a weapon. Transporters are arguably more useful as weapons than transport, but it would end half the episodes in 2 minutes.

in the game there are not ppl alive anymore, but you use it to "dispose" a lot of angry turrets and eventually get the endboss to hurt themselves.

Orgazmo's Orgazmorator, a ray gun that forces orgasm upon whomever it is fired.

*for crime fighting, bad politicians, or consensual encounters, only.

A MemoryForm from the Culture.

Elysiums combination 50bmg/railgun, the tst chemrail

Had to do some looking up to see that that's two different movies.

The Nude Bomb (1980)
The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything (1980)

Cognito hazard

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Lazy Gun was based on science but it was so advanced no one new how it really worked. The theory was it was moving things between parallel universes. The tech was developed before civilization collapsed and the knowledge was lost*. The issue was also that it would self destruct when someone tried to disassemble it trying to figure it out.

*Against a Dark Background happens in a solar system outside of galaxy. The civilization there is trapped with no way of reaching other stars. They colonized their entire solar system thousands of years ago and since then are stuck in a cycle of growth and collapse with many artifacts from previous high points still present.

Definitely a drone from Culture. Probably one like in Inversions. Looks like a normal object (dagger in that case) but is intelligent and will defend you when needed. When it gets into fighting mode there's no stopping it. The drone from Use of weapons was straight out scary. The defensive and offensive tech they could use was also beyond anything I've seen in other series. Antimatter missiles, "tractor beams", energy weapons. If you realized one is trying to kill you it was only because it wanted to have some fun and was doing it slowly.

Death star, without the stupid weakness.