Unless they operate on different physics than our universe currently does

It's Star Trek. Of course it does.

In this case, it's a fictional particle doing the heavy lifting. Explanations of exactly what it's supposed to do seem to be inconsistent (it's Star Trek), but at lower energy levels, it does electromagnetic stuff (including stunning living creatures), at medium energy levels, it does thermal stuff, and at high energy levels, it messes with the strong nuclear force.

Disintegrating something by messing with the strong nuclear force would probably have harmful effects on anything nearby, which is not addressed because it's Star Trek.

If we can walk through walls, why don't we fall through the floor?

Downwards

Cerebral Bore from Turok 2. Not sure why, but that one stuck with me over the years.

Knife missile faster, cleaner and can be equally whimsical (opening scene of UoW).

Original credit to William Gibson of course.

You got an armored bear friend to do repairs?

Well the op on this said friend not weapon because Drones are fully sentient and autonomous lifeforms in the Culture. Remember only the true misfits get sent to Special Circumstances, and when heavily armed drones become misfits in a culture (small c) where anything goes, that would tell you something.

Yep. And I'd of of course for "Mistake Not." The scene at the end of THS when it lowers its shields to let the supposedly equivi-tech ship get a peek under the covers.

Dena’s chakrams but laserfied

Nicoll-Dyson beam. You can fry your enemy anywhere, anytime, at the speed of light, with the power of an entire star.

it was supposed to be a self efacing joke about my sexual inadequacies

A chainsword from 40K.

Now you're thinking with portals!

Well I butchered the line. It's unbutchered now.

Well, more phallic at least.

I'm pretty sure I can already do that.

Pretty sure it can be countered by a towel.

Vegetarian forks

Well i giggled.

The point of view gun

Ah the hyper-inflation doomsday gun

Do not underestimate the power of the dishwasher.

You sound like a hoopy frood

Don't forget the protective footwear.

Yes, but every time I get the chance I either miss too many times or something's blocking the way.

While a death star is definitely more powerful, I think I would have to choose then BFG9000 from Doom.

yeah I mean the death star is outside of scope but the bfg is within. although i think it is one of those. the hero is so strong they can lug around a weapon thats supposed to be mounted type thing.

The flashy thing from Men in Black "my report was great and you have me an A+"

Brought to you by the Intergalactic Consortium of Angry Housewives. Stop leaving the toilet seat up!!

An emp that blankets the world, but instead of electromagnetic it's empathy manipulation such that it either eliminates those lacking empathy or forces them to be empathetic.

Goodbye capitalism, pedophilia, corruption, etc. We're facing what I believe is a global empathy crisis through the rise of the far right due to global neoliberal capitalism. To secure profits, which we've tied to survival, we're un-learning empathy, which was an evolutionary advantage for us. Capitalism rewards narcissism, a lack of empathy, being willing to exploit others.

I would set that empathy pulse off in an instant. I'm tired of seeing people brutalized around the world because of greedy people in power.

Maybe I don't want it faster and cleaner...

I think such a weapon is achievable once we understand genetics enough. Create a gene modification that makes people a little more cooperative and more interested in everybody else's welfare - say 20% more - and infuse it into enough of the world's water supplies to give the mutation to a majority of humans. Wait a few years and I think their behavioral changes would turn our whole world around. No need to design a perfect social system and use politics to implement it. It would quickly evolve on its own. .

Isn't this the lore of the Reavers in Firefly?

Thanks! I was genuinely concerned that I missed that excellent of a pun.

I'm not sure I'd like having a portal gun. I want one. I really want one. I just think life would kinda feel either pointless or overly complicated.

With only one of you with your regular human brain you'd be unable to save the entire world so any good you achieve would feel depressingly underwhelming, like the ending of schindlers list. Also you'd likely fall for a bad guys story and think you're doing good but actually making shit worse.

If you manage to just be selfish with it and keep it quiet, what would you even do with life? Once you'd done all the landmarks, snuck onto area 51 and shit, what's left? Doesn't seem much point working a job, keeping a house or even robbing banks or whatever. Why bother with money when you've got a portal gun?

I really want it. But I must never have it.

Skaffen-Amtiskaw certainly didn't.

I shouldn't feel bad for just using it to reach the fridge from the sofa.

Nothing really. I just like the lines of it.

Yes, it was an ultra small gatling-railgun weapon. It is described in quite a bit of detail in the book, but it's been a while since I last read the book so that's the best I can do..

Easiest? No, in some cases it even seems to go for the more exotic over easiest. The point, thematically, is that it is inevitably destructive: Point and pull the trigger, and it will destroy.

It's from a very weird sci-fi novel, where the thematic point is that both the weapon and the individual who wields it are intrinsically destructive.

Similar idea, but the "pacification gas" wasn't a genetic modificationn. And of course how something works in a sci-fi story doesn't depend on how it worked in a different one.

The Death Star is a weapon you can live in. It's an important consideration.