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"I identify with the weak person; this is one reason why my fictional protagonists are essentially antiheroes."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Stunner | ||
| A non-lethal weapon; typically used like a firearm but only renders its victim unconscious. |
| In the flashing instant Hawat had time to see they were Sardaukar, hard faces set in battle frenzy, that they were unshielded and each carried a knife in one hand, a stunner in the other. |
| From Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1965 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, the first person to use "stunner" in an sf story was C.M. Kornbluth in his 1941 story Fire-Power. I don't have a quote - anyone?
Larry Niven adds one to his copseye surveillance device from Cloak of Anarchy:
For the first time ever, I looked into a copseye.
It was impressively simple. I picked out the stunner by its parabolic reflector, the cameras, and a toroidal coil that had to be part of the floater device.
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