Joe Beaudoin Jr.: initial work

2024-11-28T22:49:31Z

initial work

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The colloquial '''stun''' device and setting are common tropes in genre entertainment, with its usage in both the [[Original Series]] and its spin-off ''[[Galactica 1980]]'' offering no exception.

== Original Series ==
The first usage of the stun setting occurs in {{OS|Greetings From Earth|prose=y}} when [[Michael]] exits ''[[Lunar Avion]]'', using his [[stunner]] against [[Reese]] before falling into unconsciousness himself due to ''[[Galactica (TOS)|Galactica]]''<nowiki/>'s atmosphere.

Later, Colonial [[Laser pistol|laser pistols]] are seen with a stun setting, as [[Starbuck (TOS)|Starbuck]] uses his pistol after he is intercepted by a group of [[Nationalists|Nationalist]] forces upon landing on [[Terra]]. The stun setting is a wide-field effect, where one blast is able to stun a group of people effectively {{OS|Experiment in Terra}}.

== ''Galactica 1980'' ==
Likely due to its children-friendly time slot, ''[[Galactica 1980]]''<nowiki/>'s [[Laser pistol (1980)|laser pistols]] were often set to stun when using them against people, typically humans. The first Earthlings to be stunned, chronologically speaking, are a group of Nazis in 1944. The first "friendly" human to be stunned is Major [[Stockwell]], who Lieutenant [[Dillon]] stuns en route to destroying [[Xaviar]]'s enhanced prototype V2 rocket. Dillon later forgets to change his pistol from stun to a more destructive setting, forcing him to first one last shot (correctly) to destroy the rocket after it is launched {{G80|Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II|Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III}}.

The effects of a stun tend to vary by person: some people suffer only a mild headache, while others are disoriented or put into a form of coma. Of further note, some people are frozen in place when stunned like [[Jack Archer]] or [[Valerie Thompson]], while others crumple to the ground like [[Stockwell]].

Nurse [[Valerie Thompson]] recites a portion of a television manual after being stunned by [[Troy (1980)|Troy]] {{G80|The Super Scouts, Part I}}, while a higher setting has a more devastating effect, notably when Colonel [[Jack Sydell]] is struck by a blast from Xaviar's laser derringer when fleeing Troy and Dillon. Colonel Briggs notes that Sydell's brain "is someplace else" in a conversation with Chief [[Clifford]], prompting an acerbic retort {{G80|Spaceball|The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II}}.

Weapons on stun can also interfere with electronics, as noted when Troy and Dillon are quick to fire upon a jukebox in [[Maggies Truck Heaven]] diner {{G80|The Super Scouts, Part I}}.

Stun - Revision history

Joe Beaudoin Jr.: initial work