Stun
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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 Original Series' "Greetings From Earth" when Michael exits Lunar Avion, using his stunner against Reese before falling into unconsciousness himself due to Galactica's atmosphere.
Later, Colonial laser pistols are seen with a stun setting, as Starbuck uses his pistol after he is intercepted by a group of 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 (TOS: "Experiment in Terra").
Galactica 1980
Likely due to its children-friendly time slot, Galactica 1980's 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 (1980: "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: "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 (1980: "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 (1980: "The Super Scouts, Part I").