History Main / HandCannon

* ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'': Revolvers the size of Volkswagens! Mind you though, they ''are'' for HumongousMecha.

** The Groundside Resistance Pack adds the Executioner, a pistol whose strength is on par with the heaviest sniper rifles, at the cost of massive recoil and a single shot per clip.

* Dr. Theophilus Algernon Tanner of the ''Literature/DeathLands'' adventure series and his always trusty [[=LeMat=]] revolver. He's blown away many a "mutie" with the .63 caliber "grapeshot" round fired from the gun's underbarrel. Jak Lauren packs a .357 Colt Python, which he uses when stabbing the problem to death isn't going to cut it.

* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Mad Amos'' short stories, the title character packs a [=LeMat=].

** Jayne might be better known for his [[ICallItVera most favorite gun]], but his one-handed death-dealing implements are not lacking either. (Nor is [[WallOfWeapons the ''quantity'' lacking]].) In fact, the main sidearm that Jayne uses is a [=LeMat=], a Civil War era revolver with 9 chambers, as well as a second barrel that can shoot buckshot. That's right, a revolver AND a shotgun.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' features the Desert Eagle. It deals about as much damage as a sniper rifle, and {{One Hit Kill}}s all [[{{Mooks}} common infected]] in any difficulty, and unlike the regular pistols, it retains its accuracy and rate of fire if a player using it is incapacitated. It's balanced out by a low magazine capacity and high recoil.

* ''VideoGame/SepterraCore''. Maya's gun.

* In the ''ComicBook/TheWarlord'' comics, Travis Morgan carries a .44 [=AutoMag=] which was certainly never a standard issue sidearm for USAF officers.

* ''LightNovel/AriaTheScarletAmmo'': While Kinji's Desert Eagle is certainly counts, the one who takes the cake is [[TheOjou Urara Takachiho]] from ''AA'' spinoff with her Ruger Super Redhawk chambered in .454 Casull. The gun is as long as a rifle, powerful enough to ''throw'' a bicycle out from its rack lock with just a single shot, and yet she has enough strength to [[FiringOneHanded fire it one-handed]] in an almost casual manner.

* Kiritsugu Emiya from ''LightNovel/FateZero'' favours a Thompson Contender chambered for rifle cartridges as his main weapon. He furthermore uses [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells custom-made bullets (containing his own ground-up bones)]] that, if they come into contact with an expression of magic (typically a barrier), will both disrupt it and irreparably damage the magical source, typically the caster's nerves. This is the main reason he chose such a high-caliber pistol for his AntiMagic work; by using a caliber too powerful for anything short of an armored vehicle to block, he will put the enemy magus in a MortonsFork situation, forcing them to either take the bullet's extreme physical power or to create a powerful enough barrier to block the bullet, at which point their nerves will be destroyed by the bullet's enchantment.

* Parodied [[JustForFun/TropeOverdosed (and what isn't?)]] in ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', where [[TheChewToy Mikuru]] is made to DualWield airsoft Desert Eagles for the student film. In her hands the guns are comically oversized, which is only made worse by the absurd extended barrels.

* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' has a couple of examples of this, the most notable of which are Tres' twin M13 Jerichos. Tres being an android, his usage of oversized weaponry is a bit more reasonable.

-->-- '''Jules''', ''Film/PulpFiction''

* Noel Vermillion in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' wields [[Myth/NorseMythology Bolverk]], [[SmallGirlBigGun two guns the length or her arms]] that, when they're not firing their explosive bullets, instead teleports them straight into her opponents. Their ability to distort spacetime is also used to explain their BottomlessMagazines. Bolverk is hardly the most [[{{BFS}} absurdly oversized weapon]] Noel can pull out in the game.

* Hungarian movie ''Film/{{Argo}}'' features a character called Psycho carrying a 2 ft. long revolver. With Disney characters carved on it.

* ''Six Gun: Gang Showdown'' from Creator/{{Gameloft}} goes hard into this trope. The third easiest single-handed gun to get is actually called the Hand Cannon and it's a shotgun built into a pistol frame so it fires a spray of shot. Every pistol after it is longer and/or chunkier, including the Leveller which is a massive revolver that fires sniper round and needs to open its trick barrel to release the excess power.

* ''Six Gun: Gang Showdown'' from Creator/{{Gameloft}} goes hard into this trope. The third easiest single-handed gun is actually called the Hand Cannon and it's a shotgun built into a pistol frame so it fires a spray of shot. Every pistol after it is longer and/or chunkier, including the Leveller which is a massive revolver that fires sniper round and needs to open its trick barrel to release the excess power.

* ''Six Gun: Gang Showdown'' from Videogame/{{Gamesloft}} goes hard into this trope. The third easiest single-handed gun is actually called the Hand Cannon and it's a shotgun built into a pistol frame so it fires a spray of shot. Every pistol after it is longer and/or chunkier, including the Leveller which is a massive revolver that fires sniper round and needs to open its trick barrel to release the excess power.

* For some reason, the most powerful and second-most accurate gun in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' is a .357 Magnum. [[RevolversAreJustBetter And this is with the futuristic pulse rifles and sniper-crossbows]]. Balanced by the [[LawOfInverseRecoil high recoil]], low rate of fire and small amount of ammunition Gordon can cary for it.

* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Mad Amos'' short stories, the title character packs a LeMat.

* Corporal Randel Oland from ''Anime/PumpkinScissors'' and his 13mm[[note]].51-caliber. For those curious, that's a little bigger than the ammunition used in anti-tank rifles.[[/note]] armor-piercing hand-gun (the "Door Knocker") -- which is used by special infantry to go up against tanks. Randel wields it with one hand.

* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' has a weapon even ''named'' the Hand Cannon, a revolver based on the [[CoolGuns/{{Revolvers}} 1851 Colt Navy revolver]]. Unlike the other handgun in the game -- the weak, but reliable semi-automatic Pistol (resembling a modest [[CoolGuns/HandgunsMToZ Mauser C96]]) -- the Hand Cannon has a ''ridiculous'' kick to it on the level of a [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotgun]], able to kill a regular enemy in around 2 shots.

* The [[{{CoolGuns/Revolvers}} Taurus Judge]], a 5-shot revolver that can load either .45 Colt rounds or .410 shotgun shells. However, it actually subverts this trope: a .410 shotgun shell can only hold a few buckshot pellets (or a lot of birdshot pellets, which don't do a whole lot unless you dump it point blank into someone's face), and the .410 slug isn't much more powerful than the standard .45 Colt revolver rounds. While films tend to portray it as a simple "handheld shotgun", it's more effective for shooting snakes or blasting carjackers.

** Taurus also released a revolver called the [[{{CoolGuns/Revolvers}} Raging Bull]], which comes in various large calibers up to .500 S&W Magnum (though this version has been discontinued). This model had a 10 inch barrel on it. The Raging Judge was an adaptation of the Raging Bull with elongated cylinders to allow use of .410 shotshells like the regular Judge.

* The [[{{CoolGuns/Handguns}} Mauser]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauser_C96 C96]], the gun that Han Solo's blaster was built around, is one of the most famous and successful semiautomatic pistols in history. It was a hand cannon, because the 7.63x25mm round it used was the highest velocity round so far until the .357 Magnum came along, and was able to pierce straight through [=WW2=]-era steel helmets and into the skull of the target. It was also chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum, making it a PunchPackingPistol one way or another.

* For the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series, typically the standard hand-sized hole-puncher is the "Wes-44", which is a Smith & Wesson Model 629 Classic and often seen in the hands of Victor Sullivan (possibly as a ShoutOut to ''Film/DirtyHarry'', although Harry's [[WeaponSpecialization weapon of choice]] is the non-stainless S&W Model 29). ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'' also adds the Tau Sniper (the Taurus Raging Bull as a SniperPistol) and Mag 5 (Dan Wesson PPC) as additional Hand Cannons while ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'' drops all of these for the "Barok .44", which is a Mateba 6 Unica Autorevolver (and a {{Rare Gun|s}} at that).