History Main / FlareGun

* ''Film/TheAtomicSubmarine'': The alien proves ImmuneToBullets, but not to a flare [[GoForTheEye fired into its]] [[{{Cyclops}} single eye]] (at least [[HealingFactor until it heals]], that is). It's not said why a member of a scuba-diving BoardingParty would have a flare gun, but there are flares that work underwater.

* ''Film/TheAtomicSubmarine''. The alien proves ImmuneToBullets, but not to a flare [[GoForTheEye fired into its]] [[{{Cyclops}} single eye]] (at least [[HealingFactor until it heals]], that is). It's not said why a member of a scuba-diving BoardingParty would have a flare gun, but there are flares that work underwater.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': an important part of the Trost counteroffensive plan, Brzenska fires colored flares to let command know if they succeeded in [[spoiler: having Titan!Eren seal off the wall or not.]] Also comes up later on in Erwin's travel formation: soldiers that encounter Titans fire flares and everyone that sees the flare subsequently fires, creating a chain reaction that lets everyone know where they are. This acts like a crude "radar" system that lets Erwin maneuver the formation around clusters of Titans and minimize casualties. One soldier uses it offensively on the Female Titan to draw her attention as his allies attack it.

* In ''VideoGame/Manhunt2'', the Flare Gun is a HandCannon with OneHitKill ammunition. It can only be looted from Michael Grant, and there's no ammo supply for it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': [=McCree=]'s Lifeguard skin has his revolver in the appearance of a flare gun, although it still functions like his normal revolver.

* ''Presumed Dead'' by Rick Kennett. After being stranded on an alien world, Cy De Gerch has to resort to one after she uses up the power in her laser pistol, ''[[TheLastManHeardAKnock then]]'' discovers that one of the StarfishAliens humanity is fighting is stranded on the planet with her. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs as the weapon is of limited use except for distracting or inflicting minor injuries on the alien during their battles. However in the final battle, the flare bounces off the alien's skin and rolls beneath its body, where it detonates just as Cy De Gerch is about to be smothered to death by the alien.
* "Terrible Hard Says Alice" by Christopher Wood, set in Cyprus during the late 1950s State of Emergency. The Royal Artillery battery's MO has to treat a soldier shot in the forehead by another soldier with a Verey Pistol (a military flare gun); the culprit says that "they don't seem to come out that fast" as his excuse. (The injured man is permanently scarred and blinded.)

** ''VideoGame/BattlefieldV" continues the "pocket sensor" usage, but also includes some signal flares in its BattleRoyaleGame mode.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

** The Torch staff, usable by only [[SimpleStaff staff]] wielders, functions like the Torch item except the user can illuminate spaces a distance away.

* Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's character in ''Film/RawDeal'' fakes his death by opening the valves on a refinery storage tank, then firing a flare gun into the spilt fuel. He then rides a motorcycle OutOfTheInferno. Ironically he only uses a single flare despite this particular model (a Heckler & Koch EFL) having a five shot magazine.

* ''VieoGame/MechWarrior 4'''s first game, ''Vengeance'', featured the Flare Launcher for missile slots, allowing players to light up terrain or tag opponents in multiplayer. However, they ended up having to remove the Flare Launcher from all subsequent games in the series as players were [[NotTheIntendedUse using massed Flare Launchers to blast players with dozens of light and particle emitting sources, lagging even the best computers of the time to a standstill and causing the affected players' games to crash]].

* In brief, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghxRhdtWPa4 flare guns are not toys]]. Don't play with flare guns, kids.

* The Orion Flare Gun in ''Videogame/HotDogsHorseshoesAndHandGrenades'' not only can fire 12 gauge flares, but also 12 gauge shells, although doing so with any sort of high-pressure shell (i.e. anything other than flares, "Cannonball" rounds, Dragon's Breath shells, or "Freedomfetti" shells) will destroy the Orion, rendering it useless. Update #17 added the fictitious "HP" steel-framed version of the Orion, capable of handling the high-pressure loads.

* By Update #15 in ''Videogame/HotDogsHorseshoesAndHandGrenades''. The Orion Flare Gun was added in, not only could it fire 12 gauge flares but could also fire 12 gauge shells in-game, although doing so with any sort of high-pressure shell (i.e. anything other than flares, "Cannonball" rounds, Dragon's Breath shells, or "Freedomfetti" shells) will destroy the Orion, rendering it useless. However, Update #17 added the fictitious "HP" (high-pressure) steel-framed version of the Orion, capable of handling high-pressure loads.

** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' has Bond using a flare gun during the oil refinery battle to light up an oil pipe leaking gas, resulting in a vertical pillar of flames taking out another (this one has a set of buzzsaws underneath) enemy helicopter.

* ''Film/JudgeDredd''. The Lawgiver pistol could fire flare rounds. At the end of the movie, after Rico's pistol runs out of lethal rounds, Dredd uses it to fire off a flare to distract Rico.

** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' has Bond using a flare gun to during the oil platform battle to light up an oil pipe leaking gas, resulting in a vertical pillar of flames taking out another (this one has a set of buzzsaws underneath) enemy helicopter.

[[folder: Board Games ]]

** ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' has a flare gun as a pistol-slot item. It can torch an enemy to death with one flare (if you hit), but it's real use is as a very large supplement to your MolotovCocktail supplies for [[KillItWithFire starting brushfires.]] [=NPCs=] under attack will also fire them into the air on occasion to try (and fail) to summon reinforcements.

* The first ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'' has its own version of a flare gun called the "Flare Revolver", a modified Colt 1851 Navy. As with the other handguns in the game it can be dual-wielded, but unlike the rest it is meant for the Firebug Perk, and as such it is modified to launch .36-caliber flares rather than bullets. The Flare Revolver's an interesting weapon as it's flares actually act as actual flares and can light up dark areas. It returns in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor2'' with a slightly new look and is now dubbed the "Spitfire Revolver" now a cross-perk weapon with The Gunslinger Perk.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "The Initiative" Xander gives Buffy a flare pistol to signal for help if she needs it when she goes to fight Spike. It turns out to be [[ChekhovsGun just what she needs]] when a team of Initiative soldiers attack Willow in a dorm corridor; Buffy fires the flare, [[SensoryOverload overloading their night vision goggles]].

There is some overlap with the PocketRocketLauncher trope, as flares are rocket propelled, and are fired from a modified 12-gague shell. This is more for practical reasons than RuleOfCool, since signal flares are usually fired from a dinky plastic launcher that can't hold any pressure itself. Since they aren't actual weapons, they don't have to be at all accurate (all they need to hit is the sky), and actually need to be as flashy as possible to achieve their true goal of attracting the attention of Search-and-Rescue personnel. As a good rule-of-thumb, all flare guns (barring specific outliers that shall not be counted) are Pocket Rocket Launchers, but not all Pocket Rocket Launchers are flare guns.

There is some overlap with the PocketRocketLauncher trope, as flares are rocket propelled, and are fired from a modified 12-gague shell. This is more for practical reasons than RuleOfCool, since signal flares are usually fired from a dinky plastic launcher that can't hold any pressure itself. Since they aren't actual weapons, they don't have to be at all accurate (all they need to hit is the sky), and actually need to be as flashy as possible to acheive their true goal of attracting the attention of Search-and-Rescue personnel. As a good rule-of-thumb, all flare guns (barring specific outliers that shall not be counted) are Pocket Rocket Launchers, but not all Pocket Rocket Launchers are flare guns.

There is some overlap with the PocketRocketLauncher trope, as flares are rocket propelled, and are fired from a modified 12-gague shell. This is more for practical reasons than RuleOfCool, since signal flares are usually fired from a dinky plastic launcher that can't hold any pressure itself. Since they aren't actual weapons, they don't have to be at all accurate (all they need to hit is the sky), and actually need to be as flashy as possible to acheive their true goal of attracting the attention of Search-and-Rescue personnel. As a good rule-of-thumb, all flare guns (barring ''Fallout: New Vegas''' "blob of napalm" version) are Pocket Rocket Launchers, but not all Pocket Rocket Launchers are flare guns.