History Main / HarpoonGun

* Film/{{Alien}} had one of these used in the ending climax to eject the titular creature out of an escape ship.

* [[VideoGame/{{DeadIslandRiptide}} Dead Island:Riptide]] has one early on

In reality, hand-held harpoon guns used by divers generally use elastic cords to propel harpoons over fairly short distances to spear fish. However, some firearms designed for underwater use are basically miniature harpoon guns, throwing slim darts -- normal guns simply won't work for anything further than point-blank range underwater, if at all. (Not that darts carrying much further, but they can be optimised for the job.) Whaling ships, on the other hand, may mount ''big'' harpoon guns -- basically low-power cannons firing big barbed spears. Some harpoons have cables attached so that the user can reel in anything the barbed harpoon latches onto, thus functioning like a GrapplingHookPistol.

* In ''Videogame/{{Warframe}}'', the Grineer Harpak assault rifle fires fairly compact harpoons in a three-shot burst, with a SecondaryFire that launches a tethered harpoon that violently yanks back whatever it hits. The infested Paracyst 'rifle' is functionally identical.

[[folder:AnimeAndManga]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} foe Black Manta sometimes uses a wrist mounted harpoon gun. The harpoons are sometimes electrified too.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* The climactic battle in ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' is fought by at least fifty men armed with harpoon guns. The use of a harpoon gun on a [[{{Mooks}} mook]] led to the immortal line, “I think he got the point”. [[spoiler: And the main villain is killed this way by his girlfriend.]] James Bond also kills a mook with a harpoon gun in ''Film/LicenceToKill''.
--> Compliments of Sharkey!

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* Used several times by Mike Nelson in ''SeaHunt,'' and in the similar shows ''The Aquanauts'' and ''Malibu Run.''
* In an episode of ''Series/GilligansIsland'', it's revealed that a man the passengers of the Minnow all had reason to hate was killed with one of these just before the boat left on its "three-hour tour." In the end, we learn that [[spoiler: the man was killed by accident, and not murdered.]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

* Unsurprisingly, ''[[TabletopGame/SeventhSea 7th Sea]]'' has harpoons, harpoons guns, [[GrapplingHookPistol grappling pistols]], and a Swordsman school or two based around using them.

[[folder:{{Toys}}]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* ''[[VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura Arcanum]]'s'' insanely powerful, armor class ignoring Blade Launcher.
* ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}: Behind Enemy Lines'' and ''Beyond the Call of Duty'' gives one to the Marine. It silently kills enemies at very short range.
** He can use it as well in ''Commandos 2''. The weapon can only be selected underwater but once it has been used underwater, the Marine can fire it on land using the Ctrl key.

* The Helsing of ''VideoGame/{{Metro 2033}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'' is called a pneumatic crossbow, but in function it's more like one of these. It loads arrows in a pepperbox-like arrangement and uses pressurized air to launch highly lethal metal bolts. They are mostly silent and powerful enough to be a OneHitKill on human enemies, and have recoverable, reusable ammo. Its main downside is cost, with arrows being expensive to purchase or lose.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'''s ''Far Harbor'' DLC, the Harpoon Gun is a ship-mounted harpoon gun what has been modified to be able to be carried by human hands. It can be modified to fire barded harpoons to apply bleeding effect or fire entire FlechetteStorm of harpoons.

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Jade Harley owns one of these and uses it as a GrapplingHookPistol. Additionally, Eridan Ampora ([[spoiler:and later Liv Tyler]]) wields a legendary harpoon gun called Ahab's Crosshairs, which fires lightning.
* In ''WebComic/{{Waterworks}}'', [[spoiler:Surge's]] harpoon has this functionality. CC uses this as a grappling hook to help her navigate the goo-flooded basement.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Lisa and Cody use them in the game they play in [='VRcade'=].

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

Sometimes, a bow and a quiver of arrows aren't big enough to finish the job; you'll need [[BladeOnAStick spear-sized]] arrows. Thankfully, there's the Harpoon Gun for that.

Harpoon guns are used by divers. In fact, any firearm designed for underwater use is basically a miniature harpoon gun (normal guns simply won't work for anything further than point-blank range). Some can reel in anything the harpoon latches onto, thus working like a GrapplingHookPistol.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' contains multibarreled versions [[spoiler: intended to capture the Female Titan]]

* The climactic battle in ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' is fought by at least fifty men armed with harpoon guns. The use of a harpoon gun on a [[{{Mooks}} mook]] led to the immortal line, “I think he got the point”. [[spoiler: And the main villain is killed this way by his girlfriend.]]
** Also, Bond kills a mook with a harpoon gun in ''Film/LicenceToKill''.

* ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'': at the end of the movie, some whalers shoot a Harpoon Gun at the rescued whales.
** Their expression is priceless when [[spoiler:it bounces off a cloaked [[CoolStarShip Bird-of-Prey]], which then proceeds to [[GunshipRescue decloak]]]].

* In ''Film/FridayThe13thPartIII'', Jason uses harpoon gun to kill Vera, namely shooting [[EyeScream her in the eye]].
** In [[Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter the next film]] he uses a harpoon gun to kill one of the men. By stabbing him into the groin and finishing it by pulling the trigger.
** In ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan Part VIII]]'', Jason uses one of these to kill a teenager on the boat - but since he doesn't have the coordination to pull back the bungees, the unlucky schlub gets stabbed with the ''whole'' harpoon gun.

* The early harpoon gun (cannon actually) in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: High-Tech'' comes with two caplocks and a brass cover for them due to it being used on ships where the spray was likely to prevent the simple caplock mechanism from working.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ActionLeagueNow'', team member Stinky Diver would often wield one of these; half the time, whatever problem the Action League was facing that week would be solved by Stinky simply harpooning it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TuffPuppy'' in the episode "Mission: Really Big Mission" D.O.O.M. used these against Dudley and Kitty.

* The BigBad is killed with a big one in

** The 3rd Edition ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'' Orlock gangs have access to harpoon launchers as a special weapon. The gangs use these weapons to impale their targets so that they can be [[MadeASlave captured alive to work in the mines and factories of the highly industrial House]].

Harpoon guns are used by divers. In fact, any firearm designed for underwater use is basically a miniature harpoon gun (normal guns simply won't work). Some can reel in anything the harpoon latches onto, thus working like a GrapplingHookPistol.

** The ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' RPG has rules for harpoon guns in one of the sourcebooks, where they are known as Impalers.

* The ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' RPG for ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has rules for them in one of the splatbooks, dubbing them Impalers.

* ''Film/TheDeadPool''. A deck harpoon gun is shown being fired for a horror movie. This is a ChekhovsGun for when Dirty Harry (presumably because his .44 Magnum is no longer the most powerful handgun in the world) dismounts it in the finale as a BfG against the killer.

* The BigBad is killed with a big one in ''Film/TheDeadPool''.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'', picking up a harpoon with the gravity gun automatically orients it in a "impale whatever I launch this at" position, making it into a makeshift harpoon gun (rather than the usual "large heavy objects" or sawblade gun).

* In ''WebComic/{{Waterworks}}'', [[spoiler:Surge's]] harpoon has this functionality. CC uses this to help her navigate the goo-flooded basement.

* In ''WebComic/{{Waterworks}}'', the green gun CC uses to navigate the Goo.

* Harpoon Guns are one of your starting weapons in ''[[VideoGame/{{X-COM}} X-COM: Terror of the Deep]]''. They quickly become obsolete.

* ''Franchise/{{BIONICLE}}'': Vezok's Water Harpoon and Hahli Inika's Laser Harpoon

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'''s ''Far Harbor'' DLC, the Harpoon Gun is a ship-mounted harpoon gun what has been modified to be more portable by humans. It can be modified to fire barded harpoons to apply bleeding effect or fire entire FlechetteStorm of harpoons.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has the Harpoon Rifle Kishock, a multiplayer-only (though it can be added to single-player by buying a DLC) sniper rifle wich fire harpoon. It's incredibly powerful and transform the [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Cerberus Guardians]] into pushovers.