History Main / SilverBullet

Throughout mythology, silver has been a common ward against evil. Silver, especially if blessed, was thought to ward off or harm certain supernatural beings (including vampires) since the Middle Ages. The use of silver bullets to kill werewolves has become popular [[NewerThanTheyThink only since]] it was invented by Curt Siodmak, the writer of the 1941 film ''The Wolf Man'' (though silver, ; also in the 1933 novel ''The Werewolf of Paris'' by Guy Endore, someone did use a silver bullet on Bertrand Caillet, though it did not slay him, only landing in the leg).

Silver has been a common ward against evil. Silver, especially if blessed, was thought to ward off or harm certain supernatural beings (including vampires) since the Middle Ages. The use of silver bullets to kill werewolves has become popular [[NewerThanTheyThink only since]] it was invented by Curt Siodmak, the writer of the 1941 film ''The Wolf Man'' (though silver, ; also in the 1933 novel ''The Werewolf of Paris'' by Guy Endore, someone did use a silver bullet on Bertrand Caillet, though it did not slay him, only landing in the leg).

* A rule of thumb in ''{{Rifts}}'' is: "If Mini-missiles won't work, try silver." Silver is useful not only against werebeasts, but also vampires (damages, and a silver stake works just as good as a wooden one), demons, and some gods. One country in South America actually issues silver-plated swords to it's HumongousMecha because they're at war with a kingdom of vampires.

* [[http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/silver/silverbullets.shtml Book author's husband researches making silver bullets]]. It's not as straight-forward as casting bullets from lead. Silver melts at 1761°F (versus 621°F for lead), this makes just melting it a problem for home-made bullets. And silver has a different coefficient of expansion, and the hardness difference means the bullet has to be crafted more precisely. And silver jewelry and coins are made with silver alloys that are harder still. The bottom line is that silver bullets aren't something even someone who home loads can make in a hurry, from materials at hand; they take planning and preparation.

***** After which you'll get into trouble with the authorities for messing with evidence.

* ''{{Dresden Files}}'''s second book Fool Moon had a type of werewolf that had the traditional silver weakness. The catch is that it had to be ''Inherited'' silver. Murphy's creation of the bullets demonstrated the difficulty of not only getting enough silver for the job (having to settle for smaller caliber bullets), but also getting a gun that will fire solid silver bullets.

* Used regularly by ''TheLonelyWinds''. The series takes the unusual step of addressing the problem of their ballistic performance, as a bullet minted from solid silver would ''not'' handle high muzzle velocities very well.

* In {{Ben10}}, when the Yenaldooshi, a Native American Werewolf, is on the rampage, Gwen asks if they need to use a Silver Bullet to kill it, only to get the response that it only works in movies. The real solution does require a silver pendent though. However, this is inverted when it turns out to be a [[spoiler: alien that just looks like a Werewolf.]]

** In later versions they then decreed that the silver that worked against supernatural beings wasn't ''actually'' silver but "alchemical silver" ... much as "cold iron" was a metal that looked a bit like iron but wasn't.

*** Maybe. It's not positive anymore since the timeline has grown so complicated, but A Link to the Past (Triforce of the Gods in Japanese) was originally believed to be a prequel to the original Legend of Zelda and so the silver arrow may not be fatal either. Regardless it isn't positive whether or not the silver and light arrows are one and the same.

* During the 18th century hunt for the Beast Of Gévaudan, Jean Chastel reportedly loaded his gun with silver bullets. However, in this case the bullets were not 'special' because they were made of silver, but because the silver was obtained from a blessed medallion of the Virgin Mary (the creature was though to be demonic in nature).

* Hilariously, in the {{MST3K}} fodder movie ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Film/Werewolf Werewolf]]'', after spending over 10 minutes going on and on about how the skeleton they discovered isn't of "your white man's movie monster werewolf", but a traditional Native American skinwalker, when one of the characters turns into one he's quickly killed with a silver bullet.

* The GoldenAge ComicBook/{{Batman}} used silver bullets to slay the vampire/werewolf hybrids the Monk and Dala as the slumbered in their coffins.

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* In some epic folk songs about Bulgarian rebel leader Delyo, he is described as invulnerable to normal weapons, driving his enemies to cast a silver bullet in order to murder him.

* ''Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf'' subverts this trope and reveals that silver bullets ''don't'' actually kill werewolves, they just incapacitate them for a while. The real metal of choice when dealing with werewolves is revealed to be titanium.

* ''Silver Bullet'' is a 1985 film adaptation of Stephen King's ''Cycle of the Werewolf'' (see below).

* Part of the local [[VampireHunter night team]]'s arsenal in NightWatcher.

* To prevent silver weapons being a GameBreaker in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the Dungeon Master guide says the [=DM=] should impress upon the players that fighting with swords made of such a soft metal all the time is a bad idea...