History Main / TheParalyzer

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', both Master Oogway and the main villain Tai Lung are able to paralyze their enemies with a series of pinpoint nerve strikes. [[spoiler:Hero Po is completely immune thanks to his thick layer of fat.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JadeArmor'': Once regrown, the Crimson Lord's helmet allows the BigBad to briefly paralyze his opponents.

* Bats and spiders in the UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} game ''VideoGame/NightStalker'' paralyze the player if he runs into them.

--> Sunset cast a relatively simple spell that temporarily prevented all voluntary motion

* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'':

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]" has the Daleks' weapons shown to have a secondary "stun" function which is used on one of the Doctor's companions. However, it should be noted that the blast does not render him unconscious, it only temporarily paralyzes his legs. In their defense, Ian was pretty [[JustForPun stunned]] when they blasted him.

* The Wraith on ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' carry "stunners" as their main weapon, devices that will render their target unconscious when hit. They need their targets alive so they can "[[VampiricDraining feed]]" on them.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The team make use of Goa'uld-made semi-lethal stun guns, called "Zat'nik'tel" or "Zats": one shot will knock the target out (originally an AgonyBeam but no longer starting around season three), two shots are fatal, and three shots completely vaporize a body or a light object. The show's creators later regretted adding the third function, so the Zat never gets used this way anymore.

** And in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', ''all'' of the Wraith's handheld weaponry are alien stunners. Justified in that the Wraith need their preya live, because they "[[VampiricDraining feed]]" on their human enemies by draining their LifeEnergy, so they wouldn't want any wasteful deaths. Well, they do have heavier weaponry, but they only break that out in cases of extreme resistance or in order to teach humans a lesson (e.g. such as on Sateda).

-> ''"Don't fight it, Adam. It won't do any good. I know, it must be a disconcerting feeling, experiencing complete paralyses. Your mind, fully functioning, aware of what's going on, but your body just... won't respond. It must be just awful. The effects of the paralysis will wear off once I leave. You might be a little sore. Take two aspirin, and don't call me in the morning."''
-->-- '''Jennifer Towne''', ''Series/PainkillerJane''

* A single judicious strike to the proper area of the body. This is distinct from the TapOnTheHead in that the effect is achieved through some sort of nerve manipulation, rather than simple blunt force trauma. This trope is most commonly seen in Chinese wuxia films, but it has made appearances in other media as well. Similar to the TouchOfDeath, in the Far East this trope stems from the belief that {{Pressure Point}}s or nerve clusters control the physical functioning of a person's body, and that precision manipulation of these points can allow one to manipulate the body itself.

This may be used as a non-lethal means of disabling opponents by {{Technical Pacifist}}s or others who follow the creed of ThouShaltNotKill or are laden some other kind of NoHarmRequirement, or it may simply be used to render opponents helpless so that [[CoupDeGrace executing them]] is made much easier.

* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': Elmekia Lance is a weaked-down [[ReviveKillsZombie holy blast]] useful against things like demons and zombies. For what has been seen of its (usually accidental) use on humans, they tend to be knocked out cold. It's safe to assume the Ra Tilt does something similar, on a grander scale.
* ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' has the concept of Knocking, a non-lethal method of hunting in which a device called a [[TranquillizerDart Knocking Gun]] shoots biodegradable needles into an animal (or person's) nerves. An expert at this method is "Knocking Master" Jirou.

** [[spoiler:Jirou uses a technique called "Grand Knocking" which somehow paralyzes '''''THE EARTH ITSELF''''' [[PersonOfMassDestruction causing worldwide natural disasters]]!]] After he removes the restraining seals, his abilities gets even more ridiculous - [[spoiler:he gains ability to paralyze creatures with just his breath, [[TimeMaster stop flow of time]], and even damage in his own body. If something moves - Jirou probably knows, how to stop it with his bare hands.]]

* In ''Fanfic/ChrysalisVisitsTheHague'', the first resort against Chrysalis consists of tranquiliser rifles, filled what seem to be absurdly lethal amounts of sedative (well, to anyone and any''thing'' but the hardy changeling herself).
* ''Fanfic/NoStarsInSight'': Zendolyn-Far, one of the fic's villains, has the ability to inject others with a specially-made neurotoxin with paracausal properties that causes near-total paralysis in the victim with the exception of the lungs, eyes and cardiac systems, keeping them just barely alive so they can be captured without putting up a struggle.

* Jade Fox in ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' uses a quick series of nerve strikes to completely freeze an opponent on the spot. Li Mubai uses a similar sequence of strikes on him to reverse the paralysis. It's apparently so effective (and well known) that Li Mubai threatens people by pointing two fingers at them.

* ''Film/KingKong'': The gas bombs work very quickly and appear not to endanger the monsters life.
* In ''Film/KissOfTheDragon'', Jet Li combines this with acupuncture needles to paralyze his enemies. The titular "Kiss of the Dragon" is a TouchOfDeath DangerousForbiddenTechnique that uses the same principles, which he uses on the main villain at the end of the movie for no apparent reason other than the coolness effect of the guy's head exploding. It's not obvious, but the commentary mentions a justification - Li's character gets shot in the arm as he starts to move, so he performs a technique that doesn't use his arm (the Kiss of the Dragon has him use his teeth to insert the needle). A better reason might be that he wanted to kill the villain, but not in front of the little girl he was rescuing, so he used a fatal technique with a delay.

** The ''Star Wars'' universe is rife with stungun technology. Many blaster pistols have a stun setting in addition to the kill setting (a feature commonly lacking in the FPS games), which appears as an energy ring instead of a concentrated bolt. Though a blaster on Stun is only fired once in the original film series, against Leia at the beginning of ''Film/ANewHope'', [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] and [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]] authors have taken that one scene and run with it. Stunners come back into use in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' with both Finn and Poe on the receiving end.

* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': Ghouls will do this if they strike you with their claws 4 times (3 for a Mega Ghoul). The paralysis itself is non lethal, but not so much them making a free meal of you...

* Creator/EEDocSmith's ''Family D'Alembert'' series (mostly ghostwritten by Stephen Goldin after Smith's death) features a stun gun with settings from one to ten. #1 is a mild shock that will sometimes not render the finest physical specimens immediately unconscious; #3 or #4 will put you out for up to an hour; #8 will put you down for many hours, and SOME victims suffer permanent neurological impairment; #10 is uniformly lethal. Weak or infirm victims may react worse to any given setting. Preferred by law enforcement because in moments of doubt you can shoot everybody and not worry about the consequences, but it backfires on them when the bad guys start using [[spoiler:humaniform robots]], against which they are ineffective.

** The ''Stupefy'' spell renders the target unconscious when the right amount of power is put into it, and most victims are shown being magically revived with no side-effects. Taking multiple hits at once, however, is not advised, especially for older people--[[spoiler:Professor [=McGonagall=] needed a hospital stay after such an experience in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'']]. If the caster if puts enough energy behind the spell or the individual being hit is too weak the spell can be fatal, as it was when [[spoiler:Molly Weasley used it against Bellatrix Lestrange]] in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]''.

* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', stunners are standard issue for police or anyone else who might want to be able to shoot first and ask questions later. Hangover-like symptoms are a nearly universal side-Effect, and at one point something like "we don't have to worry about heart conditions with this lot" is mentioned, implying that there is a risk of causing more severe damage than intended. She also points out a problem with stunners: If they're all you've got, then you can be killed by an unarmed mob, since they won't be afraid of attacking you, and with sufficient numbers they can overwhelm you, and kick you to death. If you were carrying a lethal weapon, they wouldn't dare try it.

** In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E9ProjectAvalon Project Avalon]]", Blake is shot during the dramatic rescue of a RebelLeader from a detention center. His injuries are only minor however, so he has Avon examine a captured weapon. [[spoiler:The rebel leader is actually an [[TrojanPrisoner android impersonator]].]]

* In ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth'', Tandy decides to start teaching self defense, and asks Louis to volunteer for his demonstration on using a tazer. He reassures Louis that he will NOT shoot him, but accidentally hits the fire button anyway. He wonders how to make it stop, and the others suggest he removes his finger from the firing trigger.

* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' has the Electo-Muscular Disruptors (usually shortened to [=EMDs=]), mean to help the cast non-lethally take down creatures. Though they're about the size of a normal submachine gun, Matt claims that they can take down a fully grown ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'', much to Becker's skepticism. [[spoiler:Matt finally gets to put this to the test in the fifth episode of Series 5, and the EMD does ''not'' disappoint. In a CallBack to when the EMD was first introduced, Becker admits he was wrong]].

** The Vulcan Nerve Pinch serves as the "render fully unconscious" version of this move, and was invented on the spot by Creator/LeonardNimoy, who felt that the blunt trauma TapOnTheHead did not fit with Spock's character. Originally, it was explained as a combination of Vulcans' extensive knowledge of pressure points on humanoid species combined with their telepathic abilities, but the latter part is often ignored. For example, Michael Burnham of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', a human raised on Vulcan, can perform the technique fairly well, as can Picard after mind-melding with Sarek. Data can do it too, to Spock's approval, but it's not clear if he learned it from Spock or simply had the needed knowledge of pressure points. At any rate, it is something that can definitely be learned.
** The ''Discovery'' series features a Klingon weapon that paralyzes the victim. It's harmless at first, but if the victim isn't released in time, organs such as the heart and lungs will also paralyze, leading to death.
** In [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]], phasers featured a ''stun setting'' (which would handily knock out any non-[[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien godlike]] humanoid) and a ''kill setting'' which would [[DisintegratorRay make things go away]] (unless, again, the target was just plain immune). In "Omega Glory", Spock is too near the blast radius of a disintegrating phaser shot. He recovers, but from Kirk and [=McCoy=]'s reactions, there was a good chance that he could have been killed. "The Man Trap" and "The Conscience of the King" featured lethal settings that left a body, [[BloodlessCarnage with no visible damage, as per typical television standards of the time]]. Something similar may have featured in "What Are Little Girls Made Of", when an [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots android]] has a hole shot in it, revealing its electronic workings. Ironically, this is the first episode to show disintegration. On the other hand, [[MundaneUtility phasers also could heat rocks (or heat coffee)]] as a story might allow, which might have involved a special ''toast'' setting unmentioned in the canon media.In one of the episode novelizations, Yeoman Rand uses a phaser on a low setting to heat coffee when the power is out, somewhat to Kirk's surprise (and approval).
** After ''[[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]]'', it became canon that movie-era phasers on Stun could kill at point blank range (to the head). On occasion, phasers have been set to "maximum stun" when facing unusually tough enemies, which is implied to have a higher risk of killing someone.

** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Hunted", certain humans in the military of the planet Angosia are altered to increase their fighting abilities, and are also resistant to phaser stun.

* Gas Grenades are a weapon that can be used by the crew-player in the boardgame ''TabletopGame/TheAwfulGreenThingsFromOuterSpace''; the effect on the Things (good, bad or indifferent) is randomly determined for each game, but any crew present when one gets set off are knocked unconscious for a turn.

*** The {{PC}}s are at an audience with the Mandrill when he decides to capture them. He and his soldiers open fire on them with neurostunner pistols that cause unconsciousness.

* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' most Ray guns have a stun setting built in, but there are also spasm rods, odd pronged batons that produce a shimmering sphere that can be used to both stun people in melee and to deflect Ray fire.

* ''Star Trek: The Role Playing Game'' phasers had "stun", "wide angle stun" and "heavy stun" settings similar to its source material. Other stunning weapons (such as Gorn stunners) were detailed in supplements.

** In a mission for ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun'', your GDI riot troops are equipped with rubber bullets to put down protests. Using one causes protestors to give up and go home, while using too many will kill the target (and lose you the mission).

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' was coded to react differently based on the lethal force the player used. In the immediate sense, death screams were louder than anything short of an explosive, judging by AI reaction to noise. More long term, some [=NPCs=] liked taking prisoners or avoiding combat, some liked to shoot things. The game featured a silent "minicrossbow" that fired tranquilizer darts, a riot prod that looked like a stun gun on steroids with a healthy dose of [[TimTaylorTechnology More Power]], and tear gas. There was also a baton which was mainly used for one hit knock out if you could sneak up on someone from behind, though it could be used for a frontal assault if the player was inclined to commit suicide by actually trying to use it on an enemy firing back. The game was inconsistent when determining the casualties caused by the player, however, occasionally marking the player as overly violent because of how many targets had been 'removed' from combat rather than how many had been killed outright.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has the different forms of the Paralyze spell. Variously classed in either the [[RealityWarper Alteration]] school or [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion]] school of magic, the spell freezes targets in place or causes them to drop helplessly to the ground for the duration of the spell. As with most spells, it can also be enchanted into a weapon where the effect will trigger on strike. Naturally, [[UselessUsefulSpell most high-level enemies are completely immune to it]].

** The [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Mesmetron Mesmetron]] is an experimental weapon that has a 50% chance of stunning someone, a 30% of making them very angry and a 20% chance of making ''their head explode.''
** One shot from the Dart Gun will instantly cripple an enemy's legs. It doesn't completely immobilize them, but reduces their movement speed to such a slow pace that they might as well be immobilized for all the good it does them. Even Deathclaws become utterly trivial to deal with as they can only plod towards you slowly as you fill them with lead. [[GameBreaker Which is probably why the Dart Gun did not return in later games]].

* The only weapon you get in ''VideoGame/{{Hydrophobia}}'' is a stun gun, you're meant to use it to keep enemies at bay while you use the environment to kill them but oddly for this trope it can kill if you shoot it enough times....or change the ammo to something more lethal.

* The Genesis version of ''VideoGame/{{Jurassic Park|RampageEdition}}'' limited Dr. Grant exclusively to non-lethal guns like tranquilizers, tasers, grenades and sedative-laced rockets, only the last of which put down dinosaurs indefinitely. The ActionizedSequel ''Rampage Edition'' added in some more deadly guns and removed the possibility for enemies to get back up (they'll still flash and disappear even if you are just using the tranq guns on them).

* ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way'' features an electric stun gun (the hand-to-hand kind) and a CT-180 utility launcher that can be loaded with [[InstantSedation tranquilizer darts]] which will both quickly and [[StealthBasedGame quietly]] take down opponents, leaving them alive. Sadly, they recover inside only a few minutes, and then will manifest weapons (even if searched and disarmed) shortly after that, providing an incentive to take out opponents in a more lethal fashion.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' introduces [[UndergroundMonkey Galarian variants]] of the Legendary Bird trio that have different secondary typing compared to their Kanto counterparts. Galarian Articuno is a part Psychic type instead of part Ice, but still has a SignatureMove that inflicts the Freeze status, a status condition that completely immobilizes opponents until it wears off, in the form of EyeBeams. Instead of actually freezing targets, the flavor text states that they're frozen in place by G-Articuno channeling its vast psychic powers.

* ''VideoGame/SpiderAndWeb'': The pulse guns shoot bolts of energy that knock people out, while shooting most inanimate objects produces the result: "The [object] showers a corona of sparks. Lacking a nervous system, however, it is unaffected by the pulse."

* The Shock Trap from ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'' is an electronic mine which immobilizes any enemy within range and kills them if they fail to struggle loose in five seconds.

** Baron Wulfenbach's revenant containment troops are equipped with stun bullets and C-gas grenades, for non-lethally subduing mind-controlled civilians. Tarvek gets shot in the back -- at point blank range -- with a stun bullet, and survives; he shows up in Castle Heterodyne.
** Agatha paralyzes Bang so that she can threaten the dangerous pirate without Bang retaliating or reacting to give away what Agatha is doing. Agatha was right beside Violetta (Smoke Knight drug and poison expert) moments before, and gives extravagant praise to one of her little clanks afterward for being good and helping.

* The Irbzrkian shock gun in ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'' is a less-lethal short range weapon designed to pacify humans. Humans being a species of insanely resilient deathworlders, it is emphatically ''not'' a less-lethal alternative when used on anybody else.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Marrow Amin's Semblance allows him to to issue the command "Stay" to immobilize anyone in front of him, freezing them in place, even if they're mid-step. He can use this on single targets or large crowds, but can only do it in one direction at a time.

** Ty Lee uses chi-blocking pressure-point strikes as her signature attacks, which allow her to paralyze people, and/or take away their bending. However, she has the ability to separate the two, and take away bending or movement without affecting each other.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'''s ActionMom Maddy is able to do paralyze her target with a couple good jabs. On ''ghosts'', no less.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois Once Upon a Time... Space]]'': Paralyzing guns are standard sidearms for the Space Police, although they have deadlier {{Ray Gun}}s too. Interestingly enough, the protagonists use the paralyzers against living targets; against non-living ones such as robots they use the lethal guns. As seen in "In the Land of the Dinosaurs", though, the paralyzers aren't terribly efficient against large predators, only affecting them for a few seconds.

** Paralyzing gas is of the many types used by the vile borg, Noxious.

*** Also, stun guns work through the sensory nervous system, while tasers work through the motor nervous system. Stun guns don't actually physically stop an assailant (they work through pain compliance), so an assailant with enough adrenaline/pain resistance can actually continue fighting even sustained contact with a high voltage stun gun. Tasers actually physically disrupt your body movements by flooding your motor nervous system with electricity, stopping a person much more reliably.

* Modern anesthetia offers a wide range of nerve blocks, causing paralysis and numbing of everything past the point on the nerve where the drugs are injected. Used for everything from dental fillings to abdominal surgeries.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': One of ComicBook/MilesMorales' abilities is a "venom sting" that can paralyze opponents. It is capable of quickly knocking out many of his opponents, though larger and tougher ones like Venom or Giant Woman take a little more effort.

* Tag, from the NinetiesAntiHero team ''ComicBook/{{Bloodstrike}}'' had this as her superpower. Not very impressive on the battlefield, but comes in handy when you're a rotting cyborg/zombie [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale trying to get laid]].
* The [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon Lawgiver MkII]] in ''Film/JudgeDredd'' has a stun setting. However, it's notoriously unreliable and, as a result, [[ScrappyWeapon highly unpopular]] among street judges. They also have access to "Stumm" gas grenades, that incapacitate people through nausea, vomiting and other unpleasant symptoms -- essentially current CS grenades on steroids -- that unfortunately kill 1 in every 250 people affected so are only used in serious riots.
* ComicBook/RawhideKid once fought a villain called Scorpion who was an expert pharmacist. He developed a gun that fired plastic capsules containing a quick-acting paralytic. The capsule melted almost instantly, and the drug took effect as soon as the victim was struck by the capsule. Scorpion would later change his alias to Sting-Ray and go on to fight the Phantom Rider.
* The comic version of Kevin from ''ComicBook/SinCity'' apparently has the ability to make limbs go numb from certain strikes.
* After the ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' forcibly disarms the nation as part of their Utopia Plan, law enforcement officers are armed with "Pacifier Pistols", guns that shoot small tranquilizer gels.
* Blasters in ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'' have a 'stun' setting in order to avoid harming civilians. In the "Bitch" story, Johnny ordered Red to keep her blaster set to "stun" at all times as he was sympathetic to the Kaiak-K.
* ''Franchise/TeenTitans'' villainess [[Characters/TeenTitansCheshire Cheshire]] is a MasterPoisoner who often makes toxins with this effect, which is handy since actually writers don't want heroes to be afflicted with a deadly poison. Notably, one ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' storyline has her take down master martial artist [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] by flooding the room with an odorless and paralyzing toxin, which Cheshire had previously [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity made herself immune to]].
* One of ComicBook/MilesMorales' abilities in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' is a "venom sting" that can paralyze opponents. It is capable of quickly knocking out many of his opponents, though larger and tougher ones like Venom or Giant Woman take a little more effort.

* There was an episode of ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' that dealt with a professional wrestler who used a move called The Paralyzer that was sending his opponents to the hospital. This episode portrayed pro wrestling as a legit sport and not "sports entertainment."

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. A flash-bang grenade is used to knock out Tigh and Adama during TheMutiny; this of course is a weapon developed for anti-terrorist use in RealLife.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''.
** In "Project Avalon", Blake is shot during the dramatic rescue of a RebelLeader from a detention center. His injuries are only minor however, so he has Avon examine a captured weapon. [[spoiler:The rebel leader is actually an [[TrojanPrisoner android impersonator]].]]

** In "Volcano", the Pyroans use a pistol that fires a narcotic spray into the air above their target, drifting down as a mist and [[KnockoutGas rendering them unconscious]]. However when fired directly at a person, the [[DeadlyGas concentrated dosage kills them]].
** The BloodlessCarnage in the final episode (except for one actor who insisted he be KilledOffForReal) was so the producers could bring the characters back to life if the series was renewed another season, by saying that stun guns had been used.

* The killer in the ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' pilot, "[[Recap/CSINYS01E01 Blink]]," is *trying* to do this to achieve Locked-In Syndrome on his victims, but he keeps screwing up and killing them, except the final one.

Compare ForcedSleep.

** DarkChick Ty Lee uses chi-blocking pressure-point strikes as her signature attacks, which allow her to paralyze people, and/or take away their bending. However, she has the ability to separate the two, and take away bending or movement without affecting each other.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'': Elmekia Lance is a weaked-down [[ReviveKillsZombie holy blast]] useful against things like demons and zombies. For what has been seen of its (usually accidental) use on humans, they tend to be knocked out cold. It's safe to assume the Ra Tilt does something similar, on a grander scale.