History Main / WaveMotionGun

** In ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'', the Luxiole receives the ''Dual'' Chrono Break cannon, which as its name implies is twice as powerful as its predecessor. On the climax of the final game, it's revealed that its two parts can be fired independently from each other by each one of the separate sections of the Luxiole, which is crucial to defeat the final boss by firing from two different angles.

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'': The Archai have a large number of stupendously destructive weapon technologies available to them, but one that exists only as a rumor is the Thunderbolt... a singularity that propagates at the speed of light (so by the time you've seen it, it is too late to actually do anything about it) and effectively ''destroys spacetime''. No-one really wants to think about what sort of opponents would be so terrifying that a weapon that appears to worry even the archai was needed to defeat them.

* Terran capital ships aka battlecruisers in the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' universe are equipped with a Yamato Gun (naturally, named after ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato''), which fires a massive bolt of energy with massive damage in exchange for a large chunk of the unit's [[ManaMeter energy meter]]. This is easily acceptable, though, given the fact that the Yamato Gun is the only use for said energy. In story, it's referred to as a terrifyingly powerful weapon "capable of devastating entire cities" and taking out practically anything in just a few hits.

** Thousands of years later, the weapon has been turned into a torpedo. Why? Because it has a relatively short range on its own, and trying to use it against anything big (like a planet) will likely result in the firing ship being destroyed as well. A torpedo essentially consists of an engine, a guidance system, and the Little Doctor. The Little Doctor is designed to fire at the inner housing of the torpedo, effectively turning the torpedo's own mass into the initial blast, meaning the torpedo doesn't actually have to impact its target, just get close enough for the destructive field to reach the target. It's also designed to be easily disarmed to avoid any accidents. Another advantage of using a torpedo is that the firing ship doesn't actually have to decelerate from near-light speeds to deploy it, thus sparing the crew from spending too much time decelerating and accelerating ([[DisContinuity let's ignore the Park Shift for this one]]).

** Yuuka Kazami is actually the ''creator'' of Master Spark, which Marisa [[strike: stole]] copied and modified. Aside from the regular Master Spark, Yuuka is also able to clone herself and fire two, albeit slightly smaller Sparks, an attack commonly referred to as the Dual Spark. Fanon occasionally also gives Yuuka a better version of the Master Spark, nicknamed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvTl-P7vNiI&t=2m46s Ultimate Spark.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKFXhxVvysE&t=8m10s Mima's Twilight Spark]].

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' features a Mako Cannon, named "Sister Ray", built by the [[TheManBehindTheMan Shinra Electric Power Company]] for the sake of taking out the [[DeflectorShields impenetrable barrier]] around [[BigBad Sephiroth]]. It is fired only once; Diamond Weapon stands in its way and is cut through, but returns fire, destroying a fair chunk of Shinra headquarters and apparently killing the president. Despite the interference, the weapon succeeds in destroying said barrier.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'':
** Xaldin shoots you with a wind blast gun. Ansem also does it with darkness.
** In ''[[NoExportForYou Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix +]]'', the Lingering Sentiment can morph his keyblade into a giant cannon to shoot explosive bursts of magic at you. In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', the same move is Terra's final Shotlock.

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has a couple of these, such as the much-loved/loathed/feared/dreaded [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Wave-Motion_Cannon Wave Motion Cannon]], which charges up as the turns go by and can be removed from the field to blast the enemy for 1,000 damage per turn it has charged; [[KillSat Satellite Cannon]], a monster that cannot be killed by anything below a certain level and possessing a similar charge-up ability (1000 ATK per turn, loses it after it attacks); and more than one of [[TheRival Seto Kaiba's]] signature monsters -- [[CombiningMecha XYZ Dragon Cannon]] uses this whenever he discards, etc.

* The so-called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_gun "Sun gun"]] was a theoretical weapon first proposed in 1929. Later, during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, ThoseWackyNazis tried to make it into a superweapon capable of burning cities or boiling oceans.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', the episode "The Doomsday Machine" features a miles-long Planet Killer, a conical-shaped machine made of a virtually indestructible material that destroys planets and then uses the rubble to refuel itself. It was theorized by Kirk that the Planet Killer was created as a bluff to keep an all-out war from occurring, but that it somehow was activated and couldn't be stopped, destroying both its creators and their enemies before continuing through the universe. The episode makes a very un-subtle allusion to the H-bomb. In a stroke of {{irony}}, it is then stopped by essentially a ''real'' H-Bomb -- [[spoiler:an impulse engine overload]].
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** The navigational deflector dish of the ''Enterprise''-D is modified into one of these on two separate occasions, most notably during "The Best of Both Worlds", where it was used against a Borg cube. [[spoiler:It doesn't work, though it ''would'' have - the Borg were forewarned and protected themselves against it. It also doesn't work the only other time it was used, to try to free the ship from a NegativeSpaceWedgie. Other than its complete failure in field testing,]] the deflector "cannon" features all of the ''drawbacks'' of the Wave Motion Gun trope, including long charge times, potential damage to the ship from the firing process, and even the necessity of clearing all the decks surrounding the dish to avoid irradiating the crew. You have to wonder whether the weapon would have fared better if tested on the ''Enterprise'''s sister ship... the USS ''[[IncrediblyLamePun Yamato]]''.
** Conversely, the future ''Enterprise'' in "All Good Things" features an enormous phaser cannon on the bottom of its saucer section which can destroy powerful Klingon warships with a single shot; it does not appear to cause significant power drain or require a long reloading time.

** The Doctor uses a weapon called the "Photonic Cannon" during one of his daydreams. Obviously the ''Voyager'' has no such weapon, but [[spoiler:they later pretend to in order to scare off a superior foe.]]
** Species 8472 can combine the output of nine ships into one single [[EarthShatteringKaboom wave of destruction]]--which even ''looks'' like a wave.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** No longer HoldingOutForAHero, Earth has invested in one of these, first seen in ''The Christmas Invasion.''
** The Delta Wave from ''Parting of the Ways/Bad Wolf'' may have been one of these, except that the Doctor refused to use it because it would have wiped out two races (Humans and Daleks).

* ''[[Literature/ForgesOfMars Priests of Mars]]'', a ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' novel by Creator/GrahamMcNeill, brings us an especially remarkable example--in a setting where you already have weapons capable of destroying suns--during the climactic space battle of the book in the form of [[spoiler:the Speranza's secret main gun, a chrono-weapon from [[AndManGrewProud the Dark Age of Technology]] that none the crew of the ship [[SuperweaponSurprise were even aware of]] which is capable of generating [[UnrealisticBlackHole a black hole]] that [[RealityWarper disrupts space and time]] without the need of [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Warp sorcery]] in an astronomic area of effect.]]
* Creator/LarryNiven's Literature/KnownSpace stories include several of these:
** In ''Literature/RingworldsChildren'', human starships are armed with a weapon called simply "The Anti-Matter Bullet"; guess what it fires.
** In ''Literature/ManKzinWars'', the Terran system is defended from invaders by the Mercury Laser; it's a laser the size of the equator of the planet Mercury, and is capable of destroying ships as far out as the orbit of Neptune. It turns out that while a purpose-engineered Wave Motion Gun is fun in itself, [[SuperweaponSurprise lasers powerful enough to drive solar sails]] are just as grand.

** The story "Literature/MadnessHasItsPlace" has as protagonists a former ARM agent and some allies who go to some lengths to arrange that one of them will be at the Mercury Laser station at all times, just in case it needs to be pointed at ... something. It's left somewhat ambiguous whether they actually got away with the plan or were ''allowed'' to get away with it, and whether the very existence of the Mercury Laser in the first place is a lucky happenstance or a matter of foresight on the part of like-minded people years ago.
** "Literature/TheSoftWeapon" features a multi-function alien device that can, in one of its modes, convert matter into energy at a distance. It should be noted that this is a ''hand-held'' device.

* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's Literature/HumanxCommonwealth series:

* The 'Hell-class' weapons from Alastair Reynold's ''Literature/RevelationSpace''. Some can blast big holes in a planet's crust. Others can ''destroy stars'' (or so we're told).

* In Spielberg's ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'', the [[TripodTerror Tripods]] have these, on top of their [[DeathRay heat rays]]. While the heat rays function primarily as antipersonnel weapons, turning a victim (quite explosively) into a cloud of ash without even burning through their clothing, the larger energy weapons used by the same [[HumongousMecha war machines]] are capable of turning an entire block to rubble with no effort, or shredding the Bayonne Bridge like it's made of cheap cloth ribbons.

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and ''LightNovel/FateZero'':

* From ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-msoYUAIAto Dragon Slave!]]

* ''LightNovel/StarshipOperators'', the ''Amaterasu's'' plasma cannon.

* In ''LightNovel/UnlimitedFafnir'', Yuu can summon a variety of these thanks to his contract with Yggdrasil, which can be used to kill dragons. Unfortunately it's a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, as summoning these weapons costs him some of his memories.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'':

* The original ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' games (see ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' gameverse) have the Chrono Break Cannon.

Frequently, the Wave Motion Gun is made of LostTechnology, or is [[SuperPrototype an experimental prototype]], but sometimes they're a dime a dozen. It also explains how a small fleet can [[ConservationOfNinjutsu win consistently against enemies that grossly outnumber them]]: the defense units just have to hold their ground until the Gun(s) is ready to fire. Invariably, just before firing, TheCaptain has to [[CallingYourAttacks order the attack]].

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' brings us the Mist Cannon, which is deployed at the end of the game against [[spoiler:the Rebel fleet, to devastating effect, as it is capable of destroying A SMALL FLEET IN ONE SHOT.]] [[LargeHam Doctor Cid]] also designed scaled-down ones so that he could personally fill rooms with laser-y death.
*** To emphasize how powerful it is, the BonusBoss Omega can use their Wave Cannon attack, which usually takes many turns to power up, ''without charging''.

** The Aeon and Cybrans also have tier 4 units that are expensive and slow, but can vaporize everything in front of them with respectively a giant phason and microwave laser. The Cybrans also have the option of upgrading their [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking ACU]] with one for a massive 5000 DPS. [[ParanoiaFuel And it can turn invisible]]. In the expansion, the UEF got a KillSat with one of these.

** Marisa Kirisame's Master Spark and Final Spark spellcards certainly count, whether she's using them as your [[http://i41.tinypic.com/n154ox.png ally]] or your [[http://i39.tinypic.com/10gn1c3.jpg enemy.]]
*** It also appears in the fangame ''VideoGame/GensouSkydrift'' as Marisa's [[LimitBreak Last Word]], where it has the rather odd effect of clipping through the level geometry, allowing her to hit opponents from a completely different section of the track if she uses it in the right spot.
** Yuuka Kazami counts as well, since she's actually the ''creator'' of Master Spark, which Marisa [[strike: stole]] copied and modified. Aside from the regular Master Spark, Yuuka is also able to clone herself and fire two, albeit slightly smaller Sparks, an attack commonly referred to as the Dual Spark. Fanon occasionally also gives Yuuka a better version of the Master Spark, nicknamed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvTl-P7vNiI&t=2m46s Ultimate Spark.]]
** Don't forget [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKFXhxVvysE&t=8m10s Mima's Twilight Spark]].
** And then you get Utsuho Reiuji, whose incredibly powerful ArmCannon is [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo nuclear powered]].

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', Xaldin shoots you with a wind blast gun. Ansem also does it with darkness.

* The UIMS' Cannon Seed from ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}^3''
** Also Gourb from the UsefulNotes/PlayStation version

** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' [[SerialEscalation tops the Death Star]] with the Starkiller. ''Its'' Superlaser is embedded inside an ice planet, several times the size of the Death Star. It drains the mass of a nearby star and converts it into multiple beams that can destroy an entire star system on the other side of the galaxy. The Death Star showing up in your system would be bad news, but with the Starkiller, [[ParanoiaFuel you wouldn't even get that warning]].

*** The Satellite Cannons have the distinction of being possibly ''the'' most powerful Gundam-mounted beam weapon in the franchise. They are '''anti-army''' weapons that are so overpowered that they're almost useless for most of the series. The first time the Twin Satellite Cannon is fired, it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XatZ2grY0GQ#t=6m0s pretty much vaporizes an island]]. The first MidSeasonUpgrade the Gundam X gets, in fact, involves the ''removal'' of the Satellite Cannon in exchange for weapons more suited to actually killing other Mobile Suits.

[[folder:Film]]

* The Zeus Cannon from ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'', which is also a KillSat.

*** Whenever someone uses [[SuperMode Trans-Am]], whatever they fire is MASSIVELY beefed up, with no ArbitraryMaximumRange ''at all''. Especially visible with the 00 Raiser which fires what looks to be a gigantic sustained shot but is actually a '''HUNDREDS OF KILOMETRES LONG [[LaserBlade BEAM SABER]]'''. The 00 Qan[T] has an even bigger version longer than the Moon's diameter.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Heavy Weapon}}'', you have the Megalaser, which [[OneHitKill destroys everything on the screen]]. You can collect up to four parts by destroying several enemies on the screen. It comes with a kick-ass wave-motion laser with an amazing sound and the guy screaming "MEGALASER!!!" once you collected all four parts.

* In ''VideoGame/SpaceEmpires V'', and its predecessors, a weapon available for ships is a literal Wave Motion Gun, which is a powerful, long-range beam weapon.
* The Savior boss's ultimate attack from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' is of this variety.
** In the same game, Dante obtains a portable version in the form of the [=PF398=]: Revenge, one of the ([[InformedAttribute seven of]]) [[MarkOfTheBeast 666]] [[MorphWeapon forms]] [[BriefcaseBlaster Pandora]] can assume. Any non-boss enemy on the receiving end of this laser is all but assured to be reduced to ash. Beyond that, whipping it out on the aforementioned Savior is one of the easiest ways to instantly incapacitate it so that Dante can go in for the kill. Have fun.
* In ''Videogame/DevilMayCry5'', if Dante has both Kalina Ann (hidden in an early stage) and Kalina Ann II (given to him late-game), he's able to dual-wield them and can unlock a Gunslinger move in which he [[ComboRifle combines them]] to fire off a massive laser.
* The #3 ranked assassin Speed Buster in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' wields a shopping cart... which ''transforms'' into an all-annihilating Wave Motion Gun.
* In ''VideoGame/StarFox2'', Andross's battleships have weapons called "Planet Cannons". If they manage to reach Corneria and fire off a shot, the cannon will inflict a whopping 50% damage on Corneria, potentially destroying it in two shots and [[NonstandardGameOver ending the game]].
* ''VideoGame/StarFox64'':
** Gorgon (the "Area 6" boss) with its giant rainbow laser (though it's simply red in the 3DS version).
** And the Saucerer, with its Katina-base-destroying laser that takes a full minute to charge up.
* In Koei's ''[[VideoGame/NavalOps Warship Gunner]]'' series, basically ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' with battleships, the most powerful weapons in the game are "Wave Guns," which come in several sizes but all of which fire lasers larger than the player's ship (which cause the player's ship to rocket backward thanks to laser recoil) and can sink fleets of enemy ships, yet will do fairly little against the game's island-sized bosses, who can have multiple wave guns and giant, hull mounted instant death buzz-saws.
* In the space flight simulation ''VideoGame/FreeSpace2'' most capital ships are equipped with up to a dozen very powerful beam weapons. They have a both visual and audible buildup of 3 seconds and fire beams that can blast straight through other ships. Their diameter is large enough to completely engulf smaller fighters, which are instantly vaporized if they happen to be in the beams path at the moment. This can lead to some irritating deaths where your fighter ''just happens'' to be in the path of one of those beams: the capital ship beams do not target fighters, but heaven help you if you decide to fight in between two opposing capital ships, because they hit instantaneously and are therefore ''undodgeable''.
* In ''VideoGame/TreasureOfTheRudra'', the Wave Motion Gun was used to kill the existing races on Earth.
* ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'':
** The TEC's Novalith Cannon. The best way to describe it is that it does to planets what nuclear bombs do to cities. A single hit will depopulate all the but the most heavily populated planets. For those, you need two missiles. Oh, and there's fallout.
** Also, one of the Advent capital ships has one of these as its "capstone" ability, Cleansing Brilliance.
** Likewise, the Vasari Kotsura Cannon applies.
** Possibly the Advent's Deliverance Engine, which essentially fires weaponized love. Kinda.
* When you pilot the Super Dimensional Gear for a single battle in ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', you can opt to fire the Yggdrasil cannon for 9999 damage. The only drawback is that it costs 9000 of your 9990 fuel.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' has several. There's the Phase Transfer Cannon KOS-MOS uses, for starters. Then the Dammerung has a huge version called the Rhine Maiden designed to be fired [[ConvergingStreamWeapon in conjuction with three other ships]]. Note that this is huge in comparison to the Dammerung itself. Also note that the Dammerung is ''huge'', with dimensions measured in ''kilometers''.
** Don't forget the Durandal, which has beam weaponry capable of [[spoiler:wiping out an entire fleet of Gnosis within seconds]]. And then there is [[RobotGirl KOS-MOS]] [[PersonOfMassDestruction herself]], who's pretty much a walking Wave Motion Gun. Her most powerful attack, the [[BeamSpam X-Buster]], was one of the only few that got an in-battle video sequence in Episode I.
* Heavy Beam-class weapons in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'', ranging from the Heavy Combat Laser to the (anti-matter) Cutter Beam. Firing one on a planet leaves a large canyon, and Dreadnaughts can carry up to ''fourteen'' of them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' gives us the Phantom Hammer, a ship-mounted energy cannon that, used in numbers, can either render a planet uninhabitable, or destroy it completely. A shot from one of these can pierce through several kilometres of solid rock. The final boss carries a more compact version; [[OneHitKill it's no less powerful]].
** If Iji cracks together the two most powerful pieces of Tasen and Komato nanoweaponry, she gets the Velocithor, a hand-held Wave Motion Gun capable of blasting through enemies and walls alike, and is instrumental in a very specific bit of DungeonBypass.
* In the RTS ''VideoGame/RiseOfLegends'', the Cuotl race have practically built their entire society off of Wave Motion Guns. Oh, and machines made of stone. But really the [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]].
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
** Marisa Kirisame's Master Spark and Final Spark spellcards certainly count, whether she's using them as your [[http://i41.tinypic.com/n154ox.png ally]] or your [[http://i39.tinypic.com/10gn1c3.jpg enemy.]]
*** It also appears in the fangame ''VideoGame/GensouSkydrift'' as Marisa's [[LimitBreak Last Word]], where it has the rather odd effect of clipping through the level geometry, allowing her to hit opponents from a completely different section of the track if she uses it in the right spot.
** Yuuka Kazami counts as well, since she's actually the ''creator'' of Master Spark, which Marisa [[strike: stole]] copied and modified. Aside from the regular Master Spark, Yuuka is also able to clone herself and fire two, albeit slightly smaller Sparks, an attack commonly referred to as the Dual Spark. Fanon occasionally also gives Yuuka a better version of the Master Spark, nicknamed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvTl-P7vNiI&t=2m46s Ultimate Spark.]]
** Don't forget [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKFXhxVvysE&t=8m10s Mima's Twilight Spark]].
** And then you get Utsuho Reiuji, whose incredibly powerful ArmCannon is [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo nuclear powered]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** Samus Aran's Zero Beam, her [[LimitBreak Final Smash]], consists of an all-consuming, screen-filling beam that will (very likely) [[ATwinkleInTheSky instantly KO]] anyone standing in its path. Unfortunately, it's so powerful it [[ExplosiveOverclocking breaks apart her Power Suit]].
*** She uses this Final Smash in the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros sequel]] as well, minus Samus losing her suit.
*** In ''Ultimate'', Dark Samus has their own version of Samus's Final Smash, the Phazon Laser.
** In the story mode for ''Brawl'', the Subspace army manages to pull what amounts to a huge gun with mounted turrets on its side out of subspace. Its about 10x the size of the Halberd, the annoying ship you chase for most of the game, and that ship is already ''hundreds of feet long''. This floating gun fires a huge energy blast that pushes the ''entire world into another dimension!''. Shortly thereafter destroyed by Kirby, riding a tiny Air Ride Machine. Miniature airplane trumps world crushing battleship. Who'da thunk it.
*** Well, considering how [[ArmorPiercingAttack powerful the Dragoon is in-game...]]
** Smash Bros has ''a lot'' of [=WMGs=]. [[KamehameHadouken Lucario's Aura Storm, Mario's Mario Finale]], Ho-oh's Sacred Fire, Deoxys's Hyper Beam, Pokémon Trainer's Triple Finish, Mii Gunner's Full Blast...
** The 3DS and Wii U iterations of the game add the Daybreak from ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''. It requires one player to gather all three of its components at once, but its power is almost equal to Samus's Zero Laser.
** ''Ultimate'' introduces [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]], whose Final Smash is him firing his Blast-O-Matic from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' to destroy Kong Island.
* {{Franchise/Metroid}}:
** The Hyper Beam from ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', which is actually an attack taken from [[spoiler:Mother Brain]] by the [[spoiler:now-adult-sized Metroid that you saved on SR 388 in ''Return of Samus'', who, after realizing you are its mother, gives it to you after draining Mother Brain of (most of) her energy]]. It is only used for a short time during the final boss fight and brings the once-powerful creature to its Yugo-sized knees.
** The Hyper Beam returns in ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' when Samus fully taps into her Metroid powers, and it annihilates everything in its path. Just as before, Samus uses it to destroy the last form of the final boss and whatever gets in her way during the escape sequence.

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'': The mining laser. One shot is enough to turn all of Central Florida to glass.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', David's remnant is called the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68NzbHSVJNk Gae Bolg]]. It Gaes hard, it Bolgs hard, and it's shaped like a giant penis!
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has the Collector ship's main weapon, fully capable of blowing the original ''Normandy'' in half with a glancing hit. Later in the game, you can get the Thanix Cannon, a recent Turian creation, which takes two shots to vaporize the Collector ship in kind. Both these weapons are watered-down versions of a standard [[EldritchAbomination Reaper]] weapon; the beam is actually a constant stream of liquid metal fired at C-fractional velocity. If that description doesn't scare you, look up C-fractional velocity, we'll wait. According to the codex, the Reaper version hits with around the force of 450 kilotons of TNT. To put that into perspective: the Hiroshima bomb had a yield of 13 kilotons of TNT. Not only that, but this cannon can be fired every five seconds and never runs out of ammo.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has a weapon that combines the effects of two ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' [[{{BFG}} Heavy Weapons]] (the [[UnrealisticBlackHole Blackstorm Projector]], and [[TooAwesomeToUse the]] [[EverythingMakesaMushroom Cain]]): The one-shot [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Reaper_Blackstar Reaper Blackstar]]; it is guaranteed to OneHitKill any enemy within it's enormous radius, and according to it's codex entry, it is [[HandWave thought]] to cause both a [[NukeEm fission and fusion reaction]].
* ''VideoGame/RType'':
** Just about every fighter in the series has one, complete with charge up! It's even [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin CALLED]] a [[TitleDrop Wave Cannon]]!
** The giant warship in stage 3 of ''R-Type Final'' has a giant version of this, capable of [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroying entire planets]].
** Super-powerful Wave Cannons a common phenomenon in the R-Type universe (the boss of stage 1 in Delta, Moritz-G, has one, the 'boss' of stage 3 in Delta has two even larger ones, the boss of stage 1 in Final also has one... and so on). A few that're worth noting would be the Utgarda Loki in Tactics, and the Giga Wave Cannon in Final, that can be charged for 7 loops, and instantly destroys any enemy that can die in any difficulty, ''and'' it goes through physical obstacles like, say, meteors. In fact, the 'Final' Wave Cannon used to destroy the Bydo Core in stage F-A basically looks and acts like a fully charged Giga Wave Cannon.
** Final states that the "planet buster wave cannon" is the same as the fighter mounted wave cannons, but 100 million times more powerful. Given the amount of energy needed to destroy a planet, that means that the fighter-mounted wave cannons have a maximum output somewhere in the region of 100 ''teratons''. NoKillLikeOverkill indeed.
* ''[[VideoGame/ThunderCross Space Manbow and Thundercross II]]'' have a boss that fires this throughout its level, and eventually uses it as one of its attacks when the player challenges it.
* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'':
** ''VideoGame/WingCommanderTheKilrathiSaga'':
*** The Sivar dreadnaught from the ''Wing Commander'' add-on ''The Secret Missions'' mounts a gun that creates a gravity anomaly that increases gravitational pull 137 times, which is used to destroy the Goddard colony. The focus of the add-on is hunting down and destroying the Sivar.
*** The ''Concordia'' in ''Wing Commander II'' has the Phase Transit Cannon, a modified version of the Sivar cannon that is less powerful than the Kilrathi weapon from which it was derived but can be used to target warships, and is still powerful enough to destroy just about any ship with one shot. It has a tendency to not be available when most useful, however, and was removed from service shortly after the events of ''Wing Commander II''.
*** The Behemoth from ''Wing Commander III'' is, like the Sivar cannon, a planet-killer, though using a [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beam]] instead of gravity manipulation to do the job. The functionality of the gun beyond its initial test firing in the Loki IV system is unknown, however, as it's destroyed before it can be put to use against Kilrah.
** In ''Wing Commander: Prophecy'' the Nephilim has the Kraken, whose plasma cannon can destroy an entire fleet in one shot. Later, it was equipped on the TCS ''Midway'' after being reverse engineered from a captured example, though the human version needed extra help to kill an entire fleet.
* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'':
** The Siege Cannon from ''VideoGame/HomeworldCataclysm'', which take several real-time minutes to charge, and even when the fire button is hit, the shot takes an extra few seconds to charge up.
** Another weapon seen in ''Cataclysm'', the Repulsor Cannon, can be fitted to Archangel Dreadnoughts [[spoiler:and forms the primary weapon of the Nomad Moon in the final single-player mission]] might be considered one of these, for all that it's actually not all that useful.
** Also, the Phased Cannon Array of the Dreadnought and [[spoiler:Sajuuk]] from ''VideoGame/Homeworld2''.
** Or just the good ol' Ion Cannons.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', the capital ship "Hagane" wields a massive, energy-guzzling [[{{Unobtainium}} Tronium]] Cannon. However, it can be fired with no real recharge time for the ship, and is in fact used often with the 'gravity brake' off so the ship can use the massive inertia in a fancy escape maneuver. The "Hiryuu Custom"'s Gravity Cannon and the SRX's Hyper [[strike:Titanic Blasting]] Tronium Buster Cannon also count. Its full name, [[CallingYourAttacks according to]] [[AscendedFanboy Ryuusei]], is the Tenjou Tenga Ichigeki Hissatsu hou or Heaven and Earth One-Hit Sure-Kill Cannon.
** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW'' adds the ''Valstork's'' Double Proton Cannon, which can even link with the Valhawk to utilize it's ChestBlaster for even more power. The Dimension Breaker, the Chest Blaster of the Valzacard, by comparison, is its ''least'' powerful attack, which, by comparison again, is apparently the Valstork's Double Proton Cannon redirected.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'', [[TheWoobie Setsuko Ohara's]] final upgrade, the Balgora Glory, has the Gunnery Carver, [[spoiler:which is [[PsychoactivePowers powered by]] BreakTheCutie. And is it ever.]] It comes in straight-line MAP attack form, [[strike:damaging]] destroying every enemy in its path, made even more effective by the squad system the game employs, or it can use a [[LimitBreak Full Burst]] ''The Glory Star'', complete with PreAssKickingOneLiner, to fire one of the most impressive [[EnergyWeapon beam attacks]] ever to grace the franchise, [[DisappearsIntoLight reducing the enemy to stardust]] with a [[MadeOfExplodium spectacle]] [[StuffBlowingUp of]] [[ExplosionsInSpace explosions]].
** ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'' has the Hermodr's laser cannon, which destroyed a group of space colonies and acts the primary obstacle in the final scenario of the Space Route. It also appears in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' series.

* Terran capital ships aka battlecruisers in the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' universe are equipped with a Yamato Gun (naturally, named after ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato''), which fires a massive bolt of energy with massive damage in exchange for a large chunk of the unit's [[ManaMeter energy meter]]. This is easily acceptable, though, given the fact that the Yamato Gun is the only use for said energy. In story, it's referred to as a terrifyingly powerful weapon "capable of devastating entire cities" and taking out practically anything in just a few hits.
** The battlecruisers actually fire a directed nuclear blast, basically Casaba Howitzers (see Real Life). The Yamato cannon creates a containment field, detonates a "small nuclear bomb", focuses the detonation, and uses it to propel a jet of plasma.
** Protoss capital ships like the Carrier supposedly have this ability, though we never see it in-game until the sequel.
** ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' brings back the Yamato Gun (renamed to Yamato Cannon, and which now fires plasma instead of a nuke), and also has the Drakken Lazer Drill (only seen in the campaign mission The Dig, though usable in the Co-Op missions as Rory Swann), a beam capable of taking out a Protoss Archon, which have 300 shields and great defense, in under three seconds. On the Protoss side we have the Void Ray, which should qualify as its initially super-powerful attack becomes stronger over time, and the Planet Cracker, a cut ability for the Mothership, and the in-game Purifer Beam, which basically does what sounds like.
** Interestingly, the Yamato Gun seen in the game and in one cutscene (Emperor Arcturus I's acceptance speech) have different visuals. The version in the game is, basically, a big yellow-and-black pulsing blast that travels to the target. The cutscene version is a bright-red energy beam.
* The original ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' games (see ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' gameverse) have the Chrono Break Cannon.

* The Egg Carrier in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure ''has one of these.
** The Eclipse Cannon that first appeared in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. Also, the Power Laser for Tails' and Eggman's mechs (battle mode and second enemy boss battle only). The former of which is advertised as being powerful enough to destroy planets when fully charged, and delivers as promised in ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog''.
** ''VideoGame/SonicBattle'': The Death Egg's Final Egg Blaster destroys ''[[spoiler:A FLOCK OF STARS]] in a single blow''. And unlike the Eclipse Cannon, ''it doesn't need even a single Chaos Emerald''. Its sheer ''demonstration'' [[spoiler:causes Emerl to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity go berserk]], absorb it, and [[OhCrap threaten to fire it at Earth.]]]]
** ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'': The Final Fortress features several of these. They are arranged in sets of three, and are ColorCodedForYourConvenience.
** Smaller versions are also featured in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'' and ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', aboard the Wing Fortress, Flying Battery and Death Egg.

* A common staple of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games:
** GDI's [[KillSat Ion Cannon]] in the ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries Tiberium]]'' series, is an orbital satellite-mounted energy weapon. In first two games, it fired a focused blast upon a small section of the landscape, while in the third one the beam was followed up with a massive explosion enough to take out a modest-sized base. The Scrin also possess a more... low-flying version. It is just as much of a KillSat, but it slowly moves on the actual game map along with all other aircraft, rendering it vulnerable. But if it gets to your base, it can fire off the same massively destructive beams over and over.
** Similar to the above ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals''' as USA's Particle Cannon. It does differ in its firing mechanics - it fires ''up'' from the ground and uses orbital mirrors to bounce the beam to wherever you want it to go. Additionally, rather than providing one short burst, it creates a contiguous beam that can scrape across the map in order to take out several buildings in one shot. Oh and you can build multiples of them at once if you really want to rake over the enemy's base.
** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'', for the Allied Prism Tower and Prism Tank. The former can be charged up by other Prism Towers in range with tangible effect, while the latter's Prism Cannon has a flap on the rear which animates when the Cannon is shooting.
** The Empire of the Rising Sun in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' has an interesting version in the Wave-Force Artillery. Besides the usual full power blast, it can be turned down for MoreDakka. It's also their heavy tower, which likewise can be modulted to fire lower-damage bursts that recharge faster.
** The Shogun Battleships, despite looking like a catamaran Yamato, don't use this (their specil ability is to put on a burst of speed to ram enemies) but the Wave-Force Tricannons (used on their Floating Island Fortresses) do.
* Possibly Dan Smith's Collateral Shot from ''VideoGame/Killer7''. It's the only thing that can kill the Heaven Smile hives and it uses all the bullets in his gun and three vials of blood.
* In ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'', the Dorgenark carries a double-barreled Wave Motion Gun on the front--called, simply, 'The Big Guns'. According to an NPC, they can take out a small planet, and the one time they're used in-game, they live up to the hype, taking out an endgame-sized enemy ''in a single hit.'' It should be noted that, humorously, the guns are fired by pressing the helm of the ship like honking a car horn.
* You do battle against a Wave Motion Gun in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', controlled by the evil ''Franchise/PowerRangers''-spoofing Axem Rangers on top of their blade-shaped CoolShip (if you can call it that) called Blade. It takes 3 turns to charge it up but it has the potential to annihilate your entire party in one turn. Unfortunately, a boss later on in the game has the potential to use this attack every turn.

* In ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'':
** Titan motherships are equipped with doomsday devices, enormous missiles capable of destroying entire fleets of (player) opponents. Even though it's in the hand of a player, this is a last-resort weapon that can only be used once an hour, prevents the Titan from jumping (effectively escaping) for 10 minutes and a single shot is more expensive than some smaller combat vessels. It's also subject to friendly fire (which limits its use to defensive purposes). Before the ObviousRulePatch doomsdays could be fired remotely, and did not disable jump-drives, making them complete {{game breaker}}s.
** In a more recent update, the Doomsday Device has been changed to a giant laser beam which is used to take out another, usually equally large, ship within a few seconds.
** In addition, Jamyl Sarum of the Amarr Empire used a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKdTJjDnYzE#t=1m30s chaining Wave Motion Gun]] against a Minmatar Titan, destroying it together with it's support fleet. [[spoiler:The gun is LostTechnology, [[MacGyvering MacGyvered]] into a modern ship hull. Firing it requires some {{Unobtanium}} and it ''melts'' the ship from within, including the crew. Suffice to say, it's reserved for [[CutscenePowerToTheMax cutscene]]s]].
** The 11th patch/expansion, ''Dominion'', will modified doomsday weapons to be, in the words of Eve blogger/podcaster Winterblink, "Macross cannons": In exchange for losing the AOE damage, they do massive damage to a single target via either a large energy beam (Amarr Avatar charges fires a literal [[MemeticMutation Lazer]], Gallente Erebus fires an antimatter beam) or a [[MacrossMissilemassacre death blossom of enormous missiles]] (Minmatar Ragnarok, Caldari Leviathan). CCP has also hinted that more doomsday weapons are on the way...
** ...which have arrived, as of the ''Citadel'' expansion. These include a conical area blast and a station-mounted chaining beam.
* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'':
** Every side has an enormous, Tier 3 artillery piece which takes a half hour to build and fires about once ever 10 or 15 seconds to a range of around 10-15km, enough to cross the small and medium maps and get almost across the large maps (the extra large maps are up to 81km). They're really only useful when used by UEF, and then in large numbers to try and take out the enemy's commander.
** The UEF also has a Tier 4 version, which is hideously expensive, has an insane build time, but has unlimited range and much better accuracy then the Tier 3 guns.
** The Cybrans have their own Tier 4 artillery, which is cheaper, builds faster, does less damage, and fires fast enough to batter down shields in under 20 seconds, but takes obscene amounts of energy and has much shorter range (though it is mobile, barely).
** The Aeon and Cybrans also have tier 4 units that are expensive and slow, but can vaporize everything in front of them with respectively a giant phason and microwave laser. The Cybrans also have the option of upgrading their [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking ACU]] with one for a massive 5000 DPS. [[ParanoiaFuel And it can turn invisible]]. In the expansion, the UEF got a KillSat with one of these.
* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' provides a rather hilariously underwhelming example of this technology when [[spoiler:a huge alien space cruiser opens up on a US aircraft carrier, complete with proper "charging" GFX and ominous "buildup" sound. The effect? Several broken bridge windows and some debris on the flight deck. This is made even more ludicrous when the alien behemoth continues the barrage, resulting in no further damage to the ship. One wonders why the aliens didn't just ram the carrier (the cruiser is previously involved in a head-on collision with a destroyer escort, resulting in one sunk destroyer and no apparent damage to the alien vessel). The same alien craft also uses the said weapon on the final level of the Expansion Game where it blasts sections of an airfield before moving on to the carrier.]]
* The Jehuty gets one in ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders: The Second Runner'', called the Vector Cannon. The player's mecha is frozen in place for half a minute while charging it up, but rest assured that whatever's on the receiving end of it will die.
-->'''ADA:''' "Shift to VECTOR CANNON Mode. All energy lines connected. Landing gear and climbing irons locked. Inner chamber pressure rising normally. Life-ring has started revolving. ...Ready to fire."
* Bungie's ''VideoGame/{{Oni}}'' also features the Wave Motion Cannon, an absurdly BFG that was originally a part of a combat vehicle. It can either shoot a long, laser-like energy beam or launch grenades (and yes, each firing of the energy beam requires a few moments of SuckingInLines) The Cannon was previously DummiedOut of another Bungie game, ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}''. All that survived in the data files was its name, leading to [[FunWithAcronyms Wave Motion Gun]] {{WMG}}.

It also becomes a point of morality in ''Yamato 2199'', where Starsha was horrified that the Star Force had weaponized the Wave Motion technology and almost didn't give them the Cosmo DNA as a result. [[spoiler:This was because the Iscandarians themselves had developed Wave-Motion Guns before, and went kinda DrunkOnTheDarkSide (unlike the ''Yamato'' crew, they ''didn't'' balk at blowing up planets with theirs).

It also becomes a point of morality in ''Yamato 2199'', where Starsha was horrified that the Star Force had weaponized the Wave Motion technology and almost didn't give them the Cosmo DNA as a result. [[spoiler:This was because the Iscandarians themselves had developed Wave-Motion Guns before, and went kinda DrunkOnTheDarkSide (unlike the ''Yamato'' crew, they ''didn't'' balk at blowing up planets with theirs).]]