Question More modern Weapons?

[Ripper666]

Should Buffy fight with more modern weapons? For example, with machine guns and pistols? I remember that there was once an episode with a rocket launcher!

I think that the weapons were ok till season 4. Then with the Inicative there should have been more modern weapons. Not in every Episode but I think that a machine gun in Buffy's hands would look great and bring something new in the season.
But I don't like that the show becomes something like a shooter!! I just want to see something other than everytime just the peg and crossbow!

What do you think?

 

[Amethyst]

Nah, I'm a traditional girl, I think that's what gives Buffy her originality 🙂 I'm not into guns and modern type weapons, I think the older weapons are more fun and have more character lol 😀

 

[JCoatsworth]

That's a good point.
I always wondered why they never developed special guns for killing vampires or something like that.

Anyway, I don't think that I'd like it. It seems a bit weird... Buffy with guns? Huh....

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm with [MENTION=11630]Amethyst[/MENTION] on this one.

 

[VisionGirl]

Well, guns don't kill vampires, so it would have to be something with wood or fire. So I'm assuming flame throwers would kill vampires, although they're not easy weapons to control.

I always wondered what would happen if a vampire was cut in two, like through the torso. Or his brain (or entire body) smashed. Would he indeed die? I keep thinking of the guy in the 1st (or 2nd?) episode of Torchwood: Miracle Die who "survived" that explosion: would a vampire survive something huge like that? What happens when vampires' limbs get cut off. I mean, supposedly they heal super fast, so would they grow back? Spikes' arms were surgically reattached in AtS season 5, but what would have happened if they grew back? And I was thinking about tatoos: if vampires heal super-fast could they even get tattos after they were sired? So how does Angel have a tattoo?

OK, I don't know why I have all of these uber-morbid thoughts today LOL!

 

[white avenger]

Well, guns don't kill vampires, so it would have to be something with wood or fire.

In point of fact, guns WOULD kill vampires if loaded with the proper ammunition. Simple tracer ammunition, available in every caliber from .22LR to 12 gauge shotgun, and even larger, incorporates an incendiary charge hot enough to melt steel. It should be very effective in incinerating vampires or anything else that Buffy and her friends are apt to encounter, and guns themselves are no more illegal to carry in most jurisdictions than swords, crossbows, or even knives with blades longer than a few inches.

That doesn't mean that I want Buffy to turn into another Blade, certainly, but even if she stays with traditional weapons, there are modern versions that are far more effective and efficient than the museum pieces that Giles provided her with.

Something like this:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAyCVTV8-lM&feature=related"]real repeating tactical crossbow xobra (zobra) zombie killer - YouTube[/ame]

as opposed to that hand cranked single shot antique that Kennedy used in "Showtime" would definitely be an improvement while staying within the "traditional weapons" guidelines that Giles and the Watchers seemed to, for some strange reason, impose.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I voted 'I don't know'. In "Angel" we see Wesley using guns quite a bit, and being pretty badass with his modernized stake holsters, etc. However, Buffy tended to use old weapons because as others have pointed out, you can't kill a vampire with a bullet. I like that Buffy used older weapons and fighting styles to get the best of her enemies... And her tactics always seemed to work just fine for her. 😉

 

[Steven123]

You can kill a Vampire with the correct ammo, even bullets coated in silver etc (As in Blade)


But i think it was good the way it was otherwise it would have started turning into somethin that it wasn't in my opinion, it would end up becoming more about the fight scenes for the weapons more than what the fight was actually for lol.

 

[InsaneMystic]

You can kill a Vampire with the correct ammo, even bullets coated in silver etc (As in Blade)

Silver doesn't work on vampires in the Buffyverse, though (it certainly would've got mentioned by now if it did)... much as they've never been affected by running water, either. Vampire traits really aren't the same from one story to the next.

(Much as they don't frickin' sparkle, either! 😛)

As for the incendiary ammo WA mentioned - yup, that oughta do the trick in the Buffyverse neatly.

 

[white avenger]

However, Buffy tended to use old weapons because as others have pointed out, you can't kill a vampire with a bullet. I like that Buffy used older weapons and fighting styles to get the best of her enemies... And her tactics always seemed to work just fine for her. 😉

I've always thought that Buffy's preference in weapons, as well as her basic tactics, were more due to her teacher (Giles) rather than anything else. Giles could be compared to a martial arts instructor, in that he would almost certainly teach what is most familiar and efficient in his experience. Just like no two martial arts instructors, even if they teach the same style, they almost never teach exactly the same thing. Giles obviously preferred weapons that might be considered the traditional Slayer weapons, those that had proved their worth over centuries.

Wes, just as obviously, was more open to innovation and non traditional weapons, most significantly firearms and the sleeve sword that he seemed so fond of. Probably, Wes only gained his knowledge of and preference for more modern weapons first during his rogue demon hunter days after Season 3 of Buffy and before coming to work with Angel.

(Just as an aside here, an interesting sub plot for Season 9 might be the introduction of a weapons designer, much like Q in the old James Bond movies or the Vatican armorers in "Van Helsing," who could provide Buffy and the other Slayers with more modern weaponry. A little comedy could be added by having some of the new weapons fail at unexpected moments, much like Willow's spells tended to go wrong during the earlier seasons)

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

There's an old saying "It doesn't matter who has the biggest weaponary, it matters who's on the other end."

I prefer seeing skill over just brainless slaughtering with weaponry. Makes scenes more interesting.

 

[The Chosen]

I actually really like the fact that Buffy never used weaponry that was too modern. I find that it really adds to the show's timelessness.

From a more practical standpoint I agree that modern weapons (guns, flame throwers) just don't do the job as effectively as a simple wooden stake.

 

[Taake]

I voted no, I prefer the crossbows and axes et al that Buffy and the gang uses, it has more charm and carries a resonance to the same timelessness that vampires have. Plus they look cool and seem deadly efficient anyway in the hands of a Slayer 🙂 (the idea of Buffy with guns or something bores me to tears and strips the charm of the rather un-modern world of vampire slaying)

 

[Tammy]

Buffy and Guns don't go. Buffy herself used this line more than once about guns.
"These things never helpful"

 

[Ripper666]

Ok most of you don't like guns! But what about a more modern crossbow like the on of white avenger or this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5nVSfv0Rlg&feature=player_embedded#!

 

[Tome]

Nah, I liked it the way it was. If guns had been common place, it would have been so much harder to make Buffy look invincible. Couple vamps show up with machine guns and she's ******. It worked with Wesley on Angel because it was pretty much restricted to him and the killing of demons.

I guess what WA showed in his vid would have been cool, though. 🙂

 

[Firefly]

And who would make this custom ammunition? No one on the show had any expertise in weapon making of that field. It would kinda look like what Supernatural is now if they had introduced more advanced weaponry.

 

[white avenger]

And who would make this custom ammunition? No one on the show had any expertise in weapon making of that field. It would kinda look like what Supernatural is now if they had introduced more advanced weaponry.

I'm not sure if you're talking about the ammunition that I mentioned or something else, but tracer rounds are available, though not common, for 45ACP, 9MM, 357 and 44 Magnum handguns, 223, 308, and 30-06 rifles, and 12 gauge shotguns among others. All that Buffy or Giles would have had to do is get in touch with someone who handled surplus military ammunition (Xander would probably be useful here, with his pseudo military expertise) and put in a standing order. Something that would be even more accessible would be 12 gauge flare ammunition, like what is kept in the emergency supplies on ships.

As far as "custom" ammunition, there are hobbiests all over the country, myself included, who reload (it's called "handloading") their own ammunition as a way to cut down on the expense of shooting. Ten minutes with an instruction manual, a couple of reloading tables, and you're in business. Willow would be an expert in no time, then she could teach Dawn (God knows the girl needs to do SOMETHING productive) As far as that goes, Willow could use her magic. prior to the end of Season 8, to either enchant readily available ammunition or create what they needed entirely.

Firearms are, despite what a lot of people might believe, quite simple to operate safely and effectively, especially when compared to something like a sword, the proper use of which takes years to learn. The main, and possibly the only reason that Buffy uses the more primitive weapons is that it makes the show more interesting and impressive to see that tiny little girl kicking the crap out of all those great big things with fangs, claws, scales, and fur. It's no less legal to carry a concealed handgun than it is to carry a 3 foot sword, and even a wooden stake could be declared a "potentially lethal weapon," if the authorities wanted to press the issue. Even just walking around in a cemetery at night carrying so much as a baseball would require a very good explanation.

 

[Firefly]

[MENTION=6758]white avenger[/MENTION] I'm meaning custom ammunition on the show. None of the Scoobies can *build* a specialized 'Vampunition'. Sure Xander can get tracer rounds and all that jazz but I'm talking about Garlic/Holy water and UV Rounds.

 

[white avenger]

[MENTION=6758] None of the Scoobies can *build* a specialized 'Vampunition'. Sure Xander can get tracer rounds and all that jazz but I'm talking about Garlic/Holy water and UV Rounds.

Stir dehydrated garlic powder up in holy water, then load it in a Super Soaker from Wal-Mart. Ain't no such thing as UV ammunition. Maybe Buffy could lure the vamps into a tanning booth.

 

[Firefly]

Stir dehydrated garlic powder up in holy water, then load it in a Super Soaker from Wal-Mart.

Water pistols aren't modern weaponry though that would be more practical.

Ain't no such thing as UV ammunition. Maybe Buffy could lure the vamps into a tanning booth.

The only reason why UV rounds don't exist is because there is no need for them. In the buffyverse there would be.