The Cardassian phase-disruptor pistol, sometimes identified as a Cardassian phaser, was a type of phase-disruptor designed and used by the Cardassians. It was comparable to the Starfleet type 2 phaser, and was the hand-held version of the Cardassian phase-disruptor rifle.
In 2369, Worf was shot by this type of weapon as he attempted to hold the door open to allow Captain Jean-Luc Picard escape from a room desired to lure and capture he and his team. The Klingon was not injured, but the force of blast knocked him out of the door's opening allowing the automatic door to completely shut. (TNG: "Chain Of Command, Part I")
Natima Lang had a Cardassian phaser in her quarters during her brief time aboard Deep Space 9 in 2370. She threatened Quark with it before it accidentally discharged, firing at him and hitting him in the chest. Apologetic, Lang explained "I never fired a phaser before. I barely touched the trigger…". (DS9: "Profit and Loss") The trigger itself was located on the top of the pistol and was fired with the thumb. (TNG: "The Chase")
The phase-disruptor was Elim Garak's weapon of choice on numerous occasions. In 2370, he killed Gul Toran with one, vaporizing him. (DS9: "Profit and Loss") The following year, he killed Entek with one in much the same way. (DS9: "Second Skin") He, along with Gul Dukat, were both armed with these weapons as they defended the members of the Detapa Council during the first Battle of Deep Space 9 in 2372. At one point Dukat cautioned Garak to "[j]ust remember when you fire that thing you're aiming it at a Klingon." (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior") Finally, in 2375, he shot Weyoun 7 at point blank, killing him as well. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
Quark killed two Jem'Hadar soldiers outside the station's holding cell, using two individual pistols.
Shortly thereafter, during the Dominion evacuation of Deep Space 9, Damar murdered Tora Ziyal in cold blood with his weapon, upon hearing her confession to Dukat of being a traitor. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels") Previously, Damar often carried a holstered pistol during much of the Dominion's occupation of the station in early 2374.
The script for "Sacrifice of Angels" describes the same weapon as both a disruptor (Quark's) and a phaser (Damar's), when they each used them on their respective targets.
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- TNG:
- DS9:
- "The Homecoming"
- "Profit and Loss"
- "Tribunal"
- "The Search, Part II"
- "Second Skin"
- "The Way of the Warrior"
- "Return to Grace"
- "Things Past"
- "A Time to Stand"
- "Rocks and Shoals"
- "Sons and Daughters"
- "Behind the Lines"
- "Favor the Bold"
- "Sacrifice of Angels"
- "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night"
- "What You Leave Behind"
- LD: "Strange Energies"
Background information[]
Though not directly described in its first appearance, "Chain of Command", this weapon initially fired a purple energy beam, which became yellow in all subsequent appearances, and was described in the script as a "disruptor blast." According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 227, the Cardassian "hand weapon" was described by Rick Sternbach as a "copper-colored banana".
This weapon was later described as a "phaser" in the script and dialogue for "Profit and Loss", is referenced as a "Cardassian disruptor" in the script for "The Way of the Warrior". According to the script for "Things Past", a "disruptor pistol" was referenced, as being used by the Cardassian guards for the execution, but was depicted on screen as a phase-disruptor rifle.
The Star Trek: The Visual Dictionary (p. 73), explains this away by naming the weapon a "phase-disruptor pistol", corresponding with the previously established "phase-disruptor rifle" moniker, as the phase-disruptor pistol is evidently incorporated in the rifle as being both of its pistol grips, adapted together by a rifle stock.
According to The Art of Star Trek (p. 124), the generically named "Cardassian hand weapon" was designed by Rick Sternbach. Several of these weapons were sold as part of various Star Trek auctions. [1][2][3][4] One auction description of this weapon stated "[r]are ornate gold and maroon-painted molded resin, with purple tip on the top from where the phaser beam would be emitted. [...] There were no working versions of this model made. Measures 9 ½ in. in length." [5]