Monowire

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Monowire weapons (also called monofilament or mono-molecular, depending on the setting) are a common class of soft sci-fi close-combat weapons. The idea is that, since blades cut better when their edge is thinner, blades one atom thick are the ultimate in slicing tools (short of energy weapons like lightsabers). Expect one-stroke battles where the two combatants rush past each other, sheathe their mono-swords, and one of them splits in half.

Settings with weapons of this type may or may not explain how blades one atom thick manage to hold together for any reasonable length of time. The answer usually involves hand-waving about a stabilizing force field or something. Alternatively, they may explicitly declare that such weapons are extremely delicate, requiring frequent replacement of the blade.

Warhammer 40,000

The Eldar and Dark Eldar of Warhammer 40,000 use guns that shoot monowire nets that slice up infantry.