History Main / ASinisterClue

** Aside from Kain the only other left-handed characters in IV were Golbez, the main villain, and Palom, who while not evil or villainous was still a bit of a [[BrattyHalfPint brat with a bad attitude]].

* This actually tends to get played with in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''. 3 victims in the series (Dustin Prince, Byrne Faraday, and Dumas Gloomsbury) are left-handed, and the fact the killers or prosecution tend to make the mistake of treating them as right-handed comes up as a contradiction that advance your case. There is a killer who is a lefty, [[spoiler: Lance Amano, and he actually tries to use that to his advantage by using his non-dominant hand when he attacks Edgeworth with a prop sword to knock him out. However, Edgeworth manages to prove his handedness wouldn't matter thanks to the ease of using a prop sword.]]

In many cultures, before the invention of toilet paper and forks, the right hand was used for eating, greeting, etc., while the left hand was used for wiping and other less savory things. In some places, being left-dominant was a sign that there was something inherently 'wrong' with the child, to the point of demonic possession, and to this day [[AbusiveParents some parents]] will tie a left-handed child's hand behind their back until they learn to be ambidextrous. Ironically this will not change the hand that you instinctively lead with in your daily interactions.

->'''Jack the Ripper''': Oh, the nuns beat that wickedness out of me. Always use my right...except for Jack's work.

Additionally, in older times, left-handedness was often a sign of evil or trickery because of the fact that people would shake hands with their right, grabbing each other by the wrists, in order to show that they were friendly and [[NothingUpMySleeve didn't have weapons]]. Of course, this is incredibly small-minded since if left-handed people were in the majority then it would be the other way around. Still, a lefty could shake with their right hand, grasping the other person's dominant hand, and attack with their weapon in their left hand while the other was defenceless - or even steal a rightie's weapon more easily. Also, during the Middle Ages, towers were built so defenders would have no problem swinging their swords down staircases while attackers would have more difficulties swinging up - and staircases are still built this way to this day. However, this only applied if both were right handed; if the attacker were left-handed, the two would be evenly matched.

In many cultures, before the invention of toilet paper and forks, the right hand was used for eating, greeting etc., while the left hand was used for wiping and other less savory things. In some places, being left-dominant was a sign that there was something inherently 'wrong' with the child, to the point of demonic possession, and to this day [[AbusiveParents some parents]] will tie a left-handed child's hand behind their back until they learn to be ambidextrous. Ironically this will not change the hand that you instinctively lead with in your daily interactions.

* Figures prominently in ''Anime/ReadOrDie''. ''Really'' prominently - will ruin the main plot twist if you read the spoiler. [[spoiler: Nancy is left-handed and is TheMole. Then to add to that she has an EvilTwin and they are differentiated only by their dominant hand. Inverted because the right handed Nancy is the EvilTwin. As an alternative interpertation, it is not inverted because left-handed Nancy betrayed Yomiko first, and then betrayed and killed her own lover (although he had betrayed her), while right handed Nancy was at least loyal to her man, making the left handed Nancy experience a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.]]
* Wrath of ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' may or may not be left handed, but he got the right one from someone else. The same could be said of Scar, though their alignments turn in opposite directions.
* Gin from ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' is left-handed. Also, there is a case Conan solves by realizing a man had been replaced by a duplicate because the fake was left handed and the original was not.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': An interesting case with the Straw Hats, as none of them are evil, but a large number of them have something of importance on their left side. Luffy has his scar underneath his left eye. Nami's tatoo is on her left arm. Zoro's earrings are on his left ear, and although ambidextrous appears to prefer his left hand. Usopp always wears his wrist band on his left hand. Sanji's left eye is always covered. Chopper's antler plate is located on his left antler. Interestingly enough, the two Strawhats that finally break this pattern, [[spoiler: Robin and Franky,]] are both introduced to the story as villains/antagonists to the Strawhats. [[spoiler: Brook]] then completely subverts it, as his one asymmetrical trait is on the right side of his face. Sanji also subverts this after the TimeSkip, when his PeekABangs switch eyes to cover his right one instead.

* Inverted in ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'' one of the main characters Meliodas appears to be left handed and a protraganist. However, there is ample evidence that this wasn't always the case. That also not taking into account that Meliodas is [[spoiler: a Demon]].

* [[TheFaceless Keyser Soze]] in ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' is left handed. A clue to his identity occurs early in the movie, when [[spoiler:Verbal Kint tries to light a cigarette by holding the lighter in his right hand and opening it with his [[ObfuscatingDisability cerebral palsy-afflicted left hand]], but can't do it]].

* Arthur Fleck in ''Film/Joker2019'' is righthanded, but he switches to his left hand (and left foot) more often when his Joker persona starts to emerge.

** Data reveals that his [[EvilTwin brother Lore]] was equipped with a Type L [[TechnoBabble Phase Discriminating Amplifier]] while Data was equiiped with a Type R. Also averted by Data himself, who uses his left hand dominantly like his (and Lore's) actor [[Creator/BrentSpiner Brent Spiner]].

* In ''Series/{{Graceland}},'' Briggs is left handed. This trope is only invoked later in the first season, with the big reveal.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Wilson Fisk, much like Creator/VincentDOnofrio who plays him, is left-handed. This can be seen in Seasons 1 and 3, when he eats an omelette with the knife in his left hand and the fork in his right. The same is seen when he's eating a steak by Dutton's deathbed in Season 2.
* An episode of ''Series/UltramanAce'' seemingly features the return of Go Hideki, the human host of the previous series, [[Series/ReturnOfUltraman Ultraman Jack]]. Turns out that Hideki is actually an alien imposter, whose cover is blown when he starts using chopsticks with his left hand (the ''real'' Hideki is right handed).

* In the Bible, the tribe of Benjamin were distinguished by having a predominance of left-handed people. Naturally this cursed streak led them to war with the rest of Israel, where their left-handed swordsmen and slingers were seen as an un-natural thing, able to preferentially target the unshielded side of an opponent and leave right-handed swordsmen at a fighting disadvantage, when the enemy weapon came at them from the "wrong" side.

* The titular Nemesis from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' is a lefty. This is useful to know in gameplay, because you dodge his punches and grabs by juking to his right side.

** Aside from Kain the only other left handed characters in IV were Golbez, the main villain, and Palom, who while not evil or villanious was still a bit of a [[BrattyHalfPint brat with a bad attitude]].

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', the two models of the portable Snag Machine are depicted as being worn on the left arm. Neither of their wielders are particularly nasty ([[AntiHero though one moreso than the other]]), but the folks behind inventing the device are the epitome of evil in the Pokeverse.

* Inverted in ''[[VideoGame/FearEffect Fear Effect 2]]''. Near the end of the game Hana has to choose between shooting her girlfriend Rain or Rain's EvilTwin. Rain is actually the left handed one, which is the main tipoff on the correct one to shoot.

* Reinhard, the main BigBad of ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' is left-handed. There is also the {{Foil}} of the main character, Shirou Yusa, who is also left-handed. [[spoiler:This is not a coincidence as both are what is known as an Apoptosis, an embodiment of someone's hidden self destructive desires]].

* In ''Franchise/StarWars Episode II: Film/AttackOfTheClones'' Anakin loses his right arm--symbolism of a move towards the Dark Side. Luke then loses his right hand in the same way [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack 3 films later]]--right before TheReveal that LukeIAmYourFather, and in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' Luke breaks free from his FreakOut after he cuts off his father's right hand and realizes that both of them have mechanical right hands.

* Inverted in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. When [[spoiler: Jaime Lannister]] loses his right hand, his moral compass actually starts working better. This is mostly because without his sword-hand, he's forced to think things through, when before he could just hack his way through any obstacle.

* Serial killers Jack the Ripper is suppose to have been left-handed, Theodor "Ted" Robert Bundy was left handed, the same can be apply to Albert DeSalvo known as the Boston Strangle. In other aspect, Criminals such as Osama bin Laden,Japanese Prime Minister and war criminal Hideki Tojo,Public enemy John Dillinger. https://www.ranker.com/list/left-handed-criminals/ranker-crime

** During the Chunin Exams arc, Sasuke realizes that the Naruto in front of he and Sakura is an impostor because his knife pouch is on his left leg, implying left-handedness, while the real Naruto is right-handed.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': An interesting case with the Straw Hats, as none of them are evil, but a large number of them have something of importance on their left side. Luffy has his scar underneath his left eye. Nami's tatoo is on her left arm. Zoro's earrings are on his left ear, and although ambidextrous appears to prefer his left hand. Usopp always wears his wrist band on his left hand. Sanji's left eye is always covered. Chopper's antler plate is located on his left antler. Interestingly enough, the two Strawhats that finally break this pattern,[[spoiler: Robin and Franky,]] are both introduced to the story as villains/antagonists to the Strawhats. [[spoiler: Brook]] then completely subverts it, as his one asymmetrical trait is on the right side of his face. Sanji also subverts this after the TimeSkip, when his PeekABangs switch eyes to cover his right one instead.

* [[spoiler:Goro Akechi]] from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is left-handed. Naturally, he's a villain [[spoiler:and the traitor among the main characters]]. Possibly an invoked trope, as the game heavily homages "Classy" works such as ArseneLupin, SherlockHolmes, Carmen, Literature/TheThreeMusketeers, (etc) where this trope cropped up.

* Bob Ewell in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'' may be ambidextrous ("can use one hand good as the other") but prefers his left, which becomes important at the trial, since the accused ''can't'' use his left arm.

The opposite, when left-handedness is viewed favorably, is TheSouthpaw. Sometimes overlaps with LeftHandedMirror. Also see IAmNotLeftHanded.

* Interestingly, the Wii version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has [[BigBad Ganondorf]], traditionally right-handed, turned TheSouthpaw. This is because of the control scheme of the Wii, and since the deadline of the game was getting close, the developers couldn't simply make Link right-handed and leave the rest of the version intact, so they decided to simply mirror it, thus turning most characters left-handed, including Ganondorf.

Have some Trivia - The word "sinister" actually is derived from the Latin word for left-handedness, and also related to the BarSinister which is a symbol of bastardy, and thus untrustworthiness.

* Arya from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. When her dominant hand is revealed to her fencing master, he reacts favorably because fighting left-handed will reverse her stance and movements, which will help confuse her opponents. However, her left-handedness might also be ASinisterClue about her future, [[spoiler: training in a cult of assassins.]]

* Justified in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend''. The ObviouslyEvil Dr. Shuu uses his left [[FeatherFingers wing]] for everything... because his right wing was injured in the past.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Wilson Fisk, much like Creator/VincentDOnofrio who plays him, is left-handed. This can be seen in Season 1 when he eats an omelette with the knife in his left hand and the fork in his right. The same is seen when he's eating a steak by Dutton's deathbed in Season 2.

* In Literature/TheBible, Ehud, one of the judges, actually managed to assassinate a king by hiding a miniature weapon on his right hip. Thus the weapon wasn't found, and he could still use it, being left-handed.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': Eventual villain Sinestro wears his power ring on his left hand.

[[folder:real life]]
* serial killers Jack the ripper is suppose to have been left-handed, Theodor "Ted" Robert Bundy was left handed, the same can be apply to Albert DeSalvo known as the Boston Strangle. In other aspect, Criminals such as Osama bin Laden,Japanese Prime Minister and war criminal Hideki Tojo,Public enemy John Dillinger. https://www.ranker.com/list/left-handed-criminals/ranker-crime

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Data figures out he and Picard are trapped in a holodeck Enterprise when (the simulation of) Geordi catches a tool Data throws to him with his left hand, exposing a programming glitch Data was already aware of.

* In the first season of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', a duelist needs one of two entry cards to participate in the Duelist Kingdom playoff tournament; each such card indicates a prize to be claimed by the tournament's victor. Glory of the King's Opposite Hand is a blank card which entitles the holder to one wish granted by Pegasus J. Crawford, to the extent of his power, but the holder will risk getting their soul stolen if they lose. In contrast, Glory of the King's Hand depicts a treasure room filled with coins, jewels, and the like, and entitles the holder to three million yen [[note]] or dollars, [[DubText if you're watching the dub]] [[/note]]. Mai Kujaku and "Bandit" Keith Howard are in the tournament for the money, and take King's Hand. Jounouchi does, too, but he does so in hopes of paying for his sister's desperately-needed eye surgery. Yugi only wants his to save his grandfather, so he uses King's Opposite Hand.