History Main / IKissYourHand

* In Romania, a man is still expected to kiss a womanțs hand kissing if he is dating her. Not only this, but is an actual common greeting, usually said by the young people to the older generation, depending on the social context. "Sărut mâna" is literally translated as "I kiss your hand".

* In Turkey, kissing the hands of the elderly (both male and female) is an important sign of gesture and a fairly common custom, especially from children to their grandparents. Doing it to a younger person (middle-aged and below), while acceptable in some cases, is much less common and may even be a serious faux pas. Kissing the hand of a younger woman in such manner tends to send the message that you think she is old and... yeah... There is a way to differentiate the romantic version from the one for reverence, however, as the latter is nearly always done with both hands of the kisser, and requires touching the kissee's hand to the kissee's forehead. Doing the former is still unusual, but not necessarily insulting.

* In Austria, the older generation still tends to take this very seriously, and the generation just after them -- people between 50 and 70 -- sometimes likes to affect it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'':
** In an optional scene in ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' the Zexen Knights have sworn fealty to their (beautiful, female, and eligible) Knight Captain Chris upon their swords, each in turn. Chris's young page expresses a desire to do the same but complains that he lacks a sword, instead he just kneels down and kisses her hand. The other Knights proceed to react with a mixture of rage, amusement, and deep respect for his guts.
** In ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', the ridiculously foppish Euram Barows attempts this with Princess Lymsleia. Said Princess' bodyguard reminds him that her father and brother are the only men allowed to touch her until she marries, and threatens to violently enforce this rule, in the first of [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain many,]] [[ButtMonkey many]] humiliations for the unfortunate Euram.

The etiquette and protocol for the hand kiss is a laundry list longer than the rules for the game of [[Recap/StarTrekS2E17APieceOfTheAction Fizzbin]]. For example, one may only kiss the hand of a woman who specifically offers her hand for this purpose. One may only kiss the hand of a married woman and never outdoors (though both rules are frequently broken in fiction). There are also different ways to kiss a lady's hand based on whether or not you're meeting her for the first time. A gloved hand may not be kissed (unless it is an opera-style arm length glove). Also, the lips are not supposed to actually even touch her hand at all. Some mention that the gentleman is allegedly supposed to kiss his own thumb where it is gripping her hand. As confusing and inconsistent there rules are, it's no surprise that they are seldom, if ever followed in fiction (or even real life for that matter), unless absolute historical accuracy (or just the [[ShownTheirWork appearance of it]]) is a priority. Historians debate as to whether these rules were ever consistently followed. It's unlikely since Europe is a fairly big and diverse place. And unless one is a member of the UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism (which itself is known for [[ShownTheirWork allegedly being historically accurate]] [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory except where it's inconvienent]]), you may not have realized that there were any rules at all.

* In a ''Comicbook/Supergirl1996'' issue, the demon Comicbook/{{Etrigan}} broke off a brawl with titular heroine Linda Danvers, dropped to his knees, popped the question and kissed her hand. Jason Blood probably summed the situation up best, when he said: "This is wrong on so many levels, I don't even know where to start."

* The swearing fealty version appears in ''Film/SuicideSquad2016''. When [[TheDreaded The Joker]] turns up to blackmail and intimidate Warden Griggs, he holds out a hand expectantly, and with some hesitation Griggs kisses the ring on it. The Joker just smirks and says, "I can tell you meant that."
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' porn parody ''Charly XXX'', a ShamelessFanserviceGirl beams onto the ship naked and Captain Quirk practically devours her hand doing this trope, until his annoyed officers point out that she has two hands so [[AllMenArePerverts they'd like to have a go as well.]]

** In "The Truth" (the series finale), Mulder and Scully kiss and embrace and then, when Skinner comes as well, Mulder gets a little closer to Scully, holds her hand and lifts it to his lips.

** In an optional scene in ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' the Zexen Knights have sworn fealty to their (beautiful, female and eligible) Knight Captain Chris upon their swords, each in turn. Chris's young page expresses a desire to do the same but complains that he lacks a sword, instead he just kneels down and kisses her hand. The other Knights proceed to react with a mixture of rage, amusement, and deep respect for his guts.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}''/''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', ''Comicbook/LexLuthor'' kissed Barbara Gordon's hand during a ceremony. As soon as he turned around, Barbara wiped her hand, disgusted.
* In a Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} issue, the demon Comicbook/{{Etrigan}} broke off a brawl with titular heroine Linda Danvers, dropped to his knees, popped the question and kissed her hand. Jason Blood probably summed the situation up best, when he said: "This is wrong on so many levels, I don't even know where to start."
* And in another Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} story, Power Boy kisses Supergirl’s hand. Kara gets pretty puzzled about the gesture.

* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' Alexander Hamilton kisses Eliza's hand in the song Helpless (he does it again in Satisfied).
* In some versions of ''Theatre/PhantomOfTheOpera'', Christine kisses the Phantom's hands when returning his ring in a rare female-on-male example. This, however, is an apology and a goodbye rather than a greeting.

* ''Theatre/Hamilton'' Alexander Hamilton kisses Eliza's hand in the song Helpless (he does it again in Satisfied).

* Used to compare and contrast the relationships of the [[RoyallyScrewedUp Alsveith family]] [[GenerationXerox line]] in ''Manga/CrimsonSpell''. During his time as a CourtMage, Halceles is shown kneeling to give King Fleivangr a traditional kiss on the knuckles, demonstrating his loyalty and CourtlyLove. When Prince Valdrigr offers his hand to [[LoveInterest Halvir]], Havi flips it upwards and gives him a more unusual and intimate kiss on the palm.

* Chat Noir does this in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug''

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' porn parody ''Charly XXX'', a ShamelessFanserviceGirl beams onto the ship naked and Captain Quirk virtually devours her hand doing this trope, until his annoyed officers point out that she has two hands so [[AllMenArePerverts they'd like to have a go as well.]]

* The overenthusiastic Italian major in ''Series/AlloAllo'' does this with most women he meets.

In modern times this can come across as rather creepy, especially if the guy doesn't know the woman very well. For this reason, it is sometimes done by sleazy villains in order to show up the less 'cultured' hero. In such cases, a lady will occasionally be seen to withdraw her hand before it can be kissed or even making it awkward for the man to try by offering her hand palm sideways, thumb up, fingers straight as if to insist on only a handshake.

** In "A Fix with Sontarans", Savile kisses Tegan's hand. [[HarsherInHindsight This could not have helped Tegan's]] [[TheTimeTravellersDilemma Time Traveller's Dilemma]] in any way.

* Fanfic/RoanapurConnection: Well ring instead of hand as Balaprada has Nathan do as a sign of respect and hinted to be teasing between the two who have known each other for a long time and Balaprada noted earlier of having taught Nathan. Which Ganabati notes as odd due to Indian culture often not involving the touching of hands at all. Which he puts down to Balaprada picking it up due to living in the west and taking to it more than her husband.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', after the suspicious death of the previous emperor, Marcus Aurelius, Lucilla kisses the hands of the next emperor, Commodus, right after slapping him in a pledge of loyalty. The gesture of kissing the hand derives from ancient pledges of fealty, so it is appropriate in that context.