History Main / IKissYourHand

* Played with in ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries Elminster in Myth Drannor]]''. On the one [[IncrediblyLamePun hand]], it helps to weaken MedievalStasis and show it was an "old" setting. On the other hand, [[spoiler:El experimentally discovers that elves ''don't'' know such a gesture]]...

* Not quite the same thing, but hand-kissing between people of any sex is a common greeting custom in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheCurseOfChalion''. One character ecstatically greets an old friend he thought was dead by saying "I kiss your hands! I kiss your feet!" and doing the former, but not the latter; while another does the full ritual to one who has literally given his life to save her from [[AFateWorseThanDeath defilement]] among other things.
* Also seems to be a [[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Vorkosigan family]] trait. Aral does it to Cordelia a few times, Miles kisses a ''lot'' of hands and even Mark gets in on the action with Kareen. And it apparently passes to foster family members, as Emperor Gregor Vorbarra kisses the hand of Laisa, his future wife.

** In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E1InThroesOfIncreasingWonder In Throes of Increasing Wonder...]]", Louis de Pointe du Lac kisses Lily's hand at the Fairplay Saloon, which is an unusual gesture for a john to do to a prostitute. However, he's a ClosetGay who's paying her to be his [[TheBeard beard]], so their interactions are [[PlatonicProstitution platonic]] and he treats her more like an acquaintance.
** In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E2AfterThePhantomsOfYourFormerSelf ...After the Phantoms of Your Former Self]]", Lestat de Lioncourt (an old-fashioned Frenchman) kisses Florence de Pointe du Lac's hand when he greets her on the front porch of her home.

* ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''

** In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E1InThroesOfIncreasingWonder In Throes of Increasing Wonder]]", Louis de Pointe du Lac kisses Lily's hand at the Fairplay Saloon, which is an unusual gesture for a john to do to a prostitute. However, he's a ClosetGay who's paying her to be his [[TheBeard beard]], so their interactions are [[PlatonicProstitution platonic]] and he treats her more like an acquaintance.
** In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E2AfterThePhantomsOfYourFormerSelf After the Phantoms of Your Former Self]]", Lestat de Lioncourt (an old-fashioned Frenchman) kisses Florence de Pointe du Lac's hand when he greets her on the front porch of her home.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the second episode, Lestat de Lioncourt (an old-fashioned Frenchman) kisses Florence de Pointe du Lac's hand when he greets her.

* During a book signing, a woman asked Creator/JamesJoyce if she could "kiss the hand that wrote [[{{Literature/Ulysses}} Ulysses.]]" Joyce denied her request, saying it has [[ADateWithRosiePalms "done other things."]]

* In just about every episode of ''WesternAnimation/LibertysKids'', although it may not count because it was the 1700s. It ''is'' played for laughs at times, though.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'':
** The French Antoine either does or attempts to kiss Sally's hand many times throughout the series because of his hopeless crush on her.
** At the end of the series, Sonic kisses Sally's hand while celebrating their victory over Dr. Robotnik. The kiss is also completely genuine, contrasting Antoine's frequent suck-up kisses.
* When Arnold in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' finds out that his date isn't who she said she was, he kisses her hand to show that no matter what he genuinely liked the date.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'': Mr. Peevly kisses Hair Bear's hand but only as a bargaining chip to have him help find the missing zoo animals before the superintendent's visit in the episode "Raffle Ruckus."
* [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces Muttley]] will kiss [[WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines Dick Dastardly's]] hand only to suck up to him after uttering his patented {{Angrish}} at him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' cartoon "Thank You Girl" has the boys trying to weasel a free lunch out of a cooking school after their manager (an unseen Brian Epstein) locks them in their hotel room and keeps their wallets, putting them on a collective diet. At the school, John kisses the hand of the secretary, Margarite.
-->'''John:''' Dear, sweet lady... may we sing for our supper? ''[kisses Margarite's hand]''\\
'''Margarite:''' ''[demurely]'' Ooh...M'sieur Lennon!
* Boris from ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' sometimes kissed the hand of his Fearless Leader.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' episode "Out of Africa", Static, Gear, and Anansi rescue Sharon after she was kidnapped. Anansi kisses Sharon's hand before departing.
* Near the end of the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Leapfrogs", Rocko scolds Ed Bighead for disrespecting his wife and, getting caught up in the moment, spontaneously kisses Bev's hand.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' had Quack Quack, trying to be a "gentleman", try to do this to Kaeloo, only to have his head blasted off by [[CrazyJealousGuy Mr. Cat]]'s bazooka.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'': In ''One Droopy Knight'', Droopy and his rival Butch kiss the hand of the beautiful Princess. While Droopy is kissing, Butch slams down the visor on his helmet, [[{{Fingore}} catching the girl's fingers]] and making her scream in pain.
* In the 1956 ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon "Parlez Vous Woo", Popeye [[IKissYourHand kisses Olive's hand]]. Olive promptly turns red, [[HighPressureEmotion blows steam out of her ears]], then [[LustfulMelt melts into a thin flat Olive-Oyl-shaped puddle]] conforming to the contours of the staircase.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': In ''Herr Meets Hare'', WesternAnimation/BugsBunny disguises himself as UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler to intimidate Hermann Goering, who had just been badmouthing the Fuehrer to himself, leading him to beg forgiveness by kissing hon the hand hand and on the lips.
-->'''Goering:''' I kiss mein Fuehrer's hand! ''(kisses Bugs' hand)'' I kiss [[WaxingLyrical right in der Fuehrer's face!]] ''(gives him a big smooch)''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary", Wanda's ex-boyfriend Juandissimo Magnifico looks like he's doing this to Wanda's hand when he sees her again after so many years and tries to woo her. It is then revealed that [[BaitAndSwitch he was actually kissing the hand of her husband Cosmo]], who is not happy about this at all.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tadema2.jpg]]
[-[[caption-width-right:320:''Ask Me No More'' by Sir Creator/LawrenceAlmaTadema]]-]

* ''Film/MrKruegersChristmas'': As some carolers are coming down Mr. Krueger [[ImagineSpot imagines himself]] as a wealthy gentleman in a BigFancyHouse greeting his guests by kissing the lead singer’s hand, leading to an awkward moment when it snaps back to reality and he’s actually doing it!

* In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a kiss on the hand is part of the usual way for the laity to greet a priest. The layperson puts their right hand over their left hand, palms up, and says "Father, bless", and the priest blesses them and places his right hand in theirs. The layperson then kisses his hand. Likewise, receiving a blessing and kissing the priest’s hand is customary after a confession.

* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', this is [[HandsomeLech Mikado Sanzen'in's]] opening move on any (attractive) woman he meets; since he's charming and handsome, most girls consider it romantic. [[{{Tsundere}} Akane's reaction]] when he tried it on her (if Ranma hadn't interrupted) would have been to [[CuteBruiser sock him in the jaw]].

* In ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'', Judas does this as obeisance to Zeus.

* Dong-ha kisses Je-Hyang's in ''Manhwa/ImAtEndOfYourSight'' hand after the latter calls him up after an argument.

* 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/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."
* And in a ''ComicBook/Supergirl2005'' story, Power Boy kisses Supergirl’s hand. Kara gets pretty puzzled about the gesture.
* Played with in the ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' album ''Calamity Jane'', where Jane must learn to behave like a lady, so she gets provided with a good-manners teacher. As soon she meets with him, she whacks him (as if hits him and not kills him off-panel), and then explains: "This one wanted to lick my hand!"

* Raphael in ''Manga/AngelSanctuary'' does this. Often. It tends to give him the results he wants, too, until he ends up in TriangleRelations, that is.

* The gesture of kissing the hand derives from ancient pledges of fealty. The more classical example is "kissing the ring" as a sign of submission, still practiced in audiences with UsefulNotes/ThePope, other Catholic prelates, and some royalty; TheMafia also famously uses it (or not, it's part of the whole air of mystery they've surrounded themselves with). One assumes it made its way into romantic gesture territory through [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtly_love Courtly Love]].

* ''WebVideo/FantasyHeroine'' is all about a disgruntled fantasy heroine and her romance-trope obsessed writer auguring across the fourth wall. During the heroine's MarriageOfConvenience to her Hot Enemy, the writer is eagerly awaiting the ceremony making them kiss. Instead, the groom gently kisses... the back of the heroine's hand. The writer is surprised, but not displeased.

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 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 the 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 inconvenient]]), you may not have realized that there were any rules at all.

* During a bout of teasing in ''LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf'' Lawrence kisses Holo's hand and says, "Now you're under ''my'' spell." A reaction shot revealed she was indeed charmed.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Dream kisses the gloved hand of his beloved older sister Death in one scene. Because she ''is'' Death, this is the only gesture of physical affection he can make toward her without unfortunate results.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. The Collector does this to Gamora on first meeting her. It's only a light peck, but it adds to the creepy vibe.

* Yuichi does this to Wataru in ''LightNovel/OnlyTheRingFingerKnows'', in the midst of their SlapSlapKiss banter. Since Yuichi's acted like a {{jerkass}} to Wataru (and Wataru only, because [[LoveMakesYouCrazy apparently the best way to deal with loving someone of the same gender is to be nasty to them]]), it only reinforces Wataru's belief that Yuichi is just playing around with him, and leaves him even more steamed (and [[AmIJustAToyToYou depressed]]).

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':

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 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 the 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.

* Another non-romantic CLAMP example, Eriol kisses Sakura's hand (in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'') after helping her finish a teddy bear. Because Eriol is an English exchange student, this comes off as very chivalric and gentlemanlike -- and pisses the ''hell'' out of Syaoran, [[CanNotSpitItOut Sakura's would-be love interest]].

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.

Does not usually qualify as a FirstKiss (or a LastKiss for that matter), but may if the character is depicted so reserved this is the deepest expression of emotion he will allow. May therefore be a case of AnywhereButTheirLips.

* Mytho from ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' kisses the title character's hand before asking her "what do you think of me?"

* 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/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."
* And in a ''Comicbook/Supergirl2005'' story, Power Boy kisses Supergirl’s hand. Kara gets pretty puzzled about the gesture.

* ''FanFic/AceCombatTheEquestrianWar'': In the epilogue, [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies Mobius]] kisses Rainbow Dash's hoof. Sky Eye explains that it means Mobius considers Rainbow his ''equal'']].

* Used in a non-romantic way in ''FanFic/ShadowAndRose'', when the companions are saying farewell before the final battle. Alistair is tongue-tied for what to say to Wynne, his mother figure, so he does this instead.

** In [[http://ounomachi.tumblr.com/post/127235932650/ilustraci%C3%B3n-de-fire-emblem-shadow-dragon this really cute]] ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon]]'' picture, Prince Marth goes on one knee and kisses the hand of his fiancée Princess Caeda.

** At the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E1TheMasqueOfMandragora The Masque of Mandragora"]], an Italian nobleman kisses Sarah Jane Smith on the hand as she makes her departure. Sarah gives a surprised (but charmed) "Oh!" in response.

* WesternAnimation/RobinHood and [[BoisterousBruiser Little John]] make do with this trope and a little flattering to take the jewels off [[KingOfBeasts Prince John's]] rings. Prince John learns from his mistake and pulls his hand away the next time Little John tries kissing it.

* Subverted in ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Queen Henrietta offers Saito her hand to kiss, but Saito -- being [[DeliberateValuesDissonance from modern Japan]] (though this [[WhatAnIdiot really shouldn't be an excuse]]) -- misunderstands what is meant by "kiss" and instead sweeps the queen off her feet in a deep embrace and kiss that leaves her stunned.