History Main / TheHandIsGod

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' has Master Hand, a huge glove-like hand that is responsible for creating the game's world through giving life to a bunch of toys. Later games add Crazy Hand as its equal, more chaotic counterpart. A popular theory, which is supported by the opening cutscene where Master Hand is showing bring toys to life in a child's bedroom, is that Master Hand is actually the hand of a child playing with his toys and imagining that his hand is a monster for his toys to fight.

Is a subtrope of TheFaceless. See also HeWhoMustNotBeSeen, and AFormYouAreComfortableWith.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' has Master Hand, a huge glove-like hand that is responsible for creating the game's world through giving life to a bunch of toys. Later games add Crazy Hand as its equal, more chaotic counterpart.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Adam}}'' is a satirical take on the Book of Genesis in which a disembodied hand creates Adam out of clay (it's a claymation short) and then screws with him for a while.

* God is referenced as the Hand that stopped the bullets from killing Jules and Vincent in ''Film/PulpFiction''. Vincent is less than convinced, Jules decides to change his life over it. The audience is left to decide for themselves, [[spoiler:but Vincent's fate tends to indicate Jules was right.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Warcraft III'', the Alliance cursor is a metal gauntlet, leading to some units reacting to it as though it were the hand of God (and the Order of the Silver Hand was named after it).

-->-- '''High Elf Priest''' ([[StopPokingMe if clicked on enough times]]), ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': The Alliance cursor is a metal gauntlet, leading to some units reacting to it as though it were the hand of God (and the Order of the Silver Hand was named after it).

* This trope does have some accuracy to Literature/TheBible where God was HeWhoMustNotBeSeen lest [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm the viewer die]] or [[GoMadFromTheRevelation go mad]]. As such God appears in AFormYouAreComfortableWith, with perhaps the most famous being the burning bush that appeared before Moses. In the book of Daniel, chapter 5, He fills this trope, appearing as a disembodied hand (or just fingers, depending on the translation) in the palace of King Belshazzar, where He writes a prophecy of doom on the wall, foretelling the judgment of Belshazzar's kingdom.

* In the art world, this is referred to as Manus Dei[[note]]Hand of God[[/note]] or Dextera Domini / Dextera Dei[[note]]Right Hand of the Master / of God[[/note]]. The motif of God being depicted as a hand was particularly popular in late antique and early medieval era art, where depicting the full body of God was considered heretical as it came too close to idolatry. [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has a page on it [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_God_(art) here]].

* The Great Will of the Macrocosm in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' appears as a pair of hands that extend out from a swirling energy vortex.

->"I have been chosen, by the big metal hand in the sky!"
-->--'''High Elf Priest''' ([[StopPokingMe if clicked on enough times]]), ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''

Or what if He's just a big, disembodied hand in the sky? Is it the hand of God? No, [[TitleDrop the hand IS God]].

Put simply, this is where God (whether it be the Judeo-Christian one or some similar supreme being) is depicted as a disembodied hand or hands. It may be implied that He still has a body somewhere, but it's obscured by mountains, clouds, light, energy, or any number of other things... or maybe it just isn't there at all. Usually, this hand will be giant-sized, [[HeavenAbove coming out from the sky]], and possibly accompanied by a booming voice, though those attributes aren't strictly necessary. For example, the hand of God which appears in [[Literature/TheBible the Book of Daniel]] is apparently normal size, appears inside a building, and is completely silent.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

This trope is OlderThanFeudalism. The image of the hand to symbolize God occurs quite a lot in the Pentateuch, and it was popular in artwork from the late Antique and early Medieval periods when full body images of God were considered close enough to idolatry to be heretical. Since hands are naturally the human body part most used for doing things, the disembodied hand therefore could be used to show agency and action from a supernatural force, without risking heresy by attempting to show the full form of God.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'', which also provides the page image. A British Army officer is opining about how "we'll always need a military, and may God strike me dead if it's ever otherwise." Cue BoltOfDivineRetribution doing just that, and a giant hand withdrawing into a cloudbank afterwards. Which is immediately followed by a [[DrillSergeantNasty sergeant major lambasting his troops]], "Don't stand there gawping, like you've never seen the hand of God before!"
* The poster for ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' depicts the hand of God reaching out from a cloud and holding the titular grail.

* This trope does have some accuracy to ''Literature/TheBible'' where God was HeWhoMustNotBeSeen lest [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm the viewer die]] or [[GoMadFromTheRevelation go mad]]. As such God appears in AFormYouAreComfortableWith, with perhaps the most famous being the burning bush that appeared before Moses. In the book of Daniel, chapter 5, He fills this trope, appearing as a disembodied hand (or just fingers, depending on the translation) in the palace of King Belshazzar, where He writes a prophecy of doom on the wall, foretelling the judgment of Belshazzar's kingdom.

This trope is OlderThanFeudalism. The image of the hand to symbolize God occurs quite a lot in the Pentateuch, and it was popular in artwork from the late Antique and early Medieval periods when full body images of God were considered close enough to idolatry to be heretical. Since hands are naturally the human body part most used for doing things, the disembodied hand therefore could be used to show agency and action, without risking heresy by attempting to show the full form of God.

* PlayedWith in Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle and its DirectToVideo sequel, where the narrator (something of a metaphorical God to the series) will frequently interfere with the plot by reaching down and fixing things himself, comically invoking the "hand of god" imagery.

Put simply, this is where God (whether it be the Judeo-Christian one, or some similar supreme being) is depicted as a disembodied hand or hands. It may be implied that He still has a body somewhere, but it's obscured by mountains, clouds, light, energy, or any number of other things... or maybe it just isn't there at all. Usually, this hand will be giant-sized, [[HeavenAbove coming out from the sky]], and possibly accompanied by a booming voice, though those attributes aren't strictly necessary. For example, the hand of God which appears in [[Literature/TheBible the Book of Daniel]] is apparently normal size, appears inside a building, and is completely silent.

This trope is OlderThanFeudalism. The image of the hand to symbolize God occurs quite a lot in the Pentateuch, and it was popular in artwork from the late Antique and early Medieval periods, when full body images of God were considered close enough to idolatry to be heretical. Since hands are naturally the human body part most used for doing things, the disembodied hand therefore could be used to show agency and action, without risking heresy by attempting to show the full form of God.

* PlayedWith in Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle and its DirectToVideo sequel, where the narrator (something of a metophorical God to the series) will frequently interfere with the plot by reaching down and fixing things himself, comically invoking the "hand of god" imagery.

* In ''Literature/TheStand'', at the end Randall Flagg tortures one of his men with a ball of electricity he'd conjured. At this point there is a huge distraction and Flagg loses concentration on the ball and it flutters away. The distraction was the Trashcan Man, who'd found a nuclear bomb and towed it all the way back to Las Vegas. Flagg panics and tries to tell Trashcan to get rid of it. Then one of the men who'd been sent to challenge Flagg screams "The Hand Of God!" and points. The ball of electricity had grown to an enormous size, it was heading straight for the nuclear bomb, ''and it looked just like a hand.'' You only get one guess as to what happened when it reached the bomb...
* In ''Literature/CultivationChatGroup'' the 8th Heavenly Way used the appearance of huge transparent hands to capture the protagonist and move him to the a special prison area that makes the world forget the prisoner.

* ''Series/{{Bottom}}'': In "Hole", Richie and Eddie are saved from falling off a ferris wheel by God, depicted as a giant hand. (Which then vanishes when they realise they don't actually believe in Him).

* Most decks of UsefulNotes/TarotCards have Ace cards that depict a giant disembodied hand extending from a cloud and holding a Sword, Cup, Staff or Pentacle.

* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'': The God of ''Sinfest'' is literally a giant disembodied hand (sometimes two) and a booming, disembodied voice. Sometimes He uses a handpuppet.