Line #138 Main/HelpingHands


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14	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheAddamsFamily https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13932674847_f0541aaf48_b.jpg]]]]
15	[[caption-width-right:350:He just can't handle the kickflip.]]
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21	Did you just chop apart the evil zombie or robot you were fighting? Keep an eye on all the parts, because it's only a matter of time before that severed hand starts to spider-crawl after you, or scuttle off for some nefarious purpose.
22
23	With zombies and similar creatures, the ability for the hand to function independently is often a result of some sort of supernatural energy. With robots, it's usually a result of EasilyDetachableRobotParts.
24
25	See EvilHand for when this happens ''before'' it gets lopped off. When its deliberately done during a fight, it's an example of DetachmentCombat.
26
27	For other lopped off yet functional body parts see: LosingYourHead, OrganAutonomy, BrainInAJar and AnimateBodyParts.
28
29	Not to be confused with HandyHelper.
30
31	-----
32	!Examples:
33
34	Note to editors: the examples are divided by type.
35
36	[[foldercontrol]]
37
38	!!Robots
39
40	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
41	* Sirene in ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' can detach her arms and control them independently of the rest of her body with psychic abilities. The 1990 OVA takes this up a notch by having the detached arm capable of [[SpectacularSpinning rotating at such high speed]] that it can become a DeadlyDisc while in flight.
42	* ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' have a gadget called the Spray-on Hands (most likely made of nanobots), that when applied on its user's hands, manifests as a pair of disembodied, floating hands that carries out whatever given tasks. Nobita uses this gadget to slack off as his floating hands does his homework for him, only for the gadget to (what else?) backfire hilariously - forgetting Doraemon's advice to re-apply the spray once the task is complete, Nobita, waking up from a nap, finds out his floating hands have scribbled a ''hole'' in his maths book.
43	* The Creator/JunjiIto horror manga, ''Manga/{{Gyo}}'' have Tadashi's MadScientist uncle cutting off an arm after it's attached to a compact-sized walking machine. Said arm somehow assimilates with the machine itself and gains a life of it's own, scaring the bejesus out of Kaori (at the sight of a severed human hand on robotic legs) later on.
44	* ''Anime/MazingerZ'':
45	** Several [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Monsters]] -- such like Deimos F3 and Briver A3 -- could detach their hands from themselves and attacking with them, or simply picking or holding their enemies.
46	** The titular HumongousMecha is an heroic example: During his first battle in the manga Doublas M2 coils one of its necks around one of its forearms and rips it off... and then [[RocketPunch the wrenched arm flies on its own and punches through Doublas M2]]. This scene is replied in the first opening. [[TheHero Kouji]] often also uses Mazinger's fists to pick things or people.
47	* The Zeong mobile suit from, well, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' can disconnect its arms at the elbow (they're connected by wires, but very long ones) in order to attack with its beam cannon fingers from any angle. For example, it could disconnect an arm and circle around a GM in order to shoot it in the back, bypassing its shield, but this isn't very necessary given its incredible power. This ability was built into the suit in order to let pilot Char Aznable make use of his telepathy to guide the arms and attack from unpredictable angles. There are several mobile suits in Gundam that use this ability, such as the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Hamma Hamma]] and [[Anime/TurnAGundam Turn X]].
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
51	* All parts of ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' can move on their own, for self-repair purposes. This was also in the original book.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
55	* ''Film/IronMan3'' has an impressive scene where Jarvis detaches a modular armor's forearm to help Tony without any prompting [[spoiler:as he was too busy drowning at the time]].
56	* The detached hand of B-4 grabs at Worf's ankle in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Literature]]
60	* ''Literature/FamilySkeletonMysteries'': After learning how to control his other bones from a distance (Sid's consciousness is based out of his skull), Sid uses one hand to write notes to Georgia, leading her to where his skull is.
61	* ''Literature/TheIronMan'': The eponymous giant is shattered into pieces falling off a cliff in the opening page of the book. A single hand animates, picks up an eye and starts piecing the rest of the iron man back together.
62	* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries''. In ''Network Effect'' the title character, a cyborg, finds itself suspended upside-down over a pit with its arms taunt so it can't break free. Murderbot [[EasilyDetachableRobotParts detaches a hand]] which involves individually disconnecting circuits and tearing loose some flesh and nerves (fortunately it can dial down its pain sensors), then walking the hand by the fingers up onto the arm, which is then torn free of its cuff whereupon the hand is reattached. Murderbot is then easily able to break the other cuffs. The main risk involved dropping its hand during all this, which would have left Murderbot screwed.
63	* ''Literature/PianoLessonsCanBeMurder'' have the kid protagonist, Jerry, finding out his school to be haunted by ghostly, severed hands of the past students (as shown on the book's cover). But in TheReveal late into the story, [[spoiler: those hands turns out to be robotic, belonging to the school's best students in the past who ends up being murdered by the janitor - a SerialKiller obsessed with music - who then collects and convert their hands into piano-playing automatons because "music sounds better without human error"]]. Yikes!
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
67	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
68	** An android does this when his hand blocks a door in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]". The person in the room later uses the hand against another [[spoiler: heroic]] android, which leads to the immortal line, "Please do not throw hands at me!"
69	** The detached Cyberman arm and octopus-head-thing in the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens The Pandorica Opens]]". They even shoot out tranquilizer darts!
70	* Tenaya 7 in ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' often detaches her hand to have it get into places she can't.
71	* ''Series/RedDwarf'':
72	** After suffering critical damage, Kryten uses one of his hands, an eye, and assorted other parts to build a miniature robot for the express purpose of getting help. And then the miniature robot starts running around in Lister's "joy department".
73	** In another episode where the main characters are back on the Dwarf and imprisoned, another part of Kryten's "fully simulated anatomy" detaches itself and starts to scurry about the cell.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Video Games]]
77	* ''VideoGame/SARSearchAndRescue'' have disembodied, hovering giant robot hands as recurring enemies, who travels via jet boosters on the wrists and attacks by trying to grab at you. Strangely, you fight nearly fifty robotic hands the entire game, but at no point do you see the other body parts.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Webcomics]]
81	* In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', Nin Wah's [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic arm]] seems to have enough of a mind of its own that [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/09/27/whod-listen-anyway/ it can grab MOUSE as it floats past]], [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/12/13/if-its-not-one-thing/ crawl through the air vents, and terrify Mittens.]]
82	* In [[Webcomic/ConspiracyResearchClub Conspiracy Research Club]], the gang temporarily adopts a disembodied hand from the Faceless Underground.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Web Videos]]
86	* In ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', [[spoiler: Mechakara]]'s hand has to contain a stupendous amount of technology for [[spoiler:Lord Vyse]]'s escape plan to work -- technology that does not seem to serve much purpose being installed in a ''hand''. Of course, as it turns out, this is exactly what he needs, so...
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Western Animation]]
90	* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'': XR has to do this as part of his ChewToy job on occasion.
91	* Bender from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' does this frequently, often for the purpose of stealing things while everyone's distracted by some other part of him. The ''very first episode'' has Bender putting ''both'' of his detached arms back on, with Fry [[LampshadeHanging wondering how he did it.]]
92	* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterBeach'': In one episode, Widget's hand leaves her arm and starts to make trouble to her friends.
93	* Cyborg from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' apparently built spy-drone capability into his modular hands on purpose (though, presumably, the hands weren't both modified at the same time).
94	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
95	** Optimus Prime is disassembled, and he controls his limbs to re-unite, via robot telepathy, in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''.
96	** In a weird variant of this trope, Megatron can ''turn into'' a giant, disembodied hand in ''[[Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise Robots in Disguise]]''.
97	** A both robotic ''and'' zombie version occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' episode "Shadowzone". After shooting off [[spoiler:Zombie Skyquake]]'s arm (using ''Starscream's'' disembodied arm, no less), Jack, Raf, and Miko are then promptly pursued by it.
98	--->'''Miko:''' How can a zombie arm move faster than the actual zombie?
99	** [[ArmCannon Shockwave]] of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse'' still has his left hand which serves as a lab assistant.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	!!Zombies & Other Spookiness
103
104	[[folder:Advertising]]
105	* The mascot for Hamburger Helper is a disembodied glove with a face on it.
106	* And Arby's mascot is an oven mitt.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
110	* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Suzu can summon and control free-floating parts of her [[SelfDuplication omokage]], which unlike the whole thing seems to be InvisibleToNormals. She first uses them [[PowerPerversionPotential to feel up Matsuri in class]].
111	* In the anime ''Literature/VampireHunterD'', we have the title vampire hunter's left hand, which has somehow gotten a Demon embedded in it. Said demon is shown by having a ''face'' in the palm of the hand, including eyes, nose, and mouth. After being severed in a rather gory scene that includes D being staked through the heart, the hand crawls back to D's body, reattaches itself to D's arm, ''pulls out the stake'', then attempts to revive D by a) eating earth for energy (with accompanying belch afterward), b) sucking wind to give him breath, then pounding on his chest to restart his heart. All this while a monster approaches that would be the [[DeaderThanDead Final Death]] for D. Naturally, he wakes up in time to kill the monster and progress through the story. Of course, all this is helped by the titular D being a ''dhampir'', a half-human half-vampire hybrid.[[note]] ''{{Dhampyr}}s'', from Balkan folklore, are the children of male vampires and female humans, with all the powers of vampires and none of the weaknesses. (The word was transliterated into Japanese as "danpiru", which was then transliterated back into English as "dunpeal" or "dhampiel", leading to all kinds of interesting confusion.)[[/note]]
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Comic Books]]
115	* ''[[{{Creator/ECComics}} Haunt of Fear]]'' had an issue about a man who was sold a gorilla's paw. Whatever he wished for, the paw would animate to grant him. It carried out its tasks ruthlessly, murdering anyone in its way to complete them. At first horrified by the accidental deaths, the man is reassured by a friend that he's set for life with such a thing at his command. He says he wishes he had his friends brains, which the paw essentially grants by brute forcing a brain transplant.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
119	* One ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' comic has Calvin's dad about to read him a bedtime story about "the Disembodied Hand That Strangled People". He ends up frightening Calvin and making him faint when he sticks his own hand through his sweater and pretends the hand has caught him.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Fan Works]]
123	* In ''Fanfic/HardBeingPure'', parts that are separated from Noa's body retain a certain amount of consciousness and can act independently, as shown by her disjointed arm when she got bullied by the sophomores, or when her hand crawled back to her after Noa cut it off.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
127	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', the Other Mother's disembodied hand, which is a spindly abomination made of sewing needles, pursues Coraline all the way to the real world.
128	* In ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', the title character Emily has a skeletal right arm. After she first appears rising from the ground, said arm starts crawling after a fleeing Victor until she picks it back up. Much later in the movie, when the two are performing a piano duet, her hand comes off on its own and proceeds to crawl onto Victor's shoulder.
129	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' gives us Sally, a sentient doll made from leaves and cloth bags. [[spoiler:She detaches her hands to untie Santa's binding while one of her legs attracts Oogie-Boogie, the Boogey man.]]
130	* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool'', the eponymous school has a butler who is a floating white hand.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
134	* ''Film/Asylum1972Horror'': In "Frozen Fear", Ruth's severed arm strangles her murderous husband Walter, and later attempts to strangle Walter's mistress Bonnie.
135	* ''Film/TheBeastWithFiveFingers'' revolves around a murderous hand that has detached itself from the corpse of a dead pianist and which attempts to kill the heirs to his will. Except the ending has some of the survivors suggest it was actually a plot by a greedy heir to kill off the others, only for that heir to end up killing himself after he went mad and began believing his own lie.
136	* ''Film/BigTitsZombie'': When [[spoiler:Darna]] is transformed into a zombie, her hand is severed from her body. The hand then continues to try to pick up the money she had been attempting to gather.
137	* Null the biker zombie from ''Film/BrainDead''; after getting chopped to pieces his body parts and organs continue to attack Lionel.
138	* ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods''. A zombie gets hacked up by one of the protagonists, but its limbs are still twitching. When a guard bursts in with the intention of shooting them, a zombie hand [[AnkleDrag grabs his ankle]], distracting him. The protagonists knock the guard out and the last thing we see as the doors close is [[NightmareFuel the hand crawling up to the unconscious man's face...]]
139	* In ''Film/AChristmasCarolTheMusical'', one of Marley's ghost companions carries a [[Series/TheAddamsFamily Thing-style]] hand in a box as his [[IronicHell ironic punishment]] for "never lending a hand".
140	* In the "Disembodied Hand" segment of ''Film/DrTerrorsHouseOfHorrors'', Franklyn Marsh runs over artist Eric Landor and causes his hand to be amputated. Landor's amputated hand comes after Marsh seeking vengeance.
141	* Ash's severed hand comes back to cause him trouble in ''Film/EvilDead2''.
142	* In ''Film/TheEyeCreatures'', one of the creatures' severed hand takes refuge in someone's car.
143	-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Crow]]:''' [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Got a booger on my finger, and I can't get it off!]]
144	* In ''Film/TheHand'', cartoonist Jon Lansdale's severed hand acquires a life of its own and starts murdering those who anger him.
145	* The Hong Kong horror film ''Film/{{Hex}}'' have the ghost of Lady Chan creating an illusion where she reanimates her hand to attack a priest trying to exorcise her.
146	* The zombie-witch thing in ''Film/{{House}}''. No, not the one with Hugh Laurie.
147	* In the stoner comedy ''Film/IdleHands'', the main character severs his own demonically possessed right hand and microwaves it to stop the killing. [[FromBadtoWorse It only makes matters worse.]]
148	* They weren't detached from anyone... probably, but the TropeNamers are the "Helping Hands" of ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', which are fairly creepy and actually do seem to mean well but are very LiteralMinded. They ''were'' trying to help, not their fault "she chose ''down''."
149	* The Syfy original movie, ''Film/{{Mammoth}}'', have a scene where a frozen, severed hand (ending from the wrist) gets brought to life by static electricity and then starts running around on fingers.
150	* Various mummies in (wait for it...) ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy'' pull this move. Rick actually manages to turn it to his advantage. A sword is lying just out or reach, but once a severed mummy hand grabs it he then just grabs the hand and pulls the sword to him.
151	* The ''Film/{{Phantasm}}'' series does this a couple of times, first with severed fingers, later with whole hands.
152	* One of the many Yokai in ''Film/PeacockKing'' is a giant clawed hand hiding in a woman's locker. The Shinto priest, Lucky Fruit, managed to sever said hand, only for it to continue crawling around trying to fight back.
153	* Governor Swann gets to deal with a undead hand in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl''.
154	* ''Film/ScarecrowSlayer'': Just before Caleb's father is killed in TheTeaser, the Scarecrow's arm can be seen skittering along the ground in front of the tractor.
155	* In ''Film/{{Splinter}}'', a severed hand infected by the spike-virus skitters across a floor after the protagonists. More dangerous than most, as even slight contact with a victim's skin could potentially pass the virus along via the quills it's sprouted.
156	* In ''Film/TrickRTreat'', Sam's hand continues to try to kill Mr. Kreeg after Kreeg has severed it from Sam's body.
157	* ''Film/TwiceToldTales'': In "The House of Seven Gables", Gerald is strangled by the skeletal hand of Matthew Moll which launches itself out of the safe and clamps itself around his throat.
158	* A severed zombie hand crawls across a lawn at the end of ''Film/{{Waxwork}}''. In the sequel it murders someone, and the characters who destroy it then must hunt through several worlds to bring back proof it wasn't the LoveInterest who committed the crime. [[spoiler: Their proof is yet another zombie hand.]]
159	* ''Film/YouDontMessWithTheZohan'': In a flashback, Zohan's hand is cut off by a terrorist. Said hand proceeds to strangle the terrorist and give Zohan a bottle of soda, and he later gets it reattached.
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Folklore]]
163	* In Myth/BrazilianFolklore, the Little Black Hand / Mãozinha Preta is a haunting from the Southeast region with the appearance of a disembodied black hand that could harm wanderers at night. Some versions, however, say the hand could be pretty helpful as well when summoned, obeying orders and doing domestic chores. However, the hand would never harm slaves: one story tells about a slaveowner who ordered it to punish a woman slave, only for the hand to rebel against its master in fury, hence why it is also called Little Hand of Justice.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
167	* ''Literature/FightingFantasy''
168	** In the first book, ''Literature/TheWarlockOfFiretopMountain'', you will come across a room full of tiles in the shape of hands, or stars. If you stepped on a hand tile, you'll be attacked by dozens and dozens of ghostly hands materializing out of those tiles, which you must destroy in order to reach the other end. The star-tiles on the other hand are harmless.
169	** ''Literature/BeneathNightmareCastle'' have a really horrifying example, where the player, after defeating a bunch of soldiers, can choose to open a chest they're carrying or simply abandon it. Choose the former and it turns out the chest is filled with ''severed limbs'', who then comes to life crawling out to attack, and must be hacked to pieces. Choose the latter option and the book actually ''rewards'' the player by increasing his SanityMeter, saying he felt "an overwhelming sense of relief, for some reason, after leaving the mysterious chest".
170	* ''Literature/LoneWolf'':
171	** From the book ''Castle Death'', the Rahkos is a floating, undead hand fond of eating brains. Unfortunately for Lone Wolf, he's confronted to it in a NoGearLevel, and it's rather hard to put down for good without a magic weapon.
172	** The novelization of ''Fire on the Water'' also describes the severed limbs of the zombies from Vonotar's ghost fleet still moving on their own until hacked to pieces.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Literature]]
176	* The Other Mother in the ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' story [[spoiler: loses her right hand as the titular Coraline escapes from the MirrorUniverse. Then the right hand starts following Coraline around, trying to get the key to let the Other Mother through.]]
177	* C.H. (short for Crawling Hand) works as a masseur and bathhouse towel-boy in the fourth ''Literature/DanShambleZombiePI'' novel.
178	* The first supernatural entity encountered in ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' is a severed left arm reanimated by resentful energy, killing several people and replacing their left arms with itself in its quest to find its original body. When finally subdued, it demonstrates the ability to point to the locations of its other body parts like a compass, kickstarting the overarching scavenger hunt/murder mystery of the novel.
179	* In the 1838 penny dreadful ''Hugues, the Wer-Wolf'', a butcher who'd chopped the werewolf's hand off tries to get rid of the severed part by burying it or dropping it down a well, but it keeps turning up again at his home, as if it's crawling back when he's not watching. [[spoiler: A subversion, as it's strongly implied that his daughter is secretly retrieving it and planting it in her father's house, to punish him for maiming the werewolf with whom she's in love.]]
180	* In ''The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes, published as ''The Iron Giant'' in the United States and very loosely adapted into the film of the same name, the title character arrives on Earth as a large collection of disassembled bits that then have to assemble themselves. The book example probably belongs here rather than in the Robots folder, as the titular Iron Man behaves more like a ''kaiju'' than a HumongousMecha.
181	* In ''Masques'', Aralorn has to get rid of an undead arm by crossing running water, and she mentions that taking the arm with her might result in the undead reassembling itself wherever the arm is.
182	* Necromancers who stay alive way too long in ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' turn into Dyrmagnos, beings with withered corpse bodies. If you cut them up without separating the body parts, they will rejoin. The wizards' museum has a pair of hands from an infamous Dyrmagnos which still move after hundreds of years.
183	* The Handlingers from ''Literature/PerdidoStreetStation'' and its sequels are simply creatures that look like disconnected hands. They also happen to be {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s.
184	* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Vera Miligan [[LiteralDisarming gets her left hand cut off]] in volume 1, and when she reappears in volume 2, she's reanimated the hand into a {{familiar}} which she dubs "Milihand". Oliver is baffled at why she would do this given she could have easily had the hand reattached, but Katie, [[FriendToAllLivingThings typically]], thinks Milihand is just as cute as Miligan does.
185	* In ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish'', the [[BadGuyBar Old Pink Dog Bar]] is home to the disembodied hand of its former owner, who bequeathed it to medical science on his deathbed; medical science didn't like the look of it and bequeathed it back to the bar. It is characterised by a fierce loyalty to the bar and an eagerness to employ extreme violence against anyone who breaks the rules, such as [[FelonyMisdemeanor asking for credit]]. The current barman doesn't believe in the supernatural, but he knows a useful ally when he sees one.
186	* The severed hand of an executed sorcerer seeks vengeance on the man who betrayed him in the ''Literature/SolomonKane'' short story "The Right Hand of Doom".
187	* The wights in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' have limbs that continue to move about and attack even after dismemberment.
188	* Patchwork, a.k.a. Modular Woman, from the ''Literature/WildCards'' novels, can tear off her body parts and use them remotely. She had people plant her eyes and ear (she needed the other ear to communicate with others) where they could spy on her boss's enemies.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
192	* Thing from ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' is the TropeCodifier.
193	* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS01E04IFallToPieces I Fall to Pieces]]" has a surgeon who can detach parts of himself to aid in stalking/molesting his victims.
194	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy herself once had to sell a detached mummy hand to a picky customer. [[GroundhogDayLoop It didn't go so well.]]
195	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
196	** The infamous "Hand of Sutekh" from the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]". While this is only really a stagehand's hand holding down Sutekh's cushion when he first stands up, it has become an in-joke among ''Doctor Who'' fans.
197	** Played straight for a spell in the classic story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E2TheHandOfFear The Hand of Fear]]".
198	** A living plastic mannequin's arm in the first episode of the new series, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]", tries to strangle the Ninth Doctor.
199	** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E8TheHauntingOfVillaDiodati The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]": Lord Byron has, for very Byronic reasons, brought a 15th-century sailor's skeleton to the party in a chest. Its hands, and only its hands, are reanimated and escape. One of them tries to throttle Ryan, conveniently putting the idea of a duel out of Polidori's mind.
200	* ''Series/GoodEats'' lampshades Thing from ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''. The Thing in ''Good Eats'' is canonically the grandson of the one from ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''.
201	* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. The episode that plays with this trope is even called "Helping Hand"! Although it isn't very helpful after Alex uses it to clean up the shop, then doesn't give it a break or reward it in any way.
202	[[/folder]]
203
204	[[folder:Pinballs]]
205	* In ''Pinball/TheAddamsFamily'', Thing will come out of its box at certain times to pluck pinballs.
206	-->'''Gomez Addams:''' That's the spirit, Thing! Lend a hand!
207	* The EdutainmentGame ''Pinball/TheBrain'' has a disembodied hand on the playfield to represent the sense of touch.
208	* The playfield for ''Pinball/PinballMagic'' features Matra Magna's disembodied hand, holding her MagicWand.
209	[[/folder]]
210
211	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
212	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
213	** [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]] can attack with any severed parts.
214	** In 3.5, Warlocks have an invocation that severs their ''own'' hand, which animates and crawls around like a spider, to be used as a sort of scout. They can also do this with an ''[[EyeScream eye]]''. Don't worry, the limbs come back.
215	** Lebendtod of TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} can remove their hands, heads, or whole limbs in a similar manner.
216	** "Bigby's Many Hands" line of spells, which summon the disembodied hands of, presumably, the Wizard Bigby, which do various "things" depending on the spell. Similar spells are ''mage's hand'', which is for non-combat purposes, the ''spectral hand'', and others, including one even called ''helping hand''.
217	** The ''Book of Vile Darkness'' has the ''grim revenge'' spell, used by undead caster, to sever (painfully) the hand of a living victim, and then animate it as an undead monstrosity bent on draining the lifeforce of its previous owner.
218	** Also from ''Book of Vile Darkness'', the spell ''Graz'zt's long grasp'' detaches the hand of the caster and sends it flying around. It can flank or grapple, though its main interest is to transmit touch spells, making it a superior (but riskier) version of ''spectral hand''.
219	** TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms adds a lot of variations, such as ''Alcimer's flying fist'' or ''Daltim's flaming fist'' (the signature spell of a Halruaan [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]] [[PlayingWithFire pyromancer]]: the same general idea, but [[IncendiaryExponent on fire]]) and a few grasping and/or attacking claw variants, such as ''Caligarde's claw'' and ''Manshoon's xorn talons''. There are also more tricky and obscure spells like ''Halaster's grappling hand'' (door-sized force hand selectively intercepting magical attacks and creatures with magic items, but passing through non-magical matter) or ''Duhlark's long reach'' (large arm remotely formed from any present material that can grab, smash or pull ''and'' conducts spells like Spectral Hand).
220	** Crawling claws, a [[GoddamnedBats mindless, weak, but usually swarming]] monster originally from TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms -- an animated severed hand in any shape from fresh to skeletal. It doesn't count as a proper undead, just a construct, thus is not turnable and even good wizards sometimes make one or two dozens. Mostly used as a guardian, but there's a more useful flying variety which can grasp and move at once, so those who can make them get hovering test-tube holders and suchlike. The vampiric variant, though, is much nastier.
221	** In ''CD&D'', a powerful form of undead known as the druj exists, which takes the form of animated body parts: either eyes, skulls, or this trope.
222	* The advantage Independent Body Parts from ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: Powers''.
223	* In some scenarios of ''TabletopGame/{{Mansions of Madness}}'' dead bodies spawn 2 autonomous hands under GM's control. These buggers are more annoying than all the zombies and demons combined.
224	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'', the Crawling Hand is an Undead monster; it can be fought normally, or, if you give it an item, it becomes your pet crawling hand and gives you a combat bonus.
225	[[/folder]]
226
227	[[folder:Video Games]]
228	* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos: Eternal Wings And The Lost Ocean'' you have the Devilish Hands and their [[PaletteSwap family of monsters]]. Unusual in that they're two hands, fused together at the bottom of the palm, and they crawl along akin to a GiantSpider.
229	* The Choking Hands from the ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' series. They're the only "clingy" enemy in the whole game, and [[ButtonMashing the "use" key has to be mashed]] to toss them off[[note]]in the release build, a GameBreakingBug made it so they couldn't be shaken off, putting them square into "DemonicSpiders with InstantDeathRadius" territory[[/note]]. They're [[FragileSpeedster extremely weak]] to compensate for their irritating attack strategy and speed easily capable of keeping up with Caleb. They return in ''VideoGame/BloodIITheChosen'', and when they see the player, they'll stand on the wrist stump and [[FlippingTheBird give them the ol' one-finger salute]] before going after them.
230	-->''"I'll swallow your soul!"
231	* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' has this as a major issue with one of its enemies.
232	* In Post-2014 ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', severing body parts from the undead renders them inanimate, but necromancers and mummies can easily ''re''animate the body parts so long as they have a part capable of grasping (i.e. hands, mouths, pincers). They can even do this to body parts severed from living beings, so adventures can find themselves in the unlucky circumstance of having to fight their own severed arm.
233	* A stage in ''VideoGame/FlashOfTheBlade'' have you on a boat when deformed hands starts rising out of the water's surface to claw at you, which you need to fend off. Bonus points for [[EyesDoNotBelongThere those hands being covered in eyes]].
234	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
235	** The Floormaster and Wallmaster enemy types in games resemble gigantic disembodied monster hands.
236	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has Zant's hands in the Palace of Twilight. Each hand holds one of the Sols that Link has to steal. When the Sol is removed from one of them it will come to life and try to take it back.
237	** Several games have an undead hand that lives in a toilet and asks Link for paper for unexplained reasons. The one that appears in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' is revealed to be named Phoeni [[AllThereInTheManual in a guide]], but it is unclear if the ones who appeared in previous (though chronologically later) games are the same character or not.
238	* The old Infocom text adventure ''VideoGame/TheLurkingHorror'' had one, in the form of an amputated human hand you could reanimate. It's actually very helpful to you, and is key for surviving some of the late game challenges, including helping you defeat the FinalBoss.
239	* ''VideoGame/MysticDefender'' have gigantic draconic hands ending at the stump as an enemy late into the game, as large as your player hero. They attack either by clawing at you or materializing a round, exploding projectile from their palms, which they then drop from above.
240	* ''VideoGame/{{Phelios}}'' has a really creepy area where your character gets attacked by floating, severed blue limbs (ripped at the elbow) who tries grabbing you.
241	* ''VideoGame/{{Struggling}}'': After [[spoiler: [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext curing Amadeus' heart cancer]]]], he gifts Troy with the ability to separate and move his arms independently of their body.
242	* Master Hand and Crazy Hand from ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' are giant, disembodied, floating, gloved hands.
243	* Guybrush's left hand gains a mind of its own when it's infected by the [[HatePlague Pox of LeChuck]] in ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland Tales]] of VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'', and acts on its own whether or not it's attached to Guybrush's arm.
244	* VideoGame/{{Tibia}} has [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Hands of Cursed Fate]], which are human-sized purple hands. They're one of the strongest enemies from the unnamed [[AnotherDimension Demon dimension]] and, by extension, in the entire game.
245	* One of these is available as a non-combat pet in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
246	[[/folder]]
247
248	[[folder:Web Animation]]
249	* ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles'': The evil mad scientist witch-doctor Quinn-Ora is assisted in battle by nine floating severed hands from various creatures that have whips tied to each finger.
250	* ''WebAnimation/MysterySkullsAnimated'': Arthur's left arm is seen moving about on its own and gaining a sinister eye in its palm after it was torn off of him when he was possessed by something through it.
251	[[/folder]]
252
253	[[folder:Webcomics]]
254	* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/031016c You have fun with Chadling's hand]].
255	* ''Webcomic/{{Paranatural}}'': [[MeaningfulName Lefty]], the ghost of a left hand. He's one of the most effective combatants in the series.
256	-->'''Max:''' How do you know he's a ghost? Couldn't he just be a hand-shaped spirit?\
257	'''Left:''' ''[shows Max his wrist]''\
258	'''Max:''' Oh my. [[BodyHorror Them's tendons.]]\
259	'''PJ:''' One hundred percent flesh and blood, brother! [-well not really but you know what I mean-]
260	[[/folder]]
261
262	[[folder:Western Animation]]
263	* In the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' episode "Hands on a Hamburger", Master Shake detaches his hand/glove so he can go to the bathroom while still technically touching the giant hamburger. This startles Frylock, who apparently didn't know Shake could do that.
264	* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Little Gift Shop of Horror", one segment involves Grunkle Stan's hands getting stolen by a "Handwitch", who has a veritable army of disembodied hands at her beck and call.
265	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Eda gets off her staff and one of her hands detaches and is left clutching it. The hand cracks its knuckles, freaking out Luz.
266	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Frankendoodle", [=SpongeBob=] finds a magic pencil that brings drawings to life, so he uses it to draw a picture of himself. Unfortunately, "[=DoodleBob=]" runs amok, and [=SpongeBob=] has to erase him. But he missed one arm, which then crawls its way to [=SpongeBob's=] home and uses the pencil to regenerate [=DoodleBob=], who then plans to KillAndReplace our hero.
267	[[/folder]]
268
269	!!Other Examples
270
271	[[folder:Comic Books]]
272	* In Creator/SalvadorDali's ''ComicBook/GiraffesOnHorsebackSalad'', [[Creator/MarxBrothers Groucho]] is often assisted by a swarm of disembodied hands that perform assorted odd jobs.
273	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HelpingHands