I swear to God this is not a tattoo!
Sometimes, the character will wake up and find out that there's something odd with his right hand or the entire arm, or that a mark just appeared over its palm.
Either way, the character's right hand (or left) has a mysterious and strange power, it can do things that make him unique from the rest of the cast, or it has some unknown important purpose.
Some characters developed its own version via technology. There can be some cases where the power is granted by God or the Devil.
See also Evil Hand when the character gets a transplanted, malevolent hand (or limb).
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- A Certain Magical Index: There are three different abilities in the right hands of three characters. Touma has Imagine Breaker, the ability to negate any supernatural power (psychic, magic, and even divine). Fiamma of the Right has the Holy Right, which allows him to do anything ever done by a right hand in Christianity. Kakeru has World Rejecter, the ability to banish anyone with conflicting desires in their heart and anything created by such people to a pocket dimension.
- Dream Eater Merry: Yumeji Fujiwara, also has the ability in daydreams to create weapons or replicate abilities he has seen with his right hand.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Greed (and later, Ling) has an ouroboros tattoo on his right hand, marking him as a Homunculus.
- Guilty Crown: Shu Ouma, the main character, whose right hand holds a special power called the Power of Kings.
- Midori Days: Seiji wakes up one morning to find that his right hand has been replaced with the upper body of a schoolmate who has a massive crush on him. This forces him to bandage his hand, leading to rumors that he hurt himself punching through a yakuza's car (on the not-uncommon occasions where the bandages fall off, he's thought to be a hand-puppet otaku).
- In Parasyte, the parasite fails to take over Shinichi's head and ends up inside his right hand. As a parasite, Migi is able to shapeshift into all manner of forms and weapons.
- The power granting crest of Taboo-Tattoo are generally on their characters hands.
- Yusei Fudo from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds has this reaction when his Dragon mark first appears in his duel with Jack Atlas, revealing him to be a "Signer". The mark then appears and disappears intermittently until after his duel with Akiza, when it becomes permanent.
Comic Books
- The titular Claw The Unconquered. His family is cursed to have demon hands throughout their bloodline as a result of a deal his father made with demons.
- Hellboy has his right hand which is apparently made of stone (though the same color as the rest of him) and has a role in starting the Apocalypse.
- Star Brand: Ken Connell, a mechanic from Pittsburgh, encounters a disguised, dying alien (the Old Man) and is gifted the titular Star Brand, which grants him vast cosmic powers. The Star Brand manifests as a mark on the palm of his hand.
Fan Works
- A Certain Unknown Level 0: Touma's right hand has Imagine Breaker, the ability to negate any supernatural power (psychic, magic, and even divine).
Film — Live-Action
- In District 9, Wikus undergoes a startling transformation starting with his hand, and gains the ability to manipulate alien technology.
Literature
- Subverted Trope in Dishonored: The Corroded Man. Zhukov has an Outsider's Mark on his hand, but it has nothing to do with his abilities. Instead, it’s a consequence of his insanity.
- In Flametouched by Brian K. Fuller, the Eternal Flame, the protective elemental spirit of Bittermarch, brands its mark on the palm those who gain the Flame's trust as an ally against destructive spirits. Those with a special destiny get marks on both palms.
Video Games
- Devil May Cry 4 introduces Nero, who has the demonic "Devil Bringer" for a right arm that grants him a host of supernatural abilities.
- Dishonored and Dishonored 2 give a character "the Mark of the Outsider" on the back of their left hand after the Outsider grants someone supernatural abilities.
- God Hand: Gene's right hand is one of the legendary God Hands he receives from Olivia. Azel has the other, the left hand known as the Devil Hand.
- Last Story: Protagonist Zael has the "Mark of the Outsider" due to an event in the prologue. This glowing tattoo grants a few supernatural abilities.
- Across The Legend of Zelda, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf have the mark of the whole Triforce on their dominant hands, with the corner representing their respective pieces (Courage, Wisdom, and Power) glowing.
- Mega Man Zero 4: Zero has the "Z Knuckle", a weapon chip implanted in his hand that allows him to steal the enemy's weapon and use it as his own.
- Nanashi of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, after agreeing to work for the god Dagda in exchange for his own resurrection, wakes up and finds that his left arm has glowing green tattoos as a symbol of his Deal with the Devil. Later, if he attempts to defy one of Dagda's orders (unseal Krishna by putting his hand on a stone), he will be forced to do it with his tattooed left hand, despite being right-handed otherwise.
Visual Novels
- Command Seals in Fate/stay night tend to take this form.
- Rin's Magical Crest, which in some versions will glow when being used, appears on her right arm and just extending onto her hand.
