HAND of FIVE

Real Name: Hand of Five

Identity/Class: Terrestrial (or just slightly extraterrestrial) artificial creation

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership: Dr. Demonicus' monsters

Affiliations: Cerberus, "Dinosoids," Dr. Demonicus, Starchild

Enemies: Followers of the Light (Basque, Charn, Sherna, Tambura), Kosei Ono, Shogun Warriors (Genji Odashu/Combatra, Ilongo Savage/Dangard Ace, Richard Carson/Raydeen); humanity in general

Known Relatives: None. Demonicus' other creations might be considered its brethren, and Dr. Demonicus and Maur-Kon were their creators.

Aliases: Five Heads of Doom, Hand of Five Dooms

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
    formerly Dr. Demonicus' orbiting space-station (destroyed);
        Tokyo, Japan

First Appearance: Shogun Warriors#9 (October, 1979)

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: The Hand of Five was an immense creature, roughly comparable in size to one of the Shogun Warriors (who were about 100' tall, if I remember correctly). It was in the form of an immense human hand, with powerful jets (or rockets) at the "wrist," enabling it to fly at great speeds. Each digit was patterned after a serpent (or dragon)'s head; all five digits could be discharged from their "knuckle" setting, and each could generate rocket propulsion from its base. The digits could breathe fire, and they could also extrude weapons from the metal bands which were both "necks" and "finger-joints" to the serpent-digits. Some fired missiles or energy blasts, and at least one of them could generate giant buzz saws on each side of its base--these buzz saws could also be launched at a target. Certain trauma to the "palm" could cause it to forcibly discharge or reattach the digits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History:
(Shogun Warriors#13 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#3: Dr. Demonicus) -
    Dr. Demonicus created Cerberus, the Hand of Five, and the Starchild via combinations of genetic manipulation and robotics (from Maur-Kon's designs), further mutating them with cosmic radiation from his own space-station beyond Earth's moon.

(Shogun Warriors#9 (fb) - BTS) - Demonicus sent the Hand of Five from his base towards Earth.

(Shogun Warriors#9) - The Hand of Five approached the Tokyo courthouse where Genji Odashu was being tried for treason. As Genji discovered the creature, the Followers warned her of its danger and prepared to send Combatra to her.

(Shogun Warriors#10) - The Followers of Light transported Combatra to Genji to help battle the monstrous creature, but the inert robot was quickly punched to the ground by the Hand, nearly crushing Genji when she tried to enter her Shogun Warrior--still, she managed to access its shimmer-tube and be pulled into Combatra. The Hand tried to punch straight through Combatra before she could right it, but Genji instead split her Shogun into its five component modules, and the Hand smashed a deep crater into the ground instead. The Hand then sent off its five digits to assault Combatra's components, and one targeted Kosei Ono before Genji saved him. After a struggle with the components, the digits rejoined the hovering Hand, and Genji re-merged Combatra's components to face it.

(Shogun Warriors#11) - The Japanese military arrived and attacked the Hand, and Genji prepared to protect them from its retaliation. However, the Hand instead grabbed Combatra in its grip, with each digit belching flame onto the Shogun. With a concentrated blast of jet pressure, Combatra knocked the Hand to the ground, but when the soldiers--thinking it damaged--assaulted it, it turned on them and easily overpowered them. Combatra pulled the Hand from the ground and hurled it across the city, and when the Hand came flying back at her, Genji split Combatra into its components, which dodged the assault. The components then blasted the Hand in unison, causing it to discharge the "fingers". After further struggle against the individual digits, in which one of Genji's component's engines was destroyed, Genji then directed the Centrons to simultaneously blast the Hand's empty "knuckles". This assault triggered the digits to return to their ports, but then the Hand took off at hyperspeed, faster than Combatra could follow.

(Shogun Warriors#13 (fb) - BTS) - The Hand of Five returned to Demonicus' space-station.

(Shogun Warriors#11 - BTS) - From his orbiting base, Demonicus launched an immense meteor at Earth, and it was detected by the Followers of Light.

(Shogun Warriors#12 - BTS) - The three Shogun Warriors' pilots, guided by the Followers of Light, flew into space and destroyed the meteor (see comments), after which they discovered Demonicus' space-station near the moon. Demonicus blasted the three robots as they approached, causing Dangard Ace to crash on the lunar surface, while Combatra and Raydeen were sent careening past the moon. Demonicus' men captured Dangard Ace.

(Shogun Warriors#13) - Combatra and Raydeen used an asteroid belt to reverse their course, then headed back to Demonicus' base, while Savage blew up one of Dangard Ace's power packs, causing Demonicus' agents to assume the robot to be nonfunctional; breaking free from them when they relaxed their restraints, Dangard Ace destroyed the weapon which had struck them before, allowing the other two to join him inside Demonicus' base. After fighting a batch of giant dinosaur-like mutates/creations, the Warriors entered a chamber containing Cerberus, the Hand of Five, and the Starchild. Demonicus then warned them that he had activated an electromagnetic beam to pull another asteroid at Earth, and that Earth would be destroyed if they couldn't defeat his monsters AND deactivate the device within the hour.

(Shogun Warriors#14) - Cerberus, the Hand of Five, and the Starchild attacked the Shogun Warriors, who were overcome by doubts about their ability to deal with the multiple threats against both them and Earth. Demonicus, meanwhile, wished to kill the human operators and add the Shogun Warriors to his giant monsters, which would aid him in conquering Earth once it had suffered cataclysmic devastation from the asteroid collision. However, Dr. Tambura of the Followers of Light proved able to rouse the three Shogun pilots out of their funk, causing them to fight back against their attackers. Following his instructions, the three pilots donned cybernetic helmets that linked their three human minds and channeled their very beings into the robots. The combined and coordinated efforts of the three Shoguns quickly destroyed  Cerberus and the Starchild; finally, the trio combined their weapons-systems and hit the Hand of Five with everything they had, which atomized the monster.
    The Shoguns destroyed Demonicus' timer device, and then pushed the criminal's space-station into the approaching asteroid's path, destroying both.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Herb Trimpe, and Mike Esposito.

    Suspension of disbelief at its greatest. There was an asteroid headed straight at Earth which would have caused worldwide devastation. The three Shogun Warriors flew into space and blocked its path just outside of Earth's atmosphere. The asteroid struck the three of them and shattered into fragments small enough to burn up in the atmosphere.
    Yeah, right...must have had those inertial dampeners going at maximum power.

    I didn't like the way each of the monsters seemed virtually indestructible when facing the single Warriors, yet they each fell so quickly against the team. It seemed too easy to me.

    There was no mention of Demonicus' Lifestone being part of the process that empowered the Hand of Five or the other two, or the "Dinosoids," but I would ASSume it to be involved unless stated otherwise somewhere.

This wonderfully weird monster was inspired by the "Gante" -- the flying fortress (made of a fossilized monster) used by the bad guys in the Raideen anime. Here's a pic. The Gante even had an all-mechanical successor, MechaGante. In the Shogun Warriors comics, the Hand of Five fought Combatra, mostly, rather than "Raydeen," but the inspiration for it definitely comes from the Gante. Looking at the picture of the Hand of Five on the cover of Shogun Warriors#10, one can see that the pose of the hand is even the same.
--B.W.

Improved and new images plus history expansion (the final fate of the Hand of Five) by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
  The Hand of Five has known connection to:

images:
Shogun Warriors#10, p2-3, pan1  (Main Image - Hand of Five)
Shogun Warriors#10, p7, pan2 (Hand flying downward (in closed fist-mode) and slamming into ground, as Combatra splits into component modules)
Shogun Warrior#10, p12, pan1 (individual digits of Hand, in aerial battle with Combatra's component modules)
Shogun Warrior#10, cover (Hand of Five battles Combatra))

Appearances:
Shogun Warriors#9 (September, 1979) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Al Milgrom & Jim Shooter (editors)
Shogun Warriors#10 (November, 1979) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Steve Mitchell (inks), Al Milgrom & Jim Shooter (editors)
Shogun Warriors#11 (December, 1979) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Al Milgrom & Jim Shooter (editors)
Shogun Warriors#12-14 (January-March, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Al Milgrom & Jim Shooter (editors)

First Posted: 04/05/2005
Last updated: 03/20/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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