| “ | All my life I've believed in the wisdom of clichés -- popular sayings! Thinking along those lines, the answer came to me! In order to beat GL I had to fight fire with fire! In other words, use his own power beam against him! | „ |
| “ | All my life I've watched others more beautiful and blessed. Life favors some and ignores others. But our respective standings are irrelevant when it comes to death. In death, we are all equal. We are all silent and cold. | „ |
| ~ Black Hand to Hal Jordan |
| “ | The Blackest Night falls from the skies. The darkness grows as all light dies. I crave your hearts and your demise. By my black hand, the dead shall rise. | „ |
Summary
William Hand was often described as the black sheep of his family. Obsessed with death and clichés from a young age, Hand was deemed a disgrace by his relatives, no doubt fueling his spiral into psychopathy. Taking up the mantle of Black Hand, he came in possession of the Power Rod, a mysterious artifact that allowed him to steal the powers of others. Using this device, he dueled against Green Lantern and The Flash numerous times. After Hal Jordan became one with The Spectre, he destroyed Black Hand's hand, causing the already fragile man to break entirely, becoming a truly sadistic and cruel-hearted individual who became the first Black Lantern.
Powers and Stats
Tier: 9-C physically. Varies, up to 2-C with the Power Rod | 9-C physically. Varies, up to at least 5-A with the Power Rod | 2-C
Keys: Pre-Crisis | Post-Crisis | Black Lantern
Name: William Hand, "The Killproof Criminal", "The Cliché Criminal"
Origin: DC Comics
Gender: Male
Age: 20s to 30s
Classification: Supervillain | Black Lantern
Powers and Abilities:
Peak Human Physical Characteristics, Breaking the Fourth Wall (Frequently broke the 4th wall[1][2]), limited Plot Manipulation ('Paused' the story[2]). With the Power Rod, Radiation Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Energy Projection, Plasma Manipulation, Absorption, Power Mimicry (Absorbs Green Lantern energy and uses to emulate the Power Ring as his primary form of combat. He can theoretically do whatever a Green Lantern or anyone else he absorbs his energy from, can achieve. Has also stolen powers from The Flash), Extrasensory Perception (Can sense GL energy[3]),
Energy Projection, Energy Manipulation, Light Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, Creation, Weapon Creation (all innate powers of a GL), BFR (Sent one half of Green Lantern to another dimension[4]) Smoke Manipulation (Can generate smoke[4]), Astral Projection (Projected an image of himself[4]), Duplication (Created duplicates of himself[1]), Illusion Creation (Created illusions so strong that it affected Hal Jordan[1], Can fully make himself appear to be someone else[2]), Intangibility (Can walk through walls[1]), Flight (While impersonating Green Lantern, he flew[2]), Transmutation, Metal Manipulation (Transmuted a spaceship[2]), Aura, Invisibility, Enhanced Senses (Could turn The Flash invisible, detect his energy signature, and manipulated his aura[2]), Mind Manipulation, Statistics Amplification (After absorbing Flash's speed, he became as fast as him[2] Made hockey players as fast as The Flash after mind-controlling them[5]), Forcefield Creation, Explosion Manipulation, Temperature Manipulation, Radiation Manipulation (Created a H-Bomb-style explosion[6]), Vibration Manipulation (Mimicked Flash's vibrational powers[6]), Technology Manipulation (Opened electronic prison doors[7]), Sand Manipulation (As seen here[8]), Earth Manipulation (Caused an Earthquake), Telekinesis (Lifted an entire baseball stadium[9]), Fire Manipulation (Created huge flames[9]), Biological Manipulation (Could make Kid Flash's heart beat so fast that it would explode][5])
Regeneration (Mid-Low), Death Manipulation (After regrowing his hand, it kills whatever it touches[10]), Energy Projection (Can shoot energy beams[11]), Necromancy (Resurrected the Black Lantern Corps, a group made up of deceased individuals[12]), Empowerment (Gets stronger per individual converted[12]), Disease Manipulation, Corruption, Morality Manipulation, Perception Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Biological Manipulation (The resurrection process is a corruption described as an illness of sorts, that warps the biological make-up and personality of the individual, resulting in a twisted and evil version of them[13]), Summoning (Can summon his zombies at will[14])
Attack Potency: Street level (Physically comparable to Hal Jordan[1]). Varies with the Power Rod on how much energy he's stolen, up to Low Multiverse level with the Power Rod (Had 50% of Hal Jordan's power at his peak[4]) | Street level (Tackled G'nort through a window[15]), up to Large Planet level with the Power Rod (After absorbing the power of the Green Lantern Corp of Earth, he fought and defeated Hal and Arisia at once, though was still inferior to Kilowog[8][9]) | Low Multiverse level (Effortlessly thrashed a speeding Barry Allen[16]. Overpowered full-powered Hal Jordan[14] Ripped apart a dying Guardian of the Universe[14])
Speed: Unknown, Massively FTL+ after stealing The Flash's speed | Unknown, potentially Massively FTL+ (Stole Kid Flash's speed and could grant it to other people, presumably meaning he could grant himself it as well[5]) | Massively FTL+ (Intercepted Barry Allen[16])
Lifting Strength: Unknown | Up to at least Class K (Lifted a sports stadium via telekinesis) | Stellar (Overpowered Hal Jordan)
Striking Strength: Street level | Street level | Low Multiverse level
Durability: Street level, up to Low Multiverse level with the Power Rod | Street level, up to Large Planet level with the Power Rod | Low Multiverse level
Stamina: Superhuman | Superhuman | Superhuman
Range: Several Meters (Created a H-Bomb), Low Multiversal via BFR (BFR'd rats to another dimension) | Kilometers (Levitated a stadium that high) | Planetary (Described as capable of leaving entire planets as graveyards)
Standard Equipment: The Power Rod. The Black Lantern ring during Blackest Night. The Indigo Tribe Staff post-Blackest Night
Intelligence: Unknown Black Hand was typically shown to never be particularly bright and was often regulated to 'joke villain' status, unable to think plans through and often fumbled whenever he did outsmart any other character. However, he was shown to be a very quick learner, learning to use Green Lantern powers in a skilled manner very quickly.
Weaknesses: Black Hand is a deeply troubled man. He suffers from "herophobia", believing that Green Lantern is the root of all of his problems, projecting his deep insecurities and regrets upon them. As such, he is extremely paranoid, to the point where simply seeing a GL throws him in a fit of rage. Also, his rod has limits to how much energy it can contain[17]
Notable Attacks/Techniques:
- Absorption: Black Hand uses his rod to absorb the powers of his foes, typically the Flash and Green Lantern. His strength and power set then is based off who he absorbs the powers of
- Conversion: Only as Black Lantern; his touch can corrupt his foes, turning them into zombies that retain their powers and to some extent, memories and personality
Notable Matchups
Victories:
Losses:
Inconclusive:
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Green Lantern Vol 2 39
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 The Flash Vol 1 258
- ↑ Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Green Lantern Vol 2 29
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold Vol 1 2
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The Flash Vol 1 259
- ↑ Green Lantern Vol 2 147
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Green Lantern Vol 2 205
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Green Lantern Vol 2 206
- ↑ Green Lantern Vol 4 5
- ↑ Green Lantern Vol 4 6
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Blackest Night Vol 1 1
- ↑ Blackest Night Vol 1 5
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Blackest Night Vol 1 7
- ↑ Justice League America Vol 1 51
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Blackest Night Vol 1 4
- ↑ Legends of the DC Universe Vol 1 28
Discussions
| Discussion threads involving Black Hand |