The Red Right Hand Views

Books

The Red Right Hand is a form of Glamour Failure where the right hand of a supernatural character is blood-stained or marked with some other variation of red coloring. The red right hand could be seen as the spiritual equivalent of bright patterns on venomous animals - a warning sign that something wrathful this way comes.

Exactly what it means is debatable, and the GM has some wiggle room. The term originated in John Milton's Paradise Lost, where the demon Belial refers to God's red right hand, which can strike down vengeance upon the devils should they push the war in Heaven too far. Belial was arguing for peace, or at least not provoking a second war in heaven. In this context the red right hand signifies divine wrath. By extension, the red right hand can be applied to all the Holy Trinity, the Angel of Death, or any agent of Divine Retribution. Jesus Christ sits on God's right hand, so such a symbol could be used to mark a Messiah. However, since the mark of the beast is placed upon the right hand (or forehead), the red right hand might mark the Antichrist or his followers. From there it's a short jump to the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, Satan, and various demons and fallen angels.

The liner notes for Murder Ballads say that red right hand is a phrase from John Milton's Paradise Lost which refers to the vengeful hand of God. The opening song on the album, Song of Joy , states of a murderer: It seems he has done many, many more, / quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood. / The police are investigating at tremendous cost. / In my house he wrote 'his red right hand'. / That, I'm told, is from Paradise Lost.

Another version, sometimes referred to as Red Right Hand 2 , was recorded by Nick Cave for Scream 3 and released on Cave's B-Sides & Rarities album; composer Marco Beltrami also incorporates elements from the song into a track in his score for the third film. The song also appears on the soundtrack for the film Hellboy in a cover version by Pete Yorn.