Dead Hand

Dead Hand (デドハンド) is a mini-boss from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Dead Hand is a horrifying monster found at the Bottom of the Well and within the Shadow Temple. Upon defeat, the Dead Hand yields the Lens of Truth in the Bottom of the Well and the Hover Boots in the Shadow Temple.

Dead Hand's central body is a flabby, almost tumorous mass &mdash; covered in patches of something that looks like blood (in the 3DS remake however, these blotches are absent) &mdash; with two tiny arms that terminate in sharp red spines rather than hands, and a head with a gigantic, gaping mouth armed with huge teeth. Its eyes are black and expressionless, and its jaw can open incredibly wide. It is commonly encountered with several Infinite Hands. It is not known if the Infinite Hands are part of its body or separate entities altogether. In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest, both Dead Hand and Infinite Hands appear without the other.

Battle
Link first must coax the creature to attack, as its limbs are invulnerable. When he wanders too close to a hand, it will grab him and hold him in place while its body erupts from the ground. It will slowly wriggle toward Link, and he will have to struggle to escape the grip before it delivers a horrific bite.

Once Link obtains the Lens of Truth, however, he can locate where a Dead Hand is hiding by using the Lens of Truth to find an invisible black spot on the ground. Link must then place a bomb on the black spot. This will cause the Dead Hand to emerge, allowing Link to attack without being snared by an infinite hand. In the Master Quest re-releases, Link has to battle a Dead Hand that does not rely on its arms, leaving this method as the only way of defeating it.

Whether he is snared or not, it will still try to bite Link. It is impervious to all weaponry besides Link's sword and keeps its head pointed upwards as it moves into an attacking position. However, when it bends over to attack, Link must swing his sword and slice its face many times before it turns around and retreats to the safety of its hiding place (it is possible to prevent it from burrowing, but it will not move from the spot from where it tried to burrow, and dirt will surround it). Eventually, Link defeats Dead Hand, and it topples over and lets out one last dying groan.

Video
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Etymology
Dead Hand is likely based on zombies of classic literature. Further supporting this is that the German translation of the Dead Hand is "Brain-Feeder".

Gallery
Mano Muerta