Black Hand
Original name: Black Hand*Affiliation:* Brotherhood of Nod*Type:* Religious order and elite military force*Known founders:* Kane and Gideon Raveshaw*Leaders:* Gideon Raveshaw, Anton Slavik, then Marcion*Speciality:* Religious fanaticism, heavy infantry and incendiary weapons*Doctrine:* Purification by fire and absolute loyalty to Nod*Main base under Marcion:* Australia*Status:* Reinstated into the Brotherhood of Nod
The Black Hand is one of the oldest, most secretive and fanatical orders within the Brotherhood of Nod. It functions as a military elite, a clergy and a religious police force tasked with preserving Kane’s teachings.
Kane claims that its members have been among his faithful since time immemorial, but its existence is only formally attested from the First Tiberium War onwards.
Under the command of General Gideon Raveshaw, the Black Hand became Kane’s personal guard and one of Nod’s most formidable special forces.
Its recruits are carefully selected and then subjected to intense religious and military indoctrination. Becoming a member of the Black Hand is a mark of immense prestige within the Brotherhood.
Raveshaw also equips his men with experimental technology, notably camouflage systems and portable versions of the Obelisk of Light technology.
Following Raveshaw’s disappearance, the order eventually came under the command of Anton Slavik, who had himself been raised within the Black Hand since childhood.
During the Second Tiberium War, Slavik used his loyal followers to overthrow Hassan and restore the true Brotherhood of Nod before Kane’s return. The Black Hand then became one of the main pillars of Nod’s revival.
At the same time, its religious role grew: its members spread Kane’s prophecies and ensured Nod’s spiritual discipline, including through the use of force.
Following Kane’s renewed disappearance and the CABAL crisis, Slavik took the helm of the Brotherhood of Nod. However, this public exposure caused deep divisions within an order that had hitherto been accustomed to operating in the shadows.
The preacher Marcion became Slavik’s main opponent. The doctrinal conflict escalated until Slavik was assassinated by one of Marcion’s supporters.
The Black Hand then breaks away from Nod and goes into exile, mainly in the Australian Outback. Marcion transforms the order into a veritable theocratic army and henceforth denounces Kane as a false prophet.
Under his leadership, the Black Hand abandons part of its clandestine role in favour of a doctrine based on fanaticism, heavy ground forces and purification by fire.
When Kane secretly sets out to reunite Nod, he charges LEGION with subduing Marcion. Marcion is captured and then forced to recognise Kane once more as the true Prophet.
Kane nevertheless chose to retain Marcion as a public figure, as his own return still had to remain secret. The Black Hand thus rejoined the Brotherhood and helped rebuild it ahead of the Third Tiberium War.
It nevertheless retains a very distinctive military identity: unlike the rest of Nod, it favours direct ground combat and largely eschews stealth tactics and air power.
Its forces notably employ Confessors, Black Hand squads, Scorpion Tanks, Mantis Tanks, and Purifiers– specialised versions of the Avatar Warmechs equipped with flamethrowers.
The Purifying Flame technology became emblematic of the order, transforming its incendiary weapons into instruments capable of devastating infantry, buildings and armoured vehicles alike.
The Black Hand subsequently took part in the preparations for the Third Tiberium War, notably in the attack on the GDI Tech Center dedicated to liquid Tiberium, at the cost of the forces deployed.
During the war of 2047, it also took part in the abduction of the scientist Alphonse Giraud, who was indispensable to Kane’s plans.
After the conflict, its 2nd Armoured Regiment even helped the Mark of Kane to recover the Tacitus, despite the Black Hand’s traditional mistrust of soulless machines.
The Black Hand thus represents the religious and fanatical dimension of Nod taken to its extreme: founded as Kane’s personal guard and the police of the faith, under Marcion it became an independent military church before being brought back into the Brotherhood of Nod and once again becoming one of the principal instruments of its will.
In Reality:
As is often the case, Westwood drew upon world history to create this faction. The Black Hand (in Serbian: Црна рука / Crna Ruka) is a Serbian secret society founded in 1911 to oppose the occupation of predominantly Serbian areas by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The organisation’s most famous act was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914. This may also explain Slavik’s nickname in Hydra Missions: the Serbian wolf...
