Power Palms



"Henri: "How do your hands feel?"

John: "Bad!"

Henri: "Good.""

- I Am Number Four

Power Palms is the placement of something important on or in someone's palms. This can be something supernatural or technical: a map, a release for special powers, or something of that sort.

If defensive, this may be because of its similarity to the "stop" hand motion. If knowledge-based, this may be because of Buddhist influence, requesting openness.

Related to Power Fist and Hand Blast. This power could potentially be the cause of Offhand Backhand, and is often used to execute the dreaded Face Palm of Doom.

Anime and Manga

 * In Naruto, the Hyuuga clan have a chakra-based fighting style which has a focus of palms.
 * Deidara has mouths on his palms  which he uses to make explosive clay.
 * Most ninja can only release chakra well through the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet.
 * Miroku the Monk form Inuyasha has the 'Wind Tunnel' on his palm, which allows him to absorb and destroy basically anything - though, unfortunately, it's impossible to control once unleashed.
 * In Fullmetal Alchemist, Zolf J. Kimblee has two halves of a transmutation circle in his palms, when he claps, he can put it together to turn things into bombs. Other characters perform alchemy by clapping, though that is because they have seen the Truth behind alchemy, and can thus do it without a transmutation circle, instead using the clapping motion to turn their arms and chest into an empty transmutation circle.
 * Code Geass has the Radiant Wave Surger, a microwave emitter built into the Guren's right hand. While at first it's limited to defensive and close combat use (by grappling the opponent), it later gets a Mid-Season Upgrade into a long-range concentrated beam capable of sniping foes from afar and a non-lethal One-Hit Polykill mode.
 * In Dragonball Z, the palms are the most often-used place for Saiyans (and other races) to form and fire their ki as energy blasts.
 * Bartholomew Kuma from One Piece ate the Paw-Paw Fruit, which gives him paw pads on him palms that can push and repel anything. Anything. Including, but limited to, people, giant monsters, the air and even pain and fatigue.
 * In Gundam Seed Destiny, Shinn's titular Destiny Gundam is fitted with a pair of powerful, short-ranged Palma Fiocina beam cannons in its hands, allowing it to administer a particularly nasty Face Palm of Doom. This was based on the tactic of using the energy-transfer plugs in older suits' hands as Emergency Weapons, which Lowe Guele of Gundam SEED Astray was especially fond of pulling off in his Astray Red Frame.
 * SEED was not the first Gundam series to have suits with Power Palms, though. Perhaps the oldest example in the franchise is Haman Karn's Qubeley from Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ, which had a beam launcher fitted in each hand that could detach to form a pair of beam sabers for close-quarters combat. This design was borrowed wholesale much later in Gundam AGE, where it became the standard armament (along with a powerful, slow-firing Chest Blaster) for the UE's Gafrans.
 * Vampire Hunter D. The title character has a mouth on his palm with special powers. It can talk and also suck in air, creating a windstorm.

Comic Books

 * Emplate, a major recurring villain from the Generation X comic, uses the mouths in his palms to feed on the DNA of mutants - and only mutants. Normal humans do not slake his needs, and non-mutant but otherwise super powered DNA harms him. A bit of Fantastic Affirmative Action, I guess?
 * Spider-Man has the triggers for his webshooters in the palms of his hands, to produce webs from his wrists. This is the reason his signature hand motion, because the trigger can be selectively pressed with only the middle and ring fingers. This is to keep webbing from coming out every time he claps or makes a fist.
 * In the Marvel Universe the Celestial Arishem the Judge has a formula on his palm that he uses to decide whether a race will live or die.

Film

 * Logan's Run. The inhabitants of the city have a Lifeclock (crystal) implanted in their palms. It changes color as the person ages: when it starts blinking red and then turns black (at age 30) the person must report to Carousel and go through a ceremony that results in their death.
 * The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. The slave girl Margiana has a tattoo on her palm that looks like an eye. It has supernatural significance: Sinbad had a dream about it before he met her, and it marks her as the chosen one of the green barbarians' God of the Single Eye: a giant centaur with one eye.
 * In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Toht, the slimy Nazi agent, has one side of the head of the Staff of Ra burned into his hand.
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Jack Sparrow has a black mark on his palm to indicate how long he has until he must pay his debt to Davy Jones.
 * Iron Man has a pair of repulsor blasters in the palms of his powersuit gloves.
 * Whenever Neo stops bullets in mid-air it is by holding his palm outstretched.

Literature

 * There is an expression "X is in the palm of my hand" frequently used in anime when a character wants to brag about his power. The idea comes from Journey to The West where Sun Wukong, despite all his powers, failed to jump out of Buddha's hand.

Live Action TV

 * The shacquarava shared by Taelons, Kimera and Jaridians in Earth Final Conflict.
 * When FOX was a new channel, there was a show about werewolves, called Werewolf. Those afflicted with the curse had a bloody pentagram on their palms.
 * On Stargate SG-1, the Go'a'uld have at least two different pieces of technology -- a short-range weapon and a healing device -- that direct energy through their palms.
 * The Doctor Who episode "The Curse of the Black Spot" has an incorporeal mermaid who marks people on their palms.

Religion

 * Stigmata, bleeding from the palms, is supposedly a sign of divinity, connected to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Tabletop RPG

 * Call of Cthulhu. The Great Old One Y'golonac has open mouths on the palms of his hands that he can use to drain Intelligence and Power from his victims. When he possesses a human being, mouths open on their palms as well.
 * In Magic the Gathering all of the five "Gempalm" creatures have abilities seemingly based on gemstones embedded in their palms. They variously use these to burn or drain life from people, strengthen their allies, or make them fly.

Toys

 * The Matoran in Bionicle "eat" (absorb matter/energy) with their palms.

Video Games

 * In Mega Man Zero 4, Zero's Z-Knuckle is a Z-shaped chip on his hand that can be used to steal weapons from Mooks.
 * Omega is often depicted with a stylised, glowing Ω on his palm. Its purpose is unclear, although it seems to be an energy focus.
 * In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf blasts Link with a ray of energy that comes out of his palm.
 * A rare, harmless example: Yagyu Jubei's left palm in the second Onimusha title. Works the same as the Oni Gauntlet.
 * In the Pokémon games, Lucario channels aura through the palms of its hands (/paws?). This isn't seen in the main series games, but it is apparent in the anime and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * Speaking of Super Smash Bros, Mario's Fireball seems to be fired from his palm, as opposed to Luigi's Fireball, which appears to come from his fingertips.
 * Kai Leng has some sort of powerful gun built into his right hand in Mass Effect 3. Phantoms have a weapon that is very similar, but in their case it appears to be their own biotics rather than external weaponry.
 * A whole class of weapons in Kid Icarus Uprising. They're reported to draw upon the life force of the user but aren't Cast From Hit Points.

Western Animation

 * In Spider-Man the Animated Series, Morbius the Living Vampire could suck people's blood through his palms. This may be because of the Never Say Die mentality of the times, or because of its saving him from having to actually taste the residents of New York.
 * Apparently this censorship requirement was a throwback to the Comics Code mentality where "real" vampires could not be shown (same applied to Batman Animated Series) so the creators had to come up with an alternative way for Morbius to suck blood. Whether this ended up being any less gruesome is up to debate.
 * Lugnut can pull a variation on this with the Punch of Kill Everything. He replaces his hand-claws with a pressure plate then slams it into something. Said plate makes explosions that can level a city block.
 * A later example would be Airachnid from Transformers Prime, whose blasters are housed in the centres of her palms.