Duke of Hands
SupportingAn insidiously beautiful man with alabaster skin, slender legs, and a lithe build moves with graceful predation, his soft face dominated by eighty-thousand-credit designer cheekbones, plucked eyebrows, and twinkling rose-quartz eyes that hint at selfish cunning. Feathery pink hair stands straight up like a lazy candle flame atop his head, and he dresses in flamboyant dark finery such as a midnight-black overcoat with calf-length tails, jet-black asp skin jacket, high-collared silk shirt fastened with an onyx clasp, tailored pants, and shark leather boots, often adding violet lipstick for dramatic flair. A ghostly Byzantine tattoo crown with a black hand at its center activates on his forehead in ink that writhes like octopus tentacles sprouting thorns when he utters 'Ave Regina,' fading back to leave his pale porcelain skin unmarred.
The Duke of Hands emerges in Iron Gold as a flamboyant, cunning Peerless Scarred whose striking appearance and Byzantine tattoo crown mark him as a dangerous, self-serving operative. By Dark Age, his arc collapses into tragedy: captured and subjected to a mind-wiping psychoSpike, the once-vain antagonist is reduced to a blank slate, his personality and memories erased. Across the two books, the Duke transforms from an enigmatic, predatory figure into a haunting symbol of obliteration, his flamboyance extinguished by the brutal machinery of war.
Physical Description
An insidiously beautiful man with alabaster skin, slender legs, and a lithe build moves with graceful predation, his soft face dominated by eighty-thousand-credit designer cheekbones, plucked eyebrows, and twinkling rose-quartz eyes that hint at selfish cunning. Feathery pink hair stands straight up like a lazy candle flame atop his head, and he dresses in flamboyant dark finery such as a midnight-black overcoat with calf-length tails, jet-black asp skin jacket, high-collared silk shirt fastened with an onyx clasp, tailored pants, and shark leather boots, often adding violet lipstick for dramatic flair. A ghostly Byzantine tattoo crown with a black hand at its center activates on his forehead in ink that writhes like octopus tentacles sprouting thorns when he utters 'Ave Regina,' fading back to leave his pale porcelain skin unmarred. Slender man with physically attractive supple flesh and sharp angular bones. Lank pink hair frames a face marred by a massive bruise swallowing his left eye. Dressed in eccentric pink feather loafers amid interrogation cube sterility. Mythic vanity lingers in his poised, bruised features. Presence evokes fallen elegance twisted by captivity.
Gallery
Book 4: Iron Gold
Evolution
Iron Gold
An insidiously beautiful man with alabaster skin, slender legs, and a lithe build moves with graceful predation, his soft face dominated by eighty-thousand-credit designer cheekbones, plucked eyebrows, and twinkling rose-quartz eyes that hint at selfish cunning. Feathery pink hair stands straight up like a lazy candle flame atop his head, and he dresses in flamboyant dark finery such as a midnight-black overcoat with calf-length tails, jet-black asp skin jacket, high-collared silk shirt fastened with an onyx clasp, tailored pants, and shark leather boots, often adding violet lipstick for dramatic flair. A ghostly Byzantine tattoo crown with a black hand at its center activates on his forehead in ink that writhes like octopus tentacles sprouting thorns when he utters 'Ave Regina,' fading back to leave his pale porcelain skin unmarred.
- Introduced as an insidiously beautiful Peerless Scarred with feathery pink hair and a Byzantine tattoo crown that activates when he utters 'Ave Regina.'
- Dresses in flamboyant dark finery—midnight overcoat, asp-skin jacket, shark-leather boots—accented by violet lipstick.
- Revealed as a cunning antagonist whose rose-quartz eyes and graceful predation hint at selfish motives.
- Operates as a shadowy operative whose appearance and demeanor unsettle allies and enemies alike.
Dark Age
The Duke of Hands appears as a vain, attractive figure in an interrogation cube, his pink hair and feathered loafers clashing with the bruise on his face. Subjected to a psychoSpike at his skull base, his mind is erased to a tabula rasa, stripping away personality and memories. From antagonist to blank slate, he fades into oblivion.
- Captured and placed in an interrogation cube, his pink hair and feathered loafers contrasting with a fresh bruise.
- Subjected to a psychoSpike at the base of his skull, erasing his mind to a tabula rasa.
- Transitions from flamboyant antagonist to a blank, memory-less slate, effectively fading from the narrative.
- His erasure underscores the saga’s theme of identity stripped by war’s cruelty.
Book Appearances
Iron Gold
First appears Ch 18
Dark Age
First appears Ch 27