Shattered Hand clan

The Shattered Hand clan was originally an orcish clan that dwelled in the Spires of Arak. Formed from outcasts and liberated Highmaul gladiator slaves, the clan was named after its gruesome self-mutilation practices. The clan was left behind on Draenor during the First and Second Wars, but later rallied under Ner'zhul's banner. Following Draenor's transformation into Outland, many Shattered Hand transformed into fel orcs, with their founder and chieftain, Kargath Bladefist, becoming the Warchief of the Fel Horde in service to the Illidari.

In the modern day, the Order of the Shattered Hand (or simply the Hand for short) refers to a secretive multi-racial Horde organization of spies, assassins, and rogue trainers seemingly fulfilling a role similar to that of the Alliance's 7.

Origin
The ogres of the Gorian Empire had a long history of enslaving orcs and forcing them to fight each other in brutal arenas for entertainment. Around 11 years before the First War, a slave named Kargath tore off his own hand to escape his chains and rallied his fellow slaves to do the same. Those who did accompanied him as he rampaged through Highmaul, spilling the blood of his masters. Kargath and the former slaves established a new clan, known as the Shattered Hand, and settled in the Spires of Arak.

Rise of the Horde
The Shattered Hand were present at Oshu'gun when Ner'zhul announced the draenei as the enemies of the orcs. Shortly after Blackhand was named Warchief of the Horde, he assigned specific roles to the various clans. The Shattered Hand were among the clans assigned to act as scouts, raiders and auxiliary forces that could quickly move from one region of Draenor to another. Later, the clan was present during the drinking of the Blood of Mannoroth atop the Throne of Kil'jaeden.

One year later, Kargath Bladefist was charged with eliminating the high arakkoa of Skyreach and formed a lightly armored but highly mobile invasion force from the Shattered Hand, Burning Blade and Dragonmaw clans. After dozens of orcs were incinerated by the arakkoa's immense cannon, Kargath convinced the Outcast arakkoa to sneak into Skyreach and sabotage the weapon. The Outcasts were successful, but Kargath and his forces then proceeded to slaughter the Outcasts alongside the high arakkoa, throwing some of the latter into Sethekk Hollow. The Horde assault led to the destruction of high arakkoan civilization and the near-extinction of the Outcasts.

After the Horde had conquered much of Draenor, the threat of starvation caused many orcs to grow more agitated and turn on each other, clashing in short-lived battles that left hundreds dead. Several clans, among them the Shattered Hand, completely lost themselves to the depths of madness. To protect the rest of the Horde, Blackhand banished the violent clans from Hellfire Citadel to the remote areas of Hellfire Peninsula in order to preserve some of the Horde's dwindling strength.

When the Horde prepared to invade Azeroth, Blackhand ordered the troublesome clans to remain on Draenor, since he believed that they would become liabilities if allowed to participate in the invasion. He knew that the clans would grow restless on Draenor, but a few months of waiting while hearing only stories of the lush new world and seeing only scraps of the war spoils would force them to be on their best behavior. If the clans were still uncontrollable, they could stay on Draenor and rot, for all Blackhand cared. After the fall of Stormwind City, the new Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer sent messengers to Draenor to call up the remaining clans in order to replenish the Horde's numbers, but the messengers later returned to inform the Warchief that the clans on Draenor had descended deeper into bloodlust and had begun fighting with one another, allowing only a few orcs and ogres to bolster the Horde.

Beyond the Dark Portal
Life on Draenor was stark for Draenor's orcs, as the world continued to die and the orcs continued being consumed by bloodlust and violence. The Warsong and Shattered Hand clans, in particular, had insatiable needs for violence. Following the Horde's defeat on Azeroth at the end of the Second War, Ner'zhul rallied the clans still left on Draenor, the Shattered Hand among them, under his new banner with the intent of opening portals to new worlds for the Horde to conquer. The gathered chieftains easily agreed to Ner'zhul's plans; having sat out the entirety of the First and Second Wars, they thirsted for battle, and any chance to escape their dying homeworld was worth taking. Almost immediately after Ner'zhul reopened the Dark Portal, the Warsong chieftain Grommash Hellscream led the Warsong, Shattered Hand, Thunderlord and Laughing Skull in an invasion of the Blasted Lands. Teron Gorefiend led a group of orcs and death knights away from the Blasted Lands in search of the artifacts that would allow Ner'zhul to open portals to new worlds.

After Gorefiend brought the artifacts back to Draenor, Ner'zhul and the bulk of the Horde journeyed from Hellfire Citadel to the Black Temple to begin performing the ritual, but he left Kargath and the Shattered Hand behind to hold the invading Alliance forces at bay. The Alliance mistakenly believed that Ner'zhul was still in Hellfire Citadel and launched an all-out offensive on the stronghold. The Shattered Hand had dug in at the citadel for a siege and had hoped to hold the Alliance at bay for a week, but their defenses fell before the end of the first day. Even with the aid of black dragons, Kargath had no means to repel simultaneous attack from dwarf gryphon riders and soldiers on the ground. Once Khadgar and the magi joined the fray, Kargath was forced to abandon his position and flee into the wastes.

Kargath and his clain sailed to Garadar in an attempt to recruit the Mag'har quarantined there, but as Greatmother Geyah refused their request they soon left again. Realizing that he had too few soldiers to make a difference, Bladefist instead decided to abandon the struggle and reclaim Hellfire Citadel one day in the future, when he was stronger and more prepared.

A force of Shattered Hand orcs defended the Azerothian side of the Dark Portal during the last days of the Invasion of Draenor. They were left stranded after the Portal was destroyed by the Alliance.

The New Horde
On Azeroth, the Shattered Hand have become an integral part of Thrall's New Horde and now accept various other races into their ranks, including jungle trolls and goblins. Based out of the Shadowswift Brotherhood in Orgrimmar's Cleft of Shadow, they are responsible for watching the Horde's enemies and for training aspiring rogues from various races in the ways of stealth, deception, and the brewing of deadly poisons. Thrall acknowledged that the Hand was necessary to ensure orc and troll safety. "The great Shenthul" appeared to be considered a high-ranking member of the organization. The Forsaken Deathstalkers have allies within the Shattered Hand.

Many members of the Hand do not survive their training. The only way for a member of the organization to truly identify another member of the Hand is through a gesture known as the Shattered Salute.


 * The Shattered Hand asked Rwag to look out for aspiring rogues in the Valley of Trials, as well as training and keeping the rogues informed of anything the organization might need.
 * Kaplak later sent aspiring rogues wishing to join the Shattered Hand to Therzok in Orgrimmar to prove themselves. Therzok asked them to kill the troll Tazan and retrieve his satchel, but as the satchel was locked the rogue was forced to pickpocket the key from Tazan's drunken assistant, Gamon. Once this task was completed, Therzok officially initiated the rogue into the Shattered Hand.
 * The Hand operative Zando'zan claimed to have foreseen the day of Thrall's death, specifically "the dagger in his back, poison seeping through to his every vein", before hastily adding that he had said too much. However, Wrenix the Wretched considers Zando'zan to be crazy.
 * Jes'rimon asked adventurers to bring him white claws from the ravasaurs of Un'Goro Crater, claiming that the Hand had "clients" that would like weapons crafted from the claws.
 * Taskmaster Fizzule was planted by the Hand as an undercover agent among the ranks of the Venture Company, specifically at the Venture Co. tower north of the Sludge Fen in what is now the Northern Barrens. Fizzule tasked Horde rogues with killing Venture Co. forces, stealing a key from Foreman Silixiz, taking the head of Grand Foreman Puzik Gallywix and retrieving a cache of Zanzil's mixture from Gallywix's lockbox, but the rogue was afflicted by the Touch of Zanzil in the process. The key, head and cache were then brought back to Shenthul in Orgrimmar, who sent the rogue on to Serge Hinott in Tarren Mill so that he could cure them and teach them how to make use of the poison.
 * The Shattered Hand was able to place spies throughout the upper citadel of Blackrock Mountain. Though the information gathering process was slow, they managed to discover that the influence of the black dragonflight had extended beyond the Burning Steppes and into the kingdom of Stormwind itself after Onyxia infiltrated the Stormwind court.

The Burning Crusade


At some point, the Shattered Hand on Draenor, now Outland, transformed into fel orcs and joined the Fel Horde in service to the Illidari. Kargath himself made good on his promise of reclaiming Hellfire Citadel and became the warchief of the Fel Horde, ruling from the Shattered Halls.

Many Shattered Hand are camped along the Path of Glory leading up to Hellfire Citadel from the Dark Portal, as well as in the breaches in the northern and southern ramparts. They also make up the majority of the forces inside the Shattered Halls. The legionnaires, champions and centurions of the Shattered Hand made up the elite of the Fel Horde. They were feared by the regular troops and serve as an officer corps. Force-Commander Gorax, a subordinate of the Hand of Kargath, was charged with training Shattered Hand captains at the base of Hellfire Citadel, honing them to a bloody razor's edge. Unhappy with Alliance adventurers' successes against the fel orc clans, a Shattered Hand force led by Drillmaster Zurok began organizing for an all-out assault. After Alliance heroes killed Zurok, scouts reported that the Shattered Hand were in disarray.

Kargath was ultimately slain by adventurers, who retrieved his namesake fist.

Cataclysm
The Shattered Hand on Azeroth lay mostly quiet for several years, but continued to serve under the new warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, as they had under Thrall. Gordul is now considered the leader of the Hand's rogues in Orgrimmar. The Shattered Hand rogue Kagtha and several other operatives were sent to the Deadmines to take the Defias Brotherhood's juggernaught and use it against the Alliance, which Kagtha considered to be a symbol of the Shattered Hand's "rebirth" after its long dormancy.

The Shattered Hand also spied on the Dark Iron dwarves of the Searing Gorge and reported that they seemed to be preparing for something.

Traveler
At an undefined point, several years before the Cataclysm, the Shattered Hand clan orcs found the Alliance fighting the Horde's Mahrook clan. They defeated the Alliance, but the ogres were wiped out, all except the warrior Throgg. The ogre immediately recognized the orcs as they only had one hand. He knew that they weren't numerous on Azeroth since only a few were left. The orc Teremok approached him and offered the ogre a place amongst the Shattered Hand. Seeing them as great warriors and without any ogre brothers left, Throgg agreed to join. To seal the deal, Teremok cut off Throgg's hand and to replace it, Throgg was given a variety of weapons to choose from the clan's blacksmith, Ulmok. Throgg and the Shattered Hand clan continued fighting the Alliance, but in time his only friends and brothers in the clan, Teremok, and Ulmok, were killed during the battles.

The other orcs didn't treat Throgg well. When the Shattered Hand assisted the Hidden with locating Captain Greydon Thorne, its leader, Malus noticed Throgg. The human bought the ogre's release from the Shattered Hand from Garamok for 30 silver. Garamok said that Throgg would never become a true Shattered Hand and that they would use him for carrying supplies.

Legion
During the Burning Legion's third invasion, several members of the Hand joined the Uncrowned in the Hall of Shadows.

Shattered Skulkers participated in the War of the Thorns and were seen in Lor'danel.

Culture
On Draenor, slavery had changed the Shattered Hand into a twisted and embittered people who knew only pain and torment, and they adopted bloody traditions of self-disfigurement and scarification. Made up of orcs who could call no other clan home, the Shattered Hand were sadistic warriors who maimed their bodies, perhaps in a show of solidarity, or perhaps because they simply enjoyed the pain, which they claimed strengthened them. The clan celebrated victory in battle with self-mutilation. Their most celebrated warriors were covered with scars and piercings, and it became increasingly difficult with age to tell which were inflicted by enemies or by the triumphant orc.

Taking their namesake literally, warriors of the Shattered Hand would ritualistically smash their own left hand before cutting it off as a way to demonstrate their loyalty to the clan. The stump was cauterized and replaced with one of many varieties of crude tools or weaponry. Heavily weighted blades resembling simple butcher's cleavers were used to make a single clean cut at the wrist.

All incarnations of the Shattered Hand appear to be known for using rogue and assassin units. It seems to be common for Shattered Hand assassins to retain both hands.

Quotes

 * "I give you warm greetin's,, as does the Shattered Hand. Do not look so surprised, . There be shadows even on the highest perches of Orgrimmar--somethin' must hide there. The Shattered Hand take that role willingly. Thrall, even in his good heart, acknowledge that the Hand be necessary to ensure orc and troll safety." — Jes'rimon
 * "The Shattered Hand will see the Horde to their former glory, unhindered by the timidness of the Warchief." — Gest
 * "The Warchief is too subtle in his methods. He is cautious to unleash the might of the Horde. Once we were stronger, mighty conquerors all. That pride we must regain, and the Shattered Hand will do so. We build strength from the shadows and strike at the exposed, secretly laying our enemies low." — Therzok
 * "It is important that the Shattered Hand remains vigilant in the face of the changes Thrall wishes to bring about to the Horde. Our numbers alone will not be enough to overcome his rule - stealth and deception must be mastered." — Shenthul

Known members

 * Orc clan


 * Spy organization


 * Former members

In Warcraft II
Leader: Korgath Bladefist [sic]

Color: White

As those of the Black Tooth Grin clan, the members of the Shattered Hand practice the rituals of self mutilation to demonstrate their loyalty to the clan. Orcs who rise to the status of warrior within the clan offer their left hands to be broken or completely removed. Their ruined stumps are often replaced by some sort of crude weapon or tool.

In Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans


In the canceled Warcraft Adventures, the Shattered Hand clan had several appearances, notably at the orcish reservation. They were depicted as still being led by Kargath Bladefist, with Clawhand being another named member of the clan.

The clan's culture was developed during the game: it was said that when a young warrior of the clan came of age, he crippled his own left hand with the hammer of the chieftain, and then the hand was replaced with a weapon fitting the orc's character. Many members of the clan had sold their blade hands to Zul'jin for black ale, the forest troll being fond of collecting them, and when Thrall was given an hacksaw-hand that was considered unworthy of the collection he noted that the tool must have belonged to a peon of the clan.

Notes and trivia

 * Slinky Sharpshiv mentions that she hasn't yet been initiated into the Shattered Hand.
 * As seen in Lords of War and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, many members of the Shattered Hand originally had pale gray skin, which seems to correspond to their clan color being white in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.
 * During the World of Warcraft: Legion alpha, an orc called The Hood with the title of  appeared in the Hall of Shadows as a member of the Uncrowned. He used the model of an alternate universe Shattered Hand orc.

Speculation

 * Karthog could be a member.