"Real space. Real terror. Real foam."

—Description of the Hand Cannon.

The Hand Cannon is an unlockable weapon in Dead Space 2 after completing the game on Hard Core mode, and in Dead Space (2023) after completing the game on Impossible mode. It takes the shape of a comically large red foam sports hand that Isaac Clarke or Gabe Weller wear on their right hand.

The flashlight's illumination is still visible, though the flashlight itself is not present. The primary fire is described as "BANG BANG", and the secondary "pew, pew, pew". When the primary or secondary fire button is pressed, Isaac will exclaim "BANG, BANG!" or "pew, pew, pew!", respectively. Whatever enemy Isaac points the weapon at will subsequently explode. The weapon does not require ammunition and has a high rate of fire, as fast as the player can pull the trigger.

Trivia

General

• In Dead Space 2, a hit by the Hand Cannon will not knock back a creature, but pop off all of its limbs immediately, resulting in an instant kill.
  • However, in Dead Space (2023), the Hand Cannon does not dismember all limbs, although it still kills anything in one shot (excluding the Leviathan and the Hunter).
• The Hand Cannon is the best weapon in Dead Space 2. It can be difficult to aim at a distance, considering it has no crosshair, but the player can simply spam fire until a distant target is hit. In Dead Space (2023), the Hand Cannon now has a laser sight for aiming.
  • Although it is now easier to aim thanks to this addition, the area of effect is significantly narrower, now effectively just a dot.
• It is impossible to kill a Pregnant with the Hand Cannon without making it release the payload in Dead Space 2. Not even if the shot lands on the arm or the leg, or if the Pregnant has already taken damage.
  • In Dead Space (2023), it is now the complete opposite. The Pregnant will not release the payload, even if you aim directly at its belly.

Dead Space 2

• The Hand Cannon's shots have an area of effect about the size of a ripper blade. It can blow off both of the Ubermorph's legs in one shot to the lower torso.
• It is possible to kill the Tripod inside the Church of Unitology by shooting it around 20 times in the stomach rather than in the tongue.
• Hand Cannon melee attacks are as powerful as its primary/secondary fire.
• Putting the Hand Cannon on a Bench to upgrade it reveals that there is one circuit in the bottom left corner and nothing else. Placing a Power Node on this circuit increases the Hand Cannon's selling value to 5000. Even though you buy the Hand Cannon for free, it is not possible to receive infinite Credits exploiting this glitch, as power nodes are worth 10,000 Credits, which will make you lose 5,000 Credits every time you upgrade the Hand Cannon.
• The Hand Cannon was created by Ian Milham, the art director of Dead Space 2.^[1]
• It is possible to kill the final boss with only two shots from the Hand Cannon; a direct hit on the Nicole vision and another direct hit to the Marker's heart.
• If one looks closely while switching weapons, the Hand Cannon will say it has four bullets left even though it is actually infinite.
• There is a glitch where, in Chapter 13, Isaac will not have any weapon in his hands and will be unable to aim at all; this means no firing, placing an enemy in Stasis, using Melee on an enemy, or using Telekinesis. This glitch occurs in the room where you have to use the Noonlight Diagnostics Machine. If you fail the needle challenge when the Hand Cannon is equipped, the next time your game loads Isaac will no longer be holding anything in his hands. Even if you finish the challenge, once this glitch is active, Isaac will still not have a weapon when the Ubermorph appears. You can only stomp the Ubermorph into his regenerative phase. If you manage to unlock the door and try to open it, it will never open. You will be trapped with the Ubermorph until it kills you or you reload the game. The only way to fix this problem is to quit and reload the game. You must pass the challenge correctly the first time; otherwise, you will be stuck in the glitch with no way to stop it, not even reloading from last checkpoint.
• There is an odd glitch in Dead Space 2: Severed where using the secondary fire causes Gabe to start flailing with his arms during each shot. The primary fire is unaffected.
• In Dead Space 2: Severed, the Hand Cannon still uses Gunner Wright's (Isaac Clarke) voice rather than Ramon Tikaram's (Gabe Weller).
  • This is the same in Dead Space 3, where The Devil Horns use the voice of Gunner Wright, regardless of whether playing as Isaac or John Carver.
• Isaac is supposed to be the one screaming "bang" or "pew" when you fire the Hand Cannon. However, when firing the weapon in a vacuum, the Hand Cannon's gun sounds will sound blurry, suggesting that they come out of the gun instead. This is perfectly verifiable in Chapter 7, in which Isaac has to realign the solar panels. During the vacuum present in such scenario, Isaac will have a perfectly normal conversation with Ellie, but when firing the gun the sound will sound blurry. However, this could have just been overlooked by the developers.
• It is possible for a Nest to survive several shots of the Hand Cannon; though it only requires one shot to destroy each weak spot, it becomes really tedious considering that the Nest has a random moving pattern and the Hand Cannon lacks a cross-hair.
• The controller will stop vibrating if the weapon is shot too fast and for a long time. The reason for this is unknown and it is fixed instantly when the weapon is given a break.
• Despite being upgradable, this weapon does not count toward the "Fully Loaded" achievement/trophy. Likewise, it is not required to use this weapon to unlock the "The Sampler Platter" achievement/trophy.
• The Hand Cannon appears in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale as one of Isaac's taunts, unlocked when he reaches rank 40.
• It is actually possible to kill some normal Necromorphs with more than one shot, if the player manages to hit their limbs right at the edge of the Hand Cannon's hitbox.
• When completing Hard Core mode in the PC Steam version, you will not gain the Soldier Suit nor the Hand Cannon due to a glitch. To fix this, you have to complete Hard Core mode again but during only ONE session without quitting once, or simply download a finished Hard Core mode save where it has the suit and the Hand Cannon.

Gallery

Isaac aiming the Hand Cannon.

The Hand Cannon render.

Video

Sources