Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
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The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is a fictional weapon from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Although basically a throwaway gag in the original film, the Holy Hand Grenade has gone on to be one of the most frequently referred to elements of Monty Python humour.
The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is used near the film's conclusion to destroy a killer rabbit that blocks the path of King Arthur and his knights. Although unusually ornate in design (its appearance based on a type of royal regalia known as a globus cruciger, specifically the Sovereign's Orb of the United Kingdom), the Holy Hand Grenade functions like any other grenade. Particularly important is the counting to three after the pulling of the "pin" (the surmounted cross), complicated by King Arthur's mental block on counting.
The instructions for its use are in the "Book of Armaments" (Chapter 2, verses 9-21), as follows: "And the LORD spake, saying, first shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither thou count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."
Geek culture impact
There have been many homages to this weapon in geek culture;
- The Worms series of computer games features a weapon called the holy hand grenade, which looks rather like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and is distinguished by the fact that it is equipped only with a three-second time fuse, unlike the other types of grenade in the game, which have variable-length fuses that can be controlled by the player. (Another difference, not obviously related to the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, is that the holy hand grenade will only explode once it has come to rest on the ground, even if this occurs after the fuse has expired.) It's notable that the weapon's explosion is accompanied by a chorus singing Hallelujah in the style of Handel's Messiah.
- Other computer games to include a Holy Hand Grenade include many MUDs as well as Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, Quenzar's Caverns, Fallout 2, Moraff's World, Dungeons of the Unforgiven, The Bard's Tale, Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, and of course, the Monty Python and the Holy Grail computer game.
- The third edition of the roleplaying game Shadowrun renamed the generic grenade launcher from its two prior editions to the Ares Antioch Grenade Launcher. In the German 2nd-edition sourcebook on the German states, a comment on a location protected by the Westphalian Bishop's Guard quips that transgressors would be attacked with Holy Hand Grenades of Antioch. That comment is by a character using the handle Sir Galahad.
- The GURPS worldbook GURPS Camelot not only gives full statistics for the Holy Hand Grenade in GURPS terms but also notes its peculiar absence from any Arthurian source other than Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- The Rogue-like game Omega contains a holy hand grenade of Antioch as a one use relic.