The Muddy Hand

"You all know the story of the muddy hand, don't you? It was a dark and stormy night, like this one." Chirag: "It's not stormy!" "In these very woods, an old woodsman, a kindly soul... was chopping wood in the rain for a group of Wilderness Explorers." Rowley: "So what happened?" probably Greg: "Nothing." "If you consider the old woodsman chopping off his own hand was nothing!" Rowley: "Didn't the Wilderness Explorers help him?" "No. They got scared and ran away. Why would they do that? Back at camp, the boys got to talking. They decided that they should have helped the old woodsman because he was helping them. But when they got back to his cottage, his body was gone! Gone? All that was left... was his hand!" Rowley: "I don't like this story." "Not one of those boys was ever seen again. The only clue to what happened was a muddy handprint on the side of the tent. They say the muddy hand is still out there... looking for more Wilderness Explorers... and... revenge!" Greg: "I don't buy it. How can a hand move by itself?" {MR. BARRETT SCARES THEM AND CHIRAG FALLS DOWN AND PROBABLY FAINTS} Mr. Barrett: "I remember "The Muddy Hand" from when I was a boy. You can't beat the classics. Okay! Bedtime, everyone." Greg: "Muddy hand!" Frank: "Why'd you do that?" Greg: "Do what?" Frank: "Hit me in the hand with a mallet!" Greg: "Me?" Frank: "Yeah, you, with the mallet in your hand!" Greg: "I can't stop making you mad at me. If you...." Frank: "Why am I mad? Because I keep messing up. Look, everybody messes up. Even me. But I'm not afraid to admit it when I do. Just go to sleep."

- Fregley telling the Muddy Hand story, then the "Muddy Hand" scene in the tent

The Muddy Hand is a disembodied hand covered with mud that appears in one of Rodrick's horror movies entitled Hello, You're Dead. In it, the Muddy Hand travels the countryside looking for victims to strangle, and the last person who sees it is always the next victim. The film in question frightened Rowley and Greg at the end (where the Muddy Hand strangles its last victim and walks straight at the screen, implying that the viewer will be its next victim). This made Greg and Rowley become really paranoid that the Muddy Hand was out to get them (despite being fictional). Greg then figures out that since it is just a hand it would take a long time to get to them so they stopped worrying about it. It was only mentioned in Dog Days. In the Rodrick Rules movie, The Foot is used (which is most likely a parody of the Muddy Hand).

In Fregley's version in Dog Days film, in the wilderness awareness he tells a campfire story about the Muddy Hand. It is about an old woodsman who chops of his own hand by mistake while chopping wood in rain, his hand is the Muddy Hand.

Appearance

 * The Muddy Hand looks just like an ordinary hand, the only notable difference is that the hand is quite dirty and covered in mud. It's also unknown how it kills its victim, it most likely strangles the victim.

Appearances

 * Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online)
 * Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
 * Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012 film)
 * The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary (Dog Days Edition)

Trivia

 * If the Muddy Hand was not in the book, the plot could have been very different, as Greg and/or Rowley, in specific scenes, would not have been scared and would not have taken the plot-defining actions (such as Rowley smashing Greg's hand with a hammer because he thought it was the Muddy Hand).
 * Greg is more scared of Fregley, possibly killing him than the Muddy Hand.
 * The Muddy hand might be inspired by the hand from The Addams Family.