The Muddy Hand

Evil-doer
Full Name	Unknown
Alias	The Muddy Hand The Old Woodsman
Origin	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Occupation	Villain from in-universe fictional movie "Hello: You're Dead" Undead murderer
Powers / Skills	No information
Hobby	Murdering people
Goals	Kill whoever has seen him last
Crimes	Mass murder Stalking
Type of Villain	Murderous Stalker

The Muddy Hand, previously known as The Old Woodsman, is a major antagonist of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, and a minor antagonist in its 2012 movie adaptation. He is the main antagonist in the fictional in-universe horror movie "Hello: You're Dead", and the subject for Greg's paranoia throughout the whole book. In the movie, the story about him is a campfire story passed down through generations of Wilderness Explorers, and Fregley's favourite story.

History

Book

In the book, the hand appeared as the main antagonist of the horror movie Greg and Rowley were watching. According to Greg, the movie was very cheesy and campy, however, he became terrified at the end when the film's twist appeared (being that whoever sees the hand next would be its newest victim and the Hand turned to the camera at the end of the movie). Greg appears paranoid about the hand catching him throughout the remainder of the novel. When Greg and Rowley camp outside a game store, Greg gets chocolate all over his hand and pulls a prank on Rowley, who smashes Greg's hand with a hammer. However, after Dog Days, the hand is never mentioned again meaning Greg probably got over it.

Movie

In the movie, the hand had even less of a role and only appeared as a campfire tale told by Fregley during the Wilderness Explorer camp. The story involved a group of wilderness explorers who were assisted by a good hearted old woodsman who accidentally chopped off his own hand. The explorers were terrified and fled leaving the woodsman to bleed out and die. They later returned to try and help, but only found his disembodied hand. The boys disappeared that night with a muddy hand print being the only hint as to their fate. Greg, while being afraid of the story, didn't believe it. However, when he saw his camp manager pretending to be the hand, he jumped and screamed in fear, and later after seeing his dad Frank's muddy hand emerging into the tent, he whacked him with a mallet in fear and defence. The hand has never been mentioned again since.

Trivia

• In the movie adaptation of Rodrick Rules, Greg and Rowley watch a horror movie called "The Foot" which is an obvious reference to the muddy hand.
• The Muddy Hand is one of many fictional villains that appear in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, the others being Silas Scratch, The Grout, The Nightcrawlers, and The Foot.