A word to the wise:

[conuly]

If your villainous character is in the habit of chopping off fingers or parts thereof in order to torture, intimidate, or punish other people, then you should know that the pinky is more valuable than the pointer.

Everybody assumes it's the other way around - I sure did! - but it turns out that while most people can compensate for the loss of the point finger by using their middle finger instead, the loss of the pinky finger brings about a dramatic reduction in grip strength.

Your protagonist might not know about that, and neither might your antagonist. Heck, your antagonist might not care, although you'd think they would if they're chopping fingers off their laborers, even if only out of a brutally profiteering mindset.

You should know, though, especially if you intend to have your protagonist do tasks later that require a strong grip. This goes double if they haven't had one or both of either a reasonable healing period or any form of physical therapy.

Comments

[melita66]

I never switched my writing implement grip in 3rd grade when I was supposed to so I rest a pen/pencil on my ring finger and hold it with my middle and pointer fingers. It's easy enough to not use the pointer finger. Take away the thumb and pointer finger...

[sabotabby]

Yiiikes.