The "Hands of Blue" were a pair of mysterious men, who wear suits and blue gloves. They were contractors to the Anglo-Sino Alliance and were in pursuit of River and Simon Tam. Anyone who had any form of contact with River, even Alliance personnel, was killed without mercy with the use of a sonic device that induces massive bleeding from every orifice.
More information about the individual partners:
Behind the scenes
The pair were portrayed by Dennis Cockrum and Jeff Ricketts.
The pair are never officially named in either Firefly or Serenity. In "The Train Job" DVD commentary, Joss Whedon refers to them as "the men with blue hands" and "the blue-hands men". IMDb's cast listings name each of them as a "Blue Glove", perhaps the most accurate moniker. However, "Hands of Blue" seems to have become a fanon name for the otherwise unnamed pair, from River's "two by two… hands of blue…" litany (possibly in reference to there being four blue-gloved hands between the two men, or to the fact that the men are merely one pair and may be followed by more like them.)
As their names were never revealed, fans refer to them as Hands of Blue 1 and Hands of Blue 2
In the Serenity comics, the blue "gloves" are shown to extend to and cover the upper body as well. They were finally killed and the Alliance passes the assignment to retrieve the Tams to the Operative.
Appearances
Firefly – "The Train Job" (First appearance)- Firefly – "Ariel"
- Serenity: Those Left Behind
- Serenity
