Victoria Hand

"The worst thing you can do right now is to underestimate HYDRA. They hide in plain sight. They earn our trust, our sympathy. They make us like them. And when you hesitate, they strike. If we're to survive, we must learn to strike first."

- Victoria Hand

Victoria Louise Hand was a high-ranking Level 8 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. She was well-known within the organization and had a reputation for brusqueness and strictness. Hand worked alongside Agent Phil Coulson to hunt down the Clairvoyant, however she soon became suspicious that Coulson may be working against them. During the HYDRA Uprising, Hand was betrayed and killed by the HYDRA infiltrator and her former ally, Grant Ward while attempting to lock away another HYDRA agent, John Garrett, who had been discovered to be the true Clairvoyant.

Commander of the Hub
"I was stationed with Vic in Lisbon, she's hard-ass and a buzzkill at parties I grant you."

- John Garrett

Victoria Hand joined S.H.I.E.L.D., rising swiftly through its ranks to eventually become one of the highest-ranked and respected agents in the organization, and was assigned to The Hub. Sometime before that, Hand and Agent John Garrett were stationed together in Lisbon, Portugal. She also developed a friendship with Isabelle Hartley and trusted her more than almost any other agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Operation Overkill
"You need to trust the system, Agent Coulson."

- Victoria Hand

Hand oversaw an operation from The Hub to destroy an enemy weapon called the Overkill Device and neutralize the South Ossetian rebels that built it. To this end, she assigned agents Grant Ward and Leo Fitz with the task of neutralizing the weapon before launching the attack. What she did not inform the team of however was that they would not have an extraction plan once the mission was complete, much like Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. Ward and Fitz's team leader, Phil Coulson, soon discovered that his team would not have an extraction plan and confronted Hand. When it became clear that Hand had no intention of arranging a rescue for Ward and Fitz, Coulson took matters into his own hands and, together with Melinda May, he went to their rescue. Meanwhile, Ward and Fitz were successful in their mission, and the attack commenced once Coulson had extracted them. Hand spoke to Jasper Sitwell and explained that she was confident that Coulson would secure his team's safe return.

Investigating Centipede
"Mr. Vanchat. We were hoping you could help us find a friend."

- Victoria Hand

Hand coordinated an effort to find abducted Agent Phil Coulson and to take down the Centipede Project. She led a S.H.I.E.L.D. team to take custody of the notorious criminal Vanchat, who had had dealings with Centipede in the past, during a transaction to sell Chitauri metal to a buyer named Emily Deville. Leading many teams across the globe from The Bus, Agent Hand got rid of the consultant Skye, apparently with the approval of Agent Melinda May, while one of her best men was trying to interrogate Vanchat. When Agent Grant Ward successfully obtained information about Vanchat's transactions, Agent Hand led many strike teams running raids on every known buyer of Chitauri metals around the globe, some of them being Centipede safe houses, but not before questioning Agent Ward's attitude after Skye's disappearance from the plane and Ward's very own interrogation methods. She also noted that both Director Nick Fury and Commander Maria Hill wanted constant updates on the situation of the rescue mission. When the helicopter used in Coulson's kidnapping appeared in a laboratory near the Mojave Desert, Agent Hand personally led a strike team to investigate the activities at the lab. Agent Coulson was rescued by his own team; Hand informed Coulson that Director Fury was very relieved after hearing of Coulson's successful rescue mission and updated him on the success of the take down of multiple Centipede operations. She then returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, commenting that the Bus was not her style.

Hunt for the Clairvoyant
"This shouldn't have happened. Back-up should have been there alongside Agents Blake and May." "The Clairvoyant would have seen us coming." "It appears he did anyway, the plan was flawed from the start."

- Victoria Hand and John Garrett

Agent Hand was called to the Bus by Phil Coulson from a S.H.I.E.L.D. Aircraft Carrier along with Agents Jasper Sitwell and Felix Blake. After the Bus' takeoff she was briefed on the mission, by Coulson, John Garrett, and Antoine Triplett. She expressed her doubts about the true abilities of the Clairvoyant to no avail. She left the plane after the briefing to return to the Hub to run back-end support for the mission. When Agent Felix Blake was critically injured by Deathlok during the mission, and the team returned to the Hub, Hand again expressed her disapproval to Phil Coulson, telling him that their plan was flawed right from the start. When John Garrett attempted to defend the plan's effectiveness she shot him down and ordered him not to call her "Vic" as it was condescending. Coulson told her that the plan had given them a suspect in Thomas Nash. She ordered Agents Jemma Simmons and Antoine Triplett to work within the Hub as consultants on Deathlok's capabilities. Due to a tracking round that Felix Blake had shot at Deathlok during his attack, S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to track Deathlok to an abandoned race track in Pensacola, Florida. Hand watched as Phil Coulson, John Garrett and their teams battled with Deathlok until they located the seeming Clairvoyant. Hand watched closely during Coulson's confrontation with Thomas Nash, who was completely paralysed and spoke through a computer. When Nash seemingly began taunting the team and threatening to murder Skye, Grant Ward shot him through the heart, killing him instantly. Hand simply said that she doubted the Clairvoyant saw that coming.

Finding the Clairvoyant
"When that plane touches down, take out everyone on board. Except Agent Coulson...he's mine."

- Victoria Hand

Later, Hand rerouted the Bus to the Hub and informed her agents that once the Bus landed she wanted everyone except Phil Coulson killed. Hand also ordered two UAVs to take out John Garrett's plane. This order ultimately failed; however, after Coulson aided Garrett on the Bus by taking out the UAVs. Hand was under the impression that Garrett, Coulson and his team were members of HYDRA.

Battle at the Hub
"The worst thing you can do right now is to underestimate HYDRA. They hide in plain sight. They earn our trust, our sympathy. They make us like them. And when you hesitate, they strike. If we're to survive, we must learn to strike first."

- Victoria Hand to Jemma Simmons

Hand made a personal stand-off with Jemma Simmons and Antoine Triplett in the Hub and posed as a HYDRA agent herself; she ordered them to pledge full loyalty to HYDRA or face a fate similar to Director Nick Fury. The pair passed Hand's "test" however, when Triplett swore to take Agent Chaimson with them if Hand's men opened fire. Hand argued that Coulson was indeed a member of HYDRA, justifying her suspicions with the belief that Coulson hid vital information from S.H.I.E.L.D. and disobeyed multiple direct orders. When the “fugitives” had successfully infiltrated the Hub, Coulson, Garrett, Melinda May and Leo Fitz were soon surrounded by Hand’s men. Unbeknownst to Hand, two of the guards were HYDRA agents who then took out their former colleagues with the order of John Garrett: a HYDRA agent and the Clairvoyant. This revelation was soon known by Hand, thanks to a bug, who then personally led a second team to arrest Garrett. Hand now believed that Coulson and his team were not agents of HYDRA. Hand contacted Isabelle Hartley and informed her that the threat in the Hub was neutralized.

With the Clairvoyant and HYDRA threat on the Hub neutralized, Hand confirmed to Coulson that Captain America had successfully ended the Helicarrier threat at the Triskelion. Hand also noted that the pair may be the only Level 8 agents who are not loyal to HYDRA or dead. Upon giving Coulson a secure communication device to ensure the pair could keep in contact, Hand left the Hub to transport Garrett to the Fridge, along with Grant Ward, who requested to join them to lock away his former Supervising Officer.

Betrayed and Murdered
"What do you think, Agent Ward? You shot the wrong Clairvoyant before. Care to shoot the right one?"

- Victoria Hand to Grant Ward

Shortly after the Battle at the Hub, Hand led the Jump Jet taking the captured John Garrett to the Fridge with the help of Agents Grant Ward, Jacobson and Chaimson. Although the Fridge would ensure Garrett could not be let loose again to the outside world, Hand believed that he deserved to die after for all the crimes he commited, including betraying and murdering loyal Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She turned to Grant Ward and offered Ward the chance to kill the “real” Clairvoyant after he had shot and killed Thomas Nash, mistaking him for the Clairvoyant. This ultimately became Hand’s demise as Ward, being another HYDRA mole, calmly shot both the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents guarding Garrett and Victoria Hand; he shot her once in the stomach and twice again in the back to ensure she had died before freeing Garrett and assisting in HYDRA's reign of chaos.

Standing Orders
"I guess you boys have never seen Hand angry, huh?"

- Grant Ward

Eventually, Grant Ward and John Garrett arrived at the Fridge in order to raid it for its hidden weaponry. Hand gave specific orders to its guardians that no one was to enter the facility without her being there; Ward did not know this in advance and tried to talk the guards into allowing him and Garrett entry. Ultimately, the guards defied her orders when Kaminsky fired upon them from his S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicopter.

Personality
"No single agent is that important."

- Victoria Hand

Victoria Hand led with a no-nonsense attitude and a rigid, uncompromising respect for rules and protocol. She disliked nicknames because she felt that it was condescending. She was a minimalist in terms of personnel; she desired as few as possible to do as much as possible on a mission. Hand felt that fellow agents were disposable as long as the mission was completed.

Hand's high regard for rule following served her well; unfortunately for her, the one time she chose to break protocol and follow her personal desire, the death of the Clairvoyant, Grant Ward was able to use that as an opening to kill her.

Abilities

 * Master Tactician: Victoria Hand led multiple teams of agents in simultaneous assaults against Centipede Project's bases around the world. Phil Coulson also asked her advice and opinion during his hunt for the identity of the Clairvoyant. During the HYDRA Uprising, she tested the loyalties of her agents by pretending to be a HYDRA operative and evaluating the response.

Allies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury - Director
 * Maria Hill - Deputy Director
 * Felix Blake - Colleague
 * Anne Weaver - Colleague
 * Isabelle Hartley † - Colleague
 * Antoine Triplett † - Colleague
 * Jacobson † - Colleague
 * Chaimson † - Colleague
 * Shaw
 * Barbour
 * Coulson's Team
 * Phil Coulson - Colleague
 * Melinda May - Colleague
 * Leo Fitz - Colleague
 * Jemma Simmons - Colleague
 * Skye - Colleague

Enemies

 * HYDRA
 * Jasper Sitwell † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * John Garrett † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Grant Ward † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague and Killer
 * Vanchat
 * Emily Deville
 * Thomas Nash †
 * Raina †

Trivia

 * In the comics, Victoria Hand was originally a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent vocal in her opposition to Nick Fury's policies; she acted as a liason to Norman Osborn during his time as director of H.A.M.M.E.R., an organization that temporarily replaced S.H.I.E.L.D. after the Secret Invasion. She was later a liason to Captain America and one of the teams of Avengers. After considerable doubt as to her true loyalties, she was eventually revealed to have been working for Captain America all along. She was killed in the line of duty and there is a statue honoring her on the lawn of Avengers Mansion.
 * Victoria hated it when people shorten her name to "Vic", as she found it condescending; though her friend Isabelle Hartley referred to her with that alias.
 * Although it was never explicity stated in the show, it has been confirmed that Victoria Hand was a lesbian. She likely had a girlfriend, although that aspect of her character was never explored. This goes to show the vast diveristy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is one of the few lesbian characters in the Cinematic Universe. The others being Jeri Hogarth, and Pam.