Black Hand in JC4

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Black Hand in JC4
Gabriella, her guards and a Dropzone Chopper.
Faction in Just Cause, Just Cause 3 and Just Cause 4
Goal, or purpose	To protect the Espinosa-regime at Solís and to work for anyone who hires them.
Ideology	None
Leader	Gabriela Morales
Starting base, or HQ	Base Aérea Yanacagua and/or Illapa
Source of money	Oscar Espinosa and anyone else who hires them.

The Black Hand is a mercenary faction appearing in Just Cause, Just Cause 3 and Just Cause 4.

This article is about the Black Hand as they appear in Just Cause 4, which is the same private military organization that appeared in JC1 and JC3. To avoid spoilers, see Black Hand in JC1 and Black Hand in JC3 for those games.

Description

Unlike in previous games where they served as secondary antagonists, working as foreign mercenaries and assisting dictators, the Black Hand is now the primary antagonist faction.

Compared to their previous appearances, the Black Hand is more advanced and well-trained. The faction now has access to advanced weapons with secondary fire modes, upgraded armor, and helmets and various new archetypes along with the old ones that have appeared in the previous game. They also have new weaponized vehicles, a weaponized prototype wingsuit and a stealth jet, along with their main new weather controlling technology.

The leader of the Black Hand is Commander Gabriela Morales. One of the loading screens compliments her competence and mentions that by the time the game takes place, she has been the commander of the Black Hand for 5 years.

A recruitment advertisement on Solís Hoy radio explains that they protect the sovereignty and freedom of nations and punish those who threaten it. They apparently also stand for family, discipline, strength, order and service.

Recruitment

An example of a propaganda poster found in Quya.

The Black Hand advertise themselves as a brotherly organization, fighting for peace and justice in the world. Occasionally, advertisements for the Black Hand may be broadcasted on Solís Hoy. However apart from these advertisements, the Black Hand also has other ways of recruiting new soldiers. One example of this are propaganda posters found all around Solís. They also have at least one video-game about them: Black Hand: First Strike, which again may portray the Black Hand as heroes.

The Black Hand Statues and TV shows about them (advertised by posters and billboards) are used to promote and encourage Black Hand membership by depicting them as heroes.

However in the missions Wanay Extraction, Qacha Breakout and Infierno Escape, Rico has to save civilians from training bases. This implies the Black Hand is not shy of conscripting others into their ranks. It might also be possible, that the lower ranking soldiers, like Privates, are conscripts and the higher ranking soldiers (who need to have higher morale), like Elites or Colonels are volunteers.

In combat

The Black Hand is vastly superior to the Army of Chaos both in numbers and skill. In an even fight, the Black Hand will almost always win (unless one lucky grenade kills every single soldier). Their soldiers are better marksmen as they usually try to aim for the head, while Army of Chaos soldiers shoot from the hip and even blindfire. Black Hand soldiers will also use cover way more effective and frequently than Army of Chaos soldiers and shoot from behind cover. It is also observed that Black Hand soldiers throw grenades more often than Army of Chaos soldiers, proof of their superior weaponry and generous funding. Black Hand soldiers also use squad commands like hand signals to coordinate their attack but these actions don't seem to affect the behavior of nearby soldiers.

History and activities

Reportedly, there's a loading screen that mentions that "Diego Espinosa and the Black Hand signed a contract in 1512 that allowed Espinosas to use the Black Hand as their private army."

As revealed on Solís Hoy radio, they were only "local badasses" when Oscar Espinosa rose to power. It was under his rule when they were turned into an internationally known force.

According to one of the game's loading screens, the Black Hand have a decades-long contract with the Espinosas and that they have replaced the original normal military of Solís.

The Black Hand are now owned by Oscar Espinosa, the ruler of Solís. He uses them as the military and police of Solís.

According to the Solís Hoy radio, the Black Hand are active in multiple "major theaters", like Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America, where they have helped countless people after disasters.

As told by Santiago (a former member, who now works at the radio), they did not wear masks back in his time when they were serving domestically. In fact, they had been proud to have their identities locally known, because the people knew them and knew that they were there to protect them. The masks are a recent thing, which he finds disturbing. According to his co-host Diago, one only needs to fear the Black Hand if you have broken the law.

By the end of the storyline, the Army of Chaos had captured the majority of Solís (the exact number of regions is player's choice) and as estimated by Commander Gabriela Morales, they were only able to hold the mountain with the Illapa base.

Commander Morales and the remaining units on the mountain defect to the Army of Chaos when they realize Oscar Espinosa would kill everyone, including them, with Project Illapa, while they are fighting a hopeless battle. However, whether Gabriela will ever be seen in Army of Chaos livery will be unknown, as she is never seen after the mission.

The Solís Hoy radio announces after the mission that some of the Black Hand have defected to the Army of Chaos, but some factions within the Black Hand are refusing to surrender, despite the news. This announcement refers to any of the regions that the player had not taken over before the last mission. The radio host urges them to lay down their arms so the people of Solís could focus on rebuilding.

Depending on the player's choice of the order of missions played, the mission Beachhead could happen either before, or after Operation Illapa. In this mission, Rico and Sargento counter a force of Spearhead Transport ships that are bringing reinforcements to the Black Hand. Sargento mentions that the Black Hand has lots of units stationed in the Other countries in the Just Cause universe and that they're all about to invade. They only really defeat the first 5 ships and a number of infantry and helicopters, before Sargento sends a message to the rest of them that the beach has been compromised and that the others should cancel the mission.

DLC activities

The Dare Devils of Destruction DLC is set relatively early in the game's storyline, but doesn't depict the Black Hand.

The Los Demonios DLC is also set relatively early in the game's storyline, but this time it does feature them. The Black Hand can be seen fighting the demons. The flying insect demons can take control of Black Hand soldiers (grab them and fly off with them) and use the weapons carried by the soldier. In addition to that, the larger demonic tentacles can grab vehicles with vehicle mounted weapons and use them against their enemies. Another trailer also shows that the flying insect demons can also cloak if they absorb a Black Hand ghost unit.

While they officially do not appear in the Danger Rising DLC, it is possible to see some Black Hand vehicles fighting alongside The Agency.

Soldier types

The below unit names were announced in the "Just Cause 4 SPOTLIGHT: The Black Hand" video (see below in the videos section).

According to the in-game radio (Solís Hoy), they recruit people by advertising themselves as protecting the sovereignty and freedom of nations and punishing those who threaten it. They apparently also stand for family, discipline, order and service and Solís.

• Ghost
• Sniper
• "Super Elite" aka Colonel
• Grenadier
• Titan
• Shielder
• RPG unit
• Machine gunner
• Private
• Elite
• "Vanguards"

Ghost.

Similar to their counterparts in Just Cause 3, Ghosts serve as the hit and run/ambush unit for the Black Hand forces. However, unlike their counterparts in Medici, they are equipped with optical camouflage that allows them to turn nearly invisible. It is possible to see an area of distorted light, similar to the Predator from the Predator movies. They are also very agile and will frequently duck, weave and roll out of the way of incoming attacks while returning fire with their SMG-2. Additionally, while invisible, they will attempt to flank Rico and flush him out of cover using the secondary fire from their weapon, which will put Rico into ragdoll. They dress similar to snipers, but with lighter colored body armor and the absence of the ghille-style camouflage.

Despite wearing what appears to be light body armor, ghosts have quite a bit of health, even more so than elites and shielders, both of who are seen with visibly heavier armor. Although they are hard to hit, a grapple kick will send them into ragdoll and a few precise headshots will dispatch them.

Sniper.

Snipers appear very similar to ghosts except that their cloaks are darker and have larger hoods that cover more of their face (which is still concealed by a mask). They are seen wearing a ghillie suit. They are also equipped with what appears to be a set of night vision goggles.

As their name suggests, they are designed to engage targets from long distance using their LRD-3 sniper rifles. When aiming, their rifles emit a red aiming laser which makes them easy to spot and locate. They will aim at the player for 4-ish seconds before firing. If Rico gets too close, the sniper will drop stun grenades that not only stun Rico but interestingly also propel him backwards. Unlike RPG operators or snipers from Just Cause 3, Black Hand snipers don't use a sidearm in close quarters combat.

They are a major nuisance as they are usually positioned a considerable distance away and are capable of almost killing Rico in 2 shots (they always aim for the head). When fighting them it is best to stay mobile and use cover. They should be considered extremely dangerous when the player is on foot as a Dropzone Chopper carrying two of these shooting at the same time can kill Rico instantly should both snipers land a direct hit on Rico's head. If the two shots don't land on Rico's head but still connect with Rico, he will take critical damage.

Snipers in new game+ take around 2 seconds to aim and pull the trigger.

As in previous games, they are very fragile and easily killed.

Super elite.

Colonels are high ranking officers in the Black Hand forces and are very easily identified by their stark white body armor and bright red balaclava. Befitting their role as field commanders, they are equipped with some sort of super body armor that renders them almost completely immune to small-arms (with the exception of larger caliber firearms, such as miniguns, which can penetrate their armor) and allows them to withstand quite a few explosive impacts (they can survive 2 grenades or 1 "standard explosion"). This armor also makes them immune to being grappled or tethered, much like the Titans in Just Cause 3. Although such a heavily armored suit would in real life be impractically heavy (assuming it's even possible for infantry-worn body armor to be so strong), colonels move just as quickly as privates, who are deployed with minimal equipment.

Curiously though, they do not wear a helmet, which makes them vulnerable to headshots (though it should be noted that it can take several headshots to kill one).

They can be equipped with any of the 4 standard weapons: the SW9 Assault Rifle, CC10 Shotgun, 21-J Smart Rifle, or SMG-2.

Despite their intimidating appearance, colonels are really just grunts that take a little more effort and better aim to kill. They do not have any special weapons or gadgets to pull on the player.

One of the loading screen images identifies this soldier as a "colonel", but in the official showcase video for the Black Hand by Avalanche Studios on YouTube, this soldier is identified as a "super elite". Both names are fine.

Some locations where this kind of soldier appears includes:

• Muro Fortaleza near some towers. This one is not required to be killed.
• A small Black Hand facility in Suyana at the end of Training: Drone Activity.
• Academia Qacha in the middle of Qacha Breakout.
• One appears outside one of the infestations added in the Los Demonios DLC. He commands some Black Hand soldiers to enter the dome, then goes inside himself.
• Illapa during Operation Illapa.

General Muñoz has this character model.

Grenadier.

Grenadiers can be identified by their Russian K6-3 distinct helmet and the PGL-6 Grenade Launcher they carry into battle. They wear a heavy ballistic vest and are covered in protective clothing from head to toe.

In combat, they will launch multiple grenades with delayed fuses around an area, sometimes even bouncing them off walls and around corners to flush Rico out of cover. Grenades leave a bright red-orange trace as they arc across the air, and when within Rico's proximity, a helpful alert on the HUD shows where the grenade is, giving the player plenty of time to notice and avoid the grenades. Grenades can be avoided by grappling away; alternatively, you can melee them which will send them back (perhaps at the attacker). If Rico manages to get close, they will instead switch to an SMG-2 for self-defense. Similar to the Demolition Officer in Just Cause 2 they will drop several live grenades when killed. As such, it is best to deal with them from a distance.

Grenadiers also speak with a robotic voice, similar to all Black Hand soldiers in Medici.

A titan soldier.

Titans are arguably the toughest soldiers fielded by the Black Hand. They are covered in what seems to be power-armor and at a glance could be mistaken for a robot. Besides the futuristic suit, they can be identified by their railgun and their being the largest soldier on the battlefield by far.

They are equipped with an RG-PBA 9 Railgun which the Titan also uses to deploy drones. When charging up the railgun, the Titan's railgun emits a bright blue laser. It takes a while to charge (longer than when used by Rico). A regular shot doesn't do much damage, but puts Rico into ragdoll. On the other hand, Titans are somehow extremely accurate (almost as much as snipers) and can easily knock Rico out of the sky when he's using a parachute, despite the fact that they shoot from the hip. Occasionally, Titans will charge up an extra powerful shot, indicated by a red glow from the weapon. This takes around 8 seconds, and the player should use this time to avoid this shot as a direct hit will almost one-shot Rico. However, being in an armored vehicle like the Warchief Assault Tank will protect the player entirely, with the vehicle taking a moderate amount of damage.

The drones are a bit of a nuisance but are very fragile. Shoot them or grapple them to the ground before taking care of the Titan.

In the absence of heavy weapons (such as Vehicle mounted weapons, rocket launchers, miniguns etc), the best way to deal with Titans is to continuously be mobile whenever the Titan is charging up their shots. Grapple when they are about to shoot as Rico will be too fast for them to track. After firing, they need a few seconds to charge another shot which leaves them vulnerable to gunfire. Headshots can make relatively quick work of them.

It is possible to melee a Titan to death. Unlike small arms fire, melee attacks disorient foot soldiers, and meleeing in rapid succession before they can recover will kill them before they can squeeze off a single shot. However, don't expect this to work every time. While meleeing them up close won't let them fire their weapon, Titans will use their railgun as a large melee weapon capable of hurting and disorienting Rico. When up close, they will melee Rico back should they have enough time to recover between melees. They take roughly 23 melee hits before dying.

Titans are also called Wardens in some missions.

Some locations where this kind of soldier appears includes:

• Puesto Guardia Qhapaq. Two spawn here, but since this region is (usually) captured by the Army of Chaos very early on in the story, these two are easily missed.
• Puesto Guardia Batalla.
• Another outpost somewhere along the desert/mountains border.
• Puerto Diego.
• Mina Vendaval during Vendaval Lockout.
• Illapa during Operation Illapa.
• Some appear within the infestations added in the Los Demonios DLC.

A lone riot shielder admires nature near El Abismo.

Shielders serve as crowd control and defensive specialists for the Black Hand and are easily identified by their large bulletproof shields and a bulletproof vest which, strangely, resembles a life vest).

In combat, they will slowly advance on a target, often in groups, while laying down fire with their SMG-2s. Their shields are also light enough for them to face all sorts of angles and block fire from whichever direction the player is in. Additionally, their shields cannot be grappled or tethered, and are almost completely immune to small arms fire.

While their shields cover most of the body, they do not cover their faces or feet which can be exploited. A recommended tactic when dealing with such unit (in the absence of explosive weaponry) is to aim carefully for the holes on their shields as Shielders' heads are usually exposed through them. If using an automatic weapon, single fire is more effective for accurate shots through the view port. One can also keep them off their balance by shooting them in the legs which will cause them to stumble. Additionally, a shot from the SW9 Assault Rifle or SMG-2's Secondary Fire can cause them to completely drop their shields and stun them, leaving them vulnerable to all incoming fire. Any sort of explosive weapon can damage the soldier through the shield, or at least blow it out of their hands.

In pre-release promotional materials they were shown to walk in groups and occasionally seemed to be trying to use the testudo formation, but without the top shields. They were said to be used in defensive roles.

RPG unit.

RPG soldiers serve as the anti-armor specialists for the Black Hand and are identifiable by their dark blue clothing, dark ski masks and heavy explosive protection. In combat, they will primarily engage from a distance using their AT7 RPGs. Unlike the laser sight of the Snipers, their lasers sights are green. If Rico gets too close, they will switch to an SMG-2 for close quarters combat.

These soldiers should be considered a high priority as their launchers can send Rico flying (and do a lot fo damage) and are capable of doing considerable damage even to armored vehicles.

RPG units take even longer to aim and fire than snipers. This time is still greatly reduced in new game+.

Machine gunner.

Machine Gunners can be distinguished by their heavy protective equipment and large build. They wear heavy body armor somewhere between a vest used in combat and a bomb suit. Underneath the vest is a red T-shirt, which is quite odd paired with their tactical gear. They are seen with a helmet, gas mask, and large backpack.

They are equipped with the Defender Machine Gun. When engaging in combat, the Machine Gunner will drop to one knee, deploy his bulletproof shield in the direction of Rico and begin to relentlessly return fire. If Rico tries to flank or get behind the the Machine Gunner, he will pack it up and redeploy his shield. The shield is also immune to being grappled and tethered.

Although intimidating and quite dangerous left unaddressed, machine gunners are slow and entirely stationary when spamming the machine gun. This makes them really easy to kill with accurate headshots. Additionally, the shields do not protect against explosions.

Private.

Privates are, by far, the most common Black Hand soldiers encountered and can be found all over Solís. They usually patrol just about anywhere and everywhere. They also serve as the bulk of the Black Hand's vehicle drivers and pilots. They can be identified by their blue uniforms and black ski masks. In combat they wield either SW9 Assault Rifles, SMG-2s,CC10 Shotguns or 21-J Smart Rifles.

Privates no longer spawn from heat in New Game+, as the elites now take over the role of patrolling Solís, although in New Game+ privates can still be observed in bases and fronts. This is strange considering the regular patrols should be grunts and the stronger, more capable soldiers should be in places that see regular conflict. A possible explanation is that the Black Hand is corrupt and higher ranked soldiers are given the best equipment but stay the furthest away from battle.

They possess no body armor so they are very easily killed, and their aim and tactics are poor but make up for these with sheer numbers. There is even a noticeable number of female soldiers in their ranks.

Elite.

Elites are an improved version of the private and as such are more skilled and better equipped and outfitted. They can be identified by their dark blue fatigues, bulletproof vests, and the pale blue helmets they wear. They also appear to be equipped with night-vision goggles. As a sign of their superior training, they are seen using hand signals in combat, but these seem to be for aesthetic purposes only. Elites also become the standard patrol unit in New Game+, and become much more common, even more than privates since privates no longer appear when the player is in heat.

Elites also serve as the Black Hand paratroopers. They jump out of SkyCastle Cargo Jets and shoot while parachuting. Like their Just Cause 3 counterparts, their parachutes don't have collision models, so shooting at the parachutes is not only a war crime but avails nothing.

Sometimes, elites rappel down from Dropzone Choppers, during heat and in missions.

In-universe, some elites seem to be less upgraded grunt and more special forces. For example, in a cutscene in Operation Windwalker, a squad of elites snuck onto the rooftop of a building with Army of Chaos rebels protecting a Wind Cannon and swiftly eliminated them, SWAT-style.

Vanguard units are possibly not commonly seen in Solís. They are speculated to be an older name for elites or a cut type of soldier that wasn't included in the game. See the Trivia section for more about them.

According to a loading screen: "Black Hand Vanguards are equipped with body armor and advanced weaponry, adding an extra threat to most Black Hand fireteams."

Other known members and former members

• Commander Gabriela Morales is their highest ranking member.
• General Muñoz is stationed at Puerto Espada and may optionally be defeated in the mission Espada Plunge. His nickname is "El Maniaco" and he is described as "a real hard-case" by Sargento.
• General Rojas is stationed at Prospero Aeroespacial and has to be killed in the mission Aeroespacial Sabotage.
• Spies are encountered in some random encounters.
  • One random encounter features a "Black Hand spy" whose car broke and stopped at the side of a road. Sargento wants him/her to be picked up and then killed in what seemingly looks like a motor vehicle crash. This encounter is called "Accidental Casualty".
  • Another random encounter which involves Black Hand spies is called "Sniper Assassination". You are tasked to pick up a LRD-3 Sniper on a building roof, and then kill 3 civilians who are actually spies. It's not necessary to use the sniper however, and any weapon can be used so long as you stick to the rooftops.
• Santiago, one of the hosts at the Solís Hoy radio, is a former member of the Black Hand. He served in Solís.
• Cadiz and Escobedo are members of an unknown rank, who have been featured in multiple live action game trailers. See at the official Just Cause YouTube page.
  • They were first featured in a hospital scene along with a number of additional unnamed Black Hand members. Gabriela arrives and demands to know what happened to her base. The men try to explain that it was 1 man who arrived and blew everything up. Gabriela doesn't believe them.
  • While wearing Christmas themed items, they're calling a neighbor and asking for new vehicles as gifts, because their cars and trucks were apparently destroyed in a lightning storm, sandstorm, and tornado. The neighbor does not agree.
  • The men are at a church and praying. One is praying for a dead (or injured) comrade while the other is praying for Rico.
  • They're sitting in a house and one of them has dressed up like Rico. He even has a wingsuit on his jacket. He seems to be a fan of Rico. The other guy questions his choices.
  • They're at a hospital again and one is reading a newspaper while the other is running around and making wind noises with his mouth. Upon being questioned, he explains that he's trying to "become the enemy" in order to understand him.
  • They're at a cafeteria, wearing elf hats and discussing how Rico attacked their base. They mention that they were very scared, but also scared for Rico, because he could have burned to death. In the end they loudly say "Black Hand forever" to the others in the room, but quietly say that the organization "sucks".

Vehicles

Their vehicles are usually painted in dark gray with red highlights. See supply drop.

Because there is no explicit heat system in Just Cause 4, relative terms have to be used.

• Warrior Offroader - Standard patrol vehicle that appears at a low to medium level of heat.
• Vagabundo Buggy - Another patrol vehicle that appears at a low to medium level of heat.
• Próspero Hauler - Off-road capable heavy truck seen at bases and on roads carrying a generator. While it can appear in heat, it does not seem to be very common.
• Cavalry Armored Truck - Armored truck that appears during a medium to high level of heat.
• Reptile AAV - Amphibious infantry fighting vehicle. Appears during a medium to high level of heat.
• Longbow Cannon Truck - Artillery truck. Appears during a medium to high level of heat.
• Prospero Hunter Bike - Seen during a low level of heat.
• Prizefighter Tank - Infantry fighting vehicle / "tank". Seen during a medium to high level of heat.
• Pointman Scout Tank - Light tank that is rarely seen in both bases, but can appear in all levels of heat.
• Warchief Assault Tank - Main battle tank that appears during a high level of heat.
• Falconer AA Tank - Anti-aircraft tank that can be found in all levels of heat. Can also be found patrolling the street and in some military bases.
• Firebrand Scout Chopper - Light attack helicopter that appears during a medium level of heat. Can also be found patrolling the sky.
• Spectre Attack Helicopter - Medium attack helicopter that appears during a medium to high level of heat. Can also be found patrolling the sky.
• Bloodhound Siege Heli - Heavily attack helicopter that appears during a high level of heat. Can also be found patrolling the sky.
• Próspero Sky Crane - Transport helicopter with a usable magnet-crane. Can also uncommonly be found roaming throughout Solís, usually carrying a Sphere Tank. Doesn't appear in heat.
• Dropzone Chopper - Transport helicopter that can be found all over Solís. Appears from a low to medium level of heat, carrying two snipers.
• PA Microfighter - Small armed jet that can be found patrolling the sky. Can appear at any level of heat. Appears much more commonly if Rico is using an air vehicle.
• Stealth Microfighter (DLC) - Never seen in use.
• Fellhawk Jet Fighter - Jet fighter that appears at a high level of heat. Appear much more commonly if Rico is using an air vehicle. Can be seen flying over frontlines and patrolling the airspace of Black Hand occupied military airbases.
• Thunderhead Bomber Jet - Bomber jet that could also double as a jet fighter that appears at a high level of heat. Can be seen flying over frontlines.
• SkyCastle Cargo Jet - Does not appear in heat, but does appear in some missions.
• Prisa Chapoteo - Never used by the Black Hand ingame, but 2 are seen using them in the cinematic trailer. Some are also found docked at Prospero Astillero, indicating that in-universe they are available for the Black Hand navy.
• Daggershark Jetboat - Lightly armed patrol boat at a low level of heat. Can be found patrolling the open ocean. Appears much more commonly if Rico is in combat in the middle of a large body of water.
• Stormwater Patrol Boat - Medium patrol boat at a medium to high level of heat. Rarely found patrolling the open ocean. Appears much more commonly if Rico is in combat in the middle of a large body of water.
• Conquistador Warship - Large ship that appears at a high level of heat. Appears much more commonly if Rico is in combat in the middle of a large body of water.
• Spearhead Transport - Does not appear in heat, but does carry vehicles sometimes.
• Prospero Shade - Weaponized sports car. It is occasionally used during heat and it can sometimes be found being transported on Black Hand trains. It's a part of the "adversary assault vehicle pack" DLC.
• Brawler Mech - Never seen used by the Black Hand but the icon below the Speedometer implies it was constructed by Grupo Prospero. Available for supply drop after purchasing the "Brawler Mech Pack" DLC.

Trivia

• Gabriela Morales is the commander of the Black Hand within Solís and was in position for five years. It is not known who was in charge of their deployments in San Esperito and Medici.
  • Since she already became their commander during the events of Just Cause 3, the unnamed figure heard at the end of Storming the Hive could be potentially a retconned Gabriela, although their exact identity and connection to her remain unknown.
  • She graduated from the Academia Qacha military training base.
• In the mission The Heist Begins (Downloadable content for Just Cause 3), as soon as Black Hand ships come into sight, Annika blames Tom Sheldon for providing the team with "bad" intel on the Black Hand forces. Sheldon is also surprised because he believed the ships were supposed to be on their way to South America. This possibly foreshadows Just Cause 4, as Solís, the setting of the game, is a South American country.
• The Black Hand came into possession of some ex-eDEN Corporation technology, but they are not seen using any of it in Solís. They still could be the most advanced faction in the Just Cause Universe, with ex-eDEN Corporation technology and several weather manipulation devices.
• Just Cause: Mobile, a cancelled spin-off game was going to feature Darkwater as the primary antagonist faction. Darkwater was said to be formed of the remnants of Black Hand, after the events of the Solino Civil War (JC4).
• At the end of the game, its very hard to find any soldiers other than the standard "grunts" (privates), although you can still find snipers without heat (albeit rarely). With heat you have a low chance of encountering a roadblock with a RPG operator and a machine gunner.
  • So, once you fully finish everything, these are the only 4 soldier types able to be found amidst the Black Hand.
  • However in New Game+, elites take over the role as the main respondent in heat and also serve as patrols throughout Solis, so you can only see privates at bases and fronts, and after game completion privates still can be found as little tiny groups at small outposts with permanent Black Hand presence. So once you finish everything in New Game + you are only able to find elites, privates, RPG operators, snipers and machine gunners.
• Originally, during game development, there were "elites" and "vanguards", which were very similar to each other. The Vanguards were meant to be equipped with exotic weapons. The Vanguard units became cut game content from Just Cause 4. We know about them from some pre-release promotional materials and from one of the loading screens that mentions them.
• A mod found here changes the appearance of Black Hand soldiers and the paint jobs of Black Hand vehicles into military camouflage.
• Unlike the militaries from previous games, the Black Hand is rarely seen in cities outside of missions, only at their bases and patrolling the roads.
  • Depending upon the player's actions, by the end of the game, the Black Hand will have lost most of, if not the entirety of Solís, including their military facilities and settlements. However, Black Hand vehicles including Fellhawk Jet Fighters will still spawn in the air and duel Army of Chaos vehicles. This fits with the final announcement of the Solís Hoy radio station, urging the remaining Black Hand soldiers to surrender.
  • It is not known what becomes of the overseas Black Hand units, for after their contracts expire, they would be in some sort of limbo.

Gallery

Vehicles

Firebrand Scout Chopper

Dropzone Chopper.

Dropzone Chopper landing.

Fellhawk Jet Fighter

A drone being fired from a RG-PBA 9 Railgun

Rico grappling to an Spectre Attack Helicopter (or attaching a tether to it) while Black Hand soldiers prepare to fire on him.

Warrior Offroader and Vagabundo Buggy.

Rico about to ram a motorcycle into a Dropzone Chopper.

Black Hand SkyCastle Cargo Jet caught in a tornado.

An Spectre Attack Helicopter over water.

Reptile AAV.

Spectre Attack Helicopter

Bloodhound Siege Heli.

Spectre Attack Helicopter and Daggershark Jetboat

Upside down attack helicopter. Probably influenced by tethers.

Fellhawk Jet Fighter.

The Black Hand likes to fly a lot of jets. So many, in fact, that one can't even go balloon-buggying to simply admire the blue birds and little yellow balloons without seeing them in your way. In other words, a Vagabundo Buggy being flown near Meteolab.

A Reptile AAV and Firebrand Scout Chopper during combat.

A group photo of multiple vehicles.

Soldiers

A Black Hand ghost equipped with an invisibility uniform. It is still possible (albeit difficult) to see him partially though.

Private concept art. Note that he appears to be wearing some light futuristic armor, while privates in the game have no body armor whatsoever.

Titan.

Titan fires a red shot.

Riot shielders.

Elite closeup.

Two privates and a tank in battle.

Privates working out.

An RPG soldier firing on Rico with an SMG. This means Rico is close enough that he has to switch to his SMG-2 without harming himself with his explosive weapon.

Ghost concept art.

A female private.

As seen in Operation Whiteout.

Black Hand units.

Their logo is the same as it was in Just Cause 3. (It's a white logo on a transparent background, so it may be invisible here.)

A Black Hand elite using a hand signal to tell the private something.

Black Hand ghost.

Black Hand ghost activating active camouflage.

A squad of ghosts found at Estación Atalaya.

Black Hand elite (with NVG helmet).

Black Hand elite (no NVGs on helmet).

Black Hand titan launching RG-PBA 9 Railgun defense drone.

Black Hand squad in Yanacagua.

Black Hand titan standing guard on outpost helipad.

Black Hand sniper.

Black Hand machine gunner without shield deployed.

Black Hand machine gunner with shield deployed.

Black Hand grenadier.

Black Hand grenadier with SMG equipped. This means Rico is close enough that he has to switch to his SMG-2 without harming himself with his explosive weapon.

Colonel.

Black Hand riot shielder.

Black Hand riot shielder without his shield.

RPG operator.

Concept art of Black Hand machine gunner.

Early concepts of basic Black Hand units.

Sniper close up through an LRD-3 Sniper.

RPG Unit.

Two mercenaries fight back against Army of Chaos members.

Elite wielding the SW9 Assault Rifle.

A Ghost in their unit-specific pose.

Privates with a couple of vehicles in battle.

Every unit lined up.

Other

Tornado devastating a Black Hand base.

Illapa base with large artillery.

Gabriela Morales overseeing an airport in "Ricos Rival" trailer.

Army of Chaos vs the Black Hand in "Only the villains do that" meme.

As seen in some gameplay videos, they have multiple bases in the mountains with large masts/towers. These are parts of the Project Illapa.

Concept art of the frontline.

Concept art of a Black Hand checkpoint.

Concept art of the re-education center Academia Wanay. Apparently the base was originally in a much higher position.

Concept art of Operation Windwalker.

Also concept art of Operation Windwalker.

Concept art of a Black Hand PR83 Attack Drone.

The inside of a Black Hand Command Building, as seen in the ending cutscene of the mission The Illapa Project

Mod

Warchief Assault Tank modded paint scheme. This makes it slightly resemble the M1 Abrams.

Same mod as before. The Spectre Attack Heli now has an urban camouflage pattern (even though it looks nothing like one).

A mod that gives a forest/jungle camouflage paint scheme for the Warchief Assault Tank.

Green forest camouflage mod applied to military vehicles.

Same mod as before. However, it is strange that the jet fighter is in green forest camo as well, while fixed-wing aircraft are typically sky-blue or grey.

Black Hand grenadier modded to wear a green camo outfit.

Same mod that reskins the Black Hand. This machine gunner is wearing green camo equipment. It makes him look like an EOD specialist (bomb disposal), or something similar.

Same mod as before. This reskin makes the Black Hand elite look like an actual soldier.

A special operator wielding a Niagara 9mm Bullpup. He carries a Yellowstone Auto Sniper on his back. This is actually Rico reskinned as a modded Black Hand texture.

The one on the left is a reskinned Rico equipped with the same weapons, while the one on the right is an actual Black Hand elite (retextured).

Guess the reskinned Rico. Hint: He has a grappler. Note: The camera view was not modified, so the player would be somewhere around the middle of the screen.

Videos