The Mysterious Story of Nemesis: Why Her Hands Are Cut Off in Rebel Moon

The Enigmatic Nemesis

Nemesis, a character from Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire, is a talented warrior with bionic arms, yet the film never makes it clear why her arms were cut off. Rebel Moon's cast of characters is led by Kora (Sofia Boutella), a farmer with a mysterious past. Kora lives on Veldt, a moon of the Motherworld. When military forces land on Veldt and threaten the entire farming community, Kora teams up with Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), another community member, to travel across the universe and recruit fighters to protect Veldt.

Nemesis wielding a lightsaber type weapon in Rebel Moon

One recruited fighter is Nemesis, a woman with burning metal swords and her reasons for rebelling against the Realm. Her skill with her dual blades, and her robotic arms, are some of the most striking and mysterious things about her. While not a lot is revealed about Nemesis in the movie, pieces of dialogue in the film, as well as comments from writer and director Zack Snyder, shed some light on Nemesis' backstory.

Doona Bae as Nemesis looking up in Rebel Moon

The Rite of Passage

Nemesis is a warrior from a world where cutting off one's arms is a rite of passage, followed by adding robotic arms and energy gauntlets. The film never discusses how Nemesis came to have robotic arms, but Zack Snyder explained that the gauntlets are ancient artifacts from her home world. The fact that she managed to cut off her arms and completed a rite of passage to wield her signature blades is a testament to how cunning and capable of a fighter she is. In addition to her origins as a warrior, Nemesis also has a very tragic backstory.

The Tragic Backstory

Nemesis' tragic backstory unfolds as she reveals that she knows 'a mother's pain' and tells the characters that any of them could end up dead 'in a forgotten world,' just like Harmada. This dialogue gives insight into why Nemesis ends up joining the cause to protect Veldt: she, like Harmada, also lost her children to the Motherworld. This is confirmed after the group is captured by Admiral Atticus Noble, who reveals that Nemesis 'assassinated 16 high-ranking imperial officers and their security details' to 'avenge her slaughtered children.' Whether more about Nemesis' past will be revealed in Rebel Moon's sequel remains to be seen.