The mutant world is full of intriguing characters, who have their own stories regarding their struggles while living as a mutant in a world of humans. One such mutant is the popular X-Man, ‘The Beast’, who has struggled to adapt to his mutant life for quite a while now.
Created by the legendary duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this intriguing mutant became one of the core members of the original ‘X-Men’ team under the eye of Professor Xavier. The Beast was first introduced in the X-Men comics [issue one] in 1963 and has ever since been part of various storylines across the X-Men universe. Let us explore his origins and take a dive into the life of this intriguing mutant known as ‘The Beast’!
X-Men Evolution provides an interesting origin story
Beast first appears in the X-Men Evolution series in an episode titled ‘The Beast of Bayville’, where he is introduced as a high school teacher.
The episode begins with Hank McCoy teaching a class full of students when he notices one of his pupils, Evan, distractedly staring out the window. While McCoy continues giving his lesson on molecules, Evan asks for a bathroom pass and leaves the class.
As McCoy continues his lesson, he looks out the window and watches Evan roam around with his friends on his skateboard. McCoy gets back to his teaching but experiences a sudden stab of pain in his chest. Eventually, McCoy asks the class to just read a chapter, and he leaves to go to the washroom. He freshens up and recites a Shakespeare quote to himself in order to calm himself down. However, McCoy’s condition seems to be worsening and gets quite uncontrollable. He ends up ripping a bathroom sink off the wall.
The Principal investigates the bathroom incident while Kurt and Kitty observe from afar. Kurt and Kitty are X-Kids training at the Xavier academy, and Kurt tells Kitty that it was McCoy who destroyed the sink. She does not believe him, and they leave for their next class.
In the meantime, McCoy goes to the amphitheater to collect his thoughts and calm down after his outburst. Evan visits him, and McCoy reprimands him for skipping his class. McCoy gets violent and tries to attack Evan, who dodges the attack. Finally, McCoy snaps out of his current state and returns to his senses.
Evan returns to the Xavier Institute and finds a package addressed to Kitty. The X-Kids are training in the Danger Room when Evan enters the place and apologizes for being late for training. He later hands the package to Kitty, who tells him that the package consists of a ‘pyramid hat’ that is supposed to stimulate brain energy.
A day passes, and McCoy summons Evans to scold him over skipping classes. He asks Evans to learn to work in a team and realize his full potential. Moreover, McCoy asks Evans to memorize a passage from a Shakespearian text, telling him that this will help him forget all about skipping classes.
Later, McCoy again starts feeling pain in his chest and has another such attack, which scares the young student ‘Sandy Dee.’ Evans and Jean intervene and help McCoy return to his normal state. McCoy finally realizes that he cannot deal with this by himself and finally decides to visit Professor Xavier at the Xavier academy at night.
He tells Xavier that he feels like there is a beast within him that is uncontrollable at this point. McCoy also confesses that he has been using a serum to subdue the Beast until now, but with time, the serum’s effect has been decreasing. Xavier then probes his mind and finally sees the ‘Beast’ within McCoy’s mind. Xavier tells him that he cannot be of much help in this case and that it is McCoy who needs to deal with this Beast on his own.
McCoy returns to the school and immediately begins working on producing more serums to subdue the Beast. However, this serum has the opposite effect, and McCoy physically transforms into the ‘Beast’ after consuming it. Kelly, one of Hank’s colleagues, had been working late at the school and he visits his lab to find the place wrecked. Kelly then spots the Beast, who is afraid of being caught.
The Beast tries to evade Kelly, and jumps out of the classroom’s window. Later, Principal Kelly catches up to the Beast, and sets the fire alarm off which scares the Beast and causes it to run away. Kelly returns to Hank’s lab and investigates the place, when he finds Hank’s laboratory coat on the floor. He finally realizes that Hank is the Beast, a mutant that has been living in plain sight.
Kelly rushes to the authorities, and he soon appears on TV to tell the locals about the Beast, who is creating havoc all around the place. The X-Men see Kelly on TV and immediately set out to locate the Beast and bring him to the Academy before the police catch him. Kitty and Jean Grey find him sulking in a junkyard, where he lunges into an attack on Kitty. Jean Grey uses her powers to slam him against a railing, and Wolverine then uses his claws to bring the Beast within control. However, the Beast retaliates, and the two mutants end up in a brawl in the middle of a junkyard.
Finally, the Beast shoves Wolverine to the side and leaves the place when Evans turns up and tells the X-Men that he has an idea where to find him. They head to their school’s amphitheater, hoping to find Hank McCoy there. In the meantime, the Beast runs into the X-Men- Rogue, Kurt, and Storm. They corner the Beast in an alleyway, who is ready to attack the group of X-Men. However, Scott Summers finally shows up and blocks the Beast’s attacks with a strong punch.
The Beast finally makes his way to the Amphitheater to have some alone time, where he runs into Evans. The young boy tries to calm the Beast down, but Hank is quite worked up in this new avatar and tries to attack Evans. Wolverine intervenes and contacts the other X-Men for backup while dealing with the Beast. Kurt even uses his powers to bring Professor Xavier to the amphitheater by teleporting him. Evans recites a Shakespeare passage to the Beast hoping that it will calm him down.
Professor Xavier encourages Hank to return to his original form and tells him that his normal self is stronger than the Beast and capable of regaining control. Finally, Hank manages to obtain some control over his mind, and he returns to the Xavier Academy with the X-Men. Though Hank still looks like the Beast, he seems to be consciously aware of his actions. Kurt suggests that he can take an ‘Image Inducer’ to return to Hank McCoy’s body, but Hank dismisses the idea since the authorities are now out to get him.
Hank seems quite regretful of the fact that he cannot return to teaching, and Professor Xavier reassures him by saying that he just needs to find students who are mutants like him and have secrets of their own.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Evans and Kitty discuss the powers of the new pyramid hat she ordered. Professor Xavier enters the room and introduces these X-Kids to ‘Hank McCoy,’ also known as The Beast, who will be their new teacher.
In another X-Men Evolution episode titled ‘Retreat,’ the Beast struggles to adapt to his new life as a mutant. He has begun working as a teacher at Xavier’s Academy, where he teaches the New Mutants such as Bobby, Rahne, Evans, Kitty, and Roberto.
Beast steps out for a late-night run when some policemen spot him and start following him. With nowhere to escape to, Beast finds himself returning to the high school he used to teach at, as he peeks through the windows and looks inside the place. The cops continue to keep an eye on him, while the Beast gets overwhelmed by the memories of the school and starts smashing a few trees. The police then approach him, and the Beast damages their car and somehow manages to escape them.
The next day, Beast apologizes to Professor Xavier for last night’s wrongdoings, and Xavier consoles him by saying that it is only natural that he needs to let out some steam. Xavier even plans a little trip to ‘Redwood Forest’ so that the Beast can have a change of scenery. Beast decides to go on the trip with his new students: Evans, Kitty, Bobby, Rahne and Roberto.
During the trip, the children have a good time while the Beast finds himself slipping into a depressive episode. Kitty asks him about his issues, and the Beast tells her that he has begun enjoying the animal he has now become, even though he does not want to be a monster. He further tells her that this is not what he is meant to be, but Kitty tells him that maybe this is exactly who he needs to be.
Kitty then rejoins the other X-Kids, while a group of hunters spots the Beast. They think he is ‘Bigfoot’ and start videotaping him while preparing to capture him. In the meantime, Beast gives the X-Kids an assignment and asks them to return to camp in four hours. Once they leave, Beast is all alone, and he wanders around the forests when the group of hunters corners him.
He manages to defeat some of them, but they tranquilize him and trap him in an electrified cage. Beast is then taken back to the hunter’s camp, where they all make fun of him and plan to cut him open and stuff him. The hunters also have a scientist back at the base, and Beast tries to talk to him. The scientist soon realizes that Beast is not Bigfoot and is ready to free him when the hunters return to camp and prepare to leave.
Meanwhile, the X-Kids realize that Beast is missing, and they start searching for him. It so happens that it starts raining while the hunters are traveling in their trucks, and they get caught up in a mudslide. This causes the Beast’s cage to flow away in a flooding river, and he starts sinking in the water when the X-Kids finally spot him.
Bobby uses his powers to create a block of ice, which acts as a makeshift dam that prevents the Beast’s cage from flowing away. After freeing their teacher, the X-Kids rescue the hunters stuck in the mudslide. As soon as they are free, the hunters start attacking the Beast, but the X-Kids destroy their guns and scare them away. The scientist also parts ways with the Beast and tells him he would love to learn more about them one day.
While the Beast and the X-Kids return to Xavier Academy, Beast tells them that he has learned an important thing on the trip. While the young kids gained new experiences and skills on this trip, he realized that they are all who they were meant to be, and he has stopped doubting his identity.
Beast was explored nicely in the X-Men animated series
In the animated X-Men series, Beast is a part of Xavier’s core team of X-Men. He resides at the Xavier Academy and even helps Xavier create the ‘Danger Room’ where the mutants get their training. In the animated series, the Beast’s physical appearance is characterized by enlarged limbs and blue fur.
He also works as a medical professional in his free time outside of Xavier Academy. Beast is a medical researcher who also performs surgeries at a hospital in New York. Here, he falls for one of his patients called Carly Crocker. Carly is scheduled to get an eye surgery, but her parents are against the idea that a mutant would be the one to perform the surgery. While Carly gears up for the surgery, her parents demand that Beast should stop seeing her.
In an interesting episode, a new mutant named Jubilee is introduced at the Academy, and her presence causes a lot of chaos. Jubilee is still quite unfamiliar with her surroundings, and she ends up attacking Wolverine at the Xavier Mansion. She then leaves the place and ends up running into a ‘Sentinel’. Sentinels are robotic figures created to capture mutants, and this Sentinel takes Jubilee to the Mutant Control Agency.
When Beast discovers that she is in trouble, he and a group of X-Men set out to free her from the Sentinel. On their way to the Agency, Beast and Rogue get into a conversation about their life and how they have become who they are today. Wolverine, who has now recovered from the attack, soon joins them along with ‘Morph.’ While Morph jumps over the fence of the facility, Wolverine and Beast give him a boost so he can break into the place.
The mutants work together as Storm takes out a guard, and Wolverine uses his sense of smell to detect any unusual activity around them. Beast then uses his abilities to cling to the ceiling’s instruments and get across the room without setting off any alarm detectors. He then disables the security system, and the rest of the X-Men join him. They finally make it into the place and get ready to battle any armed guards they might come face to face with on the other side of the wall.
In yet another episode, Beast’s love interest, Carly Crocker, is kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity, an organization that wishes to destroy all mutants. With help from Wolverine, Beast starts a rampage at their headquarters and is determined to save her at any cost. The X-Men come to Carly’s aid and rescue her, after which Beast is briefly reunited with Carly. However, he tells Carly that she should not be around him since he is a danger to her life. He further tells her that he hopes to return to her one day, in a world where humans and mutants can coexist peacefully.
Beast’s story arc in the animated series also brought him across Spiderman on one occasion. When Spiderman visits the Xavier Mansion for some help, Beast refers him to his old friend Doctor Herbet Landon. Landon is a genius when it comes to working with cures for mutations.
However, Beast is unaware that Landon’s intentions have turned evil, and he is no longer working to help mutants. Instead, Landon wants to create a poison that would kill the mutants so that humans could become the dominating species on Earth. At the end of the day, Beast and Spiderman realize his intentions and are accompanied by Wolverine and the Hobgoblin as they decide to confront Landon. Landon eventually ends up as a half-mutant, half-human creature after messing up some of his formulas and causing an accident.
He struggled with his mutant powers until Professor Xavier gave him direction
Born as Henry Hank McCoy, Beast lived a life of struggle and had a tough time adjusting to life as a mutant. In his early years, Hank lived in Illinois with his parents, Norton and Edna McCoy. Norton spent his life working in a nuclear power plant, where he was exposed to large amounts of radiation. Though this did not seriously affect Norton’s health, it affected his genes that were passed onto Hank.
From the moment he was born, Hank showed signs of being a mutant which rarely ever happened among mutants. He was born with enlarged hands and feet, and was quite agile and strong even as an infant. The more Hank grew up, the more his powers kept increasing, and he was gifted with extraordinary intellect and superhuman reflexes.
As a teenager, Hank attended Bard College and used his powers to become a star player on the college’s football team. Though he used his powers in plain sight, Hank managed to hide his mutant abilities for quite some time. However, his powers soon raised eyebrows, and the school authorities figured he was a mutant. Hank was then asked to leave Bard College, and that is when Professor Charles Xavier took him under his wing. Hank’s athletic abilities and strength had caught Xavier’s attention, who was looking for mutants to form his original team of X-Men at the time. Charles offered Hank a place at the Xavier’s Academy, and promised him unlimited academic opportunities under his guidance.
However, there were others who wanted to recruit Hank for their own benefit. The criminal ‘El Conquistador’, also had his eyes on Hank, and he hoped that the young mutant would join his organization. Conquistador went to great lengths to recruit Hank but was finally defeated by the young mutant along with some help from Professor Xavier.
After defeating Conquistador, Hank officially joined the X-Men and took the code name ‘Beast’. Professor Xavier was a great mentor to Hank, and he helped Hank master various powers and life skills. From learning to solve differential equations to working out in the Danger Room, Hank thrived under the guidance of Xavier. The Beast looked up to Xavier as a mentor, who gave his life some direction and helped him keep his powers in check.
While staying at Xavier’s Academy, the Beast once found himself in the company of another version of himself that originated from a future timeline. The Beast from the future tells the X-Men that their future is in a terrible state, and he needs their help to fix it. The Beast and other X-Men then accompany this alternate Beast to the future, and learn that Cyclops has killed Xavier.
Moreover, their Academy is now named after Jean Grey, who too is dead in this timeline. The Beast from the future also reveals that his body is now weakening, and he will die soon due to some after-effects caused by his ‘secondary mutation.’ The Beast realizes that he needs to take better care of himself and helps his future self to stabilize his body and stay alive. The X-Men remain in the future for quite some time and take care of all the issues that might cause them any problems in their future. When they return to their original timeline, Jean Grey uses her powers to seal all their memories of their time-displacement to the future.
Dark Beast – the alternate dimension monstrous form of Beast
In the Age of Apocalypse story arc, Hank McCoy’s character is a mad scientist who ends up becoming a ‘Dark Beast’ during one of his crazy experiments. Apocalypse is one of the world’s first mutants and a supervillain, who wants to breed a team of super-powerful mutants. Apocalypse joins forces with Mister Sinister, since he is a powerful villain with the resources to create such a strong breed of mutants.
In this arc, a different Hank McCoy from an alternate dimension is recruited by Mister Sinister to work on gene mutating experiments in his laboratory. This version of Hank McCoy is a crazy scientist with no ethics regarding his job. Sometimes, McCoy even takes pleasure in causing pain to his subjects in the lab experiments, and thereby he is nicknamed the ‘Beast’ in his particular arc as well.
Moreover, McCoy is not satisfied with his current level of strength. He often experiments on his body to become stronger and enhance his bodily appearance even further, thereby turning himself into the ‘Dark Beast. He is also quite ruthless and turns any unworthy mutant into a puddle of genetic stew, which creates an army of ‘Infinites’ that serves Apocalypse.
In addition to creating the ‘Infinites’, Dark Beast even conducts unethical experiments on specific mutants such as Blink, Impossible Man, Tiger Shark, Nemesis, and so on. Some of his notable experiments include creating the supervillain ‘Holocaust’ out of Nemesis’s body and also creating a new Wolverine in this alternate reality.
Dark Beast is given a technological body by Mister Sinister, making him quite invincible in any battle. This version of the Beast has the same levels of strength and powers as the Beast in a regular timeline. Additionally, the Dark Beast possesses extra knowledge about mutating genes and mutant abilities since he worked as a scientist for many years and specialized in genetics.
What makes him so powerful?
The Beast is one of the most formidable members of the X-Men team and has many deadly powers that make him a pretty dangerous mutant. The Beast has a towering appearance, and his body is usually covered in blue fur that tapers into claws as sharp as a knife. His claws give him a firm grip while climbing any surface that helps him enter places without being detected and also gives him an advantage in combat. He also has sharp fangs that can be used as a weapon while fighting his opponents.
The Beast has something known as ‘genetic atavism’, which constitutes genetic traits that resurface in a species after many generations. This explains his ape-like appearance and also provides an explanation for the fur on his body. The Beast goes through a secondary mutation later in his life, which transforms his ape-like physique into a more cat-like form.
Intellectually, the Beast has a well-developed brain and is a highly intelligent being. He has a scientific mind and is sort of a technological genius at the Xavier Academy. He has six Ph.Ds. and even has his own laboratory at the Xavier Academy, where he often conducts advanced research and experiments.
The Beast possessed superhuman strength and durability right from birth, and his strength only increased after he mutated into the Beast with his blue body fur. He also has superhuman speed and stamina and can physically exert himself for very long hours without feeling any fatigue. His body tissues are more advanced than an average human’s and he does not get easily injured. In case he even gets hurt, the Beast’s body has regenerative healing properties that can heal any injuries at a quick pace. He also has an advanced immune system that makes him immune to most forms of sickness as well as poisons and chemicals. The Beast’s body fur also helps him survive in extremely cold temperatures. He does not age quickly, as his healing abilities have slowed down the ageing process of his body.
The Beast can resist any telepathic attack on his mind and prevent his thoughts from being shared with his opponent. He possesses enhanced senses and can see and hear outside the normal human range. He can even use his sense of smell to track a human and even detect any electronic signals or bombs around him. The Beast has night vision and can easily perceive things even in complete darkness.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Beast is one of the most intriguing mutants ever created, and his story arc has been a rollercoaster of a ride. The Beast’s recent appearances show him in a more deadly form than before, and he seems to have undergone an even deadlier mutation in recent X-Men storylines. The storylines featuring him are still changing as he remains a relevant character in the X-Men universe even today. The Beast is definitely one of the most powerful X-Men out there, and he keeps getting more intriguing and dangerous day by day!