To paraphrase the Bard... I am a mutant. Have not a mutant senses? Affections? Fed with the same food, warmed and cooled with the same winter and summer as a human is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?Hank McCoy.
Oh, my stars and garters!Beast.
Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, also known as Beast, is a fictional character and superhero from Marvel comics.
He is a member of the X-Men and a genius despite his animal-like appearance. He is also a mutant and is incredibly agile and strong with distinctive blue fur covering his entire body. In fact, Beast is both the brains and brawn of the team, preferring to think his way out of danger but more than capable of putting up a fight if he feels threatened or that his friends are in danger. He has been taken in a more darker direction since the Krakaon age.
Beast was created by the late Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby, and first appeared in X-Men #1 in September of 1963.
Biography
Birth and Childhood
Beast was born "Hank McCoy" son of Norton and Edna McCoy. When Hank was born he had enlarged hands and feet, and as would be found out latter in his childhood a substantially high I.Q.. A medical exam of Hank and then his parents revealed the cause, Norton who worked at a power-plant had been exposed to high doses of radiation during a melt-down and it had effect his reproductive properties.
Hank's high I.Q. lead him to be a very curious child, taking things apart, putting them back together, finding out how everything worked around him and retaining nearly every bit of information he gained. Hank was luckier than most mutants as his parents not only loved him unconditionally but were supportive of him. However though Hank possessed supportive parents he encountered more than a few cruelties at the hands of class-mates. Hank would eventually be signed up to the football team after the coach saw him kick the skin clean off a ball one day.
Hank became his high-school's most valuable football athlete, though this made him more accepted among the town and his teachers, the other players only began to harass him more for making them look bad. Hank's good grades and athletic pursuits easily afford Hank a scholarship to college and allowed him leeway into professional sports as well.
Becoming an X-Man
One day three robbers held up the stadium Hank was at. Hank used his, by then super-human athletic agility and strength, to foil the robbery. The event was covered by the local news, but unfortunately this allowed the villain known as El Conquistador to hear about Hank and manipulate the situation. El Conquistador kidnapped Norton and Edna McCoy and used them as hostages to get Hank to rob a nuclear plant for him. Hank did as he was told but when he returned El Conquistador decided he would keep the McCoys as hostages to keep Hank as his super-powered errand boy. Hank tried to escape with his parents but was badly hurt in the attempt. The mutant powered robbery had gotten the attention of the X-Men, who were dispatched to stop him.
Once the X-Men found out the situation they helped Hank, Norton and Edna and defeated El Conquistador. Hank expressed his gratitude and the leader of the X-Men, Charles Xavier, offered Hank a place in his Xavier Institute for the Gifted and a place on the X-Men. Hank accepted the offer and continued his schooling at the Xavier Institute. Hank continued as a formal team member of the X-Man well after graduating.
Becoming The Beast
After graduating Hank took a job as a geneticist at the Brand Cooperation. he worked for a man called Dr. Carl Maddicks and became romantically involved with his fellow researcher Dr. Linda Donaldson. Maddicks wanted to unlock the secrets of mutant genes to provide a treatment for them and had McCoy and Donaldson assist him in his research. Though Hank was somewhat trepidations Linda helped put his ethical concerns to rest, assuring him he must think of the research and how it could help mutants and not how it might be abused later on by politicians. With his concerns assuaged Hank used his own D.N.A. as the base for a good deal of their work.
One day Hank made a break-through and rushed to Dr. Maddicks, only to find him discussing theft of government files with Donaldson. As it turned out Linda was an agent for a secret organization called The Secret Empire, who had been planted to keep an eye on Maddicks, who was auditioning for the group, and to keep Hank working for them. Hank, realizing there was no-one at the Brand Corporation he could trust, decided to test his formula on himself and once it was confirmed successful take it out of Maddicks' and Donaldson's hands.
Hank would soon find that the formula was quite flawed. Hank grew gray fur all over his body, gained protruding canines and gnarled claws. Hank had not cured his genetic condition but only made it more apparent. Though ultimately a failure, the Secret Empire would still pursue Hank for some time in hopes of recovering the formula to use as a base for their own plans to create an army of augmented super soldiers.
Hank, no longer able to pose as a human took up the least offensive of his high-school nicknames "The Beast" and returned to the X-Men full time. Since his full mutation Hank's speed, Agility and strength have only increased. Hank has gone on to be a top genetic researcher, a lawyer and a mutant advocate. Hank is one of the few immediately apparent mutants who the congress keeps on hand to speak up on mutant concerns.
The mutant population's much maligned political antagonist Senator Robert Kelly, viewed mutants as a serous threat to the world at large and tried to pass numerous initiatives to keep the public safe from them, however one of the few mutants he could stomach talking to without descending into redirect, and by extension the only mutant who could talk to him without resorting to violence, was Hank McCoy AKA the Beast.
Powers & Abilities
Beast has superhuman strength, agility, endurance, senses, durability, speed and has a genius level IQ. In his human form, Beast could lift 1 ton. His simian form could lift 10 tons. Even though he mutated to his feline form, he can still only lift about 10 tons. He has strong fingers and toes, using his razor sharp claws on his hands and his feet to scale walls. He has thick blue fur all over his body. Hank has great manual and pedal dexterity and can perform several complicated tasks using both his hands and feet such as tying knots with his feet. He has long appendages that allow to him to walk on all fours. Beast has superhuman durability, though he is very far from invulnerable. He can survive a fall from 3 stories if he lands on his feet and being struck by superhuman strong foes that would kill an average human. Beast can run for short sprints at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. He has enhanced senses such as night-vision and a sense of smell that can track a human and also has a slight healing factor. This healing factor allows him to recover from slight sicknesses like colds quickly. He also heals broken bones in a couple days, where it takes regular people weeks, even months. Furthermore, in contrast to his superhuman powers, he is extremely intelligent. He is one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe. He is a world authority in biochemistry and genetics as well as being the X-Men's medical doctor (though he never received an M.D.) which shows his vast intellect.
Later on, when he has taken on a secondary mutation, his smelling, strength, sight and reflexes are enhanced even further. The secondary mutation gave him the a feline appearance. The downside to this mutation is that Hank has lost his super human dexterity. He has stated that he used to play the guitar but now plays the drums as a result of the lost dexterity. Beast is a capable hand to hand combatant. He has been trained by Captain America and Professor Xavier, in a fighting style that makes good use of his agility, strength and speed. He has an incredibly high pain intolerance and can manipulate his own pheromones.
Portrayals
Film
- In X-2: X-Men United, he was portrayed by Steve Bacic.
- In X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Marvels, he was portrayed by Kelsey Grammer, who also played Frasier Crane in the titular series and voiced Gary “The Rat” Andrews in the titular animated series.
- In X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix and Deadpool 2, he was portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, who also played Jack in Jack the Giant Slayer, Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road, and voiced Fiver in Watership Down.
Television
- In the 1992 animated X-Men series, he was voiced by George Buza.
- Buza would voice the character again the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, and for X-Men: Mutant Academy 2.
- In X-Men: Evolution, he was voiced by the late Michael Kopsa, who also voiced Char Aznable in Mobile Suit Gandam.
- In Wolverine and the X-Men, he was voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who also voiced Nikolai Belinski in Call of Duty: Nazi Zombies, Damon Baird and Tai Kaliso in the Gears of War series, and Mario Auditore in the Assassin's Creed series.
- Tatasciore would do the English dub for Marvel Anime: X-Men, as Hideyuki Tanaka voiced him in the Japanese version, who also voiced Hal "Otacon" Emmerich in Metal Gear Solid.
- Tatasciore also returned for Lego Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel Heroes.
- In Astonishing X-Men, he was voiced by Mike Pollock, who famously voices Dr. Eggman, and later Ron Halder, who also voiced Watari in Death Note.
Video Games
- In Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, he was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who also voiced Numbuh 4 in Codename Kids Next Door, David Kawena, Appa and Momo in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Klaus Heisler, Perry the Platypus in Phineas & Ferb, Captain Rex, Commander Cody, Commander Wolffe and Clone Troopers in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and Cinnamon Bun in Adventure Time.
- In X2: Wolverine's Revenge, he was voiced by Richard Portnow.
- In X-Men Legends and Rise of Apocalypse, he was voiced by Richard Doyle, who also voiced Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
- In X-Men: The Official Game, he was voiced by Gregg Berger, who also voiced Grimlock in Transformers.
Quotes
They only fight because they fear us. Because they don't yet understand.Beast in the animated series
That is why I must stand trial. They must see we are not a threat to mankind but apart of it.Beast in the animated series
Enter, true friends – and meet my blundering associate – who's not such a bad idiot when you get to know him!Beast to the X-Men on Iceman.
I'm not your X-Man Professor... I'm my own man! Leave me alone!Beast to Professor X.
Any more tricks, Mastermind?!!Beast to Mastermind.
Mrs. Pym, it's ... hard to be a beast .. sometimes.Beast to Wasp.
You rescued Jean. Saved Scott's brother. Maybe saved us all. Don't kid yourself...you've made your choice. Forget Dark Angel. You're our official Archangel now. Heaven knows, we can use one.Beast to Angel.
I like to think of X-Force as a dark orchestra. Some of us prefer the spotlight of the melody... like a shrill, brilliant violin... or a fun, emotive sax. While others harmonize in the background. Some serve a necessary function by mindlessly beating drums and crashing cymbals... pleasuring in their violent rhythm. And there are those who are as versatile as a cello... able to play melody or harmony, to swing between the brightest and darkest notes. And I... I am their conductor.Beast.
Gallery
Images
Trivia
- He became more werewolf like to capitalize on the success of Werewolf by Night. The idea of giving him an animal-like appearance originated from Roy Thomas to make the character more visibly striking..
- He is one of many heroes in the Marvel Comics who is considered the smartest alongside Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, T'Challa, Hank Pym, Adam Brashear, and Amadeus Cho.
- He appeared in season 2 of Death Battle! where he fought against Goliath from Disney's Gargoyles and lost.
- He was intended to be a playable character in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse but was scrapped because the developers thought he wasn’t fun to play as in the first game. He is playable on the N-Gage port, however.
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