The Beast: Marvel's Most Mutated Mutant

A popular character in comic books, cartoons, and movies for nearly 60 years, the Beast isn't the most powerful Marvel hero, the most tragic, the smartest, or the funniest, but he is one of the richest and most unique, making him a sought-after character for writers and artists to use decade after decade. You may think you're familiar with every aspect of his history, but there are likely moments you were unaware of that you may find interesting.

Original X-Men

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created most of the classic Marvel heroes, starting with the Fantastic Four, but sometimes, in looking to recapture the magic (and sales) of that first team, they simply did variants on a theme. This was obvious with the original X-Men, with the use of Iceman and Beast. On the Fantastic Four, the youngest member was the Human Torch, who could burst into flame and create objects out of fire. With the X-Men, the youngest member was Iceman, who could cover himself with snow (later ice) and create objects out of ice and snow. On the FF, the strongest member was the gruff but loveable Thing. On the X-Men, the strongest member was the Beast, who in the first issue was depicted as being rude and loud. A strong, but ill-mannered "beast."

Thankfully, Stan and Jack realized the character was a bit too one-dimensional and in subsequent issues showed he was actually different than other strong heroes, making him highly intelligent, even a genius. Gifted with superhuman agility, Beast (real name Henry "Hank" McCoy) was essentially a human gorilla, but he had the ability, similar to the Fantastic Four's Mr. Fantastic, or Iron Man Tony Stark, to whip up incredible inventions, or provide a wealth of obscure information, to help the team out of a jam, such as when the X-Men faced mutant wrestler Unus the Untouchable, who projected an impenetrable force field. When the team's mutant abilities were unable to stop Unus, Beast created a weapon that could affect his power.

In later years, the histories of the X-Men before they joined the team were revealed, and readers learned Beast was the oldest member, who was a star athlete in high school. While still in school, he encountered a supervillain calling himself the Conquistador who saw McCoy stopping a group of thieves from robbing the athletic stadium where he was playing. The Conquistador tried to get McCoy to join him, holding his parents hostage, but McCoy was aided by the fledgling X-Men team of Angel, Cyclops, and Iceman, and he joined the team.

As the series continued, Beast and Iceman formed a close friendship, often going on double dates with their respective girlfriends to a local coffeehouse, only to have to leave their dates to go into action, as Marvel's teen heroes often did. When the team briefly split up, Beast and Iceman had an adventure together, fighting the super-villain the Maha Yogi.

Grey and furry

With none of the characters having their own title, unlike "The Avengers", "X-Men" was never a hot seller. When the title risked cancellation, Marvel made a last-ditch effort to boost sales with the addition of star artist Neal Adams. This actually did boost sales, but the numbers didn't come in soon enough, and subsequent issues simply reprinted original issues, with new covers. Writers who liked the team featured them now and again in titles like "Captain America", but Beast on his own was given a chance at a solo career, in the series "Amazing Adventures."

In this title, Beast became the first member of the X-Men to "graduate", since the team were all members of a school to help mutants learn their abilities. Deciding it's past time he started life in the civilian world, McCoy gets a job at the Rand Corporation, putting his scientific knowledge to use. There he meets and befriends longtime Marvel romance/teen comic star Patsy Walker and her husband Buzz, who works at the corporation.

We quickly learn McCoy has secretly been studying mutation, and he has developed a formula to induce or increase mutation, along with an antidote. Using the formula on himself, McCoy increases his own mutation, becoming grey and furry, with fangs and claws. His strength and agility increase even further, and his senses, already greater than a normal humans, also increase. Excited by the new scope of his powers, he ventures out, stopping crime, but, caught up in the excitement, he waits too long to take the antidote and is stuck in his new form.

Undeterred, McCoy uses his technical expertise to create a mask and gloves for himself resembling his normal appearance. He also binds straps around his upper body, forcing himself to stand upright, inspired by the harness former teammate the Angel used to hide his wings under normal clothing.

With this new secret identity and new, far more bestial appearance, Beast enjoys a solo career, at one point encountering his old foes the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sans their leader Magneto. Because of his new appearance, Beast's old foes Unus, the Toad, and the Blob didn't recognize him, and offered him membership. Beast joined the team, with the intent of seeing what their plans were, so he could stop them from within.

While Beast's solo career didn't last long, it did establish a new look for him, and showed that despite his bestial appearance, his intelligence and sense of humor kept him from becoming the tragic character characters such as the Hulk and the Thing became, a hero trapped in the body of a monster.

Avengers mainstay

Writer Steve Englehart wanted to continue to work with Beast, and so with issue 137, had him join the team, where his buoyant personality could balance out the team overall, and in particular the more serious new recruit Moondragon. In an early adventure with the team, Beast encountered his friend Patsy Walker, who found a costume that gave her fighting skills that she used to help the team. She then joined the team as the new heroine Hellcat before leaving to join the Defenders.

On the Avengers, Beast forms a bond with newly-revived member Wonder Man and the two end up becoming celebrity heroes. Instead of being repulsed or frightened by his appearance, women seem to be attracted to Beast, thronging to him, and Beast realizes his upgraded mutation, which has now advanced to make him blue, not gray, may include pheromones that make him unsually attractive to females.

During this time, Beast continues to stay in touch with the X-Men, who have since gone through dramatic changes of their own, with the landmark stories in "Giant-Size X-Men 1" and "X-Men 94." There, the original team was captured and a new team of X-Men was recruited from all over the world to rescue them. Upon coming back, all the members of the original team left except for Cyclops, who remained as leader to help train the new team. Beast joined the team in their first battle with arch-nemesis Magneto, resulting in Beast and Phoenix (formerly Marvel Girl) becoming separated from the team.

Beast returned to the Avengers, thinking the X-Men other than Phoenix were dead, while the X-Men escaped, thinking Beast and Phoenix were dead. Eventually they encountered each other, and Beast helped them again when Phoenix went mad, becoming Dark Phoenix, and he joined them for the final legendary battle on the moon, where Phoenix took her own life.

Beast returned again to the Avengers for several years but eventually left, joining the Defenders, as that team underwent changes of its own.

The New Defenders

The Defenders had always been referred to as Marvel's "non-team." The other teams all had their respective structure and reasons for being (the X-Men were a school, the Fantastic Four were adventurers and explorers), but the original Defenders (Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Dr. Strange, Silver Surfer) while vastly powerful didn't particularly like each other but came together when faced with threats only they could handle. Over the years Dr. Strange would rely on other heroes who would help from time to time, but for the most part membership was still loose. As other members became injured or left to do other things, some members stuck around, such as Beast.

Beast's super-heroine friend, Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat, had been with the team for some time, and eventually married fellow teammate Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan. When they left to pursue private lives, Beast stayed with the team, as did fellow teammate the Gargoyle, a WW I veteran whose soul was trapped in the body of a demon. They were joined by Beast's former teammates Angel and Iceman, whose team the Champions had recently disbanded. The only classic member of the Defenders to stay with what was now thought of as "The New Defenders" was the Asgardian warrior Valkyrie. Eventually Beast's former teammate from the Avengers Moondragon also joined the team. She had become largely mistrusted and barely tolerated by each team she worked with, but the Defenders accepted her, and after a period where Beast and Valkyrie vied for control, Beast became the team leader, and for the first time tried to make the Defenders a cohesive unit, like the X-Men or Avengers.

This new team increased sales on the title for the first time in years, due in no small part to the presence of 3 X-Men in the roster. "The Uncanny X-Men" had in the years since Beast left and the creation of the "All-New, All-Different" team, become Marvel's top-selling book, and Beast became one of the most popular Avengers in his time on that title.

But, sales eventually lagged and much of the team was killed off, with the exception of the three mutant members, who were to reunite in a new team that had deep roots.

X-Factor

In an issue of Avengers, a coccoon of sorts was found at the bottom of the ocean, with something alive inside. A woman, none other than Jean Grey, of the original X-Men. It is explained that the Jean Grey/Phoenix who went mad and killed herself on the moon was a cosmic entity resembling Jean, while the original was kept in this cocoon so she could heal from the injuries she sustained on the X-Men's mission where she first became Phoenix. This, the original Jean Grey, had far weaker powers than Phoenix, and no knowledge that the man she loved, the X-Man Cyclops, had mourned her, gone on to marry and have a child with another woman, and retired to normal life.

Upon hearing that Jean was alive, Cyclops and the rest of the original team came together for the first time in years. Since they had quit their original team, the X-Men had accepted their arch-enemy Magneto onto their team, as well as another former enemy, Rogue. Thinking the team was compromised and corrupt, the former X-Men formed a new group, X-Factor, to carry on the legacy they started years before.

X-Factor was officially a mutant investigation team. If anyone was suspected of being a mutant, they could call X-Factor, like Ghostbusters, and this team of specialists, who were supposedly normal humans, would come to help. Secretly, the team would then take the newly-found mutant to safety and help them learn to use their powers. This disguise ended up creating a problem with the X-Men, who had no idea that this group of "mutant hunters" was in actuality their old friends.

When combatting actual mutant threats, the heroes of X-Factor took on new costumed identities that were fairly recognizable, given that Iceman, Beast, and Angel had distinctive looks and had been active on various teams for years. Still, under this guise they were thought to be the "X-Terminators," mutant freedom fighters.

Almost immediately after forming the new team, Beast was captured by Dr. Maddicks, a scientist seeking a cure for mutation because his own son, Artie, was a mutant whose mutation made gave him an inhuman appearance and made him unable to speak. Maddicks experimented on Beast, reversing his appearance so that he was no longer blue and furry, but still a mutant, with the appearance and power level he had in the original X-Men. This effectively makes X-Factor the "original" X-Men, with each member appearing as they did years ago, just older and more experienced.

Eventually, when the team fights the villain Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen, Beast is touched by Pestilence, a mutant whose power to infect others with disease interacts with the remnants of Maddicks' anti-mutation serum in Beast's body as well as his own serum that caused his blue, furry mutation years before. This new reaction decreases Beast's intelligence but increases his strength every time he pushes his strength to the limit. This is a tragic situation that forces Beast to sacrifice part of his intellect in order to save his friends or others several times and eventually the one-time genius has the mind of a child, though his strength is drastically increased.

Encountering another evil mutant villainess, Infectia, who is threatening Iceman, Beast falls victim to her power with a dramatic result, he becomes sick as her other victims did, but then becomes blue and furry, with his full intellect returning, and a higher strength level than his previous blue and furry form.

After X-Factor are hailed as heroes, they drop their guise as mutant hunters/mutant terrorists and they work with the X-Men, with the teams coming together at last to fight Professor Xavier's old enemy the Shadow King. Afterward, a new X-Factor is formed with former X-Men Havok and Polaris as members, and the original X-Men rejoin their former team, now with more members than ever before.

X-Men Blue and Gold

Comic book history was made with the launch of X-Men Vol. 2, also known as "adjectiveless X-Men." While in issue 94, the answer to the question of "What are we going to do with 13 X-Men?" was to have the originals leave, the more modern answer was to split the team in two. While the original title, "Uncanny X-Men" continued, the new book, which became one of the best-selling comics in history, due in no small part to having multiple variant covers, followed the adventures of the other team, with each title featuring classic and newer members on the roster.

In "Uncanny" what became known as the Gold team, led by Storm, featured Colossus, Iceman, Archangel (formerly Angel), Jean Grey, and eventually new character Bishop, while in "X-Men", the Blue team, led by Cyclops, featured Beast, Wolverine, Rogue, Jubilee, Psylocke, and Gambit. This second team was far more popular, and was featured on "X-Men the Animated Series" which became a long-running hit on Fox Kids

In this new version of the X-Men, Beast had a similar role to that he had in the Avengers: personality. When surrounded by some of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, namely Thor, Iron Man, and Vision, as well as the tactical genius of Captain America and the scientific expertise of both Iron Man and Hank (Yellowjacket) Pym, Beast's strength and intellect were redundant. In the new, expanded X-Men, Beast was teamed with Rogue, who was far stronger and could fly, and was led by expert tactician Cyclops, which left him as the scientific genius and lighter personality to offset darker teammates such as Gambit and Wolverine. And, more often than not, it meant he was left in the lab.

This became a key point as Beast searched for a cure for the Legacy Virus, the mutant equivalent of AIDS. The Legacy Virus was a plotline that ran through the various mutant-related comics in the 90s, in which mutants would start to fall ill, then die with one last flaring of their powers, and it claimed the lives of several characters, including Pyro of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and Colossus' sister, Magik, of the New Mutants. As the resident scientist, Beast spent most if not all of his time in the lab, trying to find a cure. He ultimately did, but determine that a cure would come at a price - a mutant would have to be injected with the cure, which would interact with the mutant's body, killing that mutant, but saving all others. Mourning the loss of his sister, tbe X-Man Colossus sacrificed himself, though he returned from the dead years later, as so many other X-Men had before him.

Dark Beast

One character who helped Beast discover the cure to the Legacy Virus was, oddly, an evil version of himself, Dark Beast, a survivor of what became known as the Age of Apocalypse.

At one point, Marvel tried to update and refresh their universe. One way they did this was by going back in time and killing X-Men founder Professor X before he started the team, leaving Xavier's friend (and mainstream timeline X-foe) Magneto to found the team instead. This pivotal event changed the entire Marvel Universe, and created a timeline in which Apocalypse was an eveil ruler, humans were slaves, and Magneto and the X-Men sought to overthrow Apocaypse.

In that timeline, some heroes were villains and some villains were heroes, and Beast, without the guidance of Professor X, was able to explore his scientific ambitions unbridled, becoming a mad scientist.

When the storyline came to an end, Dark Beast was one of a handful of survivors who came to the normal, rebooted timeline of the mainstream X-Men. At one point he captured the normal Beast and posed as him on the team. Analyzing Beast's notes on the Legacy Virus, Dark Beast was able to point out elements of it Beast had not considered.

Eventually Beast was freed and Dark Beast's true identity was revealed. Dark Beast has continued to appear from time to time to plague Beast and the mutant community over and over again.

New mutation

A third monthly X-Men book was launched, "X-Treme X-Men,' written by legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont, and Beast joined that team, which formed with the presumptive mission of scouring the world for the diaries of the deceased precognitive supervillain Destiny. While on that team, Beast was attacked and gravely injured, healed by team member Sage. Returning to the X-Mansion to recuperate, Beast began to mutate again as a result of Sage's healing, but other mutants were also having "secondary mutations," including his teammate, former villainess Emma Frost, the White Queen, who gained the ability to turn her body into living diamond.

The creative reason behind Beast's change was, the new creative time on what had been "adjectiveless" X-Men, now called "New X-Men" wanted to make Beast appear more like the character Beast from the various "Beauty and the Beast" films, so he was given a more feline or leonine appearance. In terms of plot development, this made Beast a more tragic character than he had ever been. This was because while other mutants seemed to be having mutations that were advantageous, Beast's seemed to be a devolution. One of the hallmarks of his abilities had been dexterity - he was fully ambidextrous and could even do very delicate work with his toes. But with his new mutation, Beast's hands and feet were more like paws, and he could barely use them at all, forcing him to work to become proficiient in normal dailiy activiites again.

Worse, his new mutation cost him his long-time grilfriend, television reporter Trish Tilby, who had started seeing Beast when he was a member of X-Factor. His previous girlfriend, Vera Cantor, whom he dated on and off again since his original X-Men days, had long since lost touch with him, and now with Trish unable to cope with a boyfriend who didn't seem human at all, he was left more alone than he had ever been.

This spiralled into a period of depression for Beast, which hit its low point after he was badly beaten by the young mutant the Beak, armed with nothing more than a baseball bat, when he was under the contorll of evil telepath Cassandra Nova. Feeling completely useless and wondering if his continuing mutations would result in his own death, Beast began to ponder suicide.

This turn for the worse started to improve when a supposed cure for mutation was discovered, and Beast considered taking it so he could regain his human form. He was eventually disuaged by the other X-Men, particularly Wolverine, who said it wouldn't seem right for an X-Man to willingly reverse mutation, since the X-Men were the ultimate role models for the mutant community as a whole. Burgeoned by the support of his comrades, Beast started to feel better about himself, until another attack by Cassandrra Nova robbed him of his human intellect and he was reduced to hunting game on the grounds of the X-Mansion.

Eventually Beast's intelligence was restored again, and he became part of yet another monthly X-Men series, "Astonishing X-Men," initially written by writer/director Joss Whedon. In this series Beast had both an active and scientific role, and his friendships on the team, particularly with Emma Frost and Cyclops were further explored. Cyclops came to rely on Beast more an more as a trusted advisor, aide, and emissary, particularly when the team moved from their long-time home of Westchester, New York to San Francisco.

Mutant Scientists Unite

While working on various projects for Cyclops to address different crises affecting mutants, Beast comes into contact with a number of scientists, both mutant and human, whom he ultimately gathers into a group called X-Club. This again puts Beast into the role of a scientist who is sometimes called into action. He also begins to stand out more as the moral and philosophical voice of the X-Men, questioning decisions his friend Cyclops has made to protect all mutants, since in the absence of Professor X, Cyclops has become the de facto spokesperson for and leader of mutantkind in general

Indeed, at this time, Cyclops had his own team of secret operatives, X-Force, consisting of some of the more lethally-minded X-Men and X-Associates, such as Archangel and Deadpool, and Beast suspected this was the case.

The final straw came when X-Man Nightcrawler was killed in action. After speaking at his funeral, Beast left the X-Men and joined his new girlfriend, Abigail Brand, to work with the group S.W.O.R.D. Similar to the paramilitary organization, S.H.I.E.L.D, which primarily addressed terrestrial threats to world security, S.W.O.R.D. addressed extraterrestrial threats. This gaveBeast the opportunity to work as a scientist in a different field, spend time with his scientifically-minded girlfriend, and stay out of superheroics and mutant affairs for a while.

Once an Avenger

Shortly thereafter, Captain America asked Beast to join his own team of special operatives, the Secret Avengers, which included Beast's former teammate on the Defenders, Valkyrie. Beast agreed, since unlike the X-Force team, the Secret Avengers was a team focused on stealth worlk, not assassination or other more final, extreme solutions.

Once again serving mainly as scientific and technical support, Beast was able to re-center himself, reaching out from time to time to communicate with his X-Men friends. But his loyalty was put to the test when it was determined that the Phoenix Force was returning to Earth. The Avengers and X-Men sought different means to address the issue, and the power of the Phoenix was divided between five X-Men. Beast resigned from the Avengers to protest their proposed actions against "The Phoenix Five."

All-New Original X-Men

Sensing a need for his presence, Beast returned to the X-Men, only to find that his suspicions were correct, his secondary mutations were gradually killing him. He was also still concerned about the judgment of his friend Cyclops, who seemed to be more intense, more extreme in his tactics than he had ever been. Reacting to a remark from his friend Iceman about the old Cyclops, Beast went back in time and brought back the original, young X-Men, gambling that when faced with literally his younger, more moral, optimistic self, Cyclops would realize he had gone too far.

This proved to be the last, fateful act for Beast, who slipped into a coma after bringing the old team to the present. But young Jean Grey, Marvel Girl, used her telepathy to link the minds of Beast's younger self and his comatose self. Through the link, his younger self realized that Beast had made mistakes in researching a cure for his devolving condition. He corrected the mistakes and was able to revive Beast, but as a result, Beast mutated yet again, now as some sort of ape-feline hybrid.

X-Men vs Inhumans

Mutants were then faced with a new, lethal threat the scope of which they hadn't faced since the days of the Legacy Virus. The Terrigen Mist, a sacred substance used by the hidden society known as the Inhumans, was proving to be lethal to mutants, and it had been released on a global scale. Mutants as a whole were dying, at different rates, so Cyclops gave Beast the task of finding a cure.

The cure alone was only part of the problem, though, because whatever the outcome of the situation, it would affect mutants and the Inhumans. So while researching the problem, Beast joined the Inhumans as an advisor, accepting a role on their council. By accepting this role, Beast has now taken a role working with every major team except the Fantastic Four. He even briefly teamed up with his friends, Iceman and Angel, in the last adventures they had as members of the short-lived team the Champions. Few characters have achieved this level of use in the Marvel Universe, and fewer still have exceeded it, with the exceptions including Namor, Hulk, and Wolverine.