BEAST

 

BEAST

Real Name: Henry Philip McCoy

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #1, September 1963

Powers: The Beast’s mutant powers lie in the nature of his physical prowess. Born with abnormally large hands and feet and exceptional physical prowess, he originally possessed superhuman strength (roughly Class 2), agility, reflexes, dexterity, and natural acrobatic skills. He is omni-dexterous, capable of writing legibly with either hand or either foot. He can run up to 60 miles per hour; and has enhanced agility and dexterity that allow his oversized hands and feet to grip almost anything. His agility exceeds that of an Olympic-trained acrobat, allowing him to perform a complicated series of acrobatic stunts and gives him great leaping ability. The Beast’s abnormally large hands and feet allow him to walk on a slack rope easily, write with his toes (and both hands simultaneously), walk on his hands for hours, and even walk up walls by wedging his toes and fingers between the smallest cracks in the wall and forming a vise-grip on them.

Upon taking a job with the Brand Corporation, he created a mutagen serum which isolated the "x-factor" from mutant DNA. Needing a disguise, Hank theorized that ingesting the serum would heighten his bestial traits enough to hide his identity, and that he could return to normal by ingesting an anti-mutagen serum to reverse the effects within the hour. He missed the deadline and activated his own latent mutations in the process. The Beast now possessed a significantly altered physiology. His body was covered with thick, spiky gray fur, he had pointed canine teeth and ears, claws on his fingers and toes, a sloping posture, and arms slightly longer than a normal man's. His strength and agility were apparently increased, as were his senses to a small degree, and he developed a powerful healing factor that enabled him to survive an accurate hail of gunfire. Hank also began producing a mildly intoxicating pheromone at all times, not enough to actually manipulate women against their will, but something of a mild aphrodisiac. His fur color eventually changed to an intense blue-black.

Years later, an old colleague from Brand attempted to devise an anti-mutant serum to remove his son's powers, and tested it on Hank. It was only partially successful: Beast retained all his superhuman physical powers, and only lost his fur, fangs, and claws. He still retained his altered posture, his hair was spiky gray-black instead of straight brown, and his facial features were not entirely back to what they were before the original serum. The retromutagen was still an unstable element in his system when McCoy was exposed to the viral touch of Pestilence. Though his healing powers saved his life, Beast's metabolism adopted an unhealthy new wrinkle: Whenever he exerted his strength, Beast would become physically stronger than he had been before, but his intelligence would deplete at the same time. Over a period of weeks, Hank became extraordinarily powerful physically, but his mind was reduced to that of a mentally challenged child. Things went completely out of control when Infectia, a girl with a mutating touch, kissed Hank. The various factors in his body went to war, and for a few days Beast constantly fluctuated between various physical appearances and levels of health. Ultimately, he regained his blue furred appearance, his intelligence, and stabilized at an enormous level of strength, around Class 75.

Later, Hank's body underwent a secondary mutation after being seriously wounded by Vargas and having Sage jumpstart his healing powers to save his life. Growing in stature and developing a few hundred additional pounds of mass, Beast was now cat-like instead of ape-like in appearance. His strength and agility were now of a greater magnitude, his claws and fangs were more pronounced, and his enhanced senses and healing powers were increased. He also had predatory instincts, and 3 fingers with an opposable thumb on each hand. An encounter with his younger self helped to stabilize his mutation, giving him an ape-like appearance once more.

On a further note, it appears that the Beast's mutation seems to involve atavus de-evolution. His original mutant abilities placed him on par with the Neanderthal ancestors of modern man. His first mutagenic enhancement dropped him further back on the evolutionary scale to the simians. His second mutation places him before the apes' time, when the great cats like the saber-toothed tigers were the strongest species.

Henry McCoy is of genius-level intelligence and holds a medical degree and a Ph.D. in biochemistry. A globally-recognized expert on mutations and evolutionary biology, Dr. McCoy has extensive knowledge of genetics, biochemistry, technology, and other scientific fields. A polyglot, he is fluent in German, Latin, Spanish, Parsi, Japanese, and Russian. He is also well-versed in literature, history, philosophy, arts, music, and is also an accomplished keyboard player.