Real Name: Dr. Henry J. McCoy Affiliations:X-Men, (X-Treme) X-Men Previous Affiliations:Avengers, Defenders, X-Factor Relatives: Norton (father), Edna (mother), Robert (uncle) Powers: Beast was born with oversized hands and feet, remarkable agility
and superhuman strength. Still, he looked mostly human, and was a football star
in high school. Even in elementary school, however, Hank's inqusitive mind and
genius level intellect were his star qualities. He was then asked to join Professor
Xavier'sSchool for Gifted Youngsters,
and was assigned the codename "Beast," although it seems that may also have been
his football nickname. Upon graduation, Hank got a job at the Brand Corporation.
Trying to ferret out some enemy agents, he isolated a chemical that would alter
his physiology for a time to grant him anonymity in his investigations. The serum
mutated him further, growing blue fur all over his body, and giving him fangs,
pointed ears, and toes, and increasing his agility and strength. However, when
he stayed too long in this state, McCoy found he was stuck and had to adjust to
being a beast in fact as well as in name. He then joined the Avengers, and was
content to be on their roster until just before Phoenix's
transformation into Dark Phoenix, when he deleted an Avengers alert notice saying
that the X-Men were suspected of criminal activities and then joined them to try
and save his teammate's life. Along the way Hank got his doctorate in genetics
and is considered one of the world's experts on mutations and evolutionary human
biology. Just after the formation of X-Factor, Hank was reverted to his human
state by Dr. Carl Maddicks, who was testing a procedure he hoped to use on his
son Artie. Shortly thereafter, though, Hank was stricken
by Pestilence with a virus that sapped his intellect
as it increased his strength, and which was actually triggered by his physical
exertion. The more Hank used his strength, the stronger he got, but the dumber
he got. Finally, to save his friend Bobby from Infectia's
kiss, Hank got in her way and was himself affected. He returned to his blue furry
form and his intellect was restored. Beast continued to serve with X-Factor through
the original team's return to the X-Men. He has become the team's number-one techno
and medical genius, working on everything from Shi'ar
technology to the Legacy Virus, a pursuit which
takes up most of his time nowadays. During his tenure with the X-Men, Beast was
lured into a trap and replaced by Dark Beast, his
alternate-reality self from the "Age of Apocalypse".
Sealed behind a brick wall, Hank was nearly about to give up and let fate win
when his water tube broke and spurted, revealing the grooves of a trap door in
his cell. Energized by hope, Beast broke his restraines and escaped, returning
to the X-Men after Onslaught. Beast's knowledge spans
many subjects, and indeed he is the X-Family's Jack-of-all-trades. He has phenomenal
dexterity in his hands and feet, can jump great distances and land safely from
a three-story drop, as well as punch his way through a steel door. His status
as a former Avenger and the very public identity that created, along with his
fame as a biogeneticist also make Beast one of the more accepted mutants, despite
his fur and fangs. After returning from the battle with the Phalanx
in the Shi'ar Galaxy, he took leave of the X-Men to work on the cure for the Legacy
Virus, and spent much of his time on Muir Island.
Recently, Beast was contacted by Gambit to join his former
teammates on a mission to Russia. He has now officially rejoined the team. Beast
remained with the team, though much of his efforts were concentrated on finding
a cure to the Legacy Virus, which he did, though it was after Moira
MacTaggert's untimely death at the hands of the revamped Brotherhood.
Unfortunately, the cure could only work if it took the life of its host. While
Beast was not willing to pay that price, Colossus
was, and he died releasing the cure into the atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, the
X-Men found out about Destiny's volumes of prophecy,
and Beast joined a team that left the U.S. to find them and keep them out of the
hands of those who would use them to control the future. While some of these X-Treme
X-Men felt that way even about Professor X, Beast refused to believe Charles
would be tempted into evil, and joined the search to "keep them honest."
Shortly after this X-Men team's encounter with the mutant Vargas, Beast returned to the X-Mansion, where he underwent a third transformation into a more feline furred Beast. His intellect remains as keen as ever, though he is still learning to adjust to his new hand shape and size. Why and how he left the team searching for the Books of Truth is unknown.
Real Name: Dr. Henry J. McCoy