Beast, or Henry Philip “Hank” McCoy, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He’s the founding member of the X-Men. He was originally called The Beast and he was introduced as a mutant possessing ape like superhuman physical strength and agility, oversized hands and feet, and a genius level intellect. Take a look below for 26 more interesting and weird facts about Beast.
1. Hank McCoy underwent progressive physical transformations, permanently gaining animalistic physical characteristics. These include blue fur, both simian and feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs and claws.
2. Despite Hank McCoy’s animal appearance, he’s depicted as a brilliant, well-educated man in the arts and sciences that’s known for his witty sense of humor.
3. Beast is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Men’s medical doctor, and the science and mathematics instructor at the Xavier Institute.
4. He’s a mutant political activist, campaigning against society’s bigotry and discrimination against mutants.
5. While fighting his own bestial instincts and fears of social rejection, Beast dedicates his physical and mental gifts to the creation of a better world for man and mutant.
6. He is one of the original X-Men, and has appeared regularly in X-Men related comics since his debut.
7. Beast has also been a member of the Avengers and the Defenders.
8. Beast was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. He first appeared in X-Men #1.
9. Beast’s father, Norton McCoy, is employed at a local nuclear power plant before Henry’s birth and was once exposed to intense nuclear radiation, which appears to have caused his son’s mutation.
10. Hank was born with a vast intellect, unusually long arms and legs, and unusually large hands a feet.
11. Beast is fluent in many languages including English, German, French, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Russia. The Black Swan has also taught him a few extinct languages.
12. Beast was a star football player as a teenager and earned the name Magilla Gorilla when he played.
13. He was supposed to appear in the X-Men movie, but was cut. Elements of Beast were incorporated into Jean Grey, as she serves as a medical doctor as well as a political supporter of mutant rights.
14. In the Dark Cerebro scene in X-Men, Beast was supposed to appear turning blue in agony on the TV seen in the bar, but this was cut and didn’t make to the DVD version.
15. In X-Men: First Class, Beast has yellow eyes, but in X-Men: The Last Stand, he has green eyes.
16. Beast was supposed to appear in the Deadpool movie, which him defecating on Deadpool’s lawn but the scene was ultimately cut from the movie.
17. Much like apes, Beast can easily cling, grip, and almost latch onto structures and objects with both hands and feet. He can be upside down for several hours.
18. Beast can perform many tasks with his feet as easily as a human could do with his or her hands.
19. Beast can hang upside down from the ceiling or the side of a jet with his feet and also caught Havok with his feet when Azazel attempted to throw him from the sky.
20. He is capable of healing minor injuries in minutes, however, serious and lethal injuries can take hours.
21. Beast ages at a similar rate to Mystique, as they both are physically able and active combatants in their later years, while Magneto and Professor X aren’t.
22. He possesses immunity to diseases and illness.
23. Beast has retractable, razor sharp claws at the tip of each finger and toe. Their natural edge, coupled with his strength, are sufficient to rend most conventional materials.
24. He’s able to run and move at speeds that are slightly beyond the natural physical limits of the best human athletes. He can run at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour over short distances.
25. After his first mutation, Beast could press 1 ton. However, after his secondary mutation, he’s able to press 10 tons and easily overpower Wolverine.
26. Beast can jump more than 15 feet high and 25 feet broad without any discomfort or difficulty.
