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Beast (Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Originally called "The Beast", the character was introduced as a mutant possessing ape-like superhuman physical strength and agility, oversize hands and feet, a genius-level intellect, and an otherwise normal appearance. Eventually being referred to simply as "Beast", Hank McCoy underwent progressive physiological transformations, permanently gaining animalistic physical characteristics. These include blue fur, feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. Beast's physical strength and senses increased to even greater levels. Despite Hank McCoy's inhuman appearance, he is depicted as a brilliant, well-educated man in the arts and sciences, known for his witty sense of humor. He is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Men's medical doctor, and the science and mathematics instructor at the Xavier Institute (the X-Men's headquarters and school for young mutants). He is also a mutant political activist, campaigning against society's bigotry and discrimination against mutants. 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. One of the original X-Men, Beast has appeared regularly in X-Men-related comics since his debut. He has also been a member of the Avengers and Defenders. The character has also appeared in media adaptations, including animated TV series and feature films. In ''X2'', Steve Bacic portrayed him in a very brief cameo in his human appearance, while in ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' he was played by Kelsey Grammer. Nicholas Hoult portrays a younger version of the character in ''X-Men: First Class''. Both Hoult and Grammer reprise their roles in ''X-Men: Days of Future Past''. ==Publication history== Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Stan Lee writes in the foreword to ''X-Men: The Ultimate Guide'' that he made Beast the most articulate, eloquent, and well-read of the X-Men to contrast with his brutish exterior. Further, the book opines that the Werner Roth-Roy Thomas team garnered admiration for their "appealing and sensitive characterizations of the original X-Men." Roth, under the alias Jay Gavin, had taken over for Kirby fully by issue #18, and Thomas was a new talent. Beast was given an individualized, colorful new costume, along with the rest of the X-Men by issue #39 in order to attract new readers. Jim Steranko's tenure, which added "exciting art," Roth returned, working with Neal Adams who blended Kirby's style with "realism, idealized beauty, and epic grandeur." In ''Amazing Adventures'' #11 (March 1972), written by Gerry Conway, Beast underwent a radical change and mutated into his now familiar furry, blue appearance. The concept originated with Roy Thomas, an effort to make the character more visibly striking, and Beast also became more werewolf-like to capitalize on the success of ''Werewolf by Night''. Over the next decade he would appear on the roster of several teams in titles ranging from ''Avengers'' to ''Defenders'' to ''X-Factor''. It wasn't until 1991, in ''X-Factor'' #70/''X-Men'' #1, that the Beast finally returned to the X-Men. Beast cured the Legacy Virus in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #390 (2001), and in ''X-Treme X-Men'' #3 (2001) he experienced a further mutation into a feline being, first shown in the introduction to ''New X-Men'' (June, 2001), by Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison. As evidenced on the back cover of ''X-Treme X-Men'' Vol. 1, Chris Claremont, writer of that series in addition to both ''Uncanny X-Men'' (for sixteen consecutive years) and ''X-Factor'', contributed much to the Beast's characterization. Citing Claremont as inspiration for his run on ''New X-Men'', Morrison explains Beast as a "brilliant, witty bipolar scientist." Morrison continues, "I saw Henry McCoy as an incredibly clever, witty, cultured, well-traveled, experienced, well-read character so I brought out those parts of his personality which seemed to me to fit the profiles of the smartest and most worldly people I know - his sense of humor is dark and oblique. He's obviously quite clearly bipolar and swings between manic excitement and ghastly self-doubt. He has no dark secrets, however, and nothing to hide."〔''(The End of an X-Era )''〕 Joss Whedon's ''Astonishing X-Men: Gifted'' story arc featured a "mutant cure" designed by Indian Benetech scientist Dr. Kavita Rao, and the prospect of "real" humanity arouses the interest of a heavily mutated Beast, who visits Rao only to discover that the drug is the product of illegal human experimentation on an unknown victim. The idea of a mutant cure, which had previously appeared in the 1992 animated series, was also the basis of the ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' movie plot and the series was even made into a motion comic. IGN called the arc focusing on Beast "best X-Men run in a decade" and lauded Whedon for flawless character dynamics.〔(Astonishing X-Men HC, Vol. 1 Review )〕 According to ''BusinessWeek'', Beast is listed as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics. Beast appeared as a regular character throughout the 2010-2013 ''Secret Avengers'' series, from issue #1 (July 2010) through its final issue #37 (March 2013). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Beast (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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