Hank

Doctor Henry 'Hank' Peter McCoy
Portrayed By	Kelsey Grammer
Gender	Male
Date of Birth	September 5
Age	30
Zodiac Sign	Virgo
Aliases	Beast, Magilla Gorilla
Place of Birth	Dundee, Illinois
Current Location	Salem Center, New York
Occupation	Two-Fisted Acrobatic Scientist
Known Relatives	Norton (Father), Edna (Mother), Bob (Uncle)
Significant Other	None
Identity	Publicly Known
Group Affiliation	X-Men (Active), Avengers (Reservist)
Known Abilities	Super-Intelligence, Strength, Agility & Endurance.
First Appearance	X-Men #1, 1963
Legal Status	American citizen with no criminal record.

History

Hank McCoy has had a very long and distinguished career as a hero. Born to Norton and Edna McCoy in Dundee, Illinois he had abnormally large hands and feet which were the source of ridicule from the other kids, and which earned him the nickname ‘Beast’. For all that he was the object of his peers scorn he never really got into much trouble, and was a very gifted student – albeit one that kept to himself most of the time. His only real defender was a girl named Jennifer that he tutored in biology and who was his date to the Junior Prom.

Senior Year was when things changed forever for the lad, his superhuman physical ability allowed to gain some measure of popularity as a star football player. It was during one such game that he foiled an escape attempt by a trio of robbers using the field as their avenue of escape. Having come to the attention of the villainous Conquistador his parents were kidnapped in an attempt to force him to work for him. Fortunately X-Men and Professor Xavier arrived and they were able to defeat Conquistador. Accepting Xavier’s invitation to join the team and study, Hank couldn’t refuse the opportunity for training and unlimited educational vistas.

His days were spent absorbing all the higher education he could, everything from history and poetry, to quantum mechanics and physics, and he completed his doctoral studies under Xavier, earning a doctorate in Biochemistry. He’s even a deft hand at the keyboard, whether to make music, or code a few million lines of program. Add to this the time spent with danger room work outs and the missions one undertook and you have a recipe for adventure that pushed the amazingly talented young man to the very limits and beyond.

After graduation he left the school and accepted a job at the Brand Corporation doing genetic research under Doctor Carl Maddicks. A landmark moment for him while he was there was the discovery of the hormonal extract that causes genetic mutation. Thrilled at his research results Hank went in search of Doctor Maddicks to inform him only to learn that the man was plotting in secret to steal government secrets. In his efforts to stop the man Hank took the extract he’d discovered and it eventually caused his appearance to permanently be altered to have blue fur, fangs, pointed ears and heightened already considerable physical prowess. Eventually he even accepted his new appearance.

Having continued his educational efforts, Hank earned his second doctorate in genetics. Considered one of the world’s top experts on mutations and evolutionary biology, Hank has never received a Nobel Prize, or an invite to the National Academy of Sciences. Shortly after earning his degree he left the Brand Corporation and was inducted into the ranks of the Avengers on a probationary basis but soon proved himself and earned full member status. While there he revealed his identity to the public in an effort to ease the mounting tensions between humans and mutants.

Some time later after a restructuring of the Avengers, Hank left them and joined the Defenders using his training and expertise to reorganize the team into a more cohesive and effective unit and recruiting both Angel and Iceman to the team until it disbanded after several team members apparently died. Post Defenders he was reunited with the founding X-Men when he joined X-Factor, a group pretending to hunt down mutants, but secretly providing them with training and succor. Shortly after the formation of X-Factor Hank was captured by Maddicks who used Hank as a test subject while seeking to cure his son’s mutancy. The serum given to Hank did not strip him of his mutant nature, it merely reverted the changes wrought by Hank’s own serum that caused him to become blue and furry. It was after this time that Hank made the acquaintance of Trish Trilby, a TV anchor that had been researching X-Factor.

Stricken by a virus created by Apocalypse during an attack on New York, Hank found that his intellect was fading every time he exerted himself and that his strength was vastly increased. The stronger he got the less intelligent he became. Ultimately he was cured by the kiss of Infectia when he intervened in her attempt to kiss and kill Iceman, as an added bonus the changes to his physiology reverted by the Maddicks serum were also reversed, and he was once again blue and furry. Trish Trilby and Hank became romantically involved for the first time shortly after he was blue again though ultimately their busy schedules put too much strain on the relationship and they called it off amicably.

Returning to the X-Men after X-Factor disbanded, Hank became their resident tech genius and got to work on everything from alien and other supertech to the mutant slaying Legacy virus, and anything else that cropped up. During this time he and Trish had an on-again/off-again relationship until her release of information on the Legacy virus caused hysteria that culminated in a beating death of a young mutant. Hank’s life took a definite turn for the worse when he was captured by an alternate reality version of himself the Dark Beast, sealed behind a brick wall, and replaced by his evil otherself. He was about to give up hope when his water tube broke and revealed a hidden grate in the floor. Galvanized, he broke free with the help of the new government sponsored X-Factor team. Returning to the team, he also apologized to Trish for his earlier harshness and they renewed their romantic involvement once again.

Eventually he took an extended leave of absence from the team to focus all his efforts on finding a cure to the Legacy virus, ultimately succeeding thanks in large part to the work of his deceased colleague Moira MacTaggert. Recruited by Storm when she formed her X-Treme X-Men to search for the diaries of the late seer Destiny, he was nearly killed by the villainous Vargas, his life only saved when Tessa used a never before revealed power to accelerate mutations. Hank’s form was radically altered to a new level of mutation, putting on a couple hundred pounds of muscle, and taking on a far more bestial and leonine form. Having to relearn how to use his body he once again served as the resident genius at Xavier’s, now renamed the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

Trish could not handle the further change in Hank’s appearance, breaking up with him over the phone. Shortly after this emotional beating, he suffered a more literal one when Beak, possessed by Professor Xavier’s evil twin Cassandra Nova, beat him into a coma while she possessed her brother’s body. Fortunately Hank recovered in time to help foil her plans but not before she publicly revealed that Charles was a mutant.

In the considerable time since these events passed Hank has been working on a way to undo the alterations that have been done to his physiology over the years and teaching at the Xavier Institute. Roughly a year ago he came up with a serum that he thought would reset him to his natural genetic template, alas, Tessa’s power proved very stubborn about revision, although he was able to work largely cosmetic changes, his abilities proved harder to revert. Though no longer leonine in appearance he is still blue and furry, further, he’s found that residual traces of Tessa’s power reacted with the serum he developed rather violently and the result was that his present form is essentially immutable, locked, and to all intents and purposes immune to any further alteration.

Powers

Hank possesses super strength, agility, endurance, speed and senses.

A large man, he is nonetheless possessed of the agility of a great ape and the acrobatic prowess of an accomplished circus aerlist. So long as he lands on his feet Hank can fall up to three stories without injury, further, he is capable of prodigious leaps and can make a standing high jump of fifteen feet or a standing broad jump of twenty five. If he runs on all fours he can sprint up to forty miles per hour for short sprints.

His strength is such that he can scale a brick wall or similar surface with the tiniest of cracks or handholds by applying a vice like grip. He can bench over a thousand pounds, and could easily sunder an oak door with a single blow of his fist, or tie a crowbar into a knot.

His balance is such that he can walk a tightrope with ease and can perform complex gymnastic maneuvers including flips, rolls, and springs or walk on his hands for hours. Omnidextrous, he can write with both hands at once and tie knots in a rope with his toes.

His endurance allows him to exert himself at peak levels for extended periods without undue duress, further; he heals approximately twice as fast as baseline human and can hold his breath for up to ten minutes under optimal conditions.

Skills & Talents

Hank is first and foremost a scientist; he holds advanced doctorates in both Genetics and Biochemistry and is widely considered one of the world’s authorities on genetic mutation and evolutionary human biology. He is well versed in computers, programming, holography, physics, mathematics, alien and super technology and is an accomplished inventor in his own right to name a few.

Eclectic, his interests range far and wide making him a jack-of-all-trades in the truest sense of the words, and he plays a wicked keyboard.

Fluent in ASL, Atlantean, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Latin, Latverian, Russian, Shi'ar, and Spanish he has a smattering of a dozen or so other dialects including a few words of Asgardian, Kree and Skrull. He won’t admit to speaking Klingon or Sindarin, however.

He is a highly trained and flamboyant combatant, coupled with his strength, endurance, and agility he is easily able to hold his own against multiple trained foes at the same time. Hank excels at teamwork.

Resources

Hank is more than well off, but is low end on the rich scale. He has few expenses since he generally lives at the Institute, but he does keep an apartment in New York City. He has full access to the labs and facilities at the Xavier Institute, and thanks to very extensive contacts with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, SHIELD, and Doctor Strange to name a few there is probably very little that he couldn’t in time acquire be it information, or advanced technology, or even favors.

Trivia

• Numerous sites mistype Hank's birth city as 'Dunfee'.
• My Hank is not leonine anymore. Thank goodness.

Gallery