Real Name: Hank McCoy
Mutant Power: Superhuman strength; gorilla-like agility
Voice Actor: Michael Kopsa
First Appearance: "Power Surge" (in Human form); "Beast of Bayville" (in Mutant form)
Back Story: Hank McCoy was a chemistry teacher and Phys Ed. coach at Bayville- before his Mutant side started acting out, that is. We soon learned that he had been having "bestial urges" ever since his teen years- he had managed to keep them subdued with a special serum he had developed, but it apparently wasn't working anymore. Xavier, unfortunately, couldn't help Hank control his Mutant side anymore, and, late one night at school, Hank McCoy's "bestial urges" took over completely. He changed into a monstrous blue furry creature that went on a short rampage- until the X-Men managed to subdue him, and Spyke and Xavier helped him curb his instincts. His appearance didn't change back to his former human self, though. Beast joined the X-Men, in order to guide the young teenage Mutants through their lives- after all, because of his appearance and the rampage he had gone on the previous night, he didn't dare show up at the public school again... During one of Xavier's "visions of the future" seen near the end of the series, we learn that Beast is going to be with the X-Men for a long time to come. Good ol' Hank.
Personality: Hank McCoy is an optimist, and usually tends to look on the bright side of things. He is an ideal role model for the teenage X-Men, being both intelligent, encouraging, and generally a great guy to be around. He also is their instructor- along with Wolverine, Xavier, and Storm, of course. He is ashamed of his newly-acquired freakish appearance, however, and it does tend to get to him at times. Unlike Nightcrawler, though, he doesn't want to hide who he is under a hologram, and as such, he pretty much hangs around the Mansion most of the time. Beast has a thing for the classics, and quotes Shakespeare, the Bible, or other classic literature from time to time.
Final Reflections: I personally liked Evo Beast better than the "classic" Beast, because I think the old Beast (at least personality-wise) was a bit of a "artsy" stereotype. He seemed a bit TOO involved in the arts, literature and the like than seemed... well, believable, really. The new Beast definitely takes an INTEREST in that stuff, but not to the unbelievable extent that the old Beast did. Evo Beast was really my favorite adult character on the show, and I always thought that after his initiation into the X-Men fold and "Retreat", he didn't really get enough character focus. (It's still way more than he's been given in Wolverine and the X-Men, though...)