- ↳ Note: This article is about the demon. For the hell-goddess also known to as the Beast, see Glorificus.
The Beast was a powerful demon of unknown name[1] and the enforcer of the former Powers That Be eventually known as Jasmine.[2]
Biography
The 18th century
In 1789, the Beast was in Prussia. The Svear priestesses intended to banish him from the Earth dimension and had cast a spell so that he could not touch them.[3]
In an attempt to get assistance, the Beast slaughtered several people in order to attract Angelus to him, at which point he attempted to create a mutual alliance with him. He wanted Angelus to kill the Svear and, in return, the Beast would pay him back somewhere down the line. Angelus refused and was subsequently beaten half to death before the priestesses arrived to banish the Beast.[3]
Ascension in the 21st Century
Eventually, the Beast rose up from the pits of hell. The first people to encounter the Beast were Cordelia[4] — then possessed by Jasmine[2] — and Connor, who found the Beast arriving on Earth at the exact spot where Connor had been born. A fight ensued, during which Cordelia was injured.[4]
Angel, Gunn, and Lorne decided to take on the Beast. Wesley rejoined them to help in the battle, but they failed and were all badly injured. With the help of a large human sacrifice at the Sky Temple, the Beast conjured the rain of fire over Los Angeles.[4]
Blocking the Sun
The Beast, seeking to reach Mesektet in the White Room, killed everyone working at Wolfram & Hart as he tried to reach the White Room, activating the building's security protocols which turned the majority of his victims into zombies. The Beast killed Mesektet and drained her of her dark energy.[1] Following the death of Mesektet, the Beast hunted down and killed the rest of the Ra-Tet: Ma'at, Ashet, and Semkhet.[5]
The final Ra-Tet, Manjet, was killed by Jasmine in secret. Using the metal wings in Ashet and Semkhet and the heart of Ma'at, the Beast made a ritual to eclipse the sun, which was completed when the dark energy of Mesektet was imbued in the orb which was extracted from Manjet's head. The eclipse began as a sunlight-blocking spot that spread covering Los Angeles and was supposed to eventually cover the totality of Earth.[5]
Angel's team believed that their only hope was in Angel's soulless alter ego Angelus, who apparently knew the Beast in the past, even though Angel himself did not remember the encounter.[5] All references to the Beast in this dimension were magically erased shortly before its arrival; "Angelus" was the only entity in this dimension unaffected, as he did not technically exist at the time the spell was cast.[6]
Once freed, Angelus was eventually convinced to reveal the details of his encounter with the Beast, also revealing the information that the Beast was actually the minion of a greater evil; the Beast Angelus had encountered was only ever interested in destruction, while his current actions hinted at a deeper, more long-term plan that didn't fit with Angelus's recollections of him. After Angel's soul was stolen and a ritual to restore his soul via dark magic was faked, Angelus broke free and sought out the Beast to learn what its next plan was, although he rejected the Beast's offer to work for his master.[citation needed]
Death
With their options increasingly limited in the face of the Beast and Angelus, Wesley broke Faith out of jail to assist in Angelus' capture and fight the Beast. Although the Slayer wasn't match for the physically imposing demon, he was in the end betrayed by Angelus, who stabbed him with the dagger[7] the Beast had carved out of his own bones as a tribute to his master.[8]
The death of the Beast also undid the solar eclipse, leaving Faith in the sunlight and Angelus confined to the shadows.[7]
Personality and traits
As noted by Angelus, the Beast was savage and only cared about killing and causing mindless slaughter, to the extent that Angelus deduced that the Beast wasn't operating with any kind of long-term plan at all, proved that he was working for someone else. He was devoted to the plans of his master.[citation needed]
Powers and abilities
- Immortality: The Beast did not age since encountering Angelus in Prussia during the 18th century. Despite his immortality, he could be killed by superficial means.[citation needed]
- Strength: The Beast was a particularly powerful demon, capable of effortlessly defeating the entire Angel Investigations team during their first battle, even going so far as to stab Angel in the neck with his own stake. He was strong enough to injure Connor. His strength allowed him to perform massive leaps.[4] The Beast also hit Connor and Faith on separate occasions with a reverse punch which sent both flying back approximately ten to fifteen feet with no apparent downward arc in their trajectory, and, in both cases, their momentum was only stopped by impacting a large, solid object.[citation needed]
- Durability: The Beast possessed a rock-like hide, rendering him resistant to physical damage; he withstood attacks from Angel and Faith without any sign of damage, and even close range shotgun blasts did little more than knock him off-balance for a few seconds. Despite his resilience, Angel was capable of physically dominating the Beast for brief moments.[citation needed]
- Regeneration: The Beast was able to carve out part of his bone to create a dagger for Jasmine and yet was unaffected.[8]
- Inter-dimensional travel: The Beast appeared to be capable of teleporting between dimensions; during one battle with Angel Investigations, he was banished to another dimension by a spell cast by Wesley and Fred, only to reappear behind them unscathed as soon as the portal closed.[citation needed]
- Teleportation: The Beast was seen quickly disappearing from frame after he killed Ashet. Given his lowered mobility, this is likely that his ability to teleport isn't limited to traveling between dimensions.[citation needed]
- Magic manipulation: The Beast performed spells and rituals such as the rain of fire,[4] drain Mesektet of her dark essence,[1] and perform the ritual to blot out the sun.[5]
Weaknesses
- Mobility: His bulk made him slow, leaving him outmatched by Angelus' speed, allowing the vampire to easily avoid his blows and crack jokes while doing so.[7]
- Eyes: As the Beast's eyes were not covered in his rocky hide, they were susceptible to injury. He was aware of it too; when Angel tried to poke out his eyes with a stake, he actively stopped him from doing so.[4]
- Weapons made from his bones: The material of which his own bones were composed of[8] was capable of piercing through his skin, as demonstrated when Angelus killed the Beast with the dagger made from his bone.[7]
Gallery
Promotional images of the Beast.
Behind the scenes
- He was portrayed by Vladimir Kulich.
Appearances
Angel: Season 4 | |||||||||||
"Deep Down" Absent |
"Ground State" Absent |
"The House Always Wins" Absent |
"Slouching Toward Bethlehem" Absent |
"Supersymmetry" Absent |
"Spin the Bottle" Vision |
"Apocalypse, Nowish" Appears |
"Habeas Corpses" Appears |
"Long Day's Journey" Appears |
"Awakening" Vision |
"Soulless" Flashback | |
"Calvary" Appears |
"Salvage" Appears |
"Release" Mention |
"Orpheus" Absent |
"Players" Mention |
"Inside Out" Mention |
"Shiny Happy People" Mention |
"The Magic Bullet" Absent |
"Sacrifice" Absent |
"Peace Out" Absent |
"Home" Mention |
Angel: Season 5 | |||||||||||
"Conviction" Absent |
"Just Rewards" Absent |
"Unleashed" Absent |
"Hell Bound" Absent |
"Life of the Party" Absent |
"The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco" Absent |
"Lineage" Absent |
"Destiny" Absent |
"Harm's Way" Absent |
"Soul Purpose" Absent |
"Damage" Absent | |
"You're Welcome" Absent |
"Why We Fight" Absent |
"Smile Time" Absent |
"A Hole in the World" Absent |
"Shells" Absent |
"Underneath" Absent |
"Origin" Archive |
"Time Bomb" Absent |
"The Girl in Question" Absent |
"Power Play" Absent |
"Not Fade Away" Absent |
Spike | |||||||||||
Asylum, Part 1 Absent |
Asylum, Part 2 Vision |
Asylum, Part 3 Absent |
Asylum, Part 4 Absent |
Asylum, Part 5 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 1 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 2 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 3 Absent |
Spike: After the Fall, Part 4 Absent | |||
Alone Together Now Absent |
What Happens in Vegas, Slays in Vegas Absent |
Everybody Loves Spike Absent |
You Haven't Changed a Bit Absent |
Bedknobs and Boomsticks Absent |
Something Borrowed Absent |
Give and Take Absent |
Stranger Things Absent |
Spike: Into the Light Absent |