Statistics
enry McCoy was born with unusually large hands and feet, the first evidence of his mutant powers. As a youth, his superhuman agility and athletic prowess earned him recognition as a star football player. A big man on campus, Hank hid his mutation and growing thirst for knowledge in plain sight -- until he was exposed as a mutant and asked to leave school. When Professor X learned of Hank's existence, he invited the teenager to enroll in his School for Gifted Youngsters. Hank excelled in the classroom, as well; the prestigious, private institution offered limitless academic opportunities and personalized study amid a small, select student body. Few suspected Professor X's pupils also were the X-Men. Under Xavier's tutelage, Hank's days were rich with differential equations, literary classics and workouts in the Danger Room. The latter training stood the X-Men in good stead as they fought to discourage Magneto from exterminating humanity. After graduation, Hank isolated a chemical catalyst that triggered mutation. He sampled the serum himself, with unintended results. The formula caused him to grow fur, enlarged his canine teeth and amplified his already prodigious athletic abilities. He attempted at first to hide his condition, but Hank later learned to accept his blue, more bestial form. Following a second mutation into a catlike creature, however, he began to doubt his humanity. Hank struggles to resist his feral urges, afraid others will come to see him as an animal rather than the man he was. Although respected by the world's top minds, the Beast has never earned a Nobel Prize or been invited to join the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. And he knows what it's like to be jilted by the Beauty, shunned by his longtime lover solely on the basis of his altered appearance. Fighting his fear of loneliness and rejection, the Beast has dedicated himself to the creation of a better world for humans and mutants -- a world in which Hank will be accepted for the brilliant, gentle man he truly is. The Beast is equal parts biochemist and activist, applying his physical gifts and vast intellect to the fight for genetic equality.