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History

Krahllak (Earth-616) from Elektra Assassin Vol 1 1 001

"The Beast" is a demon of unknown origin intrinsically tied to the history of the ninja clan known as the Hand. Many of the Hand's mystic powers, such as resurrection, presumably come from the Beast. It rarely takes an active role in the Hand's activities, but generally influences the clan towards nihilism and annihilation.[4]

Shadowland[]

Krahllak (Earth-616) from Shadowland Vol 1 5 001

Possessing Daredevil

When Daredevil took leadership of the Hand, he was secretly manipulated by the Snakeroot, a cabal of Beast worshippers. Guiding him from the shadows, they manipulated Daredevil into undergoing a ritual of the Black Flower.[2] The final step of this ritual was to become a murderer; when Daredevil killed Bullseye, the ritual was complete, and the Beast possessed him.[5] The Beast emanated a corrupting field wide around him, driving the people of Hell's Kitchen to senseless violence.[6] However, the Beast was thwarted when Iron Fist used his chi to heal Daredevil's soul. The hero was then able to reject the Beast and free himself from possession.[7]

Blindspot[]

The Beast briefly took possession of Onehand's corpse to torture a resurrected Tenfingers in order to punish him for his prior theft with the Church of the Sheltering Hands.[8] He also made a deal for Lu Wei's soul in exchange for restoring Sam Chung's sight. Sam then renegotiated the deal, offering the Beast Daredevil's soul in place of his mother's. While escaping with Lu, Sam snapped out of the Hand's dark influence and had a change of heart, deciding to rescue Daredevil instead. Lu reluctantly helped his son confront the Hand and was killed by the Beast. The demon then abruptly teleported the temple away, leaving Sam and Matt alone.[9]

Shortly afterwards, Sam attempted to take down the supervillain Muse. When he was overpowered, the Beast reached out to him and offered to lend Sam its power. Sam initially accepted the Beast's help and defeated Muse, but refused to kill the villain in exchange and rejected the Beast. In retaliation, the Beast launched a massive siege on Manhattan which paralyzed the entire city.[10] The Hand's primary targets were police officers, security guards and even doormen. Anybody who could serve as a protector to the city.[11] After feasting on the city's terror, the Beast unleashed a cloud of poisonous fog from his temple in Manhattan.[12] The cavalry arrived in the form of the Ordo Draconum, with whom Daredevil joined forces to attack The Hand's temple, since they had managed to trace the fog back to its source. Despite the assault's initial success, the Beast managed to escape and Daredevil and his allies were cornered.[3] The Beast eventually approached City Hall to demand Blindspot in exchange for the city's safety. The Hand's attack on City Hall was intercepted by Daredevil, the Ordo Draconum, and a handful of the city's vigilantes. Using a magical sword, Daredevil stabbed the Beast, causing it to vanish in a flash of light which took with it the fog and killed all remaining Hand ninja.[13]

The Punisher[]

At some later point, the Hand opened a portal to the Hell where the Beast resided, and began serving their master directly. At his orders, they extorted the swordsmith Muramasa to make weapons for them, before killing him. At the Beast's direction, Muramasa's soul toiled in Hell to forge two new blades as wedding gifts for the Beast's daughter, the Hellbride. The wedding was interrupted by Wolverine and Solem in their quest for the swords.[14] The Beast himself attacked Wolverine, who was saved by Solem. The Beast was stung by this defeat; when his daughter left Hell to pursue revenge against the two mutants, he scoffed at the idea that his daughter could defeat those who had bested him.[15]

Separately, the Hand managed to recruit the Punisher as their prophesied leader, the Fist of the Beast. Like Daredevil before him, the Punisher steadily became imbued with the power of the Hand's true demonic leader. Castle embraced the Beast's power at first and used it to kill criminals, but he started to resist when he refused to kill a child that was a member of a terrorist group. After being captured by several heroes determined to prevent him from falling further, Castle lost the powers provided by the Beast. He used what power he had left to teleport to Weirdworld.[16]

After learning that the souls of Foggy Nelson and Stick were trapped in the Beast's realm in Hell, Daredevil had Elektra kill him so he could travel to the Beast's realm and save their souls. Daredevil battled the Beast and his sister the Wild and seemingly killed both demons, freeing Foggy's and Stick's souls in the process.[17]

Attributes

Powers

Possession by the Beast imbues the host with a number of supernatural abilities.

  • The Eyes of the Beast: As Fist of the Beast, the Punisher gained a form of clairvoyance. He was able to see the evil things a member of the Apostles of War had done in the name of his master Ares, as well as the evil things he had yet to do. Castle was also able to sense a bomb wired to the Apostle member's heart.[18]
  • Fire of the Beast: This ability allows him to unleash demonic energy. This allowed him to imbue a dagger with this energy to kill Lord Deathstrike instantly.[19]
  • Superhuman Strength: The demonic power also enhances Castle's physical strength to the point where he was able to harm the god Ares with the force of his blows.[20]
  • Regeneration: The power allows Castle to recover from injuries that would normally be fatal to a normal person, though he still needed some recuperation afterward.[20]
  • Negative Emotional Release: Described as "the roots of the Black Flower spreading," an corrupting aura emanated from the Beast when he possessed Daredevil, driving ordinary people to paranoia and violence.[6]
  • Hellfire Absorption: The Beast was able to absorb the Hellfire of the Ghost Rider.[7]

See Also

Links and References

References

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