Prince Adam

The **Beast** is the male protagonist of Disney's 1991 animated feature film, *Beauty and the Beast*. A young prince who once lived a pampered life, he was notoriously selfish and unkind in his youth. As punishment for his cruel behavior, the prince was cursed by a mysterious Enchantress and transformed into a hideous beast. Only by loving another and earning their love in return, would the spell be broken.

The Beast is based on the titular creature from the folklore on which the film is based. In contrast to the original fairytale, Disney’s iteration of the character was developed as a callous, almost-villainous force whom steadily redeems himself throughout the story. To that end, the Beast’s narrative arc emphasizes the film’s moral that “true beauty comes from within."

## Background

### Official Description

*Cursed by an enchantress because he has no love within his heart, a prince is transformed into a terrible beast. The fearful spell can only be broken when he truly learns to love - and can earn the love of another. But who can love a beast? All seems hopeless until fate brings Belle into his world. Angry and despairing due to his long enchantment, the Beast tries to capture Belle's love with fear, not kindness. Then slowly, through her courage and compassion, he begins to discover the secrets of his own heart and learns that even a beast can be loved.*
### Development

The earliest versions of the Beast were intended to closely parallel the character in the original fairy tale; originally, the Beast was planned to be humble, gentleman-like, and had a generally welcoming personality, with only an occasional temper. As the film's development progressed, the directors felt changing this aspect would help add dimension to the Beast, but also promote the film's primary moral: "True beauty comes from within."

The Beast's design went through many changes during the film's production; at first, most of the initial sketches were little more than humanoids with the head of an animal attached. Desiring a more unconventional model, the filmmakers began brainstorming more unique designs, including a mantis-like version. Chris Sanders was responsible for helping come up with the basic design of the Beast. He went from insect forms, avian forms, and fish forms until he finally got the right design. Glen Keane, the supervising animator for the Beast, then studied various animals to modify the design and base it around real-life creatures as opposed to alien. Ultimately, Keane was inspired to make the Beast a combination of the variety of animals he studied, feeling that this design truly represented the character he envisioned.

In fear that Keane would design the human Beast to resemble his voice actor Robby Benson, then-Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg did not allow Keane to see Benson during the production of the film. However, according to the filmmakers, not a lot of effort was put into the Beast's human design. The creators claimed that regardless of what he looked like, they felt the majority of those who watched the film would likely end up not liking his human appearance, simply because he no longer felt like the character whom the viewers bonded with through the film.

### Personality

“*I know he looks vicious, but he's really kind and gentle. He's my friend.*”
―Belle
From his first introduction, the Beast is sentient and capable of human speech. He originally appeared to be irritable, spoiled, selfish, and temperamental, and came off as very hostile, even towards his servants. Yet he also had a very bitter outlook on his life and was quick to become frustrated and pitch a fit when things did not work his way, showing a spoiled side to his personality. Though these sides of his personality seemed contradictory, they both stemmed from his upbringing as a prince, since his privileged life made him selfish and inconsiderate during his youth, and also led to his curse in the first place when he refused to offer hospitality to strangers. The Beast's dire situation only exacerbated his temperamental nature further but introduced a deep sense of insecurity and shame because of what his past actions had cost him.

The Beast's greatest conflict was dealing with his hideous appearance and the retention of his humanity. Although he desired to break the curse, the Beast's dual nature made him truly uncertain of ever becoming human again, especially when many could not even recognize him as once being human. The Beast was ashamed of the monstrous aspect of himself; it was a reminder of both what he had done and what he had become. His shame held a stronghold on him, where often the first thing that often set off his temper was when others reacted to his appearance or his inhuman instincts. These cases created a self-fulfilling cycle, where the Beast reacted with a vicious behavior because he was seen as a vicious creature. Despite appearing infuriated when this became an issue, it was indicated that he could feel guilty for his behavior afterward; his first interactions with Belle left him feeling morose believing she would only see him as a monster, and later on when his temper got the better of him that he unintentionally scared away Belle, which only supported his doubts, so much so that he saves her life afterward to make up for his earlier behavior.

Though the Beast is stubborn and lacks manners, he is not without a kind side; the Beast can care for others but has difficulty in overcoming his own flaws to express empathy. In addition, his temper belies the Beast's naivety with the world and how to display his feelings towards it. He is best described by his animator Glen Keane as "a twenty-one-year-old guy who's insecure, wants to be loved, wants to love, but has this ugly exterior and has to overcome this". His softer nature was hinted at during his first appearance when he appeared to feel genuinely regretful towards Belle after he sent her father away without letting her say goodbye. Though seemingly aloof, the Beast is not completely apathetic, as he was able to also empathize with Belle and her own misery from his past experiences as a fellow outcast.

As a side effect of the curse, he was somewhat primal and had a habit of animalistic behavior, from serious social regressions like growling and roaring when angry to arbitrary, slightly humorous traits like forgetting his table manners. These traits also likened him to that of an untamed animal towards strangers. According to the film's producer Don Hahn, the Beast's spell is not just physical but psychological as well. The longer the Beast is under the spell, the more feral he becomes (meaning if he stays a beast longer, he becomes more like an animal). If Belle had never arrived at the castle, he would have eventually stopped speaking, walking upright, wearing clothes altogether, and would have gone to live in the woods among the wild animals to fend for himself.

The film's commentary also implied during the wolf attack scene that he was suicidal, or at least did not value his life too strongly, due to the hopelessness of ever breaking the curse. This was further supported in the Marvel Comics where the Beast, after saving Belle and Chip after they were trapped in a very serious snowstorm, thanked Belle for saving his life, as her presence caused him to realize his own life was not "meaningless" after all and in the climax to the film with his refusal to defend himself or even his servants when the castle was attacked by the villagers and Gaston, instead insisting that Mrs. Potts just let them come in to kill him and then taking Gaston's attacks with a depressed look on his face and waiting for the finishing blow, only counter-attacking when he realized that Belle had returned to him.

Once the Beast begins to care for Belle after rescuing her from a pack of wolves, he changes from brutish and temperamental to becoming more agreeable and gentle. He even attempts to become civilized again for Belle's sake, relearning table manners and feeding birds, despite his beastly mannerisms. In turn, Belle's acceptance of him despite appearance begins to show his more positive side, and he becomes progressively selfless. Learning to care for Belle also reveals a fiercely loyal side to him, as he was willing to give anything and everything to protect Belle and keep her happy, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness by letting her leave him, even before she can return his love to break the curse.

In contrast to his earlier personality where he was bad-tempered and easily irritated, near the end of the enchantment the Beast has matured significantly. For instance, he is unfazed by Gaston's taunts over his ugliness during their duel on the castle rooftop, much to the chagrin of Gaston who was expecting these insults to goad the Beast into a straight-up fight where Gaston would have the advantage. The Beast instead relied on patience and cunning to gain the element of surprise and upper hand over Gaston.

### Physical appearance

The Beast is a monstrous cow, a mixture of several animals. He has the head structure and horns of a buffalo, the arms, claws and body of a bear, the eyebrows of a gorilla, the jaws, mane, and tail of a lion, the tusks of a wild boar and the legs, and teeth of a wolf. The Beast also bears resemblance to mythical monsters like the Minotaur. His size was described by Maurice to be close to 10 feet (3.05 meters). The fur of the Beast has three distinct variations. The main color of his body is light brown. neck, mane, front hair line, forehead, elbow hair and ears are sepia. His nostrils and beard are amber. His brows are pale ivory, and his horns are hickory. He also has blue eyes, the one physical feature that does not change whether he is a beast or a human.

Originally, the Beast is seen shirtless, with ragged, dark gray breeches, and a ragged reddish-colored cape with a golden-colored circular-shaped clasp. Despite the actual color of the Beast's cape being a dark wine red, it is more often referenced to be purple and has often been re-colored purple in Disney's promotional artwork, as well as subsequent productions like *Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas*, *Disney's House of Mouse* and the *Kingdom Hearts* video games. The reason for this change in color is unknown, although the most likely reason is that the color purple is often associated with royalty.

After the Beast saves Belle from a pack of wolves, his dress style changes, reflecting a more refined personality, as it becomes more disciplined. On the day he showed Belle the castle's library, the Beast wore a white long-sleeved collared shirt, dark blue pants, and a dark blue cape with a blue clasp. While having lunch with Belle, the Beast wore a green coat with gold trimmings and light green lapels, a white dress shirt, a white kerchief, and black pants. When feeding the birds outside with Belle, he wore a white dress shirt with black pants and a light blue sash, as well as an indigo cape with magenta underneath and a white scarf. During the film's ballroom dance sequence, the Beast wore what became his most famous form of dress, which consists of a golden vest over a white dress shirt with a white kerchief attached to a gold brooch with a medium blue gem, black dress pants trimmed with gold, and a navy blue ballroom tailcoat trimmed with gold. He also tied the back of his fur similar to a ponytail adorned with a medium blue ribbon while wearing this suit. In the film's climax, the Beast wore another white long-sleeved collared shirt, dark blue pants, and his signature red cape with a gold clasp.

The Beast's human form is that of a tall and slender young man named Prince Adam (though not as tall as the height of the Beast). He has fair skin, shoulder-length light auburn hair, while also retaining his bright blue eyes. Other than the immediate aftermath of regaining his human form (wearing the clothes he wore as the Beast at that time, minus the cape), he is only ever seen in a more "human" version of his ballroom attire, including a pair of brown dress boots with light brown folded sleeves and his hair tied in a low ponytail adorned with a blue clip. In *The Enchanted Christmas*, the human form's ballroom outfit has darker brown dress boots with gray folded sleeves.

### Powers and abilities

**Beast form:** Owing to his savage, bestial nature, the Beast has animalistic fighting powers in his beast form:

* **Superhuman Strength:** The Beast possesses tremendous strength, as he is able to pick up and carry full-grown men like Maurice and Gaston and not only lift but also throw large oak wood furniture when enraged, such as banquet tables and Forte's keyboard and allowing him to leap several feet in a single bound in terms of height and distance. He also was able to destroy furniture in a single chop, especially when he was enraged. Similarly, his strength was also such that slamming a door can cause destructive waves to occur several feet away, as evidenced by his reaction after Belle refused to dine with him: After Beast stormed back to the West Wing, he slammed the door to the hallway with enough force to actually cause portions of the ceiling to collapse above Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts. His forcefulness of opening a door can also cause powerful gusts that can extinguish the flames in a fireplace, as evidenced by his on-screen debut after the prologue when he burst into the room Maurice was in. He was also able to overpower Gaston despite the hunter’s own strength.
* **Superhuman Speed and Agility:** The Beast is able to move faster than ordinary humans. He has been seen running into the woods on two different occasions and arriving just in time to save Belle and is able to climb and evade punches and blows from weapons dealt from Gaston.
* **Superhuman Durability:** He is slightly more durable than normal humans, as seen when he has taken attacks from a pack of wolves, being shot by Gaston's arrow, and been blasted by Forte's magical energy, although feeling great pain and being knocked down from these attacks. However, he was temporarily slain by Gaston’s dagger.
* **Superhuman Healing:** The Beast is able to heal faster from minor to moderate injuries than ordinary humans, such as bites and claw scratches from a pack of wolves within a few days and being able to survive to be in icy cold water and walking back to his castle in cold winter weather within a few hours.
* **Superhuman Senses:** All five of his senses are animal-keen, and enabling him to track down Belle in the woods when she was in danger by scent and listening in on conversations from several feet away from other people. However, even his enhanced senses, or at least sight, smell, and hearing, can be drowned out by a particularly deadly blizzard, as evidenced by his being unable to find Belle in a particularly severe blizzard in one of the Marvel Comics until a bushel of hollies hits him in the head and allowed him to trace her location in time.
* **Claws and Fangs:** The Beast possesses razor-sharp claws and fangs that enable him to rip through thick rugs and curtains as well as smash objects such as oak furniture to splinters when enraged, climb up and down the stone walls of his castle and bite down and hold objects. These, however, also proved to be a weakness, as his razor-sharp claws also resulted in books being shredded whenever he attempted to read them, as evidenced in *New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast*, when he attempted to read some poems, only for the pages to be shredded quickly.
* **Stealth:** The Beast was shown to be adept at stealth, keeping himself hidden without anyone being able to detect him in time. This was especially apparent when he managed to ambush Belle just after she discovered Maurice in the dungeon and confronting her again when she was just about to touch the Enchanted Rose, as well as easily surprising the pack of wolves pursuing Belle. He also managed to sneak up on Gaston by posing as a gargoyle, though the latter managed to detect the attack and strike back.

**Human form:**

* **Skilled Hunter:** In his human form, the Beast also was skilled with firearms and was presumably a hunter, at least according to *New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast*, although his actions during hunting were closer to poaching than true hunting due to specifically targeting a fawn (baby deer) until a crow (implied to be the Enchantress in disguise) interfered with the shot.
* **Learned Reader/Scholar:** When he was a human, at least according to *New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast*, he was shown to be extremely studious and a gifted reader, with his, even once admitting that at one point books meant more to him than anything else in the world. However, when he became a Beast, due to the psychological nature of the curse, he largely forgot how to do so, and was left unable to physically handle books due to his claws shredding the books.
* **Horseback Riding:** As a child, the Beast also is shown to be skilled at horseback riding, frequently using Thunder to ride around. However, he was unkind and cold to his steed, eventually resulting in Thunder escaping.

## Differences from the source material

While the Beast keeps much of his original character continuity from the French fairy tale version by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, there are quite a few differences to be accounted for:

* The Beast's curse had no time limit in the original version and only required that he learn to love and gain a woman's love in return to break the spell. In addition, in the original tale, Beast alone was cursed, not anyone else, and also took care of his property by himself.
* The Beast's confrontation with Belle's father was a lot tamer in the original version, simply telling her dad to trade his daughter for his life. In addition, in the original version, Maurice had pilfered a rose from Beast's garden as a gift for Beauty after being perplexed at thinking he had taken refuge at a deserted castle with no one inside, yet found a breakfast waiting for him. When he attempted to take the rose did Beast reveal himself, angry at Maurice's attempted theft when he had tried to be a good host. Maurice's imprisonment for attempting to steal one of the Beast's roses in the original story was restored in the live-action remake.
* The rose had no direct link to the curse in the original version.
* Originally, the Beast permitted Belle to leave under a time limit to visit her family instead of actually freeing her to save her dad.
* Beast's death was not caused by a rival suitor knifing him in the back, but from a broken heart from Belle being late in returning due to her wicked sisters manipulating her into staying past the deadline.
* As noted above, the Beast's personality was, while somewhat gruff, also more kind and simple to begin with.

Several of these actually were included in the Original Screenplay but ended up cut due to Jeffrey Katzenberg demanding a rewrite.