Prince

Prince
	Kingdom Hearts
	A prince who was changed into a hideous beast because of his selfish heart. Belle has helped heal the loneliness he's suffered due to his ugliness. To save Belle, he made his way to Hollow Bastion alone.; ; He was first enchanted by Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" (1991).
	Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
	A prince transformed into a beast because of his selfishness. Meeting Belle restored humanity to his heart.; ; Though stunned by Belle's cold behavior, his faith in their love never wavered.
	Kingdom Hearts II
	First Entry; Beauty and the Beast (1991); ; A hideous beast with sharp teeth and claws. A mysterious rose is his most important possession, kept in a glass case.; ; Sora and his friends helped the Beast free Belle from Maleficent's clutches once before.; ; Second Entry; Beauty and the Beast (1991); ; A cold-hearted prince. Because of his selfish heart, he was changed into a beast by a beautiful enchantress.; ; He was so ashamed of his hideous appearance that he turned his back on the world. Meeting Belle softened his heart and gave him hope for the future.; ; Third Entry; Beauty and the Beast (1991); ; A spoiled and selfish prince. As punishment for his cold heart, a beautiful enchantress changed him into a beast.; ; Unless he can learn to love and earn love in return before the last petal falls from the enchanted rose, he'll remain a beast forever.; ; When Belle came into his world, he felt something change in him for the first time in his life.
	Kingdom Hearts Union χ
	Beast/HD Beast; Beauty and the Beast (1991); A spoiled prince who was turned into a beast by an enchantress.; ; Sweetheart Beast; Beauty and the Beast (1991); A prince who was changed into a hideous beast because of his selfish heart.; ; Illustrated Belle & Beast; Beauty and the Beast (1991); A spoiled prince who was turned into a beast and a young woman who sees his kind nature.; ; Prince & Belle; Beauty and the Beast (1991); Belle's love broke the spell on the Beast and turned him back into a human.

Prince
Japanese	王子
Rōmaji	Ōji
Other names	Beast; (ビースト Bīsuto?)
Voice actors	(Ja:) Kōichi Yamadera; (En:) Robby Benson;
Homeworld	Beast's Castle; Hollow Bastion;
Origin	Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Games	Kingdom Hearts; Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories; Kingdom Hearts II; Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days; Kingdom Hearts χ; Kingdom Hearts Dark Road; Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

This article is about the prince of Beast's Castle.
You may be looking for the prince of Dwarf Woodlands or other princes.

"I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."

—Beast to Sora

The Prince, known in his cursed form as the Beast, is a recurring character in the Kingdom Hearts series. He plays an important role in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II as an ally to Sora and his friends and is the master of the eponymous Beast's Castle. He first appeared in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Story

Kingdom Hearts χ

Beast's power was channeled by the Book of Prophecies to form various Medals, specifically Beast, Sweetheart Beast, Illustrated Belle & Beast, HD Beast, and Prince & Belle.

Beast appears within the Book of Prophecies's hologram of Beast's Castle.

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Between Kingdom Hearts χ and Birth by Sleep

The Prince lives a spoiled life in his castle. When he denies an enchantress in disguise as an old beggar woman asking for shelter from a fierce snowstorm, the Prince is transformed into a hideous beast by the enchantress as punishment, who is disgusted at the Prince's lack of love in his heart. As an additional consequence, the enchantress placed a powerful spell upon the castle and turns all of the Prince's servants into household objects, including Cogsworth, Lumière, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Wardrobe. After this, the Prince decides to call himself the Beast.

The enchantress puts a spell on a rose she had carried, saying that it would bloom until the Beast turned twenty-one, at which point it would begin to wilt. By the time its last petal falls, the Beast would stay in his terrible form forever, as would his servants. Nearly ten years later, Belle appears at the castle, seeking her father, Maurice, who had gone missing. Belle finds her father in the Beast's dungeon, and exchanges her freedom for his. After many days of tension between Belle and the Beast, the two start to grow close to each other.

Some time after Maleficent attacks Radiant Garden, Belle is captured by the Heartless, and the Beast's world, along with all of his servants, are swallowed by the darkness.

Kingdom Hearts

Beast prepares to attack Riku.

After the destruction of his world, the Beast appears in Hollow Bastion, due to his determination to find Belle. Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy witness him detailing his history to Riku at Hollow Bastion's rising waterfalls; Beast claims that it was his love for Belle that had helped him travel all the way to Hollow Bastion from his castle without a craft to assist him—but in reality, it was his strong feelings of hatred that allowed him to open a corridor of darkness.^[1] He demands that Riku return Belle to him.

When his request is denied, Beast attacks Riku, but Riku manages to wound the Beast. Then, Sora loses control of the Keyblade to Riku, and Donald and Goofy had no choice but to follow Riku due to their king's orders to follow the Keyblade Master, leaving Sora alone with the Beast. The two of them briefly explain to each other that they’re both looking for someone, before heading into Hollow Bastion as a team; with the Beast being a great asset to Sora, whose combat abilities are weakened without his Keyblade.

However, once inside Hollow Bastion's main entrance, the Beast witnesses a vision of Belle being turned into a Heartless, and in fury the Beast ditches Sora, chasing after the Shadow. After Sora battles Riku and regains the Keyblade, the Beast returns to his senses and continues to assist Sora, who has Donald and Goofy back on his side now.

The four of them encounter Maleficent, who battles them in her human and dragon forms. Once she is defeated, the Beast isolates from the group while Sora, Donald and Goofy enter the chamber where the Princesses of Heart are being held; here, Sora faces Riku one more time, who is possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness now.

Beast reunites with Belle.

After Sora wins the battle, he uses the Keyblade of heart to release Kairi's heart from his own, as well as to return all of the other princesses' hearts, including Belle's. When Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald are surrounded near Hollow Bastion's exit, the Beast stays behind as Hollow Bastion becomes infested with Heartless, refusing to leave without Belle, who is still encased in glass and crystal, and also to get the Heartless' attention from Sora and his friends so they can get away safely.

When Sora returns to Hollow Bastion, he takes the Beast into the library, where Belle is researching ways to stop the darkness that has started to engulf Hollow Bastion. She and the Beast lovingly embrace, happily reunited at last. Beast continues to help Sora in battle at Hollow Bastion, and waits there with Belle following Sora's departure afterwards, anticipating Sora's victory so that he and Belle can return home. He returns to his castle with Belle after Ansem's defeat.

The Beast is also present for battle the with an unknown challenger, who came to Hollow Bastion with the intent of testing Sora's strength.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

An illusion of the Beast appears in Castle Oblivion as a figment of Sora's memories of Hollow Bastion. He is shown coming to Hollow Bastion to rescue the captured Belle much like the real Beast, but is coldly refused by Belle and told to return home. The Beast becomes depressed, not knowing that Belle is merely faking her cruelty to foil Maleficent's plans to steal her heart.

When he is rejected again, however, the Beast declares he will stay and fight for her even if it is against her wishes, confessing his own feelings for her in the process and prompting Maleficent to try and steal his heart instead, but Belle is so moved that she sacrifices her own heart to save his. The Beast joins Sora and his friends in defeating Maleficent, and Belle's heart is restored. The Beast apologizes for doubting Belle's love for him, and the two lovingly embrace.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Upon returning to his home world, the Beast finds his castle under attack by the Heartless and does everything he can to fight them off, though his constant fighting strains his relationship with Belle. He is defeated while trying to keep an Infernal Engine from breaking into the castle, and finally stops fighting knowing that Belle and his servants are safe.

Some time later, the Beast is contacted by Xaldin of Organization XIII, who begins to sow seeds of distrust for Belle into the Beast, and he slowly begins to fear that he will lose everything he holds dear. By observing the Beast during his missions, Roxas begins to learn about love and the desire to protect something precious.

Kingdom Hearts II

Beast picks up his precious rose.

One year after the defeat of Ansem, the peace in Beast's castle is interrupted by a high-ranking Organization XIII member, Xaldin, who infuriates the Beast by telling him that Belle will leave him, and that her feelings for him are not true. In his fury, the Beast throws his servants into the dungeon and frightens Belle to the point that she will not venture beyond the West Wing of the castle.

When Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive in Beast's Castle, they are ambushed by Shadow Heartless, but they are rescued by the Beast. However, despite having reached them, the Beast is not the least bit fascinated with seeing his old friends again. He shoves the three of them aside and reaches for his enchanted rose, which he takes back to his room in the West Wing.

After rescuing the castle's servants at Belle's request, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast's majordomo, Cogsworth, find the Beast in his room, being provoked by Xaldin. After battling the Beast to calm himself down, the Beast comes to his senses and decides to owe Belle an apology.

However, they don’t find Belle in her room. The Beast and company discover her running from the Shadow Stalker in the castle's ballroom. She retreats to the balcony as the Beast confronts Xaldin and takes on the Shadow Stalker that Xaldin sends after the group. After the fight, the Beast tells Belle he is sorry, who accepts the apology. However, Belle is still displeased with the Beast's lack of trust in her, and Sora leaves their world wondering if they will ever manage to work out their differences.

When Sora returns, he finds the Beast milling around in the main entrance. The Beast is dressed elegantly, and after a few hesitant grunts, he eventually confesses that he and Belle are on a date for the evening. Unfortunately, as the both of them begin to dance in the ballroom, Xaldin shows himself. The Beast charges at Xaldin, while Belle bemoans the Organization's interjection with her romantic evening. Following a different battle, Xaldin tells the Beast that something precious to him was gone. The Beast realizes Xaldin means the enchanted rose, and abandons his friends to check if his fear is true.

Sadly, in his despair, the Beast lashes out at Belle and Sora, telling them to leave his castle. While Belle walks to her room to prepare for her departure, Sora stays and convinces the Beast that he needs to show Xaldin who was boss. The Beast, realizing Sora's words are true, goes to look for Xaldin, who waits for them in the entrance hall. When Xaldin goes outside, the Beast follows him.

Beast chooses Belle instead of the rose.

Meanwhile, Belle stands on the balcony outside of her room, lost in thought. When she sees Beast and the others emerge from the castle, she starts to run back inside, but she spots the rose sitting beside her door. She contentedly holds the rose over the balcony to show it to the Beast, but she’s grabbed from behind by Xaldin and whisked away to the castle's bridge soon after. Xaldin forces the Beast to either choose to save Belle or his rose; he chooses Belle. Fortunately, Belle catches Xaldin off-guard by painfully elbowing him in the stomach, allowing her the opportunity to grab the rose and run to safety, making certain the Beast loses neither her or the rose.

Beast and Belle dance.

After a fierce confrontation with Xaldin which the Organization member lost, the Beast proudly takes his rose back from Belle. However, he is guilty of how he hollered at Belle. With a little encouragement from his friends, he bashfully asks her to stay with him. Belle smiles and accepts, and the both of them dance the night away in the castle courtyard.

Some time later, the Beast transforms back into the Prince while he is dancing with Belle.

Design

The Beast's appearance is a combination of physical characteristics from various wild animals, including a wild boar, wolf, buffalo, bear and lion. He often wears a torn purple cape and dark blue pants. When dressed up, he ties his hair back with a blue bow, and wears a blue and yellow jacket, an orange vest, and black pants. He is mostly shown hunched, except when he is in his formal dress.

When in his human form, the Prince has shoulder-length red hair. He dons the same formal suit he wore as the Beast, tailored to fit him; he also wears brown boots. The only striking similarity between the Prince and his beastly alter ego is his blue eyes.

Personality

The Beast was originally a very spoiled, selfish, unkind, and abusive prince. However, in the Kingdom Hearts series, he is shown at a later stage in his relationship with Belle, with most of his uncomplimentary traits remedied. The Beast is still prone to lashing out in fury, especially when he gets provoked by characters like Maleficent or Xaldin. However, beneath his rough exterior beats a true heart of gold, which Belle has worked to bring out so that everyone can see how beautiful a person the Beast really is.

Matching with his ferocious appearance is his extreme courage, demonstrated when the Beast shows no fear in challenging opponents such as Maleficent, Shadow Stalker, and Xaldin, despite their menacing strength and appearance. Even after being wounded by Riku, the Beast still presses on, determined to rescue Belle from Maleficent at any cost.