Prince

The Beast is the hero of Disney's Adademy Award winning film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). He plays a major role in ''Kingdom Hearts'', ''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II'' as an ally to Sora and his friends. In the English dub, he was voiced by his original voice actor, Robby Benson. In the original Japanese, he was voiced by Kôichi Yamadera.

Kingdom Hearts

Prior to the events of Kingdom Hearts, the Beast had been a prince, living a spoiled life in his castle. But approximately ten years before Kingdom Hearts, the Beast had been transformed into a hideous beast by an enchantress, who was disgusted at the prince's lack of love in his heart. As an additional consequence, the enchantress turned all of the Beast's servants into household objects. The enchantress put 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 fell, the Beast would stay in his terrible form forever, as would his servants. Nearly ten years after this event, Belle apperaed at the Beast's castle, seeking her father, Maurice, who had gone missing. Belle found her father in the Beast's dungeon, and exchanged her freedom for his. After many days of tension between Belle and the Beast, the two eventually grew close to each other. During this time, Belle was captured by the Heartless, and the Beast's world, along with all of his servants, was swallowed by the darkness.

In a rare occurance for the characters of the Kingdom Hearts series, Beast made his first apperance outside of his home world, due to its destruction. Sora, Goofy and Donald witnessed him detailing his history to Riku at Hollow Bastion's backward waterfalls; Beast explained that it was his love for Belle that had helped him travel all the way to Hollow Bastion from his original world without an aircraft to assist him. He demanded that Riku return Belle to him. When his request was denied, Beast attempted to attack Riku, but Riku managed to injure the Beast. Sora then lost control of the keyblade to Riku, who Donald and Goofy decided to follow, leaving Sora alone with the Beast. Beast and Sora briefly explained to each other that they were both looking for someone, before heading into Hollow Bastion as a team; the Beast's strength was a great asset to Sora, whose old wooden sword was ineffective against the Heartless.

However, once inside Hollow Bastion's main entrance, the Beast witnessed a vision of Belle being turned into a Heartless (which did not actually happen, although at that exact moment Belle had lost her heart), and in a fit of rage the Beast abandoned Sora, chasing after the Heartless in his vision. After Sora battled Riku and took back the keyblade, the Beast returned to his senses and continued to assist Sora, who now had Donald and Goofy back on his side. The four encountered Maleficent, who battled them in her human and dragon forms. Once she was defeated, the Beast seperated from the group while Sora, Goofy and Donald entered the chamber where the Princesses of Heart were held; here, Sora once again fought Riku, who was now possessed by Xehanort's Heartless. After Sora won the battle, he used the Dark Keyblade 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 were surrounded near Hollow Bastion's exit, the Beast stayed behind as Hollow Bastion became infested with Heartless, refusing to leave without Belle, who was still encased in glass and crystal.

When Sora returned to Hollow Bastion, he took the Beast into the library, where Belle was researching ways to stop the darkness that was beginning to engulf Hollow Bastion. She and the Beast lovingly embraced, happily reunited at last. Beast continued to help Sora in battle at Hollow Bastion, and then waited there with Belle following Sora's departure, anticipating Sora's victory so that he and Belle could return home, which they eventually did.

In ''Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix'', the Beast was also present for the special fight with Xemnas, who had come to Hollow Bastion with the intent of testing Sora's strenth.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

In Chain of Memories, the Beast appeared as a figment of Sora's memories. Thus, his counterpart in the Kingdom Hearts reality did not actually experience any of the following events.

The Beast was again found at Hollow Bastion by Sora, Goofy and Donald. This time, however, he was pleading with Belle to talk with him. After being given the cold shoulder by his true love, the Beast sadly wandered to another part of the castle. Sora, Goofy and Donald followed Belle and discovered that she was ignoring the Beast because Maleficent was threatening her. When the Beast and Belle encountered each other again, Belle repeated her attempts to turn the Beast away (under the watchful gaze of Maleficent). However, this only goaded the Beast into spilling his true feelings for Belle, making his heart vulnerable for Maleficent to use in her dark magic. Belle quickly defended the Beast from Maleficent's attack, sacraficing her heart to save his. Realizing what had happened, the Beast joined Sora and company to take down Maleficent. After Maleficent was defeated, Belle was returned to the Beast. Belle apologized for lying to the Beast and the Beast apologized for his momentary doubt of Belle's love for him. The two concluded their apperance in the game with a kiss.

Kingdom Hearts II

In Kingdom Hearts II, Belle and the Beast had been back in their world for a year following the events of Kingdom Hearts, attempting to return to their normal lives. However, the peace was once again interrupted, this time by Organization XII member, Xaldin. Xaldin angered the Beast by telling him that Belle would leave him, and that her feelings for him were not true. In his rage, the Beast threw his servants into the dungeon and frightened Belle to the point that she would not venture beyond the East Wing of the castle.

When Sora, Donald and Goofy arrived in Beast's Castle, they were attacked by Shadow Heartless, but were saved by the Beast. However, despite having saved them, the Beast was not the least bit interested in seeing his old friends again. He shoved them aside and reached for his enchanted rose, which he took 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 butler, Cogsworth found the Beast in his room, being provoked by Xaldin. After battling the Beast to calm him down, the Beast came to his senses and decided to apologize to Belle. However, Belle was not in her room. The Beast and company found her running from a Shadowstalker in the castle's ballroom. She escaped to the balcony as the Beast confronted Xaldin and fought the Shadowstalker that Xaldin attacked the group with. After the fight, the Beast apologized to Belle, who accepted. However, Belle was still disappointed in the Beast's lack of trust for her, and Sora left their world wondering if they would ever manage to work out their differences.

When Sora returned, he found the Beast pacing in the main entrance. The Beast was dressed very nicely, and after a few reluctant grunts he finally admitted that he and Belle were on a date for the evening. Unfortunately, as the two began to dance in the ballroom, Xaldin returned. The Beast charged at Xaldin, while Belle bemoaned the Organization's interference with her romantic evening. Following yet another battle, Xaldin told the Beast that something precious to him was now gone. The Beast realized Xaldin had been talking about the enchanted rose, and abandoned his friends to check if his fear was true. Unfortunately, this was exactly the case, and in his despair, the Beast lashed out at Belle and Sora, telling them to leave his castle. But, while Belle walked to her room to prepare for her departure, Sora stayed and convinced the Beast that he needed to show Xaldin who was boss. The Beast, realizing Sora's words were true, went to find Xaldin, who was waiting for him in the entrance hall. When Xaldin retreated outside, the Beast followed.

Meanwhile, Belle stood on the balcony outside of her room, lost in thought. When she saw Beast and the others emerge from the castle, she ran back inside, but saw the rose sitting beside her door. She happily held the rose over the balcony to show it to the Beast, but she was suddenly grabbed behind by Xaldin and whisked away to the castle's bridge. The Beast was then presented with the choice of keeping Belle or his rose; he chose Belle, but did not have to worry, as Belle briefly took matters into her own hands, ensuring that the Beast lost neither her or the rose.

After a fierce confrontation with Xaldin (which the Organization member lost), the Beast gladly took his rose back from Belle. However, he was ashamed of how he had yelled at Belle, and (with a little encouragement from his friends) bashfully asked her to stay with him. Belle smiled and accepted, and the two danced the night away in the castle courtyard.

During the credits of Kingdom Hearts II it was revealed that the Beast had transformed back into Prince Adam. This fact implies that he will most likely not make any future apperances in Kingdom Hearts titles that take place after Kingdom Hearts II.

Personality

The Beast was originally a very spoiled, unloving 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 anger, especially when provoked by characters like Maleficent or Xaldin. But 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.

Apperance

The Beast's apperance 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.

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

Abilities

AP Cost: 30AP
Auto-Limit auto equipped: Yes
MP Cost: All
Limit: Twin Howl
Combo: Stalward Fang/Outcry
Combo Finisher: Last Howl
Command Triggers: Menu switches Attack to Outcry, and Stalwart Fang appears as a Reaction command. In the end, Reaction command "Last Howl" appears.

Skillset Description

Twin Howl
Description: Beast howls loudly while Sora stand by his side.

Stalwart Fang
Description: Beast roars loudly and creates and shockwave that damages all foes in range.(close range)

Outcry
Description: Sora charges and power up purple-ish energy waves around himself.Damages all enemy who came in contact. If there is no enemy near Sora, he will charge at the closest enemy in targeting range.

Last Howl
Description: Sora and Beast stands side by side as Sora bares his teeth and Beast releases a loud roar creating a large shockwave. Damages all foes in range.

Origin

The Beast is based on his apperance in Walt Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), which was in turn inspired by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's La Belle et la Bête, published in 1756. However, the Beast's character has made various apperances in hundreds of incarnations of the Beauty and the Beast story.

Trivia

• The Beast has always been voiced by Robby Benson.

• Although he is unnamed in the film and all of his apperances afterwards, the Beast's real name, Prince Adam, was revealed in Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia.

• Beast's Japanese voice actor, Kôichi Yamadera, also provides the voices of Donald Duck, Mushu and Sebastian Kingdom Hearts. He voiced the same roles, in addition to Genie and Stitch in Kingdom Hearts II.