Does Beast have healing capability?

November 2, 2006 12:42 PM

Does Beast from the X-men have the ability to heal himself? The official Marvel handbook doesn't mention it, the (unofficial) wikipedia entry does. If he does have the ability, in what comic does he use or mention it?
posted by robbie01 to grab bag (12 comments total)

I'm pretty sure he does, at least in his "blue furry" version. At one point, Beast was pretty banged up so they had to resort to some experimental procedure to cure him that ended up turning him blue, upping his prowess, and giving him some minor healing factor (nothing like Wolverine, tho).

As for exact comic, I'm unsure. I seem to recall the healing ability mentioned both in the animated X-Men cartoon and in Ultimate X-Men, but am, alas, a stranger to main X-Men canon.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:47 PM on November 2, 2006

A simple google would find you your answer:

AMAZING ADVENTURES #11

the Beast got a job at the Brand Corporation, a subsidiary of Marvel's evil megacorporation, Roxxon. He was researching the "genetic source" of mutations (the X-factor), and isolated a hormone that would activate the X-factor. In typical comic book timing, as soon as the Beast discovered this wonderful hormone, the sinister Secret Empire tried to steal it from him. So Hank McCoy did what any award-winning researcher would do with his potentially Nobel-prize-winning experiment: he drank it.

The resultant enchancement of his mutant nature turned him into his now famous fuzzy form, but with grey fur, and with a healing factor that
would shame Wolverine--bullet holes healed as fast as they were made.
Various misadventures ensued, until the computer Quasimodo drained the Beast's excess life energy in Amazing Adventures #14, which left him not only without his nifty healing factor, but also turned his fur blue.
posted by crypticgeek at 12:51 PM on November 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

The neat thing about Wikipedia is that everything is (supposed to be) referenced. The official policy is No Original Research.

In this case, the article appears to mention X-Treme X-Men #2-#4 as a source for said healing powers.
posted by trevyn at 12:53 PM on November 2, 2006

And if you can actually read, wikipedia answers your question:

"Some years later, in Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #11... [snip] ...He grows gray fur (which later turns blue) all over his body and acquires sharp ears, elongated canine teeth, claws, enhanced senses and an accelerated healing factor."
posted by crypticgeek at 12:57 PM on November 2, 2006

I believe he also has some equivalent to a medical degree, so even if he can't heal himself he can totally heal himself.
posted by cowbellemoo at 12:58 PM on November 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

I could swear that the Grant Morrison reboot of Beast has some degree of healing as well. But, in general, he's always been one of those heroes whose powers have varied wildly from writer to writer.
posted by mkultra at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2006

With any sort of question like this, you're best off accepting that the answer is yes or no, depending on who's writing him and what the editors of the book feel like doing to him. Ferinstance, trevyn's X-Treme (sigh) X-Men citation more or less contradicted what was physically happening to Beast at the same time in New X-Men.

if you must know, in X-Treme Chris Claremont had Beast assuming his new catlike form as a result of some weird healing shit done by Sage, a human computer who liked to dress as a stripper; in New X-Men, Grant Morrison turned Beast into a cat off-panel through secondary mutation. You can reconcile the two if you force it, but c'mon.
posted by COBRA! at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2006

ok, ok, it being the X-Men, I guess it's more accurate to say that Sage is a mutant human computer who liked to dress as a stripper.
posted by COBRA! at 1:07 PM on November 2, 2006

COBRA!, isn't dressing like a stripper is a prerequisite to most activities in Marvel comics?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 1:18 PM on November 2, 2006

true enough; let's hope that we can all forget the Wolverine mini where he runs around in a merrywidow, looking for someone to fix his garterbelt.
posted by COBRA! at 1:24 PM on November 2, 2006

O.o
posted by crypticgeek at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2006

My roommate, who worked at Marvel for a number of years, said this:

"It's not his official power, and they fudge it. They try to say all mutants have healing powers in order to explain how some heal in a matter of minutes. It's made up, it's ALL MADE UP."

Anyway, he's a bit cynical, but there you go. It is but it isn't I guess. I hope that helped.
posted by piratebowling at 6:08 PM on November 2, 2006