Beast is the titular male protagonist of the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
He is loosely based on both the character from the original fairy tale and the 1991 animated film.
Background[]
In this version, Beast is wittier and has a very dry, English sense of humor. While he retains some of his animated counterpart's traits like selfishness, being unkind, and having a spoiled nature, the prince was turned into a beast by the Enchantress for his arrogance, as well as making an explicit reference to his old fixation on beauty above all else. Additionally, unlike the original 1991 animated version where his cruel nature is not explained, a backstory in the live-action version reveals the Prince/Beast's terrible past; the Prince/Beast was raised as a good person by his kind-hearted mother who died when he was a child, leaving his crueler father to raise him alone, which resulted in his cruel behavior. However, he still hints at a strong interest in literature when he shows Belle his library, and is later found reading the book King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The film also features an original song for the Beast, "Evermore", sung after Belle departs to save her father, where he mourns his belief that he will never find love while aware that Belle's memory will be with him forever.
Physical appearance[]
In the 2017 remake, the Beast is an anthropomorphic lion-like monster with a pair of large, ram-like horns.
Role in the film[]
Introduced as a Prince who was selfish and unkind, the Prince rejected an appeal for shelter from an elderly woman, which led to her transforming into a beautiful Enchantress. The Prince tried to apologize but it was too late and as punishment for his cruelty and selfishness, the Prince is transformed into a hideous Beast as the spell is cast all around the castle. In order to break the curse, the Prince must come to love another and earn her love in return before the last petal falls from the enchanted rose, or he will remain a hideous Beast forever and his staff will become simple objects.
As Maurice explores the castle grounds around him, the Beast approaches him as he takes a rose whom he is taking for his daughter Belle, dismissing Maurice as a common thief. Approaching the Beast, Belle spends a minute alone with the Beast requesting him to see her father just as Belle notices the Beast taking her father away much to her worry.
The Beast then approaches the dining room where he tells Lumière and Cogsworth, who are both preparing dinner for Belle, much to the Beast's temper, explaining to Belle that joining him for dinner is not a request. The Enchanted objects told him to be gentle and he later discusses with Belle about joining her for dinner to which she refuses as she remembers he locked her into the tower just as the Beast angrily storms off. The Beast goes to the West Wing where the Enchanted Rose is at, grabbing the Enchanted Mirror to show him Belle to which the mirror shows Belle in her room just as another petal falls.
Later, Belle enters the West Wing and almost touches the Enchanted Rose, but the Beast angrily scares her away, causing Belle to leave the castle in terror. Belle then rides on Philippe to escape while being chased by a pack of wolves, just as the Beast comes to the rescue, but is injured in process. Later, the Beast is taken to the castle where he is told to control his temper just as Belle puts him to sleep.
Later after singing the musical number "Days in the Sun", Lumiere explains to Belle that if the last petal falls, the Prince will remain a Beast forever and all the castle residents become inanimate objects, but Mrs. Potts stops Cogsworth revealing how the curse might be broken. The Beast is fully healed the next day. With the Beast healed, he takes Belle to the library as she looks at the library around her in excitement. Later, Belle and the Beast walk outside together just as the couple looks at the frozen lake around them. Belle then teaches the Beast how to be gentle to Philippe and later sings the musical number "Something There" just as she and the Beast start a relationship with them. Later, Belle thanks the Beast for saving from the wolves just as Belle talks to him about the villagers thinking Belle is funny. Back at the library, the Beast shows Belle a book from the Enchantress related to the curse she casted on her. Belle later takes the Beast into Paris where she sings to him that the childhood at Paris is gone just as she remembers her tragic flashback about her mother who died from plague, prompting the Beast to apologize for calling her father a thief.
Back at the Beast's Castle, the Beast wears a formal suit while Belle wears a ball gown just as she and the Beast dance together during the musical number "Beauty and the Beast" as Mrs. Potts sings in front of the dancing couple.
As the couple arrives at the balcony, Belle tells the Beast that her father taught her how to dance. Showing empathy to Belle, the Beast gives her the Enchanted Mirror to Belle to help find her father. Upon seeing Maurice being attacked by an angry mob, Belle is tasked to go find her father and rescue her. As Belle leaves the castle to find her father, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Plumette are worried about Belle planning to find her father. They recognise that the Beast letting Belle go like this proves that he loves her, but the curse has not been broken as she apparently doesn't love him in turn, the servants sadly leaving as the Beast sings the musical number "Evermore" about how Belle's influence will remain with him forever.
Later, Belle talks to Gaston and shows him the Enchanted Mirror with an image of the Beast on it. Upon seeing this, Gaston tells the villagers that the Beast will kill everyone as a hideous creature, locking Belle in a carriage so that she cannot warn the Beast as Gaston leads a mob to kill him. During the battle against Gaston, the Beast is injured by Gaston who fires a pistol on him just as Belle tries to protect him, Belle's appearance affirming that she didn't betray him to Gaston on purpose. Later as the Beast sees Belle and the Beast reunites with her, Gaston attacks again, injuring the Beast severely just as Gaston falls to his death. Belle then cries over the Beast's motionless body just as the last petal falls.
As the last petal falls, the Enchantress arrives to the spot where Belle cries over the Beast's dead body. Hearing Belle affirm that she loves the Beast, the Enchantress uses her magic to restore the Enchanted Rose as the Beast is transformed back into his normal form, the Prince. With the spell broken and the castle fixed, the Prince and Belle start a relationship again and dance in the ballroom with the other residents of the castle.