The Beast is the male protagonist in Beauty and the Beast. He is the fifth official Disney Prince.
Disney History
Beauty and the Beast
Prince Adam was a handsome young prince, albeit sarcastic, who lived in a luxurious castle in France and had everything he wanted. One night, on Christmas Eve, his kindness was put to the test when a beggar woman came to the castle and pleaded for shelter from the freezing cold and rain, with a single rose as payment. Repulsed by her appearance, he sneered at the simple but beautiful gift. The woman begs again, and he still refuses. When he shuns the beggar woman for her repulsive appearance again, her ugliness melts away and then reveals her true form as a beautiful and powerful Enchantress.
Seeing her beauty and realizing her power, the Prince tries to apologize. But it is too late, for she has seen in her disguise that there was sarcasm in his heart. As punishment for his sarcastic heart, she turns him into a terrifying beast. She also casts a ghastly curse on the entire castle, transforming it into a dark, foreboding place, its lush green grounds into dark, misty woods, and the good-natured servants into anthropomorphic household objects to reflect their different personalities. Ashamed of his new appearance, the Beast conceals himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world.
The rose the Enchantress had given him was enchanted and it would bloom until his 21st year. She had told him that if he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken, but if he failed, he would remain a beast forever.
Years later, when Beast locks Maurice, an old man in the tower as a prisoner for trespassing (not knowing or caring that Maurice was actually allowed inside by the servants for shelter), his daughter, Belle, confronts Beast and pleads with him to let her father go, offering herself as a prisoner instead. The Beast accepts, under the further condition that she remains in the castle forever. Beast comes to appreciate Belle when she tends to his wounds after he saves her from the wolves, and strikes up a friendship with her. Eventually, he falls in love with her and placing her happiness before his own, he releases her to tend to her sick father (and to make up for his harsh treatment of him).
A lynch mob comes to kill the Beast, led by a rival suitor named Gaston. Gaston eventually finds Beast, and initially, Beast has no will to fight, still in a state of depression from Belle leaving. Just as Gaston is about to lay the finishing blow, Belle returns, calling for Gaston to stop. Upon hearing Belle's voice, he suddenly stands and fights back with a renewed vigor in the knowledge that Belle truly does love him. As the fight continued, Gaston continued to blather about his superficial beliefs that he is Belle's true love, and the Beast is nothing more than a monster whom Belle would never love. Having had it with Gaston's arrogance, Beast overpowers him and holds him by the throat over the edge of the castle. Gaston finally drops his pride and begs for mercy, to which Beast initially ignores, but upon realizing that he was turning into everything that represents Gaston himself, instead allows him to walk away, warning him to leave the castle and never return. Reuniting with Belle, he happily embraces her but is then stabbed in the side by Gaston, who then loses his balance and falls off the castle to his death. Belle comes to tend to the Beast's wounds and tries to reassure him that everything's going to be fine, but he knows all too well that his time is coming, telling her that he was happy to have a chance at seeing her one last time before succumbing to his wounds. Upon losing him, Belle begs him not to go and cries, admitting that she loves him. Just as the last petal falls from the enchanted rose, Belle inadvertently breaking the spell, reviving him and restoring his human prince form. The next day, a ball is held to celebrate their victory.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
In the midquel, which takes place not long after the Beast rescued Belle from the wolves, much to Beast's frustration, Belle wants to celebrate Christmas and throw a real Christmas party. Beast hates the idea of Christmas, for it was the very day when the Enchantress cast the spell on him and the entire castle ten years ago - he also was ungrateful for his gift that day, a storybook. While Beast sits most of the preparations out, a treacherous servant plot to have Belle thrown out of the castle: Forte the Pipe Organ, since he is far more appreciated by the Beast while under the spell.
Unknown to Beast, Belle writes him a special book which he doesn't see until later on. She also meets Forte later on in a chance meeting. Forte tells her that Beast's favorite Christmas tradition when he was a child... was the Christmas tree. Belle becomes frustrated, for no tree she has seen on the grounds has been tall enough to hang ornaments. Forte lies to Belle, saying that a perfect tree can be found in the woods beyond the castle. Reluctant to go against Beast's orders that she never leaves the castle, Belle leaves nonetheless in order to find the perfect tree. When Belle does not arrive to see Beast's Christmas present to her, he begins to suspect that she isn't there at all. When Mrs. Potts explains that the household cannot find her, Beast becomes enraged. He goes to Forte to ask for advice, and Forte lies to him that Belle has abandoned him. Beast confronts Belle in the woods and saves her in time from drowning since she fell through thin ice.
Still believing that Belle disobeyed him by leaving the grounds, Beast throws her into the dungeon. But when Forte goads him into destroying the rose to end his suffering, Beast finds Belle's book in the West Wing and reads it, coming to his senses and realizing that all Belle wants is for him to be happy. Releasing Belle from the dungeon, Beast prepares to join in the Christmas festivities. But Forte doesn't give up and even goes as far as to attempt to destroy the entire castle with Beethoven's 5th. Fortunately, Beast finds him in time and destroys his keyboard with Franz Schubert's Symphony No 8. Losing his balance (and his pipes), Forte falls from the wall he is leaned up against and is silenced forever. When the whole castle is turned back into humans, the Prince and Belle give Chip, Mrs. Potts' son, a book to read, which he loves. As the Prince and Belle come out to the balcony, he gives her something too: a rose.
Liveaction
Beauty and the Beast
Songs
Trivia
- The rumored name, Prince Adam, is actually fake, as proven by the official D23 website.
Gallery
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