makingstevensonproud: (Default)
Henry "Hank" McCoy ([personal profile] makingstevensonproud) wrote2013-11-01 02:29 pm

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on

PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: Sera
AGE: 27
JOURNAL: [personal profile] draconicseraphim
CURRENTLY PLAYED: N/A

CHARACTER INFORMATION
CHARACTER NAME: Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy AKA: Beast
SERIES: X-Men: First Class
CHARACTER AGE: About 20
REFERENCE: His Wiki Page
CANON POINT: From the Beach after Azazel teleports Magneto and co. off site.
SEXUALITY:
Hank is canonly shown to be primarily heterosexual however, given his intense desire to appear 100% perfectly "normal" for the time period any passing interst he may have had in men would be vehemently denied. Given his desire for acceptance and affection he may become more open to other things over time.

PERSONALITY:
There is nothing in this world that Hank McCoy wants more than to simply be normal.

The nature of his mutation makes this almost impossible though. While he focuses on the physical presentation of his mutation, his large feet and prehensile toes, this is very easily hidden and probably the least likely part of what makes him unable to fit in. While something like this and his natural inclination to be upside down would make him odd it would be something that he could be taught to hide at a very young age, especially with how quickly he advances mentally.

It's this very early introduction of the idea that he is wrong and needs to hide that shapes his self image for the rest of his life.

In the comics Hank has a few very different histories before joining the X-men. As none of these take place in the same time period as the movie does it is almost impossible to apply the same history to him. There are certain elements that are likely the same, probably more pronounced even. Such as his mother being a good, proper church-going woman that cares more about appearances than the actual happiness of her family. Especially when you consider that she is a post-WWII, 50s house wife it is very easy to see how that idea of maintaining the facade of a perfectly normal happy family would have been further damaging to Hank's self esteem, despite Edna's best intentions.

As he grew up though it was his intelligence that would set him apart. He graduated Harvard with a Ph. D. in Biophysics at the age of 15. While this is incredibly impressive, especially as he goes on to apply that brilliance to engineering, genetics, and a number of other fields he has no formal training in over the next five years with the CIA. It is apparent that the advanced rate of his education came to the detriment of his social and emotional growth.

Hank is incredibly awkward. He doesn't know how to talk to people because he never had anyone to talk to growing up. He was far more advanced than other children his age but at the same time far less mature than his peers in school due to the vast age difference. He rambles and has trouble looking at things from another's point of view. Charles has to constantly check his scientific babbling before he can make the others nervous, especially with Sean.

He's also very sensitive, often over-reacting to perceived slights because of his history. Being so much younger than his peers in school and his slight build that only grew steadily more gangly as he got older would have made him an easy target for bullies. He takes things as insults even when they're not meant to be. This is partially because of his own severly lacking sense of self worth.

In the end even when he finally has others like himself that he can relate to he has elevated "normalcy" to such a high ideal that he can not let go of it. Even if clinging to it means alienating the one person that has ever liked him, hurting her and rejecting her acceptance of him. He cannot accept himself so how could anyone else?

That he ends up transforming himself into something far more abnormal and impossible to hide in trying to "fix" himself. He has built normalcy into such a high ideal that learning how to deal with what he is now is going to be incredibly hard for him. He thinks he is disgusting, a monster. He's turned himself into Mr. Hyde and there's no going back to "the good doctor".

POWERS:

  • Genius Intellect- Hank is a genius. He graduated from Harvard with a Ph. D. in Biophysics at the age of 15. He designs, builds, and flies one of the most advanced planes of the time. He excels in genetics and is well versed in literature enough to recognize quotes from classics.

  • Superhuman Senses- With the transformation his senses are heightened, allowing him to track the motions of other as well as see without his glasses. His sense are more akin to an animal's now allowing him to rely on other senses. Not that he will really let himself do that. He's weird enough.

  • Enhanced Speed- Even before he transformed himself he was able to run far faster than a human, lapping Charles effortlessly on a track that circled the entire castle.

  • Enhanced Strength- As is to be expected by the bulk he gained in the transformation. Definitely not super human but he is quite strong now.


PREVIOUS GAME MEMORIES: N/A
SUITABILITY:
Being that Hank is from 1962, was born during WWII and has been growing up through much of the African American Civil Rights Movement I suppose this is part where I preface things with the fact that Hank will, like as not, be offensive. Even in the TDM he's had to bite his tongue on a couple things. His obsession with normalcy very much means cis hetero white middle class America. His status as a mutant gives him a slightly different perspective on this, however and it is shown in all canons but specifically in the movie canon that by the time Last Stand rolls around he is a leading political figure in the mutant civil rights effort. He has a lot of time to grow into that man but he has the capacity to and I am really looking forward to playing through some of that. It also helps that he probably already respects Martin Luther King Jr. for his stance promoting equality through nonviolence which is exactly what Hank himself does later in life.

Letting him slowly learn to accept others for their differences, be it race, sexual orientation, or any other status. Those first two are the ones he'll have the most trouble adapting to at first though. The idea is that, in learning to accept himself, he will be able to look at others' differences and feel less threatend by them. It will be a slow process and I intend to put all of this as a disclaimer on his journal and intro post as well but it is one that I am really excited to be able to play out that character growth.

That said, all of that growth will be my goals with him not his own. His goals will be more along the lines of mastering the science of this world and then attempting to use it to fix himself, something he did not have the means to do correctly in his own timeline. Hopefully by the time he gets to the point that either he can do it or barter with the scientists to do it he'll have realized he doesn't need to. Or, more likely, have learned not to trust the scientists. He will be pretty resistant to the experiments, especially at first. But if someone comes to him in need, much as he wants to be a gentleman, he doesn't have it in him to deny a friend in distress.

FIRST PERSON EXAMPLE:
Questionnaire
THIRD PERSON EXAMPLE:
Hank on the Test Drive Meme
And later getting jumped by Raven

IF THIS IS A REAPPLICATION, WILL THEY RETAIN MEMORIES? N/A