The Beast (OTGW)
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Beast |
| Occupation: | Monster of the Woods |
| Relationships: | Adelaide (Servant) The Woodsman (Lantern Bearer) |
| Fandom: | Over the Garden Wall |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Beast serves as the main antagonist of the 10 part mini-series Over the Garden Wall. He is depicted as a dark shadowy figure with white eyes and antlers. When the Dark Lantern is shown upon him it is revealed that he is made up of twisted and tortured faces stacked upon each other.
Canon
The Beast is shown to have his soul burning in the Dark Lantern which requires edelwood oil to remain lit. His goals in the show are to turn Wirt and Greg into edelwood trees to fuel the lantern and retrieve the lantern from the Woodsman. He is motivated by self-preservation, trying to keep his soul alight despite the suffering it may cause others.
He is shown to be very manipulative and deceitful, having tricked the Woodsman into believing that the lantern held the soul of his daughter, and giving impossible tasks to Greg to exhaust him to the point the Beast could turn him into an edelwood tree. Additionally he tries to trick Wirt into carrying the Dark Lantern by claiming he will put Greg's soul into the lantern, this however is unsuccessful when Wirt calls his bluff, noting that the Beast's obsession with the lantern made it seem like it was the Beast's soul in the lantern. This leads to the Beast's downfall when Wirt returns the Dark Lantern to the Woodsman who blows it out, extinguishing the Beast's soul.
The Beast is shown to be a singer. In the show he has two songs, one he sings to his victims and one he sings when chopping wood for the lantern. His voice lends itself to operatic singing. Additionally the Tavern Keeper sings a song about the Beast.
Fandom
- One common theme in the fandom is humanization of the Beast, though many humanized versions retain his antlers and eyes. Some humanized versions of the Beast seek to translate his features
- One common theme in fandom is changing the Beast's name, whether humanized or otherwise, some of these names include Dante, Herod, and Cernunnos. The Beast has no cannon name beyond the Beast so any names assigned to him are fanmade, Dante, one of the most common, is based on Dante's Inferno, which has parrelels to OTGW, and Cernunnos is the epithet of a horned celtic god who is heavily tied to nature.
- In some fanworks Wirt is made to stay behind and carry the Beast's lantern, this often, but not always, occurs in slashfic between the Beast and Wirt.
- In many fanworks, the Beast dies when his lantern is extinguished by the Woodsman, his place is often taken by another character, usually Wirt. Whether the Beast is permanently or wholly dead varies depending on the work.
- The Beast is a common character cosplayed
Shipping
The Beast is shipped with many characters in the show, a few of the most popular ships are:
- The Beast/Wirt (Otherwise known as Poetree)
- This is the most popular ship with the Beast on Ao3. As of 2021 it is still relatively popular. It often explores unhealthy dynamics. In fanworks it is often paired up with the ship Billdip between Bill Cipher and Dipper Pines.
- The Beast/Enoch (Otherwise known as Beastnoch or Dumb Gay Eldritch Psychopomps)
- The second most popular ship with the Beast is Enoch, the maypole from Pottsfield. In cannon Enoch and the Beast have no interaction, they are shipped despite this. This ship is less common than it was in 2015.
- The Beast/OCs
- There are many works in fandom focused on shipping the Beast with original characters. These original characters are usually though not always female.
Trivia
- In the comics it is shown that the Beast did not turn Anna, the daughter of the Woodsman, into an edelwood. She was able to escape his clutches and returned home, however the Woodsman could not bring himself to return to the house he thought to be empty. This is further supported in the last episode when the Woodsman finally returns home his daughter is at the house waiting for him.