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Villain Overview

Perhaps we'd better make a deal.
~ The Beast tempting Wirt.
No. There is only me. There is only my way. There is only the forest, and there is only surrender.
~ The Beast to the Woodsman.

The Beast is the main antagonist of the 2014 animated television miniseries Over the Garden Wall. He is a monstrous and manipulative unseen entity of the dusk place known as the Unknown, seeking to take the souls of the people who come to his woods in this case, the brothers Wirt and Greg. He is The Woodsman's archenemy and former master.

He was voiced by Samuel Ramey and by Arata Hino in the Japanese dub.

Appearance[]

Throughout the series, the Beast is shown to be a shadowy humanoid figure with two large branch like horns on his head and bright eyes. His eyes are usually white, but sometimes will turn pale blue, pale yellow, and pink.

When he is illuminated for the first time in the series finale, it is shown that the Beast appears to be made of Edelwood, with numerous holes forming the faces of victims, just like on the actual trees.

Personality[]

The Beast is depicted as the living embodiment of surrender, faith, despair, and as confirmed by his song even suicide as the idea of an escape (which in particular is represented by the light from his eyes); as such, he manipulates events to the extent that the innocent people involved succumb thereto. Ironically, he appears to be motivated solely by his own self-preservation, indifferent to the suffering and death caused by his actions, and pathetically begs for Wirt to not blow out the lantern after threatening him with "true darkness". In addition to his manipulative behavior, he naturally possesses the traits of a traditional Satanic archetype as his name implies: deceitfulness, enigmaticality, and a tendency to enter bargains, all to conceal his otherwise conspicuous evil.

He is by no means a physically violent form of evil; he is never seen directly attacking anyone, instead inflicting harm by working through others. To this end, he is a master of deception who is very well spoken and complaisant; he speaks matter of factly, knows exactly what to say to lost souls to keep them under his thumb, and may also feign concer the traits that he uses to lull his victims into a false sense of security. He typically has an even temperament, but threatening the lantern or defying him for too long may cause him to lose some composure.

The Beast is also shown to have a tendency to operatically sing. He has a song for chopping the Edelwood and another song directed at his intended victims.

Biography[]

Past[]

The Beast's past and origin are unknown and uncertain, but it is not unlikely that he simply manifested one day and tormented the inhabitants of the Unknown, having the power to possess everyone there to accomplish his plans; this even included animals as he took control over Beatrice's dog in the debut episode. Of all the strange creatures and beings that dwelled in the Unknown, the Beast was easily the most feared and dangerous. He had most likely manifested from human despair and depression over the course of history, and thus constantly attempts to instill such within those in the Unknown in order to maintain his sentience.

The Beast had bore an old lantern called the Dark Lantern, containing his soul in its flame. The Woodsman knocked his lantern out of his hands, and the Beast has haunted the man ever since. He had deceived the Woodsman into believing that Anna's soul was sealed inside the lantern and that she would keep on living only as long as the flame was lit. The lantern is kept lit by the oil from Edelwood, a type of tree that forms when the Beast captures the souls of children led astray. For many years the Woodsman has chopped the wood and collected the oil from it, not knowing how the trees were grown. In the present, as Wirt and Greg stumble upon the Unknown, the Beast knows that he has found his next targets to turn into Edelwood and maintain the light of his lantern. The Woodsman along with other people from the Unknown seen throughout the episodes warn both Wirt and Greg about the Beast's presence in the forest.

Over the Garden Wall[]

In "Songs of the Dark Lantern", the Tavern Keeper warns Wirt and Greg that the Woodsman is the true Beast. During her song, she also reveals that the Beast is seeking hopeless children to turn into Edelwood so that they may later be reduced to oil to keep lit his lantern. Then, the Beast makes his first physical appearance when the Woodsman recuperates from being attacked by Wirt and Greg after they'd mistaken him for the former. At this point, it is revealed that the Woodsman and the Beast had fought for the lantern. Immediately upon assuring him that there is no need for violence, the Beast asks the Woodsman for the direction the two brothers have gone; the Woodsman demands that he leave the children be. The Beast simply retreats to the forest laughing and singing maliciously, concluding the episode.

In "The Ringing of the Bell", the Woodsman warns them of the Beast once more but, still assuming him to be the Beast, the two brothers flee from him while the actual Beast appears hidden behind a tree telling the Woodsman that they "need to talk".

At the end of the episode, the Beast is seen again along with the Woodsman. The former continues to masquerade as the latter's ally with his best interests in mind, reprimanding him for his carelessness but then further attempting to manipulate him into giving up the brothers while reminding him of Anna's soul supposedly being at stake. When the Woodsman expresses his qualms with trading the souls of children, the Beast falsely insists that "[his] way", surrender and death, is the only option.

In "Babes in the Wood", when Greg sees a saccharine, fantastical dream in which he wishes to return home along with Wirt by the magic of the Queen of the Clouds, she tells him that it is too late to save his brother as he has already fallen victim to the Beast through his despair and apathy. Greg then wishes to relinquish himself to the Beast to save Wirt, which "she" grants; it is then revealed or at least heavily implied that the "Queen" was an avatar of the Beast influencing Greg's subconscious in his sleep. Greg then follows the Beast into the woods, upon which a reinvigorated Wirt wakes up and notices his brother's absence while the Beast ominously sings from afar. Upon searching for him, Wirt trips into a frozen lake and loses consciousness.

In the finale "The Unknown", the Beast is first seen with Greg in a gelid snowstorm, wasting his time by assigning him with pointless or impossible tasks (such as having the Sun set into a china cup) with the intention to have him freeze to death. Later, while the Woodsman is desperately yielding the last drops of oil to keep the lantern lit, he faintly hears the Beast singing from within the forest and, with axe in hand, cautiously pursues the source of the sound only to find that a branch and leaf-covered Greg is dying at the hands of the Beast, soon to become another offering as an Edelwood tree which the Beast sadistically remarks "will burn nicely".

The Woodsman unsurprisingly refuses to take this offer, to which the Beast argues that the Woodsman has been grinding up lost souls for years. Horrified and devastated by this revelation, the Woodsman cries out that he wasn't aware of their source up until now; the Beast asks if it would have mattered for him and his daughter, then balefully demands that he feed the lantern. Still in shock, the Woodsman will not yield. Once the Beast resorts to suggesting that the Woodsman simply no longer cares for his daughter, the Woodsman refuses to humor the Beast any longer and attempts to free Greg from the growing wood, during which the Beast makes a grab for the lantern. The Woodsman cuts this attempt short and as soon as the Beast once more mentions Anna as a crutch, the Woodsman, now enraged, finally engages the Beast and takes several swings at him with his axe; the latter simply backs away, laughing sinisterly at his futile efforts.

By the time a revived Wirt and Beatrice arrive and tend to Greg, the Beast has exhausted the Woodsman, now manipulating Wirt into assuming the role of lantern bearer with the same "promise" that Greg's soul will live on within the lantern. Immediately before acquiescing, Wirt has an epiphany and rejects his offer, casually pointing out the flaw in the Beast's plan: his suspicious overdependence on the lantern, as if his own soul is in fact what is trapped inside. Following this unplanned revelation, the Beast, out of desperation, attempts to intimidate Wirt into submission by encompassing him in pitch-darkness and implicitly threatening him with death; however, once Wirt reciprocates by threatening to blow out the lantern's flame, the Beast withdraws on his intimidation and pleads for him not to do it, confirming Wirt's suspicions. Wirt is unimpressed and leaves the lantern to the Woodsman, who has finally caught onto the deception.

Despite his loss, the Beast tries yet again to manipulate the Woodsman into murdering the boys with his axe from behind their backs for more oil and the Woodsman refuses once more, opening the lid of the lantern to extinguish the flame. The Beast is reduced to pleading and vainly persisting in his lies that the Woodsman will never see Anna again if he proceeds and due to years of conditioning to believe this, the Woodsman tearfully resists the urge to consider said pleas; however, he musters the courage to blow out the flame anyway and ends the Beast for good.

It is later revealed that the Beast had indeed lied about Anna, as she steps out of the Woodsman's old house and finally reunites with him at the conclusion of the series. With the Beast gone, everything he touched, all the evil in the forest of the Unknown, all the monsters, everything and the fear he inspired, ends, being replaced by peace and a bright future for the people who live there.

Enemies[]

  • The Woodsman (archenemy, killer)
  • Wirt
  • Greg
  • Beatrice
  • Carriage Driver
  • Tavern Keeper
  • Queen of the Clouds

Quotes[]

No need for violence, Woodsman. but be sure to keep, lit or your daughter's flame will go out.. Forever!
~ The Beast to Woodsman.
♪ Tralalala, tralalala
Chop the wood to light the fire ♪
~ The Beast singing.
Yes. Yes. All hope will soon be lost. We're lucky the boy had the pluck to best you, Your play could have cost us both. Don't you care about keeping the lantern lit? Don't you care about your Daghter's soul?
~ The Beast to Woodsman.
Yes. Come, Gregory. There is much to be done.
~ The Beast to Greg.
♪ Come, wayward souls, who wander through the darkness
There is a light for the lost and the meek
Sorrow and fear are easily forgotten
When you submit to the soil of the earth ♪
~ The Beast singing to Greg.
You've been grinding up lost souls for years!
~ The Beast revealing the source of the Edelwood trees to the Woodsman in order to convince him to kill Greg.
Give me my lantern.
~ The Beast to Wirt.
Your brother is too weak to go home; he will soon become part of my forest.
~ The Beast to Wirt about Greg.
I can put his spirit in the lantern. As long as the flame stays lit, he will live on inside. Take on the task of lantern bearer... or watch your brother perish. Come here.
~ The Beast's attempt at manipulating Wirt.
I'm trying to help you.
~ The Beast to Wirt.
Are you ready to see true darkness?
~ The Beast to Wirt.
Woodsman: She was never in the lantern, was she Beast?
The Beast: Listen, Woodsman. Listen to me.
~ Woodsman to The Beast
The Beast: You see, Woodsman? All who perish here will become trees for the lantern. Cut them down with your axe. Go! Now!
Woodsman: NO!
The Beast: STOP! You'll never see your daughter again, Woodsman! Are you really ready to go back to that empty house?! NO! WOODSMAN!!!
~ The Beast's last words before the Woodsman blows out the lantern that kills him and makes him vanish for good.

Referring to The Beast[]

Stop! listen, The Beast knows your presence, ready to claim you as part of his dark forest, only if you give up both body and spirit and you shall be Safe! from him. you shall pass into his crooked hands
~ The Woodsman warning both Wirt and Greg about The Beast's presence
We all know about The Beast Pilgrim, he lurks out there in the unknown, seeking those who are far from home, hoping never to let you return, Ooh The Beast is out There, and use you in his lantern to Burn,
~ The Folk Song about The Creature in Songs of The Dark Lantern
Pilgrim, He who carries the Dark Lantern must be The Beast
~ The Philosophy of the Townfolk about "The Beast".

Trivia[]

  • Specimen 8 from Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion, was primarily inspired by the Beast.
  • While his origins in the series are unknown, the Tumblr user Zelda C. W. created a short story explaining the Beast's past and how he came to wield the lantern and why he requires the flame to stay lit to stay alive. Whether said story is canon to the actual series however is unknown.
  • He is often paired together with the Lich from Adventure Time by fans of both shows (possibly because of their similarities in personality).

External Links[]

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            Over-the-Garden-Wall-logo-600x257 Villains

Cartoon
Adelaide | The Beast | Dog | Evil Spirit | Highwayman | The North Wind

Comics
Distillatoria | Mezz and Altimira | Mister H | Papa's Daughters | Pirate Croaker | The Shapeshifter

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