Beast-Man is a brutal warrior living on the world of Eternia as a subordinate of Skeletor in all versions of the Masters of the Universe Series. He is an ape-like man creature covered with thick fur who commands brute strength as well as a command over wild creatures. Beast-Man has sometimes entertained ideas of overthrowing Skeletor and taking command of Snake Mountain, but he has never successfully challenged his master. He was featured as Skeletor's subordinate moreso than most villains on the original Filmation series, even as new characters were introduced through the toyline and into the series, replacing other regulars such as Mer-Man and Tri-Klops.
Beast Man's background is never mentioned in the cartoon, although the series bible states a surprising origin for him, explaining he was once a thuggish human from Earth called Biff Beastman who owned a farmyard on which he constantly abused the animals. He was recruited as chief technician (somehow) on the spacecraft piloted by Marlena Glenn (The future Queen Marlena), which crashlanded on Eternia, but he wound up on Skeletor's homeworld of Infinita, where he was mutated into Beast Man and recruited by Skeletor. This origin story appears in a storybook entitled "New Champions of Eternia" but was unpopular with most of the show's writers and therefore excluded from the series. It has been suggested in other media that Beast-Man is either the leader or the last surviving member of a race of jungle warriors.
In the 1987 film Masters of the Universe, Beast-Man is a mute mercenary that is hired by Skeletor among a group of other strange creatures to track down He-Man. No reference is made to his powers over wild creatures, and his one notable moment outside of losing at fights and terrorizing innocent helpless teenagers is begging at Skeletor's feet, an act that disgusted Skeletor even though it's all he ever wanted from He-Man.
Beast-Man was voiced by John Erwin in the 1983 Filmation series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and all of its related specials and spin-offs. He was played by Tony Carroll in the 1987 live action feature. He was voiced by Scott McNiel in the 2002 animated reboot.
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- The original action figure of Beast-Man was almost named Red Beast, but eventually renamed "Beast-Man" re-using the name from a previous figure in Mattel's Flash Gordon series of toys. The string whip Beast-Man wields was taken from a previous toy as well, recycled from the Big Jim toyline.