KGBeast

KGBeast is a Russian supervillain, an assassin and also an opponent of Batman.

Character History
Anatoli Knyazev was an extraordinary assassin who was in the employ of the KGB, the Soviet Union's secret police and intelligence agency. Anatoli Knyazev, code-named "The Beast" and known to the C.I.A. as the "KGBeast" was trained as an assassin by "The Hammer," a top secret cell of the KGB. In addition to being the master of several martial arts, his strength was cybernetically enhanced, and he also mastered the use of every deadly weapon known. At the time of his first appearance, he was rumored to have killed at least 200 people, including Anwar El Sadat.

The Beast made his first appearance in the storyline, "Ten Nights of The Beast" (Batman #417 - 420, later reprinted as a trade paperback of the same name.) The Hammer's general, angry that the Soviet government was working to better relations with the United States, sends Knyazev on a unauthorized mission to kill 10 high-ranking U.S. officials, ten key people who were involved with the United States' Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed the "Star Wars" program, in the hope of putting an end to it. These include scientists, civilian administrators, military figures, and politicians, the last of whom being then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, scheduled to visit Gotham City. The Soviets warned the American government about Knyazev's plan. Despite Batman's best efforts, Knyazev proved highly successful, killing seven of his nine designated targets. In particular, he showcases his ruthlessness by poisoning an entire banquet, killing over 100 people, just to ensure his target would die. When Batman finally meets the Beast in hand to hand combat, the Beast quickly gains the upper hand, fleeing only because he thought Batman had back-up.

At one point, the Batman ensnared the KGBeast's left hand in a noose. To free himself, the KGBeast severed his trapped hand with an ax. Having lost his left hand in battle with the Batman, the KGBeast quickly has the limb replaced with a cybernetic gun, made by one of Gotham's top weapons dealers,that fired automatically and that fit on the stump of his left arm. He also used a bayonet attached to the gun as a weapon.

Later the Batman succeeded in saving the President of the United States, who was visiting Gotham, from being assassinated by Knyazev. The Batman then pursued Knyazev into the sewers. Finally, the KGBeast found himself trapped within a small room in the lowest section of Gotham City's sewer system.

Before the final confrontation between Batman and the Beast, C.I.A. Agent Ralph Bundy reminds Batman that, if the Beast were to be captured alive, he would have to be handed over to the Soviets, and likely escape justice. Knowing this, Batman, after thwarting the Beast's assassination attempt on Reagan, destroys the Beast's gun-arm, lures him into the sewers, and then corners him in an underground room. The Beast invites Batman to fight him to the death, but instead Batman locks the room, effectively burying the assassin alive. Batman later informed the police that the KGBeast was trapped (presumably waiting long enough for Knyazev to have suffocated). In the later story, Batman: Year Three, however, Batman notes that he actually had contacted the police to pick up the subdued villain. Though the exact details of his escape are unknown, the KGBeast did escape (or escaped police custody).

The KGBeast escapes and goes into hiding, from which he sees the Soviet Union dissolve. His protegé, the NKVDemon, surfaces in Russia, but is killed by Batman's ally, Soviet police detective Nikita Krakov. The KGBeast becomes a traditional supervillain, engaging in a counterfeiting scheme and having additional cybernetic implants inserted into his body. He fights Robin and the Huntress, but is ultimately defeated by King Snake. He also acquires a nuclear bomb the size and shape of a baseball, which he uses to threaten Gotham City. He is defeated by Robin and ultimately locked up in Blackgate Penitentiary.

In the Batman: No Man's Land storyline, the KGBeast appears as a henchman of Lock-Up, during the latter's tenure as the unofficial warden of Blackgate. and later ran into Robin and the Huntress, who defeated him but did not capture him.

The KGBeast later attempted to deploy a small sized nuclear device in Gotham City when things got out of hand. Along with two Russian teamates, they caused much damaged to the City. Eventually he came face to face with the GCPD and Robin. He severly injured Harvey Bullock, and battled it out with Robin. In the fight, Robin pulled off the KGBeast's eye-piece, which he found out was attached to his skull. This incapacitated the KGBeast just long enough for Batman to show up.

From Supervillain to simple Henchman
In the first episodes KGBeast was a force to be reckoned with. Batman felt that in meeting the Beast he for once found someone better than him. Tim Drake was reluctant to fight the Beast because he felt way out of his depth against a foe this powerful. The respect that the Beast earned in earlier stories vanished. Later, KGBeast lamented that he had become nothing more than a hitman for hire. He was even defeated by Harvey Dent in hand to hand combat.

Eventually, the KGBeast was among the villains murdered by the Tally Man, under orders from the Great White Shark. However, in the Nightwing series, his body was later stolen by a mysterious group attempting to reanimate the corpses of dead super-beings, creating the possibility that the Beast may one day return.

In other media

 * See KGBeast (Justice League Unlimited)


 * KGBeast appears as an enemy in the "Batman" NES game by Sunsoft. His only appearance in the game is at stage 1-2, although he does not appear as a boss.


 * KGBeast has been made into an action figure as part of the JLU line.