History:
(Daredevil VII#13 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast of the Hand, Krahllak, lived in its own realm of Hell, in war with his own sister, the demonic Wild. The Beast went on to influence the Hand while the Wild would go on to influence the Fist. The Fist then received prophecies that it would one day destroy the Hand and began manipulating Daredevil and Elektra's lives in an effort to do so.

(Elektra: Assassin#7 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast was present before the rise of humanity, during the cold and endless darkness, which it enjoyed. It viewed humanity as a corruption of this purity and sought to destroy it.

(Wolverine VII#6 (fb) - BTS) - In the year Koki 1, the year of Emperor Jimmu, Shinto Kakemono wrote of the Beast's power. "The Land of Darkness is where the undead gather below the earth, and among them are demons who wish to live among us and who grow fat on our suffering. Such is the Beast. From below he can whisper. Through mirrors. Through shadow and through smoke. Through foul altars upon which blood is spilled. Those who hear him bend darkly to his will. One day - he whispers - one day he will unlock the door between our worlds. He just needs the right key. A key of souls."

(Elektra: Assassin#7 (fb) – BTS) – At least a millennium ago, the Beast came to be worshipped by the Hand, which eventually branched off into the Snakeroot and the True Believers.

(Punisher XIII#2 (fb) - BTS) - 150 years ago, the Beast controlled the Fist of the Hand, a man named Shinsuke Ishiyama, or the Dread Daimyo of Kumamoto, who killed many before committing seppuku.

(Daredevil I#190 (fb) / Elektra: Assassin#1 (fb) ) - Elektra was duped by the Hand into killing her former sensei, weakening her so that she would join them.

(Elektra: Assassin#1 (fb) ) - As Elektra sat, chained to the ground, the Beast appeared before her, pouring a chalice of its milk over her. The milk soaked into her body, filling her with the stench of the Beast.

(Elektra: Assassin#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast initiated a plot whereby it would cause a nuclear war and destroy all life on Earth. As one of the first steps in this plot, it possessed Mr. Reich, the US ambassador to San Concepcion.

(Elektra: Assassin#1 (fb) ) - Reich was present at the funeral of Carlos Huevos, president of San Concepcion, who had been assassinated by Elektra. The ninja was also present; she recognized the nauseating stench of the Beast on Reich, and so that night she went to the American embassy to kill him. However, the Beast instead overpowered Elektra, forcing her to drink its milk, and her mind shattered as a result.

    Elektra was taken to the the Valley of Peace Institution for the Criminally Insane where she was to have a frontal lobotomy, but she regained her mind and broke free.

(Elektra: Assassin#3) - Presidential candidate Ken Wind traveled to the South American nation of San Concepcion for a banquet in his own benefit. There he met with ambassador Reich, who secretly transferred the Beast, into him. The Beast took control of Ken Wind, whom the Hand felt was destined to become the next president of the United States.

    Elektra assassinated Reich, but realized too late that the Beast was now within Wind.

(Elektra: Assassin#4) - Wind met with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Garrett, Honda, and Minelli, while pressuring Senator Bob Willing to oppose funding of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Having been linked to Elektra, Garrett, was able to detect the Beast's scent emanating from Wind. When Garrett realized the threat Wind posed and considered assassinating him, Wind revealed that he could read Garrett's mind and then crushed his cybernetically enhanced hand.

    Meanwhile, Elektra attempted to infiltrate Wind's operations by using a ninja mind trick to submerge her mind within that of comatose girl Sandy Newton. However, the Beast detected her and actually pushed Elektra's mind deeper, causing Newton's mind to become dominant, while Hand agents led her towards certain death. Garrett pursued the Hand, stopping them from killing Elektra and enabling Elektra's mind to emerge once again before Sandy died in the hospital. Garrett hurled some plastique at the car containing the Hand agents holding Elektra. The Beast caught the material just as it detonated, but Elektra used the distraction to escape their clutches.

(Elektra: Assassin#5 (fb) - BTS) - Ken's wife, Margaret, collapsed into a stupor after spending her first night with Ken after he had been possessed by the Beast.

    The Beast psychically assaulted Elektra while she and Garrett were fighting some Hand agents, incapacitating her and rending her flesh. However, it found it was unable to affect the mostly cybernetic body of Garrett, which drove off the Beast, allowing Elektra to recover.

    She and Garrett finished off their attackers.

(Elektra: Assassin#5 - BTS) - Ken Wind achieved a commanding lead over the incumbent president in the polls, while Senator Willing him joined him in opposing S.H.I.E.L.D. funding. 

(Elektra: Assassin#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast took control of Chuck the Dwarf.

(Elektra: Assassin#6 (fb) - BTS) - Wind denounced S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ExTechOp division and also slammed the incumbent president for supporting S.H.I.E.L.D. and ExTechOp.

(Elektra: Assassin#6) - Wind met with a United States General, discussing his political agenda, and sharing a glass of the Beast's "milk" with him. The General then felt the Beast's direction to launch all of America's warheads. The General prepared to follow out the Beast's commands, but managed to resist at the last second and shot himself in the head.

    Chuck whispered in the ear of Arthur Perry during his reconstruction as a cyborg, seducing him towards the path of the Beast. As soon as Perry's conversion was completed, Perry and Chuck escaped the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.

(Elektra: Assassin#7 (fb) - BTS) - Wind's face became the most popular choice of mask for young trick-or-treaters.

(Elektra: Assassin#7) - Ken Wind and the Beast communed with Arthur Perry after he drank milk offered by Chuck the Dwarf. Wind revealed his plan of genocide via nuclear annihilation.

    Wind subsequently won the election; Elektra and Garrett were present at his victory party, preparing to kill him.

(Elektra: Assassin#8 (fb) - BTS) - Upon learning of Wind's election, the former president attempted to launch a full scale nuclear attack on Russia. Former presidential aide Jeff Rictus and his associates had to pry the "box" (nuclear command device) from his fingers.

(Elektra: Assassin#8) - Garrett and Elektra's presence was discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Chastity McBryde who led a squadron of agents to engage the would-be assassins while Wind was spirited away in an escape shuttle. Elektra managed to directly assault the Beast itself, after which she and Garrett destroyed the helicopter carrying Wind's shuttle. Wind crashed in the Lincoln Memorial, where he was defended by Perry, who quickly dismantled Garrett when he approached Wind. Perry then battled Elektra, while Wind stepped on Garrett's throat to prevent him from telling Elektra how to kill Perry by destroying his brain. Elektra nonetheless succeeded in slaying Perry, after which Wind knew he was defeated (see comments).

(Elektra: Assassin#8 / Daredevil I#319 (fb) - BTS / Daredevil I#321 (fb) - BTS) - Elektra actually used her hypnotic abilities to make Garrett believe that he was Wind and living the life of the president. In reality, Garrett remained in his dismantled form, which was placed in a stasis tube in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.

(Daredevil I#190 - BTS) - Daredevil managed to purge the darkness and corruption from Elektra in a failed effort to resurrect her. Unbeknownst to Daredevil, Stone then resurrected Elektra himself.

(Daredevil I#319-325 - BTS) - The Snakeroot (allied with the Hand) abducted Garrett and used the psychic essence of Elektra imprinted on his mind to create Erynys, a reanimated corpse possessing Elektra's dark/Beast-tainted persona. They sought the virus known as About Face to permanently resurrect Erynys, but Erynys was slain by Daredevil, and in the process Elektra reaborbed her own dark essence, losing the purity she had gained.

(Elektra: Root of Evil#1-4 - BTS) - When the Snakeroot's leader, Lord Daito, committed suicide with his clan's sword, Sakka, Tekagi became the new leader and sought to restore the sword's power, and thus the power of the Snakeroot by slaying three strategic innocents. This plot was foiled by Elektra, who slew many of the Snakeroot members, including Tekagi.

(Elektra: Glimpse and Echo#1-3 – BTS) – Led by Takashi, the Hand sought to use basketball star and political hopeful Lyle Crawford to serve as a vessel to resurrect countless agents of the Hand slain by Elektra and others. Elektra was guided to oppose this by the spirit of Lyle’s dead father, jazz musician “Black Cat” Buddy Crawford, who had been killed by the Hand years before.

(Elektra: Glimpse and Echo#4) – The spirits of the Hand entered the body of Lyle Crawford, which proved unable to contain so many souls, and instead began to transform into an earthly incantation of the Beast. However, before the transformation was complete, Elektra decapitated Crawford, banishing the Beast and the Hand spirits.

(Daredevil II#111-119, I#500-507 – BTS) – In a long series of Daredevil adventures, much of the history of the Hand and the Chaste was expanded upon as the Hand, and their former member Master Izo, engaged in a long plot resulting in Daredevil achieving leadership of the Hand instead of the Kingpin. Daredevil initially forced the ninjas working for him to not kill and instead seek to right crimes, but a secret plot by the Snakeroot allowed the Beast to assert slow control over Daredevil. Daredevil ordered the construction of Shadowland, a huge Hand temple in New York City.

(Daredevil I#508 – BTS) – The Beast started fighting for control of Daredevil’s mind, speaking through him for the first time, though the hero tried to resist.

(Shadowland#1 – BTS) – When Bullseye attacked Shadowland, the Beast exerted influence over Daredevil, who then seemingly killed Bullseye.

(Daredevil I#509 – BTS) – The Snakeroot rejoiced, hearing about Daredevil committing murder, knowing that would help solidify the Beast’s power. The possessed Daredevil saw Typhoid Mary join his power base, then Shadowland was attacked.

(Shadowland#2 – BTS) – The possessed Daredevil, flanked by his self-appointed Daimyos Black Tarantula and White Tiger, managed the increasingly complex politics of Shadowland, keeping the ninjas in order while managing assaults by criminals and heroes both. Daredevil met with Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Colleen Wing, assuring them he had everything under control. When Ghost Rider attacked Shadowland, Daredevil assumed the heroes were behind it, and he ordered the Hand to attack.

(Shadowland: Bullseye#1) – At the funeral of Bullseye, the possessed Daredevil, White Tiger, and the Hand apprehended the criminal Hell Riders, ordering them imprisoned in Shadowland.

(Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow#1) – When Colleen Wing broke into Shadowland, the possessed Daredevil (with White Tiger) met with her, telling her about her mother’s involvement with the ninja organization, the Nail. Daredevil then introduced Colleen to the members of the Nail, including Black Lotus, Cherry Blossom, Makro, Yuki, Azumi Ozawa, and others.

(Shadowland: Moon Knight#1) – The possessed Daredevil asked the Profile to bring him Moon Knight.

(Daredevil I#510) – The possessed Daredevil, flanked by Typhoid Mary and Elektra, was confronted by Black Tarantula, who felt Daredevil had let things go too far. Daredevil told him to go back to the streets and fight for his cause.

(Shadowland#3) – The possessed Daredevil led the Hand, including Black Tarantula, Typhoid Mary, and White Tiger, against Spider-Man, Luke Cage, White Tiger, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing, and Daredevil stated it was fine for the heroes to be killed. Punisher attacked, providing an escape for the heroes.

    Later, Daredevil received the report that Ghost Rider had liberated all the prisoners from the basement. Black Tarantula complained things had gone too far, and Daredevil responded by taking Typhoid Mary to Bullseye’s grave, and he announced his plans to revive Bullseye as a loyal Hand soldier. Elektra showed up as a vision of the Beast showed in the skies above Daredevil, who was carrying Bullseye’s corpse.

(Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow#2) – As the possessed Daredevil surveyed some of the damage to Shadowland, he checked in with Colleen Wing about her work with the Nail group. Later, still, after the Nail rescued human-trafficking victims, Daredevil commended Colleen Wing on her good work, and showed her letters those she saved had written.

(Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow#3) – The possessed Daredevil authorized torture in questioning a criminal. He promised to handle the betrayal of Colleen Wing later.

(Shadowland: Moon Knight#2) – As another group of heroes stormed Shadowland, Daredevil and the Hand fought back. Moon Knight, among the heroes, was shown by Khonshu how the Beast had a hold of Daredevil.

(Shadowland: Power Man#2) – The possessed Daredevil told the Hand to kill the invading heroes.

(Daredevil I#511) – In the midst of the super-hero battle against the Hand, the possessed Daredevil stopped White Tiger from killing Foggy Nelson, stating he wanted to kill him himself.

(Shadowland#4) – As the possessed Daredevil (with the horns on his cowl growing longer) sought to resurrect Bullseye, Elektra led a group of heroes (Master Izo, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Punisher, Shang-Chi, Luke Cage) in to stop him. Wolverine stabbed Daredevil right in the chest, but Daredevil was unharmed. After he sparred with Spider-Man, Daredevil shouted out that the Beast was in full control now, and he lashed out at the others with demonic energy.

(Shadowland#5) – As the heroes lay unconscious at the possessed Daredevil’s feet, Ghost Rider attacked Daredevil. Daredevil’s demonic powers manifested, stretching his limbs to greater lengths as he drew upon the power of the evil of men in the city around him. Daredevil absorbed Ghost Rider’s Hellfire, growing stronger still. Sitting on his throne over the bodies of the heroes, Daredevil saw White Tiger bring in Foggy Nelson, offering to kill Foggy, but Daredevil chose to do it himself. As Foggy begged for his own life, Matt Murdock’s mind began to fight for control over his body again. Iron Fist directed a hit at Daredevil, then used the energy to heal Matt further, allowing him to assert control over the Beast. Daredevil then stabbed himself through the stomach, driving the Beast from his form.

(Daredevil V#27 (fb) – BTS) – The Beast took a physical form, that of a green fat creature with a massive mouth and face, and wore a green hood, as he established a seat of power at one of the Hand’s temples in Japan. Lu Wei arrived at the temple with the corpse of the traitor Tenfingers (a man who’d stolen the Beast’s energy from various Hand ninjas for his own criminal spots, as well as her son, Samuel Chung, the sometimes hero Blindspot, who’d recently had his eyes stabbed out. Lu Wei sacrificed her own soul to the Beast, the took her place at his side, and the Beast rewarded her by restoring Sam’s eyes. The Beast then began resurrecting, torturing, and killing Tenfingers repeatedly. Blindspot made the offer to trade Daredevil’s soul for that of Lu Wei’s.

(Daredevil V#26) – The Beast discharged energy from his eyes, using it to consume a ninja who had failed the order.

(Daredevil V#27) – Daredevil was apprehended and kept in a hole for days, until he was brought before the massive Beast, who salivated over the fact that Daredevil was hopeless.

(Daredevil V#28) – The Beast spit out his own Tongue of the Beast, a demon he appointed to speak for him, and it taunted Daredevil as Tenfingers remained collared nearby. Daredevil was sent to battle ninjas and the Fist of the Hand repeatedly, as the Beast healed him between fights to keep him suffering. Blindspot had second thoughts and turned against the Beast, who raged. When Lu Wei shot the Tongue full of arrows, the Beast consumed her, but he let Blindspot and Daredevil go.

(Daredevil I#600) – When Blindspot was nearly overwhelmed while battling the villain Muse, the Beast reached out, offering Blindspot more power if he chose to take it. Blindspot agreed and triumphed over Muse, but when the Beast demanded that Blindspot kill Muse in payment, Blindspot refused, infuriating the Beast. In retaliation, the Beast had thousands of Hand ninjas declare war on New York City, and they started by shooting Mayor Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) with several arrows.

(Daredevil I#601) – As the Hand pressed their attack farther, the Beast (still in his fat monster form) received word that a new mayor had been selected: Matt Murdock.

(Daredevil I#603) – Having feasted on the terror in the city for days, the Beast grew ripe with human corruption, then he released it as a green mist that covered the city, releasing the worst emotions across the populace.

(Daredevil I#604) – Daredevil and the Ordo Draconum attacked the stronghold of the Beast directly, causing the Beast to physically fight back, even as his green mist spread through the city, corrupting humans.

(Daredevil I#605) – As the police closed in, the Beast announced that the assault on New York City would end if Blindspot turned himself over to them, but the police, led by Nalini Karnik, refused to let Blindspot surrender. The Beast sent the Hand to kill the cops, but Daredevil, Elektra, Moon Knight, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and the Ordo Draconum intervened. The Beast taunted Daredevil in his head, but the hero managed to impale the beast with a sword, and the Beast faded away, killing all of the Hand ninjas around him as he did so.

(X-Force VI#13 (fb) - BTS) - The Hand forced Muramasa to build them powerful weapons and upgrade their facilities, which allowed them to enter the underworld, where the Beast of the Hand dwelled.

(X-Force VI#13) - Wolverine investigated the Hand and was taken hostage, as Solem arrived in Hell, soon freeing Wolverine. Muramasa forged two sacred blades, using parts of his own soul, then the Beast prepared to use them in a wedding ceremony between two figures representing his "red left hand" and his "red right hand," which would meld human and demon worlds. Wolverine and Solem attacked, stopping the ceremony between the Hellbride, the Beast's daughter, and her future husband, and they left Hell with the swords they came to find.

(Punisher XIII#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Hand had long prophesied that their leader, the Fist, would usher in the great age of the Beast, and the Archpriestess of the Hand believed that would one day be Frank Castle.

(Punisher XIII#1 - BTS) - The Hand recruited the Punisher to be their new warlord, and he resurrected Maria Castle for Frank.

(Punisher XIII#2 - BTS) - The Punisher manifested the Eyes of the Beast, allowing him to see weapons, then he chose the blade that once belonged to Ishiyama. The Archpriestess took him before the altar to the Beast, which was framed by corpses.

(Punisher XIII#3 - BTS) - The Archpriestess took Punisher before the statue of the Beast along with the coffins of Punisher's children, and she encouraged Punisher to ask the Beast for a blessing.

(Punisher XIII#4 - BTS) - The Archpriestess prayed to the Beast of the Hand for guidance.

(Punisher XIII#5 - BTS) - Maria Castle was taken before the Beast for healing.

(Wolverine VII#24) - The Beast was feeding on souls in Hell when the Hellbride demanded that she be allowed to go to the surface for revenge.

(Punisher XIII#6 - BTS) - Beast lent his power to Punisher to defeat Ares, then he healed the Punisher and brought him back among the Hand. They also tried bringing back Punisher's children, Frank Jr. and Lisa, but they came back as monsters.

(Punisher XIII#7 - BTS) - Punisher, using the Beast's powers, battled Daredevil, who realized the Beast had had control of Punisher for years.

(Punisher XIII#8 - BTS) - Punisher manifested another power, the Marrow of the Beast (super-strength) as he killed more criminals.

(Punisher XIII#9 - BTS) - Punisher kept wielding the powers of the Beast as he killed many Apostles and battled Ares.

(Punisher XIII#10 - BTS) - The Beast asserted even more control over the Punisher as he went after criminals all over the world.

(Punisher XIII#11 (fb) - BTS) - Doctor Strange realized that the Beast's power was expanding around the world, as babies were born with horns and monks had their skin fall off, the cost of Punisher unleashing the Beast's power on the world.

(Punisher XIII#11 - BTS) – A group of heroes attacked the Punisher and the Hand, then Maria Castle shot Punisher multiple times.

(Punisher XIII#12 - BTS) - Punisher was freed from the Beast's influence and tried to kill the Archpriestess, and she soon went on to try and corrupt another child.

(Daredevil VII#12 (fb) - BTS) - The Beast began invading the dreams of Blindspot, demanding repayment. Stick warned Blindspot that the Beast of the Hand would one day try to emerge from Hell to the real world by passing through the Siege Infernal, a tunnel in Japan.

(Daredevil VII#13) - With Foggy Nelson and Stick's souls imprisoned in the Hell realm, the Beast saw Daredevil, clad in white, enter in an attempt to free them, but the Wild attacked as well. The Beast and the Wild battled at giant form until Daredevil turned against them, seemingly killing both demons. As their captive souls returned to the surface alive, the Beast's realm came apart, and Daredevil was seemingly killed within.

Comments: Created by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz.

    I sincerely doubt I have all of the appearances of this character listed, as well as whether Elektra: Assassin is actually its first appearance. It is certainly at least behind-the-scenes in every appearance of the Hand, but for this profile I want to only list those where it is actually seen, directly felt, or at least invoked. The Hand will have OHotMU profiles at some point. I believe the Hand summoned a demon in Wolverine Annual 1999, but it did not appear to be the Beast.