Known Members:
The Beta-Beast; other war-monsters unidentifiedBETA BEASTS
(technically, only the one creature was "the Beta-Beast";
the others were the Betans' "war-monsters" or "war-beasts")
Known Members:
The Beta-Beast; other war-monsters unidentified
Affiliations: Agents of the Warlords of Beta (Betan race)
Enemies: Megans, Mega Monsters, and Godzilla
Base of Operations: The Betan base on Earth's moon;
formerly the ship of the Warlords of Beta, mobile throughout the
Milky Way galaxy, and possibly beyond
First Apperance: Godzilla#12 (July, 1978)
Powers/Abilities: The Beta-Beast seen was an immense creature, comparable, although not equal, to Godzilla in size and power. It had vast (Class 100) strength and durability. It's tail could be used as a striking weapon or to scoop/spray dirt/dust/rocks/etc. at an opponent. It appeared to be able to survive unaided in the vacuum and cold of space, though it may have had an oxygen sheathe like Godzilla. It could fire powerful, venom-coated or filled quills from each of its tentacles. It could generate and project flame from the hole between its eyes (this flame could either burn in space, or, more like, was enabled to do so via extension of the oxygen sheathe.
The other war-beasts/monsters used by the Betans were generally gargantuan in size and proportionally strong. Many had sharp fangs or claws, some had spiked tails, horns, wings, and/or serpentine forms. Only a couple of the Betan war-beasts were seen, and we're not even sure in the image on the bottom right which was the Betan war-beast, an which was the Megan.
HISTORY:
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - For "centuries" (whether that means
a few hundred years or much longer is unrevealed), the Betans warred with their
rival planet, Megan.
(Godzilla#12 (fb)) - The Warlords of the planet Beta have been at war with their rival planet, Mega, for centuries. Due to the overwhelming loss of life and depletion of their planets' resources, the two planets entered in a contract to battle each other indirectly.
(Godzilla#12 (fb)) - After centuries of heavy losses and critical depletion of precious planetary resources on both sides, both sides conscripted the services of gargantuan "war-monsters" captured from planets still in the dawn of life.
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - By exhausting the supplies of early life-forms, or "alien dinosaurs," the warring races eliminated the potential for further life on a dozen different worlds (see comments).
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - Unsatisfied with what they were doing, the Betans hoped to end the warfare, but the Megans apparently did not agree.
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - The most recent battle all but destroyed the Betans and their war-monsters, and they knew that one more all-out attack would end them. However, the Betans managed to keep their critical weakness secret, allowing the Megans to believe the balance of power was still maintained.
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - In order to replenish the raw materials they believed necessary to conquer the Betans, the Megans decided to conquer and plunder the planet Earth. They sent three powerful Mega Monsters to prepare the way for their conquest. As part of this plan, the Mega Monsters were sent to first engage the most powerful entities on Earth.
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - The Betans decided to have Godzilla oppose the Beta-Beast, to better evaluate his power.
(Godzilla#12 - BTS) - The Betans opened a warp that pulled Godzilla to Earth's moon in the vicinity of the Beta-Beast. They coated Godzilla with a field that provided a protective "oxygen sheath" that allowed Godzilla to function in the moon's airless void and frigid cold. After a fierce battle, Godzilla overpowered and destroyed the Beta-Beast with his radioactive fire-breath.
(Godzilla#12 - BTS) - Godzilla destroyed the Mega-Monsters, and the Betans on the moonbase perished, as did the Megans in the ship in Earth's vicinity.
(Godzilla#14 - BTS) - On the Megan homeworld, the Megans also noted the death of the Mega-Monsters and the failure of their plot to conquer Earth to use its location and materials to destroy the Betans. One of them postulated that perhaps they should also terminate their war with the Betans at long last, querying whether there were any there among them who were not tired.
COMMENTS: Created by Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe.
The
Betan commander's claim that Betans and Megans had "eliminated the potential
for further life on a dozen different worlds" by their mutual practice of
conscripting "war-monsters" from those worlds is both overly dramatic and
extremely unlikely. After all, there's no way that either race could have
removed ALL of the life from any of those worlds. Also, they were (presumably)
only interested in "alien dinosaurs" who would be useful fighters for their
war and so they would have ignored the VAST majority of life forms on those
planets. Of course, it's possible that either or both of them followed a
"scorched earth" policy with regards to those supply planets and deliberately
rendered them uninhabitable once they were no longer of use to them…but that's
not what the Betan commander said.--Donald Campbell.
--Makes good sense to me.--Snood
Profile by Snood.
Images:
Godzilla#12, pg. 7 (Beta-Beast);
pg. 10, panel 2 (Beta-Beast firing
weapons);
pg. 11, panel 3 (fiery-blast battle
with Godzilla);
pg. 14, panel 5
(capturing war-beast);
pg. 15, panel 1 (battle of Betan and
Megan war-beasts)
Appearances:
Godzilla#12 (July, 1978) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (penciler),
Fred Kida (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Last updated: 07/16/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!