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| Freedom Beast | |
|---|---|
 Freedom Beast byChas Truog | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Animal Man #13 (July 1989) |
| Created by | Grant Morrison |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Dominic Mndawe |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Global Guardians Justice League |
| Abilities |
|
Freedom Beast (Dominic Mndawe) is a fictionalcomic book character appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics.[1]
The character made his live-action debut in the fourth season of theHBO Max seriesTitans, portrayed byNyambi Nyambi.
Freedom Beast was born Dominic Mndawe inSouth Africa. His first appearance was inAnimal Man #13 which occurs during the era ofapartheid in South Africa. Dominic was under arrest for taking pictures of racially motivated acts of violence being committed by whiteAfrikaner policemen. In a cell, Dominic was about to be killed by his captors when he is rescued byAnimal Man andB'wana Beast (Mike Maxwell), Mndawe's predecessor and future mentor.[1] After the rescue, Maxwell gives Mndawe the elixir and helmet that confer powers on their owner. The two briefly had a disagreement as Mndawe was adamant to continue his political resistance to the South African government and its policy of apartheid with while Maxwell was insistent that the calling isapolitical. However, they eventually reconciled on this point. Mndawe continued pursuing his political objectives which he justified with the personal maxim, "Today's politics is tomorrow's mythology". Animal Man and Freedom Beast then prevent the massacre of a group of peaceful demonstrators by Afrikaner police. Animal Man returns to the US, while Maxwell and Freedom Beast remain in South Africa.[2]
Freedom Beast appears in theDay of VengeanceInfinite Crisis special, in which he is possessed by Rage, one of theseven deadly sins.[3] InGreen Lantern, Freedom Beast appears as South Africa's representative in the reformedGlobal Guardians.[4]
InJustice League: Cry for Justice, Freedom Beast is killed by minions ofPrometheus. Dominic's partnerCongorilla discovers his dying friend and vows to find justice for his murder.[5] Prometheus is subsequently killed byGreen Arrow who avenges his death.[6]
Congorilla mentions that he still has Dominic's helmet and elixir in his possession. Seeking to honor the memory of his old friend, Congorilla resigns from the Justice League and goes to find a worthy candidate to become the new Freedom Beast.[7]
In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Freedom Beast is alive, making his debut when he comes to America to take down a hunting club that has created a synthetic version of his elixir. He teams withMidnighter to free the captured animals and bring down the hunters.[8]
Freedom Beast drinks an elixir that gives him superhuman strength, speed, hunting andtracking abilities. He also wears an ancient helmet that allows him to communicate with animals and merge them to formchimeras.
Freedom Beast appears in theTitans episode "Dude, Where's My Gar?", portrayed byNyambi Nyambi.[9] This version lost his sister and her children to a disease made by scientists associated with theChief.
