In this post I try to explain my favorite hero from the comics, why I choose him and how I think this fictional character could be a positive example.
I’m also trying to answer the questions that 
@erodedthoughts use for his contest
Who is your favorite superhero?
I grew up watching the animated series of the X-Men, and since then when I’m asked for my favorite superhero (that kind of chat I still have with some friends, and now with my children) I always respond with the ones who use brain over muscle. One of them is
Hank McCoy, a.k.a.
Beast from X-Men. Even though there are many other heroes with great intellectual power as cientists, strategic minds, gifted minds of any kind, I always have found interesting the story of Beast.
In the case of Hank McCoy I like the duality of the great intellect and culture, but the appearance and physical abilities of a wild animal, a beast. But with I like the most is the psychological struggle of being different and try to be accepted as an equal, in spite of being rejected twice, for his appearance and for his intellect.
His two strengths are also the source of the problems that affects him psychologically, and those are the same problems that people usually have to confront to find their place in society.
Recently I have read some X-Men comics and I still like Beast. The acceptance of his attributes is key in the development of this hero’s personality, he is always working to find a balance of his physical and intellectual enhancement, trying to keep as human as he can be, embracing both sides of himself.
This duality is also in other characters, but I think Hank McCoy is the one who best represent this human struggle of self-acceptance and balance, and he becomes an example for others in the comic and in real life. His development could easily relate to kids that suffer bullying, and teach them how to understand that people are different and we must accept each other.
What do you like about them and what do you dislike?
There are some things I don’t like of the story of how Hank McCoy becomes Beast, and how it acts after he is one of the teachers of the Academy of Charles Xavier. I always felt that in the classic story, McCoy shows some kind of shame of his most animal features, beyond the “bullying” or hate he could have received. And in the other hand, he overacts his most “refined” human side to the extreme. Sometimes it can stop him to act.
And when he is acting as teacher, he also could be sending confusing signals to his students. When he holds back his mutant features he is contradictory to the message of self-acceptance and empowerment.
What would you do if you could join their team? What would your power be?
When I was a kid and spent time watching the X-Men animated series I fantasized with new stories and heroes, and even with some groups of the existent mutants that would be a different alliance.
I specially remind my
Blue Team , where I imagine Beast, Mystique and Nightcrawler. In my mind they were a great group, because together they have a great list of powers, skills and strengths that could make them very effective in some situations.
Beast would be the strategic master mind for the missions; Mystique would work as a spy infiltrator for obvious reasons, and Nightcrawler would be the one that could extract things or people, besides having the surprise effect appearing in the last moment, when the fight starts.
On that group I think it also could be handy a fourth member, that could use his/hers power of control over technology to help the others, while still doing some other actions. I always imagined how helpful it could be, some sort of remote control-bluetooth-wifi that came from your own mind and works not only to control machines and technology, but also to have access to information.
Of course, this hero also has to have blue-skin to be part of this monochromatic club.
This kind of power seems more like some sci-fi story that is coming to reality in the near future, but I always find it very interesting because is a power that can be used without giving hints to other people that you have powers. This is the kind of power I would like to have, although it is useless if you go to places with less technology or with no access to connections to the modern world.
Excelsior
