Fictional comic book character
Comics character
Freedom Beast (Dominic Mndawe) is a fictional comic book character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.[1]
The character made his live-action debut in the fourth season of the HBO Max series Titans, portrayed by Nyambi Nyambi.
Fictional character biography
Freedom Beast was born Dominic Mndawe in South Africa. His first appearance was in Animal Man #13 which occurs during the rule of apartheid in South Africa. Dominic was under arrest for taking pictures of racially motivated acts of violence being committed by white Afrikaner policemen. In a cell, Dominic was about to be killed by his captors when he is rescued by Animal Man and B'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 is apolitical. 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]
Mike Maxwell returns where he was being controlled by an evil force called the Antagon and transformed into the Shining Man. He perishes in the ensuing battle.[3]
Animal Man and Dominic team up once again during the Day of Judgement incident, protecting African wildlife from the murderous intentions of demon invaders.
Freedom Beast appears in the Day of Vengeance Infinite Crisis Special, in which he was possessed by Rage, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.[4] He is also seen at the gathering of mystics at Stonehenge.[5]
Freedom Beast reappeared as South Africa's representative in the reformed Global Guardians.[6] He and his teammates were brainwashed by the Faceless Hunter and used as weapons against Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). The Global Guardians were eventually freed, and Freedom Beast returned with them.[7]
During the "Final Crisis" crisis, Freedom Beast was seen fighting off Gorilla Grodd (who was turned into a Justifier) on Watchtower 4 in Gorilla City.[8]
Freedom Beast is killed by minions of Prometheus. Dominic's partner Congorilla discovers his dying friend and vows to find justice for his murder.[9] Prometheus is subsequently killed by Green Arrow who avenges his death.[10]
Congorilla mentions that he still has Dominic's helmet and elixir in his possession. Seeking to honor the memory of his old friend, Congorilla ultimately resigns from the Justice League and goes to find a worthy candidate to become the new Freedom Beast.[11] In Justice League International #1, a character alongside Congorilla appears wearing the mask, referencing Congorilla had found a successor. The identity of this character is unknown.[12]
The New 52
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 with Midnighter to free the captured animals and bring down the hunters.[13]
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Freedom Beast is visited by Killer Frost and the Atom when they came to Africa to ask him to help cure Killer Frost's condition.[14]
Powers and abilities
Freedom Beast possesses super-strength, a healing factor, and mind-control. Like B'wana Beast, he can merge some animals into Chimeras.
