Wildebeest is the name of different characters appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

History

Wildebeest I

The first Wildebeest is a poacher and mercenary who was an enemy of

Chris King and Vicki Grant Chris King and Vicki Grant are depicted as two featured duo characters from DC Comics within the series ''Dial H for Hero''. They are portrayed as normal kids who can transform themselves as superheroes replacing Robby Reed during the 1980s. Fict ...

Wildebeest Society

The second Wildebeest was a supervillain whose real name was never revealed, and who set up the Wildebeest Society, a criminal cartel that conducted various underhanded affairs for financial gain. Although the Society was made up of many members (some of them having previously worked for the

H.I.V.E. The H.I.V.E., which stands for the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination, is a fictional terrorist organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The H.I.V.E. organization appeared on the fourth season of ...

), only one Wildebeest ever operated publicly, giving the illusion that all of their crimes were being committed by a single individual. The thinking behind this was that there would appear to be one villain, but "his" M.O. would seem to change with each crime, making "his" next move impossible to predict. In his first encounter with the

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

, Wildebeest had framed Starfire for murder. He used a robot likeness to antagonize Starfire and then swapped it out with a suit containing a dead man.

Nightwing Nightwing is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character has appeared in various incarnations; the identity was adopted by Dick Grayson when he left his role as Batman's vigilante partner Robin. Although ...

found the evidence to prove Starfire's innocence. Wildebeest's second attempt to destroy the Teen Titans involved him breaking into

S.T.A.R. Labs Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...

and capturing the pregnant Mother Mayhem whose baby would become the new

Brother Blood Brother Blood is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first iteration, Sebastian Blood VIII, is a power hungry priest and the head of the Church of Blood, as well as the eighth person in the DC ...

. Wildebeest later set up a group of second-second string villains (consisting of Gizmo, Disruptor,

Puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

, and

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

) and caused the people to think that a new supervillain group was being formed. While Mother Mayhem gave birth to her child, the villains were defeated, but Wildebeest escaped. Wildebeest later took control of

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

(which caused people to think that the Wildebeest Society had connections at S.T.A.R. Labs) and used him to attack the Teen Titans. In time, the Wildebeest Society fell under the sway of the former New Titan

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

(who himself had been possessed by all of the disparate souls of Azarath). The corrupted Jericho took control of the Wildebeest Society. Under the leadership of Jericho, the Wildebeest Society began conducting a series of genetic chemical-organic experiments to create the perfect host bodies for the evil spirits to possess. They began their genetic alterations on humans and animals. All of their experiments failed except for the human/

panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...

hybrid labeled X-24 (who later became Pantha) which escaped and vowed vengeance on the Wildebeest Society. Jericho then staged an elaborate "Titans Hunt" to capture current and former members of the Teen Titans in order to acquire host bodies to contain the souls of Azarath when their experiments were failing to yield results. The Titans were rescued by Pantha,

Arella Angela Roth, commonly called Arella, is a fictional character from DC Comics. She is the pacifist mother of the superheroine Raven in the '' Teen Titans'' comics and animated series. She is the reluctant lover and wife of the all-powerful inter ...

, Phantasm,

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

, and Jericho's father

Deathstroke Deathstroke (Slade Joseph Wilson) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, the character debuted in '' The New Teen Titans'' #2 in December 1980 as Deathstroke the ...

. At the conclusion of this affair, the Wildebeest Society was destroyed and Jericho was killed at the hands of Deathstroke when Jericho broke free from the possession and begged his father to kill him. The final experiment by the Wildebeest Society called

Baby Wildebeest Baby Wildebeest is a fictional character in appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Publication history Baby Wildebeest was introduced in '' New Teen Titans'' vol. 2 #85 (April 1992) and was created by Marv Wolfman and Tom Grumm ...

fell into the Teen Titans' custody.

Baby Wildebeest

New Wildebeests

At the time when the Titans were affected by

Klarion the Witch Boy Klarion the Witch Boy is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, having first appeared in '' The Demon'' #7 (March 1973) and was created by Jack Kirby. The character is typically portrayed as a powerful but misch ...

's aging spell, the demonic supervillain Goth took advantage of this and allied with Contessa Erica Alexandra de Portanza. They created upgraded versions of the Wildebeests. These Wildebeests looked like their predecessors, but were actual humanoid wildebeest-like monsters when they were unmasked. Goth commanded these Wildebeests to

JFK International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...

and

Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

. The Titans eventually contained these Wildebeests. Another set of these Wildebeests are encountered in Brooklyn by

Beast Boy Garfield Mark Logan, better known as Beast Boy, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He has also gone under the alias Changeling. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Bob Brown, he is a shapeshifter who ...

and

Flamebird Flamebird is the name used by six different fictional comic book characters who have appeared in books published by DC Comics, specifically from the ''Superman'' and ''Batman'' mythos. The primary character to use the Flamebird name is Bette Kane, ...

where they assumed that these Wildebeests were a threat. They soon discover that these Wildebeests had been tamed and domesticated by an elderly gentleman in order to keep the neighborhood safe.

Cybernetic Wildebeest

When Starfire and

Tim Drake Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in Batman: Year Three, ''Batman' ...

were abducted from Titans Tower, the Teen Titans worked with the

Outsiders Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * Outsider (1997 film), ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * Outsider (2012 film), ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * Outsiders (1980 film), ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a ...

to find them. Nightwing was able to track them to the abandoned basement of the New York Titans Tower where their captor was a cybernetic-enhanced Wildebeest. The Teen Titans and the Outsiders were able to defeat the Cybernetic Wildebeest and ship it to S.T.A.R. Labs. The transport containing the Cybernetic Wildebeest was intercepted by a mysterious man who was responsible for creating the Cybernetic Wildebeest. It was revealed that the Cybernetic Wildebeests were the works of

Project M ''Project M'' is a mod of the 2008 fighting game ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' for the Wii, created by the community group known as the Project M Development Team (PMDT; previously known as the Project M Back Room). It is designed to retool ''Br ...

(an experimental super-soldier program which was led by the mysterious Mr. Elias Orr) where the cybernetic parts of the Cybernetic Wildebeest derived from the technology that is based on Cyborg's technology.''DC Special: Cyborg'' #3. DC Comics.

Powers and abilities

The members of the Wildebeest Society were all master tacticians and wore exoskeletons that boosted their strength, resembling a monstrous, humanoid version of the animal of that name. The New Wildebeests are fierce and feral. They can be properly trained by whoever can successfully tame them. The Cybernetic Wildebeests are fierce and are enhanced by their cybernetic parts.

In other media

Television

* Wildebeest appears in ''

'', with vocal effects provided by

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as th ...

in his first appearance and by

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...

in subsequent appearances. In the episode "Winner Take All", Wildebeest, among others, is summoned by the Master of Games to participate in the Tournament of Champions. After Robin,

Speedy Speedy refers to something or someone moving at high speed. Speedy may refer to: Ships * HMS ''Speedy'', nine ships of the Royal Navy * ''Speedy''-class brig, a class of naval ship * ''Speedy'' (1779), a whaler and convict ship despatched i ...

, and

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

defeat the Master of Games, Wildebeest is made an honorary member of the

. In "Trust", the

Brotherhood of Evil The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans and enemies of the Justice League. The Brotherhood of Evil appears in the third season of the HBO Max series ''Doom Patrol ...

capture and flash-freeze Wildebeest. In "Titans Together", the Titans rescue the Brotherhood's captives and join forces with them to defeat the Brotherhood. * Wildebeest makes a cameo appearance in the ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013 and is based on the DC Comics Teen Titans, fictional superhero team. The series was ...

'' (2013) episode "Campfire Stories".

Miscellaneous

The ''Teen Titans'' animated series incarnation of Wildebeest, with elements of Baby Wildebeest, appears in issue #16 of ''

'' (2004). This version is revealed to be a metahuman toddler who transforms into Wildebeest whenever he is agitated.