Reverend Henry Kane, also known as "The Beast", is the titular main antagonist of the Poltergeist film series. In life, this angry ghost was a leader and priest of a Satanic, 19th century Utopian cult who held an apocalyptic view on the world, sealing himself and his followers inside a cave system in area to die: this location would eventually be built over to make the home the Freeling family would reside in within Cuesta Verde in California and his dark soul wishes to abduct the youngest child of the Freeling family named Carol Anne, to use her innocence and her untainted life essence to capture souls trying to enter the afterlife. This origin story contradicts the original movie's plot but seems to be the official story of the sequels.
Appearance
In the first film, The Beast manifests directly twice, first as a giant flaming skull and then later as a tall wispy skeletal figure with incredibly long arms.
In the second film, The Beast manifests as a tequila worm. After being swallowed by Steven, The Beast possesses him for a short while before forcing himself out through Steven's mouth. He emerges as a giant mutated tequila worm, which quickly mutates into a slime-covered skeletal torso with a reptilian ghoul-like face. Eventually, The Beast shows his true form, a tall, black ghost with a skeletal figure and an array of multiple heads, presumably those of the people whose souls he has consumed.
Powers and Abilities
The Beast possesses the following powers and abilities:
- Possession
- Tentacles
- Hallucinations
Fate
At the end of the second film, The Beast is temporarily defeated after Steven throws a magical spear at him, given to him by Taylor the medicine man. In the third film, the psychic Tangina sacrifices herself and leads Kane into the light where he crosses over.
Trivia
- The Beast wasn't given the identity of Reverend Kane until the second movie, merely being an unknown demonic presence in the first film.
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