The only problem with this is The Beast seems to have lied about the Woodsman's daughter's soul. That's supposed to be one of the few things the Fae CAN'T do.
@@PyroGothNerd Darker Fae can lie all they want what they can't do is break their word basically if a fae gives you their word about something after a mutual accord has been reached fae cannot break it but a contract has to have been made in some shape or form. They can twist it usually making it so the human breaks it first so they can get what they want but they cannot be the first to break it
However arguably he could have found a different way around it, and seems to enjoy the lost children's despair a little to much which is the real thing that makes him malevolent.
I like that he's very specifically *not* darkness, he's the fear of what's *in* the darkness. So the way to beat him is to just snuff out the light and face the fear of whatever's there, because a lot of the times it's nothing
its crazy because in the comics, its proven that the woodsman is just scared of everything weird in the forest, so when his daughter goes missing and he takes the lantern from the beast after they bump into eachother, the beast in desperation tells him "your daughter is in the flame, let me keep it burning so she doesnt die" this backfires on the beast, and he ends becoming both a hostage, and a tormentor for the woodsman, who believes his daughter was lost to the weird monsters in the woods, when in reality if he just went back to his house, he would find her, waiting for him
@@TestSubject-vv1kn no, nothing happened to his daughter, she just went to the forest and got lost for a day, but the woodsman bumped into the beast and they both fucked up and ended up in this weird deal with the woodsman going around making oil, his daughter was home the whole time
He's such a good villain. His singing is so chilling, and knowing his job is to lure souls and use them for fuel is insane. Him representing the devil or death knowing this show is set in limbo is intense.
@@m0rp5eus27 Except Charon or personification of death wasn't in Dantes divine comedy. He was shown in other adaptations but was not in the original story. The "beast" takes on a number a mythological traits. The name could be implied the he's the devil. His antlers are that of Herne Cernunnos or even Aylith, also other stories like Stingy Jack or will o wisps also come to mind.
@@nikushim6665 I'm getting vibes of Erlkonig (old German poem series about the elf king who spirits the souls of children away, but the reasons for doing so vary from darkly benevolent to maliciously evil depending on which version you're looking at) as well as "Old Scratch" (a character from Tom Walker, which is believed to be heavily inspired by several old German tales of faustian bargains)
@@user-cb3lg4jp7qIt’s better than that. The Beast’s usual trick is to make a person despair until they waste away and become one of his edelwood trees. He knows that won’t work with Greg because Greg is naturally cheerful and too young to understand the concept of despair, so the Beast changes his strategy to just tiring Greg out until he freezes or starves to death.
His psychological projection skills were unparalleled. He was so good at sewing webs of lies and paranoia among his prey that they often couldn’t see what was right in front of them, it was like a fog of deception or a barrier they had to overcome in the end. I initially wondered if that was why it was called “over the garden wall,” but then the final episodes revealed that he physically *went over the garden wall* which was the driving cause of the rest of the series taking place
This reminds me of a nightmare/illusion Batman falls under and sees Jason alive but it’s not real. He accepts that the manor will not have Jason there anymore. Except for Alfred the house would be empty 🥲
Samuel Ramey, one of the great operatic baritones, made a lifetime career of playing “mephistopheles” type roles; he’s a perfect cast. (He’s mostly retired I think?)
@@wikipediaintellectual7088 I'm gonna assume you're asking in good faith. There's a crop of operas on Faust. Some in German, some in Italian, some in French. Gounod's is probably the one Ramey is most famous for his performance in, but that's just my impression.
I think that the way a character is spread out throughout the story and how much it makes an impact makes it feel like they’ve been there far longer than they actually were.
I've heard people think he's the devil or Death himself, but I think what the Beast is is actually a Lich. The Beast soul is in the Lantern and as long as it stays lit, the Beast can never die. Like how a Lich keeps their soul in an object to keep themselves from dying.
i always viewed him as more of a Wendigo spirit, forcing the "lantern bearer" to commit a taboo, which only feeds the Wendigo and makes it stronger, notice it A-has a deer head and antlers, B-is tall, and gaunt, C-dwells exclusively in a winter locked forest, and D-can actually become violent if threatened, though it controls itself if violence would threaten the lantern flame, it's clearly VERY old, and powerful, and craved nothing more than to reclaim the means to feed itself(the lantern), however it also knew it could play the long con, eventually the woodsman would slip up, let it to close, and then the lantern is back in it's clutches, fed far more liberally than what the Woodsman was doing, but take it by violence? where it being dropped could mean the flame going out? never, mortals will crack, fracture, and break under constant unceasing pressure, give into their darkest taboos and desires if it means survival, be willing to make "The Deal" or to just, not care enough anymore and let the Wendigo/Beast have what it desires,
Another theory, is he’s the Woodsman’s shadow, notice how he is nearly always behind the woodsman, or the woodsman is between the beast and the nearest light source, and the way he was defeated was by extinguishing the light source. If that doesn’t just SCREAM Shadow monster, I don’t know what does.
Could very well be an amalgamation of all of the above, considering its patchwork nature. Once upon a time, it was one of those things, and then it added to itself, and then it was two, and then it repeated the cycle. Presuming it preceded the woodsman, it’s been at this schtick for a while, and was a decent ways down the road of adding the woodsman unto itself further. A symbiote, of sorts, that was fully on-board with hopping to the next available host when it seemed that the woodsman himself could no further serve its purpose.
I’ve had another thought about the Beast, and this one disturbs me… Okay, so he’s getting the Woodsman to cut down a specific tree, to make oil to burn in the lantern, right… okay, here’s the kickers Woodsman = Humanity The special trees (sry I don’t remember the name) = fossil fuels The Lantern = Modern Technology The Beast = Greed
It's oddly poetic that The Beast isn't killed by a weapon or some kind of magic but by simply blowing out a lantern. He's made to be this dangerous unimaginable creature that can't be beat and then it turns out his life is as ever fading as a burning candle.
Like the tavern keeper’s song says, the Beast is a liar. If you just refuse to believe him, he has no power over you. Once Wirt figures that out, the story’s over.
it just occurred to me that the sounds that we see whenever we look into the lantern isn't actually the sounds of the woodsman's daughter (because she's alive and not in the lantern) but it's the sound of the lost souls trapped in the edelwood trees screaming in agony as they burn up
The saddest thing about the finale is what happens to the woodsman, he blew out that lantern knowing that he killed and at the same time was the monster walking through the forest in the darkness, with no lantern light to guide his way home just the memory of melted edelwood and blood on his hands.
@@marlom7882 can you really say redemption, he didn’t know how the trees were made, and the moment he found out that the trees were made out of kids he freaked out and then tried to save the kid
@@anthonyramirez9925 well yea the snowy land where his house was and his daughter waiting for him was essentially his heaven he never actually meant to hurt anyone
The beast is really the personification of temptation and promise. He offers the woodsman a way to save his daughter, despite her fate not actually being in his control. He offers Greg the fantasy dreamland he always wanted while “helping” his brother, which really meant just taking Greg off Wirt’s hands. Even the tavern keeper told the boys, “don’t believe his lies”. He is such an iconic villain not for what he does, but the lost hope he inspires in others that ultimately drives them to perish in the woods and become his fuel. Yes, you can say he is the devil. But I think he serves more as the cautionary embodiment of the woods and it’s promise. The promise that you will walk in and find what you seek, what you need, and that the answers to all your problems lies just a little further… beyond the next clearing… just keep walking and you’ll find it… I promise…
Lich. Devils are contract bound. We haven't heard or seen an agreement written and notarized. Lichs on the other hand, are a tad freer. If their phalyctory is destroyed, their tie to the mortal realm is gone.
@@maddielee1109 I agree, the beast is atleast written to symbolize hopelessness, being lost in your own dark thoughts, but naturally younger people will be watching this too, and draw more direct parallells (I certainly didn't understand the subtext of the series the first time I saw it), and the beauty of stories like these is that it can represent whatever is relevant to you at the time, which can help you deal with it, so im not trying to say there is a correct answer, just what I think they were going for with the writing and symbolism.
What makes The Beast so memorable, to me, is that he’s not an almighty powerhouse villain. He’s not invincible, he’s got no massive backstory, and he’s not exactly a physical threat either. He’s manipulative, and smart. He’ll bend the will through breaking one’s spirit. He’s got no grand scheme other than tricking others into keeping him alive like a parasite. No generic domination, no vengeance, just survival. It’s primal, and compelling. Plus that voice, and even the character design, is incredible!
“Help me?…you don’t wanna help me, you just-have some weird obsession with keeping this lantern lit.” “….” “I-it’s almost like- *_your soul_** is in this lantern.”*
0:24 idk why but when The Beast sings “Chop the wood to light the fire!” It’s funny to me for some reason, it just sounds like he’s trolling the woodsman
I had to pause to see wtf The Beast was and DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN they showed THAT in a kids show!? He is literally an amalgamation of faces put together, dear god it makes my skin crawl and sends shivers down my spine...I'm totally gonna watch the hell out of this show
An interesting thing to note is that those last few scenes of the Beast his eyes are ringed in different colors just like Beatrice’s dog when it ate one of the black turtles which would imply that whoever the Beast was before ate a black turtle or fueled his lantern with elder wood oil which is where the black turtles come from. Another thing is the behavior of the dog and the Beast, when we’re introduced to the dog he seems to be rather hungry desperately trying to eat Greg’s candy and the boys, later on when the dog is uncorrupted you can see his ribs in contrast to his appearance in the first episodes intro he’s a more healthy weight. While we don’t see the Beast’s uncorrupted form it’s easy to see that he’s obsessed with keeping his lantern lit but why is that? If we apply the Balck Dog’s behavior to the Beast’s one can come to the conclusion that those that imbibe the black turtles or elder wood oil are corrupted and become obsessed with the last thing they were focused on before imbibing the turtles and oil. Very interesting to think that the Beast just a victim of something much more sinister in the Woods of the Unknown.
There is a theory that the beast was inspired by the legend of the Wendigo, a Native American monster that is created from hunger, and desperation (aka cannibalism). Though it should be noted I'm not saying the beast is one, just that the writers took inspiration from that legend.
@@cuygor7132 it’s a theory that has been bouncing around my head for awhile now. I don’t know if the creators ever talked about it or not. Keep in now that it’s only based on two subjects.
The beast is very scary for a kid show. I mean, when the woodsman put the light on him, he's a pile of flesh with fear looking faces on his body. He's a mass of dead people.
He's the creepiest villian on my list, his voice and his song send a chill down my spine. But too bad for the final scene when he let Wirt got him, but he still my favorite ❤ Your video remind me about how i admire him and his characteristic inspires lots of ideas for my OC ❤
@@yamantisshrimp2808 That one is good as well but I still think this one is better as a villain, it has more of a dark fairytale feel for me. The nowhere king is more of a selfish man that ended up having too much power. I'm not hating tho, I absolutely love the creature's design.
He’s a villain of subtlety. He’s always there in the background but never over used. Seen but never shown entirely until the end and only for a split second. Mentioned by many characters but not overly built up. A puppet master secretly pulling the strings behind the curtain.
@@herr-doktor yeah I don’t know why. His pure form would look like a more humanoid version of a Cleric Beast from Bloodborne than anything, which still would be hideous to look at.
3:22 This shot is so good. It’s framed so perfectly. The distance between Wirt and the Beast, the Beast’s simple yet elegantly terrifying silhouette… I just love looking at it.
This was such a well written villain and a beautifully written and animated show. Very nostalgic, like a story book, especially with some of the animations and musical numbers being inspired by old-timey cartoons. I'll always recommend it. Plus, if you haven't watched it but you've seen the show, Trey the Explainer has a beautiful video essay comparing the show to Dante's Inferno :-)
I love how when the Beast summons the shadows to threaten Wirt, it completely backfires. Because now Wirt can only see his eyes, *the same eyes of the poisoned dog* , and so he understands. He understands that this is nothing more than a scared animal, trying to intimidate the things around it that could hurt it. And once Wirt knows this, all the power the Beast held over him is gone.
Samuel Ramey one of the greatest operatic basses in the world. Glad to hear him doing non-musical acting, as his acting in opera has always been top notch. Basses often get the funnest roles, it seems.
I find it quite endearing that when wirt was falling asleep in the snowy forest he started to turn into the wood (aka as fucking dying) but when he realised his brother walked away from him into danger he immediately got up from his death to go after him.
Really, part of what makes Over the Garden Wall so good is that the characters all, to a certain extent, serve primarily to heighten the asthetic - not just in design, but also in character. The Beast is such a great villain BECAUSE he highlights the asthetic. The mass of shadow that is his body serves to draw the viewer's attention to how truly dark the rest of the stage is, with its foggy mist and moonless shade, and consequently how utterly isolated and lost the characters are. His big, billowing cloak does two things. Firstly, its amorphous shape allows the Beast to take up the entirety of the background whenever he wants, giving the viewer a feeling of suffocating darkness. Secondly, it can give the viewer a sense of the unearthly wind that ends the peaceful, idyllic autumn and brings harsh, freezing winter, and the sound design works in tandem with this but giving a sense of the whipping of a cold, biting wind. The viewer likely already has an inkling of the symbollic meaning of winter overtaking fall in OTGW - now they see what's causing it, or perhaps what embodies it. The character of the Beast not only works with the asthetic,, he is PART of the asthetic - it is a cold forest, and he is the coldest part of that forest. It is a dark forest, and he is the very darkest part of it.
This show was Halloween incarnate. That chilly, uneasy, “foggy” feeling as fall dies away into the winter season, you’re left alone with the thoughts and memories of everything that happened that year, those you lost along the way, and things you never quite caught a full glimpse of _just outside_ your vision.
What i love about The Beast is other than probably enhanced strength and maybe the turtles, he probably has literally no other powers besides persuading people to get themselves killed or damned to an eternity of collecting souls for him.
“Are you really ready to go back to that empty house” he’d been going to an empty house for years. The beast thought he could manipulate the woods man again only to seal his fate.
He is the fear of what lurks in the dark and the only way to beat him is to snuff out the only thing lighting your path and giving you hope... its terrifyingly genuis.
This is still ones of the best mini series I’ve ever seen on Cartoon Network in a long time. Infinity train is a close second (before it was decided that it would’ve gotten more seasons later on)
Okay everybody knows about the faces on the beast's body practically making up its entire body but I just had a crazy thought what if those faces all talked at once when he spoke they would smile when he smile when he would have malicious intent in store for the children that would have a grim expression on their face like anger if he got frustrated just different expressions all at once you cannot tell me that is not terrifying to think about
Imagine if in the beginning, the Beast put his soul in the lantern to ward off the darkness in the forest, after having his soul taken out for so long, he became twisted. And when the light finally went out, the true darkness approached, and the real horror began. When there's no light, there's no shadow, and now we will truly know darkness.
"anyone who holds the Dark Lantern must be the Beast!" i just realized how apparently everyone knows about the Lantern, but not much about the Beast. maybe that's why he leaves the Lantern with someone else in the first place
For the longest time I legit thought Beast's VA was James Earl Jones before finding out it was Samuel Ramey The similarity between their voices is uncanny
He may not have forgiven himself, but he set that first step toward freeing his spirit of guilt by letting go. Guilt is such a cruel vortex of shame and darkness, proliferating it hazards ensnaring others.
Reverse psychology done right. He was so grabby with the lantern in both words and actions in order to manipulate the Woodsman into clinging to it with greater desperation.
Barely has 5 minutes, but impacted me so much when I watched this as a kid and then now. He is so eerie yet familiar, because the mixture of mystery and danger from his appearance to his calm human voice.
I love how deep yet beautiful his singing voice is, really sells the idea that he might be some kind of demon and of the DC comics style fallen angel variety or something.
I don't think its meant to be limbo, nor the beast to be the devil. At least not directly tied to the sense of the afterlife. Because the threat of death is a lingering theme. The Garden Wall is more akin to some fay folk realm representing a lack of moving on. This theme is tied to the woodsman, who can't accept his daughter is dead; the very idea of tales long forgotten yet refusing to 'end' in a manner of speaking, alot of the characters in general seem to go on with the idea of acceptance. In the garden wall, the beast represents a refusal of death; he is a being that feeds off of the life force of others so that he can continue to live. I think the reason why the beast looks so deformed with all those faces is the manifestation of all those souls he's absorbed. And by cutting off his fuel, the beast finally dies.
Never thought I'd see genuine art in modern entertainment anymore, but here we are. Incredible. Dark, humorous, and intriguing despite being a kids shows.
Don’t worry, there’s more dark, humorous, and intriguing shows coming. Some are being worked on in the shadows. Although, I wouldn’t consider it a kids show.
Oh shut up you pretentious moron. "Modern day entertainment just isnt as good as the past" is such pretentious bs it hurts to read. Also, this isnt new, it came out years ago. Funny, almost like you are just trying to seem like some high cultured, "not like those modern day people" sort of ass.
This is almost like reading the old Grims tales. I actually liked this series. A child could watch it and be spooked. And an adult could see it for the terror of it's basis.
I think watching the scene where the lantern shines on the Beast for a split second in slow motion was probably the worst decision I made as a kid for my sleep
Samuel Ramey sang Mephistopheles and several other variations on the character in many opera performances and had an AMAZING international opera career. I had no idea he was on this show, and I am full of joy finding his mellow tones here in this wonderful show. SO DAMN HAPPY
Makes me wonder where Hidetaka Miyazaki got his inspiration for Cleric Beast/Vicar Amelia from Bloodborne… All jokes aside, this thing was one of the most unnerving, disturbing, and fear inducing antagonists from any TV show or movie I’ve seen, let alone something made for Cartoon Network. He’s only really matched by Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad and Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men
I think the beast is the best cartoon villain of all time. He isn't physically violent, yet still incredibly intimidating. My take on The Beast is that he finds people who are isolated, and don't have much contact with other people to manipulate. If they ARE in contact with people, then he finds a way to isolate them. That's why I think he chose the woodsman. If at any point, even before he was lantern bearer he went into the tavern and heard about the beast and his lantern he would have known.
The beast is probably the best example of a Fae villain.
He’s a trickster, he’s unknown. He makes other people do his bidding and exert his will.
The only problem with this is The Beast seems to have lied about the Woodsman's daughter's soul. That's supposed to be one of the few things the Fae CAN'T do.
@@PyroGothNerd doesn’t he represent the devil?
@@PyroGothNerd Darker Fae can lie all they want what they can't do is break their word basically if a fae gives you their word about something after a mutual accord has been reached fae cannot break it but a contract has to have been made in some shape or form. They can twist it usually making it so the human breaks it first so they can get what they want but they cannot be the first to break it
@@MultiMoe11 And if they break it, what happens? They straight up die is what I'm guessing...
@@blackshogun272 Unmaking, often.
1:07
"Did you fetch for me the golden comb?"
"Will this work?"
... "This is a honey comb"
Was a cute interaction.
Loved that part
Golden comb of honey! Ehehehehe
Favorite moment in the show ngl
He's like "I can't even with this kid."
I love this villain has no origins no motive just wants to survive
Kind of makes him a tragic villain when you think about it
@@marlom7882 yah but he did kill kids
@@MasterTopHat tragic *villain*
However arguably he could have found a different way around it, and seems to enjoy the lost children's despair a little to much which is the real thing that makes him malevolent.
I think he’s suppose to be the devil, and the unknown, the nine circles of hell.
I like that he's very specifically *not* darkness, he's the fear of what's *in* the darkness. So the way to beat him is to just snuff out the light and face the fear of whatever's there, because a lot of the times it's nothing
That’s really cool
The unknown, once it becomes known it’s not scary
Echoes of the Eye moment.
@@nnelg8139 He even has the antlers lmao
Ok this guy get it
its crazy because in the comics, its proven that the woodsman is just scared of everything weird in the forest, so when his daughter goes missing and he takes the lantern from the beast after they bump into eachother, the beast in desperation tells him "your daughter is in the flame, let me keep it burning so she doesnt die" this backfires on the beast, and he ends becoming both a hostage, and a tormentor for the woodsman, who believes his daughter was lost to the weird monsters in the woods, when in reality if he just went back to his house, he would find her, waiting for him
there's a comic for this i never knew
Wait so the daughter died waiting?
@@TestSubject-vv1kn no, nothing happened to his daughter, she just went to the forest and got lost for a day, but the woodsman bumped into the beast and they both fucked up and ended up in this weird deal with the woodsman going around making oil, his daughter was home the whole time
pretty sure we see her in on of the music outros
@@myboy_ yeah, she apears in the prologue-scenes, his daughter was at home the whole time
He's such a good villain. His singing is so chilling, and knowing his job is to lure souls and use them for fuel is insane.
Him representing the devil or death knowing this show is set in limbo is intense.
I haven't seen this, but from this video alone he either represents death or survival by any means
He's more or less like a windego. He feeds off the essence of his human victims that he manipulates.
@@lazyer0511 the show draws heavily from Dante Alighieris Devine Comedy
@@m0rp5eus27 Except Charon or personification of death wasn't in Dantes divine comedy. He was shown in other adaptations but was not in the original story. The "beast" takes on a number a mythological traits. The name could be implied the he's the devil. His antlers are that of Herne Cernunnos or even Aylith, also other stories like Stingy Jack or will o wisps also come to mind.
@@nikushim6665 I'm getting vibes of Erlkonig (old German poem series about the elf king who spirits the souls of children away, but the reasons for doing so vary from darkly benevolent to maliciously evil depending on which version you're looking at) as well as "Old Scratch" (a character from Tom Walker, which is believed to be heavily inspired by several old German tales of faustian bargains)
Making someone wait until sunset to theoretically put the sun in a cup is cute, but making them do it so they freeze to death in the cold is evil
the ice queen type shit
Exactly why the beast did it
I guess the Beast's idea was to give Gregory unmanageable task because he was running with the theme of despair and feebleness for the whole show.
@@user-cb3lg4jp7qIt’s better than that. The Beast’s usual trick is to make a person despair until they waste away and become one of his edelwood trees. He knows that won’t work with Greg because Greg is naturally cheerful and too young to understand the concept of despair, so the Beast changes his strategy to just tiring Greg out until he freezes or starves to death.
It's shocking how little screen time he gets in the show, yet still manages to leave such an impact in it. Truly a memorable villain.
I guess that they get it right bc it isn't too little or too much time on screen. Tho I can be wrong.
You can feel his presence throughout the entire series
when he died I was worried me might be out there somwhere
@@TheMikesShow1 he’s like Ozai or Palpatine or… to a smaller, more personal scale Death in The Last Wish
I don’t think of a villain more a force
I love how they managed to get such a nightmarish freeze-frame (of the Beast's true form) into a kid's show.
As it should be, I would've loved this show even more as a kid
I had nightmares one night when I was a kid
Just paused at the point and thats super creepy
Oh damn, just saw it, looks unhealthy 😳
@@Codename_Horizon 3:50 it's super fast tho so I recommend you slow the video down
"Are you really ready to go back to that empty house?"
Jesus christ, for a kids show this hits way to hard
Plot twist: No it isn't empty.She's quite alive.
His psychological projection skills were unparalleled. He was so good at sewing webs of lies and paranoia among his prey that they often couldn’t see what was right in front of them, it was like a fog of deception or a barrier they had to overcome in the end.
I initially wondered if that was why it was called “over the garden wall,” but then the final episodes revealed that he physically *went over the garden wall* which was the driving cause of the rest of the series taking place
omg i just realized that, its one of those moments when the titel literally gives away the plot of the film @@hobomike6935
we need more shows like this
This reminds me of a nightmare/illusion Batman falls under and sees Jason alive but it’s not real. He accepts that the manor will not have Jason there anymore. Except for Alfred the house would be empty 🥲
Can we acknowledge that he’s actually got a really good singing voice?
Opera Singer
Samuel Ramey, one of the great operatic baritones, made a lifetime career of playing “mephistopheles” type roles; he’s a perfect cast. (He’s mostly retired I think?)
@@theKobus He's a bass
@@svilendenchev9984 OK, bass-baritone, but he's not singing Osmin and Sarastro
The “reverbating” (idk what to call it) gets sort of on my nerves but otherwise badass
I love his voice, his voice actor is an amazing singer and great at sounding really creepy
If I remember correctly, his va is actually a famous opera singer (fame relative to opera).
_Samuel Ramey_
He’s famous for playing the Devil, too. (Mephistopheles roles.)
@@theKobus
Wouldn't you have to sing in German for operas about Faust?
@@wikipediaintellectual7088 I'm gonna assume you're asking in good faith. There's a crop of operas on Faust. Some in German, some in Italian, some in French. Gounod's is probably the one Ramey is most famous for his performance in, but that's just my impression.
@@theKobus
So he sings in French?
crazy how little of the show hes actually in. certainly makes an, ahem, impact
3.6% of it if this video is of all the times hes in it
Just like how little your father is in your life
I think that the way a character is spread out throughout the story and how much it makes an impact makes it feel like they’ve been there far longer than they actually were.
Comrade scallion what a pleasure to see you here 😁😏
I've heard people think he's the devil or Death himself, but I think what the Beast is is actually a Lich. The Beast soul is in the Lantern and as long as it stays lit, the Beast can never die. Like how a Lich keeps their soul in an object to keep themselves from dying.
i always viewed him as more of a Wendigo spirit, forcing the "lantern bearer" to commit a taboo, which only feeds the Wendigo and makes it stronger, notice it A-has a deer head and antlers, B-is tall, and gaunt, C-dwells exclusively in a winter locked forest, and D-can actually become violent if threatened, though it controls itself if violence would threaten the lantern flame, it's clearly VERY old, and powerful, and craved nothing more than to reclaim the means to feed itself(the lantern), however it also knew it could play the long con, eventually the woodsman would slip up, let it to close, and then the lantern is back in it's clutches, fed far more liberally than what the Woodsman was doing, but take it by violence? where it being dropped could mean the flame going out? never, mortals will crack, fracture, and break under constant unceasing pressure, give into their darkest taboos and desires if it means survival, be willing to make "The Deal" or to just, not care enough anymore and let the Wendigo/Beast have what it desires,
Another theory, is he’s the Woodsman’s shadow, notice how he is nearly always behind the woodsman, or the woodsman is between the beast and the nearest light source, and the way he was defeated was by extinguishing the light source.
If that doesn’t just SCREAM Shadow monster, I don’t know what does.
Could very well be an amalgamation of all of the above, considering its patchwork nature. Once upon a time, it was one of those things, and then it added to itself, and then it was two, and then it repeated the cycle. Presuming it preceded the woodsman, it’s been at this schtick for a while, and was a decent ways down the road of adding the woodsman unto itself further.
A symbiote, of sorts, that was fully on-board with hopping to the next available host when it seemed that the woodsman himself could no further serve its purpose.
I’ve had another thought about the Beast, and this one disturbs me…
Okay, so he’s getting the Woodsman to cut down a specific tree, to make oil to burn in the lantern, right… okay, here’s the kickers
Woodsman = Humanity
The special trees (sry I don’t remember the name) = fossil fuels
The Lantern = Modern Technology
The Beast = Greed
maybe he is a wendigo?
It's oddly poetic that The Beast isn't killed by a weapon or some kind of magic but by simply blowing out a lantern. He's made to be this dangerous unimaginable creature that can't be beat and then it turns out his life is as ever fading as a burning candle.
Like the tavern keeper’s song says, the Beast is a liar. If you just refuse to believe him, he has no power over you. Once Wirt figures that out, the story’s over.
it just occurred to me that the sounds that we see whenever we look into the lantern isn't actually the sounds of the woodsman's daughter (because she's alive and not in the lantern) but it's the sound of the lost souls trapped in the edelwood trees screaming in agony as they burn up
Holy fuck dude…that’s crazy damn never got that but it makes sense. Super dark though wow
The saddest thing about the finale is what happens to the woodsman, he blew out that lantern knowing that he killed and at the same time was the monster walking through the forest in the darkness, with no lantern light to guide his way home just the memory of melted edelwood and blood on his hands.
At least he got redemption when he reunited with his daughter
@@marlom7882 yeah
@@marlom7882 can you really say redemption, he didn’t know how the trees were made, and the moment he found out that the trees were made out of kids he freaked out and then tried to save the kid
@@anthonyramirez9925 well yea the snowy land where his house was and his daughter waiting for him was essentially his heaven he never actually meant to hurt anyone
I remember that last scene, the woodsman discovered and said: "she's never been in there isn't she?" Before he blew it out
The beast is really the personification of temptation and promise.
He offers the woodsman a way to save his daughter, despite her fate not actually being in his control. He offers Greg the fantasy dreamland he always wanted while “helping” his brother, which really meant just taking Greg off Wirt’s hands. Even the tavern keeper told the boys, “don’t believe his lies”.
He is such an iconic villain not for what he does, but the lost hope he inspires in others that ultimately drives them to perish in the woods and become his fuel.
Yes, you can say he is the devil. But I think he serves more as the cautionary embodiment of the woods and it’s promise. The promise that you will walk in and find what you seek, what you need, and that the answers to all your problems lies just a little further… beyond the next clearing… just keep walking and you’ll find it… I promise…
well said!! i don't really understand the beast being the devil answer- to me it seemed more like depression, even. love this take also!
youre the personification of getting no bitches, cope + L + ratio
Lich. Devils are contract bound. We haven't heard or seen an agreement written and notarized.
Lichs on the other hand, are a tad freer. If their phalyctory is destroyed, their tie to the mortal realm is gone.
@@maddielee1109 I agree, the beast is atleast written to symbolize hopelessness, being lost in your own dark thoughts, but naturally younger people will be watching this too, and draw more direct parallells (I certainly didn't understand the subtext of the series the first time I saw it), and the beauty of stories like these is that it can represent whatever is relevant to you at the time, which can help you deal with it, so im not trying to say there is a correct answer, just what I think they were going for with the writing and symbolism.
"the person with the lantern IS the beast"
I always felt like her squeaky voice really tied her character together
What makes The Beast so memorable, to me, is that he’s not an almighty powerhouse villain. He’s not invincible, he’s got no massive backstory, and he’s not exactly a physical threat either. He’s manipulative, and smart. He’ll bend the will through breaking one’s spirit.
He’s got no grand scheme other than tricking others into keeping him alive like a parasite. No generic domination, no vengeance, just survival. It’s primal, and compelling.
Plus that voice, and even the character design, is incredible!
Before seeing Adventure Time and the Lich I was expecting a “fall.” like scene when the beast said “Are you ready to see true darkness?”
“Help me?…you don’t wanna help me, you just-have some weird obsession with keeping this lantern lit.”
“….”
“I-it’s almost like- *_your soul_** is in this lantern.”*
@@hobomike6935 ARE YOU READY TO SEE *TRUE* DARKNESS?
0:24 idk why but when The Beast sings “Chop the wood to light the fire!” It’s funny to me for some reason, it just sounds like he’s trolling the woodsman
TROL LO LO LOL!!!
🤣🤣🤣
2:47 Still creeps me out lol
If you pause at about 3:50 you can actually see what the beast looks like and it's awesomely creepy
@@iordanvassilev8091 it’s between 3:52 and 3:53
its literally just skinned faces
creepy
@@jaxclaybaugh6877 oh my gosh it's actually skinned screaming kids/faces
Me too. 😨
I had to pause to see wtf The Beast was and DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN they showed THAT in a kids show!? He is literally an amalgamation of faces put together, dear god it makes my skin crawl and sends shivers down my spine...I'm totally gonna watch the hell out of this show
Kids probably wouldnt even notice it. *oh but their brain will*
Haha put it on 0,25 to see
@@martinsonneborn6820 ah thanks makes pausing much easier
@@drunkendye4892 np
@@martinsonneborn6820 Do you have any time stamp to start to exactly ?
Edit : found it, 3:52
An interesting thing to note is that those last few scenes of the Beast his eyes are ringed in different colors just like Beatrice’s dog when it ate one of the black turtles which would imply that whoever the Beast was before ate a black turtle or fueled his lantern with elder wood oil which is where the black turtles come from. Another thing is the behavior of the dog and the Beast, when we’re introduced to the dog he seems to be rather hungry desperately trying to eat Greg’s candy and the boys, later on when the dog is uncorrupted you can see his ribs in contrast to his appearance in the first episodes intro he’s a more healthy weight. While we don’t see the Beast’s uncorrupted form it’s easy to see that he’s obsessed with keeping his lantern lit but why is that? If we apply the Balck Dog’s behavior to the Beast’s one can come to the conclusion that those that imbibe the black turtles or elder wood oil are corrupted and become obsessed with the last thing they were focused on before imbibing the turtles and oil. Very interesting to think that the Beast just a victim of something much more sinister in the Woods of the Unknown.
There is a theory that the beast was inspired by the legend of the Wendigo, a Native American monster that is created from hunger, and desperation (aka cannibalism). Though it should be noted I'm not saying the beast is one, just that the writers took inspiration from that legend.
This makes way too much sense not to be true!
@@cuygor7132 it’s a theory that has been bouncing around my head for awhile now. I don’t know if the creators ever talked about it or not. Keep in now that it’s only based on two subjects.
what are u even talking about bro lmao
3:53 you can see the beast's body
Only now have I realized that the woodsman is voiced by Doc from Back to the Future
Wait really?!
@@weebaliba8589 yeah really, can’t you hear it? Look it up.
Christopher Lloyd
WHAT
I mean and the hacker from cyberspace too
"You've been grinding up lost souls for years !"
That line, damn.
0:19 that's mad disrespectful lol
what did he say? I cant make it out
@@RealestBoxy "you leave those children be, Beast"
Why
@@carpediem4508 The Beast does NOT leave those kids alone
its disrespectful cause beast just walks away and sings over him xD
The beast is very scary for a kid show. I mean, when the woodsman put the light on him, he's a pile of flesh with fear looking faces on his body. He's a mass of dead people.
What do u mean he’s not scary
I agree. 😨
@@galactus9807 3:52
The vision of the beast at 3:52 is terrifying. I’m surprised they were able to let that air.
He's the creepiest villian on my list, his voice and his song send a chill down my spine. But too bad for the final scene when he let Wirt got him, but he still my favorite ❤ Your video remind me about how i admire him and his characteristic inspires lots of ideas for my OC ❤
You should meet the nowhere king
@@yamantisshrimp2808 That one is good as well but I still think this one is better as a villain, it has more of a dark fairytale feel for me. The nowhere king is more of a selfish man that ended up having too much power. I'm not hating tho, I absolutely love the creature's design.
@@HornaracH yeah and let's take a moment of silence for the minotaurs that was buried
.....
......
.......
Belos?
But he's not as creepy as the beast
He’s a villain of subtlety. He’s always there in the background but never over used. Seen but never shown entirely until the end and only for a split second. Mentioned by many characters but not overly built up. A puppet master secretly pulling the strings behind the curtain.
There’ll never be another show like quite like Over The Garden Wall
That doesn't mean they shouldn't try.
There might be, eventually, but there’ll never be an antagonist that matches the level and type of terror presented by The Beast.
It captured the spirit of Halloween in ways that just can’t be done again.
"He's hot ngl"
3:52 would like a word
1. That description was a joke
2. That wasn’t always what he looked like, but his untainted form definitely wouldn’t have been much prettier.
I mean still.... Gosh why 😭
@@herr-doktor yeah I don’t know why. His pure form would look like a more humanoid version of a Cleric Beast from Bloodborne than anything, which still would be hideous to look at.
3:22 This shot is so good. It’s framed so perfectly. The distance between Wirt and the Beast, the Beast’s simple yet elegantly terrifying silhouette… I just love looking at it.
It "goes hard," as the kids say.
This was such a well written villain and a beautifully written and animated show. Very nostalgic, like a story book, especially with some of the animations and musical numbers being inspired by old-timey cartoons. I'll always recommend it. Plus, if you haven't watched it but you've seen the show, Trey the Explainer has a beautiful video essay comparing the show to Dante's Inferno :-)
I love how when the Beast summons the shadows to threaten Wirt, it completely backfires.
Because now Wirt can only see his eyes, *the same eyes of the poisoned dog* , and so he understands. He understands that this is nothing more than a scared animal, trying to intimidate the things around it that could hurt it.
And once Wirt knows this, all the power the Beast held over him is gone.
Samuel Ramey one of the greatest operatic basses in the world. Glad to hear him doing non-musical acting, as his acting in opera has always been top notch. Basses often get the funnest roles, it seems.
"No. There is only Me. There is only my way. There is only the forest, and there is only Surrender."
I find it quite endearing that when wirt was falling asleep in the snowy forest he started to turn into the wood (aka as fucking dying) but when he realised his brother walked away from him into danger he immediately got up from his death to go after him.
Really, part of what makes Over the Garden Wall so good is that the characters all, to a certain extent, serve primarily to heighten the asthetic - not just in design, but also in character. The Beast is such a great villain BECAUSE he highlights the asthetic. The mass of shadow that is his body serves to draw the viewer's attention to how truly dark the rest of the stage is, with its foggy mist and moonless shade, and consequently how utterly isolated and lost the characters are. His big, billowing cloak does two things. Firstly, its amorphous shape allows the Beast to take up the entirety of the background whenever he wants, giving the viewer a feeling of suffocating darkness. Secondly, it can give the viewer a sense of the unearthly wind that ends the peaceful, idyllic autumn and brings harsh, freezing winter, and the sound design works in tandem with this but giving a sense of the whipping of a cold, biting wind. The viewer likely already has an inkling of the symbollic meaning of winter overtaking fall in OTGW - now they see what's causing it, or perhaps what embodies it. The character of the Beast not only works with the asthetic,, he is PART of the asthetic - it is a cold forest, and he is the coldest part of that forest. It is a dark forest, and he is the very darkest part of it.
This show was Halloween incarnate. That chilly, uneasy, “foggy” feeling as fall dies away into the winter season, you’re left alone with the thoughts and memories of everything that happened that year, those you lost along the way, and things you never quite caught a full glimpse of _just outside_ your vision.
This show is to underrated for how good it is.
It’s becoming a personal tradition to watch this show every Halloween. It’s still so underrated and most people I know haven’t even heard of it
Same my girlfriend and me watch this every Halloween
What i love about The Beast is other than probably enhanced strength and maybe the turtles, he probably has literally no other powers besides persuading people to get themselves killed or damned to an eternity of collecting souls for him.
i can't believe the arabic version made the beast voice exactly like the English version but even better.
It sounds alot deeper and in a somewhat twisted way soothing, the arabic is by far my favorite
i think that the spanish (from spain not from latam) is better
Russian version is cool too
Wow people mention how good arabic version is... I never knew its that well-known, i guess it was because of that video i am very happy
@@user-ej8mi6oz3m true.
“Are you really ready to go back to that empty house” he’d been going to an empty house for years. The beast thought he could manipulate the woods man again only to seal his fate.
He is the fear of what lurks in the dark and the only way to beat him is to snuff out the only thing lighting your path and giving you hope... its terrifyingly genuis.
every time he says "Woodsman" so gently just gives me shivers
this series changed my life🍁🍂...
This is still ones of the best mini series I’ve ever seen on Cartoon Network in a long time. Infinity train is a close second (before it was decided that it would’ve gotten more seasons later on)
Nice video! The beast is such a great villain.
The Beast, The Lich, and The Nowhere King. All the greatest creatures of pure darkness.
Over the garden is great reimagining of Dante's inferno.
@3:52 you can see what he looks like
I slowed it down... OMG that's terrifying
At least Disney didn’t noticed it or cartoon or any kids and adult
@@dangdao8068 Disney??
@@weirdthoughts5420 I don’t know where this show come from so I just randomly guess it from Disney cause heck they almost own some of cartoon
It's literally made of human faces what the fuck
Okay everybody knows about the faces on the beast's body practically making up its entire body but I just had a crazy thought what if those faces all talked at once when he spoke they would smile when he smile when he would have malicious intent in store for the children that would have a grim expression on their face like anger if he got frustrated just different expressions all at once you cannot tell me that is not terrifying to think about
So the faces are a hivemind?
@@ivanalves8506 I mean they have to be I mean what else are they there for just to look scary
@@sanvich9735 I’m pretty sure they’re the souls of all the kids burnt in his lantern
Something close, the faces are wooden and the arms are full of holes like a woodwind instrument.@@bahnankhayre9534
Imagine if in the beginning, the Beast put his soul in the lantern to ward off the darkness in the forest, after having his soul taken out for so long, he became twisted. And when the light finally went out, the true darkness approached, and the real horror began. When there's no light, there's no shadow, and now we will truly know darkness.
I love how not only did the Beast trick the Woodsman into carrying the lantern, but mocked him while he did so
The beast really be playing the power role when his own victim is holding his life in his literal hands
yh bro that's manipulation 101@@bagseys
The way he says "we should talk" slips into a kinda smooth voice by the end there
seems like a swell guy
"anyone who holds the Dark Lantern must be the Beast!"
i just realized how apparently everyone knows about the Lantern, but not much about the Beast. maybe that's why he leaves the Lantern with someone else in the first place
3:53 love how scary he really is behind the darkness he hides in
For the longest time I legit thought Beast's VA was James Earl Jones before finding out it was Samuel Ramey
The similarity between their voices is uncanny
I love this show the memories are insane
He may not have forgiven himself, but he set that first step toward freeing his spirit of guilt by letting go. Guilt is such a cruel vortex of shame and darkness, proliferating it hazards ensnaring others.
I’ve never heard of this show during my time still watching CN but holy hell, he’s probably right up there in one of the best underrated CN villains.
Knowing the Beast was made by the same man who made the Lich in Adventure Time explains a lot.
WAIT WAAA?
This guy is just as good as the Lich, and he’s only been in this show in the one season it has
This dude is something straight out of a horror game, and when you get to see him for like a frame. JEEZ
3:55 that moment is just perfect
Reverse psychology done right. He was so grabby with the lantern in both words and actions in order to manipulate the Woodsman into clinging to it with greater desperation.
3:53 this is honestly terrifying holy crap
Barely has 5 minutes, but impacted me so much when I watched this as a kid and then now. He is so eerie yet familiar, because the mixture of mystery and danger from his appearance to his calm human voice.
I love how deep yet beautiful his singing voice is, really sells the idea that he might be some kind of demon and of the DC comics style fallen angel variety or something.
the devil was once an angel, alluring with his beautiful voice but holds a dark secret
I don't think its meant to be limbo, nor the beast to be the devil. At least not directly tied to the sense of the afterlife. Because the threat of death is a lingering theme. The Garden Wall is more akin to some fay folk realm representing a lack of moving on. This theme is tied to the woodsman, who can't accept his daughter is dead; the very idea of tales long forgotten yet refusing to 'end' in a manner of speaking, alot of the characters in general seem to go on with the idea of acceptance. In the garden wall, the beast represents a refusal of death; he is a being that feeds off of the life force of others so that he can continue to live. I think the reason why the beast looks so deformed with all those faces is the manifestation of all those souls he's absorbed. And by cutting off his fuel, the beast finally dies.
This villain is terrifying
This adds a lot to the show
Of course....
We made a promise....
Really evil
3:53 for those who want to ser the beast's form out of the shadows
Just barely out of perfect timing, sad you can only see his arm.
@@StarWithAPencilYou can see his whole body if you slow down the video to 0.25x.
I salute you for not adding in any dumb edits
can’t stand those videos it ruins the comp 😭
You can only see his true form for a split second, but goddamn is it terrifying
such a good show, dressed as greg for halloween two years back
One of my fav characters, he is just amazing, from the look to the voice to the way he acts, i been looking for a video like that for long
3.6%
thats how much of the show hes in
Never thought I'd see genuine art in modern entertainment anymore, but here we are. Incredible. Dark, humorous, and intriguing despite being a kids shows.
Don’t worry, there’s more dark, humorous, and intriguing shows coming. Some are being worked on in the shadows.
Although, I wouldn’t consider it a kids show.
Oh shut up you pretentious moron. "Modern day entertainment just isnt as good as the past" is such pretentious bs it hurts to read.
Also, this isnt new, it came out years ago. Funny, almost like you are just trying to seem like some high cultured, "not like those modern day people" sort of ass.
2:47- Me when the stage hand is trying to put out my fire in Don’t Starve
This is almost like reading the old Grims tales. I actually liked this series. A child could watch it and be spooked. And an adult could see it for the terror of it's basis.
I think watching the scene where the lantern shines on the Beast for a split second in slow motion was probably the worst decision I made as a kid for my sleep
I like how Greg went about the golden comb and silver thread task. It was so cute.
bro this show was a masterpiece. im so sad it was so short
Samuel Ramey sang Mephistopheles and several other variations on the character in many opera performances and had an AMAZING international opera career. I had no idea he was on this show, and I am full of joy finding his mellow tones here in this wonderful show. SO DAMN HAPPY
I distinctly remember him having a lot more screentime. That’s how you know you make an impression
Over The Garden Wall takes a lot of inspiration from German folk tales. Especially when it comes to the beast. Reminds me of the Erlkönig.
“Don’t-! Ah, *don’t!* “
3:37
Bro the description 💀
The Beast manages to take his biggest weakness & make it his pawn’s weakness instead. Honestly, that’s good writing
Makes me wonder where Hidetaka Miyazaki got his inspiration for Cleric Beast/Vicar Amelia from Bloodborne…
All jokes aside, this thing was one of the most unnerving, disturbing, and fear inducing antagonists from any TV show or movie I’ve seen, let alone something made for Cartoon Network. He’s only really matched by Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad and Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men
well now i want to watch this
I think the beast is the best cartoon villain of all time. He isn't physically violent, yet still incredibly intimidating. My take on The Beast is that he finds people who are isolated, and don't have much contact with other people to manipulate. If they ARE in contact with people, then he finds a way to isolate them. That's why I think he chose the woodsman. If at any point, even before he was lantern bearer he went into the tavern and heard about the beast and his lantern he would have known.
"Now.. what direction did those children go...HAHAHAH! TRA-LA-LA-LA TRA-LA-LA-LA CHOP THE WOOD TO LIGHT THE FIRE" -Epstine
Halloween of 2014 was so amazing because of this show
В русском дубляже у него тоже очень красивый голос
( и без британского акцента хаха )
The oil making process was very interesting to me
1:43
The beast is a great soprano Singer
'Must be a really fat soprano'
…. That is definitely a wendigo