The Beast is a main character of Disney's 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast. As the film is based on the traditional fairy tale of the same name, the Beast is based on the corresponding character from that fairy tale. He has also appeared in two direct-to-video midquels, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World.

The character also appears in the Beauty and the Beast musical. He also appears in all three installments of the Disney/Square video game series, Kingdom Hearts, and has appeared numerous times in the ABC series House of Mouse. He is featured in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. The Beast also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.

The Beast is voiced in all of his movie and video appearances, as well as in the Kingdom Hearts series, by Robby Benson. While his true name is never mentioned in the media franchise, it has been confirmed by the CD-ROM tie-in game The D Show that his real name is Prince Adam.