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Image by Codioful (Formerly Gradienta)

Early Years

Writer: Jessie Desmond
Jessie Desmond
Apr 23
4 min read

Hank McCoy was recruited by Professor Charles Xavier to be the fifth member of the original X-Men.  The original five being: Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Angel, and Beast.  Upon being recruited, we found out that Hank was the oldest of the five.


Hank's Stats

Height 5'-11"

Weight 402 lbs

Abilities: Overly muscular with extra large feet and hands, dexterity of feet, highly agile, highly intelligent, very durable, can jump up to 32 feet, can run on all fours up to 40 mph for short sprints


Secondary mutation: Enhanced senses, claws, ability to secrete pheromones, low grade healing factor, cat-like night vision


Unlike the other members of the X-Men, Hank was the only one born with his ability present.  His parents found his anatomy and abilities to be a little disconcerting.  Through the comics, we have been able to see that he was born with giant feet and giant hands.  As a little kid, he was very agile - climbing, jumping, and flipping - in an abnormal way.  He was also super intelligent at an early age, which his dad (Norton) was a little disappointed by, as Hank would prefer books to sports.  BUT, in high school, Hank did end up playing football, which is where Professor Xavier found him.  Something that doesn't really get mentioned is his adaptation.  By being the only team member born with his abilities, as opposed to abilities showing up when puberty hits, Hank is the most comfortable and confident with his mutant abilities out of the original five.


According to official Marvel sources, Hank completed high school and his bachelors degree in the same year, and early to boot!  How can this happen?  As long as you take classes in the right order, at a university, you can take whatever you want.  He was already accelerated in high school, so that would have been fairly easy for him.  With the right time management skills, it's pretty doable.  Also, since you need that high school diploma or a GED, he probably graduated high school and wrapped things up with a summer and a fall semester at university.


Side note: If you ever want to crank out university core classes, summer sessions are a good way to do that fast.


Hank would later go on to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry.  After this, he goes to work for the Brand Corporation as a genetic researcher.  He later picks up a Ph.D. in genetics.

All New X-Men #22
All New X-Men #22

To add to his well-rounded intelligence, he is fluent in German, Latin, Spanish, Japanese and Russian and other languages, well-versed in literature, history, philosophy, art and music, and is also an accomplished keyboard player.


Hank, while fantastic with science, is also quite a skillful engineer and mathematician.

In the early years we get a unique personality with Hank.  He's very intelligent, loves using big words, and loves showing off his intelligence.  This intelligent side can and does come off, often, as cold.  Since he's very broad-shouldered, he is often mistaken as being fat or being unappealing due to his "grotesque and overmuscled body" (Kershel, 1967).  This leads to Hank having a LOT of issues with his appearance.  This has led Hank to developing a sense of humor and prankster nature.  It's not stated, but this sort of thing usually helps with a number of factors, including connecting to others and helping to hide insecurities.  It also puts him in this strange position where he'll allow people to use him, be a doormat, or make fun of him, just to appear friendly and funny.  Two other personality traits are pretty quickly realized: sex drive and intellectual rage.


Hank's sex drive seems fairly standard, if just a little amped up, for a teenager.  He had a bashful romance with a girl named Jennifer while in high school.  When he joined the X-Men, he took to having a crush on Jean - as did Scott and Warren.  Hank took to making playful advances, but in the end he was friend-zoned.


Intellectual rage is a unique trait that gets expressed by highly intellectual people.  It stems from them having to put their brains on pause while they are forced to dumb down verbiage and explanations for other people.  Hank is usually pretty good about doing this, but the more poking he gets (over the little things) the bigger the rage gets - when it comes out.


Work

When it comes to working, Hank is pretty dedicated. He's been a genetic researcher for the Brand Corporation. A teacher and headmaster for the Xavier Institute. Lecturer at Harvard University. A political advisor for mutant rights. Scientist for a number of different groups and corporations. Head of Intelligence for Krakoa (which led to some very bad things).


Oddly enough, while he is often seen as a medical doctor, he didn't actually get a Ph.D. in medicine. He is also often seen as the "tech guy" and does not have a degree in engineering or computer science.



I hope you enjoyed this first entry on Dr. Hank McCoy.  There is more to come!


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