Bean the Dynamite/Pre-SGW

"Shiiinniees!"

- Bean's shiny affinity Bean the Dynamite (a.k.a. Bean the Duck or Bean the Dynamite Duck) is a particularly goofy and wacky mercenary who deserted the Battle Bird Armada and took up the life of a bounty hunter for hire by partnering with the stoic Bark the Polar Bear. Their career has included work with Fiona Fox and Nic the Weasel, jobs for the likes of Dr. Eggman and Mammoth Mogul, and even joining Team Hooligan alongside Nack the Weasel. As such, he has come into conflict a number of times with Sonic the Hedgehog and other members of the Knothole Freedom Fighters =Past= Little is known about Bean's past, though some claim he was a dark magic bioweapon hybrid created by Drs. Bin and Pin of the Battle Bird Armada. Others say he was a mutate from the Forgotten War or an alien lifeform trying to fit in on Mobius. Whatever the truth Bean has had some ties to the Battle Bird Armada as Storm claims the Battlekukku XV tried to kill him. He has also recognized Predator Hawk as a deserter from the Armada, and Predator has indicated that Bean might likewise be one. Bean also associated with Nic the Weasel's gang, which also included Bark the Polar Bear and Fiona Fox. At a time, he competed alongside Fiona and Bark in an illegal fighting tournament, at some point losing thoroughly to Rouge the Bat. At some point, he and Bark struck out as partners, despite being polar opposites. (StH: #160, #165, #173, #187, CSE)

=Crashing Sonic's Birthday= Bean's first encounter with Sonic the Hedgehog was when Dr. Eggman hired him and Bark to attack Sonic on his birthday. Sonic assumed the two had mistaken Evil Sonic for him, but Bean dismissed the idea. The two attacked the recently rebuilt Freedom HQ and everyone inside. However, Fiona used Bean's weakness of shiny things and threw a set of keys out a window, forcing Bean to jump after them and leave the fight. While playing with the keys in the grass, he was found and promptly knocked unconscious by Shadow the Hedgehog. Bean was brought back to Freedom HQ by the black hedgehog, but while everyone was dealing with Bark and Shadow's entrance, he woke up, managed to sneak into the Brain Trust's room and contacted Eggman to nonchalantly report that he and Bark had failed. Bean and Bark were fired after this, although the green duck didn't seem too distressed about it. When Eggman's newest creation, Croctobot, attacked Freedom HQ, Bean and Bark used this opportunity to escape, although Fiona tried to stop them. Bean suggested she rejoin them but she said she couldn't, as she was now a Freedom Fighter. Bean playfully doubted this and left. (StH: #160, #161)

=Imprisonment= After this, Bean and Bark were rehired by Dr. Eggman to verify the rumors of Rouge having the Master Emerald. While the rumors were false, this led to Bean and Bark running into Sonic and Antoine with Extreme Gear, which Bean stated he got from an armada. Sonic fought Bean, who called the names of boarding tricks while the Gear spun in the air before Sonic managed to knock him out while Antoine subdued Bark. Having been defeated, Bean was sent to Knothole Prison along with Bark, Nack the Weasel, Mammoth Mogul, and Ixis Naugus. (StH: #173)

During Eggman's Egg Fleet attack on Knothole, Bean was captured and sent to the Egg Grape Chamber along with the rest of the prisoners and inhabitants of Knothole. Bean would be later freed by Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy Rose. When everyone was sent to New Mobotropolis, Bean, along with Bark and Nack, sided with Mammoth Mogul, who was attempting to take control of the city. Fortunately, NICOLE teleported all of the criminals to the new city's prison, an experience Bean declared "awesome." While in the prison, Bean mocked Prince Elias, demanding his shiny crown, made numerous jokes regarding Sonic and Tails, and watched the unfolding fight between Sonic and Tails. (StH: #175, #176, #177, #178, #179)

Bean later escaped from prison alongside his partners, after Mogul had forced Sonic and Ash Mongoose to get him the Gray Chaos Emerald from Castle Acorn, thus restoring Mogul's chaos-based powers. Free from his cell, Bean started to harass Ash by trying to steal his sunglasses. Shortly afterwards, Bean and his fellow prisoners were teleported by Mogul out of the prison, to which Bean promised to write to Sonic every day. (StH: #185, #186)

=Working for Mogul= Bean, along with Bark, Nack, and the Destructix would later be officially hired by Mogul to "steal" Sonic's shoes (with or without Sonic's feet still in them). All the while, Bean kept on admiring a shiny spoon, while the others talked business. Outside of Freedom HQ, Bean and Bark ambushed Sonic and Sally Acorn. Sally was able to distract Bean by getting him to notice how shiny one of his bombs was, causing him to clutch it in awe until it exploded. Afterwards, the Destructix began to attack Sonic while Bean and Bark watched, Bean cheering on the Destructix. Sally quickly told Bean and Bark she would pay them double whatever Mogul offered to help Sonic (Bean was intrigued, thinking the payment could possibly include cupcakes). Bean and Bark accepted and started helping Sonic fight against their former allies. When Bean and Bark failed to protect Sonic, they decided to go back to Mogul's side and returned to the Casino Night Zone with the Destructix while Nack stayed behind to finish off Sally. While at the casino's new kitchen, the Bottom of the Barrel Bar 'n' Grill, Bean kept pestering Sonic with odd questions about Sally and their "future children," which ended up thoroughly creeping Sonic out. However, after Sally, Amy, and Geoffrey St. John showed up and freed Sonic, Bean was then slid along a nearby table by Sonic, to which Bean enjoyed the experience with glee. Afterwards, Bean and Bark were not seen again, and it is assumed they came to, were paid by Mogul, and left the casino. (StH: #187, #188)

=Sol Shiiiiny= Bean subsequently joined up with Nack and Bark to form Team Hooligan. The new team soon went in search of the missing Sol Emerald, after both Team Rose and Team Dark were found to be in pursuit of the emerald as well. Team Hooligan went to hide in the Great Forest at first, where they spied on the other two teams. All the while, Bean incessantly kept asking Nack what was happening while spying on the teams. Team Hooligan made its move when they captured Cheese, a chao attempting to get the Sol Emerald to safety. After Cream the Rabbit of Team Rose was caught by Bark, Bean thought she was the most adorable thing he had ever seen and begged Nack to let him keep her as their team mascot so he could name her "Jorge." Bean even wanted to make Amy Rose a co-mascot with Cream, when both Amy and Blaze the Cat showed up, demanding Cream's release. Team Hooligan later made a speedy retreat on Nack's bike, only to have Blaze, using her flame powers, send the bike and its passengers flying. Bean became lodged in a tree and berated Nack for how he could have completely missed that Amy was there while he watched their every move. When Team Dark arrived to confront Team Rose, Bean readily agreed with Nack that it was time to leave before anyone realized they still had the Emerald. During their getaway, Bean held the emerald with a mesmerized look in his eyes, unaware that they were being followed by someone else. (SU: #22)

As they rode through the forest, Bean casually commented on the situation, saying that he felt that this team could lead to a beautiful partnership... but only if no one ignored him, unaware of what Nack was so focused on, until the weasel called attention to the zeppelin tailing them. As they tried to outrace the blimp, it began to drop bombs; one explosion threw the bike and its passengers into the air (again), causing Bean to cackle in utter delight. The hooligans soon found their pursuers to be none other than the Babylon Rogues, who had picked up the odd signal themselves and decided to take the treasure. To their surprise, Bean quickly caught the Rogues' leader Jet the Hawk in a hug, happy to see him and calling him "Jettison Q. Hawkington" (despite Jet's insistence that that was not his name). Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross remarked that they'd thought that the Battle Lord had previously "taken care" of the eccentric duck. Despite Bean clinging to him, Jet went after the Sol Emerald. Nack the Weasel attempted to shoot the Rogues with his sniper rifle in order to take back the Sol Emerald, but Bean inadvertently kept ruining his shots. Eventually Nack, aiming at Jet, shot the emerald itself, causing it to erupt into a massive ring of flame, which impressed Bean and threw the Rogues to the ground. When the Rogues attempted to retaliate by remotely having their blimp drop its storage of bombs, Bean, as though conducting an orchestra, caused the bombs to detonate prematurely well above the ground, much to everyone's surprise. When Teams Rose and Dark finally caught up, a four-way fight for the Emerald was about to break out; Bean, grinning crazily, asked Nack, "I make boom now, yes?" and hefted a bomb. Nack coldly confirmed that there would be "lots of boom." (SU: #23)

Bean spent most of the ensuing melee generally being obviously annoying or simply an easy target for more seasoned combatants. When Blaze the Cat finally got her hands on the Sol Emerald, Bean offered to toss her something else: a lit bomb. However, being pyrokinetic, Blaze simply snuffed the fuse. The bomb's failure to explode utterly shocked and bewildered Bean, and he began to "mourn" for the bomb, blaming himself for throwing it out into the world before it was ready. Pledging to remember it always, he soon began to deliberate the bomb's name (Cecil, Abigail, Jamie, Kendall...) while largely ignoring the continued scuffle for the Sol Emerald. Eventually, Cream the Rabbit took him by the hand and told him it's time to join his friends, and Bean followed without protest, saying that "Jamie-Kendall Duckingtonworth III" would have wanted it that way. He was thus unaware that he, along with Nack, Bark, Jet, Wave and Storm, had essentially been corralled together as part of an effort to finally end the battle. With a snap of her fingers, Blaze re-ignited the bomb in Bean's hands; he was utterly delighted even as it exploded upon the entire group. Thrilled that his bomb had finally gone off and distracted by the loss of feeling in his hands, Bean seemed unfazed that his team lost the fight for the Emerald and happily agreed that it was time to leave when a blackened Bark carried off the unconscious Nack and followed after them. (SU: #24)

Bean and his companions were not seen for a while after the incident with Teams Rose, Dark, and Babylon. Meanwhile, Sonic's nemesis, Dr. Eggman, returned and twice unleashed a reality-warping phenomenon called the Genesis Wave upon the world. Sonic managed to reverse the effects of both waves, but was interrupted by Eggman while undoing the second wave. Due to this, Mobius's reality was severely damaged, creating a new timeline... (StH: #225, #229, #247, #251, #252)

Personality
Bean is a rather goofy and eccentric being, prone to mood swings and extreme reactions. He seems to take little seriously and his logic is often dubious, though he's capable of moments of surprising clarity and intelligence. He tends to make irreverent, nonsensical or borderline inappropriate comments, often indifferent to any offense he may cause. His moods and reactions are extremely unpredictable; while generally an eager being, he's capable of being friendly and easy-going as easily as he can be indignant and angry. While he may be crazy, he's still potentially dangerous; he also seems to enjoy keeping his origins a mystery. It also seems that he feigns at least some of his apparent insanity in order to throw off his enemies, hiding a surprisingly devious side.

Bean has a habit of assigning others complicated nicknames in lieu of their proper names. Some of these include "Mr. Needlemouse", "Speedy McQuickness" and "Speedy Cheese" (Sonic the Hedgehog), "Propeller Butt" (Tails), "Shouty Hammer McPain" and "Piko Piko Valkyrie" (Amy Rose), "Little Miss Flaming Lilac" (Blaze the Cat), "Jettinson Q. Hawkington" (Jet the Hawk), and "Old Snaggleface McStealygrab" (Nack the Weasel). He has an obsession with shiny objects as well as great love for bombs and explosions of all kinds. He and Bark are close friends despite their differences, though Bean occasionally annoys his Polar Bear partner. The pair of them also seem to have their noble side, and their bounty hunter career may simply be a case of being led down the wrong path.

Appearance
Bean is a green duck with blue eyes. His beak and legs are yellow (though the latter are often miscolored green); he wears a red ascot around his neck, white gloves and red-and-white shoes. The shoes are largely identical to those of Sonic the Hedgehog, including the gold buckle, though the white stripes sometimes bear more detail. Bean's eyes have occasionally been miscolored red.

Abilities
Bean primarily attacks with bombs. It is unknown where he gets them from, but he seems to be able to produce them whenever needed, similar to the way Amy summons her hammer. His explosives don't usually do much harm, though they are strong enough to knock people off their feet and create burns. As seen during the fight with the Kraken, he seems to be able to summon bombs of different sizes; this, however, can backfire if the bomb is too big for him to lift. Probably his most frightening ability is that he seems to have some measure of special control over all manner of explosives and can cause them to self-detonate on will alone. He also has access to Extreme Gear thanks to being a former member of the Battlebird Armada. Pragmatic when it comes to combat, he's not above using his beak to peck at others.

Background Information

 * Bean has had quite a few cameos on numerous covers, mostly non-canon, though someone resembling him appeared in a flashback shown in StH issue #50, as a soldier during the Great War, along with Bark (or someone looking like him), an unidentified panda, and a few lesser Sega characters, including Astal, and Ristar. The canonicity is still debatable, given recent developments, and the fact that the scene was in Dr. Ivo Robotnik's dream.
 * Bean also appeared on the cover of Sonic X #34 in the form of a toy water ring with the Sonic the Fighters logo on it.
 * Bean was the second character to make reference to the Battle Bird Armada, leading fans to believe that he, the Babylon Rogues, and Predator Hawk were all deserters of that group. Bean and Jet of the Rogues' membership was confirmed in the Sonic Universe Blog, as has Predator Hawk's in addition to association with Bean.
 * Volume 5 of the Sonic Universe Graphic Novel Series included concept storyline in which Bean would have been the grandson of Battlekukku XV and the cousin of Speedy. The pair would also have shared a rivalry started by their fathers at the urging of the Battle Lord.
 * It is highly possible that Bean is a kleptomaniac, due to his fascination of shiny objects, and urge to go after them. An example of this is when Fiona Fox threw a shiny pair of keys out a window and Bean jumped out the window after them.  Another example is when he and Bark stole Captain Metal's Sol Emerald, which Bean went crazy over.
 * Bean has also made two background cameos in SU #30, once in Fiona's flashback attacking a guard and once in Predator Hawk's flashback in the Armada locker room.