Bean the Dynamite (Archie)


 * For the version of this character before the Super Genesis Wave, see Bean the Dynamite (Pre-Super Genesis Wave).

Bean the Dynamite is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-off comic series published by Archie Comics. He is a particularly goofy and wacky anthropomorphic duck mercenary known for being a member of the Hooligans with Nack the Weasel and Bark the Polar Bear.

Appearance
Bean is a green humanoid duck with blue eyes. His beak and legs are yellow; 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.

Early life
Bean and his friend Bark formed an alliance with Nack the Weasel, with the trio taking the name of the Hooligans. At some point they apparently competed with the Babylon Rogues and Team Rose over one of the Sol Emeralds.

Pirate Plunder Panic

 * Note: From the readers point of view, this picks up from where Bean's original timeline ended.

As a result of the Super Genesis Wave's interrupted reversal, Bean and Bark ended up in the Sol Zone and joined up with the Blackguard Pirates, led by the fearsome Captain Metal. While in service to the pirates, Bean found pleasure in polishing all the metal aboard their ship. One day, they came across the Ocean Tornado, commandeered by Blaze and Marine the Raccoon. A battle ensued, during which Bean provided ammo for his "shipmates" in the form of his bombs. During the fighting, Blaze snuck on board the pirate ship. Bean met and welcomed her as she climbed aboard and proceeded to follow her below decks, where he filled her in on how he and Bark had ended up in her homeworld. He was still with Blaze when Captain Metal gave her an ultimatum via loudspeaker, threatening to destroy the Ocean Tornado and her friends with it. Blaze quickly asked Bean where the final Sol Emerald, which she and her friends had tracked to the pirate ship, was, to which Bean revealed that Captain Metal had it. He soon revealed his allegiance with the pirates, leading to a brief fight between him and Blaze. Growing impatient, Captain Metal gave Blaze three seconds to show herself before he opened fire on the Ocean Tornado. At Bean's suggestion, Blaze complied, though to his displeasure she singed his tail feathers in the process. Unfortunately, the captain reneged on his word and had his crew blast the Ocean Tornado into oblivion with a giant laser cannon. As Blaze collapsed in horror, Bean, despite enjoying the explosion, protested to the apparent destruction of her friends. As her sadness turned to rage, the deck superheated, causing Bean to burn his foot; however, she was knocked out by Buckle. As Bean examined her unconscious body, Captain Metal revealed his Sol Emerald, the sight of which made Bean very happy.

The pirates captured Blaze and took her to a remote island. As they made their way to the pirate base, Bean sat on top of Blaze's cage; at one point, this resulted in him getting zapped when Captain Metal had Swash electrocute Blaze to keep her in line. Seeing how upset she was, Bean tried to cheer her up by having Bark make her a smoothie, which she unenthusiastically accepted. Inside the pirates' base, Bean finally got so excited about Captain Metal's Sol Emerald that he and Bark eventually stole it. As Bark carried him off, Bean told the furious captain they'd take the "shiny" Emerald in place of service payment. The two fled, with Bean grasping the Emerald, screaming in delight.

Bean's joy would not last, as the Emerald he has so recently stolen was taken from him by Johnny, another robotic pirate from the rival crew of Captain Whisker. Cheated of this prize, he and Bark boarded the Metal Marauder with the intent of looting it. Along the way Bean found a captain's hat, and in character opposed Marine's claim to captaincy until Blaze burned his hat to ash. He and Bark were persuaded to aid Team Rose in battle against Whisker's crew and the Kraken that threatened both their vessels, but Bean only agreed after being told he could be captain. He then summoned a massive "behemoth bomb" that Bark threw into the Kraken's mouth. Unfortunately, the explosion sent the Sol Emerald flying into the waiting clutches of Captain Metal.

Despite the setback, Bean and Bark continued to aid Team Rose, Bean in particular driving Swash and Buckle from their submarine after the Marauder was damaged so badly that it began to sink. He and Bark thus witnessed Burning Blaze's battle with the Egg O' War and subsequent triumph. In gratitude for their help, Blaze sent the pair-along with Amy, Cream, and Cheese-back to Sonic's World. Arriving in Mobotropolis, they arrived just before Princess Sally, who was being pursued by Metal Sonic with murderous intent. Despite Cream's pleas, Bean and Bark chose not to take part in the ensuing battle, preferring to retreat given the fear that they might be regarded as wanted criminals in the city.

The Great Chaos Caper and Champions
Bean and Bark were subsequently reunited with their old partner Nack and hired by Dr. Eggman to track down the Chaos Emeralds during the Shattered World Crisis. Nack's scanner led the trio to the Pumpkin Hill Zone, where they ran into Knuckles the Echidna and the Chaotix. Each group assumed that the other possessed the Emerald they were all seeking, leading to a brief battle. However, Bean helped them all recognize that neither side had the Emerald, since both teams had entered battle on the assumption that the other had it. Bean and his teammates subsequently departed to continue their search elsewhere.

The Hooligan's search led them to the underground Aquatic Mine Zone, where they found the Chaotix and Knuckles again, this time with Chip and the Chaos Emerald in tow. Another skirmish ensued, but was interrupted by the appearance of the Dark Gaia Titan. Nack decided to take advantage of the distraction, and Bean proved all too happy to take possession of his new "shiny" and use his bombs to block most of the exits to the cavern they were fighting in. The criminal trio then departed through the final shaft, with Bean detonating it behind them and leaving the heroes trapped underground with the Titan and rising waters. However, the Chaotix managed to escape and catch up with the Hooligans, and were followed by the Titan. Charmy Bee managed to turn Bean against the monster by telling him that it had insulted his bombs, causing the enraged duck to bombard in it a flurry of explosions. However, the distraction allowed the Chaotix to claim the Emerald, rescue Chip, and scramble the Hooligans' Emerald radar. Forced to report back to Eggman regarding their failure, Bean and his teammates were assigned a new mission: take part in the Chaos Emerald Championship.

After being accepted into the tournament, which was organized by Breezie the Hedgehog, Bean and his teammates were contacted by Eggman and ordered to sabotage the Casino Park defenses in the event of their defeat. Upon learning of Team Fighters' entry into the tournament, Bean suggested moving immediately to the sabotage plan, but Nack refused, insisting that they would compete. Bean ended up facing Espio the Chameleon in the first round, and flustered the ninja with his nonsensical babbling and apparent idiocy. However, this proved to be a clever scheme on Bean's part to trick Espio into losing his temper, and the sole Chaotix member to compete in the tournament ended up falling out of the ring without Bean laying a finger on him. He and Nack both managed to advance, but Bark lost to Knuckles, prompting them to contact Eggman. The two were then pitted against each other, and Bean tormented his teammate with his usual zaniness before being ordered to give up. When Nack was eliminated as well, the trio prepared to carry out Eggman's orders to sabotage Casino Park's defenses.

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 is 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. 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. He has an obsession with shiny objects as well as great love for bombs and explosions of all kinds. In spite of all his crimes, Bean has shown a noble side, suggesting his bounty hunter career may simply be a case of being led down the wrong path.

Powers and abilities
Bean has the ability to summon black, round bombs from nowhere in a puff of purple smoke at will, though there is no telling where he gets them from. His explosives do not usually do much harm, though they are strong enough to knock someone 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.

Bark the Polarbear
Of his teammates, Bean is closer to Bark the Polarbear, the pair proving inseparable despite their opposing personalities.

Allies

 * Team Hooligans
 * Bark the Polar Bear
 * Nack the Weasel
 * Blackguard Pirates (formerly)

Enemies

 * Babylon Rogues
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Chaotix
 * Marine the Raccoon
 * Team Rose
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese
 * Sol Zone pirates

Trivia

 * 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 he and Bark stole Captain Metal's Sol Emerald, which Bean went crazy over.