Dog Names Meaning Beast

Throughout history, humankind has understood the world around us through mythology, and each culture has made its own history through its unique perception, including origin stories, reason, ethics and all. Some cultures worship the sun and sky, while others pray to the ocean. Some believe in one god and some believe in numerous deities. But nearly all cultures share a common belief in a greater force, whether it is good, evil or somewhere in between. Because of it, we’ve developed fantastical creatures that provide us reason and meaning for the mysteries of the world, whether they’re as simple as a child’s imagination or the work of a great author. 

Largely because of our seemingly eternal relationship with them, dogs or their derivatives are common in myths from all over the world. The Greeks had Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld. The folklore of the British Isles has the Barghest and Black Shuck, giant black dogs with monstrous teeth and claws. Korean mythology has the Bul-Gae, firedogs who influenced the celestial bodies.

In modern American culture, however, one of the most famous dogs to reach myth-like status came from the 90s classic baseball flick, The Sandlot, and to its characters, was simply known as “The Beast”. 

Like most mythological origins, The Beast was a product of failed reason and misunderstanding, his story snowballing over the years until it reached a critical mass of reputation. Also like many myths, The Beast rarely showed itself, its actions and the subsequent reverence forming much more of its identity than truth. For most of the movie, The Beast is mostly mysterious, only popping his giant head up to snatch an errant baseball or paw a ball away from anyone attempting to reach into its domain. The Beast even has his own origin story, told in campfire fashion to cement the intensity of its lore. And despite confirming some reality of his size and ferocity with the destruction of an erector set and a high-speed chase through town, his true self isn’t seen until the dog’s owner, a legend in his own right, finally sits the main character down and introduces The Beast, perfectly named Hercules after the mythological Greek hero, as merely an excitable but gentle soul, far removed from the stories created around him, much like science and experience has re-shaped the way people have gained understanding for the world around them.