Chris Claremont first teased the concept of the Demon Bear in New Mutants Vol. 1 #3, but did not fully appear until issue #18. The villain once again appeared in X-Force Vol. 3 #8. The last appearance of the Demon Bear was in Uncanny X-Force Vol. 2 #15 when Psylocke tames the beast.
An unknown villain created the Demon Bear by demonically mutating William and Peg Lonestar. The Demon Bear haunted the dreams of their daughter Danielle Moonstar, claiming he had killed her parents and would eventually come and kill her. Increasingly troubled by her dreams of the Demon Bear, Moonstar ran various Danger Room scenarios against bears, and then confronted the demon alone; he mauled her and severely damaged her spine. The New Mutants rushed her to the Mid-County Medical Center. The Demon Bear infiltrated the hospital, transported the team to the Badlands, and turned nurse Sharon Friedlander and officer Tom Corsi into demonic Native American warriors under his control. They later reverted to normal humans, but still kept the appearance of Native Americans. Here the New Mutants fought and defeated the Demon Bear, disrupting him with Magik'sSoulsword. Danielle's parents leapt from his body, returning them to normal. The Demon Bear reappeared to battleWarpath, who was on his way to visit his brother's grave. Warpath fought the bear and would have been killed were it not for the intervention of Ghost Rider, who offered his assistance against the demon. They found out that it is actually the corrupted form of the Apaches' animal spirits, who had been driven mad by Eli Bard, who used a dagger full of black magic to do so. The Demon Bear later appears in possession of Bishop, before being driven out by Psylocke. Once Bishop is freed, Psylocke takes on the now docile bear as a companion.
Powers and abilities
The Demon Bear draws power from negative human emotion. It is capable of teleportation, immense strength, transformation, and corruption of human souls.
In other media
In November 2016, it was announced that Demon Bear will be a major antagonist in The New Mutants, which will be a horror film where the titularmutants are being held at a facility against their will.
