Freedom Beast is a comic book superhero in the DC Universe.
A South African by birth, Freedom Beast was born Dominic Mndawe. His first appearance was in Animal Man #13. That issue takes place during the rule of apartheid in South Africa; Dominic was under arrest for taking pictures of violence by Afrikaner police. In a cell, Dominic was about to be killed by his captor when he was rescued by Animal Man and B'wana Beast (Mike Maxwell), Mndawe's predecessor and future mentor.
After the rescue, Maxwell gave Mndawe the elixir and helmet that confer powers on their owner. Those powers include mind control and the very unusual power of fusing two or more animals into one hybrid beast under the control of Freedom Beast.
Animal Man and Freedom Beast then prevented the massacre of a group of peaceful demonstrators by Afrikaner police. Animal Man returned to the USA, while Maxwell and Freedom Beast stayed in South Africa.