Ben Paul (Video Game)

"I never made it home. They could be alive, or dead, or walkers or WORSE, and I DON'T KNOW, SO GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!"

- Ben standing up to Kenny.

Ben Paul was an original character in The Walking Dead Video Game. He is first seen in "Starved For Help" with a group consisting of his teacher, as well as a fellow student. Ben is the one who caused the chain reaction of events that occur in "Long Road Ahead" and "Around Every Corner".

Rural Georgia
Ben had a younger sister and was a high school student who played in the varsity band in his native town of Stone Mountain. He was traveling with the band on the way to the football playoffs when the outbreak occurred. They took shelter in the school gym for a while, but departed after an undetermined period of time. It was there that he learned that to become a walker you don't need to be bitten. He discovered this when one of the cheerleaders committed suicide through an overdose, reanimating soon afterwards. It is presumed he stayed with the group until bandits (possibly from the Save Lots) raided their camp. He soon fled with Travis and David Parker into the woods. During a conversation, Ben revealed that he used to work on a goat farm during the summers and it was revealed that Ben didn't know what happened to his parents and his sister.

"Episode 2: Starved for Help"
Ben is first seen in the woods with his friend Travis and his band teacher David. David's leg is caught in a bear-trap. Based on Lee's decision, either David will be left to be eaten by the walkers or David will be freed but Travis will get distracted and attacked by walkers who eat him alive.

Ben is present later on when David or Travis dies from blood loss and becomes a zombie. He tells the survivors that they do not need to be bitten to turn, revealing that everyone is infected. He is also seen accompanying Lee, Mark, and Doug/Carley after meeting the St. John brothers, Andrew and Danny. After discovering some bandits, they arrive at the St. John family dairy where they meet Brenda St. John. Ben, along with Carley/Doug, head back to the Motor Inn to tell the others about the dairy and stay behind to watch the motor inn while they are gone. Ben appears later on with Doug/Carley, but only after Lee, Kenny, Lilly, and Clementine escape the meat locker. Lee informs them of the situation before they abandon the dairy when it becomes overrun by walkers. Ben partakes in looting an abandoned car they find before the end of the episode, stating that they now they have plenty of food.

"Episode 3: Long Road Ahead"
At the start of the episode, Ben is shown to be on lookout duty while Kenny and Lee were scavenging supplies in Macon. When questioned, he denies breaking the flashlight and stealing supplies. Later, he is captured along with the others by the bandits but manages to escape with the rest in the RV.

Partway through the journey, Lilly questions Doug/Carley and Ben about being a traitor and manages to pull them outside while Kenny clearing a walker from under the RV. Doug/Carley and Lilly get into a heated argument while Lilly berates Ben and threatens both him and Doug/Carley repeatedly. The following action depends on Lee's decision to save between Doug or Carley in Episode 1. If the Lee saved Carley, Ben witnesses Lilly shoot her in the head while the group is distracted. If Lee saved Doug, Lilly will try to shoot Ben, but will accidentally shoot Doug instead. Afterwards, Ben heads back into the RV.

Ben is noticeably depressed for the rest of the episode. When the survivors reach the train wreck, Ben helps Lee search them and ends up starting the brakes by pushing a flashing button that gets Lee on track to starting up the train. Later he is seen sitting with Clementine, Chuck, Katjaa, and Duck and innocently eating candy given to him by Chuck. Ben remains leaning over the railing in between the two carriages, noticeably depressed, and eventually reveals to Lee that he was the one who made the deal with the bandits for food in exchange for protection that eventually led to the deaths of Doug/Carley, Katjaa, and Duck and led to Lilly snapping and leaving/being kicked out. He is evidently remorseful. Depending on Lee's decision, Lee tells him to keep it to himself no matter what or that Lee is tempted to kill Ben for his choice.

"Episode 4: Around Every Corner"
Ben is walking the streets towards water with the rest of the group. When walkers attack the group on the street, he is cornered with Clementine. Lee yells at Ben to help her, but he runs off instead. In the Crawford House, Ben tells Lee that he has gotten to know Kenny better and that he wants him to know that he is responsible for Katjaa and Duck's deaths. Lee can then either tell Ben that this is a good or bad idea. Zombies later attempt to break into the classroom at Crawford. Ben, saying that he cannot live with the blood on his hands, though Lee may be able to. Ben then admits that it was his fault that Katjaa and Duck are dead. Kenny goes ballistic and rushes at Ben out of rage but is held back by Lee and Vernon. Lee can either defend Ben, be against him, or make the group vote if they want Ben to stay with the group. They say "no", but if Clementine comes to the Crawford and asks if she has a vote, Lee can respond "yes" or "no". If he says "yes", Clementine will reveal that she was friends with Ben, and friends don't leave friends behind. This will sway Christa and possibly Lee's opinion on the situation. Brie then asks if she will have a say. The door is then bashed opened by the group of walkers which leads to her being devoured. The group then run up the stairs to the top of the bell tower. While the group is escaping through the window in the bell tower, Ben is grabbed by a walker hanging on the bell. After Lee shoots the walker, they lose their balance and drop down, Lee is still in time to grab his arm. Ben asks Lee to let him go, so he and the others can escape. Lee will have the option to save him or let him go.

Leave/Drop Ben (Dead)
If Lee lets him go, he falls down the bell tower and breaks his legs. Lee escapes via ladder out of the Bell Tower. You then witness Ben screaming and getting devoured by walkers. Deciding not to act upon the situation will result in Ben falling anyways, described as above.

Save Ben (Alive)
Saving him results in him going down the ladder with Lee, albeit noticeably depressed at missing his opportunity to die/redeem himself. If Lee saved Ben, he is seen with Christa, Omid, and Kenny after Lee got bitten. If Ben joins Lee in searching for Clementine, Ben promises that he will prove himself to Lee.

"Episode 5: No Time Left"
Ben will continue to appear in this episode if Lee saved him in Episode 4. If Lee did save Ben, then after Lee and anyone that was with him return to the mansion, then Kenny will start to get angry with Ben. After Kenny says that Lee should have left Ben in Crawford, Ben tells Kenny off, exclaiming that he is sorry for what he has caused, but says that Kenny was lucky that he had his family to lose, and that he doesn't even know if his family are alive or dead, or worse.

After breaking through the wall in the attic of the mansion, the group will proceed to jump across a small balcony. It breaks as Ben tries to jump across, and he falls. When Kenny and Lee go down to the alleyway to rescue him, Ben says he's okay, but when removing objects on top of him, it is revealed the balcony arm impaled Ben in the stomach. When walkers see the three of them, Kenny pushes Lee away into a gate to protect him, telling Lee to find Clementine. As walkers start to attack, Kenny uses his last bullet to put Ben out of his misery, and then gets himself eaten alive as Lee watches.

Killed By
As the survivors are escaping from Crawford, a loud bell rings behind Ben. He covers his ears, and unfortunately gets grabbed by the zombified C. Oberson who had been hung from the bell. Lee then readies his shotgun and aims at Oberson's head and shoots. If Lee doesn't shoot Oberson then Ben falls to his death.
 * Crawford Oberson (Zombified, Determinant)
 * Lee Everett (Caused, Determinant)
 * Zombies (Determinant)

If Lee lets go of Ben, Lee watches Ben fall and break his legs, causing the nearby walkers to attack and devour him alive.

Killed By

 * Kenny (Out of Mercy)

If Ben is saved by Lee in Episode 4, he will fall off a loose balcony in an alleyway in Savannah. When Lee and Kenny try to help Ben, they discover that a rung has impaled his stomach. Ben's screams attract walkers and they get trapped. Kenny saves Lee by locking him behind a gate and then uses his last round to shoot Ben in the head out of mercy, as it was Ben's worst fear to be torn apart by walkers. Kenny couldn't leave him which implies that he finally had forgiven him for his actions.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Ben has killed:
 * Carley/Doug (Indirectly Caused)
 * Duck (Indirectly Caused)
 * Katjaa (Indirectly Caused)
 * Brie (Indirectly Caused)
 * Tess (Indirectly Caused)


 * At least two to possibly numerous counts of zombies.

Non-Canon Deaths
If Lee fails to complete certain tasks, it is possible for Ben to be killed. These deaths are considered non-canon and result in a game over. Lee will then re-spawn and be allowed to try again. Below is a pictorial list of when Ben can die.

"Episode 3: Long Road Ahead"

Carley
Carley told Lee she thought he made the right decision bringing Ben and his group back to the motor inn. Carley seemed to have trusted Ben, as she brought him back with her to the motor inn and trusted him to help her guard it while everyone was gone. In episode 3, if Lee tells Ben his secret, Carley will doubt Ben was able to understand the information that was given to him. After the bandit attack, Lilly begins to question both Carley and Ben, accusing them of giving supplies to the Save-Lot Bandits. The two will defend one another, showing they have become friends. Carley will aggresively defend Ben against Lilly's accusations and after Carley is shot by Lilly, Ben is shocked and extremely guilt-ridden, as he was the one truly giving the bandits supplies. The guilt over Carley's death, along with Katjaa's and Duck's, makes Ben reveal to Lee that he was the one who gave the bandits supplies.

Lee Everett
Lee has his doubts about Ben but accepts him as a part of the group. However, this relationship becomes very strained in "Around Every Corner", to the point where Lee can kill Ben, due to his cowardice. If Lee chooses to save Ben, the relationship can become salvageable; however, there is a chance it won't. Also, Lee gets the option to verbally threaten Ben in a horrifying manner on the train on Long Road Ahead, when Ben reveals his secret about the bandits. Based on experiences from Episode 2 onward, Ben can decide whether or not to join Lee to save Clementine, after Lee is bitten.

If Ben is saved, he is impaled on the rung of the balcony after it comes lose when Kenny jumps across. Lee can either choose to leave Ben with Kenny, or exclaim he's not going anywhere, causing Kenny to forcefully shove him out into a gate. After Ben's death, Lee is extremely depressed over Ben, saying he didn't deserve any of it, and in his words.: "God, poor fucking kid."

Kenny
Kenny and Ben have a slow developing relationship because Kenny doesn't trust him to be on watch and thinks he panics too much. But he does trust him to look after Kenny Jr. while he is out scouting for supplies or fixing the RV. Kenny is knowledgeable of Ben's dealings with the bandits. However, he found out what Ben did, and Kenny's initial reaction was to kill him, ultimately leading to the end of their friendship.

Eventually, Ben stands up for himself after Kenny's constant threats, telling him that he is still incredibly sorry for what happened to Kenny's family and never meant to hurt them. He goes on to state that he himself never even saw his family after the outbreak and Kenny at least had the time to say goodbye and the knowledge of what happened to them. This causes Kenny to finally understand where Ben was coming from and begins to pity him, eventually admitting to Lee that he was glad Lee saved his life in the end after hearing about Ben's wish to die. Kenny would eventually give his life to protect Ben and use his last bullet to make sure Ben doesn't get eaten and reanimated by the Walkers.

Trivia

 * Ben is the one to tell Lee and others that reanimating as a zombie doesn't just require a bite; everyone is infected with the virus.
 * This is similar to the TV Series where Dr. Edwin Jenner tells Rick Grimes the same thing.
 * Lee can choose to give one of the pieces of food to Ben, although it is said that it is an unpopular choice with the group. This is also shown in Episode 2, "Starved for Help", among players as Lee has to decide who to give food to. 19% of players choose to feed Ben.
 * Ben was typically treated as a child by many of the survivors who refer to him as a kid.
 * Ben was often relegated to babysitting duty.
 * Ben's greatest fear was being eaten alive, this fear is realized if he dies in Episode 4.
 * Ben was the only named character who first appeared in Episode 2 that appeared in more than one episode of the video game.
 * When you talk to Ben on top of the train after you meet Omid and Christa, he will say that if walkers get a hold of him, and he knows he can't make it, he'll kill himself.
 * If Lee fails to convince Kenny to stop the train, Kenny forcibly shuts Lee out of the compartment. Lee returns to the rest of the group in the train car, who have been killed off screen by a reanimated Duck. Ben's corpse is the only one shown. This is considered a game failure and spawns a reload.
 * In Episode 2, Ben's hood is white while in Episode 3 and onward it is shown to be red.
 * Ben has indirectly caused the most deaths in The Walking Dead: The Game (Five in one play through as either Carley or Doug will be there depending on who Lee saved in Episode 1).
 * Ben's cowardice has caused the biggest impact on Lee's group, considering that he runs away when things turn bad, and hides information that would endanger/save the group.
 * If Ben is saved, Lee can guilt him into going to save/rescue Clementine, If Lee leaves the decision up to Ben then Ben's decision will depend on his relationship with Lee, if Lee has not shown him much faith and support in the past then Ben will decide to stay behind, however if Lee has always tried to support and defend Ben then he will willingly accompany Lee.
 * Ben was the only member of the group being unable to cut Lee's arm on his own (if the player decided to go with him only), having Lee to do it instead. Ben will pass out at the beginning of the procedure.
 * Ben is considered to be an inept combatant.
 * In Episode 5, if told to "Kill anything that gets in!", he will respond with "You know you're talking to ME, right?".
 * When Lee drops his Glock, Ben hands it straight back to him, telling him "I'm not good with these".
 * However, in early development he could use a rifle (as seen in the in-game trailer). His character and personality were changed after a while, though, and eventually became what he was in the game.
 * Ben, along with Lee, Kenny, and Clementine, survived longest of the Macon group. Everyone except Ben appeared in every episode; the only episode Ben didn't appear was "Episode 1: A New Day".
 * According to unused audio clips, Ben witnessed a lot of traumatic events. One of them being his classmates being raped to death by bandits while he was forced to watch.
 * Ben is the seventh character with multiple ways to die, the first two being Carley and Doug, the third and fourth being his classmate Travis and teacher David Parker, the fifth being Andrew St. John, and the sixth being Fivel.
 * Ben can either fall to his death in the bell tower, to get devoured by walkers moments later, or be impaled on a balcony railing only to be mercifully shot by Kenny.
 * Interestingly, both of his deaths involve falling from a high area, resulting in a non-fatal impact, later to be killed by something else.
 * Ben was named #7 in Game Informers top 10 dorks of 2012.