| This article is about the Comic Series character. You may be looking for his TV Series counterparts. For other pages with the same name, see: Ben |
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Ben is a survivor of the outbreak and later an antagonist in Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He is Allen and Donna's son and the twin brother of Billy. Following his parent's deaths, Ben is unofficially adopted by Dale and Andrea. He served as the secondary antagonist of Volume 11: Fear The Hunters.
Overview[]
At first, Ben seemed like a regular child, who would often play with his brother Billy, Carl, and Sophia. As time goes by, however, he starts exhibiting signs of psychopathy. The first clue is Ben's seeming indifference to the death of his father, and quick acceptance of Andrea and Dale as his parents. After the fall of the prison, Dale finds a house with a barn, where he, Andrea, and the twins take shelter while Rick, Carl, and Abraham are away. It is heavily implied that Ben killed one of the cats from the barn, and showed no emotion, only warning his brother not to tell Dale. He ultimately ends up stabbing his brother to death, thinking that he would "come back". Ben dies unaware that anything he did was wrong due to his age and the environment he was surrounded with.
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Gainesville, Georgia[]
Ben and his twin brother Billy were born in 1999 to Donna and Allen. When the outbreak began, Ben's parents heard that a safe-zone is being established in Atlanta city, the family traveled for Atlanta. However they arrived late and found that the city had become overrun with zombies. They soon bumped into Dale and the Atlanta Survivor Camp, where they began to live in hope that the military would soon rescue them.
Post-Apocalypse[]
The Prison[]
Ben has a hard time coming to terms with the new zombie-infested world. Although affected by the death of his mother Donna, Ben appeared, on the surface, to be wholly disinterested. Once the survivors settled down in the prison, Ben and Billy lost their father, Allen, to a lurker attack during the early exploration of the prison facilities. They are subsequently adopted by Dale and Andrea. Seemingly unsurprised and unaffected by the death of their father, the twins thereafter refer to Dale and Andrea as their parents, rarely referencing their biological parents again.
After Rick, Glenn, and Michonne returned from Woodbury, the group was on high alert for the Governor's eventual retaliation. Dale and Andrea came to an agreement to abandon the prison should it ever become compromised. Initially failing to convince most of the remaining survivors to abandon their new home, after The Governor's first attack on the compound they are able to convince Glenn and Maggie, with Sophia in tow, to escape with them and the twins.
On the Road[]
Over time, Ben begins to display the early warning signs of a psychopath. He is often seen in the background playing with the other children, but, when examined closely, it becomes apparent that he is teasing or rough-housing with them. At one point, Billy discovers Ben poking the carcass of a cat. It is implied by Dale's dialogue that he had likely tortured and killed it. He forces Billy to remain silent about the incident.
Days later, Ben brutally slaughters Billy, convinced that no matter what happens, people will always come back after they die. After locking him away, the group debates on killing Ben to protect themselves, but, takes no immediate action. Later that night, Carl sneaks into the van where Ben is locked up, and executes him. He is buried alongside his brother.
Death[]
- Killed By
- Carl Grimes (Off-Panel)
After realizing that no one is safe around Ben due to his instability and psychopathic traits, the group locks him up on a van while they debate what to do the next morning.
At night, Carl sneaks into the van, waking a confused Ben up, who believes Carl is there to play with him. Carl lifts his gun and fires a fatal shot into Ben's head, killing him.
Killed Victims[]
This list shows the victims Ben has killed:
Relationships[]
For a more in-depth look at Ben's relationships, read here: Ben (Comic Series)/Relationships
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Appearances[]
Comic SeriesVolume 1: Days Gone ByeVolume 2: Miles Behind Us
Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars
Volume 4: The Heart's DesireVolume 5: The Best DefenseVolume 6: This Sorrowful Life
Volume 7: The Calm BeforeVolume 8: Made To Suffer
Volume 9: Here We RemainVolume 10: What We BecomeVolume 11: Fear The Hunters |
| Issues | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
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| Book One | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | ✔ | ✔ | 👁 | 👁 | |||
| Book Two | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | ✔ | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | ✔ | 👁 | ||
| Book Three | ✔ | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | |||||||||
| Book Four | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | |||||||||
| Book Five | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | 👁 | ✔ | |||||||
| Book Six | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Book Seven | |||||||||||||
| Book Eight | |||||||||||||
| Book Nine | |||||||||||||
| Book Ten | |||||||||||||
| Book Eleven | |||||||||||||
| Book Twelve | |||||||||||||
| Book Thirteen | |||||||||||||
| Book Fourteen | |||||||||||||
| Book Fifteen | |||||||||||||
| Book Sixteen |
| ✔ | Appears | ✔ | Voice is heard |
| 👁 | Appears with no lines | ✔ | Appears in a flashback |
| ✔ | Appears as a walker | 🖼 | Appears in a photograph/video |
| ✔ | Appears as a corpse | ✔ | Appears in a hallucination/dream |
Gallery[]
- For more images of Ben, please visit Ben (Comic Series)/Gallery.
Trivia[]
- Ben and Carl are the only children in the Comic Series who have killed humans. Ben himself is the youngest character to ever kill someone in the series.
- Being only 5 years old at the time of his death, Ben is the youngest antagonist in the series.
- He is also the only antagonist in his family.
- Ben and Billy were the first twins in the Comic Series, the second pair being the Greene twins.
- Ben was born in 1999 since the outbreak started in 2003.
- It is said in the script book that Ben and Billy are 4 years old.
- In the Letter Hacks for Issue 165, Robert Kirkman revealed Andrea is aware that Carl killed Ben.
- In Issue 169, Carl reveals that he told Andrea he killed Ben, shortly after the war with the Saviors.
- Ben is one of ten kids/teens in The Walking Dead franchise to later become an antagonist, the others being Lizzie Samuels, Gill, Ron Anderson, Christopher Manawa, Marlon, Minerva, Gage, Dakota, and Mason Beale.
- Ben is the only Comic Series character to have more than one counterpart in the TV Series.