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This article is about the Comic Series character. You may be looking for his TV Series counterpart or his other TV Series counterpart. For other pages with the same name, see: Ben


Don't worry, he's going to come back. I didn't hurt his brains.
―Ben to Andrea after he slaughtered Billy.[src]

Ben is a character and later an antagonist first encountered in Issue 2 of 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.

Pre-Apocalypse

Gainesville, Georgia

When Ben's parents, Allen and Donna, 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

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:

  • Billy (Alive)
  • Unnamed cat (Assumed)
  • At least one zombie

Relationships

Allen

Being Ben's father, Ben and Allen share a basic father-son bond. After Donna dies, Allen grows somewhat emotionally distant from Ben and Billy, often depressing them with his attitude. When Allen is dying, Ben shows great sadness at first. After Allen dies, however, Ben doesn't show much emotion, and is quick to accept Andrea and Dale as his parents.

Donna

The twins loved their mother, and when she died, they were seen crying alongside their father.

Billy

Don't worry, he's going to come back. I didn't hurt his brains.
―Ben to Andrea after killing Billy.[src]

Ben and Billy appeared to have a normal brotherly relationship. The two were usually always shown together. In later issues, Billy appeared to have grown fearful of his own brother, after witnessing him poking a dead cat, which Ben presumably killed. Billy is later killed by Ben, stating to Andrea that he'll come back, since he didn't "hurt his brains."

Andrea

Ben, at least, loved Andrea like she was his own mother, due to the fact that she adopted him after his parents' death. Although Andrea was harsh with Ben and Billy at times, they still liked her. When Ben killed Billy she argued against everyone else to keep him alive and was guilt ridden when he was shot.

Dale

Ben, along with Billy, were seen usually playing with Dale. Dale was more of an easy going parent whilst Ben and Billy were alive. When Dale hears about Ben killing his brother, he is seen to be terrified for Ben's life, arguing against the entire group to keep him alive. After Ben's death, Dale feels nothing but anger and wants to find out who killed Ben. Dale seems to think of Ben as his own son.

Carl Grimes

Are you scared of me?
―Ben, shortly before Carl executes him.[src]

Ben was Carl's friend, which Carl himself noted. Carl had to kill him, when he seemed dangerous to everyone else. Although Carl acts cold about what he did, it is revealed later on that he's still haunted by what happened and cries at night over it. He remembers that when he came in, Ben was more afraid of not having him as a playmate, showing his lack of understanding. He admitted he liked Ben and that he was his friend, but did what he had to do. Even after being shot in the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Carl is haunted by what he did in his dreams despite not actually remembering what he did himself.

Appearances

Issues 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
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

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.

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