Benjamin "Ben" Eldridge

Benjamin Eldridge, also known as Ben, is a cynical, world-weary ghoul and one of the three main characters in the ''Fallout: Nuka Break. ''He is portrayed by Texas-based actor Aaron Giles.

Background
Ben was born sometime in the 20th century, most likely in the 2050's, but most of his past remains unrevealed. In the late 2060's, Ben was among the lucky few to successfully register (and be accepted) into one of Vault-Tec's Vaults. His Vault was Vault 7, located somewhere near California. In the years leading up to the Great War, Ben fell in love with and subsequently married a nurse named Clem. Despite Vault-Tec's claims of the Vaults being shelters for families, Clem was denied access to Vault 7 when the couple arrived to be admitted. Enraged at the callousness of the facility staff, Ben grappled with and subsequently shot one of the guards, preventing his family's access. Now unable to enter due to his clothes being covered in blood, Ben sent Clem into the vault in his place and retreated into the coming firestorm to die.

His actions would save hundreds of people, as Clem's medical knowledge overcame Vault 7's social experiment (which was to see how long Vault 7 would last without medical staff) and allowed the vault to thrive. Clem would later change the story of how she entered the vault and Ben would be revered as a hero.

In the years following the Great War and his ghoulification, Ben wandered the wastes trying to squeeze out an existence using any means necessary. Most of his history between the Great War and the events of Nuka Break has never been revealed. In the late 2250's through at least 2263, he was present in New Reno working at The Stables, where he worked with a fellow ghoul named Larry. He got tired of pushing Jet and left New Reno in the late 2260's, heading south toward New Vegas.

In the early 2270's, Ben happened across Twig consuming large amounts of provisions in a Super-Duper Mart somewhere in the Mojave Wasteland. Fresh out of Vault 10, Twig was wholly unprepared for his encounter with Ben and he quickly became fascinated by the first ghoul he'd ever seen. Despite Ben's best efforts to rid himself of Twig, who followed him asking inane questions, the pair would eventually form a tepid friendship. Ben would often protect the inept Twig, and would teach him the ways of survival.

After a time of traveling, the pair would eventually mount the rescue of Scarlett at Twig's insistence. Though the rescue initially failed, Scarlett would free herself with Ben and Twig's help and the trio set out across the Wastes.

Nuka Break
In the midst of a long trek to parts unknown, Ben tricks Twig into drinking irradiated water before launching into a mocking diatribe about the apparently fragile nature of humans. Later that same day, Ben and the others encounter a traveling merchant who tricks them into purchasing ammunition which they'd all wasted shooting at him. This encounter leads to Ben telling Twig that he's never seen a man addicted to a soft drink, prompting Twig to reveal the nature of his vault and his physique. Later still, the group encounters mercenaries hired by Leon. Ben attempts to use a sniper rifle to pick the mercenaries off, but quickly gives up and waits to join whomever wins the battle. When Twig and Scarlett emerge victorious, Ben practically teleports to the corpses to loot them.

Some months later, Ben misinterprets the trio's new job as couriers and switches their packages with useless junk. This trick works only a few times before they are run out of Goodsprings by Chet and subsequently lose their jobs. To avoid being killed by an enraged Scarlett, Ben reveals the location of a town where they can find semi-legitimate work. En route to the town, they are attacked by yet more of Leon's mercenaries. Ben finds a wanted poster of Scarlett on one of the mercenaries, revealing his involvement in the repeated attacks. Ben expresses joy at the increased number of caps offered for her capture, earning him a left cross across the face.

Entering the town of Eastwood, Ben diffuses a stand-off with the mayor, Touch Connors, and sets off to find his contact. This contact turns out to be Larry, who offers "a real job" to the trio for significant caps. The job turns out to be an ambush by Larry and Leon's men, but the trio escapes after a fierce gun battle. Scarlett manages to catch Larry directly following, but Ben convinces her to spare his life to square away his debt. As the trio returns to Eastwood, they are confronted by an NCR Veteran Ranger who claims to be protecting Ben. The Ranger reveals that he knows Ben's full name, prompting a brief hand-to-hand fight, which Ben loses. Before the Ranger can talk to Ben, Eastwood is destroyed by a nuclear explosion.

Forced to follow the Ranger north into the mountains to seek shelter, Ben suddenly attacks Twig and Scarlett after several minutes of insane rambling. He runs off, and the Ranger explains that Ben is turning feral after so many years of living as a ghoul. While the Ranger goes to talk to Ben, Twig and Scarlett are attacked by Leon's men. When Ben and the Ranger return, the pair is nowhere in sight. Frustrated, Ben tells the Ranger that he is through trying to protect them and exclaims that he is done chasing after them, ending their long friendship. The Ranger goads Ben into mindlessly attacking him and subdues him.

The Ranger carries Ben to one of his stashes, but they are attacked by an old enemy of the Ranger. The Ranger is seriously wounded in the encounter, forcing Ben to treat him. While trying to help, Ben finds the Ranger in possession of an old photo album containing pictures of him and his wife. He forces the Ranger to explain himself before he helps him, and the Ranger reveals that he is James Eldridge, a descendent of Ben. Later that night, James tells Ben that Clem was pregnant at the time of her entry into the vault and that he was considered a hero within Vault 7.

Ben and the Ranger encounter a group of bandits, one of whom Ben forces into revealing the location of a nearby settlement, the Lockre. When Ben goes to kill the bandit, whom he'd promised to release, James stops him and exclaims that Ben's word should mean everything. Ben, tired of James' hero worship, angrily tells James of the real events that day in front of Vault 7 and exclaims he doesn't regret killing the guard. When they finally reach the Lockre, they encounter Twig, who explains the nature of Leon's prophecy and where he'll be taking Scarlett. Ben and James set out to rescue her, and James finally tells Ben of Vault 7's social experiment and how his sacrifice saved thousands.

Ben and James manage to find Scarlett, Larry, and another slave named Bonnie somewhere nearby, and Ben successfully manages to use one of Larry's slave collars to kill Daniels and free them. As they escape, Ben implores James to get them all back to the Lockre while thrusting his ring into James' hands. He then returns to face Leon by himself, attacking his men in a feral rage. Though he kills three of Leon's men with his bare hands, Leon runs him through with a sword. With Scarlett and the others looking on, Ben dies by Leon's hand(R.I.P),and they all manage to escape to the Lockre.

Appearance
Ben is a male ghoul, formerly a Caucasian human, with decayed skin and medium-length brown hair. Whether his hair is real or a wig has never been revealed. His eyes, likely blue before the War, are fogged with severe cataracts, leading to diminished eyesight. He wears a red button-down shirt, a black vest, black biker gloves, black jeans, and brown boots. A gold ring on a ball-link chain is perpetually around his neck. He is tall, appearing over six feet and the tallest of the trio, with a medium build.

Personality
Ben is incredibly cynical and world-weary, choosing to do whatever he must to survive with little regard for the feelings of others. His companions excluded, he dislikes very nearly everyone he comes in contact with and lies, cheats, and steals to get by. Out of the three, he is the least morally sound and is not above deception and double-crossing.

As the series progresses, Ben slowly learns morality at the expense of his own sanity. He begins turning feral, losing his faculties and becoming violently insane. At the time of his death, he was well on his way to becoming completely feral and sent his new family to safety before sacrificing himself.



Appearances

 * Fallout: Nuka Break

Quotes

 * "Woo! Aw, free shit! Aw, yeah!"
 * "I can't see shit. Ah, screw it, I'll just join whoever survives."
 * "Hey, statistically two-thirds of us survive. I like those odds."
 * "You have no clue who I am! You have a name: Ben Eldridge. That hasn't meant anything in over two hundred years. It's over! I'm done! Go away!"
 * "You know the best part about that, Jimmy? I don't regret a God damned thing!"
 * "This isn't up for debate, James! Get out of here!"
 * "I'm not a ghoul."

Trivia

 * His weapon of choice is a hunting shotgun.
 * Ben is a smoker.
 * Ben may have a high stealth stat, as he was able to sneak up behind Larry without anyone noticing. Pew pew
 * He is also good at lying “I’m not a ghoul”