Benjamin Pan

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**“**  *I may be very confused, but I still know for a fact that there is something to look forward to. Destiny’s sitting on my head.*  **”**
— *Depressed*
**Benjamin Pan** is a participant of the *First Real Life Killing Game* featured in Danganronpa Murder Fabrication. His title is **Ultimate Fortune Teller**.

## Appearance

Benjamin is a tall 19 years-old man with long dark purple hair and purple eyes. He wears a yellow t-shirt on top of which is "somehow" holding on a bare shoulder purple sweater, which he claims to be his older outfit that he can't stand anymore. With it he wears very dark purple trousers and thick black boots with yellow soles.

As he's often seen slouching, one could easily assume he's unenthusiastic, but his tone and attitude reveal that he doesn't lack energy.

It is also revealed during the second trial that Benjamin had suffered burns on his right hand, which he hid with foundation.

## Personality

Benjamin is known to complain or whine easily, but he first appears to be quite calm and mostly bored. He however quickly reveals himself to be overly enthusiastic about the things he hates, such as the outfit he claims to be stuck with. Later on, he reveals himself to have a liking for over-the-top, anime-protagonist-like lines and poses as well, often randomly switching to an exaggerated attitude in the middle of an otherwise lowkey conversation. For this reason, Lois seems to have dubbed him a *chuunibyou*.

According to Ciel, Benjamin "worries about others in his own way". He is indeed often seen offering his help or support to whoever.

Benjamin is also revealed to be cunning, having come up with a complex plan with a lot of preparation. He is also believed to have heavily relied on his talent.

Due to his unexplained plan to make Andi kill him and win the following trial, there is a facet of Benjamin's personality and wishes that is left unknown. Some of his claims while he was alive could retroactively be seen as contradictory, as he tried to convince Neo not to die only to later cause his own death and supposedly attempt to make the killer win the trial.

## Talent

Benjamin is the *Ultimate Fortune Teller*. As such, he is said to be an entertainer with amazing intuition.

He himself mentions being an entertainer. He notably practices palm-reading (for example reading Akiro Lynn's palms at his request), but also offers, "as the Ultimate Fortune Teller", to read *through* his clients by staring into their eyes. He believes that a person's palms can reveal their past and the beliefs they hold in the future, and mentions that the grooves and lines in one's palms evolve with time. By reading *through* people, he believes that he can get a more accurate and up-to-date idea of what their brain suggests them.

He appears to be aware of some people's discomfort with Fortune Telling and believes that they should try doing it in order to lose the anxiety that it might happen to them.

His talent appears to have a much wider range however, as he showcases an ability to guess the near future, as well as general facts that should be unknown to him, under no specific conditions. He accidentally guesses that Akiro's bedroom door is unlocked, appears to have known in advance that something could happen to Keith Acker during the announcement of the first motive, and later saves Akiro from being crushed by a falling Kumakuma, mentioning that he did something "this time". He also seems to have fun with this ability, for example surprising Neo by guessing that Ciel Stanley would be coming in the library, where they were, umprompted.

Benjamin heavily relies on his talent during Chapter 2, when he comes up with a plan leading to his own death. Most notably, he was able to tell Andi exactly where she should go and when in order to avoid being seen by anyone, even though most of the group was running around the building that she was in. Other elements of his plan, such as the Ultimate Detective falling into his trap, appear to have involved so much luck that only an ability to guess the future can explain why he would have relied on them.

It is unknown whether or not his future-reading ability played a role in his decision to create this plan.

## History

### Introduction

Benjamin seems to be of American and Chinese origins. He mentions having practiced Fortune Telling for the long time with the same outfit he wears, but having recently sewn a new, more professional-looking one, justifying his upset at finding himself stuck with the old one.

TW: suicide
While he was in class, Benjamin's instinct told him that something important was happening in the gymnasium, and that he should go. Although he didn't know what it was, the thought ate at him, and he eventually lied about needing to go to the bathroom in order to leave the class.
He headed to the gymnasium, inside of which he was met with a strange scent of essence, or alcohol, he couldn't tell exactly. Too curious, he went deeper in, until he reached the main room - what the students would specifically call the gymnasium, although the building was larger than that. He was first distracted by a small white kitten, running on the windows' railings... But eventually, his eyes fell on the middle of the room, where a horrific scene had been waiting for him.

A large stake had been installed in the middle of the gymnasium, with pointy, rusty nails coming out from it. It looked like an instrument of torture... And a man was willingly hitting his head against it, causing his own blood to go everywhere.
Horrified, Benjamin yelled out, telling him to stop, and got closer, at which point the man turned around, revealing himself as one of his teachers.
His face horribly mangled, the man looked surprised, and with difficulty, yelled at him to go away, but he was too paralysed to move. The man insisted, but Benjamin stayed in place, continuing to ask him to stop. The scent of alcohol was strong, like it didn't only come from him, but from the entire building.
Eventually, the teacher looked up and said that it was too late and, muttering about becoming a murderer, violently backed himself up into the nails. Benjamin yelled again, and finally found the courage to get closer, when suddenly, something inside the large room exploded.
He wasn't able to pinpoint where it came from. Fire started spreading everywhere at a terrifying speed. Benjamin realised that the walls and floors had been doused in a flammable liquid.
He hesitated. The man stood in place, having stuck himself against the nails. At first, Benjamin thought he was already dead, and if he had been, he would have immediately escaped, but he started to laugh. He laughed maniacally, but his student was too confused to understand what he was doing.
Hoping to help the teacher escape, he tried to get closer once more, when the flames reached the very center of the room. They suddenly travelled even faster than they already did, and quickly envelopped the man.
Benjamin yelled out again, but his voice was covered by the teacher's own screams. He started to burn to death, and the student realised it was too late to do anything. Finally, he thought about running away-
But the fire had gotten everywhere. He couldn't see any way to escape, and the horrible smell and the smoke made him feel dizzy. He realised he couldn't do anything...

But he also realised that he had miraculously not been touched by the flames yet, and couldn't pass up this chance to survive. Unable to rationalise, he decided to let his "luck" decide for him. He closed his eyes, and picked a random direction to run in.
The floor was terrifyingly slippery, but he didn't fall. It was horribly hot, so hot that it was unclear to him whether he had already started burning or not, and as a matter of fact, his lungs felt like they were burning as well. Unable to breathe, he ran, hoping to escape at some point, somehow.
And at some point, he opened his eyes, without knowing why, and found himself facing an exit. He was too dizzy to realise how long he'd ran, or where exactly in the room he was, but he instinctively knew to push the door, when suddenly, he heard... meowing.
He looked in the direction of the sound, and saw the kitten again. She had somehow found her way to the corner of the room, where she got stuck behind falling pieces of burning wood.
Without thinking, Benjamin ran towards her and with his right hand, reached for her through the flames.
Too dizzy to think, he ran away with the kitten in his arms, to eventually faint in a hallway that led to nowhere.

Somehow, the flames never reached this hallway, and Benjamin was found alive with the cat he would later name "Destiny", and a burnt hand. He remained in a coma for a week, after which he woke up with no memories of his life, let alone the incident.
The teacher turned out to have been feeling unstable for months, and begging for a leave without being able to get it. It would appear that he left notes explaining his plan to show that his "torture" had led to his death. There was, of course, no indication that he wanted one of the students to get involved. There must have been more elements that led him to cause this tragedy, but Benjamin's family refused to look into them. Upon realising that he had forgotten everything, they decided to omit his suicide entirely from their explanations.

Benjamin was never able to recall his life before the incident, and eventually gave up on it entirely. He found out his Fortune Telling abilities by coincidence and grew passionate about the concept and the culture that surrounds it.
He later found that for some reason, scented candles reassured him, although he had grown a deep fear of other sources of fire. He never remembered the teacher that died that day, and assumed that he must have come to the gymnasium to save Destiny.

### The First Real Life Killing Game

#### Chapter 1

Benjamin doesn't say much, and plays the part of a generally unenthusiastic, unhappy young man. It's however quickly revealed that is he to be asked what he thinks, he easily gets passionate about his opinion. Thing is, no one really asks for his opinion. For that reason, he doesn't say much about the Killing Game as it gets started.

He soons starts playing the role of messenger between Lois and the rest of the group. It is unexplained why Lois trusts him or how he found her. Everyone seems to completely trust him with this role.

Benjamin is the one to force Neo out of his room by somehow breaking in, bringing him food and convincing him to go see the others.

#### Chapter 3

After the new body discoveries, Neo experiences what he describes as a "memory", at the end of which he screams in Benjamin's voice. In it, he sees an individual slamming their body against a pole covered in nails. Flames surround [Neo], whispering the word "*murderer*" over and over. He asks himself: "Why am I here? What made me come here? Why didn’t I stay in class, with everyone else? I never meant to see this. I didn’t do anything to cause this."

## Bonus stories

### Canon

#### Depressed

*“Everything has lost meaning. Everything I do—everything that concerns me, that is. It all feels like a waste of time. Everything I do—I think “but why do I do it?” and not in a meaningful way. Let’s say you were building a sandcastle. You spent a lot of time on it, hours, however long it takes for the tide to rise… The tide is rising, and you’re continuously adding details to the sandcastle. The water is right there, but you continue to make the sandcastle better… Why? You can tell that it’s going to fall apart… Soon… Now. Actually, that’s probably not a good analogy. There are people who will continue to build the sandcastle anyway. Maybe I should be like that. Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t understand. It’s true. I think that’s the case. Well, either way… I started building a sandcastle, but now that I’m seeing the water rise… No… Now that I know the water will rise…”*

### Unknown canonicity

#### Unreality

*Could it be only in his mind that time feels as though it passes at the same time as it doesn’t? Sooner or later, a concrete thought forms in his mind; one similar to what had already been traversing him, but with distinct veritableness.*

## Relationships

### Neo Devin

Benjamin seems to be worried about Neo's well-being, as he often offers to help him, and guides him after he convinces him to get out of his room during Chapter 1. He doesn't try to hide his worry, which he presents almost like his job. Neo, on the other hand, despite his efforts to be friendly to everyone, often seems annoyed with Benjamin - but the latter doesn't seem to mind too much, as he claims it's probably just their "dynamic".

As time goes on, Benjamin does seem to get comfortable poking fun at Neo, especially in regards to his feelings towards Lois.

Neo is the person to see Benjamin die. Right before he dies, Benjamin messes with him one last time by revealing to him the wrong pronouns for his killer.

### Lois Davids

For unknown reasons, Benjamin became Lois' carrier pigeon pretty early on. As she refuses to interact with the others, he is the only person to know where she usually is and to allow her to keep up with the group. He doesn't appear to have much of an opinion on her, as he simply does as she asks, usually without complaining. He describes her as a "beautiful woman", but that is most likely in order to piss Neo, who appears to have a crush on her, off.

### Ciel Stanley

Ciel approached Benjamin during the first chapter while their friend Neo was locked-in. They are usually the one to approach or talk to him, but Benjamin appears to be comfortable with them, and their exchanges reveal that they had some time to get to know each other. Benjamin even mentions, jokingly, not wanting to share Ciel's friendship with Neo, who is usually "too mean" to him.

### Andi Evan

Andi and Benjamin are among the first people to interact. She points out that his outfit is ugly, which greatly upsets him, but only because he agrees.

## Quotes

* “Ugh... Don’t mind me... I’m just... Really bummed about this situation.”
* “No one knows Hope’s Peak Academy.”
* “You’re making me sad, make an effort.”
* “It’s okay. I guess it’s our dynamic. And I don’t really care that much, anyway.”
* “And as this story’s protagonist... I will discover the mastermind through their motives and methods, and put an end to the killings on my own!”
* “There’s always that one guy… Here’s your fortune: you already fell, so statistically speaking, it’s unlikely you’ll fall again today.”
* “I won’t say anything yet… But by thinking out of the box, I’m sure I’ll be able to try to get us out of here soon.”
* “I want to kiss his little forehead goodnight even though it’s not night.”
* “I would *love* to read your fortune.”
* “When my answer is confirmed… Just you see. I will have freed everyone here and you too, shall remember me.”
* “At least now that I read you, you’re not afraid that I might anymore.”
* “Take good care of Neo while I’m away, okay? After all, the two of us have *something* in common…”

* “… They remember everything, but I don’t. They told me a lot of stories about me, but, well. After a while, I complained I didn’t want to hear them anymore, so they stopped.”
* “All of this goes to say, if I wanted to start over I’d run into a fire and hope to get a new cat in the process.”
* “I had no memories or interests, so I found some new ones. I started to pretend I could read people’s fortunes since my incident for some spooky reason, but it turned out I actually could.”
* “Don't worry... In order to win... You have to lose... Lose now... Okay?” (last words)

## Trivia

* Benjamin's sprite was completely updated, though his design only changed slightly.
* In regards to Chapter 1's trial, Benjamin's hair is considered long and black, like Chris Vivas'.
* Benjamin's initial name was "Benjamin Rice". The name Rice was derived from the Welsh given name Rhys, meaning "enthusiasm", however, it was changed in order to better match his actual origins.
* Benjamin's newer last name, Pan, comes from the Chinese word 潘 *pān* (/pʰɑn/), meaning "water in which rice has been rinsed". As such, it is a reference to his initial name.
* A different version of Benjamin appears in this SynthV cover of ggrks.

	+ It is revealed after his death that Benjamin used both "he/him" and "they/them" pronouns.