Benny

**Benny** is a contestant in the Center of the Universe OCT. A young yet ambitious creature, he is a failed experiment created to be the catalyst of an apocalypse. His one desire is to understand where he fits in the world and to be accepted by the humans he admires; even though they fear him.

His Wish is to become Human so he no longer has to worry about being a threat to his home and friends.

## **In the OCT**

### Entry Comic

Benny is sitting on a bench, waiting for his best friend Faye to arrive for their Book Club. He is worried because she is running late, which is unusual for her. Benny starts to worry, believing that she might be in danger, but before he can run off to try to find her the Invitation lands on his head. Benny opens the letter and is shocked by the idea of winning a wish. Just as he discovers this, Faye appears and Benny hides the letter and the badge behind his back to keep her from seeing. She apologizes for being late, telling him that she had chores and hasn't been feeling well lately. Benny tells her that he is just glad that she is safe.
The two sit to read the story of Pinocchio together while Benny thinks about the tournament. He hopes that Faye forgives him for rushing off on this adventure without her, and admits that he believes that his wish is slightly selfish. Nevertheless he boards the S.S. OhSea with high hopes of obtaining his wish.

### Before the Invitation

Benny was created by a powerful Thaumaturge named Nervinon. The man's goal was to bring about the end of the world and reshape it in his image. In order to achieve this goal, Nervinon attacked, killed, and stole the heart of one of the four Sacred Beasts. Specifically the Dragon of Five Stars. He then corrupted the heart with dark magic and dumped the newly made Core into a vat of liquid shadow. Thus, Benny was born as a terrifying beast. However, Benny was far too passive and seemed to hold no bloodlust, leading Nervinon to label him a failure and plan to take him apart.

However, before this could happen Nervinon was tracked down by the Cardinal Hunt, a team of people who work to stop malicious supernatural beings from causing harm. Benny tried to defend Nervinon from the Hunters, but this resulted in him nearly getting killed and forced into a hibernation state by Alaire Bernard, the leader of the Cardinal Hunt. Nervinon was killed, Alaire was cursed, and Benny's Core was saved from being destroyed by Faye Bernard, Alaire's daughter and Huntress-in-Training.

When Benny awoke, Faye became a surrogate big sister to him, teaching him to talk, read, and develop. Faye kept this a secret from her father, believing that he would kill Benny upon discovering him. To help take care of Benny, she recruited fellow hunter Oliver Ward, swore him to secrecy, and somewhat forcibly made Oliver and Benny roommates. Faye and Oliver became Benny's best and only friends who he looked up to and admired.

Eventually Benny developed a belief that the only way he'll belong in the world and stay with his best friends is to become human, a goal which he still seeks to achieve.

### On the S.S. Oh Sea

While aboard the S.S. OhSea, Benny became acquainted with some of the other applicants; Specifically: Silva, Johnny, Max Arctic, and Red Blueberg.

Silva and Benny met while on deck, where they became fast friends due to the fact they both have long scarves. At one point, Benny began to become self-conscious and nervous about fighting his new friend in the tournament. After Silva gave Benny a pep talk the two then made a promise to one another to cheer each other on during the tournament and to aim for each other's dreams as well as their own.

Later, in the middle of the night, Benny began to worry about how he measured up against the other applicants and questioning if accepting the invite was even a good idea. After reminding himself of his motivations for being there, Johnny appeared with some encouragement of his own. Red soon arrived on the scene and the three proceeded to hang out, eventually inviting a crying Max Arctic to join them. The four bonded slightly from this experience, and Benny felt reinvigorated about entering the tournament.

When the contestants were finally announced, Benny was relieved to hear his name called. He was overjoyed to have a shot at his wish.

### Round 1: "Blood & Bond" [vs. Thumbnail & Sketch] [WIN]

Round 1 Comic

Benny meets Thumbnail and Sketch in an abandoned Playground. The rabbits have their doubts about fighting "an orphan toddler" but Benny convinces them to fight anyway. Benny manages to win the fight, but despite this he asks Thumbnail and Sketch to train him in hand-to-hand combat, seeing as they were the more skilled fighters and feeling like he relies too much on his magic abilities.

Between Rounds 1 and 2: Benny teamed up with Sketch, Thumbnail, and Illustration.

##### Intermission: Faye

Comic

Between the events of Rounds 1 & 2 and back on Benny's homeworld, Benny's two friends Faye and Oliver have discovered a note left to them by Benny stating his entry into the tournament. Faye, worried for her friend and unable to travel to other worlds on her own, decides to contract the help of a Witch in order to reach the Center of the Universe. Their goal is to remove Benny from the tournament as they feel as if the Wish is a lie.

##### Intermission: MTV

Comic

Meanwhile back in CenUni, Benny is unable to sleep and takes to wandering around the city. He runs into M4SK who seems to be in a state of shock as she stares at televisions playing a haunting tune. Benny approaches, worried that something is wrong. M4SK is startled and nearly blasts him with her abilities, luckily Benny is able to avoid injury. Benny offers that since she can't sleep and he can't sleep that maybe they both could stay up together and read a book. M4SK accepts.

### Round 2: "Shadow Tag" [vs. Mipp & Melon Ball] [WIN]

Round 2 Comic

M4SK wakes Benny up after a strange dream and tells him it is time for the next round to start. The Rabbit Family (Thumbnail, Sketch, and their father Illustration) have joined Benny on his journey, with Sketch giving Benny her Portal-Creation Headband. Meanwhile, Mipp and Melon Ball have joined forces with fellow contestants Rain & FP along with meeting up with friends from their home-universe: Whisper and Stockins. Rain tries to prepare Mipp for the next round, but Mipp is confident that he'll be able to make a new friend in his next opponent. Illustration falls from the sky. His intimidating figure looms over Mipp's group as he asks for Mipp by name. Mipp seems unphased as he confirms his identity. Thumbnail and Sketch then give Benny a dramatic introduction, trying to hype him up as a great warrior.

With introductions now out of the way, the children decide that instead of a fight, they'll all split into teams and play a big game of Tag. Team Benny (Benny, Thumbnail, and Sketch) vs Team Mipp (Mipp, Melon Ball, Rain, and FP). Whoever is "It" by sunrise looses it for their team.

However, over the course of the game, Benny grows jealous of Mipp's charismatic attitude and easy ability to make friends. This jealousy grows when he perceives Mipp as trying to take his new bunny friends away from him and he tries to attack Mipp. Mipp reacts by throwing up a magical shield, however both Mipp's magic and Benny's magic reacts to one another and it causes a bright flash of light and a minor explosion.

The others confront Benny on his behavior, but his temper tantrum is interrupted by a siren going off alongside a city-wide black out. Suddenly, the group is accosted by Slate's Muckers and take shelter on a rooftop where Mipp confirms that the city is under a full-blown invasion. Before anything can be done, Benny hears the scream of his good friend Faye and rushes to try to save her. Unfortunately, a prior injury to his wing provides the Muckers the means to shoot Benny down and attack him. Benny and Faye are rescued by Mipp and Melon Ball and the two reconcile with Benny learning a lesson in Kindness and going through a sudden evolution.

Together, Benny, Mipp, and Melon Ball work together to drive the Muckers back; even recreating the giant flash bomb from earlier. The sun rises and the raid ends. The two boys realize that they forgot about the game and who was last "It". Thumbnail declares that Mipp was the last person who was tagged, and Benny is named the Winner. Benny once more apologizes to Mipp for his behavior. Mipp reassures Benny that they're now official Homies and the two share a touching hug.

The comic ends with Mipp catching a glimpse of a massive draconic figure in the sky which vanishes a moment later. With a smile on his face and a seemingly new understanding of Benny, Mipp reassures the figure that Her Son will be alright.

Meanwhile, Benny's other friend Oliver monitors a cluster of Five Stars, stating that two Virtues (Humility and Kindness) have now been lit. He hopes that Faye and Benny remain careful through their continued adventures in the city.

## Personality

Benny is the mental equivalent of a child ~9 or ~10 years old (by human standards). He’s innocent and naïve to certain aspects of the world, still believing that all stories can have happy endings. He’s optimistic, energetic, gentle, and he tries to be a positive influence on the world around him.

His biggest fear is turning into the monster people on his homeworld believe him to be. Therefore, he does his best to be as human as possible. He can get flashbacks to the night he nearly died at the hands of a group called the Cardinal Hunt. These flashbacks can cause episodes of panic, causing Benny to lash out at the person who triggered it. The flashbacks don’t happen often, but someone may have a high chance of triggering one by justifying attacking him due to his non-human status.

He looks up to Faye and Oliver and relies on them quite a bit. From speech to reading and writing, Faye has shown endless patience while teaching Benny what it means to be human. Oliver, while still skeptical of Benny’s nature, does his best to help Benny in his quest to become human. He goes so far as to allow Benny to stay in his house, just so he has a roof over his head. He misses them a lot during the tournament and may make references back to them due to extreme homesickness.

One of his favorite things in the world are books. Benny adores reading, even though he is still at a 1-st grade reading level. He loves reading adventure books and fairy tales the most, and will always be willing to hear a new story should someone offer it to him. His favorite books are the story of Pinocchio and Jack and the Beanstalk.

He admires humans for their determination to get through tragedy after tragedy and has somewhat put humans on a sort of pedestal. He believes the only way he can be Safe and Good is to be Human.

Like all children, Benny also has a streak of throwing temper tantrums should things not go his way or he feels humiliated. These do not often lead to violent behavior, but his emotions might get the better of him in a fight and he might lash out. To which he will feel extreme guilt afterward and do all he can to make up for it. Due to being a child, Benny is also prone to being manipulated which can lead to him taking the wrong side in a conflict out of ignorance. He also takes things very literally at times, and is very easy to trick due to his honest nature.

Overall, Benny is a gentle soul terrified of becoming evil and hurting innocent people around him. He sees himself as a threat and yearns for acceptance and friendship from those around him. Unfortunately, due to his gullible and childish nature, he can easily be manipulated by people showing him false kindness…

## Skills and Abilities

* **Shapeshifting** - Benny's body is extremely malleable, allowing him to transform parts of his body into weapons and tools. Whatever he changes limbs into also takes on similar properties of the item (i.e. Benny turning his hand into a shield, the mass with solidify and gain the properties of a shield to defend him from an oncoming weapon). He can change himself to have a similar silhouette of another person if he can remember them well enough, however he cannot change his overall appearance (think the Pokémon Ditto). He can turn into a blob with which he can use to escape through extremely narrow spaces. He may also stretch his limbs and torso using this ability, and due to having no real bone structure he can bend them however he wants. This ability is also what allows him to shift between his current and Original forms at will. However when under intense stress, Benny will involuntarily transform as a means of self-defense.
* **Shadow Manipulation Magic** - One of Benny's primary means of defense is to manipulate the shadows around him to give himself control of the battlefield. He can use them as means of traps, camouflage, and defense. A few examples of this ability in action are: summoning shields, use them to grab an opponent, or summon complete darkness in order to blind an enemy. His magic is one of his most dangerous and versatile weapons in his arsenal that is only limited by his imagination. The main drawback is that Benny cannot create the shadows he uses for his magic, they need to already be present in his environment. He essentially turns shadows into a versatile substance which he can mold into whatever trap or defense he needs at the moment. Any constructs made via this magic will vanish once Benny gets too far away.
* **Dark Vision** - Naturally, due to his status as a living Shadow, Benny can see in darkness perfectly fine.
* **Regeneration** - Benny can regenerate lost limbs and heal his wounds, but only if he is in a dark place. The regeneration can be slow or fast depending on the level of darkness. In total Darkness, Benny can regrow a lost limb in ~1 hour.
* **Flight** - Benny can summon wings with which he can fly freely for however long he has them out.
* **Strength** - Benny can lift up to 400lbs no matter if he is in his smaller Main form or his True form.
* **Shadow Step** [TEMPORARY] - Benny has received Sketch's Portal Creating Headband for as long as he is active in the tournament. This headband allows Benny to create shadow portals utilizing the shadows in his environment. So long as there is a shadow Benny can create a portal inside of it. The only requirements for Benny to open a portal: Shadows and for him to have enough stamina. His form melts into a puddle and he vanishes through the portal, popping out the other side. He cannot change the exit portal after it is opened, he must commit to it. He can hold it open before he goes through in order to let other people or objects go through.

## Trivia

* Benny is slightly inspired by Luke Triton from the Professor Layton series and Wilfre from Drawn to Life.
* Benny's voice is similar to that of Tail's voice from Sonic Adventure 2.
* He can hear the stars singing to him at night, and sometimes sings along.
* Benny's favorite food is Apples. He prefers fruit to vegetables and meat, but can digest them just fine. His all fruit diet is mostly a matter of preference. If fruit is not available he will eat the other options just fine.
* Benny is afraid of Sewers because he believes there are monsters down there.
* Benny's favorite movie is *Ponyo(2008).*
* Benny is fuzzy, like a muppet.
* He can purr like a cat when he is happy.
* He is a Gemini. His birthday is May 23.
* Benny was originally created as an applicant for the Walking City OCT on DeviantART. Unfortunately, his audition was never completed and the character was left on the shelf for many years until December of 2020 when Skippyin decided to reboot him.
	+ His design, story, and abilities were much different back in 2014.
		- In his original story, Benny had already caused the Apocalypse but had no memory of causing it.
		- Alaire Bernard's curse had succeeded in completely transforming him into a terrifying beast.
		- The only character who didn't make it into the revamp of Benny's story was a character known as The Gatekeeper, a strange being brought into existence from the countless spirits of people killed in the Apocalypse.
		- Benny's original design had white eyes (no pupils) and mouth, his sweater and hat had many more misshapen patches, and he had no tail. His scarf, however, remains unchanged.

## Gallery

Additional Refrence.Benny's Original FormBenny and Silva reading a book together on the S.S. OhSeaBenny, Johnny, and Red Blueberg before the contestants were announced.An example of Benny falling apart should his Core be broken.Benny Announcement Comic pt 1Benny Announcement Comic pt 2