Benjamin Ripley

Illustration by Anjan Sarkar

* Two unnamed cousins
* Sadie (aunt)
* Mitzi (aunt)

* Elizabeth Pasternak (former crush)
* Ashley Sparks (former crush)
* Jessica Shang (former crush)
* Kate Grant (former crush)
* Chloe Appel (former crush)

* Chip Schacter
* Jawaharlal O'Shea
* Alexander Hale
* Cyrus Hale
* Jessica Shang
* Catherine Hale
* Alexander Hale
* Murray Hill (formerly)
* Warren Reeves (formerly)

* Ashley Sparks
* Joshua Hallal
* Warren Reeves
* Leo Shang
* Dane Brammage
* Heather Durkee
* Shayla Shang
* SMASH

**Benjamin Ripley,** more commonly referred to as **Ben**, is the protagonist of the *Spy School* series. He was initially recruited as a patsy at the CIA Academy of Espionage, but showed potential to be a decent spy. In the series, he saved the president's life twice, exposed moles in the CIA, arrested criminals, prevented mass destruction, and defeated SPYDER.

## Appearance & Personality

Ben is never openly described (the author insists on not doing so), but he likely has light brown hair and brown eyes. He is physically average, more on the nerdy side and lacking muscles, but gradually becomes more fit. He is funny, honest, and friendly. He has a sharp mouth when concerning the principal and a sharp mind when thwarting evil plans. He is extremely loyal to his friends, sometimes even trusting them when he shouldn’t.

## Skills & Abilities

" *'What's 98,261 times 147?' '14,444,367.' I didn't even have to think about it.* "
—Alexander Hale to Ben Ripley in *Spy School*
Defusing
Ben has Level 16 math skills and has been instrumental in thwarting SPYDER every time he faces them, as well as successfully bringing down Leo Shang and the Croatoan. He memorized the global coordinates of most countries and cities for fun, and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish. He's inept at most sports and physical activities, but is a natural and competent skier, as shown in *Spy Ski School*.

In *Spy School*, his file said he allegedly had excellent cryptography skills and that he invented a codebreaker called Pinwheel. This was a lie meant to lure SPYDER and expose the mole in the CIA. Erica Hale also sent an email using the principal's account claiming that Ben had invented the ultimate codebreaker (Jackhammer), but this was once again to lure SPYDER out.

## Missions (Books)

Ben has participated in all official and unofficial missions (books) in the *Spy School* series.

* Operation Creeping Badger (*Spy School*)
* Operation Angry Jackal (*Spy Camp*)
* Operation Bedbug (*Evil Spy School*)
* Operation Snow Bunny (*Spy Ski School*)
* Operation Pungent Muskrat (*Spy School Secret Service*)
* Operation Tiger Sharks (*Spy School Goes South*)
* Operation Screaming Vengeance (*Spy School British Invasion*)
* Operation Sneaky Monkey (*Spy School Revolution*)
* Operation Deadly Manatee (*Spy School At Sea*)

In addition, he was the target of Project X (*Spy School Project X*).

## Relationships

### Erica Hale

View this page for an in-depth look at Ben's relationship with Erica.

### Zoe Zibbell

View this page for an in-depth look at Ben's relationship with Zoe.

### Ashley Sparks

In *Evil Spy School*, Ben gets seriously infatuated with Ashley Sparks, a cute but bitter ex-Olympic gymnast, with a sparkling, confident personality on the exterior. Nonetheless, these feelings fade when he realizes her true intent (pure evil) and loyalty to and SPYDER. After *Evil Spy School*, when Ben saves New York from being bombed, Ashley is cold to Ben and enjoys using the term "jidiot" (jerk + idiot), and "ferd" (freak + nerd) to describe him and his friends.

### Jessica Shang

In *Spy Ski School*, Ben is arranged to befriend, and ends up crushing on, the adorable, lonely, spoiled, and rich Chinese girl, Jessica Shang. Jessica seems to see him only as a really good friend, especially when she falls for Mike, temporarily sabotaging the mission. This goes sour when Sasha (Erica in disguise) steals Mike away, making Jessica act cold towards Ben, and then interested in him again when Sasha fakes flirting with Ben.

In *Spy School At Sea*, Ben has an unexpected rendezvous with Jessica after attempting to rappel into the master suite on the *Emperor of the Seas*. Despite the constant luxury and abundant riches, she still sees her life as boring, saying that she enjoyed when Ben came around, as action and danger always followed him wherever he went. Lastly, when setting off to board Murray's private jet and defuse the bomb set to blow up the cruise ship, she hugs Ben, and even gives him a peck on the check, a wish of good luck.

## Trivia

* The real-life Nathan Hale had a crush on someone who was engaged to a certain Elijah Ripley [*citation needed*]. This is pure coincidence.
* He once had to defuse a phony bomb and survive an attack by assassins before breakfast.
* According to Ben, if there was an Olympic event for taking cover, he would be a serious contender for gold (or perhaps silver, second to Britain).
* He once shot a live mortar round into the principal's office by accident. (*Evil Spy School*)
* According to author Stuart Gibbs, Ben was named after Benjamin Franklin.
* He doesn't like chocolate in his cereal.
* He doesn't like s'mores.