Early Days

Ben is the eldest of two and grew up somewhat caring for himself. His dad was never around, eventually completely disappearing by the time his sister came along and his mom had to work constantly to provide for them. It isn't to say he didn't have a good relationship with family, since his mother's brothers were always willing to look after the kids. Still, Ben took on a lot of responsibility trying to look after Bel, and couldn't really focus on things like school.

Eventually, he dropped out of highschool to focus on being apart of the Bruiseberries which he joined when he was 12. When the leader at the time left the gang, he handed it over to Ben to lead and from there that was Ben's focus, even getting Bel into it.

It was during his gang days that Ben got cocky as a kid and decided to travel to the South slums to challenge a reknowned group's leader who had be undefeated in fights. He believed he could beat them. When he met the leader, Pip Hendrickson, he overestimated his odds and even cheated on the first shot by attacking while she was distracted. Unfortunately for him, Pip's rage was unhinged after that and she began pummeling him, with nothing and no one able to hold her back. Because of her super strength, the attack was brutal and she ended up caving in the left side of his skull and destroying his left eye. Emergency response arrived and took Ben to the hospital, where he remained for nearly a year going through various surgeries to reconstruct his skull and monitor his brain function.

The lasting results of this attack affected not just Ben but his family. The medical bills piled up a lot on his mother, and Bel dropped her schooling to help. Ben's memory and recall were affected severely, as he now struggles to remember details and information.

Rebellion

When the Rebellion wanted to take the North slums as their territory, they needed to approach the gangs that occupied the area to avoid dangerous pushback. Going for Bel's gang first, they were told to go to the Bruiseberries and settle the score between Pip and Ben. Ben wanted a rematch for their fight from years ago, despite Pip's hesitancy and protests. After a heated hand-to-hand fight, Pip still came out on top but Ben was satisfied in resolving a lasting problem in the back of his head. He agreed to work with the rebels, and in affect so did his sister, and eventually the other two gangs were taken as well.

Once the North was covered by the dome, the rebels who had been stuck in the base for so long needed a place to move into. Ben's uncle owned a slightly rundown apartment complex that Ben both lived in and acted as the service man for. The rebels, promising to upkeep the building and improve it, moved in.

It was through the rebels that Ben initially met Marco, who attended the fight he had with Pip. After the dome went up, Marco was found wondering around by Ben who was hanging out at the park. Being both bored and overconfident, Ben asked Marco out on a date thinking he was cute. From there, the both of them bounced around a "relationship" from being just bros, to friends with benefits, to actually dating. Despite a lot of misunderstandings, they both get along weirdly well if not at times mismatched.

During the final battle with Sweet, Ben's gang was overwhelmed by the SSF and spread too thin. During an intended execution, the metal plate in Ben's head prevented a shot to the brain but dented inward. While it gave him the upperhand in a fight, the dented plate pierced his brain and created bleeding which had to be quickly treated and left him incapacitated for the rest of the fight.

Afterwards

Once the war had ended, Marco wanted to get out of Tanim and away from everything that reminded him of the hell they all went through. Ben, needing a change of pace and not wanting what could be the last of his memories spent in Tanim, goes with him on a trip outside of Tanim in a fixed up van of Marco's.

They both travel throughout the new world available to them, learning about new cultures and seeing new sites. During these travels, they meet a runaway cow-kid named Milo who they incidentally end up taking care of and bringing back to Tanim as a defucto adopted son.