DELTARUNE : CHAPTER [[GARY]]

Ben

Ben is a Darkner first encountered when trying to get inside the TV Studio Tower. Upon entering, if the player decides to stay, Ben will be a shopkeeper in the studio's GiftShop. Ben is also the secret boss of the chapter

If the player doesn't meet the conditions for the secret bossfight, Ben will perish inside the TV Studio Tower when it comes crumbling down during Gary's bossfight. If the secret bossfight conditions are met, Ben, posessed by ██████, will substitute the final bossfight of the chapter.

Profile

Appearence

Ben is a tall, lanky Darkner much like his dad. He wears a round blue chest piece with round blue sleeves. The chest piece has a crack down the middle, exposing a ribcage underneath. He wears black baggy pants and white ankle-high sneakers with blue gems on each side where his ankles should be. He wears white gloves with the cuffs rolled down, another blue gem keeping the cuffs secured on the outer side of his hands above the pinky. Ben wears glasses like his dad; blue rounded glasses, with the right lens having an uneven 8 shape, where a smaller round lens merges with the main one on its top-right corner. Ben also has his hair slicked back, having it tied in a loose ponytail with a hair tie with two blue balls at the end.

Ben’s skin and hair are white, seemingly blending together similarly to Addisons. He has a long pointy nose and a big toothy grin, his canines missing from his mouth and leaving two gaping holes on the sides of his upper jaw. His neck, spine and arms are thick metal tubes with ridges that circle the metallic cylinders. The ribcage underneath his chest plate seems to be part of his anatomy.

Personality

Ben is a childish, immature but bubbly kid. He’s a naive but sweet boy who wants to see the best in everyone he meets. He’s a dad’s boy, working hard to earn his pa’s approval and praise. He can be a bit of a nerd, indulging and talking about things he enjoys, like his favorite video games or consoles. Even so, he’s afforded very little time to do that, being exceptionally good at his two jobs. He’s a kid who likes to be on time and an example to others, though he very rarely finds other people his age with who he can have friendships with. Being that Ben only grew up around adults his whole life, its’s suspected that is where he got his rigid view on his self-esteem and his concept of “how much he is worth”. Despite wanting to see the best in people, it is very hard for Ben to realise when someone is being deceptive, even more if he cares for said person already. Ben very easily falls for ruses and lies, and he has a hard time believing that some people who he views as icons or friends can actually be deceptive or untruthful.

Main Story

History

Gary, mindlessly testing out how much of his old code made it through to this new vessel, ended up creating a pipis that hatched into a creature that wasn't just the usual, smaller version of himself. It was small and weak, thin like a twig, featherless and cold like a baby bird. Its huge eyes stared back at Gary, cementing him as his papa. With time, Ben grew to love and praise the man he called his father and who had brought him into this world. For said father, the creature was nothing but trouble, taking away his time and attention from things he deemed more worthy of it.

As Ben grew, parts of him didn't. His little winged arms wouldn't develop feathers or muscle, and his back wouldn't grow to accompany the rest of his body. Disguised as care, the father proposed a solution for his son's problem. With a tweak here and some love there, he could "fix" his son. It was an odd type of love; to want to change someone so much. But, eager to please his dad, the little boy agreed, ready to be the perfect son his father always wanted.

With enhanced metal bits like his pa, Ben still turned out to be a great boy; always eager to please, but never leaving the safety of his father's reach. He never cared much for friends or life outside those studio walls, even if he did wonder how it would be like. His number one priority, his job, life goal and everything was still the same even after so many years: make his pa proud.

Chapter [[GARY]]

During the events of the chapter, Ben's introduction takes place a little after Kris and the gang get lost in the new Cyber City. Ben swoops them onto the rail carts of his studio tour job and serves as an introduction to the world and Gary himself, explaining how this "new city" was of Gary's creation. He'd introduce himself as the man's son and that his dad was very eager to meet them. After dropping them off inside the TV Studio Tower, Ben would be off on another work shift.After that, Ben can be found mostly in the TV Studio's Gift Shop, selling various items themed after his dad and their job in the news business.

The player can interact with Ben by talking to him while he's at the GiftShop. Interacting with certain things in the studio will let the player ask Ben about them, each time making Ben more and more uncomfortable as he starts doubting his dad's supposed love and good intentions. If all points of conversation are exhausted, Ben will give the player the keys to Gary's office so that they can prove what they're claiming; that his whole life has been a lie. Inside Gary's office, the player can find the Shadow Crystal they never got from Spamton after the NEO fight. If the player gives the Shadow Crystal to Ben, he'll look through it and start spiraling about how Kris was right: he'd been living a lie in so many ways. Unable to deal with the revelation, Ben runs out of the TV Studio Tower and into the city.

What exactly happens to Ben while he's outside is left ambiguous, the implication being that Gaster, who the player discovers has been roaming the premises to try and get Gary, possesses Ben and finally breaks in. Gaster!Ben is the secret bossfight of this chapter, the gang being thrown into a fight with the eggshell Darkner as Gary tries to save himself. Defeating him through ACTing or FIGHTing gives the player different items. The fight ends when Gaster!Ben's HP is depleted or his MERCY reaches 100%. Regardless of what the player chooses, the battle ends with Ben's body falling apart as Gaster escapes to find Gary.

If the secret bossfight quest is left unfinished or aborted, two things can happen:

• If Ben is never confronted : Ben will remain inside the tower by choice as it comes crumbling down, hopelessly waiting for his dad to come and save him,
• If Ben is partially confronted : Ben will try to escape the tower as it comes crashing down, but will get stuck inside while trying to help Swatch escape as well.

Relationships

Gary

His papa. Ben is a daddy's boy. He loves his dad more than anything and wishes to make him proud one day. To prove himself, Ben works at his dad's TV News Station as a tour guide and a shopkeeper for the place's gift shop. Still, he's all up for picking last minute tasks and small jobs to earn his dad's praise and adoration. Ben is a very love-starved child, but believes his dad's acknowledgement is his way of loving him.

Swatch

Babysitter...? Ben can't remember. Ben remembers somebody else being there when he was younger, taking care of him when Gary was away. But one day, they simply disappeared. Ben keeps that memory deep in the back of his mind, sometimes wondering where they went when he has a moment to breath in between jobs.

Additons

Weird little guys that keep sneaking into the studio. Ben gets jumpscared by them sometimes whenever one scuttles out from behind furniture or falls from a vent. They sometimes talk in riddles with Ben, warning him about the man who raised him and giggling at what might happen in the future. Ben usually just chases them off with a mop, or calls PUPs to run them out of the TV Studio.

In-Battle

Attacks

Ben, in the form of EggShells, is the secret boss fight of the chapter. The fight takes place at the end of the route, substituting the bossfight the player would have with Gary. Both the party and Gary jump onto passing rail carts as the TV Studio Tower comes crashing down, EggShells finding them there. EggShell’s bossfight is made to reference Spamton NEO’s; both take place on some sort of railway system, over a trashed city, with familiar opponent with a brand new body and power.
During the battle, EggShells introduces the PURPLE soul mechanic. Similar to the one in Undertale, it restricts the protagonist's SOUL to three horizontal lines that one can move along or switch between to avoid attacks. Some of his attacks are:

Red Soul

• Shell Shards: Eggshells swings its arms, creating arc-shaped bullets that move across the Bullet Board. In each iteration of the attack, the wider the arcs get and the more of them there are in a row. Running into the arcs deals damage.


• Spikes A black spike erupts from the bottom of the board on the left, middle or right sections of it, the order random. A blinking “!” box appears before the spike erupts. The attack gets more overwhelming and more complicated to dodge depending on how many times the player gets through it:


• 1-3 : one spike with 0.5s of warning time, 11 times;
• 4-6 : one spike with 0.3s of warning time, 13 times;
• 7-onward : two spikes with 0.3s of warning time, 15 times;


• Mouldy Pipis: Mouldy pipis are thrown at the player from the right side of the Bullet Board. When they hit the left side of the board, they explode and stick to wherever they landed, taking up space in the Bullet Board where the SOUL could go. Running into the pipis or their remnants on the Bullet Board deals damage;

Purple Soul

• Off the Rails: The Bullet Board extends in height as EggShells's arms appear over it, punching down on the lines the player uses to move their SOUL and coating them in black goo. The goo remains in the rail for 2-3 seconds. If the SOUL runs into the debris on the tracks, it deals damage;


• Grabbing: EggShell's hands shoot from the sides of the Bullet Board, trying to grab at the SOUL, the player having to move up and down the rails and jump in between the tree to dodge the hands. Getting touched or running into the hands deals damage;
• Slicing: EggShell's arms turn scythe-shaped and slice at the SOUL from the top of the Bullet Board, taking up the space of two lines in each attack, making the SOUL do fast jumps in between rails. Getting sliced deals damage;



The battle ends if EggShells HP reaches 10%, or if its Mercy reaches 90%

Quotes

Pre-Battle

• WIP

Post-Battle

• WIP

Flavor Text

• EggShells found you! [Encounter]
• Your worst creation. [Neutral]
• EggShells glares at you. [Neutral]
• EggShells knows where it is. [Neutral]
• EggShells knows who you are. [Neutral]
• The city bellow you screams. [Neutral]
• The fountain is gone. [Neutral]
• Smells like rot. [Neutral]


• You call out to Ben! [CallOut]
• EggShells snarls at you.
• Susie yells for Ben! [CallOut]
• EggShells snarls at you.
• Ralsei asks for Ben! [CallOut]
• EggShells snarls at you.

Store

Quotes

Meeting

• [Susie] Welp, no Dark Fountain here either.
• [Ralsei] This doesn't make any sense! All Dark worlds have a Dark Fountain, it's the essence of everything! 
• [Ralsei] But the more we look around, the less there seems to be one at all! 
• [Susie] Hmm... what about that?
• [Ralsei] The building? 
• [Susie] Yeah. It kinda looks like one as well. Tall dark thing, reaches the sky-
• [Susie] -and there's even all these floating paths that go up there.
• [Ralsei] Huh! You might be onto something Susie! 
• [Susie] I am? I mean, of course I am.
• [Ralsei] Maybe the Dark Fountain is in there, surrounded by the building- 
• [Ralsei] -like the filling of a yummy cake!
• [Susie] Well what are we waiting for? We just gotta hop on of these things and--


(a rail cart speeds past them, two arms grabbing the gang and pulling them on board)

• [Susie] What the-?!
• Teehee!! That was { pretty close } !!
• Ohh, I can't { believe } I'm actually { finally } meeting you guys!
• { Dad } told me so much about you! You're { fleshier } than what I thought you'd be!
• Except the { green } one, he looks about right!
• [Ralsei] I what-?
• [Susie] Who are you?! You wanna fight, punk?!
• What!? No no no no { no no } no no!!
• My { dad } told me to { pick you up } ! I think he { talked } with you earlier?
• [Ralsei] The TV?
• [Susie] Heh, your dad's a TV?
• Well not { THE } TV, but-- oh oh, right!
• I kinda have to follow a { script } here- it's { work guidelines }, you'll have to { excuse } me--
• [Susie] Work what-
• -aheem- Hi! My name's { Ben }, and I'll be your { tour guide } for the evening!
• Please keep your { legs, arms and other appendages } inside the vehicle at all times!
• { Ride photos } can be bought at the end of the ride for $39.99 a piece!

(text goes by too fast to read as a gag on terms and service)

• { By embarking on this ride you've agreed to not hold Gary SP. and associates liable in case of aiding and abetting/accessory, arson, assault/battery, attempt, bribery, burglary, child abandonment, child abuse, child neglect, computer crime, conspiracy, counterfeiting, credit/debit card fraud, criminal contempt of court, cyberbullying, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, drug manufacturing and cultivation, drug possession, drug trafficking/distribution, embezzlement, extortion, forgery, fraud, harassment, homicide, identity theft, insurance fraud, kidnapping, manslaughter, MIP: minor in possession, money laundering, murder, obstruction of justice, perjury, public intoxication, pyramid schemes, racketeering/RICO, robbery, securities fraud, shoplifting, stalking, tax evasion/fraud, telemarketing fraud, theft, vandalism, white collar crimes and wire fraud. Don't try to sue us. We know where you live}
• [Ralsei] What was that last part-?
• Don't worry about { that }, you're already on board!
• Relax, { kick your feet } up, enjoy the scenery while I { tell you } about it!
• Cyber City was a city in { shambles } before Gary came along-
• -and { rebuilt } it into the { splendor } that it is today: Neo City! { name still pending registration }
• Dad told me so much about you; the { three heroes } from the legend.
• I bet he'll be so excited to { meet you }!
• Well, this is where you { hop off }! Just exit the boarding area, keep going straight, and you'll { see him } eventually!
• He's a { big guy }, it's hard to miss him!
• I gotta go now! Gonna be busy 'til { noon } ! Y'all have fun! Byeeee!!

Trivia

• Ben's reoccurring "egg" symbolism is both a play on Spamton's pipis and a reference to the eggs that what people for now assume to be Gaster gives the player during the game. In this context, eggs are interpreted as small, mouldable things full of possibilities for what they might hatch into. This is done to reflect how Ben, being young and malleable, is very naive and easily impacted by events outside of his control. They can also be seen as vessels, since an egg is the vessel for whatever is developing inside.
• Since being a creation directly from Gary's hands, Ben has no Lightner World variation. However, a non-canon suggestion for what he could be was a liquid computer mouse.
• Ben is inspired by 00s, early 10s aesthetic, reminiscent of 2nd gen consoles, old web and battery powered toys. Some of the main aesthetics and inspirations for his character were:
• 00s tech : iPods, CDs, digital cameras, 1st gen smartphones, iMac G3, Windows 7, Playstation 2;
• 00s aesthetics : frutiger aero, y2k, cybercore, scene.
• Despite not having voice acting, many voiceclaim ideas have been offered for characters if the player were able to hear them speaking fluently in-game. For Ben, the voiceclaim offered was of Zeno Robinson, who's known for playing Hunter in the Disney animated series "The Owl House".
• Ben has an official tumblr askblog where users can send in asks that are answered in character.

Playlist

Gallery