Ben and Mal

Ben and Mal is a romantic pairing, Ben is the son of Belle and Beast, and Mal is the daughter of Maleficent and Hades.

They are the main couple of the film series. They first meet each other at the beginning of Descendants and they later started dating and became a couple. In Wicked World, the two are shown to flirt, with Mal often complimenting on how cute Ben is and being impressed when he lied to Jay, while Ben encourages her to do her best and being a good person. The two had shared a romantic dance in Episode 16 and when he was kidnapped, she was extremely worried and happy upon learning he was safe. The two are still in a relationship in the novels Return to the Isle of the Lost and Rise of the Isle of the Lost. In Descendants 2, it is shown that they are each other's true loves, as revealed when Mal frees Ben from a spell using True Love's Kiss, and since then they have been madly in love with each other. In the beginning of Descendants 3, Ben publicly proposes to Mal and she happily accepts. They officially got married in Descendants: The Royal Wedding and are now living happily ever after. They are the current reigning King and Queen of the United States of Auradon

Their ship names are Bal (B/en and M/al) or Men (M/al and B/en)

Descendants
They first meet when Mal and the other villain descendants arrive in Auradon. Ben welcomes them and he and Mal exchange words between them.

Ben shows them around the school and then asks Doug to show them their dorms. Later, Ben finds Mal at her locker and sees that she painted it. He offers to show Mal the art class but, she declines.

Later, she learns that Ben's girlfriend gets to be up front with him at his coronation, so she decides to make a love potion in the form of cookies to get Ben to fall in love with her. Her plan works and Ben declares his love for her on the Tourney field after winning their big game (Did I Mention) and breaks up with Audrey who then kisses Chad, upsetting Evie. Ben asks Mal to go to the coronation with him and she accepts.

Shortly after that, Ben asks Mal on a date. Mal accepts and Evie helps her to get ready. When Ben comes to get Mal, he calls her beautiful. Ben and Mal journey to the Enchanted Lake where they enjoy a picnic. When Ben decides to go swimming, Mal stays behind. As she watches Ben swim she sings about her confused feelings for him (If Only). When Mal thinks Ben is drowning, she jumps in to save him but almost drowns herself because she can't swim. Ben saves her and tells her he loves her. In return, Mal tells him she doesn't know what love feels like, and Ben offers to teach her.

As the day of the coronation nears, Mal unwillingly begins making a anti-love potion for Ben because she doesn't want him loving her to be a distraction when the villains take over. As she makes it she cries and sings a short reprise of "If Only", showing how much she loves Ben. Right before Ben's coronation, as she and Ben are in the carriage, she gives him the cupcake with the anti love potion in it and tells him to save it for later. But Ben eats it right away and it makes Mal horrified. She asked him if he felt any different and Ben reveals that he knew about the love potion as it was washed off in the lake. When Mal asks if Ben has been faking his love for her, Ben gives her his ring and a kiss on her hand and says he hasn't been faking anything. Later during the coronation, after Mal takes the wand from Jane, she ends up confessing she loves Ben and wants to be with him because he makes her really, really happy.

During the coronation party (Set It Off) Mal and Ben dance together and almost kiss.

Descendants: Wicked World
In "Mal's Digi-Image Problem", Ben goes to see Mal and asks if she has a moment. She says that she is in the zone and he asks if she can de-zone. She says that is not a real word but he is cute so she will forgive him. However she still focuses on what she is doing, which is painting Audrey as her favorite heroine sleeping beauty to prove she is good and not up to anything evil. She says she is having a problem and he asks if she is referring to her digi-image problem which confuses her since she doesn't understand the wording. He explains it means digital image and shows her the meme of her being a princess in waiting to mess up. He says how it is spreading and she says her portrait of Audrey will fix that. However, he mentions that Maleficent's daughter painting Sleeping Beauty's daughter as sleeping beauty might have the opposite effect and reminds her of Family Day. She shivers and states it's not as if she painted her with captain hook's coat and proceeds to change the painting to show her with his coat. Ben is amused by it but warns her to stop before someone sees. She then adds Cruella's coat causing Ben to worry and then she adds her mother's horns on Audrey and Ben further warns her to stop but is too late as someone takes a pic and it spreads. Mal then laments she has a digi-image problem while Ben smiles at her lovingly and reassuringly.

In "Careful What You Wish For", He goes to Mal to see if she is alright before she accidentally wishes everyone was at the Isle of the Lost, causing her, Ben, Evie and Audrey to appear at the Isle of the Lost.

In "Voodoo? You Do", when Audrey clings onto Ben to save her when they go to Isle of the Lost, Mal says she realizes why they say be careful what you wish (though she isn't too upset). Ben offers to throw his jacket over a puddle of mud, but Mal asks why they would do that to a great puddle of mud and enjoys jumping in it, with Ben staring at her in confusion. Mal explains to Ben that Freddie is bad news.

In "Lamp Sweet Lamp", When Ben breaks a cup to prove to Freddie that he can be bad, he immediately feels guilty and as he helps clean it up (alongside Audrey who also feels guilty) she says it is more painful to watch then any punishment her mother gave her.

In ""Genie Chic", When everyone is wished into Jordan's lamp and Jordan changes everyone's clothes to fit her dress code (except for Ben since she claims that she feels men can't pull off the harem pants since her dad), he stares at Mal first and for a while. When Ben is slow to realize they are small since they are in a lamp, Freddie calls him King Obvious and Mal corrects her, saying he is King Obviously cute. Ben is happy and flirts back, saying that is his legal name. When he invites Freddie to Auradon Prep, she says he is sweet but tries to warn him.

When Ben and Audrey meets with Mal, Evie in "Puffed Deliciousness", and Freddie he invites them to dig into the buffet. He stands close to Mal.

When Mal and Evie try out for cheerleading in "Spirit Day", he compliments them on their outfits but looks specifically at Mal and tells her in particular that he is happy she is trying out. She tells him she is trying to show school spirit. When Jay asks if there is punching or stealing in the game, Ben says no but to add them to the suggestion box. Mal asks if they ever had one but Ben says no. When she realizes he lied to keep Jay from bugging him, she smiles at him lovingly and says she has never been more into him. He laughs and smiles back and says good luck. When she accidentally turns everyone into dogs and Carlos changes them back (after trying to take pictures of them acting silly as dogs) he tells Jay it is okay for him to punch Carlos and Mal smiles at him. This shows Mal has influenced him as much as Ben has influenced her.

In "The Night is Young", Ben is shown talking to Mal in the beginning of the episode. He is elected for king of the Neon Lights Ball and complains about the crown poking his skull while Mal laughs at him trying to put the crown on. Mal tells him beauty is pain and he says he must be gorgeous. He dances with Mal instead of Evie (who was elected for Queen of the Neon Lights Ball but dumped him for fake jewelry). The two are about to dance but no music is on but begins dancing once Freddie sings. The two look at each other lovingly and enjoy dancing together and he even dips her.

In "Neon Lights Out", while the two slow dance, she keeps stepping on his toes by mistake. She tells him that there is not a lot of dancing on the Isle of the Lost and he flirts, asking if he can step on hers. He playfully attempts to but Mal dodges and steps hard on his foot with her heels. He squirms a little in pain, and she laughs saying she is sorry but thinks he is super cute when he is in pain. When everyone sees the mascot costume but Jane isn't in it, he tries to calm everyone. Mal stares happily at him. Ben is kidnapped and Mal is extremely concerned looking everywhere around the ball for him. When everyone accuses Mal of doing it, she becomes angry asking why she would do that to her own boyfriend.

In "Hooked On Ben", Mal demands CJ tell her where Ben is. CJ drops Ben down as he is tied and bound. She tries to release him while talking to CJ. When everyone takes a group selfie, he puts his arm on Mal's shoulder and is sitting right next to her.

Descendants 2
Mal is being crowded by several reporters in the front of the school asking her questions about the Cotillion and her life in Auradon. Ben and the Fairy Godmother intervene to veer the reporters away from a very relieved Mal. Ben talks to Mal about spending time together, before remembering that he is late for a counsel meeting and leaves abruptly after apologizing to Mal. Evie and Mal then walk away to get Mal fitted into her dress for Cotillion.

While getting fitted in her Cotillion dress by Evie in their dorm room, the TV then shows Mal and Ben on their tour of Auradon dining with Aladdin and Jasmine, which they stop to watch. The TV goes on to talk about the days until the Cotillion when Mal would officially be a Lady of the Court and about Mal's love of strawberries, showing Mal and Ben on a romantic date eating strawberries.

Mal then is shown walking through school with Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Jane starts asking Mal about decorating at the Cotillion. Mal says she has to get to class, but Jane says that she can just nod if she likes it. Jane hurriedly starts listing decorative items. Mal starts to protest after Jane asks her about party favors, but she interrupts and starts listing more items. Jane stops to ask about pen toppers, and Mal eyes glow green. She closes them for a while, and then smiles at Jane, agreeing with her. Lonnie comes around and tells Mal that she is excited to see what Mal's wedding will look like, and Mal, dazed, agrees before looking surprised. Jane tells Mal that the Cotillion is like getting "engaged to be engaged to be engaged." Mal started stuttering about not knowing about it and that her entire life is just laid right in front of her as Ben walks up behind her. Ben addresses Mal, and tries to talk to her but is drawn aside by Jane as Mal waits for him. Jane then talks about Ben's present for Mal at the Cotillion, which turns out to be a stained glass window depicting Mal with Ben kneeling before her. After Ben reminds Jane to make Mal's eyes green, he says goodbye to Mal, who walks away. Jane then asks about the different shades of green to use, and he chooses one. While Mal is at her locker, Ben walks up to her. He tells her that he has a surprise for her, and she laughs about how many presents Ben gets her. When Ben looks into her locker, he sees her spell book, and asks her if she is going to donate it to the museum. She closes the locker door to block his view and muses about how she had forgotten about it. She says that she has to get to class, but Ben stops her and walks her over to a purple motorcycle with a bronze bow on the handle. Mal gasps in surprise and tells Ben how she loves it. She then says that she didn't get Ben anything. He reminds her that she told him that she would take him on a picnic with all his favorite foods. Mal says that the picnic is going to be on Thursday. They start arguing about it being Thursday until Ben takes his phone out and shows her. Mal covers up her surprise and says that she was just joking. She says she needs to bake only one more thing, and when Ben reminds her about class, Mal says that she will multitask and walks away laughing.

Later, Mal and Ben are sitting together on a picnic date at the Enchanted Lake. She feeds him an hors d'oeuvre which Ben remarks is the best thing in the world. Ben said that she had made every single dish that Mrs. Potts made for his parents. He asked Mal if it really took her three days to make it all, which she jokingly asks him not to even ask her. Ben told her that it meant a lot that she stopped and did all of that for him, and that they didn't have a lot of time to be just "them." Ben then asked if there were any napkins. He reaches into the picnic basket, and Mal tries to stop him saying that she can get them herself. However, Ben takes Mal's spell book out, to Mal's shock. She quickly makes up an excuse saying that she threw the book in the basket at the last minute in case it rained during the date. However, Ben started to read the list of spells that Mal had tabbed showing him that she had used the spell book to read quickly, turn her hair blonde, and cook all the food that she had "made." Ben starts to get angry, telling her that he had been falsely complimenting her for fitting in well. Mal, desperate, tries to spell him into forgetting the moment, but she messes up. Ben jumps up from the table, figuring out she was trying to spell him. They start yelling at each other, Mal saying that transitioning into Auradon was hard, while Ben retorts that becoming king has been hard as well. Ben says that Mal has been lying and keeping secrets from him, and reminds her that Auradon isn't the Isle of the Lost. Mal retorts that she knows it isn't, and explains that she isn't a pretty pink princess or a Lady of the Court. She then grabs her spell book and casts a spell over the feast which turns it back to "what is real," which turns out to be a peanut jelly sandwich and a glass of milk. Ben feeling bad and trying to apologize and she then walks away, despite Ben trying to call her back and saying that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are his favorite.

Evie goes to Ben's office and tells him Mal went back to the Isle and gives him a note and his signet ring that Mal left for him. Ben realizes how much pressure Mal must be going through and he says that her leaving is all his fault. He decides to follow her to the Isle and apologize to make things right. Evie tells him she will go with him and that they will also bring along Carlos and Jay. Ben meets up with Mal and apologizes about their fight and begs her to come home. However, Mal realizing that she doesn't fit in at Auradon refuses to go back with Ben stating that she's a terrible influence for him and that it would be in his and Auradon's best interest for her not to return. Despite Ben's pleas and his confession of love, Mal pleads for him to leave her and rejects his signet ring signifying the break up of their relationship. After dejectedly leaving and wandering off on his own, Ben gets kidnapped by Uma and Mal rushes off to save him. However after losing to Uma in an arm wrestling fight, Uma makes a deal with Mal, Fairy Godmother's magic wand for Ben's life.

After their escape from the sword fight with Uma and her pirate gang and driving in the limo, Ben apologizes to Mal that it didn't go the way she wanted and says that he was grateful to Uma who allowed him to see what the Isle was like and when Mal tries to argue back he compares Uma to how Mal was when she first came to Auradon, a angry girl with a bad plan. Upon returning to Auradon, Jane approaches Ben to finalize the surprise he has for Mal for the Cotillion he asks if she wants to cancel. Ben then tells Mal to do what she needs to do and leaves giving her the space to sort out her thoughts. During Cotillion, much to everyone's surprise Ben introduces Uma as his new girlfriend and apologizes to Mal saying that he realized that the two of them were not meant to be together since Mal had never told Ben that she loved him. While dancing with Uma, Mal and the other VK's along with Doug and Lonnie prepare to leave but Jane quickly requests to Lumiere to unveil Ben's gift for Mal which is showed to be a beautiful glass painting of the two of them with Mal in her purple hair and green eyes. Ben pauses and stares blankly at the glass painting with Mal realizing that Ben truly does love her for who she is. Uma then reminds Ben of his gift to her and when Beast tries to talk Ben out of it, he retorts back at him with everyone shocked at his sudden change of character. Ben then orders Fairy Godmother to bring down the barrier as his gift to Uma, when Fairy Godmother refuses he demands her to listen to him as her King. With Mal realizing that the real Ben would never have said these things and do that to her and that he's been spelled, she approaches Ben telling him that he always believed in who they are and what they can be and says that she was afraid of telling him she loved him because she thought that she wasn't good enough for him and she thought that he would realize that Mal then confesses that she's always loved Ben and kisses him with True Love's Kiss breaking the spell, Ben looks lovingly back at Mal and smiles embracing her with Mal smiling and embracing him back reconciling. Uma realizing her plan has been foiled tries to escape and ends up jumping off the ship and transforming into a large octopus like her mother. She starts attacking them which enrages Mal who transforms into a dragon and the two of them begin fighting. Ben notices Mal's eyes changing before she turned into a dragon and is concerned. Ben is surprised that Mal turned into a dragon and was watching her. Ben seeing at how the fighting is never ending gives a large roar before jumping into the sea getting between Uma and Mal. When he's between them Mal gets closer to him and is protective. When Uma insults him Mal growls at her. He answers that fighting isn't the answer and that they have to listen and respect each other, he invites Uma once more to Auradon and help him make a difference but Uma simply returns his signet ring which he had given to her earlier while he was spelled by her and disappears beneath the sea. Both Ben and Mal return to the ship, Mal transforms back into herself, but in the dress she's wearing in the glass painting with Ben smiling at her. She bows and he bows back. She walks up to him smiling and he pulls her in for another kiss, he then thanks everyone for helping him and asks if there is anything he could do. Mal gives up her spell book saying she doesn't need it anymore and Ben smiles at her. Mal playfully splashes water at him and he playfully splashes water back at her and then embracing smiling. Everyone then celebrates on the ship with Ben and Mal singing and dancing and then he places his signet ring back on her finger as they look forward to their future together smiling and embracing each other. (You and Me).

Descendants 3
On the day Mal and her friends go to recruit four new kids from the Isle of the Lost, Ben organizes a parade to welcome them. Before they set off, Ben kneels down and asks Mal to marry him in front of the entire audience (Did I Mention (Reprise)). She accepts and their engagement becomes official, even Belle and Beast are extremely delighted by this as they are willing to take in Mal as their new daughter-in-law. While leaving the Isle with the new recruits (Dizzy Tremaine, Celia Facilier, Squirmy Smee, Squeaky Smee), Hades attempts to break through the barrier. After a hard battle, Mal is able to stop him. Meanwhile, a heartbroken Audrey breaks into the Museum of Cultural History to steal the Queen's crown. Maleficent's Scepter calls out to her newfound darkness and turns her into a vengeful witch. With the news broken out and Hades' near-escape, Mal hesitantly decides to permanently close the barrier to keep the people safe, much to her and Ben's disappointment. He reluctantly agrees when she reminds him of their jobs as the King and Queen of Auradon and assures him that she doesn't want to take away his dream because it was the reason why she fell in love with him and what lead to where she and her friends are now and respects her decision.

Audrey magically ages Mal, spreads a sleeping curse throughout Auradon, and turns Ben into a beast after he rejected her again. The rejection made her turn the rest of the people still awake into stone. Mal is able to reverse the magic by traveling back to the Isle of the Lost where Celia brings her to Hades' lair to find his ember (the only object more powerful than the scepter) to take down Audrey.

While leaving the Isle, Gil and Harry Hook escape and Uma steals the ember to bargain with Mal about freeing the rest of the VKs. Mal reluctantly agrees, but Uma still keeps the ember. Back on the Isle, the team tries to track down Ben in Beast Castle. Audrey enchants the suits of armor in the room to trap them, but they manage to defeat the armors by working together. The girls go to Audrey's dorm room to find clues while the boys go looking for Ben. A beast like Ben attacks the boys when they catch up to him, but Carlos manages to calm him down and help him remove a thorn stuck in his palm, which was the reason he was in a flying rage. Jane manages to reverse some of the magic by spraying him with water from The Enchanted Lake, making him mostly human again, sans a beard and two fangs.

The couple reunites at Evie's Cottage. Mal compliments his new beard saying she loves it, but not his fangs. Doug, Gil, and Jane go looking for Fairy Godmother while the rest make their way to Fairy Cottage to find Audrey. There, they find Chad Charming trapped in a room, but no Audrey. As they were leaving, Mal comes clean about their decision to permanently close the barrier on the Isle, enraging not only Uma, Harry, and Celia, but also Evie, Carlos, and Jay and all he could say is that it's "for Auradon's safety". Out of anger, Celia drops the ember in a birdbath to disrupt it's power while Uma and Harry take off. After a brief confrontation with Evie, her friends and Ben are all turned to stone.

Mal goes to beg Uma to help her restore the ember's power, saying she saw how much she cares about other people. Uma tells her to get herself out of the mess. Audrey holds Celia hostage and forces her to fight. Without the ember's power, Audrey holds the upper hand until Uma combines her magic with Mal's to restore it. Mal finally defeats Audrey and saves Celia along with the rest of Auradon; Audrey is restored to herself, but the impact of the magic has rendered her unconscious. Mal suggests retrieving Hades from the Isle in order to save Audrey's life. At first, Ben is against it, but agrees to send guards to retrieve him when he learns that Hades is Mal's father, thus his future father-in-law. When a revived Audrey realizes the error of her ways and apologizes, Ben and Mal apologize for hurting her in return.

While celebrating their royal engagement at the port, Mal is asked to make a speech. Mal philosophizes on how everyone is capable of good and evil, no matter where they come from, and she cannot simply be Queen of Auradon, but also the Isle of the Lost. Her heartfelt speech moves Ben enough to decide for the barrier around the Isle of the Lost to come down at last. Fairy Godmother hands over her Magic Wand; Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos say the spell together to remove the barrier and form a solid bridge to the Isle, allowing everyone to come through. Uma, Celia, Harry, Gil, and the rest of the islanders cross the bridge to celebrate the eventful occasion with the rest of Auradon, who have now fully accepted them. Hades crosses the bridge last and asks to be invited to the wedding. Mal embraces him, and Hades then gives the couple his blessing, but when Ben is embracing Mal, Hades gives him the "I'm watching you" warning. (Break This Down).

Descendants: The Royal Wedding
TBA

Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel
In the book, both Mal and Ben have a dream about each other. Mal has a dream about their first date that would take place in the future and Ben had a dream that he was on the Isle of the Lost and was saved by a girl with purple hair and green eyes. While dancing and singing Once Upon a Dream with Audrey, Ben thinks back to the girl in his dream and realizes the meaning of the song.

Return to the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel
In the book, Ben and Mal are barely having any time with each other due to Ben's busy schedule as king and student of Auradon. When Mal and her friends receive anonymous messages that urge them to return to the island and Ben hears disturbing news about a dragon sighted in Camelot Heights, both set off in different directions to solve their problems. Mal's team is about to leave for the island when Ben's carriage returns, and Ben and Mal tell each other everything. Instead of trying to stop her, Ben supports her decision and puts his faith in her and her friends.

At the end of the book, Mal and Ben unexpectedly reunite the next day in the dwarf mines where an underground tunnel connecting the Isle of the Lost to Auradon had been formed. The dragon revealed itself to be Madam Mim, Merlin's old enemy. A hard battle is ensued, ending only when Ben threatens her with Excalibur, allowing Merlin to send her back to the island and seal off the tunnel. Mal tells Ben their discoveries; the four talismans they retrieved and now must be put in a safe place.

Rise of the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel
Mal and her friends are caught by Fairy Godmother on the pier while trying to steal a boat to find King Triton's Trident, which had gone missing after Triton's granddaughter Arabella stole and then lost it. Fairy Godmother tells this matter to Ben and is ready to banish the four kids back to the Isle before Ben makes up a lie about sending them on a secret mission to cover for them. With their banishment canceled, they tell Ben what had been going on, and they go to the Isle together. Ben drives the boat closely to the barrier where Mal and Uma fight for the Trident.

Escape from the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel
Mal and Ben are practicing several new dances as the kingdom will be expecting them to begin the first dance whenever there is a royal celebration. Knowing they have very little time together with Ben's royal responsibilities and Mal's commitment to recruiting new VKs, they use the lessons to be together and enjoy themselves.

After a late meeting with Ben's parents and Fairy Godmother, Mal and Ben head off to follow through on a secret senior tradition, a treasure hunt.

They graduate from Auradon Prep at the end of the book, together with Jay and Evie.

Trivia

 * During the film, whenever Mal is around Ben, her hair seems shorter and lighter.
 * Similar to names of Maleficent and Mal using the root word "mal-" based off the word "malevolent" meaning "bad" and/or "evil", Ben's name serves as a contrast using the root word "ben-" from the word "benevolent" which means "kind and generous" like how the character is portrayed.
 * The two are similar in that both feel pressured to follow their parent's footsteps.
 * Ben can see the goodness in Mal.
 * Ben recognized Mal's artistic talent.
 * Both have influenced each other. Ben influences Mal to be good and follow her heart rather than be like her mother. Mal also influences Ben and helps loosen up as shown in Descendants: Wicked World where in episode 10 he lied to Jay to get him from bugging him and tells Jay it is ok to beat Carlos.
 * Mal tends to save Ben.
 * Ben taught Mal how to love.
 * Mal and Ben are each others True Love being revealed after Mal breaks Uma's Love Spell on Ben by using True Love's Kiss.
 * Ben supports Mal's choices, even if he doesn't agree with them as he does when Mal decided to close the barrier.
 * Ben sings "Did I Mention" to Mal twice in the movie trilogy the first time was in Descendants when Ben declared he is in love with Mal at a Tourney game. The second time Ben sings that song to Mal was in Descendants 3 when Ben proposed to Mal at the same spot they met.
 * Ben and Mal are the first DCOM couple to get married.

Bal Songs

 * Did I Mention
 * If Only
 * If Only (Reprise)
 * If Only (Reprise 2)
 * You and Me
 * Did I Mention (Reprise)

Gallery
Posters =