King Benjamin "Ben" Florian Beast, formerly known as Prince Ben, is one of the five main protagonists of the film Descendants, as well as a major character of its sequels Descendants 2 and Descendants 3, and of most media in the Descendants franchise. He is the son of Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast, the husband of Queen Mal, and the King of the United States of Auradon.
Ben is portrayed by Mitchell Hope, who also voices the character in animated media. In the series of shorts School of Secrets, Ben is portrayed by Britain Simons.
Ben is the idealistic son of King Beast and Queen Belle. Next in line for the throne, Ben is caring, brave and not afraid of change.
Personality
Ben is a sweet-natured teen that feels pity for the children of villains and was willing to give them a second chance when not even his own parents were willing to give them the chance. He seems to take after his father in looks and his mother in personality as he is more willing to see people past their appearances (similarly to how his mother saw beneath the Beast's exterior) along with having a love of reading and books as well as a gentle soul.
In addition, out of all the AKs, he is the one who's mostly on the side of the VKs, usually being the first to approach and defend them and try to socialize and have a conversation with them, particularly Mal. He seemed to have a fascination with Mal the moment he first saw her, and it seems the feeling is mutual especially since both had a dream about the other before their meeting. Even after being given a love potion by her, when it washed off he believed she loved him but didn't think it could happen by itself especially since he was dating Audrey at the time, he still grew to love her and wanted to be with her. He is a very friendly and honest person who believes in the good in others. He is fair and patient with the VKs, understanding that they have had it much rougher than anybody else at his school and was willing to work with them and do whatever it took to have them trust him (such as helping Carlos with his dog phobia and eating a cookie Mal gave him). Despite this, he does seem to have low self-confidence as he sometimes isn't sure if he is cut out to be king and wishes for his parents' (particularly his father's) approval. He also believes who a person's parents are doesn't make them who they are and that is what makes him and Mal so similar.
In Wicked World, he is shown to be mildly naive and a goody-two-shoes, becoming distraught after he broke a cup in episode 6 and offering to pay Freddie for damages and in episode 7 when he and the others were transported into Jordan's lamp, he concluded they must be tiny (showing he is slightly slow). He is also a gentleman, once offering to take off his jacket and put it over a puddle of mud so Audrey, Mal, and Evie wouldn't get dirty. He also seems to be influenced by Mal as he lied to Jay to get him to stop bugging him in episode 10, causing Mal to feel further attracted to him. Overall, he is a kind compassionate intelligent person willing to give anyone and everyone a chance.
On a side note, despite being the main prince in the franchise, he takes on the role that is more typical of a princess (or rather the role of his mother) as he tends to be kidnapped like in episode 17 of Wicked World and when Maleficent froze everyone he tried to save them but Mal, Carlos, Evie, and Jay were the ones to save everyone.
Physical Appearance
Ben is a 16-year-old teenager by the end of Descendants. He has brown hair with golden streaks in-between. His eyes are hazel-green.
Powers & Abilities
In Descendants 3, Audrey transforms Ben into a Beast. It is unknown if Ben can transform into a Beast by will, after he returned back to human.
Beast Form: After being cursed by Audrey, Ben was turned into a humanoid beast with the characteristics almost similar to his father's which was the fur, fangs and claws but without horns to his head.
Partial Transformation: After being splashed with the water from the Enchanted Lake, he returned in his human form with only a beard and still had fangs.
Claws & Fangs: His animalistic form granted him razor sharp claws capable of imprinting them when shredding walls and had canine-like teeth.
Feral Mind: As a beast, Ben possessed rage making him feral towards his surroundings especially when enduring pain.
Enhanced Agility: He was also capable of lunging from further feats away above normal standards as a beast.
Ben does not possess any special powers since he is not descended from a magical bloodline. Ben is capable of the following:
Statesmanship: This is essential for Ben's role as ruler of Auradon.
Athlete: Ben is skilled in various sports, such as:
Tourney: He is the captain of Auradon Prep's Tourney team.
Swimming: Ben can swim, as shown in Descendants, during his date with Mal by the Enchanted Lake.
Fencing: In Rise of the Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel, Ben mentioned that he took fencing classes. He used to be on the fencing team until he had to leave when he became king. His skills are later showed during the sword fight in Descendants 2.
Croquet: Ben is seen playing this sport during Family Day.
He is one of the twelve characters (Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Jane, Doug, Chad, Belle, Beast, Fairy Godmother and Dude) to appear in all three films focused on Mal.
Ben, Mal, Jay, Evie, Carlos, Audrey, Jane and Lonnie are the only characters from the films to appear in Descendants: Wicked World films focused on Mal and also.
It is very possible that his middle name "Florian", is named after Prince Florian, usually the name for the Prince from Snow White and The Seven Dwarves.
Ben's Tourney jersey number is 7.
In the prequel book, at the end (which takes place right before the film), it is revealed he had a dream of being inside the Isle of the Lost and meeting a purple-haired green-eyed girl. Mal also had a dream, set near the Enchanted Lake and being "on the stone floor of an ancient temple ruin" with Ben (whom she never met or seen prior to the dream and meeting him).
The prelude also confirms that Ben takes after his mother more than his father; he shares her interests in books and reading, and is more of a gentle soul in comparison to his father's stubbornness.
Since Mal was 16 years old in the first film, and Ben was "turning 16" by the time he made his proclamation, this would make Ben younger than Mal by a few to several months.
Near the end of the film, Ben reveals that he didn't fake his affection for Mal after the love spell was washed away in the Enchanted Lake.
Mal and Ben are each other's True Love being revealed after Mal breaks Uma's Love Spell on Ben by using True Love's Kiss.
In Disney Descendants Yearbook, Ben's, "Secret Wish" is to live happily ever after with Mal while his "Not-so-secret Wish" is to see everyone in Auradon treated the same, regardless of what their parents have done in the past.
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.
In the song, "Did I Mention", Ben says this line, "I dream of you everyday", which is a reference to Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel, since Ben had a dream being with a purple-haired girl.
Ben, Mal, Evie, Uma, Audrey and Freddie are the only characters to have solos.
Ben is the first male with a solo.
Ben, Mal, Uma and Audrey are the only ones with more than one solo.
Ben's singing voice is by Jeff Lewis in the 1st movie, similar to how Drew Seeley voiced Troy Bolton in the first High School Musical movie, instead of Zac Efron.
Mitchell Hope actually sang in the sequels, similar to how Zac Efron actually sang in High School Musical 2 & 3.
Ben has several allergies, something he inherited from his father.
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