Benjamin Chamberlain

Benjamin "Ben" Chamberlainis a main character of The Witch Diaries. Benjamin is an extremely powerful and dangerous witch. He is the father of Lily Chamberlain and the adoptive father of Malachai Parker and boy he rescued from slavery.

Early Life
Ben was born in the late years to a Viking warrior. His parents had met after her mother was captured during a Viking raid, and fell in love before marrying. Ben was their first born child. He was, according to Kai, the apple of his father's eye. However, when he was five, Ben was taken as part of his mother's deal. His mother claimed that he was the victim of a plague in order to cover up what she had done.

1820
In 1820, Ben was living in Los Angeles at the Governor's mansion; and were paying the governor in gold to keep quiet about the existence of vampire's. One day the Governor threw a party for him. Ben attended the funeral of the Governor's son, when Ben sees a man whipping a child. Ben saves the child; and decides to care for him. He names the child Malachai.

He later meets the Governor to ask for Malachai's freedom and chokes the Governor's neck until he grants the freedom. Benjamin asks Kai about his father and quotes that family can be more than just those with whom they share blood and that they can choose. Kai looked touched by his words.

Personality and Traits
He is described as "a flirtatious, roguish and charming boy, who was unaware of vampires. He was obedient and incredibly loyal to his mother, doing anything he could to be a good son, even at the expense of his father at times.
 * -|Early Life=


 * -|Witch=

Ben is continuously described as being cruel, sadistic, careless, paranoid, reckless, impulsive, short-tempered, aggressive, volatile, unpredictable, slightly unreasonable, narcissistic, manipulative, jealous, obsessive and competitive. Though he shows little to no regard for human life in general, Ben feels guilt and remorse for most of his actions, he just does not show it, and he has morals. Despite his negative traits, Ben has shown to be very protective of his adoptive son Kai, who stayed by his side for centuries, and he is not pure evil, he is just sadistic.

Ben can sometimes be cold and ill-mannered, he is also not above killing children, if they are a threat to him or his family, despite this Ben dislikes people in general who mistreat or abuse their children. He only trust those who have proven themselves trustworthy to him. He wants people in general, to be loyal to him and respect him of their own free will, he does not like to compel people to be loyal to him against their free will, he only does this if he believes they are plotting against him or his family. Like Kai, Ben can easily be provoked when disrespected, as he has no tolerance for those that disrespect him. Although he puts up a tough demeanor, deep down Ben cares about his family; he just has a lot of difficulty showing it. Initially, Ben hated being a witch, but he eventually accepted his witch nature.

During his time in Los Angeles, Ben has grown to genuinely care about his unborn child, and was deeply hurt/enraged when Jake and Charlotte falsely accused him of using her; that he violently cursed Jake in retaliation. Although, he does still maintain a twisted sense of humor about his child as he once referred to his child as "that" when discussion how to keep it and Charlotte safe. Ben is also shown to be more mellow. It is possible that being in his former home, with his family, has caused his humanity to show more. Ben has also shown to have matured greatly as he no longer uses his magic to put down his family when he disagrees with them like before but instead settles things in a civil and sometimes violent matter. As the baby's birth approached, Ben became more and more protective of both her and Charlotte. He even had a nursery built right next to Charlotte's bedroom so she could be near her baby. His undying love for the child is evident as he willingly sent the child away from the chaos in Los Angeles so that she could grow up properly in the loving arms of her brother Kai.

Ben is shown to have developed strong paternal instincts since the birth of Lillian. One such case is his belief a parent who trades their child for anything deserves a punishment worse than death. Ben has also mellowed down, so much so he, in an ironic twist of fate, restrained Kai when he lost his temper when Charlotte was threatened (and unknowingly Lily) unlike before where he would just let the blood flow. Ben's main concern is keeping his daughter safe now that she has returned home.

Despite this, he still can be, though to a far less extent; cruel, sadistic, vengeful, ruthless, manipulative and jealous as when he declared only he will decide what is the best way to protect his daughter not his coven or Charlie, and he picked up the fact that he fears Lily will grow up to call her brother Kai "Daddy". Ben is a brilliant strategist, and skilled in making people suffer, traits he inherited from his father. however, unlike him, he never underestimated members of his family, or his enemies, he committed immoral acts. He reactivated a Curse on Charlie. All these actions of his was partly as revenge/punishment for betraying him/for trying to take his daughter away from him.

Ben still has guilt and remorse for most of his actions, however, he still refuses to show it; but he only shows his remorseful nature towards Lily. He also still has morals and a sense of honor. Ben no longer has a sensitive side; as he no longer cares about what people in general think about him, particularly Charlotte and Kai, with the exception of Lily.

In his new role as a parent - Ben has gradually begun to reveal an unexpected aptitude towards the demands of fatherhood - placing his daughter's needs above his own. In the act of abdicating his leadership over the Nightwalker Coven and handing the reigns of control back for the sole purpose of focusing his attention on raising Lily- Ben exhibits a phenomenal turn-around in his priorities and power-hungry nature as well as in embracing the advent of parenthood and the experience of a new, self-sacrificing love.

Even five years after his imprisonment, Ben's personality has not changed much. Initially, he did not want to be reunited with his daughter, as he was afraid that he would fail Lily as her father (as he did not want her to become like him) just like he did with Kai, despite his best efforts. After some encouragement from Katherine Parker, a manifestation of his subconsciousness in responses to torture, he overcame this fear.

Prior to being rescued by his coven, Ben has developed PTS (post traumatic stress) as he dislikes being locked up, even if it is for his own protection. Despite this, he shows no remorse for his actions in regards to others in the same aspect, such as with Kai, knowing the feeling of being secluded for an extended period of time.

Physical Appearance
TBA

Powers
While Benjamin was still a child, his magic was bonded to his father, and because of his father's strength, Ben's power was augmented. During his early life, Ben experienced some difficulties controlling his magic.

Ben had proven herself to be an extremely powerful witch, though still feared his father, demonstrating the ability to communicate with his daughter, Lillian, through dreams and visions.

His pain infliction spells are more than powerful enough to give Kai major headaches, even though Kai has built an immunity towards pain infliction. This kind of spell also proved to be quite useful in her many encounters with a number of witches. Ben used the non-verbal form of pain infliction to enforce his will on his enemies to never come near his daughter Lily. He used the non-verbal form of this power again on Insidious after he threatened to find and kill his daughter. It was powerful enough to cripple him and bring him to the ground though he recovered quickly after the latter mentioned killing anyone who touched his daughter.

Ben's skill in locator spells is evident when he managed to locate Lily in the Bayou.

Since the death of his father, Ben has had many of his spells and rituals result in failure implying that the colossal amounts of power he previously possessed disappeared with his father's death as prior to his father's death he had succeeded in most if not all the spells he had cast.

Ben has shown the ability to not only astral project within the same city, but to also to very distant locations. He displayed this after performing a locator spell on Kai, and then visiting him in astral from Los Angeles to Italy. He cast a spell (while in astral form) that simultaneously snapped the necks of all vampires surrounding him, proving he is a force to be reckoned with.

Ben also continues to demonstrate his prowess in locator spells and, though he could not pinpoint him outside the city of Los Angeles, could still sense Kai's presence. Ben continues to showcase his in-depth knowledge of magic as he was able to develop an enchantment capable of killing Insidious by combining his blood, magic, Insidious's venom and ashes. He is also well versed in "old magic", as stated by Kai, when he linked a boundary spell to the beat of his heart. Ben casts an illusion spell on Charlotte and, unlike the previous spell he performed, this glamour spell was physically harmful as the spell took effect. He also devised an intricate spell to disempower and to bind Insidious to a small location in order to torture and gain information from him, going as far to break his protection spells and access his mind. He also uniquely used telekinesis to cause cardiac arrest on Insidious (something that proved to be a reversal of fortune). After his temporary death, he used representational magic to reestablish a protection spell around his mansion, ensuring that if he died, the spell could persist.

With his boost in power, he was also able to create an astral plane using Representational Magic that he had near complete control over when inside. With his power boost, Ben is an unstoppable force against anyone who opposes him.

Weaknesses
Benjamin has the typical weaknesses of a witch.

Lily Chamberlain
"My dearest Lily,

I do not know how this will find you. As a child full of wonder, a teenager full of opinions, or as a woman with the world at her feet. I write to tell you I love you, and to explain that in our family’s darkest hour, I was called upon to save my family, and so I did.Please do not mourn me, whatever pain I endure, I do so in service of those I love. My sole regret, is that I will be away from you.Be good to your mother. I draw comfort knowing that she will protect you. And I know she will not rest until our family is united.Until then, my sacrifice will allow you to grow. To become the beautiful daughter I can now only imagine. Please remember you are the legacy this family has always desired. The promise we fought to protect. You are, and always will be, our Lily."

- Ben to Lily in a letter



Lily is Ben's only daughter and child with Charlotte. He looked happy when Charlotte told him that the baby would be a girl, then he began to fight for her protection against his enemies. He loves her more than anything and in order to protect her from the people that are trying to kill her, he and Charlotte decided it was best to send her away. She was given to Kai, who would keep her safe. Ben was reunited with Lily when her safety was compromised. Lily is now living at home with her parents. The supernatural community is now aware of her existence.

Malachai Parker
"I'd have thrown you a damn parade"

- Kai to Ben

Kai is Ben's best friend and student. It's complicated, but they respect each other. There's definitely a history between them. It has been stated many times that Ben loves Kai like a son. Also, Kai is very much in favor of embracing his true nature as a witch and that’s something he learned from Ben and something they certainly have in common. His relationship with Kai is currently broken as Kai lives in exile and tries to find a way to get Los Angeles back under his rule. After he helped save Ben's child from being sacrificed, Ben gave him some blood to cure him and they returned to being allies once more.

Charlotte Marshall
"Some time ago, I refused to trust you with our daughter. I took you from Lily. I was wrong. Take care of her."

- Ben to Charlotte

Ben saves her from a vampire sent to kill her. Ben takes her back to his house, after talking a lot Ben received a call form Kai, he tells Charlotte that the vampire lurking around to kill her is dead. Even though she had to go, Ben offers her to stay. She agrees and they end up having sex. Ben tells Charlotte he knows something about her family after noticing a special birthmark on her shoulder. Charlotte ends up in Los Angeles where she finds out that she is pregnant with Ben's child. Not keen to the idea at first, Ben has shown to care about his child in more than one occasion, fearing that someone might try to take her away from him. The relationship between Ben and the mother of his child has evolved along the series, both coming to a mutual understanding, while Ben also shows that he cares about her. After her encounter with Ben's mother on the other side and nearly killed by him along with her baby, Charlotte is shown by Ben their child's nursery after Charlotte decides to move back to the Mansion. Ben and Charlie share a moment in which Ben asks her what his mother has told her about him, Charlotte tells him "Nothing true", which shows that they now have a good relationship. Ben and Charlotte are friends and they work together in order to keep their child safe.

Name

 * From the Hebrew name בִּנְיָמִין (Binyamin) which means "son of the south" or "son of the right hand". Benjamin in the Old Testament is the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews.
 * The last name Chamberlain is of Old French origin, and is an occupational name for a chamberlain, that is an official in charge of the private chambers of his master; the term was later a title of high rank. The derivation of this name is from the Old French and Anglo-Norman French "c(h)ambrelain, cambrelane, cambrelen(c)", chamberlain. The Italian cognate "camerlengo" was given to a manager of a pontifical court.

Trivia

 * Ben has a dream in which he sees his daughter in a coffin.
 * Ben's daughter Lily is the person he loves the most in the world.
 * Ben can be seen wearing a cross.
 * Ben has killed his father.
 * Ben has killed his father,  because he knew Lily was alive and Ben could not risk his mother finding out from him that his daughter is alive.
 * According to Ben, every enemy of his has become desiccated, turned to dust or became dinner.
 * Ben celebrated his birthday in 1492.

Tropes

 * Monster Sob Story - Due to an illegitimate birth, his mother is unjustly more volatile towards him. See Abusive Parents . See also Cry for the Devil.
 * Magnificent Bastard - Averted due to Villainous Breakdown
 * SelfMadeOrphan - Ben has killed his mother and father.
 * Papa Wolf Overprotective Dad- Ben is very protective of his daughter and has no limits when it comes to Lily's safety and well being. He even killed his own father in order to protect his daughter after he found out about Lily still being alive. Ben trusts nobody apart from himself when it comes to Lily and his love for her has no bounds.