B A S I C S
Benjamin James McBride
N I C K N A M E / A L I A S Ben, Benny (Close friends)
C O D E N A M E Kingfisher
A G E (G R A D E) Junior (16)
P L A C E O F B I R T H Oxford, Mississippi
G E N D E R Male (he/him)
P H Y S I C A L D E S C R I P T I O N Ben is not an individual of incredibly impressive stature. On the contrary, one could describe him as “dainty” in a way. Of slim, slightly muscular frame, Ben is shorter than average with an overall small, lean, and subtly sinewy, having a highly-developed muscular tone but far from being burly. Ben has warm ivory skin that, except for a couple of lasting scrapes on his elbows, has few noticeable scars. Ben has dirty blonde hair that he typically parts down the center. He has dark green eyes that can seem brown to the unobservant.
H E I G H T 5’6”
W E I G H T 142 lbs.
E T H N I C I T Y Caucasian
P E R S O N A L D E S C R I P T I O N Ben is, by nature, a friendly person. He’s easily approachable and quite amicable, and is always more than happy to meet somebody new and strike up a conversation. Loyal and playful, Ben enjoys being in a group more than being alone and would be considered an extrovert, but at the same time, he is not opposed to periods of alone time as well. Ben is an open-minded person, more than willing to make company with people from different walks of life, and while Ben is (like most teenagers) prone to falling in line with social expectations, he's always been a person that tries his best to put the welfare of his friends and family first. Ben is a very dependable person, as both a friend and a classmate. He keeps himself well-organized and is very conscientious, having a natural dislike of any form of disarray in general. He values a good plan and adherence to rules, and dislikes being viewed as a "rowdy" or "troublesome" person, though he will skirt the lines at times if absolutely necessary.
Ben, while being an undeniably affable person and good pal, does not have a great sense of humor, especially about himself. He can get easily annoyed when being the target of both affectionate teasing or malicious bullying, and has a poor temperament when it comes to dealing with ridicule, regardless of intent. In some ways, Ben's sensitivity can be rather adorable at times, but Ben's top is very quick to blow, and his irritable nature can be quickly triggered by snarky comments, either directed at himself or others. Another thing that can easily get on Ben's nerves is loss- Ben is a very competitive individual, always striving to win, and he tends to be a sore loser. While he will always work hard to earn a victory, he is easily aggravated at loss and can lash out when confronted with past defeats. In many ways, Ben is sore about his weaknesses- he dislikes on principle when his failures are brought up even tangentially, especially in a manner that can seem mocking or derisive. Ben likes to project himself as having high self-esteem, but in truth, he is very insecure about his poor performances and shortcomings, even the ones that he had no control over, like his physical attributes.
Ben has a classic Type A personality: he is a hard worker that dislikes ambivalence, delays, and disappointment. He is a dependably hard worker that one can always trust to have completed his assignments, and is highly ambitious, always seeking to further himself in a shape or form. He likes to have a complete timetable at all times and dislikes wasting too much spare time. He is not so rigidly driven to be a spoilsport, and is more than happy to show up at a party or hang out, but he doesn't like to waste too much time on the frivolous. Ben is also rather impatient, something unusual for a sniper, and can get easily frustrated when things don't happen in a timely fashion. Ben's frustration has several clear ticks (angry foot-tapping, furrowed brows) and can easily spill into his short-tempered behavior. Ben also tends to be proactive, and is very hyperalert: he's always watching for things to happen in his periphery, and as such has excellent observational skills and stunning reaction time.
Ben does have high standards and a great deal of confidence in himself, but he doesn't normally reflect those standards onto others. Much of his ambition is driven by his own expectations, and he doesn't tend to force others onto his level. (He
does get annoyed when others don't
try to do their role in a project, but who can blame him?) At the same time, Ben also doesn't come off as too vain or conceited. Confident, for sure, but Ben is not self-centered. He'll give into some gloating and trash talk after a victory (he really can't help himself), but overall he's somewhat reasonable with his own ego. He rarely brings up his own personal achievements in conversation, unless asked about them.
Ben is, despite many shortcomings, a good friend. Though he does have a short-fuse and can occasionally be rather testy, perhaps his strongest sentiment is his sense of fealty. If you have a secret that you need to get off your chest, or something embarrassing that you need help fixing, or just somebody to hang out with on a nice Saturday afternoon, Ben is a great person to go to. He can be annoying, but he also can be a very tender, genial friend that will take your secrets to the grave with him. He can be a pain to deal with, especially when he's behind schedule or losing, but he's a great person in general, one that won't criticize you for who you are or deride you for what you've done. He's a person that likes to fix things, and he's always willing to lend a hand to help somebody fix a problem or clear up a pressing issue. His sense of allegiance is second-to-none, and he's one of the most dependable people around.
Just don't call him "shorty" if you don't have a deathwish.
L I K E S - Guns! Ben likes guns. Scratch that, he loves guns. He might just get married to a machine gun one day. Ben likes all varieties of firearms and can't help but be drawn to a weapon if presented with one. He drags his parents to gun shows whenever possible. In essence, he's basically a living, walking, United States of America.
- Sports: Ben also likes playing sports a lot. He's drawn to their competitive nature, and always goes as hard as he can to win. Ben is a phenomenal skeet shooter and very talented archer, but can play a myriad of sports quite well.
- First-Person Shooters: Thanks to having excellent hand-eye coordination, Ben is very good at first-person shooter games. Step to him in Call of Duty only if you want to get stomped.
- Timetables, Schedules and Plans: Ben likes to have things charted out ahead of time, and loves to craft a good game plan, whether that be before a football player or a high-stakes operation.
- Ramen: I mean, it's Ramen. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Ducks: Ben has always liked ducks. Something about them is just very appealing to him.
- Reality TV Shows: Guilty pleasure that nobody will ever, ever find out about.
D I S L I K E S - Changes of Plan: Plans were made for a reason, damnit! And that reason was not to be changed! Ben has some subpar spur-of-the-moment thinking.
- Fast Food: Ben cannot stand fast food of any kind. Far too greasy and unhealthy.
- Defeat: I would wager that most people don't enjoy defeat, but Ben is a very sore loser that takes defeat way too seriously.
G O A L S - The Olympics! Ben is an ambitious soul, and what better goal is there to be an Olympian? Ben is dedicated to continue pursuing his athletic career in college and hopefully make it to the Olympic stage.
- Get Taller: His growth spurt ended already, but who's to say that he can't crank out an extra couple of inches?
F E A R S - His Failures: As cliche as it is, Ben has had difficulty in the past accepting his weaknesses and failures. It's something that he finds difficult to embrace and tries to avoid at all costs.
- Getting Shot: Perhaps ironic for an individual whose sole role is, well, shooting, but Ben has a distinct fear of being shot while in combat. Perhaps it's his experience with firearms, and his knowledge of precisely how dangerous they are, that propels this fear. Of course, just about everybody has a fear of being shot, but this notion particularly bothers Ben.
S E X U A L P R E F E R E N C E Ben hasn't exactly been on the dating scene that much, so for now, it remains a mystery.
(gay)B R I E F B I O Benjamin James McBride was born in the state of Mississippi. He was the child of Frank McBride, a forensic scientist and ballistics analyst of high repute, and Annie Brockford-McBride, a professor at Ol' Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, that taught physical education. Benjamin was the oldest child in the family, having a younger brother, Jesse, and a younger sister, Annabeth. Ben's first few years were relatively normal, but when Ben was 7, something would happen that would shock the entire family. Frank McBride, being a gun expert, was an avid gun owner and kept a number of weapons locked up safely in the house, but he never did the same for his Bebe gun, which was much less dangerous than an actual firearm. When Ben once tried to snag the weapon, Frank realized that leaving the gun out in the open was a terrible idea, and locked it in the shed. That Christmas Eve, Ben took the Bebe gun from the shed (in hindsight, using a standard lock was not the world's greatest security measure) and waddled across the yard, towards the Christmas tree. The McBrides owned a large acreage of land that included a plenty of space for a large Christmas tree, covered in a number of shiny ornaments. In a moment of childish stupidity, Ben aimed it at the tree, and, to the shock and utter amazement of his nearby parents, shot every single ornament off without missing a single beat. It truly was a Christmas miracle.
The McBrides quickly realized that their son had gifts, and so they quickly ushered him into a career in professional shooting. As it so happens, professional shooting isn't exactly a career of great interest, but there were still a number of activities that Ben was ushered into, and he did so gleefully. Whatever the cause might be, Ben was a natural aim, and with little training, he started winning local tournaments in all disciplines of clay pigeon shooting- skeet, trap, and sporting clays. He was a prodigy. He even appeared in a couple of magazines. He eradicated (metaphorically) the child competition and progressed to the adult league, where he continued to have remarkable success for a child. At the age of 14, he was the youngest person ever invited to the US Shooting National Championship. If he won, he would inherit the title of the youngest skeet-shooting champion. One week before he left to compete, Ben got into a fight with a bully at school, and in the confrontation, Ben was roughly thrown into the concrete. He fractured his hand to brace himself from the fall, and he was forced to withdraw.
His ambitions sidelined, Ben was inconsolable. His chance of being a record-breaker curbed, he was angry at himself for his own stupidity, even though what had occurred wasn't really his fault. Soon after, Annie would receive a post to teach at Texas Southern University for a higher paycheck, and so the family moved to Swindon. On his second day at his new school, Ben was called spontaneously into the principal's office. As he walked through the empty hallway, a figure grabbed him, and before he knew it, he was out cold.
He woke up in a strange sterile room, sitting in a chair facing a strange, very Russian, lady. He was informed about some sort of secret spy organization working in the school that routinely saved the world, and that they wanted
him to be a member. Ben thought it was a fever dream. But strangely, sitting there, it felt good to be given a purpose outside of just achieving to achieve. And so, very, very reluctantly, Ben said yes. He figured that if it was real, that he would attain some sort of unique opportunity, or pass whatever type of test was set up here, and that if it was fake, the dream would end soon.
The dream didn't end, though. Since then, Ben has been a valuable member of Prom, using his superb natural talent in firearms to help advance the team's interests. It's been a nightmare juggling all that throughout high school, but Ben has been more than happy to lend his services to Prom and end the very real, very dangerous nightmares that others have every day, and help make the world a better place. It's a bit idealistic, true, but it is rather cool.
T A L E N T S - Firearms Mastery: As has been stated prior countless times, Ben is extremely gifted with the use of firearms. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, snipers, anything that can be aimed, will be aimed, with a great deal of precision as well. Ben has an in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of guns as well, able to disassemble, reassemble, and repair firearms with relative ease, especially those that he is familiar with.
- CQC Proficiency: As a member of Prom, Ben has been trained in martial arts, and does pack a mean right hook. That being said, while he can defend himself in close quarters, he would much prefer not to if given the choice.
- WIP
G A D G E T S - Firearms of Choice: Anything that has a trigger works in Ben's books, but when given the choice, he prefers the Remington CSR or the Barrett M82 models for long-range engagements, and a UTAS UTS-15 or Bushmaster ACR 3 for close quarters.
- The Totally Normal Briefcase: When in a situation where guns cannot be carried around willy-nilly (unfortunately, that encompasses many situations), Ben prefers to take what appears to be a matte-black briefcase full of normal papers. However, well-hidden underneath the felt are the components of a constructable sniper rifle and a handgun. Of course, this won't fool any competent security guards, but thankfully, not too many places have competent security guards.
- Tranquilizer Rifle: When indiscriminate murder is not the go-to, Ben chooses his custom-built Prom Tranquilizer Rifle, which fires piercing darts full of fast-acting tranquilizers. The aiming is a little temperamental, considering that darts travel very differently than bullets do, but it works great for neutralizing targets without needing lethal force. Also, it's funny to send an 8-foot tall henchman to sleep from 600 meters with a little dart.
- Pen Blasters: Ben carries with him a case full of what appears to be your average ballpoint click pens. In fact, they are not pens at all. Pressing the button ignites the gunpowder inside the fake pen, firing a single bullet and releasing a lot of smoke. Useful in a pinch.
- Cell Blockers: Appearing for all the world as a TI-84 calculator, the gadget is actually a very high-tech device that can block most signals within a large radius for roughly 10 minutes. Because the earpieces for Prom use a special wavelength, they remain intact, but any cell phone calls and radio communication in the nearby area are blocked, along with social media usage. Ben uses this gadget to wipe out enemy communication and to mess with people that can't get their noses out of their smartphones.
O T H E R - His birthday is January 16th. He is a Capricorn.
- His codename is derived from the kingfisher, a bird that swoops down and plucks fish from the water.
- Since joining Prom, he has never missed a target during a mission.
- Ben loves birds a lot. He owns a pet duck named Dewey.
- Ben is a runningback on the MFHS Colts Varsity Football Team. He is not very good at all, but then again, nobody on the team is.
- Color- Sea Green #2E8B57
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