დ× 𝔹ᴇɴ 𝔻𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 ×დ

Hall's first project, the first arc of the series, Haunted Cartridge, was published in 2010. It follows Jadusable, a sophomore college student who, after acquiring a haunted cartridge of the Nintendo 64 video game Majora's Mask, is tormented for a week by the presence of a seemingly omniscient artificial intelligence entity called BEN. The second arc, titled Moon Children and set between late 2010 and early 2011, chronicles the public emergence of a mysterious cult known as the Children of the Moon, who worshipped the moon through human sacrifice or, in their own words, ascension. The third arc, titled Awakening, began in March 2020, following new and recurring characters who have become involved in multiple events of the current year. This arc introduced new scenarios detailing the consequences of an event within the story's universe in 2018 that caused the collapse of civilized society, as well as continuing the stories established in previous arcs with the intention of uniting them.

Ben Drowned is a famous creepypasta (internet horror story) from 2010 centered on a cursed cartridge of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for Nintendo 64. It tells the story of a player who finds strange files, including one called "BEN", and is haunted by a statue from the game and an entity believed to be the spirit of a drowned teenager named Benjamin Peters.

Origin: Created by Alex Hall (aka "Jadusable") on 4chan, initially presented as a true story of a haunted cartridge.

THE PLOT: The narrator acquires an unlabeled gray cartridge. When played, the "BEN" file causes glitches, distorted music, and terrifying messages.

THE ENT: The statue from the Elegy of Emptiness (the transformed Link character) pursues the player. The spirit Ben communicates through the game's text.

Famous quotes: "You shouldn't have done that" and "You've met a terrible fate, haven't you?"

THE "DROWNED BOY": Ben is said to be a boy who drowned and was trapped in the cartridge.

The story is known for being a pioneer in the "alternate reality game" (ARG) format, combining text with faked gameplay videos to enhance realism.

Ben Drowned's personality varies depending on whether it is analyzed from the original material (canon) or from the interpretations of the fans (fanon), since the story evolved from a simple horror story to a complex alternate reality game (ARG).

Benjamin Lawman (the boy): Before his death, he was a shy and lonely boy who idolized Link. He is described as someone who "had few friends" and enjoyed childish games.

Ben (the digital entity): It is the entity that inhabits the cartridge and the internet. Its personality is sadistic, manipulative, and controlling.

Machiavellian: He enjoys playing with the minds of his victims, as he did with Jadusable, psychologically torturing him through games and his dreams.

Arrogant and omnipotent: Within the digital environment, he is extremely confident in his power, acting like a "puppeteer" who decides when to let his victim play or rest.

Vulnerable under pressure: Despite his cruelty, he has shown signs of genuine fear and despair in situations where he loses control of the situation.

The fan community has added features that are not always present in the original story, but are widely accepted in the "fandom":

ᴠᴏʟᴀᴛɪʟ ᴇ ɪʀʀɪᴛᴀʙʟᴇ: He is usually described as having an explosive temper, changing his mind quickly and getting angry very easily.

Burlesque: Uses cynical and defiant phrases to provoke those who try to interact with him.

TRAUMATIZED: Many fan versions emphasize his resentment towards the world due to his drowning death, justifying his violent behavior as a form of revenge.

Ben Drowned's outfit is almost identical to Link's in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, as his appearance is a distorted and "cursed" version of the character.

Her outfit consists of the following main elements:

GREEN TUNIC: He wears the classic forest green elf warrior tunic, which reaches halfway down his thighs.

LONG HAT: He wears a pointy green hat, characteristic of Link, which usually falls to one side of his head.

Tights or pants: Underneath the tunic, wear tights or fitted pants in white or light beige.

LEATHER ACCESSORIES: Includes a brown belt with a metal buckle and a shoulder strap (crossed strap on the chest) of the same material, which originally holds the sword sheath.

Boots and gloves: He wears brown leather boots and, in some versions, arm protectors or simple gauntlets.

Like Ben Drowned, he is a digital entity that exists within software and the internet. His weaknesses are not physical, but technical and psychological. Here I detail the main ones according to creepypasta and ARG mythology.

1. THE WATER (Symbolic and Traumatic Weakness) Although he is a digital spirit, water is his greatest fear and weakness due to his origins. He drowned (allegedly in a ritual by a cult called "The Moon Children"), so water represents his trauma. In many fan stories, contact with water or even the mention of his death weakens him or causes him to lose control.

2. ᴇʟ ʀᴇɪɴɪᴄɪᴏ ᴏ ғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛᴇᴏ ᴅᴇʟ sɪsᴛᴇᴍᴀo Because it is tied to the Majora's Mask code and computer files, Ben is vulnerable to hardware manipulation:

DELETE THE FILE: In the original story, Jadusable tries to delete the "BEN" and "YOUR TURN" files, which causes conflicts within the entity.

ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴜᴄᴄɪᴏɴ ᴅᴇʟ s ᴏᴘᴏʀᴛᴇ: Breaking the original cartridge or destroying the hard drive where it is housed could, in theory, "lock it up" or eliminate its presence on that specific node.

3. Lack of Connection (Digital Isolation)

Ben needs to interact with someone to spread or cause terror. If he is deprived of an internet connection or a user running his program, he becomes "dormant" or trapped. His power depends on his ability to jump from device to device.

4. ʟᴀ ᴄᴀɴᴄɪᴏɴ ᴅᴇʟ ᴄᴜʀᴀᴅᴏ (Song of Healing)

In the original Zelda game, this song is used to seal tormented souls within masks. In the creepypasta, hearing this song (especially if played backward or distorted) usually causes pain or forces the spirit to manifest, as it is the melody that "heals" or imprisons the spirits.

5. sᴜs ᴘʀᴏᴘɪᴀs ʟɪᴍɪᴛᴀᴄɪᴏɴᴇs ᴅᴇ ᴄᴏᴅɪɢᴏ

Although he appears omnipotent, Ben must abide by the rules of the game engine to a certain extent. He cannot simply appear in the real world physically; he needs screens, speakers, or text to communicate. His existence is limited to data corruption.