Benjamin

"Apparently, I'm a hot commodity. It appears I have to win the right to be free."

- Benjamin on his freedom

Benjamin is a member of the Egyptian coven, created by its leader, Amun. His unique special talent enables him to physically influence the alchemical elements of nature: fire, water, earth, and air. Amun chose to create him for this very reason, for he knew Benjamin would be gifted. His mate is Tia, another member of the Egyptian coven.

He is portrayed by Rami Malek in the second movie adaptation of Breaking Dawn. In addition, he is portrayed by Arash Marandi in the Sunrise segment.

Early life
Benjamin grew up in the slums of Cairo. He lost his mother at a young age and had no knowledge of his father, and so was raised by his mother's extended family. After being passed around between family members who could feed him, his mother's uncle, a street performer, took him in and taught him different things like dancing and singing for money or selling trinkets and picking pockets.

His uncle, after finding out his strange ability of controlling the elements, taught Benjamin how to do tricks. Benjamin became the most profitable member of the family, and was therefore very dear to him.

Among the children in his uncle's care was a girl named Tia, a distant relative. They grew very close to each other. His performances on the streets drew attention of both mortal and immortal. Amun wanted to make an immortal of great power while keeping him hidden from the Volturi in hopes of someday conquering them, and did not hesitate to kill his uncle and snatch the boy from the street.

He was kept in Amun's underground, undiscovered temple for five years, where Amun and Kebi brought him "food" and prohibited from leaving the temple. Amun became extremely overprotective of Benjamin, terrified of the idea of him joining another coven. Despite this, Benjamin is very independent of his creator and refuses to be used as a weapon, though he does not show any strong desire to leave Amun.

After five years, he began to think more and more of Tia. After an unsuccessful conversation to persuade Amun to let him go out and find Tia, he escaped the temple and tracked her down. He managed to remain in complete control in human crowd, without drawing too much attention. Eventually he found her in the city of Suez, where she was married to an older man. After seeing her married and safe, he was willing to leave and let her live out her life with her husband. Tia then decided to become a vampire to keep him company and help him face any potential threat from the Volturi. Benjamin granted her wish, and after her transformation and first hunt brought her back to Amun's temple.

Breaking Dawn
"We'll join you."

- Benjamin's agreement to help the Cullens.

The Egyptian coven is called upon by the Cullen family to help them against the Volturi. Benjamin, after meeting Renesmee, becomes determined to see that the Cullens survive, which his mate agrees to as well. Amun, however, becomes furious at Carlisle, accusing him of trying to steal Benjamin from him. Benjamin in turn responds to Amun by threatening their partnership if he doesn't stop his accusations.

While Bella practices on improving her power, Benjamin spends the time practicing his powers. When Alistair leaves out of cowardice, Benjamin stills decides to stay loyal to the Cullens against Amun's orders.

During the confrontation with the Volturi, Benjamin sits on the ground next to Bella, Zafrina and Renesmee. Aro tries to use Chelsea's gift to force Benjamin and several of the Cullens' allies to join them, only to see Bella use her shielding ability against her. After the situation ended, Benjamin and Tia are quick to find Amun and Kebi, who left earlier than the others.

In the movie, when Amun turns down the Cullens' plea for help, Benjamin uses water to block the doorway and then introduces himself. He then agrees to help them, which forces the entire coven to go with him. When he first meets Renesmee, he uses his power to entertain her. After everyone realized that the Volturi are planning to capture gifted vampires and a fight may be inevitable, Benjamin agrees to help the Cullens protect their freedom.

In Alice's vision of the battle, he opens a deep sinkhole in the ground leading all the way to the underground magma. However, by showing Aro her vision and the probability of his demise, the battle does not commence and Benjamin returns to Egypt with his coven.

Physical appearance
Benjamin is described as a young boyish-looking vampire with midnight hair, olive pallor to his pale skin, and an oddly cheerful look. Benjamin, like all vampires, possesses granite-hard skin that sparkles as if thousands of diamonds are embedded in his skin in sunlight. He is 5'7" tall and has the same crimson red eyes as the traditional vampires. In the movie, his appearance is much more mature.

Even though he bears no biological relation to his coven, their appearances can easily make them look like a real family.

Personality and traits
"I will do the right thing, Amun. You may do as you please."

- Benjamin to Amun

Bella describes him as being confident and careless at the same time, and Edward also tells that Benjamin has a good attitude as well as a clear sense of right and wrong, and he likes him for it. Benjamin is described as having a strong independent spirit, allowing him to decide things for himself and think on his own. He is also generous and caring to those around him.

Powers and abilities
In The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, Benjamin is mentioned to have enough restraint to keep himself from killing people conspicuously, even when he had only been a vampire for five years when he went out into the open to search for his mate, Tia. He also changed Tia himself, against the risk of killing her accidentally.

In the movie adaptation, he shows combat skills without use of his powers.

Elemental manipulation
"What can he do?" "Something Eleazar's never seen before. Something I've never heard of. Something that even your shield would do nothing against. He can actually influence the elements―earth, wind, water, and fire. True physical manipulation. No illusion of the mind."

- Bella and Edward on Benjamin's gift

Benjamin's specialty is to physically influence the elements: earth, air, water, and fire, and his gift is extremely powerful and highly coveted. This power is magnified by his human incarnation when he showed the ability to control fire. However, Benjamin has not, as of yet, gained full mastery over his powers.

Benjamin uses his powers on several occasions in Breaking Dawn. His first demonstration was at the Cullens' house while Bella is training; he creates geysers from the nearby river and practices creating gusts of wind. On another occasion before the confrontation with the Volturi, he moves several boulders into an area accessible to him in case he had to fight. On still another occasion, he creates a fissure in the ground and a strong gust of wind, in an attempt to defend against Alec's hazy mist. Because they are afraid Aro would try to take Benjamin for himself if he found out about his powers, the Egyptian coven kept him hidden from the Volturi. Amun had planned to train Benjamin and use him as a weapon, but Benjamin refuses to be used. His power seems to work by sensing and manipulating the elements in his surroundings.

Benjamin, like Bella, Alec and his twin sister Jane, is known as one of the most powerful vampires in existence and priceless, but his powers have no effect on mental abilities. Although in a tight situation, he would be more than capable of holding his own against a vampire who relied on a mental gift, such as Bella, Alec and Jane. Also his control over fire gives him an edge since all vampires are vulnerable to it.

Benjamin's ability to control the elements intrigues Aro, the leader of the Volturi who "collects" vampires with powerful talents, and offers him a place among his guard. Benjamin, however, finds no interest in joining the Volturi and declines.

Tia
Tia is Benjamin's mate in the Egyptian coven. They have known each other since they were young human children. Tia is in fact a distant relative to Benjamin.

They first met when Benjamin and Tia went to live with their distant uncle. Both Benjamin and Tia became very close and saved little bits of money for when they were ready to run away together. His love for Tia is what prompted him to find her after his transformation and then introduce her to his world. Tia, who never fell out of love with him, bravely embraced the pros and cons of being a vampire, knowing that as long as it meant she could stay with Benjamin, she would endure anything.

When Benjamin chooses to stay and help the Cullens, Tia chooses to stay of her own free will, partly because she wants to stay with Benjamin, but also because of her belief in right and wrong. Like most mates after the confrontation, Tia and Benjamin embrace each other for their victory and then depart to find Amun and Kebi.

Amun
"Never get to meet any of Amun’s friends. He likes to keep me hidden."

- Benjamin on Amun.

Amun is Benjamin's creator and the leader of the coven. He brought Benjamin into the Egyptian Coven and turned him after witnessing his gift in the open, and believed that he could be very useful against the Volturi, and knew that they will come for him if he did not act quickly.

He cares for Benjamin like a son, and he thinks of him as his father. However, he is oblivious to Amun's fascination of using his powers as a weapon to one day stand against the Volturi.

Kebi
Kebi is a member of the Egyptian coven. Kebi has never liked him much, due to him receiving more attention from Amun than she does.

Her loyalty will always be to Amun, even though she would do anything to help Benjamin even if it is to please Amun.

Renesmee Cullen
Renesmee Cullen is the resident hybrid member of the Olympic coven.

Benjamin first meets her when the Cullens seek out the Egyptians in hopes of gathering enough friends to testify for them against the Volturi's accusations.

While there is little interaction between Renesmee and Benjamin in the book, the two seem to take a liking to each other in the movie. This is shown when Benjamin uses his power over the elements to entertain Renesmee as a meeting present when they first meet.

Film portrayal
On August 31, 2010, it was announced that Benjamin will be portrayed by Rami Malek in Breaking Dawn - Part 2, who is also descended from a family of Egyptians. He was the first to join the cast after the original actors announced their return.

Rami had previously worked with Jackson Rathbone while starring in the sitcom The War At Home, where they played each other's boyfriends.

In The Storytellers, Benjamin is portrayed by Arash Marandi and Davis Cleveland in the short movie, Sunrise.

Appearances

 * Breaking Dawn
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 2
 * Sunrise