Editing Ben Stark

{{Character Data
| series=Caprica
|photo= Ben_Stark.jpg
|age= 16
|colony= {{RDM|Caprica}} 
|birthdate=c. {{YR|26|format=yr_bch}}|seen= Caprica pilot
|pseen= ''Caprica'' pilot
|lastseen=Reins of a Waterfall|death= Suicide bombing, {{YR|42|format=yr_bch}} (''[[Caprica pilot]]'')
|parents= [[Natalie Stark]] (mother)
|siblings= 
|children= 
|marital status= Boyfriend of [[Zoe Graystone]]
|role= Member of the [[Soldiers of the One]]
|actor= [[Avan Jogia]]
}}
'''Ben Stark''' is a student at the [[Athena Academy]] on {{RDM|Caprica}}, a private religious school. He and a number of other bright students, including [[Lacy Rand]] and Ben's girlfriend, [[Zoe Graystone]], are introduced by the school headmistress, Sister [[Clarice Willow]], to the illegal [[Soldiers of the One]] [[monotheism|monotheistic]] cult. He is the best friend of [[Keon Gatwick]], who is likewise a member of the STO.

Ben becomes a fanatical monotheist and ostensibly goes with Zoe to leave Caprica and live on [[Gemenon]]. Without Zoe's prior knowledge of his intent, Ben blows up the train they are riding with a bomb strapped to his torso ([[CAP]]: [[Caprica (pilot)|''Caprica'' pilot]]). 

During a public ceremony held on Junius 7th, {{YR|42|format=yr_bch}} denoting the one month marking of the tragedy, Natalie Stark, Ben's mother, gives [[Amanda Graystone]] various objects belonging to her daughter Zoe that were found in Ben's room, including a large, foldable gold STO infinity symbol. Amanda had been completely unaware of Ben or of the STO in Zoe's life, and in her grief and shock at the revelation, she falsely tells the assembled victims' families that her daughter was the bomber of Maglev 23 {{CAP|Rebirth}}.  

Ben's involvement with the STO almost came to the attention of the [[Global Defense Department]] a year before the bombing, but was missed due to procedural errors. On Aprilus 9th, {{YR|41|format=yr_bch}}, Ben was picked up for a post-curfew violation by the GDD and was found with what turned out to be bomb making materials, which were explained away by Ben to his interrogator, Agent [[Youngblood]], as model rocketry components. He was let go on a warning due to lack of probable cause and the plausibility of his explanation. A videotape recording of the interrogation would go unnoticed for over a month after the bombing because Agent Youngblood spelled his surname "Starke" with an "e" and consequently misfiled it. Youngblood herself had totally forgotten about Ben. Fearing departmental embarrassment and to protect his partner, the tape is destroyed by Agent [[Jordan Duram]], following a broad hint by the [[Gara Singh|director of the GDD]] {{CAP|Reins of a Waterfall}}. 

== Notes ==

[[File:Caprica Pilot - Deleted Scene - 137.png|thumb|[[Ben-A]] stares outward during his embrace with [[Clarice Willow]] {{CAP|Pilot (Caprica)|del1=y}}.]]

* In early drafts of the pilot script, the story began more directly with Ben, Zoe, and Lacy heading to the train. The [[V-Club]] sequence was added later in the writing process to create a more provocative opening for the series.<ref>[[Podcast:Caprica pilot|Podcast for ''Caprica'' pilot]], timestamp 00:01:53</ref>
* A previous report regarding the [[Caprica pilot|pilot]] noted that he uploaded his memories into an online [[holographic avatar]] named {{inlineref|Ben-A}}, who has contact only with Sister [[Clarice Willow]].<ref name="casting call">{{cite_web|url=http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/04/03/exclusive-caprica-casting-info-revealed/|title=Caprica casting info|date=Apr 3, 2008}}</ref> This plotline exists solely as a [[List of Deleted Scenes (Caprica)#Ben-A|deleted scene]] viewable on the DVD.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Characters (Caprica)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Ben}}

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[[de:Ben Stark]]