Old Ben

 is a person living in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Background
Old Ben is right outside the entrance to the New Vegas Strip in Freeside when you first meet him. He warns the player not to go to the gate of the Strip without first talking with the gatekeeper Securitron first, or they'll get vaporized. After further questioning, he tells that he used to be in many jobs, such as a bodyguard, male escort, and a gun-for-hire, as well as a Butcher.

Interactions with the player character
During the quest Wang Dang Atomic Tango, the player can choose between him and Santiago to be hired as a prostitute for the Atomic Wrangler Casino. Old Ben can be persuaded through either a speech check or the Confirmed Bachelor/Black Widow perk.

(Note: If the Player has Chosen Santiago instead of Old Ben while also doing the Debt collection quest, Old Ben may be persuaded to join as well through a Speech-Check AFTER the quest is completed. He can then be found sitting at the Bar of the Atomic Wrangler, but still has the Speech Check dialog Tree available, providing an Infinite source of 50 XP, but if you have the confirmed bachelor perk the speech check will be replaced by the perk.)

Appearances
appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the Scenes

 * In the story Ben tells about being a butcher, he states that people only develop the shakes from eating human flesh. This is a possible reference in 'The Book of Eli', a post-apocalyptic film in which people identify cannibals by their quivering hands.
 * The actual reference is to the disease known as Kuru, a word from the Fore tribe of New Guinea, meaning 'to shake'. An outbreak of this disease was studied in the 1950's, and was found to be caused by the Fore tribe's cannibalistic behaviour.