Benny

"The truth is, the game was rigged from the start."

- Benny

Benny is the head of the Chairmen of New Vegas in 2281. He is the brains behind a complex scheme to free New Vegas from Mr. House.

Background
Benny was a member of the the tribal gang called the Boot Riders before Mr. House took over. As one of the three tribes who agreed to House's new rule, the Boot Riders were assigned to renovate The Tops casino, and were given a box of suits and ties and renamed "the Chairmen". Benny saw the potential of New Vegas, but the tribe's chief at the time, Bingo, wanted to stay nomadic. Benny was challenged to a knife fight, the winner becoming leader of the tribe, and Benny walked away after putting a knife through Bingo's throat. Benny is cautious of the Chairmen who support the old ways, even killing an old friend, an unnamed singer with a psycho overdose to stop dissent.

Benny's long-term goal is simple: control of New Vegas. The chances of such a thing happening seem slim, but as Benny himself would say, he's not done rigging the odds yet. After attacking one of Mr. House's PDQ-88b securitrons with a Pulse grenade, Benny brought it in for examination. Unable to fix it himself, he allowed Emily Ortal to look at it in exchange for her reprogramming it. After finishing the reprogramming, the securitron became Yes Man, an AI designed to obey every command given to him, which Benny used to interrogate him on the details of House's machinations.

He learned of the army in the Securitron Vault buried underneath The Fort, of the MK. II OS that would provide the army with enough power to take Hoover Dam, and of the Platinum Chip - the key to all of these things. He also learned of the seven couriers hired by Victor - six decoys, and one carrying the Chip. Using Yes Man, Benny was able to discover the route the Courier would take, and hired Jessup, McMurphy and Chance to help him finish the job. The Courier was bound, gagged, shot in the head and buried in an unmarked grave, left for dead, leaving nothing standing between Benny and Vegas... or so he thought.

Involved in Quests

 * They Went That-a-Way: The Courier tracks Benny in an attempt to discover the purpose of the package and get revenge. Manny Vargas is the first person to give the player Benny's name, and where he went. Jessup in Boulder City will reveal that Benny betrayed his Great Khans followers after intercepting the Courier, traveling to New Vegas and leaving them to fend for themselves when cornered by the NCR.


 * Ring-a-Ding-Ding!: Upon arriving at the New Vegas Strip, Benny can be found at The Tops casino, which he runs. The player can opt to shoot him on sight (either with a concealed weapon, or by talking with Swank and passing a series of speech checks, which allows you to bring your weapons inside), or, using the Black Widow perk, follow him upstairs to his room and deal with him there. If this is done, the player can sleep with him and kill him in his sleep, or let him think of her as his new girlfriend. Using the Terrifying Presence perk, the player can simply terrify Benny into fleeing which will make his guards hostile. Alternatively, the player can pass a speech check to meet Benny alone in the Presidential Suite, where the player can grill Benny for details about his master plan. Benny will offer the Courier a "cut of the action", but if allowed to leave the room, he will betray the Courier and send four Chairmen Bodyguards into the Presidential Suite with orders to kill him.


 * Render Unto Caesar: If Benny is not killed at the Tops, the Courier's arrival will force his hand and he will take the platinum chip and flee to Caesar's stronghold at Fortification Hill, using Stealth Boys and a Legion disguise in an attempt to infiltrate The Fort and reach the hidden bunker underneath it where the platinum chip can be used to activate Mr. House's secret weapon. However, he will be captured by the Legion just before reaching the bunker, as his fancy haircut allows the Legion guards to see through his disguise. When the player reaches Caesar, Benny will be held captive inside the Great Dictator's tent. Caesar will offer the Courier a gift by allowing the Courier to choose how Benny dies. Benny, for his part, seems accepting of his impending death, and urges the Courier to take over his plan and create a truly independent New Vegas. Benny can be killed outright, be made to fight the Courier one-on-one inside the Arena, or crucified by the Legion (only the latter fate causes Benny to panic in any way, given its incredibly painful and torturous nature). Benny can also be untied by the Courier, at which point he will flee Caesar's tent and disappear from the game. Sparing Benny will cause Caesar and his Praetorian Guard to become hostile, leading to a very difficult fight. If you kill Benny (when he is tied up in the tent) before you take the quest, Caesar and his guards will become hostile towards you.

Behind the scenes

 * A Benny is a trump card in trick-taking games, essentially a wild card, and is often represented by the Joker, Benny's card in the Collector's Edition deck.
 * Benny is most probably a reference to Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who is often thought of as the father of modern-day Las Vegas. The similarities exist in the name and in Bugsy's trademark suit, which bears a striking similarity to Benny's, along with the fact that the two are very similar looking.

Bugs

 * If you choose to crucify Benny, he will end up being crucified outside of The Fort. Sometimes, both the crucified and regular versions of Benny will appear, and the regular version can be killed for Maria. Yet you will not receive Maria twice it will only be on the Benny that is standing up next to the cross.
 * If the player kills Benny before talking to him in his casino without getting noticed, the guards will continue to stand in their positions as if they were still protecting him.
 * If while in Caesar's tent when Benny is kneeling, you perform a special melee attack (move backwards/punch/no weapon equipped) Benny will be knocked from his position on the floor, stand up and protest. Caesar and his guards will not protest or react even though "Benny is forbidden to speak under penalty of death", until you kill him, at which time one of the guards may praise the PC's fighting prowess immediately before attacking the The Courier. (confirmed Xbox 360)
 * If the player has the Super Slam perk, Ranger Takedown perk or a weapon that inflicts fatigue damage, it is possible to knock Benny off his cross. Upon landing, he will continue to act as if on the cross, but he will be standing on the ground.(Confirmed Xbox 360 and PC)
 * If you choose to crucify Benny and kill him while he is crucified he can re-spawn if you kill Caesar and you can let him down for karma he will have his suit on but he will not have Maria.
 * If you have Benny come up to the presidential suite with you, and let him survive, he will move to the front of The Tops lobby. If you have 35 barter skill, you can then repeatedly choose (what do you have in mind?) and (The suite's a nice touch...), which will give you 500 caps and 250 The Tops chips every time.  This bug allows for effectively infinite money.


 * Benny's inventory resets after he flees the Tops, pickpocketting him before he runs and at the Fort will give you another Maria and if you reverse pickpocket, you can get another suit.

Gallery
Benny Бенни