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Benjamin "Ben" Hanscom is a fictional character created by Stephen King and one of the main characters of his 1986 novel It. The character is depicted as being an overweight member of The Loser's Club. As an adult Ben is describes as being "tall, lean and handsome" as a result of joining the track team and eating better as a teenager. The character is portrayed in the 1990 miniseries adaptation by Brandon Crane as a child and John Ritter as an adult, and by Ankush Mohla as an adult in the 1998 television series. The character is again portrayed in the 2017 remake and its 2019 sequel by Jeremy Ray Taylor as a child and Jay Ryan as an adult.

Fictional character biography
Benjamin "Ben" Hanscom was born on June 2, 1946 (1947 in the 1990 miniseries and 1976 in the 2017 film). His father passed away when he was young, leaving him in the care of his mother, Arlene. He is shown as being incredibly smart and logical, and develops a large crush on his classmate and fellow Loser's Club member: Beverly Marsh, to the extent that he wrote her an anonymous poem "Your hair is winter fire, January embers, my heart burns there too." Which Beverly believed to have been penned by Bill Denbrough due to his writing abilities. Ben is also shown to be overweight, which makes him an easy target for local bully, Henry Bowers.

Ben became friends with the rest of The Loser's Club members after they rescue him from being attacked by town bully, Henry Bowers. Over the course of the novel, Ben, as well as the other members of The Loser's Club, have encounters with Pennywise the Dancing Clown. They eventually face off with the clown at Neibolt Street and seemingly defeat the monster. The Loser's swear an oath that if Pennywise ever returns, they will all come back to Derry to defeat it.

After the Pennywise incident, Ben joins the track team and begins eating healthier as a teenager, which leads to him as an adult becoming tall, thin and handsome. He becomes a very successful architect and was in the process of receiving an award for his achievements when he receives the call from Mike Hanlon asking him to return to Derry. As he returns to Derry, the Loser's Club are shocked by his weight loss and barely recognise him. Ben has simultaneous encounters with Pennywise at the Derry Public Library and back at the motel where he believed he was sharing a romantic exchange with Beverly, only for Beverly to be revealed to have been Pennywise. The Loser's Club head to Neibolt Street to confront Pennywise and perform the Ritual of Chüd, to defeat it once and for all. The confrontation results in the demise of Loser's Club member Eddie Kaspbrak, but the Losers prevail and successfully defeat Pennywise. In the aftermath, Ben and Beverly leave Derry together, beginning a relationship.

Adaptations
Ben is portrayed in the 1990 miniseries adaptation of the novel by Brandon Crane as a child, and by John Ritter as an adult. This version slightly deviates from the source material by making Ben appear more bulky than overweight as a child. As an adult the adaptation makes further deviations from the source material by having Ben appearing with a beard and only mildly in shape. Ben is portrayed by Ankush Mohla as an adult (named "Shiva") in the 1998 television series. This version changes Ben's childhood struggle to be centered around poverty rather than his weight.

The version of Ben portrayed in the 2017 remake and its 2019 sequel by Jeremy Ray Taylor as a child and Jay Ryan as an adult was much more faithful to the novel featuring Ben's love for Beverly and his transformation into adulthood.