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I’m not here to tell you your favorite waifu or husbando is bad. You could fill a stadium with Nahida and Zhongli fans, and I’m happy for them. That said, the HoYoverse style (best seen in Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail) often lacks something. Some HoYo characters just feel forced, with art and backstories designed around compelling microtransactions rather than telling an interesting story. Zenless Zone Zero does something different. Best of all, it does it with a bear. Here are the grizzly facts about Ben Bigger.
Ben Bigger Is the Best Thing HoYo Has Ever Made
Move over, Arlecchino. You aren’t the coolest HoYoverse character anymore. That spot’s been filled by my new favorite anthropomorphic bear: Ben Bigger. First of all, he’s an accountant, which is just one of the weirdest job choices HoYo could’ve picked. That’s not a complaint, mind you. Ben being Head of Finance for Belobog Heavy Industries thanks to his mathematical expertise is just an incredibly weird and funny part of Zenless Zone Zero‘s lore. It’s the kind of detail that ZZZ builds its most interesting characters around. Compared to much of the HoYo cast, it feels refreshing.
Ben isn’t just Smokey with a white-collar job. He’s also a powerful warrior who uses a pillar to pulverize his foes. In conversation, however, he’s so deferential that it stops being cliche, loops back around, and somehow becomes original again. It’s mystifying. Liking Ben Bigger is like maining Kuma in Tekken: you know part of you just did it because it’s a bear and it’s funny. It doesn’t matter. You don’t care. The fact is the bear is likable.
Ben, Koleda, and the Zenless Zone Zero Roster
Ben’s boss, the fiery Koleda, borrows most of her personality and wardrobe from Disgaea‘s Etna. Anton and Grace (fellow Belobog members) draw inspiration from less obvious sources. Despite following the HoYo recipe, Zenless Zone Zero turned out stranger and tastier than its predecessors. As a fan who just wants something that feels a little less generic, Ben Bigger is a signal flare shining light on a unique bit of gacha goodness. Whether Zenless can capitalize on its roster remains to be seen. Perhaps the HoYo devs will deliver more characters like this as the game evolves. Bear with them.
