BENJAMIN BARKER/SWEENEY TODD.
name. benjamin barker.
nicknames/known as. sweeney todd.
age and date of birth. forty-five. april 8, 1803.
gender and pronouns. cismale (he/him).
sexuality. hetreosexual.
status. married and completely faithful to lucy barker.
family. john barker (father; alive, but estranged), marilyn barker (mother; passed away shortly after benjamin's arrest), noah barker (brother; older by four years; living), john "johnny" todd barker (brother; younger by two years; deceased).
spouse. lucy barker.
place of birth. near london, england.
education. attended school.
occupation. barber.
religion. anglican (non-practicing)
hair. curly and brown.
eye color. brown.
skin tone. pale.
height. 5'10"
weight. 146lbs.
faceclaim. josh groban.
traits. once a family man without a will to hurt anyone, he's become ambitious to his own undoing, vengeful, cunning and stubborn to the point where he abandons his own daughter for the pursuit of revenge.
mbti. infp.
enneagram. tba.
moral alignment. chaotic evil.
mental. ....he's not okay.
born on the outskirts of london, he was raised in a primarily happy family. he was close to his brothers and good to his parents. however, his younger brother, johnny, always seemed a little off. his family didn't know what to do about it and since they were struggling to get by, they didn't really acknowledge it.
warnings for suicide: when benjamin was sixteen, he was the one to discover his brother after he committed suicide. they didn't have a funeral for him since suicide was illegal and they didn't want his name to be ruined. benjamin burned the suicide note himself. yet it angered him. why should his brother's name be remembered by the way he died? his parents refused to hear him. his brother warned him to keep quiet.
a few years later, he was ready to continue his father's trade and set up his own shop in london. he moved to fleet street and became fast friends with the landlady, mrs. lovett. he was blind towards her affections towards him.
his new friends were quick to bring him to every dance, teasing him about marrying him off. however, it was at one of these dances that he met the most wonderful women he could imagine. lucy averley had snuck to this dance, her parents warned her about marrying someone who could provide for her. she was slightly better-off than the rest of them. that didn't stop benjamin. the two quickly fell in love and into a brief courtship. he proposed a few weeks later.
benjamin was nearly blind to the tensions raising between his wife-to-be and mrs. lovett. he learned that they were friends in their youth, but not any more than that.
lucy wanted babies and a house in the countryside. benjamin would give her the moon on a silver string.
they spent the first year of their marriage trying for their first baby. they were unsuccessful. again and again, they tried only to be unsuccessful again and again.
finally, they discovered they were finally having the child they dreamed of. benjamin got to work on crafting a cradle with the help of his father, or more so he helped here and there as his father constructed the cradle. he was not as good at such craftsmanship.
the baby came before he had finished painting the cradle. johanna was born in the wee hours of the morning in feburary and she looked just like his wife.
he closed the shop for a few days to finish the cradle and spend time together as a family. this was unheard of for benjamin, but his family could easily sway him.
one night when benjamin returned home from the market, he found a young boy sitting in his shop. lucy explained that his name was daniel o'higgins and being an orphan from ireland wasn't able to find any work. she begged him to find something for the boy to do. benjamin had him sweep up hair for him. he worked for benjamin for a few weeks until the turpin affair.
after a year of pure bliss, it all went wrong.
judge turpin had been pinning after lucy for many years. they were closer than ever after lucy moved. she assured benjamin there was nothing to be afraid of. he believed her. naively.
he was shipped off to botany bay at the judge's orders, leaving his wife and daughter behind
benjamin hoped at the beginning. he kept track of the days. he did everything he could with what little power he had to get out. no one listened.
he became talented at craftsmanship. he could build entire sets of furniture. he was used as a barber for the prisoners and the officers on the island. no matter what, it didn't gain him any favors.
at night, he imagined his wife and daughter. how much his daughter would look like his lucy. how johanna was growing older. did she like to dance, too? lucy teaches her, doesn't she?
after fifteen years of sweating away on a false charge, benjamin found out about a prisoner's revolt. he quickly ask how he could help. he acted as a spy, volunteering his pampering services to overhear secrets.
finally, on the day of johanna's birthday, the revolt took place. benjamin was able to escape onto a raft with a fellow prisoner, samuel sweeney. he grew attached to the boy. however, samuel would perish a week into the journey. benjamin had to toss his corpse overboard.
on the brink of death, anthony hope, on the good ship bountiful spotted him in the water. he passed out shortly after making it on board. he woke up in anthony's bed and a fellow sailor called him down. it turned out he had been passed out for two days and they were beginning to believe he would die.
he grew close to anthony while on board. their journey took them seven months back to london. however, he still kept anthony at an arm's distance after what happened with samuel.
he didn't want to admit to himself it was too far-gone. he loved anthony like he was his own son.
after returning to london, he soon found out from mrs. lovett that lucy had poisoned herself and johanna was adopted by turpin.
losing his family was the last straw. he would get his revenge.
the name sweeney todd comes from two places. first, the boy on the raft with him. todd comes from his late brother's middle name.
benjamin loved his family more than anything in this life. he wasn't able to protect his brother from his inner-demons. he wasn't able to protect his wife and daughter. there was always a layer of anger brewing inside. todd brought that out.
todd abandoned his family. he loved the thrill of revenge more than he loved his daughter.
