Do you have any headcanons for the Bellringer?
Lots! I have a list of old headcanons for him, but Iāll write out a new one since itās worth updating them.
1. The yoke of the Bellringer is made out of wood - an unnatural and a magical kind produced from his hometown that he keeps secret. The wood itself is malleable and flexible, and it branches around his entire body - being his central nervous system more or less - and being covered by his brass platings. The wood is sensitive, so he often protects his yoke when in combat.
2. He can detach his head and still control his body which leads/has led to funny scenarios. He will punch you though if you try to attempt removing his head - he doesnāt like it. He can also control the movement of his bell (so a person canāt just spin it around out of the blue) using his yoke.
3. Healing Bell is the ability to focus oneās magical capacity (remember that the wood itself is magical, so thatās where that comes from) into oneās chassis and funnel that all through a bell and then release that magic with a chime me to heal cogs. He has to know the structures of the cogs heās healing (even if just vague) or have the emotional will (moral or immoral) to heal someone - for example, if a close friend of his got hurt, even without knowing their structure, the stress and sorrow would be enough to substitute it. Healing Bell is not the only ability he can do, and there are many more such as Overcharging. (Yes, this means there are rules to the magic, as well.)
4. His combat style in boxing is being more agile rather than relying on the damage of his punch. He exhausts his opponents by constantly healing himself using his healing bell, before eventually knocking out his opponent and winning the round. This has led him to develop a higher pain tolerance which is why he can sustain explosions on the daily. Alongside his fitness, his 12 years in the resort carrying tons of luggage on the daily has most likely heightened his endurance.
5. HE DOES NOT EAT USING HIS CLACKER (though that is a very funny interpretation). He eats and drinks via the grey area of his neck where his yoke is attached to. Thereās an aperture that opens up there, allowing him to throw and ingest said food or drink. He can only eat little by little or else he could clog up his digestive tract since it is quite narrow.
Personality - "Eyes and ears open at all times; I've probably heard it all."
1. I donāt think he is physically/literally tone-deaf (as referred by Jenniferās interview notes of him). Thatās meant more metaphorically that he is deaf in reading the room and continues blabbering on about his gossips or talking shit about other managers. This also leads me to think that he would have a nice friendship/rivalry with Graham as they donāt have regards to anyone other than themselves and Suits they care about, and they both also crave/love attention. They sing together in Daveās shows sometimes, and other times they make a competition out of how many followers they can get on their social media account.
2. He is friendly, extremely charismatic, and a great conversationalistā¦ on the surface. He certainly has a āmaskā that he puts on all the time to maintain his image in order to trick Suits for his selfish motives or maintain surface-level relationships - personal or business. Underneath, he is a sly and manipulative suit that people-pleases and sweet talks his way into things he needs and wants. When he's in trouble, he does his best to comply if its for the betterment of his self-interests but that's not to say he can't be silly and not give a fuck at all (wrt to official comic with Plutocrat). Lying is a constant in his entire life which is why he makes such a great Sellbot. This also means he has severe trust issues. His nosiness ties into that aspect, but for the most part, he just loves hearing other peopleās businesses because it gives him a sense of control over them.
3. Underneath the āmaskā, heās scarily perceptive that he knows things about other people that they might not. Itās possible he has stalked Suits before talking to them in order to find their sweet side, and/or his experiences in espionage has led him to deduce things easily and subsequently take advantage of peopleās attributes. His chattiness can be an intended tactic to make conversations go side-tracked and steer it to how he wants it, and his conversation with the secretaries is to gather information on other employees. Despite this, he still upholds his strong value of being authentic to himself despite the ironic immoral actions he is committing. Why? Sure, he finds the life of lying second nature to him, but there is also a naivety within him that yearns for true connections and truthfulness to himself, and he is desperately trying to keep that part from drowning amidst the cruelty of Suitopiaās society.
4. Since Bellringer uses he/they pronouns, I always saw him expanding his gender and sexuality beyond his masculinity. Heād definitely love to go to drag shows, wear dresses, and get his nails done. Whether heās potentially a trans-woman/trans-man/non-binary is an interesting aspect and that will depend on the readerās interpretation. I personally think he is comfortable representing both as a man and a woman, which is the absolute gender I strive for. <3 I also believe he speaks out against toxic masculinity and, if given the opportunity, also supports feminism because itās in his personality to be as authentic & comfortable as he wants to be, and anybody that opposes that will get a rightful talking to.
Letās start with what we know.
1. He was a bellboy for 12 years in Golden Rose Resort and we know that he did some of his own ābusinessā while working there since Jennifer notes he has a lot of knowledge about Suits and C.O.G.S. Incās rival companies. It would not be too surprising if the reason why he chose to apply for C.O.G.S. Inc. is because he deduced that this would be the dominating company in the following years compared to rival companies. Itās no doubt he utilises his chattiness to make shady deals with high-end clients during his time as a bellboy, gain information about powerful people and the companies they work for, and blackmails some Suits for his own means or someone elseās.
On a lighter note, I think he picked up the ventriloquist hobby (wrt to ventriloquist Bellringer comic) during this time likely to entertain guests in the hotel either as part of the job or a means of getting extra money or tips for his service, or ā having been doing espionage at this time ā he could have learned it for a specific mission and simply happened to like it then picked it up even after being employed at C.O.G.S. Inc. Funny how he uses puppets that would be a clear metaphor to his control over other Suits, right? Nah, Iām simply looking too deep into this and he just does it to troll people, haha.
2. Espionage demands a lot of exercise, and that didnāt just come from nowhere. In his earlier years, I would imagine he had joined some underground boxing ring for money. Why didnāt he just do minimum wage jobs to survive? Firstly, heās not going to spend his next 12 years in a fucking McCognalds. Secondly, he has his own personal issues in his past that he eventually found boxing as a healthy outlet for his emotions. Thirdly, he finds the thrill of a challenge exciting, especially one that brings him at deathās door. If you can heal your wounds with a ring, youāre bound to develop a twisted false mentality that you can survive anything, and soon enough that could become an addiction that is drunk in pride. Winning the boxing matches gives him the attention he wants, and it gives him the addicting thrill he desires. After being hired at the resort, he needed to feed that addiction of thrill, and so he would lead a life of espionage and continue his immoral ways.
It would also explain why he shirks doing his actual duties in C.O.G.S. Inc. and instead gets distracted because he doesn't really want to do the boring parts. He just wants the fun of being in other peopleās business and the thrill of combat in the streets (he incredibly despises Toons. All the more reason to explode them!) Because of that, I don't blame him if he looks tired all the time if what his position demands is torture to him, lol.
3. With the amount of charisma he has, he most definitely had sexual and romantic relationships. Most of them were just fleeting, and some of the rarer healthier ones would almost convince him to quit his adventurous addiction, however those types of relationships - where he exposes his vulnerabilities - hurt the most, especially when they end because of his own faults. Benjamin has grown an infatuation for Brian in his current position, but he has no intention to confess due to his lingering fear of trust issues, putting someone he cares about in danger because of the consequences of his immoral actions, and the self-deprecating belief that he cannot fix himself to love someone else, not after all the lies, deceit, and misdeeds he has done.
4. Of course, thereās still the question of what the origins of his hometown are, especially with that deal with the magical properties of his chassis, his aforementioned personal issues in his past, and most importantlyā¦ what about his family? He surely has a family somewhere in United Cogdom, right? Iām telling you that, yes, he does have a family and, yes, his mysterious origins are something I know and I am sure youāre keen to know about. After all, a Suit like him is extraordinarily bizarre - from his personality down to the nature of his powers. Heās bound to pick those habits from somewhere, right? Unfortunately, wellā¦
Itās rather rude to talk about someone whoās listeningā¦
