Ben Ravencroft is a famous horror writer whose ancestor was an evil witch that had been imprisoned centuries ago.
Physical appearance
Ben is a tall man with a sturdy build. He has long black hair tied in a ponytail with a mustache and beard. He wore thin-framed glasses before his true colours were exposed. It is unknown whether the glasses were fake or if the powers he gained fixed his eyesight. His attire consisted of a brown coat over a black shirt and brown trousers.
Personality
In the beginning, Ben seemed to be a decent and intelligent man who showed signs of reciprocating Velma's romantic attraction to him.
However, after he used the gang to achieve his goal of finding his ancestress' spell book, he revealed himself to be an evil, manipulative, and sadistic megalomaniac with an ambition of world domination.
Powers and abilities
As a direct descendant of Sarah Ravencroft, Ben was a natural warlock, but it appeared that he needed Sarah's spell book to activate his otherwise-dormant powers.
Though he was successful in obtaining the spell book and activating his powers through it, his magic - though no less dark and sinister than that of Sarah's - was still far inferior compared to his ancestress, who trapped him in a ball of mystical green energy after he tried to imprison her back into the spell book.
History
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost
Ravencroft is sucked into the book.
He appeared in a museum, helping the gang to solve a mummy mystery, claiming he had been doing research for a novel when he saw the archaeologists acting suspiciously, and decided to investigate. He then revealed he knew them by reputation, much to Velma's honor, as she was a huge fan of his, and he invited them to his hometown, Oakhaven.
However, upon arrival, Ben was surprised to find his hometown had become flooded with tourists because of the Autumn Fest and a concert featuring the Hex Girls, and was made uncomfortable to find the event was portraying his ancestress as an evil witch and ghost.
He spent time with the gang, while also talking about his ancestress, Sarah Ravencroft, desiring to find her journal to prove she had been a compassionate healer and Wiccan, not an evil witch. That night, he, Fred, Velma, and Daphne, ran into Scooby-Doo and Shaggy who claimed they'd been chased by the Witch's Ghost. They followed a source of light and witnessed the Hex Girls rehearsing for the concert. They introduced themselves as Thorn, Dusk, and Luna, and also fans of Ben.
After talking to them, Fred and Daphne stayed to keep an eye on them, while Velma, Ben, Scooby, and Shaggy continued the investigation. Velma sent Scooby and Shaggy to follow the mayor while she and Ben investigated an old barn. There, they found a cherry-picker truck, with the engine still warm.
Eventually, the gang and Ben uncovered the mystery: The Mayor, to raise Oakhaven's tourist industry, started the Autumn Fest and used Sarah Ravencroft's reputation as a witch for a gimmick. The townspeople had pitched in to help; Thorn's father, Mr. McKnight, had posed as the Witch's Ghost, using one of his daughter's props to throw flash-paper, mimicking fireballs. The local restaurant owner, Jack, had hoisted McKnight on the cherry-picker while it was driven by another participant, as was the fan used to create the eerie wind operated by another. Outraged, Ben expressed disappointment in the mayor and all the culprits in his scheme for dragging Sarah's name through the mud.
Later that night at Ben's house, he, the gang, and the Hex Girls were visited by the Mayor and Mr. McKnight, who came to apologize and explain why they had used Sarah's image: They discovered her gravestone while building the puritan village for their Autumn Fest but had found nothing else, no bones or Sarah's book.
Then a stray remark by McKnight enabled Velma to figure out where the book was buried. She and Scooby led them all to the Big Tree Stump, where Scooby had found a "shoe buckle" earlier that day. Digging deeper, he found a chest, which contained the book Ben had sought for so long. But upon opening its pages, Velma concerned Ben, saying it didn't look like a journal at all.
It was there Ben revealed his true colors - he confirmed it was no journal but a spell book, that Sarah had indeed been a witch, and declared himself a warlock as a direct descendant of Sarah Ravencroft. He explained Wiccans imprisoned Sarah in her own spell book centuries ago, and that Velma had helped him find it. Velma called him out for lying to her, but he showed no remorse for manipulating her, having searched years for the book, when he came upon her exploits.
He figured Mystery Inc., by their impressive reputation in solving mysteries, could surely help him find the book and then revealed their meeting was not coincidence: Ben was the one who engineered the mummy scheme, paying off the archaeologists and the security guards, just so they could meet. He didn't tell them the truth about the book or Sarah, knowing that if the gang had known the truth they would never have helped him.
Ben then declares he would free Sarah and unlock her power. Reading a spell, he calls upon the dark powers he's inherited from Sarah, and displays some of his powers on them and then attempts to free Sarah, only for the gang to interfere. But in the end, Ben succeeds in summoning Sarah's ghost, only to realize she has no interest in ruling the world and would rather destroy it. Seeing his folly and repulsed by Sarah's destructive bouts, he attempts to seal Sarah back into the book but she mocks his attempt, revealing only a Wiccan can imprison her, and entraps him within a barrier.
After a mad skirmish over the book, the gang delivered it to Thorn (who was of Wiccan blood on her mother's side) and she successfully casts the spell to imprison Sarah just as the witch put her hands upon it in a vain attempt to stop her. But as she was sucked back into its pages, Sarah grabbed Ben by his ankle, declaring she would not go back alone, and Ben was dragged into the book with her, screaming in terror.
A flaming branch fell upon the book and burnt it, ending the threat of the Ravencrofts forever.
Appearances
Quotes
"Unjustly prosecuted, Sarah Ravencroft was a medicine woman who practiced natural healing, and was unfairly accused because of her eccentric way!"
"The Wiccans imprisoned Sarah in her own spell book, and you helped me find it!"
"And since Sarah's witch blood runs in my veins, I guess that makes me a warlock!"
Notes/trivia
- He might be a parody (or based on) Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft.
- His design and animation is similar to that of David Xanatos from the TV Series Gargoyles.
- He is arguably, the most evil of all the Scooby-Doo human villains.
In other languages
| Actor | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Walter von Hauff | German | |
| Robert Czebotar | Polish | |
| Mikael Roupé | Swedish |