Ben Rodriguez

Ben "Vending" Rodriguez is a robot, the son of Bender Bending Rodriguez and Bev, the Planet Express soda machine.

He is named after his father, using the first syllable of his father's first name. He shares similar physical traits with his father, with the exception of his rectangular torso, presumably inherited from his mother.

Biography
In 3012, Ben was born in the Planet Express building to Bender Bending Rodriguez and Bev. Bender, worried about his fatherhood, tried to leave Bev with custody of Ben, presenting her with a certificate of abandonment. Not wanting to handle the responsibilities of being a mother, Bev instead left Ben with Bender. Bender was initially angry and distressed over this, and even bent a lamp post in frustration. However, he saw Ben take delight in seeing him bend objects. Forming a bond over their mutual like of bending, Bender named his son Ben and spent some time together through a series of robberies. However, due to his mother not having arms, he lacked his father's talent in bending. A bending card could not be installed into him either, as he only has one expansion slot, which holds his memory card.

Eventually, Ben was circumcised twice and upgraded to a Manbot during his Bot-Mitzvah at the Temple of Robotology after 13 consecutive days of being turned on. He gave a speech where he expressed his dreams of bending just like his father. However, during the ceremony Bev arrived and took him away from his father. That night, however, Bender took him from Bev's trailer and they escaped together. Smitty and URL showed up, attempting to arrest Bender on grounds of kidnapping. While on the run, Bender's arms became mangled trying to bend the police chopper, rendering them incapable of bending anything. They eventually came across a dam, but still had the chance to escape if Ben could bend a nearby grate; unfortunately for them, he failed to bend the grates. Bev arrived on the scene, and there she gave birth to another child, that of URL. Content with having her own child to neglect, Bev gave custody of Ben back to Bender.

The next day, Bender threw a "Welcome Home" party for Ben, but Ben was still disappointed over being unable to bend. Professor Farnsworth, however, offered to install a bending card into Ben, but warned of the dire consequences - Ben would lose his memory card, as well as all his memories of Bender. He went ahead with the surgery anyway, and Bender allowed it, wanting Ben to be happy. After the surgery, Ben was finally able to bend, and enrolled in Bending State University in Santa Cruz. It was confirmed in the commentary for that Ben would return in season 7 or 8, but he never did.

Production
On 5 May 2012, Countdown to Futurama released a character design for an aging Ben and a character design for both Bender and Ben.

Family

 * Bev, mother
 * Bev and URL's child, younger half sibling
 * Bender, father
 * Bender's extended family
 * Bender's first born son, older half brother
 * Junior, older half brother

Trivia

 * Unlike the other young boys on the show, who are usually voiced by women, Phil LaMarr voices Ben in each of his stages: baby, toddler, young boy and adolescent.