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The Original
- Nnoitra's attack on Ben induces this in both Nelliel and Harribel in different ways
- For Nelliel, she has to watch the boy she loves be brutalized trying to protect her while both are helpless to prevent it, with Ben punched, slashed, and kicked as Nnoitra takes his time demeaning him as a "worthless piece of crap" to her face.
- For Harribel, Aizen is able to use her care for her subordinates against her, forcing her to keep serving him lest he make Ben suffer more. She also suffers a major Broken Pedestal moment to Aizen, now seeing that he has no care for any of his subordinates and feels nothing but defeat in her continued servitude.
- The effects of Ben being sent to another world are not ignored. Gwen and Kevin are incredibly relieved to see him, but Gwen reveals that Ben's parents suffered severely after what happened to their son because they thought he was dead, and she calls out Paradox for his actions.Gwen: Do you have any idea how worried we were? Do you know how worried Ben parents were? How tormented they were at the thought that their son might never come home? They would stay over at my house and I would hear his mom crying every night for her boy! Can you even imagine her pain? Can you?Paradox: I could not tell you because I knew you would attempt to get into Hueco Mundo. And since science cannot help you get there, it would've devastated you further.Gwen: But for all we knew, Ben could've been killed! Tortured! Raped! All because you left him alone in an unknown world to fend for himself! And what would you do then, Paradox? Are you gonna say that it was all for the greater good? That Ben's wellbeing didn't matter as long as this war that we weren't even part of ended? Would you expect him, expect us, to just walk away from all that?
- Before the epilogue chapters, we see just how much they went through. One night, Sandra found Carl drunk and sobbing in Ben's room, and Sandra was making three meals out of habit. It also didn't help that Will Harangue was willing to drug Ben's name further through the mud, outright saying the world was better without him. Thankfully, that chapter is when Ben finally returns from Las Noches, and the reunion is nothing but heartwarming.
- Lilynette's breakdown. She first accuses Ben of seducing Haribel and her Fraccion, unable to think about them betraying Aizen otherwise, but when Ben offers to be a true friend to her and Starrk, she accuses him of lying and that he'll simply sell them out to Soul Society after Aizen is defeated. Even after Ben confirms the only reason he didn't become their friend earlier was because he simply didn't know about their past, she can't wrap her head around the idea that a human wants to be friends with her. It's not until a Pinky Swear that she finally believes him, and the tears flow freely, with Ben giving her a Cooldown Hug. Thankfully, she and Starrk pull a Heel–Face Turn when they see Ben willing to go against Soul Society to protect them if he must.
- Aizen decides to do away with his traitorous Arrancar, leaving Harribel, Nelliel, and Starrk fatally wounded. While Ben is able to reach them, he's not able to help them. As he listens to his friends' last words, Ben is reduced to sobbing over their upcoming deaths, with Starrk regretting not having met Ben sooner and Harribel and Nelliel giving a Dying Declaration of Love. Even when confronting Serena and Bellicus, he rants about how helpless he was in his ability to protect the ones he cares for with tears streaming from his eyes, with Serena feeling sorrow at Ben's pain.
- To an extent, Loly's state of mind after learning of Aizen's death. The master she believed in and possibly loved is dead at the hands of someone who turned his forces against each other, and even though her plans for revenge are nothing short of murderous, it's not impossible to feel bad for her given that in the end, she's another victim of Aizen's manipulations much like Momo was.
- The reason why Ben and Julie broke up is far, FAR more depressing here compared to canon. During a fight against the Forever Knights, they used a weapon that damaged Julie's internal systems. Enraged at this, Ben became vindictive and vicious against the Forever Knights, and it was only because of her begging that they were spared. However, she was hospitalized from her injuries and couldn't be healed by Earth technology. Ben begged Azmuth to help her, and while she was able to recover, her parents blamed Ben for her state, verbally belittling him and claiming that Harangue had been right all along. While Julie herself never blamed Ben and was enraged at her parents' comments, they felt that being around Ben would only lead to her death, leading to them deciding to leave Bellwood and never return. Despite the fact that she was able to keep in touch with him, their relationship was essentially over. As a result of this, Ben got the idea that anyone close to him was doomed to suffer, hence his protectiveness towards his friends in Las Noches and his insecurity towards Harribel.
- As a result of his own insecurity, Ben ends up becoming colder to Harribel, believing her to be out of his league. However, Harribel herself starts to believe that Ben can only see her as a fighter instead of a woman and that she intimidates him, and while she is at first able to keep her feelings bottled up, they flow during the beach party. When she outright asks if he's afraid of her, Ben is left unable to respond and crushed by guilt.Harribel: They say Hollows have no hearts, but I disagree. I must have a heart because it's breaking.
The Remake
- All of Chapter 19. Where to begin? Ben is at his lowest point as Aizen reveals that he was always aware of his plan to flee Hueco Mundo, and the revelation that the Espada knew about the Oken all along severely shakes his trust in Harribel and Starrk. When Aizen is done with his Evil Gloating, the latter two are just as miserable as Ben is at not being able to tell him about that secret on their own terms as friends.
- When Aizen reveals that the Espada knew, Ben can only collapse to his knees, and Barragan's Fraccion all laugh at his misery, all except for Charlotte. When the First and Third Espada approach the broken Ben, Orihime demands they stay away from him, angrily asking if they've hurt him enough. All Lilynette can whimper is that they weren't going to harm him. When Aizen threatens Orihime, Ben is still able to keep her safe, but while he reassures her he'll be fine, Orihime can see through his fake smile.
- Lilynette is especially heartbroken in this chapter, particularly when Ben asks if their friendship was ever genuine. Lillynette screams that, yes, she and Harribel's Fraccion did see Ben as a friend, and she is left whimpering and pleading with him to believe her while on the verge of tears. Harribel's Fraccion are in a similar state, admitting that while they looked down on him before, he eventually proved himself as a comrade.
- Harribel also reveals that she doesn't want to go through Aizen's plan, and that if there was an alternative, she would take it without hesitation. When Ben points out the Oasis and its possibility to help them, she admits that as wonderful as it is, Soul Society only cares about the potential threat the Arrancar could hold, and Starrk himself wishes that things could have been different. Afterwards, all the two Espada ask is that if he hates their Fraccion, he should direct his hate of the Fraccion to the Espada themselves, fully willing to let them be hated by Ben if it means their Fraccion and he can still remain friends.
- Even earlier, Ben reveals the Spirit Fruits and Oasis to Uryu and Renji, and when Renji calls him out for helping Aizen, Ben explains that all he wanted was to help the Hollows from needing to succumb to their Horror Hunger and make Hueco Mundo a better place. When he reveals his friendship with Starrk and Harribel, he wonders if they're still friends. Most notably, he's in the form of Rath, but he is incredibly sullen and glum rather than angry like Rath normally is.
- The Hollowfied Aliens' reaction to the death of Wonderweiss. Throughout their time with him, they're all shown to dearly love the modified Arrancar, and his death hits them incredibly hard. While Huecos Brazos (the Evil Knockoff of Four Arms) sullenly holds the remains of Wonderweiss's head, Diamante and Fuego collapse in grief. For all intents and purposes, Ben's caring side and cherishing of his friends remains with them, and much like how Ben grieved over the loss of the Espada in the original version, they grieve over the loss of their precious friend.
- The deaths of the Hollowfied Aliens are nothing but cruel. Both Huecos and Fuego end up rotting as a result of Barragan's Respira as a preview of what he plans to do to Ben and stabs Diamante with one of his own crystals. Worse, this presses the Trauma Button Ben developed as a result of watching Malware killing Feedback, leaving the poor boy catatonic. Afterwards, he reveals that he plans to go to Ben's universe after taking the Hogyoku and raze it to the ground while also making Harribel and her Fraccion his army's servants and concubines.
- Renji chews out Ben at the end of the Karakura Town battle, saying that if he'd not been fooled by Aizen, Ichigo wouldn't undergo a Depower. With Ben's own Chronic Hero Syndrome working against and making him at fault for not doing enough, Renji's words cut deep. Throughout most of the chapter, he's left feeling incapable, and he outright states that he was stupid enough to fall for his lies and that had he chosen to act sooner, Ichigo wouldn't have lost his powers, there wouldn't be any deaths, Karakura Town wouldn't be in danger, and Harribel wouldn't have gotten hurt.
- While Diamante is ultimately revealed to have survived, he's not at all in good shape. Diamnate is WAY past the Despair Event Horizon, and expects Ben and company to kill him. While he does react to the news of Barragan's death and Aizen's defeat, he ultimately slumps over as if he's an Empty Shell, only wishing to be alone. While Ben and company are able to provide him sanctuary in Harribel's old cave, he's too broken to do much of anything, only giving a "Thank you" for all they did, curling into a Troubled Fetal Position.
