Ben Wade

Grew up… without a family. Ben’s daddy “got hisself killed over a shot of whiskey” and his mother abandoned him at a train station. He’s had to learn to take care of himself — leading to a life of light scruples and heavy pockets.

Living… in captivity. Life in the Wild West has driven Wade to become an outlaw. After a run-in with a down-and-out Civil War veteran named Dan Evans, Wade finds himself being “escorted” to Contention Station, where a train will take him to Yuma Territorial Prison — and the hangman’s noose.

Profession… robber and killer. Wade knows that he has the temperament of a murderous criminal, but he seems to take pride in his own lack of empathy. As he puts it, “I wouldn’t last five minutes leading an outfit like this if I wasn’t as rotten as hell.”

Interests… a good gunfight, money, power and freedom. In the relatively lawless American West, a man with a quick trigger-finger can choose his destiny. Wade takes what he wants, when he wants, and calls no one his master.

Relationship status… single. But you could say that Ben Wade is married to his work. Although the idea of him being married to anything is likely to draw a laugh from his crew of merry murderers.

Challenge… escaping the armed escort that’s intent on leading him to prison. Wade knows that he can count on his gang to make every effort to secure his release — but that doesn’t mean he’s just going to sit around and wait. Ben is one of the most dangerous men in a dangerous world, and he’ll seize every opportunity to claw his way out of his current predicament.

Personality… tough, gruff and ruthless. Ben Wade is one of the wildest men in the Wild West. While he’s firmly convinced that he’s a “bad man” he isn’t totally without a code of honor, and he’s willing to treat the men who have earned his respect with a degree of kindness — although Wade’s never met a man he liked enough not to shoot if he needs to. Doomed to hang for the $40,000 in damages he’s inflicted upon the railroad, Ben Wade is not going to Yuma without a heck of a fight.