Hell Followed With Us

Content Warning: This section discusses violence, anti-trans bias, religious trauma, escape from a cult, and death.

Benji is the protagonist and anti-hero of Hell Followed With Us, as well as the narrator of whom all thoughts and motivations are known. Benji is a dualistic character who carries both strength and fragility, wisdom and naivety, and independence and reliance, all within himself. He was assigned female at birth but has always known that he is a boy, and he chose the name Benji in the process of Staying True to One’s Identity. Benji grew up in a religious cult known as the Angels. The Angels used him as a tool to bring about their Armageddon, refused to accept his chosen identity, and attempted to trap him in their obedience.

Benji leaves New Nazareth with his father, but his father is shot, and only Benji escapes. He is not allowed to grieve the loss, instead being taught that all loss is part of God’s plan. Similarly, he is not allowed to grieve the loss of his own body and the life he may have had; as he slowly transforms into Seraph, a weapon “that will wipe humanity from the earth once and for all, just like God demanded” (15), he fights to maintain his sense of self and the person he is inside.