Ben gained noteworthy attention from the commentary community for his rant on Creator/Cartoon Network, namely his negative opinions on Adventure Time and Regular Show. This gained him a lot of hate and the reputation of being called a "Nostalgiatard". His most infamous rant of this time was The Looney Tunes Show, which gained so much controversy and notoriety, with Ben eventually disappearing from the internet for a month. This led to speculation that his videos had ended for good, but in reality Ben's computer crashed and when he got a new one, he was unable to log back into his PuffyZillaman4 account. He soon created a new channel called "Benthelooney" and the series resumed on July 26th, 2011 after a month and a half hiatus.
After many different rants, Ben Rants finally ended production in December of 2011 with very little fanfare, because Ben wanted to retire from ranting and focus on positive videos. He continued to make videos and on February 10, 2012, he resumed making "Ben Rants" videos, after a surprisingly large amount of fan requests and Ben Tannehill discovering new topics to talk about. He went on hiatus again in early 2013 after his microphone broke, and when he did, he put a more "cartoony" spin on his voice and transitioned the infamous avatar into a dedicated character named "Ben T. Looney", and would now represent videos as himself using a live-action picture of him. Alongside Ben T. Looney, he would also bring in several other characters, including Neb T. Yenool, Looney T. Ben, Negative Nick, and much else.
Ben later retired Ben T. Looney and the other characters on 13th December 2013 with his review on Yellow Submarine. This was because Ben was too busy pursuing his dreams of being an animator at college. He made videos as himself, and then brought back the character again until June. This run saw the character become much more calmer. In November 2015, the character and the rants were brought back again, with a mixture of his 2011-2012 and 2013 runs, with the inclusion of actual profane words instead of the fake ones, abit the strong ones being bleeped. He ended the series and retired the Ben T. Looney character again in June 2016, and Ben began to make videos as himself, mostly featuring him working on various pieces of artwork. He also attempted in making a series based on his passion-project Daisy & Dexter in October 2016, but never got anywhere.
Beginning in 2016, Ben began what he later deemed an “Edgy Asshole” phase where he began a Hotter and Sexier transition. Due to being in a depressive state caused by various issues, Ben began drawing lewd and loli art of cartoon characters, some being underraged. This transition gained public backlash, with those accusing him of being a pervert or pedophile. He also gained backlash for defending Shadman, an infamous porn artist who made lewd art out of real life children. In his videos, Ben began talking about his current lifestyle, as well as making videos defending blackface and porn artists, as well as political and controversial topics. By 2018, his videos now featured a naked avatar of himself and the noteworthy removal of the fake swears or censor bleeps. This turn in controversies and assumptions led to Ben's mental health to increase, and at the same time allowed him to come out initially as bisexual, but eventually came out as gay.
Ben brought back "Ben Rants" in August 2019 with a new formula, which he described as "not knowing if it's gonna be a positive rant or a negative rant." Although the Ben T. Looney character was brought back as well, it functions more or less like an avatar. In Mid-October 2019, due to major confusion, he turned his positive rants back into Ben Salutes videos. This era of the series continues on Ben's edgy phase, as it focuses more on controversial topics resolving cartoons or the media instead of ranting on the topic as a whole. In March 2020, he ended Ben Rants and Ben Salutes again, and announced the creation of a series titled "Alright Cartoons''. However, his health has led to him becoming more scarce on the internet, and has since apologized for his lifestyle, although he does continue to produce lewd art.
He changed his username back to PuffyZillaman (abit without the "4" at the end) in January 2024. In March 2024, user jormy49 posted an hour-long video talking about Ben's lewd artwork and the controversies that surrounded him. Ben responded to this, apologising for the lifestyle he had and explained why he went under this transition.
Watch his videos here
, but do note that many of his videos past 2016 are considered Not Safe for Work, mainly due to Ben's obsession with erotic material and as of 2018, contain uncensored profanity. His more family-friendly videos are located on his older account here.
Tropes:
- Angrish: In third rant on The Looney Tunes Show, after seeing Yosemite Sam's out-of-character persona in one episode, he explodes into an assortment of fake swears:Ben: FAAAAUUUUUUUUUUU, GING KONG O MADINA MOTHER FRUIT SALAD WEARING SONS OF DITCHING BROTHER TRUCKING JOCK SUCKING FATHER PLUCKING WITCH DITCH BITCH ITCHING MASFAL CHUCKING FRUGAL STOPPING BAG HANDLING BLASTER SELLING BALL SITTING HORSE SPITTING DOG RAPPING DUCK SHIP EATING CONVENIENCE STORING JACKHOLES! (breaths deeply) SISTER CRUSHING YODLING ASSET FINDING GRANDMA NAPPING UNCLE COUSINS BENCH JUMPING FATHER MOTHERING FLAWWED (stutters), FLUBBED BLOCK-HEADED MORONS!!! (heavily breathes again) TRAAAIIINNNNNN!!!
- Animation Age Ghetto: Discussed in Ben's Misc. Rants.
- Anti-Hero: Take a guess.
- Arch-Enemy: His relationship with soccer moms.
- Art Evolution: His "Ben" avatar has gained a considerably more polished appearance over the years. The head was originally drawn with a circle tool.
- Author Avatar: Ben T. Looney,
which is stated to be an exaggerated version of Ben Tannehill. - Berserk Button:
- Shows he hates. And certain people, like Seth MacFarlane (Except for American Dad!) and Adam Sandler.
- When Ben's artist friend Rizeki attempted suicide in June 2018 after getting harassed by trolls, Ben’s response to the situation and the reasons why Rizeki was trying to kill himself is sure to make you wonder if we've really come that far as a society. It’s one of Ben’s angriest videos, and unlike in his rants when he rages, that video does show that Ben is legitimately ticked off about the situation.
- In his rant on politicians and the U.S. Government, he reveals that anyone who calls him a liberal will get their legs chopped off with a chainsaw.
- His rant from 2022 about the Pushback against LGBTQ+ rights goes towards this after he came out as gay.
Ben: WE DON'T LEARN CRAP!- He doesn't like people making fun of his fans.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Happens a lot.
- Catchphrase:
- "Welcome back to Ben Rants/Salutes/'s Top 10, and when I was a kid... [insert comment here]."
- Sometimes he says "Welcome back to Ben Rants, and we live in a world where... [insert comment here]" instead.
- In the majority of the Un-Cancelled/revival videos, "Greetings folks, I'm Ben T Looney".
- Neb uses a similar version of this, but with "and in this day and age."
- In the first run, Ben often exclaimed: "What the flubbernugget?!".
- "Anyway"
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Looney T. Ben as a whole.
- Comically Missing the Point: In his Equestria Girls review:Ben: Applejack! I'm shocked at you. This is a high school. How dare you sell alcohol to minors without bringing silly straws.
- Curse Cut Short: Happens every now and then. One example is in his video about Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production.Ben: So, what am I going to come back on? (Picture of the show is shown) AWWWW, SHI- (cue technical difficulties card)
- Darkerand Edgier: By 2016, his videos have started to turn around this route after news spread of his interest in Rule 34 artwork. Despite the fact he toned down this artwork after the criticism he got for making such art, his videos still apply within this trope. He also once said in 2021 that he's started to smoke bongs as well.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first few Ben Rants didn't have an Author Avatar on screen and were notably calmer in tone. Before Ben started making rants, he would post videos of his DVD collection, Tom and Jerry title cards, a video showcasing his characters, a Godzilla tribute, and funny pictures with captions to go with them.
- The Eeyore: Negative Nick.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: He's one of the best examples in the animation community within his trope. He stated that he used fake swears (words that rhyme with real words) in his videos because he preferred to keep his videos G-rated. Such examples include "Spit", "Truck", "Witch", "Grass", "Glass", etc. These became more common within the 2011-2013 videos with the occasional usage of "Gay" (although used as a joke within Neb T. Yenool), and after changing his avatar and microphone in 2013, he infrequently uses "Jackass".
- His 2015 revival swapped out the fake swears for the real ones, abit bleeped, except for usages of "Hell" and "Pissed". His videos starting in 2018 have the swears unbleeped to represent his edgier turn.
- Hotter and Sexier: His output once he started drawing Rule 34. YMMV on whether or not it's
Fetish Retardant. - Jaw Drop: This
- Jerkass:
- Ben T Looney, starting from the 2012 resurrection.
- Neb also constitutes as this (though that's the point).
- Sir Lord Charles Humperdink IV would also qualify.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ben, in the original 2009-2011 run. While in some videos he could get very opinionated and some facts wrong, he mostly dealt with his haters in a polite and mature manner (Much like he did in real life). The original finale "Ben Strikes Back" paints a complete picture that Ben was indeed this.
- Keet
- Large Ham: A lot of times when he is angry.
- Manchild:
- Ben T. Looney can come up with this.
- Neb, however, is an even bigger one, to the point where it seems like all "child" and no "man."
- Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: Negative Nick has broken up with three girls because one nibbled her fingers every Tuesday, one brushed her teeth with her left hand, and one was hit by a bus and the accident screwed up her face.
- Nostalgia Filter: Pre-Cancellation only. This is averted in the revival because Ben goes out of his way to criticize a lot of shows/animes that he grew up with and previously liked.
- Wordof God says that he realized he can't judge shows based on their time period, which is why he scrapped this upon the return of his rants.
- Prank Call: Looney T. Ben pranks calls them in one video.
- Precision F-Strike: From the video I Love Art onwards, his videos contain some instances of this due to his Hotter and Sexier turn.
- The Pollyanna: When he's not raging.
- Self-Deprecation: In his Top Eleven: Dumbest Soccermom Moments:Ben: Folks when you think of stupid people who do you think of?(Shows picture of George Lucas).Ben: Not bad who else do you think of?(Shows picture of Sarah Palin).Ben: Getting better. Alright, the coup de grace. Who is the stupidest person you can think of?(Shows text saying Benthelooney).
- Spiritual Successor: The Mysterious Mr. Enter is this to Ben Rants's original run, as the styling of his reviews & analysis resemble that of Benthelooney, despite coming out a year after Ben Rants was uncancelled.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one in his second mini-rant video to people who take opinions way too seriously:Ben: There are people out there that are gonna take my previous opinions on Steven Universe and act like I killed their grandparents, then dug up their corpses and ate them. The person will eitheract like that they're the most tortured person in the world and want sympathy from everybody or they'll either hire the most expensive assassin they can afford to do terrible things to me. Well to people who take opinions seriously I have one thing to say: Look at yourself. Seriously, look at yourself. Are you that damaged by a human doing something that all humans do? Express themselves? I mean honestly, this is something that has been going on before the creation of the internet. It seems that some people get so hurt over the fact that somebody disagrees with them. I'm sure everybody has met somebody like this.
- This Loser Is You: Neb T. Yenool is based on whiny immature pre-teens who follow every fad and can't agree on anything with anyone.
- Negative Nick is based on people who are always in a negative mood who have nothing but bad things to say.
- Sir Lord Charles Humperdink IV is a parody of people who would attempt to act mature but end up coming off as immature themselves.
- Vocal Evolution:
- Ben T Looney's voice started out as relatively calm but eventually progressed into being louder and more aggressive.
- A second voice change happened in 2013 after Ben Rants went on a hiatus (which was the first time since the rants were canceled in 2011) and Ben decided to put a cartoony spin on the character's voice when he got a new microphone.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue:
- Ben's review of Yellow Submarine ended with this, fitting because this video is the Series Finale (where the characters are concerned).
- Neb T. Yenool started paying attention in school and became more sensitive to others. He's still pwning n00bs in his video games, however.
- Looney T. Ben has become a sane man and now works at the St. Louis Zoo.
- Sir Lord Charles Humperdink IV has learned to appreciate art and spends his free time strolling in art museums.
- Negative Nick has become more positive and changed his name to Positive Pete.
- Ben T. Looney tried to audition to be in cartoons and didn't get any parts. However, he fell in love with Jenny E. Wacky and is now married to her.
- I'm Ben T. Looney, and I'm signing out. I'm gonna go seek shelter from Pigs on the Wing.
