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User Name/Nick: Laus.
Plurk: blackspire
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Lestat de Lioncourt, Tim Gutterson

Character Name: Ken. (Technically "Kenneth Sean Carson" but ... Just Ken.)
Series: Barbie (2023).
Age: 62 years since the moment of creation, but permanently looks ambiguously mid-to-late 30s.
From When?: Nearly the end of the film. Upon realizing the demise of Kendom and Patriarchy, Ken rushes into the Dreamhouse and runs up the stairs to weep in bed. As he throws himself around dramatically, before Barbie can start helping him, he falls off the ledge. This corresponds real-time with the person playing with him in reality getting rid of the doll, which results in "death" in Barbieland.

Inmate Justification: Outwardly, Ken is just a wholesome guy, the second half of one of the world's most iconic duos. But it's that perception that's really the crux of his status as inmate. Ken exists in a world that has no regard for him, where he's ultimately just another accessory for Barbie. Constantly put down and not having his feeling seen or validated, it pushes him to extremes - he steals Barbie's house, he brainwashes her friends, he ruins everything Barbieland stands for by introducing his bastardized idea of Patriarchy just so he (and other Kens) can get their moment in the spotlight. He sees this as the only option to finally get the recognition he feels he deserves and fails to see what's inherently wrong with it. While his demeanour is innocent and well-intentioned, it doesn't change the "an eye for an eye" mentality.

Less extreme is that Ken has no original idea or thought. He's entirely a follower. He molds his interests and personality around the people he thinks he needs to impress. Ken has no idea who he is or, really, how to be anything else. His whole mental space is built around pleasing others and not acknowledging anything about himself.

What Ken needs from a warden is guidance. A warden who can help him find himself and figure out he is without the influence of others is going to have the most success. But also, it's key that his warden doesn't see him as a joke. Being paired with someone that values him as well as sees all the potential he has will go a long way towards pushing Ken to be his own person. And, you know, it wouldn't hurt to have a warden who can also show Ken that masculinity comes in several forms, and that, yeah, feelings are weird and hard to navigate but there are healthier ways to deal with it.

Arrival: Ken agreed to come to the barge, but he's definitely confused about it.

Abilities/Powers: Ken is a doll. Because of this, he doesn't face the usual vulnerabilities of a human and, in a sense, can't even die. Coming to the barge, this will all be taken away from him by making him a real boy.

Inmate Information:

Ken has lived an entire life under one simple construct: he is Barbie's boyfriend. There really isn't much more to his existence than that. As Barbie lives out an ideal fantasy life in the pretty pink world of Barbieland, Ken is on the fringes of that, confined to one singular role. In fact, as the Barbies of Barbieland hold careers, Ken and his fellow Kens are dumbed down to the simplest versions of themselves. There are no Kens in Barbieland that hold an official job title, and if you're pressed to give him some distinction, he's simply "Beach Ken." Because of this, he's grown to believe his singular defining trait is just Beach. Nothing more, nothing less. Beyond the beach, the only other thing Ken feels that defines him is his relationship with Barbie. It's Barbie and Ken, and with that there's an awareness that he was created only to accompany to her. He takes the original tagline of "Barbie's Boyfriend" very much to heart, which is the initial crux of a lot of his problems.

As the narrator tells us, "Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him." When he sees that she's paying attention to other Kens, his jealousy flares up and he's compelled to try and do anything to get her to look at him again. He's impulsive and a little reckless, a bad combination when you consider that there are no thoughts in that blond head of his. However, for all his attempts, he can never quite achieve what he wants. When Ken asks if he can spend time with Barbie, she tells him she doesn't want him there, and makes it very obvious that he is not a priority to her. There's a strong implication that this is a common occurrence in Ken's life, but even as she leaves him outside he quietly says "I love you, too" and walks away with a smile on his face, justifying that he can't stay the night anyway because he has other things to do. It's easy enough to assume that he's perfectly content with this and doesn't know any better. Unfortunately, the reality is that Ken feels he's been let down by the one person who he believes is meant to lift him up. As Barbie also confesses to another person that Ken is superfluous, it's no surprise, maybe, that Ken identifies with a song about an emotionally abusive girlfriend. Even the executives of Mattel make it clear that they've never cared about Ken. Kens don't have their own homes or their own cars, and not even the Barbies know where Kens go to sleep at the end of the day. Ken even implies that under the Barbies, the Kens weren't able to do their hair the way they want to.

A lot of influence on Ken's reactions and view points comes from the fact that he's a toy, so his perspective of life is coloured by the view point of children. This translates into two key points of Ken's personality. The first is his general boyish innocence. When he "kisses" Barbie, he simply leans in and their lips never touch. He also says they're "boyfriend girlfriend", which is a very childlike way of explaining that relationship, and admits to not knowing what that actually means beyond the fact they should spend the night together. As far as being an inmate is concerned, it also means that Ken's negative emotions (jealousy, anger, annoyance) translate as child-like tantrums than a proper adult reaction. He has several childish out-bursts, from being annoyed when Barbie tells him not to get into trouble to freaking out when another Ken can do a backflip. It's a small tantrum that made him go to the real world, then a tantrum that led him to discover Patriarchy™, which turned him into an unexpected antagonist.

Full of existential feelings that don't quite make sense to his doll-life (which is, again, entirely filtered through a child's gaze), it's easy to see why Ken's exposure to the real world had such a negative but profound impact on him. He sees a place where all the roles he's grown used to are reversed. People are saying "thank you" and "excuse me" to him, he sees men with careers who run companies, he sees, for the first time, male bonding that's focused on being bros and not their girlfriends. A woman asks him for the time which Ken interprets as her having some sort of respect for him. Even the other Kens are shocked and amazed by this story, and Ken himself starts wearing three watches so he can always tell someone the time. This awakening, however, is not exactly a positive one. While Ken sees a world where men can be something, too, he also sees a world where women are nothing and everything is catered to the male point of view. He absorbs all the bits of toxic masculinity and creates a skewed ideal of patriarchy. In his impulsive recklessness, he brings this all back to the other Kens. Barbieland's entire social infrastructure is crumbled singlehandedly thanks to Ken, but in his mind, this isn't bad. He believes it's what he (and the other Ken's) deserve after years of mistreatment. It's their time to live their fantasy lives and for the Barbies to be the accessories. When Barbie tries to tell him that it's all wrong, Ken finally finds his voice and tells her that she failed him. He uses her own words against her, echoing that she's not welcome here. It's his follow up asking her "How's that feel? It is not fun, is it?" that shows his intention was to hurt her the way she's hurt him.

Ultimately, Ken's a good person with a good heart that wants to do, well, good (he clearly feels some guilt that he doesn't know how to reconcile). He's simply never known how to be anything other than what people have told him to be. In Barbieland, he's a doting boyfriend, a walking accessory who hypes up Barbie and keeps on smiling. The real world told him to be the entire opposite, a man whose important because of being a man and nothing else, who views women as accessories and the ones who should be doting. Every decision Ken makes is based on the influence of whoever made it before him (even when he's singing his favourite song, he has to sing it exactly like Rob Thomas does). No matter how well-intentioned Ken is, it has all led him to negative experiences and bad decisions. Until he's able to reconcile who he actually is, and not just who he's told to be, it's likely that he will keep making poor choices.


Path to Redemption:

There are a few things Ken needs to fundamentally learn in order to graduate. First and foremost, he needs to figure out who he actually is. He's never had the opportunity to explore a personality outside of Beach Ken or Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken, and he doesn't really know how to start. He also needs to learn how to make his own decisions, as well as how to deal with the consequences of them. Learning how to manage his emotions, as well as learning that there are other ways to get in touch with his masculinity that aren't extreme responses. Good milestones for him would include finding out how to respect and appreciate himself regardless of the opinion of others, along with not letting himself be so easily swayed by other people and their ideals. A hint of critical thinking would also be a great lesson for him.

Overall, Ken will react pretty well to being wardened in the sense that he'll see his warden as an instant bestie and someone he can learn from. He does want to do good, and he'll earnestly accept his warden's help. This is assuming, of course, his warden has a gentler touch. A good warden for Ken would be someone patient and understanding, especially as they'll have to teach Ken not just how to make better life choices, but how to function as a human. Someone who is good with children will be good with Ken. He'll response best to a warden who gently suggests corrections, and, really, someone who can match his genuine nature.

What won't work for Ken is someone who is very policing, or will treat him like a parent speaking to a misbehaving child. That would beat down any optimism he might be feeling, as well as encourage his tantrum-like behaviour. Wardens who are rougher around the edges and don't indulge Ken's curiosity won't be met with resistance, but will ultimately hinder Ken's progress.

A warden who is willing to hang out with Ken and indulge his little constant questions will become immediately endeared to Ken. If a warden can see him as an equal (warden and inmate status notwithstanding), then Ken will feel an appreciation and respect that's fairly foreign to him but that he's been craving for a long time. Little rewards and motivations can include new things for his cabin, gifts he can call his own, and generally just acknowledging that he's making good progress. He doesn't need a lot to feel encouraged. As a person who hasn't ever been asked how he's doing, or who has never had his own house or car or anything, small things can go a very long way with him.

History: Doll History and Movie Synopsis.

Sample Network Entry: Here.

Sample RP: Here. (full TDM including more threads and other network samples here.)