Ben Hayes

Benjamin "Ben" Hayes was a World War I veteran who led the rescue party in finding Ann. He was killed when Kong tossed him onto a cliff.

King Kong 2005
Before Hayes became the Venture's first mate, his past as a World War I veteran is mentioned, that he was trained and had a drill sergeant, which gave him a good knowledge on weaponry. As the Venture's First Mate, Hayes was well respected by everyone and he was shown as a father figure to Jimmy. He told Jack Driscoll that he found Jimmy in the Venture's hold some years before, his arm broken in two places, and wilder than half the animals on the ship. Hayes knew that Jimmy couldn't have come from somewhere good because of how he was "always breaking into places" and stealing, and tried to encourage him to get educated and not want to spend the rest of his life onboard the Venture.

Hayes was wary of Denham from the beginning, but accompanies him and Jack on their journey to find Ann. Hayes scolds Lumpy in the marshes for firing carelessly at an irritating fly and orders him to conserve ammunition. At the valley, Hayes tells Jack to cut the crew some slack and gives them a 5 minute break and ordering everyone to stay in sight. When Jack discovered the footprint of Kong, Hayes calculated the ape to be around "20 - 25 feet" before noticing that Denham had gone to film the brontosaurus herd.

As the crew crosses the log, Hayes approaches Kong's lair, loading a Thompson and ready to fire. As he hears Kong coming from within, he shouts at everyone to get back across the log, and begins to shoot into the cave with his Thompson. However, as Kong comes into view, he runs out of ammo and so drops the Tommy, and then goes to take out his pistol. As he does so, Kong charges from the cave and grabs Hayes, looking at him suspiciously. Hayes tells Jimmy to stay back, as he slowly prepares his pistol to fire: As he attempts to shoot Kong in the eye, the gorilla tosses him across the chasm, throwing him into the wall of the cliff, and then allowing him to fall to his death. When the others (Jack, Carl, Jimmy, Lumpy, and unnamed sailor), awakened in the pit, a quick scene of Hayes' dead corpse down the pit is shown.

In the game
Hayes appears in "Peter Jackson's King Kong: The official game of the movie" as a supporting friend. Thanks to his years in the army and weaponry knowledge, Hayes is an exceptional ally, always giving helpful advice, shooting successfully at hostile creatures and handing Jack appropriate guns when being called on. When Hayes is selected, he will throw Jack a gun while Jack throws his gun in return.

In the game he first appears as a follower in the level "The Venture" as he rows along with Briggs. As the rock falls on the boat and Hayes and the others survive, Briggs dies in the rock fall. As Jack is unconcious, Ann tries to wake Jack up, Jack witnesses Briggs dead body covered as Hayes sends a flare out to Englehorn knowing that he'll come looking for them in the seaplane. Hayes and Carl part ways with Jack and Ann after losing them on uneven paths. After Ann is sacrificed to Kong, Hayes and Carl get separated but reunite in the aptly named level "Hayes", where he tosses Jack a Tommy Gun after clearing a path for him. Hayes, Jack and Carl later find Preston, Lumpy, Choy, Baxter and Jimmy as they're being attacked by a Vastatosaurus rex but are unable to save any of them. Hayes and Carl part ways with Jack to let him find Ann before Kong catches up to her, meeting up later in the canyon where the brontos are migrating. In the rapids, Hayes figures out that by reaching the waterhole where animals gather to drink, they'll catch up to Kong. After being ambushed by Skull Islanders on the rapids, two V. rexes attack as Hayes accepts that: "Nothing's gonna kill these things".

Unlike the movie, Hayes is deathly injured in the level "Call Kong" after being crushed by a V. rex when it charges at Kong while trying to shoot the ape for grabbing Ann. Hayes later dies in a shelter after telling Jimmy he needs to get back to the ship.