Benjamin L. Willard

Captain Benjamin L. Willard is a fictional character in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and is portrayed by American actor Martin Sheen. His character is loosely based on the character Charles Marlow from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. He is a Captain in the US Army, who is dispatched to kill the renegade Colonel Kurtz. ==Biography==

Captain Willard is a US officer who has been attached to carry out special operations missions for the US army in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He has worked for I-Corps in the CIA in the past, and is primarily an assassin. He has already returned home from a tour of duty at least once, during which time he failed to integrate back into society and divorced from his wife. Despite his previous desire to return to America, once he had gone back to his homeland all he wanted was him "getting back into the jungle". He has killed at least six people at close quarters, "close enough for them to breath their last breath in my face" but never a fellow American national. His military past is a mystery but it is clear he has carried out many top secret operations for the US Army. Willard is a withdrawn individual who doesn't speak often, and seems reclusive and at his best when working alone, where he more often than not operates. Because of this, he is somewhat of a loner and is awkward when around others.