Romeo's good friend has a hidden dark side. While Benvolio tries to behave above reproach, he is so ready for action that he keeps getting into trouble.

Case in point, early on, he jumps in to stop a brawl... but it is Benviolio's exposed weapon that antagonizes Tybalt into getting involved.

When Romeo battles Tybalt, Benvolio is in a position to intervene, but he chooses not to. Romeo kills Tybalt and is exiled from Verona Beach.

Mercutio makes fun of Benvolio for getting into quarrels:

"Thou? -- why thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than thou hast.... Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg for quarreling. Thou hast quarrel'd with a man for coughing in the street, because he hath waken'd thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun."