No. 13 · Class of 2026
PassBench
The Passion FruitFor services to padlocks: has locked more accounts than any other fruit, and never once told anybody the combination.
Your secret is safe with me
The plaque
- Stage name
- The Passion Fruit
- Instrument
- A halved passion fruit as a padlock: the tendril is the shackle, the seeds are the dots of a hidden password.
- Day job
- Generates strong passwords and passphrases, estimates how long one would take to crack, and checks whether it has leaked. The password never leaves the browser.
- Signature move
- Recommending a passphrase of plain words over a complex password nobody can remember.
- Plays with
- KeyBench (every password is typed on its keys), PrivacyBench (both keep quiet about your data).
- Debut
- October 6, 2026, the second of four debuts that day
- Inducted
- October 18, 2026
The original
The logo you see on the site, in colour.
- A passion fruit cut in half: the golden pulp is the body of the padlock.
- The vine tendril curls into the shackle.
- The seeds line up as the dots of a hidden password, with a text cursor beside them.
On paper
The black-and-white version from the blog comics. Model sheet:
- calm
- delighted
- shocked
- sly
Biography
A passion fruit is already half a lock: cut it in half and the golden pulp is full of dark seeds, lined up like the dots that hide a password. PassBench took it from there: the tendril became the shackle, and a text cursor blinks among the seeds.
It generates passwords and passphrases, shows how long they would take to crack and checks whether they have turned up in a leak, without revealing them. It runs entirely in your browser: the password is never sent anywhere.
In the comics the passion fruit is the bench’s guard, with one arm up as if it has just caught someone peeking. For its induction it got a happy eye and the raised arm of a guard who has finally been thanked.
Greatest hits
Where to catch it in the blog comics:
- Our principles: stands at the back of the bench with one arm up.
- What we know about you: frowns over a clipboard at the rope while the cookie grins.
- The Hall of Fame is open: third in the queue, one hand on its hip.
- When the power goes out: joins the offline club by the candle, under a crossed-out Wi-Fi sign.