Benyan was a Bajoran member of the Cult of the Pah-wraiths. A painter by trade and a devoted follower of Dukat, he painted a portrait of him.

When his wife, Mika, gave birth to a child that was half-Cardassian, Dukat proclaimed the child as a sign from the Pah-wraiths that he was truly meant to be their Emissary. Benyan, however, had suspicions, and would ultimately turn on Dukat when he discovered that the Cardassian had forced himself on Mika and, after the child was born, tried to murder her. (DS9: "Covenant")