Ugo Bencini

Ugo Bencini is a character from the TV series Medici: Masters of Florence and hidden villain during the first season.

Ugo is the real executor of the murder of Giovanni de' Medici. Though he killed his chief to avenge an innocent victim, his following attempts to blame others for the crime makes him all villain.

He is portrayed by Ken Bones.

History
Ugo is the administrator of the Medici Bank and a close collaborator of Giovanni de' Medici, which he supports in all his plans to get more influence on Florence government and to make the Medici family more potent.

Giovanni's first-born son, Lorenzo, falls in love with a common woman, Rosa. Worried about this, Giovanni orders Ugo to put her away from his son. Ugo accompanies Rosa, who is pregnant without Lorenzo knowing it, to a convent. Few months later Ugo goes to the convent to ensure that Rosa is fine, but then he finds mother and child killed.

He refers the fact to Giovanni, who admits to be the commander of Rosa's murder, and that he did it to only to protect his son. Ugo is horrified by Giovanni's confession and decides to kill him by poisoning with hemlock the grape attached on his favourite grapevine.

After Giovanni's death, the family leadership shifts to his son Cosimo, and Ugo retains his role of administrator of the bank. Cosimo and Lorenzo come to know the truth about their father's death from the surgeon who did the autopsy, so they decide to investigate.

Ugo then kills the apothecary from which he bought the hemlock with Lorenzo's dagger. Later Marco Bello (Cosimo's most trusted servant) comes to the scene. Marco Bello initially decides to not reveal to Cosimo what he found, but later he does and Cosimo puts his brother under surveillance. Then Lorenzo accuses Marco Bello to be the true responsible of the crimes and to plan to put him away and take his place on Cosimo's heart.

Then Ugo puts the purchase receipt of the hemlock in Marco's haversack, letting Cosimo and Lorenzo find it. So Marco is accused of the murder and Cosimo tries to execute him, but in his heart he doesn't believe that Marco killed his father, so he allows him to go. After this, Marco decides to leave Florence forever.

Maddalena, Cosimo's concubine, who also had fallen in love with Marco, confesses to Ugo that Marco can't be the murderer because his haversack is newer than Giovanni's death, so someone else should have put the receipt in. Ugo intimates her to not speak with anyone about this, stating that Marco won't even come back.

During Lorenzo's funeral, Ugo tells Cosimo that he's far a better man than his father.