Ben Tennyson

Voiced byPortrayed byIn-universe informationFull nameBenjamin Kirby TennysonNicknameBenSpeciesHumanTitleOccupationAffiliationFamilySignificant othersChildrenRelativesNationalityAmericanAbilities

Benjamin Kirby "Ben" Tennyson,^[3] better known as Ben 10, is the titular protagonist of the Ben 10 franchise, and is also a fictional superhero created by Man of Action for Cartoon Network. In the original series, Ben began the franchise as a 10-year-old boy on a summer vacation with his family and accidentally discovers the Omnitrix, a watch-like device of alien origin that allows the user to transform into various alien species. Originally, the Omnitrix was limited to 10 aliens, but more were unlocked through various methods. Supported by his cousin Gwen and grandfather Max, Ben fights common criminals like burglars and robbers but is quickly drawn into fighting more advanced foes such as Vilgax, Dr. Animo, Kevin 11, The Forever Knights, and more. At some point after the original series, Ben retires and removes the Omnitrix for unspecified reasons. Ben resumes a normal life for 4 years until forced out of retirement after his grandfather's disappearance while investigating the alien race known as the Highbreed in the sequel.

In Alien Force, Ben investigates Max's disappearance with the help of his cousin Gwen and Kevin, who reforms and joins Ben's team. The trio learns of the existence of the Highbreed and their henchmen, DNAliens. They continue investigating the Highbreed and form alliances with many individuals. The Highbreed attempt to invade Earth but are stopped by the combined forces of Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Max (who is revealed to be alive), and the rest of his allies. Ben is greatly awarded for his heroic deeds from hundreds of planets across the galaxy, but his judgment becomes clouded and many enemies from his past return to face him. Vilgax teams up with Albedo (someone armed with an Omnitrix which can evolve aliens) and attack Ben and his allies. Ben succeeds in defeating the two, but the Omnitrix is destroyed, and Ben replaces with Albedo's Omnitrix which is dubbed the Ultimatrix.

In Ultimate Alien, Ben's wielded the Ultimatrix for roughly a year and his secret identity has been revealed worldwide and tries his best to adapt to it. Over the course of the series, he deals with the arrival of the Andromeda Aliens and the threat of Ultimate Aggregor and helps stop the combined threat of Diagon and the Esoterica and is awarded a brand new, completed, Omnitrix.

In Omniverse, Gwen and Kevin leave for college and Ben gains a new partner, Rook Blonko. He deals with stopping the faction composed of Malware, Khyber, and Dr. Psychobos, defending Earth from the invading Incurseans, battles alternative versions of himself, and deals with the Time War in which he's victorious against Maltruant.

In the 2016 series, the character underwent a reboot, returning to being a 10-year-old boy who travels across the country during his summer vacation, along with his grandfather Max and cousin Gwen, and uses his powers to fight supervillains. Ultimately, Ben meets his adult future self, helps the young Generator Rex, and fights alongside alternate versions of himself to defeat Alien X, later revealed to be a villainous version of himself as an adult.  

Concept and creation

Ben 10 was created by Man of Action, consisting of comic book creators Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle, and was produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The group worked on the concept of Ben 10 and its title character roughly three years before Cartoon Network picked up the series. Dave Johnson also helped with the design development.^[4] Early on in development, it was decided that a villain would be within the Omnitrix.^[5] After Ghostfreak was created, the creators added dialogue into the first season to hint there is something more to Ghostfreak.^[6] Originally, Cannonbolt, the 11th alien transformation in the series, was going to be in the original set of aliens, but was replaced with Ghostfreak.^[6]

When doing test animations for the series, the first alien transformation to be tested was Four Arms, and it was the most popular transformation out of all the aliens for Man of Action.^[6] Many unused designs for Upchuck were repurposed in the episode "Ben 10,000" as two of Ben's aliens, Spitter and Arctiguana, and the villain Sploot. Steven E. Gordon worked on an early version of the series, and his concept work shows that Ben was originally going to have red hair. It also shows early designs of the Omnitrix which resemble a watch more than the final version, as well as different designs and names for the alien transformations.^[7] Some of the early names for the Omnitrix transformations were "StrongGuy", "Inferno", "RazorJaws", "Dragonfly", "Plantguy", and "Digger", and some of their early designs were more human, similar to Dial H For Hero.^[7] The character's middle name, Kirby, was designed as a reference to comic book artist Jack Kirby.^[8] Initial concepts for Ben's Alien Force and Ultimate Alien designs were made by Glen Murakami. His head and hair were reworked by Glenn Wong, who also gave him his green jacket, while colors were added by Chris Hooten.^[9]

Personality

"You think I don't know? When it's hero time, if I mess up, somebody could die. From what you told me, if we mess up this time, everybody could die... Maybe that's too much to have in your head when you have to win. Maybe if I pretend everything is a big joke, when the time comes, I'll be able to do what I have to do."

— 10-year-old Ben to 17-year-old Kevin asking him to be serious.^[10]

Initially cocky, childish, and selfish, Ben's immaturity and attention-seeking behavior often led him to joke around, even in serious situations. His allies often criticized his attitude, unaware that he used humor to mask his fears. Despite his childish attitude, he was heroic, caring, and good-natured, always willing to save others.

Over time, Ben develops as a character as he becomes more mature and takes on the role of a hero. He has displayed leadership skills and the ability to adapt to a situation, such as when the Omnitrix provides him with the incorrect alien. He is also kind-hearted and willing to sacrifice himself for others as shown with the Sentient Ultimate Forms. His idealistic views and unwillingness to compromise his values – aspects condemned by Azmuth, yet commended by others – sometimes drive him to act against reason, such as helping his enemies.^[11] Professor Paradox has praised Ben's good nature, stating he had the gift to make the right choices at the right moments, and Azmuth states that Ben always does the right thing.^[10] Ben is also determined to do what is right for those in need, especially his family, friends, and mentors.^[12]

However, when Ben fails to save someone or if someone is hurt because of his failures, he becomes angry and more violent. Perhaps the most notable of these instances is when Kevin willingly mutates himself to defeat Aggregor, as Ben was set on killing Kevin, even fighting Gwen when she refused to help him.^[13] He also threatened to hunt down and destroy the Forever Knights after making Driscoll promise to cease hunting aliens.^[14] Later on, Ben starts thinking of himself as more of a superhero than a Plumber, often remarking that he is not a cop, but a superhero.^[15]

As Ben 10,000:

A future version of Ben sees him become strict, cynical, and serious about the hero business to the point of obsession. He mostly spent time in alien form patrolling and defeating criminals, and also stopped naming his aliens. After meeting and having a talk with his younger self, he lightens up and starts naming his aliens again. He likes to spend time with his son and, while he tries to be close to him, he sometimes doubts his abilities as a parent and becomes overprotective. He can also be somewhat obtuse, not realizing where his son got his attitude from and grasping the obvious. Despite being older and more mature, he still has a teasing side, jokingly calling his cousin Gwen "dweeb". Ben 10,000 possesses bravery and courage. Even after becoming more light-hearted and relaxed person, he still has a fierce temper. As shown when he turned into Way Big and used him to beat Kevin 11,000 to a near pulp after he harmed his son.

Fictional character biography

Ben 10 (2005–2008)

The series centers around Ben Tennyson, a young boy on a cross-country summer vacation with his cousin Gwen and grandfather Max. Prior to starting his summer vacation, Ben was rather unpopular among his peers in school and was frequently bullied. During his first night camping in Max's RV, which is affectionately called "The Rustbucket," Ben goes walking in a nearby forest at Yosemite National Park and stumbles upon a crashed meteorite, which turns to be an alien pod containing a watch-like device called the Omnitrix. The device permanently attaches itself to his wrist, giving him the ability to transform into 10 alien life forms. (Heatblast, Wildmutt, Diamondhead, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Stinkfly, Ripjaws, Upgrade and Ghostfreak). With his newfound superpowers, and later discovery of Max's past as part of a secret intergalactic government organization called The Plumbers, he has to learn the responsibilities of being a hero. During their vacation, the Tennysons are attacked by various enemies ranging from aliens and criminals to supernatural entities, including Vilgax, bounty hunters Sixsix and Kraab, Zs'Skayr, Kevin 11, The Forever Knights, Dr. Animo, sorcerers Hex and Charmcaster, and clowns like Zombozo. Despite being very immature and occasionally using the Omnitrix for selfish purposes, Ben proves to be a worthy wielder of the Omnitrix and uses it to save countless lives.

Over time, Ben unlocks more aliens through methods such as randomly unlocking and DNA Scanning, Gwen gains magical superpowers, and Max reconnects with his Plumber past. Ben meets a future version of himself dubbed Ben 10,000 who's grown to become extremely powerful, but cold and antisocial. Ben helps his future self change his ways and helps stops Future Vilgax and Future Animo while swearing to never let himself become as distant as Ben 10,000. He loses access to Ghostfreak (who is revealed to house an alien named Zs'Skayr) and his spot in the Omnitrix is replaced by 11th alien, Cannonbolt and Ben later unlocks Wildvine, his 12th alien. He temporarily gains "Master Control" which grants him the ability to shift rapidly between his current 11 aliens and faces off against the combined forces of Kevin 11 and Vilgax (Both of whom are left stranded in the Null Void.) A woman from Max's past named Xylene returns and reveals to Ben that the Omnitrix wasn't meant for him, but rather his Grandpa Max. This causes Ben to doubt his capabilities as a hero, but he proves himself worthy when he saves Max from danger and Xylene unlocks an alien named Upchuck. The gang later deals with the return of Zs'Skayr and his new minions. Ben manages to defeat Zs'Skayr and his DNA is sent back within the Omnitrix which grants him access to Ghostfreak again (though he doesn't use him out of fear of Zs'Skayr). He also scans his minions and unlocks 3 new aliens which brings his transformation count to 16.

Towards the end of the summer, Ben unlocks more aliens like Ditto and Eye Guy which brings his transformation count to 18. The trio later face the Negative 10, a group formed by Driscoll, a Forever Knight which features many of the enemies the team fought over the summer. The Negative 10 are later defeated by Ben and in the final days of summer, Tetrax, an ally of Ben, brings him into space to find the Omnitrix's creator after the watch's self-destruct mode activates which could bring about the end of the universe. Gwen sneaks aboard Tetrax's ship while Max stays behind due to his plumber presence. While in space, Tetrax finds Myaxx, an individual who assisted in the Omnitrix's creation and assists the trio in finding the Omnitrix's creator. Vilgax manages to escape the Null Void and tries one more time to retrieve the Omnitrix from Ben. On the planet of Xenon, Ben meets the watch's creator Azmuth, who is revealed to be of Grey Matter's species. He refuses to help Ben and Vilgax launches an attack on the world. Ben faces off against Vilgax with the deactivated watch and Azmuth is impressed with Ben's determination, ends the self-destruct mode, and unlocks Way Big. Ben's most powerful transformation at the time. Ben defeats Vilgax's crew and throws him into space. Ben and Gwen later return to Earth and resume their adventures with Max. Sometime after summer, he unlocks other aliens like Arctiguana, Spitter, and Feedback which brings his transformation count to 22. ^[16] His hero activities make him a legend amongst many with Plumber connections. He grows increasingly attached to Feedback and later loses access to him in an altercation with Malware (A Corrupt Galvanic Mechamorph) which brings his transformation count to 21. Ben continues using the Omnitrix for another year until removing it at age 11 due to many unspecified factors. 

Ben 10: Alien Force (2008–2010)

Ben gave up his hero activities and returned to having a normal life for the next 4 years. He kept the Omnitrix as a souvenir and throughout the next 4 years, Ben matures into a responsible teenager, loses his unpopularity status at school, becomes a Soccer Player, and forms friendly relations with his cousin Gwen. At 15, his grandfather unexpectedly disappears in the line of duty, and Ben decides to investigate it with Gwen's (now more experienced with magic) assistance. He reequips the Omnitrix and investigates Max's disappearance with the help of Magister Labrid and they witness a weapons deal between the Forever Knights, DNAliens, and Kevin Levin (whose been released from the Null Void). Kevin is double-crossed by both parties and is later apprehended by Labrid. They're attacked by the combined forces of the DNAliens and Forever Knights and Ben tries using the Omnitrix, but it recalibrates and unlocks 10 new aliens, replacing his previous playlist (Swampfire, Humungousaur, Big Chill, Goop, Chromastone, Brainstorm, Spidermonkey, Echo Echo, and Alien X). Labrid dies in the line of duty and Kevin decides to reform in honor of Labrid's sacrifice. The trio continues investigating Max's disappearance and learn the DNAliens work for a group of aliens known as the Highbreed and make it a priority to take them down. They learn more about the Highbreed and form alliances with many who are attacked by Highbreed. Ben also starts dating a girl named Julie Yamamoto who becomes the owner of Ship (A pet Galvanic Mechamorph).

Max is later revealed to be alive but "sacrifices" himself to save the trio from the Highbreed. As time goes on, the trio form alliances with more and more induvial as the Highbreed starts to reveal their true intentions. Gwen is also revealed to have an alien heritage through her grandmother, Verdona which explains her proficiency in Magic. The trio meets Professor Paraodox, a man with the ability to alter time and help him deal with the trans dimensional monster. He'll go on to become one of the closest allies of the trio as time goes on. Ben later uses his 10th alien, Alien X for the first time. The transformation is Omnipotent and houses two personalities along with Ben himself, but Ben doesn't use Alien X often due to the conflicting views of the personalities. A doppelganger of Ben with a knockoff Omnitrix starts framing Ben for trouble and is later revealed to be Albedo, a former assistant of Azmuth who made his own Omnitrix after learning an irresponsible human like Ben was in ownership of Azmuth's device. Ben's transformation, Big Chill later gives birth to 14 Necrofriggian Offsprings and is revealed to reproduce asexually. Ben's parents learn of his secret identity and while disapproving of it at first, later support him. Ben's old enemy, Dr, Amino, managed to seize control of the Null Void within 4 years ^[17] and ruled brutally and is stopped by the combined forces of Ben and Max whose revealed to still be alive.

The Highbreed later revealed to launch their galaxy-wide assault across hundreds of planets which include Earth. They destroy Galvan Prime (Azmuth's home) and Paradox brings Azmuth to Earth to alert Ben of the news. Ben quickly calls in Gwen and Kevin and all the allies they've built to defend Earth and Azmuth grants Ben master control again and he reuses Cannonbolt, Way Big, and Upchuck for the first time in years. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin travel to the Highbreed's planet, and the aliens reveal their dying from generations of inbreeding and their intention to take the universe out with them. Ben uses the Omnitrix to merge the Highbreed with DNA of the Omnitrix which saves their race. The Highbreed are disgusted at first, but later accept it due to Reinsaragg III's convincing. Ben is praised for his efforts for ending the Highbreed Wars and receives awards and honors from hundreds of worlds. He also loses access to Master Control but keeps access to the aliens he reused and unlocks a new one named Lodestar which brings his transformation count to 14. Heatblast, Four Arms, and Wildmutt were unlocked offscreen. ^[18] The awards Ben receives pushes his ego to new heights which causes him to act more immature and self-centered. Vilgax, who hasn't been seen since being thrown into space, has seized control of 10 planets through the Conqueror's Challgenge and will do the same to Earth. Ben asks Azmuth for Master Control, but he refuses due to his disappointment Ben's arrogance in stopping the Highbreed Wars. Ben and Kevin try unlocking Master Control themselves, but this causes more issues as it leaves Kevin stuck between multiple forms of matter and multiple aliens being missing from the Omnitrix which have to be retrieved.

Vilgax defeats Ben in his Chromastone form, but Chromastone reforms into Diamondhead. Ben swiftly defeats Vilgax and saves Earh whilst Diamondhead replaces Chromastone's sport in the Omnitrix. Ben faces off against enimies new and old throughout his spare time. Vilgax later requires Ben's help after Zs'Skayr seizes control of Vilgaxia and Ben helps defeat him and regains Ghostfreak which brings his transformation count to 15. He later unlocks other aliens like Rath and Nanomech and regains access to Chromastone through Sugilite which brings his count to 21. Albedo later steals an incomplete Omnitrix from Vilgax and perfects it into the Ultimatrix which grants him the ability to physically evolve his aliens into their "ultimate forms". Albedo has access to all of Ben's aliens and later teams up with Vilgax, kidnaps Gwen and Kevin and threatens the two's lives unless Ben surrenders the Omnitrix. Ben does as so and Vilgax takes it for himself, betraying Albedo. Vilgax uses his army of biods to launch an attack on Albedo and knocks him unconscious. Ben and the gang later infiltrate Vilgax's ship and Ben sacrifices the Omnitrix through the self-destruct mode and uses the Ultimatrix to replace it. He defeats Vilgax and Albedo escapes.

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2010–2012)

Ben's wielded the Ultimatrix for roughly a year and his secret identity has been worldwide by a boy named Jimmy Jones. He makes regular use of the DX Mark 10. A car gifted to him by Kevin. Ben's fame has impacted his life both positively and negatively as now he no longer has to deal with the burden of having a secret identity but now places his friends and family in greater danger (Such as when Ben's parents were attacked by the combined forces of Zombozo, Charmcaster, and Vulkanus). He's also regularly smeared on news by Will Harangue who started a full smear campaign against Ben. Ben's celebrity status brings him the attention of actresses like Jennifer Nocturne and brand endorsements from establishments like Mr. Smoothy. While not dealing with the celebrity world, the trio is investigating the arrival of mysterious aliens on Earth with connections to each other. The trio later learn these 5 aliens were all being hunted by an Osmosian warlord named Aggregor and had their escape pod crash-lands on Earth and went their separate ways. The trio helps each Andromeda Alien and Ben gains 5 new aliens in the process. Armodrillo, AmFibian, Terraspin, NRG, and Water Hazard which brings his count to 26. One by One, Aggregor recaptures each Andromeda Alien and merges them within himself, but in a way that wouldn't drive him crazy like it did with Kevin when he absorbed Ben's aliens. After achieving the powers necessary for his quest, Aggregor embarks on a journey to claim all 4 pieces of the Map of Infinity and enter the Forge of Creation (Alien X's Dimension) to achieve the Ultimate Prize. Omnipotence. They travel to Mikd'lty to retrieve the 1st piece of the Map of Infinity but fail in the process. They travel to Pisciss (Ripjaws Planet) to retrieve the second piece but fail once again. In the process, Ben scans some nearby Pisciss Volann offscreen which unlocks Ripjaws. They travel to Ledgerdomain and Perplexhadron and try to retrieve the final 2 pieces of the Map of Infinity but fail once again. Aggregor has gathered all 4 pieces of the Map of Infinity and now can travel to the Forge of Creation.

Azmuth scolds Ben, Gwen, and Kevin for failing, but Ben introduces one more plan. He tries using Alien X to see if he can cooperate with its personalities, but the personalities haven't forgiven Ben since their last conversation which leaves the trio out of options. Professor Paradox returns and uses his abilities to transport the trio into the Rust Bucket III and has the ship make its way towards the Forge of Creation. Paradox mentions he cannot continue without them due to his banishment from the Forge but warns them not to lean against the Chrono Randomization Barrier, but Ben forgets and leans against it by mistake which ends up bringing his younger self to the future. Due to them being outside time, no consequences will happen. As the gang travel into the Forge, they face off against Aggregor one last time, but Aggregor swiftly defeats all of them and makes his way towards a baby Celestialsapien to grant himself Omnipotence as the babies aren't bound by personalities like the older ones. Young Ben tries to encourage Kevin to absorb the Omnitrix to regain access to mutation to stop Aggregor, but Kevin states he'll need something stronger and absorbs Older Ben's Ultimatrix which transforms him into a mutation of Ben's current aliens at the cost of his sanity. Ultimate Kevin makes his way towards Aggregor, absorbs his powers acquired from the Andromeda Aliens, and knocks him out. Older Ben insists Kevin stops, but he refuses and departs the Forge of Creation. Paradox arrives and explains to Older Ben that his younger self will remember everything that transpired as a dream and thanks Ben for stopping Aggregor. Ben later vows to handle Kevin himself.

Kevin returns to the Null Void to kill the man responsible for killing Kwarrel (the person who helped Kevin return to human) but is stopped by Ben. Kevin later travels to the Plumber base to find and Kill Argit but is once again stopped by Ben. Kevin returns to Earth and Ben learns Kevin has gone a rampage and has attacked and absorbed the abilities of many of Ben's allies and this convinces him that Kevin needs to be put down to put an end to his madness. Gwen disagrees with Ben, but she's defeated by him. Ben faces off against Kevin one last time and knocks him out but spares him. Kevin is later reverted to normal, and the Andromeda Aliens are able to become whole again. With things back to normal, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin resume their normal activities. The trio later run into another future version of Ben 10,000 who has the power to turn into Ultimate Ben. Ultimate Ben is dealing with a being named Eon who is revealed to be another version of Ben. They successfully defeat Eon and Ultimate Ben unlocks every alien Ben's used in his life until then and throws in some new aliens too. The new ones include Clockwork, Fasttrack, Eatle, and Juryrigg. Others like ( Astrodactyl, Ball Weevil, Bloxx, Crashhopper, Gutrot, Toepick and Gravattack) were also unlocked but wouldn't be used until Omniverse. This brings the current transformation count to 53 (If we count both subspecies of Upchuck). Paradox returns once again and warn the trio to beware of Old George and the creature from beyond. This creature is later revealed to be a Lucubra who works for the demonic entity known as Dagon. Ben later unlocks a new alien dubbed Chamalien through Prisoner 775 which brings his count to 54. Old George is later revealed to be an old man who served as the founder of the Forever Knights. He unites the splinted groups into one organization with the goal of eliminating alien life on Earth (which was later revealed to be a distraction for a bigger purpose) defeating Diagon.

Vilgax is later revealed to be alive and has been watched over by the Flames Keepers Circle who mistake Vilgax for Dagon. The Circle houses the Esoterica who are capable of shifting between realities. Albedo is revealed to be alive and well and has been using Ben's name recognition to raise money for a machine to revert him back to Galvan, but it fails and instead grants Albedo the ability to transform into aliens without an Omnitrix, but only for several seconds. He attempts to fight Ben but is defeated. Ben's Ulitmatrix later grants sentience to several Ultimates through a glitch and Ben's willing to sacrifice himself for them, until him and the Ultimates are brought back to the real world and Azmuth takes the Ultimates to another planet. While Ben is at a celebrity convention, he's brought to another reality and faces off against that world's hero, Generator Rex. The two get off on the wrong foot, but reconcile to face a bigger threat, Alpha. Ben unlocks a new alien in the process named Shocksqautch which brings his count to 55 and they manage to defeat Alpha and send him to the Null Void. Vilgax later becomes a pawn for Diagon and a full-blown battle break out between the Esoterica and Forever Knights. It leads to the death of most of the Knights and George himself. Diagon later transforms Earth's denizens into Esoterica and Vilgax betrays Diagon and absorbs him into himself. He defeats Gwen and Kevin and Ben is left standing. He uses George's sword, Ascalon and faces off against Vilgax one more time. Ben wins and defeats Vilgax, but is almost tempted into eradicating evil, but gets through the temptation. In the end, Ben is awarded the completed Omnitrix which was worked on since Ben found the original one six years ago. Azmuth takes the Ultimatrix and Ascalon and trusts Ben with the new Omnitrix.

Ben 10: Omniverse (2012–2014)

The storyline alternates between that of eleven-year-old Ben (one year after the original series) and sixteen-year-old Ben (several months after Ben 10: Ultimate Alien). It is revealed in this show that Ben continued to wear the Omnitrix a year after the original series, with episodes centered around 11-year-old Ben happening during weekend trips. His hero activities make him a legend amongst many with Plumber connections. He grows increasingly attached to Feedback and later loses access to him in an altercation with Malware (A member of Upgrade's Species). Ben, Gwen, and Kevin stop Zombozo in his attempted Brain theft and Gwen reveals that she is going off to college due to taking honors classes and Kevin will come with her. Ben bids goodbye to the two as he watches them drive off. Max teams Ben with a new partner named Rook Blonko, a recent Plumber graduate. Ben discovers there is an alien town beneath Bellwood named Undertown housed with an alien population. As the duo explore Undertown, they quickly realize they are being hunted down by an expert huntsman named Khyber. Ben later has to deal with a mysterious ship hovering over Earth which brings the attention of Plumbers like him and Rook, Incurseans, Vreedle Brothers, and Argit. They discover that hidden within the ship is the Annhiliargh, a doomsday device that has the potential to destroy the universe which is accidentally activated and succeeds in erasing the entire universe. Ben survives by turning into Alien X and successfully convinces his personalities to recreate the universe. Though the new universe harbors some differences (such as Mr. Smoothy's new design and taste) In the meantime, Ben and Rook continue dealing with issues in Undertown and Ben meets a new girl named Ester whom he starts dating after him and Julie offscreen. Ben is later kidnapped by Khyber and learns he is working with Malware and Dr. Psychobos, but he manages to escape. Psychobos manages to steal a piece of the Omnitrix to help perfect his own version of the Omnitrix dubbed the Nemetrix while Ben is at Plumber HQ which causes an array of issues but unlocks new aliens in the process. The aliens unlocked include Walkatrout, Pesky Dust, Molestache, The Worst, and Kickin Hawk which brings his transformation count to 60.

Ben continues dealing with Khyber and his pet using the Nemetrix. Malware, Khyber, and Dr. Psychoobus later launch an attack on Galvan Prime and Malware reaches colossus height which leads to Ben needing to resort to Way Big to bring him down, but Malware defeats Ben and traps him within himself. While inside Malware, Ben subconsciously meets with his younger self, and this leads to Feedback's unlocking which brings his transformation count to 61. Feedback defeats Malware and the latter is left in a permanent stone form. Sometime later, Ben and the Secret Saturdays deal with the combined threat of Dr. Animo and V.V. Argost. Ben meets another alternate version of himself dubbed Ben 23. Ben 23 has a public identity and didn't have the privilege of Max's mentoring which shows in his recklessness. Ben helps Ben 23 change his ways and he becomes an important ally of Ben in the future. Ben and Rook help to escort Vilgax to a Plumber prison, but the interferences of the Incurseans and bounty hunters SixSix, SevenSeven, and EightEight allow Vilgax to escape. Eon later returns and swaps the minds of 16-Year-Old Ben and 11-Year-Old Ben which causes an array of issues and temporarily messes with time itself. Both Bens transform into Clockwork and return things to normal. The Incurseans, fed up with the many interventions done by Ben, launch an all-out invasion on Earth, and succeed in conquering it through the help of mutated To'Kustars named Way Bads. Ben is sent to exile in Deep Space but is saved by Azmuth. Ben unlocks a new alien named Bullfrag and uses him to infiltrate the Incurseans and free the Plumbers. This brings his transformation count to 62 and he along with Gwen, Kevin, and Argit take down the Way Bads and send them to the Null Void. The Incurseans are later defeated, and a peace treaty is signed between them and Earth. Max's old, corrupt Plumber partner, Phil Billings returns and attacks Ben through his mutated Terroranchula form and he accidentally unlocks a new alien named Buzzhsock for Ben which brings Ben's transformation count to 63. Albedo later returns and creates an Ultimatrix based stabilizer which not only allows him to stabilize the alien DNA within himself but evolve them too. Albedo leads Ben into a trap, and he's trapped on board Khyber's ship. Ben faces off against Khyber once again and Albedo attempts to steal Azmuth's intelligence. Ben manages to escape, and Albedo fails. In the process, Atomix is unlocked for Ben which brings Ben's count to 64 and Albedo is left stuck in a permanent 10-Year-Old Ben form. Ben and Rook later deal with Dr. Animo and his future self, Future Amino and in the process, Ben unlocks another alien named Gutrot which brings his transformation count to 65. Ben and Rook travel to the Anur System and stop the combined threats of the revived Zs'Skayr and Lord Transyl and unlock another alien named Whampire which brings his transformation count to 66.

Vilgax and Eon later gather evil alternative versions of Ben like Albedo, Mad Ben, and Benzarro while Professor Paradox brings in Ben 10, Ben 23, Ben 10K, and others. Vilgax uses the Chronosapien Time Bomb to erase every universe aside from 1 where that universe's Ben never had an Omnitrix. No Watch Ben is given the Omnitrix before Ben was erased and he uses Clockwork to restore every universe and defeats Vilgax while returning the Omnitrix to Ben. Ben is later held for trial by the Celestialsapiens for his "illegal" recreation of the Universe when it was destroyed and has to use the "Tetramand Trial of Combat" to ensure his innocence. He wins and, in the process, learns to cooperates with his personalities and gains full control of Alien X. Later on, the Rooters (Black Ops, Null Void Plumber Branch) try to turn Ben and Kevin against each other, but fail, have their Plumber rights revoked and are left stranded in the Null Void. Ben and Ben 23 are later left stranded in Mad Ben's universe and have to work with Dr. Psychoobus to ensure Mad Ben's defeat and they succeed. Khyber later returns with the Nemetrix and is now armed with a Slimebiote which allows him to use weapons made of the DNA within the Nemetrix. The Slimebiote's named Skurd and later betrays Khyber and attaches himself to Ben's Omnitrix due to finding the watch's DNA better. Ben, Rook, Skurd, and Professor Paradox later deal with the Time War and have to face off against rouge Chronosapien, Maltruant who is on a quest to receive artifacts scattered throughout the universe for a greater purpose. Ben and Rook have to deal with Rook's old mentor and in the process, Plumber HQ is launched into space. Vilgax returns and teams up with Albedo again and the two steal Malware's remains from Galvan Prime to create armor from him. He faces off against Ben one more time and he's defeated and left within his ship's exploding core which leaves his body frozen and petrified.

The Time War reaches its conclusion as Maltruant travels towards the beginning of time while Ben and Rook follow him. They manage to temporarily knock him out of the timestream, and they're sent to the 1770s in the land that would become the United States and they meet George Washington and face off against a younger Vilgax. Maltruant hands Vilgax the Chronosapien Time Bomb which Vilgax will use centuries later while Maltraunt in exchange has his ship repaired and continues space-time travelling. Ben faces off against Vilgax and defeats him and this altercation consequentily establishes Vilgax's thirst for the Omnitrix while Washington is inspired to create the Plumbers. Ben and Rook continue going after Maltruant and make it towards before time in the Contumelia Ship (The same ship which housed the Annhilargh) and they meet the Countumelia. Maltraunt attempts to use his Annhilargh to create the universe in his image and Ben as Feedback tries to stop it as the device explodes, but he absorbs it and through the power of all his 66 transformations, he absorbs the Big Bang from the Annihilargh and uses it to destroy Maltraunt. The Countumelia use the original Annihilargh to create the universe and Paradox returns and explains that Maltruant will be stopped in an endless timeloop where he'll try to receive his broken body parts scattered across the universe but will fail each time and be defeated by Ben each time. Skurd says goodbye to Ben and Rook and joins his ancestors in populating the new universe with DNA. Ben and Rook return to Earth after scattering Maltruants body parts throughout time and call Gwen and Kevin to go on a Space Road Trip with them.

Future (Prime Timeline)

Ben had stayed happy and cocky until he turned 20. ^[19] The events surrounding what caused them are unclear, but it caused Ben to mutilate Vilgax, and become cold and serious. He had Vilgax's remains placed within a stasis pod to ensure he could cause no more harm. Throughout the next 10 years, Ben would unlock over 10,000 aliens, have unrestricted access to Master Control, become the world's greatest hero, and establish his own city in North Dakota ironically named Omntrix City. He would become extremely distant from his family. Ben later comes into contact with his younger, 10-Year-Old self who was brought 20 years into the future by Gwen. His interaction with his younger self helps him change his ways and he faces off against the combined forces of the revived Vilgax and Dr. Animo and attends Max's 80th birthday. Over the next 12 years, he married Kai Green and had two kids with her. That being Kenny Tennyson and Gwendolyn Tennyson. In preparation for his son's 10th birthday, he uses his smartest aliens to create a replica Omnitrix for his son. Him and Ken team up and defeat several villains, but Ken is frustrated that Ben keeps taking them down before letting him land a hit. Ken meets Devlin Levin (Kevin's son) and he betrays him and frees Kevin 11 from the Null Void. Ben fights Kevin and beats him to a pulp after witnessing him harm Ken. Devlin later betrays his dad and traps him within a Null Void egg. Devlin is later taken in to live with Ben and Ken.

Over the next several years, Ben develops the Biomnitrix (a dual system Omnitrix) using his smartest aliens again.^[20] Ben 10,000 later visited his younger 16-Year-old self, looking for Professor Paradox and informing him the Time War had gotten out of hand, the Chronosapiens went rouge, and Maltruant's temporal beasts are on a cross dimensional rampage. He later assists his younger self again along with multiple alternate versions of himself against Vilgax, Eon, and evil versions of himself. He was temporarily erased from time after the Chronosapien Time Bomb went off and was subsequently restored by No Watch Ben using Clockwork. He later assists Professor Paradox, his younger self, and Rook while dealing with Time Beasts and creates the Time Cycles for Young Ben and Rook to use. Later on, Ben and Kai try to stop Dr. Animo from using the Chronoporter from travelling back in time, but he succeeds but is quickly brought by Chrono-Spanner with the married couple remarking on how they haven't seen him in years. Ben calls on Ken to join him and Kai in transferring Animo back to Plumber HQ and Kai quickly confiscates his Omnitrix. They return to Plumber HQ and celebrate Max's Retirement while meeting with Gwen and Kevin (whose become good again) but are interrupted by Maltruant. Ben battles Maltruant as Atomic-X (fusion of Alien X and Atomix) and Chrono Spanner defends Ben from Maltruant's blast which reveals that Chrono Spanner was Ken all along. Maltruant later freezes time temporarily and goes off into the timestream to ensure he's able to remake the universe in his image (which he'll inevitably fail and be defeated by younger Ben). Ben is handed the wounded Ken by his younger self.

Ben 10 (2016) (2016-2021)

A reboot of the franchise set in an alternate universe, Ben 10 introduces a re-imagined Ben (reprised by Strong), his cousin Gwen (Montse Hernandez), and Grandpa Max (David Kaye), as they travel the country during summer vacation. Ben finds the Omnitrix offscreen at Mount Rushmore and gains access to 10 aliens. (Cannonbolt, Diamondhead, Four Arms, Grey Matter, Heatblast, Overflow, Stinkfly, Upgrade, Wildvine, and XLR8). He meets with foes like Dr. Animo, Hex, and LaGrange and becomes enemies with them. He becomes accustomed to nine of his aliens and names all of them. He awakes a Hydromander nesting in Niagara Falls and has to use Overflow (which he's never used before) to stop him. Throughout the early parts of summer vacation, he becomes enemies with mutants Maurice & Sydney, rich kid Billy Billions, Steam Smythe, Lord Decibel, Zombozo, Vin Ethanol, and others. While battling Dr. Animo he unlocks his 11th alien, Gax (Chimera Sui Generis). Max and the kids later meet with his old friend, Phill Billings and he places a device on the watch to get more readings off it. Ben develops an addiction to Gax (much like his Prime Counterparts' addiction to Feedback) and this attracts the attention of Vilgax who takes the DNA of Gax to make himself whole again while locking the Gax transformation and bringing Ben's transformation count to 10. Vilgax leaves and attempts to power a ship that'll allow him to leave Earth while Ben has to deal with bearing with the Omnitrix's rapid shifting between transformations. Ben faces off against Vilgax and the two battle in his ship. Ben realizes the only way to fix his Omnitrix is to upgrade it so he uses Upgrade to repair which in turn "upgrades" the Omnitrix, locks Upgrade, and unlocks a new alien named Shock Rock. Ben faces off against Vilgax and defeats him while leaving him to die in his sinking ship in a volcano. Ben joins with Max and Gwen and the trio return to their summer vacation. Ben notices that Upgrade has seemingly vanished from the Omnitrix and has gained a strange new phenomenon of "Omni-Enhancements" which coats his aliens in strange electrical rock and blue energy and grants them electrically enhanced superpowers.

Vilgax survived his fate in the volcano but suffered permanent burns on his body. His ship's destruction leaves him stranded on Earth and he teams up with many of Ben's enemies to exact revenge against of him but fails each time. He teams up with the Weatherheads and warns Ben not to use his 11th alien (technically 10th since Gax and Upgrade were locked) Shock Rock. Ben disobeys Vilgax and uses him anyway. Vilgax convinces Ben that the strange storms that are occurring are because of him and this causes Ben to doubt himself and he decides to hand the Omnitrix to Vilgax before Gwen reveals the storms are caused by the Weatherheads. Ben uses Shock Rock once again and defeats both Vilgax and the Weatherheads. Vilgax meets with Dr. Animo and convinces him to join him in stopping Ben and retrieving the Omnitrix. Animo uses a DNA Gun to retrieve DNA from the Omnitrix and uses it on himself which turns him into an Apopplexian named Rath. Animo and Vilgax fight each other and later go on separate terms as Vilgax escapes once again and Animo is reverted back to human. Ben is brought to an alternate dimension and meets with heroes Garnet, K.O., and Raven in Crossover Nexus and must stop a mysterious villain dubbed Strike. Ben is unable to turn into aliens and is stuck as Four Arms, but towards the end, he stops the villain using newly acquired aliens in the Nexus Realm (all of whom are inaccessible unless Ben is present there). While attending a race, Ben attempts to use Upgrade but isn't able to due to him being locked and the Omnitrix malfunctions. Ben starts hearing voices in his head and must deal with a warbot who is causing havoc at the race. The warbot is revealed to be Vilgax and Ben uses Shock Rock to capture Vilgax. With Vilgax captured, Ben sleepwalks and constructs a device which Vilgax warns him about. Ben frees Vilgax and the two attempt to stop the machine but fails and the machine alerts an alien race known as the Fulmuni (Shock Rock's species). Vilgax explains the danger of the Fulmuni and the two must go within the Omnitrix to stop them from coming. Inside the Omnitrix, the two meet Glitch. Glitch explains he's Upgrade himself and that the DNA had to merge with Ben's DNA to survive the Omnitrix's upgrading when Ben and Vilgax fought each other at the volcano. He further elaborates by mentioning that he had to replace Upgrade's spot in the Omnitrix with Shock Rock and the alien's DNA allowed it to absorb the excess charge which caused the creation of the Omni Enhancements and he reveals that every time Ben accessed Shock Rock, he sent a signal pulse to the Fulmuni's planet. Glitch tried his best to circumvent the issues, but a portal was established between the homeworld and the Omnitrix. The three must deal with the Fulmuni, but matters are complicated when the High Override sends Vilgax to the Null Void and Ben is placed under his control. Max and Gwen go within the Omnitrix and help Ben break free from the Override's control and help defeat the High Override. The Omnitrix reboots and Glitch transports the three out of the Omnitrix. This causes Grey Matter, Wildvine, and Overflow to be locked and replaced with Rath, Slapback, and Humungousaur and the Omni Enhancements are no longer accessible.

Phill Billings gifts the Tennysons the Omni Copter which allows them to traverse around the world. Ben also grows accustomed to his new aliens and his old bully, Kevin 11 now has his own version of the Omnitrix dubbed the Antitrix which has 11 aliens. Glitch is stuck in the form of a racecar dubbed the "Rustbuggy" and he can alter his vehicle to match Ben's aliens. While visiting his English relatives, Ben faces off against Kevin 11 once again and he uses Dark Matter, Thornbade, and Undertow. All of which are currently inaccessible to Ben. When not facing Kevin 11 or any of his enemies, he is being watched closely by The Forever Knight (an individual, not an affiliate). Ben later joins the Forever Knight and the group of villains he's gathered up for his ultimate goal. Preventing Alien Life from contacting Earth. Ben quickly figures out that this will prevent him from ever finding the Omnitrix and later double crosses him. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin later deal with Forever Knight in the Timestream and Kevin kicks him off into it while Ben and Gwen return back to their regular time. Ben apologizes to Max for his misbehavior but is grounded for his actions. Kevin later is revealed to have returned to current time and Forever Knight's helmet is shown to be all that's left of the Knight. Phil later discovers that a second piece came with the pod that held the Omnitrix and Team Tennyson has to get to it before Breaker One Nine does. Ben gets to it first and the Omnitrix is upgraded once again which locks Stinkfly and replaces him with Jetray and grants Ben access to the Omni Kix Armors which coats aliens in high tech armor. Ben defeats Break One Nine and continues enjoying summer vacation with his family, dealing with his enemies, and Kevin 11.

Towards the end of the summer, Ben starts to feel like everything he's doing is becoming repetitive and starts believing no challenges are left for him. After him and the Tennysons are informed by Phil that a meteor is approaching Earth. Ben uses the Omnitrix's Omni Kix Key, flips it the other way, and unlocks the Omni Naut armors which allows him to traverse aquatic and spatial environments. Ben uses Jetray and heads towards the meteor in the armor but misses it and goes towards a portal instead. The meteor lands on Earth and is revealed to be a pod holding Vilgax whose escaped from the Null Void. While in space, Ben's Omnitrix times out and coats Ben in protective space armor. He's abducted by a spaceship housing aliens who believes he's an escaped Vilgax and send him to the Null Void where he meets several aliens and the Omnitrix's maker, Azmuth. Azmuth explains to Ben that Vilgax helped him in the creation of the Omnitrix but grew power hungry and wanted to use the Omnitrix to conquer the universe. Azmuth used the Omnitrix to absorb half of Vilgax's DNA in an attempt to save the universe but was sent to exile in the Null Void due to being partly responsible for Vilgax's reign of terror. Ben learns how to unlock new aliens through a special feature and uses Goop to rescue a prisoner and Azmuth uses a device to create a portal to head back towards Earth. Back on Earth, the Tennysons try to help Kevin whose Antitrix is expericing problems but Vilgax tracks them down and takes the Antitrix and explains that it was him that instructed Kevin to create it. Vilgax uses the Antitrix to unlock the AntiVilgax form while attacking the Tennysons, Phil, and Kevin. Glitch turns himself into a battlesuit for Kevin to use and Vilgax, growing tired of setbacks, terraforms Earth using Bootleg (Galvanic Mechamorph Hybrid). Ben later is brought to Earth by the Incurseans and he teams up with Kevin to face off against Vilgax. Vilgax takes the Omnitrix Key from Ben and transforms into Alien V (Celestialsapien/Chimera Sui Generis Hybrid). Ben turns into Way Big to face off against Alien V and defeats him. Azmuth uses the Omnitrix to revert Vilgax's celestialsapien augmentation and he's taken away to Galactic Justice. The Omni Kix Key is left within the Omnitrix which removes Ben's access to the Omni Kix Armors and Kevin is nowhere to be seen. While the Tennysons board the Rust Bucket, Phil takes the remains of Glitch who was destroyed in battle and states that he'll be able to fix him and they drive off to Nebraska.

Ben later meets a future version of himself whose become depressed and joins him in the future to help defend Earth from the invading Xerge. Ben meets his future cousin whose now U.S. President and finds many of his enemies have been recruited to help Gwen. He unlocks Surge (Xerge) and helps to defeat the invaders and helps his future self change his ways and become a better person. Surge becomes part of the active playlist which brings Ben's transformation count to 11. Ben also helps a younger Generator Rex in dealing with Hex from infecting the world's population with aliens. The Tennysons are later attacked by a villainous, dimensional hopping alien known as Alien X and learn he's taken the Omnitrixes of 9 different Ben's across the Multiverse. They're assisted by an alternate Max and they gather multiple alternate Bens and Gwen to help bring a stop to Alien X. They successfully defeat him and learn he's a regular, older version of Ben who lost his version of Gwen and Max and became evil. The alternate Max says he'll punish Ben by taking him on a road trip across space and time mentioning that everyone needs family. The alternate Bens and Gwen part their ways and Ben happily embraces his Grandpa Max and Gwen.

Future (Reboot Timeline)

Ben had a confrontation with Steam Smythe and unlocked Surge which had sent a signal to the invasive species known as Xerge who invaded Earth. Ben's Omnitrix upgraded for the fourth time and had given him access to 10,000. During an incident, Ben had failed Max, Kevin, and Gwen which left Max stuck as a Hologram and Kevin as Humungouraptor (Vaxasaurian Hybrid). After years of distancing himself in which 20 years passed, Ben comes out of hiding and faces off the Xerge. Hex attempts to recruit him, but after Ben rejects, he brings in Max which convinces him to join. Hex takes Ben to the White House where Gwen and reunites with her for the first time. After some arguing, Ben as Buzzshock has a vision of his past self and travels back in time through a time portal developed by Steam Smythe and Dr. Animo. He brings his past self to the future and the two of them face off against the Xerge and successfully defeat them. After young Ben returns to the past, Ben 10,000 shaves his beard, loses weight, and returns to his hero activities by emitting his trademark catchphrase. "It's Hero Time"

Portrayal

Voice actors

Ben is voiced as a 10-year-old by Tara Strong in the original Ben 10 series which aired from 2005 to 2008. She would later return as 10-year-old Ben in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, in the episode "The Forge of Creation" and reprises her role as Ben at age 11 in flashback episodes of Ben 10: Omniverse. The character underwent a reboot, returning as a 10-year-old in the 2016 reboot, with Strong reprising her role; along with voicing his original series incarnation at age 10 in "Alien X-Tinction". Strong had to re-audition for the role in the reboot; as Man of Action was initially considering the new iteration of Ben being voiced by a child voice actor. Ultimately, Strong reprised her role as the character.^[21][22] Strong voiced Ben as a child in all series to date except Ben 10: Alien Force, where he never spoke.

Ben 10: Alien Force, the sequel series to the original, sees Ben at 15 years old; voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.^{[23] [24]}When casting teenage Ben for Alien Force during the audition process, Lowenthal revealed that he was called back multiple times during the audition process to read for the role before ultimately being cast.^[25] In portraying Ben, he received guidance from series director Glen Murakami, whom he worked with in Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. Upon being cast and early on in the show, Murakami told Lowenthal to portray Ben as less of a wisecrack than his 10-year-old self, noting that the character is older. He also told Lowenthal not to "veer into the whining, Luke Skywalker."^[26]

He would later reprise his role as teenage Ben (16 years old) in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse (sharing the role in the latter with Tara Strong, who voices 11-year-old Ben). Both Strong and Lowenthal also voice alternate versions of Ben in Omniverse. Lowenthal returns in the 2016 reboot cameoing as an elderly Ben in the episode "The 11th Alien: Part 2", and later returns to voice the aforementioned 15 and 16-year-old counterparts of Ben in "Alien X-Tinction".

Adult versions of Ben have also been featured over the course of the five series, known as "Ben 10,000". Different versions of Ben 10,000 have appeared in each series (with the exception of Alien Force). Ben 10,000 was voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the original series as well as the 2016 reboot, while Sean Donnellan voices him in Ultimate Alien; and Judd Nelson in Omniverse.

Live action

In Ben 10: Race Against Time, he was portrayed by Graham Phillips. The film originally aired on Cartoon Network on November 21, 2007.

In Ben 10: Alien Swarm, he was portrayed by Ryan Kelley. The film originally aired on Cartoon Network on November 25, 2009. According to Kelley, additional sequels were planned but never came to fruition. ^[27]

See also

• List of Ben 10 characters
• Robby Reed and Chris King and Vicki Grant

Notes

References