Ben 10 (TV series)
Ben 10 is an American animated series created by "Man of Action" (a group consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle), and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The series is about a boy who gets a watch-like alien device called the "Omnitrix" (the prefix omni- means all). Attached to his wrist, this allows him to transform into various alien creatures.
It is the first series in the Ben 10 franchise. The pilot episode aired on December 27, 2005, as part of a sneak peek of Cartoon Network's Saturday morning lineup. The second episode was shown as a special on Cartoon Network's Fridays on January 13, 2006. The final regular episode aired on April 15, 2008. The theme song for the series was written by Andy Sturmer and sung by Moxy.[1] In April 2008, Ben 10 was succeeded by Ben 10: Alien Force, which itself was succeeded in April 2010 by Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.
Plot
When 10-year-old Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and their grandfather Max are on their summer camping trip, Ben finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it he finds a mysterious watch-like device called the Omnitrix. The device permanently attaches itself to his wrist giving him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms each with its own unique powers. Ben soon realizes that he has a responsibility to use his abilities to help others. Along with Gwen and Grandpa Max, Ben embarks on a summer-long adventure to fight evil both extraterrestrial and terrestrial.
Episodes
Main characters
There are four primary characters in addition to the many aliens that Ben can shift into as well as enemies.
- Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson: Ben is shown to be a cocky, immature boy, who is not above enjoying attention and enjoy making jokes even during fights. Though his immaturity makes a bad impression on some people, Ben is good-hearted, noble, and loyal, and his actions are motivated above all by a strong and sincere will to help and save others in need. He will stop at nothing to protect his family or anyone in danger whether human or alien. Ben proves to be resourceful, intelligent, shrewd and cunning when needed, which saved him from many situations, especially when the Omnitrix cannot activate or doesn't provide him with the form he originally wanted.
- Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson: She is depicted as snobbish and very mean due to her young girl attitude. Overall, her most notable skill is her innate, if latent, ability at magic. Having within her what Charmcaster calls a "magical aura", Gwen is capable of using various magical artifacts, charms, talismans and spells. When using the magical, luck-giving Charm of Bezel, she was able to activate it instinctively, whereas Hex did or could not. Later on, when she takes and uses his staff, she was able to make it fire a yellow-colored energy blast – according to Charmcaster, only someone of Hex's skill should have that ability. Gwen starts tapping into her magical powers when she procures a small book of spells from Charmcaster.
- Grandpa Maxwell "Max" Tennyson: Max mentions having spent his childhood Summers on his Uncle Jedediah's farm, where he learned about the merits of hard work. A "not-quite-all-there" Max, under the effects of Zombozo's happiness-draining, mentions having been afraid of heights as a kid and then, when "enough was enough", Max "climbed up to the top of the water tower" and "scared the fear" right out of him. It was shown that Max had a childhood friend called Donovan Grand Smith, who sums up Max: "growing up he always was the worrywart never the risk-taker", like himself. Thirty years earlier, Donovan and Max had both been broke when Donovan offered Max a business opportunity which he turned down. Max later became a Plumber (Donovan thought Max was an actual plumber), establishing that Max's career as a Plumber lasted for about twenty-eight years before he retired (Max mentioned that after twenty-eight years on the job, he'd never figured out who was behind the Bermuda Triangle). It was revealed that Max had been an astronaut and would have been the first man on the moon, but left the program before the Apollo Moon mission. In his own words, Max said he just "took his step for mankind in other ways". It is later revealed that he did in fact go into space, just not with NASA.
Main villains
- Vilgax: Is one of the most feared aliens in the galaxy an archenemy of Ben, is vicious, arrogant, and dangerously relentless as he will stop at nothing to take the Omnitrix. In the beginning, Vilgax had no real powers, though after an accident while trying to get the Omnitrix he was cybernetically enhanced, giving him colossal size, strength and durability that made him a match for every alien Ben could access at that time. He also had the ability to temporarily increase his own muscle mass and strength.
- Dr. Aloysius James Animo: He is an insane scientist, who made mutant lifeforms of animals. His career was cut short when it was discovered that he was performing twisted genetic experiments on animals. He had hoped that his research would win him the Verties Award, which is an award in veterinary science. Because of the nature of his research, he lost the award to another doctor named Kelly. This drove him insane, and he dropped off the map for five years until he could perfect his research.
- Kevin Ethan Levin: When Kevin was eleven years old, he was a criminally insane psychopath, willing to hurt/kill anyone for his own personal gain and/or pleasure. This behavior and mentality stems not only from having been seen and treated as a freak by his peers and family, but also because of the side-effect Osmosians have with absorbing raw energy. His sociopathy and selfishness is made apparent when he was once willing to derail a train in the subway and kill countless passengers, only to cash in on the spoils afterward. As the series progressed, more of Kevin's personality was revealed. It would seem that Kevin had an extremely negative outlook on life because of the countless hardships and struggles he had to endure, feeling insecure about himself as well as having incredibly low self-esteem.
- Zs'Skayr: A Ectonurite who was trapped in the Omnitrix as it sampled his DNA. After escaping from the Omnitrix, he tears off his protective layer of skin and seeks to make himself whole again. Over time he grows to hate Ben. His powers include being able to shoot an energy beam from his stomach, possession, and the ability to become intangible. He is, however, vulnerable to sunlight.
The Omnitrix
The Omnitrix was originally created by a Galvan (Grey Matter's species) named Azmuth. The Omnitrix was intended to allow beings to experience life as other species in order to bring understanding and foster peace in the universe.
In the first form that Ben found, the Omnitrix looked like a wristwatch, primarily black and gray in color, with a gray (or black) dial in the middle (like a watch face) and had a green hourglass shape on it (actually the intergalactic "peace" symbol, also on Plumber's Badges and Azmuth's home world). However, many beings, like Vilgax, have seen the Omnitrix's abilities as something that could be used as a powerful weapon.
But according to Xylene, the Omnitrix was originally intended for Max, but since she was in battle she sent it to the forest by mistake. When Ben found it his DNA was close enough to Max's that it mistook him for Max and locked itself on his wrist.
Active mode
The default mode for the Omnitrix which means it can be used and that it has recharged. Actual usage time is unknown (between ten and twenty minutes, most commonly ten), and can time out at inopportune moments; it seems to time out faster the more it's taxed by activities such as fighting. However, if regular transformation is tampered with, Ben can't turn back (Ditto, for example, isn't allowed to revert when Ben's Ditto clones were not all merged together, nor does it allow Ben to transform multiple times).
The Omnitrix also possesses a Master Control, activated by inserting a certain code into the Omnitrix. Once the Master Control is unlocked, the user can remain in an alien form indefinitely and is able to switch between alien forms at will just by thinking it, speaking the name of the alien given by the user, or operating the Omnitrix which can still be found on the body when activated.
Time out mode
When the Omnitrix times out it beeps and flashes, converts the user back to normal, and takes around 10 minutes to recharge – though it may take more time if tampered with. Its main purpose is said to be to keep the original personality of certain aliens from overwhelming the user (such as happened with Ghostfreak).
The Omnitrix is powered by a special self-renewable power supply that will long outlive Ben. The Omnitrix has, on occasion, instantly recharged to protect its user from direct physical threat. This was shown when Ben was about to be killed by Kevin and then when Ghostfreak, who had escaped the Omnitrix at the time, tried to possess Ben. Both times, despite just timing out moments earlier, the Omnitrix recharges instantly when Ben's life is put in direct threat. However, this may possibly be a safety mechanism where the Omnitrix taps into an emergency reserve of energy, as the Omnitrix almost immediately timed out mere moments later. This feature was apparently switched off after the recalibration. The Omnitrix has been known to "malfunction", such as unexpectedly timing out, recharging instantly, changing into a different alien than was selected, however, these might be safeguards programmed to protect against someone stealing it.
It was confirmed by Dwayne McDuffie that the Omnitrix times out not to recharge its energy, but to prevent damage to Ben.
Capture mode
When a new DNA sample has been unlocked for future use (it identifies the DNA against the database, then unlocks that code on the Omnitrix), or when the Omnitrix actually captures new DNA that is not already present on it.
Self-destruct mode
When in self-destruct mode (SDM), the Omnitrix counts down until it explodes. When in SDM for a few days, the Omnitrix charges up enough energy to cause an energy ripple that will destroy the entire universe, also in the original series while the Omnitrix was in SDM it sent out bursts of energy that threw Ben through the air.
Other features
- The Omnitrix has artificial intelligence and can read the mind of the user and transforms him/her into the alien it thinks is right for the situation when activated, it might be the reason why Ben turn into another alien instead of the one he chose
- When it's near Azmuth, it has been shown to pin-point the direction to reach him by turning its dial
- When transformed, the Omnitrix can protect the host from negative influences, like possession by an Ectonurite or the mutation effect of Corrodium or Dr. Animo's mutant ray, the same effect applied to Kevin during his second mutation, as it came from the Omnitrix too
- If someone tries to tamper with it against the host's will, it creates a large feedback pulse for defense
List of Ben's aliens
- Heatblast: Ben's first ever transformation. Can shoot fireballs and absorb heat, meaning he can put out a fire as quickly as he can start one. He can fly using a boulder as a hoverboard. He can also control how hot he is, meaning he can touch things without burning them. Is very tough and can melt things just by touching them. His weakness is water and fire extinguishers. He is composed of living rock with lava running between the plates of his body.
- Wildmutt: Has no eyes and looks like a large orange dog with huge muscles and claws. Has a purple tongue and mouth and sharp teeth. He uses echolocation to sense where things are and can see through materials such as plastic and rubber if he wishes. Sharp quills on his back can be fired off as projectiles. Is mentioned to smell and have fleas by Gwen. He cannot speak, but can roar and whine throatily. He is very agile and strong.
- Upgrade: Can melt/morph his own body to protect himself and latch onto machines to control them and equip them with extra features. He can also shoot a green energy beam from his eye, which flashes when he talks. His chest and the front of his legs are white and the rest of his body is black with green circuitry markings.
- Ghostfreak: Is a phantom-like alien that can turn intangible and extend striped tentacles from his stomach. Has grey skin, a single purple eye, black markings and a tail instead of legs. He floats above the ground to move. He escapes from the Omnitrix and causes havoc, and is replaced by Cannonbolt, but later returns.
- Cannonbolt: A tough, stocky white alien with orange armor plating and eyes. Can curl into a ball and roll at enemies to create great damage. Is quite strong and very fast when in ball form, though clumsy and slow on two legs.
- Eye Guy: A weird-looking, creamy-skinned alien that is half bat, half amphibian. Has black legs, is quite strong and his body is covered in green eyes of different sizes and shapes, except for his legs, feet and (ironically) his head, which has two purple gill-like flaps of skin on it. Can generate electricity from all his eyes. He can extend the huge eye on his chest, and fire a very powerful energy blast from it.
- Benvicktor: Can manipulate and generate electrical charges from the two conductor coils attached to a brown backpack. He can control electrical devices by plugging the wires on his back into them. He can magnetise his body, is very tough and can survive in space without a suit. Has a slight resemblance to Hellboy, and wears black trousers and boots. He is the only alien to have hair and part of the "Halloween Trio".
- Greymatter: At a mere five inches tall, Grey Matter is an alien bred to enter complex machines and repair them from the inside. Consequently, he can squeeze through tiny spaces, and he's extremely smart.
- Four Arms: Standing twelve feet tall, Four Arms is a formidable four-armed alien who can use his tremendous strength to dish out the punishment, while his armored skin protects him from harm.
- Diamondhead: Diamondhead is a crystalline alien whose body is harder than diamond, making him invulnerable to most physical attacks and allowing him to cut and slash through almost anything.
- Stinkfly: Stinkfly is a winged insectoid alien and expert flier, able to pull off amazing acrobatic moves in midair. He can also use his pincers and sharp tail as impressive natural weapons.
- Ripjaws: Ripjaws is an extraordinary swimmer, able to breathe underwater and change his legs into a large tail. He's remarkably fast and agile and can unhinge his powerful jaws to deliver a devastating bite.
- Way Big: Way Big is the biggest being in Ben's arsenal. Reaching nearly 100 feet from head to toe, he towers over everything in his way with enough size and power to take out an entire army!
- XLR8: XLR8 is a dinosaur-like alien with lightning-quick reflexes and the ability to reach speeds in excess of 300 mph. He can also run up sheer walls and across non-solid ground like mud, ice and water.
- Wildvine: More plant than animal, he can root himself into the ground, stretch out his vines to snare bad guys, and launch explosive spore pods! Unfortunately, he's weak to poisons and needs sunlight to thrive.
- Upchuck: Upchuck can use his four long, sticky tongues to grab and devour practically anything. Then he can fire the resulting energy out of his mouth with pinpoint accuracy and explosive force.
- Benmummy: Benmummy is a Thep Khufan (a play with Khufu, an Ancient Egypt pharaoh) from the desert planet Anur Khufos, scanned from a Thep Khufan in "Under Wraps".
- Benwolf: Benwolf is a Loboan (based on lobo, the Spanish word for wolf) from the Anur Transyl's moon, Luna Lobo (literally translating from Spanish as "Wolf Moon"), scanned from the Yenaldooshi in the titular episode
- Ditto: Ditto is a Splixson (based on the word split) from the Earth-like planet Hathor.
List of Ben 10,000's aliens
- Spitter: Spitter is an Spheiroid from planet Scalpasc. He is a large, blowfish-like alien with stubby legs that end in stumpy feet (similarly shaped like that of a rhinoceros' foot), a lizard-like tail, and short arms. Spitter has the ability to inflate himself and spit out a pressurized concentrated blast of slime. The slime is very slippery, can be acidic. It can also conduct electricity and heat energy. His build affects his speed greatly.
- Articguana: Arctiguana is one of the aliens used by adult Ben Tennyson, used to freeze Vilgax in the river. Even though the adult Ben said he stopped naming his aliens, the younger Ben convinces him to name him Arctiguana. At first, the older Ben suggested Absolute Zero, but young Ben thought it was lame and renamed him. In "Ben 10,000 Returns", Ben 10,000 obtains Arctiguana's powers to use against Eon's ninjas. He is a blue iguana-like alien from the polar ice caps of the planet X'nelli that can breathe freezing vapor. The duration of his ice breath depends on the amount of air he has taken in.
He is set to appear sometime in Ultimate Alien.
- Buzzshock: Buzzshock is a Megawhatt (A play on Megawatt and "What") from the planet Nossedeen Sqausa. He is one of the aliens used by the future adult Ben Tennyson in his fights with Doctor Animo. He has the ability to manipulate electricity and can fly.
Principal voice actors
- Dee Bradley Baker – Robotic Lt., Cash Murray, Wildmutt's vocal effects, Stinkfly on Ben, The Limax, Six Six, Acid Breath, Stinkarms, Spitter, Doggy Buddy, Joel Tennyson, Porcupine, Eye Guy, Carl Tennyson
- Steven Blum – Vilgax, Heatblast, Ghostfreak, Zs'Skayr, Heatjaws, Mr. Mann
- Paul Eiding – Grandpa Max Tennyson, Upgrade Max
- Richard Steven Horvitz – Grey Matter, Sublimino
- Richard McGonagle – Fourarms, Exo-Skull
- Meagan Smith – Gwen Tennyson
- Tara Strong – Ben Tennyson, Upgrade, Wildmutt's voice, Future Gwen, Buzzshock, Benwolf, Lucy Tennyson, Ken Tennyson, Sandra Tennyson
- Fred Tatasciore – Krakken, Ripjaws, Cannonbolt, Future Ben, Way Big
- Jim Ward – Diamondhead, XLR8, Wildvine, Diamondmatter, S.A.M., Gordon Tennyson, Mr. Beck
Additional voices
- Jack Angel – Technorg
- Clancy Brown – Kenko the Shapeshifter
- Bettina Bush – Kai Green
- Cathy Cavadini – Cooper
- Larry Cedar – Howell Wainwright
- Rosalind Chao – Councilwoman Liang
- John Cygan – Abel North, Kane North
- Grey DeLisle – Heatblast Gwen, Xylene, Camille Mann, Mrs. Mann
- John DiMaggio – Baron Highway, Vulkanus
- Michael Dorn – Viktor, Benvicktor
- Jeff Doucette – Thumbskull
- Robin Atkin Downes – Jonah Melville
- Richard Doyle – Enoch, Mr. Jingles, Driscoll
- Walker Edmiston – Marty
- Greg Ellis – Synaptek
- Dave Fennoy – Tetrax Shard
- Michael Gough – Lt. Steel
- Richard Green – Benmummy
- Nicholas Guest – Clancy
- Jennifer Hale – Rojo, Turbine
- Tom Kane – Ultimos, Donovan Grand Smith, Arctiguana
- John Kassir – Zombozo
- Josh Keaton – Tim Dean, Hector
- Patricia Lentz – Shelby
- Vanessa Marshall – Diamondhead Gwen, Fourarms Gwen, Tini, Cannonbolt Gwen
- Robert Patrick – Phil
- Rob Paulsen – Ditto
- Khary Payton – Hex
- Bill Ratner – Narrator
- Michael Reisz – Kevin (1st Time)
- Neil Ross – Laurence Wainwright
- Charlie Schlatter – Kevin (2nd Time), Kevin 11,000, Devlin
- Dwight Schultz – Dr. Animo
- Armin Shimerman – Slix Vigma
- Kath Soucie – Edwind Grand Smith
- Jason Spisak – Gatorboy
- Cree Summer – Frightwig
- Kari Wahlgren – Charmcaster
- B.J. Ward – Joel's Mother
- Billy West – Kraab
- Dave Wittenberg – Upchuck, Road Rage
- Keone Young – Ishyama
Crew
TV films
Three Ben 10 films have been released at different times during 2007 and 2008. The first is a regular animated feature called Secret of the Omnitrix, in which the Omnitrix is accidentally set to self-destruct and Ben must track down its creator to stop it. A trailer of the film was released with the film Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen, and it aired August 10, 2007. Michael Ouweleen described the film's villain, which was actually Vilgax, as "like Darth Vader without the sense of humor."[2] A different version of Secrets of the Omnitrix, which introduced a different alien (Eye Guy) to the one in the original (Heatblast), aired on September 1, 2007. A third version (in which XLR8 was featured) aired on October 20, 2007. It was stated during the premiere of Alien Force that Secret of the Omnitrix was intended to be the chronological finale of Ben 10, even though it was broadcast long before the last episode, which was not canon.
The second is a live-action film titled Ben 10: Race Against Time[3] which aired November 21, 2007. The plot presumably takes place before "Goodbye and Good Riddance", it revolves around Ben, Gwen and Grandpa Max returning to their hometown of Bellwood and attempting to adjust to being "normal" again. Unfortunately, their lives are once again disrupted by a mysterious alien known as Eon, who has an unexpected connection to the Omnitrix. It premiered on Cartoon Network on November 21, 2007. The film was directed by Alex Winter.[4] Winter stated at the 2007 upfront presentation that he wanted "this thing to look like X-Men", an epic adventure that will be "more cinematic than cartoony" and appeal to all ages. Production on the film finished in October[2] and premiered November 21, 2007. Ben 10: Alien Swarm a sequel to Race Against Time premiered November 25, 2009.
A new computer animated 3D movie titled Ben 10: Destroy Aliens will be released in 2012 and will focus on a 10-year-old Ben returning to school after the summer.[5][6]
Sequel series
Ben 10: Alien Force is the sequel to the show set five years after the original series. As an indirect result, this series is darker in tone compared to its predecessor. The series premiered on Cartoon Network on April 18, 2008 and ended on March 26, 2010. It has since been premiered in Canada, on Teletoon.[7] A video game of the show is now out for the Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.[8]
Another sequel series, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, premiered on April 23, 2010 and takes place 3–4 weeks after the finale of Alien Force.[9]
Protector of Earth
This is the first Ben 10 video game, released in Autumn 2007.
Following the success of the Ben 10 animated TV series and films, various Ben 10 merchandise has been released for general sale. These items include Ben 10 books, action figures, card games such as Top Trumps, toys, video games - notably Ben 10: Protector of Earth, bedding, and footwear.
FusionFall
Ben 10 appears in Cartoon Network's online MMO FusionFall. The character design for Ben Tennyson was changed when the original Ben 10 series ended and was replaced by Ben 10: Alien Force. In the game, he serves as a "Player Guide" offering guide-based missions and special items that can only be used with certain guides.
See also
|
Cartoon Network portal |
|
Animation portal |
|
United States portal |
|
Television portal |
References
External links
|
|
|
| Series |
|
|
| Films |
|
|
| Characters |
|
|
| Games |
|
|
| Toys |
|
|
|
|
|
| Regions |
|
|
| Original Series |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Productions by other companies
|
|
|
|
Live-action series
|
|
|
|
| Co-productions |
|
|
| Made-for-TV films |
|
|
| Theatrical films |
|
|
| Programing |
|
|
| Games |
|
|
| See also |
|
|
|
|
|