Ben Tennyson
Benjamin Kirby "Ben" Tennyson, commonly known as Ben 10, is a superhero and the titular main protagonist of the Ben 10 franchise. Created by Man of Action and produced by Cartoon Network Studios, he first appeared in the 2005 animated series Ben 10, following his journey through Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben 10: Omniverse. The franchise was later rebooted in 2016, with Ben 10 '','' reimagining the character as a 10-year-old for a modern audience. Across these iterations, he matures from a reckless and adventurous child into a capable and responsible hero once he obtains the Omnitrix, a watch-like device which allows him to turn into various alien species.
Since his debut, Ben Tennyson has become one of Cartoon Network's most recognizable characters and has appeared in various media such as feature-length films, specials, comic books, video games, park attractions, books, game shows, plays, and attractions. He is voiced by Tara Strong as a child and Yuri Lowenthal as a teenager throughout the franchise.
Concept and creation
In the early 2000s, Man of Action was hired by Cartoon Network Studios to create an action animated show. They pitched twenty different ideas in twenty minutes, with each being a minute long. The eighth pitch, one about a boy named Ben 10 with the ability to change between 10 transformations, ended up being chosen. It was pitched to Cartoon Network in 2002 and during pre-production phases, the title went through several revisions, including Force 10 and Ben to the Tenth. The pitch in its earliest stages featured Ben Tennyson wielding a device known as the "Megawhat" that would transform him into alternate versions of himself around the multiverse. Around this time, the working title was Ben10, before the final title was decided to be Ben 10.Artist Steven E. Gordon designed concepts for Ben, his device, and Ben's transformations. Gordon's concepts of Ben depicted him as a slightly taller redhead boy and the Omnitrix resembled an ordinary wristwatch.
Ben's final design for the 2005 series was made by Dave Johnson.
The character's middle name, Kirby, was conceived as a reference to comic book artist Jack Kirby.
Despite Man of Action receiving credit for creating the series, their involvement following the end of the original series in 2008 was minimal with the show's production and had already moved on to other projects.
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.
Transformations
In Gordon's concepts, the transformations were shifted from being alternative versions of Ben to superheroes. Gordon designed concepts for the ten Omnitrix transformations. Unlike the official versions, these transformations were all still humanoid superheroes, each possessing one unique ability. These superheroes were Digger, Dragonfly, Ghostfreak, Greymatter, Inferno, PlantGuy, Razorjaws, StrongGuy, Upgrade, and XLR8. Aspects of Gordon that were retained included the names of Ghostfreak, Greymatter, Upgrade, and XLR8.The idea of bringing in aliens was conceived by writer Greg Johnson during the original show's three-year production, though he was uncredited. Gordon updated his concepts, making his superhero concepts more alien and monster in nature. By 2005, artist Dave Johnson redesigned the transformations, following the decision to make them extraterrestrial aliens instead of superheroes. Johnson was credited with redesigning Ben and his transformations, in addition to the major supporting cast during the first two seasons of the classic series. He left the show, citing poor treatment and was replaced with Thomas Perkins. Johnson's final contribution to the franchise was designing the alien transformation Feedback for Ben 10: Omniverse years later.
Early on in development, it was decided that a villain would be within the Omnitrix. After Ghostfreak was created, dialogue was added into the first season to hint there is something more to Ghostfreak. Originally, Cannonbolt, the 11th alien transformation in the series, was intended to be in the original set of aliens but was replaced with Diamondhead. When working on test animations for the series, the first transformation to be showcased was Four Arms, and it was the most popular transformation out of all the aliens for Man of Action. 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.
Personality
Initially cocky, childish, and selfish, Ben's immaturity and attention-seeking behavior often led him to joke around, regardless of the situation, which landed him in trouble with adults. When he was 10 years old, he often used the Omnitrix improperly in order to benefit himself instead of actually helping others. His allies often criticized his attitude, unaware of the fact that he used humor to mask his fears. It was also implied that, on some level, Ben helped people to get rewards. and for the thrill of being a hero, rather than because it was the right thing to do. Despite some childish attitude, Ben was heroic, caring and generally good-natured, always willing to save others at any time even at the risk of himself. In spite of this good nature, heroism, and his moments of maturity, Ben could occasionally get carried away when it came to fame and recognition. This led him to act rather arrogantly and recklessly, and occasionally made dire mistakes and alienated his loved ones. However, he was quick to realize his mistakes and is quick to take responsibility and knew not to take things too far.Over the years, Ben has displayed good leadership skills, as well as the ability to adapt his attitude to a situation, becoming serious when it's called for. He became more mature, responsible and sensible. He continues to be kind-hearted and willing to lay down his own life for others. His idealistic views and unwillingness to compromise his values sometimes drive him to act against reason, such as helping his enemies if they need it. Professor Paradox has praised Ben's good nature, going so far as to say he had the gift to make the right choices at the right moments, and even Azmuth himself states that Ben ultimately always does the right thing. Also, Ben doesn't give up and wouldn't let anyone stop him from doing what's right for those in need, especially his family, friends and mentors, or to bring enemies down, even when he once got a broken arm.
However, even as a teen, Ben still displays some of his negative childish traits at times, which usually comes to light when Ben gets too caught up with fame much to the annoyance of Gwen and Kevin. Ben also has a violent, aggressive side: when Ben fails to save someone, is worried about the well-being his loved ones, or if people get hurt because of his failure, he becomes angry and lashes out, even at people he cares about. Ben confessed to Max that he felt guilty for letting fame get into his head and claimed that he was trying to act more mature for once.
Ben has experienced trust issues, when it comes to automatically trusting everybody and teaming up with people whose true colors are later revealed and turns against the team. Though often perceived as unintelligent because of his immaturity and constant joking, Ben is cunning and resourceful when needed, quickly adapting when the Omnitrix doesn't provide him with the alien he wanted. He has once admitted that people assume he's not paying attention, but he actually is.
In Omniverse, Ben started thinking of himself as more of a superhero than a Plumber, often remarking that he's not a cop, but a superhero.
Powers and abilities
Ben is a fairly proficient fighter, even as a human. Although he mainly employs a loose street fighting style, he also knows martial arts. On top of that, he has gained practical experience from years of fighting aliens. Has also received basic Plumber training, having succeeded in the Plumbers' Academy with a 95 out of a 100.Ben can jump very high, is acrobatic, and has parkour skills. Ben has good reflexes, being able to dodge attacks and shots, as well as retaliate in kind. It is evident that Ben is smart in some respects, possessing an above-average to high intelligence, and has an extraordinarily sharp memory. Ben has great willpower and has a knack for turning his weaknesses into strengths.
He is incredibly talented with hoverboards and snowboards, as well as being an expert pilot of cars and spaceships. He is ambidextrous and has also demonstrated skill as a marksman and swordsman. Ben is proficient in baseball, soccer, and drums, and is knowledgeable in various electric guitar techniques such as shredding, hammer-ons, and artificial harmonics.
Equipments
At age 10, Ben became the bearer of the prototype Omnitrix, an alien watch-shaped device that gives him the power to modify his own genetic code to transform into various alien creatures. Traditionally, he was only allowed to transform into ten aliens, but he later gained additional forms, either by unlocking them or by scanning the DNA of aliens he encountered. In total, Ben has access to 1,000,912 transformations.When transforming, Ben acquires all the characteristics of the creature, including its appearance, voice, all its unique and special abilities and powers, strengths and weaknesses. He usually retains his personality, but there are some cases where the transformation causes a change in it. Although he uses them to fight, he can also use them to impersonate them.
Among other functions, it includes a Universal Translator, which allows him to communicate in any language in the Universe, a Genetic Repairer, which manipulates and repairs genetic data and can even bring back extinct species, and a safety system that prevents Ben from dying.
The Ultimatrix allowed him to evolve his aliens, through the "Evolutionary Function," into the so-called Ultimate Forms. Ben also possesses an alien hoverboard, a sports car called the Mark 10, given to him by Kevin, and the Tenn-Speed, a motorcycle made by Jury Rigg with alien technology.