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Ben 10
Created by	Man of Action
Original work	Ben 10 (2005)
Owners	Cartoon Network (Warner Bros. Entertainment)
Years	2005–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Ben 10 films
Animated series	Ben 10 television series
Television special(s)	Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United (2011)
Games
Video game(s)	Ben 10 video games
Miscellaneous
Related shows	Generator Rex (2010–2013) The Secret Saturdays (2008 – 2010)

Ben 10 is an American media franchise conceived by Man of Action, produced by Cartoon Network Studios, and owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment. The franchise revolves around a young boy named Ben Tennyson, who discovers the Omnitrix — a high-tech, extraterrestrial device shaped like a wristwatch. This remarkable gadget contains the DNA of various alien species, allowing Ben to transform into them at will. Initially, the Omnitrix features ten alien transformations, but over time, Ben gains the ability to unlock additional species.

The franchise has garnered considerable critical acclaim, securing three Emmy Awards. It encompasses five primary television series, five feature films, and numerous video games. It ranks as Cartoon Network's second longest existing franchise. Furthermore, Ben 10 has inspired a line of toys produced initially by Bandai for the franchise's first four series and later by Playmates Toys for the reboot. Overall, the franchise has amassed over $6 billion in retail sales.

On February 17, 2021, Cartoon Network announced three 44-minute specials slated for April 2021, titled Ben 10,010, Ben Gen 10, and Alien X-Tinction. These specials serve as both the series finale for the 2016 reboot and a crossover event involving the first four television series in the franchise.

Television series

As of 2021, The 5 concluded series are split into two continuities. The Classic continuity includes the original series and its continual–Ben 10 (2005 TV series) (2005–2008), Ben 10: Alien Force (2008–2010), Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2010–2012) and Ben 10: Omniverse (2012–2014). The Reboot continuity includes the 2016 rebooted series–Ben 10 (2016 TV series) (2016–2021). The 2021 April Specials serve as both series finale for the 2016 reboot and a crossover event connecting both continuities.

Films

As of 2020, there has been three animated films – Secret of the Omnitrix (2007), Destroy All Aliens (2012), Versus the Universe (2020) and two live-action films – Race Against Time (2007), Alien Swarm (2009) released in the franchise.

Animated films

Live-action films

Other media

Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge

Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge is a game show developed for television by United Kingdom-based company Twenty Twenty, which airs on Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Bulgaria, the Nordic region, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Chile, United States and the Middle East. Ultimate Challenge is a trivia show that tasks children with answering questions about all three series. Ultimate Challenge is produced by Mandy Morris and executive produced by Daniel Marlowe.

References in other shows

• Ben appeared as a parody of Benjamin Franklin on the show MAD, in an episode titled "Ben 10 Franklin". Franklin was flying his kite when he was struck by a lightning bolt, gaining the Omnitrix. He used Swampfire to sign the Declaration of Independence. He also used Humongousaur to defeat the British and smash down a junior high school bully's house in revenge. He used other aliens from Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, where they have his hair and glasses.
• Also in MAD, a reference to Alien Force was made with a parody of the movie Cowboys & Aliens, with many titles: "Cowboys & Alien Force", "Cowboys & Equestrians", and "Cowboys & Silly Bands". The reference was made at the beginning when Jake awakes with Ben on his side, but with Jake wearing Ben's pants and hat, with the Onmitrix on his wrist. He also used the Omnitrix to become an alien with the mix of Diamondhead, Chromastone, and Way Big to smash a cowboy.
• In the South Park episode "You're Getting Old", Cartman's Mother mentions that Cartman gets upset when he does not get a present every time someone else gets a present at a party. One of the presents Cartman gets is a "Ben 10 Wrist Rocket".
• The Robot Chicken episode "Hurtled from a Helicopter into a Speeding Train" shows Ben on his 14th birthday party, where he complains about his gifts given by Azmuth.
• Ben 10 villains, such as the Enoch, Hex and Animo, make a brief cameo in The Secret Saturdays episode "Van Rook's Apprentice". References to Galvan Prime and Wildvine's species also appear in "Guess Who's Going to be Dinner?" and "Eterno" respectively. Both references were made by the Secret Scientist Dr Arthur Beeman, the UFOlogist for the series.
• In the Peep Show episode, "Man Jam", Jeremy jokingly refers to Ben, the boyfriend of a woman he admires, as "Ben 10" during a phone call to him.
• Teenage Ben Tennyson appeared in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley in 2009.

References in video games

Ben 10 is featured as a crossover character in Brawlhalla, a 2D platform fighting game. He appears as his alien forms Heatblast, Diamondhead, and Four Arms in the form of the crossover "skins" for certain playable characters.

Cartoon Network promotion

Titanic Kungfubot Offensive

The game features famous and notable Cartoon Network characters in robot-type form. Big Chill, Swampfire, a DNAlien, Kevin, Vilgax, Rath, Armodrillo, Ultimate Humongousaur, Ultimate Echo Echo, and Ultimate Big Chill appear as playable characters.

To promote the Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United special, Cartoon Network updated Titanic Kungfubot Offensive, adding new bots, such as "Shocksquatch" and "Clockwork"; both of which are aliens accessible to Ben.

Cartoon Network Universe: Fusion Fall

The character design for Ben Tennyson was changed when the original Ben 10 series ended and was replaced by Alien Force. In the game, he serves as a "Player Guide" offering guide-based missions and special items.

Cartoon Network Universe: Project Exonaut

In another browser-based game entitled Cartoon Network Universe: Project Exonaut, Ben's aliens, alongside Gwen and Vilgax, appear as "exosuits". The exosuits' purpose is protecting the player and giving them unique abilities and powers. The planet Kylmyys (the home of one of Ben's aliens, Big Chill) and the Perplexhedron are featured as battle arenas. Ultimate Kevin and Alien X are currently the new exosuits for Project Exonaut representing Ben 10. The new exosuits feature Gold versions of Manus, Marceline, Mojo Jojo, and Rath.

Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion

Ben appears in the game as a playable character. Swampfire, Humongousaur, Big Chill, and AmpFibian appear as Ben's playable aliens. Vilgax, the archenemy of Ben Tennyson appears as a playable character for the first time. Gwen and the Vreedle Brothers are "summons" in the game. Additionally, Bellwood and the Null Void are included as battle arenas. Kevin also appears as a "summon" in the game, but is featured as a playable character on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii versions called Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL. Kevin in Ultimate Kevin form appears in the game as a boss. The young version of Ben appears in the console version of the game as a playable character.

Timeline

Ben 10 (classic & reboot) takes place in 2005, Alien Force takes place in 2010 and Ultimate Alien takes place in 2011.

Features of the franchise

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Omnitrix

The Omnitrix, its Ultimatrix replacement, and the "finalized" version that is the New Omnitrix are the central elements of the Ben 10 story. They are all wristwatch-styled devices developed by the Galvan inventor Azmuth that transforms the user into any one of many alien beings (originally 1,000,906, but the number has increased by 9 via scanning additional species not originally in the database). Despite many seeing the Omnitrix as a weapon, its true purpose was to allow the beings of the universe to understand each other and to resurrect intelligent species that may go extinct.

The Omnitrix appears in the first two incarnations of the franchise (Ben 10 and Ben 10: Alien Force), but Ben had to destroy it and use the Ultimatrix in the Ultimate Alien series. The Ultimatrix had most of the same functionality as the Omnitrix, but would allow the user to transform the alien into its Ultimate Form (how the species and its DNA would evolve in a one-million-year simulation). In the final episode of Ultimate Alien, Azmuth takes the Ultimatrix from Ben and replaces it with the New Omnitrix; the original version has been a prototype.

In Ben 10: Omniverse, the Nemetrix, a knock-off of the original Omnitrix, is introduced. Unlike the Omnitrix and its succeeding models, the Nemetrix uses the DNA of the natural predators of sentient alien races which have the sole purpose of hunting Ben. Thus, only an animal can use the Nemetrix, as users of higher intelligence are unable to use it without incurring mental damage. In Omniverse, Albedo recreates the Ultimatrix by using a Polymorphic Crystal to stabilize his transformations, making it so that he can stay in any form as long as he wants. It also allows him to transform into the Ultimate Forms of his aliens without first turning into their normal forms.

In the Reboot series, Ben's Omnitrix can augment enhancements onto his aliens. In Season 2, his aliens can become "Omni-Enhanced" with rock-like constructs and energy. However, the enhancements seems to happen at random. This energy is later revealed to be coming from a new alien species in his Omnitrix, which eventually gets its own form, "Shock Rock". In Season 4, Ben unlocks the "Omni-Kix" feature, which allows him to add armor plating onto his aliens. The Reboot series also introduces the Antitrix, which is wielded by Kevin Levin. The Antitrix allows Kevin to transform into 11 aliens, most of which are ones that Ben has used before, but significantly altered from Ben's version, with the exception of the eleventh alien "Bashmouth" who Ben never transforms into.

Plumbers

The Plumbers is an organization composed of both human and alien members, each of whom possesses a special badge. All badges bear the intergalactic peace symbol, a green hourglass shape, which is on the faceplate of the Omnitrix. Later, in Omniverse, the Plumbers' symbol becomes a red dot. As the name suggests, they are usually working underground under pipes, drains, and sewers where they are hidden from human contact and the outside world.

In the original series, the Earth's Plumbers were a secret government organization that protected the universe from any threat. Their main base is located inside Mount Rushmore (where the Null Void projector and Sub-Energy were stored), with additional bases located inside Fort Knox and the Space Needle. Their main adversary was Vilgax. Max Tennyson was a Plumber in his youth. Most of the Plumbers on Earth have disbanded; however, a few members remain in a semi-active capacity.

Forever Knights

The Forever Knights are a British secret society/cult first formed during the Middle Ages that are dedicated to collecting and studying alien technology, usually by illegal means. Any aliens they capture along the way are dissected and studied, and any humans caught with them are deemed worthless and disposed of. They also have a robotic dragon that protects one of their castles. It is revealed in Ultimate Alien that the reason for their actions is to combat Dagon, an entity from another dimension that nearly conquered the Earth in the Middle Ages were it not for the Forever Knights' immortal Founder George. When George left them, the Forever Knights began to splinter under various self-titled Forever Kings who transformed their knights' duty into a genocidal policy toward anything alien, leading to xenophobia, discrimination, and racism towards other species of aliens from other planets by human beings.

The reboot would feature a recurring individual with the organization's name as an antagonist during the third season, with a similar goal in preventing alien contact with earth from ever occurring.

Transports

Each series has featured some kind of main transportation. The wheeled motor vehicles, appearing like normal cars, are equipped with several pieces of Plumber technology such as a turbo engine, laser guns, and autopilot. They are often destroyed during the series.

The Rustbucket and the Rustbucket II, is an old RV resembling a 1973 GMC motorhome owned by Max Tennyson. Despite being old, and even having been destroyed a few times, Max has great affection for it.

The Resolute is Tetrax Shard's spaceship

The Chimearan Hammer is Vilgax's spaceship

Ship is a Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade's species) that can transform himself into fully operational technology he's once touched. He merged with the Forever Knights spaceship and became the space transportation for Ben's team during the third season of Alien Force.

The Rustbucket III, a Plumbers' jet that Kevin has upgraded with alien tech, later replaced him.

Kevin's car is a Muscle car resembling a Dodge Challenger armed with Plumber technology as well as other various alien techs, including guns and off-road capabilities. It is the team's main transport in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. It is damaged or destroyed often, mainly during fights or chase scenes, and Kevin is constantly busy repairing it. In Omniverse, after Ben destroyed it while aiming at Upgrade, Kevin gave it a new look. He painted it blue and placed a white circle with the number 11 on it, with only one stripe.

The Proto-TRUK is Rook's spaceship and the team's main transport in Omniverse. It can transform into a small truck to camouflage itself among Earth vehicles. It was later destroyed and its parts were used by Ben 10,000 to build the Time Cycles.

Cast and characters

The main characters include Ben Tennyson and his cousin Gwen Tennyson, Grandpa Max Tennyson, Kevin Levin and Rook Blonko, along with the villains Vilgax, Aggregor, Doctor Animo, Eon, Hex and Khyber.

Accolades

Original series

Race Against Time

Alien Force

Alien Swarm

Ultimate Alien

Omniverse

Outside media

Merchandise

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 comic books, board games, card games (such as Top Trumps), toys, video games, Lego construction sets, bedding, coloring books, footwear, and watches (the Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix). All four shows have been released on DVD.

Video games

The game franchise has many different formats. The video games franchise started in 2006 with the release of Ben 10 for the HyperScan, while the franchise's first official video game Protector of Earth came out in 2007. Twelve games have been released:

Toy line

Bandai manufactured Ben 10 toys from the first four series, while Playmates Toys has produced toys for the 2016 reboot.

Six construction sets were produced by LEGO, depicting Spidermonkey, Humunousaur, Swampfire, Chromastone, Jet Ray, and Big Chill.

The series received three McDonald's Happy Meal promotions internationally, as well as one in America in August 2011. The toys are colored translucent figures of some Omnitrix/Ultimatrix aliens and their Ultimate forms, with a small photo of Ben inside. The Alien Force toys are four rings, each one is an alien (Goop, Jetray, Alien X, Chromastone) with features linked with their powers.

Comic books

Developed by Jason Hall, Min G. Kuand and Heroic Age, the Ben 10 comic revolves around Ben's summer vacation with Gwen and their Grandpa Max, travelling in the Rust Bucket. The Ben 10: Alien Force comic revolves around Ben, with Gwen and a reformed Kevin, battling the Highbreed and the DNAliens.

Cartoon Network Action Pack was a 2006–2012 comic book series made by DC Comics which showcased Ben 10 alongside Samurai Jack, Codename Kids Next Door, The Secret Saturdays, or Generator Rex. Some of the issues were connected with the franchise, while others are non-canon.

In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to produce comics based on Cartoon Network properties. Ben 10 was one of the titles announced to be published.

Notes

1. An official timeline hasn't been released by the makers yet, but the series give an indication of this. Source:

References

1. ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (August 16, 2013). "'Ben 10 Omniverse: Aliens at War' DVD Announced". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
2. "WarnerMedia Expands Kids & Family Offerings on Cartoon Network and HBO Max Under New Tagline Redraw Your World" (Press release). WarnerMedia. February 17, 2021. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
3. ^ "'Ben 10' Gets A Live-Action Game Show: 'Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge'" Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Calling all Ben 10 fanatics - IOL". Archived from the original on 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
5. "Peep Show - On-Demand - All 4". Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
6. Mammoth, Blue (2020-06-10). "Ben 10 comes to Brawlhalla! - Patch 4.02". Brawlhalla. Archived from the original on 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
7. "'Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL' Aims to Supersize Original Game on Consoles [Video]". Archived from the original on 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
8. ^ "Original Ben 10 Timeline - Years and Birthdays | Fandom". Ben 10 Wiki. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
9. ^ "Main Timeline (Classic)". Ben 10 Wiki. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
10. Heusser, Jeff (7 January 2008). "VES announces nominees for 6th annual VES Awards". Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
11. Zahed, Ramin (May 19, 2009). "Daytime Emmy Noms Announced". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
12. "Ben 10: Alien Swarm". Emmys.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
13. "Television Movie or Mini-Series". Arti Directors Guild. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
14. "Ben 10: Alien Force". Brickset.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
15. "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien– McDonald's USA Toys". Archived from the original on 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
16. "IDW Teams Up with Cartoon Network!". IDW Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2013-05-18.

External links

• Official website
• Ben 10 page on Cartoon Network website
• Ben 10 Wiki

• Cartoon Network
• Speculative fiction
• Science fiction
• Film
• Video games
• Comics

• Ben 10
• Ben 10 mass media
• Cartoon Network franchises
• Cartoon Network original programming
• Cartoon Network Studios
• Mass media franchises introduced in 2005
• Man of Action Studios
• Television series about parallel universes
• Fiction about shapeshifting
• Television franchises