Ben Tennyson

**Benjamin Kirby "Ben" Tennyson** was a normal ten-year-old kid until he found the Omnitrix, a powerful

watch-like device that allowed him to turn into ten different aliens. Though initially immature and clumsy, Ben grew to be a true hero. By the time he was sixteen, he had become famous in not only his hometown of Bellwood, but on Earth and beyond. Ben has also been deputized by the Plumbers and gained more aliens as time progressed.

## Background

### Personality

Ben is initially portrayed as a cocky, arrogant, and immature boy who tends to make jokes, even when fighting enemies. He easily gets full of himself and enjoys attention from others. This attitude can sometimes make him look obnoxious or dumb, often resulting in criticisms from Gwen later Kevin and a few others. It also causes several conflicts between him and Azmuth.

These traits, however, as hinted in *The Forge of Creation*, stem from Ben's attempts to hide his fear about the situation (though he denied it and said he was oblivious). Even so, he's matured since the first series and although he can be goofy, he's also capable of great leadership skills and tends to get serious when the situation requires it.

Despite his immaturity, Ben is good-hearted, and his actions are motivated above all by a strong and sincere will to help others in need. He's shown to deeply care for other's lives and would choose to save people by himself, even when he dislikes them (such as Cash and J.T.). This causes him to have a strong dislike for sacrifices or life compromises and occasionally acts against reason, such as when he chooses to save half-cured DNAlien Tyler over seizing the key for the Highbreed's invasion (*Inside Man*), or when he tries to save The Sentinel while losing the last Map of Infinity piece to Ultimate Aggregor (*Perplexahedron*). When meeting an enemy in trouble (like Kevin or the Highbreed), he'll usually attempt to help them rather than win the hard way. While this somehow overly idealistic nature is often criticized by Azmuth, most characters usually consider it as Ben's most important quality. Professor Paradox once even stated that he had the gift to make the right choices at the right moments.

He is also deeply protective of his family which causes him to act impulsive and rash. When Gwen was attacked and kidnapped by Floura in Azmuth's mountain lair, Ben instinctively transformed into Four Arms, ignoring Myaax's pleas as it would only accelerate the self-destruct on the Omnitrix. He also angrily defended Max from Gwen when she joked his cooking is what killed him only to later apologize for speaking to his cousin so harshly. Ben also seems to have an attachment to his aliens, he was reduced to tears when Malware destroyed his favorite one, Feedback in front of his eyes however he views his aliens as nothing more than blank DNA copies without their personality, which technically they are designed to be but some possess their character such as Z' Skyr and this makes him unintentionally malicious. An example is when his ultimate aliens become sentient and wanted revenge on Ben from treating them like slaves and attempted to kill him for their freedom. It was his self-sacrifice for them to be free which highlighted what a hero he was to the ultimates.

When he sees people hurt by his fault or because of his failures, Ben tends to get mad and acts much more violent and aggressive than he usually does. For example, when Overlord kidnapped Julie, or when Aggregor successfully absorbed the Andromeda aliens, Ben went berserk and beat them up with all his strength, and, in Ultimate Aggregor's case, to the point where Gwen stopped him from attacking more. Also, when Kevin Levin mutated again shortly after stopping Ultimate Aggregor and temporarily went back to his psychotic way, hurting all the Plumbers' helpers, Ben became willing to kill Ultimate Kevin by any means necessary. He began acting ruthless, aggressive, pessimistic, cold-hearted, nasty, and even ready to fight Gwen as Way Big when she attempted to stop him. Gwen, however, was eventually able to convince him to try another way as he was about to kill Ultimate Kevin. During the episode, Ben confesses to Max he feels guilty for letting fame get into his head and claims that he is trying to act more mature for once. Finally, in *The Purge*, when the Forever Knights are holding a large group of aliens hostage (and have killed some aliens already), Ben threatens to hunt the Forever Knights down for the rest of their lives if they don't let the aliens go.

Though often stated to be silly or unintelligent because of his immaturity, Ben is shown to be cunning and resourceful when needed, usually showing good adaptation skills when the Omnitrix doesn't provide him with the alien he wanted. When he occasionally put his immaturity aside (most especially in the first two seasons of *Alien Force*), he's shown to be a responsible leader as well as a very competent fighter.

It's also pertinent to note that Ben has inherited both his paternal grandparents' personality. Although Ben inherited his grandmother Verdona's spirit, sense of humor, and overconfidence, he also inherited his paternal grandfather's determination and adventurous and self-sacrificing attitude. He is also as much of a practical joker as his Anodite paternal grandmother Verdana.

In *Omniverse*, Ben thinks of himself as more of a superhero than a Plumber. He often tells Rook that he is a superhero and not a cop. He's also gotten slightly cockier but still retains his selfless and heroic nature. His fame caused him to get a degree at Gwen's university, Friedkin University in *Mystery, Incorporeal*.