Line #215 WesternAnimation/Ben10


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ben10borderless.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:''[[CharacterCatchphrase It's hero time!]]''[[note]]Clockwise from bottom: [[KidHero Ben Tennyson]], [[ShorterMeansSmarter Grey Matter]], [[AngryGuardDog Wildmutt]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Fourarms]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghostfreak]], [[BigCreepyCrawlies Stinkfly]], [[PlayingWithFire Heatblast]], [[GemstoneAssault Diamondhead]], [[SuperSpeed XLR8]], [[FiendishFish Ripjaws]], and [[MechanicalLifeforms Upgrade]].]][[/note]]
3
4	->''It started when an alien device did what it did\
5	And stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid\
6	Now he's got super-powers, he's no ordinary kid,\
7	He's Ben 10!\
8	So if you see him you might be in for a big surprise,\
9	He'll turn into an alien before your very eyes,\
10	He's slimy, creepy, fast and strong, he's every shape and size,\
11	He's Ben 10!\
12	All new powers, he's on the case\
13	Fighting off evil from Earth or space.\
14	He'll never stop 'till he makes 'em pay,\
15	'cause he's the baddest kid to ever save the day!\
16	Ben 10!''
17	-->-- '''ExpositoryThemeSong'''
18
19	''Ben 10'' is an American action/adventure series created by Creator/ManOfActionStudios (a group of comic book writers consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle) that aired from 2005 to 2008. The show revolves around the adventures of Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy who, while on summer vacation with his grandfather Max and cousin Gwen, he comes into the possession of a [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum mysterious alien device]] -- the Omnitrix -- [[VoluntaryShapeshifting that allows him to change]] [[SwissArmyHero into a multitude of alien heroes]]. At first, there are only ten aliens (hence the name "Ben 10"), but more forms were discovered as the series goes on.
20
21	Why isn't the device in more capable hands? Well, once it attached to Ben, it was stuck there. [[ClingyMacGuffin It won't come off.]] And with that problem established, Ben and his family decide to continue traveling the United States, [[ExpositoryThemeTune fighting off evil from Earth or space]], all while slowly discovering that Ben getting the Omnitrix may not have been as much of an accident as previously thought and that [[SecretLegacy Grandpa Max may know far more about these alien threats than he lets on]]. Also, don't worry about [[HyperCompetentSidekick Gwen]] being left out in all this: [[MagicalGirl she eventually gets her own skill set]].
22
23	The show is notable for being primarily aimed at kids, yet including a substantial amount of CharacterDevelopment and universe-building, as well as two big [[PlotTwist Plot Twists]] in the first and second seasons, respectively.
24
25	The beginning of the original continuity in the [[Franchise/Ben10 franchise]], three more series follow in this timeline: the DarkerAndEdgier [[TimeSkip Time Skipped]] sequel ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' that follows Ben as a teenager, then ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' (which immediately follows the events of ''Alien Force''), and finally the LighterAndSofter ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' that immediately follows ''Ultimate Alien''. The foursome who created the original series went on to create ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'', and later work on ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', before returning to [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] this series with ''WesternAnimation/Ben102016''.
26
27	The original series also has three television movies based on it; ''WesternAnimation/Ben10SecretOfTheOmnitrix'', which serves as the canonical GrandFinale of the original series,[[note]]the movie aired during the middle of the final season, with the last episode of the series to air being a WhatIf story months later[[/note]] an AlternateUniverse LiveActionAdaptation ''Film/Ben10RaceAgainstTime'' (notable for starring [[Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan Lee Majors as Grandpa Max]]), and a 2012 all-CGI film called ''WesternAnimation/Ben10DestroyAllAliens'' that was later [[RetCanon Ret Canoned]].
28
29	Not to be confused with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bren_Ten Bren Ten.]]
30	----
31	!!This show provides examples of:
32
33	* AbortedArc: The episode "Permanent Retirement" ended with a Limax escaping in its spaceship and another remaining at large at the retirement resort, but nothing was made of it, not even in the three SequelSeries.
34	** The SequelHook of "Ben 10 vs the Negative 10" hinted that the Forever King/Driscoll would return, something never followed up on in the original series due it ending with the fourth season. Driscoll would return in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' under different circumstances.
35	* AbusiveParents:
36	** Kevin's, who apparently threw him onto the street. Later Kevin himself, using his son Devlin to get his revenge on Ben. Future retcons would only muddle this further.
37	** It's hinted that it's ''not'' the case with Kevin: he either ran away on his own and was thus lying, or his parents threw him out for being freaking ''nuts'' and not because of his powers, but in Kevin's mind, his "freakish" powers were the reason.
38	** Also, Hex serves as an abusive parental figure to Charmcaster, which [[TheStarscream comes back to bite him in the ass.]]
39	* AesopAmnesia: The sheer number of times Ben has learned lessons about being nicer to Gwen, using the Omnitrix smarter not harder, and respecting other people, only to promptly discard them by the next episode is truly staggering.
40	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Happens in "Side Effects":
41	-->'''Max:''' It's your hives. The cold must have turned them into pus-filled pockets of–
42	-->'''Gwen:''' Pure putridness!
43	* TheAlcatraz: Incarcecon, the prison satellite.
44	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Most aliens are able to speak perfectly in English without the use of a translator, and not just the ones that Ben turns into.
45	* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Rojo's gang.
46	* AllCGICartoon: Its 2012 film, ''WesternAnimation/Ben10DestroyAllAliens''.
47	* AllMythsAreTrue: On average, for every five or six that can be attributed to aliens, there's one ''that can't''.
48	* AllThereInTheManual: Pop-up commentary during a ''Ben 10'' marathon revealed a lot of facts that aren't stated in the show, most notably an extensive backstory for Ghostfreak and even a true name for him: Zs'Skayr. They also spoke about certain characters that would appear in later series, like [=SevenSeven=], older brother of [=SixSix=].
49	* AllYourPowersCombined: Kevin 11 to Ben's original 10 aliens.
50	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The show has a different ending theme for the Japanese version called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWajprtWpf8 "Ladybird Girl"]], a love song, which is not very fitting for a show about transforming into multiple aliens.
51	* {{Animesque}}: The art style is semi-realism, which is generally used in most anime.
52	* ApocalypseHow:
53	** In "The Big Tick", the [[AntagonistTitle titular monster]] is a PlanetDestroyer which has inflicted a ApocalypseHow/ClassX on every world it visited by rooting into and feeding off [[PlanetaryCoreManipulation the core]]: the tick's influence first mutates the floral and fauna before the planet suffers an EarthShatteringKaboom. It's responsible for destroying the homeworld of Cannonball's species just a week before this episode takes place.
54	** In "Camp Fear", the fungal MonsterOfTheWeek intends to release billions of MushroomMan spores into the atmosphere, which Gwen notes could spread over the whole state or country in a ApocalypseHow/Class0.
55	** In "Dr. Animo and the Mutant Ray", Animo threatened to cause a ApocalypseHow/Class4 or a ApocalypseHow/Class6 variant by mutating the Earth's entire biosphere into Omnitrix alien fusions, intending to use his DoomsdayDevice in conjunction with a satellite.
56	** In Season 3, Zs'Skayr attempts to inflict TheNightThatNeverEnds on Earth as a form of HostileTerraforming, by covering the planet in a Corrodium shield. The fact the [[TheCorruption Corrodium]] will effectively cause a Class 4 by mutating all animal life on the planet into monsters is thought to be merely a ''side-effect''.
57	* ArgumentOfContradictions: What some of Ben and Gwen's conversations boil down to.
58	* ArtifactTitle: From the moment Ben discovered the eleventh alien in the Omnitrix.
59	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In an episode, some cows and a human were turned into mutant monstrosities due to exposure to an alien mutagen. Fortunately [[spoiler:they were 'only briefly exposed', so the mutation reversed itself by the end of the episode. Needless to say, that's NOT how biology or radiation work!]]
60	* AsimovsThreeKindsOfScienceFiction: The show being SpaceOpera, it falls squarely in the Adventure classification. KidHero Ben Tennyson stumbles onto the alien-originated Omnitrix, a device that allows him to turn into a roulette of aliens, each with their own unique set of superpowers. The exact inner workings of the Omnitrix are spoon-fed to the audience, though never completely revealed and the social implications of such technology are never even glanced at. What the series cares about is Ben fending off extraterrestrial bad guys and sometimes going galaxy-trekking.
61	* TheAtoner: Tetrax.
62	* AuthorAppeal: ALIENS AND SUPERHEROES... COMBINED!
63	* AuthorAvatar: The kid Ben tries to save in the pilot episode? That's Glen Murakami.
64	* AxCrazy: Kevin 11 is shown to have sadistic and violent tendencies.
65	* BadassBiker: Rojo a HotBlooded (bordering on AxCrazy) biker.
66	* BadassFamily: Max Tennyson and his grandchildren travel the country fighting world-threatening aliens.
67	* BadassNormal: Max Tennyson has been fighting powerful aliens for years in spite of just being a human being with no powers.
68	** Ben himself in [[spoiler: the episode "Gwen 10" where Ben loses his powers, Ben still proves to be pretty badass, even using Grandpa Max's {{BFG}} with no problem.]]
69	*** In "Grudge Match", Ben manages to defeat an alien robot even after his Omnitrix times out. Admittedly, he already weakened it as Diamondhead, but it was still more than capable of killing him.
70	*** During the final fight of "Secret of the Omnitrix", [[spoiler:Ben fights off Vilgax's forces without using the Omnitrix almost all the way through. Before Azmuth comes back to reactivate the Omnitrix, Gwen rightfully reminds Ben of all the times he had helped others in the past WITHOUT being an alien.]]
71	-> "Don't you get it? You don't need that thing. What about all the times you saved Grandpa, or me, or lots of other people when you weren't an alien? You are a hero, even if you can't go hero!"
72	* BaseballEpisode: The episode "The Unnaturals" in which the Cannons (their hometown and Ben's school baseball team) and their opponents named Squires (disguised as baseball players but actually they are robots) had a baseball game in Philadelphia. One of its team are the school bullies named J.T. and Cash. During the game, [=XLR8=] sabotages them before acting in favor of the team. Later in the episode, Ben sneaks into the Cannons and wears Cash's baseball t-shirt with the inscription "23" on the back of it. He failed to bat the ball two times but when he bats it successfully, he runs from his starting point up to the umpire or referee and from that part of the field, he turns into Four Arms.
73	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The beginning of an episode has Ben easily thwart a robbery. At the end of the preview, he outright states if there's anyone who can give him a challenge. Just so happens, it was the [[spoiler:Negative 10]] episode.
74	* {{BFG}}: Some of Max's guns.
75	* BigBad: Vilgax in Season 1, Kevin 11 in Season 2, Ghostfreak in Season 3, and the Forever King in Season 4.
76	** Vilgax, being the ArchEnemy, ''also'' had the role of secondary BigBad in Seasons 2 and 4.
77	* BigDamnMovie: ''Secret of the Omnitrix'', which serves as the GrandFinale of the original series. The universe is threatened by the Omnitrix's self-destruct mode, and its creator is introduced, who goes on to become a supporting character in future installments.
78	* BigEater: Ben's alien form Upchuck can eat pretty much anything...[[{{Irony}} except human food]].
79	* BirthdayBuddies: Cousins Ben and Gwen Tennyson share the same birthday, and since they are both 10 years old that means they were born on the same day. Since they are both spending the summer travelling with their grandfather Max, they get into an argument over whose birthday should be celebrated on the actual date of their birthday.
80	* BizarreAlienSenses: As Wildmutt, Ben [[EyelessFace lacks eyes]], yet still experiences "images" of what's around him. This perception is probably scent-based, as the images grow sharper when he takes a breath and he had trouble navigating when Ben changed into him while having a cold.
81	** Clockwork from ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' has a temporal sense that sees into the past. He can project this effect into a whole area by winding the key on his head.
82	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The show is mostly this trope, but the main hero's character flaws can push it slightly into BlackAndGrayMorality at times.
83	* BlackBox: The Omnitrix itself. Even its ''creator'' doesn't know exactly what he's made.
84	* BlackMagicianGirl: Charmcaster has magic powers.
85	* BodyHorror: For a kids show there sure are a lot of them...
86	** Many of Ben's transformation involve this.
87	** Kevin after he is forced to be a conglomerate of Ben's original 10 forms.
88	** The StockFootage transition montage could become this as well.
89	** The way the flesh on Ben's wrist stretches like chewing gum when Vilgax removed the Omnitrix.
90	** The mutations inflicted by Corrodium in the episode "Under Wraps" were particularly unnerving; monstrous, twisted, black shadows with glowing purple lines gouged across them. Later on, in "Be Afraid of the Dark", when we actually see the mutations taking place [[spoiler: as the entire populace of Earth is subjected to them]], it's even more disturbing.
91	%%* BrakeAngrily
92	* BrokenAesop:
93	** In the Ghostfreak two-parter, tries to do an Aesop about teamwork. Unfortunately, this fails when TheHero is armed with one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe; try as they might, Gwen and Max ''really'' [[WeAreTeamCannonFodder don't compare]]. Also, at the beginning of Part 2 ("Be Afraid of The Dark"), Gwen tells Ben "We don't need your help". Frankly, the story makes it seem like she's jealous of the Omnitrix, and having {{sidekick}} issues. Max has a lesser case, but, not being ten, he knows when to shut up and get on with things. At the end of the second episode, Ben ends up learning his aesop about teamwork after... he uses his Omnitrix to save Gwen and Max's asses as they plummet from space to Earth.
94	** She is also guilty of a Broken Aesop in the opposite direction. The first season episode "Lucky Girl" revolves around her becoming a superhero based on a magical charm she finds. After losing it and finding out that the BigBad of the episode possesses many similar charms to augment his magical power, she opts to destroy them rather than use them herself, justifying it as a decision to "just be me". Unfortunately, this Aesop is broken for two reasons. First, her stance on not relying on such power tends to be overshadowed when her cousin keeps using that Omnitrix thingy, especially since she benefits from it as much as everyone else. Second, what does she do in later episodes? She readopts the persona briefly after finding an even better charm. Then she learns that she is capable of using magic, and (with a few tools stolen from one villain) starts regularly using it herself. In fact, in the future-based episodes, she carries and uses ''the exact same charms that she destroyed in that first episode''! It seems those powers ''are'' just too cool to pass up after all.
95	* BrushOffWalkOff: Attempted by Ben towards Kevin in "Framed". Unfortunately, all it does is make him furious and trigger a ShapeshifterModeLock.
96	* CameFromTheSky: This is how Ben got the Omnitrix.
97	%%* CantGetAwayWithNuthin
98	* CantLiveWithoutYou: Ben and Kevin in the ChainedHeat episode -- their shackle is set up so if one of them dies, so does the other.
99	* CantShiftWhileShifted: The Omnitrix as a TransformationTrinket is only in an operable form to select aliens when Ben is human, meaning he can't pick another alien until he turns back into a human. This is later subverted when we learn about the Master Control, which allows Ben to change alien forms just by mentally wishing to - even if he is already in an alien form. And in the sequels, Ben learned how to change forms in alien form by touching The Omnitrix.
100	* CanonImmigrant: Eon, a movie villain, would later appear in the sequel shows. It's explained that the movie took place in an AlternateTimeline, hence why no mention of him in this series.
101	* CapeBusters: The Forever Knights often target Ben because of his Omnitrix enabling him to assume different alien forms.
102	* CaptainErsatz:
103	** Waybig, for Series/{{Ultraman}}.
104	** There's a shocking number of comic book characters in "Ready to Rumble" getting the treatment: ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, ComicBook/WonderMan, [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Killer Croc]], even a gang boss based somewhat on Kingpin. The clincher? [[spoiler:Wolverine and Killer Croc were adopted by [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Aunt May]].]]
105	** Fourarms actually switches to [[Franchise/MortalKombat Goro's]] wardrobe later in ''Ultimate Alien''.
106	** Ben being able to use the Omnitrix to take on the forms of many aliens and use their powers to fight crime is rather similar to the Hero Dial enabling people to turn into different superheroes in ComicBook/DialHForHero.
107	* CaptureBalls: In the future shown in "Ken 10", Ben captures defeated enemies inside thrown "Null Void Containment Eggs" until he can release them into the [[PrisonDimension Null Void]].
108	* CastingGag:
109	** Ditto is not Creator/RobPaulsen's first role as [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} a black-and-white wisecracking creature of indeterminate species.]]
110	** In one episode where Ben and Gwen get sucked into a video game, Grandpa Max (Creator/PaulEiding) tells them to [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty turn the game console off.]] One video on Youtube explicitly noted that, like his role as [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Colonel Roy Campbell]], Max carries many, many secrets and often acts as MissionControl.
111	** Richard [=McGonagle=]'s no stranger to voicing [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars four-armed aliens]].
112	** This is not the first time Creator/RobertPatrick played a [[Film/DieHard2 rogue mercenary member of an elite special forces-esque team]] who pulls a FaceHeelTurn out of {{Greed}}.
113	** Also, regarding the Japanese dubs...Creator/NoriakiSugiyama voices a dark haired EvilFormerFriend who's has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex towards the main character and pulls a HeelFaceTurn. Are we taking about Kevin, or [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Sasuke Uchiha]]?
114	* CentrifugalFarce: [[ItMakesSenseInContext BenMummy and a Werewolf-esque alien fight]] next to one of these.
115	* CerebusSyndrome: While the series never loses its humor side, it gets a lot more serious and dramatic in the second half. Last chapters? Fighting the KnightOfCerebus. First chapters? Fighting Mega-Whatts, a bugman, and a doctor who has a device that basically destroys any laws of biology through use.
116	* ChainedHeat: "Grudge Match" had Ben and Kevin chained together for most of the episode.
117	* CharacterCatchphrase: "Goin' hero!" and variations, when Ben uses the Omnitrix; and "Oh, man!" when he does something stupid or realizes he did something stupid (the latter of which would carry over to his [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce teenage]] [[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien years]]).
118	* CharacterNameAlias: In "The Unnaturals", the robot Little League team all have the names of famous dead MLB players.
119	%%* ChristmasEpisode: During the summer, no less.
120	%%* CircusOfFear: One-shot antagonist Zombozo runs one.
121	* CircusOfMagic: Implied. Zombozo is the head of a circus act that gets people to laugh before using a machine to suck all the happiness out of them to fuel his own health and abilities. However, their supernatural abilities are never attributed to alien activity, implying that they're somehow magical in nature, as Zombozo was bitten by a zombie prior to the series.
122	* ClingyMacGuffin: The Omnitrix latches onto Ben's wrist and sticks there for the remainder of the series.
123	* CollectorOfForms: The Omnitrix slowly acquires new alien species for Ben to transform into over the course of the series by a variety of methods, but most commonly by scanning DNA from new species Ben meets.
124	* ComicBookAdaptation: Stories based on this show were featured in the earlier issues of ''ComicBook/CartoonNetworkActionPack''. As the comic book continued publication, it stayed up to date by switching to adaptations of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''.
125	%%* ConservationOfNinjitsu:
126	%%** Ben's alien form Ditto.
127	%%** Kevin 11 as well.
128	* ConveyorBeltODoom: "Ready to Rumble" -- The mother of two mutant kids was tied to a conveyor belt in an old wood mill. She was heading towards a wood saw that's right between her legs.
129	%%* CoolCar: The Rustbucket.
130	* CoolOldGuy: Ben and Gwen's grandfather Max Tennyson is a retired member of an organization known as the Plumbers, who specialize in policing aliens.
131	* TheCorruption: Corrodium (it's even in the name!), a high-energy mineral of alien origin which is harmless to aliens from the Anur system, but causes any humans or Earth-native animal life that are exposed it it to mutate into surreal-looking monstrosities.
132	%%* CouldHaveBeenMessy
133	* CowardlyLion: Gilbert in "Camp Fear". When he's not running around screaming his head off, he's quite helpful fighting off the mushroom monsters and protecting the younger campers.
134	* CreateYourOwnHero: [[BigBad Vilgax]] trying to get the Omnitrix for his scheme was what eventually led the device to end up on Earth and stick itself on the wrist of Ben Tennyson. This even gets a lampshade in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse''.
135	* CreepyChild: Meet Kevin, eleven years old and willing to kill a subway load of people without a second thought.
136	* CrossdressingVoices: Creator/TaraStrong as Ben and Upgrade.
137	* CuteMonsterGirl: In "My Big Fat Alien Wedding" the majority of the shapeshifting aliens are very ugly non-humanoid sludge monsters in their true form. The non-evil one (who's marrying a human) oddly looks like a fairly attractive purple-skinned woman in her true form. Despite being the daughter of the episode's villains.
138	%%* DaddysLittleVillain: Charmcaster to Hex (though it's more of a case of Uncle's Little Villain).
139	%%* DarkActionGirl: Rojo
140	* DarkMagicalGirl: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in regards to Charmcaster. She does sincerely have the background of a normal DMG (raised and trained by an evil, abusive guardian,) but she actually chooses to be evil rather than [[HeelFaceTurn join her]] MagicalGirl counterpart.
141	%%* {{Determinator}}: Vilgax.
142	* DescriptionCut: Vilgax, in the first episode, prattles on about how no one in the universe can stop him. Then the scene cuts to Ben, in school, throwing a paper airplane at his teacher before the bell rings.
143	* DisneyDeath: Happens twice in TheMovie, albeit fairly convincingly compared to other examples.
144	* DoomsdayDevice: Animo's telescopic Transmodulator, the Loboan's makeshift receiver designed to spread Corrodium over the Earth, etc..
145	* DreamIntro: An episode has Ben transform into Wildmutt (one of his aliens) in order to rescue a boy stuck up a tree. The viewer then notices something is wrong when Ben, as Wildmutt, starts talking. The reason this is wrong is because Ben cannot talk while he is Wildmutt. The boy then transforms into Ghostfreak and then Ben wakes up.
146	* EarthShatteringKaboom: The StoryboardingTheApocalypse shows that the titular PlanetDestroyer in "The Big Tick" eventually does this to every planet it feeds off.
147	* EatingTheEnemy:
148	** One of Ben's aliens, Upchuck, is a Gourmand, a species of [[BigEater big eaters]] capable of devouring practically anything inorganic. In his first appearance, Ben uses him to eat a robot machine that hijacked his grandpa. Strangely, while he can eat inorganic things, he can't digest organic matter.
149	** Various aliens have tried to make a meal of the characters. A notable example being the [[ManEatingPlant Mycelium]] who was a giant fungus brain who wanted to devour ever creature on Earth and take it over.
150	* EldritchAbomination: The Great One from "The Big Tick".
151	** The Mycelium in "Camp Fear".
152	* ElementalPowers: Several of Ben's alien forms have powers based on a specific element, the most obvious one being Heatblast.
153	* EmeraldPower: The Omnitrix glows green when active.
154	* EmpathicWeapon: The Omnitrix.
155	* EnemyWithout: Early on, Ghostfreak was implied to have a mind of his own and even secretly possessed Ben. In the second season, he finally escaped the Omnitrix.
156	* EvilCounterpart: Kevin 11 to Ben, especially after he copied the powers of Ben's original ten alien forms by draining the energy of the Omnitrix. Charmcaster to Gwen because they both have magic powers.
157	* EvilSorcerer: Hex is a sorcerer and one of the show's recurring villains.
158	* ExpositoryThemeTune:
159	--> It started when an alien device did what it did
160	--> And stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid
161	--> Now he's got super powers, he's no ordinary kid
162	--> He's Ben 10! (Ben 10, Ben 10!)
163	* {{Expy}}: Zombozo demonstrates similar behavior to [[Literature/{{IT}} Pennywise]], he even turns into a giant spider in a hallucination(?)!
164	** JT and Cash resemble Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
165	* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: As a FantasyKitchenSink show borderlining on WorldOfWeirdness, it's ''really'' inconsistent with regards to whether the existence of aliens, robots, and mutants is commonly accepted knowledge, or whether such things are supposed to be regarded as myth by the general public.
166	* FaceFault: Look hard enough, Gwen in Charmcaster's body in "A Change Of Face" has these.
167	* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Sometimes justified by the sci-fi setting, but really...where are ordinary gang members, mall cops, and other assorted armed {{Muggles}} getting their sci-fi firearms?
168	* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[EvilCounterpart Kevin 11]] killing sentient robot Slix Vigma by impaling him on his Diamondhead arm, and almost give the same fate to Ben. Another example includes villain Ghostfreak, who was burnt to ashes. Twice.
169	* {{Flanderization}}:
170	** Early on, the Omnitrix is fairly reliable, only transforming Ben into the wrong alien once every few episodes, and Ben is justifiably surprised when it happens. Fast forward to the Season 3 finale, and out of the four times Ben transformed in the first part, he only got the alien he wanted ''once'', and he's reduced to frantically begging the Omnitrix to ''please'' cooperate with him this time...
171	** Ben himself also suffers from this Is quite obvious in the 3-minute shorts that frequently appear on Cartoon Network.
172	* FlowerMouth: Ben's Blitzwolfer form has a snout that opens in four different directions.
173	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
174	** There are many hints that Max wasn't just a normal Plumber, such as knowing that Heatblast is not a monster but an alien, and mentions of Vilgax making him tense.
175	** In "Kevin 11", Kevin boasts that he's "taking all of [Ben's] alien powers". In "Framed", its revealed that he did. [[spoiler:But by the end, [[BodyHorror he bit off more than he can chew]].]]
176	** When Vilgax personally shows up in "Secrets", he has an ImagineSpot of an army of Omnitrix users taking over the cosmos with him at the helm to showcase his evil. Notably, a Four-Arms changes in real-time into a Heatblast. This isn't an exaggeration, but a future ability of the Omnitrix that occasionally gets used in this series, is mastered by [[FutureBadass Ben's older self]], and learned properly by ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''.
177	** When the Omnitrix first falls to Earth in "And Then There Were Ten", it doesn't just land near Ben; it actually ''changes its path'' to fly in his direction, as if personally seeking him out. [[spoiler: This hints at a later reveal that The Omnitrix was sent for someone with the same DNA as Ben i.e. Grandpa Max.]]
178	* FoulMedicine: In "Side Effects", Ben catches a cold from getting inside an ice cream truck, which also affects the powers of his aliens. Grandpa Max buys him a medicine which both tastes and smells terribly.
179	%%* FreakyFridayFlip: Gwen and Charmcaster in "A Change Of Face".
180	%%** Later on happens to Gwen and Ben in the same episode.
181	* FieryRedhead: Gwen has red hair and is often ill-tempered.
182	* TheFreakshow: Source of the Circus Freak Trio.
183	* FreudianExcuse:
184	** Kevin being abandoned by his parents and mocked by peers for being a "freak". Once he couldn't take it anymore, he decided "[[ThenLetMeBeEvil to show them just how much of a freak he could be.]]"
185	** Also, Charmcaster being raised by her [[AbusiveParents blatantly abusive]] uncle Hex. He did his job too well, and she [[TheStarscream ends up betraying him for her own evil goals.]]
186	* FullContactMagic: Played perfectly straight; mixing a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and [[strike: magic]] alien energy-manipulation powers gives Gwen dynamic and fluid fighting scenes.
187	* FutureBadass: Ben 10,000, Gwendolyn, and cyborg Max. That is all.
188	* FutureMeScaresMe: When Ben and Gwen go to the future, Future Ben is pretty much a jerk.
189	* AGlitchInTheMatrix [=/=] OutOfCharacterAlert: Ben realizes that the Forever Knights trapped him in a {{Lotus Eater Machine}} when he encounters a dream version of Vilgax who only tried to send him to the Null Void and wasn't even after the Omnitrix.
190	* GrandFinale: "Secret of the Omnitrix", as WordOfGod confirms it takes place ''after'' "Ben 10 vs. the Negative 10" (canonically speaking), which means the movie is Episodes 49-51 in official order of the show [[note]]Even though it aired in the middle of Season 4 (between "Big Fat Alien Wedding" and "Ben 4 Good Buddy") and in production order the movie is Episodes 401-403 or the first three episodes of Season 4[[/note]]. The actual last episode of the series is "Goodbye and Good Riddance", but that episode is a non-canon WhatIf story.
191	* GrandTheftMe: Charmcaster can't get the Omnitrix off Ben, so she's just going to do this instead.
192	* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Xylene.
193	** With NonMammalMammaries, even after she states that her race does not take care of their young at all ("On my planet, once you hatch, you're on your own.")
194	* GrowingUpSucks: ''Ben 10,000'' has Ben decide that being an adult isn't cool if he's going to be a jerk. This statement causes his future self to change his ways and become a better person.
195	* HandsLookingWrong:
196	** In the pilot, looking at his hands is how Ben first realizes he has transformed into Heatblast, screaming before the transformation background dissipates.
197	** A couple of Ben's stock [[TransformationSequence Transformation Sequences]] have him observing his transformation starting at his arm. Justified, since the origin point is his wrist mounted Omnitrix.
198
199	%%* HandsOnApproach: Done with Gwen teaching Ben to dance in "My Big Fat Alien Wedding."
200	%%* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom
201	* HeightInsult: Gwen teases Ben several times about being too short un "A Small Problem": first after [[YouMustBeThisTallToRide being denied access to a water slide]] that Gwen is tall enough for, later after turning into Gray Matter (although he wanted to turn into the much larger Ripjaws) to try the water slide, and then at the end of the episode after Ben turns back to normal.
202	* HenshinHero: Ben has no superpowers as a human. He only gets them when he transforms into one of his alien forms.
203	* HijackedByGanon: A Season 3 episode introduced a werewolf-like alien who was seemingly killed at the end of his episode, but was revealed to have built a machine as a SequelHook. A mummy-like alien is then introduced in a later episode. Both come back and are revealed to work for a new villain named Dr Vicktor in the first part of the season finale... and then it turns out Dr Vicktor himself was TheDragon to [[spoiler:Ghostfreak/Zs'Skayr, a villain who had been introduced in a previous Season 2 episode]].
204	* HourOfPower: The Omnitrix only allows Ben to be an alien for a limited time. After the time limit runs out, he returns to normal and has to wait for the Omnitrix to recharge before he can change into an alien again.
205	* HumanoidAliens: Many of the aliens vaguely resemble humans.
206	* HurricaneOfPuns: Witty one-liners make up a good 75% of dialog, mainly when Ben is in alien form.
207	* HybridsAreACrapshoot: Ben accidentally removes the faceplate from the Omnitrix, which results in his aliens being fused together, often with disastrous results, such as a combination of Fourarms and Stinkfly that is much weaker than Fourarms but too heavy to fly.
208	* HypocriticalHumor: A bit of it in "Gwen 10", where Ben keeps telling off Gwen for doing things he knows perfectly well he did in the past.
209	* IAmNotLeftHanded: A couple of occasions, but possibly the most awesome is in "Grudge Match", where Kevin 11 has Ben trapped, and boasts that he can handle any of Ben's 10 aliens, since he IS all those aliens combined. Ben then reveals that he's unlocked a new form since Kevin last saw him: Cannon Bolt. Kevin gets ''hammered''.
210	** A similar, if more subtle version comes from "Ben 10,000", when Vilgax makes the same boast about all TEN THOUSAND of Future Ben's aliens, except that Future Ben has one form Vilgax overlooked: human.
211	* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Max inadvertently reveals that he wasn't a normal plumber when he tells Ben he doesn't want him fighting Vilgax -- unfortunately, he mentions Vilgax's name ''before'' Ben tells him what it is.
212	* ImColdSoCold: Happens in an episode when Ben offers another character a piece of chocolate, which turns out to be highly poisonous to his species.
213	* ImplacableMan: Vilgax. No matter what happens to him, he won't let it stop him from hunting down Ben and trying to get the Omnitrix.
214	* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: The Omnitrix.
215	* InCaseOfXBreakGlass: {{Inverted}} when a giant lightbulb containing and powered by a swarm of [[ShockAndAwe Megawhatts]] is labeled with "In case of emergency, do NOT break glass".
216	* TheInfested: The villain Clancy carries swarms of multiple insects inside his clothes. He possesses a [[TheBeastmaster unique empathic connection]] to them, which allows him to direct them in battle.
217	* InstantExpert: Gwen when she gets the Omnitrix in an alternate timeline. Subverted with her magic, which she bumbles through for many episodes before getting good at it.
218	* IntangibleMan: Ghostfreak.
219	* IOweYouMyLife: In "Grudge Match", a gladiator named Technorg offers Ben to be "master" after Ben spared his life in battle. Naturally, Ben refuses the offer and forces Technorg to get off the Mega Cruiser while he still can.
220	%%* IveComeTooFar
221	* JadeColoredGlasses: Ben 10,000 has been wearing a set for years, apparently.
222	* JokerImmunity: Vilgax. Helps that he's NighInvulnerable, of course. It's a bit hard to kill somebody who survived [[spoiler:being nuked]]. And has upgraded himself since then.
223	* JumpedAtTheCall: Ben was quick to accept the idea of using the Omnitrix to save the world.
224	* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Kevin's "crash a passenger train" plan. Fastest partnership breakup ever.
225	* KidHero: Ben is only 10 when the show starts.
226	* KidHeroAllGrownUp: Every iteration of the series has featured at least an adventure with Ben meeting himself as an adult, usually going by "Ben Ten Thousand". Gwen as an adult is usually featured in such stories.
227	* [[KillItWithFire Fight Fire With Fire]]: Present in the very first episode, Ben accidentally starts a fire, Grandpa Max tells Ben that in order to stop it, he should start another one.
228	* KnightOfCerebus: The series, at its heart, is about a kid who does heroic and stupid things with his Omnitrix, but when [[BigBad Vilgax]], [[EvilCounterpart Kevin]] and [[EnemyWithout Zs'Skayr]] appear, the episode's gonna take itself fairly seriously.
229	* LamarckWasRight: Averted in "Ken 10"; Kenny needs his own Omnitrix to get his own powers.
230	* LaughablyEvil: Many secondary villains such as Dr. Animo, Charmcaster, or the Circus Freaks are this, contrasting to the more serious Big Bads.
231	* LawyerFriendlyCameo:
232	** An alien version of [[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy Billy]] in Ken 10. Even shares the same VA.
233	** Versions of Konohamaru and Team Ebisu from Manga/{{Naruto}} in the Christmas episode.
234	** A Sakura Haruno near the end of "Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures".
235	* LegionOfDoom: The Negative 10. Several of their members were villains Ben had previously fought, even ones that hadn't been seen since the first season like Clancy and Rojo.
236	* {{Leitmotif}}: Several, including ones for Ben's aliens and a one for the occasional instances of SkySurfing that happen a few times over the series.
237	* LimitedWardrobe: A subtle nod to this in "Gwen 10": Ben throws several shirts identical to his own out of his suitcase while he's searching for a lost item.
238	** Subverted in the live-action movie of course. But Ben wore this very shirt later in the movie.
239	* LivingGhost: One of Ben's first transformations, Ghostfreak, is an alien that, like the name suggests, can turn invisible and intangible with little to no consequence, and in rare instances, possess others. Ghostfreak was sampled from an entire ghost-like race that live in a solar system filled with Halloween-themed aliens. Their entire conscience also exists in every strand of their DNA, which means that Ghostfreak [[AndIMustScream was trapped in the Omnitrix and fully aware]] until [[EnemyWithout he escaped and became one of Ben's villains]].
240	* LotusEaterMachine: "Perfect Day" had Enoch attempt to trap Ben in one so that he could easily remove the Omnitrix.
241	* LovecraftLite: The earlier seasons can stumble onto this territory. To name a episodes that does...
242	** "The Big Tick" has an EldritchAbomination capable of destroying the Earth, why it chooses to do so nobody knows.
243	* LovecraftianSuperpower: The Omnitrix can turn Ben into a variety of things, [[NightmareFuel some more disturbing]] [[FridgeHorror than others]].
244	%%* MagicalGirl: Gwen.
245	* MagicMisfire: Gwen, too. She even figured out how to ''use'' the misfire to her advantage. Sort of.
246	* MagicPants: ANYTHING that Ben was wearing before he goes alien -- no matter how badly it was ripped during the transformation sequence -- will be back, in perfect condition, when the Omnitrix runs out of juice.
247	* TheManBehindTheCurtain: In ''Secret of the Omnitrix'' Ben and company confront the creator of the Omnitrix, a giant alien with a booming voice. It turns out to be a biosuit -- the real Azmuth is actually tiny (in fact, he's the same species as Gray Matter).
248	* ManHug: When Max runs into his old plumber buddy Phil, the two greet each other with a hug.
249	* MerchandiseDriven: The show had a LOT of toys made for it, and the toyetic nature of Ben's alien forms would only get more obvious with each following series in the franchise.
250	* TheMenInBlack: The Plumbers, who are a ''[[{{Masquerade}} secret organization]]''
251	** Subverted a bit with the Special Alien Containment Team (or SACT) because they are obviously government-affiliated, but one can't help but notice their similarities to the Plumbers.
252	* MissedTheCall: The Omnitrix was intended for Grandpa Max and not for Ben.
253	* MonsterClown: Zombozo.
254	* MonsterOfTheWeek: The show lives on this. Considering the strange and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment varied varieties]] of trouble that tend to occur wherever Ben goes, one feels sorry for this kid's hometown if summer vacation ends. [[DoomedHometown Yeah, it gets toasted.]]
255	** Sometimes inverted in a few seasons, where the Monster Of The Week wasn't just what Ben faced, but what he ''became''.
256	* MookHorrorShow: Ben sometimes invokes this on criminals. This includes one time when he was fighting two robbers as Ripjaws. However, the most noteable time is when he [[spoiler:literally scares Zombozo to death as Ghostfreak.]]
257	* MotiveDecay: In his debut appearance, Dr Animo wanted to get a prize that was denied him. In the remainder of his appearances, he just wanted to either conquer or mutate the world.
258	* TheMovie: Two of them -- ''Secret Of The Omnitrix'', and the live action movie ''Race Against Time''. A third all-CGI film, ''Destroy All Aliens'', set during this timeframe was later released in 2012.
259	* MultiformBalance: Theoretically, each of Ben's alien forms have powers applicable to specific situations. In practice, due to [[KidHero Ben's]] lack of tactical thinking and the Omnitrix's tendency to be uncooperative, whether an alien will be used in the appropriate role is never certain, forcing Ben to improvise.
260	* MundaneUtility: Sometimes Ben uses his alien forms to do something as ordinary as looking for a prize in boxes of cereal.
261	* MushroomMan / PlantMooks: The Tennysons face an army of them in "Camp Fear".
262	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg "...and leave the rest to the game pros... and Ben."
263	* NearMissGroinAttack: Happens to Grandpa Max, with crystal spikes landing all around his body as he keeps backing up to avoid it hitting his groin.
264	* NegativeContinuity: Later in the series, almost all the time, ranging from changes in height to more plot related problems (Stinkfly's sudden inability to swim in They Lurk Below, the event noted in the Ben 10 entry in FreakyFridayFlip, etc.)
265	* NeverSayDie: All the deaths are either offscreen, not outright stated, or obscured by explosions, with a good dash of WhatMeasureIsANonHuman to 'lighten' it further. It's a touch jarring when Ben says "Gwen's dead" in the movie ''Secret of the Omnitrix''. [[spoiler: She's not.]]
266	* NewSuperpower:
267	** In "The Big Tick", Ben, to his surprise, discovers that the Omnitrix can turn him into more than ten aliens, and becomes Cannonbolt. Cannonbolt doesn't breathe fire or shoot freeze rays from his eyes, and is likewise devoid of magnetic blasts. In addition, he has problems balancing. The form can, however, curl up into an armored ball and roll, alternately ricocheting off of things or smashing through them. When all of Ben's other forms fail to stop the immense, world-destroying MonsterOfTheWeek, Ben must, despite his initial misgivings, use this form to save the world. Cannonbolt is actually useful again a few episodes later against a recurring antagonist who had, in an earlier episode, absorbed the powers of Ben's original ten forms, and goes on to become one of Ben's more frequently-used alien forms.
268	** Cannonbolt also introduced the concept of Ben gaining/discovering new alien forms, which would become a regular occurrence for the rest of the franchise. In a sense, the ability to gain new powers was a new power of its own.
269	* TheNightThatNeverEnds: Zs'Skayr (to whom sunlight is fatal) tries covering the sunlit side of the Earth with a shell of radioactive material in "Be Afraid of the Dark", so he can rule it as his domain. (The fact that this will mutate the entire population of the Earth is an unfortunate side effect to him.)
270	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: "Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures" features an actor named Abel North, who played a television hero Ben grew up with called Kangaroo Commando. He's quite obviously a spoof of Creator/AdamWest and his role as Batman in [[Series/Batman1966 the 1966 television series]].
271	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: How Vilgax says hello.
272	* NoOntologicalInertia: The episode "The Big Tick" features an EldritchAbomination which completely ravages its surroundings for several hundred meters around. After it's destroyed, the local area returns to its former state immediately, despite there being nothing to suggest that the destruction was illusory! For some reason, the characters find this to be perfectly acceptable.[[note]]In the "how does it make sense" kind of way, obviously. Nobody's going to complain if their world that was almost destroyed went back to normal.[[/note]]
273	* NoSenseOfHumor: Adult Ben, as seen in the episode "[[Recap/Ben10S3E1BenTenThousand Ben 10,000]]". He gets better in the end and continuing into "Ken 10".
274	* ObliviousMockery: Early in the WhatIf episode "Gwen 10", Gwen gets the Omnitrix stuck on her wrist and turns into [[MagmaMan Heatblast]]. Ben, who remembers going through this before, warns her about the danger of using fiery powers in the middle of a forest. She immediately responds that only an idiot would set the forest on fire. Naturally, that's exactly what Ben did in the first episode.
275	%%* OneWingedAngel: Both played straight and nastily subverted.
276	%%* OnlySixFaces: Averted. Even with cousins Ben and Gwen.
277	%%** Very visible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1RVZFB2I0s#t=134s
278	* TheOtherDarrin [[invoked]]: Discussed in-universe in the episode "Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures", where Ben mentions that his favorite television hero Kangaroo Commando, usually played by Abel North, was instead played by Abel's brother Kane in one episode.
279	* PapaWolf: Grandpa Max towards Ben and Gwen. Ben himself in the future, where his son Kenny is concerned.
280	* ParentalHypocrisy: Ben's future self Ben 10,000 becomes a hypocritical parent in the episode "Ken 10". When his son Ken is excited about getting his own Omnitrix for his 10th birthday, Ben tells his son that saving the world isn't kid's stuff, despite the fact that he himself first became a hero when he was his son's age. Later, Ben 10,000 asks where his son gets his attitude shortly after Ken gets angry with his father and acts the same way Ben did whenever he got into a disagreement with his grandfather Max. Both occasions hang a lampshade by having Grandpa Max give a scornful look at Ben whenever he makes his hypocritical statement.
281	* ParentalMarriageVeto: In "Big Fat Alien Wedding", Joel's parents are pretty much against [[InterspeciesRomance his marriage to Camille]], a [[BlobMonster Sludgepuppy]], which would cement a treaty between both human and Sludgepuppies. This is because both Gordon and Betty Jean (Joel's Parents) are Plumbers who have been fighting Sludgepuppies for the longest time, and are thus slow to trust a species that's, only until recently, been their mortal enemy. [[spoiler:During the wedding itself, it's revealed that Camille's parents (who, up until this point, [[BitchInSheesClothing seemed like nice people]]) hate the idea of the wedding uniting the enemy races]]. The end of the episode has Gordon and Betty Jean warming up to their daughter-in-law.
282	* PhantomZone: The Null Void. Unusual in that things were let ''out'' before the viewer was let in on it.
283	* PlanetDestroyer: The tick monster from "The Big Tick" moves from planet to planet, mutating and ultimately destroying each one for sustenance.
284	* PlanetaryCoreManipulation: In "The Big Tick", the planet is attacked by a tick-like alien which destroys other planets. When doing so, The Great One injects its tentacles deeply in the planet to its core, devouring it from the inside out.
285	%%* PlantAliens: Wildvine is an example of this.
286	* PostAdventureAdventure: From the perspective of Grandpa Max, the events of the show are this for him. Max is a retired Plumber, an organization of humans and aliens sworn to defend Earth from alien attack. When Max was in his prime, he defeated [[EvilOverlord Vilgax]], [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce romanced an Anodite named Verdona,]]]] among many, many other things over the course of his career before eventually retiring and settling down. When Ben retrieves the Omnitrix, Max's former skills are put to good use in supporting his grandson's efforts to battle the neverending supply of alien bad guys looking to take it from Ben. Max alludes to his adventures fondly in flashbacks, but the viewer never gets to see all of them.
287	%%* PowerEchoes
288	* ProductionForeshadowing: One of the Vilgax drones causes Rojo to mutate [[WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex like an EVO.]]
289	%%* ProWrestlingEpisode: "Ready to Rumble".
290	* PsychoForHire: Kevin 11. As noted in "Grudge Match", while his main desire is revenge on Ben, he likes to seek any excuse to fight, brutalize, or even kill various opponents.
291	* PunyEarthlings: Humans are the only species that doesn't have at least one ability that would be classified as a superpower. That said, Humans appear to also be the only species capable of [[spoiler: breeding to create human/alien hybrid offspring, like Kevin and (one generation removed) Gwen.]]
292	* PuppyLove: Ben and Kai.
293	* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tetrax berates Ben for relying on brute strength to solve every situation, and never using strategy. Ben takes this to heart and later uses Gray Matter to win against the last two bounty hunters.
294	%%* RedOniBlueOni: Ben and Gwen.
295	* RetroactivePrecognition: Ben has this in "Gwen 10" when he gets mysteriously transported to the past, and remembers everything that happened over the past several months, but nobody else does. Out of denial or disbelief though it takes Max a while to believe Ben despite the fact that Ben now knows about Vilgax (who only Max has met) and the Omnitrix, which is unknown to most people on Earth. Unfortunately for Ben, things have changed enough that his knowledge of future events is limited in its usefulness.
296	* RhymeThemeNaming: Ben has a cousin named Gwen, who we find out in the [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce following series]] has an older brother named Ken. Kevin finds this amusing.
297	* RuleOfCool: The show stars a ten-year-old boy with a watch-like device stuck to his wrist that enables him to assume a variety of different alien forms, which he uses to fight crime.
298	* RuleOfFun: Especially compared to its DarkerAndEdgier [[ContestedSequel Contested Sequels]], but actually less so compared to its DenserAndWackier ContestedSequel.
299	* RunningGag: How many times was a hotdog cart knocked over again?
300	** "It's too quiet...Where's Ben?"
301	** "Grey Matter?! Aw, man..."
302	** The many, many times Ben tries to turn into one alien but ends up as one that's more suited to the situation.
303	* SadisticChoice:
304	** In "The Return", Vilgax has knocked out Gwen and Max and threatens to kill them if Ben doesn't surrender.
305	** In "Back With A Vengeance", Vilgax and Kevin 11 kidnap Gwen to force Ben to hand over the Omnitrix.
306	** In "Ghostfreaked Out", Ghostfreak possesses Gwen and threatens to make her fall to her death if Ben doesn't drop the sun gun[[note]]the sun gun projects a beam of sunlight which is Ghostfreak's only weakness[[/note]], at which point Ghostfreak will possess him and gain control of the Omnitrix.
307	* SchmuckBait: "It" in "Tourist Trap".
308	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale:
309	** In Negative 10, the power source has "as much power as the sun." Then Max goes on to say that if it goes off, it can blow up a continent the size of Texas to outer space. An energy source that powerful would blow up more than a continent, much less Texas. And then when the BigBad finally absorbs this ultra-powerful energy source into his PoweredArmor, the most he can think to do with it is use it to shoot rather mediocre {{eyebeams}}.
310	%%* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers
311	* SealedEvilInACan:
312	** Vilgax, tends to be put in a can of whatever sort between appearances, be it a healing chamber, a block of ice, or a pocket dimension. He's slightly unusual in that we see him ''out'' of the can first.
313	** Ghostfreak[=/=]Zs'Skayr is an odd example of evil that got sealed in a can ''accidentally'', his DNA sampled for the show's ClingyMacGuffin so that the wearer can turn into him, and the personalities of his species being encoded in their genes somehow. Eventually, he gets loose and becomes Ben's EnemyWithout.
314	* SecondPersonAttack: At least OnceAnEpisode.
315	* SecretLegacy: Grandpa Max, who had had a long history dealing with sirens as the Plumbers.
316	* SelfGuardingPhlebotinum: The Omnitrix generates a small field around itself when someone who is not the person who it is currently attached to tries to touch it. However, it should noted that the Omnitrix is neither [[EmpathicWeapon Empathic]] nor [[LoyalPhlebotinum Loyal]] and only tries to protect itself; in fact, one way you can obtain it is to kill the current user and then take it for yourself.
317	* SequelSeries: ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', set five years after the main series.
318	* ShapeshifterStruggles: The series revolves around a kid with an alien TransformationTrinket permanently attached to his wrist, so it should be no surprise that Ben's had just about every problem that a shapeshifter can run into. Sometimes the Omnitrix itself is as big a problem as whatever the current VillainOfTheWeek is.
319	* ShapeshiftingSound: Whenever Ben uses the Omnitrix to transform any alien he chooses, the transformations are accompanied with electronic sounds.
320	* ShoutOut:
321	** [[Franchise/StarWars "I find your lack of faith disturbing."]]
322	** [[Film/{{Casablanca}} "We'll always have Roswell."]]
323	** [[Series/DirtyJobs "It's a dirty job, but someone had to do it."]]
324	** Former Plumber Driscoll's armor resembles that of Golbez from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', except [[spoiler: he's actually evil instead of mind-controlled.]]
325	** Ben and Gwen's alien disguise in TheMovie is a cross between [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc Boo's monster suit and Randall Boggs.]]
326	** Grandpa Max piloting the space shuttle in "be Afraid of the Dark"
327	--> Grandpa: "Yeah. I still got Film/TheRightStuff.
328	** And of course one to ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' at the end of the Christmas episode and "Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures".
329	** The Pisciss Volann (Ripjaws) Plumber in "The Mother of All Vreedles" looks and sounds like Film/TheIncredibleMrLimpet.
330	** In the first episode, Ben's grandfather's car has the license plate "[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} S81Z1M]]".
331	%%* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: Gwen.
332	* SnapBack: Ben never seems to learn from the lesson in any episode and at the start of the next episode continues behaving like an idiot bent on doing things his way no matter what, despite his level of intelligence and understanding to the contrary. This is actually lampshaded at the end of the CGI "Destroy All Aliens" film.
333	* SpaceCadetAcademy: The Plumber's Academy from the later series.
334	* SpikedWheels: In "Ben 4 Good Buddy", Turbine has wheel spikes as one of the weapons on her WeaponizedCar.
335	* StatusQuoIsGod: Ben gaining mastery of the Omnitrix? ResetButton time.
336	* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Ben ''Ten''nyson has access to ten alien forms in the beginning of the series.
337	* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: [[PlanetDestroyer The tick]]'s worshippers in "The Big Tick" do this.
338	* StumblingInTheNewForm: Ben sometimes has trouble figuring out how to move when the Omnitrix glitches and gives him a new alien form. When he first turned into Cannonbolt, he couldn't stand up straight and it took him an entire episode to discover how to curl up and become a HyperDestructiveBouncingBall. The same was true for Snare-oh, since he had absolutely no idea how to stand on legs that are basically made out of strips of paper.
339	* SuperPowerLottery: The Omnitrix essentially ''embodies'' this trope (in more ways than one). After gaining the Omnitrix, Ben had the abilities of SuperStrength, SuperSpeed (and [[SuperReflexes reflexes]]), SuperIntelligence, [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]], [[SuperNotDrowningSkills underwater breathing]], [[GemstoneAssault the ability to manipulate crystals]], the power of {{Flight}}, goo expulsion, {{Technopathy}}, [[GoodThingYouCanHeal regeneration]], {{invisibility}} and [[{{Intangibility}} intangibility]]. All of these powers are still just the first ''ten forms''. Later forms would introduce [[MesACrowd duplication]], [[RubberMan super flexibility]], a [[SuperScream sonic howl]], [[ShockAndAwe electrokinesis]], solid matter ingestion, EyeBeams and [[AttackofThe50FootWhatever Way Big]] who can [[StoryBreakerPower swat battleships out of the sky]]. This is downplayed as while, Ben does have access to all these powers, they are typically exclusive to certain forms and the Omnitrix tends to be unreliable most of the time.
340	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
341	** The WhatIf episode "Goodbye and Good Riddance". After several weeks of crazy adventures, what brings it all to a halt is not Ben messing up and watching people die, or getting an alien unsuitable for the present situation, but simply his summer vacation ending. [[AndTheAdventureContinues Followed immediately by Vilgax thrashing his house]].
342	** When Enoch finally gets the ancient superweapon he and Grandpa Max were racing to find, it crumbles to dust in his hand. Five thousand years of age and neglect will do that to a sword, even a mythical superweapon.
343	** From time to time the Omnitrix will mess up and turn Ben into an alien other than the one he chose or an entirely new one. It is later revealed that this wasn't due to a glitch or malfunction, but rather Ben ''slamming his hand down on it'' to initiate his TransformationSequence. It’s a complex piece of technology and is quite sensitive.
344	* SwordOverHead: Ben to Kevin in "Framed".
345	* {{Synchronization}}: Ben's alien form Ditto.
346	* TastesLikeFriendship: Subverted. Feeding theobromine compounds to an extra-terrestrial may not be the best idea...
347	* TheGroup: The Forever Knights' cover name is The Organization.
348	* ThemeNaming: Ben '''Ten'''nyson is '''ten''' years old. Kevin E. Levin is eleven.
349	** Ben gives his alien forms extremely marketable names based on their appearance or powers.
350	* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: In "The Big Tick", the episode where Ben first unlocks Cannonbolt, he initially hates the alien form for being unwieldy and uncontrollable, and refuses to use it again. Guess which alien turns out to be the only one capable of defeating the EldritchAbomination threatening the Earth that episode?
351	** More than a little bizarre, given that the Great One's worshipers claim that [[spoiler:[[FridgeLogic it just recently "cleansed" an entire planet full of Cannonbolt's species]]]].
352	** More literally, Ripjaws is completely awesome during underwater episodes, and (almost) completely useless otherwise.
353	* ThisLoserIsYou: Ben, especially within the later seasons. See {{Flanderization}} above.
354	* ThoseTwoGuys: J.T. and Cash.
355	* TimeSkip: ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' skips ahead five years.
356	* TokenAdult: Grandpa Max, being the only adult of the group, and an [[ParentalSubstitute authority figure]] to Ben and Gwen.
357	%%* TotallyRadical
358	* TransformationConventions: Frequently, the Omnitrix overrides Ben's choice of Alien Hero to match plot or comedy requirements. In the [[Recap/Ben10S1E1AndThenThereWereTen first episode]], after Ben has been introduced as a temperamental slacker, the first extraterrestrial the Omnitrix picks for him is Heatblast, a magma-based alien.
359	* TransformationExhilaration: The first time Kevin mutates after absorbing the Omnitrix' power in "Kevin 11", he clearly enjoys the experience, judging by his expression. Subverted in the end of "Framed", when he painfully becomes an amalgam of Ben's aliens, and in the next spin-offs.
360	%%* TransformationFiction
361	%%* TransformationSequence
362	* TransformationTrinket: The Omnitrix
363	* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot:
364	** [=XLR8=] is exactly as fast as the plot calls for, and no faster. Sometimes it's literally too fast to see, most of the time not so much. Thus, aliens with nowhere near its speed can still hit it.
365	** The Omnitrix's "ten minute" time limit is usually quite a bit shorter than that, to ensure that Ben can't beat the MonsterOfTheWeek too quickly.
366	** From the moment when the Omnitrix starts beeping and flashing red, there is variable time until the moment Ben returns to his human form -- sometimes it is almost instant, and sometimes... it takes a while.
367	* TreeCover: In "The Visitor," Ben eavesdrops on Max and Xylene by turning into Wildvine and merging with the tree.
368	* TuckAndCover: Cannonbolt's function in a rescue operation.
369	* TheUnchosenOne: See "MissedTheCall" example above.
370	* UnexplainedRecovery:
371	** The third time Kevin shows up (despite apparently being killed previously), his explanation of how he survived boils down to this, as well as a recap of what happened last time. He doesn't actually use the phrase, but it's implied.
372	** At the end of ''Tough Luck'', both Hex and Charmcaster's powers were sucked by the destruction of the Charm of Bezel. Yet, when we see them come back, their powers have come back without any clear explanation. Averted with Hex turning back into a child however, as it's specifically said that the Fountain of Youth's effect were temporary. Played straight in that we never see how Charmcaster retrieved her magic bag after the end of ''A Change of Face'', though it's shown to have a level of sentience so it probably made its way back to her on its own.
373	* TheUnintelligible: Wildmutt and Sixsix.
374	* ThirdPersonPerson: "No-one boos Technorg! Technorg is champion!"
375	* TransformingConforming: The Omnitrix gives Ben amazing powers, but also the limitations to each alien he transforms into. Ripjaw barely can breath out of water, Heatblast can burn things accidentally, Four Arms doesn't fit in small spaces, Grey Matter can be caught easily because of his small size, etc.
376	%%* UnspokenPlanGuarantee
377	* VengefulVendingMachine: In a short episode, Ben tries to get a candy bar from a vending machine, only for it to fall against the glass. Ever the {{Determinator}}, Ben decides to go Grey Matter to get the candy bar. The only problem is when the Omnitrix times out, leaving Ben's [[ExaggeratedTrope entire body]] trapped in the machine.
378	* VideoGamePerversityPrevention: Crossing over with VideoGameCrueltyPunishment, in the online game "Alien Device", Ben says "I don't need to do that" when you try to do things such as throw objects at bystanders.
379	* VillainTeamUp: Kevin finding Vilgax in the second season finale, and the Negative 10 later on.
380	* VoicesAreMental: {{Averted}} for the aliens (with the exception of Upgrade), but played straight in the FreakyFridayFlip episode.
381	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Thanks to the Omnitrix, Ben can voluntarily change into a whole army of aliens -- ten at first, and nine more canonically by the end of the series; his "Ben 10,000" incarnation has up to ten thousand transformations, including three new ones we see and five others mentioned in "Ken 10"; and ''Race Against Time'' adds Eon for that version of Ben. And that's just in ''this'' series.
382	%%* WeAreTeamCannonFodder: Version two, Gwen and Grandpa Max.
383	* WebcomicTime: The summer road trip lasted nearly the whole of the original series (four seasons or years in real life).
384	* WeirderThanUsual:
385	** In "Last Laugh":
386	-->'''Gwen Tennyson:''' Ever since we decided to go to the circus, you've been acting weirder than normal. What are you scared of?\
387	'''Ben Tennyson:''' I'm not scared of anything.
388	** In "A Change Of Face" when Charmcaster was inhabiting Gwen's body.
389	-->'''Ben Tennyson:''' Grandpa have you noticed Gwen has been acting weird lately? I mean ''weirder'' than usual?
390	* WhamEpisode: "Secrets", which resolves the MythArc hinting at Max's past and formally introduces [[KnightOfCerebus Vilgax]] to Ben's life.
391	* WhatIf: The out-of-mainstream-continuity episode "[[Recap/Ben10S2E4Gwen10 Gwen 10]]".
392	** The show's last episode: "Goodbye and Good Riddance", which takes a look at what Ben's life would be like when summer vacation ended but is declared non-canon.
393	%%*WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Uncomfortably applied at the beginning of the series,given that Ben isn't human half of the time.Subverted in later episodes
394	* WheresTheFunInThat: In the WhatIf episode where Gwen was the one the [[ClingyMacGuffin Omnitrix]] attached itself to, [[BigBad Vilgax]] has her restrained and selects from a range of sharp-looking tools to forcibly remove it from her.
395	-->'''Gwen ''[nervously]'':''' Couldn't you just slip the watch off?\
396	'''Vilgax:''' And what fun would ''that'' be?
397	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: In Ben's case, [[MonsterClown clowns]]. In the case of the clowns, [[HorrifyingTheHorror Ghostfreak]].
398	* TheWorfEffect: ''All'' of the original aliens fail to put a scratch on [[PlanetDestroyer The Great One]] in "The Big Tick". It's only the newly-acquired Cannonbolt that's able to destroy it.
399	* WouldHurtAChild: Subverted in the sense that whenever Ben transforms and does battle, he gets beat up pretty graphically, which would look unsettling if it was happening in his human form. Played straight when he reverts back to Ben and his enemies don't hesitate to take advantage of his vulnerability.
400	%%* WrenchWench: Road Crew member Turbine is a villainous version.
401	%%* WretchedHive: Incarcica in TheMovie is described as this, even though it's technically a prison.
402	* YouAndWhatArmy: Ben asks this Dr. Animo when the latter announces he will [[TakeOverTheWorld take over the world]] with the mutated Lepidopterran he created out of Ditto's [=DNA=]. Animo's response is "this one" and the Lepidopterran clones itself into an army in a similar fashion to Ditto.
403	* YouMustBeThisTallToRide: In the episode "A Small Problem", Ben is told he's too short to go down a water slide, which he immediately decides to rectify by turning into Ripjaws. Maybe it's for the best that he ended up as the less-noticeable Grey Matter instead.
404	* YouWontFeelAThing: Ben defeats a cyborg Rojo by merging with her as Upgrade and says "This won't hurt a bit" before adding "Okay, I lied".
405	* YourOtherLeft: Totally played straight when Gwen is trying to ride on Ben [[AccidentalInnuendo (as Wildmutt)]]'s back after he is rendered "blind" from a cold.

Context WesternAnimation / Ben10