What An Idiot / Ben 10

Ben might have the most powerful weapon in the universe, but sometimes he doesn’t have the smarts to know what the right thing to do is.

• The Original Series:
  • "Kevin 11":
    • The episode begins with Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max staying at a four-star hotel for a night that Max paid for (keep this in mind for later). Ben sees the new Sumo Slammer video game that won't be out until Christmas in one of the rooms, and naturally can't wait to get his hands on it. Problem is, there's a security guard there who wouldn't let him in, and Max reminds him not to sneak back in there with the Omnitrix.
      You'd Expect: Ben would be a good boy and do what his grandfather says. He was just told by the security guard—who didn't believe Ben's story about being one of the game pros testing the system, mind you—that only VIPs are allowed in. Even the possibility of waiting until everyone's settled in their room is iffy at best.
      Or: Transforming himself into one of the many aliens he can with the Omnitrix and scare him by threatening him if he doesn't allow Ben to play the game, so the guard lets Ben in the next time he sees him.
      Instead: He turns into Ghostfreak and sneaks past the guard to get to the Sumo Slammers game.
      Extra Idiot Points: As Ghostfreak, he whispers "but he will" into the guard's ear just to taunt him, which is a great way to earn suspicion. Sure enough, when next we cut back to Ben, he's no longer Ghostfreak, just plain old Ben.
      As a Result: The family gets booted out of the hotel, Max punishes Ben by banning him from anything related to Sumo Slammers for two weeks, and Gwen never gets to enjoy the spa. "Game Over" indeed.
    • After storming off in a huff and meeting the titular Kevin, Ben tells Kevin about the new Sumo Slammer game. Kevin then suggests breaking into a nearby game warehouse to snag themselves a copy.
      You'd Expect: Ben to politely decline. He already got in trouble for trying to get at that same game, and there's no point in dragging another kid into more delinquent behavior. Plus Kevin isn't nearly as unhinged as he would be later, so he might understand.
      Instead: Ben goes along with it, still pissy at Grandpa Max.
      As A Result: The boys get caught by disproportionately armed security and in the chaos Ben goes Stinkfly, revealing his powers to Kevin. After seeing Ben in action, Kevin becomes intoxicated with the potential of the Omnitrix and begins to slowly spiral from mischievous punk to homicidal psychopath. Congratulations Ben, you just created the show's second biggest villain.
    • This of course leads to Kevin absorbing Heatblast's power and going on a rampage against his enemies. Ben shows up as Four Arms to stop him and Kevin absorbs his DNA to become a deformed version of the alien. The two brawl until Four Arms overpowers Kevin and he surrenders. Changing back, Ben offers to help Kevin by taking him in so he can find acceptance as a hero.
      You'd Expect: Kevin to take up Ben's offer. Even if he hates the idea of helping those who shunned him, he would still have food, shelter, and a family, which would certainly be an improvement over his lonely life in the subway.
      Instead: He grabs the Omnitrix, having faked remorse, and tries to take it off Ben, which earns him a shockwave to the face from the watch's defense mechanism.
      As A Result: Kevin absorbs more energy from the watch, which eventually mutates him into a Chimera-like monster of Omnitrix Aliens, warping him physically and mentally into the monstrous freak people saw him as. Things do not get better for him until Alien Force.
  • In “Dr. Animo and the Mutant Ray”, Ben decides to try to hack the Omnitrix in an effort to unlock more transformations.
    You’d Expect: Ben will use Greymatter’s intelligence to figure out the inner workings of the watch, as he’d previously displayed the knowledge required to diagnose a glitch off the top of his head back in “A Small Problem”, even commenting on it, and making sure to leave simple instructions for himself when he turned back.
    Instead: The lad just attacks the thing with a flathead screwdriver like it was two misbehaving Lego pieces stuck together!
    Predictably: Ben only succeeds in breaking the super-advanced, one-of-a-kind piece of alien technology that messes around with his DNA. He’s lucky this didn’t end with him transformed into a puddle of slag.
  • "Back With a Vengeance":
    • Max opens a portal to send Vilgax and Kevin, two of Ben's archenemies who have recently teamed up, to the Null Void, a horrific pocket dimension. Just as the villains are being dragged into the portal, Ben (as Diamondhead) shows up to save the day.
      You'd Expect: Ben stands back and watches in delight as his enemies get trapped in another dimension for all eternity, which is a satisfying enough victory.
      Instead: Ben foolishly runs to the portal still trying to fight them, despite Max warning him not to.
      Predictably: Vilgax reaches his hand through the portal, grabs Ben's face, and drags him in with them. It's only then Ben realized it was a bad idea.
    • Later, Ben and Gwen are trying to escape the Null Void. However, Kevin is trying to escape before them. Then Ben calls to him, saying "I'm over here Kevin! Come get me!"
      You'd Expect: For Kevin to, as he said a few minutes ago, "leave him stranded in the dimension with his arch nemesis", which is a satisfying enough revenge.
      Instead: He charges at Ben to kill him.
      As a Result: A head hop and a few jumps later, Ben is home free. Kevin is just plain screwed.
  • In "The Galactic Enforcers", Ben and the titular Galactic Enforcers are fighting two crazed and deadly mercenaries called Sixsix and Volcanus. Gwen and Grandpa Max are locked in the Galactic Enforcers' ship, being not allowed by the Enforcers to be involved with the business below.
    You'd Expect: Gwen and Max to stay where they are. They are both unarmed humans and Max doesn't even have access to his Plumber equipment. They are not going to be able to dent the two villains in the state they are in now.
    Instead: Max hacks and activates the teleporters and he and Gwen teleport, Leeroy Jenkins style, down to the location.
    As a Result: Upon arrival, they IMMEDIATELY get in trouble and Ben has to save them, allowing Sixsix and Volcanus to get away with what they wanted.
  • Over 400 years before the events of "Don't Drink the Water", Ponce de Leon discovers the fountain of youth, and orders an honor-bound soldier to keep its secret for all time.
    You'd Expect: The soldier to watch over it for eternity, keeping people away. He's even shown to own the property it's on.
    Instead: He leaves his post to get a job at a fair, working the dunk tank sideshow, where he has filled the tank WITH WATER FROM THE FOUNTAIN and fails to turn away the Tennysons from trying it after claiming it is out of order. Unsurprisingly, it is not out of order, and it reverts Grandpa Max to his 10-year-old self. Wanting to investigate this condition, the family heads back to the sideshow where the guardian's address is printed on the side of it. Following this address, they find him and he confesses to having told Hex the location of the fountain.
    As a Result: All his actions directly jeopardize the secret he was meant to be protecting.
  • "The Unnaturals": Cash is out of action due to Events involving the Squires and their secret backers. Ben decides to pretend to be Cash to help the Bellwood baseball team win. Keep in mind, that this isn't just any normal old game, it's the Little League World Series.
    You'd Expect: Since Bellwood is Ben's hometown and Ben goes to school with them, they'd recognize him. You'd also think that the coach would have had to register the players participating (to prevent cheating by swapping out with better players), that the ballpark would have a copy of this list for each team, and that security and/or officials would check that the kids coming through were who they said they were -school IDs were a thing long before Ben 10 came out.
    Instead:: No one seems to recognize Ben, no one checks as to whether he's really Cash, and he manages to get to second base.
    Addition: He really didn't need to go through all that to expose the robots and protect the President. Three minutes with Gwen or Grey Matter would have come up with much better plans.
    For Added Stupidity: Immediately after sliding into second base Ben turns into Four Arms with only some dust shielding him. Keep in mind he is in front of a large crowd in a baseball stadium that has increased security due to the President being there. A Celestialsapian must have decided to let Ben off easy because there is no other way his secret remained intact after doing this otherwise.

• Ben 10: Alien Force:
  • In "Kevin's Big Score", Kevin finds out that Argit (an old partner of his in the black market alien tech underworld) has a Holoviewer containing a message for Ben from his grandfather.
    You'd expect: Kevin to share this information with Ben and Gwen so they could come up with a plan to buy, trade for, or steal it.
    Instead: Kevin steals the Rust Bucket to trade it because he doesn't want to bring up his past - a past Ben and Gwen already know about! - for fear they wouldn't trust him again. But stealing their grandpa's house with no explanation is sure to gain their trust...

  • In "Plumbers Helpers", Helen (the sensible one) and Manny (the hothead), a pair of Half-Human Hybrids, are going around and combating aliens on Earth. Not necessarily wrong, considering that Earth is suffering an Alien Invasion at that moment. However, it quickly becomes apparent that they operate based on an understanding that alien = evil, and that any good arising from their actions is at best incidental.
    You'd expect: Having seen that he is willing to endanger hundreds of lives, that Helen would realize Manny is dangerous.
    Instead: Helen goes right back to helping Manny.
    What's Worse: Before then, Helen was shown having second thoughts about their campaign, yet despite all available evidence that Manny is way in the deep end, doesn't act to mitigate it.
    
  • "Grounded":
    • Ben's parents find out about the Omnitrix. Naturally, they have some questions, and try to get the whole story from him.
      You'd expect: For them to be proud (or, at the very least, understanding) of their son. Ben is protecting the world from aliens and other galactic threats. Not only that, but they saw him taking on that one Highbreed on the street and fighting him off okay, black eye notwithstanding.
      Instead: They are upset that Ben lied to them, just like Grandpa Max did all those years ago... ignoring that he did so to protect his family, just like Ben. Worse, they try to get the Omnitrix off his wrist. When that doesn't work, they forbid him from using it. When that doesn't work, they outright ground him. All this while Ben and co. have a battle with the Highbreed going on. Skewed Priorities doesn't begin to describe it.
    • Unfortunately, Ben doesn't make the best decisions either. For example, when Ben tries to go and help the others, he gives his parents the excuse that he's helping Gwen with a school project.
      You'd expect: Ben to wait at least until he's a good distance away from his house before he transforms.
      Instead: He transforms right in front of his house.
      As a Result: Ben gets caught and grounded.

  • In "Vengeance of Vilgax", Ben and Kevin try to hack the Omnitrix to give Ben the Master Control, but Azmuth shows up and tells them not to tamper with it.
    You'd Expect: Ben to listen to Azmuth and Kevin and they should object to the idea.
    You'd Also Expect: Ben to ask Azmuth to unlock the Master Control - he built the thing, and nothing gets worse if Azmuth says, "no".
    Instead: Ben pushes a button causing an Omnitrix overload. Kevin tries to get Ben free but winds up caught in the crossfire as the device explodes.
    As a Result: The Omnitrix is on the fritz, four aliens escape, Kevin becomes a mixture of solids, and Ben loses Azmuth's trust.
    
  • In "Time Heals", Gwen steals a spellbook from Hex's mansion to perform a time-traveling spell. She intends to go back in time to the events of Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 1 and stop Ben and Kevin from hacking the Omnitrix in order to undo Kevin's mutation. Professor Paradox stops Gwen before she can activate the spell and warns her that there are consequences for interfering in the past.
    You'd Expect: Gwen to heed Paradox's warning and not go through with her plan. After all, she should know better than to argue with a Time Master who knows more about time travel than her and has seen the possible outcome of such action.
    Instead: Gwen ignores Paradox's warning and still goes through with her plan without a second thought.
    As a Result: While she succeeds in preventing Kevin's mutation, she accidentally creates a Bad Future where Charmcaster and Hex Take Over the World since Kevin's mutation was what made him strong enough to stop them. She also learns that in that future, Charmcaster killed her and brainwashed Kevin into one of her rock monsters while Ben is held prisoner in Hex's mansion. Nice going, Gwen!

  • In "Above and Beyond", Alan comes up with an idea but doesn't say what it is, and believes it to be stupid. Pierce, as the auxiliary leader of the group, asks for the suggestion anyway, and it turns out to be to use the Plumber's Badge locator feature to find Grandpa Max, who is clearly trying to hide from Ben as part of the secret training for the Plumber's Helpers.
    You'd Expect: Pierce realizes from Alan's questioning of his own suggestion that Ben may be using the locator himself to make it easier for himself to find Max. If he is to use the locator, it would be better to do so to keep track of Ben's location and work off of that.
    Instead: He just goes along with the suggestion without a second thought or any other sign of major caution. He gets separated from Alan and falls into a trap where he is isolated from Ben.
    As a Result: Cue being on the rough end of a Curb-Stomp Battle as a reward for disappointing sense for a leader.
• Ben 10: Ultimate Alien:
  • In "Duped", Ben wants to see the new Sumo Slammers movie, while Kevin wants him to help track down the Forever Knights and Julie wants him to watch her tennis game. Taking advantage of his Echo Echo form's powers, Ben splits himself into three versions: one logical, one compassionate, one aggressive.
    You'd Expect: Compassionate Ben to watch Julie's game and Aggressive Ben to help Kevin fight the Forever Knights.
    Instead: Compassionate Ben is helping Kevin, generally creeping him out by constantly trying to talk about their feelings. Aggressive Ben is watching Julie's game, generally being an ass and ruining both players' concentration.
    Then: At the end of the episode, Ben gets back in one piece and Julie forgives him, saying she knew it wouldn't be easy dating a superhero. Then she offers to go see the Sumo Slammers movie with him.
    You'd Expect: Ben to just keep quiet and go see a movie from his favorite franchise for the second time.
    Or: Counter-offer to go see a movie Julie would like to see.
    Instead: Ben rejects and explains he'd already seen the movie during her game.
    The Result: Julie, Gwen, and Kevin are predictably pissed off at him and storm off.
    
  • In "Perplexehedron", after having failed to stop Aggregor from gathering three of the four pieces of the Map of Infinity, Ben, Gwen and Kevin finally get the last piece from the MacGuffin Guardian at the titular maze. They start running as the Perplexehedron is collapsing, but Ben wants to go back and save him.
    You'd Expect: Ben to give Kevin the last piece to take back to the Rustbuckett II while he and Gwen save the guardian, effectively securing it from Aggregor's hands.
    Instead: Ben keeps the last piece and lets Aggregor take it while saving the guardian, letting Aggregor reach the Forge of Creations and risk endangering the universe. And to add insult to injury, it was All for Nothing since the guardian fades out of existence for failing his mission.

  • In "Couples Retreat", Darkstar manages to find a way to Ledgerdomain, a realm made of mana that can feed his need for energy. While there, he meets Charmcaster, who rules said realm and controls its power. Despite having a somewhat insane sense of fun, she is completely smitten with him. Hell, it is all but stated outright that she slept with him. In addition to that, she's willing to give him however much energy he needs to destroy his enemies.
    You'd Expect: Darkstar to realize he's hit the motherlode, and not do anything to betray the trust she's put in him.
    Instead: Complete sociopath that he is, Darkstar not only persists in acting like she owes him more but practically ignores her entirely. He boasts about taking over Earth and her dimension and continues to lust after Gwen (who, remember, wants nothing to do with him).
    Predictably: She depowers him then tosses him back to Earth like garbage.
    For added stupidity: The above mistakes weren't actually enough to completely alienate her. All he had to do was remember her real name: Hope. Just one simple little name. He can't even do that!
• Ben 10: Omniverse:
  • A Big Bad Triumvirate made of Khyber, Malware and Dr. Psychobos is working on a plan to assassinate Azmuth and commit genocide on the Galvans. In "Outbreak", Psychobos goes after Ben to get a piece of the Omnitrix from him. He actually succeeds in catching Ben and taking the piece.
    You'd Expect: Psychobos to seize the occasion to kill Ben.
    Instead: He lets him go, and, when called out for it by Malware, says that Ben isn't a threat to their plan.
    As a Result: Needless to say, when their plan starts being pulled out, Azmuth just calls for Ben, who ends up ruining everything.
  • Speaking of the aforementioned group of villains, their elaborate plan requires distracting Azmuth (and preferably killing him, at least as far as Psychobos is concerned) long enough for Malware to pull off the actual plan- Blow up his home planet Galvan B and infect the remains so he can use them to take over Galvan Prime.
    You'd Expect: The trio just recruits a few bounty hunters along with Khyber to take care of the whole distraction thing, allowing them to put the plan in action fast and effectively;
    Instead: They waste no less than 5 years working on an elaborate Omnitrix knock-off called the Nemetrix, testing it, training an animal to use it (for it doesn't work properly on sentient beings), hunting dangerous predators to collect their DNA sample and trying to steal DNA and pieces from Ben's Omnitrix, all so they could trap Azmuth with his own species' extinct predator.
    As a Result: By the time they pull off the plan, Ben has become more experienced and powerful, and the high resources and time they put into their convoluted plan end up wasted.
  • In "Many Happy Returns", Rath attempts to rescue a girl from a burning building and succeeds, nearly getting killed in the process - when suddenly the girl starts crying for her dolly, which is still in the building!
    You'd Expect: Rath to leap to his feet and tell the girl something about gratitude.
    Instead: He jumps back into the building to find her doll and would have died in the process had it not been for the long-awaited return of Gwen and Kevin.
  • Talking about said plan, when it's falling apart, Khyber decides to make his escape in "Showdown, Part 1".
    You'd Expect: Considering the Nemetrix works on non-sentient creatures only, and his pet is loyal to him, he would take said pet along with him, which would avoid him the waste of time to find and train a new one.
    Instead: Probably because the writers needed to answer the general belief amongst fans that Khyber was a Noble Demon who cared about his pet by having him showing he is indeed evil, he just leaves the pet behind for no apparent reason. Not only does this involve the problems mentioned above, but Azmuth was actually going to use the pet to track him and would have done so if not for Malware's arrival.
  • In "Vilgax Must Croak", Ben is charged with taking his Arch-Enemy Vilgax to custody to Incarceon:
    You'd Expect: Considering the last time Ben fought him had Vilgax Scam Diagon, he would act serious and concentrated during the mission, constantly keep an eye on him and be ready for anything.
    Instead: He treats it casually, constantly boasts about how he has defeated Vilgax a thousand times, and even at some point allows Vilgax to get temporarily free to help.
    As a Result: Needless to say, by the end of the episode, Vilgax has not only escaped, but actually had Ben at his mercy, and our hero only survived because the overlord ended up making the same mistake as Psychobos.
  • In "Rule of Engagement", Ben is playing video games when his girlfriend Julie calls him:
    You'd Expect: Ben to stop playing to answer the call. There are things such as a pause button in most games, after all, and even if there isn't, losing one game isn't as bad as angering his girlfriend
    Instead: He keeps playing while answering, resulting in his frustration and insult at the game being interpreted by Julie as directed toward her, and she breaks up with him.
    For added stupidity: He didn't call her back when he noticed she wasn't calling anymore. By the time he meets her again, she already has moved on and found a new boyfriend.
  • In "Special Delivery": Ben is forced to make a delivery for his neighbor Mr. Baumann as a payment for destroying his car. During the delivery, he accidentally ends up exchanging a goldfish he is supposed to deliver with a Dwarf Star, an artifact of great power that thug leader Psyphon was about to sell, causing everyone in Undertown to attack him so they can get it. When Psyphon finally confronts him about it, Ben, having no idea what the Dwarf Star is, offers to willingly trade it back for the goldfish if they just let him finish his delivery in peace:
    You'd Expect: Psyphon to just shut up and accept the offer, so everything can go his way without further trouble.
    Instead: The idea Ben would agree to trade something so powerful for something so worthless is so confusing to him that he feels the need to voice the thought, including what the Dwarf Star really is.
    As a Result: Needless to say, Ben immediately rescinds his offer and proceeds to sweep the floor with his minions.
  • Similarly, after the above events happened, Psyphon finds himself alone with the Dwarf Star while Ben is busy kicking his minions' asses.
    You'd Expect: Psyphon to just leave while Ben can't see him.
    Instead: He uses the Dwarf Star on himself and attacks Ben.
    As a Result: After a fairly difficult fight, Ben wins and takes the Dwarf Star back.
  • In "Frogs of War, Part 2", the Incurseans unleash a full-scale invasion on Earth in an attempt to prepare a conquest of the Galaxy. Surprisingly, they win: Ben is forced to surrender and is sent into exile, the Plumbers are arrested, and Earth is taken over. What remains of Ben's friends decide to start La Résistance.
    You'd Expect: They recruit solely people who they know are trustworthy and genuinely care about their cause.
    Instead: They allow Kevin's friend Argit, an alien Con Man well-known for his Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, into their rebellion.
    Predictably: Argit betrays them on the first opportunity (not that it goes well for him) and they only get away thanks to a Big Damn Heroes from Ben posing as an Incursean.
  • In “For a Few Brains More”, Albedo succeeds in absorbing Azmuth’s brain... but he also absorbs his wisdom too. With this, he finally realizes how pointless being evil is, and refrains from attacking the heroes further.
    You’d Expect: Ben to have a heartfelt talk with the enemy, learning a thing or two about Kevin’s development, and the two could be on pleasant terms.
    Instead: Ben glosses over this completely, and wastes no time in transforming and attacking.
    Predictably: After needlessly antagonizing Albedo, the latter ends up rescinding his potential Heel-Face Turn, and the two Omnitrix rivals fight to the violent, bitter end once more.
  • During the aforementioned fight Ben unlocks Atomix, an alien that is powerful enough to Curbstomp Albedo as Ultimate Humungousaur.
    You'd Expect: Albedo to turn into the ultimate form of either Waybig, Gravatack or possibly even NRG in order to stand a better chance against this powerful new form.
    Instead: He turns into Ultimate Spidermonkey, who is arguably weaker than Ultimate Humungousaur.
    As a result: Albedo is quickly beaten and is later turned into a 10-year-old version of Ben as punishment.
    
  • At the end of the episode, Ben is told by Azmuth that the reason the Omnitrix keeps giving him the wrong alien is because he is pushing too hard.
    You’d Expect: Ben to remember this and be more delicate when using the Omnitrix.
    Instead: In the next story arc, he is supposed to know that, yet keeps pushing just as hard, despite supposedly knowing it will get him the wrong aliens.
  • In “Charmed, I’m Sure”, Charmcaster absorbs the Alpha Rune’s strength after having it stolen from Z’Skayr, and then she proceeds to back out of her alliance with Ben and Rook, attacking them.
    You’d Expect: For Charmcaster to show off her abilities for a few minutes and then teleport away. By her standards, killing Ben isn’t nearly as satisfying as gaining more power elsewhere and plotting against other enemies, mainly her arch-nemesis Gwen.
    Instead: She decides to stick around and chase Ben.
    As a Result: The heroes eventually defeat her after a long fight.
  • In "Mud Is Thicker Than Water", the Plumbers know they have a mole inside their headquarters who is stealing their tech and selling it to criminals. At the same time, they end up having to deal with the Anihilarg, a Doomsday Device capable of destroying the entire universe that was originally broken, but that their scientists Blucik and Driba somehow fixed:
    You'd Expect: The Plumbers to just destroy the Anihilarg again, and this time dispose of the remains so nobody will be able to fix it. After all, there really is no point in an organization in charge of protecting the galaxy keeping a device that can destroy the Universe, and its previous destruction proves you can dispose of it easily.
    Instead: They decide to move it to another planet.
    As a Result: The escort ends up attacked by Psyphon's thugs, and the mole steals the Anihilarg in the confusion.
    For Added Stupidity: "End of an Era" involves the new Big Bad stealing the Anihilarg from the Plumbers again... in the future. They still haven't considered just destroying this device they have no reason to keep even after Ben became an adult and father. Yes, the plot of the final season relies on this device remaining intact, but that doesn't change the fact that it requires almost everyone involved, save the few who know how the future plays out, to take leave of their senses.
  • In “Vilgax Must Croak”, Attea is at odds with Ben and the plumbers, because she and her crew are trying to kill Vilgax for strategic leverage over his planet and eventually the rest of the galaxy, while the heroes just need to simply incarcerate him. Ben tries to truce with Attea, considering they both hate Vilgax.
    You’d Expect: Knowing of Ben’s capabilities, Attea would accept a deal for the time being.
    Instead: Attea flat out refuses and attacks him, because she still wants payback on Ben so badly for imprisoning her in stasis jail.
    As a Result: Attea makes her mission even more difficult than it already was, by practically begging the powerful, shapeshifting superhero to oppose her. Needless to say, her plan goes up in flames and Milleous is extra pissed at her.
  • In "Return to Forever", Ben sees Forever Knight member Sir Morton kidnapping his friend and fan Jimmy Jones:
    You'd Expect: Ben, being a shapeshifter with no less than three forms having Super-Speed as their main power, and even more capable of flight, to just turn into one of those and catch up with Morton;
    Instead: He tries to chase Morton as a human, and settles on using his friend's vehicle when that doesn't work.
  • Also in "Return to Forever", Ben as Lodestar is fighting the Forever Ninja, which is a robot.
    You’d Expect: Ben uses his magnetic powers directly on his metal opponent or even the metal vehicles they're both standing next to.
    Instead: he only tries to use them on the shurikens that are being thrown at him. When the shurikens turn out to be wood and he can't control them, the Forever Ninja is able to completely hold Ben at bay.
  • In "Animo Crackers", Dr. Animo's future self travels back to the present to help himself escape Plumber HQ and defeat Ben. During a confrontation with Ben, Ben transforms into Gutrot, a form he has never previously used. Rather than fumble through his new powers, Ben decides to cut out the middleman and just ask Future Animo what this alien does.
    You'd Expect: Future Animo to refuse and attack Ben with his present self before Ben can figure out his powers.
    Or: Lie about what Gutrot's powers are to slow Ben down.
    Instead: Future Animo explains Ben's new alien's powers for him, even as his present self protests his obvious stupidity.
    As a Result: Both Animos get their asses handed to them in record time.
  • The Rooter Story arc as a whole: Proctor Servantis, the leader of a black op branch in the Plumbers, comes to the conclusion Ben is a threat to the entire Universe, for the insane power granted by the Omnitrix shouldn't be given to an immature child. As such, he decides to do something about it.
    You'd Expect: Servantis, being a high-ranking Plumber, to either just come in contact with Azmuth (the guy who created the Omnitrix and is allowing Ben to keep it) and express his concern to him, hoping to convince him to remove the Omnirix from Ben; or, if he doesn't believe Azmuth can be convinced, figure out a way to remove the Omnitrix from Ben by himself.
    Instead: He immediately decides the only solution is to murder Ben, who was 11 at the time; aside from the fact there is no way people would approve of him trying to kill a little kid, this probably would only result in the Omnitrix being handed over to a new owner, or, if it was destroyed along with Ben, Azmuth possibly building a new one.
    For Added Stupidity: His plan to eliminate Ben? Turn a bunch of orphans into super-powered Child Soldiers to send after him. Led by Kevin Levin, a kid who at the time already had a criminal record and who has the unique weakness of turning Ax-Crazy whenever he comes in contact with the Omnitrix.
    Predictably: Kevin ends up touching the Omnitrix and going psychotic, causing the mission to almost turn into a slaughter for everyone, which is only averted by Argit.
  • After the aforementioned failure, Proctor Servantis erases Kevin's and his team's memories and abandons them in the wild. At some point after these events, Ben decided to retire from being a superhero, removed the Omnitrix, and stopped using it for roughly four years, keeping it at home as a souvenir.
    You'd Expect: Servantis to seize this golden opportunity and send agents to search his home for the Omnitrix so he can easily obtain it and destroy it, thus ridding the universe of Ben's potential threat without the need to murder an innocent and now harmless kid.
    Instead: Servantis considers "the storm has passed" and decides to do nothing about it, apparently not considering the possibility Ben might put the Omnitrix back on. Which, as mentioned above, ends up happening. And when that does happen, it takes him until the present (a year after Ben has returned to being a hero) to actually do something about it.
    For Added Stupidity: His plan to deal with Ben this time? Find and put back together Kevin's team so they will attempt killing Ben again. Basically, exactly the same plan that failed last time. And he is trying to recycle it with only minimal alterations against a Ben who is five years more experienced, has an upgraded Omnitrix, and has unlocked several new, more powerful forms. Predictably, Ben absolutely wipes the floor with the team, and the only reason the plan almost works is that Servantis manages to trick Kevin into joining him, causing Ben hesitation.
  • Servantis wasn't the only person who made an utterly stupid mistake in this Arc. While fighting the brainwashed Plumbers Kids and the Rooters Ben turns into Alien X
    You'd Expect: Ben just instantly ends the fight and then defeats Servantis, or at least un-brainwash the Plumbers Kids.
    Instead: He just makes his opponents fight each other after throwing them around for a bit.
    As A Result: Servantis's motives suddenly seem reasonable, and Kevin joins him.
    

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