History Headscratchers / Ben10

** He wasn’t concerned that she would learn things. He was saying ''now'' isn’t the time to explain things because at that point he knows they’re on a deadline to save Ben from Vilgax and can’t risk doing anything that could possibly slow them down and lose them precious time they might not have.

** It’s a what if of Ben’s identity being exposed at 10 years old.

** Realistically, if a close relative were to disappear from you and you were force to reuse something that caused you trauma, wouldn’t you act more mature? And if you suddenly got recognition and awards from hundreds of planets, wouldn’t your self confidence sky rocket to new levels? It’s not that he’s getting less mature. He’s simply evolving as a person.

** They wouldn't let that fly on Cartoon Network. It's a childrens cartoon after all.
*** To be fair, while that's an acceptable answer in terms of it being a TV show, it doesn't even remotely begin to justify the IdiotBall behavior of most villains in that regard from the narrative perspective. Even something along the lines of "the Omnitrix will blow up if it's removed by violent means" would be a sufficient narrative answer, though.
*** Actually I think Vilgax tried that once.
*** He did, but it failed because The Heroes Arrived [[BigDamnHeroes before he got around to it]], not because of the defense mechanisms.
** Someone else tried to do that in Alien Force. It didn't really work out.

* Why is it that Ben seems to be [[Main/{{Flanderization}} getting less mature as the series goes on]]?
** Because they finally succumbed to the "Main/TheHero's purpose is to mess up and learn an Main/{{Aesop}}, not to save the day" Syndrome. Its rarity in the beginning was the one thing I liked about that show.
*** It would help if they could at least [[Main/BrokenAesop get their Aesops right...]]

** Until Episode 4-10 "Goodbye and Good Riddance"

** Well, in one episode we see Ben pull loads of shirts of the same design out of a drawer. Perhaps Granpa Max's wardrobe consists entirely of the same Hawaiin shirt.
*** Hey, when you find a look that works...
* In regards to the Omnitrix, how was Doctor Animo able to make a Main/TransformationRay that use its alien technology, given that he's a human? And how does he later extract DNA of Ben's other forms from one of the copies made by Ben's Ditto form?

* This is probably a really dumb question, but after all the things Ben went through how is he not suffering PTSD? He's witnessed his cousin's soul taken by the one thing he fears most, he was ''almost'' amputated by Vilgax, he saw the possible destruction of Earth, one of the aliens he could become escaped the Omnitrix and is actively trying to merge with him, I could keep going on. I just find it weird that he's still perky after all of that. I know that question is really dumb, and if you'd like to say I'm overthinking stuff then I won't object.

** It is feasible that a purely biological creature could evolve that can interface with machines.
** [[Main/AnimationAgeGhetto It's a kid's show]]. The continual references to DNA are most likely attempts to increase the "science" portion of the series and giving the Omnitrix a plausible basis while simultaneously not making it so complicated that they alienate their target audience. Considering that Ben looked distinctly different from Victor after the Omnitrix absorbed him, along with the female forms of the aliens in "Gwen 10", it's obvious the Omnitrix functions differently to simply absorbing the DNA of an organism and replicating it onto the host.
*** You are also wrong. DNA is not gender specific as it adapts to the age (as seen in Ben 10,000 and Ken 100 and gender (as seen in Gwen 10) of the user. Benvictor is simply what Vicktor looked like before he used the massive Cryonic Reaming Orbitee Support System that utilized the power of captured Pyronites from the Pyronite - Piccis Volan War to super charge the violet anti matter sun (thus the robotic eye and purple lighting )that the Anur Sytem planets orbit around in order to drive the Anur Vladite instinct so that the invading mutated working class of Ectonurites (who would be mutated by the coronium to become the victors) could claim the planet in the name of High Ecto-Lord Ky-shrr (ghost freak).
** Nanomachines ''can'' be built using organic molecules, ''including'' DNA which just happens to be a nifty and already-proven method of information storage. In fact much of the current research into Nanotechnology is based on imitating the successful methods that nature provides. Why reinvent what already exists?
*** To further explicate your lack of research, had you looked it up you would have realized that Galvanic Mechamorphs were created when nanotechnology designed for the mining of the Galvin home world’s moon (Galvin B) malfunctioned and merged with the organic rich soil of the moon resulting in organic life formes with all the technological knowledge and prowess of the most intelligent species in the universe. It’s all on the official website(s)... Or So I Heard .
** It's all there in the manual. Upgrade's race (basically, the nanites) were created by the race of superintelligent little guys that Ben also has as one of his original ten. That race created the nanites to operate on a sort of "template" of their own genetics. It all went a bit wrong, of course, but it's implied that their mechanical structures do operate and act quite a lot like DNA since their creators based the design on their own biology originally.
* Forget [[Main/NeglectfulPrecursors Neglectful Precursors]]... aren't the current authority figures just as ridiculous? At any given moment, Ben is the target of no fewer than five villains who are interested in claiming the Omnitrix from him and harnessing its power. A power, we know, that is extremely useful and could decide the fate of the universe. And yet, no matter how many Omnitrix experts he meets (an alien agent posing as a bounty hunter, his grandfather's reptilian ex-girlfriend, the device's inventors, and even ''his future self''), '''not one of them''' thinks that maybe it might be a good idea to fix the device's noticeable and proven-to-be-completely-bypassable design flaw, so that he doesn't accidentally turn into a fish in the middle of the desert or find himself turning human again while in the middle of space? Even if you want him to learn to use it responsibly, certainly there's some interest in making sure ''the thing doesn't '''kill''' him!'' [[Main/StatusQuoIsGod Status quo is the devil, apparently.]]

*** I seem to rember good aliens coming by to help Ben out. There was that crazy FiveManBand ...

** A lot of those experts got hand waived as saying that this particular person knew of the Omnitrix, but not a detailed working knowledge of it. In the case of the creator, calling him a [[Main/NeglectfulPrecursors Neglectful Precursor]] would be putting it lightly. It might be argued that his Future self has an [[Main/OmniscientMoralityLicense Omniscient Morality License]] and possibly also a sense of nostalgia for how things went down the first time.
*** Exactly, future Ben knows (or at least, thinks he does, not being aware that he's only one possible outcome) that Ben won't die from an Omnitrix malfunction, because he ''is Ben''.
*** That, and Ben himself was capable of unlocking Omnitrix' control panel on his own, fixing said malfunction, in one episode. Granted, it was most probably by chance and he reset it near the end of episode, but that proves humans of normal intelligence are capable of doing it. And thus, said "Omnitrix experts" would see no need to help him, because they think it's nothing he can't fix himself.

** The simple answer is: He didn't die. Vilgax will almost certainly show up in "Alien Force" at some point.
*** Precisely. He has to be torn into little pieces by Future Ben at one point, after all.
*** {{Jossed}} by WordOfGod - The Future Episodes are not canon. Though it's fishy if it's just Ken 10 or Ben 10.000, too.
* Whatever happened to the Omnitrix being able to replicate DNA? I mean he's assimilated the forms of Ghostfreak's squad (though it looks like he forgot about them) so why not any of the other aliens he's met? I mean for some of the freindlier ones all he has to do is ask. It's not like shapeshifting (the Sludge from the wedding episode),telekinesis (Xylene)and whatever Ultimos wouldn't come in handy, and that's not even counting Ben's enemies, imagine if he could replicate Vilgax for example (although would he really replicate Vilgax with all the modifications, or just a typical member of his species?)

** To put it somply, it doesn't exactly "replicate" the DNA; it already contains samples of every non-Earth species across the Milky Way. The yellow setting ("capture") is actually more of a search engine; it finds the dormant sample and activates it, putting it into the rotation of choices.

** So far weve scene 40 out of TEN THOUSAND aliens to telling how usless the other 9,950 are.
** Chances are they aren't considered very powerful on their own planet among their own species where everyone has those powers.
** Easy: Ben himself is human, so he doesn't turn into one.
** My guess, humans have advantages in some areas, not all of Bens forms can do what he can, Wildmutt can't speak of see normally, Grey Matter is too small in a head to head fight, four-arms is big and clunky.
** On Earth, humans do have some advantages over most animals. Of course there's intelligence (which isn't important in ''Ben 10'', since all the aliens have that), but we also have the most highly developed combination of senses of any animal and we have a very high level of agility and stamina. We take those things for granted because we're all human, but those are the traits that Ben uses in his human form: he does most of his dodging, running and improvising as a human, and he switches to an alien form only when he's figured what he wants to do. While the other aliens are heavy hitters with a paper-rock-scissors logic to their powers, humans are quick and versatile enough to, in the right circumstances, at least stand a fighting chance against any of them (think of how future Ben defeated Vilgax with nothing but his human form, a hoverboard, and a quickly improvised strategy).
** Part of why the alien forms are such a power in Ben's hands is his human imagination and adaptiveness. 90% of the time Ben's victory comes not from having those powers but the way he thinks of using them, that normal members of the species in a world were everyone has such powers would not.
** This tropers theory is that humans special "power" is that they can make little half-breeds with anything humanoid.
*** This troper wonders HOW a human could have made some of those half-breeds. Specifically with aliens that are ON FIRE.
*** This troper figured humans were a slightly mobility-focused JackOfAllStats, or possibly the Gadget-User (whatever trope that would be). Agile but weak compared to most of the power species, and the only species shown that is significantly more agile (not speed-through-size, but in a way that could be useful in a fight) and stronger is Speedfreak, thanks to RequiredSecondaryPowers. Look at Gwen's Luckygirl powers. Her main abilities were using {{Magitek}} and being an acrobat. The only species this troper recalls using techniology adapted from oyther species aside from humans was Vilgax.
** WordOfGod says a human's special ability is adaptation. We see this in the Ultimate Alien episode "Ben 10,000 Returns" when Ben 10k shows off his best "transformation": Ultimate Ben.
*** Continuing off this, in Alien force, the Highbreed and DNAliens use some sort of mask that disguises themselves. My assumption is that when they... Y'know... The aliens are wearing one of those things.
** [[Literature/TheOdyssey There is no creature bred that is weaker than man.]]
*** So [[FlatWhat our superpower is sex?]] So, not (or literally) PowerPerversionPotential, but a ... Potentially Super-Perverted power...

* Where precisely ''is'' Bellwood, anyway? Maybe I just missed the episode, but when I [[http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Bellwood typed "Bellwood" into [=MapQuest=]]], the entire eastern half of the US seems to have a Bellwood. My personal bet is on Tennessee, just to keep with their whole "ten" theme...

** This Troper suggests Virginia, a mere 116 miles from "Washington BC".

** The best bet for Bellwood’s Location would be New York, because in Heroes United, Rex’s Universe takes in New York and Ben believes he is in Bellwood. It is revealed that Kevin is from Bellwood, when the Tennysons first meet him, it is in New York City, Kevin couldn’t get too far since he was only a child.
* Can I just ask, is the live action special meant to be taken as part of the cartoon continuity, or is it an alternate possibility like that "Gwen 10" episode?
** Live action is the canon ending of the series, and thus the lead-in to [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]] (the actual "final" episode, Goodbye and Good Riddance, is a what-if like Gwen 10 and the future eps). If you don't like Alien Force, then Goodbye and Good Riddance can be considered the series' end.
*** Actually, according to WordOfGod, the animated movie was supposed to be the ending and take place after Ben 10 Vs. The Negative 10. Both the live action movie and Goodbye and Good Riddance are non-canon.
*** Well, if you take Ultimate Alien into continuity, no and yes. There is this thing called Cross time, which is basically alternate timelines. Not only is the live action movie an alternate timeline, but so is Gwen 10, and a few video games.
* Maybe I'm missing something. Did any of the possible finales show the Omnitrix being removed? Or is there no explanation for how it ended up hidden in Ben's closet at the start of ''Alien Force''?
** Nope, looks like it happened during the timeskip.

** Preach it, bro. Preach it.
** Because if they did, then they'd have to acknowledge that Ben is actually *gasp!* learning and growing as a person. If they did that, then they couldn't keep the IdiotBall glued to his back anymore, and then they'd be forced to give it to someone else. Like Gwen. And we all know they'd never give the IdiotBall to Gwen, because then Max couldn't ride Ben like a thoroughbred in the Kentucky Derby while letting Gwen figuratively get away with murder.
** About that, one guy especially bugged this troper for some time: Ishiyama. Ben not only beat his BigBad , but also bring him back to life, and stil that UngratefulBastard dont want to give him a credit. What the heck?!

** I can't remember where I saw it, but I believe Cannonbolt's attack is actually a defensive technique to run away. They are built more for defense than offense. Ben just has little concept of how to utilize Cannonbolt like he was intended.
** This is another example of Ben's imagination and/or adaptability as a human thinking of something a normal member of an alien species wouldn't.

** ConservationOfNinjutsu ?
* In "Ben 4 Good Buddy" the Rustbucket gets stolen, but in an earlier episode Grandpa is shown to have a remote door lock-type thing on his keys that calls the RV to him on its own. Why didn't he use it? Even if the guy driving the RV ''could'' figure out how to override the thing, it would have at least distracted him for a bit.
** The writers forgot, presumably.
** The writers also forgot that the whole "newer isn't better" moral doesn't work when you're comparing a fancy earth RV to ''a disguised MIB tank''. It'd be tolerable as a mistake if it weren't for the fact that the various weapons were being shot throughout the episode.

* Seems Uncle Max could have solved a lot more problems by revealing his Plumber past earlier then he did.
** True. In fact, Gwen berated him for it during the first episode of the second season, and he apologized at the end.
** One scene absolutely must be mentioned, though. It's the first season finale, and Ben has just been captured by Vilgax. Max's immediate reaction is to drive to Mt. Rushmore as fast as possible. Gwen asks him why they're going ''away'' from the battle, and why they're going to Mt. Rushmore. Max's response? There isn't enough time to explain. Um... you're ''driving'', and for what sounds like over an hour. You're ''not being chased''. You're heading to ''your secret organization's base'' with intent to ''pick up heavy weaponry''. There's no way you're going to Mt. Rushmore and back without Gwen learning about things. Telling her what's going on is not only sensible, but about the only thing you ''can'' do for the duration of the drive.
*** The quote is "This is not the time to explain". While writing this, the episode is playing, so I can be very sure that's the exact line. However, I'm not sure how much that affects your complaint, it just implies he doesn't want to tell Gwen about it yet, not that there isn't an opportunity to do so.
* How did the Plumbers become Vilgax's greatest opposition? In a universe with such a large supply of superpowered races, it's odd that he would have the most trouble with a group of relatively powerless beings whose main advantage is their available technology, despite a) still being less technologically advanced than many of the others, especially the Galvans, and b) having a {{Masquerade}} on such technology, which only limits their ability to develop it. It makes less sense when you consider Earth's InsignificantLittleBluePlanet status among most of the other races.
** The Plumbers are an intergalactic organization consisting of many different alien species.
*** I would buy this if not for two things. First, Max described Xylene as an honorary Plumber. Second, in the flashback that marked the last time Max had seen him before retirement, Vilgax was stopped by two humans.
*** Any reason Xylene might only be an honorary plumber other than species? Prior contracts, an inability to abide by one or more Plumber rules, a history of being a morally ambiguous bounty hunter? And if Vilgax is Max's archenemy, or at least a major enemy, it would make sense that he'd been to Earth before, and was stopped in a situation that involved Max.
*** For starters, in the original series, the Plumbers were portrayed as a defunct, federal agency, meaning from the evidence in the show, they probably answered to the government before being shut down down and probably consisted of humans; the orignal series didn't portray the Plumbers has the still-active intergalatic police force in ''Alien Force'' and ''Ultimate Alien''. The fact that Xylene was called "honorary plumber" and not an actual one actually is another piece of evidence that supports that the Plumbers were handled in the sequel series in another flaw of the sequel series.

*** He's mostly invulnerable, but not indestructible. You can smash even regular diamond with a mallet because hardness is not the same as toughness. He's said to be invulnerable because he's a living crystal that can reform even when broken down.

** In the episode "Don't Drink the Water," a four year old Ben transforms into Fourarms, becoming a being that looks to be around 12-15 years old biologically. A 10 year old Fourarms is likely in his mid twenties by human standards.
** Who's to say that all aliens age at the same rate? Just because they're 10 doesn't mean they can't be an adult or even a senior citizen for their species.
** Besides, Ben's aliens are always the best genetic individuals of their race. A genetically perfect ten years old human could be easily mistaked for at least a teenager.

* Some alien stuff: How can Cannonbolt see where he rolling? How can Stinkfly shoot goo from his EYES? Why evolution give Ripjaws legs, if his whole planet is covered in water?

*** Would've been nice of them to modify Ripjaws so that he can actually survive more than a few minutes outside of water, wouldn't it?
*** But I saw Ripjaws with legs as prisoner in Secret of Omnitrix. Also it doesn't explain how Stinkfly shoots from eyes. Maybe he can open them. Hovewever I heard that Cannonbolt just have some kind of six sense.
*** In Secret of the Omnitrix, the Ripjaws alien was wearing a breathing apparatus over his gills, actually.
*** Having not seen this in a while, it's possible that Stinkfly is shooting from a duct on the side of his eyes. Pretty sure there's a lizard that does this as a defense mechanism.

* OK Ben got a werewolf, a mummy and Frankenstein's monster and a ghost. Were is Ben- Vampire?
** According to some of the supplementary material, the vampire-like aliens were destroyed by Ghostfreak's people.
** Well, we found out! It took [[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse a few years]], though. They do exist, or did, but it was ''Vicktor's'' people who got tired of their tyranny (and being used for food) and rose up to wipe them out.
* On Xylene's planet "once you hatch, you're on your own". That makes sense, but only with animals. Are they're born with ability to talk? Who teaches them law and stuff like that?
** The only explanation I can think of is that its like the [[Literature/KnownSpace Jotok]], where there's a mass-bred (litters of thousands) nonsapient phase left in the wild followed by metamorphosis of some sort into a sapient phase (with genetic mixing between phases to remove any incentive for parents to stick around and wait), with conventional child-rearing done by those with a ticking biological going to places where the metamorphosis happens and picking up the first newly-metamorphosed individual they see.
** ...[[FlatWhat What.]]
** Presumably they learn it the same way abandoned children do in the real world? They pick it up as they go along, sometimes by violating the rules and having someone explain why they don't do that? Besides, just because they're on their own doesn't necessarily mean there are no schools... they would just be schools that are much heavier on self-study than ours, and at the end of the day they kick you out and if you haven't managed to get a home for yourself, well, you're sleeping on the street. Or they have public libraries and at some point some adult smacks them on the head and says "Get yourself in there and read a book on proper behavior!" Just because they don't have a parental dynamic doesn't mean they can't have a society, it would just be a highly individualistic society.
*** And how does one exactly picks up on their own, if no one taught then language? They can't read on their own. I'm pretty sure abandoned children die, assuming they were abandoned right after birth.
* Gwen in the whole of "Gwen 10" and how she gets treated different than Ben does normally. Max seems to have no problem telling people the aliens are Gwen.
** I personally chalk this up to small differences in the scenes between "And Then There Were 10" and "Gwen 10". Max didn't see transformed Gwen until the robot was already attacking, and she hadn't had a chance to discuss the situation with him yet. She wasn't exactly pretending to not be his granddaughter during the battle. And Ben had been talking about the Omnitrix and Vilgax since the beginning of the episode. All things considered, plausible deniability was less plausible in this timeline.
** Gwen's a CreatorsPet on par with Lisa Simpson. That's really about the long and short of it, and why she's instantly better with it and everyone practically starts worshiping the ground she walks on now that she's a hero, instead of people barely noticing Ben's done anything (let alone saved the day).
* So in the episode "Ghostfreaked out" Ben realizes that he always felt weird as Ghostfreak because his DNA sample, Zs'skayr was trying to escape the Omnitrix. So every time Ben transformed into Ghostfreak he was Zs'skayr. Right? But how is that possible? Every time Ben went ghostfreak he acted just like himself. It didn't really seem like he was possessed by Zs'skayr while he was ghostfreak until he found out in that episode. It would have been more realistic if Ben had acted totally OOC while he was ghostfreak in past episodes.
** It's not that he was Zs'skayr when he turned into Ghostfreak. It's that Zs'skayr was trying to escape. He was still Ben at the time, but Zs'skayr was slowly taking over, and Ben was losing himself to Zs'skayr.
* In the Ben 10,000 future, Ken Tennyson uses Grey Matter to hack the Omnitrix and unlock the master control allowing him to switch between aliens at will with no time limit. Now why didn't Ben think of that, is Kenny smarter than Ben or is he just plain stupid? Makes sense considering Grey Matter is the Omnitrix's DNA sample of Azmuth, it's creator and the single smartest being in several galaxies.
** Ken has probably been observing Ben since he could remember. Ben (at this point) has had the omnitrix for all what three months or however long summer vacation lasts. Ben was constantly in action and probably never gave it much thought. Ken however has been waiting for this his entire life. Those features have already been unlocked for Ben, which means that Ken knows it's possible. By the time Ben had any clue he's met Azimuth, learned that the Omnitrix could destroy the universe and more importantly Azimuth might just let it, and it still only took him turning into a teenager to try and hack it.

* Charmcaster's use of a body-swap spell to get the Omnitrix in "A Change of Face" makes no sense. She states she wants to filter her spells through Ben's alien forms, but by her own statement in that episode, only people with magical auras can cast spells, and she just lucked out when the BodySurf spell landed her in Gwen's body, which she didn't know had an Aura. She has no way of knowing if Ben had an aura as well, or if he does have an aura would remain in his alien forms assuming he did, and if Ben ''doesn't'' have an aura, she would be stuck in the body of a 10-year old forever, with no means of escape. It seems like a lot to gamble on two off-chances.

** Maybe she just didn't think it through. Even if she couldn't cast while in Ben's body, she'd still have the most powerful device in the universe.

* How did Ben mistake Myaxx for Vilgax? I mean yeah, they're both the same species, with the tentacle face and all, and she was wearing a hood, but come on, [[HugeGuyTinyGirl Vilgax is what, twelve feet tall? Whereas Myaxx is human sized.]] Why couldn't Ben make that distinction?
** I was going to argue that Myaxx closely resembled Vilgax before his physical augmentation. Then I realized that Ben has never seen Vilgax looking like that, aside from a brief head-only dream sequence and a noncanon WhatIf episode. That only compounds the problem, doesn't it?
*** Ben is [[IdiotHero not noticeably bright]], particularly before the TimeSkip. He probably just saw green skin and facial tentacles and assumed the worst, not thinking it through sufficiently to notice the minor detail of size.
*** It might not be Ben's fault that he can't differentiate size very well. He's constantly changing into aliens that are both much bigger and much smaller than himself... it may have screwed with his ability to tell how big something should be "normally".
*** Ben had only seen one member of Vilgax's species before the event and considering how dangerous that one alien ''is'', one can forgive him for attacking before analyzing.
*** Myaxx was wearing a ''cloak'' at the time, likely having on other pieces of clothing, thus, the bulkiness of the outfit might be explained as her wearing a lot of clothes in this prison, besides, her body was ''very'' obscured, so, it might be a mistake, it might not, I don't know.

** A map in the ''Alien Swarm'' movie seems to place it in the central Midwest, somewhere up near the Minnesota/Wisconson area in the upper Midwest. So most likely either Nebraska or Iowa.

** Bellwood is likely in California or Nevada, because of the time it took the Tennysons to get to their first stop Yosemite National Park being night time, it hardly snows in he winter, it has a coast side climate, and it is near a desert.
** A map in the ''Alien Swarm'' movie seems to place it in the central Midwest, somewhere up near the Minnesota/Wisconson area in the upper Midwest.

** Bellwood was said to be in California or Nevada, because of the time it took the Tennysons to get to their first stop Yosemite National Park being night time, it hardly snows in he winter, and it is near a desert.
** A map in the ''Alien Swarm'' movie seems to place it in the central Midwest, somewhere up near the Minnesota/Wisconson area.

** Nevada

** Honestly, in stressful situations like your van being stolen, you tend to panic, which clouds your judgement. Perhaps said judgement clouding made Max forget he could do that.

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* In the Ben 10,000 timeline Ken Tennyson uses Grey Matter to hack the Omnitrix and unlock the master control allowing him to switch between aliens at will with no time limit. Now why didn't Ben think of that, is Kenny smarter than Ben or is he just plain stupid? Makes sense considering Grey Matter is the Omnitrix's DNA sample of Azmuth, it's creator and the single smartest being in several galaxies.