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Once more around the Ben.

Ben 10 (2016) is the fifth iteration of Cartoon Network's Ben 10 franchise following Ben 10: Omniverse, and a Continuity Reboot for the entire franchise. It is also the first installment since the original series to have series creators Man of Action Studios deeply involved in its production, now serving as showrunners as opposed to creative producers.

Taking a "back to basics" approach, the show follows 10-year-old cousins Ben and Gwen on a summer road trip with their Grandpa Max, having various adventures across the United States (and later the world), fighting a myriad supervillains and aliens using an alien watch called the Omnitrix, which got stuck onto Ben's wrist some time shortly before the show started.

In a departure from all prior iterations, the reboot is a quarter-hour series; while it maintains an overarching Myth Arc, it places a heavier focus on comedy and slapstick than any other installment.

The series premiered in most European and South Asian countries in October 2016 as a result of the franchise's huge popularity in those regions, while the United States would begin airing the series months later on April 10, 2017. A Grand Finale television movie entitled Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie, aired on October 10, 2020, though the show would also see a series of three one-hour specials air from April 9 to April 11, 2021 (United States), and April 10, July 10 and October 10, 2021 (United Kingdom), with the final one being an Intra-Franchise Crossover called Alien X-Tinction.


Ben 10 provides examples of:

  • Aborted Arc: Some examples:
    • It is implied that the mysterious council and/or creators of the Weatherheads would be fully revealed at some point, but this is left unexplored after their last appearance, Mud on the Run, which only introduces their immediate superior Sunny.
    • They were possible plans to bring back Michael Morningstar, since crew statements implied he broke free after Charmcaster’s book was destroyed in Season 3.
    • Vin and Lagrange’s rivalry was also teased to reach a conclusion, but this never happens. Strangely enough, Lagrange still appears regularly in Season 4, with Vin just having a brief cameo in Mock 10.
  • Actor Allusion: Jeff Bennett voices geokinetic, man-hating robots. Surely we are talking about Red Volcano, right?
  • Adaptational Attractiveness:
    • While still far from handsome, Stinkfly is at least humanoid now instead of a gigantic insect.
    • Bizarrely enough, a vehicle gets this. The Rustbucket goes from, well, a rustbucket, to a mostly shiny new camper.
  • Adaptational Badass: In this version The Circus Freak Trio are well coordinated enough to give a hard fight to Ben's aliens.
    • While Zombozo is no longer an Eldritch Abomination, he is a better fighter than in previous shows, even fighting several of Ben's aliens.
    • Kraab was by far the least impressive of the three bounty hunters Vilgax employed in the original series. Here, he outlasted Sixsix in every fight they had with Ben and got the drop on Tetrax, even shattering his arm and forcing Ben to save the Petrosapien.
  • Adaptational Heroism:
    • Sixsix and Kraab, who in the Original Series were recruited by Vilgax, turn out to have been Good All Along in this version- they were actually trying to prevent Vilgax's return.
    • Phil Billings gets in too. In the previous series he was introduced amoral Con Man who released alien criminals from the Null Void to recapture them and eventually became a Human/Terroranchula hybrid, joining the evil Black Ops Plumber team, the Rooters. Here, he's a friendly engineer who leads a construction team with an interest in the mechanics of the Omnitrix and the abilities of Ben's alien forms who helps monitor Ben when he starts uncontrollably switching forms.
    • While not heroes, Kevin and Charmcaster are less evil here than they were in the original series. Kevin is an obnoxious bully instead of a murderous psychopath, while Charmcaster reserves her villainy for Gwen (and by extension, the rest of the Tennysons) rather than gleefully committing crimes just because she can.
    • Likewise, Billy Billions also has more redeeming traits and Hidden Depths than he did in Omniverse, even admitting he wants to be friends with Ben and Gwen. Though everyone suffers Laser-Guided Amnesia in that episode, so it's rendered moot.
    • Dr. Animo's future self is a good guy as opposed to the unrepentant criminal who revived Vilgax in the original series.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: Gwen's rougher edges are smoothed out. While still more mature than Ben, she is more outwardly nice and supportive of him.
  • Adaptation Origin Connection:
    • Rather than being Hex's niece who also has magical powers, Charmcaster is now a normal girl who became magical due to buying Hex's Spellbook. The book only ended up being put on the market thanks to Ben and Gwen defeating Hex in "Freaky Gwen Ben". Subverted as she is Hex's niece after all.
    • In the original series, Kevin was just some random mutant kid with powers that Ben met during the summer that would later go on to become one of his most dangerous enemies (and later, eventual ally). In this adaptation, Ben is already familiar with Kevin since they went to school together.
  • Adaptation Personality Change:
    • While Gwen is still the more mature of the two kids, she is far more likely to join in on Ben's more questionable schemes and misadventures. Overall, Ben and Gwen are amicable to each other and behave more like close friends, in contrast to the regular fighting and snark that formed their Idiot Hero and Sarcastic Devotee dynamic in the original 2005 series.
    • Hex's seriously malicious personality has been traded out for a hammier one. He is so thoroughly entrenched in magic and fantastical elements that he will believe literally anything, such as confusing sleight of hand for real magic and zombie cosplayers for actual zombies.
    • Ben 10,000. In the original series he was a Knight in Sour Armor who had become alienated from his family due to his workaholic tendencies. His story arc was about mellowing out and learning to be Ben Tennyson again. Here he is suffering from trauma over losing his Grandpa Max, and he has ran away from everyone as a result. Likewise for all his jaded attitude, the original Ben 10,000 was still an active hero fighting dangerous villains. Here Ben is pulling Achiles In His Tent.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Tetrax; his second appearance has him going after Ben, specifically for the money it would get him, and resorts to some particularly vicious methods to get him to come with him.
  • Adaptational Wimp:
    • Grandpa Max has been downgraded to an average grandparent whose main contributions to the plot are his elderly wisdom and wilderness knowledge. This incarnation of the franchise lacks the existence of the Plumbers organization, thus removing Max's more badass traits. Traits such as advanced weaponry knowledge. The finale, however, reveals that he is indeed a Plumber, though is keeping that information from his grandchildren for reasons unknown.
    • Gwen is involved far more often in Ben's adventures thanks to them having a friendlier relationship here, and still remains as the brains of the duo. But she lacks the magical abilities that she had receive over the course of the original series. Notably her future counterpart is not a sorceress at all, using Powered Armor instead.
    • Zombozo is far less horrifying than the original, being a regular human out for profit rather than a vampiric creature who feeds off people's happiness and fear.
    • Billy Billions appears to be a regular Spoiled Brat rather than a Child Prodigy in this version. Since this series takes place when Ben is still 10, Billy didn't get sent to Another Dimension, nor did he end up taking over an army of killer robots.
    • As stated above, Hex is still just as powerful this time around. But he is also far more gullible and superstitious.
    • Sixsix seems to be the least threatening Bounty Hunter in this iteration, now that his role has essentially been switched with Kraab for the fearsome rival to Tetrax's authority and power. Not only is he the first to go down in practically every fight, but Kraab is also currently the dominant one in their alliance against Tetrax.
    • Ben 10,000 was a Future Badass in the original series, here he is severely out of shape and is far less competent than his ten year old self. However he does get better.
  • Adapted Out: Ripjaws, Ghostfreak and Wildmutt are left out of the original 10, replaced by Overflow, Cannonbolt and Wildvine. Subverted in Season 4, as Ripjaws and Wildmutt are planned to appear according to DNA pods, although Ghostfreak still doesn't seem to be appearing anytime soon.
  • Age Lift: Both Michael Morningstar and Frightwig were much older in previous series (Frightwig an adult in the original and Micheal a teenager in Alien Force). In this series, they are both at least Ben and Gwen's age, although Michael might be a little older due to being taller.
  • Alcoholic Parent: The show constantly implies Kevin suffers from Parental Neglect, going as far as needing an ASMR recording of a Supportive Parent to sleep. But a short flashback showed that whoever Kevin lived with before he built his watch, had spent his life watching TV and drinking "Beverage: the last beverage you'll ever need".
  • All There in the Manual:
    • Despite being a reboot, the show expects you to already know some bits of information, both minor and major, that has carried over from the previous continuity. The biggest example, however, is how Ben originally got his watch. Said event is only implied by a meteor falling to Earth during the opening sequence, and the time travel episode involving it doesn't do much to explain the details either.
    • The "Alien Worlds" shorts explain the worlds of the various aliens Ben transforms into through the Omnitrix, with a narrator heavily implied to be Azmuth.
  • Aloof Big Brother: Ryan, Simon's older sibling: he is constantly on his phone and nothing seems to faze him, including his little brother going on a rampage. Despite this,he is the only person Simon obeys to.
  • Ambiguous Situation: From "Alien-X-Tinction". While Word of God says all the Bens featured were Ben Prime. This causes confusion for longtime fans as it was specifically said they were traveling through dimensions and not time. While it's possible these are just alternate timelines meant to represent the Classic Continuity's different shows, this also suggests the Classic Continuity wasn't one timeline but different ones branching off from the other.
  • Art Shift:
    • The scenes inside the arcade machine in "Xingo's Back" are animated in a more "pixelated" style to better match the visuals of an old videogame.
    • Season 3's "And Xingo Was His Name-o": the part of the episode inside Xingo's cartoon are drawn in a smoother, simplified style.
    • In "Tales from the Omnitrix," the Tennysons tell campfire stories that are shown in different animation styles, resembling those of Tim Burton (though in 2D), Schoolhouse Rock!, and Dragon Ball respectively.
  • Art-Shifted Sequel: To separate it from any of the previous series and reflect the new tone, this one has a looser, rounder look with the characters looking less realistic and Animesque, putting it in line with Cartoon Network's other comedies, such as Clarence and The Powerpuff Girls (2016).
  • Asteroids Monster: The Hydromander, once it eats enough, divides into a swarm of infant versions of itself.
    • Slapback, one of Ben's new aliens from Season 3, duplicates himself each time he is hit in the back. Each time the clones are twice as small, heavy and strong as the original.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: In "Drone On", Vilgax achieves exactly what he wanted and escapes.
    • In "Party Poopers", Max and Ben eventually decide to let Zombozo and Frightwig walk, on the basis that the valuables they stole were just cheap kid prizes from an arcade and not really worth any real value.
  • Bears Are Bad News: Ben fighting a polar bear in "Poles Apart".
    • Also Yawkwawi, an evil, magical trickster bear from "Mayhem in Mascot", even if he pretended to be a subversion.
  • Big Bad: Following the original's format, there's one for each season.
    • Season One mostly had Ben squaring off against recurring members of his Rogues Gallery, until the four-part finale "Omni-Tricked", which reintroduced the franchise's most iconic villain, Vilgax, as a Knight of Cerebus whose debut kicked off the show's Myth Arc behind the Omnitrix.
    • Season Two has Vilgax in a recurring role as Ben's fiercest adversary, until the five-part finale "Innervasion", where they must pull an Enemy Mine to defeat the High Override of the Fulmini Empire, whose arrival has been heralded throughout the season by Ben's new alien, Shock Rock.
    • Season Three initially has Kevin Levin as a recurring personal enemy of Ben, and the mysterious Forever Knight who is gathering a team of Ben's Rogues Gallery to go back in time and stop aliens from arriving on Earth, eventually recruiting Kevin as well. Forever Knight emerges as the sole Big Bad in the season finale "Roundabout", with Kevin being Demoted to Dragon.
    • Season Four, like the first season, lacks a Big Bad for the most part, until the finale, Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie, which has Vilgax returning from the Null Void to claim his revenge on Ben, while making another bid at galactic conquest.
  • Bottomless Pit: One is located at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the episode "Bottomless Ben". Subverted in that it's only 140 Feet deep, and they say it's bottomless because it's better for tourism.
  • Broken Aesop: Both episodes with Simon Sez seem to center around Ben learning a lesson in respecting Simon, even though he's a kid with a Hair-Trigger Temper and a robot recalled for safety reasons who in short order goes on a rampage, going far beyond any wrongdoing Ben could be responsible for, damn near approaching Anti-Villain levels.
  • …But He Sounds Handsome: Azmuth is the Narrator of the "Alien Worlds" shorts, designed to offer more information on the homeworld of the Omnitrix aliens. While explaining his role in regards to Galvan B, Upgrade's homeworld, the Narrator describes himself as "A great and wise scientist".
  • Butt-Monkey: Sally and Todd, a recurring couple who exist for no other reason than to have their happy moments ruined by the problem of the episode.
  • Cat Girl: Gwen in the Season 3 episode "Rath of Con". Justified in that the Tennysons are at a cat convention. The finale for that season also sees her temporarily receive a mech suit with this motif.
  • Canon Character All Along: Vil, as it turns out, is Ben's Arch-Enemy of the original series, Vilgax.
  • Cerebus Retcon: Man, the new Omni-Enhanced forms of Ben looks really cool, right? Well, they're being used by a Galactic Conqueror to find Earth and destroy it to harvest its energy.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The lone fangirl who comes to Michael's aid at the end of Bright Lights, Black Hearts? She's Charmcaster.
  • Christmas Episode: The episode "The Feels."
  • Composite Character:
    • This version of Stinkfly has elements of Big Chill incorporated in his design, including a more humanoid body shape.
    • Wildvine was given legs and a humanoid body shape similar to Swampfire's.
    • Frightwig has the same abilities as herself from the original continuity (prehensile hair), but her being close to the age of Ben, her having similar, but darker, personality traits as he does, and being an independent antagonist is more like Kevin 11 from the original series.
    • Kevin 11, who shows up in Season 3, has a red-themed copy of the Omnitrix (called the "Antitrix"), which makes him less like the original continuity's Kevin, and more like Albedo, Ben's most prominent Evil Counterpart from Alien Force and onward.
  • Continuity Reboot: It goes back to the original premise of the 10-year old Ben and Gwen travelling throughout the world with Grandpa Max.
  • Crossover:
  • Decomposite Character: In the original show, Lucky Girl was Gwen's alter ego. Here she is a character from an in-universe franchise.
  • Denser and Wackier: The characters look less realistic, and the new antagonists have sillier gimmicks. Some of the older antagonists were consistently serious (like Hex), but have gained funnier quirks.
  • Discard and Draw: In this version, the show name avoids becoming an Artifact Title, since every time Ben gains a new alien form, another gets locked. The one time it didn't happen (when he unlocked Gax in the Season 1 finale "Omni-tricked") the Omnitrix starts malfunctioning.
  • Electrified Bathtub: In Frightwig's first appearance, she attempts to kill a pool full of people this way by dropping a laptop into the water before Ben stops her.
  • Enemy Mine: On the planet Pteropia, the opposing Petrosapiens (Diamondhead’s subspecies) and Subsapiens end their conflict to drive the Antrosapiens underground. When the Fulmini invade, the three species end that conflict to drive off the invaders.
  • Enfante Terrible:
  • Engineered Public Confession: In "The Charm Offensive", Gwen plays back Michael Morningstar's Evil Gloating moment, which was recorded on the store's security camera to expose him as a Manipulative Bastard energy vampire to Heather / Charmcaster, who puts Morningstar into her book of spells:
    Michael Morningstar: Who, Heather? She's a fangirl like all the other losers. They all love me, I'm an actor. I can be whatever they need me to be to fulfill their pathetic lives. But she's nothing more than a glorified battery to me.
  • Eskimos Aren't Real: Ben and Gwen get into an argument because Ben refuses to believe camels are real. He then tells her "Next you'll be telling me that reindeer exist."
  • Fake Ultimate Hero: Tim Buktuu, who creates the disasters that he saves people from.
  • Fantastic Racism: "Animo Farm" has Animo's mutants separated into Alphas and Accidentals based on their strength.
  • Finale Season: The Season 5 specials are played up like this, but don't have any connection to one another.
  • Foreshadowing: In Season 2’s "Animorphosis", Animo temporarily mutates into an alien transformation that Ben’s never seen or used before after he exposes himself to the DNA in the Omnitrix, hinting that Ben will eventually unlock Rath. Come the following season, he does.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Charmcaster was an awkward, nerdy girl with low self-confidence, until she gained magical powers from Hex's spellbook. She then developed a new, aggressive goth-like appearance and attitude.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Dr. Animo serves as this in episodes such as "Animo Farm" and "Hole in 10", being directly responsible for the existence of the episodes' antagonists despite never actually showing up in the episodes themselves.
  • Half-Arc Season: Much like the original series, this show mostly focuses on standalone, episodic adventures with more plot-relevant episodes spaced out across the seasons. It's not until the "Omni-Tricked" special that the show starts to develop long-running plot threads, Vilgax being chief among them.
  • Harmless Freezing: In "The 11th Alien" Gwen, Max and several other people are completely frozen due to the Omnitrix's Power Incontinence (actually because of the Weather Heads) but are perfectly fine when Vilgax thaws them out.
  • Hypocrite: Simon Sez, from "Adventures in Babysitting", who accuses other people of being mean, not listening and/or name-calling.
  • Idiot Ball: One episode has Gwen advise Ben to use Heatblast in an underwater fight.
  • It's All About Me: At least a couple of the antagonists, including Tim Bukktu, Simon Sez and Billy Billions.
  • Judgment of Solomon: Grandpa Max's solution to stop Ben and Billy from fighting over a trading card is to rip it in two and give them each one half. It's not made exactly clear whether this is supposed to be a punishment or Max is so old and out of touch that he doesn't know how trading cards work.
  • Large Ham: Tim Buktuu, voiced in glorious form by Travis Willingham.
  • Lighter and Softer: Moreso even than Omniverse. The show now has 11-minute episodes, has far more emphasis on comedy, the transformation sequences lack the Body Horror of the originals, the more intimidating/creepy alien ones have been removed, and (with the exception of Vilgax) villains are generally less threatening.
  • Mirror Character:
    • Kevin and Ben. Both of them are mischievous, egotistical pranksters who possess similar devices that allow them to become aliens. They both even have the same tendency to give their aliens silly names.
    • This is a major reason as to why Charmcaster has such fury toward Gwen; not in regards to present Gwen, but because Gwen reminds her of her former self.
    • As they’re squabbling in "Which Watch" shows, Kevin and Charmcaster are rather similar in personality. Both are arrogant, immature, and obsessed with defeating a Tennyson kid. They both have self-esteem issues that they mask by being aggressive and rebellious.
  • Missed Him by That Much: One of the Alien Worlds segments has the Fulmini moving in to conquer Khoros for its resources, only to find it empty. As they return to Fulmos, they pass the Tetramand fleet, who just finished trying to conquer Fulmos for the glory.
  • Myth Arc: Focuses more on building these rather than the Story Arc style of the previous shows.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • "The Clocktopus" features a flashback to Ben in school, with a pair of bullies who resemble Cash and JT from the first three seasons of the classic continuity.
    • In "Freaky Gwen Ben", one of the items Ben suggests he and Gwen get at a bazaar is a mask that looks like Wildmutt from the original series.
    • In "Riding the Storm", the fusion aliens from the original series episode "Dr. Animo and the Mutant Ray" return, and in the climax, Ben transforms into an amalgam of his aliens much like Kevin 11 in the original series and Ultimate Alien.
    • In "Benwolf" of the original series, Ben learns about the Omnitrix's function to take new Alien forms if they scratch the watch. He laments that if he had known that feature sooner, he would have "made an awesome Vilgax" form. Come the first season finale, and Gax is indeed an awesome form.
    • Omni-Enhanced Wildvine has the "Venus Fly Trap" collar that the alien had in the classic continuity.
    • Michael Morningstar eventually ends up sealed in Charmcaster's book, much like how he had ended up sealed within her bag in Omniverse.
    • When Vilgax warns him of the danger coming from the Omnitrix in "The Innervasion", Ben at first is afraid it is going to explode, much like in the "Secret of the Omnitrix" special.
    • In the Season 3 episode "Poles Apart," Ben is wearing the jacket teen Ben wears in Omniverse.
    • Every time we are shown a flashback of Ben in school, he is wearing his original series outfit.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In "Innervasion", Glitch reveals that the Omni-Enhanced forms were because it used the Fulmini DNA to help fix the Omnitrix after the Season 1 finale. The problem is that the Fulmini DNA put in the Omnitrix was used by the Fulmini as part of an invasion, and Ben using the Omni-Enhanced forms only sped it along.
  • No MacGuffin, No Winner: An apparent recurrent device in episodes featuring Billy Billions as Villain of the Week.
  • Non Sequitur Causality: In "Ben Again and Again", Ben attempts to correct his and Billy's tampering with time by taking the Omnitrix with him back to the present instead of allowing his past self to claim it, which results in them and Gwen going through these every time they go back through the wormhole; first they end up in medieval times, then they're cyborgs, then they're cyborg pirates.
  • No Peripheral Vision: In "Recipe for Disaster", the villains fail to notice Ben transforming into Wildvine right next to them.
  • Not So Above It All: Gwen is much more willing to get in on Ben's plans in this version.
  • Out of Focus: Grandpa Max isn't part of the action as much as he was usually in the original series. He also lacks the expanded role he had received in the sequels. In some episodes he doesn't even know that anything happened.
  • Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Hex’s connection to Gwen is practically gone here, where he is primarily a Ben-centered foe.
  • Reactive Continuous Scream: In one credits scene, Ben, Gwen, and Max have this reaction to Ben as Diamondhead accidentally vaporizing the hair off Max's head.
  • Rearrange the Song: The 20-second intro uses a modified version of the original theme song.
  • Remember the New Guy?: By the time the show starts, Ben has already run into a few of the villains before (such as Hex, Le Grange, and Animo).
  • Running Gag:
    • A recurring couple often get their dates ruined by whatever antics or fight Ben's involved with.
    • Ben's encounters with Billy Billions seems to be shaping up that neither of them come out ahead. When the boys fight over a rare one-of-a-kind trading card, Grandpa Max tears it in half and give half to each of them. They both throw a tantrum in response. Later, Ben challenges Billy to a game of Laser Town laser tag, saying the loser isn't allowed to ever play at a Laser Town ever again. At the end of the episode, the manager of Laser Land bans both boys from ever playing at any Laser Town anywhere ever again. Both are devastated.
  • Rushmore Refacement: "Ben Again and Again" opens with Billy Billions planning to carve his face into Mount Rushmore.
  • Secret Identity: The show completely drops this: Ben freely transforms in front of people and does nothing to hide his powers.
  • Series Continuity Error: "Alien X-Tinction", the finale for the reboot, is a Crisis Crossover featuring the major incarnations of Ben from the Classic Continuity (and also Gwen 10) teaming up with the reboot Ben to fight a villainous Alien X. According to one of the producers of the show, the alternate Bens are all supposed to represent Ben Prime. However, there are details that run against established continuity:
    • In general, the other Bens seem to be completely unaware of who Alien X is and what he is capable of. The only hint of familiarity is Alien Force Ben implying that his dimension calls Alien X something else, though he never says what. They never even suggest to use Alien X themselves. This would be understandable for the Original Series and Reboot Bens, who are just learning what Alien X is and don't have him in their Omnitrixes, and the Alien Force and Ultimate Alien Bens, who know how dangerous Alien X would be to use, but Omniverse Ben not only has proficiency in using Alien X, but at a certain point in the future learns to control him without any issues.
    • Alien Force Ben seems to be unfamiliar with what Alien X / Celestialsapiens are and refers to his Max in the past tense (he "was" a Plumber), which implies that he comes from before he first used Alien X but after he believed Max died. However, this Ben also says he's a Plumber, which happened in "Darkstar Rising", the episode after Alien X's debut.
    • Ultimate Alien Ben wears the Ultimatrix backwards (and it is not an animation error; it's a consistent detail even in a silhouette). He also never uses any Ultimate Aliens or implies that the Ultimatrix is anything other than a fancier Omnitrix.
    • Omniverse Ben is completely surprised that the Alien X they fought is another Ben Tennyson. Even if he believed that it was a rogue Celestialsapien or Omnitrix wielder, this Alien X has the same characteristics as his own, including Ben's trademark green eyes.
  • Shout-Out:
    • "Animo Farm" is a rather obvious one, complete with evil leader pig named Napoleon pushing around animals that he considers inferior.
    • "Don't Touch" features Ben-as-Shock Rock fighting Forever Knight on a city rooftop at night. Shock Rock decides to fight wielding twin sais, and with his silhouette it evokes the image of Raphael, except blue instead of red. To complete the allusion, Forever Knight, who is a dude decked out completely in armor with a maroon-colored cape, fights Shock Rock using a Japanese katana.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Arburian Pelarotas were Killed Offscreen in the original series, rendered extinct except for the sample in Ben's Omnitrix. They are alive and well in this series, judging by the Alien Worlds shorts.
  • Spoiled Brat: Simon Sez from "Adventures in Babysitting", and Billy Billions even moreso. Naturally, they eventually end up sharing an episode.
  • Squashed Flat: A credits scene featuring Ben trying to cannonball into a pool as Cannonbolt ends with him bouncing off an inflatable and accidentally flattening Max against a wall.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: In "Big in Japan", Four Arms is having troubles fighting a dragon, and comments that punching usually works at some point. A few seconds later Gwen sees them and makes the exact same remark.
  • Super Mode: In the second Season Ben's aliens get more powerful forms thanks to Shock Rock's influence, unknowingly helping The High Override, the leader of the Fulmini empire, who is using them to open a gateway to invade Earth, locate the planet.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • The main characters live in a modern world where most people will have cameras on them, combined with the fact that Ben doesn't even bother to hide his powers. The result is that the world finds out about Ben a whole lot sooner than it did in the previous continuity.
    • In "Screamcatcher", Ben hurts his teeth trying to bite into solid rock candy.
    • The Circus Freak Trio abandon Zombozo when they realize that he was never going to pay them.
    • In "The Ring Leader", Ben is not off the hook. The referee disqualifies him for using the Omnitrix to get in a wrestling match.
    • In "Big in Japan": no, Buktuu, doesn't matter how much people considered you a hero before, they will turn against you if they see you shooting missiles at a kid.
    • In "Summer Breakers", Ben destroys Breaker One-Nine's Mech, L.I.Z.A. using his new Omni-Kix power up. In his next appearance, "Bottomless Ben", Breaker One-Nine mentions that he put himself into debt rebuilding L.I.Z.A.
    • In “Funhouse”, Zombozo realizes that his schemes will always fail, because Ben will always find him and put him back in jail. He comes to the logical conclusion to start targeting Ben.
  • Thin-Line Animation: Clearly so.
  • Third-Person Person: A curious case: Tetrax spoke like this only in his first appearance, making it a case of Early-Installment Weirdness. Kraab does this in his fourth appearance, well into the third season, making it a case of Later-Installment Weirdness.
  • Tickle Torture: Attempted by Ben as Grey Matter in one episode, tickling Gwen's bare foot with a feather to get her to break a vow of silence. While Gwen does react to it, she manages not to laugh.
  • Two Words: I Can't Count: "Two more words, Hurry up and get inside!"
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Played with in "Creature Feature" with Hex. Ben saves his life, and he stands down from turning on Ben as a result. But according to him, this is not out of gratitude - one of the laws of his magic is that he must obey a life debt. He insists that next time they meet, the debt will have been paid and he won't hold back.
    • Also played with in "The Charm Offensive", as Charmcaster leaves Ben and Gwen alone because she IS grateful for Gwen saving her from Morningstar. But that gratitude is also part of why she declares herself The Rival to Gwen and vows to defeat her if they meet again. It serves as a reminder of how weak Charmcaster was in this situation, and she can't stand that idea
  • Unrelated in the Adaptation: Hex and Charmcaster appeared to not be uncle and niece in this continuity, but "What Rhymes With Omnitrix" hints that they actually still are.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: In this incarnation of the franchise, most people have little to no reaction to Ben's alien forms or even Ben transforming right in front of them. That's to say nothing of all the aliens, mecha tech, superpowered beings and monsters running around. Everyone generally takes all this strangeness in stride, though it is occasionally lampshaded, with some characters wondering why others appear to be over- or under-reacting to the madness.
    Ben (after transforming): This doesn't weird you out at all?
    (Geezer Bob shrugs and motions towards the goblin army taking over a miniature golf course)
    Ben: Yeah, good point.
  • Very Special Episode: In "The Charm Offensive", Michael Morningstar has Charmcaster trapped in an abusive relationship where he is leeching off of her energies. Gwen stands up for Charmcaster, even though they are not exactly on friendly terms:
    Gwen: [to Morningstar]: Quit it! You're not just a fake, you're a bully!
    Charmcaster: Why are you standing up for me? I'm your enemy!
    Gwen: Because, it's the right thing to do! And deep down, I think you know that Morningstar is a chump. He's just using you, so dump him!
  • Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Despite the Lighter and Softer tone of the show, Vilgax remains virtually unchanged from his original incarnation and is treated seriously.
    • Likewise, High Override, leader of the Fulmini, is a completely serious, legitimate threat.
    • Similarly, Michael Morningstar is actually worse than his original series counterpart.
    • Alien X / the Evil Ben Tennyson, the villain of "Alien X-tinction" and the final enemy of the Reboot Continuinty, is one of the most powerful villains in the series, and in no uncertain terms managed to defeat and kill several alternate universe Bens, and required the efforts of multiple Omnitrix wielders to take down.
  • What Happenedtothe Mouse:
    • Despite Frightwig (and the Circus Freaks in general) vowing to keep Zombozo in line, they are curiously never seen again after Party Poopers, and Zombozo remains a solo villain from that point onwards.
    • The Jackalope creature hinted it would come back…after its one and only appearance. Granted, this could’ve been the point, given the bizarre tone of that episode.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Ben in this continuity has a fear of squids rather than clowns (though he still dislikes the latter), due to an embarrassing incident in a school play. He gets over it in order to fight a threat designed as such.
  • The Worm That Walks: One several stories tall, courtesy of the Magg-o-net.
  • You Don't Look Like You: In this series, the majority of the characters and aliens have been redesigned to the point that nearly all of them look completely different from their original models. Which makes sense, considering that this is a different universe.

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