Ben 10 is a series that might evoke a large amount of suppressed childhood memories of many people. It used to be one of the most popular shows for the kids of the last decade, and believe me or not, I can still hear its theme song playing in the back of my head as I’m writing this. It was the first time we as kids had ever seen something so cool, edgy, and so damn entertaining in our lives.
And yeah, people who used to prefer Chota Bheem over Ben Ten are gonna go nowhere in life. Like, why would you even choose something so childish over something so darn edgy?
We can never understand intellectually-deficient individuals. Anyway, Ben 10 used to be on top of every single kid, and had been the ‘favorite cartoon’ of every single one of us at least once in our lifetimes. It’s highly possible that you’d have forgotten it or never actually declared it as your ‘favorite cartoon’, but we’ve all been through the Ben 10 fever at least once in our lives.
So, to reminiscence over some of our fondest memories, let’s take a trip down the memory lane and explore the world of Ben 10 once again.
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#01 – And Then There Were Ten
Ben 10 was the first animated series by Man of Action Studios, a celebrated studio at the time that later went on to create Generator Rex and even famous cartoon Ultimate Spider-Man.
The pilot episode of Ben 10 aired on Cartoon Network as far back as December 2005 as a part of some sneak peek shit—that I don’t know about since I’m reading it from some Fandom page and I don’t really understand half of the shit they’re saying. It then became the first episode of the official series of Ben 10 that began airing the next month in January 2006.
And, it opened with a bang. Like, literal BANG.
The first episode began with a fight between two spaceships—one larger and one smaller—in outer-space. As you can imagine, it was one hell of an opening. But, instead of action, this scene focused rather on the dark nature of Vilgax, who later went on to become the primary antagonist of the series.
Here back on Earth, Ben Tennyson was just another ten-year-old kid who was about to prank his teacher when suddenly he saw one of his classmates being bullied. He stepped up to his help, but both of them ended up hanging by some tree by their underwear. That guy had told Ben to stop ‘playing the hero’, and maybe this hinted at what was about to come, you see.
It was the last day of their school session, and what came after it is a summer vacation, where Ben and his cousin Gwen are taken by his uncle Max on a three-month-long trip across the US. Both are frustrated by one or the other, as you can imagine is the case with siblings—especially the ten-year-old ones. Soon, the three arrive at their first spot of the trip, where the two decide to join hands to make sure they don’t eat whatever experimental food filled with sheep’s tongues or mealworms their uncle has been planning to make them taste.
Back at the outer-space, the fight goes on, where Viglax is attacked and seriously injured. In return, his spaceship destroys the smaller spaceship it had been fighting, but, from the explosion, a pod escapes away.
The alliance between Gwen and Ben, as you could have expected, didn’t last long and they had a fight. Ben left his uncle’s… what the hell would you call it…? A bus, maybe? Like, it was a bus with toilet, beds, and shit like that…
[Five minutes later…]
Oh, it’s called an RV. Anyway…
Ben left his uncle’s RV and went for a walk in the woods at night. As he was looking at the sky, he stopped and looked at a shooting star falling down. Suddenly, the star turned its way toward him, and that’s when he realized that maybe, it was a meteor… a meteor coming straight at him! He began to run, and narrowly escaped it as it blasted right behind his back, creating a crater behind him.
Curious Ben turned back and peaked at the crater. He noticed the ultra sci-fi pod opening as it revealed a wristwatch type of stuff—the Omnitrix. Ben went for it, when suddenly, the watch leaped like a tiger toward him and sticks to his left wrist.
And, that’s when this saga, spanning four series, eighteen darn seasons, and more than two hundred episodes finally began.
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#02 – Classic Ben 10
The first series of the franchise—primarily dubbed as Ben 10 and now renamed as the Classic Ben 10 to avoid confusing it with its reboot—follows ten-year-old Ben with his cousin Gwen and his uncle Max as he obtains Omnitrix and slowly learns how to use them for the betterment.
It spanned four seasons and fifty-two episodes filled with action, light-hearted comedy, and tons of mysteries as Ben learns more and more about himself, his Omnitrix, and its powers.
The Omnitrix gave him the power to turn into ten different alien life-forms at his will, each with distinct physiques and abilities. And, it’s permanently attached to his wrist. And, as you might have guessed, Viglax had gone crazy for it.
As the summer vacation progresses, Ben and his trio face a large number of enemies, ranging from local thugs to some really terrifying aliens. And, as the episodes progress, Ben slowly learns what Omnitrix can and cannot do, and to what extent this Viglax guy can go for its powers.
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#03 – Ben 10: Alien Force
Following the success of the classic, Man of Action Studios decided to create a new series, named Ben 10: Alien Force. It began airing in April 2008 on Cartoon Network, and spanned two seasons and forty-six episodes.
Ben 10: Alien Force is not a sequel anybody had expected. And not because it released so suddenly—I mean, everybody knew from all those ads and stuff that it was coming—but because it felt so different from the classic.
At the end of Classic Ben 10, Ben had decided to take off Omnitrix and focus on his routine life again. And, five years passed peacefully. Ben had turned fifteen, and grown into a charming young teen.
His life was going on peacefully, until suddenly, Uncle Max disappeared, and he’s again on a mission with Gwen and her boyfriend—who once was one of the enemies in Classic Ben 10—Kevin. They must fight off the new antagonist, Highbreed, and save his uncle. Soon, Viglax appears on the scene too, and the three are up against him again.
Ben 10: Alien Force is noted for its relatively darker tone. While Classic Ben 10 used to be a kids’ show meant to be fun and games, Ben 10: Alien Force really stepped up the game for the franchise and took it to another level through its darker and more mature themes.
Even though the fans had mixed feelings about the show, the critics rated it highly because of its vibes and the stories it brought forward. And, maybe it was because of this series that Ben 10 gained popularity not just as a kids’ show but as an animated series in general.
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#04 – Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
The third series of the franchise, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, was another banger of a series and an instant hit. It spanned fifty-two episodes divided into three seasons and was filled with action and sci-fi drama.
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien followed the life of sixteen-year-old Ben when his identity had been revealed to the masses and he’d turned into a global phenomenon. He was an international superstar and loved by all, except some adults who disliked the way this teen skyrocketed his way to superstardom. After his Omnitrix broke during the final battle of Ben 10: Alien Force, he got the powers of Ultimatrix that could give him the power to get the powers of an infinite number of aliens. His game has upped, and so is the story.
Across this series, Ben faces alien threats and thugs as he tries to keep the world safe and sound. He faces Aggregor, who soon turned into Ultimate Aggregor, and is also supposed to take care of the Ultimate Kevin, the evolved form of the same Kevin who was a hero working alongside Ben sometime earlier. The psychological conflicts dealt with in this series probably distinguish it from the other series that Ben goes through.
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#05 – Ben 10: Omniverse
Ben 10: Omniverse is probably the most famous series of the franchise to date. It began in September 2012 and mixed the action-packed drama of the last two series while reviving the light-hearted comedy of the classic.
It follows Ben after the happenings of the three prior series. After Gwen and Kevin had left for college, Ben decided to be a solo hero, but he was soon teamed up with Brook by Uncle Max, and he could do nothing about it. The duo was supposed to explore an alien city underneath Bellwood (not Bollywood, you narcissistic hypocrite), named Undertown, and that’s how the biggest series yet of the franchise took off.
Omniverse was animated by some animation studios in Korea, with production stuff obviously done by Cartoon Network in the US. It ran for eight seasons and had ten episodes each, all filled with action and comedy. The show, however, had to shut down due to its decreasing ratings.
It was later revealed that these guys this time were going on for more anime-styled vibes, especially for the fight scenes—and maybe it’s enough to justify why we’re covering Ben 10 here on OtakuMantra!
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#06 – Reboot
Writing this article made me realize just how much I’ve forgotten about this series, and just how much I had missed just because I never took it seriously and watched all episodes as randomly as they appeared on TV. But, it also made me remember something I’m glad I’d forgotten, and that’s the 2016 reboot.
Yeah, in 2016, the creators decided to reboot this series. Taking place in an alternate universe, Ben 10 (2016) follows the ten-year-old Ben as he got the powers of the Omniverse while traveling with his uncle Max and his cousin Gwen during his summers. As they travel more and more, far better and more dangerous aliens keep popping up, and Ben is up to defeat them along with his cousin and uncle.
It’s a lot more childish than the previous three series, and is no match for the classic, obviously. However, the series was aimed at a younger audience—maybe—than the classic did, and thus, is actually quite famous among kids nowadays. It was for 184 episodes divided into five seasons, but it could never garner the love and attention the prior series had, and so, it had to shut down.
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#07 – Conclusion
Yeah, and that’s the story of Ben 10, the cartoon that defined our childhood. It gave us a large amount of memories to look upon, and a large number of stories to grow fond of. And, soon, it started to fall down. It soon became just another cash grab, maybe, and that’s evident by the generic childish storyline the reboot had.
But, whatever it is now, we should not forget what it used to be once. I hope you now remember Ben 10, and how it was among the first shows we loved from a time when we had not discovered anime yet.
As of yet, we don’t know where the franchise is gonna go after the reboot. Maybe Ben would grow again, maybe it’d be rebooted again, or maybe they’d come up with another super-cool idea to revive the older days of the OG. The creators have stated that the direction from this point on would depend on the future of OTT platforms and TV.
But whatever, I hope you all like this article. Meetcha soon again. Until then, maybe you can try surfing OtakuManta, where we’d discuss another great show—most probably anime. Until then, saiyonara~!
