Ben Tennyson

The series centers around Ben Tennyson (Tara Strong), a ten-year-old boy on a cross-country summer vacation with his cousin Gwen (Meagan Smith) and their grandfather Max (Paul Eiding). On their first night camping in their grandfather's RV affectionately named the "Rustbucket," Ben finds an alien pod with a mysterious watch-style device named the Omnitrix. The device then permanently attaches itself to his wrist giving him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms each with its own unique skills and powers. With his newfound superpowers, and later discovery of Max's career in a secret intergalactic government organization called The Plumbers, Ben has to learn the responsibilities of being a hero. During their vacation, the Tennysons are attacked by various enemies ranging aliens and criminals to supernatural entities, including Vilgax (Steve Blum), Sixsix and Kraab (Dee Bradley Baker and Billy West), Zs'Skayr (Steve Blum), Kevin Levin (Michael Reisz and Charlie Schlatter), The Forever Knights (Richard Doyle), Dr. Animo (Dwight Schultz), Hex (Khary Payton), and Zombozo (John Kassir).

Set five years after the end of the original series, Ben Tennyson (Yuri Lowenthal), now a teenager, once again dons the Omnitrix to protect the earth and other parts of the universe from villainous alien activity. The storyline is notable for having matured the characters and taken a darker tone with more complex plots, more characters dying, and much less humor, Ben himself having matured dramatically and gained strength, leadership, and wisdom. The Omnitrix itself, a wristwatch-shaped device, allows Ben to transform into numerous alien forms, thereby inheriting the unique abilities of that alien race. At the age of fifteen, Ben fills the role of leader after Grandpa Max mysteriously disappears. The powerful Omnitrix has recalibrated, giving him access to a new set of alien heroes that are much stronger and more powerful than those in the original series, teaming up once again with his cousin Gwen (Ashley Johnson) and former enemy Kevin (Greg Cipes).

Set several weeks after the destruction of the Omnitrix in the series finale of the previous series, Ben Tennyson, now sixteen years old, must learn to master the powers of the Ultimatrix, a modified version of the Omnitrix which has the ability to evolve Ben's alien forms into much more powerful versions known as "ultimate forms." The series begins with the exposure of Ben's secret identity to the world by Jimmy Jones (Scott Menville), a young internet conspiracy theorist who deduces his identity by studying alien sightings in Ben's hometown of Bellwood. Ben's exposure polarizes public opinion, with younger fans idolizing him, and adults, in particular news anchor Will Harangue (John DiMaggio) deriding Ben as a menace to society. Ben is now forced to adjust to a new life that not only involves battling the forces of evil alongside his cousin Gwen Tennyson and his friend Kevin Levin, but also his struggle against the pitfalls of his new-found fame. Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United, a one-hour crossover with fellow Man of Action series Generator Rex, aired on November 25, 2011 on Cartoon Network, featuring Ben travelling to the dimension in which Generator Rex takes place.[2]

The storylines alternate between that of eleven-year-old Ben (one year after the original series) and sixteen-year-old Ben (several months after Ben 10: Ultimate Alien). After Gwen leaves for college and Kevin leaves to be closer to her, sixteen-year-old Ben gets a new partner, a rookie by-the-book alien plumber named Rook Blonko (Bumper Robinson). On a mission to explore a secret underground alien city named Undertown, Ben explores the quirkier side of things in the alien underground and discovers that enemies from his past are looking for a rematch.[3][2] In "T.G.I.S.", it is revealed that the Ben 10 universe shares the same universe with The Secret Saturdays.[4]

Building on the franchise about the kid hero Ben Tennyson, Ben 10 introduces a re-imagined Ben (in his 10-year-old form), his cousin Gwen, and Grandpa Max, as they travel the country during summer vacation. When Ben finds the Omnitrix, a mysterious watch that transforms him into 10 different aliens, a world of extraterrestrial superpowers opens up to him. From an in-universe perspective, the series is a television series based on the adventures of the Ben Tennyson who serves as the focus of Ben 10 (2005), Alien Force, Ultimate Alien and Omniverse, encountering a villainous "Forever Knight" and "Kevin 11".[5]

10-year-old Ben is voiced by Tara Strong in the original Ben 10 series which aired from 2005 to 2008. She would later return as the 10-year-old Ben in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien in the episode "The Forge of Creation" and reprises her role as 11-year-old Ben in flashback episodes of Ben 10: Omniverse, which aired from 2012 to 2014. She reprises the role of the 10-year-old Ben Tennyson in the 2016 reboot. Strong voiced the 10-year-old Ben in all series till date except Ben 10: Alien Force, where 10-year-old Ben never spoke.

Ben 10: Alien Force, the sequel series to the original, introduces teenage Ben (15 years old), voiced by Yuri Lowenthal (replacing Strong). Lowenthal would later reprise his role as teenage Ben (now 16 years old) in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse (sharing the role in the latter with Tara Strong, who voices 11-year-old Ben). He cameos as an elderly Ben in the 2016 reboot in the episode "The 11th Alien: Part 2".

He is portrayed by Graham Phillips as the 10-year old Ben in Ben 10: Race Against Time and was played by Ryan Kelley as the teenage Ben in Ben 10: Alien Swarm.