History WesternAnimation / Ben10

* AnAesop: Remember, [[Franchise/SpiderMan with great power comes great responsibility.]]

** There's a shocking number of comic book characters in "Ready to Rumble" getting the treatment: ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, ComicBook/WonderMan, [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Killer Croc]], even a gang boss based somewhat on Kingpin. The clincher? [[spoiler:Wolverine and Killer Croc were adopted by [[Franchise/SpiderMan Aunt May]].]]

[[caption-width-right:320:[[CatchPhrase It's Hero Time!]][[note]]Clockwise from bottom: [[KidHero Ben Tennyson]], [[ShorterMeansSmarter Grey Matter]], [[AngryGuardDog Wildmutt]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Fourarms]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghostfreak]], [[BigCreepyCrawlies Stinkfly]], [[PlayingWithFire Heatblast]], [[GemstoneAssault Diamondhead]], [[SuperSpeed XLR8]], [[FiendishFish Ripjaws]], and [[MechanicalLifeforms Upgrade]].]][[/note]]

* CatchPhrase: "Goin' hero!" and variations, when Ben uses the Omnitrix; and "Oh, man!" when he does something stupid or realizes he did something stupid (the latter of which would carry over to his [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce teenage]] [[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien years]]).

''Ben 10'' is an American action/adventure series created by Creator/ManOfActionStudios (a group of comic book writers consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle) that aired from 2005 to 2008. The show revolves around the adventures of Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy who, while on summer vacation with his grandfather Max and cousin Gwen, he comes into the possession of a [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum mysterious alien device]] - the Omnitrix - [[VoluntaryShapeshifting that allows him to change]] [[SwissArmyHero into a multitude of alien heroes]]. At first, there are only ten aliens (hence the name "Ben 10"), but more forms were discovered as the series goes on.

* BigDamnMovie: Secret of the Omnitrix.

%%* ConservationOfNinjitsu: Ben's alien form Ditto.

* ConveyorBeltODoom: "Ready to Rumble" - The mother of two mutant kids was tied to a conveyor belt in an old wood mill. She was heading towards a wood saw that's right between her legs.

%%* HenshinHero
* HijackedByGanon: Season 3 introduced in one episode an werewolf-like alien who was seemingly killed at the end of his episode, but was revealed to have built a machine as a SequelHook. A mummy-like alien is then introduced in a later episode. Both come back and are revealed to work for a new villain named Dr Vicktor in the first part of the season finale...and then it turns out Dr Vicktor himself was TheDragon to [[spoiler:Ghostfreak/Zs'Skayr, a villain who had been introduced in a previous season 2 episode]].

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Max inadvertently reveals that he wasn't a normal plumber when he tells Ben he doesn't want him fighting Vilgax - unfortunately, he mentions Vilgax's name ''before'' Ben tells him what it is.

* MagicPants: ANYTHING that Ben was wearing before he goes alien - no matter how badly it was ripped during the transformation sequence - will be back, in perfect condition, when the Omnitrix runs out of juice.
* TheManBehindTheCurtain: In ''Secret of the Omnitrix'' Ben and company confront the creator of the Omnitrix, a giant alien with a booming voice. It turns out to be a biosuit. Azmuth is tiny.

* TheMovie: Two of them - ''Secret Of The Omnitrix'', and the live action movie ''Race Against Time''.

%%* NewSuperPower

* PlanetDestroyer: The tick monster mentioned below moves from planet to planet, mutating and ultimately destroying each one for sustenance.

** From the moment when the Omnitrix starts beeping and flashing red, there is variable time until the moment Ben returns to his human form - sometimes it is almost instant, and sometimes... it takes a while.

* TransformingConforming: The Omnitrix gives Ben amazing powers, but also the limitations to each alien he transforms into. Ripjaw barely can breath out of water, Heatblast can burn things accidentaly, Four Arms doesn't fit in small spaces, Grey Matter can be caught easily because of his small size, etc.

%%* VoluntaryShapeshifting

* OffModel: At the end of "Side Effects" Ben has Gwen's eyelashes.
* OneWingedAngel: Both played straight and nastily subverted.
* OnlySixFaces: Averted. Even with cousins Ben and Gwen.

* PlantAliens: Wildvine is an example of this.

* ProWrestlingEpisode: "Ready to Rumble".

* SuperPowerLottery: The Omnitrix essentially ''embodies'' this trope (in more ways than one). After gaining the Omnitrix, Ben had the abilities of SuperStrength, SuperSpeed (and [[SuperReflexes reflexes]]), SuperIntelligence, [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]], [[SuperNotDrowningSkills underwater breathing]], [[GemstoneAssault the ability to manipulate crystals]], the power of {{Flight}}, goo expulsion, {{Technopathy}}, [[GoodThingYouCanHeal regeneration]], {{invisibility}} and [[{{Intangibility}} intangibility]]. All of these powers are still just the first ''ten forms''. Later forms would introduce [[MesACrowd duplication]], [[RubberMan super flexibility]], a [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic howl]], [[ShockAndAwe electrokinesis]], solid matter ingestion, EyeBeams and [[AttackofThe50FootWhatever Way Big]] who can [[StoryBreakerPower swat battleships out of the sky]]. This is downplayed as while, Ben does have access to all these powers, they are typically exclusive to certain forms and the Omnitrix tends to be unreliable most of the time.

* BigEater: Ben's alien form Upchuck can eat pretty much anything...except human food.

** In any given episode, Ben almost invariably tries for one of the physically strong characters in the watch-at first. The Omnitrix would often shift him to a form that could actually handle the crisis better, or just required him to think to see how it could be useful. Sometimes the lesson (much) harder that 1) muscle isn't everything; 2) if you're not handed what you wanted, work with what you have.

** BlackAndGrayMorality: Besides the main hero's character flaws, sometimes even the villains can push this trope. A good example would be The Kraken. She's not beyond injuring (and even killing) innocent civilians, but she does this to seek her lost children who were potentially taken by those people.

[[caption-width-right:320:[[CatchPhrase It's Hero Time!]][[note]]Clockwise from bottom: [[KidHero Ben Tennyson]], [[ShorterMeansSmarter Grey Matter]], [[AngryGuardDog Wildmutt]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Fourarms]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghostfreak]], [[BigCreepyCrawlies Stinkfly]], [[PlayingWithFire Heatblast]], [[GemstoneAssault Diamondhead]], [[SuperSpeed XLR8]], [[AlluringAnglerfish Ripjaws]], and [[MechanicalLifeforms Upgrade]].]][[/note]]

** The WhatIf episode "Goodbye and Good Riddance". After several weeks of crazy adventures, what brings it all to a halt is not Ben messing up and watching people die, or getting an alien unsuitable for the present situation, but simply his summer vacation ending. [[AndTheAdventureContinues Followed immediately by Vilgax thrashing his house]], because [[Fanfic/LittleMoments the summer is over. They aren't]].

* RecycledInSPACE: ''ComicBook/DialHForHero'' [-WITH A GUI INSTEAD OF AN RNG, AND WITH ALIENS-]!
** The episode is Permanent Retirement = Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers.

* SentimentalShabbiness:
** In "Ben 4 Good Buddy":
-->'''Grandpa Max''': Ben, the Rustbucket's irreplaceable. It's got character. It has personality!\\
'''Ben''': It smells.\\
'''Gwen''': It breaks down.\\
'''Grandpa Max''': And it's like family.\\

'''Ben''': It smells.
'''Gwen''': It breaks down.
'''Grandpa Max''': And it's like family.

'''Ben''': It smells.\\
'''Gwen''': It breaks down.\\

** Grampa Max piloting the space shuttle in "be Afraid of the Dark"
--> Grampa: "Yeah. I still got Film/TheRightStuff.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Gwen smacks Ben-as-Four Arms on the arm after he accidentally wrecks a town fooling around with a giant ball of rubber bands. Given Four Arms' size and strength, it's surprising that a ten-year-old girl could hurt him.

* AbusiveParents: Kevin's, who apparently threw him onto the street. Later Kevin himself, using his son Devlin to get his revenge on Ben. Future retcons would only muddle this further.

* WrenchWench: Road Crew member Turbine is a villainous version.
* WretchedHiveOfScumAndVillainy: Incarcica in TheMovie is described as this, even though it's technically a prison.

* DotingGrandparent: Max Tennyson.

* MotiveDecay: In his debut appearance, Dr Animo wanted to get a price that was taken from him; all his next appearances in both the original series and the sequels has him either wanting to conquer or mutate the world.

* ImColdSoCold: Happens in an episode when Ben offers another character a piece of chocolate, which ended up poisoning him due to him ingesting foreign food.

* BaseballEpisode: The episode "The Unnaturals" in which the Cannons (their hometown and Ben's school baseball team) and their opponents named Squires (disguised as baseball players but actually they are robots) had a baseball game in Philadelphia. One of its team are the school bullies named J.T. and Cash. During the game, [=XLR8=] sabotages them before acting in favor of the team. Later in the episode, Ben sneaks into the Cannons and wears Cash's baseball t-shirt with an inscription "23" at the back of it. He failed to bat the ball two times but when he bats it successfully, he runs from his starting point up to the umpire or referee and from that part of the field, he turns into Four Arms.

* BikerBabe: Rojo, who's also a HotBlooded (bordering on AxCrazy) BadassBiker.