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• Ben 10 Reboot

  Excited about the Ben 10 Reboot this fall? We're too.

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  Something recently came to mind for me about Slapback. He gets stronger and denser the more he duplicates but wouldn't it be better and more balanced if it was the other way around? For Slapback to start off already being very strong and dense but his strength and density decreases the more he duplicates himself? Having thought about it, an alien that gets stronger and more damage resisting the more he duplicates sounds like a significant issue of balance. Like a repeat of Echo Echo. With it being the other way around, I feel as if it would encourage Ben to be more strategic with his use of Slapback. To encourage him to find a more ideal balance of having high strength and having greater numbers every time he uses Slapback.
• Characters

  Let's comment on the Ben 10 characters!
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  With the third season of the Ben 10 reboot having introduced Kevin and there being an upcoming spin-off show based on that version of him…probably…maybe…questionably…who know…I’m going to use this as an opportunity to provide a more updated take of my thoughts and analysis on this character throughout the Ben 10 franchise. To provide what I think would be the best way to fix and improve Kevin to make him an overall better character. For those that have followed me for a while, you should already have a pretty good idea of what to expect out of this article. Nevertheless, I find that Kevin is also in quite a need of some help and better treatment. A major missed opportunity here that I find would’ve really helped to drive Kevin, and the franchise overall, further towards something that would’ve been much better and more distinct that what we officially got instead. Let’s begin. First, some context. Kevin’s introduction into Ben 10 through the Original Series is I say one of the most complex and darkest moments of that very show. Kevin was an 11-year-old kid with the ability to absorb and redirect energy as well as absorb other species to inherit their characteristics. Sounds cool and all but his abilities were more of a curse to Kevin than a blessing. Kevin was viewed as a freak because of his powers. Kevin faced abuse because of his powers. He was kicked out of his home because of his powers (at least that WAS the case until UAF retconned that…because of course that would happen). Kevin’s misuse and mishandling of his powers led to him to take on his mutated form. Kevin’s frequent use and lack of control of his powers also led to him having a damaged mental state. Pretty much everything that happened to Kevin revolved around his energy absorption abilities and the poor decisions and actions that he took when using them. Ben was Kevin’s second chance at a better life. Ben offered to help Kevin but due to the nature of Kevin’s character, Kevin turned it down. He blamed Ben for the mutation that Kevin went through, even though it was Kevin’s fault. Kevin became obsessed with wanting to make Ben suffer and had made plenty attempts to do so in various ways. Kevin was the true mirror image of Ben; the true evil opposite of Ben. I say more so than Albedo. Kevin and his actions reflected a darker path that Ben almost found himself brought down to, and became aware of just in time to turn away from, due to Ben’s own poor decisions when he first met Kevin. It’s no secret that I very much like and favor this version of Kevin. I very much find this to be the best take on Kevin Levin in the franchise. I very much find that the way that Kevin was set up in the Original Series opened up a lot of potential for him to really shine as a villain (and I’ll get more to that later). So much potential due to all this depth and complexity in Kevin as well as his conflict with Ben…and it was all swept away when Alien Force came around. So, what do I think went wrong with Kevin in the franchise (and I bet that I’m going to ruffle some feathers here)? To sum it all up, they made him a hero. Now granted, if that’s the direction that the UAF team wanted to go for, they have every right to go down that direction. I just don’t find that it was the right and proper direction to go with Kevin. Sure, there was plenty of depth that was indeed added into Kevin as a character in the sequel shows and the moments themselves weren’t really bad. The issue was that it happened to Kevin. Kevin Levin, the delusional psychopath that only cared about himself with no regard for other and had such an obsession towards wanting to make Ben suffer and had made plenty of attempts to do so. At least most of what was done with Kevin in the sequel shows just doesn’t fit him as a character. It doesn’t make sense that someone like Kevin goes through all of this given who he was before and everything that he’s done. If anything, I find that a more fitting character to be in the very position that Kevin is in the sequel shows is Charmcaster. Why? Well, I pretty much explained why in my article about Charmcaster. Here’s the link if anyone wants to check it out. It’s either have Charmcaster make the transition from villain to hero or just don’t have any villains make such a transition at all. https://ben10club.org/topic/387/ben-10-how-to-fix-and-improve-charmcaster The issues don’t end there though. Kevin’s transition into being a hero felt rushed and forced. It took too little time and too little effort for his transition to make sense and Ben and Gwen’s willingness to trust him was also displayed way too soon. Again, given who Kevin was before and everything that he’s done, his transition and Ben and Gwen’s willingness to trust him so quickly didn’t make sense. This was something that required a lot more time and effort to play out; probably at least one to two seasons worth. Ben and Gwen should’ve had Kevin on a tight leash and be keeping an eye on him in case he double crossed them while Kevin should’ve worked more to try and earn their trust. Speaking of Gwen, don’t get me started on her relationship with Kevin because that makes no sense either. Again, Kevin, on multiple occasions, went after Ben. On multiple occasions, Kevin tried to kill Ben. Plenty of times Kevin also tried to harm/kill Gwen. Let’s not forget to mention just how much of a liability Kevin is. Gwen is half living, breathing energy (which I am also not fond of) and Kevin has the ability to absorb energy, which can cause him to go insane and power hungry if he absorbs too much. That is a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen. In fact, it indeed almost, if not exactly, happened in the final quarter of season 1 of Ultimate Alien. This relationship is fine? Gwen and Kevin being in a relationship with each other is ok despite these issues? Christ. One more thing. I know plenty of people that like this version of Kevin like to use the whole “time heals” excuse; that oh, it’s been years since Ben and Gwen’s last encounter with Kevin before the events of the Original Series. People change. Time heals. These characters have learned to forgive each other and whatnot. Oh yeah, sure, time definitely heals. That fight between Ben and Kevin in the very first episode of Alien Force really showed that they’ve looked passed their differences and…oh, wait a minute. That’s right. After years of not seeing each other, the moment Kevin spotted Ben, he immediately attacked Ben without hesitation because Kevin wanted payback for their past encounters with each other and Ben defeating Kevin in each of those encounters and imprisoning Kevin in the Null Void. Kevin made another hostile attempt towards Ben because of their past encounters. Also, before their fight, Ben and Gwen recognized Kevin for the same said past encounters and from what I can tell from that scene, their familiarity with Kevin only further encouraged them to exercise more caution…because after all, this is the same Kevin that was so obsessed with going after Ben during the Original Series. I very much doubt that the “time heals” excuse is a justifiable excuse to use anymore given the circumstances of that very battle in episode 1 of season 1 of Alien Force. Most especially with Kevin, if he still had a desire to go after Ben because of their past encounters with each other despite their years of separation, then no, time did not heal, which just makes Kevin’s transition into being a hero make even less sense. I believe that’s everything that I wanted to discuss about Kevin Levin from the sequel shows so let’s move on to Kevin Levin in the Ben 10 reboot. Unfortunately, Kevin doesn’t fare much better in the Ben 10 reboot because much like with at least most of the other returning characters in the reboot show, Kevin is a mere mediocre shell of his former self. First off, let’s get into what was taken away from him and what replaced what was taken away. Remember when I stated about how pretty much everything that happened to Kevin in the Original Series were due to his energy absorbing abilities? Well, they’re gone. One of the very key aspects about Kevin Levin that made him, well, Kevin Levin were taken away. Now surely, I bet some people would like to point out that his energy absorption abilities didn’t really get a lot of attention in the Original Series and instead, it was his amalgamated mutation. Regardless, those very abilities were still a very important aspect about Kevin that made him who he is. They contributed greatly to defining Kevin as a character and villain so yes, it’s a very big deal that those very abilities were taken away from him. So, what replaced that? Pretty much what I find to be one of the most absurd and illogical moments I’ve ever witnessed in the Ben 10 franchise: the AntiTrix. More specifically how Kevin acquired the AntiTrix. Kevin wasn’t given the AntiTrix nor he didn’t just so happen to find it. No, Kevin received the blueprints to making his own replica of the Omnitrix in a random dream that he had and then built the AntiTrix in his own garage, including making some minor modifications to the design to make the AntiTrix an improvement over the Omnitrix. Let that sink in. Kevin Levin managed to single-handedly make his own replica of one of the most advanced pieces of technology in the entire universe (with some improvements over it) in his garage and in a short amount of time with no explanation behind how he got all of the proper parts and all of the DNA samples for it. Assuming that Azmuth is in this rebooted continuity, an 11-year-old boy managed to pull off a task that one of the most intelligent individuals in the entire universe was able to achieve. What in god’s name was Man of Action and Cartoon Network thinking when they did that in the reboot show? What made them think that this was a good idea and direction to tackle? In one fellow swoop, they’ve managed to undermine one of the most intelligent and highly credible characters in the entire franchise, the very device that he created, and his achievement in creating said device. Clearly, I’m still ticked off about this very moment to this day but I’ve said plenty enough about this for now so let’s continue on with Kevin in the reboot show. Along with the removal of Kevin’s absorption abilities, other aspects of Kevin as a character were also very much removed in the reboot show. Kevin is no longer the mentally unstable, sadistic, delusional psychopath who went through a lot of abuse and torment and was viewed by others as a freak. Those very aspects that I found made him at his best and gave him a lot of potential are also gone. Is there anything that Kevin does offer in the reboot? Well, he’s an obnoxious, childish, pretty much generic bully to Ben (even though Cash and JT are in the reboot) and…that’s pretty much it. There’s not much else to Kevin as a character. Well, ok, sure, there is Kevin’s crush on Gwen (ugh), thus making him quite protective of her and apparently, I’m guessing Kevin was abandoned or something (and I guess Ben has known this for a while) considering that it’s been emphasized how he doesn’t have anyone to go back to, which is odd because the flashback showing Kevin building the AntiTrix clearly shows him living at a house. I guess there’s more that will be built upon that but I don’t find that to be as impactful as what he went through in the Original Series and you all should already know of my views on Kevin and Gwen’s relationship. Even though this is a rebooted continuity, I still don’t find Kevin and Gwen to be a fitting set of characters to be in a relationship with each other. It just doesn’t seem right. Other than that, what sums up Kevin the most, if not overall, in the reboot show is that, again, he’s an obnoxious, childish, generic bully who picks on Ben because from what I recall, it’s funny to him or something of the likes. That’s quite lacking for Kevin as a character. So little depth and complexity to him. So little weight to him. It’s also so, well, not Kevin. There’s so little about Kevin Levin in the reboot that’s Kevin Levin. His abilities are gone and replaced with the AntiTrix. His personality, behavior, and characteristics from the Original Series are gone. The only thing that I can tell so far about Kevin that’s even remotely Kevin is his name and his appearance. Once again, a mere mediocre shell of his former self. This just isn’t Kevin Levin. So, with all of that finally out of the way, now we can get to the part of the article where I discuss what I find to be the best direction to fix and improve Kevin Levin. For starters, bring back the Original Series version of him (figures that I would say that). Bring back his psychopathic behavior and personality. Bring back his energy absorption abilities. Bring back his obsession towards going after Ben. Bring back all of that stuff. Make him the villain that he was in the Original Series and keep him like that. No transition towards being a hero. No relationship with Gwen. No AntiTrix. Etc. As I stated before, I find that stuff like this made Kevin at his best and really helped to set up a lot of potential for Kevin as a character and villain. Speaking of potential, what is that very potential that I mentioned that Kevin has as a villain? Kevin 11,000. The Original Series version. Not the Omniverse version. Bring back the Original Series version of Kevin, build him up to Kevin 11,000, and then go even further with it. How? Once again, OS Kevin is a mentally unstable, delusional psychopath with energy absorption abilities that makes him not only more and more powerful but also makes his mental state worse and worse the more energy and DNA and whatnot he absorbs, thus making him more and more uncontrollable and dangerous. That is a recipe for an end-of-the-world scenario. That makes Kevin a walking, living, breathing potential doomsday event…and, once again, he is obsessed with making Ben suffer due to their past encounters with each other. Kevin is potentially Ben’s most dangerous, terrifying, and personally significantly impactful enemy, more so than the likes of Vilgax, Hex, Zs’Skayr, the Highbreed, etc. The OS version of Kevin Levin, and his future self, Kevin 11,000, isn’t a character that wants to rule the world or the galaxy or the universe or whatever. He isn’t a character that wants ultimate power. Although, it’s does make sense that he would desire more power but not for the generic reason of wanting ultimate power. Kevin just wants to make Ben suffer and is willing to do anything to achieve that. A personal conflict that could put Ben, Gwen, Max, Ben’s son, Ken, and anyone else close to Ben in the most amount of danger that they would ever experience whenever Kevin is around. Every time Ben and his allies defeat him, Kevin strives to absorb more energy and DNA to make himself more powerful, which could subsequently make his mutation even more monstrous and unstable. Unlike what was shown in the sequel shows, there isn’t (or at least shouldn’t be) a way to reverse Kevin’s mental state. All of that energy that he absorbed and retained inside him would’ve cooked his brain, damaging it permanently. Yes, this can happen if the human brain absorbs too much energy; especially ionizing radiation energy. Anyways, this is where I find Kevin would be suited at; what his untapped potential is. Kevin Levin’s set up in the Original Series opened up the opportunity to be the best villain in the entire franchise. A villain who would provide such a significant impact and personal conflict to Ben, Gwen, Ken, and Kevin’s son, Devlin. A villain who can truly test and challenge these characters at their most struggling. Really push them to their limits. This is the type of character that I find that Kevin should be and I say that this is a direction that can really help to vastly fix and improve Kevin, and the franchise overall, in a way that can prove to be very much unique, interesting, intense, and captivating. To provide a sense of tension and concern for the main characters in a way that no other villain and conflict can provide. That should be everything that I want to discuss about Kevin Levin as a character. Hopefully I explained everything well enough to get my point across. Kevin is a character with so much potential to really stand out as a villain in such a good way and to see that this isn’t the direction that was taken for him is one of my biggest disappointments of the entire franchise. Hopefully there’s still a chance for that very potential to end up being fulfilled. Other than that, that’s my take on Kevin Levin in the Ben 10 franchise and what I think would be the best direction for him to go. If anyone has any thoughts and opinions of their own on this topic and this article, feel free to leave a comment down below. Oh, one more thing, I say to bring back Michael Reisz and Charlie Schlatter as the voice actors behind Kevin. Most especially Charlie Schlatter. Greg Cipes did fine as Kevin. It’s just that I like Schlatter’s performance as Kevin (both kid and future self) and Devlin more. I find Schlatter to be a more fitting choice as the voice of Kevin. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Deviant-art, and the Ben 10 Club. Links are down below. Twitter: https://twitter.com/TacticalOchoa Deviant-art: https://tacticalochoa122.deviantart.com Ben 10 Club: https://ben10club.org/user/tactical-ochoa The Ben 10 Club has also started a new fundraiser not just to help continue to keep the website afloat but to also help the Ben 10 Club create new original content on their YouTube channel to also help support the website. The fundraiser is also meant to help the Ben 10 Club remove the ads that have been on their website. If anyone is interested in wanting to help out, feel free to click the link below. https://donorbox.org/ben-10-club-fundraiser-for-first-half-of-2019?default_interval=m&amount=5 Official Website: https://ben10club.org YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVuVgrKdnHirU63g1BCN2fA Twitter: https://twitter.com/ben10club_bg
• Episodes

  You just love an episode or you're confused with something? Share.
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  @car54 In Goodbye and Good Riddance, after the intro segment when the intro theme is finished, you're treated to a comic book with the narrator basically giving the message that the episode is a what-if scenario.
• Ideas

  You have an idea about Ben 10? Or you want something to change? Share it!
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  On August 14, 2017, I posted an article about how I would restructure Ben’s alien roster in the Ben 10 franchise. Months later on December 1, 2017, I posted a revised version of that same article. Once again, I’m going to tackle this topic to provide a more updated, current, and organized take on this subject. For those that haven’t read my previous versions of this topic, basically, I find that Ben’s roster of aliens that he had access to by the end of Omniverse (and I guess the new aliens from the reboot could be included here as well) is way too bloated, has too many redundant aliens, and is unbalanced to a ridiculous degree and to the detriment of the franchise and its action elements. I made this article in an attempt to try and address and fix these issues as best I can. To provide a roster of aliens that still has a lot of variety and uniqueness to it while removing as much redundancy from it and balancing it out more so that it doesn’t allow Ben to be so ridiculously overpowering and thus bring some tension back into the action elements. Now I know that a lot of people are going to point out stuff like how the Omnitrix has over 1 million different DNA samples and therefore Ben is bound to have access to many many many aliens and some aliens are bound to be similar to others and etc. etc. etc. Yes, I understand that and that’s not what I have a problem with. Of course, it would make sense for Ben to gain access to a lot of aliens. After all, Ben 10,000, true to his name, has access to over 10,000 aliens. Here’s the thing though. One, just because Ben can unlock a lot of aliens doesn’t mean he has to use every single one of them. Ben 10,000 has access to over 10,000 aliens yet he continued to use the original set that he started off with and not much else after that. Second, this doesn’t excuse the issues that plagued Ben’s alien roster in the official shows. Ben can have access to a lot of aliens but it shouldn’t be at the cost of factors such as being unbalanced and skewed towards Ben’s side. My preferred roster isn’t so much in regards to what Ben should only have access to but more so in regards to what aliens Ben should rely on and use the most amongst the numerous other aliens that he would gain access to. The roster that I’m providing here is a list of aliens that Ben should rely on the most with no other aliens existing that are more powerful than what’s in this roster and any aliens that aren’t valid enough to be included into this roster are aliens that Ben should not ever use. Hopefully, that makes sense. Otherwise, feel free to comment down below about that reasoning and I’ll try to provide better clarification on it. With all of that out of the way, here’s my preferred roster of aliens that I say Ben should stick to using. As a disclaimer as well, if there is anything about this list and/or the reasoning behind why that I want to change and improve upon, I’m not going to make another revision article like I did last time. I’m just going to make an edit to this one. Any updates that I make to this article post-release, I’ll notify on down below. Chances are though that this will likely be my final take on this topic but who knows. That might change in the future. My Preferred Roster: Heatblast Wildmutt Diamondhead XLR8 Grey Matter Four Arms Stinkfly (the original design, of course, because screw the reboot design) Ripjaws Upgrade Ghostfreak Cannonbolt Wildvine Buzzshock Arctiguana Benwolf/Blitzwolfer Upchuck Ditto Way Big Big Chill (as a successor to Ghostfreak) Spidermonkey Lodestar Terraspin Ball Weevil Protost alien (Tetrax’s ship pilot, Gluto) Uxorite alien (Xylene) Lenopan alien (Lucy Mann) Honorable Mentions: Atomix Armodrillo Feedback (if not Buzzshock) Pesky Dust Gravattack Spitter As I stated before, my intentions with providing this roster is to remove the redundancies in the roster from the official shows and provide something that I find is much better balanced and much less overpowering while also maintaining the right level of variety and uniqueness to it. Each alien that I’ve selected for this roster all fulfill specific roles with as little to no overlap as possible. Sure, some aliens are more flexible and multipurposed than others but I don’t find it to be something that significantly impacts this roster. Some aliens are better than others but they still fit within the criteria that I have here and the “others” still fulfill roles that I find are unique and necessary enough to be included into this roster. For example, sure, Ripjaws is an alien that best works in water since that he has trouble breathing outside of water if he can’t find a source of water. Sure, pretty much every other alien is better suited on land than Ripjaws. However, Ripjaws is Ben’s best option for underwater combat. Most, if not all, of Ben’s other aliens are not suited for underwater combat. That’s what makes Ripjaws at his most useful despite his limitations and that’s why Ripjaws is in this roster. For those that haven’t seen the previous versions of this topic that I made, you’ll likely notice that there are three new aliens that I included into this roster that we’ve never seen Ben ever use. The Protost alien (Gluto), the Uxorite alien (Xylene), and the Lenopan alien (Lucy Mann and the rest of the Mann family) are aliens that I do think would be really interesting to see Ben gain access to and use. In regards to the Protost alien, I’m sure plenty of people will ask as to why I don’t just include Goop instead. Here’s why. Goop is a unique alien and I wouldn’t mind including him into this roster. The problem, however, is that Goop relies greatly on his anti-gravity projector to maintain his form and be able to function and move around and whatnot. Without it, Goop is just a useless puddle of, well, goop. There is little to nothing that Ben can do as Goop if he loses the anti-gravity projector. The anti-gravity projector is a blatantly obvious weakness that can be easily exploited and that’s why I didn’t include Goop into this roster. On the other hand, Protost aliens don’t have to rely on an anti-gravity projector in order to function and do anything. That’s why I prefer the Protost alien over Goop. Protost aliens may not have all of the same traits as Goop (such as Goop’s acid ability) but it’s a close enough match without the blatantly obvious weakness, which I find makes the Protost alien an ideally balanced enough alien to be included into the roster. As for the Uxorite alien, I included that one in due to its telekinetic abilities balanced out by their lesser durability compared to other aliens. Then there’s the Lenopan alien. I didn’t choose this one for its combat capabilities (although, Lenopans are tough and capable aliens). Rather instead, I picked this alien more for its infiltration and disguise potential. Lenopans can disguise themselves as pretty much anything and anyone, matching their color, texture, I believe voice as well, etc. This can allow Ben to be able to sneak into all sorts of areas. Of course, it is ultimately up to Ben to be able to carry on his disguise effectively and therefore encourage him to be smarter about the situations that he’s in and quickly think and adapt to said situations in order to avoid blowing his cover. One other thing to mention is the “honorable mentions” section. These are aliens that I do find to be a close fit to be included into the roster but there are certain factors about them that ultimately (for now, at least) didn’t make them make the cut. Atomix would be interesting to include if he wasn’t so incredibly powerful. Too powerful in my eyes. There was an illustration of Atomix that I felt would’ve been much more interesting, unique, and better balanced and thus, make him an ideal fit for the roster. I’ll provide the link below this paragraph. The artist’s portrayal of Atomix is something that I find to be far better than Omniverse’s portrayal. The design is so much more unique and alien and while Atomix is still very powerful, because there’s a risk of causing collateral damage due to him emitting radiation, this properly balances out Atomix. Atomix’s weakness encourages Ben to pick his moments more careful with using this alien. Of course, I’m pretty sure that Ben doesn’t want to cause another Chernobyl incident. Having the ability to burrow underground and drill through various obstacles is what I find makes Armodrillo and interesting and unique alien. My biggest issue, however, is his design. It doesn’t seem alien enough to me. The same goes for Pesky Dust as well. Pesky Dust is a great choice for interrogation purposes but that design just doesn’t work. If those two aliens were redesigned to look more alien, I would be more than happy to include them. Feedback is in the honorable mentions section to really just act as a replacement for Buzzshock. I’ll get to Buzzshock later. Gravattack is a really interesting and unique alien but I’m concerned about his gravity-based abilities. I’m not sure if it makes sense for an alien to have something like that yet and if that makes Gravattack too powerful and unbalanced. I have the Uxorite alien in my roster so maybe Gravattack will end up being considered unneeded here. Finally, there’s Spitter. I really like the design and Spitter is a well-balanced alien. However, Stinkfly already has slime-based abilities. Although, Spitter’s slime does have some attributes that are different from Stinkfly’s slime. Stinkfly’s slime is flammable and explosive while Spitter’s slime can be made acidic and is a good conductor of electricity. Maybe I will make an update and add Spitter to the roster but for now, he’s in the honorable mentions section for the time being. https://www.deviantart.com/kjmarch/art/Atomix-67594690 Now I’m sure that some people reading this would ask stuff like, “Why include these aliens and not these aliens?”. Again, take into consideration of the criteria that I’ve set up for this roster. The aliens have to be unique and interesting in their design, characteristics, and abilities. There needs to be a necessity for having certain aliens in the roster. That means as little overlap and redundancy as possible. The aliens need to be properly balanced and not overpowering. That especially means no Alien X. Giving Ben the power of what’s essentially a god is one of the biggest mistakes ever made with this franchise. Alien X should have never existed in the first place. What about Clockwork though? While unique, the ability to control and manipulate time is quite clearly overpowering. Why not Humungousaur? I find Four Arms to be the more unique strength-type alien while also finding him to be more agile and flexible than Humungousaur (having four arms as opposed to two sure does make quite the difference). The writers either forgot about or decided to remove Humungousaur’s growth ability and even then, I already have Way Big. I don’t find Humungousaur’s tail in the reboot show to make enough of a difference either. I find Four Arms to be the better and more unique strength-type alien. Why pick Heatblast and Wildvine instead of Swampfire since that he’s a combination of both? Because Swampfire is the jack of both trades but not the best at either of them. Heatblast is the better fire alien and Wildvine is the better plant alien. There’s plenty of things that they both can do that Swampfire can’t and there’s too little, if not nothing, that Swampfire can do that Heatblast and Wildvine can’t do. Also, considering that it’s really quick and easy for Ben to just switch between each alien form (especially with the Master Control), I don’t find hybrid aliens, such as Swampfire, to be necessary to have. Big Chill is a bit of an exception though. The reason why is that while I do have Ghostfreak in my roster, the issue with Ghostfreak is, well, the nature of Ectonurites in general and how their consciousness lives within even the smallest of samples of an Ectonurite. I’m pretty sure that Ben and his allies don’t want another situation like with Zs’Skayr back in the Original Series. That’s why I included Big Chill in the roster. As far as I can tell, he’s the closest in similarity to Ghostfreak that I can think of. Therefore, I find Big Chill to be a worthy enough successor to replace Ghostfreak if there isn’t a way to properly control Ghostfreak. Sure, Big Chill can’t possess people and can’t go invisible (apparently, from what I’ve heard a while back, the one time that he did was an error made by the writers of the show and stuff like this happened pretty often (remember Humungousaur)) but being able to become intangible is good enough in my book. Why pick Ditto over Echo Echo and Slapback? Slapback is…ok, I guess. The issue, however, is that Slapback is also just another strength-type and brawling-type alien and I already have that covered in the roster. As for Echo Echo, he is one of the most subtly overpowered aliens in the franchise. The issue with Echo Echo is that unlike Ditto, Echo Echo doesn’t have any link between his duplicates. Therefore, there is no consequence to any of Echo Echo’s duplicates being destroyed. As long as one Echo Echo remains, Ben can easily replace the ranks of those that were destroyed and there’s no limit to how many duplicates that he can make. If one Echo Echo dies, ten more can replace its rank. It doesn’t even matter much that Echo Echo is a fragile alien because there’s no check and balance made to his duplication ability. Without that ability, I probably would’ve replaced Blitzwolfer with Echo Echo, although the issue with that is at that point, I think Echo Echo would just be too fragile of an alien for Ben to use so I think I’m just going to stick with Blitzwolfer for fulfilling the sound-based ability spot. I picked Ditto because his link between each of his duplicates encourages the greatest amount of strategy and tactics over the other duplication aliens. Because harming and killing one Ditto affects the rest, this keeps Ditto’s duplication ability from making him too powerful. Ditto isn’t as capable as Ben’s other aliens and therefore, Ben has to rely on having a numbers advantage in order for Ditto to be at his most effective but Ben has to rely on a numbers advantage in a strategic manner. Ben has to play things smart as Ditto and that’s why I find Ditto to be the most interesting, unique, and overall the better duplication-based alien. Now I’m sure that people will point out Buzzshock and his ability to duplicate. That’s something that I find to be interesting about Buzzshock. Nosedeenians can indeed duplicate via taking damage and absorbing energy, and yet, as far as I can recall, we never see Buzzshock himself make duplicates, despite how useful that ability would be to him; likely too overpowering and unbalanced. To me, it feels like there’s more than meets the eye with Buzzshock and other Nosedeenians. Maybe what’s assumed to be duplication is really multiple Nosedeenians combined into one or something of the likes but so far, that’s just a theory. I rather prefer to have Buzzshock in my roster because I find him to be the most unique electric-based alien in the franchise. Like I said before as well, I also have Feedback in the honorable mentions section to act as a replacement for Buzzshock if Buzzshock doesn’t end up working out in the end. I’m sure some people are going to point this out as well and that is why Rath isn’t in the roster here. I find Rath to be one of the most overrated aliens in the franchise. There’s not really anything that’s unique about Rath other than he’s the most comedic alien. Rath is strong but not the best strength-type alien. Rath is fast and agile but is outmatched by those such as XLR8. Rath has razor-sharp talons but there’s plenty of other aliens in my roster that has some form of a razor-sharp weapon, such as Diamondhead. Rath can’t shoot fire, can’t fly, can’t freeze stuff, isn’t the smartest, etc. I find Rath to overall be unnecessary. Let’s add liability to Rath as well. Again, Rath isn’t the smartest alien. In fact, he’s pretty much one of Ben’s dumbest aliens. That combined with him being so overly aggressive and so easy to distract makes Rath too much of a liability for me to also pick him for the roster. That’s why I didn’t pick Rath. Now I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of people that are going to take issue with that so if you disagree, feel free to comment down below as to why. Not going to matter much anyways. My mind is already set with Rath. I believe I haven’t covered everything here but I say that I’ve provided enough as it is to back up my claims and explain the general gist of this article here. This article is already long enough as it is so for the time being, I feel like not needing to go any further. Like I said before as well, if there’s anything here that I want to change, fixes, and/or improve upon, I’ll make an edit to this article to update it. If anyone has any thoughts of their own on this topic and my coverage of it, feel free to comment down below. 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