Ben 10,000 and Ben's future in the Prime Timeline
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From the very first episode where we got to see future Ben, Ben 10,000 became an extremely popular concept in the fandom, and there was a general desire to have more episodes with him or else have the sequel series transition towards Ben becoming his future self. Each era of the show gave us their own Ben 10,000.
The original Ben 10,000 was one who never took off the original Omnitrix and quite a serious and no-nonsense person who has become a great hero known all around the world. In essence his reputation is exactly what 10 year old Ben would've dreamed of. But he has lost his sense of fun and ability to enjoy life because the duties of being a hero have overwhelmed him, to the point where he doesn't even prioritise seeing and spending time with his family over missions. He has also unlocked Master Control permanently and the timeout feature does not apply to him - again, something that 10 yo Ben would've only dreamed of. Yet he spends too much time in his alien forms and not enough as himself. Of course, by meeting his past self he learns that even heroes deserve the right to enjoy life and hold their family close to their heart. What made this version of Ben 10,000 great is that it is convincing that Ben grows into this version of himself especially looking at how he acts as a 10 year old after he gets the Omnitrix, and he actually has character developement. He also appears in "Ken 10" but he's not really the focus in that episode, mainly trying to be a responsible father to his son Kenny and trying to protect him, despite Kenny wanting to follow in his dads footsteps of being a hero.
Ultimate Alien introduced their own Ben 10,000 who comes from the future to help his younger self defeat the timewalker Eon. This Ben didn't have so much a backstory or his own character arc, mainly because he wasn't the main part of the episode. As it turns out, Ben's future changes every time he meets his future self, resulting in a different Ben 10,000 every time, with this Ben being one who never took off the Ultimatrix. Unfortunately they gave this version of Ben's future a kinda cringey gimmick known as the "Ultimate Ben" form, where he can access all his aliens powers while remaining in human form. This is pretty universally disliked in the fandom even by fans of Ultimate Alien, especially since it takes away from the entire thrill of seeing Ben actually transform into different aliens. This version of Ben's future is kinda underwhelming, and the episodes plot and no real direction in terms of Ben's developement (unlike the original) didn't help, especially since we never actually got to see his future world, his relatives and friends there etc.. I will give Ultimate Ben credit though: I think that his personality is what I envision Ben 10,000s to be like. Sensible, mature, but also retaining a bit of swagger and cockiness from his earlier years
Omniverse continued by introducing their own version of Ben's future (who we'll call Ben 10k). This Ben shares more similarities with original Ben 10,000 in that Kenny is shown again and the future world is similar to what it was. In my opinion, this Ben 10,000 had a slightly generic personality, being your typical dad or older mentor figure depending on who he was with. The idea of the Biomnitrix and this Ben 10k using alien fusions was another unnecessary gimmick which was only marginally less lame than Ultimate Ben, even though the fusions are nicely designed. Surely Ben would be respectful enough to not just ditch the Omnitrix which the greatest mind in the galaxy made for him (specifically for him given that this is the "final" Omnitrix which was made with Ben in mind) just because he wanted fusions. However to Omniverse's credit, there is quite a lot of expansion on this future world especially with regards to the time war episodes, and it's good to see the other future characters and how their relationships have evolved. And the development of his son Kenny and his alternate personality as the timewalker Spanner is pretty neat I must admit.
So all in all, I personally like the original Ben 10,000 the best but all of them have their positives. Now the question is, what is Prime Ben's future supposed to be? Some people believe that he should end up exactly as the original Ben 10,000 because they don't buy the idea of the timeline diverging whenever Ben meets his future. Some people think that Ultimate Ben should've been his future because there's a line where he says that he remembers these events as well as Paradox seemingly confirming this. Some people think that Ben 10k from Omniverse should be the definitive future because he's part of the Maltruant time loop with his younger self.
In my opinion, I think it's fine for Ben's future to change every time he meets his future self. I like the idea that fate is not set in stone and part of Ben's character development is making sure that he does not end up like the original Ben 10,000. But I don't think that gimmicks are necessary at all. Fundamentally Ben 10,000 is an older, wiser version of his child or adolescent self who still wields the Omnitrix (rather than having a gimmick) but has his own set of issues to deal with emotionally as he grows up and has spent so much of his life as a hero.
“There’s always another way. In fact, sometimes to do something, all you need to do is nothing.” -Professor Paradox
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Actually in the episode Ben 10,000 returns Ben uses the Omnitrix that was used during Ben 10 : Alien Force. Apparently it was stated outside the show that Ben 10K from Omniverse is the same future from the original series. That makes zero sense after Kevin tried to kill Ken. Kevin is allowed to join Max's retirement party and he isn't in the null void ?
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@npzman Yes, it's the same design as the Omnitrix in Alien Force but it's not the Omnitrix from Alien Force. It is indeed the Ultimatrix and does indeed function like the Ultimatrix. Otherwise, Ultimate Ben wouldn't be a thing that Ben 10,000 could do in that episode. Yes, it doesn't make sense for the Ultimatrix to have the same design as the Alien Force Omnitrix but that's Ultimate Alien and its writing and continuity consistency for you.
@coreofthesun npzman is pretty much right about Ben 10,000 in Omniverse. He really was supposed to be the same Ben 10,000 from the Original Series. Remember, Omniverse tried to reverse a lot of the stuff that Alien Force and Ultimate Alien did and tried to take the franchise back to what the Original Series was. Now of course, that connection between both the OS Ben 10,000 and OV Ben 10,000 doesn't make sense. There are too many continuity inconsistencies throughout the franchise and too many differences between both versions of Ben 10,000 for it to make sense. Therefore, it's better to follow the advice that the Ben 10 Planet Wiki provided, which is to consider both the OS and OV Ben 10,000s as different versions and not the same version.
I do think that Ben's future should be changed. I mean, the point of the Ben 10,000 episode in the Original Series was for Ben's future to be changed. For Ben and Gwen to realize what sort of future would await them and that they needed to change it. However, Ben's future shouldn't be constantly changing like it did throughout the franchise. It goes back to my point about inconsistency. Constantly changing Ben's future is one of the many factors that made the continuity and timeline of the franchise such an absolute mess. I guess it's like the writers themselves don't know how to handle Ben as a character and how he should grow and develop.
I say the only future that should change is the one shown in the Original Series. Whatever Ben's future is as a result of that change should be set in stone. This is for the sake of keeping things simple and grounded. To not make things so convoluted and messy. This is something that I think should be the focus of Ben's transition towards Ben 10,000. That effort of trying to change Ben's future. To prevent him from becoming the very person that he did not want to become. That could be the overarching tension of Ben's transition. Him going through similar circumstances that would've led to him becoming the same Ben 10,000 that he witnessed with the focus on Ben overcoming those very circumstances, thus ending up with a different but better future for him. Something that the Little Moments fan series is doing after all.
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@npzman I am aware that the writers confirmed the Ben 10k
timeline to be the same as the original but I don’t buy it at all for the reasons that npzman mentioned. Although the character designs look somewhat similar - this is a timeline where Kevin has not been sent to the Null Void, where Ben 10k took off the Prototype, then took off the final Omnitrix and made the Biomnitrix. Rook is present in Omniverse’s timeline, Devlin isn’t etc.@Tactical-Ochoa fully agreed on your thoughts. I always believe that Ben 10 is meant to be Ben’s story first and foremost and that the story should follow him on his path towards Ben 10,000 and how in encountering those situations which would’ve caused him to become the original Ben 10,000, in remembering his encounter with his future self he does all he can not to end up like him.
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@Tactical-Ochoa said in Ben 10,000 and Ben's future in the Prime Timeline:
Therefore, it's better to follow the advice that the Ben 10 Planet Wiki provided, which is to consider both the OS and OV Ben 10,000s as different versions and not the same version.
That's no longer the case. Ben 10 Planet Wiki reverse it sometime during 2019. Ben 10,000 in the original series and Ben 10,000 in omniverse are now merged back into one timeline on the wiki.
I still wouldn't consider them in the same timeline myself either way.
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You'll never find a safer place for all LGBTQ+ people than this Ben 10 Club profile.
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@npzman Nope. The wiki is still considering Ben 10,000 from Omniverse as a different version compared to the Original Series Ben 10,000.
https://ben10.fandom.com/wiki/Ben_10,000_(Original)#Trivia -
@coreofthesun I think maybe Omniverse is supposed to be the Prime version. It's likely that the OS and UA ones were alternate future versions that resulted from different timelines.
I think so too, seeing as the OS future was likely an alternate timeline that Future Gwen there wasn't fond of (namely Ben turning dour in his mannerisms), while obviously the Ultimatrix isn't around anymore. Thus Ultimate Ben wouldn't' be possible.
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Another thing I've noticed in the end ultimate alien Azmuth said to Ben he might give him the master control for the Omnitrix on his 18th birthday which would give access to over a million alien. But future Ben would end up with a mere 10,000 Alien ?
