Benjamin Kirby “Ben” Tennyson, commonly known as Ben 10, is a superhero and the titular protagonist of the Ben 10 franchise. Created by Man of Action and produced by Cartoon Network Studios, he first appeared in the animated series Ben 10 (2005-2008), following his journey through Ben 10: Alien Force (2008–2010), Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2010–2012), Ben 10: Omniverse (2012–2014). The franchise has been rebooted twice, first in the animated series Ben 10 (2016–2021), and then in the Dynamite Comics series Ben 10 (2026), reimagining the character as a 10-year-old for a modern audience. Across these iterations, he matures from a reckless and adventurous child into a capable and responsible hero once he obtains the Omnitrix, a watch-like device which allows him to turn into various alien species. The version of Ben Tennyson presented in the first four series is identified as Ben Prime from the Prime Timeline, making him the progenitor of the entire multiverse.
Since his debut, Ben Tennyson has become one of Cartoon Network's most recognizable characters and has appeared in various media such as feature-length films, specials, comic books, video games, park attractions, books, game shows, plays, and attractions. He is voiced by Tara Strong as a child and Yuri Lowenthal as a teenager throughout the franchise, in addition to being portrayed by Graham Phillips and Ryan Kelley in their live-action versions.
Concept and creation In the early 2000s, Man of Action (writer collective composed of comic book creators Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle) was hired by Cartoon Network Studios to create an action animated show. They pitched twenty different ideas in twenty minutes, with each being a minute long. The eighth pitch, one about a boy named Ben 10 with the ability to change between 10 transformations, ended up being chosen. It was pitched to Cartoon Network in 2002 and during pre-production phases, the title went through several revisions, including Force 10 and Ben to the Tenth. The pitch in its earliest stages featured Ben Tennyson wielding a device known as the "Megawhat" that would transform him into alternate versions of himself around the multiverse. Around this time, the working title was Ben10, before the final title was decided to be Ben 10.
Artist Steven E. Gordon designed concepts for Ben, his device (later named "the Omnitrix"), and Ben's transformations. Gordon's concepts of Ben depicted him as a redhead boy with a medium-sleeved, orange and white shirt with an orange collar. He has baggy, olive toned dark yellow pants with two large pockets. He wears white shoes with that are light blue around the bottom and grey on the top and the sole. His Omnitrix resembled an ordinary wristwatch.
Ben's final design for the 2005 series was made by Dave Johnson. The design depicts him shorter than Gordon's design, with brown hair and green eyes. Ben's clothes consisted of a black-striped, white shirt with short sleeves, military green cargo pants with side pockets with a black belt hidden under his shirt, and black and white sneakers with black stripes.
The character's middle name, Kirby, was conceived as a reference to comic book artist Jack Kirby.
Initial concepts for Ben's Alien Force and Ultimate Alien designs were made by Glen Murakami. His head and hair were reworked by Glenn Wong, who also gave him his green jacket, while colors were added by Chris Hooten.
Transformations In Gordon's concepts, the transformations were shifted from being alternative versions of Ben to superheroes. Gordon designed concepts for the ten Omnitrix transformations. Unlike the official versions, these transformations were all still humanoid superheroes, each possessing one unique ability. These superheroes were Digger, Dragonfly, Ghostfreak, Greymatter, Inferno, PlantGuy, Razorjaws, StrongGuy, Upgrade, and XLR8. Alt URL Aspects of Gordon that were retained included the names of Ghostfreak, Greymatter, Upgrade, and XLR8.
The idea of bringing in aliens was conceived by writer Greg Johnson during the original show's three-year production, though he was uncredited. Gordon updated his concepts, making his superhero concepts more alien and monster in nature. By 2005, artist Dave Johnson redesigned the transformations, following the decision to make them extraterrestrial aliens instead of superheroes. Johnson was credited with redesigning Ben and his transformations, in addition to the major supporting cast during the first two seasons of the classic series. He left the show, citing poor treatment and was replaced with Thomas Perkins. Johnson's final contribution to the franchise was designing the alien transformation Feedback for Ben 10: Omniverse years later.
Early on in development, it was decided that a villain would be within the Omnitrix. After Ghostfreak was created, dialogue was added into the first season to hint there is something more to Ghostfreak. Originally, Cannonbolt, the 11th alien transformation in the series, was intended to be in the original set of aliens but was replaced with Diamondhead. Alt URL When working on test animations for the series, the first transformation to be showcased was Four Arms, and it was the most popular transformation out of all the aliens for Man of Action. Many unused designs for Upchuck were repurposed in the episode "Ben 10,000" as two of Ben's aliens, Spitter and Arctiguana, and the villain Sploot.
Portrayal Voice actors
Tara Strong first voiced 10-year-old Ben in the original 2005 series. She later reprised the role in Ultimate Alien, in the episode "The Forge of Creation" and in flashback episodes of Omniverse, with Ben at age 11. Strong also returned to voice Ben in the 2016 reboot, again portraying the character as a 10-year-old; along with voicing his original series incarnation at age 10 in "Alien X-Tinction". According to Man of Action, Strong had to re-audition for the role in the reboot; as they initially considered casting a child actor before ultimately retaining her in the role. Monsterrat Hernandez and Gunnar Sizemore, who voice Gwen Tennyson and Billy Billions in the reboot, respectively; also auditioned for the role Ben before Strong was brought back. According to Strong, the biggest adjustment she had to make in voicing Ben for the reboot was portraying him as less mean to Gwen than he had been in the 2005 series. Strong voiced 10-year-old Ben in every series to date except Ben 10: Alien Force, where he never spoke.
Yuri Lowenthal first voiced Ben at age 15 in Ben 10: Alien Force. When casting Ben for Alien Force during the audition process, Lowenthal revealed that he was called back multiple times during the audition process to read for the role before ultimately being cast. He would later reprise his role as 16-year-old Ben in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse, sharing the role in the latter with Strong, who voices the younger Ben. Both Strong and Lowenthal also voice alternate versions of Ben in Omniverse. Lowenthal returns in the 2016 reboot cameoing as an elderly Ben in the episode "The 11th Alien: Part 2", and later returns to voice the aforementioned 15 and 16-year-old counterparts of Ben in "Alien X-Tinction".
Personality
Initially cocky, childish, and selfish, Ben's immaturity and attention-seeking behavior often led him to joke around, regardless of the situation, which landed him in trouble with adults.
As a child, he often used the Omnitrix improperly in order to benefit himself instead of actually helping others. His allies often criticized his attitude, unaware of the fact that he used humor to mask his fears. It was also implied that, on some level, Ben helped people to get rewards. and for the thrill of being a hero, rather than because it was the right thing to do. Despite some childish attitude, Ben was heroic, caring and generally good-natured, always willing to save others at any time even at the risk of himself. In spite of this good nature, heroism, and his moments of maturity, Ben could occasionally get carried away when it came to fame and recognition. This led him to act rather arrogantly and recklessly, and occasionally made dire mistakes and alienated his loved ones. However, he was quick to realize his mistakes and is quick to take responsibility and knew not to take things too far.
Over the years, Ben has displayed good leadership skills, as well as the ability to adapt his attitude to a situation, becoming serious when it's called for. He became more mature, responsible and sensible. He continues to be kind-hearted and willing to lay down his own life for others. His idealistic views and unwillingness to compromise his values sometimes drive him to act against reason, such as helping his enemies if they need it. Professor Paradox has praised Ben's good nature, going so far as to say he had the gift to make the right choices at the right moments, and even Azmuth states that Ben ultimately always does the right thing. Also, Ben doesn't give up and wouldn't let anyone stop him from doing what's right for those in need, especially his family, friends and mentors, or to bring enemies down, even when he once got a broken arm.
However, even as a teen, Ben still displays some of his negative childish traits at times, which usually comes to light when Ben gets too caught up with fame much to the annoyance of Gwen and Kevin. Ben also has a violent, aggressive side: when Ben fails to save someone, is worried about the well-being his loved ones, or if people get hurt because of his failure, he becomes angry and lashes out, even at people he cares about. Ben confessed to Max that he felt guilty for letting fame get into his head and claimed that he was trying to act more mature for once.
Ben has experienced trust issues, when it comes to automatically trusting everybody and teaming up with people whose true colors are later revealed and turns against the team. Though often perceived as unintelligent because of his immaturity and constant joking, Ben is cunning and resourceful when needed, quickly adapting when the Omnitrix doesn't provide him with the alien he wanted. He has once admitted that people assume he's not paying attention, but he actually is. In Omniverse, Ben started thinking of himself as more of a superhero than a Plumber, often remarking that he's not a cop, but a superhero.
Abilities Ben is a fairly proficient fighter, even as a human. Although he mainly employs a loose street fighting style, he also knows martial arts. On top of that, he has gained practical experience from years of fighting aliens. Has also received basic Plumber training, having succeeded in the Plumbers' Academy with a 95 out of a 100.
Ben can jump very high, is acrobatic, and has parkour skills. Ben has quick reflexes, being able to dodge attacks and shots, as well as retaliate in kind. It is evident that Ben is smart in some respects, possessing an above-average to high intelligence, and has a good memory. Ben has strong willpower and often manages to turn his weaknesses into strengths.
He is skilled on hoverboards and snowboards, and is an expert pilot of cars and spaceships. He is ambidextrous and also a skilled marksman and fencer. Ben can play baseball, soccer (primarily as a goalie), and drums, and knows several electric guitar techniques, including shredding, hammer-ons, and artificial harmonics.
Equipment