Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Difference between revisions

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: {{spoiler|Kevin gives one to Aggregor after absorbing Ben's aliens again. It comes at the price of his sanity…}}

* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Aggregor seems to put the word 'Dangerous' in this trope. {{spoiler|He's not impatient, waiting until just the right moment to make his move. He knows enough not to go after the four fragments of the Map of Infinity without the proper abilities and seeks out the aliens with the exact abilities he needs. He employs [[Mecha Mooks]] that won't turn against him, and knows that his operations are too important for said mooks to do and instead handles everything personally. He's clever enough to subvert [[Talking Is a Free Action]], such as when he murdered the Plumber who had boarded his ship when he was citing the violation code. One of the major things he does is that he actually tracks the Ultimatrix's signal to locate Ben and his prisoners. He subtly manages to recapture his fugitives without Ben and the others knowing until it's too late. He was well prepared for a Plumber ambush, and was clever enough to leave a squadron of his robots and his damaged ship that was set to self destruct as a decoy while he carried out his real plan. He pretends to let Ben think he's pummeling him when he isn't feeling a thing and strikes back when Ben stops. Finally, he lets Ben and the others do all the work in collecting the fragments of the Map of Infinity, stealing them after they've finally reached them}}.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The entire episode "Catch a Falling Star" is basically this.

* [[David vs. Goliath]]: Ben ultimately defeats Harangue's [[The Incredibles|Omnidroid knockoff]] by turning into Nanomech, his smallest alien (and incidentally the only one the robot didn't have on file) and tearing it apart form the inside.

* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Calling Grandma Verdona to help stop a cousin without previous obvious warning is rather a good way to address the fanbase with their incessant questioning of whether she (Verdona) will ever show up again onscreen.

** Professor Paradox.

* [[Digging Yourself Deeper]]: Amazingly, [[Defied Trope|defied]] by Kevin in "Computer Games":

{{quote| '''Kevin:''' Look, Gwen, you have to treat a car like you treat a woman!<br />

'''Gwen:''' ''(pops a [[Fascinating Eyebrow]])'' Go on.<br />

'''Kevin:''' *[[Beat]]* No. I sense I've made a mistake of some kind. }}

* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: Magister Hulka.

* [[Driving Test Smashers]]: Happens to Gwen in "Video Games".

** And it's not just the US government; ''every government '''in the world''''' recognizes a Plumbers Badge, and is immediately willing to let them have full authority in the matter.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: Diagon

** She's also a dark-haired girl with a happy go lucky attitude whose name is one ''O'' from another [[Sonny With a Chance|Sonny]].

** Way Big is a huge one for [[Ultraman]], from looks to energy beam firing style.

** Fasttrack is basically an alien [[The Flash|Flash]].

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: {{spoiler|Kevin makes one after absorbing the power of the Ultimatrix and defeating the [[Big Bad]] solo. A bit of a subversion in this case, and might even qualify as a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (of his own character development) since he knew the risks of [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]] but took the chance as a last desperate bid to defeat a [[Complete Monster]] about to become a living god.}}

* [[Fandom Nod]]: "Y'know, after all the hype, the Alien X smoothie was a real disappointment. Kind of tastes like filler."

** Fourarms tells Captain Nemesis that [[Transformation Name Announcement|shouting out his name]] is "[[Hypocritical Humor|stupid]]."

* [[Fastball Special]]: Kevin has Humongousaur throw him at a pair of Forever Knights.

** They try another version with Lodestar's magnetism and Kevin in metallic form. It works, but is so rough on Kevin that Gwen makes them promise not to do it again.

** [[The Hero]]: Bivalvan (for [[Making a Splash|Water Hazard]])

** [[The Lancer]]: P'andor (for [[Playing With Fire|NRG]])

* [[Full Name Ultimatum]]: Gwen to Ben, in the second episode.

* [[Fusion Dance]]: This is basically how Aggregor gains the power of the five Andromeda aliens, resulting in portions of their bodies making up his new form.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Kevin while teaching Gwen how to drive. He tells her a car needs to be treated like a woman, but when she asks for an explanation, obviously displeased by the comparison, he immediately stops himself from continuing.

** In the season finale, ''no one'' is surprised that Darkstar tries to betray everyone at the end, and he's promptly dealt with in less than 2 seconds. No cliffhanger for you, buddy!

** A government [[The Men in Black|Man in Black]] displays this in "The Widening Gyre":

{{quote| '''MIB:''' Standard operating procedure is to show up unannounced, then ''demand'' you come with us. But we know we're dealing with Ben Tennyson<ref> (who is liable to respond to such a thing with, shall we say, ''force'')</ref> so, we're ''asking''. Would you ''please'' come with us?}}

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Zombozo and Kevin face each other with mallets, and Zombozo tells Kevin "Mine's BIGGER than yours!" Kevin naturally counters with something that amounts to "It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it."

** Ben's wearing a motion-capture suit, and one of the spherical markers accidentally detaches and rolls away.

** In "Video Games" when Will Harangue on his robot's video screen asks him "Any last words?" his answer is "None I'm allowed to say on television."

** Charmcaster hits it off with Darkstar in "Couples Retreat". After making him fight a bunch of monsters for fun, cut to next morning, where she's in bed and wondering where he went.

** In "The Eggman Cometh", we get this little gem from Dr. Animo; "Out of the way, you dumb cluck."

* [[Go Karting With Bowser]]: Jimmy plays an online game and chats with one of the Forever Knights. The dude's screen name even '''says''' he's a Forever Knight. Gwen, naturally, lampshades it.

* [[A God Am I]]: Aggregor's ultimate goal.

* [[Godzilla Threshold]]: Crossed in "Forge of Creation". So the good news is, {{spoiler|Evil!Kevin kicked Aggregor's ass and stopped him from taking over the universe}}. So the bad news is, {{spoiler|Evil!Kevin is back}}.

** Gwen does it a lot better. After the actress tries to move in on Kevin:

{{quote| ''*[[Death Glare]]*'' I will peel you like a grape!}}

* [[Heroic Vow]]: After Aggregor recaptures the last of his escaped prisoners, Ben makes one to save the aliens and stop Aggregor. {{spoiler|He doesn't manage either, and though Kevin does manage to stop Aggregor at the end, it costs him his sanity.}}

* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: Harangue quotes Nietzsche's line about the abyss in regards to Captain Nemesis going bad, but he's obviously just trying to spin the whole thing against Ben.

* [[How Do I Shot Web]]: Just like in the original series, Evil!Kevin 11 prefers to pretty much just either smash stuff or blast stuff instead of utilizing his full array of abilities. Ben even has to point out to him that he can use his "Mothman" powers to phase through objects. He does seem to get more creative with his usage of powers after realizing he has access to so many, though.

* [[Hurl It Into the Sun]]: The defeat of the trash [[Golem]] in "The Widening Gyre".

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: When Galapagus says that he was in prison, Kevin says "Told you he couldn't be trusted!"… this is from the guy who was trapped in the Null Void somewhere between 1-5 years.

** When Captain Nemesis imitates Ben's [[Transformation Name Announcement]], after seeing him do it as Fourarms:

* [[Knight of Cerebus]]:

** As the return of Old George/The First Knight has transformed the Forever Knights from laughable Monty Python-referencing villains to a "proper" order of fanatics who strong-arm innocent aliens into leaving Earth.

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: When the series [[Running Gag]] strikes yet again:

{{quote| '''Rath:''' [[Catch Phrase|Lemme tell ya something]], Ultimatrix! [[Third Person Person|Rath]] is sick of you not working right! It's not even funny anymore!<br />

** In "Prisoner Number 775 is Missing" Kevin asks Ben why he shouts the name of his aliens. Ben's response? To strike fear in the hearts of his enemies. Kevin deadpans that Ben can keep on believing that if he wants to.

*** Then Gwen announces Wildmutt's name as Ben is transforming later in the same episode, then remarks, "He can't talk. Someone had to do it."

* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: When Captain Nemesis kidnaps Julie as a means to get to Ben, Ben immediately finds him, jumps straight to Ultimate Humongousaur, and kicks five kinds of ass ''without so much as a word''. The lesson: [[Berserk Button|Do not fuck with Ben's loved ones]].

** He does it again when Aggregor {{spoiler|mercilessly kills the five Andromeda aliens when he absorbs their powers. If it weren't for the fact that Aggregor was invincible, Ben probably would've killed him}}.

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: About 63, all in one guy! Almost everyone Ben's turned into throughout the three series (plus Nanomech from the Alien Swarm movie, and a few we've never seen), except for Eon, can be found in the title sequence.

* [[Logical Weakness]]: Ra'ad, and by extension Ampfibian, is highly vulnerable to water, being an elecromagnetic being, This is ironic, as the species is an [[Electric Jellyfish]]. The writers apparently thought better of the weakness later on, since Ampfibian was able to swim underwater with no problems in "Deep".

** Gwen and Ben's cousin Sunny.

* [[Lotus Eater Machine]]: The Cassiopeia dream eater puts whoever it attaches to into one, then feeds off the chemicals in their brain related to stress as they try in vain to fight off the resulting nightmares.

* [[Magic Skirt]]: Despite being blown by Galapagus' wind in "Ultimate Aggregor" and Terraspin's wind in the 1st season finale, Gwen's skirt doesn't flip high enough to see higher than her thighs.

* [[Male Gaze]]: The camera seems to focus on Gwen's rear at times.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: The second episode also reveals Ben's middle name, when Gwen hits him with a [[Full Name Ultimatum]]: Benjamin '''''[[Jack Kirby|Kirby]]''''' Tennyson.

** Also: Will Harangue; Harangue means "A long pompous speech or a tirade," which seems to fit the anchorman pretty well.

** Episode 7 is titled "Andreas' Fault", so it should come as no surprise that Ben acquires an alien [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault that can cause earthquakes].

** In the episode "Deep", we're introduced to [[Kevin Michael Richardson|Plumber Magister Pyke]], a [[Fish People|Pisciss Volann]].

** Midway through season 2, Ben 10,000 gives present Ben every alien he'd ever turned into up to that point (thus making the title sequence correct) along with several that he hadn't yet gotten.

* [[Mind Control]]: Lucubra can control people while eating their thoughts. {{spoiler|The real Diagon}} can do this to anyone that was a victim of Lucubra. Both also involve a hefty amount of [[Mind Rape]], if Gwen's reaction is any indication.

{{quote| '''Ben:''' Seriously, dude, just apologize [to Gwen].<br />

'''Kevin:''' She's just scared of going back to Legerdemain. Because, y'know, how Charmcaster ''killed us all''. Good reason. }}

** Another example of breaking: Kevin accidentally {{spoiler|releases P'andor, a highly-radioactive energy being, from his containment suit.}} This leads to an [[Oh Crap]] face.

** A very notable case is that Ben and the others were unaware that they were unwittingly giving Aggregor back his captives each time they helped them. The last of the five finally pointed it out, and he too was caught. Just goes downhill from there.

* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: Somewhat justified with {{spoiler|the Andromeda aliens}}. Aggregor had converted them into energy so he could permanently absorb their powers. Once all the energy returned back to their original owners, they turned back to normal. (Then again, how it knew to convert them back into their physical forms is still unanswered.)

* [[Nothing Can Stop Us Now]]: In what has to be one of the fastest fulfillments of the trope's promise ever, Darkstar has the nerve to proclaim this after absorbing Kevin's excess energy, which was a considerable amount. Ben naturally [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|saw it coming]], pushes a button on a nearby panel, and takes it from Darkstar before a minute has passed.

** Old King Xarion of Zarcovia, his throne usurped by his own son with the help of {{spoiler|Dr. Viktor's dead body}}, calls in Ben and the gang to help him… {{spoiler|after which he turns on them and uses the Ultimatrix as a conduit to bodyjack Dr. Viktor.}}

** Ssserpent when he appears in "The Perfect Girlfriend". Before, his sole role was to get his tail kicked by Ben in a few seconds, this time he'd studied Ben thoroughly and set a trap that almost ''kills'' Ben. He also manages to avoid being captured the entire episode, something few of Ben's toughter villains can't say they managed.

* [[Power of Love]]: Temporarily gives Antonio an edge over Ben.

{{quote| "You can't beat me! You fight for your own reasons, but Antonio fights for '''LOOOOOVE!'''"}}

* [[Product Placement]]: Possibly deliberate this time; in "Reflected Glory", Gwen explicitly refers to her internet messages as [[Twitter|tweets]].

** Not surprising in the least since [http://twitter.com/YuriLowenthal all] [http://twitter.com/deebradleybaker four] [http://twitter.com/TheVulcanSalute primary] [http://twitter.com/GregCipes VAs] have an account.

*** Ra'ad, an old Persian word for "thunder", displays electrical powers.

*** P'andor, an alien trapped inside a suit to suppress his powers, is a reference to Pandora's box.

* [[Reveal Shot]]: Ben is shown on the therapist's couch in "Eye of the Beholder" - zooming out reveals his therapist is {{spoiler|Jimmy Jones.}}

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: {{spoiler|Prisoner 775 goes on one of these and tries to kill Colonel Rozum's family in revenge for Rozum's actions resulting in the deaths of his family and leaving the poor guy trapped in a horrible prison for who knows how long.}}

* [[Running Gag]]: Kevin's car still gets thrown around a lot.

** Not to mention the [[Ben 10 (Animation)|series]]-[[Ben 10 Alien Force (Animation)|wide]] running gag that, just like the Omnitrix before it, the Ultimatrix never works right when Ben wants it to.

** That's the ''least'' of your worries, considering ''why'' [[I Love Nuclear Power|he's in the armor]].

** {{spoiler|The real Diagon}} is sealed in another dimension, and the source of his power, his heart, was torn away from him and sealed by a magical sword.

** Let's not forget about "Video Games", where Ben talks about the multiplayer function in the game not being a good idea.

** In "Forge of Creation" {{spoiler|Young Ben looks through the 16-year old Ben's alien repertoire, and calls most of them lame}}.

*** And Eon's plot in that episode is very similar to {{spoiler|what the [[Big Bad]] in ''[[The One (Film)|The One]]'' was trying to do}}.

*** It's also similar to {{spoiler|DC Comics' ''[[Kingdom Come|The Kingdom]]'', where the supervillain Gog travels across Hypertime to destroy Superman from different realities}}.

** From "Andreas' Fault", the [[Ben 10 Alien Force (Animation)|second time]] a Forever Knight is heard yelling "[[Monty Python and The Holy Grail|RUN AWAY!]]"

*** Kevin even calls it "[[Monty Python]] week" when the Forever Knights show up in season 2.

** In "Solitary Alignment," Azmuth tries to explain to Ben and the gang how they can't interact with anyone in (what we know as) a [[Pensieve Flashback]], but eventually stops and tells himself that they probably can't understand what he's trying to say. Ben's response is that it's "pretty simple if you've ever seen ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''." Azmuth has no idea what he's talking about.

** In "Ben 10,000 Returns", when Kevin notices the strange fighting styles of the multiverse Ben counterparts under Eon's control, he asks Ben, "Since when did you learn ninjutsu?" Guess who else Yuri Lowenthal voices besides Ben? [[Naruto (Manga)|Sasuke Uchiha.]]

* [[Spider Tank]]: Although it's closer to a [[Humongous Mecha]], Will Harangue attacks Ben with one in "Video Games".

* [[Stern Chase]]: The 2nd and 3rd chapters of season 1 (the Map of Infinity and the {{spoiler|search for Kevin}}) have elements of this.

* [[Suicide By Cop]]: {{spoiler|It becomes apparent that Prisoner 775 was attempting this by holding Colonel Rozum at pretty much knife point. He doesn't defend himself or attempt to kill Rozum when Ultimate Wildmutt charges him, he just lets himself be attacked and begs to be killed so he can rejoin his lost family…}}

* [[Summon Bigger Fish]]: Gwen can't beat her full-Anodite cousin, Sunny, so she calls her grandmother Verdona, who easily puts Sunny in her place.

* [[Super Mode]]: The aliens' Ultimate forms. According to the official site, only half of the initial ''Alien Force'' aliens are getting them (though Cannonbolt is in place of Alien X, for [[Awesome but Impractical|obvious reasons]]).

** Eventually, Wildmutt also got one.

* [[Theme Naming]]: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azimuth Azmuth] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenith Zenith]. They're both named after astronomical terms.

** "Albedo" means "mirror." In this case- a mirror image of Ben.

* [[Time Skip]]: According to [[Word of God]], the time between the finale of ''Alien Force'' and the beginning of ''Ultimate Alien'' is only a few weeks; Ben and Gwen have their birthday in that short time frame. This means, according to information from the first series, that the starting point of this new story is roughly some time after New Year's. <ref>For those who don't remember, Ben was arguing that Gwen was obsessive for planning her birthday party 6 months in advance, in the middle of Summer. This places their shared birthdays in winter, and Kevin's apparently not too long before.</ref>

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: Rojo, who got two appearances in the first series, has a new gang, and each girl has her own suit of [[Powered Armor]] and combination [[Cool Bike]]/[[Flying Car]]. Okay, so they're still pretty easy to beat, but they still deserve points for trying.

* [[Villain Episode]]: Kinda-sorta with "Where the Magic Happens"; next to Gwen, Charmcaster is the main character of the episode.

** Similarly, "Couples Retreat" focuse more on Charmcaster and Darkstar then it does the heroes.

* [[Villains Out Shopping]]: The Forever Knights are occasionally subject to this. Jimmy plays a [[World of Warcraft]] [[Expy]] with one.

** When the team tries to track another one down, they find him at home, in his underwear but still wearing the helmet, brushing his teeth.

* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]]: See [[Transformation Sequence]] above.

** Kevin, Gwen, Sunny, and Aggregor as well, unless shapeshifting is only used to describe going between more than two forms.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: The plant monster that dissolves on contact with ''peanuts'', though it's more likely the fact that they were salted that made them dangerous. Still, it worked ridiculously well.

* [[Weaponized Animal]]: The nose-shooting alien fish on planet Pisciss in "Deep".

* [[Wham Episode]]: Both "A Knight to Remember" and "Solitary Alignment" reveal a lot about the leader of the Forever Knights, among other things.

** The Forever Knights' creed is basically their answer to this question.

** Ben's entire group, including Max, call out Colonel Rozum when they discover he's been keeping aliens prisoner in horrible condition for over 50 years without due process of law. Not only is this morally wrong, it violates interplanetary law. He "justifies" his actions by being his duty to serve and protect his country, no matter the cost.

** "Moonstruck" has a thread running through it that makes it an homage to the first two ''[[Terminator (Film)|Terminator]]'' movies.

** "The Big Story" to ''{{spoiler|[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]}}''.

* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: The reason why Kevin was such an evil kid in the first series. Osmosians are driven mad by absorbing energy. Aggregor claims this is just a lie by the powerful, but given how unstable he is already he's not exactly a reliable source.

** {{spoiler|Kevin did it again, though it was a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save the universe and defeat Aggregor. It cost his sanity, but he got better.}}

** Meanwhile, {{spoiler|the last leg of Season 1 gave us Kevin, who absorbed energy to save the universe from Aggregor at the cost of his sanity and body. Lacking almost virtually any sense of control, he promptly goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against ''everyone'' that wronged him. Most of his targets did things that were quite minor, but a few actually do deserve it.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|"I'm the one who gets turned into a monster! I'm the one nobody ever trusts or cares about! ... Face it, Gwen! Whatever I look like, I'm a freak!"}}}}

** {{spoiler|Charmcaster, after becoming a near [[Heel Face Turn]] before, becomes a near literal example of this in "Enemy of my Frenemy" when her desire to revive her father drives her to sacrifice all the souls in her home world to bring him back, and breaks down crying when he calls her out on what she'd done and is left [[Broken Bird|broken and alone.]] Even Gwen, whom she betrayed, can't bring herself to hate her after this.}}

** Charmcaster, over and over again. {{spoiler|She's able to return to her realm? She ends up trapped in it. She frees her realm? It's people proceed to fight a civil war over it. She ressurects her father? He goes back to being dead so that the souls sacrificed to bring him back can return. She finds a boy who likes her? He doesn't, and is using her for her power.}}

* [[You Can't Thwart Stage One]]: Was there ''really'' any doubt Aggregor would absorb the powers of the five aliens?

** Or that he would get the entire Map of Infinity?