Who knows all about Ben 10? I need to educate myself!!!!

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It seems that all little boys like Ben 10. My DS is 4 and all the boys at school talk about Ben 10 all the time. DS has a little Ben 10 figure which he adores.

So...

what is Ben 10 as opposed to Ben 10 alien force (a 5yo told me that the distinction was critical)

where can I learn which figure is which (need pictures!)

where can I find out other basic info about this stuff in order to converse with my 4yo!

Also, what channel is Ben 10 on and is it appropriate for a 4yo to watch or not? (I have freeview, no sky). Lots of Ben 10 toys are marked age 4+, so they seem OK for DS.

How much do you all know about Ben 10

ahem. Ben10 is Ben as a child who has an omnitrix fixed to him by accident, which allows him to turn into any one of milions of alien lifeforms whose dna is contained within it. He does not always behave in a way that honours this great responsibility.

Still with me? basically he and his sister Gwen, and his grandfather max who used to be a "plumber", a coy description of baddie alien fighter...there is also kevin 11 who is sort of the anti hero....

fastforward to Alien force and Ben, Gwen and Kevin are adolescents....still fighting aliens....

And is he called Ben10 because he's 10? Or is it like 007?

I think its because at first he only has access to 10 different lifeforms...

I think the 10 relates to the ominatrix. he can only be "alien" for 10 minutes at a time and can only use 10 alien forms

and why do kids like it? What is good about it?

Because he can become one of any of 10 aliens (originally - now it's loads more as MD says.

Ben10 was the original and is slightly more suitable for younger children. In Ben10 Alien Force, Ben and Gwen are older and Gwen has a disturbing crush on Kevin11 who treats her with utter contempt

They are both awful, violent and grim, and one of the reasons we now do dvds and iplayer only, but ds laaaaarves them and has total recall of all details from the 6 months when he was allowed to watch them!

Quickest route to insanity knowing all this stuff is to get to the Ben 10 section in your local bookshop - there are numerous Everything You Wanted to Know about Ben 10 books which will fill you in, unless your ds can read them himself of course.

From wiki

Plot

Benjamin Tennyson, his cousin Gwendolyn, and their grandfather Maxwell start their summer camping trip. Ben goes stomping off into the woods after another fight with Gwen, whom he is not happy to have along on the trip, and finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix. The device attaches permanently to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with their own unique powers. Although Ben realizes that he has a responsibility to help others with these new abilities at his disposal, he is not above a little super-powered mischief now and then. Along with Gwen and Max, Ben embarks on an adventure to fight evil, both extraterrestrial and earthly.
[edit]Omnitrix

See also: List of Omnitrix aliens
The Omnitrix is the mysterious watch-like alien device that allows the user to transform into various alien forms by combining the DNA of the selected alien with the user's own DNA, effectively turning them into the alien species the user has selected. The alien form is selected by unlocking the control dial, turning the control dial to the desired alien species which is displayed on the Omnitrix's display, then pressing the control dial back into place completing the transformation. The alien DNA also seems to contain some aspects of the original aliens' personality; when questioned how it felt to be an alien, Ben described it as follows: "It kinda freaked me out at first. It was like I was me...but it was also like I was somebody else." [2]
The Omnitrix was originally created by Azmuth (a Galvan like Greymatter) to allow the people of the universe a way to literally "walk in someone else's shoes". However, many beings saw the Omnitrix's abilities as something that could be used as a powerful weapon?most prominently the villain Vilgax who claims it to be the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. Fearing that people might misuse the Omnitrix for this very reason, Azmuth put several safeguards in place to ensure that whoever used the Omnitrix would not have full access to its powers. Several of these safeguards include transforming into an alien different from the one that is selected on the control dial, the ten minute auto time-out, the restriction of only ten accessible aliens, and a self-destruct mechanism. However, these safeguards are disabled once the Master Control for the Omnitrix is unlocked, which is apparently done by a random combination of selections on the control dial. Once the Master Control is unlocked, the user can stay in their alien form indefinitely and is also able to switch between alien forms at will just by thinking about it, speaking the name its user has given any alien, or turning the badge with the Omnitrix insignia on it.
In addition to the aliens that were pre-programmed into the Omnitrix's DNA sequencer by Azmuth, the Omnitrix also possess the ability to absorb DNA samples from other alien species by simply coming into contact with them, effectively downloading a DNA sample and allowing access to that form.
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Why do kids like it? Because Ben is the hero, he's cheeky, allegedly 'funny', and hey, he has a watch which means he can change into an alien! What's not to love??

Never mind ds1... dp, dd and myself love ben 10 too

This is very complicated

But I suprised myself by knowing the answer to BadGardener's question:

I think he is called ben 10 as his name is "Benjamin Tennyson" (possible spelling mistake in there!)

Thank you for all this terrifically interesting information
Now I probably know more about Ben 10 than either of my dcs and can hold onto my reputation for omniscience.

I won;t let my 4 yr old watch it - from what i saw it was a lot of fighting....but then i didn' watch a whole episode so it may not be always like that

Part of the allure of this kind of thing is that he changes into powerful things and then changes back This is great for boys of this age who are torn between liking being a child and wanting to be powerful.

The other part that's alluring is that its really complicated and your parents don't know about it. In contrast to all the other complicated things they are explaining to you. So the way to find out more about it is to ask your DS - He gets to be the expert.

Another question:

Do teachers disapprove of ben 10?

I am ashamed at my poor knowledge of Ben 10. I know everything about Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends .

I think my school disapproves of Ben10 because they were told they couldn't dress up as him for World Book Day - there were plenty of Scooby Doos etc but Ben10 was specifically forbidden.

DS2 loved Ben10, but not AlienForce. I was a bit cats bum mouth about it to begin with because it's slighty violent for my taste, BUT, we don't have any satellite/cable, so it was a treat to watch it at the weekend on Five. It really stimulated his imagination and for a while he would just draw loads of Aliens. He got into it when he started school. They would all talk about it, even though I expect many of them hadn't seen it ... I love that about boys

I really quite like it myself. Something about all the different aliens with different characteristics. Also, it's got a bit of a moral in that Ben does get a bit of come-uppance when he is naughty.

Am fed up with Ben10 Top Trumps, though ....

Sarah - that's a very good assessment.

Teachers possibly think it's a bit low-brow ? But then they may not have analysed the psycho-developmental-social significance.

BTW - give me Ben10 any day above Horrid-Bloody-Henry or Tracy "I'm Very Rude" Beaker

There has been quite a lot of research into the importance of super hero play for boys....

here is some

Hello Madame ! I did not know that. It's a new thing for me. DS1 was not at all into superheroes, power-rangers etc

Hallo Jamie! yes, tis very interesting. Even my quiet ds loves ben10, we've been through powerrangers, bionicles, transformers...and all sorts....

On a very petty point - the Kevin in Ben 10 is actually called Kevin Levin.

(runs away for fear of flaming due to coming across as a know it all party pooper!)

That's interesting Madame. Both dd and ds1 are hugely into being superheros.

Hmm - am wondering if DS1 used to get his sense of power and mastery by playing with his train set - being the organiser of his own little world

So - who is your favourite Alien ? < hijack >

Mine is Ripjaw - he is high-scoring on Top Trumps as he is fast (second only to XLR8)