I think it’s very funny that Kevin is consistently seen as the best thing in otherwise controversial or downright hated Ben 10 installments.

Jesus CHRIST, the ben 10 ultimate alien designers were copping out YEARS before Game Freak decided all the pokemon they made that you like are lame. Ultimate Alien was really a show of highs and lows and I think that’s best illustrated in ultimate cannonbolt when compared to ultimate swampfire

Ultimate Swampfire

Let’s go over design choices, first we have normal swamp fire, so brightly coloured with his red and yellow petals and his green softer looking body gives of this super living organic feel. The combination of  reminding us of plants we’ve seen and the name “swamp fire” make this kind of “one with nature” vibe. His powers too add to him having a softer more gentle vibe with him being a life giver or murderous attack vines.  And then he goes ultimate

Ultimate Swampfire completely perverts the original swampfire, his living green flesh is now petrified wood, his arms are now basically battering rams, his defining orange and red petals are now encased in a flammable blue gooey flesh. The seeds he normally had on his arms are now organic molotov cocktails. He is completely weaponized and nearly unrecognizable.

Ultimate cannonbolt

Okay over here we got old hotness, rolly polly boy. His design isn’t too complicated but it does have enough defining features to change, like maybe making his softer insides have some offensive ability or maybe his claws can be longer and sharper or give him the magnet powers like Ben thought he might have and make him a giant katamari. Let’s see what we actually got

new and busted

So, basically black and white palette swapped with batman and robin nips.

My main problem with ultimate cannonbolt is that his design does so little, I guess it’s cool to weaponize his yellow shell but Ben already used cannonbolt as a weapon that, there’s no change of attack or real change to visuals  either. It’s really just lazy, every other ultimate alien (except one) did SOMETHING to really separate it from the original alien to make fight scenes different in someway except this boring shit. THE NIPPLE SPIKES DON’T EVEN MAKE SENSE HE WOULD JUST GET STUCK IN THE GROUND

Alien force aliens too strong, me don’t like, gonna change to make more interesting fights and higher stakes. Let’s end this exercise in proposing changes to a kids show that’s been off the air for like 7 years.

1. Chromastone

Current power set:

1. Energy absorption

2. Laser and shield generation from absorbed energy out of pink crystals

3. High durability

4. Flight (????)

Revised power set:

1. Energy absorption

2. Laser production from absorbed energy out of pink crystals

3. High durability provided he’s not full of energy

Chromastone’s species is related to Diamondhead’s and serves as a back up to all the minds of Tetrax’s species so I’d say he’s a sort of messiah for the Diamondhead species and I think that should be reflected in how Ben uses Chromastone. What if, instead of pure “absorb energy show out rainbows through hands” Ben had to concentrate to ensure the energy is coming out of his hands as opposed to any other of his pink crystals? I think possibly a “calm demeanour” restriction to actually use his powers foreshadows Chromastone’s actual role and purpose and forces Ben to develop maturity and could maybe provide a cool scene where someone is kidnapped that Ben super cares about (probably Julie but I’d also love this with Kevin) and he uses Chromastone with deadly precision because he’s at this weird state of hyper rage calm and ultimate concentration and is DECIMATING whoever is keeping the kidnapped person hostage. For everyday use this would just mean Chromastone does more absorbing and can act as an energy sponge more, he could still shoot the lasers back he would just do less and they would have to be more accurate, putting more stress and importance on each shot. Second big change is Chromastone’s durability, I want him to be more susceptible to physical attacks when he’s more charged up with energy. I get that he’s made of probably a diamond like substance but having him invulnerable to energy and physical attacks is like that annoying twat in your class who had an everything proof shield during pretend games at recess NO TRISTAN WE CAN’T TELL ON YOU FOR THIS BUT STILL FUCK YOU WE DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU AND NOW LUCAS IS CRYING BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCH AN INSUFFERABLE FUCK HEAD. So the more energy Chromastone has got the more brittle he becomes meaning he can be durable or offensive but not both. This can be how Vilgax kills Chromastone also by charging him up WAY too much and Ben is freaking out so can’t expel the lasers out and then Vilgax just flicks him because the original battle was so lifeless and anticlimactic.  Also can we please have Gwen shoot a load of mana into Chromastone when they’re surrounded and then destroy everything around them, that’d be sick. 

2. Jetray

Current power set:

1.  Supersonic -> light speed flight

2. Laser vision and tail

3. Durability to survive gunfire

4. No need for oxygen

Revised power set:

1. Supersonic flight and swimming

2. Ability to generate electricity around body like an electric eel

Jetray is one of the main reasons I started making these posts, in the OG series XLR8 was fast, Stinkfly could fly and heatblast had projectiles, in UAF Jetray does all of these and does them better meaning Jetray is rarely going to be in a situation where he’s out of his element. Jetray also has some of the highest bullshit levels I’ve ever seen, no need for oxygen??? Super speed in space??? GUNFIRE DURABILITY??? FUCKING LASERS???? Thats too much man. I’m taking away the Superman factor and just making him a fast flyer while also giving him the Superman blue factor and giving him a little bit of electricity. Jetray won’t be able to shoot the electricity or anything but he can zap people if he’s in direct contact with them, and of course he can do some problem solving with it like maybe holding a metal stick and using it as an cattle prod or Kevin absorbs some metal and Jetray supercharges him making him basically Mjonir. There should also be a cool down on the electricity so not everything Jetray does is going to be zapping fools, there’ll also be just good old Jetray aerial combat. Just as a final little change I want to change the actually design to the one in the bottom right of this concept picture.

Tbh Jetray is super ugly and I’d rather him have this buggy face instead of the thumb with eyes and a mouth he currently has.

3. Humungousaur 

Current power set:

1. Big strong dinosaur 

2. Thick and durable hide

3. Ability to increase size and mass

Revised power set: 

1. Big strong dinosaur

2. Thick and durable hide

3. Black spikes that Ben is able to shape into different dinosaur parts and maybe weapons

I am admittedly harsh with Alien force for it’s heinous crime of not being the show I watched when I was a child and thus less smart and full of criticism and anxiety and because of this I really try and give credit where credit is due with alien force but humungousaur is something I can’t give credit for. I know that the show is unrealistic and doesn’t have to adhere to normal physics but even in a world with a magic alien watch that has a person change mass and size, having humungousaur gain mass doesn’t make sense because humungousaur’s species don’t all wear those magic alien watches so I think they should take the omniverse route and quietly sweep his size changing under the rug. In addition I think they should take notes from the… take notes in design from the r-… TAKE NOTES FROM THE REBOOTED DESIGN . 

Writing that makes the old man in me scream because the reboot Ben has FUCKED so many aliens (rip XLR8 & Wildvine) but they really did good with humungousaur. Really the design isn’t that different but I LOVE the black scales and I think it’d accent my proposed power change really which is to have those black spike form claws or triceratops horns or the normal mace on humungousaur’s tail essentially giving him the necrosword from marvel but with more dinosaur themes. (Real quick I only watch clips of the rebooted Ben 10 and I did see some pictures while writing this of humungousaurs with swords and shit on their tails so maybe I’m ripping this off but what are you gonna do huh? Call a cop?? I’ll just have sex with them  ). This power change I think will give ben more routes of attack like  headbutts using horns or tail swipes with the mace or even making all the black spikes go on his hand and unleashing a BEAT DOWN on someone. Honestly Humungousaur like Goop is a good boy who didn’t really require a change it was just something that bothered me more than something on a kids show should bother someone.

4. Alien X

Current power set:

1. Anything?

Revised power set:

1. Still anything

Ah Alien X, basically the antithesis to this whole time sink I’ve forced upon myself. Okay another cop out but Alien X was a really really good concept, it’s weird that the universe personified as DNA but who cares, this literal god has proper balances to ensure he doesn’t break the show and they used it sparingly enough to make sure it never felt cheap and always had weight. The fact that Gwen and Kevin had to both use keys to activate Alien X was a realistic and cool decision and gave a sense of actual danger when using it. The problem with all this though is that Ben then only really has 9 aliens because Alien X is never used, so my proposed change is to make Alien X the 11th alien and just pop LODESTAR in his place for 10th, EVERYTHING else would be the same just Ben would have access to Lodestar earlier and since LodeStar is a good good boy I don’t think he needs any changes.

Thanks everyone for reading this hot mess of a series, if weren’t clued off from the title alone theres 2 other parts in this series which are probably better because I used all the aliens I had ideas for power changes first and then went “shit, there’s still 4 left”.

I think the alien force aliens are a bit too capable and this makes battles less about smart ways to use aliens and more about using aliens to punch the bad guys. So i’m gonna remove powers or change them or something to make them more interesting to me. There’s a part one to this but who honestly who cares let’s start.

1. Swampfire

Current power set

1. Flamethrower hands

2. Plant control

3. Rapid growing vines from seeds

4. Insane regeneration

5. Multiple kinds of gases (knockout)

Revised power set

1. Flamethrower hands

2. Plant control

3. Regeneration

I think Swampfire’s problem is that his abilities almost seem like the old Adam West’s Batman utility belt if there’s a problem he’s got shark repellent or some equivalent to solve it, I think just removing his random bullshit moves is enough to raise the stakes. In addition to a bullshit-ectomy I also want his regeneration to be WAY less powerful, in his first scene of regeneration a vine shoots out from Swampfire’s stump (real quick, I work in a hospital for school and for amputees amputated limbs the actual word they use is “stump” and I have no idea how I feel about that) and reconnects with the severed arm to put it back together that seems a little too much for me so what if instead Swampfire could reconnect the limb by sticking it back on Deadpool style OR reach out to any plant life and make a sort of prosthetic from whatever plant was grabbed and it would either stay like that for the remainder of the transformation or slowly turn into a swamp fire arm. I think his gives stakes to Swampfire getting injured and could make for some interesting battles like maybe Ben fortifies himself with bark for a pseudo armour or has to figure out how to open a door with two tree branches he’s using as arms. I’m also VERY open to the idea of someone using a severed swamp fire arm as a makeshift flamethrower while Ben has maybe a tree stump shield arm and his regular flamethrower swamp fire arm.

2. Spidermonkey

Current power set:

1. Web production from tail

2. Strength and agility

3. Sticky hands and feet

New power set:

1. Web production from tail

2. Strength and agility

3. Sticky hands and feet

4. Ability to change fur colour at will

Okay I’m cheating here, Spidermonkey is a very conservatively designed alien, he’s basically ugly 6-armed spider-man and I personally was disappointed when Ben would turn into him so I think he actually needs spicing up. Having Spidermonkey be able to change colours allows him to have a greater amount of attacks like sneaky ones or the option to become very brightly coloured and lure enemies away from places, it also gives him powers that the other Spider-man Miles Morales does and considering Spider-monky’s planet is full of aliens who find him a delicacy the colour changing would help there. I know the whole point was to take away abilities but Spidermonkey seems pretty boring when every compared to Fourarms because at least he’s got size and hulk jumps on his side, spidermonkey I think just needs a small push to be god tier.

3. Brainstorm

Current power set:

1. Smart

2. Electrical attacks

3. Telekinesis 

4. Levitation

5. Force fields

6. Whatever bullshit the episode needs to help it to the end

7. Sounding like a douche

New power set:

1. Smart

2. Electrical attacks

Okay real talk I HATE Brainstorm, I think he’s ugly, sounds so dumb and his powers are actually infuriating and make me so glad that Ben is a dumbass and never turns into this thing even though he seems to be the best choice with his insane amount of powers (brainstorm literally lifted a train and train tracks with his mind yet our home boy thinks big dinosaur is the way to go??). If Swampfire is 1960′s batman Brainstorm is the old Superman where he just pulls powers out of his ass and saves the day with them. I want Brainstorm to just be a smart crab who has decent electrical attacks (probably bottom rung of the electrical aliens but still viable because of smarts) I also want him to not talk. I mean it, I think having an immensely smart alien who can plan out really complex shit but not be able to communicate with Gwen or Kevin would be super interesting like maybe they have to use morse code with brainstorm clicking his claws or he has to try writing with the dumb claws and also he can be sweet with Julie like he can’t say “i love you” but he could give her a rose or someshit, it’s more interesting AND i don’t have to listen to “INDUBITABLY MY FRONTAL CRANIUM HAS EXPANDED SIGNIFICANTLY PERHAPS US COMPATRIOTS SHALL CELEBRATE BY CONSUMING FERMENTED YEAST LIQUID AND CUCUMBERS BRINED IN A SOLUTION OF DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE AND SODIUM CHLORIDE!” In short: fuck Brainstorm

The FOOLS at Cartoon Network never thought to consult ME THE SMARTEST MAN ALIVE when designing Ben’s new roster of aliens and I think they made them a touch too capable. Having overpowered aliens really isn’t a problem, the threats are bigger this series so it makes sense to boost up Ben’s abilities but I think in doing so they made Ben not have to out think his problems as much and allowed him to just smash. Example, if in the OG series Ben had to fight a big guy probs Fourarms or Diamondhead is the best choice but if he gets Ripjaws he seems screwed BUT he’ll usually figure a way around it, maybe move the battle to water, maybe play possum then vore him IDK. In Alien Force though, if Ben is fighting a big guy I can’t really think of scenario where turning into one alien is much of an advantage over another (in the first original roster, they remedied this a bit in the  second and 3rd seasons). So today in another time wasting exercise I’m going to go through AF’s original 10 aliens and put in changes to make them (in my opinion) a bit more balanced to possibly make the show more interesting.

1. Big Chill

Current power set:

1. Ice breath and beams

2. Flight

3. Intangibility

4. Invulnerability to heat and cold in extreme

Revised power set:

1. Ice breath

2. Flight

3. Invulnerability to extreme cold 

Revised weakness set:

1. Blinded by lights

2. Weakness to heat/sunlight

Big Chill is p obvious an homage to the mothman and I like that, I think sticking with just “cold big bug man” is good enough, in adding intangibility to the mix it makes Ben able to escape any fight relatively easy and I think it would be cooler if Big Chill was a glass cannon type. I know it’s a cliche but the heat weakness makes it so Ben’s alien who can solve problems like fires or maybe explosions also have to be careful in those situations, I also added the sunlight thing to make it so every time he smacks the watch during the day there’s a chance he has a weak alien and has to do the nick cage ghost rider thing of crawling into the shadows to use his abilities best. 

2. Echo Echo

Current power set:

1. Sonic screams

2. Near infinite duplication with no hive mind (one dies? No worries m8)

Revised power set:

1. Sonic screams

2. Near infinite duplication with no hive mind EXCEPT each echo echo can split once and each one after that gets smaller, weaker and dumber

Okay we all saw the Jim Carrey Grinch movie and low key wanted to eat a glass bottle after it, so we also know how an echo works: diminishing results. I think having one or 2 full sized echo echos have to command and army of weaker tiny idiot echo echos would be really fun, like maybe there’s a rly small vent so Ben has to multiple like 8 times to this thing is basically a 3 year old who’s the size of a beer can and can maybe bust down a wooden door or maybe all hope is lost, Vilgax is about to win a battle but a very smol very determined echo echo BLASTS in whatever the closest thing Vilgax has to an ear and the battle is won. I don’t exactly know how weak the echo echos should get per each split  because tiny morons with destruction powers is funny. One thing that also might be cute is the intelligence thing is also based on Ben so they’ll go around blabbing his secrets or trying to eat mr.smoothie signs. I just like the idea of Ben Gwen and Kevin picking up like 20 baby echo echos and Ben being like “ur my babies and I’d kill for you but I swear to GOD if you tell them about my real doll dressed like Xylene I will KILL YOU”.

3. Goop

Current power set

1. Gooey body = indestructible 

2. Can be adhesive, acidic or none

3. Super strength

Revised power set

1. Indestructable to an extent

2. Adhesive, acidic or none

Goop is a good boy, just the super strength I think makes him OP. I’m TOTALLY open to him being able to stick like a brick to himself and use it to punch people like that but I think a pile of goo held only together with a spaceship shouldn’t have super or really any strength. Maybe also once Ben learns this he stops making fingers with Goop because they really can’t do anything. I’d also just want him to be easier to separate and then get weaker because of it. Maybe theres an episode were a piece of Goop get’s left behind and it grows into a goop Ben because it think it’s him or Ben loses a finger in human form. Again over all fine though, he’s a cute boy.

Let’s be real boys

Azmuth put in an update to the omnitrix to make it more battle ready for Ben

FACTS

The updated omnitrix has no aliens not suited to combat as opposed to having Grey matter and Stinkfly in the original set

No alien has difficulty surviving and existing on earth in the new roster while in the OG Heatblast is literally made of fire and Ripjaws cant breath

When the watch updated it looked more like an typical human watch, why would a piece of ALIEN LEARNING TECHNOLOGY need to disguise itself?

I think that after Azmuth met ben in SOTO he designed the update so Ben could help more people easier and more efficiently