#bentennyson

Every year during my birthday, I draw about something that was meaningful for me

Im wondering how you factor in Ben’s potential trauma into how you analyze his character. Ben basically becomes child police officer and Bens silliness really seems to be some kind of response to this pressure. I love the conversation the team has with ten year old Ben in the forge of creation. “Maybe that’s too much to have in your head when you have to win, maybe if you treat everything like a big joke. When the time comes I’ll be able to do what I have to do.”

The thing that stands out to me is that he describes it as “too much” that in some way this pressure does get to him even when he was ten. That pressure carries into AF, and he seems to get better at managing it or hiding his nerves as the series goes on.

I also thinks it’s interesting that in A New Dawn Ben says that he assumed the Omnitrix wouldn’t let him die. It seems to imply at some point to push past fear he’s had to tell himself he can’t die, or he thinks he couldn’t have survived this long without such a fail safe. I’m not sure the fail safe is even confirmed, but I could just be forgetful.

I think Ben’s bond with the Omnitrix is pretty heavily shaped by this, it’s the tool that allows him to overcome danger but also the thing that invites danger. There also the nightmare he has in one episoide about humungosaur being tiny, making him unable to fight off a threat. Not to get all psychoanalysisy, but that seems to be as a pretty direct relationship between Ben’s safety and the Omnitrix. Also part of why he takes it off sometime between 11-15 is due to losing Feedback, losing the security that the Omnitrix wil always get him out of a bad situation.

Apologies if the wall of text is daunting, I ended up having a lot of ideas. Basically, I’m curious how you view Ben’s trauma and how it shapes him as he grows up.

resisting the urge to say my new videos are going to be 100x better thank you and sorry this took a while <3

I would factor in a lot of the points you've brought up yourself tbh. I think his trauma and experience navigating his life as the wielder of the Omnitrix continuously shapes his character. I take this into account in every analysis because it’s like, the most influential reason he is the way he is. 

For example, like you said, he definitely had to grow up faster than normal kids. Part of being what is essentially a "child police officer" is his need to adapt to his circumstances quickly. Everyone depends on him and that ensures he’ll be able to "do what he has to do" (as stated in "The Forge of Creation"). 

“Managing the pressure” is really also a requirement for his job because if he couldn’t do that, he straight up couldn’t handle the job itself. Of course that would lead to some form of a coping mechanism or resolution to the problem. Ben is a great problem solver, great at improvising, and easily grasps new alien abilities sometimes in the middle of battle. Naturally, he would take on the necessary persona to deal with the pressure of his responsibilities.

Or, in other words, adapt. Whether that is taking on a “Max-like” leader persona in early Alien Force, or relaxing a little in the later Alien Force and being “more like himself” since Max came back into the picture.  

Hell, he even excelled at pretending to be evil in "Above and Beyond." He knows how to step into the role he needs to play so well of course he would use it as a crutch to get him through the worst battles. And considering his powers quite literally involve transforming into whatever form is best for the task at hand, it fits his character almost poetically.