Benjamin Kirby "Ben" Tennyson, also known as Ben 23, is an alternate version of Ben Tennyson; a hero and a former mogul in Dimension 23 who first appeared in Store 23. Appearance Ben 23 chooses to reflect his amount of money by wearing lots of gold and accessories. He wears a black waistcoat with blue pockets over his blue shirt (revealing his short sleeves), a blue tie, earrings, blue pants, and a medallion in the shape of his Omnitrix ("Hero Watch" as Ben 23 calls it). He has the Omnitrix on his left wrist and a blue bracelet on his right wrist, he also has a gold ring on the index finger of his right hand. Unlike Ben Prime, Ben 23 has blue eyes instead of green and his hair is longer, covering his left eye. He also wears a Bluetooth on his right ear, which he uses to talk to his agent, and carries around a smartphone for texting. On an advertisement billboard featured in And Then There Was Ben, he is wearing a black shirt, a blue jacket, and a blue backwards cap. Personality "I'm only worthy of my Hero Watch when I'm making other people's lives better. There's a lot riding on what we do, and we'd better not blow it." Ben 23 on what he learned with Ben Prime in Mad Ben's Dimension.[5] In a sense, Ben 23 is the same as 10 or 11-year-old Ben Prime was; but without Grandpa Max to guide him, Ben 23 didn't learn that not all aliens were evil. To fill the void left by the passing of Max, Ben 23 immersed himself in fame and fortune. Unlike 16-year-old Ben Prime, who tries to not let fame go to his head (as it has cost him dearly several times), Ben 23 has become overconfident, arrogant and reckless because of it. He also did not have the same sense of right and wrong and didn't want to use his Omnitrix to fight crime or help others in need. Despite having unlocked around 50 (claimed 90) aliens on his Omnitrix, Ben 23 keeps only 23 in constant use. As stated with his version of Feedback (formerly Plug-Man); whenever he introduces a "new alien" to the public, he stops using one of his former ones and puts it into storage in order to stage a comeback sometime later and stoke the demand. He even suggested to Ben Prime on the advice of his agent to form a team-up. After Ben meets his dimensional counterpart, who sets him on the right path, he begins to act less arrogant and more heroic. At the insistence of Ben Prime, he seeks out the Azmuth of his world in place of Grandpa Max; hoping to make his dimension just as harmonious as Ben Prime's. But he does still retain some of his original personality and enjoys his status as a celebrity; briefly prioritizing his schedule over an interdimensional conflict that might have destroyed his timeline. Ben disliked smoothies, much like 11-year-old Ben Prime. Instead, he prefers gyros from a fast-food chain; which he incorporates into a parody of Ben Prime's catchphrase; "it's gyro time!". He did grow somewhat fond of smoothies after his encounter with Ben Prime. One quirk that sets Ben 23 apart from Ben Prime is his lack of creativity when it comes to naming his aliens. While Ben Prime used clever wordplay (incorporating his aliens physical appearance or abilities) when naming his aliens, Ben 23's names tend to be somewhat simple-minded or lazy. Ben Prime even points out that Teeny-Weeny is a terrible name for Ben 23's version of Nanomech. Like Ben Prime in Alien Force/Ultimate Alien, Ben 23 announces his alien's name when transforming. History Background Max Tennyson died around the time when Ben received the Omnitrix, and he had to teach himself how to use it.[1] Without Grandpa Max, he lacks the morals of his other counterpart, and became a rich and famous celebrity over the years. Ben 23 has movie rights, endorsement deals and uses aliens to make a lot of money. At this point in time, his greatest enemy was the Intellectuary. Omniverse Ben Tennyson first met Ben 23 in Store 23; after accidentally entering Dimension 23 through Blarney T. Hokestar's interdimensional branch of Mr. Smoothy. Ben 23 proved to be a braggart and show-off who preferred to use his alien forms for publicity instead of altruism, and even gave Ben a few of his tips for crowd-pleasing. Ben 23 eventually discovered that the Intellectuary was his dimension's Azmuth and would have killed him; if not for Ben Prime's intervention. Ben 23 admitted that due to the death of his Grandpa Max, he ended up using fame and fortune to fill the void Max had left behind. His dimension's Azmuth consoled Ben 23, acknowledging that he had suffered greatly due to Max's death and promised to guide him well in his place. In And Then There Were None and And Then There Was Ben, Ben 23 becomes involved in Vilgax's plot to destroy all Ben Tennysons across the multiverse. Ben 23 was recruited by Professor Paradox, No Watch Ben and Gwen 10, and later joined the fight in which all Omnitrix wielders were wiped out by the Chronosapien Time Bomb; with the exception of No Watch Ben. Ben 23 was eventually restored when No Watch Ben used Clockwork to reverse the effects of the Time Bomb and helped defeat Vilgax before being returned to his dimension. In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Ben World: Part 1, Azmuth's Dimension 23 counterpart had Ben Prime mentor Ben 23 on how to be a better hero. After playing video games together, they went after Exo-Skull and Subdora. They failed to fight them because Ben 23 asks where the cameras are to capture his heroics. Ben Prime explains that he needs to be a hero whether someone will watch or not. They came upon Maltruant being repaired by Dr. Psychobos. While battling, due to an accident they were all sent to another dimension. They first thought they blew up Bellwood but soon, they discovered they're in another world ruled by an evil version of Ben. After hearing that Maltruant needs his key to get his full power back, Ben 23 turned into Techno-Bubble and upgraded Clockwork. Unfortunately, Maltruant got his key back and froze their Omnitrixes in time rendering them useless. The two Bens were left in the dimension with Dr. Psychobos at the mercy of Mad Ben, who was about to blast the three of them using Perk Upchuck. In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Ben World: Part 2, he, Ben Prime and Psychobos are enslaved by Mad Ben. While enslaved, he complains about not having celebrity luxuries and suggests they leave while they have the chance. Ben Prime tells him that they need to clean up the mess Mad Ben caused. After escaping, Psychobos repairs their Omnitrixes. They discovered they were synchronized with each other. While fighting, he and Ben Prime argue over the names they give to their heroes. After defeating Mad Ben, Psychobos revealed that he set their Omnitrixes to blow up. With Ben Prime and Ben 23 using Grey Matter and Brainfrog respectively, they fix their Omnitrixes in no time. After attempting another Techno-Bubbled Clockwork combo that fails, Rook appears with Professor Hokestar's dimension-hopping Mr. Smoothy and takes both Bens back home. Before they leave, Ben 23 says that he's only worthy of his Hero Watch when using it to make other people's lives better. At present, Ben 23 is currently being tutored by his dimension's Tetrax, Azmuth and SevenSeven. Powers and Abilities Equipment Ben 23 possesses the Hero Watch. Through it, he can transform into various aliens and utilize their respective powers. Weaknesses Ben 23's battle prowess is almost entirely self-taught. Much like Ben Prime when he was younger, Ben 23 tends to fight recklessly in front of people and often has little to no strategy when fighting his enemies. Ben 23 is afraid of local news weather ladies.[DJW 2] Trivia In the Brazilian and Latin American dub, Ben 23 does not have the same voice actor as young Ben Prime (who has the same voice actor in all series and movies in the Classic Continuity, regardless of whether he is a child or teenager) and is the only young alternate Ben with this peculiarity. Ben 23 has not yet unlocked versions of Mole-Stache,[1] Jetray,[DJW 3] or Alien X[DJW 4] in his Omnitrix. Likewise, it is unknown if he has unlocked versions of Murk Upchuck,[DJW 5] Diamondhead,[DJW 6] Ball Weevil,[DJW 7] or Ditto.[DJW 8] If he did have versions of Jetray, Ball Weevil, or Ditto, then their names would be Fish Kite,[DJW 9] Sticky Cricket,[DJW 7] and Copy Copy 2.[DJW 8] Ben 23 does not seem to have many alien villains.[DJW 10] For example, he has not yet encountered enemies like Vilgax[1] or the Vreedles.[DJW 11] Ben 23 mostly lives in the penthouse of Tower 23.[DJW 12] The idea that Max was crucial to Ben's development was the inspiration for Ben 23's character.[MW 1] Ben 23 copyrights the names of his aliens.[DJW 13] Not all alternate versions of Ben have their own unique names for their aliens like Ben 23.[DJW 14] If Ben 23 had the Ultimatrix, he would call his Ultimate Forms "Monsterizer Forms".[DJW 15] Ben 23 believes he is a fantastic singer.[DJW 16] If Ben 23 looked at the Contumelia, he would see his Grandpa Max.[DJW 17] Derrick J. Wyatt had conceptualized an alternate future for Ben 23 named Benjamin XXIII. In that timeline, Ben 23 grew up to become a superhero known as Benjamin XXIII. He started to call himself Benjamin XXIII after returning from a period of retirement.[DJW 18] In that future, Benjamin XXIII is like Conner4Real from the mockumentary musical comedy film Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping[DJW 19] and uses some kind of future Hero Watch. Derrick J. Wyatt thought that maybe he will even create the massively powerful Hero Watch-Amacallit.[DJW 20] Derrick J. Wyatt hoped that Ben 23 would be the type of person to have a TikTok account.[DJW 21]