| NOTE: This Gwen Tennyson and Reboot Gwen Tennyson are a different person. |
|
| “ | No. I thought you were gonna drive me insane. Me or grandpa. Probably both. | „ |
| ~ Gwen to Ben on becoming friends when they were young. |
| “ | If I wanted to take it easy, I'd go live with my grandma. I'm not about to let anyone down. | „ |
| ~ Gwen to Kevin. |
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson is the deuteragonist of the Ben 10 franchise. She is the human/Anodite hybrid Plumber, the paternal first-cousin of Ben Tennyson, and (along with Kevin Levin) a frontline member of his team.
History[]
Ben 10[]
Gwen Tennyson originally appeared in Ben 10 as Ben's cousin, it was shown that these two did not like each other but as the show progressed the two started showing a deeper family bond. Gwen has prowess in three different forms of martial arts and is also good gymnast. Apart from those things, she also found out that she could do magic.
During the "Change of Face" episode Charmcaster told Gwen that she possessed a magical aura which allowed her to cast spells when she had switched bodies with Gwen. During this episode Gwen stole Charmcaster's spell book and started practicing magic,with her first successful spell was when she commanded water to rise to stop a couple escaping convicts from swimming away. During Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, Gwen's mana and magic has grown much more powerful; which all derive from her alien grandmother Verdona, who is an Anodite.
Ben 10: Alien Force[]
Her powers and abilities are revealed to be of alien descent; her paternal grandmother, Verdona, is an energy being known as an Anodite; from the distant planet Anodyne, and surprisingly she seems to be the only human descendant who inherited Verdona's powers. Verdona tells Gwen that what she and others originally thought of as "magic" was actually the control of mana, a substance of magic-making Anodites; a magic-wielding race. Verdona offers to take Gwen to her home planet and train her in the immense mystical and magical ways of the Anodites, but Gwen prefers to remain on Earth with Ben and Kevin. She dislikes being called an "energy being", referring to her Anodite heritage as revealed in the episode Paradox. In the episode In Charm's Way, it's implied that highly gifted humans like Charmcaster can also be trained to utilize mana.
In Unearthed, an alien creature was able to see her as an Anodite, in which she looked exactly like her paternal grandmother's true form, but slightly shorter. In the two-part second season finale War of the Worlds when Kevin was threatened by a Highbreed Commander, she released her dormant innermost Anodite self for the first time, and easily defeated the commander with an exceedingly strong powerful burst of pure magenta-pink glowing energy. She was almost overwhelmed by her own power and wanted to defeat the highbreed all on her own before Kevin snapped her out of it by saying " I can't lose you".
During the course of the series she has developed a romantic relationship with Kevin. They have also been shown to have arguments, usually starting with Gwen always trying to force Kevin to "ask her out" and him always answering "Don't push me" (which she once did).
In the episode Save the Last Dance, Gwen has a dance in her prep school and expects Kevin to ask her out. The episode ended with Gwen and Kevin dancing together in the moonlight. In the same episode, it was revealed that she liked yellow roses.
In the episode Fool's Gold, Kevin appeared to be avoiding her because he was ashamed of his recent mutation due to accidentally absorbing a massive feedback pulse as a result of trying to hack the Omnitrix. She was unaffected by the blast because she put an energy shield around herself. Kevin gave her a locket of the two of them when he was in his human form, asking her to remember him as he was. Gwen said she didn't care what he looks like, and he replied "Maybe not. But I do."
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien[]
In Hit 'Em Where They Live, Zombozo and other villains teamed up to take revenge on the Tennysons and company, and kidnapped Ben's mom Sandra. Enraged, Gwen released her dormant, inner anodite for the second time since, War of the Worlds:Part 2. Whilst Zombozo trembled with fear, Gwen began to grow to a huge height, promising that if one of his teammates (and other notable villains) even bumps into their families on the street, she would come for them. Petrified, Zombozo screamed off-screen and Gwen saved Sandra. When Kevin asked what happened to Zombozo she simply replied "We came to an understanding" whilst smiling.
In Video Games, she tries out for her driver's license, earning it in the end. In the early episodes of the series, Gwen and Kevin seem to be bickering constantly. Gwen's magenta-violet-purple shields look less see through and have a different design than in Ben 10: Alien Force.
In the episode Hero Time, it is shown that Gwen gets very jealous when Jennifer Nocturne starts flirting with Kevin after he saved her life. And Kevin doesn't seem to mind. Kevin also protected Jennifer a lot, over the course of the episode. For example; When Overlord shot an energy blast at them Kevin put his arms around Jennifer to protect her from the energy beam, even though Gwen put up a magenta-pink shield around them. Gwen eventually lost her temper and threatened Jennifer that she would, "peel her like a grape" if she made another move on Kevin.
In Ultimate Aggregor, Gwen is seen to have much, much greater skills with mana. In Map of Infinity, it is revealed that Gwen's Anodite powers do not affect Galapagus' species and Aggregor, (with his powers), leaving Gwen vulnerable. From Map of Infinity onwards, Gwen starts casting spells and reciting spoken incantations again. She is also seen with a Plumbers' suit. She is the only one of the group that can use her powers in the suit, during her attempt to recover the first part of the Map of Infinity, she discovers it was hit by a poison dart and ends up fainting, causing Aggregor to catch the first fragment, but Kevin and Ben save her from near death.
In Reflected Glory, Gwen is comprehensive with JT and Cash. In the final part of the episode, Gwen is seen with her shirt torn and her hair disheveled, after she and Kevin face the RED's again. Gwen had the idea to use a mirror against RED's, and her powers apparently did not greatly affect the RED's.
In Deep, the group goes to the planet Piscciss to help Magister Pyke stop Aggregor. Gwen is caught by a squid-like creature, but Kevin revealed that he installed neuro-shock pulsers which can shoot lightning allowing Gwen to get free. When they reach the nucleus of the planet Piscciss an earthquake occurs, Gwen put an energy shield around them but failed to protect Magister Pyke, so she stays with him while Kevin and Ben go after the second part of the Map of Infinity. However, Aggregor arrived first and fled with the second part of the Map of Infinity after defeating Ben and Kevin. When the planet begins to crumble Ben as Goop saves the planet, re-constructing the lost water particles using Goop's artificial Gravity immobiliser. When Ben apparently dies, Gwen is devastated, but she sees that he survived, she feels immediate relief. At the end of the episode, Gwen consoles Kevin for having to leave the Little Fish in Piscciss.
In The Forge of Creation, Gwen travels with Ben and Kevin to stop Aggregor from absorbing a newborn Celestialsapien's powers. Young Ben comes along as Ben accidentally falls in the time barrier. Gwen, Kevin, and even Ben became annoyed with young Ben. However everyone eventually understands why Young Ben is so arrogant and cocky, when dealing with the pressure and the danger that could kill somebody, Gwen's first-cousin tends to joke around so he can be prepared to face anything. Unfortunately everyone was easily defeated by Aggregor, who seems to have won, but Kevin absorbed the immense energy of the Ultimatrix as a last resort, defeating him but becomes insane in the process.
In episode seventeen, ...Nor Iron Bars a Cage, Gwen and Ben travel to Incarcecon to warn the warden about Kevin. The warden would have been killed if it were not for Gwen, (who saved him from crash landing using a much stronger version of the "Turbo" spell.) Ben implies Kevin needs to be "put down", which shocks Gwen.
In The Enemy of My Enemy, Ben and Gwen are shown to be having difficulties. The two argue about Kevin while trying to locate a ship. On the way, they stumble upon Argit, who needed a place to hide from Kevin. They travel to the Plumber's Academy in the Rust Bucket 3 only to be attacked by Kevin. They barely succeeded in defeating him, and Gwen said she turned the air lock on to send Kevin falling because she understood he would kill them if he had the chance. After Argit preformed his orders, Kevin attacks the Plumber's Academy. Ben uses Ultimate Humungousaur to deal with the nuclear bomb while Kevin relentlessly attacked Argit. Gwen tells him to stop and to give himself up! But he sends her to the ground. Gwen remains there crying as Kevin spares her from his fatal blow, stating that she was only spared because of what she used to mean to him. Ben returns and the two have a conversation, Gwen says that they could still help Kevin, Ben replies that they cannot.
In Absolute Power, Gwen is more determined than ever to save Kevin. Ben disagrees with Gwen, opting to kill him now rather than a last resort. Gwen goes to Max hoping he will disagree about killing Kevin, but her grandfather confirms that killing Kevin is the right decision. Telling Gwen that if she disagrees, she should leave Ben to do it and not get in the way. Gwen leaves, disappointed and angry, ready to take desperate measures she confronts Michael Morningstar for help. Meanwhile, Ben goes off looking for Kevin, who's relentlessly going after anyone he thinks has betrayed him. Just as Kevin beats up Vulkanus, and begins to go after Ben, Gwen stops him, accompanied by Michael. Ben is infuriated by Gwen's alliance, but she makes a deal with Ben, and if her plan does not work, she would not bother him anymore in his decision. Gwen also admits that she promised Michael enough mana in return for his help that will keep him at full strength and power for one year, furthering Ben's anger toward her.
Michael explains he saved a part of the Dominus Librium which can be used to turn Kevin back to normal. But the machines and energy needed is only available at Los Soledad. In order to lead him there they need bait. Gwen suggests herself. Gwen goes to an abandoned arcade and confronts Kevin. He admits that he has been avoiding her so he will not absorb her energy, which he is desperately hungry for. They fight intensely, and Gwen tries talking some sense into Kevin. Unfortunately, this doesn't work and Kevin grabs a hold of Gwen and absorbs both her magical and Anodite powers, making her scream in pain. Gwen retaliates with a mega blast and escapes.
Michael and Ben travel with Gwen in the Rust Bucket 3 to Los Soledad, where Michael trapped Cooper to create a machine that could operate the Dominus Librium. Kevin goes to Gwen's house in search of more manna but finds Max. Another fight occurs, and just as Kevin is about to kill Max, Harvey, Kevin's step father, stops him. Ben appears after Kevin and Harvey's altercation and fights Kevin, yet again. They destroy the Rust Bucket at which point Gwen comes out. Kevin manages to disable Ben long enough so he can chase after Gwen. After a long chase, Ben returns and fights with Kevin once again.
Kevin defeats Ben, but little does he know that was all part of the plan. Gwen calls Cooper to tell him that Kevin will be there soon. Cooper tries to stall Kevin by using the weapons available at the military base, but Kevin dodges the missiles and approaches. Kevin and Ben fight with Ben no longer holding back. In anger he almost kills Kevin but Gwen stops him, as they could still bring him back. They finally set Kevin to the machine, and Kevin is healed.
Ben 10: Omniverse[]
Coming soon
Powers and Abilities[]
- Martial Arts: Even when she was 10 years old Gwen was a adept in martial arts. By the time she was 15, she had achieved her black belt and was skilled enough to defeat a fellow black belt in less than a minute.
- Gifted Intelligence: Gwen is smart enough to get into college early.
- Archery: Gwen has displayed skill in archery.
- Magic: Even before she discovered her Anodite heritage, Gwen displayed mastery in magic and was quickly able to apply this in combat.
- Flight: While Gwen herself has not displayed this ability, Charmcaster was able to fly while in Gwen's body due to Gwen's "magical aura".
- Telekinesis: Gwen can telekinetically move objects and can use this ability to levitate herself.
- Dowsing: By focusing her magic on life signatures on objects, Gwen can track the person who owns said objects.
- Clairvoyance: Gwen has demonstrated the ability to see everything inside a DNAlien base.
- Memory Erasion: Gwen was able to erase her past self's memories.
- Telepathy: Gwen is able to receive and transmit telepathic messages through dimensions.
- Mana Manipulation: Gwen has displayed an immense control over mana and as such this is her go to ability in combat.
- Barrier Projection: Gwen is able to almost instantly project barriers made out of either magic or mana, strong enough to withstand laser fire. These barriers can be in the form of wide shields or force fields.
- Temperature Resistance: Gwen's barriers have been able to tank both the extreme heat of a spaceship's exhaust and freeze rays so cold, they freeze people almost instantly.
- Platform Generation: Gwen can create platforms constructed out of mana to help her keep up with enemies who can achieve flight.
- Mana Projectiles: Gwen can fire out mana projectiles at her enemies. Gwen can also make these highly volatile.
- Beam Projection: Gwen can fire out a beam of mana to either attack her enemies or grab and immobilize them.
- Bolt Projection: Gwen can fire out at least six bolts of mana at her opponents at a time.
- Tendril Generation: Gwen can fire out four tendrils of mana out of one of her hands.
- Light Generation: Gwen is able to create a ball of mana to illuminate her way in total darkness.
- Life-Force Absorption: Gwen was able to absorb her life-force back after it had been drained by Darkstar.
- Mana Constructs: Gwen has been able to use her mana to create entire constructs such as walls and large pillars to crush her opponents.
- Optic Beams: Gwen is able to fire out small mana blasts from her eyes.
- Inter-Dimensional Portal Generation: Gwen was able to create a portal into the Null Void which is an entirely separate dimension. She has also used this ability to force Charmcaster to flee the battle.
- Shockwave Generation: Gwen is able to create shockwaves of mana and was able to use this ability to find a piece of level 20+ technology (for reference the Omnitrix is level 20 tech).
- Bubble Projection: Gwen can generate a mana bubble to suffocate her opponents.
- Teleportation: Gwen has been able to teleport herself, Ben and Kevin from Earth to a large space station.
- Mana Detection: Gwen was able to scan the entirety of a university campus for mana.
- Life-Drain Resistance: Gwen has been able to use her mana to protect herself from Darkstar's life-drain abilities.
- Barrier Projection: Gwen is able to almost instantly project barriers made out of either magic or mana, strong enough to withstand laser fire. These barriers can be in the form of wide shields or force fields.
- Anodite Transformation: Gwen can transform into an Anodite, a being of pure mana energy which greatly enhances her other powers and expands to include flight, size alteration, and afforded a number of extraordinary powers, such as immortality, an undisclosed levels of telepathic abilities, and limited reality warping. This grants her greater control over mana, along with the power of flight and the ability to grow gigantic in size. She also has a degree of enhanced strength and durability while in this form. She is also able to manipulate her Anodite "hair" which are glowing bright pink energy, Medusa-like tentacles, symbolizing hair. They do not have any externally visible ears, nose or lips, nor do they wear any clothing. As an Anodite, Gwen can apparently manipulate mana to a far greater degree when in her true form and her Anodite powers get stronger over time.
Personality[]
Despite her beauty, her naive nature is toned down in Alien Force; she is now even more analytical. It is highly unlikely that she will get stupefied; she is also a quick thinker and an instinctive person. But at times she trusts others too quickly, and that may disadvantage her or even injure her, like in Too Hot To Handle. She can handle things well despite the conditions (such as when her magical powers were drained and Charmcaster hit her with a bolt of magical energy and she immediately reversed the spell though she had no magical, mystic power left yet she could hold herself). Gwen is at times shown to be very concerned with things such as her surroundings, the people around her and the ones who she cares about. She is very strong (physically and mentally) and well mannered, despite her inflating sarcasm and ego at certain times. Gwen is a very caring, compassionate person such as shown from her acceptance of Kevin's past and recent action, also saying she does not care about Kevin's appearance. In episode It's Not Easy Being Gwen, it shows that Gwen takes her education very seriously. Showing to come home late at all hours of the morning and having to wake up at 5:30 am in the morning. When waking up so early she does a number of things before going to school. Such as jogging, practice french, school, and after school karate classes. Its also presumed that Gwen goes to private school since it shown that her usual clothing are actually a uniform at her school.
Portrayals[]
Animated[]
- In the original Ben 10 series, she was voiced by Meagan Smith, who also voiced different versions of the character.
- In Ben 10: Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse, she was voiced by Ashley Johnson, who also voices different versions of the character, as well as Ellie in The Last of Us, Jinmay in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!, Terra in Teen Titans 2003, Renet in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012, Petra in Minecraft: Story Mode, Tulip in Infinity Train, and Gretchen Grundler in Recess.
- In the 2016 reboot of the series, she was voiced by Montserrat Hernandez, who also voiced the different versions of the character in the reboot.
Live-Action[]
- In Ben 10: Race Against Time, she was portrayed by Haley Ramm, who also played a young Jean Grey in X-Men: The last Stand.
- In Ben 10: Alien Swarm, she was portrayed by Galadriel Stineman, who also voiced and motion-captured Ashley Brown in Until Dawn.
Trivia[]
- Her adult iterations notably do not have children of her own. Given Kevin is her only steady boyfriend and he's repeated gone crazy from his osmosisan absorption powers, she likely didn't want to change birthing something worse than Darkstar.
External Links[]
- Gwen Tennyson on the Near Pure Good Wiki
- Gwen Tennyson on the Ben 10 Wiki
[]
- ↑ What Are Little Girls Made Of?