Verdona

Verdona Tennyson is the Anodite wife of Max Tennyson and mother of Carl and Frank Tennyson and an unnamed Son/Daughter.

Backstory
Verdona left Anodyne in an unspecified time long before the original series and was brought to Earth by a robot alien who had captured her and wanted to use her to power his planet. They crash landed in St. Louis where she met and fell deeply in love with Max Tennyson and the two courted each other and married, during this time she hid her Anodite heritage very well and blended in with society. During their time together, Verdona always had to deal with Max's occupation as a Plumber which she knew very well yet kept the knowledge from him, prompting Max to always lie to her every time he left and eventually after a long, happy and yet somewhat distant relationship, they parted.

They had two known children Carl, Frank. However, neither Carl or Frank inherited her powers and abilities. When they were grown up and out of the house, she returned to Anodyne; after so many years on Earth, Verdona wanted to get back in touch with her background. She once came back to Earth to see if any of her grandchildren had inherited her Anodite abilities and powers, but saw that none did. Only several years later, she found out that Gwen, her granddaughter had. It should be noted that Big Chill is in fact Ben, which makes Big Chill's offspring Verdona's great-grandchildren but it is unknown if they could inherit her powers and abilities or if, because Ben was an Omnitrix alien, will prevent them from having "the spark."

Original Series
In the live-action movie, Ben 10: Race Against Time, Max told Ben that Verdona had passed away, although this might be a lie (it could be true if Verdona passed away in that timeline). Ben was likely not ready for the truth about Verdona being an Anodite yet as he was ten at the time.

Ben 10: Alien Force


When news went out about Max's disappearance, Verdona came to his favorite lake to remember the good times they had had together. However, she met with her grandchildren and their friend Kevin, who assumed she was a trespasser. She then magically disappears, leaving behind a flower at the base of a tree which had engraved a heart with a "Max + Verdona" writing on it. She then returned later in the night, deciding to have a "little fun" with Ben and Kevin. When Gwen intervened, she revealed herself as their paternal grandmother.

She then later came to Gwen's house, explaining her history with Max and then offered Gwen to come back with her to Anodyne to reach the full potential of her powers and abilities (which would require seventy-five years). After thinking on the roof, Gwen refused. Verdona then shed her human body, revealing her true Anodite form, and thought that Gwen was too young to make her own decisions and decided to destroy her human body to free the dormant Anodite inside, but the two boys' stepped to defend Gwen.



After a brief battle that tore up the front lawn (and part of the house), Gwen explained to her that she would rather stay on Earth with her friends and family, Verdona then tells Gwen that Max should have been an energy being like them, expressing her deep longing for him and that her desire to take Gwen with her could be just a front to fill the void in her heart. Verdona then magically patches up the damage and flies into space, claiming to return every so often to see how Gwen is doing.

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
Verdona made a reappearance in Girl Trouble, where she was able to overpower Sunny, who was attacking Gwen, and she took Sunny and her boyfriend Antonio back to their home planets and allow their parents to decide on their punishment.



Verdona's history with Max was revealed in Moonstruck, where she was held captive by a Synthroid (a species of robotic aliens) that wants to use her Anodite powers as fuel for their planet. Max saved her, and she eventually got married to him and Max never forgot her.

Appearance

 * What Are Little Girls Made Of? (first appearance)
 * Girl Trouble (first reappearance)
 * Moonstruck (flashback)

Toys

 * Even though Gwen and Verdona are not the same toy, they have identical Anodite forms. So the "Gwen Anodite" toy can also be Verdona, not just Gwen (the same with Heatblast and Alan).

Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks

 * Verdona appears in the Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks video game where she is instructed by Max to take Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to enter Anur Phaetos.

Personality


Like all Anodites, Verdona is a free-spirited being. Though sometimes acting more mature and grown-up, she mostly acts like a playful child. She also likes to listen and dance to Max's favorite band, Shag Carpeting. There is also another side of Verdona which is somewhat amoral and uncaring. For example when she almost destroyed Ben and Kevin when they first confronted her, were it not for the intervention of Gwen and learning who they really were and when she was willing to destroy her granddaughter's physical human body to release the Anodite inside.

Verdona favors Gwen over Ben, due to the fact that Ben didn't inherit her powers and abilities so she just put him aside, which was shown when she magically conjured tape on his mouth so he couldn't speak, that was until after their final fight against each other did she see just how much Ben cares about Gwen, the two reconcile on good terms afterward. She also has a uncanny sense of humor that was passed on to Ben. Also, she was shown to be a strict disciplinarian and shown to be serious when she needs to be, when Sunny was bad behaved.

Powers and Abilities
Despite being an Anodite like her granddaughters, she has much more experience and can do far more than Gwen and Sunny can. She can use all their powers and more.

Trivia

 * She and Max have yet to meet each other Face to Face in the present day.
 * Verdona has a sense of humor similar to that of Ben's. After being caught in Spidermonkey's web, Spidermonkey jokes "We're teaching her to mind her mana," causing her to laugh saying "Ha, good one, Ben!". She also appears to be a bit of a practical joker like Ben.
 * Verdona likes disco dancing and the music of Shag Carpeting, which is Max's favorite all-time band.
 * Though Verdona refers to humans as "backward creatures," she is quite fond of Earth music.
 * Natalie doesn't like Verdona. Verdona's feelings for her daughter-in-law appears to be more mutual. This inexplicable animosity between the two is yet to explained.
 * The two actresses who voice Verdona in her human and Anodite forms (Barbara Bain and Juliet Landau) are mother and daughter.
 * Verdona is quite fond of Kevin, possibly because his personality is somewhat identical to a younger Max Tennyson.
 * In her first appearance, Verdona did not seem to pay much attention to Ben because he did not possess Anodite powers, but when she came to take Sunny and Antonio back home, she seemed to be very happy to see Ben. This shows that while she may favor Gwen for her powers, she loves her grandchildren equally.
 * Although Frank said that there is no such thing as magic, this was later disproven (and heavily speculated) when it was stated by Charmcaster that magic is how sorcerers control mana.
 * In Moonstruck, Verdona's human form resembles both 10-year-old Gwen and Charmcaster disguised as Caroline and her eyes somehow resemble Elena Validus's eyes.
 * Verdona's human clothes in Moonstruck resemble Grey Matter in the original series.
 * Verdona is voiced by real-life mother-and-daughter team veteran Golden Globe-nominee. Barbara Bain, of Mission: Impossible and Juilet Landau.