Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24546717-20140725194729/@comment-34326521-20140731104908

Dknikolov wrote:There is nothing logical in going all the way back to the first cartoon ever... and to the first image. This is useless and it goes of the topic's range. Here, we're talking only about Ben 10. There are 4 series - Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and Ben 10: Omniverse. Particularly in this franchise,  I think that true fans should have watched the OS because everything starts from there. And any other series made are actually continuations of it. If you haven't watched the Original Series, you would be confused in what's happening in the next series, and you would probably not understand many other things. You won't know anything about the characters' past, too.

As a fan since the franchise's actual premiere on Cartoon Network, I can say I have the necessary experience to tell if somebody is a true Ben 10 fan. But I can only compare others by myself. I just can't imagine me not watching Ben 10 from its very beginning. Watching not all of the series can make you a Ben 10 fan but not a true one, especially if you haven't watched the first one. It's just my opinion. The characters' past is reiterated in several episodes, and not just in flashbacks. I recall an episode of Alien Force where Ben alludes to his dislike of Gwen in the original series. No confusion can come from this, unless you were to jump into the middle of an arc episode.

As for having the experience... no you do not. As you said in the next sentence, you can only claim "Well, they're not as into it as I am, so they're not 'true' fans". The problem with this is that anyone can say the same thing, and they can be even more into it than you. Watch:

Have you played all the Ben 10 games and unlocked everything in them? Have you collected all Ben 10 paraphernalia? Have you memorized every episode? If not, you're not a "true" fan.

Obviously, the above claim seems ridiculous to you and me, but not to someone who's fanatical over Ben 10. Liking something more or less, or knowing more about something more or less, doesn't make one a "true" or "false" fan. For example, I know how to kill every killable creature that ever appeared in Supernatural. I know how to summon and imprison Death, as well as exorcize demons. Yet that doesn't make me a "true" fan. I'm just another fan, blowing in the wind.

As for being your opinion, again, that's irrelevant to this topic.