Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5486221-20150926072437/@comment-26812877-20151009013205

Well, Stryzzar, the thing is that Ben may have been cocky, impulsive, ego-centric, and fun-loving in the Original Series but he certainly wasn't as annoying and obnoxious as he was in Ultimate Alien and Omniverse, if not annoying at all.

In Alien Force, Ben became too serious and mature. Many fans say that it's because he grew up but I disagree with that. To me, Ben didn't grow up and what I mean by that is that Ben didn't really, if not never, developed. In Alien Force, Ben was changed by the new writers into someone that is pretty much the opposite of him. That Ben was changed into someone that is not the real Ben. Again, in Alien Force, Ben because too serious and mature to be Ben. The same happened with Gwen as well. In the Original Series, Gwen was the voice of reason yet is willing to fight when necessary. In the sequels (especially Alien Force and Ultimate Alien), Gwen was basically changed into, like Ben, someone that is mostly the opposite of her. She complains a lot over Ben and Kevin's actions yet pretty much let's them walk all over her.

In Ultimate Alien, the writers once again changed Ben. He became more I guess self-centered or something. One thing that is for sure, he enjoys having a lot of attention from others. The writers tried to make Ben like his original self but unfortunately, they ended up making him annoying, obnoxious, and even a jerk that deserves to get smacked in the face at times. It got even worse in Omniverse. Even to the point where Ben would even act immature at times considering his age.

In the Original Series, Ben pretty much has that perfect balance of being cocky and mature. He is impulsive, cocky, ego-centric, fun-loving, and does act immature at times (although he was 10-years-old), thus being annoying towards others; especially Gwen, who would step in to, well, be Gwen and the voice of reason and straighten him out. However, Ben is also mature, serious, and highly moral towards his intentions and goals of being a hero. He trains himself and with others to be better capable of combating his enemies. He does learn to grow up as the Original Series progressed. He does grow and develop as a character. Ben does improve himself so that he can be a better person and hero. That is why Ben was such a great character (that was written, structured, designed, and created by Man of Action) in the Original Series and that is why Cartoon Network screwed up on Ben in the sequels. Ben being just serious doesn't work for Ben. Ben being just cocky doesn't work for Ben. Ben being both serious and cocky and everything else that I described about him from the Original Series is where Ben is at his best.