Zombozo (Classic)

Zombozo is one of Ben's first enemies. He first appeared in the original series episode, Last Laugh and was later brought back in Ultimate Alien with Charmcaster and Vulkanis. A cruel and creepy clown mastermind with some similarities to the Joker from Batman, Zombozo was mostly hard to defeat by Ben because the hero was afraid of clowns. Ben managed to conquer this fear and defeat the villain.

Despite being a minor villain in the original show, Zombozo played a key role in the saga by introducing the, who later became recurring antagonists. His episode was also the first one to hint the existence of Ghostfreak's true form, possibly anticipating the Zs'Skayr storyline.

His species is unknown but he is assumed to be human.

Zombozo was voiced by John Kassir in the original series, and by John DiMaggio in Ultimate Alien.

Original Series
In his first appearance, Zombozo stages shows to bring people in and then uses a machine he calls the "Psyclown" to drain the happiness and life energy from them, leaving them depleted and sad. In the most extreme cases, it even seems to age people. During all this, his minions strip the town of all it's valuables.

Though not notably powerful amongst Ben's enemies, he proved to be uneasy to defeat, as Ben was suffering of coulrophobia (fear of clowns) and so didn't dare fight him. He was eventually defeated when Ben overcame his fear of clowns and terrorized Zombozo as Ghostfreak by peeling back his skin, causing him to explode in a burst of confetti (At this point Ben implies that Ghostfreak may have taken over when he says "Whoa! That kinda even freaked me out.")

While Zombozo's henchmen reappeared in a later episodes, he himself did not for all the original series. The three indicated that they have not seen the clown since his defeat.

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
After his long absence, Zombozo eventually came back in the episode "Hit 'Em Where They Live", revealing that he survived after his defeat. After Ben's identity was revealed to the world, he, as their "ringmaster", organized attacks against Ben's family with the help of several of Ben's old enemies (including Sevenseven, Charmcaster, Vulkanus and eight unidentified villains - it is unknown if the original Circus Freak Trio were involved) in an attempt to get revenge on Ben. After most of the attacks were stopped by Max, Zombozo formed a team with Charmcaster and Vulkanus. He also burried the remains of someone or something.

He eventually kidnapped Ben's mother, and used her as a hostage to bring Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to his hideout, then separate them and let the members of his team take them down one by one. His plan eventually backfired when he tried to destroy Sandra (Ben's mother) in a slow and cruel way, as it caused Gwen to get angry and transform into her dormant Anodite form, growing to giant size as she got angrier and warning him to leave Ben's, her's and Kevin's families alone and to spread the word to all of the other villains.

Dwayne McDuffie has comfirmed Gwen had let Zombozo go free to warn the other villains of her warning message.

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction
Zombozo appears in Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction in Tokyo. He does not say why he is there, nor does Ben ask why.

However, Ben does tell him to give him Cooper's location, which Zombozo denies. He then attempts to kill Ben twice, though both attemps fail patheticly, it still forces Ben to fight Zombozo as Ultimate Spidermonkey. After defeat, Zombozo laughs hysterically, which only results in Ben throwing him into a web Ultimate Spidermonkey made during the battle. Ben then shouts over the building he threw Zombozo off, "Am I good? Or am I good?"

Appearances
The Last Laugh (First Appearance)

Hit 'Em Where They Live

Ben 10: Cosmic Destruction

Personality
Zombozo is part zombie part clown,he is also portrayed as a grim and cruel clown with a dark sense of humor. In his original appearance, this was shown only by him enjoying making dark jokes about his enemies and his feeding, even when acting (i.e.: "Laughter truly is the best medicine...for me!"), and cruelly taking pleasure to use Ben's fear of clowns against him. In Ultimate Alien, he displayed much more sadistic and psychopathic behavior, using lethal weapons, trying to make Ben and his family suffer by killing Ben's mother, and his hysterical evil laughter. It was even suggested at the beginning of his comeback he had buried someone. So far, he's the only person that Charmcaster fears besides her uncle Hex.

Zombozo never or rarely attacks alone, always gathering together a crew to do his dirty work for him. Originally, this was his trio of Circus Freaks, and later Zombozo leads a coallition between Vulkanus, Charmcaster, Sevenseven (and about eight others who were all warded off by Max Tennyson's efforts before he was hurt fending off Sevenseven).

Powers and Abilities
In his original appearance, Zombozo was using a machine called the "Psyclown" to give him the ability to drain happiness from people when they're laughing. This left them depleted, weakened and sad. In the most extreme case, it even seemed to age people, as it did with Gwen. The machine was connected to him by a line, giving him the ability to fly.

In addition to the Psyclown, Zombozo was able to teleport in an explosion of smoke and confetti (likely how he escaped Ben in the original series), as well as terrorizing Ben with frightening images. It's unknown if he was manipulating reality or merely creating illusions. Since he didn't used these abilities in Ultimate Alien so far, it's assumed there were possible thanks to the Psyclown.

In Ultimate Alien, he now relies on various clown-based lethal gadgets as weapon, including caltrops, an acid seltzer bottle, a giant confetti balloon that helps him teleport, steel streamers, an extending arm, an electric joy buzzer, dynamite, and a comically over-sized mallet. In the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction video game trailer, it also shows him being able to fly by holding on to a flying toy airplane.

No reason has been given to explain his abilities, so whether he is human using technology or an alien is unknown.

Trivia

 * Zombozo was voiced by John Kassir (of the Crypt Keeper/Tales from the Crypt fame) in the original series, and by John DiMaggio (the voice actor for Bender, and Teen Titans villain Brother Blood) in Ultimate Alien.
 * Ben supposedly didn't remember fighting him in the original series; however, Dwayne McDuffie has confirmed he didn't want to admit he used to be afraid of clowns.
 * Both of his appearances end with him being scared off by one of the main characters in their alien form.
 * His name might be an amalgam on the words Zombie and Bozo (a famous clown)
 * In Ultimate Alien, his weapons, gadgets, and laugh resemble those used by Batman's archenemy, The Joker (electric joy buzzer and giant mallet are Joker mainstays) while his attempts to terrorize Ben into submission in the original series is closer to another famed Batman villain, Scarecrow.
 * In Ultimate Alien, it is possible that Gwen holds a grudge against him due to the fact that he almost sucked her dry of laughter.
 * In Last Laugh, as Ghostfreak, Ben said that he is not afraid of an "emotional vampire".
 * When asked if he will return, Dwayne McDuffie answered "not if he knows what's good for him"