Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-29812980-20160901034845

Throughout the entire Ben 10 franchise, it seems (at least to me) that Hope (AKA Charmcaster) is, by far, the most tortured animated character (male or female) in television history. By the way, she is my second-favorite animated woman of all-time (behind Sam Simpson from Totally Spies! and Gwen Tennyson). Ever since her first appearance in Tough Luck, she has been tortured by almost every character in one way or another: emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. In chronological order, it started when Hope/Charmcaster lost her father, Spellbinder, to the tyrannical Adwaita at a very young age. Then, when she attempted to resurrect her father many years later by sacrificing 600,000 souls, Spellbinder denounced his own daughter for attempting to do so, making her break down in tears, even though her heart had longed for her father's presence again. However, I do understand Spellbinder's nobility and at least he said that he loved Hope before turning back into pure mana. Anyway, after her father's death, her uncle Hex began to raise Hope/Charmcaster during her childhood and teen years after they escaped from an Adwaita-dominated Ledgerdomain to seek refuge on Earth. Even though Hex later said he truly loved his niece and wanted to be a family with her again, he still treated her like dirt during her teen years, to the point of borderline abuse. I consider Hex's actions, who is her uncle for crying out loud, to be very unforgivable.

Along with her long, complicated backstory, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin were also constantly defeating and torturing Hope/Charmcaster until they learn more about her (home world, backstory, etc.) in ''Where The Magic Happens. Then, they were willing to help her out in defeating Adwaita so that she could become the rightful leader of Ledgerdomain and fix her home world until The Enemy Of My Frenemy. ''In that episode, it is revealed that she became corrupted by all of the magic, which led to the fiasco with her father mentioned above happened. After that, in the very next episode, Couples Retreat, Hope/Charmcaster falls in love with Michael Morningstar (AKA Darkstar). It is revealed later in that episode that Darkstar was still in love with Gwen (whom he dated twice) and was just using Charmcaster because she is full of mana (he didn't even remember her name). In the end, Hope/Charmcaster was visibly left heartbroken after losing her father (again) and fake boyfriend in back-to-back episodes. Then, she would not appear for a long time until her much-anticipated cameo appearance in Omniverse's Mystery, Incorporeal. That was when she finally got her revenge on Darkstar by turning him into a totem, as he received his comeuppance. In addition to Adwaita, Hex, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Spellbinder, and Darkstar torturing her, she also had a short-lived, but intense rivalry with female biker Rojo when they were members of the Negative 10. It was more of a sibling rivalry, but still.

In Omniverse, Charmcaster would make four more appearances, with three of them being as a major character. I like to call the three of them where she is a major character "The Omniverse Charm Trilogy". In Charmed, I'm Sure, she teams up with Ben, Rook, Rad Dudesman, and Hobble (who has a huge crush on her) to defeat Zs'Skayr. However, she again becomes power mad because of the magical Alpha Rune, forcing Ben, Rook, Rad Dudesman, and Hobble (who is, by this time, heartbroken) to defeat her by teleporting her back to Ledgerdomain. In Charm School, Charmcaster turns her uncle Hex into a totem and does battle with her frenemy/rival Gwen (AKA Lucky Girl) once again, this time for Hex's library (which Gwen wins). In Third Time's A Charm, Charmcaster avenges her defeat by turning Gwen into a totem. Gwen is then placed in Charmcaster's magic satchel bag, along with Adwaita, Darkstar, and Hex as powerful magicians who have been turned into totems. Charmcaster then battles Ben, Rook, and Kevin before she is unjustly defeated by Ben's magic trick, Gwen, Adwaita, Darkstar, and Hex. As she is turned into a totem (trapped in her own bag), her frenemy, imperfect uncle, and two mortal enemies are running free, no longer totems. Even though Gwen reassures Ben and the audience that she will do her absolute best to reform Charmcaster so that they can become a powerful, dynamic duo of allies/friends, that ending to the entire Charmcaster arc that started in Where The Magic Happens ruined a could-have-been-great, long-running arc that ultimately fell short of greatness.

In short, Charmcaster has been tortured by (in one way or another) mainly: Adwaita, Hex, Ben, Gwen, Rojo, Kevin, Spellbinder, and Michael Morningstar (AKA Darkstar). The writers (and other crew) of Ben 10 also tortured her by failing to develop her character and backstory properly, so you might as well count them also. Ironically enough, all of this torture has made Charmcaster a tougher person and the person she is today, though. I still think she is a great, but complicated woman who is badass, beautiful, competitive, emotional, sexy, and smart. Anywho, enough out of me. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Is Charmcaster the most tortured animated character (male or female) in television history? Please reply below.  