Gwen Tennyson (Classic)

Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson is a Human/Anodite hybrid Plumber, the paternal cousin of Ben Tennyson, and (along with Kevin Levin) was a front line member of his team during the first 3 shows. Gwen was first introduced when her parents sent her on a summer-long road trip with her Grandpa Max and her cousin Ben. She has, as Verdona refers to it, "The Spark".

In Ben 10: Omniverse, like her boyfriend Kevin, sixteen-year old Gwen is a recurring character rather than a main one, as she went off to an Ivy League college, but visits occasionally.

Appearance
In the original series, Gwen had short orange hair held by a blue hair clip and green eyes and wore a blue raglan shirt with a cat logo on her chest and white capris. She wore a blue hairclip in her bangs. She wore a pair of white shoes with dark blue stripes. Her lucky girl outfit is worn in Lucky Girl and Tough Luck.

In the first and second seasons of Alien Force, Gwen wore a white shirt under a dark blue sweater, black stockings under a black mini skirt, and black high heels. Her hair had also grown longer and was down to her waist. In the third season, she wore a red shirt paired with a black vest, gray pants, and black flats. Her hair was worn in a high ponytail. In her Anodite form, she looked like a slightly smaller version of Verdona. At the beach, Gwen wore a white bikini. Later on, she wore a black one. In Ultimate Alien, Gwen's outfit was similar to her outfit from the first two seasons of Alien Force, but with a red sweater instead of her blue one.

In Inspector 13, Gwen was seen wearing a violet tank with a white skirt and tennis shoes.

In It's Not Easy Being Gwen, she was seen wearing a grey t-shirt and black running shorts during her morning run.

In the first season of Omniverse, Gwen still had her ponytail, but it was much shorter. She wore clothes similar to her Alien Force seasons 1-2 outfit, except she now wore long white socks that went up to her knees with black mary janes. She also had freckles.

For the rest of the series, she has shorter hair with a blue hairclip, a light blue T-shirt with her cat logo on it, a blue plaid miniskirt and wears blue-tinted glasses. She also wears long white socks and blue sneakers. In her new Anodite form, her skin turns purple, but her hair remains the same length, but is now made of mana and is pink and her eyes also turn pink. Her glasses also become a blue mask and she now wears blue gloves and her shirt is a darker blue with a light blue stripe. Her shirt cuts off and reveals her midriff and naval. She also wears blue boots, a dark blue miniskirt with a light blue stripe and a belt. The cat logo on her shirt also becomes black with pink eyes.

11 year old Gwen in Omniverse looks just like she did in the original series except that she has freckles and the cat logo on her shirt is now bigger.

Personality
In the original series, Gwen is portrayed as an intelligent, mature but usually stubborn and smart-mouthed when it came to talking with Ben. Her quick thinking and good instincts give her an edge in dealing with dangerous situations. However, she's sometimes too trusting with people who want to exploit her good will, leading her (or others) into harm's way.

As she got older, she became even more mature, as well as becoming more caring and sympathetic. Her affection towards her cousin Ben, became more clear as well.

Gwen is willing to forgive villains for their wrongdoings, the most notable being Kevin, if she believes they've changed for the better. Although her intelligence and knowledge have only increased since the original series, she's not completely free of her naivete, and can be arrogant at times as well.

Despite being far more mature and reasonable than Ben and Kevin, Gwen is somewhat hotheaded and can lose control of her mana if angered enough, as shown in Double or Nothing.

Gwen occasionally prioritizes things incorrectly, as shown in Duped when she put more importance on Ben arriving to Julie's tennis match on time than stopping the Forever Knights' armed robbery of a museum.

It was revealed in Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2 that she has Arachnophobia.

Mana Manipulation and Energy Control
Gwen's magical powers are revealed to be of alien descent inherited from her grandmother Verdona, a member of a free-spirited alien race of pure energy beings known as Anodites, from the planet Anodyne. Verdona tells Gwen that, like herself, Gwen is also an Anodite; she has "the spark" and thus is able to freely manipulate and control mana, the supernatural Force-like life energy that is present in all living beings throughout the universe.

Gwen can create energy blasts, shields and barriers. Her powers are mainly used like energy constructs, allowing her to make many different types of structures like, hammers, protective helmets, battering rams, beams to grab and throw enemies, stepping stones/platforms to carry her and others though air, safety nets; it also turns out Gwen can also synchronize her martial arts styles with her energy manipulation abilities.

Gwen has more mana-related powers: She can find any person she wants by detecting the traces of mana that he/she left. She can also absorb mana in her immediate vicinity.

She also has the abilities of energy manipulation, telekinesis, teleportation, heat vision, telepathy and healing living beings. She can also transform into an Anodite. In her Anodite form her powers are greatly enhanced, giving her the abilities of flight and size alteration.

Magic and Spells


Gwen is seen using magic through casting magical, mystical spells, and reciting spoken incantations thus enabling her to use various magical powers and abilities.

On two occasions, Gwen used the five mystical Charms of Bezel to become a super heroine by the name of Lucky Girl. At first her power and ability drew from the luck-granting Charm of Bezel, which innately gave her complete and perfect luck in everything she did. While wearing the charm, any action she took would result in a chain reaction benefiting her original intent, but usually injuring Ben in the process. She later brought back her superhero identity in the episode Tough Luck after obtaining the legendary lost Keystone of Bezel, which greatly increased her natural abilities to superhuman levels rather than just affecting her luck. Both times, Gwen was forced to retire when the five Charms and Keystone of Bezel were destroyed.

Gwen claims that being self-taught in magic is not so easy as it looks. Trying to get into Yahwahtacsip she mistakes its name for "Wah Di Tah", saying that she knows how to read it but not pronounce it correctly.

Later Gwen begins to cast spells and recite spoken incantations again. Gwen is less knowledgeable than Charmcaster and Hex, having been self-taught, but she is also more powerful than Charmcaster until Charmcaster obtained the Alpha Rune, after which she was powerful enough to defeat Gwen with ease.

She has also learned to astral project through magic, like when she found Ben inside the Ultimatrix in The Ultimate Sacrifice.

Athletics and Martial Arts
Gwen is a capable gymnast and martial artist. Even in the original series, she was occasionally shown to be quite good in hand-to-hand combat fights against enemies who had normal strength levels. She was part of her school's Jujutsu team. At the age of fifteen it is revealed that she has already received a black belt in Taekwondo.

When preferring to use her athletics during fights or when she cannot rely on her magical and Anodite powers, she is shown to be highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

According to Dwayne McDuffie on one of his forums, Gwen does martial arts, horseback riding, softball, skiing and cross country. Gwen is shown creating a whip of mana energy and using it as a weapon along with her fighting skills. When Kevin asks her how she learned it, she states remembering it from an old movie.

Knowledge and Intelligence
Gwen is shown to be very intelligent and knowledgeable. Before discovering her dormant Anodite powers, she would often use her superior intellect to help Ben solve problems. She is shown to be a bit of computer and tech wiz as well. She has her own laptop which she uses to research enemies she meets.

In Back with a Vengeance, Gwen switched the Omnitrix with a bomb, saving both Ben and the world, showing her cleverness.

Also, in Be Afraid of the Dark, Gwen tricked Zs'Skayr into having the Mummy remove the Plumber suits so her spell would work correctly.

Ben 10

 * All episodes except Gwen 10 and Goodbye and Good Riddance.
 * Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix
 * Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens

Ben 10 Shorts

 * Hijacked
 * Snack Break
 * Survival Skills
 * Radio Dazed
 * Sleepaway Camper
 * Dogged Pursuit
 * Let the Games Begin
 * Handle with Care
 * Road Trip Rumble

Ben 10: Alien Force

 * All episodes except Above and Beyond.
 * Ben 10: Alien Swarm

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

 * All episodes

Specials

 * Ben 10-Generator Rex: Heroes United (cameo)

Ben 10: Omniverse

 * The More Things Change: Part 1 (16 years old)
 * A Jolt from the Past (11 years old)
 * Trouble Helix (11 years old)
 * It Was Them (11 years old)
 * Of Predators and Prey: Part 2 (11 years old)
 * Many Happy Returns (16 years old)
 * Malefactor (11 years old)
 * Ben Again (11 and 16 years old)
 * Showdown: Part 1 (11 years old)
 * Showdown: Part 2 (11 and 16 years old)
 * The Frogs of War: Part 2 (16 years old)
 * Evil's Encore (11 years old)
 * Mud Is Thicker Than Water (11 and 16 year old)
 * For a Few Brains More (11 and 16 years old)
 * Max's Monster (11 years old)
 * Mystery, Incorporeal (16 years old)
 * Weapon XI: Part 1 (16 years old)
 * Weapon XI: Part 2 (11 and 16 years old)
 * Charm School (16 years old)
 * From Hedorium to Eternity (11 years old)
 * Third Time's a Charm (16 years old)
 * The Most Dangerous Game Show (16 years old; cameo)

Cartoon Network Action Packs
Gwen has appeared in every action pack, except for Old Friends, Plumbers' Kids, It's a Set Up and twoSome.

Chapter Books

 * Ben's Knightmare
 * War of the Worlds
 * Triple Threat
 * Double Negative
 * The Dark of Knight
 * Galaxy Wars
 * Science Friction

Ben 10: Omniverse

 * Ben 10 (Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4)
 * Ghost Ship
 * Joyrides
 * Parallel Paradox

Others

 * Doom Dimension
 * Wanted: Kevin Levin

Video Games

 * In Ben 10: Alien Force Gwen can shoot bolts, grab enemies and enable auto defense mode as well as float around for a small amount of time.
 * Ben 10: Protector of Earth (Playable only on Nintendo DS version, with a code) (Skin)
 * Gwen helps Ben throughout his travel around the country. Later Gwen is kidnapped by Clancy, but is later kidnapped again, this time, by Dr. Animo. Gwen is able to use the Omnitrix temporarily with access to the same aliens as Ben.
 * Ben 10: Alien Force (Playable only on the Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, and Sony PSP versions on levels 3 and 8) (Regular Character)
 * Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks (Non-player character) (Regular Character)
 * Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex (only for Wii and Xbox 360) (Regular Character)
 * Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction (Non-player character) (Regular Character)
 * Punch Time Explosion and XL (Assist Character)

Trivia

 * Gwen's favorite flowers are yellow roses.
 * Gwen's birthday is in December.
 * She also has the same birthday as Ben.
 * Gwen is the most powerful being in the main dimension.
 * Gwen is Verdona's favorite grandchild.
 * In the initial stages of the original series' development, Gwen was written as a classmate who happened to be friends with Ben, but otherwise had no familial relation to him.
 * Gwen isn't too fond of Upchuck's powers. It is also shown on several occasions that she isn't fond of Goop.
 * Gwen's DNA was sampled and randomized into the Unitrix to create Eunice.
 * Gwen's new look in Omniverse bears some resemblance to Velma Dinkley from the Scooby-Doo! franchise.
 * Gwen made an appearance in the fifth episode of the sixth season of Robot Chicken, Hurtled from a Helicopter into a Speeding Train.
 * Gwen has much more control over her mana powers than shown.
 * She dislikes being called an energy being.
 * Her powers seem to get stronger over time.