Ghostfreak

This article belongs to the Classic Continuity

Ghostfreak is the Omnitrix's DNA sample of an Ectonurite from the planet Anur Phaetos in the Anur System.

Appearance

Ben as Ghostfreak

Ghostfreak is a phantom/ghost-like alien with a gaseous appearance and claw-like hands, and grey skin with black lines running all over him. His skin is removable with black and white striped tentacles underneath it, and if his skin gets ripped off, his true form will unveil.

In the original series, Ghostfreak's orignal Omnitrix symbol peeked out of his skin on his lower left chest and he had a pink eye with a black pupil.

In Alien Force, Ghostfreak looked exactly like Zs'Skayr did in the same series, except his eye was green and the original Omnitrix symbol was on his chest.

In Ultimate Alien, Ghostfreak looked like the enslaved Chimera Sui Generi from Ghost Town, but was more muscular. His eye was bigger and green with a black pupil, and the spikes on his elbows were gone. Ghostfreak wore the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest.

In Omniverse, Ghostfreak now has green chains all over his front side which lead to his neck, waist, and center/chest, giving him the appearance of being contained in a straitjacket, but with his arms out freely. The spikes on his elbows have returned, his skin is now a greenish-white shading, and he has two cuffs on each of his arms. The Omnitrix symbol is located at the center of his chains. When possessing someone, he has a green glow. His tentacles are now black and purple-striped and his eye is colored green.

Bad Ben as Bad Ghostfreak

Bad Ben's Ghostfreak looks similar to Ben Prime's Ghostfreak in Omniverse, except the green parts of Bad Ben's version's body are colored mint green and his chains are colored blue-green.

Bad Ben as Bad Ghostfreak

Personality

During the original series, Ghostfreak appeared to share the same personality as Zs'Skayr, making himself a dangerous alien to use.^[1] This was proven in Alien Force, when Zs'Skayr completely took over Ben when he turned into Ghostfreak.^[2]

By Ultimate Alien, however, Ghostfreak has begun to exist as a separate individual whose character was independent from Zs'Skayr's.^[3] As of Omniverse, Ghostfreak's connection to Zs'Skayr is no longer an issue, making him safer to use.^[4]

Powers and Abilities

• Tentacles
• Body Possession
• Invisibility
• Intangibility
• Intangibility/Invisibility Infusion
• Mana Absorption Immunity
• Sharp Claws
• Flight
• Enhanced Agility
• Enhanced Strength
• Enhanced Durability
• Smoke-Like Form/Density Shifting
• Movable Eye
• Energy Beams (True Form only)
• Telekinesis (True Form only)

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Ghostfreak's powers are composed of several aspects of traditional ghosts from myths and lore such as flight, levitation, phasing through solid matter, intangibility, invisibility, and body possession.

Ghostfreak is able to possess the bodies of his enemies and control their movements to the point where he can cause them to fly like himself, allowing him to freely slam them against walls or hit themselves. He can also access the abilities of other beings that possess superpowers. In the case of Darkstar, he also had access to his powers once he possessed him.^[4]

Ghostfreak can possess Vladats,^{[DJW 1]} Necrofriggians,^{[DJW 2]} Atrocians, Polymorphs,^{[DJW 3]} and even Celestialsapiens^{[DJW 4]} and other Ectonurites.^{[DJW 5]}

Ghostfreak can make himself intangible and invisible as both a powerful defense and infiltrating high-security locations.^[5] He is also capable of making other objects or people intangible and transparent through physical contact.^[6][4]

Ghostfreak can use the tentacles under his protective skin as a means of scaring his enemies into submission.^[7] These tentacles can grow sharp thorns that can be used as lethal weapons.^[8]

Ghostfreak has a movable eye, which is especially seen when he wears his outer skin.^[9] Although his outer skin protects him from burning in the sunlight, his tentacles appear to be resistant towards sunlight.^[10]

Ghostfreak possesses enhanced strength, as shown when he used his tentacles to grab a bus full of people.^[10]

Ghostfreak is immune to Darkstar's energy absorption ability, as he does not have mana in him. That is because Mana is life energy, and Ectonurites are not alive in the same conventional way that most other life forms are.^[4]

Ghostfreak has sharp claws, which can easily tear through Vilgax's Drones.^[11] Also, when he sticks his claws into a person's head, it can either cause them pain or knock them unconscious.^[1]

Ghostfreak can make people feel deathly cold by simply moving right through them.^[9]

Ghostfreak can alter his shape and deform like gas by making himself into a grey, somewhat transparent smoke-like wispy form.^[9]

Ghostfreak has enhanced durability, as he was able to withstand a punch from Kraab, which threw him against a wall.^[9]

Ghostfreak is able to disrupt electronics via phasing through them; this feat was exclusively demonstrated by Zs'Skayr.^[12]

Due to being alive in a rather unconventional sense, Ghostfreak can survive in the vacuum of space; this feat was also exclusively demonstrated by Zs'Skayr.^[6]

True Form

Ghostfreak's true form has an inverted skull with sharp teeth.^[2] Although he has never trained himself to do so, he can rotate his skull much like Zs'Skayr.^{[12][DJW 6]}

Though he has never formally done so on his own accord, Ghostfreak is capable of telekinesis and can project energy beams from his tentacles; these feats were first demonstrated when Zs'Skayr took over Ben's body.^[2]

If exposed to total darkness, like that of space, Ghostfreak's powers and abilities would be greatly enhanced to their full potential; this feat was also demonstrated with Zs'Skayr.^[6]

Weaknesses

• Body Possession Limit
• Vulnerability to Magic
• Immobilized by Ice
• Trapped in Webbing
• Vulnerability to Sunlight (True Form only)
• Neutralized Intangibility

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Ghostfreak's intangibility is useless when faced by another being that can go intangible, as it will cancel out their ability to do so.^[13]

Certain substances can neutralize Ghostfreak's intangibility and invisibility, such as a special orange liquid used by Kraab.^[9] It is possible that Gutrot's species can replicate this liquid in a gaseous form.^{[DJW 7]}

Ghostfreak's second skin inhibits many of his powers, but removing it will make him vulnerable to sunlight.^[1] Furthermore, Ghostfreak would also be vulnerable to the light generation of a Prypiatosian-B, as demonstrated with Zs'Skayr.^[12]

Although he is able to fly, he is not very fast in the air, and therefore must rely on his intangibility and invisibility to evade attacks.

Ghostfreak's intangibility seems to require conscious thought to activate, so opponents will be able to hit him if he is caught off guard, as seen when he got hit by a punching bag that Thumbskull threw at him while he was distracted.^[1]

There are certain beings Ghostfreak cannot possess. For example, he cannot possess zombies due to them lacking minds of their own.^[14] He is also unable to possess the Sentient Ultimate forms, though the reason why remains unclear.^[3]

In correlation with his weakness against sunlight, Ghostfreak cannot possess Pyronites because of their solar-like radiation. Similarly, he cannot Crystalsapiens because of the light they generate.^{[DJW 8]}

Magic can harm Ghostfreak, as shown when he was incapacitated by one of Charmcaster's spells.^[15]

There are a number of weaknesses that Ghostfreak is vulnerable to if he remains tangible. For example:

• He can be trapped by an Evolved Arachnichimp's webbing.^[3]
• He can be immobilized by an Evolved Necrofriggian's ice flames.^[3]
• He can can be controlled and hypnotized by Vladats via their Corrupturas, as demonstrated by many Ectonurite residents of Anur Transyl.^[16]
• He can be harmed by electricity, such as that generated by a Conductoid, as demonstrated with Zs'Skayr.^[12]

Like the rest of his kind, Ghostfreak cannot survive on Anur Vladias.^{[DJW 9]}

Ghostfreak can easily be scared by Toepick's species.^{[DJW 10]}

History

1773

• In A New Dawn, 16-year-old Ben as Ghostfreak failed to possess the zombie red coat.

Prior to Ben 10

• Myaxx unknowingly added Ghostfreak's Ectonurite DNA to the Omnitrix when she did not realize Zs'Skayr possessed the Florauna that was being sampled for Wildvine's DNA.^{[pop-up 1][6]}

Ben 10

• Ghostfreak first appeared in Permanent Retirement, where he escaped Vera's house, drove a golf cart, was about to steal an apple pie before being disgusted by a Limax disguised as a human woman, and then followed another Limax that was impersonating Marty.
• In Hunted, Ghostfreak failed to scare Gwen and defeated Kraab.
• In Last Laugh, Ghostfreak scared and defeated Zombozo.
• In Kevin 11, Ghostfreak snuck into a game room and played a Sumo Slammers video game.
• In Secrets, Ghostfreak briefly appeared in the middle of a fight before the malfunctioning Omnitrix made him switch into Grey Matter. Later, Ghostfreak escaped from Vilgax and searched for Gwen and Max.
• In The Big Tick, Ghostfreak failed to defeat the Great One.
• In Framed, Gwen mentioned Ghostfreak was used by Kevin to terrorize Barstow, California.
• In Ghostfreaked Out, Ghostfreak tricked and tortured Wildmutt in Ben's dream. Later, because he was being taken over by Zs'Skayr, Ghostfreak violently battled the Circus Freaks. When Ghostfreak reverted to Ben, Zs'Skayr escaped the Omnitrix, removing Ghostfreak from it.
• In Be Afraid of the Dark, the Omnitrix scanned Zs'Skayr, putting Ghostfreak back in the watch.

Five Years Prior to Omniverse

• Ghostfreak was removed from the Codon Stream.

Alien Force

• In Ghost Town, Ben scanned Zs'Skayr again and transformed into Ghostfreak, but Zs'Skayr quickly regained control. With the "help" of Vilgax, however, Ghostfreak was able to revert to Ben.

Ultimate Alien

• In The Ultimate Sacrifice, Ghostfreak escaped Sentient Ultimate Spidermonkey's webbing and failed to possess Sentient Ultimate Humungousaur before being frozen by Sentient Ultimate Big Chill, forcing Ghostfreak to switch into Heatblast.

Omniverse

• In Mystery, Incorporeal, Ghostfreak saved Professor Xagliv from Michael Morningstar, then possessed the latter and made him stop the spell in order to save Gwen. From this moment on, Ben has now gotten over his fear of using Ghostfreak because he has complete control over him now.
• In Bengeance Is Mine, Ghostfreak battled Psyphon and saved a busload of people.
• In And Then There Were None, Bad Ghostfreak failed to capture No Watch Ben.
• In Charm School, Ghostfreak searched for Charmcaster in Friedkin University and lured her into the library before she defeated him.
• In Vreedlemania, Ghostfreak possessed Ma Vreedle and ordered the Pretty Boys to stop wreaking havoc on Bellwood, but Ma fought him out of her body once the Vreedles found out that it wasn't her speaking.
• In Malgax Attacks, Ghostfreak defeated some of Vilgax's Drones.
• In A New Dawn, Ghostfreak appeared for a short time when Ben was cycling through his aliens.

Appearances

Video Games

Ben 10

Ghostfreak is a playable alien in the game.

Ben 10: Galactic Racing

Ghostfreak is a playable racer in the game. He has his Alien Force appearance because the game was released before his Ultimate Alien appearance was introduced in the show.

Naming and Translations

(OV & AF)

Etymology

Ghostfreak's name is a combination of the words "ghost" and "freak", both of which allude to his appearance.

Trivia

• Dave Johnson designed Ghostfreak for the original series.
• "Ben's not here", a line said by Ghostfreak in Ghostfreaked Out, was used in auditions for the role.^{[AC 1]}
• According to himself in the original series, Ben was always creeped out when he was Ghostfreak and was still scared to transform into him six years later (especially after the Zs'Skayr incident), but when he transforms into Ghostfreak in Mystery, Incorporeal, he states that he feels like himself, suggesting that he is no longer in danger of being taken over by Zs'Skayr.
  • As such, in the original series, Ghostfreak was the least used out of all the original ten aliens Ben had access to, only appearing in seven episodes and being used a total of eight times.
• Ghostfreak's voice has changed over the course of his appearances:
  • In the original series, he spoke with a faint and whispery voice.
  • In Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, his voice was considerably deeper and raspy like Zs'Skayr.
  • In Omniverse, his voice has returned to the faint and whispery way it was in the original series, albeit it was higher pitched.
  • In And Then There Were None, Bad Ben's Ghostfreak sounded more like Zs'Skayr compared to his main counterpart.
• When Ghostfreak was taunting Kraab in Hunted, Ben may not have been the one in control.^{[pop-up 2][9]} After he reverted, Ben even stated that it felt "even weirder" than when he is normally Ghostfreak.
• In The Alliance, Ben wanted to use Ghostfreak to try and help an injured Max at the hospital by "melding" with him. This indicates that Ben already knew about Ghostfreak's ability to possess people, even though he never does this onscreen until Ghostfreaked Out.
• Ghostfreak replaces Shocksquatch in the intro for Omniverse's Arc 5, specifically in the part where the latter normally appears alongside Toepick, Astrodactyl, and Bullfrag as of Arc 4.
• Ghostfreak's powers of invisibility, intangibility, and body possession are similar to the DC Comics character, Deadman.
• Ghostfreak is one of five aliens to appear in each series of the Classic Continuity; the other four being Cannonbolt, Upchuck, Way Big, and Diamondhead.
  • However, Ghostfreak is the only one of these aliens who has changed his appearance throughout all four series of the Classic Continuity.
• Ghostfreak is also one of the only five aliens who escaped from the original Omnitrix; the others being Chromastone, Spidermonkey, Goop, and Way Big.
• Ghostfreak is the first alien form that has managed to repress Ben's personality. Eon followed this trend prior to being retconned.^{[pop-up 3][17]}
• Despite using him at least once to terrorize a city when he was 11,^[18][19] Kevin has never liked Ghostfreak.^[20]
• In the intro for the first two seasons of the original series, Ghostfreak's eye is red instead of purple.
  • It is also worth noting that after Season 2, when Zs'Skayr successfully escapes the Omnitrix and thus removing Ghostfreak from it, he is replaced with Cannonbolt in the intro for the third and fourth seasons.
• Ghostfreak is a living being; the Ectonurite concept of "life" is just very different from most sentient life forms.^{[DJW 11]}

References

Crew Statements

Derrick J. Wyatt

Pop-ups

Audio Commentary