This article belongs to the Classic Continuity |
“ | Every time you're in my shop, you ruin it! | ” |
Ignacius Baumann is a local shop keeper in Bellwood who sells alien provisions.
Appearance[]
Regular Appearances[]
In Ultimate Alien, Mr. Baumann wore a light blue shirt, a black T-shirt, and black pants with a white apron. He is partially bald and has gray hair on the side of his head.
In Omniverse, Mr. Baumann wears glasses, a dark pink bowtie and a light pink-striped yellow shirt with a dark pink apron and brown pants. He also has grown a little black mustache. He also has a pot belly.
Occasional Appearances[]
In the Omniverse flashbacks, Mr. Baumann looked identical to his present-day self, except he has full hair. However due to Ben's previous instances of destruction, he has ripped most of it off in frustration.
In From Hedorium to Eternity, Mr. Baumann wore an outfit similar to his usual one, though his shirt was purely yellow, including the collar and cuffs. He also wore a black overcoat.
In The Ballad of Mr. Baumann, Mr. Baumann wore a robotic suit.
In the Omniverse Future Timeline, Mr. Baumann is hunched a bit forward, has prominent jowls, and is now completely bald. He wears the same outfit he wore in From Hedorium to Eternity.
Personality[]
Mr. Baumann shows an irrational hatred of Ben for any damage to his property or car that was never intentional. He has a cold, unforgiving and impatient demeanor towards Ben. He is generally unreasonable, as seen when he scolded Ben for another accidental destruction of his car that was the result of an unprovoked alien attack.[2]
Despite that, he helps Ben's team on occasion, such as hiding them in his store during the Incursean occupation. There are other rare cases in which he is friendly and nice to Ben, mainly whenever Baumann needs his help or vice versa. In truth, Mr. Baumann actually likes Ben deep down.[DJW 2]
History[]
Background[]
Mr. Baumann has known Ben for ten years.[2] They first met when Ben's family moved into the house next to his. A five-year-old Ben accidentally set his car on fire by looking at it with a magnifying glass.
One day, Ben did 10 dollars and 1 cent damage to his lima beans stack. He was upset by the thought that Ben would still be destroying his store ten years from then. While he was driving home, he saw a shooting star that revealed to be a ship. The ship crashed into the ground next to him and a mermaid-like alien crawled out of it. He saved the alien and the two of them quickly fell in love. Unfortunately, the alien, Sheelane needs to live in very deep water so they could only meet in every 5.22 years when she sheds her skin. Baumann asked Max to hide Sheelane's ship in a lake inside a mine.
Five Years Prior to Omniverse[]
Mr. Baumann was about to make deliveries using his truck, until he saw Ben running up to battle Dr. Animo and his Mutant Mosquito outside his store. Ben remarked about the fact that Dr. Animo only brought one mutant mosquito and transformed into Way Big, picking up Mr. Baumann's delivery truck and hitting Animo and his mosquito with it. It then proceeded to fly away into space. Mr. Baumann got angry at Ben for throwing his delivery truck into space and ripped his hair out once again. Way Big saw him and started running away.
At one point, Mr. Baumann managed to acquire some Element X to refuel Sheelane's ship, allowing for her continued survival. However, Vulkanus got wind of this and attacked his store. Mr. Baumann fled, heading for Sheelane's ship, but was followed by Ben, Max and Vulkanus. Vulkanus attempted to take the Element X, but Diamondhead switched it for the canister containing Sheelane's depleted supply, placing it on his back. Diamondhead then launched Vulkanus into the cavern ceiling, where the iron ore mixed with Element X and exploded. Mr. Baumann reunited with Sheelane, who commented on Ben's destructiveness.
One Year Prior to Ultimate Alien[]
Big Chill accidentally froze Baumann's car while he was chasing a DNAlien. Ben tried to thaw it out, but the car split in half.
Ultimate Alien[]
Mr. Baumann made his debut in The Purge, when Ben and his team asked him if he knew anything about why aliens were leaving Earth. Mr. Baumann told them that he had no idea, so Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Argit left. They snuck up on him and it was then revealed that he had been hiding an alien family from the Forever Knights. He told the gang that the Forever Knights had been attacking aliens on Earth.
Omniverse[]
At some unspecified point, Sunder got a new mask for himself from Mr. Baumann.[DJW 3]
Mr. Baumann returned in The More Things Change: Part 1, when Ben heard that off-world lowlifes were committing extortion from alien shops in Bellwood. He visited Mr. Baumann and told him that he would protect the store. Baumann refused the offer, saying that Ben ruins his shop every time he is in it. Eventually, Ben managed to convince him to let him observe quietly. Ben turned into Cannonbolt and accidentally dealt some damage to the seats in the store.
When Liam, Bubble Helmet, and Fistina arrived, he paid them, but thanks to Ben's intervention, they planted a bomb in his store. Baumann hid while Bubble Helmet shot lasers all over the place. He sat behind the food bar and repeatedly said that he knew it was going to happen. After a long fight, Rook and Ben defeated them and managed to explode the bomb somewhere else.
In Malefactor, Mr. Baumann appeared in Ben's dream as one of his many fans.
Mr. Baumann made a cameo in The Frogs of War: Part 1.
In The Frogs of War: Part 2, he was secretly part of the resistance. His store was a temporary headquarters, where Rook and Kevin collected weapons.
Mr. Baumann made a cameo in Something Zombozo This Way Comes, after everyone was changed back from being a Zombie Clown.
In No Honor Among Bros, Mr. Baumann watched the Golden Fist Tournament.
In Universe vs. Tennyson, Mr. Baumann's truck was hijacked by Fistrick and Mr. Baumann was forced to drive around town with him. Even though Ben offered to help, Mr. Baumann said that only more harm would come from it. This was proven true as Mr. Baumann's truck was destroyed after being driven into the wall.
Later, Mr. Baumann was summoned to the Galactic High Court where he was prosecuted by Starbeard. Mr. Baumann's thoughts were processed as he had history with Ben finding him to be a menace. When questioned by Chadzmuth about Ben being able to create another universe, Mr. Baumann answered that Ben can only create destruction of his property. before being teleported out of the court.
In Clyde 5, Mr. Baumann walked by a Mr. Smoothy along with Pakmar when he heard Ben yelling "Ben Tennyson doesn't go around wrecking stuff". He and Pakmar both stared at him, insisting that the statement was not true.
Future[]
In The End of an Era, Mr. Baumann was present at Max Tennyson's retirement celebration along with his wife, Sheelane.
Powers and Abilities[]
Despite his advanced age and body structure, Baumann is surprisingly quick. He can climb walls and run fast enough to dodge attacks.
Equipment[]
Mr. Baumann possesses a suit which was made by Azmuth himself based on the robotic suit he used to have.[3]
The suit allows him to be underwater with Sheelane anytime he wants. While the suit was damaged, it still has a lot of helpful items built-in, such as a welder and pliers.[3]
Weaknesses[]
Mr. Baumann can be possessed by an Ectonurite.[4]
Appearances[]
Ultimate Alien[]
Season 3[]
- The Purge (first appearance)
Omniverse[]
Season 1[]
- The More Things Change: Part 1 (first reappearance)
Season 2[]
- Malefactor (dream; cameo)
Season 3[]
- T.G.I.S.
- Special Delivery (flashback and present)
- The Frogs of War: Part 1 (cameo)
- The Frogs of War: Part 2
Season 5[]
- Something Zombozo This Way Comes (cameo)
Season 6[]
Season 7[]
- Clyde 5 (cameo)
- The Ballad of Mr. Baumann (flashback and present)
- Fight at the Museum (cameo)
Season 8[]
- From Hedorium to Eternity (flashback)
- The End of an Era (Omniverse Future Timeline; cameo)
Trivia[]
- Mr. Baumann once stated that he had not seen Ben since the latter was 12 years old.[5] This is retconned with an Omniverse flashback featuring 15-year-old Ben and Mr. Baumann interacting with each other.[2][BTP 1]
- Apparently, he had more run-ins with Ben than shown on-screen, as he mentions that every time Ben shows up, the store always ends up being trashed during a fight, or how Ben has constantly destroyed his car since he was five years old in their first meeting.[2]
- Mr. Baumann's robotic suit is identical to Azmuth and dimension 23 Azmuth's biosuits, but with a different color scheme.
- In the No Watch Timeline, Mr. Baumann runs a grocery store for human customers.[6]
- Mr. Baumann is based on Mr. Whipple, a fictional supermarket manager featured in Charmin toilet paper commercials.[DJW 4]
- The idea to have Mr. Baumann be a liason to Undertown came from Glen Murakami and Dwayne McDuffie's concepts for Omniverse.[DJW 5]
- His relationship with Ben in his younger years (that of a love-hate variety) is quite similar to the one between Mr. Wilson and Dennis in the Dennis the Menace comic strips and other media.