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| “ | It started when the nanites went ka-pow upon the scene. Transforming all the lifeforms like nothing you've ever seen. But there's one lucky hombre that can make them build machines: He's Gen Rex. | ” |
– Rex, singing in the tune of the Ben 10 theme song.[1] | ||
Ricardo[og 1] "Rex" Salazar is a young EVO with the ability to cure other EVOs, including the ability to control his nanites using the Omega-1 Nanite. He can grow weapons and machines from his body, often using his limbs, and can communicate with technology, machines and even with nanites themselves.
Appearance
Rex is Hispanic, being half-Mexican and half-Argentinian. He is most normally seen with lightly spiked, slicked back dark hair. He is also taller than most people his age. Rex also wears a pair of orange goggles on top of his head, with a matching red-orange patterned jacket. His T-shirt is blue on the top-half and white on the bottom-half, with two orange rectangles on the left pectoral. Rex wears black pants with blue geometrical patterns which glow whitish blue whenever Rex uses his powers. He also wears blue gloves with orange cuffs and blue-black shoes.
During the crossover, he briefly wore Ben's jacket.
Personality
Like most teenagers who grow up secluded and isolated, Rex is overconfident, impulsive, and rebellious. He is quite headstrong, which he inherited from his mother, Violeta.[2] He has a quick wit and is constantly making jokes, even in the direst of situations, often falling into sarcasm. However, when Rex needs to defend himself, he does not hold back. Aggressive and reckless, Rex prefers to smash anything that gets in his way, much to Providence's annoyance. However, he eventually begins to show more discretion and consideration.
Rex has shown a selfless side to his personality, as he takes pride in curing many EVOs at his own risk. He has also shown an empathetic side to his personality, for instance, he understands that many of the EVOs he encounters were previously conscious people who still have loved ones concerned about them, and never resorts to execution no matter the species. Another example would be when Rex was the only one to see things from both Agent Six's and Serge's opposing point of views when discussing Aquania.
Like any teen, Rex faces tough and conflicting feelings about his situations, like his position at Providence. While he is loyal to the organization, sometimes the pressure of being the only person that can cure EVOs becomes too much for him to handle. Consequently, he sometimes breaks out of the base to go on "road trips", as he calls them, to blow off steam. However, he always returns, perhaps out of a sense of duty, purpose, and caring for his team. He also tends to be sympathetic towards others in similar situations, notably Circe and Breach. For instance, although Circe was than willingly joined the Pack, he understood her confusion and its relation of being an EVO and her hesitance behind joining Providence. When Breach was torn on her treatment by Van Kleiss and the Pack, Rex reached out to her to lend a helping hand, remedying her with the same tactics he used on himself. Ultimately, he never gave up on them.
Rex has been shown to be clever. For example, Tuck stated that Rex improvised the voice activated nano-ink tattoos that Rex, Tuck, Skwydd, and Cricket have, after a problem they had with an EVO that could shape-shift. Coming from a family of scientists, Rex is quite intelligent, as shown when he was able to take high school courses with ease. After taking a trigonometry pop quiz, Rex casually told Noah that it was "just trig" and explained that it was like aiming his cannon. Another trait that goes hand in hand with Rex's cleverness and wit is Rex's ability to manipulate his enemies. At one point Rex willingly tricked Van Kleiss by fighting NoFace, knowing that Van Kleiss needed him alive, while NoFace wanted him dead. However, due to the circumstances, Rex pretended to lie unconscious while Van Kleiss and NoFace fought each other for Rex's life. He also used Biowulf's insecurities and fear of being replaced by NoFace to persuade Biowulf's assistance in the long run.
History
Background
Not much is known about Rex's life before the Nanite Event except finding out his parents and older brother were scientists and he was the first human subjected to the nanites.
Generator Rex
In the crossover special, Ben enters Rex's world by accident, and Rex confuses Ben for a dangerous EVO. After Rex and Ben have a fight, they eventually team up to face the worst threat either of them have ever faced: the sapient nanite Alpha. A creature that has to suck the nanites from EVOs in order to survive, Alpha had previously been banished to what was believed to be a dimension of nothingness - however, Ben revealed that the villain had ended up in the Null Void, where he managed to feed on various alien prisoners until he could escape.
Rex and Ben eventually confronted Alpha inside the Bug Jar, where it absorbs Rex's Omega-1 Nanite in an effort to create a body to sustain itself. In response, Ben used Upgrade to increase Rex's power - together, they were able to do enough damage to Alpha that Rex was able to trap him in a super-concentrated ball of Nanites, which Ben dumped into the Null Void on his way back to his dimension.
Crossover Nexus
Rex arrived in CN City where he was defeated and turned into a statue by Strike prior to the events of the episode. Upon Strike's defeat, he and everyone else was freed and able to return home.
Powers and Abilities
Like all living things on his Earth, Rex has billions of nanites inside his body. After activation, the nanites mutate a normal being into an EVO. However, unlike most EVOs, Rex has the ability to control his nanites at will, allowing him to build various machines on his body.
| Image | Name | Description |
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The B.F.S | Is a big sharp sword, Rex can build this on either arm with a secondary mode in which it's used as a buzzsaw. It is very durable. |
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Smack Hands | Are two giant gauntlets that Rex builds on both of his arms. The have a secondary function in which Rex spins them like drills to either add extra power to his punches or tunnel through solid rock. Rex's best friend Noah previously noted that Rex has always started the offensive with the Smack Hands, suggesting he should "change it up a little". |
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Slam Cannon | Is a large handed cannon that Rex builds on either arm. It grabs ammo from the ground and shoots it out. |
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Punk Busters | The Punk Busters are super boots that Rex builds out of his feet. He can jump very high in them. He can even use them to kick foes really hard. |
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Boogie Pack | The Boogie Pack is a jet pack with a pair of large turbine wings. The two gray turbines can be shot out like bolas and reeled back in. |
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Rex Ride | A motorcycle that uses levitation instead of wheels with a built-in battering ram. Rex can ride very fast on it. |
Later, unbeknownst to him, Rex was injected with the Omega-1 Nanite. With it, Rex has a greater control over the nanites in his and other's bodies, as well as access to additional machines.
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Blast Caster | Is a mechanical tentacle, with a nanite generator in his back, the tentacle is extendable to a great length and can be used to shock his opponents. |
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Funchucks | The Funchucks are giant nunchucks that are attached to both of Rex's arms. He can spin them at high speeds launch them at his enemies or use them to generate an energy pulse. |
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Bad Axes | The Bad Axes are a pair of large blue axes that can slice through almost anything. The sharp edges are a light, glowing blue. |
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Block Party | The Block Party are a pair of shields built around Rex's lower arms and hands. They are made up of super-charged atoms that can block almost anything. |
Rex can use his nanites to communicate with a variety of machines, including other nanites to cure some EVOs of their mutations. Rex could build a copy of the Omnitrix if his nanites had the schematics, materials and alien DNA. However, he has nowhere near enough mastery over those nanites to concentrate long enough to build it.[DR 2]
Merged with Upgrade
Galvanic Mechamorphs such as Upgrade can merge with the nanites in Rex's body, appearing as a full bodysuit that massively enhances any constructs he creates:
- The B.F.S. is now bigger and has an energized blade. It was able to easily cleave through the massive and durable body parts of Alpha-Omega in a single slash.
- The Smack Hands are much larger and spikier. They are stronger, able to knock back Alpha-Omega with a single hit. A variant of them are also able to be fired as projectile missiles that explode on impact.
- The Slam Cannon surpasses its limitation of needing to reload ammo in order to be used; it now rather produces six extremely powerful heat-seeking missiles.
- The Boogie Pack has large thrusters that boost its speed and maneuverability to a much greater degree. It can also launch a pair of powerful rockets from the top of its turbines. These rockets pack immense explosive force; a single shot from the hyper jet was strong enough to stun Alpha-Omega and knock him through a large building.
- The Rex Ride is now considerably faster, being capable of reaching much higher speeds.
While merged, Rex was stronger and could also run faster.
Equipment
Rex wears goggles that can zoom to the scale of nanites.
Weaknesses
Rex is vulnerable to having his builds dismantled by a Planchaküle.[DJW 1]
Appearances
Generator Rex
Season 3
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Season 2
- Crossover Nexus (cameo)
Comics
Cartoon Network Action Packs
Ultimate Alien
Etymology
Rex's first name means "King" in Latin. His last name, Salazar, is a combination of the words "sala" (meaning "hall") and "zahar" (meaning "old"). When translated from Old Spanish, "Salazar" means "old hall".
Trivia
- Rex's jacket smells like bananas.[3][1]
- In 2020, Derrick J. Wyatt planned on drawing a full-color model of Rex in the Omniverse art style as part of a GoFundMe.[DJW 2] However, due to his passing in December 2021, he was unable to complete it.
- Duncan Rouleau explained that Rex has untapped abilities in his nanites, allowing him to create adaptive constructs to overcome obstacles, turning his defense into a powerful attack. Thus making it so that Rex could defeat most of Ben's aliens, except the cosmic-level ones such as Ghostfreak, Way Big, and Alien X.[DR 3]
