Vilgax

Vilgax is Ben Tennyson’s archenemy, a Chimera Sui Generis conqueror that has taken over many planets and a villain from the Ben 10 series.

Past
Vilgax was feared across several galaxies for his conquest of a number of planets and destruction of five others, even making a black hole. No biological life form was willing to serve Vilgax, since they were all too afraid of him, so Vilgax was forced to make a crew of robots (with the occasional mercenary thrown in). At one point in the past, he managed to destroy the Petrosapein’s homeworld after Tetrax unwittingly gave him the final element he needed to do so. Later, Vilgax went to Earth, where he had a number of encounters with the Plumbers, a group of humans put together to fight alien threats, particularly Max Tennyson. Vilgax eventually tried to steal nuclear missiles from an army base, but Max and his partner, Phil, showed up. The alien ended up stuck to a nuclear missile and was launched into his own ship, but managed to survive.

Engaging Ben
Eventually, Vilgax found out about the Omnitrix and sought to steal it, planning to use it as a means of creating an army with the abilities of every alien species in the universe at their command. Vilgax eventually tracked it to a ship under the command of Xylene and attacked in his own ship, the Chimerian Hammer. She couldn't hold his forces off; thus, she was forced to send the Omnitrix down to Earth, where it would be found by Ben Tennyson. However, the bridge of the Hammer was blasted in the fight with Xylene, inflicting severe damage to Vilgax's body, and he was placed in a repair tank to be healed, preventing him from going after the Omnitrix personally. He eventually learned that the Omnitrix was in someone’s possession and relied on his minions to get it back. Vilgax sent robotic drones, hired a trio of bounty hunters and even used a Earth criminal fused with one of his drones to try and get the Omnitrix. During Ben’s battle with the latter, Vilgax made a brief psychic link to Ben and warned him that he’d come after him one day. Finally, the alien’s body was not only healed, but granted cybernetic enhancement, increasing his strength. Vilgax went to Earth to personally obtain the Omntitrix, managing to beat and capture Ben. The alien was surprised that a human child was the one who’d resisted him so long and tried to obtain the Omnitrix. However, Gwen Tennyson and Max interfered and Ben lost control of his transformations, before they eventually set off the self-destruct in Vilgax’s ship with him inside.

Gwen 10
In a non-canon episode, Ben found himself re-living the day he found the Omnitrix except Gwen found it instead. However, Vilgax wasn’t harmed by his battle with Xylene’s ship and went after the Omnitrix when his drone was defeated. The alien captured Gwen, but was beaten by Max and Ben, getting thrown into his ship by Upgrade, apparently killing him.

Future Conflicts with Ben
Vilgax survived the explosion of his ship, teleporting out before it blew up, but was somehow frozen. Kevin 11 found and freed him and Vilgax realized the connection Kevin had to the Omnitrix, agreeing to work with him. Vilgax and Kevin almost succeeded in taking the Omnitrix from Ben, but ended up trapped in the Null Void dimension. When Ben was in an illusion created by the Forever Knights, a dream version of Vilgax appeared to fight him. As they fought, the alien tried to send Ben to the Null Void, but Ben threw him inside instead. However, Vilgax’s actions tipped Ben off to what was going on since he was going to send him to the Null Void without getting the Omnitrix. In an another non-canon episode, after the summer was over, Vilgax and his drones went to Ben’s hometown and destroyed the boy’s home. When Ben got back home, Vilgax showed up, threatening the life of his father, Carl, and forced Ben to reveal his secret when he became Cannonbolt. Vilgax retreated, but began attacking the city with his drones and Ben, Max, Gwen, and Carl worked together to fight off his drones. Eventually, Vilgax was lured into the underground bus line by Ben, where Carl dropped a lighter onto a gas line, incinerating the alien in a massive explosion.

Ben 10,000
5 years in the future (in what is now an alternate timeline), Vilgax escaped the Null Void via a Null Void portal opening on another planet. However, the future Ben didn’t want to take anymore chances and in a final battle, left Vilgax torn to shreds. But 15 years later, Dr. Animo found what remained of the alien and resurrected him with his Transmodulator. With the moves of every alien Ben 10,000 had programmed into him, Vilgax engaged Ben 10,000 and was able to fight him. However, with help from his 10-year old self, who’d been brought to the future by the future Gwen, Ben 10,000 defeated Vilgax and froze him via his Arctiguana form.

Secret of the Omnitrix
Vilgax eventually managed to escape the Null Void after stumbling across a Null Void portal being opened, though it had a stressful impact on him. He also seemed to have a deeper grudge against Ben and eventually reattempted to regain the Omnitrix, which had accidentally been set into self-destruct mode by Ben, not acknowledging the danger the Omnitrix’s self-destruction posed. Vilgax began pursuing Tetrax’s ship, picking up the bounty hunter, Sixsix, outside Incarcecon and using him like a bloodhound. He eventually attacked Tetrax’s ship and confronted Ben, but was eventually shot out into space via the airlock. Vilgax finally managed to follow them to the planet, Xenon, but was defeated when Azmuth (creator of the Omnitrix) deactivated the self-destruct and gave Ben access to the form of Way Big. In this form, Ben defeated Vilgax’s forces and tossed him into space.

Resuming the Fight with Ben
Vilgax managed to return, now less cybernetically enhanced (as to how this happened is never explained) and with a new right-hand named Psyphon. However, he began following galactic law, which justified his takeovers if he defeated a champion of that world. Thus, Vilgax conquered 10 planets, including that of Ultimos, and absorbed the powers of each champion. However, Vilgax continued to be obsessed with the Omntirix and went to Earth after defeating Ultimos. The alien managed to defeat Max and the Plumbers’ kids, but didn’t absorb their powers, choosing to use them as a message to Ben. Vilgax challenged Ben under the galactic code, giving him 24 hours to accept the challenge or he would be able to legally destroy Earth. Ben accepted and managed to get to the fight in time, despite his Omnitrix overloading and forcing him to recollect his aliens. Eventually, Vilgax managed to smash Ben to pieces as Chromastone, but before he could take the Omnitrix, Chromastone was reformatted into Diamondhead. Due to the practice he had with that form and his age, Diamondhead was able to defeat Vilgax, forcing him to leave Earth, never to return. However, he swore that he would have revenge on Ben one way or another. Later on, Vilgax freed Ghostfreak in exchange for the secrets of the Omnitrix, only to be betrayed. Ghostfreak invaded Vilgaxia, Vilgax’s homeplanet, and possessed most of the inhabitants, turning them into his Ectonurite minions. Vilgax failed to stop him, forcing him to go to Ben and his allies for aid and made an uneasy alliance. They managed to reach Ghostfreak and Ben let the Ectonurite possess him so as to absorb him back into the Omnitrix. However, Ghostfreak took over Ben’s personality and Ben’s friends and Vilgax fought him, arguing over whether or not to hurt Ben. Vilgax was finally able to weaken Ghostfreak by generating light, which gave Ben control again, changing back into a human. Vilgax let Ben and his friends leave in peace, but gloated to himself that he’d finally gained the Omnitrix’s secrets.

Attack on Primus
Vilgax launched an assault on the planet Primus, which resulted in the Omnitrix teleporting Ben and his friends to Primus. The device then left Ben to find Azmuth, who used it to fight Vilgax, only to lose and let Vilgax take the Omnitrix. However, he didn’t know how to use it since the device was recalibrated and made Ben tell him how to use it by threatening Gwen and Kevin. But Ben made the Omnitrix turn Vilgax into Goop and took the artificial gravity device that let Goop move, causing him to become a motionless puddle. Ben took the Omnitrix out of the puddle, changing Vilgax back to normal. Ben then turned into Cannonbolt, throwing his archenemy into the Codon Stream, which contained all the DNA the Omnitrix accessed. Vilgax grew considerably larger, but Ben changed into Way Big, throwing him into space.

Return of Petropia
Vilgax eventually returned to normal size and began seeking Tetrax Shard, who stole the crystal Vilgax used to destroy Petropia. Tetrax had found out that the crystal was a back-up for Petropia and the Petrosapiens and intended to restore his planet. The conqueror tracked Tetrax to Earth and demanded that he give back the crystal he’d stolen. However, Kevin accidentally revealed that Tetrax gave it to Chromastone, (actually named Sugilite) who’d been freed from the Omnitrix. Vilgax followed him, finding that Petropia had been restored, and was enraged that the crystal had been used to revive a world he destroyed. Vilgax managed to beat up Sugilite, who begged the conqueror to have mercy and allow him to bring back the Petrosapiens. Viglax replied that he had no mercy and continued to beat up Sugilite until Ben, his friends, and Tetrax arrived. Vilgax managed to fight them and remove the crystal from Sugilite’s head only to find its energy was gone. The conqueror returned to Vilgaxia, seeing Petropia as a lifeless planet that was of no consequence, not knowing that Sugilite created a second crystal, which was used to restore the Petrosapiens. To add to the sting of losing the crystal, Vilgax found he’d gotten Ben’s cold.

Alliance with Albedo
Vilgax eventually joined forces with Albedo by telling him that he just wanted to kill Ben and the Omnitrix no longer interested him. Once they killed Ben, Albedo could have the Omnitrix so as to get back his Galvan form. With Albedo using the Ultimatrix, he and Vilgax defeated Ben, who managed to retreat after losing the Omnitrix to them. However, the conqueror turned on Albedo and managed to capture him, while Vilgax planned to use the Omnitrix on his army of Bioids- robots that could assume the alien form of whatever Vilgax put into the Omnitrix. However, Ben and his friends boarded his ship and Ben activated a lesser version of the Omnitrix’s self-destruct, one that would go off in 30 seconds and only destroy the device. Vilgax didn’t take the threat seriously and thus the Omnitrix detonated, prompting him to angrily send his ship on a collision course with Ben’s hometown. Vilgax then attacked Ben and his friends, but Ben freed Albedo, taking his Ultimatrix and using it himself to fight Vilgax as Ultimate Swampfire. Max and Gwen managed to make the ship crash harmlessly in the ocean and Vilgax revealed his true form, changing into a gigantic, octopus-like monster. He almost managed to swallow Ben, only for his archenemy to escape while he was left in the explosion.

Ultimate Alien
Vilgax managed to return yet again and was left in a weakened state due to the explosion, unable to regain his usual form. Eventually, he washed up on a beach where he was found and put in a carnival sideshow. Despite the indignity of this, Vilgax took the time to get his strength backuntil he was freed by a cult called the Flame Keepers’ Circle. They believed him to be Diagon, a legendary alien of knowledge that they worshipped and believed to have bestowed fire on humanity. The Circle worshipped him, hoping he’d bring a Golden Age of prosperity to Earth. Ben eventually found Vilgax, when he was investigating the cult and the alien informed him that he planned to take back his empire when he had access to a spaceship. Gwen and Kevin managed to disable a ship the cult stole from the Plumbers. They and Ben tried to tell the cult who Vilgax really was, but the group didn’t believe them and Ben swore to his archenemy that he’d stop him if he ever reattempted to escape Earth after shattering his tank. Vilgax later managed to obtain Old George’s sword, regaining his normal form, but covering himself in armor. Winston told him that breaking the seal that had once imprisoned Lucubra would grant him the power to rule the universe (a trick by Diagon to gain his freedom). Vilgax went to the seal, fighting off the Forever Knights as he did so, and was eventually confronted by Ben and his friends. Ben told Vilgax he didn’t know what he was doing, but the alien thought otherwise and managed to fight Ben off. However when he broke the seal, Vilgax was pulled into Diagon’s dimension. But while he was in Diagon's dimension, Vilgax became Diagon's herald, the most powerful of his followers. After St. George arrived at the seal, Vilgax appeared to fight him, easily taking him on and the other Forever Knights. When Ben as Heatblast arrived on the scene, Vilgax was easily able to fight him as well and eventually he cracked the seal, opening a portal to Diagon's dimension. The opening allowed Diagon to send out a wave of energy that transformed every person on Earth into his servants. However Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Sir George were not affected due to a mana field Gwen had put up and Julie was protected by Ship. Vilgax continued to fight them and eventually tried to completely destroy the seal. Diagon became angry at the amount of effort he was having to use since the power he'd given Vilgax should've been more than enough to destroy the seal. However Ben, transformed into Eatle, and St. George emerged from the rubble they'd been buried under and re-engaged Vilgax. Ben accused him of only helping Diagon because he wanted something for himself, making him angry and he knocked them aside. Eventually Kevin and Gwen arrirved to help and they all cornered Vilgax, demanding that he tell them how to stop Diagon. Vilgax asked his master to give him more power, only to be met with silence, but Psyphon arrived on the scene in a spaceship. Vilgax angrily said he was late, but Psyphon replied that it had been harder than he'd expected to gather what he'd wanted. However Diagon arrived, appearing in the sky and claiming he was "everywhere".In The Ultimate Enemy: Part 2 Vilgax betrays Diagon and absorbs his powers. After that he was defeated by Ben.

Personality
Cruel and power hungry, Vilgax is always intent on his goal of ruling the universe, namely through obtaining the Omnitrix, which he views as the ultimate weapon. Vilgax is also very manipulative so as to accomplish his goals and has little to no sense of mercy. But despite these qualities, Vilgax cares about his people and homeworld and takes his duties as ruler and champion of Vilgaxia seriously. For this reason, he was willing to endanger himself and do whatever he had to for the good of the planet and its people.

Abilities
Without his cybernetic augmentation, Vilgax demonstrates high strength and agility and skill in hand to hand fighting, as well as incredible resistance to damage. After being enhanced, Vilgax has not only become much bigger, his strength, speed, and durability are even more increased. His arms also have steroidal boosters, letting him increase his strength whenever necessary, though they cause him pain when used. After being resurrected by Dr. Animo in Ben 10,000, Vilgax was even stronger and had a number of enhancements, including a whippy tentacle and bio-grenades in his right arm, and an instinctual knowledge of all of Ben 10,000’s moves. In Alien Force, Vilgax possesses the powers and abilities of all the champions he defeated in battle. His abilities include superhuman strength, seeming invulnerability, high-speed flight, laser vision, superhuman hearing, and breath able to generate cyclonic winds. Vilgax also uses a number of weapons, consisting of the Ruby Ray of Ulo, which can fire powerful laser beams, the Shield of Ziegel, which generates powerful forecefields to protect him and can also function as a taser, a sword that projects energy beams and can cover its blade in fire or crystals to reflect energy blasts, as well as slash through a space ship, a laser gun, and gauntlets that generate light energy. Vilgax can also transform into a monstrous octopus-like form when in water, which he refers to as his true form. However when he used this form, he lost his arsenal. With Old George's sword, Vilgax's gained even more power, as well as the ability to fire off shock waves, and his original and absorbed powers were amplified greatly. As the Herald of Diagon, he has even more power now stronger, proving able to dispatch a group of Forever Knights. Vilgax can also fire energy blasts from his hands and eyes and teleport between dimensions at will.

Trivia

 * Vilgax was voiced by Steven Jay Blum in the original Ben 10 series, James Remar in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, and John DiMaggio in the video game, Vilgax Attacks.


 * Vilgax’s defeat at the hands of Way Big in Alien Force is similar to his defeat in Secret of the Omnitrix, which has been confirmed to be intentional.


 * In the orignal Ben 10 series, Vilgax seemed more machine than living creature while, in Alien Force, it was the opposite.


 * Whenever Vilgax appeared in Alien Force, Ben (or Azmuth in Primus) would turn into Humungousaur at one point.


 * Vilgax is similar to Megatron in Transfomers Animated in that they were badly injured in the first episode, but started fighting the protagonists after getting healed.


 * Vilgax has a number of similarities in design and goals to Cthulhu.


 * In the original Ben 10 series, Vilgax's homeworld was given as the Null Void Frontier or the Shadowy Realm before it was confirmed as Vilgaxia in Alien Force.


 * Vilgax is theorized to be left-handed because whenever he obtained the Omnitrix, he wore it on his right wrist as opposed to Ben, who wears it on his left.


 * The producers of the show refer to Vilgax as “Darth Vader without a sense of humor.”


 * According to the Ben 10 pop-up marathon, Vilgax won’t meet his final demise until 200 years after the original Ben 10 series.


 * Throughout the entire Ben 10 franchise, Vilgax went through 5 different designs, his original appearance, his cyborg design, his enhanced form in Ben 10,000, his design from Alien Force, and his true form.


 * In Double or Nothing, Vilgax was played by an actor in Ben 10 Live.


 * Vilgax, along with Dr. Animo, Vulkanus, Hex, and Charmcaster are the only villains to appear in all the Ben 10 series.