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| This villain was proposed but was rejected by the community for not being heinous enough or lacks what is necessary to be a Pure Evil villain. Therefore, this villain shall be added to our "Never Again List", where proposed villains rejected by the community shall be placed to prevent future proposals of the same evil-doer. They can be proposed again (with the permission of an administrator) if new elements appear in their series that can change their status as non-PE villains. Any act of adding this villain to the Pure Evil category without a proposal or creating a proposal for this villain without the permission of an administrator will result in a ban. | ||
| “ | If you love clowns, then this is the place to be! You're gonna die laughing! That's a Zombozo guarantee! | „ |
| ~ Zombozo to his audience. |
Herbert J. Zomboni, better known as Zombozo, is a major antagonist in the Ben 10 series. He is a sadistic, intimidating and dangerous vampire in the form of a clown who poses as a major threat to Ben Tennyson due to his fear of clowns.
Despite being a minor antagonist in the original show, Zombozo played a key role by introducing the Circus Freak Trio, who later became recurring villains. His episode was also the first to hint at the existence of Ghostfreak's true form, possibly anticipating the Zs'Skayr storyline.
He was voiced by John Kassir (who also played the Crypt-Keeper) in the original series and John DiMaggio (who also played Dr. Drakken in Kim Possible, Dagon and Aggregor in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Bender, Igner, and Joey Mousepad in Futurama, the Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood, Nitro Zeus in Transformers: The Last Knight, Jekhide in Mia and the Migoo, Hannibal McFist in Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, Lobo in Justice League: Action, Brother Blood in Teen Titans, Uka Uka in Crash Bandicoot, Arthur in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Joseph Walters in Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, and General Grievous in Star Wars: Clone Wars) from Ultimate Alien to Omniverse.
Appearance[]
Zombozo is a vampire with a pale complexion, red hair, and a clown-like appearance. He wore a grey and white jumpsuit with three buttons, a light and dark blue jacket, and cyan sleeves with two cyan circles on each black stripe in the Original Series. He also wore a dark blue and black top hat with a large cyan ball, black shoes, and gloves. He also has a blue nose.
His eyes in Ultimate Alien were yellow. The large cyan ball was absent, the colors of his top hat were flipped, and his buttons were black. His jacket was black with black buttons on either side, his jumpsuit was blue and light blue, the cyan circles on his arms were gone, and his gloves were light blue.
His lips and nose are larger in the Omniverse; the blue ball on his top hat is back, but this time it is grey; and the stripes on his jumpsuit match the ones on his bow tie. Additionally, he wears fingerless gloves and has two spikes on each of his shoulders. His body started to disintegrate because he had not been exposed to his primary food source—human emotions—for a long time. He appears to be extremely underweight, with exposed ribs throughout.
Personality[]
| “ | Ben: What do you want? Zombozo: Hahaha! Only what every clown worth his floppy shoes wants... to make people laugh! Then drain their positive energy like a sponge at a pool party! Is that so wrong? |
„ |
| ~ Ben and Zombozo during their first confrontation as the latter displays his sadism. |
Cunning, manipulative, heartless, sadistic, ruthless, and cruel, Zombozo is a vile man who enjoys gallows humor and uses Ben's fear for his own gain. In Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, he is more psychopathic, using weapons to torture Sandra to death and possibly burying someone alive, as he mysteriously carries a shovel in one scene.
Zombozo never or rarely attacks alone, always gathering together a crew to do his dirty work for him. Originally, this was his Circus Freak Trio, and later Zombozo led a coalition between Vulkanus, Charmcaster, and Sevenseven (and eight others who were all warded off by Max before he was injured fending off Sevenseven).
Despite being pleased when others were feared, ironically, he himself can be just as much of a coward as any of them, if not more so than they are. This is best proven when he saw Gwen's Anodite form in "Hit 'Em Where They Live," where he was threatened by her for messing with her family, to the point where he tried to back away from her, only for it to completely fail when doing so.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Long before the events of the series, Zombozo was a man named Herbert J Zombini who worked in a school cafeteria. He developed a hatred for children who mistreated him. At some point, he was bitten by a zombie and then left to die. However, he didn't die and was ultimately rescued by a circus, presumably the same one that hosted his shows in his first appearance. However, the damage was already done, and Zombozo became a half-zombie mutant. He now had the need to feed on emotions of fear and happiness in order to prevent himself from weakening. However, by feeding on enough emotion, he could gain supernatural powers. After becoming ringmaster of the circus, he replaced the former performers with the Circus Freak Trio, three mutant humans with freakish powers, and repurposed the circus to steal money and other valuables while also allowing him to feed on happiness by making his audience laugh. He would perform for audiences while allowing the trio to steal while everyone was inside watching the show.
Ben 10[]
In the episode "Last Laugh," Zombozo uses his show to use his "Psyclown," which robs the unlucky person of their joy and life energy for the clown to eat. While this is happening, his minions rob people in the town. Although not majorly powerful, he poses a mental threat to Ben due to his coulrophobia. However, Ben manages to steel his nerves after seeing his family in danger and uses Ghostfreak to make the clown explode. He is not seen again for the remainder of the series.
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien[]
Zombozo makes his long-awaited return in the episode "Hit 'Em Where They Live." After Ben's identity is revealed, Zombozo decides to attack him with several of his other foes, such as Sevenseven, Charmcaster, and Vulkanus. After forming a team with the later two, he uses a captive Sandra as a trap, bringing them to his lair to attack them. He tries to kill Sandra in a torturous way, but this fails as Gwen becomes furious at the site of her pain, transforms into her Anodite form, and yells at the clown to leave both the Tennyson's and Kevin Levin families' alone. After this, she lets him live to tell any other villain the same thing.
Ben 10: Omniverse[]
Making his first appearance in "The More Things Change: Part 1," Zombozo first steals a brain from the "Brain Bank." However, he is stopped by Lodestar, beaten, and taken away.
Next, he appears in "Special Delivery," where he is seen at Psyphon's auction. Once Psyphon notes the Dwarf Star is missing, he goes with Fistrick and Trumbipulor to find it. However, he is beaten by Armodrillo, and after he teams up with Psyphon to stop Ben, Humungousaur.
He makes a final appearance in the episode "Something Zombozo This Way Comes," where he escapes from Plumber Headquarters by putting a costume of himself over Jerry and putting him in his cell to fool everyone. Bringing back his lackeys, he and his goon feed on people's fear, turning them into zombies. Zombozo regains his power due to Ben's remaining fear but destroys the machine after seeing Toepick, whom he fears. He then escapes using a cannon.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | I love the sound of laughter! It FEEEEEDS MY SOUL! | „ |
| ~ Zombozo |
Often using machines to do his dirty work, Zombozo can also teleport in a puff of smoke or confetti, creating illusions. He also has a set of comedy-based weaponry, such as caltrops, acid in a seltzer bottle, streamers made from steel, an extendable arm to grab people, an enhanced joy buzzer, dynamite, and a large hammer. He also has the ability to fly by holding a flying toy airplane.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Due to his appearance and characteristics, it's likely that Zombozo was based on The Joker, Batman's iconic archenemy. However, Zombozo's obsession with fear seems to more closely resemble that of the Scarecrow, another popular member of Batman's rogue gallery.
- He has also been depicted similarly to Pennywise the Clown.
- His name is also a combination of "Zombie" and "Bozo" because he looks like Bozo the Clown and turns people into zombie-like creatures.
- Ben acts like he doesn't remember Zombozo to hide his own fear of clowns.
- In the original series, Gwen found Zombozo funny, but in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, she seems to have a grudge against him, likely due to her almost perishing with his Psyclown. This is a bit odd, however, as due to being hypnotized, she may not be able to remember it, but it's highly possible that Ben or Max told her what she did during her trance.
- While in the original series Zombozo was already a scary and creepy villain, Zombozo is arguably more depraved and evil in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, as he displayed much more sadistic and psychopathic behavior, used lethal weapons, and tried to make Ben and the Tennyson family suffer by killing Sandra slowly and scarily. It's even suggested at the beginning of the episode that he has buried someone. Even Charmcaster goes to fear him, just like her uncle Hex.
- Among fans, Zombozo became popular as in his first two appearances (which were the most notable), after being defeated, he simply disappeared without explanation, leading the audience to wonder about whether he had been killed, scared, arrested, etc.
External Link[]
- Zombozo on the Ben 10 Planet Wiki.
