What Are Upgrade’s Unique Abilities in Ben 10?
Upgrade’s Unique Abilities in Ben 10
Upgrade is a humanoid alien with black and green skin, adorned with green and black lines resembling circuitry. His distinctive green circular eye glows when he speaks.
Core Abilities
- Merging with Technology: Upgrade can merge with and possess any technology by encasing his liquified body over it. The size of the device does not matter, granting him control as naturally as his own body. His black and green circuitry pattern spreads across the device’s surface, and he can replicate its original colors.
- Upgrading Tech: His DNA is programmed with blueprints of alien technology, enabling him to enhance possessed tech into ‘ultra-tech’—far more advanced than human capability. New features form upon enhancement, but the technology returns to normal after he separates.
- Electrical Charges: Upgrade can generate electrical charges that shock opponents into submission and conduct these charges throughout his body.
- Constructs and Plasma Weapons: He can form spikes and other constructs from plasma and summon arsenals of heavy energy weapons to suit any situation. Moreover, he can reconfigure these constructs at will.
- Phasing Ability: Upgrade possesses the ability to phase through metal and technology.
Combat and Strength
- Enhanced Strength: He displays remarkable strength, capable of throwing a sewer lid at a Nosedeenian, pushing Vilgax off of a ship, and overpowering Dr. Viktor.
- Hacking and Manipulation: If he possesses a computer or terminal, Upgrade can read, hack, and manipulate local information to execute commands over networks.
In a tech-oriented world like the Ben Universe, Upgrade’s capabilities allow him to assimilate and upgrade existing technology to new levels, making him a formidable ally.
How Does Upgrade Interact with Technology in the Ben 10 Universe?
Technology Levels in the Ben 10 Universe:
- Technology Levels are classified from 1-20, with some technologies confirmed to exceed Level 20.
- Real-life technologies such as nuclear reactions, broadcasting signals, and nanotech fall within Levels 3-5, despite Earth being categorized as a Level 2 planet.
- This suggests that restrictions on tech levels are more about offworld technologies rather than the capabilities of a planet’s native species.
Upgrade’s Interaction with Technology:
- Upgrade can utilize his internal nanotechnology to merge with and possess any technology, encasing himself over it. The size of the device is not significant, and he controls it as naturally as his own body.
- Whenever he merges with technology, he enhances it into something far more advanced and futuristic, resulting in new features forming on it.
- Upgrade’s merging capabilities are not limited to technology only; he has successfully merged with items such as a suit of armor and a skateboard.
Transformation and Enhancement Capabilities:
- By possessing technology, Upgrade can transform it with seemingly no limit. For example, he merged with the Rustbucket and turned it into a space ship, returning it to normal upon separation.
- He is capable of making certain technology he possesses explode.
- Being made of living metal allows him to regenerate himself and makes his head or face appear anywhere on the machines he possesses.
Physical Abilities and Combat Interaction:
- Upgrade is not completely solid; he can alternate between liquid and gelatinous forms. This ability enables him to reshape his body to let projectiles pass through him by creating a hole at will.
- His vast library of schematics enhances his ability to interact with any form of technology.
- Upgrade’s transformation is technically incomplete, which accounts for his robotic voice; he must merge with technology rather than simply touching it to become it.
- In combat, he consistently surprises opponents by interacting with the technology in his environment or disabling technology used by opponents through technopathy.
Exploring Upgrade’s Weaknesses: What You Need to Know
Upgrade has several vulnerabilities due to his composition and abilities:
- Upgrade is weak against electricity, given that he is made of living metal.
- His sensitivity extends to electromagnetic pulses and magnetic fields.
- As a toddler, he could not fully merge with technology unless he was stretched long enough.
- Being made of living metal makes him susceptible to damage from electricity and magnets.
- He can be harmed if stretched excessively.
- Upgrade is at risk of infection from technorganic viruses.
- He will melt in acid or extreme heat, such as lava.
- His control over machines is not absolute; for instance, sentient machines are resistant to his influence, including sapient, intelligent machines like Slix Vigma.
