 This article belongs to the Reboot Continuity
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 Click here to see the Classic Continuity version of this article
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 For other uses, see Charmcaster
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| “ | We're sick of your attitude, Charmcaster. People aren't your playthings. You of all people should know how that feels. | ” |
Heather,[2][3] better known as Charmcaster, is Gwen Tennyson's first archenemy and a young apprentice mage. She first appeared in The Charm Offensive.
Appearance[]
As Heather, Charmcaster used to have brown, shoulder-length hair. She wore circular-framed glasses, a silver necklace, a brown trench coat, a brown satchel, a dark blue dress, white socks, and brown shoes.
Now, Charmcaster has white, shoulder-length hair combed over her left eye, with a black spiked headband and pale skin. She wears a black choker around her neck, her bag is now white, still wears the necklace, a black top with a purple coat over it, a magenta skirt, grey leggings, and black boots.
Personality[]
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According to herself, she used to be weak and lacking in self-confidence. The brief flashback to her former self shows her looking very shy, nerdy and awkward. When she gained magic abilities from a spellbook that changed her appearance, her personality changed along with it, becoming more confident, aggressive and rebellious.
However, her self-esteem issues still exist deep down, which allowed Michael Morningstar to be able to take advantage of her, contrasting to Gwen Tennyson who was able to resist him. When Gwen rescues Charmcaster from Michael's abuse, Charmcaster is both grateful and furious, as she feels it means she is still weak and Gwen is stronger than her. She then declares herself Gwen's enemy, who, if they meet again, will fight her and prove that she is the stronger one.
She hates being reminded of the "weak girl" she used to be, as seen later when she flies into a rage after Kevin calls her a weird nerd. Kevin's insult strikes a nerve because that's what she feels like she used to be, and the way she's most afraid of being perceived by other people now that she's reinvented herself as "Charmcaster".[KT 1] As Gwen reminds her so much of her past self, she naturally cannot stand her and will cause trouble even when having not initially planned on doing so just to hurt Gwen.
She is envious of what she deems Gwen's "perfect life", and executes a scheme to steal that life for herself, although she ultimately gives up on it when it becomes clear that Gwen's life isn't as perfect as she believed it to be.
Charmcaster deals with being hurt by using it as an excuse to hurt other people. The abuse from Morningstar that Charmcaster internalized has caused her to develop more of his personality traits, projecting her own pain and insecurities onto others as a defense mechanism.[KT 1] This is shown when she tells Kevin to "stop resisting her" much like Morningstar did to Gwen, and also yells at him to "stop whining and give her his power", a line from Morningstar that Charmcaster was once on the receiving end of. During this event, she and Kevin also appear to develop a mild rivalry over who the better, badder enemy of the Tennyson cousins is, although after a while they start displaying a begrudging respect for each other and a willingness to work together.
While vindictive toward both Gwen and Ben, Charmcaster initially held some moral standards and didn't seem to desire to cause collateral damage toward people uninvolved with their feud, as shown when she went out of her way to inform Ben to not use his Stinkfly goop against fire or else it would blow up a building with many innocent people in it. However, the angrier she became toward Gwen, she eventually discarded these standards and was willing to harm innocents if it would draw Gwen out of hiding.
Charmcaster also has a sadistic side as shown when she tried to brutally murder Gwen with a magic drill after seeing that Gwen now has powers of her own, all while smiling gleefully.[4] She also appears to have some affinity for the Forever Knight, hoping to please him in her efforts to bring his plan to fruition and deriding Kevin as unworthy of being his right-hand helper.[5]
History[]
Background[]
Charmcaster used to be a regular teenage girl named Heather, who was a huge fan of Michael Morningstar. One day, she found a spellbook that awoke the magical potential within her and changed her appearance.
Ben 10[]
Charmcaster made an off-screen appearance at the end of Bright Lights, Black Hearts, where she began sharing her energy with Michael to give him back his strength and agreed to help him take down the Tennysons as his girlfriend.
Charmcaster was formally introduced in The Charm Offensive. While Ben Tennyson and Gwen Tennyson were at Biggie Box, Charmcaster summoned an ice cream monster that caused mayhem in the store. Ben transformed into Heatblast to fight the monster, while Charmcaster told Gwen her backstory. During the battle, Michael constantly treated Charmcaster abusively, vacillating between showing her affection in order to keep her under his control to angrily shouting at her and physically taking energy from her without her consent.
When Gwen proved that Michael was only using Charmcaster and did not actually care about her at all, an enraged Charmcaster trapped him in her spell book. She then told Gwen and Ben that she would leave them alone for now out of gratitude for their help. But because she now knows she does not need anyone, if they cross paths again she will fight and defeat Gwen in order to prove that she is the stronger girl between the two of them.
In Charm School's Out, Charmcaster switches forms with Gwen and disguises as her. While Ben was fighting "Charmcaster", "Gwen" goes with Grandpa Max and attempts to make a spell that will give her Gwen's life for good. However, Max interrupts this plan by getting her to try to fix the Rustbucket's radio, which she fails miserably at, disillusioning her with having Gwen's life. When Gwen turns back to normal, Charmcaster then escapes with the Forever Knight and accepts his offer to join his cause.
In Which Watch, Charmcaster takes control of Kevin in order to destroy Ben and the space camp that Gwen loves so much, but is defeated when Humungousaur uses Monster Kevin's fire breath to damage her spellbook.
In What Rhymes with Omnitrix?, Charmcaster finds a new magic rune in her bag that was gifted to her by her uncle. Although she initially was not intending on causing any trouble that day, she ends up combining the rune with Kevin's notebook (filled with many poems containing his true feelings and thoughts) to wreak havoc on everyone upon spotting Gwen. The result being that she is able to cast powerful spells depending on what exactly she states. When Humungousaur and Quad Smack team up to attack her, she cast a spell on the two of them that makes them mistake each other for herself, making them attack each other instead.
Later, Charmcaster puts a spell on Gwen which prevents her from talking (and thus also preventing her from telling her plan to Ben and Kevin), but is unsuccessful in doing anything more to her when Gwen manages to escape and hide from her. After another failed attempt by Shock Rock and Dark Matter to defeat her, she is finally defeated upon Kevin convincing her to read his newest poem, one which inadvertently makes herself momentarily mute, cancelling out all of her spells. However, shortly afterwards she manages to escape when her newfound powers create a portal for her.
In Roundabout: Part 1, Charmcaster is part of the Forever Knight's team. She works hard to bring the Forever Knight's goal to fruition, hoping to please him and be deemed his right-hand assistant. In the end, he chooses Ben to accompany him through the time portal, leaving Charmcaster and the rest of the Knight's followers to deal with Gwen, Max, and Phil.
In Roundabout: Part 2, Charmcaster and Kevin team up to battle Gwen, and is shocked and furious when she sees that Gwen now has powers that can match up to her own. When Thornblade refuses to kill Gwen, she attempts to do it herself when Thornblade destroys her rune and ties her up with vines. Thornblade covers up his crush on Gwen by saying that if anyone ever kills her, it will be him. Later, Charmcaster is shown being taken into custody by the Tennysons, alongside Billy Billions.
Powers and Abilities[]
Charmcaster possessed an old spellbook, which she bought at some point after Hex's first defeat.[6] She used the book to cast her spells such as summoning an ice cream monster, teleportation, and flight by merely writing in it. She used the book until it was destroyed by Monster Kevin's fire breath.
After the book was destroyed, Charmcaster began using a magical rune given to her by her uncle,[1] but it was later destroyed by Kevin as Thornblade.[4]
Weaknesses[]
Charmcaster lacks self-esteem and can be taken advantage of by people who play to her emotions. She professed that she felt the transformation she'd undergone thanks to the spellbook changed her from her old "weak" self, but her compliance under Michael despite his abuse toward her showed that such weaknesses still remain within her, much to her chagrin.[7]
Charmcaster is extremely jealous of people she perceives to have it better than her, particularly Gwen because she has both a stronger constitution against Morningstar and a family who loves her. Much of this jealousy factors into her distaste for her former self, since Gwen reminds her of how she used to be.
Charmcaster has no experience fixing a radio.[8]
Relationships[]
Family[]
Hex[]
They never had an on-screen interaction, but as implied in What Rhymes with Omnitrix?, their relationship is very distant one. Charmcaster considers Hex to be overdramatic.[sb 1]
Love Interests[]
Michael Morningstar[]
| “ | Who, Heather? She's a fangirl, like all the other losers! They all love me. I'm an actor, I can be whatever they need me to be to fulfill their pathetic lives. But she's nothing more than a glorified battery to me! | ” |
– Michael to Gwen.[7] | ||
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Charmcaster standing up to Michael
Originally, Charmcaster went out of her way to please Michael Morningstar, tracking down Gwen without being asked. Being a huge fan of The Un-Alivers and having self-esteem issues, Charmcaster was easily manipulated by Michael. He periodically drained her of her life force, which she saw as him giving her a purpose. Once Gwen was able to expose Michael as someone who didn't care about her, she trapped him inside of her spellbook so they could never be apart.[7]
Enemies[]
Gwen Tennyson[]
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Charmcaster fighting Gwen
Initially, Charmcaster considered Gwen her archenemy on the basis that she and Ben were attacking Michael Morningstar. To avenge his loss, she hunted down Gwen. Despite Gwen exposing Michael's true nature to Charmcaster, she proclaimed she and Gwen would not be friends, having realized she did not need anyone.[7]
Charmcaster would go on to attack Team Tennyson multiple times, believing someone needed to ruin Gwen's "perfect little world".[8] She also believed that it was Gwen's fault for taking away Michael and her spellbook, further fueling her motivation to attack her.[9][1]
Neutral[]
Forever Knight[]
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Charmcaster assisting the Forever Knight
Much like the Forever Knight's other recruits, he intended to use Charmcaster for one specific trait, in her case, her magic capabilities. Once she (along with the other recruits) attacked Ben for being chosen to join the Forever Knight on his mission, he concluded she was petty and unworthy of joining him.[5]
Appearances[]
Ben 10[]
Season 1[]
- Bright Lights, Black Hearts (first appearance)
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Trivia[]
- Charmcaster's real name, Heather, happens to be one of the names Darkstar mentioned while trying to remember Charmcaster's name in the Ultimate Alien episode Couples Retreat.
- It was never explained whether or not she was following the Forever Knight's orders during Which Watch. However, it is very likely that she was operating under her own agenda at the time, as the Forever Knight only promised to help train her to be a stronger villain and had no use for her otherwise until it was time for his grand plan to be executed.
- Unlike her Classic Continuity counterpart, Charmcaster has never shared the screen with Hex, with her one remark about an interaction they have had suggesting that their relationship is a very distant one.[1]
- Hex being Charmcaster's uncle and also at least 10,000 years old indicates that either she is an adopted niece or that at least one of her parents or grandparents is also a similar age or that despite being relatives, they are not literally uncle and niece.
- Much like with Kevin, because Gwen is aware that Charmcaster's villainy stems from reacting to past abuse the wrong way, she insists on trying to help her regardless of how difficult Charmcaster makes it for her.[DR 3]
- It has not been determined whether Charmcaster's father uses magic or not.[DR 1]
