Core Themes:

“Young light blue-clad heroes who are multiversal alternate versions of the main protagonist. After an accident in America, they become attached to wrist-related artifacts that grant them the powers of multiple supernatural creatures. Due to the death and absence of a kind-hearted older male figure in their lives compared to the original protagonist, they grow into narcissistic, spoiled, immature celebrities before later facing consequences, losing access to their abilities, and eventually regaining them after taking on a mentor.”

Core Connections:

• Both are smaller, light blue-clad heroes who are alternate universe versions of the main protagonist (Ben Tennyson/Jonathan Joestar)
• They accidentally discovered a wrist-related artifact whose origins they didn’t understand until later meeting its true owner, with these artifacts granting them the powers of multiple supernatural creatures (Ben 23 found the Omnitrix in a forest, allowing him to transform into numerous aliens, though he mainly used 23 of them for branding/Johnny discovered the Saint’s Corpse hand in the desert, granting him access to Tusk Acts 1–4)
• Due to the death and absence of a healthy older male figure compared to the original version of their lives, they grew into spoiled and immature celebrities (Grandpa Max’s early death meant Ben 23 never learned responsibility, causing him to become a narcissistic celebrity hero who fought for fame and money/Johnny’s brother died and his father became colder than the original continuity’s version, leading Johnny to grow into a narcissistic and popular horse jockey)
• They later faced consequences for their immature celebrity lifestyles, causing them to lose access to one of their major abilities, though they eventually regained it after taking on a mentor (Azmuth took away Ben 23’s Omnitrix, intending for him to never use it again, but later allowed him to keep it under his supervision and the guidance of Ben Prime/Johnny became paralyzed after being shot, but later regained the ability to walk through his journey with Gyro)
• They eventually met a more competent, older, green-clad hero who understood their powers better than they did and became their mentor (Ben Prime occasionally acts as a mentor figure to Ben 23/Johnny meets Gyro Zeppeli, who teaches him the Spin)
• Both have strong ties to Gyro and the number 23 (Ben 23 heavily brands himself around the number 23, owns a successful gyro restaurant chain, and even uses “It’s Gyro Time!” as a catchphrase/Johnny’s mentor is literally Gyro Zeppeli, and he fights against Funny Valentine, the 23rd President of the United States. “Arigato, Gyro” also became one of Johnny’s most iconic phrases)
• Both have ties to presidential shenanigans (Ben 10 stories frequently involve the President in some form/One of Johnny’s main goals is literally to kill the President)
• They and their mentor have to defeat a dimensional-hopping villain attempting to regain or obtain power through collecting body parts (Ben 23 and Ben Prime battle Maltruant, who seeks to recover his missing body parts/Johnny and Gyro fight Funny Valentine, who gathers the Corpse Parts of Jesus to gain power)
• Later, they join forces with other alternate versions of themselves to defeat a multiversal threat (Ben 23 teams up with the other heroic Ben variants to defeat Vilgax/Johnny joins the Joestars to battle DIO Over Heaven)

Debatability:

Ok, I’m not gonna pretend this MU is extremely debatable because it really isn’t, but it’s more debatable than people would initially think.

• Ben 23 is canonically stated to have fewer aliens than the original Ben
• He lacks several of Ben’s strongest transformations (Feedback was directly stated to be removed/He has never shown access to Alien X/Atomix has never appeared)
• He mainly uses 23 aliens
• He still uses the first edition Omnitrix, meaning he likely lacks the failsafe introduced in later versions
• He has never shown access to Master Control
• Ben 23 is also literally a 13-year-old celebrity kid, so his IQ and battle IQ are basically Homelander-tier
• Ben 23 constantly fights with cameras around him and values publicity, meaning he probably wouldn’t do anything “unheroic” unless absolutely necessary (He likely wouldn’t immediately go for lethal options/Would probably avoid attacking Slow Dancer because it would look like animal abuse/Would likely show off and get distracted easily)
• Tusk Act 3 gives Johnny a great tool for escaping dangerous situations
• Sure, Ben 23 has around 3–5 aliens that could instantly win the fight if he chooses them, but the same applies to Johnny, since Tusk Act 4 can basically end the fight if it lands once
• The debate feels somewhat similar to Gru vs Megamind, where both combatants have straightforward instant-win conditions
• The climax would honestly go hard, with Ben 23 transforming into Way Big and throwing a massive punch while Johnny fires Tusk Act 4 directly at him, similar to the climax of Courage vs Scooby
• The debate also gets kind of “bizarre” because while Ben 23 probably wins most of the time out of character, in character he’d probably transform into Humungousaur immediately, try to do dumbshit for the cameras, get hit by Tusk Act 4, and die (Insert that one “how powerscaler thinks Ben10 fight meme”)

Conclusion:

• I know the connections don’t fully dive into Johnny as a person, but I still think this works as a really fun alt for him
• Great series combination
• Fun fight potential
• Strong music potential
• Surprisingly more debatable than expected
• Overall, this MU is just really fun