It is a big Universe, Ben, full of wonder and variety and... yes, incredible grossness
Introduction
This page will provide an in-depth exploration of Ben 10 Terminology and Cosmology, drawing from a variety of sources including the Ben 10 series itself, official novels, and verified secondary sources that align with the show’s established canon. It will break down key terms used throughout the franchise, offering clear explanations of their meanings and analyzing how they evolve across different media. The goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Ben 10 cosmological structure and its underlying concepts, as well as propose the most coherent explanations based on the available material.
Timeline (Low 1-C)
Ben 10 OV - Each timeline has it's own earth containing a version of Ben Tennyson
According to the episode Back with a Vengeance (Ben 10: Season 2, Episode 13): Gwen in the Null Void: "This place looks like it goes on forever. Max: "It does, so keep your eyes open."
According to the tertiary canon novelization of the Alien Force War of the Worlds Arc (Ben 10: War of the Worlds by Charlotte Fullerton): "Space. The vast and beautiful cosmos fills the view in every direction with its infinite star systems, colorful nebulae, and strange worlds."
According to the tertiary canon novelization of the Alien Force Plumbers' Helpers episode (Paradox: And, Plumbers' Helpers by Barry Hutchison): "With a final deafening scream, the alien creature was dragged into the van and sucked into the dark, empty, endless wasteland of the Null Void."
Dimensions
1. The Null Void: - It is a Prison Dimension, an infinite alternate/parallel Dimension that grids to the regular space by the Anur system (a inter-dimensional realm), confirming that the Null Void is a part of the universe. Further supported by Servantis who included the Null Void in the overall structure of the whole universe in the context of his statement, the Null Void has never been referred as Universe in the lore neither is treated as one by anyone it's just has been treated as an extradimensional prison colony.
2. Anur phaetos: An inter-dimensional realm that exists between Dimensions and is a part of the known universe. It is also a home world of the Ectonurite species of the universe and it branches off in parallel and together with Ben's dimension such that each universe have it's own Anur Phaetos.
3. Bladder Dimension: Gourmand species linked to a Trans-Spatial bladder Dimension where they store their food, Rook stated that is a part of universe wonders.
4. Dimension 12: A Pan-dimensional realm where time stood still. Kevin despite being aware of Dimension 12 claimed that universe is everything, further confirmed by paradox who said "there is always far more to the reality than we imagine" while referring to the multiverse means, what Kevin was aware of till know is just a universe and there is realities beyond even it.
5. Dimension of Bezel: Every timeline has a Dimension of Bezel where Charms of Bezel were created. Alternate Timelines were also shown to contain these charms which wouldn't be possible if this dimension exist outside the universe since alternate timelines branch from the prime timeline.
6. Simulated worlds: These worlds aren't similar to other Dimensions mentioned before and may not qualify as Universe, these Dimensions are results of programming/computer simulations which has taken the shape of reality. Examples: SumoSlammers game, Universe inside a Omnitrix.
Hyperspace (Low 1-C)
Ben 10 UA - Hyperspace
Prime Ben's timeline features a hyperspace that allows certain characters, like Jetray and the Highbreed spaceships, to travel intergalactic distances in a short amount of time.
Take this as an example, a piece of paper crumpled into a ball, representing a two-dimensional object distorted in the third dimension, making points that are far apart on its surface come close to each other or even touch.
For instance, imagine an X-dimensional space, now distort its axes in such a way that it results in an (X+1)-dimensional space, thereby reducing the distance between certain points in the original space.
In Ben 10 cosmology, there are three ordinary spatial axes, which, when combined with the extra spatial axis of hyperspace, results in a 4-D vector space plus one temporal dimension, thus forming a 5-D structure.
The Timestream/Crosstime (Low 1-C)
Ben 10 OV - Branching Timestream
The Timestream is a point in space-time where all past, present and future timelines meet and intersect. It is a place where the timelines branch and shift. The main trunk is the linear temporality of Prime Ben's timeline while the strands branching from it are different possible outcomes to it. Each such branched strand represents temporality of that particular alternative timeline.
Ben 10 OV - Alternate timelines
A unique property of the timelines is that they exist as both cylindrical, tree-like branches and disc shaped, depending on the perspective. The Timestream would represent the temporal perspective of the timelines, as one can travel in time—either forwards or backwards—and identify the point at which the prime timeline branches into a particular alternate timeline. In contrast, the disc perspective would represent the spatio-temporal perspective of the timelines, allowing one to travel in both space and time.
-Paradox and Ultimate Ben 10k
With Paradox and Ben 10K, Paradox listed the alternate timelines are parallel versions of history we know, referring prime timeline being the history they know and alternative timeline to be parallel versions of it, ending the conversation with ad infinitum, suggesting that existing timelines branch forever, again and again making this a continuous process of branching.
-Paradox to NW Ben
-Paradox to NW Ben
-Paradox to Prime Ben
All the other timelines diverge as a result of different possible outcomes of Prime Ben's reality
The main trunk is a linear line consisting of past, present and future versions of Prime Ben's timeline hence by default consisting of uncountably infinite points. The branching of alternate timelines takes place in such a way that they are formed ad-infinitum, i.e. forever, again and again with substitute ways to tell a certain story/snapshot of Prime timeline. Thereby resulting in an uncountably infinite number of timelines or P(ℵ0).
Quoting from the tiering system:
In conclusion, the timestream having an uncountably infinite number of 5-D timelines would result in a 6-D structure or Low 1-C scale.
Hypertime (1-C)
Ben 10 OV - The pink wall is the Hypertime. Ben, Rook and Maltruant could access the pre Annihilarrgh events via travelling inside it
The hypertime is a collection of all of timeatreams and alternate realities, it's a system that bounds all of existence with a system of cause and effect of a single Annihilarrgh universe, all timelines, all alternate realities, dimensions out of sync with time as well as all of existence, including different versions of the Timestreams. The hypertime orders all of creation Post-Annihilargh events from beginning to End, it orders changes and different iterations of timestream across itself in a different forward direction (Just like timeline orders changes as snapshots across itself) which was proven by the events of Ben 10 Omniverse season 6 episode 1-2 when despite after vilgax destroyed whole of timestream except no watch ben timeline, Professor paradox and NW Ben were still able to travel not just to the beginning of Ben prime timeline (which is a past version of Ben prime timeline since Vilgax has destroyed whole Spacetime tree except except NW branch in future) but to also different versions of whole Tree which was still fine and was co-existing with the Vilgax continuum in the future which has destroyed all of tree except NW branch timeline, CTB affected timestream and pre-CTB affected timestream can't co-exist under same regular time as it'll cause duality of timelines to exist and no exist in same coordinates of space, and so, hypertime must be at play there. In Ben 10 Omniverse, Season 8, Episode 10, the time beasts and time cycles traveled outside the timestream and accessed the hypertime to reach past iterations of the timestream, going back to the point when the timestream wasn't created.
The Universe (1-B)
Ben 10 UA - The red faint glow represents Ben's universe.
The Universe is made by the Annihilarrgh, inside which one can access to different iterations of Timestream throughout the infinite Hypertimeline. Each such universe has it's own different laws of physics as mentioned by Professor Paradox. Destroying or recreating such a structure can lead to violation of the Multiverse Preservation Act. The Universe should contain atleast 26 spatio-temporal dimensions as stated by Cosmic Mom. Kevin who thought that the Universe was everything including whatever he has come accross earlier, would include these dimensions. These dimensions were compared to 3 spatial dimensions which humans like Ben perceive and on the top of that, the cosmic mom said that she was visiting to "lower dimensions" (The lower one being Ben's dimension) implying that these are layered and fully sized as the ordinary three that exist.
Blank Void (1-B)
Ben 10 OV - White Nothingness Before Space and Time
The white nothingness is the precursor to the creation of the Universe. There is no time or space here as shown by Maltruant being unable to use his Time Manipulation. Each separate "Universe" started out with its own White void before an Annihilarrgh is activated and a "Universe" is created with an underlying Space-Time Structure, not something abstract. Its causality depends on the creation of the Universe along with its hypertime. Due to the lack of space-time, one cannot access the higher causality of the realm outside it.
The Space Beyond/Omniverse (1-A)
Ben 10 UA - The Space Beyond
The Space Beyond is a black void that extends past the boundaries of the "Universe" and encompasses an infinite number of them. This space separates Universes from each other and isn't accessible via general dimension crossing devices except by for the Map of infinity and the Chrono Navigator.
In the higher causality history of the Space Beyond, all "Universes" were at some point, white void spaces. These white voids are not visible in the Space Beyond. The Contumelia travel the Space Beyond to new White Voids in their history. It's not until an Annihilarrgh is activated in the white void, that the "Universe" hypertime structure is made and given time.
In the Ben 10 Multiverse, each universe is an independent creation of the Annihilarrghs, existing beyond Ben's Universe in The Space Beyond. The multiverse demonstrates that universes can have entirely different laws of physics. For example, within Rex's Universe, tachyons are quantum particles that travel in time, while in Ben's Universe, tachyons function as faster-than-light particles that help to travel accross the hyperspace. This fundamental difference in how tachyons work across universes indicates that each universe adheres to its own set of physical and mathematical laws.
Further evidence supporting this comes from Professor Paradox's detailed study of the equations governing the multiverse. Through his deep understanding of mathematical principles, Paradox has learned to access and navigate the multiverse, showing that these mathematical structures are crucial to understanding and interacting with it. He explicitly mentions that the universes within this multiverse follow counterintuitive laws of physics which is backed up by WoG indicating that each universe abides by unique principles that may differ drastically from our expectations. This statement reinforces the idea of the universes Paradox refers to are not merely different versions of the same physical laws but distinct realities governed by different mathematical systems.
Dr. Holiday’s remark about how the math doesn’t work in Rex's favor to meet Ben again, implies that the multiverse is driven by mathematical principles. Along with the reference to infinite dimensions (Universes in this context) touches on the existence of diverse, unique universes within this multiverse, where the probabilistic odds govern outcomes across realities.
In addition, creation of Universes are treated as experiments by the Contumelias with them varying from each other as Ben's Universe was called the most interesting one so far, implying that contumelias are responsible for changes within their experiments to result in Universes with counterintuitive physics. These universes exist as separate mathematical entities, each following its own internal consistency. The Omnitrix’s simulation capabilities further show that these universes can be expressed and simulated through mathematical means.
Finally, the Timestream inside Ben’s Universe is composed of a vast network of timelines, visualized as both cylindrical tree branches as well as discs, depending on perspective which posits that the physical world is a mathematical structure due to unique geometric properties of the Timestream imply a structured, quantifiable reality that aligns with mathematical modeling. This suggests that the multiverse's dimensions and temporal mechanics can be analyzed and understood through mathematical frameworks, thus reinforcing the notion that the physical world can be represented mathematically. Gwen’s use of Schrödinger’s wave equation to locate Dagon’s heart ties quantum mechanics into the fabric of the universe, indicating that the timelines themselves are influenced by quantum mechanics and mathematical probabilities i.e. different mathematical structures exists out there. Combined with the fact that these universes exist independently and have no causal impact on each other as destruction of one doesn’t affect the other, the Ben 10 cosmology strongly supports the classification of its multiverse as an example of Tegmark's Level 4 multiverse model.
Having this established, the Multiverse encompasses all possible mathematical structures and physical laws across every conceivable universe and constitutes in forming the very framework of dimensionality. Omniverse extends beyond these realities, continuing forever through every possible structure and dimension suggesting that it is unbound by the Multiverse’s dimensional framework, surpassing it entirely to all physical and mathematical limits, hence, qualifies as 1-A, existing beyond dimensionality itself.
The Forge of Creation (High 1-A)
The Forge of Creation is the source of the Universe's greatest power. It's where ideas become real. It is where Celestialsapiens like Alien X are born. The Forge of Creation is out of sync with all time and space, disconnected from The Space Beyond due to a Chronal Randomization Barrier. It is entirely unreachable/inaccessible by anything but the Map of infinity, the inhabitants of the Forge, and Paradox himself.
The Forge is described as the source of the universe's greatest power and a birthplace of Celestialsapiens like Alien X. This foundational aspect positions the Forge beyond mere participation in the multiverse's operations; it serves as the origin point and center (not in terms of location) where universes and their respective laws come into existence despite the fact that Contumelias are responsible for creating Universes, hence implying that the Forge is the source of the very fundamental idea of space-time.
The Forge is noted to be beyond comprehension for Ben, who has an innate sense of transtemporal metaphysics. Additionally, the statement that the Forge of Creation is out of sync with all time underscores its existence beyond the linear and non-linear constraints of time and the hypertime as understood in the Omniverse. The Forge of Creation, being the birthplace of Celestialsapiens like Alien X, whose true forms that exist as abstract ideas of love and rage, perceive the destruction of universes in the space beyond as mere projections which is consistent with them being said to transcend the very plane where existence lies, ties with it having a conceptual gap over The Space Beyond/Omniverse. Aligning with the qualifications of a 1-A gap as said; such beings can not be affected by destruction within the confines of space, physical matter. Celestialsapiens like Alien X embody concepts/ideas of love and rage that can manipulate reality at fundamental levels, suggesting that the Forge itself must possess the power to create beings that can operate on a tier of existence that transcends even the higher-order realities of the multiverse. This relationship cements the Forge's position as High 1-A.
Summary
This section will cover the tiering and dimensionality of realms/planes of existences places in order.
Individual Dimension: Universe level+ (4-D)
Timeline: Low Complex Multiverse level (5-D) via comprising a Hyperspace that folds lower dimensions to result in a higher dimensional space.
The Timestream/Crosstime: Low Complex Multiverse level (6-D) due to an uncountably infinite number of branching timelines.
Hypertime: Complex Multiverse level (7-D) via having a temporal axis higher than the timestream using which, one can traverse to both pre and post annihilarrgh events.
The Universe: Hyperverse level (26-D)
Blank Void: Hyperverse level (26-D) via being comparable to the size of Universe since it is where the Annihilarrgh's creation gets filled up.
The Space Beyond/Omniverse: Outerverse level
The Forge of Creation: High Outerverse level