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| “ | I love the sound of laughter! It FEEEEEDS MY SOUL! | ” |
– Zombozo collecting the joy of innocents.[1] | ||
Herbert J. Zomboni,[2][3] known by the name of Zombozo, is one of Ben's first enemies. He is a cruel and creepy clown mastermind.
Appearance[]
Zombozo looks like a clown with red hair and pale skin.
In the Original Series, he wore a grey and white jumpsuit with three buttons, a jacket which was dark blue and light blue, and cyan sleeves with black stripes and two cyan circles on each stripe. He also had a blue nose, a dark blue and black top hat with a big cyan ball, and black shoes and gloves.
In Ultimate Alien, his eyes were yellow. His top hat's colors were reversed and the big cyan ball was missing, his buttons were black. His jumpsuit was blue and light blue, his jacket was black with black buttons on each side, the cyan circles on his sleeves were gone and his gloves were light blue.
In Omniverse, his mouth and nose are bigger, the blue ball on his top hat has returned, now grey, and his jumpsuit is striped purple and grey, matching his bow tie. He also has two spikes on each of his shoulders and fingerless gloves. Due to long-term inexposure to his main feeding sources, human emotions, his body began to fall apart. Exposed ribs can be seen throughout and he has a very emaciated appearance overall.
Personality[]
Zombozo is portrayed as a grim and cruel clown with a dark sense of humor. He enjoys making dark jokes about his enemies and his feeding, even when acting, and cruelly taking pleasure in using Ben's fear of clowns against him.[1]
In Ultimate Alien, he displayed much more sadistic and psychopathic behavior, using lethal weapons, and tried to make Ben and his family suffer by killing his mother, but Gwen terrified him into defeat by showing her Anodite form. It was even suggested at the beginning of his comeback that he had buried someone. He was shown to be the only known person that Charmcaster fears besides her uncle Hex.
Zombozo rarely attacks alone, always gathering together a crew to do his dirty work for him. Originally, this was his Circus Freak Trio, but later, Zombozo lead a coalition between Vulkanus, Charmcaster and SevenSeven (and several others who were all warded off by Max before he was injured fending off SevenSeven)[4] and one with Trombipulor and Fistrick.[5]
Ironically, despite taking pleasure in scaring others, Zombozo himself is extremely cowardly, having been scared severely by Ghostfreak,[1] Toepick,[3] and Gwen's Anodite form.[4]
History[]
Background[]
Prior to the Original Series, Zombozo worked in a school lunchroom.[5]
At some point, Zombozo was bitten by a zombie, left for dead and rescued by a circus.[MW 1]
Ben 10[]
In his first appearance, Zombozo staged shows to bring people in and then used a machine, which he called the "Psyclown", to drain the happiness and life energy from them for him to "eat", leaving them depleted and sad. This also seemed to age the victims, as Gwen was shown to be all wrinkly. During all this, his Circus Freak Trio robbed the town.
He proved to be somewhat hard to defeat, as Ben was suffering of coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) at the time and so he couldn't fight him properly. Zombozo was eventually defeated when Ben overcame his fear of clowns after seeing the effect of the Psyclown on Max and Gwen and used Ghostfreak to fight Zombozo (while also destroying the Psyclown and freeing all the happiness inside it) and terrorize him by peeling back his skin, forcing him to escape by 'exploding' in a burst of confetti. It is unknown where Zombozo went.
Zombozo's henchmen reappeared in later episodes such as Ghostfreaked Out and Ben 10 vs. Negative 10: Part 1, claiming that they had not seen Zombozo since his defeat.
Ultimate Alien[]
Zombozo in Ultimate Alien
After a long absence, Zombozo eventually returned in Hit 'Em Where They Live. After Ben's identity was revealed to the world, he, as the "ringmaster", organized attacks against Ben's family with the help of several of Ben's old enemies (including SevenSeven, Charmcaster and Vulkanus, as well as several other unidentified villains) in an attempt to get revenge on Ben. After most of the attacks were stopped by Max, Zombozo formed a team with Charmcaster and Vulkanus. He also appeared to have buried someone or something, due to him coming into his meeting with Charmcaster and Vulkanus with a shovel.
Zombozo kidnapped Sandra and used her as a hostage to bring Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to his hideout. He then separated them to let Charmcaster and Vulkanus take them down one on one. His plan eventually backfired when he tried to murder Sandra in a slow and cruel way, as it angered Gwen and caused her to transform into her Anodite form, growing to a gigantic size and shouting at him to leave the Tennyson family, as well as Kevin's family, alone.
Gwen let Zombozo go to spread the word to all of their other enemies.[DM 1]
Omniverse[]
Zombozo returned in The More Things Change: Part 1. He now looks more zombie-like, having mottled-looking skin, and only one visible eye. He has flies buzzing around him, and even a tear in his suit revealing ribs.
He stole a brain from Bellwood's brain bank and was pursued by Ben, Gwen and Kevin, until they managed to trap him in a building. Lodestar quickly retrieved the container holding the brain from him. He was quickly beaten and tied up for the authorities. After Gwen and Kevin left, Zombozo taunted Ben for not being able to accomplish such feats on his own.
In Special Delivery, he was one of the patrons at Psyphon's Undertown auction. Once Psyphon mentioned that the Dwarf Star was missing and in Ben's possession, Zombozo teamed up with Fistrick and Trombipulor to get it. However, he was beaten along with his allies by Armodrillo. Psyphon called him back along with the other factions who wanted the prize, to team up on Ben for the star in exchange for buying it from him, but was defeated again by Humungousaur.
In Something Zombozo This Way Comes, it was revealed that he somehow escaped Plumber Headquarters, locked up Jerry and put a costume of himself over Jerry to avoid being noticed about his escape. He brought back the Circus Freak Trio to feed on people's fear and turn them into zombie clowns. Ben's revived fear of clowns allowed Zombozo to return to full power, making Zombozo's body inflate. However, his fear of Toepick got the best of him and destroyed the machine containing everyone's fear. Zombozo escaped through a cannon to avoid being caught by the Plumbers.
Powers and Abilities[]
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Zombozo has enhanced strength, as he was able to overpower Wildmutt with ease, although he can have trouble carrying his over-sized mallet.[1]
Zombozo is able to teleport in an explosion of smoke and confetti.[4]
Zombozo can terrorize his opponents by creating illusions.[1]
Zombozo can stretch his arms very far, and can shoot them forward with a spring to deliver fast punches.[6]
In addition to feeding on happiness, Zombozo can feed on fear as well. The more scared his enemies are, the stronger he becomes.[3]
Equipment[]
Psyclown[]
In his first appearance, Zombozo used a machine called the "Psyclown" to give him the ability to drain happiness from people when they're laughing. This left them depleted, weakened, and sad while also "feeding" Zombozo and making him stronger. The machine was connected to Zombozo by a line, giving him the ability to fly.
Other Equipment[]
Zombozo relies on various clown-based gadgets as weapons, including caltrops, an acid seltzer bottle, steel streamers, an extendable arm, an electric joy buzzer, an energy whip, dynamite, explosive bowling pins, balloons filled with gas, and an over-sized mallet.
Weaknesses[]
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Vulnerability to Fear
Even though he feeds on fear, Zombozo is not immune to being scared himself, seen when Ghostfreak and Anodite Gwen terrified him into defeat. He was even scared out of his wits by Toepick's nightmarish face.
Appearances[]
Ben 10[]
Season 1[]
- Last Laugh (first appearance)
Ultimate Alien[]
Season 1[]
- Hit 'Em Where They Live (first reappearance)
Omniverse[]
Season 1[]
- The More Things Change: Part 1 (first reappearance)
Season 3[]
Season 5[]
Books[]
Cartoon Network Action Packs[]
Ultimate Alien[]
Graphic Novels[]
Omniverse[]
- Down in the Dumps (flashback)
Video Games[]
Ultimate Alien[]
- Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction (mini boss)
Video Games[]
Zombozo in Cosmic Destruction
Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction[]
Zombozo appears in Cosmic Destruction in Tokyo. He does not say why he is there, nor does Ben ask why.
However, Ben does tell him to give him Cooper's location, which Zombozo denies. He then attempts to kill Ben twice, though both attempts fail pathetically. Ben then defeats Zombozo as Ultimate Spidermonkey. After defeat, Zombozo laughs insanely, which only results in Ultimate Spidermonkey throwing him into a web he made. Ben then says, "Am I good? Or am I good?"
Zombozo is shown being able to fly by holding on to a flying toy airplane.
Etymology[]
Zombozo's name is an amalgam on the words "zombie" and Bozo, an undead human and a famous clown played by many actors respectively.
Naming and Translations[]
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish (HA) | Herbert Zomboni | From the original English name. "J." removed in Something Zombozo This Way Comes. |
Trivia[]
- In Hit 'Em Where They Live, Ben pretended not to remember fighting Zombozo in the Original Series because he didn't want Kevin to learn that he used to be afraid of clowns.[DM 1]
- Zombozo had scientific help to create the virus that could turn people into Zombie Clowns in Something Zombozo This Way Comes.[DJW 2]
- Benzarro's version of Zombozo is one of the few remaining humans[DJW 3] and is enemies with Benzarro.[DJW 4]
- Zombozo has appeared in multiple Cartoon Network 20th Anniversary commercials. In one of them, he walks in on a party between Batman, Ben, the Powerpuff Girls, and Rex, which leads to their laughter coming to a halt. Aware of the reason behind their laughter, he distracts them by saying someone's in need of help in the distance, then steals some of the gifts at the party and runs off.
- Zombozo's escape rocket from the end of Something Zombozo This Way Comes was supposed to crash on Anur Transyl, but that storyline was dropped.[DJW 5]
- Zombozo shares some similarities with the Joker from DC Comics.
- Both are psychotic, disfigured clowns with twisted senses of humor and who enjoy manipulating/killing others.
- He was voiced by John Kassir in the Original Series, and by John DiMaggio in Ultimate Alien. They both voiced the Joker after they voiced Zombozo.
- In Ultimate Alien, Zombozo's weapons, gadgets, and laugh resembled those used by the Joker (his electric joy buzzer and giant mallet are Joker mainstays).
- His attempts to terrorize Ben into submission in the Original Series are closer to another famed Batman villain, Scarecrow.
