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Shh! No spoilers!
The following section contains some spoilers about an upcoming episode. Read at your own risk. |
Courtney Lawrence is a secondary protagonist throughout the Ben 10: 10,000 Years, 1 Friendship series. She is Ben's best friend and primary love interest. She is also the former wielder of the Neotrix.
Alternate Counterparts[]
- Kate Mulaney (pseudo-reincarnation)
- No Watch Courtney
- CT-23
- Courtney G. Lawrence
- Kotone
- Corey Lawrence
- Courtney 126
- Charm Courtney
- Reboot Courtney
- Saiko (Psycho) Courtney
- Chaos Courtney
- Gloomy Courtney
- Courzarren
- Aeon
Appearance[]
Courtney stands at average height with alabaster-white skin and mocha-brown eyes. She has a tiny mole by the side of her mouth and rouge-pink lips. Her sable-black hair is at first short and untouched, but when she grows older, it becomes longer and fashioned into a single braid around her shoulders.
In her pre-pubescent years, she wears a blue t-shirt, bleach-faded jeans, and sneakers. She also has a bracelet on her left wrist, which is later removed and replaced by the Neotrix.
When Courtney reaches the age of 16, she wears an olive hoodie, sable jeans, and black boots. She also has a neon blue ribbon braided into her hair. Additionally, she wears the Neotrix on her left wrist.
In the reboot, she wears a blue t-shirt with a yellow-green circle on it, white shorts, and light pink converse. She also wears her signature neon-blue ribbon, secured to her hair by lollipop hair clips.
Personality[]
Like Ben, she is reckless and carefree, but also has a sense of responsibility and endless compassion for her teammates. However, she tends to be overzealous at times, especially when it comes to using the Neotrix. She is always unsure about entering new transformations and hates it when it randomizes her into a new one.
OS Ben and Courtney in the middle of an intense staring contest. (art by me!)
Still, Courtney has a softer side. She is a loyal friend, who is unwilling to turn them away, even for her own personal interests and desires. She is also overprotective and goes to extreme lengths to protect the people she cares about. Tragically, this leads to her demise in Omniverse Arc 5.
However, after her death, Courtney became a famous icon, one who her No Watch counterpart longed to live up to and to who Kate Mulaney resolves to be like. When she temporarily comes back to life as a result of the same chrono randomization barrier error that pulled 10-year-old Ben out of his timeline, she appears to be wiser and stronger, as she has grown in the moments before her death. Though she returns to the moment before her doom after the fight is over, she is still revered as a great hero, and solidifies her place in Ben's heart.
Powers and Abilities[]
The foreshadowing gaze of a relationship past friendship. (art by me!)
- Neotrix Shapeshifting: As a result of the Neotrix, Courtney has the ability to transform into the Omnitrix's sister aliens, their related life-forms, on an ape:human ratio.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: As Courtney took the same classes as Ben did in their youth, she also is skilled in the ways of personal self-defense.
- Hacking: Due to her studies at school, Courtney has an uncanny ability to hack into alien tech, with help from the Neotrix's own Master Control.
Weaknesses[]
- Ophidiophobia: As Ben is afraid of peacocks, Courtney has a terrible fear of snakes, due to a bad experience with them while she was only 5 1/2.
A comic depicting Ben and Courtney watching a childhood video. (art by me!)
Biography[]
6 years prior to the Original Series[]
Courtney is born on November 10th, 2006 to Genevieve and Abraham Lawrence. Growing up, she was a quiet toddler who got picked on a lot because it was just that easy. One day, when a boy named Ben Tennyson noticed her playing under the slide at the playground instead of outside with everyone else, he at first teased her, calling her a mole, but after seeing how upset she looked, offered his Sumo Slammer action figure to her as an apology. When one of her regular bullies stomped along, they both worked together to push him into a mud puddle and send him running, kickstarting their friendship.
Ben 10[]
A hug between friends. (art by Burdock_yc157)
Courtney and Ben's friendship carried into the double-digits, eager to go on their first summer vacation together. Upon the discovery of the Omnitrix, Courtney did everything she could to be by Ben's side, even without powers of her own. Even so, she felt that she could do more for her best friend. Eventually, Xylene offered the Neotrix, a sister device to the Omnitrix, to her. It had the ability to transform the user into the aliens related to those inside of the Omnitrix. At long last, Courtney could fight by Ben's side for real. When the summer ends, Courtney is sent away on a regional exchange program, which lasts 4 years, but under promises to meet each summer until her return, Ben and Courtney keep their friendship alive.
5 years prior to Omniverse[]
Upon returning from her first year of the regional exchange, Courtney meets up with Ben again the next summer and now fights full-fledgedly by his side. However, when Ben grows a deep connection to Feedback, his favorite alien, Courtney feels as if she has been replaced by a transformation. Out of spite, she suggests that they use Feedback and Wattz (Feedback's sister transformation) to defeat Malware, knowing Malware will gain the upper hand and hoping this would make Ben discourage this alien and go back to being her friend. However, Malware manages to steal and destroy both forms during combat, an outcome Courtney hadn't predicted. Ben blames her for their loss...and himself, retiring hero work entirely because of it.
Ben and Courtney teasing each other in the Proto-Truck. (art by me!)
UAF[]
Finishing the regional exchange program and returning to Bellwood for good, Courtney reunites with Ben, the Feedback incident seemingly put on hold. Now full-grown teens, Courtney and Ben are still the best of friends, though they hardly spoke since the Feedback incident. They join up with Kevin and Gwen, and they ultimately become the Hero Time Quartet that comes together and fights alien and human crime alike. At one point through their universe-saving endeavors, the origins of the Neotrix are revealed, revealing that the Neotrix was built by Zenith, Azmuth's ex-mate, as a sign that she forgave Azmuth. She built the Neotrix hoping her creation would work with his own, as they used to so long ago.
However, as teens, Ben and Courtney begin to see each other in a different light on occasion, showing signs of jealously whenever one encounters a possible love interest. Even for a short time, they let it slip that their current relationships with their current boyfriend/girlfriend (Julie and Herve), were seen as disdainful. Towards the end of Ultimate Alien, Ben comes to the conclusion that Courtney may have reached past a friend to him and has become much more.
Omniverse[]
OV Courtney and Ben in their teen years. (art by me!)
Still continuing crime-fighting work together, even after Kevin and Gwen leave, Courtney and Ben are temporarily set aside when Max teams Ben up with Rook, in hopes of rebuilding the partner-team-up Ben always held dear. However, by the end of the first arc, he digresses and he, Courtney, and Rook become the Hero Time Trio. One day, on a timeline/dimension-hopping adventure to the 23rd dimension, Courtney accidentally stumbles upon her future death in a battle with Vilgax. Paradox tells her that he can save her from her fate, but it will mean that Ben dies in her place. Not wanting her friend to perish because of her own selfishness, Courtney refuses the offer and tries to keep a straight face in the events leading up to the battle.
Courtney kissing Ben on the cheek. (art by me!)
The day before Vilgax strikes with an invasion in what might be their hardest battle yet, Ben finally confesses his feelings for Courtney. Knowing it won't matter come tomorrow, Courtney rejects his confession with a heavy heart. This causes Ben to act out of impulse and lead an ambush unplanned by the Plumbers. Courtney rushes onto the scene just in time to save him from an attack on Vilgax. As it turns out, the battle was a diversion from Vilgax's real plan: to release an army of infectious Dagon-squid monsters upon the Earth to kill every living being on it. A cure is developed, but the first dosage can either be used to save Courtney or be preserved to widen the cure and save the rest of the world. Ben then makes the hardest decision in his life and chooses the latter. Courtney Prime's story is then drawn to a close as she dies from her injuries. Worse, it is revealed that if Courtney had accepted Ben's confession from the start, the surprise ambush that cost her life would never have happened.
Reboot[]
Ben and Courtney at Niagara Falls. (art by me!)
In the reboot, Courtney is still Ben's best friend, though she, him, and Gwen are more of a best friend trio than the usual dynamic duo the classic series orchestrated. She uses a revamped version of the Neotrix in battle alongside Ben and saves the day by his side, though it is done in a less serious manner.
Future[]
For reasons yet to be discovered, Courtney is reincarnated into a teleporting Wolfinander with bright blue fur. She finds Ben 10,000 and his family and quickly acquaints herself with Ben's son, Kenny.
Relationships[]
Ben Tennyson[]
11-year-old Courtney in Omniverse. (art by me!)
Ben is Courtney's best friend, through and through. From the moment they met at age 4, they were practically inseparable. Courtney always kept tabs on Ben's arrogance and Ben taught Courtney how to let loose and have fun as kids their age should. Though they teased each other quite often, they hardly ever had a real fight, excepting the Feedback incident. At first, Ben was just that to Courtney: a good friend and confidant whom she could tell anything. But as they got older, Ben's developed personality and mannerisms put a spin on Courtney's view on him. Not to mention, she showed signs of jealousy whenever a questionable girl showed interest in him. For a while, she blamed it on teenage hormones and tried to ignore them. However, when they hit age 16, Julie's final words to her before she officially broke up with Ben made it clear to Courtney that she had fallen for her best friend. In an effort to protect his feelings and hers, she rejects his confession to her on the night before her death. Loyal to the end, she let him know that she'd always be there by his side, even if it wasn't in a way he expected.
Gwen Tennyson[]
A promo image of Courtney boxed in a small area in the middle of space. (art by JIN9AM)
Gwen and Courtney weren't as close as she and Ben were, but they still got along generally well. Gwen is sometimes put out by Courtney's overzealousness and finds her recklessness equally annoying as she does Ben's, but she also respects her loyalty to the team and trusts her. She was the first to see that Ben and Courtney were capable of a relationship past friendship and never stopped recommending her to her cousin.
Kevin Levin[]
Similar to Ben and Gwen, Courtney at first did not like Kevin, due to his insane and destructive nature when he was 11. Even after he joined their side and became a part of their team, Kevin found pleasure in constantly playing pranks on Courtney, much to her dismay. Even though she sees him as rude and vulgar, she still understands his pain of losing close friends and chooses to stand for him whenever she can purely because of that.
Rook Blonko[]
Ben and Courtney amidst the many multiverses. (art by Carmen-Oda)
Rook, being the polite alien Plumber that he is, hit it off with Courtney almost right away. Both were loyal, by-the-book, and brave. Even when he at first replaced her as Ben's partner, she told Ben that she was leaving him in good hands. She, him, and Ben made the perfect team.
Genevieve and Abraham Lawrence[]
Young Courtney and her mother, Genevieve. (art by me!)
Courtney's parents raised her well and treated her as any parent should, but her duty as a hero is the one thing that drove them apart. Her parents were at first okay with her friendship to Ben, especially after he helped her drive off the bullies the first day they met. However, after discovering his secret identity online, they tried to put a ban on letting Courtney see him, as they didn't want her to get caught up in the dangers of being a hero. Obviously, because of this controlling nature, this made Ben dislike her parents. This ran the risk of putting a strain on her relationship with Ben, but Courtney made her choice and this essentially broke herself off from her parents. Eventually, after her death, instead of blaming Ben, they at last see just how much he cared about her and make their peace with him.
Herve[]
"Never Alone", a comic of the aftermath of 10,000 Years' version of "Night of the Living Nightmare." (art by me!)
Herve was Courtney's boyfriend in the UAF series. They met at the same tennis game where Ben asked Julie out on their first date. Coincidentally, due to Ben's poor choice of wordplay, the two ended up tagging along for the ride on a double date. Still, by the end of it, after Herve found out about the Neotrix, he was understandably weirded out at first, but eventually saw how it was in good hands and immediately fell for its wielder. The two dated for a long time before Herve abruptly moved back to his homeland to further pursue his photography career. Since Courtney never called him while he was away, he assumed their relationship was over and began dating Julie instead. Courtney felt betrayed by this at first, but soon realized how distant she had been from Herve due to her hero work and how it was wrong to keep him trapped in an inactive relationship. The two broke it off on good terms, though they never spoke of their relationship to each other again.
Trivia[]
- Courtney's original OC name was Bessie.
- Additionally, Bessie was supposed to be Ben's genderbent counterpart. However, as a result of the other, more developed genderbends that absorbed her character quickly, she was refashioned into Ben's childhood friend and confidant, the Courtney we all know today.
- Courtney was originally supposed to be a Plumber cadet that Ben didn't meet until his teen years, but since the creator wanted her to have an already-existing and long-standing relationship with him, her backstory was edited to the point where they first met at 4 years old.
- Courtney was supposed to be Ben's final and ultimate love interest, his "endgame", but with the creator believing this would complicate the future even more, it was decided that Courtney would be killed off in the Prime Timeline and instead have No Watch Courtney sustain the Ben-Courtney relationship.
- Courtney's favorite season is winter.
- As a fanon headcanon, Courtney is the one who taught Ben how to snowboard.
- The Wolfinander Courtney is reincarnated into in the future is the same species of the space wolf "Kosmo" from Voltron: Legendary Defender.
- Oddly enough, the friendship Ben and Courtney share as children is displayed in the reboot through Ben and Gwen. (A revelation that has gotten on the creator's nerves ever since the reboot released)
- Courtney is pansexual.
- Courtney has a mild social anxiety disorder. It was more severe when she was a child, but thanks to having Ben for a best friend, she gradually learned to control it to a point where it wasn’t as dominant in her life.