Galvan

The Galvans (a play on galvanization) are an extraterrestrial species of bipedal frog-like beings from the planet Galvan Prime.

Appearance
The Galvan are small frog-like bipedal creatures standing at four or five inches with sharp teeth and grey skin. Normal Galvan have green, orange, or blue eyes whereas Albedo and Dark Matter have red eyes.

Culture/Religion
Galvan are incessant collectors of all things technological, they are raised and bred to enter complex machines and operate them from the inside. They are raised to be extremely intelligent, allowing them to understand and operate virtually any machine even if they have never seen it before.

Galvan are the smartest species in the galaxy, as their intellect is apparently highly revered. The Highbreed Supreme referred to Azmuth as slightly advanced form of "pond scum". The only race that can compete or even rival with the Galvan's collective intellect is the Cerebrocrustaceans.

Primitive Galvan used to worship technology gods, such as the one that Azmuth's bio-suit (from when he first met Ben Tennyson and Tetrax) was based on.

Galvan are very loyal to keeping their top research and technology a secret from other species, as they would rather die than just give it up unless there is a good reason for it. This is demonstrated with the need for the Potis Altiare to help Ben defeat a To'kustar known as "Evil Way Big".

Diet
According to Derrick J. Wyatt, Galvan are insectivores. Therefore, they mostly eat insects.

Lifespan
According to Dwayne McDuffie, Galvan have an immense lifespan of thousands of years. This was verified when Azmuth, a Galvan of considerable age, says he expects to "only" live another 3,000 years.

Predator
The Galvan's natural predator is the functionally extinct Omnivoracious.

Powers and Abilities
Known for evasion rather than confrontation and lacking any actual combat prowess, Galvans have developed intellectual capacities far beyond those of neighboring species, being the creators of much of the great technology around the universe. These include the Potis Altiare, the Omnitrix technology, the anti-gravity projectors used by Polymorphs, the Codon Stream, and Universal Translators.

The Galvan's high intellect allows them to create other worlds, such as the Null Void, Primus, and a rebuilt version of their own planet dubbed Galvan MK 2. They have also created other species including the Galvanic Mechamorphs, Null Guardians, and Voliticus Biopsis.

Galvan have slimy skin, letting them evade capture and scale walls, and soft flexible bones, allowing them to squeeze into tight spaces or spring quickly from danger.

According to Duncan Rouleau, the energies that are generated by a Galvan's mind leads to an acceleration of synaptic activity.

Due to the alterations Kevin Levin has made to the Antitrix, Dark Matter is more powerful (and most likely smarter) than ordinary Galvan. Unlike ordinary Galvan, he possesses enhanced strength and can shoot dark red fireballs from his hands that encase enemies in a red crystal-like substance.

Other ability that only Dark Matter is capable of is the secretion of a dark red substance (identified by Rouleau as his cerebrospinal fluid) and harden it into a plaque, manipulating it to form weapons resembling the red crystal produced from his fireballs. These weapons are a by-product of Dark Matter's mind because the energies generated by it, either undirected or improperly directed, help create the "dark matter" he issues out from inside his body.

Weaknesses
Galvan must remain ever vigilant because in a dangerous galaxy, size still matters and they are easily trampled underfoot. Being small-sized means that they do not match physically with most species.

While their slimy skin allows Galvan to stick to almost any surface, it also makes them equally difficult to grab hold of.

Despite possessing immense intelligence, Galvan can still make miscalculations.

If Dark Matter's cerebrospinal fluid is forcibly extracted from him, it will cause great pain to him and render him incapacitated.

There is a limited extent in how much damage Dark Matter's crystal traps and weapons can take before cracking or shattering.

Omnitrix Transformation
The Omnitrix's Galvan representative is named Grey Matter, who first appeared in the original series episode "Washington, B.C.". Grey Matter has appeared in almost every series except Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

The Ben Tennyson of Dimension 23 has an equivalent of Grey Matter named Brainfrog, who first appeared in the Omniverse episode "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Ben World: Part 2".

The reboot version of Kevin 11 has a mutant hybrid equivalent of Grey Matter named Dark Matter, who first appeared in the episode "King of the Castle".

Grey Matter has also been used by the "What-If" Gwen 10, Ken 10, Race Against Time Ben, and No Watch Ben.