Kevin Levin

Kevin Ethan Levin is a Human/Osmosian hybrid and is a teammate of Ben's Team. When Kevin first appeared in the original series, he quickly became one of Ben's most notable nemesis. However, he reformed in Alien Force, and then became one of the main hero characters.

Appearance

In the original series, Kevin was a thin and scrawny boy with shoulder-length raven hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes with black-discolored marks around them (a sign that an Osmosian has recently absorbed energy). He wore a torn black t-shirt, black studded arm bands, brown cargo shorts, gray knee-length boots, and a padlock necklace which was a spoil from his first crime: stealing a bike and using it to run away to New York. After absorbing an Omnitrix feedback, Kevin becomes able to transform into exact copies of all of the unlocked aliens, missing an Omnitrix symbol. After the energy overwhelms Kevin, he mutated into Kevin 11, a random mixture of body parts from the 10 said aliens which completely destroyed his clothes, except for his cargo shorts.

In Alien Force, Kevin had grown into a tall and muscular young man. His eyes now lack the black marks (as his body fully recovered from and stopped absorbing energy). His normal attire is a tight black t-shirt over a gray long sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and black combat boots. His hair, though still long, is styled into a choppy mullet. Occasionally, he is seen wearing a light blue, oil stained, mechanic's jacket over a white muscle shirt, blue jeans, and his black combat boots. After he goes through a second mutation, an unbalanced mixture of various matters, the transformation completely destroyed his clothes, except his briefs. As a result, Kevin had to wear an I.D. mask in public to appear human. During Kevin's time as Ultimate Kevin, his appearance is again an unbalanced mixture of various aliens that were currently accessible to Ben through his Ultimatrix.

Personality

When Kevin was 11, he was a criminally insane sociopath, willing to hurt/kill anyone for his own personal gain and/or pleasure. This behavior and mentality stems not only from being seen and treated as a freak by his peers and family, but also because of the side effect of Kevin absorbing energy. His selfishness and sociopath-nature is made apparent when he was once willing to derail a money train to steal the money and kill countless passengers on another train. Kevin had an extremely negative outlook on life because of the countless hardships and struggles he had, feeling insecure about himself as well as having incredibly low self-esteem. He had a deep-rooted hatred for other people and society in general, even the innocent as he once said "Nobody's innocent! They just haven't had the chance to make fun of me yet!".

Kevin's outlook changed when he met Kwarrel, a prisoner in the Null Void when Kevin was a prisoner there. Becoming somewhat of a mentor and father-figure to him, Kwarrel helped greatly improve Kevin's personality. In Alien Force, despite Kevin becoming a con artist and an arms broker, he was more stable, he was somewhat mature but still had a bit of a jock attitude. As time went on and Kevin was accepted by Ben and Gwen, who were his most hated enemies and now best friend and girlfriend respectively, his personality and psyche improved greatly to the point that he became a trustworthy and reliable ally. His relationship with his friends further contributed to his mental stability as he once told Ben in Perplexahedron that he was grateful to them for changing his life. Verdona stated that Kevin's current personality is similar to a younger Max's.

While changing for the better, Kevin still sometimes shows a delinquent side, as seen in Kevin's Big Score, where he attempts to sell the Rust Bucket to Vulkanus for alien technology, albeit technology he intended to give to Ben and conspires with Argit to sell weapons to both sides of a warring race in Simple. Despite this side of Kevin, Ben and Gwen still show great trust in him.

Though Kevin can still be cynical, insensitive, rude, violent, greedy, and willing to kill; he is a good person at heart and generally doesn't like innocent people getting hurt; most evident in Andreas' Fault, where Kevin expresses his disgust of how Argit used Andreas and showed no sorrow or gratitude for Andreas's sacrifice, and angrily punching Argit. Kevin also helped rescue Ben's mother when she was kidnapped in Hit 'Em Where They Live. Kevin, though he is rarely open about it, also has a sensitive side, as seen in The Con of Rath when Jarrett ate Tiffin. The scene was so shocking to him that he fainted, despite the fact that he is supposed to be the "tough guy" of the group.

While having a more positive outlook on life since meeting Kwarrel and making friends with Ben and Gwen, Kevin still suffers some insecurities as seen when Kevin was mutated a second time, he was visibly disgusted with himself and fluctuated between bouts of uncontrollable aggression and severe depression that almost jeopardized his relationships, especially Gwen. As Ultimate Kevin, he voiced his frustration against Ben the most for being a famous superhero and him "still" being a freak.

Early Life

Kevin Levin was born to Devin Levin and Mrs. Levin. Sometime after Devin's death, Harvey Hackett came into their lives. Harvey fell in love with Mrs. Levin and married her, becoming Kevin's stepfather; according to Harvey, Kevin was only 4 years old at the time. Kevin wasn't fond of Harvey at all, especially since he saw him as a replacement for Devin as well as an obstacle for Mrs. Levin's love. Harvey tried to be a good father to Kevin, he accepted and raised Kevin as his own, but he feared Kevin because of his Osmosian powers, which only worsened their relationship. When Kevin was 11, Kevin manged to absorb energy and demolished their house, according to Harvey. This, coupled with the mental instability from absorbing the energy and his dislike of Harvey, instilled in him the delusion that Harvey convinced Mrs. Levin to kick him out in the street (Harvey admitted that he ran Kevin out of the 'house' because he destroyed it). He stole a bike, wearing the padlock around his neck, he ran away and made his way to New York, where he made his home in an abandoned subway.

Ben 10

Kevin was first encountered by Ben in an arcade, where, after befriending him, he was assaulted by bullies and saved by XLR8. The two attempt to steal a video game from a warehouse and got caught by the police, forcing Ben to reveal the Omnitrix to him in order to escape. The two subsequently form a partnership to use their respective powers for personal gain; however, when Kevin rigs two trains (one carrying money and one carrying people) to collide, uncaring that the crash would most likely result in the deaths of several hundred people, Ben suffers a crisis of conscience and breaks off their partnership. Ben became Heatblast, wanting Four Arms, to stop Kevin, but to even the odds, Kevin grabbed onto Heatblast and absorbed his DNA, changing him into an incomplete version of Heatblast, called Fireblast. When Heatblast foils Fireblast's plans and escapes, Fireblast leaves to use his powers to get revenge on the bullies that tormented him. But Fireblast's powers disappear and he reverts back to Kevin.

When Four Arms showed up to stop Kevin, Kevin absorbed Four Arms' DNA, changing him into an incomplete version of Four Arms, called Six Arms. As Four Arms and Six Arms fight, Four Arms gains the victory and offers Kevin a new home and a chance to be a good guy. Six Arms accepts, but Ben realizes he lied and Six Arms tries to take the Omnitrix off of Ben, but feedback from it changes Six Arms back to Kevin and appears to have removed his Osmosian powers. He escapes and at the end of the episode reveals he still has Heatblast's powers.

Kevin serves as the main antagonist of the second season. His ability to project heat at the end of Kevin 11 is the result of him absorbing the Omnitrix's feedback: the amount of energy it emitted allowed him to fully absorb its powers, giving him access to every unlocked alien form. However, because Kevin's ability to regulate this power is poorer than that of the Omnitrix itself, the energy suppresses his real form and forces him to remain as an alien most of the time. As revealed in Framed, Kevin blamed Ben for this, so he used the powers of the Omnitrix to start a inter-state crime spree in America, both for his own benefit and to damage Ben's (or rather, his alien forms') reputation. Eventually, Kevin's ability to regulate the power fails altogether, causing him to mutate into what Vilgax describes as a "misshapen, chaotic amalgam of creatures from the Omnitrix.", which Kevin calles Kevin 11. Because of this, Kevin 11 fights Four Arms and as he was about to kill him, Lt. Steel from the Special Alien Capture Team (SACT) shoots him into the water and he is defeated, but at the end of the episode, he is revealed to be alive.

Kevin 11 gloats that he has all of Ben's powers plus his own, making him Kevin 11. The known powers he could use include Four Arms's strength, Ripjaws's underwater breathing and steel-bending jaws, Upgrade's stretching, Stinkfly's flight and slime spit, Diamondhead's crystal projections, shape-shifting arm. and immense durability, Heatblast's pyrokinesis, Wildmutt's sense of smell, and XLR8's speed and his Osmosian powers. Despite this, Diamondhead observes that Kevin 11's powers weren't as strong as their pure forms, exactly 1/10th according to him. In Grudge Match, Kevin 11 attacked Ben to get revenge, blaming his condition on him. As the two battled, they were abducted and forced to fight in Slix Vigma's gladiator games. During their battles, Ben helped Kevin 11 to realize the advantages of his mutated form: because Kevin 11 was an amalgam of aliens, he could mix and match their powers to make up for their reduced potency (Diamondhead fist + Four Arms strength + XLR8 speed = "one mean punch"). Although forced to work together, Kevin 11's only goal was killing Ben. After Ben and Kevin 11 succeeded in escaping, Kevin 11 attacked Ben and trapped him against the wall with Stinkfly's goo before moving in with Diamondhead's spear hand, gloating that no matter what alien Ben transformed into, he knew every one of them. Little did he know that Ben unlocked Cannonbolt, whom he transformed into just as Kevin 11 was about to murder him before getting into an escape pod. Kevin 11 nearly barged into the pod when he was stopped by Technorg, whom Ben had spared and he declared a life debt to. After Technorg helped Cannonbolt escape, he turned his attention to Kevin (who had called him a lap dog just as he was about to kill Ben). The two were transported to a different galaxy at the end of the episode while locked in combat. Technorg defeated Kevin 11 and left the ship to return to his home world while Kevin 11 took the ship as his own (according to the advanced edition of the episode).

Kevin 11 returned in Back With a Vengeance, where he teamed up with Vilgax to defeat Ben, and eventually managed to remove the Omnitrix with Vilgax's help. However, he betrayed Vilgax in an attempt to leave both Ben and Vilgax in the Null Void and use the Omnitrix to take over the world, only for Ben to escape and leave him and Vilgax trapped instead. Kevin spent the rest of the series in the Null Void.

A dream version of Kevin appears in Perfect Day, as a hall monitor of a dream version of Ben's school. In the dream, Kevin was normal but then changed into Kevin 11 (which, with its Ripjaw's mouth and teeth more pronounced than usual, appeared uglier than it used to be, probably emphasizing of Ben's fear of Kevin 11) and fought Ben. When Ben took control of the dream, he was then able to defeat the dream Kevin 11.

Ben 10: Alien Force

Kevin returns in Alien Force, where he was eventually released from the Null Void (he stated in Darkstar Rising, he did his time for his crimes) returned to normal, and has grown into a tall and muscular young man who has rejoined society and reconciled with his family. He has also become an alien weapons dealer, giving him several contacts with criminals (such as Argit, Vulkanus and Sunder) as well as a considerable knowledge in alien tech. He has also learned about his ability to absorb solid matter instead of energy (taught how to do this by Kwarrel).

In his first Alien Force appearance, Kevin attempted to organize a deal between the Forever Knights and the DNAliens in order to sell them level 5 weapons. However, the deal was interrupted by Magister Labrid, Ben and Gwen. Trying to get revenge, Kevin fought Ben, but was easily defeated while the other villains escaped without paying him. Labrid then forced Kevin to help them in finding back the weapon, offering him to avoid problems with the Plumbers then. Though Kevin mainly accepted in order to get his pay, Magister Labrid later sacrificed himself in order to save him from a defective weapon's explosion. This, plus Kevin's interest for Gwen, his promise to Magister Labrid, and his desire to start a better life and become a Plumber like his father, led him to agree to teaming up with Ben and Gwen against the High Breed invasion. It "mostly" served as the reason that he joined the Tennysons in the first place (his promise to Magister Labrid and Gwen could be the other reasons).

Though he initially still felt a little rancorous toward Ben, Kevin slowly reconciled with him, and he proved to be a valuable ally as well as a good friend. Despite his reformation, Kevin still tends to engage in unethical activities: he is not above stealing gold and jewelry from the Forever Knights and Plumbers equipment from Manny and Helen when presented with the opportunity.

In Darkstar Rising, Kevin reveals that his father was a Plumber. When young, his mother told Kevin stories about what his father did. This is a big gap in the original series because in Ben 10, he said that his parents both left him because of his Osmosian powers; this was explained later on in the series as an exaggeration on Kevin's part: Kevin's mother remarried, and in retaliation Kevin destroyed their home which lead to his stepfather causing a huge strain between Kevin and his parents, ultimately making Kevin think they hated him and ran away. At the end of the episode, Kevin, along with Gwen and Ben became unofficial Plumbers, after which Kevin leaves to tell his mother about his membership, meaning he has/wants to reconcile and rejoin with his family. When explaining that he wanted to be a Plumber for the sake of being like his father, it "mostly" served as the reason that he joined the Tennysons in the first place (his promise to Magister Labrid and Gwen being the other reasons).

Alternate Future

In Ken 10, which takes place in the Ben 10,000 timeline, Kevin was trapped in the Null Void for 32 years. Kevin managed to break out of the Null Void several times. During one of his breakouts, he had a son, Devlin Levin, with a girl on a Saturn colony.

During his time in the Null Void, Kevin claims to have absorbed the powers of 11,000 aliens. This allowed him to turn into a new mutation, called Kevin 11,000, more powerful than the Kevin 11 (durable enough to allow him to shrug off multiple direct blows from Way Big). The known powers Kevin 11,000 has include his ability to absorb matter and energy, super strength and durability, pyrokinesis, shape-shifting tentacle, flight, slime spit, electric blasts from his left tentacle, sonic howl, and super speed. Having mastered his powers, Kevin can now switch between his normal and Kevin 11,000 at will and access some of his absorbed powers in human form to a limited extent, including super speed.

(Kevin 11,000)]] The episode begins with Ben's son Ken celebrating his tenth birthday, and to commemorate the occasion Ben gives him an Omnitrix of his very own. However, he equips it with a limiter, unwilling to trust Kenny with the power of the Omnitrix or to defeat villains on his own. Ken soon befriends Devlin, and the same night Kevin 11 attacks (actually Devlin as Devlin 11, who has the ability to shift between his human form and Devlin 11 at will). Unable to locate the Null Void projector, which Ben 10,000 had moved after the events of Ben 10,000, he retreated.

Ken, also unaware of the move, endeavors to find it on his own, only to unwittingly lead Devlin to it. Devlin releases Kevin from the Null Void, but is heartbroken to learn that Kevin's only interest is fighting Ben, not seeing him and when Kevin hurt him. Kevin is ultimately defeated by the combined forces of Ben, Kenny, and Devlin, to which Devlin, who was kicked out of his family, now hated Kevin and is later adopted into the Tennyson family after he saves Ben and Kenny from Kevin. Just before that, Kevin was shown to be at the mercy of Way Big, who has lost his temper when Kevin hurt Ken, and proceeds to fiercely beat him. However, Kevin manages to shrug off the attack. Devlin manages to sneak up behind him and traps his father in a Null Void Egg, which he then gives to Max, who, before departing, says "I've got a special place for you this time!", indicating that Kevin will be imprisoned in a special high-security prison.

Powers and Abilities

Originally, in Ben 10, Kevin's powers were believed to be because of an unexplained mutation but later explained to be of alien origin. This was proven correct in Vendetta, were it is revealed that he is an Osmosian descendant. Kevin has the unique ability to absorb the energy and matter of anything (excluding certain materials as seen in Greetings From Techadon) though his body at will and utilize it in various ways. This includes, but is not limited to, electricity, DNA, memories of other life forms, powers of other life forms, mana, fire, water, plasma, chemical energy, kinetic energy and matter.

Energy Absorption

After absorbing energy, Kevin can channel energy through his hands to manipulate technology, discharge it as an energy blast or use it to speed up cellular regeneration to increase his strength or recover from injuries at an accelerated rate. However, the energy will dissipate over time or through excessive use, so he is required to recharge.

If Kevin was to absorb energy, the energy will cause Kevin to become mentally unstable. Storing energy for long periods of time will worsen his instability. When Kevin has recently absorbed energy, he develops black marks around his eyes. This is a side effect of absorbing energy.

Power Absorption

Similar to his ability to absorb energy, by absorbing the DNA, metabolism, and life force of other life forms, Kevin can use it as nourishment to sustain his health and strength. Absorbing all of someone's energy will kill them. At higher levels, Kevin can use the energy to acquire the creature's powers and undergoes mutation to accommodate the absorbed abilities.

Despite complete access to any of these absorbed abilities at anytime, they aren't as strong as their pure forms, as noticed by Ben who speculated that they only are about 1/10 their full power, as seen when Diamondhead was able to catch and crush Kevin 11's crystals with his bare hands while the others shattered upon hitting him. This was explained in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien by Aggregor. He also stated that when Osmosians absorb the life force of other beings, the new powers can only used temporarily unless they were to drain all of that life form's energy, including their life force.

Matter Absorption

Kevin can absorb the properties of solid materials, transmuting himself into a living form of whatever material he has absorbed and subsequently use it to proportionately increase his physical strength and durability. It is revealed in All That Glitters, that the transmutation serves as a second skin that can chip away. In Plumbers' Helpers, Kevin was able to absorb multiple materials at once. He requires a decent amount of density or mass in the material to completely encase himself (a marble can only produce enough to cover his hand while a Taedenite crystal, the size of his hand, is enough to cover his entire body). This ability has once been used productively when Kevin was forced to synthesize a coating of Taedenite, thus incapacitating him; Paradox mentioned in Vilgax Attacks that with the amount Vulkanus chipped off of Kevin is now the largest stash in the galaxy.

In season 3 of Alien Force, following Kevin's second mutation caused by the feedback from tampering with the Omnitrix, he loses the ability to revert to his human form but gradually begins learning how to use his absorbed matter in various new manners. He becomes able to use high levels of strength and durability as well as limited regenerative and shape-shifting abilities, seen when he shifts his limbs into a variety of different tools and weapons and restoring his severed hand. Despite returning to normal in "The Final Battle: Part 2" after the Omnitrix self-destructed, Kevin shows in Ultimate Alien to retain his heightened matter manipulation powers due to him now having knowledge of being able to doing so.

In Too Hot To Handle, Kevin's abilities have shown to have developed more, allowing him to repair objects of the current material he has absorbed either by turning it into a liquid or releasing a liquid version of whatever material he has absorbed. He can partially merge with the actual matter and manipulate the substance's form. Both abilities were used when he repaired the rock ceiling of a mine, fused the seal of P'andor's suit, morphed it around P'andor, and fused the arms together as makeshift handcuffs. In The Creature From Beyond, he used the metal he absorbed to create a helmet for Gwen to prevent the Lucubra from controlling her. Kevin can easily pick locks, using his powers to absorb the material of the lock, then form his finger into a key. Kevin can also absorb liquids, and when he does he gains the properties of that liquid (according to Dwayne, if Kevin absorbs mud, objects will pass through him without causing physical damage).

Other Skills and Abilities

Even without his absorption powers, as an Osmosian, Kevin is shown to be stronger than an average human. While not to the same extent as aliens like Four Arms, Kevin is capable of lifting throwing the combined weight of several people with little strain. He is also capable of resisting impacts and blunt force trauma that would severely injure an ordinary person with moderate discomfort.

Kevin has some noticeable skill in martial arts which he gained during his years as a runaway, a prisoner in Incarcecon, an alien tech dealer, and a member of the Plumbers. With this combat skills, he has proven on several occasions to be a highly formidable fighter, having held his own against and defeated opponents such as the Megacruiser robots, Technorg, and even Vilgax in a one-on-one fight, something that Ben couldn't do.

Despite lacking a proper normal education, Kevin possesses a vast scientific and technological knowledge of alien paraphernalia; he once mentioned that he learned Astrophysics on the streets. In Deep, Ben and Kevin argue that they both cannot use their powers while being in their Plumber suits. So Kevin made some alterations to the suits, equipping them with propelling units and shock pulses that allow them to attack with electric shocks. Kevin also has great analytical and deductive skills, having been able to determine specifically what happened in a battle between Aggregor and the Plumbers several hours after the battle, greatly impressing his friends and even gaining a compliment from Max.

Kevin is a very good driver (both on land or air), being able to race and chase in his car and the Rust Bucket 3. He is also a great at mechanics. He is shown to repair his car for the numerous damage it took during the course of the series. He also modified his car, setting alien tech for beneficial gears. On top of that he built the DX Mark 10, a car that he (reluctantly) gave to Ben as his sixteenth birthday present.