Kevin Levin (Classic)

Kevin Ethan Levin is an Osmosian and a member of Ben's Team. When Kevin first appeared in the original series, he quickly became one of Ben's most notable enemies. However, he reformed in Alien Force, and became one of the main heroes until his departure, along with Gwen in The More Things Change: Part 1.

Regular Appearances
In the original series, Kevin was a thin and scrawny boy with shoulder-length black 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 pants, black knee-length shoes, and a padlock necklace which is a spoil from his first crime: stealing a bike and using it to run away to New York. After absorbing an Omnitrix feedback, Kevin was able to transform into exact copies of all of the unlocked aliens, missing an Omnitrix symbol.

In Alien Force, Kevin grew into a tall and muscular young man. His eyes lacked the black marks (as his body fully recovered from and stopped absorbing energy). His normal attire in Seasons 1 and 2 as well as Ultimate Alien was a tight black T-shirt over a grey long sleeve shirt, blue pants, and black combat shoes. His hair, although still long, was styled into a choppy mullet.

In Season 3 of Alien Force, he was seen wearing a short sleeved light blue oil stained mechanic's jacket over a white muscular shirt, blue pants, and his black combat shoes. After he went 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 ID Mask in public to appear human. In his second mutation, he looked like a mixture of solid materials such as stone, wood, Taydenite, and metal.

In Ultimate Alien, he wore a standard Plumber suit during a few of his off-world excursions.

In Omniverse, Kevin wore the same black shirt but the sleeves and collar were roughly cut, his grey shirt has stripes, the sleeves on his long sleeved grey shirt were slightly torn and he wore blue holsters. His hair was longer and straighter. His pants had a small tear below the left knee. He also wore a padlock necklace similar to the one he wore when he was 11, but marked with an "11". He also sported black marks around his eyes, making him appear tired; these marks bore similarity to when he was 11 and still absorbing energy. He also has a few whiskers on his chin.

In Weapon XI: Part 2, Kevin gets the same cross-shaped scar to his chin that future Kevin has.

12 year old Kevin in Omniverse looks exactly the same as how he does in the original series, except for the fact that the color of his cargo pants are grey instead of brown and his padlock necklace is marked with an "11".

Occasional Appearances
In Save the Last Dance, he wore a black tuxedo with a black bow tie.

In the flashback in ...Nor Iron Bars a Cage, 11 year old Kevin looked the same as he did in the original series, but with blue pants instead of brown.

In Basic Training, while at the barracks in the Plumbers' Academy, he wore an olive tank top and black shorts.

In The More Things Change: Part 1, Kevin lacks the stripes on his shirt and the chin whiskers he has in the rest of the series.

While working with the Rooters, he wore black Proto-Tech Armor.

In Omniverse's No Watch Timeline, looks identical to his Alien Force/Ultimate Alien appearance, but in Omniverse art style (long hair and black marks around his eyes).

Personality
Due to his complicated childhood and abilities, as a child, Kevin exhibited sociopathic tendencies and was willing to hurt/kill anyone for personal gain/pleasure. This behaviour and mentality stems from not only being treated like a freak from his peers and family, but also a side effect from absorbing too much energy. His selfishness and sociopathic behaviour was made apparent when he was attempting to derail a money train, even though it'd kill countless passengers on another train. Kevin had an extremely negative outlook on life because of his countless hardships and struggles, feeling insecure about himself as well as having an incredibly low self-esteem. He had a deep-rooted hatred for other people and society in general. He was paranoid to the point of considering everyone to be his enemy because, as he put it, "Nobody's innocent! They just haven't had the chance to make fun of me yet!".

Kevin's outlook began to change when he met Kwarrel, a fellow prisoner in the Null Void. Becoming somewhat of a mentor and father-figure to him, Kwarrel helped greatly improve Kevin's personality and he decided to become a hero (which explains his initial motive of destroying Ben to save the Earth when he was associated with Amalgam Kids after he was found by the Rooters). In Alien Force, despite Kevin having become a con artist and an arms broker, he was more stable and somewhat mature. Kevin began to have a much better outlook on life and started to form actual bond for the first time. This eventually leads to Kevin making amends with Ben and Gwen, who were once his most hated enemies. As a result, Ben and Kevin no longer have their famous rivalries and have become best friends. Kevin acts somewhat of an older brother towards Ben. Kevin is much more open about his feelings, showing Gratitude towards Ben and Gwen. He seemed to have a better connection towards Max. His personality and psyche improved greatly to the point that he became a trustworthy and reliable ally. He once told Ben that he was grateful to them for changing his life. According to Max, Kevin's current personality is similar to him in his younger years.

While changing for the better, Kevin still sometimes shows a delinquent side, seen when he attempts to sell the Rust Bucket 2 to Vulkanus for alien technology, albeit technology he intended to give to Ben, conspires with Argit to sell weapons to both sides of a warring alien race, and even pawns Princess Looma on Ben to get out of his engagement. Despite this side of Kevin, Ben and especially Gwen still greatly trust him.

In addition to his new outlook on life, Kevin showed disgust at those who would take advantage of others such as with Argit when he was taking advantage of an alien's trust. Although Kevin may at times, do things unethically like selling weapons to make money or do things that involve getting money, his heart is always in the right place. He also showed distaste on how others care about only themselves will abandon others for their own selfishness such as when Kevin reprimanded an Alien Prisoner for being selfish in order to save itself while reminding him, about how Kevin himself was selfish before the latter's redemption.

Though Kevin can still be cynical, snarky, and insensitive, he is a good person at heart and generally doesn't like innocent people getting hurt. Though he is rarely open about it, he also has a sensitive side, seen when Jarett ate the Tiffin - the scene shocked him so much that he fainted, despite being the "tough guy". He sucker punched Argit, angered and disgusted the latter didn't care or show remorse for Andreas even after his sacrifce. He also shows more common sense. Despite the great prospect of money P'andor was offering if anyone freed him (which Kevin was almost successful), Kevin stops upon realizing he was highly radioactive and pressured that they made sure he wouldn't be released

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

While he cares for innocent people, he is willing to end life, as he voiced to kill any villains that went after his family or the Tennyson's. He also was willing to let Ragnarok die to avenge his father. Kevin even advised Ben to kill Victor Validus in order to kill the Nanochip Queen inside him.

Kevin is extremely protective of his car and becomes very upset whenever it gets damaged, which happens on a fairly regular basis. He also became this to Zed as well.

History
Close Tabs Kevin Levin (Classic)/Ben 10|Ben 10 Kevin Levin (Classic)/OV flashbacks|5 years prior to Omniverse Kevin Levin (Classic)/Alien Force|Alien Force Kevin Levin (Classic)/Ultimate Alien|Ultimate Alien Kevin Levin (Classic)/Omniverse|Omniverse

Powers and Abilities
Originally, Kevin's powers were believed to be of an unexplained mutation, then alien heritage, but later explained to be of a unique genetic component.

Kevin has the ability to absorb the energy and matter of anything (excluding certain materials) through his body at will and utilize it in various ways. If he's not absorbing excessive amounts of matter or biology directly into his body, he becomes wrapped in a coating that leaves his clothes intact. How ever, If he's wearing a plumbers suit, the suit will not remain intact.

Energy Absorption
After absorbing energy, Kevin can channel energy through his hands to manipulate technology, discharge it as energy blasts, or physically enhance his body to speed up cellular regeneration, 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.

However, if Kevin absorbs energy, the energy will cause Kevin to become mentally unstable. Storing energy for long periods of time will worsen his instability. This mainly occurs in Osmosians who absorb energy very often but cannot control it due to inexperience and lack of skill. Energy absorption can sometimes easily turn into an addiction.

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. 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 Diamondhead who estimated that they are only about 1/10 their full power, as seen when he was able to catch and crush Kevin 11's crystals with his bare hands while the others shattered upon hitting him. This was proven correct by Aggregor. This is the reason why Aggregor first turned P'andor, Andreas, Bivalvan, Ra'ad and Galapagus into pure energy before he absorbed their powers and abilities, so he could could use their power to their fullest extent. He also stated that when Osmosians absorb the life force of other beings, the new powers can only be used temporarily unless they were to drain all of that life form's energy.

This ability can also be used to combine the DNA of two beings, which is what Servantis used Kevin for. Kevin was able to absorb some of Servantis' energy that brought out some past memories. Kevin was able to carry the energy around on his hand and used it on Argit and Alan Albright to bring up their past involvement with the Rooters. Kevin then used this energy to his advantage as he was able to permanently lock out Servantis from the Amalgam Kids' minds.

Matter Absorption
Kevin can absorb solid materials, coating himself in the substance which allows him to take on its properties. He will proportionally increase in physical strength and durability to whatever he absorbed.

Kevin is able to absorb multiple materials at once. He also has the ability to apply to other people a coating of whatever material he has absorbed at the time, temporarily.

Depending on the amount of the absorbed material Kevin has available, and how he distributes it, Kevin can either coat his body, or part of it, in the material as a second skin like armor, or completely convert his body, or part of it, into a living version of the material. The amount that Kevin requires depends on the density of the material.

This ability has once been used productively when Kevin was forced to synthesize a coating of Taydenite, thus incapacitating him.

Kevin can also absorb liquids, and when he does he gains the properties of that liquid. If Kevin absorbs mud, objects will pass through him without causing physical damage. He can even absorb bubblegum.

Kevin can also absorb fire.

If Kevin absorbs an elastic material, he can "sort of" stretch.

Initially, he was supposed create an outer shell with a small amount of material -- he could use a quarter to coat a forearm arm with metal, but not his whole body. Then, once he began to form weapons and tools with the material, it became more of a transformation into the substance.

Matter Manipulation
In Alien Force, following his second mutation which causes him to lose the ability to revert to his human form, he gradually begins learning how to use his absorbed matter in various new manners. He is able to use high levels of strength and durability as well as regenerative and shape-shifting abilities. After returning to normal, he retained his newfound powers due to him now having knowledge of being able to do so.

Kevin can repair objects of the current material he has absorbed either by turning it into a liquid form 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. He once 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.

Other Skills and Abilities
Even without his absorption powers, Kevin is shown to be stronger than an average human. Even the powerless Kevin was still a fairly proficient fighter and a useful asset to the team. While not to the same extent as aliens like Tetramands, 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 brawling which he gained during his years as a runaway, a prisoner in Incarcecon, an alien tech dealer, and a member of the Plumbers. With his 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.

Kevin is very smart, but his formal education has been erratic. He knows a lot about some things, and absolutely nothing about others. Despite lacking a proper normal education, Kevin possesses a vast scientific and technological knowledge of alien paraphernalia. 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 and find out 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 that he could either be an expert police officer or a wanted criminal. Kevin has good motor skills, being able to race and chase in his car and the Rust Bucket 3.

He is also great at mechanics and engineering. 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. Kevin is also shown to be very good with animals, even without trying. In Deep, a Blowfish became strongly attached to Kevin. Later, Khyber's dog, despite being well-trained and loyal to Khyber, ultimately chose to join Kevin, even saving Kevin from being crushed.

Weaknesses
While Kevin can absorb all sorts of compatible matter, he cannot take too much of it. Such as with Ben's Omnitrix, where he became mentally unstable and lost all accounts of control from all the DNA given to him. However, Kevin later overcame this weakness when he absorbed numerous DNA samples from Ben's new Omnitrix, but completely retained his sanity, albeit faking it to Ben.

Kevin needs a lot of whatever he's copying to use his matter absorption powers.

Kevin is unable to use his absorption powers in a spacesuit, giving him major disadvantage in combat.

Gwen Tennyson
Though he is not too open about it, Kevin likes Gwen. This is made apparent over the several times Kevin saves Gwen and protects her from danger, and throughout they series it has been shown that they are in a relationship.

Charmcaster
Charmcaster tries to steal Kevin from Gwen in order to accomplish a scheme. Whether or not she actually likes Kevin is unclear, as she implies in a later episode that she used to like him, though, she never did and was just taunting him.

Kevin thinks Charmcaster is hot, and was clearly attracted to her Caroline form. Charmcaster kissed Kevin on the lips which almost created a conflict between him and Gwen. It should be noted that Charmcaster and Kevin shared a kiss long before the first on-screen kiss between Gwen and Kevin.

After this incident, Kevin and Charmcaster are mostly enemies, with Kevin disliking Charmcaster until he learns just how similar they are. He initially attempts to brush this empathy off, but following the ordeal with the Rooters which upturns his whole life, he is more visibly open in his pity at Charmcaster's situation and how much he relates to it. When Gwen traps Charmcaster in her own bag and keeps her under the goal of becoming friends with her, Kevin seems relieved, knowing first-hand how Gwen can help change a person.

Jennifer Nocturne
Jennifer Nocturne was a 19 year old teenage actress Kevin admired, not just liking her skills but also herself. He introduced himself just before she took Ben to the party, but she paid little attention saying, "Oh of course you are." Later when Nocturne was kidnapped and saved by Kevin and Gwen, Nocturne asked Kevin to be her boyfriend. When Gwen heard this she became jealous of her and said angrily "I will peel you like a grape!".

Season 1

 * Kevin 11 (first appearance)

Season 2

 * Framed
 * Grudge Match
 * Back with a Vengeance

Season 4

 * Perfect Day (dream)

Ben 10: Alien Force

 * All episodes except Above and Beyond.
 * Ben 10: Alien Swarm

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

 * All episodes except Catch a Falling Star.

Season 1

 * The More Things Change: Part 1

Season 2

 * Many Happy Returns
 * Showdown: Part 2

Season 3

 * The Frogs of War: Part 2

Season 4

 * Mud Is Thicker Than Water (cameo)
 * OTTO Motives
 * For a Few Brains More

Season 5

 * Mystery, Incorporeal
 * And Then There Were None (alternate timeline)

Season 6

 * The Rooters of All Evil
 * Weapon XI: Part 1
 * Weapon XI: Part 2

Season 7

 * Charm School

Season 8

 * Third Time's a Charm

Season 4

 * OTTO Motives

Season 6

 * The Rooters of All Evil
 * Weapon XI: Part 1
 * Weapon XI: Part 2

Season 8

 * From Hedorium to Eternity

Cartoon Network Action Packs

 * The New Order
 * Bad Boy
 * Blast from the Past
 * A Brief Mystery of Time
 * Double Trouble
 * Ship Shape
 * Lazy Day
 * Soda Jerk
 * The Past is the Key to the Future
 * Backcountry Battleground
 * Benstorm
 * It's a Set Up
 * What Comes Around
 * Fashion Victim
 * Going Viral
 * Dodge Ben
 * Ben 10 On Ice
 * Breaking News
 * The Ben 10 Alien Force Experience
 * The Monster at the End of this Book
 * Give & Get
 * One Man's Trash
 * Powerless
 * Jail Break
 * Paper Scissors Stone
 * Flag
 * Hero Times Two
 * Black Knight's Flight

Chapter Books

 * Ben's Knightmare
 * War of the Worlds
 * Triple Threat
 * Double Negative
 * The Dark of Knight
 * Galaxy Wars
 * Science Friction

Omniverse

 * Ben 10 (Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4)
 * Ghost Ship
 * Joyrides
 * Parallel Paradox

Others

 * Doom Dimension (Volume 1)
 * Doom Dimension (Volume 2)
 * Wanted: Kevin Levin

Ben 10: Protector of Earth
Kevin appeared in every version of the game as the villain at the end of the Lumber Mill level and the second mini-boss in the secret challenge of the Null Void level.

Ben 10: Alien Force (Video Game)
Kevin appeared in every version of the game, like the previous game. Unlike the previous game, Kevin is playable only on the Wii, PSP and PS2 version of the game. He is playable for levels 2 (The Forest Medieval) and 8 (A Change in Weather), and in level 5 (Plumber Trouble) he was taken over by a Xenocyte and became the boss for that level.

Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks
Kevin appeared in every version of the game. He is not a playable character in any of the versions.

Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex
Kevin appeared as the first boss when he is taken over by the Techadon gauntlet.

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction
Kevin is seen in most of the clips in between levels, but is not a playable character.

Punch Time Explosion
Kevin is again transformed into Ultimate Kevin and used by Vilgax to defeat Ben, Chowder, Mung and Buttercup in Primus, But Ben defeated him and he returned to his normal form.

Punch Time Explosion XL
Kevin is a playable character in his normal form.

Ben 10: Galactic Racing
Kevin is a starter racer in Galactic Racing. His offensive move is Rocket Roll, where he fires a volley of missiles from his kart, his defensive move is Driving Force Field, where he absorbs metal to create a force field around the kart, and his Ultimate Omni-Move is Turbo Blast, where he uses a machine to boost the speed of the kart, while at the same time using his powers to create a force field around himself and the kart.

Trivia

 * Kevin's Alien Force and Ultimate Alien design was initially created by Glen Murakami. His face was tweaked and his body was slimmed down by Glenn Wong, with colors added by Chris Hooten.
 * Kevin is Jewish.
 * Kevin is about 6'3 and 230 lbs.
 * The creators of the original series originally intended for Kevin to be a mutant.
 * Kevin is afraid of alligators.
 * He watched Captain Planet and The X-Files when he was younger.
 * Kevin lives in the same area in Omniverse as Friedkin University rather than Bellwood.
 * Kevin is keeping the Taydenite car, but rebuilds his old car and uses the Taydenite only when he needs some money.
 * Kevin is famous, just not nearly as famous as Ben.
 * Mrs. Levin used to read The Princess Bride to Kevin when he was younger.
 * Kevin got the small, grey padlock that he wears for a necklace, from his first crime, which was stealing a bike to run away from Bellwood.
 * Kevin is the first non-family member that Ben shared his secret with.
 * Kevin was about five when Devin died. This has since been retconned in Omniverse, as it is revealed that Devin was a fake memory created by Servantis.
 * Kevin wears Holsters because his voice actor wears them too.
 * A running gag is Kevin becoming distraught every time his car gets damaged or destroyed during combat or miscellaneous events. The Rust Bucket 3 has also become a part of this running gag.