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 characters until his departure, along with Gwen in The More Things Change: Part 1.

Appearance
In the original series, Kevin is 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. 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 pants.

In Alien Force, Kevin grew 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 grey long sleeve shirt, blue pants, and black combat shoes. His hair, although still long, is styled into a choppy mullet. Occasionally, he is 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 goes through a second mutation, an unbalanced mixture of various matters, the transformation completely destroys 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. 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.

In Omniverse, Kevin wears the same black shirt but the sleeves and collar are roughly cut, the sleeves on his long sleeved grey shirt are slightly torn and he wears blue wholesters. His hair is longer and straighter. His pants have a small tear below the left knee. He also wears a padlock necklace similar to the one he wore when he was 11 but marked with an "11". He also sports black discolored marks around his eyes, making him appear tired; these marks bear similarity to when he was 11 and still absorbing energy.

Later in the series, Kevin grows a few chin whiskers and his grey shirt gains stripes. 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".

Personality
Due to his complicated childhood and abilities, as a child, Kevin exhibited sociopathic tendencies, such as 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. As time went on and Kevin was accepted by Ben and Gwen, who were once his most hated enemies, his personality and psyche improved greatly to the point that he became a trustworthy and reliable ally. 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 especially Gwen still greatly trust him.

Though Kevin can still be cynical 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, also has a sensitive side, as seen in Con of Rath when Jarett ate the 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.

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.

Background
Kevin Levin is born to an unknown father and Mrs. Levin. Sometime after his father'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 his real father 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 managed 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, ran away and made his way to New York, where he made his home in an abandoned subway.

Five years prior to Omniverse
Kevin is found by the Rooters, who did experiments with his Osmosian powers on Alan Albright, Helen Wheels, Manny Armstrong and Pierce Wheels, transforming them into the Amalgam Kids, making them do nasty things. After that, Kevin fled, only with Servantis controlling his memories, convincing him that he had "alien blood".

During the time that he was associated with the Rooters, Kevin first met Argit when he gave a caged Argit a leaf to eat. Kevin then says that he is going back to Earth and save it and intends to take down Ben.

Eventually on Earth, Kevin discovers Argit and threatens him to start running and he and the Amalgam Kids confronted Ben, Gwen, and Max and Kevin fired a blast at Ben. Ben manages to avoid the shot and transforms into Eye Guy. Eye Guy pins Kevin down, However, Kevin did this to get Ben to come closer and touches the Omnitrix causing Kevin to mutate again. Kevin, like Ben stated, starts to go insane again and even attacks his allies the Amalgam Kids. Kevin was eventually stopped by Argit who used his quills. Kevin and the Amalgam Kids were sent back to the Null Void but an enraged Servantis wiped out their memories and sent them away. Servantis then abandoned the plan to destroy Ben after Ben stopped wearing the Omnitrix.

In the Null Void, Kevin and Argit are moving some objects around and they both talk about how difficult it is to bring the objects together. Suddenly, a robot named Otto arrives and says that he is going to use the objects to help them get out of the Null Void. Otto tricks Kevin and Argit into turning on the device and escapes without them, leaving now-dismayed Kevin and Argit trapped in the Null Void.

At some point later, Kevin was brought out of the Null Void by Thaddeus J. Collins, who was being possessed by Zs'Skayr, and tied to the Null Void portal using Plumber technology. Collins asked Kevin to use his absorbing powers to mine Hedorium underground. Kevin was mining for Hedorium in a dark cave when he encounters Ben (who was accompanied by his cousins Gwen and Lucy and his friends Cooper and Jonesy). After Cooper examines the technology as Kevin asks him to disconnect him from the portal, Ben disagrees with Kevin's request as he has done a lot of bad deeds to him. Kevin then tells Ben that the Earth would be in danger, Ben takes Lucy and Jonesy to find out about the problem as Gwen and Cooper deal with Kevin. While Ben as Eye Guy, Lucy and Jonesy fight Grandpa Max holding a weapon, Kevin teases Cooper about being Gwen's boyfriend but both of them stated they were just friends. Kevin teases and thinks he is a better guy, leaving Gwen raged and walks away. As Eye Guy, Lucy, and Jonesy defeat Max, Cooper tried to pull the connection but failed. He then re-programmed Kevin's connection to let him pull the portal like a kite. Gwen blasts at the portal to separate the ionic bonds as they headed to join Ben, Lucy and Jonesy. Ben laughs at Kevin because he is still connected to the portal, Kevin says it is better than being stuck to one spot. As the group walked further into the caves, they see a portal which things come out off. They head up only to see Thaddeus J.Collins, who is revealed to the children to be Zs'Skayr in disguise, and that the portal is for the Ectonurites to come in from their homeworld. Gwen is surprised that Kevin has been helping Zs'Skayr. The other Ectonurites are inside the bodies and controlling the grown ups. Due to the collective efforts of all the kids, everyone was saved when suddenly the Null Void portal starts to pull Kevin. Ben, Gwen, Lucy, Jonesy and Cooper help to pull Kevin in order to prevent him from being pulled into the Null Void portal, but they fail to do so when Ben loses his grip on Kevin's hand, leaving Kevin getting pulled back into the Null Void.

At some point later, Kevin and Argit managed to escape from the Null Void at the same time and two years after breaking away from Servantis, Kevin began work on his car, not satisfied with a simple standard model he began outfitting it with Alien Tech, and to this end traveled to Khoros to acquire a Tetramand engine block for it. Since the tech couldn't be given to an outsider, he wooed the then teenage Princess Looma Red Wind and successfully defeated her combat earning the right to marry her in three years thereby making him a part of the family and was given the engine as a gift.

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 as seen in Greetings from Techadon) 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.

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.

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 could absorb their powers and abilities so he could attain their full powers and abilities. 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. As seen in The Rooters of All Evil, 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.

In Plumbers' Helpers, Kevin was able to absorb multiple materials at once. In the same episode, he also displayed 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, as revealed in All That Glitters, 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.

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 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 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. 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. If Kevin absorbs mud, objects will pass through him without causing physical damage. He can even absorb bubblegum.

Other Skills and Abilities
Even without his absorption powers, Kevin is shown to be stronger than an average human. As Ben noticed in Trade-Off, 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 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.

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 either could 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.

Ben 10

 * Kevin 11 (first appearance)
 * Framed
 * Grudge Match
 * Back with a Vengeance
 * 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.

Ben 10: Omniverse

 * The More Things Change: Part 1
 * Many Happy Returns
 * Showdown: Part 2
 * The Frogs of War: Part 2
 * Mud Is Thicker Than Water (cameo)
 * OTTO Motives (12 and 17 years old)
 * For a Few Brains More
 * Mystery, Incorporeal
 * The Rooters of All Evil (12 and 17 years old)
 * Weapon XI: Part 1 (12 and 17 years old)
 * Weapon XI: Part 2 (12 and 17 years old)
 * Charm School
 * From Hedorium to Eternity (12 years old)
 * Third Time's a Charm

Cartoon Network Action Packs

 * The New Order
 * Bad Boy
 * A 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
 * 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.

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 according to Dwayne McDuffie, 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 got jealous of her and said  angrily "I will peel you like a grape!".

Trivia

 * According to Derrick J. Wyatt:
 * Kevin wears wholesters because his voice actor wears them too.
 * In Omniverse, Kevin lives in the same area as Gwen's college rather than Bellwood.
 * The creators of the original series originally intended for Kevin to be a mutant.
 * Kevin is keeping the Taydenite car, but will rebuild his old car and will just use the Taydenite for when he needs some money. This was shown true in Charm School.
 * 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.
 * In The Widening Gyre, it is indirectly stated by Kevin, that he watched "Captain Planet" and "The X-Files" when he was younger.