| Name | Kevin Ethan Levin |
| Species | Human/Osmosian |
| Home Planet | Earth |
| Status | Alive |
| Age | 17 |
| Occupation | Plumber Mechanic Con artist (formerly) |
| Residence | Bellwood, USA |
| Family | Gwen Tennyson - girlfriend Unnamed mother (Mrs. Levin) - mother Devin Levin - father (deceased) |
| Affiliation | Plumbers Black market (formerly) |
| Associates | Ben Tennyson |
| First appearance | "Pilot - Part 1" |
Images (0)
Kevin Ethan Levin is one of the protagonists of Ben 10: Heroes of Evolution.
Character Background[]
Kevin's attributes continue from the canon of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien - he is 17 years of age and lives and does work in his garage where he stores his muscle car. He mantains a relationship with Gwen Tennyson and accompanies her and Ben on their escapades. Kevin, like the other protagonists, makes his debut in "Pilot - Part 1". He, Ben and Gwen take down a Techadon terrorizing the streets of central Bellwood, and Will Harangue tampers with evidence screenshots to support his televised campaigns.
Kevin is allowed to visit Bellwood High School on Ben and Gwen's last day of 10th grade - he and Gwen are uninterested in Ben's constant partying with his friends. While Ben and Julie are chased by excited fans, Kevin and Gwen go home.
Ben takes the two the next day to the Bellwood Police Department (BPD) to confront Captain James Rozum, brother of Colonel Rozum, on a text he got the previous day that frightened him. Rozum divulges to Ben that he is disgusted how the perpetrators of a shooting were corrupt military officers. He reluctantly brings Gwen along for the investigation but demands that Kevin go home.
In "Pilot - Part 2", Kevin is captured by soldiers from General John Briggs' military unit, and Rozum, Gwen and Ben are taken as well elsewhere. Following a large public report by Harangue, everyone goes to Briggs' secret fort. After Colonel Rozum attacks the fort from outside, Ben is taken hostage following an attempted experimentation on the Ultimatrix along with Gwen, Kevin and Harangue, who Briggs betrayed. Vulkanus eliminates Rozum's men and kills Briggs, but Max Tennyson rescues Gwen and Kevin, and captures Harangue. Ben destroys the fort as Ultimate Cannonbolt and they all chase Vulkanus to Bellwood. Harangue escapes the Rust Bucket 3, but Ben takes both him and Vulkanus down and the criminals are apprehended. Kevin and Gwen drop by later and Ben assures them and his parents that all work comes with risks and hero time is never over.
Kevin rebuilds Ben's car after he accidentally destroys it as Humungousaur in the pilot. In "Brothers", Kevin and Ben race around the road surrounding Mr. Smoothy's - Gwen is frustrated and Kevin drives her home. Kevin is later called on his phone by a mysterious man looking for Ben - when he refuses to tell him anything, the man activates a secrtely-installed bomb on Kevin's phone, which Kevin evades and rushes for Ben's house.
Kevin saves Ben's parents from assassins Krill and Wyatt Herman, who he then fights with Ben, and later Gwen, even calling on the Plumbers using his badge. The brothers are taken down near a bridge and Max calls Kevin's badge to say that Krill and Wyatt were his former students in the academy. The brothers reveal that in late 2012, they were blackmailed by an anonymous man to carry out assassinations for him, under the threat that he would harm their families. In the present day, the man texts the brothers to commit suicide and sends them a picture of their captive parents. The brothers comply and the three are horrified. Max comes over to pick them up and is devastated, vowing to find their blackmailer.
In "The Legacy Artifact", the three are trying to decide where to go besides Mr. Smoothy's, with Kevin insisting they never go where he wants. Gwen spots the Everstone exhibit in Bellwood National Museum. They watch curator Phil Stephens lecture on the artifact, and break in the same night. British mobsters Percy Lancaster, Simon Williams and Rick Thomas rob the artifact, seemingly killing Stephens.
Percy and Simon are tracked and defeated, and reveal that they're in fact former Forever Knights seeking to spread their legacy. Their third member, Rick, is on the run with the Everstone and their employer is in fact the Knights' King Philip. Ben realizes Stephens is King Philip, and that he faked his death. Percy is unaware of Rick's plans and accidentally tips them off to the wrong airport where Rick is meeting Stephens; elsewhere, Stephens murders Rick, but is blown up along with the stone by a band of guerrillas, who are then sniped by a man working for Krill and Wyatt's blackmailer.
In "Authorities", following the trio's learning that Rick's remains were recovered, Kevin decides they play basketball, much to Ben's frustration. Ben gets a call from Rozum to investigate a destroyed drug lab - using recovered evidence, Rozum confirms they're after a mysterious man named "Arrowhead", taking down drug dealers smuggling a weaponized chemical used by Krill and Wyatt. Arrowhead overpowers Gwen and Kevin, but is defeated by Ben and revealed to be Rozum's old friend Dennis Blake. Following some fallout, the trio enlist Blake's help and his extreme skills to take down the cartel and Ssserpent, its leader. Ssserpent says that he is a former member of the blackmailer's team, but the blackmailer, owning the facility at which Ssserpent was defeated, activates a hidden Null Void projector that consumes Ssserpent. The trio and the cops make it out safe and Rozum appoints Blake a member of the precinct.
Personality[]
Kevin's personality in Heroes of Evolution remains relatively unchaged from Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. He is snobbish, stubborn, but has more recently softened his aggression around friends to constant complaining. He minds his manners around Gwen and his friends' family, however, and has grown more capable of showing respect.
Though he is the most aggressively natured of the group, like Gwen, Kevin expresses deep frustration at Ben, whose attitude in this series is depicted as carefree, sarcastic, constantly humorous, and practically like a playboy. Ben undertakes in regularly informing newcomers that Kevin was a criminal, which very much angers him, and he keeps making intimate jokes about Kevin and Gwen's dating life, which always embarasses Kevin. Ben also takes advantage of Kevin's depicted gullibility.
On the more serious end of things, however, Kevin is shown to be extremely powerful and channels his aggression through more compassion rather than personal anger he feels the need to get out. He is generally passive around his friends but is extremely protective of them, and does not hesitate to make nasty threats to people who harass Gwen - this is similar to the actual show.
Kevin's personal life sees a love of sports besides soccer, which he seems to solely dislike because of the fact that it's Ben's favorite sport, and he uses the excuse that it makes him look like a loser. Kevin enjoys basketball and plays with an active interest in "Authorities" after a long period of the three never really going where he desires. Kevin admits to loving auto shops and claims that he goes either for additions and replacements to his car, or for simple pleasure.
He's learned to drift away from the black market and has himself turned more honest - Ben sometimes ignores Kevin's personal developments and goes on to continue poking fun at him, which both Kevin and Gwen sometimes consider harsh and ignorant. Ben may realize this when his compassion takes over, but otherwise, his relationship with Kevin continues to dance beyond and behind the limits of friendly rivalry.
Powers/Abilities[]
Kevin's Osmosian-enabled ability of matter absorption have no changes in their depiction in Heroes of Evolution besides aesthetically. He is able to still absorb anything he touches at will and uses it freely to enhance his melee prowess.
The visuals involved in Kevin's absorption quickly go through several intricate phases, much like Ben's transformations, for the purpose of embracing and reinforcing the realistic nature of the show. When he is absorbing a surface, the appearance is obviously different each time depending on material, but the process follows change in skin texture to match that of the material, followed by the gradual change of his clothing and skin.
Using stone as an example, within the duration of roughly three to four seconds, Kevin's skin becomes dry and rough, starts to slightly crack, and then solidifies as his skin decolors and fades into gray.
If Kevin is absorbing a material that has been painted over, all that changes is the addition of the coloring to his transformation. His inital stages of absorption show the baseline color of the material (e.g. brown despite the color of the wood) - this is followed by the coloration of the material - the appearance looks like a paint splatter pattern happening on his skin - it starts off looking like his body is a screen playing a "video" of the paint, and then the paint solidifies and colors him entirely. Since this is CGI and not a 2D cartoon, the coloring is obviously not just solid color, but comes with mixes and cracks, or dents, depending on the material.
The greatest change to Kevin's absorption, however, is the fact that in Heroes of Evolution, the material being absorbed is essentially an armor. This has been shown numerous times when Kevin becomes aluminum - powerful adversaries rip apart the metal and his clothes or skin underneath are exposed.
Aside from his primary ability, Kevin nonetheless remains an expert combatant and often relies on non-sloppy brute force to engage his opponents. He is also a skilled mechanic and driver, being a daredevil when he needs to yet still remaining cautious and showing deep compassion for his car.
Trivia[]
- Kevin takes quite an active interest in basketball besides just simple timepass - he's shown to take effort in making three-pointers and such tricks.
- Kevin expresses frustration in Ben when he takes his seat at Mr. Smoothy's - Ben takes advantage of Kevin's occasional gullibility on more than one occasion.