Kevin and Charmcaster's Actual Character Development
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So I was on the Ben 10 Planet wiki a little while ago and came across one topic discussion on the Forums that has this link here. Someone asked Duncan Rouleau from MOA if Kevin and Charmcaster were supposed to either stay as villains or be anti-heroes. Duncan Rouleau answered saying that Kevin and Charmcaster were always meant to be anti-hero foils to Ben and Gwen, highlighting more personal aspects of conflict inside their emotional journeys that were more peer related and not in an adult vs. child structure. So according to Rouleau, Man of Action always intended for Kevin and Charmcaster to fit into a more anti-hero role in the Ben 10 series. Here is the link to the Tumblr post.
http://themattress.tumblr.com/post/147424354834
My take on this is that I pretty much have to disagree in regards to Kevin. Based on everything that I discussed about him, having a more heroic role for Kevin just doesn't fit and suit him well. He's a thug that only cares about himself and is willing to do anything to get what he wants. In the episode "Kevin 11" in the Original Series, Kevin (who was at the age of 11) was so willing to have hundreds of people die just for some cash. Just because he was greedy. Let's also not forget to mention this very page that I made a while back discussing Kevin's poor sense of judgement as a result of the amount of damage that was caused to his brain as a result of having absorbed so much energy from the Omnitrix and other energy sources. Even if Kevin does transition into a more anti-hero role, considering the "Ken 10" episode in the Original Series, it doesn't look as if that type of role would end up working well for Kevin in the end and he'll eventually just end up going back to his old ways soon after.
http://ben10club.org/topic/72/effects-of-kevin-absorbing-energy-from-the-omnitrix
Charmcaster on the other hand, I can definitely see her being able to turn her life around and for the better. In the Original Series, Charmcaster felt more like a victim that was corrupted by such an evil and abusive individual. There were moments where she does care about others and hasn't done anything as horrible as what Kevin tried to do in the Original Series. Hex just ends up keeping her in chains. Using her as a pawn for his own evil plans. If anyone has watched or read "The Killing Joke" Batman comic/film, there is a saying from the Joker of how it could take one bad day to make the sanest person go insane. In the case with Charmcaster, it looks as if all she needs is one good day in order for her to be able to turn her life around. I can also definitely see her reaching a breaking point where Charmcaster would eventually have enough of Hex's bullshit and finally decide to fight back and give Hex a taste of his own medicine. So yeah, I can definitely see Charmcaster being able to fit into the role of an anti-hero in the Ben 10 series.
Going back to Kevin, I can see how this could contribute to the series in regards to the story and Ben and Gwen as characters. Regardless of how great Vilgax is as a villain, at least in my opinion, he doesn't have as much significance and potential as a villain in the series as Kevin does. Vilgax doesn't even seem to be the type of villain that would hang around in the series for long. Hell, Ben was even supposed to kill Vilgax in the series and no longer was supposed to encounter him again until the events of the episode "Ben 10,000." Vilgax just has a mere grudge towards Ben and his grandfather, Max. Vilgax just hates them. Kevin, however, has a more personal connection to Ben than Vilgax. Kevin wants revenge on Ben. Kevin's conflict towards Ben is a vendetta. Kevin wants payback for Ben having defeated him numerous times. With Kevin having a more personal and significant connection to Ben than Vilgax does, I can see much greater and more significant potential for Kevin as a villain in the series to the point where I think Kevin is the actual true main villain in the Ben 10 series.
With that in mind, I can see how Vilgax's death is the reason for Ben wanting to take the Omnitrix off in the first place (if MOA were to maintain that plot point in Hero Generation) while Kevin transitioning to a more anti-hero role only to later return back to his old ways and re-spark his conflict and vendetta towards Ben and thus the resulting outcome of this ending tragically for Ben and Gwen and acting as the final breaking point at which Ben transitions into Ben 10,000. That's at least how I can and would see this direction of Kevin being an anti-hero going for the Ben 10 series. That this is what I consider to be the best direction for Kevin transitioning into an anti-hero that would work best for the series.
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Well, I think you're right about Charmcaster. And you're right about Kevin too, even though I would like to see him as a good guy again. I really can't wait to see the reboot! I think most villains in the reboot will be either "beware the silly ones" or "slightly comedic but still very dangerous".
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with me goodvibes1 I did not like him as a good guy to me he should of stayed a villain plus also the whole thing where gwen falls in love with kevin was to me a stupid idea plus if I was ben I would of put two rounds in his head and two in the heart and than I would cut up the body to make sure he stays dead by putting each piece in a cement block and dump this into a lake or the ocean
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I'm slightly surprised that they didn't have Charmcaster and Kevin work together to fight Ben and Gwen, that would have been cool to see.
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ah yeah that would of been interesting also if I was ben I would try to find a way to make carbonite and use that on kevin and charmcaster instead of putting them In the nullvoid or if he does put them in the nullvoid have them in carbonite so they cant do anything
