Kevin (Sin City)

SinCityCharacter


caption = Kevin approaches in silence.
character_name = Kevin
comic_color=background:#000000
publisher = Dark Horse Comics
debut = The Hard Goodbye
creators = Frank Miller
full_name = Unknown
affiliation = Roark Family
status = Deceased
portrayer = Elijah Wood

Kevin is a fictional character in Frank Miller's "Sin City" yarns, most prominently featured in "The Hard Goodbye".

Character overview

Kevin is an intentionally mute serial killer who resides at "The Farm", a shadowy retreat owned by the powerful Roark family. Though he never speaks a single word, his erstwhile protector Cardinal Roark claims that he has the voice of an angel. He kills prostitutes, mounts their heads on a wall like hunting trophies, and cannibalizes their remains, giving the leftovers to his pet wolf. He is sheltered by Cardinal Roark, to whom he supposedly confessed being tormented by guilt over his crimes.

He appears as a small, shadowy figure with occasionally glowing glasses, razor-sharp fingernails that he uses as weapons, sneakers, and a Charlie Brown-esque argyle sweater. Kevin is preternaturally quick and silent, and ferociously skilled at martial arts.

In Miller's novels

In "The Hard Goodbye", Kevin murders Goldie, one of Old Town's most prominent hookers. Marv, a local brawler who had been sleeping beside her when Kevin killed her, seeks revenge and tracks her murderers to the Farm. Kevin sneaks up on, blinds and beats Marv into unconsciousness without breaking a sweat; quite an impressive feat, as Marv is over seven feet tall, 300 pounds, all but impervious to physical pain, and has proven to be more than capable of handling himself in a fight against multiple well-armed opponents. Marv also later notes that Kevin is the only person to have ever successfully sneaked up on him.

Upon escaping the Farm after their first confrontation, Marv returns armed with his Colt 1911, gasoline, handcuffs, razor wire, several lengths of rubber tubing, and his "mitts". Knowing most of Kevin's tricks at this point, he sets up a series of traps around the Farm, then flushes Kevin out by torching the farm house with a Molotov cocktail. Kevin avoids Marv's razor wire rig, and the two fight it out hand-to-hand. Marv again takes quite a beating, but keeps on fighting and eventually outsmarts Kevin by handcuffing him to himself, preventing Kevin from jumping away and allowing Marv to knock him out with one strong punch to the jaw. Goldie's twin sister Wendy shows up with a gun, intending to kill Kevin herself; but Marv knocks her out, because he intends to torture Kevin first, and doesn't want Wendy to witness such a disturbing scene.

Marv proceeds to torture Kevin, amputating his foe's arms and legs with the hacksaw and using the rubber tubing as tourniquets to keep him alive. He beckons Kevin's pet wolf, who begins to eat his master. Even as his entrails are being devoured by his own pet, Kevin simply smiles calmly and doesn't utter a sound. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Marv finishes the job by sawing Kevin's head off, but the lunatic's stony silence and unwavering gaze rob him of any satisfaction the kill would have given him.

Kevin also makes a cameo appearance during the climax of "That Yellow Bastard" (set almost four years before "The Hard Goodbye"), reading a Bible in a rocking chair while John Hartigan infiltrates the Farm.

In other media

In the 2005 film adaptation of "Sin City", Kevin was portrayed by Elijah Wood.

Wood never met Mickey Rourke (who portrayed Marv) during the filming. The two were shot completely separately, with each one fighting the other's respective stunt double.

Frank Miller has stated in the Recut DVD that Kevin and Miho are the supernatural beings in Sin City. Miller characterizes them as "demons"; Miho is the good "demon" and Kevin is the evil one.