| “ | "I always trusted you." | ” |
Kevin Tran was an advanced placement high school student whose life was turned upside down when he became a Prophet.
Kevin translated the Leviathan tablet which led to the downfall of Dick Roman, and then uncovered the secrets of closing Hell forever in the Demon tablet before being tasked with reversing Metatron's spell to empty out Heaven. Kevin was smote by Gadreel who was possessing Sam Winchester, on Metatron's instructions. He later returned as a ghost unable to move onto Heaven as a side-effect of Metatron's spell and decided to stay with and protect his mother.
Two years later Kevin was called upon by God to help him convince the Winchesters to trust him. Afterwards, God sent Kevin's soul to his final resting place in Heaven, stating that Kevin had been stuck in the Veil long enough.
Season 7
Reading Is Fundamental
Kevin was a normal kid studying for his high school exams when he was struck by lightning. Waking up the next day, he was compelled to take his mother's car and go after the tablet. He stole the tablet while nobody was looking and made a run for it. However he was chased and eventually caught by Sam and Meg. He explained to the brothers that he couldn't explain what happened or why he felt compelled to keep the tablet close to him. However he informed them that he can read it, although it was getting harder to focus reading it over time.
Edgar confronts Kevin and his mother.
Two angels, Hester and Inias appear to take him to the desert, a rite for every prophet in order to read the Word. However they were banished by Dean using a sigil. Kevin freaks out but then calms down. He accompanies the brothers, Meg and Castiel to Rufus's cabin. After he had translated the tablet, the Winchesters allowed the angels to take him. The angels agree to return Kevin to his mother, and watch over him. Unfortunately, Edgar the Leviathan was waiting for them at Kevin's home. He killed both of Kevin's angel escorts and kidnapped Kevin.
There Will Be Blood
Kevin held captive by Dick.
Kevin is sitting bound and gagged in a conference room. Dick Roman removes the tape from his mouth and has Edgar unbind him. Dick tells Kevin to translate the Word of God, which Edgar stole when he kidnapped Kevin. When he initially refuses, Edgar turns on a live video feed, showing his mother being held hostage with a blade to her neck. He translates the tablet for the Leviathans, and Edgar releases his mother. Dick, however, says that he needs Kevin to stay a little while longer, presumably so that he doesn't warn the Winchesters.
Survival of the Fittest
Kevin being abducted by Crowley's demons.
Kevin is seen in a waiting room where he meets Polly - a brainwashed human test subject. He tries to converse with her, but quickly realizes she's too "stoned" to care about anything. He later escapes the room but is caught by Susan after spying on Dick, finding out the Leviathans plans, and is taken to a room and is bound and gagged to a chair. Sam comes and rescues him and Kevin tells Sam they need to destroy the lab. Sam and Kevin later go and find Dean, Castiel and Dick Roman and witness Dick's death. Dean and Castiel inexplicably vanish. Moments later, Crowley shows up with two demons and orders them to take Kevin.
Season 8
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Crowley holds Kevin captive.
Kevin, who has had his hair cut and a manicure and pedicure on Crowley's orders in order to spiff him up, is brought to a warehouse by Crowley who reveals that he has somehow gotten his hands on another Word of God tablet, this one about demons. Crowley asks Kevin to translate it for him and Kevin learns that part of the tablet describes how to open the Gates of Hell and let all demons out upon the Earth which is what Crowley wants. Kevin directs Crowley to a Gate in Wisconson while he performs a spell to open it. However, Kevin takes advantage of the fact that Crowley can't read the tablet and casts a different spell, this one to kill demons. Kevin kills the two demons guarding him with it and escapes with the tablet. Kevin learns many things from the tablet, including the effects of holy water and how to make a Devil's Trap and that there is a way to close the gates forever and banish all demons from the Earth. Kevin hides the tablet and travels to Michigan to the college his girlfriend Channing is studying at, but doesn't go and see her. Kevin then travels to Fairfield, Iowa where he hides out in a church. All throughout this time, Kevin tries to contact Sam for help, but gives up after six months of not being able to reach him, believing him to be dead.
Kevin after Dean returns from Purgatory.
After Dean returns from Purgatory, Sam and Dean track him down and explain why they didn't come find him. Kevin explains what happened to him and what he learned. Sam later apologizes for not helping him. Kevin expresses solemnly the disbelief that this is now his life, and ultimately does not believe Sam when he says it will get better. Shortly after Kevin leaves, two demons show up. Kevin helps Sam kill one by shooting it repeatedly with holy water, distracting it. Crowley arrives with a possessed Channing and offers a deal: Kevin turns himself over and Crowley will let her go, proving that Channing is still alive by letting her take control for a moment.
Kevin pretends to agree, but instead lures the two demons into a backroom where he pulls at a string that releases a container of holy water above the door, dousing and distracting them, allowing him and the Winchesters to escape. Enraged, Crowley snaps Channing's neck while Kevin watches from the speeding Impala. Afterwards, Kevin is seen upset over the loss of his girlfriend in the car, and snaps at Sam who asks him how he's holding up.
What's Up, Tiger Mommy?
Kevin and his mother.
Kevin wants to check on his mother for fear of her ending up like Channing, despite Dean's reassurances that it's better they do not endanger her by heading off into a trap if Crowley is waiting for them. On Kevin's insistence, the Winchester brothers bring him back home and watch his house at a distance. After clearing the demons keeping watch on his house, Kevin reunites with his mother and explains along with the Winchesters on the existence of demons and the supernatural, which Mrs. Tran takes in this information with surprising ease.
After getting anti-possession tattoos, Kevin, along with his mother who has insisted in going along with the group, and the Winchesters attend the auction held by the pagan god Plutus to retrieve the stolen Word Of God. Kevin is then kidnapped by Beau, with Mrs. Tran offering her soul in exchange for the release of her son. Before this can happen, Crowley possesses Mrs. Tran and steals the tablet after killing Plutus. Dean attempts to kill Crowley in Mrs. Tran's body, but he escapes. Kevin, angry by the fact Dean was willing to kill his mother to get to Crowley, secretly disappears with his traumatized mother to get away from both the Winchesters and Crowley.
A Little Slice of Kevin
Kevin and his mother stay in an abandoned restaurant to hide from the demons. Mrs. Tran, who has recovered from her possession, attempts to replicate the demon bomb that Kevin made for his initial escape from the demons to deal with Crowley so they can strike back at him. She hires a witch, Delta, to deliver the ingredients to them, but Delta betrays their location to Crowley. Kevin is captured by Crowley while Mrs. Tran incapacitates one of his demons with holy water and overpowers him.
Kevin tortured by Crowley.
Kevin is brought to an abandoned warehouse where Crowley has kidnapped all the future prophets in an attempt to translate the tablet. Crowley forces Kevin to translate the tablet by killing one of the prophets and later cutting off his left pinky finger when he refuses. While the Winchester brothers and Castiel arrive at the warehouse to rescue him, Kevin reads the tablet and tells Crowley that there is information on how to kill demons and close the gates of Hell. Before he can be forced to reveal more on the existence of other tablets written by God's scribe Metatron, Castiel interrupts and inadvertently smashes the demon tablet in half when Crowley tries to escape with it.
Kevin's injuries are tended-to by his mom, who is warned by Sam that calling a witch has resulted in this situation. The brothers call Garth to look after them while Castiel believes he can heal Kevin's cut-off finger.
Torn and Frayed
Dean and Sam are teleported by Castiel to a freighter holding a disheveled Kevin, who Garth has relocated. Mrs. Tran is revealed to be hiding in another hideout away from Kevin while he attempts to translate his half of the demon tablet to no avail.
Trial and Error
Kevin upon finally translating the demon tablet.
After several weeks of translating the demon tablet without much sleep, Kevin finally discovers the way to close the gates of Hell. He informs the Winchester brothers that the method involves three trials of God's design, the first of which is to bathe in the blood of a hellhound. Noticing Kevin's disheveled state, Sam urges him to take better care of himself and see light at the end of their ordeal. At Dean's request, Kevin began researching hellhounds to help the brothers find a way to pierce their invisibility and later called to inform that a window or pair of glasses scorched by holy fire can enable them to see a hellhound.
Taxi Driver
Kevin becomes even more restless and weary, finally reaching the point that he begins to have dreams and waking hallucinations of Crowley speaking to him in his mind and dismembering his limbs. Despite the terrifying ordeal, Kevin makes progress on the translation of the demon tablet and informs Dean and Sam of the second trial, which is to rescue an innocent soul from Hell and deliver it to Heaven.
While Dean and Sam doubts that Crowley is speaking to Kevin in his mind and try to calm him down, Kevin isolates himself in a small closet in fear of being discovered by Crowley. He tells Dean that he can't take it anymore but Dean urges him to get a grip and keep going, because that is what they do best. Kevin comes to a decision and hides the demon tablet in a secret location only known to himself, to Dean's chagrin.
Crowley once again captures Kevin.
Alone on the boat later at night, Kevin once again hears Crowley's voice in his head and tries to assure himself that it is a dream, but the room shakes and Crowley appears as the windows break. He tells Kevin that he has killed his mother and discovered his address on her cellphone. Kevin becomes distraught while Crowley says that he like the rest of them are just fleeting blips of light while Crowley is forever. This causes Kevin to finally break down and scream in despair. When the Winchester brothers return to the boat after Sam has passed the second trial, they discover that Kevin is gone, along with all his belongings and research done on the demon tablet.
The Great Escapist
Metatron rescues Kevin.
Two demons pretending to be Sam and Dean bring Kevin Crowley's half of the demon tablet to translate while he is trapped in an illusion of Garth's houseboat. Kevin works on translating the second half of the tablet while a message he recorded along with all of his notes on the first half are sent to the real Sam and Dean. As time goes on, Kevin realizes he's being tricked by how polite "Sam" and "Dean" are being and tricks them into going into a Devil's Trap. Crowley visits Kevin who refuses to tell him anything but that Crowley has no idea how much power he could've gotten from the demon tablet. As Crowley strangles Kevin to death, Metatron rescues him. At this point, Kevin's eyes lit up, suggesting he was either temporarily possessed by the angel, or that the prophet channeled the holy white light of the angel. Metatron takes him to his hideout where he heals Kevin who reveals that he took the second half of the tablet with him. Kevin knows the third trial and he and Metatron reveal it: cure a demon. Kevin is confused at who Metatron is when he shows knowledge of the trial.
Sacrifice
Sam and Dean greet Kevin Tran digging up the tablet, and offered him the key to the Men of Letters base. Later when Dean tried to confirm the authenticity of the Heaven trials of Metatron, Kevin said that he could not find any evidence of the trials performed by Castiel and Metatron and listens over the phone as Naomi claims that it will in reality banish all angels from Heaven to Earth. Back at the Men of Letters base, every instrument comes to life as Kevin prepared to leave. Bulbs start glowing, sirens wail and small spots dot a map covering every continent. Kevin looks on bewildered as the instruments note the change in the supernatural world: every angel falling down to earth.
Season 9
Devil May Care
A panicking Kevin is waiting in the Men of Letters base when Sam and Dean return and shoots at Dean with a crossbow, though he misses. Kevin explains how everything in the base started going off and then the base locked down and he couldn't get out or call anyone. When everything works again, Kevin speculates that Dean unlocking the base from the outside lifted the lockdown. Kevin is shocked to see Crowley being dragged in and demands to know why he isn't dead. Dean explains they need Crowley and asks Kevin to look over the angel tablet to try to find the spell Metatron used to expel all angels from Heaven and a way to reverse it.
Later, needing someone to cover for them with a military sergeant, Dean calls a confused Kevin to have him do it. Kevin isn't very convincing due to his age, but is able to blackmail the sergeant into agreeing by hacking into her computer and finding out her dirty secrets, threatening to expose them.
Dean then asks Kevin to look for anything on how to permanently kill a Knight of Hell in the archives. Looking for files in the file room attached to the dungeon, Kevin is taunted by Crowley who he beats severely in revenge for his own torture at the demon's hands. Crowley claims to Kevin that his mother is still alive and promises to lead Kevin to her if he lets him go, warning him that the Winchesters will use him and then dispose of him when they don't need him anymore.
Dean pleads with Kevin to stay.
Though he doesn't free Crowley, Kevin decides to leave to seek out his mother and is confronted by a returned Dean. Dean warns him that even if his mother is still alive, she is worse than dead and tells Kevin that he is now family to the Winchesters who will die to protect him as they are all each other has left. Dean tells Kevin he won't stop him, saying Kevin being family means something to him and asks if Kevin feels the same. Kevin decides not to leave and goes to sleep.
Dog Dean Afternoon
After returning from his outing in Branson, Missouri, Kevin is still recovering and is hung-over. Needing to communicate with a dog, the only witness to two murders, Sam calls Kevin to find a way to do it. Kevin finds an old Inuit spell that was capable of performing this effect. Dean successfully casts the spell, but it gives him dog-like traits so he and Sam call Kevin for more information. Kevin discovers that the spell has some side effects, namely that mind melding with an animal can make you start exhibiting some of its behavior. Kevin is unaware of how long the effects will last but hopes that when the spell wears off, so will the side effects.
Heaven Can't Wait
Unable to translate the angel tablet into English, Kevin manages to translate it into Elamite Cuneiform which is a dead language. Despite this, he manages to determine that the footnotes refer to Metatron's spell and works with Sam to try to translate it using the Men of Letters' encyclopedia of dead languages. Failing that, Sam considers getting Crowley to translate which Kevin isn't thrilled about. Crowley proves he can read Elamite but demands a call to Abaddon in exchange. With no other choice, Sam and Kevin agree, but Crowley demands to use Kevin's blood instead of Sam's. Though Kevin initially refuses as Crowley killed his mother, he eventually gives him the blood. Sam and Kevin watch Crowley's call with Abaddon and afterwards he reads the translations and reveals to them that the spell is irreversible.
Holy Terror
Gadreel smites Kevin.
Dean asked Kevin to search the angel tablet for a spell that could temporarily disable an angel from listening in a host's body in order to warn Sam about Gadreel, the angel who possessed him. After dodging Dean's interrogations, Gadreel comes up to the working Kevin and kills him as he is shown to have been instructed to do so by Metatron in order to show his allegiance and prevent the prophet from helping the Winchesters stop his plans to rule Earth and Heaven. After Gadreel leaves with Kevin's tablets, Dean breaks down in tears quietly repeating Kevin's name over and over in despair as he has lost both Sam and Kevin who were both part of what little family he had left.
Road Trip
Dean gives him a hunter's farewell. Metatron mentions that after Kevin, thanks to "flipping a switch upstairs", there will be no more prophets. Kevin's death greatly affects Dean who after expelling Gadreel from Sam heads out on his own mission, leaving Sam and Cas, to find and kill Gadreel. Sam also feels personally responsible for Kevin's death as Gadreel used his body to do it.
Captives
Sam and Dean discover that Kevin's ghost is haunting the Bunker. After making himself known, Kevin is finally able to manifest himself and explains that he is stuck in the Veil since Heaven is closed. Kevin tells Sam and Dean that he has learned from another ghost named Candy that his mother is still alive and begs them to rescue her. Sam and Dean decide to track down Candy and try to find Linda.
Kevin's spirit bids the boys farewell.
When Sam and Dean return to the Bunker, they call for Kevin who appears to them and asks if they found his mother. Kevin is relieved to hear they managed to rescue her and mother and son are reunited. Linda finds a ring belonging to Kevin's father which she believes is what he's attached to and decides to take him home with her, feeling responsible for him as she's his mother despite Dean's warnings that things could go wrong. Kevin is also willing to go to look after Linda, but before he leaves, he asks Sam and Dean to set aside their differences, using his own fate as an example, knowing about them as he was there all the time though he was unable to manifest.
Season 11
All in the Family
Kevin's spirit finally enters Heaven.
After God transports the Winchesters to the Bunker, Kevin appears from behind him. The Winchesters are shocked to see Kevin who notes that they look stressed, especially Dean and tells them to trust God, that whatever he needs them to do, as he must think they can handle it. Kevin points out that he always trusted them and Dean bitterly remembers that it didn't end well. Kevin tells the Winchesters he's fine for someone who's dead and God tells Kevin he's been in the Veil long enough and deserves an upgrade. With a wave of his hand, God ascends Kevin's soul to his rightful place in Heaven.
Powers and Abilities
Prophet Abilities: Kevin Tran has been shown to be a very intelligent and cunning young man, eluding demons alone, as well as escaping capture from Sam and Dean multiple times. However, despite being a prophet of God, and therefore having a direct link with Heaven and the angels, he did not display the capability to see into the future or to see events as they unfold.
- Word of God Interpreting - He was able to translate the stone tablet which had the Word of God written upon it.
- Word of God Repairing - As the Prophet connected to the tablets, Kevin could repair the tablets by simply putting the pieces back together as shown with the Leviathan and Demon tablets. He is the only one able to do this.
- Spell Casting - Upon the discovery of the tablet on demons, he had since been able to use a demon bomb that could destroy all nearby demons and their vessels.
- Basic Hunting Skills - Due to reading the demon tablet, Kevin learned some basic defenses against demons such as devil's traps and holy water. He was cunning enough to leave a devil's trap in another location in case he ever need to trick demons.
- Electronics and Computer Knowledge - Kevin has been shown to be adept with computers to the point that he was able to hack into a military computer network with no apparent effort. He also has a level of electronics knowledge as his mother stated he used to be in the engineering club and she learned how to hotwire a storage locker door from helping him.
Ghost Abilities: After being turned into a ghost, Kevin displayed these abilities.
- Intangibility - Kevin was intangible as a ghost.
- Invisibility - Kevin was invisible until he became strong enough to appear and then at will.
- Electromagnetic Interference - Kevin's presence affected a coffee maker and the lights in the Bunker.
- Shapeshifting - Unlike most other ghosts, Kevin was able to alter his outward appearance somewhat.
Appearances
- Season 7
- Season 8
- Season 9
- Devil May Care
- Dog Dean Afternoon (Phone)
- Heaven Can't Wait
- Holy Terror
- Road Trip (Photo and mentioned only)
- Captives (As a Ghost)
- Season 10
- Fan Fiction (mentioned only)
- The Hunter Games (mentioned only)
- Season 11
Trivia
- Kevin is the second prophet to appear in the series, not counting the false prophet Leah or the Jehovah's Witness Dean talked to who seemed to be a prophet, the first beingChuck Shurley.
- Since Chuck is actually God in disguise, Kevin is the first true prophet to appear in the series.
- Kevin was on one occasion protected by Metatron from Crowley, ironically, Metatron would order his death later.
- He was, as of Metatron's plan to take over Heaven, the last prophet to be activated. Shortly after Kevin's soul goes to Heaven, Donatello Redfield is activated by Amara's power.
- Kevin was formerly a vegan and an AP student.
- Kevin wanted to be the first Asian-American president of the United States.
- He played the cello.
- Unlike Chuck Shurley, Kevin did not have an archangel protector as Lucifer and Michael were in Lucifer's Cage in Hell and Raphael and Gabriel were deceased.
- He liked Magic: The Gathering , The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Aziz Ansari.
- Kevin's actor, Osric Chau, indicated that Kevin was originally supposed to be killed off with "a less than heroic death" in "Survival of the Fittest" and that he believes fan support was the reason why Kevin managed to survive for two more seasons.
- According to a Facebook post by Chau, Kevin was born on December 2, 1993. Kevin was killed off the day after this post (on December 3, 2013), thus dying the day after he would have celebrated his twentieth birthday.
- Kevin is the second extended family member of the Winchesters to return as a ghost. The first was Bobby Singer. However, unlike Bobby, Kevin had no choice in the matter and hasn't as of yet gone vengeful and angry.
- Kevin's actor, Osric Chau, starred in The Hillywood Show's Supernatural Parody as Sam Winchester.
- Kevin's hair length changes a few times over the course of the series from long, to short (due to Crowley), to moderately long before his death and as a ghost.
- Given Kevin's reactions to some of what his mother did after he became a Prophet, he was likely unaware of just how capable and resourceful she is. He also seemed surprised by her having a tattoo. However, he did seem to know that she is not to be messed with as when Dean asked for his help in making her stay in a safe house, he didn't even try and basically said he couldn't.
- Kevin displays a phenomenal memory and calculating abilities as shown in What's Up, Tiger Mommy? when Linda quizzes him on tax law to intimidate a pawnshop owner into giving them what they wanted. Kevin seemed rather smug as he recited the information too.
- Kevin used to be in the engineering club and his mother would help him with his projects. His mother mentions this as her reason for her knowledge of electronics when freeing herself and Sam from a cell in Captives.
- Kevin and his mother share a great deal of resourcefulness. Linda has shown herself to be extremely resourceful and not to be underestimated (though she usually is) several times and Kevin seems to have inherited this from her. Kevin proved capable of tricking Crowley several times and escaping while making his captors collect what he needed to escape in the first place. He was also resourceful enough to remain on the run and not be caught for an entire year, using only his smarts and what he learned from the demon tablet to stay ahead of the demons despite having hidden the tablet at some point. He even remained hidden from Sam and Dean for months, laying false trails and successfully evading them despite them tracking down people and monsters for a living. After being recaptured and having his memory of the event wiped, Kevin was able to identify two demons as imposters and trick them into a Devil's Trap seemingly just to make a point as he didn't even try to escape afterwards. He also set things up so that if he died, his work would not be lost and Sam and Dean could finish what he started and was able to steal Crowley's half of the demon tablet while being strangled by him and rescued. When called in to back up their alibi, Kevin was able to hack a military database in moments and blackmail an MP into doing what he wanted. Even as a ghost, Kevin remained resourceful, using the opportunity to pass messages between ghosts to try to find his mother.
- Following all that Crowley put him through, Kevin seemed to grow somewhat darker as he was willing to torture Crowley for payback and wanted him dead after his capture despite his possible usefulness.
- Kevin was initially meeker at first than in his later appearances. He was greatly frightened when Meg captured him and hyperventilated a bit at the idea of being a Prophet. He grew somewhat braver when faced with Dick Roman, but still broke under pressure when his mother's life was threatened. However, when rescued by Sam, he refused to leave until Dick's plan to kill all the skinny people was thwarted though he wanted to flee after Dick's death. Following his capture by Crowley, Kevin grew braver and more assertive, escaping from Crowley and refusing to give into pressure as easily as before, even becoming defiant in ways.
- Kevin and his mother have both killed demons who held them captive: Kevin used a demon bomb to kill two demon minions to escape Crowley's grasp in We Need To Talk About Kevin and Linda killed Del after being rescued by Sam and Dean in Captives. Linda was also able to capture a demon sent to kill her.
- Crowley displayed a possible fondness for Kevin: when informed of his death, Crowley seemed genuinely sorry he was dead and told Dean he warned Kevin it would happen if he didn't leave.
- Despite Heaven reopening to souls following Metatron's defeat, Kevin didn't go there for nearly two years as shown in All in the Family.
- Kevin is the first soul confirmed to be sent to Heaven by God himself.