Kevin Grady is a metahuman with the ability to erase part of a person's memory. He is a son of Lawrence Grady and the elder brother of Dillon Grady.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Memory erasing: Kevin Grady has the ability to erase memories of a few minutes span by shooting from his fingertips a green form of energy, similar to lightning, which focuses in on the subject's forehead.
Kevin in his car using his powers on Clark.
When used on humans, this memory manipulation energy removes the subject's memory of the last few minutes.This was shown when he used his power on Lois Lane, who could remember working in the Talon, but didn't seem to have noticed any time had elapsed and didn't remember that Kevin had taken money from the cash register.
When Kevin used his powers on Clark Kent, however, he unintentionally wiped out all of Clark's memory. Kevin showed surprise that he managed to do this when Clark told him, and said that all past victims had only lost a few minutes. This suggested that the memory and/or physiology of a Kryptonian works different than that of humans.
People on whom Kevin used his powers:
Lois and Sheriff Adams getting their memories erased by Kevin.
- Lois in order to make her forget that Kevin had stolen money from her cash register,
- Clark in order to prevent him from stopping Kevin from fleeing after the robbery,
- Lawrence Grady in order to make him forget that Kevin had escaped Summerholt and wanted to leave Smallville forever,
- Lois, Sheriff Adams, and Chloe after they all had witnessed Clark's super strength in order to make them forget Clark's secret.
Early life[]
Kevin witnessing his father shooting his brother
Kevin lived in Smallville together with his father Lawrence, a medical doctor at Summerholt Institute, and his younger brother Dillon. Kevin enjoyed riding motorcycles and practiced motocross together with his brother. One day, they were on a hunting trip together. When Kevin stumbled on a root and fell, he saw that Dillon also fell, shot to death. He then saw the smoking gun of his father.
Kevin tied up in the Summerholt Institute
In order to prevent the truth from being known, which would have been bad for his reputation, Lawrence took Kevin to Summerholt, tied him up and connected him to a medical equipment. Although Kevin repeatedly asserted that he knew that it had been an accident and that he would not tell anyone what happened, his father subjected him to a memory alteration treatment in order to make him believe that he himself had killed his brother. The torturous and agonizing treatments were videotaped. The treatments had the side effect that Kevin achieved the ability to emit from his fingertips a flash of green light that could erase a short period of a person's memory.
Finally, Kevin escaped the institute and wanted to leave Smallville forever because he now really believed that he had killed his brother and that the therapy was intended for making him forget that he did so, but would not be effective. He also believed that his father could no longer bear his presence because he had killed his brother.
Season Four[]
- "I don't get it. I robbed the Talon and I 86ed your memory. I mean, why would you go through all this trouble for me?" - Blank
Kevin steals money from the Talon.
In order to get some money he needed for his plan to leave Smallville, Kevin went to the Talon. He took a muffin and then stole money from the cash register. When Lois confronted him, he erased the last minutes of her memory. Lois then friendly asked what she could get him, but Kevin answered that he had already been helped and left the Talon trough the back door. He run to his car in the Talon's back alley and started driving away.
Kevin wipes Clark's memory.
When Clark learned from Lois that money had been stolen and saw that the back door was still swinging, he went out and placed himself in the middle of the street so that Kevin had to brake abruptly. Clark tried to get Kevin out of his car, but Kevin erased his memory, too. Instead of erasing only some minutes, as intended by Kevin, Clark's entire memory was erased.
Chloe and Clark later found a motocross park pass that Kevin had lost at the Talon and decided to pay him a visit, together with Lois.
Kevin packs his bag.
Kevin went home and started packing his bag in order to leave Smallville forever. He packed some food and a photograph of himself and Dillon at a motocross park. His father Lawrence entered and wondered why he was not in Summerholt. Kevin explained that the therapy did not help him to forget that he had killed his brother and that he wanted to leave Smallville forever because he was sure his father could not stand his presence any longer. Lawrence argued that the therapy was not yet completed, but Kevin answered that it only had turned him into a freak and erased his father's memory of the last few minutes.
Kevin flees on his motorcycle and is passed by Clark.
Kevin left the house by the back door just as Clark, Lois and Chloe appeared at the front door, and he drove away on his motorcycle. Chloe urged Clark who did not remember his super speed abilities to follow him. Clark did so, but not knowing how to control his speed, he outrun him without being able to stop.
Chloe snuck into Summerholt and searched Lawrence's computer. She found the video recordings of Kevin's treament and mailed them to the Torch where Clark and Lois watched them. Having learned from the video that Kevin did not kill his brother, Clark set out to find him in order to help him to remember the truth. Chloe was finally found and captured by Dr. Grady.
Clark helps Kevin to remember the truth.
Kevin went into the woods to the Autry clearing where his brother had died, and he tried to remember what exactly had happened. He remembered that he loaded his gun, stumbled on a root and fell, and that Dillon also fell, shot to death. Clark arrived and told him that his entire memory was erased. Kevin was astonished because he generally could only erase the last few minutes of memory. Clark then urged Kevin to concentrate on the details of his flashbacks. Finally, Kevin remembered that it was his father who had shot Dillon to death. He wondered why Clark helped him, but Clark answered he knew what it was like to lose a part of one's life. Kevin said he was sorry, but he could do nothing for him. They might break into the Summerholt Institute to see if they could find a cure for Clark's amnesia, but he didn't know how he could get Clark in there.
Kevin and Clark breaking into Summerholt.
When they arrived at Summerholt, Clark opened a trap door. Kevin wondered that it was not locked, but Clark told him that the lock was broken. While Clark was detained when passing a shelf with bottles containing green kryptonite in liquid form, Kevin arrived at the laboratory where Dr. Grady was preparing to erase Chloe's memory.
Kevin attacking his father
Kevin confronted his father about his lies and attacked him, but was pushed by him against a table and banged his head against an edge what rendered him temporarily unconscious.
Kevin witnesses Clark using his super strength.
When he regained consciousness, he saw Clark holding and then tossing away two huge pillars that threatened to fall on Chloe. Clark had intercepted the beam intended to erase Chloe's memory, therey overloading the machinery and causing it to collaps. In the meantime, Lois and Sheriff Adams had arrived, too. From their astonishment, Kevin concluded that Clark's powers were not known to them. He therefore erased the last minutes of the memories of Chloe, Lois and Sheriff Adams in order to keep Clark's secret.
Kevin tells Clark that they're even
When Kevin tried to secretly sneak out of Summerholt, Clark saw him and called him back. He had got his memories back and recognized him as the guy he wanted to pull out of his car at the Talon's back alley, but he did not remember anything that happened between then and the scene at the laboratory. He said he did not know what Kevin had done and why, but that he felt he owned him one. Kevin replied it was more a now-we're even situation. Clark felt it would be better not to ask more questions, and Kevin thanked him for the chance at a clean slate. They shook hands, and Kevin left.
Appearances[]
Notes[]
- Kevin was portrayed by Jonathan Bennett who would later play the young Bo Duke in Dukes of Hazzard: The Begining, a role previously filled by John Schneider.
- The future of Kevin Grady might have been hinted at by dialogue. In Absolute Justice, Part 2, Doctor Fate (who could see the future) informs Clark that him becoming Superman (and people looking up at him in the sky) will lead to everyone embracing a Silver Age of heroism.[1] In Continuity, Superman tells the world that the world's (benevolent) metahumans will always rise up to protect them.[2] It is possible that this (i.e. the people who becomes superheroes) includes Kevin Grady.
Gallery[]
→ see also: Kevin Grady/Gallery and Category:Images of Kevin Grady
