Denny Levens (Classic Gerosha)

Dennis Michael Levens is a reformed former parts supplier and ex-pediatrician in The Gerosha Chronicles. His life and times are canon beginning with Gerosha Prime (Earth-G3.1) and remained so up through Comprehensive Gerosha (Earth-G6.) He was the first husband of Candi Levens and the father of Angie Levens. As of Cataclysmic Gerosha, he has been split into several background characters; and has otherwise effectively written out of existence.

He debuted in the 2005 version of the Ciem webcomic. He has since appeared in the 2006 version, 2007 version, and made brief appearances as a ghost in Ciem 2 and Ciem 3. He was set to appear in the Ciem novel trilogy as well, before production of it was canceled. He was to feature prominently in Ciem: Vigilante Centipede, making brief appearances in Ciem: Nuclear Crisis and Ciem: Condemnation in Candi's visions.

Character bio
See also: Denny family facts.

Note: ''The following is Denny's life as defined in Comprehensive Gerosha. See below for different interpretations.''

Early life
Denny was always an intelligent inventor, and was constantly coming up with random accessories and devices in his spare time. Back when he lived in Milwaukee, he ran an underground parts supply shop where he worked on his numerous inventions. Among other things, he went to work inventing a formula for the type of wolfman minions that the Hebbleskin Gang had been desperate to perfect. He also developed a formula for concentrating Zeran energy so that amputees could reattach lost limbs. With the aid of a pill, he gave someone up to four hours to reattach a lost limb without even so much as a significant loss of blood. Once amputated, however, the victim's time of effectiveness was reduced to only a half-hour.

Much to his shock, he discovered his technology was being stolen and misused for interrogation techniques. Not only could amputees reattach missing limbs, but they could even control their stray appendages remotely. In one instance in a Saudi prison, rumor spread that women were being force-fed "Denny pills" by guards. These women were then raped and beheaded by the guards as a way to pressure them into cooperation with authorities. Even when beheaded, the women were able to be reattached and survived. News of this abuse of his discovery prompted Denny to push for his invention to be banned from international commerce.

Sure enough, Duke Arfaas of the Hebbleskin Gang catches wind of Denny's wolfman formula and takes a morbid interest. Denny's refusal to let his discoveries near Arfaas results in Denny fleeing to the Evansville area to hide. The push to ban Denny pills from the international market resulted in Denny losing a lot of his funding, so he and his family fled into obscurity. Alas, Arfaas was determined to follow them and take his revenge.

Marriage to Candi
After his unsuccessful relationship with ex-girlfriend Michelle, Denny loses faith in all but a few of his business connections in Milwaukee. His move to Viron was thought to make things safer; but things actually got worse. Amidst his need to constantly look over his shoulder while the Hebbleskin Gang stalks him, he finds a kindred spirit in Candi Flippo.

Pressing his luck, he tries to start a family life with her, and almost succeeds. Candi rescues the both of them from Gunner about a year after he had met Candi whilst helping her ward off a Hebbleskin Gang ambush. Realizing that with Donte gone he cannot rescue either of them, the two decide that they need each other badly enough to get married. Denny continues to insist upon his plans that he and Candi need to move away, but decides to wait until after Angie is born. This mistake of theirs proves fatal. Candi would have moved away with him, but he didn't want to jeopardize her future career.

Assassination
Candi tries in vain to beat Musaran to the Levens family home, and is met with horror when she sees her husband dead. The Levens family house is then detonated, with Candi still inside weeping. The entire house implodes upon the impact, and Candi is left, still pregnant, as the only one to pull herself from the fiery debris. She goes into labor immediately. It is strongly implied that Denny was incinerated in the house fire, as his remains are never shown after the fact.

Funeral
Denny's official funeral is held a month later, as Candi and Donte have reconciled and begun rekindling their old relationship. The couple nevertheless holds Denny and Angie's double-funeral in an effort to pay their respects to the dead.

Post-mortem
Denny appears numerous times to Candi in dreams and visions, often as a sort of spirit-guide to help her re-prioritize things when her life with Donte gets confusing. In Ciem 2, he appears to her twice in dreams to advise her on what to do with her life. His disguises vary according to the dream Candi is having, often appearing in time period-specific outfits. Denny has full custody of Angie, since both of them are dead. Yet, they patiently await the day Candi can join them again.

Alternative interpretations
Several drafts have been worked out for exactly who Denny is, how he converts to his faith, how he meets Candi, specifics of his relationship with Candi, the nature of his inventions and experiments, etc. Most of the above describes his Comprehensive Gerosha biography, but a few details of it translate to Classic Gerosha as well.

Ciem 1
Main article: Ciem (webcomic) The first attempted take on Denny was that he was "a nobody" who was secretly a scientific genius. He found Candi after she ran away from home due to fearing for her life in the wake of Erin's murder. L1 the Llama kidnaps him in this version, and Duke Arfaas has him brainwashed into the evil Dr. Leone.

Despair Gerosha attempted to try a darker take on Denny's origins. In this version, he had actively experimented on human subjects. He was a bad influence on Candi, but at least tried to be a good husband for her in the wake of Donte's disappearance. In some drafts, he had actually gotten Candi to be a willing participant in his "Denny pills" experiments. These included both block and guillotine experiments, in which Candi would either strip or dress provocatively to get his attention. Those drafts were soon scrapped.

In the end, Despair Gerosha depicts Candi rescuing Denny from an unknown Meethlite (presumed to be Gunner) in the city park. Grateful that he is alive, Candi takes him back to her place. The two get lost in each other's eyes, and end up having sex on the living room couch. Denny, feeling ashamed of making Candi compromise, proposes to her later that evening. She reveals to him two months later that she is pregnant. However, Denny's past catches up with him and leads the couple to consider divorce. L1 the Llama kills Denny by breaking into the house while the couple are arguing, forcing the nine-months-pregnant Candi to have to drive herself to the hospital.

While keeping some of Denny's "criminal" aspect intact for the sake of an edge, Classic Gerosha nevertheless saw a return to the respectable Denny of Gerosha Prime. Comprehensive Gerosha refines that aspect of Denny even more, and makes Denny slightly more combat-useful. This is demonstrated in Ciem: Vigilante Centipede when he shows no hesitation using syringes as death weapons against his enemies.

Kelsea Linney
In the Classic Gerosha timeline, the couple gains an enemy in the form of a psychotic single mother named Kelsea Linney, whose son is never identified by name. With Kelsea's help, the Meethlites take control of Viron and decide to make Denny an official target for being killed off by Musaran. Suspicions begin to mount that Denny's wife may be a Centhuen Prototype, causing even more haste in their eyes for a need to dispose of him quickly. Kelsea functionally doesn't exist in Comprehensive Gerosha, so the Levens house bombing is explained by other means.

Ciem 2
Main article: Ciem 2

In Gerosha Prime, Denny is transformed into Dr. Leone. The wicked doctor meets his end when he is murdered by Captain Aardwulf. When Candi gets word of Denny's death, she feels she is finally free to marry Donte as she pleases. By Despair Gerosha, it had been established that Denny is killed rather than simply captured by L1 the Llama. Classic Gerosha changes L1 to Musaran, and makes Denny's death more brutal. Much of Comprehensive Gerosha's depiction of Denny's murder is intended to take hints from Classic Gerosha.

In one draft of Ciem 2, Candi has a vision in which she sees Denny as a colonial settler. Another draft has her dream take place aboard the Titanic, in which Denny ends up looking a curious lot like Jack Dawson. Each time, she relives the horror of watching Denny get taken from her in an over-the-top fashion reminiscent of finding him murdered. He appears to Candi in a dream in Ciem: Nuclear Crisis as well.

Ciem 3
Main article: Ciem 3

Starting with Classic Gerosha, Denny is portrayed as Angie's primary custodian, the two of them patiently waiting in Heaven for Candi to join them. Ciem: Condemnation includes an epilogue revealing that very thing.

Sodality
Main article: Sodality (series)

One of Denny's key inventions, "Denny pills," are renamed Remotach pills in Cataclysmic Gerosha's series Sodality. Denny as a character is split into several background characters. Instead of Candi initially adopting a pseudonym of "Stevens," her last name is legally changed to Levens when she moves to Texas as a way to obscure the fact that she is a Flippo. Writing Denny effectively out of existence means that his parents and sister were also written out, as well as Angie.

Design
Nearly all versions of Denny were depicted to look like clean-cut gentlemen, often capable of putting on a cheery demeanor. While Comprehensive Denny was willing to murder Hebbleskin thugs with syringes and place Candi in mortal danger to prove his inventions worked, his only real character flaw besides was his inability to control himself sexually around Candi. This made him a perfect outlet for her monstrous sexual appetite, leading to their inevitable eventual conception of Angie. He was given his brown hair, fair complexion, and other features to look like a well-composed and bright-in-every-sense-of-the-word alternative to the sometimes dull, brooding, and mopey Donte. He was a wrong decision for Candi disguised to look like a good decision - the kind of masquerade that would have fooled even Shalia into thinking he was a better choice for Candi than what Donte could ever be.

His initial rendering in Gerosha Prime for this purpose had him looking almost like a carbon copy of Sam from The Strangerhood, minus the glasses. When fused with an AI backvisor programming and a wig to become Dr. Leone, he was given a beard to go with it. Later versions compromised by giving him some default facial hair, while going to greater lengths to differentiate his appearance from that of any Rooster Teeth character. His preference for wearing white goes back to Gerosha Prime also, as he has always wanted to be seen as "the good doctor." Up until concept art for Vigilante Centipede, all artwork of him was depicted with The Sims 2. This limited possibilities for appearance modification. Vigilante Centipede concept art was the first time he was depicted with The Sims 3. He would have also been depicted with MakeHuman software, had the universes to which he is canon not been rendered defunct in November of 2012.