What's in a Name?

Levi Johanssen

Levi Johanssen- Swedish/Norwegian ancestry; Levi Johanssen is a caring, outgoing, optimistic and joyful Mormon boy whom Hannah Quigley first befriends when he moves into the house next door to hers. He is artistically inclined and known for his vast imagination, as well as his impressionable demeanor and reluctance to offend. He is quite studious, excelling in his math courses and often tutoring the other students in the subject, and he is constantly refining himself in almost every aspect of his life. As a child, he was frequently seen in the company of his older brother Evan and would occasionally comprise his morals and beliefs for the sake of popularity or social acceptance. Levi worked part-time at an ice cream shop to earn some money on the side and often felt pressured by his overbearing parents, who tended to be hard on him and give him unreasonable punishments. He is often perceived as being more effeminate than many of his male peers due to this, although it is shown that he is definitively straight and has experienced attractions to all of the Kardashian sisters. His favorite class in school is social studies, with his idol being George Washington Carver, and he has also shown an aptitude for photography and using stop motion. He likes to hum the song "Loo loo loo, I've got some apples" to himself and considers one of his main hobbies to be creating sculptures out of clay, in addition to making macaroni art with the little kids that he babysits. Much of Levi's personality appears to have been shaped largely by his family and religion, Mormonism, which makes him slightly naive. He has gradually become more accepted by his peers, who tended to allow him to tag along and often treated him as if he were their "little brother". When he is teased and bullied by the other students, he does not appear to be bothered by it, such as when the school bully Eddy Beadles introduced himself to him by saying "Ura Fag." 

Although he is sociable and forgiving, he is not a pushover, as when Hannah initially hesitates to be his friend because of his religion, he responds with a very thoughtful reply about how proud he is to be Mormon and what it has done for him. Levi's grandmother is very supportive and nurturing, and he loves and respects her for it, causing him to have a very close relationship with her. He has four siblings, and all five of them play musical instruments, as seen when they perform a song for their parents in the living room. After approaching Levi with the intention of "kicking him in the shin", Hannah realizes that he is actually a very nice person and offers him half of her candy bar. The two start hanging out together, although she becomes a little reluctant to participate in this developing acquaintance, as the other girls, notably Kirsten Lundgren, began teasing them for "being in love". Levi has a warm personality that everyone finds comforting, and he is considered unique because he has the personality of a child, in contrast to his more cynical, adult-like peers. This makes him more vulnerable to being taken advantage of, and the boys often use him for self-defense when they are in very sticky situations. Unlike nearly all of his male classmates, he rarely curses and instead uses euphemisms such as "Aw, hamburgers" or "Son of a biscuit." He is mistakenly diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, as he impersonates various characters while playing like many normal kids do. Levi is often described as friendly and polite but can be self-conscious at times, as he struggles with his self-esteem and tends to perceive everyone around him as knowing more than he does. Another side effect of this is that he is almost constantly worried about being grounded, as his parents, particularly his father, are relentlessly hard on him and often use him as a scapegoat. 

He is a good student and considered to be a dork by his associates, and part of him seems to be constantly seeking a role model. His other skills include tap dancing, although he has vowed to not do that talent anymore since he accidentally caused a very horrible tragedy in the tap dancing championships. Levi is at one point accused of being bi-curious, and although he agrees, it is obvious he does not know what this means. This causes a significant amount of friction in his household as his mother overreacts and has him see a counselor to offer him conversion therapy. Upon hearing this, Hannah remains loyal to him and tries to help him have more fun, dressing up as a "robot" with some cardboard boxes and referring to herself as "Awesome.o". He also admits to being "bike-curious" to his family and unwittingly gave a speech regarding the treatment of bisexual children. Levi's kind, sweet, and gullible personality disappears on rare occasions however and is replaced with an upset, antisocial, and rude persona. He once beats up Eli Fonseca for having such a low self-esteem due to the fact he has diabetes, and when his male classmates attempted to reason with him, he immediately lashed out at them. He also shows that he is not above joining his classmates on bullying others himself, as he once flippantly rejected an overweight girl whom had asked him on a date due to her being " too fat for him". He similarly has a supervillain alter-ego that he refers to as "General Disarray", which he first created out of loneliness and to get in touch with his "dark side". Levi is nevertheless a strong advocate for women's rights and abhors men who take advantage of a young female's vulnerability and innocence. Well-aware of the struggles his older sister Aubrey encountered during her turbulent encounters with men in her earlier years, he tries to treat young women with courtesy and has an old-fashioned chivalry about his demeanor.