The following is a list of fictional characters in the comic book series The Boys, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
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The Boys are a CIA black operations team, initially created by Colonel Mallory to manage, police, and sometimes liquidate Vought-American's superheroes so the company will never be stable enough to get supes into national defense. However, it was swiftly taken over by Billy Butcher; while Butcher claims to have the same mission, it's clear he has no interest in management. As Mallory notes in #55, fourteen people were killed by the Boys from 1987-95 and "nearly three times that number" between 1995 to 2002, when Butcher had gained more influence. Mallory would later say (#54-5) how special forces teams can often go wrong as they try to justify their budgets and create their private conflicts, but the concept of them is still seductive; he considers the Boys to have gone down this path and that he never should have created them.
The Boys were decommissioned after a disastrous operation in 2001, but reformed a few years later - indicated in #1 to be soon after the 2004 Presidential election - and have carried on where they left off. All members possess super strength due to injections of Compound V.
He is an Englishman (from London's East End) who leads the current Boys, who were disbanded as the result of events depicted in #50. It was him he coined the team name "the Boys", because in the East End "the boys" were who you said you'd hired to take someone out. At the beginning of the series, he works to reassemble the old team, with a new fifth member filling in for the original team leader, Mallory, whose leadership position Butcher takes for himself. He is physically large and incredibly violent.
He is perfectly happy to blackmail, brutalize, torture and murder if it achieves his goals; he can also be very sociable and charismatic, to the same ends. The character Mother's Milk has stated that every word Butcher says is calculated to further his own goals; an example of this is making director Raynor believe that he is easily led by his desire for sex, while in reality this is just so she underestimates him; another is how he told Hughie one reason he hired him was he'd "always wanted a little brother" (#6), keeping it quiet that he'd had one (#55). He seems to get pleasure from killing superheroes; the slaughter of 150 of them in issue 14 left him humming Ode to Joy all day, in #33 he continued to attack Mind Droid and Soldier Boy when they were trying to flee, and in #43 he intended to brutalise Superduper because of an unintended insult. #55 showed he always got pleasure from murdering Vogelbaum in a brutal way, possibly even eating part of him - Mallory has put this down to Butcher's ability to hate.
Butcher previously served in the Royal Marines and was wounded in the Falklands War as a young man, and went on to be guilty of many assaults during his recovery (being court-martialed for one) until he met his wife Becky. Following that, there was no record of any assaults; Mallory believes Becky Butcher's presence calmed him. The cause of Butcher's campaign against superheroes stems from the rape and death of his wife. He woke up to find his wife disemboweled on their bed, with her prematurely born, superpowered child crawling out of her; after it attacked Butcher with its heat vision, he killed it by beating it to death with a lampstand. After reading Becky's diary he learned the identity of his wife's rapist, the Homelander.
He is tee-total, preferring to drink Club Soda, and it was implied during a conversation with The Legend that he (Butcher) is a recovering alcoholic. Butcher seems happy to help out a friend in need, even if it means he takes a beating in the process, telling M.M after one such beating "It only hurts when I laugh... Hahahahaha". At the same time, M.M. has noted that Butcher never brings this up, instead leaving it hanging as a motivation. He seems genuinely fond of Hughie but at the same time he has deliberately put Hughie into situations where he would have to use violence or kill an opponent, and rarely keeps him in the loop.
A bulldog named Terror is his constant companion and the dog has been trained to have sex with anything on Butcher's command (I.e., "Terror - fuck it, mate.) He is very protective of Terror, even going as far as threatening the Homelander with breaking the truce after Homelander moves to attack Terror for urinating on his leg in #20. In that same story, the Homelander questions Butcher on his motivations and, although Butcher does not verbally respond, the Homelander, based on Butcher's pulse and heartbeat, ventures that the Boys' war against superheroes is all that Butcher has to live for, and that he does not expect to survive it.
According to #50, at the time of the Boys' original disbandment, some months after 9/11 Butcher had been working for Mallory for fifteen years, indicating he started circa 1986. In the later #55, Mallory tells Wee Hughie that Butcher recruited Mother's Milk, the Frenchman and the Female - he also slowly began to increase the level of violence the Boys used against Supes, manipulating events until lethal force was the only option.
It's come to light in the Mini-series Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker that he was becoming a peaceful man due to his wife, but her loss shattered his world, showing his reason for his enjoyment of torturing and killing supes.
A Scotsman nicknamed "Wee Hughie". His girlfriend was accidentally killed by a superhero named 'A-Train' who was traveling faster than the speed of sound. Butcher recruits him for the Boys, and to that end, injects him with Compound V, without Hughie's permission.
Hughie grew up in rural Scotland, an adopted child. He had a rather bizarre childhood, including a period of trauma from exposure to a giant tapeworm and a childhood friend called Det with an unnaturally powerful stench. With his childhood friends, he played at being a boy detective; they also once threw stones at a dog, only for Hughie to get upset when a rock hit it and spend the evening taking the injured dog back to its home. As an adult, he'd leave for Glasgow. His relationship with his parents and childhood friends has him being irritated by how they sometimes treat him, while outside viewers (Starlight/Annie and Mallory) have pointed out he's lucky to have them.
Hughie is still an innocent to the Boys' world and after killing someone in combat by accident, he was worried about doing so again. He was also disgusted by Butcher's easy willingness to torture their enemies and the others' lack of caring about it, and grew angry with Butcher's dismissal of the constant violence ("big boys' rules") after the Female was hospitalized; in #34 he admitted to a comatose Female that he can't stomach the violence, and has thought about quitting.
He has made friends with Russian hero Vas and, unknowingly, the super-heroine Starlight, the latter of whom he he developed a romantic relationship with. Despite an early embarrassing accident where he had oral sex with her when she was menstruating, their relationship kept on going - causing Butcher to wonder if Hughie was working for Vought-American, and (after discovering he wasn't) deliberately breaking the relationship up by setting Hughie up to see footage of Starlight's "induction" into the Seven. Unable to cope with the knowledge, he angrily laid into her and broke off the relationship, only to suffer guilt over his verbal abuse with her; the two reconciled and got back together. He finally comes clean to her in #55 about his work, and begs her to leave and hide so she's not killed when everything hits the fan.
In Herogasm #3, he was sexually assaulted by Black Noir. While he was left shocked and sickened over it, he did not say what happened to the other Boys.
Hughie is viewed as a genuinely nice guy by most people who know him, and he has several times risked himself to try and help people who were vulnerable or victimised: his rage over Swingwing callously killing a young man in #10, his attempts to save G-Wiz, and trying to fight the horrifically powerful Malchemical to defend Superduper in #43. Butcher was confused and irritated by the latter incidents. The "Highland Laddie" miniseries had Hughie feeling discontent that, unlike Butcher, he isn't a hard man, but he seems incapable of being one; Annie told him he's just too nice because of his upbringing and that this doesn't make him any less of a man.
He intentionally resembles the British actor and writer Simon Pegg.
A large, African-American man, he first appears in issue 2. He is a highly patient and methodical man, taught by his father to check every possible angle and means of attack, and can be somewhat fussy (getting annoyed whenever anyone doesn't put a drink coaster under their glasses). His nickname was apparently because he is the "purest", i.e. most goodhearted, member of the team. In issue #35, however, he reveals that his mother worked in a factory that had previously been a Vought-American lab and hadn't been sanitized afterwards, leading to her being contaminated with Compound V; as a result, his brother was retarded and he himself was born needing regular doses of his mother's breast milk to survive. #17 hinted at this, and showed him throwing up and feeling disturbed by the constant need. At the same time he finds the nourishment highly energizing, adding to his discomfort.
His father worked tirelessly to sue V-A over this and eventually succeeded, but was left shattered by the experience; MM was aware that Vought's lawyers were shrugging the loss off, but never told him. MM's brother Michael died soon, killed by the manifestation of superpowers, and his father died under the stress of trying to sue V-A again; his mother was left broken and unwilling to fight anymore, and become morbidly obese. To support his mother and his new wife and daughter, he joined the United States Army, volunteered for the Rangers, and became an army heavyweight boxer. In a championship match, he manifested powers suddenly and punched an opponent's head off. He was subsequently released from the military and was recruited by Butcher and Mallory for the first incarnation of The Boys.
After Mother's Milk had been with The Boys for a year, Butcher accompanied him to rescue MM's infant daughter Janine, whose mother, a drug addict, was incapable of raising her properly; MM and Butcher rescued Janine from her mother's then-residence, a drug house whose addicts smoked crack cut with Compound V; Butcher suffered a savage beating from the addicts in the process. MM was later present at the destruction of Brooklyn Bridge where he attempted to help a woman from a falling car but accidentally killed her. He subsequently quit to perform community work and raise the increasingly rebellious Janine who, now a teenager, shows MM great disrespect but regards Butcher with affection, calling him "Uncle Billy."
MM has now returned to the team, where he acts as Butcher's second-in-command, possibly in part so that he can restrain Butcher from going too far in pursuit of their goals. He is one of the few people who receives any consistent level of civility (at least to his face) from the pathologically rude Butcher, who thinks very highly of him. The only one of the Boys who thinks that a few superheroes might be acting out of genuine altruism (as mentioned in issue 6).
After discovering that Butcher had been manipulating Hughie into dangerous situations and not informing the rest of the team, Mother's Milk ended up at odds with Butcher and disgusted by the man's willingness to continue manipulating Hughie. (#43)
Mother's Milk discovers that his ex-wife and daughter were in a pornographic movie together. He is furious at this revelation, and leaves to deal with this family issue. He told his mother about it, and it's implied she did not take the news well, as she is screaming, locked up in a closet. Mother's Milk then gets a call from his daughter. She tells him that she was not in her right mind, and has run away from her mother. Mother's Milk attempts to get her location, but she states to him that she wants to be left alone, and when she's well, she will call him back to let him know.
First seen in issue 2, he is one of the original Boys, and displays a penchant for extreme violence within a few frames of his first appearance. His spoken French uses incorrect phrasing, though whether this is an intentional plot point is not yet known. He takes an immediate liking to "Petit Hughie". He and the Female are the 'muscles' of the team - and mad. While the Frenchman is merely crazy, the Female may be psychotic. According to Mother's Milk, however, it's better for the rest of the humans if they are in the team rather than in the outside world.
In #37, his possible origin story is told, though it is also possible they are but delusions. Returning home from military service, he is welcomed by the residents of his native Franglais (who curiously refer to him as Frenchie), but soon learns that his lover has taken off with his childhood rival, Pierre. Renouncing violence, he refuses to confront Pierre. Months later, at a local festival that featured the sport of jousting on bicycles with baguettes while screaming exaggerated Maurice Chevalier impression laughter, his father challenged Pierre to restore the family's honor. Pierre, fearing certain defeat, topples the challenger's bicycle with a stale croissant, killing him. Renouncing his newfound pacifism, the Frenchman exacts his revenge and drifts from place to place, until he gets into a bar fight with an American and is seen in action by Billy, who promptly recruits him. In the issue, nobody is sure how true most of this is. What is known is that Butcher had a folder on the Frenchman's membership in the French Foreign Legion; that, along with his characteristically British usage of the words "mum" and "wanker" and his hometown's name literally meaning "French-English", would suggest a British origin.
He seems to have a fondness and bond with the Female, playing games (like reverse-strip poker and snowball fights, which he always seems to lose) with her and being the only one who can safely wake her. In #38, it was revealed he took on the task of 'humanising' her, and was the first person to have actually treated her with kindness and civility. In #16, he forced the New York Mafia to stop hiring the Female as a hitman. In an effort to stop the Female from killing for the mobs, he attempted to hold her back and was viewed as if she was about to attack; the Frenchman told her "I'd rather die than not be your friend, and if it has to be by your hand, so be it" to which the Female just sadly walked away.
Like Billy and Mother's Milk, the Frenchman possesses military experience, particularly holding knowledge in ballistics, to the extent that Butcher refers to him on that matter. The Frenchman also possesses an incredibly strong sense of smell.
The Frenchman appears to be quite shy and caring until someone provokes him, to which he will attack or even kill in a gruesome manner, for example battering three American businessmen in a coffee shop for calling him a "Goddamn surrender monkey" and a "fucking cheese-eater." In #55, Mallory notes that cruelty to children makes Frenchie "livid," which renders him hard to control when such scenarios are encountered.
One of the earliest members of the Boys. First appearance is issue 2. She is known for her brutality (which visibly shocks even Butcher), and is a mute. When not working for the Boys, she used to freelance for the Mafia. Her nickname is derived from the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name. She has a superficial resemblance to Yelena Rossini from Darick Robertson's artwork on the previous long-running series Transmetropolitan. This would probably be because of the similar hair styles they share, or lack thereof.
She is in the habit of "explosively eviscerating" her victims and it is implied in issue three that she may be triggered to do so merely by someone touching her, possibly as a result of past trauma. This does not appear to apply to the Frenchman. She is shown to have a tendency for ripping off people's faces. In issue 16, the Frenchman states that she 'does these things because [she] cannot not do them'. Issue 24 states that she has continued killing, despite The Frenchman forcing the mob to back off. Issue 38 shows that, as an infant, she found her way into a pail of discarded Compound V waste, slaughtering scientists in the building, and eventually getting captured, only to escape until years later, when Butcher and the original team of Boys rescue her and Frenchie adopts her. The way she gained her superstrengh by falling into a receptacle containing a "magic" formula is a homage to Obelix. In fact, the doctor responsible for the Compound V was called Uderzo, the name of the creator of Asterix and Obelix.
She was beaten into a coma by Stormfront in #31, but not before ripping out one of his eyes. She recovered in #34, much to Hughie's annoyance as she broke his arm in the process. The Female also seems to be very fond of animals, as she freed Jamie the Hamster out of his wrapping after he emerged from the Blarney Cock's anus and is shown tickling Terror several times. She's shown to take his death hard, laying down next to Terror mournfully, after he is killed.
He was fully seen in issue #49, though he has appeared in shadows and from behind in previous issues. An elderly man (Compound V has retarded his aging), he was an Ivy League graduate and a Captain in WWII when his platoon was chosen as the test run for "supes" in combat. Due to the idiocy of Soldier Boy, a Waffen-SS platoon found the camp (as part of the Battle of the Bulge) and Mallory was the only survivor, and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.
Issues #54 and #55 showed that he and his friend Rick Burnham joined the early CIA after the war, wanting to do something about Vought-American Consolidated and their superhumans - though everyone else in the group considered this bizarre. He spent years watching the company on his own initiative until he made contact with the Legend, who gave him the backstory on Compound V and Jonah Vogelbaum. Mallory set up Vogelbaum to be kidnapped by Vought's rival so he could kill the man, only to find himself unable to; instead, he brought him into the CIA - the scientist's knowledge causing Burnham, then-director, to recognise VA as a threat - and had him make V for them (while ensuring he'd deliberately make V expensive so the CIA couldn't create a superhuman program). Mallory was the first test subject for the new V.
Mallory had a team created to monitor, police, and liquidate "supes", but erred in hiring Butcher as his muscle; Butcher went on to hire the other members and slowly twist the team round to the way he wanted it. The two clashed on the issue of the Female, as he refused to simply treat her like a weapon as Butcher wanted (#38). Following the 9/11 attacks, he let himself be steered into blackmailing the Seven and this got his granddaughters murdered by the Lamplighter. Following the aftermath, where Mallory got to kill the Lamplighter as a peace gesture from the Seven, Butcher was left angry at him at the realisation that the colonel never intended to let him kill the Homelander. He went off to live in seclusion at Barbary Bay.
Following the Boys' reformation, Mallory was a background figure that Mother's Milk was secretly in contact with him. During the Highland Hughie miniseries, it's revealed that Mallory was undercover (pretending to be a sympathetic English gentlemen) to watch Hughie as a favor for Mother's Milk, and to secretly steer him into conflict with mobsters to test him. He reveals himself to Hughie by giving him a number to contact. #52-55 had Hughie visit him to get the backstory on the Boys and warnings about Butcher's nature; Hughie took this on board but accused Mallory of being a monster himself, one that wanted to justify all the blood he'd spilt and messes he made, and that Mallory's "old bastard war veteran" personality was an act. At the end of #55, Mallory's house is broken into by someone (implied to be Butcher) to kill him; Mallory's last words are "So why don't you do me a favour and get it the Hell over with, MM?".
First appearance is issue 7. An as-yet-unnamed elderly man who, while not an official member of the Boys, works as their informant.
He is a former comic editor/writer who worked for Vought-American's Victory Comics subsidiary, writing all the comics based on Vought's superheroes to "give people supes like they wanted supes to be". His work on superhero comics gives him incredible knowledge of them and Vought-American. He hates "that comic-book crap", though he lives under a comic store surrounded by his work. It is revealed in issue 22 that his son was Blarney Cock, from whom he was estranged and was satisfied that Hughie killed him. It is also revealed that his other son was killed in Vietnam as a result of faulty rifles produced by Vought-American (which ironically resemble the British Army's SA80 bullpup rifles). His son's death is the impetus for his association with Vought: to gather information in the hope he could one day assist in their destruction. He is the Boys' equivalent of Stan Lee and Julius Schwartz, though his dialogue is primarily a parody of Lee. It is also revealed in issue 54 that once Vought-American introduced The Homelander to the world in 1969, The Legend made a strategic move and got himself filmed at a memorial service for the air cav that his first son served in. Greg Mallory didn't buy the fact that a Vought-American man felt guilty about what his company was doing. It is also noted that Blarney Cock, the supe that Hughie killed twice was produced by The Legend and Queen Maeve. It's more than likely these two were in a relationship together at one point. This is confirmed in issue #57 when Hughie discover surveillance photos and transcripts of The Legend having sex with Queen Maeve.
Butcher has accused The Legend of developing feelings for Queen Maeve, which could set up dire consequences for both The Boys and The Seven.
The Legend has stated that every American government since Gerald Ford's administration (along with two-thirds of Congress) have been owned to some extent by the military-industrial complex, who are desperate to keep Vought-American's superhumans out of national defense contracts for fear of being unable to compete. This makes the government extremely willing to back the Boys, and the team was originally authorised under President Bush and continued under President Clinton.
Ever since the 9/11 attacks, the government has been in a state of internal conflict, with the President watching for any treacherous move by the Vice-President and both of them trying to have their agents on each other's security details.
In contrast to the real world, the events of 9/11 saw the World Trade Center saved but the Brooklyn Bridge destroyed and America invade Pakistan in response, with Afghanistan being severely hit by "collateral damage" (deliberately). The public is unaware that the Bridge wasn't the intended target of Al Qaeda. #51 reveals that America is, officially, assisting the Pakistani government - and secretly "pay[ing] them to let us invade", both with money and by deliberately removing "undesirables" (claiming they're enemy combatants) and taking them to a prison camp in Anchorage, Alaska. Special forces are heavily used in Pakistan (and causing civilian deaths) and a large number of soldiers have been crippled by IEDs.
A CIA analyst whom Butcher uses to acquire information. The Boys refer to him as "Monkey". He seems to have a fetish for female paraplegics. Butcher tends to knee him in the groin when information is needed.
He is soon to become Director of the CIA and intended to use this to make life difficult for the Boys, but after he attempted to assault a paraplegic former athlete in #51, Butcher blackmailed him into backing down while also having Terror anally rape him.
Director of the CIA. During the 1980s, she was a field officer in Afghanistan. She despises Butcher and vice versa, though is sexually involved with him; it's implied that Butcher is blackmailing her into these sexual encounters and has been shown outright pressuring her, while stating that both of them are aware they deserve each other. She's done many immoral things but considers they were for the greater good.
She attempted to use Silver Kincaid as a mole within the G-Men, but withheld this information from the Boys when sending them in to investigate the team. Butcher threatened to kill her and her family if she ever put the team in danger like that again but later claimed this was an empty threat - as he was manipulating her in this second encounter, that may have been a lie.
She decided to get out and quit the CIA to run for the US Senate, leaving Kessler as her replacement to get back at Butcher. In #51, Butcher met with her to give her information that could allow guided missiles to home in on supes, telling her to pass this on to the Air Force.
Republican President of the United States and responsible for signing off on an order for the CIA to monitor all superheroes - an order that ultimately results in the reformation of the Boys. Has a hatred of superheroes due to the threat they pose to the world. Issue 20 states he's a former Halliburton man, and "cold and hard as the Badlands themselves".
He was the Vice President under George Bush after a scandal took out the previous choice. He ran for office after Clinton. Despite his loathing of "Vic the Veep", he was forced by the Republican Party to take him as Vice-President.
He's said in Herogasm to have ordered the invasion of Pakistan instead of Afghanistan (which the CIA had asked for) after 9/11, and gave many private defense and reconstruction contracts to Halliburton and other companies, as well as having "sold off" most of the federal government. #51 reveals he's done highly immoral things to get the US into Pakistan. Mallory says in #55, as does VA in Herogasm, that he's in the pocket of multiple corporate interests. He's highly unpopular by the time of the series for his policies and war record, but appears respected by Butcher.
Dakota Bob almost averted the bulk of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon by paying attention to intelligence warnings, putting NORAD on high alert and response teams at US airports, and having two of the hijacked planes immediately shot down and the third boarded at the airport. The fourth got through after Vic assaulted him and took control of the situation, ordering NORAD to stand down, with the intent of allowing the Seven to rescue the fourth plane, a plan which backfired disastrously. He's unable to prove this or that Vought-American are up to something, but keeps a close watch on Vought infiltration of the Secret Service; officially, the fourth plane was also shot down but too late.
Dakota Bob was killed by a wolverine that a child had as a pet. There was a jab made by Garth Ennis when The Vought-American executive said "He's the best at what he does?" This is a quote that is said by the X-Men member Wolverine.
Possible Dick Cheney analogue. Dakota Bob and Vic the Veep highlight that The Boys isn't about good versus evil so much as competence versus incompetence.
Neoconservative Vice-President of the United States, backed by Vought-American. It has been implied that he is mentally handicapped, and stated that his family are all Vought-American people; he himself was said in #6 to have been a former CEO for Vought. This seems to be the reason why Vought-American chose him as their puppet-candidate. He appears to be only clever enough to be politically useful. Visually he resembles Arnold Schwarzenegger, while his speech is a parody of George W. Bush.
Vic and his backers are suspected of trying to ensure the President would be in Florida during 9/11, leaving Vic in charge and able to have the Seven liberate the hijacked planes; when this failed, Vic knocked Dakota Bob unconscious with a fire extinguisher and ordered the USAF to leave the last hijacked plane, leading to the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge when the Seven failed. Nobody saw the assault, but Vic is suspected.[1] Vought intend to assassinate the President as, knowing Vic would never win in an election, this is the only way for Vic to become President (albeit temporarily) and thus bring in superhuman defense contracts. The President takes great care in selecting Vic's security detail, ensuring as few Red River agents are on it as possible.[2]
Formerly, Vought American Consolidated (V.A.C.), Vought-American is the series' main antagonist. The corporation began as an ordinary defense contractor, though their products were often faulty. They have been stated to have been experts at buying political friends and getting their products bought, but incompetent at giving a servicable product; the rifles they sold to the US Army during the Vietnam War weren't even able to fire. When they reformed in 1971, they went public with the Homelander (who had been created eighteen years before), and initiated the modern era of superheroes.[3]
Their primary goal, ever since the Second World War, has been to incorporate superheroes into national defense. With the debut of the Seven and the subsequent monopoly of superhumans, they were in a position to threaten the traditional military-industrial complex. Unable to get the contracts by semi-legal means, they've attempted the overthrow of the Russian government by supervillains, manipulating reaction to the 9/11 crisis (however, while Vought-American had pre-existing knowledge of the hijackers' plans (to the point of knowing which four planes would be hijacked), there is thus far no evidence that the company was actually responsible for the hijackings), and currently intend to assassinate the President.
They own and control Victory Comics (a parody of both Marvel and DC), which whitewashes the exploits of the real-life superheroes, and Red River, a private security firm (a parody of Blackwater). Red River agents are being covertly placed in the US Secret Service. At the meeting between the Boys and the Seven after Mallory's grandchildren had been murdered by the Lamplighter, Red River operatives used nerve gas on a squad of Delta Force soldiers who had been assigned as back up. After they had been gassed, the Homelander stripped naked and tore the Delta Force soldiers to shreds; the floor of the hanger the meeting took place in is literally swimming in blood. When the Boys enter the hanger, which is in total darkness, Butcher asks where the Delta Force team are. The Frenchman, who possesses an enhanced sense of smell, replies, "I believe we are standing in them..."
Vought-American appears to be a satire of a real-life defense-contractor Vought. The Boys #19 describes the "Vought-American F7U 'Grizzly'" as a propeller fighter plane introduced at the end of World War II, which was so poorly built it was a greater danger to US pilots than the Japanese. The real-life Vought also produced a plane named the F7U which was also a genuine danger to its test pilots, but it was a jet fighter created in 1948 and was never put into mass production.
The Unnamed Executive is the major Vought-American presence in the series, constantly sitting in on the Seven's meetings. He orchestrated the near-coup of the Russian government, ordered and oversaw the massacre of the G-Teams, and ordered Payback to ambush the Boys. His name may be Stillwell (possibly a backhanded reference to Jasper Sitwell): Herogasm #4 mentioned he'd come up under Vought's Mr. Edgar, and #29 has Vought minutes from 1989 mentioning a "keen" young man named Stillwell in Edgar's office.
His calm exterior is in contrast to the superhero teams he oversees: he never shows any concern in the Seven's meetings or around the Homelander, despite their sheer power, nor around Russian mob boss Little Nina. Jack from Jupiter considers the Executive to be worse than the Seven, and has said he used to have nightmares about the sort of things the Executive might have had done; the Homelander has shown signs of wanting to kill him, but always stops himself and seemed genuinely scared of him in Herogasm #5. He is known to have said that nothing is unimportant when planning.
In #34, the CEO of Vought-American (Mr Edgar) dies, and it seemed possible that the Executive would be taking his place. Instead, by #39, the Executive allows another generic executive to become CEO, acting as a puppet in order to maintain his independence and influence affairs behind the scenes.
He is utterly ruthless; after ordering the slaughter of every member of the G Men, he then arranges for Pre Wiz, the children Godolkin was training(and sexually abusing)to be kidnapped, locked into a large crate and finally dropped from an aircraft over the sea. Each of these acts were carried out by different groups of Red River operatives. He chose this method because he thought that even Red River personnel might find the outright murder of children to be too much. This way, no one person, apart from himself, knew the final fate of the children.
The majority of superheroes in The Boys give only lip service to the personal or societal codes of morals and ethics adhered to by superheroes such as Superman or Batman. At this juncture, with a few exceptions, they are soon shown to be egocentric, arrogant, manipulative, irresponsible, hedonistic and frequently bordering on what some might consider immoral, evil, or outright psychotic, considering mere mortals and even lesser superheroes to be worthless or inferior to them; there are, however, far more "superheroes" than outright super-villains, because most super-humans wish to maintain (and thrive off) the status quo.
They all gain their powers from the drug Compound V, first created in the 1930s and which has since entered the gene pool; the power level of a superhuman depends on the amount of V in their system, though pure hits are extremely expensive (Hughie's injection cost $19 Billion[4]). The drug can resurrect dead superheroes, but they are left severely retarded and zombie-like as a result.
The company Vought-American has many ties to the superheroes, controls a number of them, and is responsible for the creation of the original Seven; they also created and own Young Americans, Teenage Kix, Payback, and the G Men.
The Seven are the world's premier superhero team, created by Vought-American through injecting perfected Compound V into fetuses, resulting in superheroes significantly more powerful than any others. They superficially resemble the Justice League but in character are "absolute scum", in Ennis' words. They are all heavily concerned about merchandising rights, and are highly abusive. On September 11, they attempted to liberate one of the hijacked planes, only to cause it to crash into the Brooklyn Bridge. They currently have a deal with the Boys that neither group will take action against the other, following a conflict that saw Lamplighter kill Mallory's grandchildren and the Boys kill Lamplighter to prevent an all out conflict.
In issue #51, the recently promoted Vought American executive Jess Bradley runs a computer simulation to determine the likely outcome of a fight to the death between the Boys and the Seven. There is an 82% probability that such a conflict would result in the deaths of every member of the Boys. Of the Seven, only the Homelander and Black Noir would be guaranteed to survive; the fate of Maeve is uncertain.
Real name John. Leader of the Seven, and the first superhuman created by Vought-American; his cover story is being an alien landing in the United States as an infant. Powers include heat vision, which he uses to keep the junior members in line, super strength, durability, flight and enhanced vocal cords, which are able to rupture the eardrums of non-superpowered people when brought to a yelling pitch (in issue 21). He is strong enough to crush steel with his bare hands, lift and throw a fighter jet with one hand and literally tear normal human beings apart. Homelander's heat vision is powerful enough to bring down a passenger jet. His powers, abilities, costume and position in the team have similarities to those of Superman, although his codename is more reminiscent of patriotic heroes such as Captain America. His costume's shoulder ornament is an eagle, similar to that of Judge Dredd, a character Ennis had earlier worked on. It is implied in #20 that he may be the "big boy" who raped Butcher's wife; while listening to Butcher's heartbeat as an indicator, he plays a "hot/cold" guessing game, trying to narrow down who he harmed to inspire Butcher's loathing, and decides on "wife," although this only implies that Butcher believes Homelander is the man who raped his wife, not necessarily that Homelander did so. Homelander's mistakes and poor leadership during the 9/11 attacks were primarily responsible for the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge and the death of Mister Marathon.
The Homelander also ages at a much slower rate than a human; he is approximately sixty years old, but appears to be a man in his thirties. Stormfront possessed a similar ability, retaining the appearance and vitality of a man in his prime while over seventy years old.
Homelander is incredibly arrogant, often leading him to commit crimes against innocent people (including destroying a passenger jet while nude and tricking Soldier Boy into a gay encounter for Seven membership), believing, not unreasonably, that he can do anything he wants because of who he is [5] Despite his powers, he is beholden to Vought-American; in Herogasm #3 Jack stated that Homelander has given everyone a speech about not to mess around in front of the company because of how much of their lifestyle is dependent on V-A's money. However, in Herogasm #5, he tried to reveal at an awards ceremony that he had destroyed the plane "because it occurred to me" and encourage the other superheroes to realise they can do what they want; he instantly stopped, showing fear, when he saw the Executive was listening. Since then, he's shown increasing anger and frustration—he almost incinerated the Seven's V-A Executive in #31, stopping himself at the last moment, and blew off concerns about money as something beneath him in #33 (worrying A-Train and Jack). #40 would also reveal, via photos Butcher had sent to him and with which Butcher blackmails VA, that the Homelander has once gleefully taken part in murder, rape (including "raping a baby in half"), cannibalism and possibly necrophilia; Vought-American believe this was a one-time event and won't be repeated, though they're aware of how hard it would be to stop the Homelander if this wasn't the case.
In issue #49 Mallory reveals that they still do not know who originally took the photos and sent them to the CIA.
In #43, he mused that it was time he "started" doing whatever he wanted, indicating that his crimes to date are only the tip of the iceberg.
In #49, the Homelander is seen arguing with his own reflection. During this incident, it is revealed that he cannot remember committing the atrocities in the photographs the Boys had sent him. This incident implies that the Homelander may be a schizophrenic and may even have sent the photographs to the CIA himself. He also cannot remember raping Butcher's wife; in fact, he earlier told Starlight that he had never forced himself on a woman in his life, although he has no hesitation in taking private pride in his many murders.
At the end of this "conversation" the Homelander states that once he has carried out his plan it will no longer matter if Butchers sends the photographs to the Media because at that point, "I'll be king of Hell."
Batman analogue. Always appears to be in shadow. Powers include superhuman strength; he is able to easily overpower Wee Hughie, who is superhumanly strong himself, and superhuman durability. He is able to survive a fall from several thousand feet (although this appears to be unusual even for him, since the Legend later claims he has no idea how Black Noir survived the fall). In #34, he appears out of nowhere from the shadows. He was originally believed to have been trained as a pilot; while Queen Maeve claimed the mission to rescue the hijacked aircraft failed as soon as Black Noir was dropped, telling the Homelander, "Black Noir was the pilot, you unbelievably stupid shit!" Was one of the first of the Seven, along with Maeve and Homelander, but is mostly an enigma.
Black Noir's face is entirely concealed by his mask, and both A-Train and Jack from Jupiter have commented that he never speaks (or has at least never done so in their presence); A-Train finds his apparently emotionless demeanor unnerving. In Herogasm, Jack notes that Black Noir and Homelander go "way back," possibly a reference to Superman and Batman's longtime friendship as depicted in World's Finest and other sources.
In Herogasm #3, Black Noir sexually assaults Hughie, by way of shoving his thumb up Hughie's rectum, briefly speaking when he did so ("good soldier" a reference to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns); in The Boys #33 he tries to instigate a sexual assault of Starlight. Notably, Starlight has been able to face down the others, but the appearance of Noir has her scared; Noir himself backs down when challenged by Maeve.
Although, according to Mother's Milk in #49, Black Noir has supposedly been a pilot for thirty years, #48 reveals he in fact has no piloting experience whatsoever (meaning the Seven's attempt to rescue the passenger jet on 9/11 was doomed to failure before it even started). Attempts to teach Noir to fly -- in order to match his real life skills to his comic book persona -- end in disaster as Noir accidentally shoots dead his instructor before crashing the plane, a piece of incompetence that even the Homelander deems embarrassing. Black Noir again demonstrates superhuman strength and durability by kicking his way out of the burning wreckage and camly walking away while still on fire (until the sprinklers put out the flames). On the advice of his PA, Ms. Bradley, the Vought American senior excutive decides to discontinue any attempts to teach Black Noir to fly.
Miss Bradley later runs a computer simulation of an all-out war between the Seven and the Boys. Black Noir is the only person apart from the Homelander himself who is predicted to survive such a fight.
In French, Noir means "black".
A member of the Big Three. Has a costume similar to Wonder Woman and is, as her subtitle suggests, supposed royalty, although this may be a cover story similar to Homelander's and Stormfront's. She can fly, and was shown during the 9/11 attacks to have some degree of superhuman strength and durability. Is unconcerned by world affairs "as long as she's got enough gin inside her". In the flashback to the 9/11 attacks, she appeared to be far more passionate, becoming angry with Homelander's disastrous handling of the mission (although Maeve presumed Homelander had a plan, he, although team leader, expected Maeve to have a plan, indicating that even he considers her the most resourceful team member), and in the end had to forcibly tear herself free of passengers. It's implied that she became a full-on alcoholic and became uncaring as a result of the disaster.
She's the one that Starlight goes to discuss her problems and also explained the Herogasm set-up to Starlight, even though they have both openly stated that they don't like each other very much. Despite this, in #34 she prevented a sexual assault on the girl by intimidating the rest of the team into backing down. She has a great hatred of the Homelander, which possibly stems from the fact that they were involved with in a sexual relationship that went bad in Issue #46. It has since been revealed that because of this betrayal, she willingly assists the Boys in their surveillance efforts by planting cameras in the Seven's headquarters. In Herogasm #5, she seemed suspicious of Homelander's attempted speech.
It is revealed in issue 54 to Hughie by Greg Mallory, that Queen Maeve and The Legend produced a son named Blarney Cock which was the supe that was killed by Hughie twice.
A speedster whose carelessness was responsible for the death of Wee Hughie's girlfriend in the first issue. His abilities are similar to those of The Flash though with significantly less control. Was formerly a member of the Teenage Kix, making him more clearly an analogue to the Wally West Flash, and is the most juvenile and crude member of the Seven, including being the one who most openly enjoys humiliating Starlight. Is temporary blinded in one eye, the result of attempting to rape Starlight. A heavy drugs user and bitter over Starlight, and wishes to assault her again.[6] In Herogasm, he appears to be genuine friends with Jack from Jupiter. His catchphrase is "Can't stop the A-Train--!"
Wears a diving helmet and is marketed as King of the Seas. Can fly, has some degree of super strength, and remarkable durability (evidenced by surviving being hit by the 9/11 plane that destroyed the Brooklyn Bridge). Apparently a jab at Aquaman. The Deep often bears the brunt of other characters' contempt and disregard, and alternatively finds himself in embarrassing happenstance that steal his metaphorical thunder. For example, rising menacingly from the water next to the Brooklyn Bridge to parley with the Boys, only to have an used condom from the dirty water stuck to his helmet. During their catastrophic attempt to save the hijacked plane on 9/11, the Deep proved strong enough to smash the cockpit's window with a single punch. However, this resulted in the Homelander having to battle his way through the jeststream inside the plane, with broken glass being blown into his face and eyes. Homelanders response was, "Oh, fucking nigger!...fucking nigger!!" In issue #60, A-Train asks him why he doesn't take off his helmet while drinking and he answers that he can't due to an ancient Atlantean curse. Although his face is rarely seen, he is African-American and this is confirmed in issue #59 when an angry Jack from Jupiter calls him "the least black black man on the planet."
Can fly and is able to make his skin impenetrable using a secret word (which he claims he can say twice as fast as "Titty-Fuck"[6]), which is eventually revealed to be "Carpo"; any other powers are as yet unrevealed. A heavy drug user (going so far to inject himself with drugs cut with Queen Maeve's vaginal mucus), he is inclined to let things run their course in the Seven.[6] Gets along quite well with A-Train. Enjoys tormenting Starlight but criticizes A-Train's attempt to rape her, not so much from any moral concerns as from a prediction that she will be ejected from the Seven within a year in any case, darkly hinting that A-Train can do whatever he wants with her after that. Continues to be irritated by his lower royalties compared to "the Big Three." A Martian Manhunter parody, his supposed extraterrestrial nature is likely a cover story; his ability to be empowered by a secret word is reminiscent of the Billy Batson version of Captain Marvel. He sometimes acts as perhaps the sole voice of reason in the group. In #49, he attempts to calm both Lamplighter during a meeting with the Boys and the Homelander shortly thereafter, when Lamplighter temporarily blinds the others and departs to trail Mallory; in #20, he tried to stop A-Train, who was angry about Starlight injuring him while repelling his rape attempt, from irritating the Homelander with complaints following a disastrous encounter with the Boys.
During the 9/11 incident, upon realizing Homelander's plan (intending to "scare" the terrorists by entering the plane through the forward doors on both sides, which would have caused the plane to in turn decompress from both sides) would only worsen the situation, Jack panicked and fled, still holding Mister Marathon (who, like Black Noir, could not fly and was thus being carried by a teammate). Because of Jack's abrupt action, the Deep was distracted enough to be struck directly by the plane, causing the Lamplighter to go sprawling from the scene and Black Noir (who, as a supposedly trained pilot, could conceivably have landed the plane, but see Black Noir above) to plummet to the ground (how he survived is a mystery even to the Legend), thus removing over half the team from the situation within seconds. Minutes later, Jack flew back long enough to allow Marathon to board the plane (presumably at the latter's insistence), then again sped away. It could thus be argued that the Seven's disastrous mismanagement of the situation can be traced to Jack's panic.
Jack has been outed to the public that he has sex with transsexuals prostitutes and is accused of killing one which is false. This damages Vought-American and The Seven's reputation severely. The Homelander states to Jack that superheroes don't do those things, it's "doesn't not compute" territory for the little people. Following the Homelander's assessment that The Boys did not release the video of Jack from Jupiter engaging in sexual intercourse with several transexuals based on his analysis of Butchers heartbeat and breathing patters, Jack's expulsion from The Seven was upheld by the Homelander, concurrently upholding the truce between The Boys and The Seven. Jack was upset with the Homelander's decision and left the meeting angry, after which The Boys enjoyed a steak dinner. After The Boys' discovery of Terror's corpse in their Flatiron building office, Butcher murdered Jack on the assumption that Jack killed Terror. Jack attempted to use his invulnerability power but was stymied by Butcher crushing his throat. Butcher murdered Jack by repeatedly stabbing him with a butcher knife in the gut. During the murder, Butcher repeatedly queried: "Why'd you kill me dog, Jack? Why'd you do it?"
A former member of the Seven, after the murders of Mallory's granddaughters, the Lamplighter was turned over by the Seven to the Boys, in order to end the initial conflict. He is reanimated after his death and is hidden from view deep under the Seven's headquarters; he constantly soils himself and the Seven take turns cleaning out his cell. Likely a Green Lantern analogue, with his death and resurrection probably a nod to the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern, though in design he resembles the Golden-Age Green Lantern Alan Scott. Replaced by Starlight.
Lamplighter's powers seem to mostly emanate from his torch-like device, which he can use to fly and emanate blinding light or destructive energy. He has greatly enhanced physical endurance, having survived being struck by the wing of a plane in mid-flight, although the collision's force did cave in his ribs and nearly puncture his lungs; after the incident, he required multiple medications to relieve the pain, and their side-effects may have contributed to his decision to kill Mallory's granddaughters.
Real name Annie January; displayed powers are flight and the ability to project blinding light. Other powers hinted include super-hearing. The newest member of the Seven, having formerly been a member of the Young Americans superhero organization, and a conservative Christian. On joining, was shocked to discover the true nature of the other members of the Seven: on her first visit, the Homelander gave her the choice of providing him, A-Train and Black Noir with oral sex, or leaving the group. Her costume was modified against her will to be more revealing, and she has often been tricked into humiliating situations. It was claimed by A-Train in issue 20 that the Seven hired her solely to amuse themselves by degrading her; Jack from Jupiter expects her to be replaced by a bigger name hero within a year. During the "Cherry" story arc, she meets Hughie in New York on a bench in Central Park. Under her Annie persona she begins a relationship, with Hughie, neither knowing the other's true identity.
Starlight has frequently shown signs of changing, with aggressive outbursts, losing her faith, using profanities and drinking alcohol. She's shown some concern that she's becoming more like the rest of the Seven. Butcher has footage of her 'induction' into the Seven, and in Issue 39, he discovered Starlight and Hughie's relationship.
In #32, she violently rejected a new costume and (fictional) background of being a rape victim foisted on her by V-A's marketing department. The Seven's attempt to change her mind almost resulted in a sexual assault led by Black Noir, with Starlight only being saved by (to her surprise) Maeve's intervention.
Annie has said she believes her relationship with Hughie is "more precious than gold", and she is intending to quit the Seven and move out. Despite this, #39-43 showed that she is terrified he'd reject her if he knew what she'd had to do to get into the Seven. This would unfortunately be proven true, as Hughie fled in terror of her when she revealed her true identity in Issue 45.
Not wanting the truth to destroy their relationship, she follows Hughie back to Scotland during the Highland Hughie mini-series. She reveals to Hughie her childhood.
In issue #52 she and Hughie are in San Francisco. She wanted to travel with Hughie to meet Greg Mallory. Hughie suggests to her that the relationship wouldn't work despite his warnings about certain individuals not being keen on supes. She then explains to Hughie that he's the nicest person she ever had in her life and doesn't want to give that up and requests that since the relationship is on the rocks, can he still treat her decently. Hughie agrees.
In issue #55 after Hughie finishes his conversation with Mallory, he reveals to her that he has been working for The C.I.A. and wants her to leave The Seven and hide until to upcoming war between them and The Boys is at a conclusion. Hughie admits to her that he still loves her.
A former member of the Seven, he was removed from the 9/11 crisis by Jack from Jupiter (who happened to be carrying him) but apparently insisted that Jack return to leave him there so he could help; this incident may or may not be a contributing factor in Jack's friendship with Marathon's replacement, A-Train. When it seemed Homelander would abandon the rescue attempt, Marathon insisted that he continue (albeit by pointing out that Vought-American would surely fire them if they gave up, rather than by appealing to any moral sense). While carrying Marathon, Homelander tried to slow the plane but instead literally broke it in half, in the process killing Marathon, who thus, ironically, died because he was at least half-heartedly attempting to adhere to the Seven's supposed heroic ideals. Potentially an analogue to the Barry Allen version of the Flash.
One of the two major teenage superhero teams, the Young Americans are clean-cut and patriotic; they have ties to the Young Republicans, Christian youth groups, (including one known as Capes for Christ), and other conservative organizations. In #20, the Legend shows Hughie first issues starring Vought-American's sponsored super-teams, depicting the Seven, G-Men, Payback, Teenage Kix, and Young Americans; he mentions that one team is "revamp[ed from] one of the old forties outfits," and from context, the Young Americans appear to be that team, although as yet nothing is known about their wartime predecessors.
Like so many things in the Boys stories, the Young Americans' squeaky-clean pious appearance is mostly for show, although they kept their more questionable habits secret from Starlight and the public. When she left the team to join the Seven they apparently "relaxed" a little. Aside from Starlight, the Young Americans has at least four members:
Identified as the leader in #6. Conservative Christian. Was/is involved with Starlight. Was caught by Starlight having sex with Holy Mary.
Red, blue and yellow costume. Identified by Starlight as the original leader, via election, in 'Highland Laddie'.
Green military-style costume.
Fishnet-wearing, habit-garbed member who sleeps with Drummer Boy.
The other major teenage group, Teenage Kix has a more rebellious, Generation X image. On reforming the Boys, Butcher planned his first operation against them. The team frequently goes to brothels to "celebrate" after a victory. In issue 6 the group is left wounded and bloodied with one member dead after accidentally being killed by Wee Hughie. A possible jab at the Teen Titans and Generation X.
The leader of the group. Bisexual. Has sex with Shout Out and DogKnott.
Canine appearance. Is named after a slang term for Bulbus glandis. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulbus_glandis>
Retractable claws. Practices self mutilation by cutting herself with her blades. Similar to X-23. It is revealed in issue nine that she had her claws coated in metal. Hinted to be Lesbian.
Irish and extremely racist. Along with his best friend Whack Job, he steal painkillers from a children's hospital. In issue six he is accidentally killed by Wee Hughie, after which it is discovered that he has a taped-up hamster inserted in his anus. He is given a hero's funeral. After returning from the dead, his sole focus is to get his hamster back; Wee Hughie is ordered to kill him a second time by The Legend, after which The Legend reveals that Blarney Cock is his son.
In issue 54 it is revealed that Blarney Cock is the son of Queen Maeve and The Legend.
Mohawk-wearing member. Can conjure electricity.
He brings in invaluable NRA sponsorship. Looks similar to Judge Dredd. Into Bondage.
Powers unknown, although name suggests superspeed.
African-American and thought publicly to be gay. Due to the Boys, he resigns from the team after announcing his homosexuality, but he does show up to fight the Boys after Homelander reveals the perpetrators. During the fight, he has both of his thumbs ripped off by Butcher. Although his name may suggest vocal powers similar to Banshee, Shout Out has only demonstrated flight and electrical abilities.
Payback is an analogue of Marvel's Avengers, having analogues to Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and Vision. Additionally, the name of the group is similar in meaning to that of the Avengers, and they're stated to live in a mansion with a butler.
A predecessor for the group was created back in the 1940s, intended for use against Nazi Germany - but failed disastrously, and were wiped out swiftly in the Battle of the Bulge. In 1950, Vought created a second version, "Crimefighters Incorporated"; they were used to trailblaze for future superheroes like the Homelander and get everyone used to them.
It is said in Herogasm #2 that every member has tried to join the Seven, possibly a jab at the Avengers' being Marvel's equivalent of the JLA.
The Boys wiped them out; Garth Ennis stated this was "because they don't know what they're doing with the (considerable) resources they command".[7]
A pastiche of Iron Man and Batman, and a founding member of the superhero team known as Payback. Has a boy sidekick named Laddio (a mirror of Robin). Another character called Swingwing is revealed to be the first Laddio who eventually pursued a solo career (mirroring Nightwing). Also shown to have an associate called the Talon, who switches back and forth between ally and adversary, and is a take on Catwoman and Black Widow, including her similar costume.
Issues 52 to 54 reveal that 1944 and 1950 had two previous versions of Tek Knight and Laddio, but back then he was called the Steel Knight and was a superstrong hero with a jetpack. Mallory says they revamped his "franchise" later.
Tek-Knight had a brain tumor "the size of a fist"; this gave him an overpowering desire to have sex with anything. Issue nine gives his name as Robert Vernon. He also previously led a group known as the Maverikz (who in turn were savagely beaten by The Boys in issue 31), most likely a parody of the Outsiders (originally led by Batman) and Force Works (originally led by Iron Man). Prior to the growth of his tumor he never did anything depraved or morally wrong like many other "Heroes" and seemed to be a genuinely nice person, though highly homophobic. An an example of this was his dismissal of Laddio; upon realizing his compulsion was causing him to consider sex with his young ward, he immediately acted to remove the temptation and avoid any chance of his acting on it. Soldier Boy states in Herogasm he was one of the only members in Payback to be nice to him, while Butcher describes him as boring. He died in issue 10 when a wheelbarrow full of bricks landed on his head while saving a mother and child from being crushed, though in his head he was saving the world by having sex with a meteorite.
A jab at Captain America. Payback's "elected" leader, though he yearns to join the Seven. Maintains a very innocent approach to his role, not realizing the depravity around him (never resorting to foul language or joining his team during the "Herogasm" Orgies). Mistakenly interprets gay sex as a test for him to join the Seven.[8] He is in the habit of reciting the name of states while engaged in battle. It's claimed he fought in World War II, though Butcher claims otherwise and refers to this story as an insult to the people who really did (presumably a comment on Captain America). His nose is bitten off by Butcher in issue 32. He is captured alive but badly beaten by Butcher in issue 33, and is tortured for information in 34. At the beginning of issue 39 there is a funeral being held for Soldier Boy on the cover of a newspaper, although whether he is truly dead or his death was faked remains to be seen.
Two earlier Soldier Boys have existed, both the leaders of their team. The original's decision to send Payback's fliers to scout for Germans - without authorisation - led the Waffen-SS to a US Army camp, causing a massacre of both the soldiers and the prototype Payback.
A member of Payback. His name and his fake backstory portrays him as a reincarnated Viking which makes him a possible analogue of Thor. His name is also a reference to the White Supremacist website. His physical attributes and costume resemble Captain Marvel as well as Superman; indeed, the cover to issue #34 parodies the cover to All-Star Superman #1. He came from Germany in 1938 with Jonah Vogelbaum, creator of Compound V, as the only product of the Third Reich's V-Program. Vogelbaum saw the young Nazi as a danger and recommended Vought-American destroy him; this recommendation was ignored. He believes himself to be the true leader of Payback despite Soldier Boy being "voted in"[6]
He was an unrepentant Nazi and racist. The Female walked into a building to carry out what she thought was to be a hit for the Mafia. In reality it was a trap; Stormfront had already killed the men and, when the female discovers their burned corpses, he sneers, "Italians. What the Fuhrer was thinking, I'll never know." He also calls the Female a "Mongrel" and "Untermensch" during the fight (Issue 31). He regards his "team-mates" in Payback with contempt, especially Soldier Boy, whom he regularly insults ("Schweiner Amerikaner", "Dummkopfe").
Stormfront was one of the most powerful Supes. He possessed superhuman strength, durability (in #32 he is seen flying kicking/through walls and ceilings without apparent effort) flight and the ability to exhale what appeared to be lightning bolts from his mouth. This "lightning" was powerful enough to burn humans alive (#31) and blow up the Boy's van (#34. He was far stronger than any of the individual members of the Boys, and able to overpower them (in #32 he strangles the superhumanly strong Mother's Milk with one hand and then breaks M M's right arm when he grabs Stormfront's testicles while freeing himself). However, his arrogance and lack of fighting skill meant that the Female, Mother's Milk and Billy Butcher were able to injure him during single combat. Nevertheless, it still took the combined efforts of Billy, Frenchie, Mother's Milk and Love Sausage to beat him to death.
Stormfront lost an eye in a fight with The Female, subsequently beating The Female into a coma During an attempt to kill the boys, he has his testicles crushed by MM, and then is stomped to death by Butcher, MM, Frenchie and Vas in issue 34 (a reference to the Allies of the UK, US, Free French, and USSR).
According to the transcripts that Hughie stole from Doc Peculiar's brothel, Stormfront was in a relationship with Queen Maeve at one point hoping she would give him a child.
A member of Payback. Yellowjacket/Hank Pym analogue. Can only "Buzz" but is translated by Mind Droid. Butcher kills him with a pickaxe in issue 33.
His predecessors in 1944 and 1950 were called The Buzzer.
A member of Payback. Described as a "Telepathic Android", although he reveals in issue 33 that he is "telepathic, but not a robot". Vision analogue. First victim of Tek Knight's sexual disorder. Apparently involved in an open relationship with Crimson Countess. Is decapitated by Butcher in issue 33.
In 1944 and 1950, this character's predecessor was called Manbot.
A member of Payback. Appears to be an analogue of the Scarlet Witch but seems to possess heat-related powers rather than probability control. Involved with Mind Droid whilst it's hinted at that she's having an affair with Stormfront. Butcher broke her neck for attacking Terror in issue 32.
Mentioned, but seen only on the cover of a Vought-American comic shown to Hughie in issue 20. In issue 9 Butcher informs Tek Knight that six years ago Eagle the Archer "got coked off his tits" and beat his girlfriend into a coma. Butcher blackmailed him in exchange for information on all of his team-mates. Due to him being mentioned as a close friend of Tek Knight, this could make him an analogue of not only Hawkeye, but Green Arrow as well.
First mentioned in issue 7. The G-Men are based on Marvel's X-Men. Vought-American's most bankable team, as well as their most popular, due to their image as downtrodden outcasts, orphans and runaways, despite the fact that all of them are extremely rich. They also have six sister-teams, analogous to the other "X-teams", these include: G-Force (X-Force), The G-Brits (Excalibur), The G-Nomads (The Exiles), G-Coast, G-Style and G-Wiz (New Mutants, Generation X, Young X-Men et al.). There is also a preschooler group called Pre-Wiz, which Vought have tried to stop Godolkin from forming. Outside of G-Wiz and Pre-Wiz, the entirety of the G-Men hate each other.
G-Coast and G-Style are entirely African-American, and are constantly engaged in an over-the-top parody of rapper feuds, especially over the death of 2-Cool, a jab at 2 Pac. Outside of Nubia, the other teams seem to lack any black members. According to Dime-Bag (a black youth) in #28, when he graduates from G-Wiz he will have to join either G-Coast or G-Style.
It was revealed that Godolkin kidnapped them as children and conditioned them to love being G-men by giving them an endless supply of whatever they wanted. He also sexually abuses them from the age of six, with assistance from some of the other G-Men. Vought-American executives eventually determined that Godolkin and the G-Teams were a public relations liability, and they were massacred by Red River operatives in Issue 29.
John Godolkin is the team's founder and an analogue of Charles Xavier. He is depicted as an unrepentant pedophile and kidnapper. It should be noted that he appears to have no powers, unlike his students. Five-Oh, the team’s field leader, does not like when Godolkin professes to be one of “them” (the outcasted G-Men).[9] Even though the G-Men hate Godolkin, they are almost totally loyal to him. For example, Five-Oh, who privately mocks and detests Godolkin,[9][10] is seen dying on behalf of his honor when they are massacred.[11] In addition Randall, who has an otherwise rebellious streak, unquestioningly carries out unspoken orders to kill Hughie.[10] This is most likely due to a combination of factors like Stockholm Syndrome, shame from the things that he manipulated them into doing as children such as sexually abusing newer members, and being accustomed to the lavish lifestyle they have come to enjoy as compensation he has given them for the things they've endured.
John Godolkin is tolerated by V.A.C because his team, the G-Men, and their spin-offs have proven to be the most bankable superhero team. John Godolkin’s behavior, however, is uncontrollable, and eventually V.A.C becomes concerned with his perversions and instability, which causes them to terminate the entire group.[11]
John Godolkin’s personality is a parody of Charles Xavier as well as other noteworthy comic book mentors, such as the Doom Patrol's Niles Caulder. He has a penchant for obtuse and dramatic speeches and could be accused of being intentionally pretentious. Godolkin professes to “love all his children” yet will callously order their deaths if any of them threaten to reveal the G-Men’s dark secrets. At the same time, he desperately wants any deceased G-Men to be resurrected (as V can do); he continues to want this even after seeing the mental state of Nubia, much to the concern and disgust of both the G-Men and Vought.
Five-Oh is a Cyclops analogue. He wears a uniform/helmet reminiscent of a motorcycle cop, with "energy beams" leaking from the goggles. He seems to be fiercely loyal to Godolkin’s G-Men, which is evidenced in issue 29 where he defends Godolkin’s honor before being killed.[11] Five-Oh indicates that the money may be what drives him and “the other stuff” (Godolkin’s sexual abuse) is something you learn to “cope” with.[12]
Five-Oh’s personality seems to be a caricature of Cyclops as well. Aside from his loyalty and apparent leadership, he is depicted as stoic and rather curt with people. He mocks and derides most of his teammates and mentor Godolkin behind their backs. He especially has ire towards Silver Kincaid, whom he refers to as a “tease” who can “[go to] hell”, possibly indicating some unreturned sexual advances.[13] Five-Oh does seem to have a close friendship with Cold Snap, who is seen with him the most of any character.
Cold Snap possesses temperature manipulation, and is a reference to Iceman. He was one of the five original G-Men, and is a leader of the G-Force sub-team. Cold Snap is genuinely nice to most of his teammates, if not a little over-eager and naïve. He is the first character to allude to Godolkin pedophilia [12] and even openly questions some of the G-Men’s practices to Five-Oh. Cold-Snap appears well liked by most of his teammates, even Critter [9] who otherwise seems to hate and loathe everyone else. When G-Style and G-Coast come to visit he suggests to Five-Oh that they can set a moral example by “showing some leadership” [9] while the rest of the team simply makes racist cracks. Cold Snap is seen in the front lines during the G-Men massacre at the end of issue 29 [11]
Deceased via suicide. Wielder of gravity and/or pressure related powers. One of the original G-Men and the one who killed Nubia at Godolkin's order, as well as other "off-message" supes for Vought. After killing Nubia, she reached out to the CIA in desperation over the state of the G-Men; Rayner tried to turn her into a spy, further destabilising her mental state. Her resulting public suicide triggered the Boys' investigation of the G-men, and it was discovered that the place where she killed herself was the town where Godolkin first abducted her. Comments after her death imply the other G-Men detested her, especially Five-Oh (who refers to her as "cock teasing"). Jean Grey/Emma Frost analogue.
Killed by Silver Kincaid. Had thunder powers. Most likely a Storm analogue. She has been reanimated and is in a zombie like state. She is constantly saying the words "kill me", and needs to be fed and cared for by the other G-Men. Godolkin deliberately keeps her around. Her fate following Vought-American's massacre of the other G-Men remains a mystery.
Very tall and furry. Wears an Elizabethan collar around his neck and boxing gloves on his hands to keep from scratching. Similar to Beast. Shown to be extremely homophobic, racist and generally irritable towards everyone. During a brunch with Godolkin and the first two G-teams he actually confronted Godolkin about his constant acquisition of new members, how it increased the likelihood of their secret being found out, and asked when it would stop. His lower torso was blown apart during Vought's destruction of the G-men.
His temperamental personality and the fact that he has sledgehammers for hands strongly suggest he is a Wolverine analogue. He is always saying "gonna...gonna." Apparently the "hammer-hands" are a permanent fixture indicated by his inability to eat or drink during the G-men brunch without some assistance from other members.
A rather flamboyant character. Gay and constantly facing homophobic remarks from the others (particularly Critter). Has been shown assisting Nubia, as well as helping Groundhawk eat, and was calm and uncomplaining in both cases. He seems to possess some telepathic abilities, as well as flight. His name suggests that he is an analogue of Archangel.
Another openly gay member with the ability to project/control flame. It is visually implied that he is vulnerable to his own powers, as his appearance is heavily burn-scarred. Is apparently in a relationship with The Divine. Possible analogue of Sunfire and/or Pyro.
A demonic and slightly goofy character with powers of teleportation and enhanced strength. Referred to as euro trash, due to his pidgin English and European look; apparently Swedish. Analogue of Nightcrawler.
A taciturn member of the G-men. He seems to be made out of some shiny, dark coloured metal. Analogue of Colossus.
The group with whom Hughie went undercover as "Bagpipe". They are a spin-off group, resembling X-Force or the New Mutants. Their name spoofs a long line of X-Men spin-off books such as X-Force or Generation X that expanded the brand by use of the "X" prefix. G-Wiz headquarters is located down the road from the G-Mansion in a fraternity house; they spend most of their time partying. They're sexually confused and are unaware of appropriate boundaries & limits due to how Godolkin raised them. Hughie openly pities them, while also being disgusted and disturbed by their odd pastimes. The group consisted of:
Randall. Appears to be the leader. In appearance he seems to parody Cannonball.
Cory, the team psychic.
Jamal, who reveals Godolkin's secrets before being killed by G-Men member Europo.
Sugar.
Weezer.
Blowchowski, an outrageous member of G-Wiz who fires acidic vomit from his mouth. Visually based upon John "Bluto" Blutarski (John Belushi) of "Animal House" fame, Discharge seems like he could be potentially a combination of Brotherhood of Evil Mutants members Blob and Toad, mostly due to his appearance and rather disgusting powers. Blowchowski engages in several forms of sexually perverted play with other members. Much like the others he seems oblivious to the sexual nature of their antics. Blowchowski is incredibly fond of peeing on the other members of the group, all of whom find it humorous.
Real name Vasilii Vorishikin, but everybody calls him Vas. A Russian ex-cop, ex-tank commander, ex-superhero, communist and current owner of a bar in Moscow with a penchant for drinking a beverage made from brake fluid that he passes off as vodka. He used to be part of Glorious Five Year Plan, a team of five superheroes (including teammates The Tractor, Purge, Red Banner, and Collectivo, all presumably retired or dead) in the days of the Soviet Union. He is shown as nostalgic for the principles and values of the Soviet Union, and of his work in Glorious Five Year Plan.
Genuinely altruistic by nature, Vas is on friendly terms with the Boys, especially bonding with Hughie and is so far the only likable superhero shown that the Boys know of, and only the second one depicted in the series after Starlight. Vas' 'vodka' in issue 13 saves both Vas and Hughie from the poison laced in a Russian soup borscht, Vas puts it off as "This shit would probably kill AIDS virus!". Hughie strangely grows to like the drink and Vas gives a whole bag of bottles to him when the team leaves Moscow at the end of issue 14. The appropriately named Love Sausage's superpower appears to be that he is extremely well endowed and super-strong and durable. This being the case, he cannot run straight whilst aroused and describes large female breasts to be his Kryptonite. He lost two fingers as consequence of touching The Female, but he seems not to hold a grudge for that.
Vas is called in as reinforcement in the fight against Stormfront in issue 34, and expresses contempt for corporate-backed superheroes.
An African-American Supe (and apparently a serial pedophile) first introduced in Issue #45. Homelander seeks him out during Believe, explains his plan to help Vought introduce Supes to the US Military and asks Oh Father to set up a meeting with all the Supes who could be trusted to follow the Homelander's orders. Homelander claims that Oh Father is the best person to set up the meeting because, "You know everyone."
Oh Father leads a group of 12 children who possess superpowers. The name of the group is Sidekicks 12- a reference to the 12 Apostles. It is strongly implied that Oh Father sexually abuses the children, with Butcher referring to him as a "pedo." Homelander tells him that he "Must do something about this addiction to sidekicks.. I'm serious, you animal. There's blood on one of those seats". It should be noted that Homelander makes these remarks in friendly conversation and clearly feels no true repugnance toward Oh Father's molestations.
Oh Father and the Sidekicks 12 are present at the mid-air meeting of the Supes and Homelander, which happens just after Homelander has murdered the Mullers, a family who thought they had won dinner with him. Instead, Homelander drops the car containing the family from a great height (#47), after revealing that Believe was just a scam to make money off people like them, "You might as well have burned your money...the only man in the sky is me".
Thus far, Oh Father has only demonstrated the power of flight. What other powers (if any) he possesses have not been revealed.
Terror is Billy Butcher's pet bulldog. He has been trained by Billy to fornicate with anything on his command. If anyone tries to hurt Terror, Billy kills them. Terror may be compound V enhanced as he was able to wound the Crimson Countess.
Terror is killed in issue #59 following The Seven and The Boys' confrontation on top of The Flatiron building. Though there was no actual evidence of who killed Terror, Butcher goes and kills Jack Jupiter of The Seven, presuming it was him.