Billy Butcher punches way above his weight.
If there's one thing that viewers can be certain about such an eclectic show as The Boys, it's that there are bound to be memes, Vought-approved or not.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. ExplanationThe explanation behind the meme.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- Right from the title, many people began using the "Me and The Boys" joke.
- "If it ain't the Invisible Cunt." ExplanationShortly before fighting Translucent, Billy Butcher drops this rather charming nickname in amusement. Naturally, many fans have picked it up in reference to anything they hate but can't see be it internet trolls, cancer, and the like.
- "It was perfect. Perfect. Everything, down to the last minute details."ExplanationAs Homelander is closing the fake story about his parents, he talks about a cake his mom would make in the shape of a baseball diamond and describes it as such. The clip of his description has been circling as a way for people to describe their feelings about their favorite movies, games, etc.
- The "laser baby" scene became part of a laser eyes baby meme
◊, combined with a similar shot in Incredibles 2, used to represent two things being combined to create something entirely different. - Fresca beverages. ExplanationThose under The Church of the Collective have a fixation on Fresca for some reason - Word of God is that the writers thought that a cult that loved Fresca sounded funny -much to the fans' anxious confusion.
- Stormfront became Anakin. Explanation (spoiler!)After Ryan lasered Stormfront, burning and cutting off all but one of her limbs in the process, many people compared her to this Star Wars character, since he suffered that fate in Revenge of the Sith by Obi-Wan's hands.
- "It's called white genocide." note Part of Stormfront's clumsy attempts to manipulate Ryan, it's used to mock reactionary YouTubers who get outraged whenever a person of color is cast in a film or television show.
- #GirlsGetItDoneExplanationSeason 2 features a storyline where the Seven are making a movie where the team of Starlight, Queen Maeve and Stormfront is prominently featured with this phrase, which is mocked as a marketing ploy to appeal to women. In the final episode of the season, Stormfront gets beaten down by the other two female Supes along with Kimiko, and Frenchie says this phrase as well. Viewers use this phrase to mock blatant and forced "girl power" pandering to women.
- "My poor baby. No one suffers like you do. Here, let me help."ExplanationA crippled and disfigured Stormfront's response to Homelander's whinging about sharing the spotlight with Starlight, followed by giving him the disturbing mother of all disturbing handjobs. Fans have taken to using the dialogue with any scene of someone talking with a bedridden friend, like Steve and Peggy, or Bruce and Alfred.
- In promotional videos made as in-universe news programs, movie trailers, music videos, and promos posted by the Vought International YouTube account, the comments will be full of people talking about the characters and media as if they're real and as if they have no idea what's really behind the facade. Particularly clever comments will reference events in the show in ways that come across as Innocently Insensitive if spoken by a true Vought believer, such as one commentator saying it must have been "hard to stomach" when The Deep lost his good friend Timothy.
- Soldier Boy's involvement has lead to plenty of jokes about Soulja Boy.
- El Caporal ExplanationIn the latin american dub of the series, many supes went through Dub Name Change. While some were mocked previously, such as Audaz (Brave) for A-Train, this reached a new level when Soldier Boy was named El Caporal. The reason for this is that, while a now unused term to refer to certain military personnel, the word "Caporal" is commonly used nowadays do refer to a folkloric dance of Bolivia and the southern peruvian andes region. Memes and video edits of Soldier Boy singing/dancing this song were quick to ensue.
- A-Train is Kabal. ExplanationThe way A-Train killed Blue Hawk is similar to one of a Kabal’s fatalities in Mortal Kombat 11, and is often compared to and is joked about.
- NO CAPES! ExplanationSoldier Boy mocking Homelander for wearing a cape and later grabbing it during the fight has led to many Edna Mode jokes. Even the show's official Twitter account got in on the fun.
- '"You're just a cheap knockoff." "Oh no no, I'm the upgrade." Explanation This exchange of Soldier Boy and Homelander has been used as a comparison meme with this example◊.
- "Oi."ExplanationA viewer created this hilarious edit using the "Phetru" app, which shrinks the subject of a photo into a Super-Deformed version of themselves. In the page image above, Butcher saying this to Homelander in Episode 6 has associated it with the sight of a mini Butcher. In turn, this brought on further edits of miniature versions of other characters. The official Twitter got in on it too.
- "Hahahahaha! Alright!"ExplanationHomelander is caught off-guard when the crowd cheers him on for vaporizing a heckler's head with his laser vision, but quickly embraces this positive (for him) development. The video clip is often paired with a caption detailing an unexpected positive outcome when taking a gamble.
- Stressed Homelander. ExplanationA scene from season 3 features a visibly distraught Homelander breathing heavily and hyperventilating. It caught on as a popular reaction video for stressful or otherwise worrisome situations.
- Homelander in a theater ExplanationA clip of Homelander from the opening of season 3 depicting him seated as he watches Dawn of the 7, while white noise is heard in increasing intensity. Often used as a ‘wait, what?’ reaction or also for when something is more disappointing than it should be.
- "Yummers"ExplanationHomelander sarcastically says this about the milkshake A-Train is drinking before confronting A-Train about his overeating and calling him a "fat fuck".
- "You made those words up."ExplanationWhile Soldier Boy tells Hughie and Butcher about his plans to find his old team on his own, Hughie tells him about technological advances like GPS or Bluetooth, leading to this response. It became popular as a "boomer" reaction to new things, like old video games being remade.
- "He's my wife's son."Explanation"My wife's son" was already a meme used to make fun of cuckolds and those perceived as such. When Butcher said the line in the Season 3 finale, it got a lot of laughs, and portions of the fanbase have used it to turn him into something of a Memetic Loser
- "You are simply bad product."ExplanationStan Edgar delivers the line to Homelander in his Shut Up, Hannibal! speech to him. It is often used as a reaction image for something the poster doesn't like.
- "You're a fucking disappointment."ExplanationSaid by Soldier Boy to Homelander during their confrontation at Vought Tower. Similar to the above mentioned "bad product," it is used for things whose quality failed to live up to the expectations of the meme maker.
- "Fuck them kids."ExplanationThe meme was associated with Michael Jordan up to this point, but Soldier Boy's commitment to killing his own son and grandson made his one of the other popular options for it as well.
- "We're even now, bitch."ExplanationSaid by A-Train to Hughie after handing him a file containing information on Stormfront. Used as a reaction image to when someone does something, no matter how small, to show that the parties involved are now even with each other.
- The Deep (Back On The Team)ExplanationA scene from "Barbary Coast" showing The Deep being reinstated to the Seven in the Show Within a Show American Hero. A clip of him dramatically turning around and walking up to Homelander while "Sweet Child O' Mine" plays has been used as a mocking way of celebrating accomplishments that usually shouldn't be celebrated.
- The Peak ExplanationAn ironic fan nickname of The Deep, the show’s resident Memetic Loser, that’s shown up on twitter. Whenever he’s labeled this, people tend to play him up as THE most powerful character on the show, worthy of everyone’s respect, and flawless in every way. The official twitter is baffled by this.
- Don't show A-Train any happy couples.ExplanationThe show's entire plot started after A-Train killed Hughie's girlfriend, and he follows it up by killing his own girlfriend. The fans began making memes where A-Train deliberately seeks happy couples to ruin them. Taken up a notch after the rediscovery of his in-universe music video for ‘Faster’, with screenshots and clips of him posing in the song communicating the same intent.
- A-Train StatusExplanationA variation of the above, serving as an Interrupting Meme whenever a titilating video is about to get to a risque part, with A-Train crashing into the person in the video.
- Deep Thoughts with the Deep ExplainationFollowing this video, people turned it into a meme for faux philosophical questions, such as "if a fly can't fly, does it make it a walk?"
- Is This Entertaining? ExplanationSimilar to the above meme with A-Train and happy couples, it's become a gag to edit clips of happy couples from other shows or cartoons in which one of the two is violently yanked away from the other, and place the show's logo over a freeze-frame set to the "Is This Entertaining" riff from Imagine Dragons' song Bones, which was featured in the main promo for season 3.
- "You want to know what I do when I'm sad or scared? Fucking nothing, because I'm not a fucking pussy." ExplanationA quote uttered by Soldier Boy in "Here Comes A Candle To Light You To Bed", it is popular to replace the "Sad or scared" bit of the quote to express other situations.
- "I beat my meat into a cup." ExplanationSoldier Boy telling Homelander includes this unexpected and utterly hilarious phrase with a completely deapan inflection, and it started getting used in many parodies involving Jensen Ackles, as well as some Internet users saying they have something in common with Soldier Boy.
- Homelander when (X) pulls up ExplanationA meme mocking on just how weak Homelander is compared to other characters in works of fiction, especially for a Superman Substitute, claiming that even the likes of Spongebob Squarepants are able to beat him without any difficulty. DEATH BATTLE! even pit Homelander up against Omni-Man, who won in one of the most one-sided matches of the show's history. It is often accompanied with various Homelander reaction GIFs, such as the Stressed Homelander seen above.
- "Flash is fast, Flash is cool."ExplanationA line from Soldier Boy's viral cover of Rapture. It quickly lached on whoever saw the scene due to being the easiest part to identify of the otherwise Non Sequitur lyrics. Whenever someone says or shows something Soldier Boy in the internet, expect someone to comment this line.
- "This antagonistic character... has a kid." Explanation (spoiler) In the Honest Trailer for season 1, it pointed out how Translucent, Mesmer, Stilwell, and Homelander were humanized by revealing that they have kids, and in that same video, the Epic Voice Guy ended up Tempting Fate by guessing Stormfront also had a kid prior to The Reveal. Season 3 continued the trend by revealing Stan Edgar, Victoria Neuman, and Soldier Boy also had kids (bonus points for Soldier Boy's kid being none other than Homelander himself), and if you take the spin-off show to account, then Indira Shetty is also revealed to had a kid.
- "Ashley! Look at me!" Explanation A line from Homelander's brutal dress down of Ashley during the Blindspot incident that was remixed with S 3 BZS - MONTAGEM - PR FUNK for videos of people (and/or animals) flexing
- "Lately, some of you have been a little... out of sorts. Erratic. Unreliable. Downright sloppy. Not you though, you've been great," Explanation Homelander dresses down the rest of the Seven for their latest fumbles, with Black Noir being the sole exception. Often used to highlight something good or successful among a bunch of failures.
- "Homelanding" ExplanationVariations of this are used in shitposts that take the name "Homelander" completely literally as meaning "lands in homes".
- "I'm stronger. I'm smarter. I'm better. I AM BETTER!" ExplanationWhen Homelander finally loses it on his birthday and screams at people watching him. The fans absolutely loved it.
- homander Explanation A crude drawing of Homelander on a worksheet saying the above phrase, and blasting a little girl with his laser vision after her toy gets broken. it's common to start chains of homander when one posts the image
