History Characters / TheBoys2019

* [[Characters/TheBoys2019Other Others]][[note]]Robin Ward, Hugh Campbell Sr., Donna January, Cherie, Elena, Nathan, Alistair Adana, [[spoiler:Ryan]][[/note]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[index]]

* [[Characters/TheBoys2019Supervillains Supervillains]]
* [[Characters/TheBoys2019Other Others Characters]]
! '''Supervillains'''
[[folder:Naqib]]
!!Naqib
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20200812_172151_youtube.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:350:"Burn In Truth!"]]
An ISIS terroist with the power to self-detonate.
----
* ActionBomb: He can detonate, and live to do it again.
* {{Expy}}: Of Nitro, a Marvel supervillain who can explode himself.
* CaptainSuperhero: Or in this case, Captain ''Supervillain'' ([[VillainWithGoodPublicity not that most "superheroes" are any better]]), but same basic principle. His super-name is the Arabic word for "Captain".
* CelebritySuperhero: Well, supervillain, but he follows Vought's example and starts selling T-shirts with his face and slogan on them.
* KnightOfCerebus: His sudden appearance changes the situation between the government and supes drastically.
* MiddleEasternTerrorists: He's an ISIS operative.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:When he sees Black Noir tanked his explosion without issue.]]
* OffWithHisHead: This is how [[spoiler:Black Noir kills him in Season 2.]]
* PersonalityPowers: It's astonishingly appropriate that an Islamic terrorist would have the power to [[ActionBomb self-detonate]]. [[spoiler:This may have been intentional InUniverse however, as Homelander is responsible for creating him and wanted a thematically appropriate "super terrorist".]]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: He gets killed [[spoiler: immediately into season 2]].
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:He's just one of the Supe terrorists Homelander created to coerce the US government into hiring Vought as a military contractor. Once the bill is passed, Black Noir arrives to chop his head off.]]
* VillainsOutShopping: He discusses with another terrorist possible catchphrases and slogans for his brand in Season 2.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: He existed purely to be used as the deciding factor that convinces the US government to make Vought a military contractor. Once the bill was passed, Naqib no longer had a reason to live, so Black Noir was sent to unceremoniously assassinate him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kenji]]
!!Kenji Miyashiro
Kimiko's brother and a Shining Light Liberation Army operative.
----
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Despite reuniting with his sister, Kenji still hasn't been deprogrammed from his terrorist brainwashing like Kimiko has, making him dangerous.
* LogicalWeakness: His telekinesis is rooted in his hands. If they're incapacitated in any way, he can't use his powers.
* MindOverMatter: His power.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:He only gets screentime for two episodes before Stormfront kills him.]]
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: He still believes in the cause of Shining Light, and he is partially motivated from how they target America since one of the country's Supes completely annihilated their home.
[[/folder]]

! US Government
[[folder:Grace Mallory]]
!! Grace Mallory
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Laila Robins
A former CIA case officer who first recruited Butcher.
----
* AdultFear: Her grandkids were killed by Lamplighter.
* BreakTheBadass: Lamplighter killing her grandkids is what led to her quitting the Boys and retiring in seclusion.
* ColonelBadass: She's an ex-military colonel.
* TheCorrupter: To Butcher, being responsible for turning him into [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the man he is today]]...something she [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone honestly regrets.]]
* CynicalMentor: Mallory trained Butcher, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie, teaching them to hold the belief that supes are all untrustworthy.
* GenderFlip: She's a man called Greg in the comic.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The war of revenge she contributed to agains the Seven getting her grandchildren killed has left her disillusioned with the whole business.
* RetiredBadass: Considering Mallory is ex-CIA and spent her golden years hunting down rogue superheroes, she definitely qualifies.
* TheSpymaster: She's still keeping tabs on Vought despite retiring, and gives Billy crucial information regarding Homelander and Stillwell.
* TheTeamBenefactor: She's the founder, mentor, and original leader of The Boys.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Susan Reynor]]
!! Susan Reynor
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JenniferEsposito
The Deputy Director of CIA for Operations and an old acquaintance of Butcher's.
----
* AdaptationalBadass: In the comic, Billy almost always got the better of her in both arguments and schemes, and she seemed to find their hate-sex-based relationship degrading while he reveled in it. In the show, they are on a considerably more even level when arguing, with [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both of them scoring some points,]] and near the end of season one [[spoiler:he even ends up having to agree to her terms, even though they didn't include the one thing he wanted most (taking down Homelander), in order to save his team]].
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: She and Billy have a messed up sexual relationship in the comics. While they have a sexual history in the show, she's married with a family and she and Billy are more professional toward each other.
* DeathByAdaptation: Killed in the seaon 2 premiere, despite living through the entire comic series.
* FriendOnTheForce: Billy's contact in the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}.
* YourHeadAsplode: After she starts making a connection to Vought and an internal coup.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Robert Singer]]
!! Roger Singer
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JimBeaver
The US Secretary of Defense
----
* Tuckerization: Named for producer and Eric Kripke collaborator Robert Singer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Victoria Neuman]]
!! Cognresswoman Victoria Neuman
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Claudia Doumit
A Congresswoman and vocal critic of Vought's conduct.
----
* AdaptationalHeroism: Her comic counterpart is a puppet of Vought, to the point of physically assaulting the president at a crucial moment, while she's a vocal critic of theirs in the show.
* AdaptationalIntelligence: Her comic counterpart is mentally disabled and has a single digit IQ while Victoria seems smarter than most of her political contemporaries.
* GenderFlip: Is a man called Victor in the comic.
* TalkingHeads: Appears on WCN news segments.
[[/folder]]

! Others
[[folder:Robin Ward]]
!! Robin
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Jess Salgueiro
Hughie's girlfriend, who was killed by A-Train in an accident, setting the plot into motion.
----
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: She pretty much instantly burst into a puddle of gore after being run through by A-train. Well, except for her hands, they're detached but still holding Hughie's hands.
* DeathByOriginStory: Her death is what makes Hughie want to fight the superheroes. It also causes him to develop a personal vendetta against A-Train, as he was the one who killed Robin by running into her at extreme speed, then lying about it by saying she was in the middle of the road when it happened. When she was only ''two steps off the sidewalk''.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the comic, she's crushed to death when A-Train smashes her into a wall with another superhero. In the series, A-Train runs through her, reducing her to a puddle of blood and gore on the floor.
* DisposableWoman: She basically just exists to get killed to start Hughie on his journey.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Without her death, this story would have never occurred.
* TheLostLenore: Hughie keeps seeing her ghost out of the corner of his eye. She doesn't go away until he and Starlight have their first kiss.
* RaceLift: White in the comics, but played by Latin Canadian actress Jess Salgueiro on the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hugh Campbell Sr]]
!! Hughie's Father
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/SimonPegg
----
* AdaptationNameChange: Hughie's adopted father in the comic is named Alexander. The man who might be his biological father is Joe.
* BumblingDad: He's awkward and too comfortable with letting Vought get away with their crimes. His behaviour is borderline overprotective, as his first thought was to contact a paediatrician to help Hughie with grief counselling.
* ExtremeDoormat: He's willing to let Vought get away with letting Robin die because he's aware that taking them on would likely end in tears. When his son tries fighting back, he does everything ''but'' help, concerned that trying to fight back will only make things worse. [[spoiler:He later admits that he's proud that his son is trying to make a difference when he is inadvertently caught in the crossfire.]]
* MythologyGag: Played by the actor whom Hughie was based on in the comics.
* ParentsAsPeople: He's in a tough situation as a parent and he is trying his hardest to support his son despite his answers being awkward and unhelpful. He truly wants to protect his son from Vought and The Seven but he's having a lot of difficulties trying to console and understand Hughie, who saw Robin die right in front of him and saw A-Train brush off the consequences. [[spoiler:In the end, he accepts Hughie's choices and admits how proud he is of him for trying to make a difference.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Donna January]]
!! Donna January
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Ann Cusack
----
* CanonForeigner: She doesn't exist in the comics (Annie's parents are shown for a single panel signing over their daughter, as they were both permanently blinded by her first accidental use of her light powers).
* {{Foreshadowing}}: She adjusts to Vought's SlaveToPR status far more quickly than her daughter, hinting at her true motivations.
* GoldDigger: She been grooming her daughter just for her to become a super and receive the wealth and fame that follows.
* ItsAllAboutMe: She suffers from an extreme case of this. It leads her to treat her daughter horribly.
* StageMom: She behaves this way towards Starlight, having groomed her from a toddler to be the perfect All-American superheroine. [[spoiler:It gets worse with the reveal that she signed Starlight up to be given Compound V as a child - she chose her whole life for her.]] It's implied "super pageants" are a big thing, with lots of Supe kids likely having Stage Parents hoping to make their little darling the next Homelander.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Cherie]]
!! Cherie
Frenchie's girlfriend.
----
* DullSurprise: Totally unfazed when Frenchie calls her and lets her know she needs to [[spoiler:blow up the warehouse]] on very short notice, beyond a mildly annoyed "Really?"
* NoNameGiven: It's unclear whether "Cherie" is her name or just a nickname that Frenchie uses for her, seeing as it's also a French pet name.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: She randomly caresses Hughie's face for several seconds upon meeting him, with no explanation and without even introducing herself first.
* PerkyGoth: Her character has been referred to by reviewers as a "goth party girl."
* PutOnABus: She destroys her phone and flees after letting Frenchie know [[spoiler:he's burned]] and hasn't appeared since.
* SeenItAll: She strongly gives this impression, based on how quickly and calmly she reacts to any sort of danger or crisis.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Elena]]
!! Elena
Maeve's ex-girlfriend from years back.
----
* BrutalHonesty: She does not mince words on how bitter she is about Maeve.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Serves as this to Maeve.
* PetTheDog: She shows concern when she realizes Maeve is in serious emotional distress after Flight 37, even visiting her at work just to make sure she was alright.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She calls out Maeve's cowardice and refusal to reach out to others for help, saying she hasn't changed a bit even after several years without seeing each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Nathan]]
!! Nathan
A-Train's elder brother and coach.
----
* CassandraTruth: He keeps telling A-Train to stop using Compound V before it kills him to no avail. [[spoiler:Nathan is vindicated when A-Train suffers a heart attack in the Season 1 finale.]]
* PromotionToParent: Their dad died at a young age and mother worked two jobs, so he had to step up and raise A-Train himself.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He gets fed up with A-Train's constant abuse of Compound V against his advice, and cuts off all contact so he won't watch his brother kill himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Alistair Adana]]
!! Alistair Adana
->'''Portrayed by:''' Goran Visnjic
The leader of The Church of the Collective.
----
* ChurchOfHappyology: The shadowed head of one.
* EarlyBirdCameo: He's mentioned by Carol and Eagle the Archer. The Deep, despite spending time under the organization, forgets who he is.
* TheGhost: Has made no physical appearances, only mentioned in passing.
* GreaterScopeVillain: As the leader of the mysterious Church of the Collective, which even Stormfront looks down upon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: '''(Major) Spoiler Character''']]
!! Ryan
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Parker Corno (Season 1), Cameron Corvetti (Season 2)
The result of Rebecca's rape by the Homelander (though he implies it was a consensual affair), a cheerful boy who meets his father when the superhero appears at their house.
----
* AscendedExtra: His comic book version killed his mother as a superpowered fetus lacking self-awareness and then was beaten to death by Butcher in self-defense, all in his debut while here Ryan and his mother get to survive his birth and he grows up to be an actual character.
* CorruptTheCutie: Homelander wants him to be just like him, showing joy at [[spoiler:seeing his son fight back]].
* CuteBruiser: A normally smiling, concerned kid strong enough to shove Homelander down.
* ExtremelyProtectiveChild: Ryan is upset to see Homelander hurt or endanger his mom.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Dr. Vogelbaum in his encounter with Homelander [[MyGreatestFailure reveals his disappointment with and shame of]] the SociopathicHero the Homelander grew up to be. The doctor expresses how Homelander needed a family who loved him and not locked away in a lab: it's likely Rebecca and her son were provided for in the hopes of ''not'' repeating their mistakes.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Unlike his father, the kid is every bit as nice and cheery as he appears and is even ecstatic rather than shocked to be told Homelander is his father.
* OutsideContextProblem: Until him, ''every'' Supe from Homelander to Starlight were given their powers artificially with Compound V which makes '''him''' the very first natural-born superpowered person in the entire world.
* PrimaryColorChampion: His clothes often have the color of red, white, blue and yellow, just like his father's suit.
* TurnOutLikeHisFather: What Rebecca and Vogelbaum are trying to prevent and what Homelander is vying for.
* YoureNotMyFather: [[spoiler:Tells Homelander as much after the leader of the seven [[DieOrFly pushes the kid off his own roof to test his powers]], in addition to being an all around jackass to Rebecca]].
[[/folder]]
----

!Vought International
[[folder:Supes in General]]
[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/voughtint.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
* AdaptationalNameChange: Is Vought American in the comic.
* BewareTheSuperman: This is basically the main theme of the series. Without many constraints on their behavior due to having superpowers, corporate backing and good publicity, superheroes just do pretty much whatever they want. The Boys want to stop it.
* CelebritySuperhero: In this world, having powers gets you in touch with a massive publicity and sponsorship network. This has led most Supes, even the nicer ones, to become image-obsessed to the point of narcissism, and makes them out of touch with the people they're ''supposed'' to protect.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: The series highlights everything flawed about superheroes as a concept. [[WithFriendsLikeThese The bickering among themselves]], [[MerchandiseDriven the over-commercialization]], [[DestructiveSavior the downplaying of collateral damage]], [[ReedRichardsIsUseless the lack of interest in addressing "real" problems]] (except with their activities overseen by a corrupt MegaCorp), and worst of all, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality people making excuses for all of the above]].
* DestructiveSavior:
** Hughie join Billy's crusade after it becomes apparent that Robin's death was not an isolated incident and that Supes actually kill more people than anyone realizes because Vought only allows for a small number of incidents to go public and happily compensates the victims and/or their next of kin to keep appearances. However, standard protocol after such an incident (like [[spoiler: the plane full of passengers Homelander disabled and allowed to crash]]) is to cover up the whole thing before the press gets involved, and word spreads as to how a Vought sponsored superhero got someone killed due to recklessness.
** In Episode Six, Billy take Hughie to a meeting of [=A.C.D.S.=] (the Association of Collateral Damage Survivors), a support group comprised of people who have been seriously injured while being "saved" by a superhero, and members are comprised of a number of people who now bare prosthetic limbs and/or use a wheelchair. The first person we hear speak mentions that although she appreciates being saved by Tech Knight, she stills resents the fact she was left with a paralyzing spine injury. The second speaker mentions that he was involved with [[AnIcePerson Ice Princess]], and when they were having sex, she climaxed, and her body temperature dropped to -346 degrees, castrating him.
* DifferentlyPoweredIndividual: Super-abled or "supe" for short.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Half of them, even the ones working under Vought, have no idea about Compound V and have often might believe that their powers were gifts they were born with, just like their audiences.
* PowerfulAndHelpless: Despite their superhuman abilities, they're still at the beck and call of their corporate masters as they control their image, salary, and entire lives. Just ask Popclaw and Mesmer what happens when you get on their bad sides.
* SuperpowerLottery: What powers they get is up to some unknown factor. There are winners like Homelander who is a PhysicalGod, and you get losers like Popclaw who has slight SuperStrength and the ability to sprout claws which isn't that different from holding a knife.
* TouchedByVorlons: Nobody knows where their powers came from, with some claiming that God Himself gave them. [[spoiler:It's actually Vought that empowers them by injecting Compound V when they are babies.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ironically, most of the "superheroes" in this setting are the embodiment of this trope, because they are presented as heroes when they actually are ''not''.
[[/folder]]

!!! '''The Seven'''
[[folder:General Tropes]]
!!The Seven
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysthesevenseason1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Season 1's roster.[[note]]From left to right: Starlight, The Deep, Queen Maeve, Homelander, Black Noir, A-Train and Translucent.[[/note]]]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysthesevenseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Season 2's roster.[[note]]From left to right: The Deep, Queen Maeve, Stormfront, Homelander, Starlight, Black Noir and A-Train.[[/note]]]]

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: They all abuse their power, but they're a lot less one-note evil than in the comic, which makes the Boys' activities even more morally grey.
* BewareTheSuperman: With the exception of Starlight, all of them are (or have become over time) malicious agents of capitalism more willing to kill innocents than genuinely help them. [[spoiler:And thanks to Homelander's efforts, the whole planet may soon become a dictatorship]].
* BrokenPedestal: To Hughie and Starlight. They both were big fans of The Seven growing up and were unfortunately in for a massive reality check (Hughie especially).
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: They've killed and crippled countless people through collateral damage but they either laugh it off or use their heroism to overshadow it.
* CastOfExpies: Most of the main superhero characters' abilities and costumes are very similar to those of famous established comic book superheroes.
* CorporateSponsoredSuperhero: Their images and salaries all come from Vought, a corporation that owns their image rights. Because of this, [[FakeUltimateHero they are all more interested in looking heroic to the press]] [[NominalHero than actually having any moral character themselves]], basically turning them into narcissistic, unbalanced celebrities that could (and have) create a body count of innocent people due to their powers and negligence in using them, having an entire global corporation to clean up whatever messes they create.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: As in the comics, the characters are mostly clear expies of existing characters from other comics, mostly Marvel and DC. In some cases, they've altered the expy a bit or made it clearer.
** Homelander, SupermanSubstitute, but as a [[BewareTheSuperman straight-up villain.]] He also has shades of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica with the patriotic aspects twisted for nefarious purposes.
** Queen Maeve, expy of ComicBook/WonderWoman. Her costume draws a lot of inspiration from ''Film/WonderWoman2017'', she's a MultiMeleeMaster, but can't fly (relying on Homelander to carry her when needed). Maeve started out idealistic and genuinely dedicated to saving the world, but eventually gave it all up one compromise at a time, and now is a rude, apathetic alcoholic who isn't going to her meetings.
** Black Noir, expy of ComicBook/{{Batman}}. Dresses all in black, good at close-quarters combat with knives, never speaks, mysterious. Any corruption he is involved in, if any, is not specified, making him the closest thing to a TokenGoodTeammate before Starlight joined the team.
** The Deep, expy of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, complete with perceived uselessness and fish jokes. He pulls a CastingCouch on Starlight, and [[spoiler:suffers a TraumaCongaLine when it comes out.]] It's also stated he's sexually assaulted (or at least harassed) several other women. His one redeeming trait is his genuine love of all marine creatures, leading to the aforementioned fish jokes, and every time he tries to push this issue forward he's rebuffed (he wants to "shine a light" on Oceanland's questionable animal handling practices, but is told to just go along with the ad campaign Oceanland signed him up for).
** A-Train, expy of ComicBook/TheFlash. Repeatedly called "The Fastest Man Alive." Fear of losing that title [[spoiler:leads to him juicing on Compound V to the point he has a heart attack]]. As in the comics, he's responsible for reducing Hughie's girlfriend to LudicrousGibs, and doesn't really feel that bad about it (he even repeatedly fails to recognize Hughie, even after they met face-to-face and A-Train delivered a Voght-mandated apology). [[spoiler:He's also the key in Homelander's plan to spread Compound V through the world and create supervillains for The Seven to fight, and murders his girlfriend Popclaw when she proves a weak link in this plan.]]
** Translucent, [[AvertedTrope on the other hand]], is just your garden-variety InvisibleJerkass. Although he does combine elements of Invisible Woman and Emma Frost with his power-set, and is basically what you get if Invisible Woman was gender-swapped and used a power closely similar to invisibility to be a pervert and try to attack and murder people without the would be-victims seeing their would-be killer.
** Starlight is made more a hybrid of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/CarolDanvers, with her LightEmUp powers being her primary ability (her comic counterpart was a basic FlyingBrick with some light powers, here her light blasts are her go-to, though she still has SuperStrength enough to beat large ordinary men senseless) She's the kindest, most sincerely heroic character in the story, but dangerously naive, and while she doesn't go through as bad a BreakTheCutie as she did in the comics, she still gets put through the wringer and has to give up on a lot of her idealism.
** Season 2 introduces Stormfront, a ComicBook/MaryMarvel-ComicBook/JaneFoster hybrid who's also a proud Neo-Nazi.
* DysfunctionJunction: Their personal lives tend to be messed up.
* {{Expy}}: The Seven are primarily copies of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague and a few other notable comic book characters. Also doubles as AlternateCompanyEquivalent:
** Homelander, the leader of the Seven, is a fusion of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (American flag apparel and handsome, chiseled features) with {{ComicBook/Superman}} (flight, eye beams, x-ray vision, super hearing, and super strength).
** The Deep is basically {{ComicBook/Aquaman}}, complete the common public perception with jokes about being useless and talking to fish.
** Queen Maeve is ComicBook/WonderWoman without the flight.
** A-Train is ComicBook/TheFlash with a costume very similair to the MCU Falcon.
** Black Noir's most obvious counterpart is {{ComicBook/Batman}}. A better argument, however, can be made for [[Franchise/GIJoe Snake Eyes]]: both are completely silent figures dressed head-to-toe in black, proficient in martial arts and good with bladed weapons.
** Starlight is a mix of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and Captain Marvel, not just in their similar costumes and logos but also in imagery evocative of {{Eagleland}} (ComicBook/CarolDanvers as a USAF fighter pilot [[PrimaryColorChampion dressed in red, blue, and yellow]], Annie January as an all-American GirlNextDoor from [[EverytownAmerica Des Moines, Iowa]], though her outfit isn't America themed).
** Translucent is ComicBook/InvisibleWoman, with some elements of ComicBook/EmmaFrost.
** Stormfront is based on ComicBook/JaneFoster during her time as Thor, as well as ComicBook/MaryMarvel.
* HeroInsurance: Zig-zagged. Heroes have a similar form of semi-immunity as police officers while fighting crime, but they have to be credited with being "on the clock" responding to a crime and can still be sued for wrongdoing when there is enough evidence of poor judgement. A-Train outright splatters Robin and gets away with it by claiming to be responding to a robbery and Robin was "carelessly" in the street (Hughie repeatedly says Robin was one foot off the curb, not in the middle of the street). Vought tries to buy off Hughie to prevent his complaint from damaging their brand, but Hughie's father notes that it will be almost impossible for them to actually prove anything. Butcher later points out that police records do not show anything that A-Train would have been responding to at the time of the incident. On the other hand, Starlight is very vulnerable to a lawsuit when she beats up some would-be rapists on film without the context of why she's fighting them (until the victim comes forward to corroborate).
* HeroWithAnFInGood: Once in a blue moon they'll actually try to be heroes. However, they lack skill with their powers, pay little mind to collateral damage and Vaught is very selective about which crimes they can prevent. [[spoiler:Notable examples include The Deep's attempt to save a dolphin, the barbaric mishandling of Flight 37, and Robin's (accidental) murder at the hands of A-Train.]]
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: The supes have dropped all personal relationships in order not to be susceptible to blackmailing, Annie is advised to do the same.
* JadedProfessional: Due to the PR-obsessed, profit-based nature of Vought International, the Seven have all turned into image-obsessed celebrities that seem more interested in looking good and selling merchandise than actually accomplishing anything good. Even when any of the heroes try to do something noble (Starlight saving a would-be rape victim, Deep wanting to help with the conditions for dolphins at Oceanland, etc.), Stillwell and the PR department will advise against it.
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of the superheroes turn out to be this. A-Train actually jokes about killing Robin and has zero remorse (admittedly, it was accidental, but he doesn't feel bad at all, comparing it with a bug on the highway).
* SecretIdentity: ZigZagged. It's implied they had them, but Starlight seems to be the only one keeping hers up, and even she outs herself pretty quickly. Homelander states he gave his up a long time ago, and Queen Maeve states she's come to believe cutting oneself off from attachments to be necessary in the superhero game, implying no one else even bothers. None of The Seven wear masks except for Black Noir, but going out in regular clothes instead of their costumes means they are unlikely to be recognized... no one would expect to bump into A-Train in a department store.
* SlaveToPR: Everybody in the Seven is surrounded by Vought executives, who try to script their every word and tailor every little thing towards marketing the superheroes at the expense of, y'know, actually fighting crime.
* TwoGirlsToATeam: Queen Maeve and Starlight are the only two female members of the team. This appears to be {{invoked}}, as Starlight mentions Vought is auditioning "girls" nationwide in search of Lamplighter's replacement. Prior to that the team ran on TheSmurfettePrinciple with Queen Maeve as the only female. Apparently, marketing decided to get with the times in terms of female representation.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Seven are prime examples of this. The people think they're heroes, but they're actually self-deluded narcissists who just do whatever they please no matter who they hurt (with the exception of Starlight and ''possibly'' Queen Maeve).

[[folder:Homelander]]
!!Homelander / John
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboyshomelanderseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"God bless you. God bless America."'']]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Antony Starr

->''"I'm the Homelander. And I can do whatever the FUCK I want."''

The Leader of The Seven who presents himself as an All-American good guy, but is anything but.

* AboveTheInfluence:
** Apparently alone among the Seven, he doesn't use his status to indulge in sex or drugs. He does show some very confused and disturbing sexual interest in Madelyn, and Queen Maeve in a DarwinistDesire kind of way [[spoiler: and had some kind of relationship with Becca Butcher, but the details aren't clear yet.]]
** There's a subversion in that it does little to make him more appealing. As he's the most power-hungry and sociopathic of the Seven, it just emphasizes even more how remote from humanity he is.
* AbusiveParents: He throws [[spoiler:his son]] off the roof hoping to jumpstart the kid's powers.
* ActionDad: It turns out in the end of Season 1 that Homelander [[spoiler:has a son with Becca]].
* AdaptationalIntelligence: While Homelander was still a selfish, self-absorbed asshole in the original comics, it was also alongside his confidence issues and lack of real planning skills. This Homelander is more proactive, smarter and worst/best of all, more ''creative'' -- one of the weaknesses of the comics version is that he was incapable of being anything but a blunt instrument, whereas here he has long-term plans. He manages to achieve what comics Vought never did: [[spoiler:get superheroes involved in national defense]]. Further more, Homlander in the comics was so temperamental and rage prone that he was very barely able to keep his true nature from boiling over the thin surface. This Homelander is actually smart enough to put on a convincing affable facade.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: In the comics Homelander is a racist and a misogynist whose crimes are mostly the actions of a PsychopathicManchild. This version of the Homelander is loftier in his villainy, advocating for the Seven to invade foreign nations with minimal regulations. He's less Superman gone bad and more Darkseid played straight.
%%* AdaptationalNiceGuy:
* AdaptationalVillainy: Zig-zagged. In the comics, it wasn't actually he who [[spoiler:raped Butcher's wife]], and he was manipulated into some of his worst actions. There is less ambiguity to his actions in the show, however.
* AmbiguousSituation: After it's revealed that [[spoiler:Becca is alive]], it's unclear if Homelander [[spoiler:actually raped her, or if it was a consensual affair. Becca seemed rattled by the experience, either way.]].
* ArchEnemy: To Billy Butcher. Homelander allegedly raped Butcher's wife before she mysteriously when missing. For Homelander's part, he [[UnknownRival didn't even remember who Butcher was for the longest time]], and even after finding out about Butcher he treats him and his threats like a joke.
* AxCrazy: He's very violent and loves murdering people whenever he's not being watched.
* BadassCape: It even has the American flag motif embedded on it, mainly to represent and embody the US.
* TheBeard: Possibly a rare male example. He and Maeve used to date, but whether Maeve had any genuine romantic interest, she did it to improve her brand (on her own or at Vought's "suggestion"), or to appear straight is open for debate. She has had at least one relationship with a woman, indicating she's either a lesbian or bisexual.
* BerserkButton: His SecurityBlanket.
** A bigger one is lying to him. Don't insinuate that he's incapable of handling bad news with maturity, even though he's a PsychopathicManchild.
* BrightIsNotGood: Appears to be a PrimaryColorChampion, with a blue costume, red and white cape, and gold decorations, but is in fact a dangerous, unstable psychopath.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Looks to be setting himself up as this for Season 2.]]
* BigotWithACrush: He's openly disdainful of non-Supes behind closed doors, but he [[spoiler: speaks very fondly over his "encounter" with Becky and shows a more familial variation of this with his son by her, acting uncharacteristically friendly despite the boy being half-Supe]].
* BrilliantButLazy: Homelander, his mommy issues and sociopathic behavior aside, is shown to be a cunning strategist and manipulator, far more so than his comic book counterpart. He's also the most powerful Supe on the planet, but he is shown to be quite lazy and callous with how he stops criminals when there aren't cameras rolling, almost exclusively using his EyeBeams to deal with his enemies. [[spoiler:His laziness with his eye beam usage is what would end up causing the Flight 37 disaster to play out like it does, carelessly destroying the planes control panel while killing the terrorist, when he could have easily gotten up close and killed him with his super strength.]]
* ButICantBePregnant: [[spoiler:Everyone including Homelander himself thought he was infertile, so it was unprecedented when it turned out he impregnated Becca.]]
* TheCape: Is a straight SupermanSubstitute, and at first even Butcher admits that he's the only hero who seems to be the real deal. As expected from the premise, Homelander turns out to be [[ObfuscatingStupidity one of the most conniving of the supers]], in conjunction with being a FlyingBrick, having an AllAmericanFace and the leader of The Seven he is casually able to switch between charmingly dorky and sadistic in an instant. Starlight, as a WideEyedIdealist and up-and-comer, is more of a traditional example.
* CaptainPatriotic: He appears like this, the leader of the team wearing an American flag as a cape. Subverted in that privately he doesn't seem to really care about the US at all. Double Subverted with his more [[ExploitedTrope exploitative]] nature of it; America is what's getting Supes involved in the military, and he mockingly states that "camel-jockeys" will recite his name in "perfect American."
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:He saves Billy from killing himself in a suicide attack so he can reveal not only is Becca still alive, but she's been raising his hated enemy's son all along and never told him about it.]]
* DragonInChief: Used as TheLeader of [[{{Expy}} The Seven]] by Vought and Stillwell, Homelander is the most dangerous part of the organization and his butting heads with upper management hint they don't have him as reined in as they believe. [[spoiler:He proves this true in the finale when [[TheStarscream he personally kills Stillwell]] to take matters into his own hands.]]
* TheDreaded: Except for Butcher, ''everyone'' is scared of Homelander. Even Starlight, while able to stand up for herself and be confident towards the other members of the Seven, is scared silent when Homelander is lecturing her.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Homelander is introduced casually murdering a pair of robbers despite the lack of threat they pose to him, using his EyeBeams to melt one guy's machine gun and causing him horrific pain before throwing another guy about twenty to forty feet in the air to land on a car. And then he dons his friendly mask for his public image's sake.
* EntitledToHaveYou: He believes that he and Queen Maeve belong together because they are both powerful, take-charge supes [[SuperSupremacist superior to the unwashed masses]] and seems confused as to why they broke up, [[IncompatibleOrientation unaware that she is gay (or at least uninterested in him)]] and that she finds his sociopathic tendencies off-putting. While both are willing to work professionally out in public, [[spoiler:she becomes fully disillusioned with him when he allows everyone on Flight 37 to die and then remorselessly capitalizes on it]].
* EvilIsHammy: He tends to play up his megalomaniacal tendencies for the camera or large crowds while posturing himself as a populist tyrant in the making. However, most of the time, [[MaskOfSanity he's more reserved, if unhinged]].
* {{Expy}}: Aside from being a SupermanSubstitute, he is one of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica in terms of having a more patriotic image than Superman, his blond hair, and his desire to intervene in military situations references Captain America's military motif and service.
* EyeBeams: Homelander turns out to have red ones, using them to bring down a plane. He doesn't have pinpoint control over them.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Out of all of the Seven, Homelander's image is easily the cleanest. He has no bad habits that have made it out to the public, is well-liked for his approachable, patriotic attitude, and is conventionally handsome. Behind closed doors, however, he quickly reveals himself to be the worst among them, being a complete sociopath with a [[IncestSubtext twisted fixation]] on Stillwell, an encouraged [[AGodAmI God Complex]], a completely fabricated "farm-boy" backstory and a massively high body count with zero remorse for any of it.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He publicly gives off the impression of being a NiceGuy, even though it's not really indicative of his true nature. In private, many of his conversations play off of the personality he presents to the public, with him rarely raising his voice while threatening to kill anyone he thinks slighted him.
* {{Fetish}}: [[IncestSubtext Based on his interactions with Stillwell]], he appears to have one for [[spoiler:breast-feeding and mommy play. Season 2 downright has him excitedly drinking a leftover bottle of her breast milk!]]
* FlyingBrick: A default feature for someone who is meant to be a villainous allegory for ComicBook/{{Superman}}.
* FreudianExcuse: Despite the official story being that he was raised in rural America with a loving family similar to Clark Kent, Homelander actually turns out to have been raised without affection in a lab, explaining his psychological issues. His visit to Vogelbaum ends with him nearly in tears, revealing just how deep in pain he still is from his terrible childhood.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Has his [[EyeBeams heat vision]], which makes his eyes glow red when he uses it or just charges it up, and he's not above invoking RedEyesTakeWarning when he wants to intimidate someone.
* GreenEyedMonster: Any attempts to get close to Queen Maeve are met with brutal slaughter at Homelander's hands, [[spoiler:as one Hollywood producer learned the hard way.]] It's why Maeve doesn't want Elena involved.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Very much averted. He presents himself this way but is easily the most sadistic of The Seven.
* HairTriggerTemper: He's prone to lashing out with a lot of cussing when things do not go his way.
* TheHeavy: Vought is [[BigBad the one The Boys are going after to take down]], but Homelander is the most physically imposing and deadly threat to them. [[spoiler:Though Homelander doesn't fight The Boys at all and instead it's A-Train and Translucent that do the heavy lifting.]]
* TheHero: Homelander is seen by the public and advertised by Vought as the greatest superhero in the world, [[SubvertedTrope when in reality, he is anything but that]].
* HiddenDepths: He's quite good at detective work, and it's he who figures out the Boys' plot against him and their personal motives.
* HiddenDisdainReveal: It's something of a RunningGag how he gives praise to regular people only to badmouth them as soon as they can't hear him.
* HidingBehindReligion: Homelander is an ordained minister and makes a big deal of saying he's doing God's work. It's pretty clear that he just finds this a useful belief to invoke, however.
* ImpliedDeathThreat: He loves giving these under the disguise of empty platitudes.
* IncestSubtext: He seems to possess an odd psychological lust towards his somewhat mother-figure Stillwell, something that she notices and exploits. [[PowerPerversionPotential He watches her pump breast milk using his x-ray vision]] and becomes irritable whenever her infant son is around, with [[spoiler:breast-feeding and mommy-play as a {{Fetish}}]]. [[spoiler:This doesn't keep him from killing her, though.]]
* InformedAbility: Early on, it's suggested that he's the only superhero to have completely good intentions, and that he's so pure that he never ever swears. Obviously, the former isn't true, and there are several scenes of him using harsh profanity in public.
* InsistentTerminology: Not Super Terrorists, Super ''Villains''. It tends to make them more marketable.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Homelander cares more about his popularity and reputation than he does about actually trying to help people and benefiting for the greater cause.
--> '''Maeve''': You've managed to make this about yourself in less than 20 seconds flat.
** Even his relationship with [[spoiler: his son boils down to this as he clearly sees him as an extension of himself and more as a piece of property than an individual.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: It's quite astounding how much of a ''dick'' this man is capable of being.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He might seem like a hero at first, but the true Homelander is a smarmy, condescending, and mercurial psychopath who is also frequently sadistic and cruel. That said, he does a pretty good job of appearing as the exact opposite when in public as his superhero persona, always making a show of being guileless and idealistic and saying exactly what his audience wants to hear, which itself just points back to his disturbing capacity to use and manipulate others and his complete [[TheSociopath lack of concern]] for anyone other than himself.
* KickTheDog: Nothing in the show illustrates this trope more than [[spoiler:being partly responsible for the Flight 37 crash and him not bothering to save ''anybody'' in order to preserve his image and kickstart his war idea later on]].
* LackOfEmpathy: He cares for no one else besides himself. When Translucent goes missing, he doesn't care about the man's plight, but rather the indirect challenge to his own authority.
* LightningBruiser: Being an expy of ComicBook/{{Superman}}, this is a given. He is the strongest hero Vought has to offer and can fly from one area to another within seconds.
* TheLeader: Homelander leads and is the mascot of "The Seven," Vought's premier SuperTeam.
* LivingLieDetector: It's deconstructed, since Homelander functions like a real life polygraph, meaning he doesn't actually detect the lies themselves but rather the signs of stress people feel when they lie, like increased heartbeat and adrenaline. This misleads him more often than not, like when he assumes Starlight is lying to him but really she's just scared shitless of him, and anyone can get away with lying to his face as long as they have NervesOfSteel as Frenchie, Stillwell, and Vogelbaum demonstrate.
* {{Lust}}: Considering he works for Vought, Homelander would do anything to garner as much popularity and praise as possible. He's also got the more colloquial sexual version, with a strong desire for Stillwell (and prior to this, Rebecca Butcher) both of which he eventually manages to have sex with (or possibly rape, in the latter's case).
* LyingToProtectYourFeelings: He's on the receiving end regarding [[spoiler:Becca's fate and the existence of their son]]. Homelander is pissed off by the condescension displayed towards him [[spoiler:and kills Stillwell for it. It turns out it's not just to protect his feelings, but so Homelander won't corrupt his son into becoming just like him]].
* MadeOfIndestructium: Bullets couldn't do crap against him. [[spoiler:Neither did Billy blowing up Stillwell's residence.]] Stillwell claims there everything possible in the world has already been thrown at him, and he's still alive.
* MaskOfSanity: He has a reputation as clean, friendly, and religious hero in public, but beneath that is murderous narcissist with temper problems.
* MeaningfulName: His moniker is probably meant to evoke "Homeland Security" with all the post-War on Terror and Patriot Act implications. Underscored when he performs an unlawful search on a truck with the explanation "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear," and his eagerness to get involved in foreign conflicts.
* MyGreatestFailure: Dr. Vogelbaum thinks of Homelander as this for him, saying he should have raised him with affection, not like a test subject in his lab, so that he might have been different. The normally snappy Homelander has no response to it, indicating it hit him quite deep.
* NotSoSimilar: Like Starlight, Homelander is annoyed and angered over the fact the Seven can’t do more and are basically playing expensive cops and robbers. ''Unlike'' Starlight, who feels like this for genuinely altruistic and heroic reasons, Homelander feels like this approach is limiting his worldwide options as an AttentionWhore.
* OneManArmy: Takes out a cell of MiddleEasternTerrorists all by himself while the armed forces watch on from outside the building.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: To the point that [[spoiler: Deputy Director Reynor doesn’t want him prosecuted for his crimes, as he has the potential to kill "thousands" if he is angered]].
* PhotoOpWithTheDog: An absolute master of this trope, Homelander very rarely breaks his image of the All-American Hero archetype when it comes to appearing in the media. But when the cameras aren't rolling on him, he doesn't hold back.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Refers to Arabs as "camel jockeys" and maims/kills a Seven prospect who is blind because he doesn't want a "cripple" on his team. Additionally, Homelander's constant quips that Becca is raising Ryan to be a pussy or "like a girl" strongly indicate he's a misogynist.
* PostRapeTaunt: [[spoiler:He claims to Billy that Becca enjoyed their "time" together so much that she orgasmed three times in as many hours together. His lack of sexual prowess puts the claim in doubt though.]]
* PowerPerversionPotential: He uses his XRayVision to watch Stillwell pump breast milk.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Invoked by his choice of costume, with has blue, red, and gold colors, but is more an example of how BrightIsNotGood.
* ProperlyParanoid: He's the only one who takes Translucent's disappearance seriously, and correctly perceives it as the first step in a war against himself even though everyone else thinks it's just another case of ItsAllAboutMe.
* PsychopathicManchild: Comes through most clearly in his interactions with Stillwell, but compare the "Adaptational" tropes above. It's still made clear his actions are essentially those of an angry toddler lashing out whenever he doesn't get what he wants. Difference being this toddler is six feet even, [[NighInvulnerable immune to everything]], [[SuperStrength can bench a jet liner]], [[EyeBeams and shoot lasers from his eyes]]. Even Edgar describes him as such.
** Garth Ennis himself seems to think of Homelander as this:
--> '''Ennis''': (describing Homelander) "It might help to think of the Homelander as having all the self-control of, let’s say, a fourteen-year-old."
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: It is stated in the show that Homelander raped and killed Billy's wife Becca. [[spoiler:Though this might not have been the case, seeing as her reaction to seeing Homelander seems to be normal and unfazed.]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His eye beams are red when used, but he is also able to make his eyes glow red without actually doing any damage, which he does in between blasts or simply to intimidate. In any case, you do not want to get his attention when his eyes are glowing. And unlike ComicBook/{{Superman}}, he's ''much'' more liberal with their usage.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Unlike ComicBook/{{Superman}}, Homelander needs leverage and support in order to be able to lift something big, even though he has SuperStrength. [[spoiler:So when the plane he and Queen Maeve were trying to save is crashing, he tells Maeve that he can't push off from thin air, so that option is out.]]
* SecurityBlanket: Homelander freaks out when he sees a blanket in his fake childhood home. Turns out [[spoiler:he was raised in a lab, where the blanket was his only comfort as a young child.]]
* SmarterThanYouLook: Vought and the Boys often assume he's a dumb brute who just uses force and his extreme powers to handle every situation. While he is ''brutal'', what makes him ''threatening'' is the fact that he's actually rather on the ball and is extremely good at thinking on the fly; he just has enough powers to ''not need'' his native wits a lot.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Season 2 [[spoiler:shows him being one towards his son; [[FlyOrDie throwing him from a roof to awaken his powers]]. Becca is horrified once she finds an unconscious Ryan, no matter how much Homelander talks it off ("It was only a 12 foot fall!").]]
* TheSociopath: Homelander might seem to look like an ideal hero, but morally he is as far away as he can be for that. Aside from Stillwell, he has no close relationship with anybody, [[spoiler:and the former ends with Homelander lobotomizing her anyway. He also isn't sympathetic about the victims of Flight 37, deliberately decided not to save anyone in an attempt to avoid any of them damaging his reputation, and used the incident to instead spearhead superheroes being incorporated into the military, further enforcing that Homelander [[ItsAllAboutMe only cares about his own benefit]]. That, and he doesn't seem to be as patriotic as he and Vought have made him out to be]].
* SpeedSex: PhysicalGod he is, SexGod he is not. He lasts a whopping 45 seconds from insertion to ejaculation, much to his embarrassment.
* TheSpook: Marvin notes he has no public records about anything. It's because he was raised in a lab as an experiment.
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:While serving as the Dragon to Stillwell for the entire first season, he's notably frustrated with this position until he ultimately becomes the new Big Bad by killing Stillwell at the end of Season One.]]
* StraightEdgeEvil: In the first episode, it's stated that he has no vices, which makes him sound like a good guy. It later turns out that he's an insane monster... with no vices.
* SuperSenses: He has super-hearing and super-smelling.
* SuperSupremacist: When he's exceptionally annoyed with Starlight [[spoiler:over thinking she's actively helping Hughie and The Boys]], he tells her that "we're a different breed" and that she shouldn't be helping "these mud people," which is some straight-up Nazi phrasing.
* SupermanSubstitute: His power set, color scheme, apparent patriotic image, and falsified American family paint him in a very unflattering depiction of this.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Played with. While the Seven do "good" as a matter of course and do save a lot of people, they are still managed by a shady corporation with extremely suspect motives, thus making them an arguably "evil" force. However, even on a team of incredibly flawed, selfish and morally questionable characters, Homelander is unquestionably the worst, and his teammates are often shown to be outright fearful of him due to his sadism and unpredictability.
* TragicVillain: He had a completely isolated and loveless childhood and was treated like a science experiment for most of his formative years, which led to his twisted personality as an adult.
* TheTeetotaler: He doesn't drink or do drugs and is vocal about it.
* UnreliableExpositor: [[spoiler:His PostRapeTaunt is contradicted by his complete lack of sexual stamina as seen in SpeedSex above. His blatant sadism makes it likely he was making it up just to hurt Billy as much as possible.]]
* UpbringingMakesTheHero:
** When Homelander goes to visit Vogelbaum to talk about his childhood, Vogelbaum admits that [[MyGreatestFailure he was his biggest failed project]]. Vogelbaum explains that had he allowed Homelander to be raised in a home with a loving family, rather than isolated in a laboratory, he would have grown up with a sense of morality and empathy, rather than TheSociopath he is today.
** When he finds out that [[spoiler: Rebecca Butcher conceived their son, and they are both very much alive, it's heavily implied that by being raised in a stable home, the Vought Corporation is grooming the boy to become the AllLovingHero his biological father can't be.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Homelander is perfectly willing to let a child die to achieve his objectives, and personally murders a child when he shoots down a plane. This is in sharp contrast to Billy, who is noticeably more gentle with children.
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:While his abandonment of the passenger plane is cold-blooded and it is partly his fault that it is crashing,[[note]]the terrorist shot both pilots before he laser'd them, and while damaging the control panel rendered it inoperable, neither he nor Maeve knew how to fly a plane ''anyway'', so it was going down regardless. Had he not intervened at all, the military was also going to blow the plane out of the sky, giving essentially the same result.[[/note]] he makes logical points to Maeve as to why he can't simply save it like you'd expect Superman to do, as there is no time to get everyone off and trying to manhandle the plane would send it head over heels or tear it apart. It doesn't justify refusing to save the few people that he ''could'' have plausibly gotten out, though.]]
* VillainRespect: When Homelander and Butcher finally confront each other face to face, Homelander is both intrigued and impressed that (unlike literally everyone else in the series) Butcher isn't afraid of him, and in fact shows his unmeasurable hate in all its fury towards the most powerful being on the planet.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Most of his actions in Season 1 [[spoiler:including the creation of Supe villains]] was done to help Stillwell and earn her approval. [[spoiler:It ends once he gets fed up with her lying and kills her.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: He's the greatest superhero in the world, and has a reputation for being unkillable.
* XRayVision: He can see through everything except zinc.

[[folder:Starlight]]
!!Starlight / Annie January
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysstarlightseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I'm supposed to be this hero, idol symbol, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing."'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Erin Moriarty

->''"Since when did 'hopeful' and 'naive' become the same thing? I mean, why would you get into this business if not to save the world? That's all I have ever wanted."''

The newest addition to The Seven.

* AdaptationalBadass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], [[spoiler: she's a lot more assertive in this version of the series and her arc into a feminist icon was fulfilled much faster in the series than it was in the comics. In the comics; she was much more afraid and she kept quiet about the attack until she became more assertive towards A-Train. In later issues, she nearly blinded A-Train after he tried to rape her.]]
* AdaptationalModesty: ZigZagged.
** Her starting outfit, like in the comics, is a MinidressOfPower. In the comics, it went all the way up to her neck, but the skirt was a bit shorter and less bulky. In the show, it stops just above her cleavage, but the skirt is longer and a bulkier, making it overall about as modest as her original comics outfit.
** Her second outfit in the comics was just her original minidress plus AbsoluteCleavage. In the show, her second outfit is significantly sexed up, doing away with the minidress aspect entirely and moving closer to a LeotardOfPower with a zipper typically only fastened to the middle of her breasts (though she can zip it up to her throat, as shown when she's having a drink with Hughie). A lot less cleavage than the comics, but a lot more leg and derriere.
* {{Blackmail}}: She's helping Hughie pull this off on Supes. She manages to do this to A-Train on her own.
* BreakTheCutie: First she's coerced into giving the Deep a blowjob. Then she attends a Christian carnival and is disillusioned by the homophobic propaganda coupled with her pressure to be a sexless role model for young girls ([[MasterOfTheMixedMessage immediately after having her outfit sexed up against her will]]). To top it all off, she realises that her mother was using her as a meal ticket and her father left out of stark disapproval for the whole arrangement.
* TheCape: What she aspires to be, and what she eventually decides to be after learning how much her teammates subvert it, Vought and consequences be damned.
* ContractualPurity: InUniverse example. She's forced to pretend she's a virgin in order to appeal to her religious base even though she doesn't want to lie about it. Hughie convinces her to defy it and tell the truth on national television.
* CorruptTheCutie: She has a moment of weakness when she can no longer keep up against all the things thrown at her by her Vought masters or events playing around her, succumbing to her corporate orders and heavy drinking during a company-organised event. Maeve calls her out on this, explaining she used to be just like Starlight and she doesn't have to follow Maeve's steps.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:She tries to tear Vought down with Hughie during Season 2.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Starlight, to Hughie's Protagonist. Their stories are initially unrelated to each other and advance in parallel with each having their own reasons to oppose the Seven, comparable screen-time that is mostly spent apart by both and a more-or-less equal role in the climax. Prior to the climax each character resolves their own conflicts with little involvement apart from moral support from the other.
* DisappearedDad: Her father walked out when she was a little girl after losing their life savings to bad investments.[[spoiler: After learning the truth about the source of her powers, Starlight comes to realize the real reason was he was tired of his StageMom wife and lying to his daughter.]]
* {{Expy}}: Her skill set, symbol, and appearance are reminiscent of various iterations of ComicBook/CarolDanvers, while her FlyingBrick powers and her naive, hopeful personality bring to mind ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/{{Starfire}}. Her preferred cape costume also resembles ComicBook/MaryMarvel, reinforced by her connection with electricity.
* {{Foil}}: To Homelander. Both invoke HairOfGoldHeartOfGold, but while Homelander subverts it by being an utter asshole behind his friendly and wholesome demeanor, Starlight plays it straight by being a genuine NiceGirl. Both prefer to use their ranged attacks, but while Homelander uses his heat vision to explode bad guys like water balloons because he dislikes literally getting his hands dirty, Starlight's light beams seem perfectly nonlethal, whereas her SuperStrength could easily do more harm than she intends. Starlight genuinely wants to be TheCape but has to fight an uphill battle against being pigeonholed as just TheChick, while Homelander keeps up the appearance of TheCape while basically being TheBigBad. Both can and will invoke GlowingEyesOfDoom, but while Homelander uses RedEyesTakeWarning to terrorize people, Starlight uses her softer, golden glow to warn people GoodIsNotSoft. When Starlight has sex with Hughie, her eyes glow as she climaxes, bathing them in warm, romantic golden light. When Homelander glows his eyes in front of Stillwell, he's preparing to melt her face off.
* GirlNextDoor: She is just a simple WideEyedIdealist farm girl from Iowa. Her arc is all about the struggle to maintain her values versus what her new life forces on her. Vought's PR department goes to great lengths to present Starlight as this for her brand.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Her eyes glow with a warm, golden light when she activates [[LightEmUp her powers]], providing a gentler, more hopeful contrast with Homelander. Though she will also use the eye glow for intimidation when necessary; Starlight may be [[TheCape good]], even [[NiceGirl nice]], but she's still not [[GoodIsNotSoft soft]].
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Her gold and white outfits fit well with her light based powers, (initial) Christian beliefs and moral disposition.
* ColdColoredSuperiority: There are a lot of gold sections on her armor and she's a prominent and powerful superhero.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: After trying to break away from the more extremist views of her church, Annie has tender, romantic sex with Hughie.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Contrasting with Homelander, she has this appearance and actually ''is'' a good person.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Ends up helping The Boys and Hughie get his payback from A-Train.]]
* HeelRealization: Is coming to one of these, which is why Hughie thinks about recruiting her for the team.
* HollywoodAtheist: Seems to be turning into this, as of season 2, if her words to Gecko are to be believed.
* IAmAMonster: [[spoiler:Calls herself a freak after she learns the truth behind her powers.]]
* IKnowKarate: She might have a wide range of handy superpowers, but her combat skills are nothing more than effect of intense training, going on since she was a child.
* ImmodestOrgasm: Not conspicuously audibly, but her GlowingEyesOfDoom flare up when she climaxes.
* LightEmUp: She can produce blinding light.
* LightIsGood: She's the Seven's TokenGoodTeammate, wears a suit that's white and gold, and her projectile superpowers are beams of HardLight.
* LossOfIdentity: The depravity of Vought and realising her mother abused her shatters her beliefs and who she was at the beginning of the series. Her arc in Season 1 is coming to terms with the real world outside her small town, throwing away everything her mother taught her, and then finding out who she is and who she really wants to be.
* MinidressOfPower: As in the comics, this is her first costume. It's a bit more modest than most examples of the trope.
* MoralityPet: To Queen Maeve, who she brings out her long buried and almost broken idealism. It is out right lampshaded by Homelander, when Maeve stands up and ''defends'' Annie against his accusations, something he doesn't remember Maeve ever doing in all of the time they've known each other.
* NaiveNewcomer: Though she's not a complete {{Pollyanna}}, Starlight is forced to get used to The Seven's overall depravity very, very quickly.
* NiceGirl: She's all-around sweet, kind and everything a superhero is expected to be. Hughie even calls her this to her face.
* NighInvulnerable: She takes two shots from .50 caliber anti-materiel rifle (designed to punch through buildings and tanks) to the chest. She's knocked down and winded, with mild cuts but that's about it. She also survives a punch from A-Train at SuperSpeed without so much as a broken rib, though she is stunned.
* OffTheRails: At Believe Expo, she was supposed to give a speech about how she and other superheroes were chosen by God to protect the world, but shortly after she started speaking, she decided she would tell the audience she wasn’t going to lie to them, and says she has no answers on the mysteries of the universe any more than anyone else at the festival, and adds that anyone who claims to do so is a liar. She also reveals that she was sexually assaulted shortly after she joined The Seven, and calls out the festival's organizers for fleecing the attendees out of a small fortune.
* SecretIdentity: Only she is confirmed to be maintaining a secret identity, though she does a pretty lackadaisical job.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: She seems to think so, as the only instance where she defaulted to using her more damaging and brutal SuperStrength instead of [[BlindedByTheLight the less damaging light bursts]] was when she was faced with a pair of attempted rapists. Considering her [[RapeAsBackstory personal connection to the matter]], this makes sense.
* SexualExtortion:
** She is coerced offscreen to give The Deep oral sex so he'll ensure she gets into The Seven. After she publicizes the fact, a number of women also come forward to say they suffered the same thing from him in the past.
** A downplayed version occurs later, when the publicists ask her to wear a costume that is [[{{Stripperiffic}} more revealing.]] When she refuses, they threaten to not only fire her, but make sure she doesn't do any more superheroics anywhere else. She agrees to the changes, but is not happy about it.
* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: When she returns to the Believe Expo, she realises her experiences with Hughie and the Seven have changed her too much to fit in anymore.
* SuperStrength: She's introduced doing one-handed chin-ups, lifting the rear of a car over her head (though she struggles), and cratering a cinderblock wall with her bare hands.
* TakingYouWithMe: If A-Train tries to expose her traitorous actions, she'll make sure to ruin his reputation right back so that they'll both get punished.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Being brand new to The Seven, Starlight is not nearly as jaded, apathetic or corrupt as the heroes really are, and she finds herself opposed to just about everything they do.
* WalkingTechbane: Her primary powers involve producing bright lights with concussive force, but using them has an effect on local electronics. It's most notable when she gets angry, rather than being in direct combat. She explains that she draws in ambient electricity to power her light blasts, with the result that electrical devices nearby go a bit wonky.

[[folder:Queen Maeve]]
!!Queen Maeve / Maggie Shaw
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysqueenmaeveseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Dominique [=McElligott=]

The Seven's Amazonian warrior woman.

* AbusiveParents: Her father was a StageDad that got her on Compound V to perform in pageants and competitions, earning money to gamble it away at circuses.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Queen Maeve was blonde in the comics, but has auburn hair here.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Comic Maeve was already the most sympathetic of the original seven, but she's much nicer in the show. To wit, when she meets Annie in the comic, Annie's pretty upset over her degrading audition, and gushes over meeting her idol, only to be mocked in return and told to fuck off. In the show, Maeve notices Annie's distress right away and offers some comfort.
* AdaptationalSexuality: Combined with AmbiguouslyBi. She's either a closeted lesbian or closeted bisexual in the show as she dated Homelander (in terms of Homelander, it was either to maintain an acceptable public image or she may be bi) and dated a civilian woman before, even though she is only involved with men in the comic.
* TheAlcoholic: She apparently has been one for awhile, as her ex notes "you're not going to your meetings." She relapses hard after Flight 37.
* AmbiguousSituation: Maeve's prior relationships are raised but not explored in Season One (see other tropes on this page). What we know for sure: she used to publicly date Homelander, and had a relationship with a civilian woman that ended badly. Everything else is alluded to. Homelander basically threatens Maeve with IfICantHaveYou, stating that if he believed she'd ''genuinely'' fallen for someone else, he doesn't know what he'd do. Whether he's unaware of Maeve's relationship with her ex-girlfriend or doesn't consider a same-sex relationship "genuine" is unexplained. When Maeve visits her ex for emotional support after the Flight 37 incident, she angrily tells Maeve to "go back to Homelander" in a tone which implies some level of YourCheatingHeart at play. Maeve's ex later notes that Maeve was always afraid to be seen with her, indicating a lack of willingness or ability to come out. Whether Maeve is lesbian or bisexual, whether she had any romantic interest in Homelander or just used him as TheBeard, whether she cheated on her ex with Homelander or not (or the issue is Homelander got the "public Maeve" while her ex only got the "private Maeve"), whether she's personally afraid to come out or being forbidden by Vought, are all open questions.
* BrokenBird: She's suffering from how she turned from a once idealistic hero who wanted to save people into Vought's puppet and Homelander's accomplice.
* TheCynic: She seems to be the most experienced member of the Seven alongside Homelander, and is accordingly very jaded and often unfriendly.
* CynicalMentor: She plays the role of an ''extremely'' jaded but genuinely guiding and helpful figure to Annie/Starlight.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:When Compound V's existence is leaked to the press, Elena suggests that this is a chance for her to leave the world of superheroes behind.]]
* DirtyCoward: As her ex-girlfriend Elena puts it, Maeve is afraid of standing up for herself, asking for help, and everything else.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/WonderWoman, being (billed as) an Amazonian warrior woman who is just as strong as Homelander.
* ExtremeDoormat: Hanging around Homelander and witnessing his depravity in person for so long has beaten her into absolute submission, and she acts less as a fellow superhero to him and more of a sidekick. Homelander is quite surprised when she finally stands up to him, noting he can't remember the last time it happened.
* {{Foil}}: A subtle one to Butcher. Both of them are [[TheCynic bitter, morally bankrupt people]] who practically ooze toxicity and act as a [[TheCorrupter corrupting influence]] on their protegé figures (Annie and Hughie respectively). Maeve, however, [[spoiler:ultimately registers [[HeelRealization how awful she's become and how her cynicism and cruelty have affected Annie,]] and advises her to stay optimistic and [[BeYourself be herself]].]] Billy, conversely, [[spoiler:stays fixated on revenge and keeps trying to get Hughie to myopically pursue it along with him, even at the expense of their comrades]].
* {{Gayngst}}: Again combined with AmbiguouslyBi, as noted above. From what we pick up between her and her ex-girlfriend, Maeve is still in the closet, and part of their relationship crumbling involved Maeve being unwilling (or unable) to come out as either lesbian or bisexual. Her dating Homelander also seems a point of contention, indicating he may have either been [[TheBeard Maeve's Beard]] or she's bisexual.
* HeelRealization: She gets a rather extreme one of these after Homelander talks her into [[spoiler:abandoning a plane full of people to crash in the ocean,]] and again after a pretty harsh TheReasonYouSuckSpeech from Annie.
* HeroicBSOD: She has one after [[spoiler:Flight 37]], getting drunk and showing up at her ex-girlfriend's house. She even tries to drunkenly make out with her.
* KingpinInHisGym: Queen Maeve is shown easily defeating a number of burly men in her gym whom she's sparring with.
* KnightInSourArmor: She certainly wants to do good for the world. But the idealism has been broken by all those years under Vought, as Maeve makes clear whenever she's discussing heroism with Starlight.
* LipstickLesbian: Whether she's lesbian or bisexual, she's certainly gorgeous and glamorous. Her ex-girlfriend is also either this trope or a Lipstick Bisexual.
* MadeOfIndestructium:
** In her first appearance on the show, Maeve stops an out-of-control armored truck with her body. She's completely unharmed, the truck all but disintegrates around her.
** Averted when she had to save a school bus early in her career, ending up breaking every bone in her arm that never healed right.
* MovieSuperheroesWearBlack: She wore bright blue in the comics, but wears rust red and iron colored armor in the show.
* NotSoAboveItAll: She's a very polite person. But when she leaves to see Elena in the hospital, Ashley's complaints about abandoning the incoming press junket lead Maeve to FlipTheBird.
* PetTheDog: She's the kindest of the Seven to Starlight and genuinely wants to save people even though her experiences have left her jaded.
* SexForSolace: She tries to hookup with her ex after the Flight 37 incident, but Elena refuses.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: She ''used'' to be the only woman in the Seven before Starlight joined the team.
* StrongFleshWeakSteel: In the first episode, Queen Maeve jumps in front of the truck that was about to run someone over. She is completely unhurt, while the truck instantly has its engine crumble to pieces.
* SuperStrength: She's implied to be about the only Supe who can match Homelander in this department.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Queen Maeve is shown to be more self-aware that they are not really heroes, and at least tries to actually be heroic when possible.
* YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech: Starlight gives Maeve a pretty brutal one, in which she emphasizes that the older heroine used to be one of Annie's personal idols for her selflessness. It ends up leading Maeve to rediscover why she became a hero in the first place.

[[folder:A-Train]]
!!A-Train / Reggie Franklin
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysatrainseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Jesse T. Usher

The Seven's speedster and accidental kickstarter of the show's plot.

* AddledAddict: He started using Compound V as a performance enhancer, but becomes addicted to it and makes terrible choices trying to fuel his dependency.
* ArchEnemy: To Hughie. At first Hughie is an UnknownRival to A-Train, due to A-Train's [[ButForMeItWasTuesday care free attitude toward Robin's death]]. However, after A-Train murders Popclaw, [[NeverMyFault A-Train blames Hughie for it]] and makes it his priority to hunt Hughie down.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler: He receives one from Hughie. "What's better? The rush, or knowing that as long as you take it you're the fastest?". A-Train takes a few moments to respond before agreeing to Hughie's demands.]]
* BlueIsHeroic: Invoked with his costume, which is primarily blue, and is a contrast to his rival Shockwave, who has [[OrangeBlueContrast an orange costume.]]
* BrokenPedestal: Hughie was a big fan of A-Train, so much so that Hughie had several action figures of him (even rare limited edition ones). However, after A-Train ran completely through Robin, Hughie is angered by the sight of A-Train.
* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: When Kimiko]] breaks his leg, A-Train is reduced to nothing more than a disabled Black man, and even has to deal with [[{{Profiling}} a racist security guard.]]
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Deconstructed as him running through Robin is ''the'' decisive event that begins the show's storyline and is the source of A-Train's problems in life going FromBadToWorse. Given how utterly dismissive and forgetful he is of Robin's death, the show makes it clear that this isn't the first time this kind of incident occurred for him, with A-Train practically forgetting that this even happened in a short time. Unfortunately for him, this ''isn't'' something [[TheProtagonist the victim's boyfriend]] forgot at all, which leads to A LOT of trouble for A-Train and the Seven as a whole in the long run. And if he hadn't filed it under "Tuesday" and forgotten about it, he could have begun derailing The Boys' plans much earlier. That said, it's suggested that his abuse of Compound V has scrambled his mental faculties, impairing his ability to connect the dots until it was too late.
* {{Cuckold}}: He's quite shocked to find out Popclaw cheated on him.
* DentedIron: [[spoiler: His abuse of Compound V catches up to him over the season]].
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He's so self-centered that he believes his brother advising him to stop abusing Compound V for his own sake is just a case of YoureJustJealous.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has an older brother named Nathan who coaches and supports him. [[spoiler: After finding out A-Train is still using Compound V, he abandons him for ignoring his advice. A-Train also genuinely loved Popclaw but was forced by Homelander to kill her, he still refused to take responsibility for this and blamed Hughie for it.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even he was horrified by what happened to Popclaw's landlord. As in his girlfriend crushed his head with her pelvis whilst high on Compound V.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/TheFlash. His costume is also reminiscent of [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse The Falcon.]]
* FastestThingAlive: He has a reputation as the fastest man alive, and he feels it's the reason why he's in the Seven. Keeping this title is his biggest priority, and eventually destroys his personal life.
* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: His need to be the best caused him to develop a dependency on Compound V that drove his older brother away. His addiction and refusal to take responsibility for his actions also caused the events of the series.]]
* FeelingTheirAge: He's reaching the age when athletes start losing to younger competitors no matter how hard they train. This drives him to abuse Compound V as a performance enhancer in order to compensate for the age barrier and keep his title.
* {{Foil}}: To Hughie. Hughie is a middle-class tech salesman, while A-Train is a famous super-athlete. Both men have killed people, but while A-Train put the blame on his victim to rationalize his kill (presumably because this is something he's likely to do again), Hughie came to terms with what he did and avoids killing anyone else. Both also have super girlfriends, but while A-Train hides his relationship with Popclaw out of cowardice and yields to Vought’s demands about their love, Hughie isn't the least bit ashamed of dating Starlight and furiously goes against Butcher for threatening her.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:In "You Found Me", his Compound V abuse gives him a heart-attack.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: He's an even bigger douchebag than Homelander, as he treats everyone like crap including his brother Nathan when he expresses concern about A-Train's drug abuse, and extorts Popclaw into doing what he wants by holding their relationship hostage.
* KarmaHoudini: He gets away with basically DUI manslaughter with nothing but an insincere apology which would usually result in several years behind bars, and later laughs about it. Hughie's fury about A-Train's lack of punishment and remorse is what leads him to join the Boys and make A-Train pay by any means necessary.
* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:He admits to Hughie with pain in his voice that he was the one who killed Popclaw. For a brief moment, A-Train stops antagonizing Hughie as he seemingly realizes how his own terrible choices led to the destruction of his personal life. The moment then passes, and A-Train goes right back to blaming Hughie for making him do all those terrible things.]]
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: A-Train is so wrapped up in being the fastest man alive that he's paranoid of any other speedster taking that title and replacing him in the Seven, to the point where he's willing to abuse Compound V to maintain his place.
* ItsAllAboutMe: It's all about the A-Train in this station. When Popclaw dies, he's more upset about how ''he'' lost someone close to him [[spoiler:and mind you he killed her himself]], and in general he'll toss away his loved ones in a heartbeat if it means keeping his place in the Seven for one more day. When Hughie finally confronts him about how he killed Robin, his response boils down to "yeah, but what about MY pain?"
* KickTheDog: The night after he ran over an innocent woman, he's seen laughing it off in a private conversation with another superhero. Downplayed later, when he seems to show ''some'' regret for the incident. Although, it's arguable that he only really regrets it retrospectively because of what it cost him in the long run.
* LackOfEmpathy: He outright laughs about killing an innocent woman, and doesn't even bother remembering her name by calling her an "accident."
* NeverMyFault: A-Train pins the blame of Popclaw's death on Hughie and the Boys since [[spoiler:them blackmailing her is what led to him to killing her, ignoring the fact that he was the one who killed her. He admits to this in the final episode of the first season, but points out Hughie's involvement is still what led to Homelander ordering her death. He still could have refused, of course.]]
* PetTheDog: When Translucent can't visit a terminally ill "Make A Wish" child in the hospital, A-Train fills in and makes a genuine effort to cheer him up. It goes horribly wrong on several different levels but he gave it the old college try.
* RaceLift: White in the comics but black in the show. Compare with The Deep, who is the opposite case.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: On top of the general SuperStrength that most supes seem to have, A-Train has enough physical resistance to survive running at supersonic speeds, and enough lower-body strength to pull a freight train ''[[spoiler:with a broken leg.]]''
* SecretRelationship: He has one with Popclaw. His refusal to go public about it is what drives her to eventually cheat on him.
* StickyFingers: [[spoiler:Homelander gave him Compound V so he could give it to terrorists around the world and create Supe villains to help Vought get a military contract, but he's been filching some so he can fuel his addiction and keep his spot in the Seven.]]
* SuperReflexes: A RequiredSecondaryPower so he can control his SuperSpeed. The finale shows his reflexes are such that he perceives and moves as if time is flowing normally for him, but everything else is moving incredibly slow.
* SuperSpeed: His main superpower. He also trains and competes with this skill similar to a professional racer.
* SuperStrength: He backhands Kimiko right through a concrete wall.
* SuperToughness: It's a required secondary power for a speedster like him, allowing him to withstand powerful impacts. However as his brother reveals [[spoiler: his abuse of Compound V is weakening his bones, like some real life steroids]]
* TakingYouWithMe: When Starlight inflicts this by ruining their reputations with blackmail, he tries to turn it around against her. It doesn't work since she'd be fine with it anyway.
* TokenMinority: He's the only black member of The Seven.
* VillainHasAPoint: A-Train starts out as a jerk and gets worse from there. He is right though: his killing of Robin wasn't intentional, while the same can't be said of Hughie's acts with the Boys. However, A-Train’s other devious acts, including [[spoiler: murdering Popclaw and arming terrorists with superpowers]], were intentional.

[[folder:Stormfront]]
!! Stormfront
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysstormfront.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"[[{{Sadist}} I like to see the light go out...]]"'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/AyaCash

A social media-savvy superheroine who replaces Translucent in the Seven. She poses a challenge to Homelander's leadership in Season 2.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In the comics, Stormfront had direct ties to the Nazi Party through the Hitler Youth program. This version of Stormfront, despite still being a racist, doesn't appear to have any such links. Comics!Stormfront was also the very first supe ever created, while Show!Stormfront doesn't seem to have that distinction (Soldier Boy being credited as the first supe instead).
* AdaptationalBadass: Her comic counterpart didn't play too deep of a role in the overall story, and [[spoiler:was killed off fairly easily despite being the template for Homelander]]. Here, she has a much more influential position as one of The Seven and is butting heads with Homelander under Edgar.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: She gains an affable demeanor, while comic Stormfront pretty much acted as your typical SS-officer.
* ArchNemesis: To Kimiko, after [[spoiler:killing Kenji]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Stormfront seems upbeat and outgoing at first glance, making a big show of being in favor of feminism and equality... before it turns out that she is in fact a ''horrendous'' racist who deliberately targets non-white civilians during her battles.
* CombatSadomasochist: In addition to enjoying watching the life drain from her victims' eyes as she kills them, Stormfront also enjoys Homelander scarring her with his laser eyes for sexual thrills.
* DeadpanSnarker: Which, combined with her [[TheGadfly Gadfly]] persona, makes her more disarming:
-->'''Stormfront:''' Vought won't let me have pockets in this [costume]. You can see every crease in my ass. You can practically see up Starlight's uterus. You want to talk about girl power, let's talk about getting some pockets!
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Stormfront's first appearance has her wandering onto Homelander and Maeve's PSA shoot while streaming to her social media audience on her smartphone, which both highlights one of her advantages against Homelander and foreshadows the disruptive role she plays in Season 2. She also catches Homelander and Ashley off-guard by announcing that Mr. Edgar has signed her on to the Seven, showing that she has the power to bypass Vought protocol and flaunts that power to her potential rivals. Her sudden fascination with [[MasterRace Homelander's eyes]], foreshadowing [[ANaziByAnyOtherName another aspect]] of her.
* EvilWearsBlack: She's a racist murderer in black leather.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Stormfront plays herself up as a champion for equality and women's rights but is later revealed to be a vicious racist herself, killing every black person she comes across while chasing Kimiko and her brother through a building in the projects and makes a racist remark about Kimiko's brother as she klls him.
* FlyingBrick: Super strong, super durable, and has NotQuiteFlight with her lightning powers.
* {{Foil}}: To Starlight, being a new female recruit into the Seven. The main difference between them is that while Starlight eventually moves past her initial belief system and remains the only member of the Seven who is a genuine superhero, Stormfront represents the most zealously intolerant ideology imaginable and is only engaging in superheroism to further a divisive political agenda.
* ForTheEvulz: She kills black civilians in an apartment raid mostly for her own enjoyment.
* TheGadfly: She has no filter and prefers it that way, never paying Vought's marketing and the comfort of even the Seven around her any mind to what she has to say.
* GenderFlip: She was originally a man in the comic.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When she starts using her powers, seen when she chases Kimiko and Kenji down. Said chase is when she brings wanton destruction to a building complex.
* GoodIsNotNice: Her ''raison d'etre''. She literally says as much to Annie.
* HandBlast: Shoots lightning from her hands.
* HateSink: Smug, sociopathic, racist... in a few episodes it becomes clear she's as despicable as Homelander, if not worse (after all, she annoys the man himself).
* HellBentForLeather: A black leather-wearing villain who doesn't hide her physical appeal (if only to push her agenda).
* JerkassHasAPoint: While a SuperSupremacist that's just as bad as Homelander, she gets introduced with negative quips towards her employers, the type of marketing and the media, initially earning Starlight's admiration.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: She's well versed in social media and capable of talking negatively about Vought and her celebrity status to the point where Starlight looks up to her for doing so. Her story about wanting to go for Halloween as Literature/PippiLongstocking and [[BeYourself not caring about what others think]] hits home with Starlight as well. Then she shows her [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain true colors]] by slaughtering black civilians and [[spoiler:Kimiko's brother.]]
* KickTheDog: Some viewers may have been charmed by her willingness to mock Vought and Homelander in the first two episodes of the second season, but any remaining affection is quickly dispelled when [[spoiler:she slaughters nearby black civilians during a mission, seemingly just for the fun of it, followed by slowly and painfully killing Kimiko's brother.]]
* TheMasochismTango: Not only is she impervious to Homelander's eye beams, but she demands that Homelander "laser [her] fucking tits" to get off.
* MeaningfulName: As with the original comic character, her name comes from a notorious Neo-Nazi web forum of the same name. Plus she has electricity and NotQuiteFlight powers, like [[Comicbook/XMen Storm]].
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Though the "any other name" part can be contested given that she's named after a famous Neo-Nazi website. The more fantastical racism comes from her view of Supes and creating more of them with Compound V.
* NighInvulnerability: She takes Homelander's lasers easily.
* NinetiesAntiHero: Presents like one, with an [[DarkAgeOfSupernames edgy codename]], dark color scheme, and evil-looking purple lightning. The fact that she has Vought's backing plays a big role in the "hero" presentation and enables her to gain public influence and a significant civilian following.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: If her being named after a neo-Nazi web forum was not enough of an indication, she views [[FantasticRacism non-powered humans]] with condescending "compassion". When chasing Kimiko and her brother through an apartment building she kills a black family for no reason and calls Kimiko's brother a "yellow bastard" when she kills him.
* PuttingOnTheReich: Her design evokes Nazi imagery, with metal American flag armbands, a metal belt with a Reichsadler Eagle for the buckle, SS-shaped earrings, and a military-buzz-cut-based haircut.
* ShockAndAwe: One of her powers.
* SmugSnake: She thinks highly of herself and clearly doesn't care about annoying[=/=]embarrassing others.
* TheSociopath: Similar to Homelander, she puts on a front for the media and basks in the public's adulation, while caring nothing for human life (especially non-whites, in her case) out in the field.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Enters The Seven without Homelander's involvement and has a couple of plans of her own that will put them at odds with one another.
* TheStarscream: The main conflict of Season 2 is driven by her competition with Homelander for leadership of the Seven (and effectively becoming the face of Vought) despite being a newcomer to the team and hypothetically being lower in rank to Homelander.
* SuperSoldier: Part of her arc is about her advocating for the use of Compound V-infused superbeings to combat the super-jihadi threat. Considering her political views and how much they are influenced (after a fashion) by Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, it's hinted that her intentions lean more into {{Ubermensch}} territory.
* SuperSupremacist: Thinks that her powers make her above others, coupled with racism. She also plans on escalating a Supe Arms Race to create more Supes.
* UncannyValleyGirl: The peppy new member of The Seven that has mastered her social skills for the public, who unnerves the others at Vought with her [[TheGadfly attitude]] and tends to have a concerning interest in [[MasterRace Homelander's eyes]]...
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In spite of her racist beliefs and murderous actions, she's an incredibly popular social media star.

[[folder:The Deep]]
!!The Deep / Kevin
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysthedeepseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Chace Crawford

->''"I swear to God, they only call me when there's trouble at a dock. Or a river, or a lake, canal. A jetty. Fucking idiots, I could be doing so much more. But no, Vought just wants me to make my big pretty dives into the water and flash my fucking biceps for Instagram."''

The "King of the Sea" and member of The Seven.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The Deep's comic costume is an embarrassingly goofy mishmash of a cape, a vintage diving helmet, and unflattering shorts. His appearance in the show is far more in line with what you'd expect a charismatic superhero to look like.
* AdaptationalVillainy: He went from being little more than the team's joke member to being the one who coerced Starlight into giving him a blowjob (and did the same to other women), whereas in the comics the Deep wasn't involved and was actually the only member of the Seven who ''didn't'' harass or bully Starlight in any way.
* ApparentlyHumanMerfolk: The Deep appears completely human at first, but is later shown to be one, with gills on his torso.
* BaldOfEvil: [[spoiler: In the final episode of season 1, he shaves his head in a fit of depression. In season 2, his hair is slowly growing back and appears as a long buzz cut.]]
* BestialityIsDepraved: Given The Deep can speak to sea creatures (like dolphins) he's the butt of cruel jokes by Homelander and A-Train who both say he has sex with them, but judging by his side of the conversation he has with a dolphin he attempts to rescue, there may be a grain of truth to the jokes.
* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: Not on him so much (the dolphin was the one who wanted him to do sex stuff to it), but the dolphin and lobster he attempted to rescue both ended up dead on his watch. And Season 2 has a whale he brought in to stop The Boys being fatally rammed by their speedboat!
* BrokenBird: He compares his treatment of Starlight to how he was treated when he first joined the team, saying it's just how the hierarchy works. With his love of marine life being his only redeeming feature, it's possible that he was a genuinely good guy before joining the Seven.
* BrokenPedestal: To use Starlight's own words, she "had a school girl crush on" The Deep. To say she was shocked, upset, and angered that he forced her to give him a blowjob is an understatement.
* ButtMonkey: While accomplished by ordinary standards (being a handsome, successful, and widely-beloved crime-fighter and celebrity), he is this to the rest of the Seven. Starlight says that the others see him as a joke ("you're just the fish guy"), and he isn't seen being given any respect by them. He appears to be by far the weakest of the team as well; Starlight can shoot light, shrug off .50 caliber bullets, bench press a car, and so on, Maeve can stop a speeding semi-truck effortlessly, A-Train can run at hypersonic speeds and has the RequiredSecondaryPowers for that to work, Translucent can become both (almost) invincible and invisible, Black Noir is strong/fast enough to flatten Kimiko, and Homelander is an outright PhysicalGod. The Deep? He has slightly superhuman strength (enough to NeckLift a guy and make another back-flip by punching him, and that's about it), can breathe underwater, can swim well, and... can talk to sea creatures.
* TheChewToy: He suffers a deserved series of humiliations and failures almost straight from the start.
* ChurchOfHappyology: In Season 2, he joins the Church of the Collective after a few sessions meant to better himself.
* CompositeCharacter: His name and powers are all he really has in common with his comic counterpart, with his characterization as a cowardly, sleazy sexual predator being far more reminiscent of the comic's version of A-Train.
* CruelMercy: After the fact came to light that The Deep had sexually assaulted Starlight, and countless other women, he's spared any jail time, and is still a member of The Seven. However, he's [[spoiler:exiled from [[TheRottenApple New York City]] and [[ReassignedToAntarctica assigned to patrol Sandusky, Ohio, a peaceful and relatively crime free town,]] and given a meager weekly allowance.]] His main tasks are to attend local business openings and roller coaster inaugurations as well as [[spoiler:put up with whatever vitriol the locals throw at him.]] When the military allows supes to volunteer, The Deep asks his handler how soon can he can join the Navy and [[spoiler:get out of Sandusky, only to be told that for the time being, he's not allowed to go anywhere else.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** Of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} or Comicbook/{{Submariner}}.
** Outside of superheroes, The Deep is a spokesman for Oceanland, a thinly-veiled expy of [=SeaWorld=], complete with controversies over its animal handling practices. The Deep wants to improve the conditions for the animals there, Vought wants him to be the poster boy for a lucrative ad campaign.
* FailureHero: Anytime he does try to do the right thing, it goes hilariously wrong. Take for instance his rescue of the dolphin and the lobster.
* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:His [[ItMakesSenseInContext drug-induced journey of enlightenment has him argue with his gills]] about why he sexually harasses and assaults women; because he has his own insecurities about his body and dehumanizes and humiliates women before they can humiliate him first.]]
** FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Annie is in no mood to hear him try to make amends after what he did to her and several others.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: [[spoiler: Unlike Hughie, The Deep's sex life is never portrayed a good light. He has a history of forcing women to give him oral sex for being their hero and when he's finally punished for his actions, he's the one who gets sexually abused when a woman refuses to stop putting her fingers in his gills, despite telling her how painful the act is to him.]]
* HiddenDepths: He can communicate with sea creatures and genuinely really cares about how badly they're treated. He even tries to rescue a dolphin and then a lobster, [[spoiler:though both attempts end abysmally]].
* HumiliationConga: He suffers a rather severe (and karmic) one during the season. Stillwell rejects and mocks his request to do something more substantive and meaningful with his fame. He then attempts to rescue a dolphin from an abusive captivity, but it dies horribly, and the incident becomes a media scandal. After his [[spoiler:rape of Starlight is revealed, he is ReassignedToAntarctica, being sent to “guard” the calm and largely crime-free town of Sandusky, Ohio]]. There, he’s scorned by the townsfolk, given a minuscule allowance by Vought, is relegated to publicity stunts like opening water park attractions, accidentally kills a lobster he wanted to save, and is [[spoiler:abused by a fan girl]]. By the end of the season, he’s on the verge of a mental breakdown.
* IAmAMonster: How he feels by Season 2, though there were apparently other cases of this in his past. [[spoiler:His gills are a point of insecurity for him and his ability to hear aquatic animals begging for their lives throughout his childhood unnerved him. With the reveal that Compound V made him into what he is, he delves into this a lot more.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: He sexually assaulted Starlight. Later on, he [[spoiler: is sexually abused himself during a one-night-stand with a psycho fan, who shoves her hands into his gills (something quite painful for him) after he repeatedly asks her to stop]].
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: It says a lot about the overall moral fiber of the Seven that a serial rapist is ''still'' far from the worst member of the crew, but actually was (before the good-natured Starlight joined the team) the least dangerous one with (as far as the viewer can tell) the lowest body count.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Season 2 reveals that he was unaware that his powers came from Compound V, told that he was born with a gift.
* KarmicRape: After using his position to extort a blowjob from Starlight, [[spoiler:he's exposed and effectively fired from the team. After that, he gets his gill-holes finger-fucked by an insane fan, who makes that move without his consent]].
* MoralityPet: His one redeeming quality is his compassion for marine animals.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Season 2 sees him go through regret for his actions and attempts to make amends, though most of the process is motivated through the chance to rejoin the Seven.
* NatureHero: He wants to be this for ocean life, but Vought won't let him (and even makes him shill for a [[BlandNameProduct SeaWorld knockoff]].)
* NotSoDifferent: Ironically, his attempts at doing something truly important get laughed off by his boss, and he suffers a painful and embarrassing sexual violation... Just like Starlight, who went through the same thing at ''his'' hands.
* NutritionalNightmare: It's amazing he has as good a figure as he does considering he loves munching down on junk food whenever he's eating on-screen.
* RaceLift: He's black in the comics but white in the show. Compare with A-Train, who is the opposite case.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: [[spoiler:After being exposed for sexually assaulting Starlight (among other women), The Deep is forced to make a public apology and demoted to working in Sandusky, Ohio.]]
* SerialRapist: He extorts oral sex from Starlight, and Stillwell reveals this is far from the first time he's pulled a stunt like this.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: {{Discussed}}. The Deep complains that The Seven only send him in for things in or around water. It turns out that the rest think he's pathetic and a joke, to his annoyance.
* TraumaCongaLine: [[spoiler:After Starlight hints that someone in The Seven assaulted her, everyone involved pretty much knows it's The Deep. It's outright stated there are other women, and with Starlight having unlocked the door, it's only a matter of time before one of them kicks it open. The Deep is forced to make a public apology, then take a sabbatical from The Seven and get reassigned to Sandusky, Ohio. Not a lot of crime in Sandusky, so he's pretty much limited to water park openings. He meets a hot groupie and takes her back to his apartment for some playtime, and she rapes him while jamming her fingers in his gills (which ''hurts''). When super-powered terrorists come to light, he's convinced he's finally going to get to come back, and help out the Navy with dolphin-related secret projects, only to be told "ain't gonna happen." He tries to buy a lobster as a pet, only for the meat counter attendant to stab it in the head, thinking he wanted it for dinner. The last we see of The Deep, he's giving himself a TraumaticHaircut while repeatedly calling himself stupid. May or may not be enough to make you start feeling sorry for the guy.]]
* TraumaticHaircut: He gives himself one after being [[DateRape raped by a girl]].
* VillainousUnderdog: The Deep is the least respected member of The Seven due to his abilities only being useful for water-based missions. Due to his ability to speak to aquatic animals, he's forced to stand by as he hears the animals being killed and beg for rescue from their captivity. Even worse, he's forced to support companies that pollute the seas and harm the aquatic life. None of that excuses the fact that he's been sexually assaulting women.
* VillainousBSOD: Completly breaks down at the end of the first season, leading to [[spoiler:him impulsively shaving his head in front of a mirror while crying and cursing at himself]].
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: The Deep is an ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} {{expy}}, and rides very much on the "Aquaman is lame" memes. He is regularly dismissed by Homelander for talking to fish, and later shown in therapy venting his insecurities.

[[folder:Black Noir]]
!!Black Noir
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysblacknoirseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Nathan Mitchell

->''"..."''

The silent brute fighter of The Seven.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the comics he's at least as durable as Homelander, but here he's injured by Kimiko and later a bomb.
* TheBlank: His mask has this effect, resembling Batman's empty cowl. The lack of speech or physical quirks makes him seem almost robot-like.
* TheComicallySerious: At social gatherings, he can be seen drinking from a straw or playing the piano. All while wearing his intimidating costume.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Noir" in French means black. So his name is "Black Black".
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/{{Batman}}, but he also resembles the Nighthawk of ''ComicBook/SupremePower'', who is one of Creator/{{Marvel}}'s many Batman analogues and is also canonically black like the actor who plays Black Noir. This last fact along with his black costume and melee-oriented fighting style also makes him similar to ComicBook/BlackPanther.
* TheDreaded: Black Noir is deeply feared by criminals, the Boys, and even his fellow superheroes and the general public at times.
* TheFaceless: His head and face are always completely covered by a black mask.
* FightsLikeANormal: As a member of the Seven, Black Noir is confirmed to have super powers, but he doesn't use any onscreen besides the bare minimum superhuman strength and durability needed to fight against the Female.
* HiddenDepths: Shown when he wordlessly glowers at a piano player until he steps away from the piano, then sits down by it himself and plays the Minute Waltz, a much faster and upbeat piece than what the other guy was playing. Also, in a promotional video shot by Vought to showcase the members of the Seven, Black Noir's personal hobby is revealed to be drinking green tea according in the practice of the Japanese tea ceremony - an art with Zen Buddhist undertones.
* {{Jerkass}}: He blows off Starlight's attempt at an introduction and intimidates a musician into letting him play the piano.
* KnifeNut: He carries a whole bunch of them on him and his primary style of combat.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: He sobs when reacting to [[spoiler:the breaking news story about Compound V and superpower origin]], implying that he had no idea that his powers came from Compound V.
* NotSoStoic: When the news about Compound V breaks out in Season 2, he is shown sitting on the floor in a hallway silently crying or laughing.
* OutOfFocus: Being faceless and wordless, he gets the least focus of the Seven in Season 1.
* TheReliableOne: Homelander praises him as this when the rest of the Seven's mishaps begin piling up.
* SkullForAHead: His helmet evokes this image.
* StealthExpert: Takes out an entire terrorist compound by himself without being detected until the end.
* SuperToughness: He takes a massive bomb to the face in Season 2. It does inflict damage, but his lack of reaction shows it wasn't much.
* TheVoiceless: He doesn't talk onscreen and it's not clear whether he can.
* TheWorfEffect: He handily takes down Kimiko aka The Female, TheBigGuy of the Boys, a ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} Expy who up until that point had been portrayed as a nearly unstoppable fighter, leaving her for dead with multiple knife wounds that would have killed her (or perhaps did kill her?) if not for her healing factor.
* WickedCultured: He's shown making Japanese-style tea and playing the piano.

[[folder:Translucent]]
!! Translucent
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/translucent_tb2019.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Alex Hassell

->''"My superpower ain't invisibility - it's reading people. Watching them when they think they're alone. I see people for who they really are."''

The Seven's invulnerable and quasi-invisible member.

* AchillesHeel: Translucent's power isn't actually to go invisible but turning his skin to various carbon-based compounds, including a metamaterial and diamond-like substance. Unfortunately, this makes him vulnerable to electricity. [[spoiler:Likewise he's only invulnerable from the outside. Not the inside.]]
* AssShove: [[spoiler:Frenchie shocks him into unconsciousness and then shoves a lump of semtex into his anal cavity, reasoning that it's the only way to kill him.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: Tries this with Hughie. [[spoiler:It backfires, literally.]]
* CanonForeigner: He takes Jack From Jupiter's place on the Seven.
* DirtyCoward: He talks a big game, but when the Boys find out his weakness, he's quick to sob, grovel, and sell out anyone if it means saving his own skin.
* {{Expy}}: A gender-flipped combo of the ComicBook/InvisibleWoman and ComicBook/EmmaFrost.
* HiddenDepths:
** Despite being a Grade A InvisibleJerkass, Translucent is shown to be really good with finances, keeping track of how much the Seven has made over the year, and how much people have made from pirating off from their merchandise.
** Hughie finds out that [[spoiler:Translucent is a dad, and not a bad one since he spends almost all his spare time with his son. He only learns this after he's dead]].
** He's extremely skilled at reading people, which with his invisibility makes him good at gathering information.
* InformedJudaism: According to a bar mitzvah photo featured at his [[spoiler: memorial]].
* InvisibleJerkass: Translucent nearly kills Hughie when he won't tell him why he placed a bug in The Seven's boardroom before Billy intervenes.
* InvisibleStreaker: His clothes are unaffected by his powers. So he has to be completely naked to be undetectable.
* LogicalWeakness: [[spoiler:It sure is convenient that even unbreakable skin already comes with several openings, such as the orifices.]]
* LudicrousGibs: [[spoiler:The bomb in his ass pretty much turns him into paint when Hughie detonates it.]]
* MaleFrontalNudity: We get to see everything when he turns visible inside the women's bathroom.
* NonindicativeName: As Butcher points out, if he really were "translucent" then he would actually still be visible.
-->'''Butcher:''' "Translucent" doesn’t even mean "invisible." It means "semi-transparent."
* ThePeepingTom: He uses his power to creep on women.
* PowerPerversionPotential: He hangs around the women's bathroom in The Seven's HQ.
* ReadingLips: He can and does do this.
* SherlockScan: He mentions that this is his ''real'' ability -- he's extremely skilled at reading people and learning what makes them tick. [[spoiler:Except that one time...]]
* SuperToughness: His skin is as hard as diamonds (when invisible), making him ImmuneToBullets among other things. He also withstands an amount of electricity that would kill or severely harm a normal person while invisible, as well.
* VillainsWantMercy: He offers to tell the Boys any of Vought's secrets he's learned over the years in exchange for his life.
* WrongGenreSavvy: He thinks that he's some sort of master manipulator, who has the ability to read people like books and easily manipulate them without effort. Believing that he knows exactly how people'll act and rationalize themselves, so that he can persuade them into doing whatever he wants. [[spoiler:When in reality he is a deluded pervert who has no real clue about what people are like, as he has no empathy for them and no ability to talk them into anything. This is emphasized greatly when Hughie kills him out of sheer rage for trying to convince him to let Translucent go.]]

[[folder:Lamplighter]]
!! Lamplighter
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lamplighter.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ShawnAshmore

A former member of the Seven now retired.
----
* DespairGambit: Successfully pulled one on Mallory, torturing and murdering her innocent grandchildren to convince her to drop her investigation into Vought and The Seven.
* {{Expy}}: Of The ComicBook/GreenLantern and The ComicBook/HumanTorch.
* TheGhost: He never appears in person during Season 1. No longer this in Season 2, where he's played by Shawn Ashmore.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: A lamp on the end of a staff. Granted, it was just for channeling his powers and not hitting people as far as we know.
* PlayingWithFire: Background material reveals he had the power of pyrokinesis that he channeled through his staff and enabled him to throw fireballs and other uses of fire.
* RetiredMonster: He is mentioned to have retired shortly before the start of the series and he murdered Grace Mallory's grandchildren.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The only word on his fate is Vought's word that he is retired.
* WouldHurtAChild: He murdered Mallory's grandchildren when she and Billy got too close to Vought's secrets.

!!! '''Other Superheroes'''
[[folder:Popclaw]]
!! Charlotte / Popclaw
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Brittany Allen
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charlotte_popclaw.png]]
A former member of Teenage Kix and A-Train's girlfriend. She's also a Compound V addict.

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler: She accidentally murders her landlord by crushing his head between her pelvis, while he's giving her oral sex, when she's lost control during climax.]]
* AdaptationalSexuality: The comics' version was a closeted lesbian. The TV version appears to be straight.
* AscendedExtra: While the show fleshes the Supes considerably, Popclaw gets the most comparatively.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and, more closely, [[ComicBook/{{X 23}} X-23]], as a character who projects bone claws out of her arms.
* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: A-Train kills her because of peer pressure.]]
* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:"Why?"]]
* FormerChildStar: As a teenager, she used to be a rising star in both the superhero and film world until her reputation for partying and drug abuse came out and ruined her career. She still works as an actor, but only in D-list movies.
* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: {{Gender flip}}ped. As [[spoiler:Popclaw's landlord]] finds out, it can be very difficult to control super strength during sex, especially when the Supe in question is high on Compound V.
* MsFanservice: She's a very attractive woman. In-Universe, her superhero films seem to be tawdry revenge tales with her as a sexy AntiHero and she keeps several naked pictures of herself framed on her walls. [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl And she's been making sex videos of herself and A-Train for a fairly long time, for... archiving.]]
* OutWithABang: Popclaw is shown getting oral sex from [[spoiler:her landlord]] then accidentally crushes his head with her thighs while losing control of herself.
* RecoveredAddict: She quit her V addiction. [[spoiler:She relapses after A-train pretends he is completely single on TV.]]
* SecretRelationship: With A-Train, much to her chagrin.
* ThousandYardStare: She has one after she [[spoiler: accidentally kills her landlord]]. After letting out a rather horrific scream, all she can do is stare blankly at the corpse until [[spoiler: The Boys arrive]].
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Her comic counterpart had a punk[=/=]goth[=/=][[Literature/TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo Lisbeth Salander]] look, while her show version is a lot more mainstream as a crime fighter and otherwise.
* YourCheatingHeart: Popclaw’s frustration over A-Train keeping their relationship a secret out of cowardice [[spoiler:drives her to have a fling with her landlord ([[JustifiedTrope granted she was high on Compound V]])]] Which unfortunately leads to...
* YourHeadAsplode: Popclaw accidentally crushes that of [[spoiler:her landlord's]] while he gives her oral sex, with his brain shown getting squirted out.

[[folder:Shockwave]]
!! Shockwave
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Mishka Thébaud
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shockwave.png]]

* OrangeBlueContrast: He wears an orange costume against A-Train's blue one. It's especially clear in their race in "Get Some."
* SuperSpeed: Similar to A-Train.
* TheRival: To A-Train, though this is implied to be just for publicity.

[[folder:Ezekiel]]
!! Ezekiel
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Shaun Benson
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ezekiel_5.jpg]]

* ArmouredClosetGay: Ezekiel, it turns out, is a closeted gay man who has secret trysts with men while publicly touting his conservative Christian beliefs, saying homosexuality can be cured by prayer.
* BlasphemousBoast: At the Believe Expo, he gives a speech referring to his ability to stretch, Homelander's {{Flight}} and A-Train's SuperSpeed in the same sentence in regards to Jesus walking on water. Equating Jesus’s literal divinity to basic superpowers is blasphemous; this plays into the show’s theme of superheroes seeing themselves as and being treated like gods, despite being incredibly flawed humans.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: After his initial plan to blackmail Ezekiel with a video of the latter having sex with men falls through, Hughie instead claims to have had sex with Ezekiel himself. Apparently, Ezekiel has sex with many random men, so he assumes it's possible Hughie was one of them.
* ChekhovsGunman: In episode one, Hughie and Butcher pass Ezekiel sitting on a couch, using his stretch powers to have a threesome with two men. In episode six, Hughie successfully blackmails Ezekiel to give him information by saying he has evidence of them having sex, after his phone short circuits inside the baptismal pool Homelander dunked him in, and can't show the original footage.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: While he has powers similar to ComicBook/MisterFantastic, beyond that they're basically complete opposites. Ezekiel is a charismatic religious leader and hypocrite, while Reed Richards is an AbsentMindedProfessor of pure science.
* {{Expy}}:
** He's a superhero minister like Oh Father.
** Also, his elasticity-based power-set, charisma, and his stoic public persona all bring to mind Reed Richards, except replace secular beliefs with fundamentalist Christianity, make him into even more of a hypocrite, have scenes reveal that he's not really stoic at all, and worst of all, make him into a violent individual, such as when he uses his powers to threaten Hughie.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Ezekiel, a conservative Christian superhero with "Capes for Christ" who claims [[CureYourGays homosexuality can be cured by prayer]], is himself attracted to men and secretly has sex with them.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He spreads homophobic propaganda in a time when homosexuality is becoming accepted by the public, much to Hughie and Starlight's disgust.
* ReallyGetsAround: Hughie manages to blackmail Ezekiel to give him information on Vought and The Seven, by saying he has evidence of them having sex, and will have someone else release it if he doesn't communicate with his contact at a certain time. It's not true, but the implication that Ezekiel has slept with so many men that he can't remember an individual is what allows Hughie to get the information he needs.
* RubberMan: He has stretching powers.

[[folder:Mesmer]]
!! Mesmer
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/HaleyJoelOsment
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mesmer.jpg]]
A former child television star who played an underage psychic policeman.

* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler:The moment Billy catches up to him in the bathroom, Mesmer tries to offer help in regards to the whereabouts of Becca. This later turns into a frantic plea of IHaveAFamily the moment he allows Billy to reciprocate his mind.]]
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Butcher turns Mesmer into a bludgeoning stack after the latter tries to spare himself by [[IHaveAFamily stating he has a daughter]]. He might have been sympathetic, had it not been for the fact that he ratted out the Boys to Homelander and Vought to begin with. Despite this, his death can come across as [[DownplayedTrope somewhat pitiable]].]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Initially seems like a supe who cares about his family more than fame, but [[spoiler:after The Boys cut a deal with him to allow him visitation with his daughter, Mesmer then goes to Homelander with dirt. On the way there, he dismisses a call from child services about him being allowed to see his daughter, proving that deep down he really does care more about fame than his family and doing good]].
* CanonForeigner: He doesn't exist in the comics.
* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Averted. Mesmer lost custody of his daughter three years ago but he appears to be well-adjusted and desperate to see her again. However, Child Services is completely in the right because [[spoiler:Mesmer - when offered - chooses a chance at fame over their call about visitation rights.]]
* DirtyMindReading: Mesmer learns a female fan of his wants to do something amorous with him due to his mind-reading power. He replies that he'd been thinking the same thing.
* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:[[BigNo No!]]]]
* FormerChildStar: He makes a living signing [=DVDs=] of his television show where he played an underage psychic policeman.
* IHaveAFamily: Mesmer tells [[spoiler:Butcher]] that he has a daughter, but to no avail.
* JadedWashout: His only claim to fame is a television show he was in as a child. Vought had ''some'' plans for him but dropped him after he used his powers to do insider trading. Since then he's been riding his fading popularity all the way to the bottom and lost custody of his daughter.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Mesmer reads Butcher's mind and realizing to his horror of what he will do to him.]]
* NonActionGuy: His powers are purely mental, and he didn't get even a shred of SuperStrength or SuperToughness all over Supes tend to have.
* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:He gets his face turned to pulp by Butcher repeatedly smashing it against the sink after he betrays The Boys.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: [[spoiler:He's the one who exposes the Boys to Vought, turning them into public enemy #1.]]
* {{Telepath}}: He reads minds.
* WhiteCollarCrime: He was blacklisted by Vought for brushing his hand against a Wall Street Stockbrocker, reading his mind, and using the information for insider trading.

[[folder:Doppelganger]]
!! Doppelganger
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Dan Darin-Zanco
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doppelganger.jpg]]
----
* CanonForeigner: They don't exist in the comics.
* FanDisservice: We are treated to Doppelganger transforming from attractive female to unattractive male during sex with the Senator, while naked.
* TransformationSequence: Doppelganger transforms from female to male during sex with the Senator (though the latter is unaware, as he's been blindfolded).
* {{Transgender}}: Doppelganger, a shapeshifter, is gender fluid, going by they, their or them. Fittingly, they're able to go from female to male form at will.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Doppelganger has this power, being able to assume other forms and impersonate people perfectly by doing so.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ice Princess]]
!! Ice Princess
----
* TheGhost: A former partner of hers mentions her in a support group but we never actually see her.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Princess, a superhero who has the power to turn herself into ice.
* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: {{Gender flip}}ped. One of the men in the supe victims support group revealed that he had sex with her and when she climaxed, she briefly turned to ice... with his penis still inside her. [[CripplingCastration It snapped off.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Eagle the Archer]]
!! Eagle the Archer
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Langston Kerman
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eaglethearcher.png]]
An archery-based superhero who finds The Deep at rock-bottom and offers to help him out.
----
* AwesomeButImpractical: A super-archer despite guns being available in the present day, taking it to battle against people armed with Tec-9's. It's a point of contention for him.
* ArcherArchetype: His superpower, though he's rather chummy to others off duty.
* ChurchOfHappyology: A member of the Church of the Collective who gets The Deep involved.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/GreenArrow and ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}.
* StepfordSmiler: A bit, as he still feels pained about bungling a hostage situation but is nudged by [[ChurchOfHappyology Carol]] to keep on with his story about his epiphany.
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: His weapon of choice. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], as he took it to a HostageSituation against people armed with machine pistols and could only carry so many arrows in his quiver, leading to many lives lost.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He and everyone else under the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of the Collective]] are obsessed with Fresca for some reason.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Blindspot]]
!! Blindspot
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Chris Mark
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blindspot_4.png]]
A blind superhero and one of Ashley's candidates for the Seven.
----
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: An acrobatic martial artist outside of his DisabilitySuperpower.
* DisabilityNegatingSuperpower: His super-hearing lets him more than make up for his blindness.
* DisabilitySuperpower: Blind, but with enhanced SuperSenses to make him a skilled fighter.
* {{Expy}}: Of Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}. His youth, acrobatics, weaponry and outfit all additionally bring to mind ComicBook/{{Robin}}.
* HeroWorshipper: Like many others, he's eager to meet Homelander.
* SuperSenses: Super-hearing.
* TokenMinority: Ashley eagerly defines him as a differently-abled superhero, which would do wonders for representation amongst audiences.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We last see him collapsed on the floor in a pool of blood thanks to Homelander, and we don't find out about what happens to him after his rejection.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: What Homelander believes. His main superpower is his super-hearing, and when he gets his eardrums blown out, Homelander brushes him off as becoming "just another fucking blind guy."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Soldier Boy]]
!!Soldier Boy
[[quoteright:277:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vlcsnap_2020_09_05_18h24m14s753_8.png]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JensenAckles
A Supe from World War II and Dr. Frederick Vought's first successful Compound V project.
----
* AdaptationalBadass: The Soldier Boy from the original comic was lacking in combat skills and a PhonyVeteran who was described as insulting TheRealHeroes of WWII with his posturing. [[spoiler:His predecessor from WWII got much of the same treatment.]] Here, Mr. Edgar speaks of him as a successful project that was capable of slaughtering the enemy.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
* MilitarySuperhero: A Supe enlisted into the Allied powers' armed forces.
* OneManArmy: A living weapon by Vought's founder, effective enough to get compared to Oppenheimer and his tinkering with the atomic bomb.
* SuperSoldier: The first successful Supe created, slaughtering Germans by the dozens in WWII.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gecko]]
!!Gecko
->'''Portrayed by:''' David Thompson
A Supe working in Vought's labs and an old acquaintance of Annie during her Capes for Christ days. He's the key to her and Hughie's plan.
----
* AnArmAndALeg: Gets his limbs lopped off for his customers.
* AnimalThemeNaming: Named after geckos, he can regenerate parts of his body just as they can for their tails.
* {{Blackmail}}: Annie records a video of an S&M session of his.
* BondageIsBad: A former family-values superhero making a stint as an S&M prostitute would not make for pretty headlines. Additionally, he's part of Vought's real business as a pharmaceutical company and keeping Compound V under wraps.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Another case of Averting this in the show, as Vought uses his HealingFactor to test various creations on a live human subject. His powers also give him opportunities as an S&M prostitute on the side.
* EyeScream: Thanks to tests for an eye-cleaning product.
* {{Fetish}}: Provides this for his customers with the use of his HealingFactor.
* GroinAttack: One of his offers.
* HealingFactor: Like his namesake animal, he can regenerate parts of his body even if they've been separated from him.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Though he's working for Vought and keeping their projects secret, Annie has sympathy for what he's put through at the company labs.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: After reminiscing about their days at Bible Camp and Capes for Christ, Annie blackmails him into getting a sample of Compound V from the 67th floor. Gecko laments their friendship, and when Annie tries to express sympathy for his time at Vought, he tells her that he wants nothing to do with her after giving her the sample.
[[/folder]]

!!! '''Personnel'''
[[folder:Stan Edgar]]
!! Stan Edgar
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/GiancarloEsposito
The CEO of Vought.
----
* AdaptationalBadass: From an off-screen character in the comics to James Stillwell's stand-in on the show.
* AscendedExtra: He's mentioned being the CEO and eventually dies in the comics, all off-screen, but makes a personal appearance here.
* BadassInANiceSuit: Befitting for the calculating CEO of a massive and well-connected company like Vought.
* BadassNormal: The CEO of Vought and can ''make Homelander balk'' by dismantling his ego and plans.
* CompositeCharacter: He was an offscreen character in the comics given a stoic demeanor and fashion sense taken from the comics' James Stillwell.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: He's the CEO of Vought, TheChessmaster behind the product that is "the Seven", making him the show's real BigBad. With this in mind, he honestly gives ComicBook/LexLuthor a run for his money as '''the''' definitive example in all of fiction.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Homelander and many others are [[AvertedTrope mistaken]] that Vought is a "superhero company." They are not, they are a pharmaceutical company, and are using Compound V among other projects to make massive profits.
* DeadpanSnarker: Seen when addressing plans to incorporate Supes into armed forces and when he's confronted by Homelander in his ofice.
* DissonantSerenity: Is completely calm at all times, whether he's negotiating with the Defense Department over how Vought's supes are deployed on the battlefield or he's being threatened by a sociopathic superhuman like Homelander.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Appears once in Season 1 before taking on a major role in Season 2.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Vocally condemns Frederick Vought's experimentation on human test subjects. It's not really clear if it's part of the company's attempt to keep up appearances or if he genuinely disapproves, but he notes this after he's begun telling Homelander the real story about Vought's founder.
* EvilGenius: His cunning and leadership of the company behind Compound V end up being just as threatening, if not moreso, compared to the Supes the Boys face.
* EvilVersusEvil: Is facing opposition from Homelander.
* {{Expy}}: A well-known business owner showing cunning underneath a smiling presence, behind a massive company with nationwide-and-beyond reach that is peddling a valuable blue product hidden under extraordinary public relations? Played by Giancarlo Esposito? [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Sounds familiar]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: He presents himself as a businessman with a welcoming air and smiles to whomever he's addressing, even keeping this façade when talking to Homelander. When Homelander tries exert his influence over the company and The Seven, Edgar drops any pretense and [[BreakThemByTalking begins showing why]] he runs Vought.
* GreaterScopeVillain: His role as of Season 1, considering he has only made one on-screen appearance but he's the CEO of Vought and, as such, the ultimate responsible of most of the series' conflict. In Season 2, he retains this role, even though he acts more directly.
* KnightOfCerebus: He makes moves against Homelander and has a serious air to him, raising the stakes of the show even higher with his addition of Stormfront.
* NonActionBigBad: Not a physical fighter, but runs Vought coldly.
* PragmaticVillainy: Everything he does is ensured to benefit the company, not needlessly ruin people's lives.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Homelander complains about being left out of the loop and threatens to quit Vought, Stan shuts him down with this speech. Unlike Stillwell, Stan isn't going to mollify Homelander no matter how much the evil superman tries to intimidate him:
-->'''Stan:''' The point is that you are under a misconception that we are a superhero company. We are not. What we are, really, is a pharmaceutical company. And you are ''not'' our most valuable asset. That would be our confidential formula for Compound V. Which you, man-child that you are, released into the wild.\\
'''Homelander:''' Don't know what you're talking about.\\
'''Stan:''' Well, let me remind you. You slipped Compound V to terrorists all over the globe to get you and your cronies into national defense. But maybe at the cost of destroying the whole company.\\
'''Homelander:''' I don't think I appreciate your tone, ''sir''. Not much at all.\\
'''Stan:''' And I don't appreciate that the FDA now knows about Compound V, or that it's only a matter of time before the public finds out. While you're preening at the Golden Globes we're busy, running around like maniacs, trying to clean up the mess you made. I don't have to consult you about Stormfront or anything else. Now... I believe you have a premiere of ''Tek Knight Lives'' to go to?
* StepfordSmiler: His conversation with Homelander begins with him acting polite before laying into him.
* TheStoic: Exhibits an eerie perpetual calmness like Stillwell in the comics (not to mention [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring another Giancarlo Esposito character]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Madelyn Stillwell]]
!! Madelyn Stillwell
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ElisabethShue
[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jamesstilwellfilm.jpg]]

->''"Why have average when you can have extraordinary?"''

A middle-ranked manager at Vought whom the Seven reports to for every action they take.
----
* AdaptationalWimp: Homelander never got the better of comic Stillwell, who was completely unfazed by him.
* AffablyEvil: She has a very warm and personable demeanor, despite being [[CorruptCorporateExecutive completely morally bankrupt]].
* BigBadWannabe: In the end, while Stillwell controls the entire corporate aspect of the heroes and gets them to toe the line more than once with subtle threats about their position and money, she's still ultimately just a regular human being compared to superheroes. [[spoiler:So it should come as no shock that Homelander kills her with ease.]]
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler:She lies to Homelander about how Becca and his son died in childbirth. Homelander finds out only because it contradicts Vogelbaum's account of the same story.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: Her comic counterpart lived through the entire series and was a downplayed KarmaHoudini to boot.
* GenderFlip: Stillwell is a man in the comics and a woman in the series.
* GlamorousSingleMother: She's a single mother with an infant son, Teddy.
* MiddleManagementMook: Despite managing the Seven, she's nothing more than middle ranked in the Vought ladder. By the end of Season 1, her successes earns her a promotion to Floor 82 where the executives are, and she's to be groomed as the next CEO after Edgar retires.
* ParentalSubstitute: Homelander regards her as something of a mother figure as he never had one. She exploits this to control him as much as possible.
* TheScapegoat: [[spoiler:In Season 2, the leaking of Compound V's existence to the press is credited to a team working under Stillwell.]]
* SmugSnake: This version of Stillwell's position of control is much more imagined than it was in the comics. In particular, she seems to think her acting as a mother-figure to the Homelander will grant her his absolute loyalty and thinks she can [[spoiler:keep lying to him about his child, with doing so resulting in him killing her in a rage]].
* WrongGenreSavvy: In many ways, Stillwell thinks she is in the world of the comics it was originally based on: where the supers are all blithering incompetents and Homelander, while a murderous piece of crap, is, in the end, all bark and no bite to someone who doesn’t rise to his preening. [[spoiler:This assumption is quickly proven wrong when Homelander just kills her]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rebecca Saunders Butcher]]
!! Rebecca Butcher
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ShantelVanSanten
Billy's beloved wife, who disappeared years ago after an encounter with Homelander.
----
* AdaptationalJobChange: She worked for Vought in the show rather than be a social worker.
* BuryingASubstitute: Since her body was never found, her sister put a headstone in its place so their mother has a grave to visit. Billy takes great offence, and smashes it down.
* ChekhovMIA: She disappeared eight years prior to the timeline of the plot. Police NeverFoundTheBody. [[spoiler:Then she reappears in the last scene of the first season]].
* DrivenToSuicide: Officially, according to the police.
* TheLostLenore: For Butcher.
* NeverFoundTheBody: She's been missing for so long that she's presumed dead, and only Billy is convinced she's out there somewhere.
* RapeAsDrama: She went mute and then disappeared after being raped [[spoiler:and impregnated]] by Homelander.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Rather than dying, she's only missing in the show. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that it is eventually it is revealed that she died in childbirth. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubverted Or so claims Vought. She's alive and stashed away by Vought away from both Homelander and Butcher, and so is her son.]]]]
* StepfordSuburbia: [[spoiler:Revealed to live in one. In a secluded and walled area, she and whoever she made the deal with are planning on giving Ryan a loving home in such an environment.]]
* TurnOutLikeHisFather: [[spoiler:Rebecca made a deal to have her and Ryan secluded into a safe have where she can raise her son properly, never seeing Homelander ever again.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jonah Vogelbaum]]
!! Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JohnDoman
----
* AgeLift: He's a WWII German defector in the comics.
* ConsummateLiar: Homelander ruefully notes telling the truth would be a first for Vogelbaum. [[spoiler:He still lies to his face and gets away with it without Homelander suspecting a thing, until Stillwell accidentally blows a hole in the cover story he tells.]]
* DecompositeCharacter: His background as a WWII German scientist and the inventor of compound V is the basis of show-original background character Dr. Frederick Vought.
* MyGreatestFailure: He calls Homelander this, verbatim. Not so much because Homelander was a failed subject, but that how he treated Homelander as a kid created the sociopathic asshole he is today.
* ReluctantRetiree: Despite living in an opulent mansion, he'd go back to 80 hour work-weeks in a second.
* UncertainDoom: The last we know of him is how Homelander paid him a visit to [[DeadlyEuphemism squeeze]] the truth out of him. [[spoiler:Season 2 reveals he's been paralyzed, but is alive.]]
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Ashley Barrett]]
!! Ashley Barrett
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Colby Minife
The director of talent relations at Vought.
----
* BeleagueredAssistant: She comes across as one to Stillwell, and ends up being fired over Starlight exposing the sexual assault by the Deep. And then in Season 2 she's hired back for Stillwell's job... and even then it's still pure suffering, given she's working directly with Homelander and Stormfront.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She can barely conceal her disdain for Starlight beneath her condescendingly friendly mask.
* {{Jerkass}}: While it’s mostly her doing her job, she cares much less about morals than fame and making the heroes look good and gets huffy when they don’t adhere to the rules. Notable examples include her ranting and yelling at Starlight over her public appearance and antagonizing her when she goes off script and not getting names for publicity of an attempted rape crime, completely ignoring the fact that Starlight saved a person’s life. In Season 2 she doesn't seem to have improved much, but still comes off as more sympathetic because appearing alongside Homelander [[ALighterShadeOfBlack does that to you]].
* LaserGuidedKarma: She booked Starlight’s appearance at the Believe Expo. But between her and Vought’s mistreatment of Starlight and forcing her into their [[SlaveToPR constant scripts and demands]], the superheroine had enough and revealed the truth of her frustrations on live TV, resulting in Ashley getting fired.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: Was getting ready to be this when replacing Stillwell in Season 2. When she tries to make small talk about how bad the old office design was, Homelander quips how he liked it, causing her to quickly agree.
* TheSocialExpert: She's the official publicist of The Seven.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Frederick Vought]]
!!Dr. Frederick Vought
The founder of the company and the scientist behind Compound V.
----
* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: His "autobiography" was a story made to make the company look good to their shareholders.
* CanonForeigner: Made for the show, taking the comic Vogelbaum's role.
* DecompositeCharacter: As an original creation for the show, he takes elements from the comic's Vogelbaum. He is a defector from Nazi Germany and responsible for Compound V, dating the work all the way back to WWII.
* DisposableSuperheroMaker: His work Averts this, specifically engineered to be mass-produced to create more and more Supes.
* EvilGenius: The mind behind Compound V, originally working under Hitler to create supersoldiers.
* {{Expy}}: To Dr. Abraham Erskine/Joseph Reinstein.
* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: He and his work are outright compared to Oppenheimer planning the atomic bomb, even stated to have been successful before the bomb was made. His projects were successful during WWII and escalated to the world of Supes we know today.
* GreaterScopeVillain: As the founder of Vought and creator of Compound V, his work dates back to WWII and marks him as largely responsible for ushering in a world of Supes.
* HazyFeelTurn: By 1944, he "felt the winds change" as Edgar puts it, submitting his work to Allied forces instead of Nazi Germany.
* MadScientist: Willing to use many human test subjects to perfect his SuperSerum formula.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: The scientist originally made Compound V for the Nazis and was provided fresh batches of human subjects by the Führer.
* OldShame: An in-universe case, with Stan Edgar noting that the company does not condone the man's history and experiments.
* PosthumousCharacter: Long dead, but his legacy lives on with his company.
* SuperSerum: Invented Compound V.
* SuperSoldier: His work stems from making these, first for Nazi Germany and then later for the Allied powers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Seth and Evan]]
A pair who work in Vought's marketing department.
----
* ChekhovsGunman: Seth later shows up in a support group for victims of superheroes.
* CripplingCastration: Seth claims that Ice Princess accidentally froze then snapped his penis off during sex.
* LoveMartyr: Seth still loves Ice Princess even after what she did, assuming his story is real.
* UnreliableExpositor: Seth's story in the support group is rather fishy since his job is all about painting superheroes in the best light possible and Vought is quick to squash any unsavory rumors about them, implying he might be there not as a fellow victim, but as a spy.
** Of course, if he ''were'' there as a spy, it begs the question why Vought would send one of their normal staff writers to spy on an support group meeting rather than hire a professional especially for the purpose, lending some credibility to his story.

[[/folder]]

! '''Supervillains'''
[[folder:Naqib]]
!!Naqib
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20200812_172151_youtube.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:350:"Burn In Truth!"]]
An ISIS terroist with the power to self-detonate.
----
* ActionBomb: He can detonate, and live to do it again.
* {{Expy}}: Of Nitro, a Marvel supervillain who can explode himself.
* CaptainSuperhero: Or in this case, Captain ''Supervillain'' ([[VillainWithGoodPublicity not that most "superheroes" are any better]]), but same basic principle. His super-name is the Arabic word for "Captain".
* CelebritySuperhero: Well, supervillain, but he follows Vought's example and starts selling T-shirts with his face and slogan on them.
* KnightOfCerebus: His sudden appearance changes the situation between the government and supes drastically.
* MiddleEasternTerrorists: He's an ISIS operative.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:When he sees Black Noir tanked his explosion without issue.]]
* OffWithHisHead: This is how [[spoiler:Black Noir kills him in Season 2.]]
* PersonalityPowers: It's astonishingly appropriate that an Islamic terrorist would have the power to [[ActionBomb self-detonate]]. [[spoiler:This may have been intentional InUniverse however, as Homelander is responsible for creating him and wanted a thematically appropriate "super terrorist".]]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: He gets killed [[spoiler: immediately into season 2]].
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:He's just one of the Supe terrorists Homelander created to coerce the US government into hiring Vought as a military contractor. Once the bill is passed, Black Noir arrives to chop his head off.]]
* VillainsOutShopping: He discusses with another terrorist possible catchphrases and slogans for his brand in Season 2.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: He existed purely to be used as the deciding factor that convinces the US government to make Vought a military contractor. Once the bill was passed, Naqib no longer had a reason to live, so Black Noir was sent to unceremoniously assassinate him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kenji]]
!!Kenji Miyashiro
Kimiko's brother and a Shining Light Liberation Army operative.
----
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Despite reuniting with his sister, Kenji still hasn't been deprogrammed from his terrorist brainwashing like Kimiko has, making him dangerous.
* LogicalWeakness: His telekinesis is rooted in his hands. If they're incapacitated in any way, he can't use his powers.
* MindOverMatter: His power.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:He only gets screentime for two episodes before Stormfront kills him.]]
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: He still believes in the cause of Shining Light, and he is partially motivated from how they target America since one of the country's Supes completely annihilated their home.
[[/folder]]

! US Government
[[folder:Grace Mallory]]
!! Grace Mallory
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Laila Robins
A former CIA case officer who first recruited Butcher.
----
* AdultFear: Her grandkids were killed by Lamplighter.
* BreakTheBadass: Lamplighter killing her grandkids is what led to her quitting the Boys and retiring in seclusion.
* ColonelBadass: She's an ex-military colonel.
* TheCorrupter: To Butcher, being responsible for turning him into [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the man he is today]]...something she [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone honestly regrets.]]
* CynicalMentor: Mallory trained Butcher, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie, teaching them to hold the belief that supes are all untrustworthy.
* GenderFlip: She's a man called Greg in the comic.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The war of revenge she contributed to agains the Seven getting her grandchildren killed has left her disillusioned with the whole business.
* RetiredBadass: Considering Mallory is ex-CIA and spent her golden years hunting down rogue superheroes, she definitely qualifies.
* TheSpymaster: She's still keeping tabs on Vought despite retiring, and gives Billy crucial information regarding Homelander and Stillwell.
* TheTeamBenefactor: She's the founder, mentor, and original leader of The Boys.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Susan Reynor]]
!! Susan Reynor
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JenniferEsposito
The Deputy Director of CIA for Operations and an old acquaintance of Butcher's.
----
* AdaptationalBadass: In the comic, Billy almost always got the better of her in both arguments and schemes, and she seemed to find their hate-sex-based relationship degrading while he reveled in it. In the show, they are on a considerably more even level when arguing, with [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both of them scoring some points,]] and near the end of season one [[spoiler:he even ends up having to agree to her terms, even though they didn't include the one thing he wanted most (taking down Homelander), in order to save his team]].
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: She and Billy have a messed up sexual relationship in the comics. While they have a sexual history in the show, she's married with a family and she and Billy are more professional toward each other.
* DeathByAdaptation: Killed in the seaon 2 premiere, despite living through the entire comic series.
* FriendOnTheForce: Billy's contact in the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}.
* YourHeadAsplode: After she starts making a connection to Vought and an internal coup.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Robert Singer]]
!! Roger Singer
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JimBeaver
The US Secretary of Defense
----
* Tuckerization: Named for producer and Eric Kripke collaborator Robert Singer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Victoria Neuman]]
!! Cognresswoman Victoria Neuman
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Claudia Doumit
A Congresswoman and vocal critic of Vought's conduct.
----
* AdaptationalHeroism: Her comic counterpart is a puppet of Vought, to the point of physically assaulting the president at a crucial moment, while she's a vocal critic of theirs in the show.
* AdaptationalIntelligence: Her comic counterpart is mentally disabled and has a single digit IQ while Victoria seems smarter than most of her political contemporaries.
* GenderFlip: Is a man called Victor in the comic.
* TalkingHeads: Appears on WCN news segments.
[[/folder]]

! Others
[[folder:Robin Ward]]
!! Robin
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Jess Salgueiro
Hughie's girlfriend, who was killed by A-Train in an accident, setting the plot into motion.
----
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: She pretty much instantly burst into a puddle of gore after being run through by A-train. Well, except for her hands, they're detached but still holding Hughie's hands.
* DeathByOriginStory: Her death is what makes Hughie want to fight the superheroes. It also causes him to develop a personal vendetta against A-Train, as he was the one who killed Robin by running into her at extreme speed, then lying about it by saying she was in the middle of the road when it happened. When she was only ''two steps off the sidewalk''.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the comic, she's crushed to death when A-Train smashes her into a wall with another superhero. In the series, A-Train runs through her, reducing her to a puddle of blood and gore on the floor.
* DisposableWoman: She basically just exists to get killed to start Hughie on his journey.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Without her death, this story would have never occurred.
* TheLostLenore: Hughie keeps seeing her ghost out of the corner of his eye. She doesn't go away until he and Starlight have their first kiss.
* RaceLift: White in the comics, but played by Latin Canadian actress Jess Salgueiro on the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hugh Campbell Sr]]
!! Hughie's Father
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/SimonPegg
----
* AdaptationNameChange: Hughie's adopted father in the comic is named Alexander. The man who might be his biological father is Joe.
* BumblingDad: He's awkward and too comfortable with letting Vought get away with their crimes. His behaviour is borderline overprotective, as his first thought was to contact a paediatrician to help Hughie with grief counselling.
* ExtremeDoormat: He's willing to let Vought get away with letting Robin die because he's aware that taking them on would likely end in tears. When his son tries fighting back, he does everything ''but'' help, concerned that trying to fight back will only make things worse. [[spoiler:He later admits that he's proud that his son is trying to make a difference when he is inadvertently caught in the crossfire.]]
* MythologyGag: Played by the actor whom Hughie was based on in the comics.
* ParentsAsPeople: He's in a tough situation as a parent and he is trying his hardest to support his son despite his answers being awkward and unhelpful. He truly wants to protect his son from Vought and The Seven but he's having a lot of difficulties trying to console and understand Hughie, who saw Robin die right in front of him and saw A-Train brush off the consequences. [[spoiler:In the end, he accepts Hughie's choices and admits how proud he is of him for trying to make a difference.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Donna January]]
!! Donna January
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Ann Cusack
----
* CanonForeigner: She doesn't exist in the comics (Annie's parents are shown for a single panel signing over their daughter, as they were both permanently blinded by her first accidental use of her light powers).
* {{Foreshadowing}}: She adjusts to Vought's SlaveToPR status far more quickly than her daughter, hinting at her true motivations.
* GoldDigger: She been grooming her daughter just for her to become a super and receive the wealth and fame that follows.
* ItsAllAboutMe: She suffers from an extreme case of this. It leads her to treat her daughter horribly.
* StageMom: She behaves this way towards Starlight, having groomed her from a toddler to be the perfect All-American superheroine. [[spoiler:It gets worse with the reveal that she signed Starlight up to be given Compound V as a child - she chose her whole life for her.]] It's implied "super pageants" are a big thing, with lots of Supe kids likely having Stage Parents hoping to make their little darling the next Homelander.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Cherie]]
!! Cherie
Frenchie's girlfriend.
----
* DullSurprise: Totally unfazed when Frenchie calls her and lets her know she needs to [[spoiler:blow up the warehouse]] on very short notice, beyond a mildly annoyed "Really?"
* NoNameGiven: It's unclear whether "Cherie" is her name or just a nickname that Frenchie uses for her, seeing as it's also a French pet name.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: She randomly caresses Hughie's face for several seconds upon meeting him, with no explanation and without even introducing herself first.
* PerkyGoth: Her character has been referred to by reviewers as a "goth party girl."
* PutOnABus: She destroys her phone and flees after letting Frenchie know [[spoiler:he's burned]] and hasn't appeared since.
* SeenItAll: She strongly gives this impression, based on how quickly and calmly she reacts to any sort of danger or crisis.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Elena]]
!! Elena
Maeve's ex-girlfriend from years back.
----
* BrutalHonesty: She does not mince words on how bitter she is about Maeve.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Serves as this to Maeve.
* PetTheDog: She shows concern when she realizes Maeve is in serious emotional distress after Flight 37, even visiting her at work just to make sure she was alright.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She calls out Maeve's cowardice and refusal to reach out to others for help, saying she hasn't changed a bit even after several years without seeing each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Nathan]]
!! Nathan
A-Train's elder brother and coach.
----
* CassandraTruth: He keeps telling A-Train to stop using Compound V before it kills him to no avail. [[spoiler:Nathan is vindicated when A-Train suffers a heart attack in the Season 1 finale.]]
* PromotionToParent: Their dad died at a young age and mother worked two jobs, so he had to step up and raise A-Train himself.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He gets fed up with A-Train's constant abuse of Compound V against his advice, and cuts off all contact so he won't watch his brother kill himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Alistair Adana]]
!! Alistair Adana
->'''Portrayed by:''' Goran Visnjic
The leader of The Church of the Collective.
----
* ChurchOfHappyology: The shadowed head of one.
* EarlyBirdCameo: He's mentioned by Carol and Eagle the Archer. The Deep, despite spending time under the organization, forgets who he is.
* TheGhost: Has made no physical appearances, only mentioned in passing.
* GreaterScopeVillain: As the leader of the mysterious Church of the Collective, which even Stormfront looks down upon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: '''(Major) Spoiler Character''']]
!! Ryan
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Parker Corno (Season 1), Cameron Corvetti (Season 2)
The result of Rebecca's rape by the Homelander (though he implies it was a consensual affair), a cheerful boy who meets his father when the superhero appears at their house.
----
* AscendedExtra: His comic book version killed his mother as a superpowered fetus lacking self-awareness and then was beaten to death by Butcher in self-defense, all in his debut while here Ryan and his mother get to survive his birth and he grows up to be an actual character.
* CorruptTheCutie: Homelander wants him to be just like him, showing joy at [[spoiler:seeing his son fight back]].
* CuteBruiser: A normally smiling, concerned kid strong enough to shove Homelander down.
* ExtremelyProtectiveChild: Ryan is upset to see Homelander hurt or endanger his mom.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Dr. Vogelbaum in his encounter with Homelander [[MyGreatestFailure reveals his disappointment with and shame of]] the SociopathicHero the Homelander grew up to be. The doctor expresses how Homelander needed a family who loved him and not locked away in a lab: it's likely Rebecca and her son were provided for in the hopes of ''not'' repeating their mistakes.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Unlike his father, the kid is every bit as nice and cheery as he appears and is even ecstatic rather than shocked to be told Homelander is his father.
* OutsideContextProblem: Until him, ''every'' Supe from Homelander to Starlight were given their powers artificially with Compound V which makes '''him''' the very first natural-born superpowered person in the entire world.
* PrimaryColorChampion: His clothes often have the color of red, white, blue and yellow, just like his father's suit.
* TurnOutLikeHisFather: What Rebecca and Vogelbaum are trying to prevent and what Homelander is vying for.
* YoureNotMyFather: [[spoiler:Tells Homelander as much after the leader of the seven [[DieOrFly pushes the kid off his own roof to test his powers]], in addition to being an all around jackass to Rebecca]].
[[/folder]]

!The Boys

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysteamseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Frenchie, Kimiko, Billy Butcher, Mother's Milk and Hughie Campbell.]]
The titular group of anti-Superhero vigilantes.

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: The team is pretty dysfunctional on the show, whereas in the comics they were a cohesive unit who got along well and were pretty pleased to get back together when Butcher asked them.
* AdaptationalWimp: Aside from the Female, none of the other members have taken Compound V, so they [[BadassNormal rely more on cunning and skill to deal with supes]].
* AntiHeroTeam: They are not virtuous people.
* BadassNormal: With the exception of The Female, none of The Boys [[AdaptationalWimp have superpowers themselves and also don't even have the official CIA backing they had in the comics]]. Instead, they have to rely on their own smarts, skills, and willingness to play dirty to gain an edge on the Supes.
* CapeBusters: The modus operandi of the Boys.
* DavidVsGoliath: They're just a handful of men without government backing trying to take down not only amoral superhumans, but the MegaCorp pulling their strings and all the connections, money, and resources it has at its disposal.
* GuileHero: They rely on thorough planning, strategy, espionage, and cunning to overcome any threat that may come their way.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: [[spoiler:Thanks to their various screwups and Butcher's lack of cooperation with the government, the Boys lose the PR battle with Vought and become the most wanted criminals in America by the end of Season 1.]]
* UnscrupulousHero: They have a good goal, bringing down Vought and their apathetic or outright criminal Supes, but aren't afraid to use espionage, blackmail, and even murder to do so.
* VigilanteMan: The Boys, whose aim is to take down superheroes (they're mostly corrupt, even criminals, in the show).

[[folder:Billy Butcher]]
!!William "Billy" Butcher
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboyswilliambillybutcherseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''[[CatchPhrase "Diabolical."]]'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/KarlUrban

->''"Just remember who your friends and who your enemies are."''

A rough and caustic rogue superhero hunter, Billy Butcher serves as the ''de facto'' leader of The Boys.
----
* AdaptationalJerkass: While his comic counterpart was no choirboy, he was pretty affable and liked by his teammates.
* AlliterativeName: '''B'''illy '''B'''utcher.
* AnimalMotif: Downplayed, when meeting Hughie for the first time there is a documentary on lions playing in the background, reflecting his authority over The Boys and his psychotic, predatory nature towards supes. Since a lion is the national animal of England, it serves as another reminder of his nationality.
* ArchEnemy: He hates all Supes with a passion, and he hates Homelander most of all for raping his wife. Unlike the case with Hughie and A-Train, Homelander never returns Billy's enmity and regards him with amusement.
* BadassBeard: He has quite the intimidating chin-wig. Given he was clean-shaven in the flashbacks with his wife, it likely doubles as a BeardOfSorrow.
* BadassLongcoat: Like his comic counterpart, Billy rocks one. Notably, he's the only one to keep it from the comics. It’s also noticeably shorter, only reaching about his knees instead of his ankles.
* BerserkButton:
** He does not like it if you suggest that the Supes are "gods" or in any way stand above other people.
** His wife is another one for him; when Hughie uses her as a [[ArmorPiercingQuestion question on Billy's motivation for hating Supes]], Billy is [[TranquilFury stunned, silent, and absolutely furious with Hughie]]. The fact that M.M. and Frenchie collectively shit a brick after hearing this also suggests this is a definitive red flag and a subject to be avoided like the plague.
* TheButcher: It's literally his last name.
* CountryMatters: He can hardly go a sentence without saying "cunt" or "twat".
* TheCorrupter: To Hughie, as he sees him as a valuable, like-minded ally in his quest against Homelander and tries to push him into following the path.
* CrusadingWidower: He wants to avenge the loss of his wife, Becca, by taking out Homelander and any other supe that crosses his path. [[spoiler:Although this is subverted when it turns out Becca is alive.]]
* DeathSeeker: There's heavy implications that Billy lost his will to live after Becca disappeared, with nothing left to live for except his hatred. [[spoiler:In the Season 1 finale, he initiates a SuicideAttack on Homelander with a smile on his face.]]
* FatalFlaw: His hatred for Supes and especially Homelander. [[spoiler:He finds decisive evidence against Vought's schemes, but does not give it to the CIA because they can't guarantee they'll prosecute Homelander. By the time he's convinced to cooperate, it's too late as the Supe terrorists have appeared, forcing the government to coverup Vought's crimes and sign the military bill to combat the new threat.]]
* FantasticRacism: He ''really'' hates Supes. While it is true that many Supes are corrupt, egotistical, or even downright evil, Billy paints them all with the same brush. He’s irrationally hostile and suspicious towards Kimiko and Starlight, who have done nothing to earn it other than having superpowers. He even shows a lack of concern over potentially harming [[spoiler: a super-abled baby]]. On the whole, Billy does not seem to see Supes as human, but rather as monsters who are evil by nature.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Downplayed, but Billy's bitter, [[{{Jerkass}} abrasive]] personality and myopic obsession with revenge are frequently criticized by his comrades, especially because of his tendency to leave them by the wayside as a result.
* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's a former soldier, from the S.A.S. Special Forces in the British Army.
* GodIsEvil: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]], Butcher argues this to a Christian at the Believe Expo, saying that if God exists, he's cruel and hates humanity given how much suffering the world has.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: He steadily gets worse and worse as he puts getting revenge on all Supes above all else.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Tries to get [[spoiler:Mallory]] back in the game by claiming [[spoiler:she owes him for training him like a Howitzer, pointing him at Homelander and then quitting]]. When [[spoiler:Hughie]] tries the same reasoning to get [[spoiler:him to help rescue The Boys, Butcher blows him off.]]
* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Billy Butcher claims he's an FBIAgent at first when recruiting Hughie into the Boys. He later admits otherwise.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Billy Butcher wields a superpowered baby as a weapon by making it blast blue beams from its eyes at some security guards.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's foul-mouthed and manipulative, but fundamentally a good man who's trying to expose the Supes' crimes for what they are. He's also a FriendToAllChildren and frequently has PetTheDog moments.
* JerkassHasAPoint: At best he's a callous jerk but a lot of what he says can be pretty damn convincing;
** He shames a support group for not being angry at the supes for crippling and castrating them, proclaiming they have no self-respect when they forgive their attackers that quickly for such unforgivable acts.
** His biased views towards supes are justified as well since they are a legitimate threat when they aren't handled properly and their villainous acts require retribution, not lionisation.
** [[spoiler:He's right that Becca is still alive, not dead.]]
** [[spoiler: While his aggression towards Hughie is largely motivated by his bias towards Supes, he is right that Hughie is too deep into their war against Supes to get out now.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: He will say or do anything to get the results he wants. [[spoiler:When the proper authorities can't guarantee that Homelander will pay for his crimes if Billy hands over the information he's gathered, he refuses to hand over any of it. Then he lies to the Boys, claiming the government was too cowardly to act on any of the evidence, convincing them that their only option is to go after the supes themselves.]]
* MrFanservice: No matter how heavily his macho behavior is deconstructed, Karl Urban still looks damn good in those unbuttoned shirts and trenchcoats, and the show knows it. When they initially meet, Hughie mentions that he looks like he's starring in a porn version of The Matrix.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Butcher" is pretty descriptive.
* NervesOfSteel: Doesn't even raise an eyebrow at [[spoiler:Popclaw crushing the landlord's head with her thighs]] while the rest of the Boys react horrified or look away. And when finally confronting [[spoiler:Homelander at Stillwell's home]], the latter remarks Butcher is the only person he's met who knows what he can do yet doesn't fear him.
* NotSoDifferent: Just like Hughie, he lost his loved one to the direct actions of a member of the Seven. [[spoiler: To his knowledge.]]
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: [[spoiler: His bias towards Supes is fuelled by his need to kill Homelander for raping and murdering his wife. His single-minded pursuit of revenge has sacrificed all of his personal relationships and his morality. His hatred of Supes is matched by his Misotheism, as he sees God as a cruel, selfish figure who'd rather sacrifice his own son than take the initiative to fix Earth's problems.]]
* RealMenWearPink: He has encyclopedic knowledge on the Spice Girls. [[spoiler:This is because his wife Becca was a huge fan.]]
* RevengeBeforeReason: To Billy, all Supes are evil and he'll never be convinced otherwise. His pursuit to kill Homelander has cost him everything.
* SourOutsideSadInside: His gruff and unfriendly demeanor covers up the pain he feels from losing Becca. The support group leader pegs him as one of these on first sight.
* StealthHiBye: Butcher has an '''insane''' talent for getting into places he really shouldn't be, up to and including the office of the Deputy Director of the CIA (when she herself needs a keycard to unlock the door).
* TookALevelInJerkass: Given the flashbacks of him eight years ago, Billy was actually quite a decent fellow who was clearly a loving and caring husband to his wife. Losing Becca ''really'' made him a far more ruthless and callous man. [[TheCorrupter Mallory's influence didn't help matters.]]
* UnknownRival: He hates Homelander with a bitter passion for raping his wife. Homelander doesn't even know who he is without some detective work. [[spoiler:When the two finally meet, Homelander admits he's impressed by Billy's lack of fear, but he still refuses to take him seriously and spares him from death because he finds it more amusing to keep him alive for emotional torment.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: When Butcher decides to detonate the explosives even after [[spoiler:Stillwell's death, knowing full well that Stillwell's baby is nearby and definitely within the blast radius.]] Season 2 confirms that Homelander saved him, though Billy didn't expect him to and was willing to write it off as collateral in his AttemptedSuicide middle finger to Homelander.
* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Billy has a tendency to use "diabolical" to mean anything from "exceptionally sinister" to "unspeakably awesome."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hughie Campbell]]
!!Hugh "Hughie" Campbell
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboyshughhughiecampbellseason2.png]]
%% [[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Jack Quaid

->''"Just 'cause you fall on your ass doesn't mean you have to stay there."''

Originally a rather ordinary 20-something clerk at an electronics appliance store, the death of his girlfriend, Robin, at the hands of a superhero puts him on the path to join The Boys. He’s the main protagonist and POV character of the series.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: His comic counterpart is TheEveryman. He's technically savvy on the show and generally much more capable. He's also a fan of superheroes, whereas his comic counterpart was barely even aware they existed until one killed his girlfriend.
* AdaptationalNationality: Scottish in the comics, American in the show.
* AmazonChaser: A turning point in his first date with Starlight comes when he tells her to stop pretending she's worse than him at bowling, and to stop trying to soft-pedal the fact that she can trivially outclass him physically. When she starts fully acknowledging her strength (and bowling skill, immediately bowling a strike) and asks if it bothers him that she could easily bench-press him, he seems more turned-on than anything else.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Throughout the series, Robin's death has left Hughie with a serious case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), leaving him with auditory and visual hallucinations alluding to the event, spaces out at random intervals and possesses unresolved emotional anxiety that is only exacerbated by the fact that everyone around him is content to let the perpetrators get away with it. It only gets worse when [[spoiler:he kills Translucent]], though being around Starlight seems to keep him relatively together.
* ApologeticAttacker: When forced to shoot someone in self defense he screams “Sorry! I’m sorry!”
* ArchEnemy: To A-Train. After A-Train literally pulverized Hughie's girlfriend, Hughie began to loathe him with a passion and joined up with Butcher to take down the Vought and the Seven. After A-Train kills his own girlfirend Popclaw because of the mess Hughie and the Boys have been making for the Seven, the feeling becomes very mutual.
* AudienceSurrogate: Hughie is the audience POV character for entering the world of the series.
* BerserkButton: Demeaning him for his youthful looks by calling him a kid or a lad really gets under his skin. [[spoiler:Tellingly, Translucent patronising Hughie tilts him enough to detonate the bomb in the invisible superhero's arsehole.]] His father babying him his entire life seems to be the root cause of it.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Translucent managed to manipulate Hughie into letting him go, Hughie responded by [[spoiler:triggering the bomb in Translucent's anus]].
** He manages to be intimidating enough to blackmail Ezekiel even though the evidence was destroyed.
** When A-Train [[spoiler:takes Hughie's dad hostage, Hughie walks into the trap and distracts him with Compound V long enough for Kimiko to get the drop on him.]]
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: Happens to him twice in the first two episodes, first when A-Train pulverizes Robin right in front of him, marking his loss of innocence, and second when [[spoiler: he blows up Transluscent]], marking his transition into a hardened killer.
* ExtremeDoormat: He is repeatedly called out for being one in Episode 1. By Robin, who had to ask ''him'' out on a first date, by his father, and by Butcher. This changes with time.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Billy. Both Hughie and Billy are set on the path of revenge because they lost a loved one to a superhero, it's so obvious that even Billy seems to view Hughie as a younger, more naive version of himself in a way. However, the big difference between them is that Hughie eventually wants to move forward with his life and [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty stop trying to avenge a dead woman that won't know or care]], whilst Billy is still completely devoted to taking down the supes.
** To A-Train. Hughie is a middle-class tech salesman, while A-Train is a famous super-athlete. Both men have killed people, but while A-Train put the blame on his victim to rationalize his kill (presumably because this is something he's likely to do again), Hughie came to terms with what he did and avoids killing anyone else. Both also have super girlfriends, but while A-Train hides his relationship with Popclaw out of cowardice and yields to Vought’s demands about their love, Hughie isn't the least bit ashamed of dating Starlight and furiously goes against Butcher for threatening her.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: What Hughie temporarily becomes after Butcher kills Lucy and the Boys are forced to flee into the sewers. He’s completely numb to the possibility of dying at the hands of the Seven. When Homelander sees him and threatens to kill both Hughie and Annie, if the latter doesn’t kill Hughie first, Hughie outright (albeit wordlessly) tells her to kill him. It’s Hughie’s look of relief in that moment that sells it.]]
* FreakOut: He's prone to anxiety attacks.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: [[spoiler: In stark contrast to everyone else, his sexual relationship with Annie is wholesome and mutually pleasurable]].
* {{Hypocrite}}: Hughie is a man who intentionally participates in murder or torture with the intention of getting to A-Train who, while an uncaring asshole to the affair, didn’t mean to kill Robin. [[spoiler:Though A-Train very much did deserve it for, among other things, helping terrorist groups (including ISIS) get superpowers so Vought could market superheros to the military. Not that Hughie knew that for most of the season.]] To his credit, Hughie realizes the contradiction between his values and actions, and decides to not to go down the path of vengeance like Billy.
* InLoveWithTheMark: His initial interactions with Starlight are before he knows she's the new member of The Seven, but once he is informed he agrees to exploit his connection with her to help The Boys gain information to use. Despite this, he is reluctant to abuse her trust and develops genuine feelings for her.
* MissingMom: Hughie's mother deoesn't appear to be in the picture, given his dad's prominent presence.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Hughie has this reaction upon discovering [[spoiler:that Translucent has a son and he left the boy fatherless.]]
* NiceGuy: Aside from his feelings on A-Train getting away with killing Robin, Hughie doesn't seem to hold any bitterness towards supes. He plays the good cop when they capture Translucent and [[spoiler:resuscitates A-Train when his heart stops]].
* NotSoSimilar: Like Butcher, he lost his lover to a Supe and starts walking down the path to vengeance for it. However, Starlight's influence convinces him not all Supes are bad and makes him reconsider what he really values in life. Butcher was not as lucky since he had no one but Mallory who was fed his hatred for her own agenda.
* RageBreakingPoint: [[spoiler:He eventually gets fed up of Supes walking around like untouchable gods when Translucent tries talking down to him smug as ever, and murders him in a fit of rage.]]
* WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: His job in a tech store proves useful a number of times:
** He knows carbon is a conductor [[spoiler:and therefore that Translucent is vulnerable to electric shocks]].
** He knows how to use RF shielding foil to cloak a tracking device.
** He knows how to quickly install malware onto someone's laptop to remotely access their webcam.

[[folder:Mother's Milk]]
!!Mother's Milk / Marvin T. Milk
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysmothersmilkseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Laz Alonzo

->''"If I'm gonna make a difference, I just feel more comfortable doing it on a smaller scale. I'm a motherfucker with a heart."''

A family man who works at a juvenile corrections facility, Mother’s Milk has medical skills and often serves as a voice of reason.

* ActionDad: He has a daughter named Janine, and makes it clear that he wants to prioritize her and her safety than Billy's crusade.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Inverted. His family situation is much better than in the comic, where he is divorced and his ex-wife is a drug addict, while his daughter is involved with many unsavory things.
* CombatMedic: He mentions having been this.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Is much more irritable and prone to snapping at his teammates, though not quite to Jerkass levels.
* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He's an ex-Marine corpsman.
* HappilyMarried: By all indications he is a loving and dedicated family man, and the biggest problem he has with his wife is keeping her in the dark about working with The Boys. Even after she finds out, most of her anger is directed at Billy for dragging him into this.
* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: Nickname; Mother's Milk. Actual surname; Milk.
* TheLancer: He's essentially Billy's right-hand man, but is always the first to stand up to Billy if something goes wrong.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: Is OnlyKnownByHisNickname in the comic. His first name is mentioned once inseason 1: Marvin. Season 2 reveals Milk is actually his last name, and gives him the middle initial T.
* NWordPrivileges: Averted. He works in a correctional facility and pointedly doesn't allow even his African-American charges to use the N-word.
-->'''M.M.:''' What else does it mean? Come on, spit it out.\\
'''Inmate:''' Means that we're disrespecting all the other niggas--\\
'''M.M.:''' Excuse ''me!?''\\
'''Inmate:''' All our fellow brothers in the unit.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Mother's Milk is always called this except once when his wife calls him Marvin. He's sometimes called MM for short.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He works at a juvenile facility where he regularly breaks up fights. He’s also the most moral member of the group next to Hughie.
* OrderVersusChaos: He is a very orderly person that feels most comfortable when things are by-the-book and go according to plan. This puts him into constant conflict with Frenchie who is chaotic and impulsive.
* SuperOCD: Frenchie points out that anything that's messed up, whether it be teens with no direction in life or the ice cream in a tub that's partly scooped out, ends up irking him something nasty, driving him to set those kids straight and ''finish that ice cream.'' This is how Frenchie gets him on board to help the mentally messed-up Female.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: He’s an Episcopalian Christian, while the rest of the team is secular.

[[folder:Frenchie]]
!!Frenchie / Serge
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysfrenchieseason2.png]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Tomer Kapon

->''"I know a little about a lot of things. I'm a gunrunner by trade, but, as you can see, I've developed a certain niche."''

A multi-talented criminal and former associate of Butcher’s, Frenchie provides expertise on drugs, weapons, and break-ins.

* AbusiveParents: His dad kidnapped him as a young boy and was physically abusive, putting out cigarettes on his body. Frenchie also claims his father once tried to smother Frenchie with a ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' duvet when Frenchie was only 10.
%%** In a weirdly horrifying twist, when he is trying to reason with Kimiko in their second meeting and explain to her how he understands her trauma, he relates the story of his father's abuse, and tells her he kept trying to escape ''and return to his mother''. What exactly his father did to him is left vague aside from the cigarette burns, but the fact that his father's treatment of his was so horrible he kept trying to return to the woman ''who had already attempted to smother'' him rather than stay paints a picture.
* TheAce: Frenchie is talented at pretty much every kind of criminal endeavor, whether it's producing drugs, smuggling weapons, breaking and entering, or lying to authorities. He's so good at the latter that he pretty flawlessly fools ''Homelander'', who is a LivingLieDetector due to his SuperSenses.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: He's pretty bonkers in the comic. He's far more grounded in the show, though he is still certifiably insane.
* AmazonChaser: His taste in women seems to tend toward the violent.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Has a girlfriend in Season 1, and plenty of ShipTease with Kimiko, but also kisses Hughie on the lips [[spoiler: when he and Starlight expose the truth about Compound V.]]
* TheAtoner: One of his conversations with Hughie implies that he feels quite guilty about his past as a hit man. He later tells Mother’s Milk that he feels Kimiko makes him a better person, implying this is part of his motivation for helping her.
* CloudCuckoolander: There's something very ''off'' about Frenchie from his frighteningly lethal skillset to his attempts to befriend Hughie by telling him horrifying stories from his childhood.
* CrazyPrepared: He's got at least 34 addresses and 12 aliases.
* JackOfAllTrades: As Hughie mentions, he functions as a gunrunner, chemist, interrogator, engineer, and door-kicker as needed. Frenchie himself claims to know "a little about a lot."
* MasterOfUnlocking: With the right tool he can pick any lock.
* NoodleIncident: Frenchie was supposed to tail Lamplighter and keep track of his location one night, but he didn't and Lamplighter ended up burning Mallory's grandchildren. Marvin blames Frenchie for whatever happened that night but Frenchie maintains his innocence, and two have remained on bad terms ever since.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His real name isn't known. It worth noting that his nationality might not actually be known. In the comics, it's never confirmed but strongly implied Frenchie is British and his accent and entire persona is... not exactly faked, but isn't real, either. The show is playing with this by casting an Israeli actor in the role, especially as his accent and pronunciation occasionally slips, which could just be the actor, or could be very much in character.
* OrderVersusChaos: He is chaotic, impulsive, and follows his gut. This puts him into constant conflict with Mother's Milk who likes it when everything is orderly and everyone sticks to the plan (which Frenchie seems to be allergic to doing).
* RealMenCanCook: Amusingly, one French stereotype he does exhibit is mastery of baking pastries in episode 7. ''He's good enough to coach Kimiko.''
* TheSmartGuy: He's the most intelligent member of the group, with the widest skill-set.
* TheSpook: Nobody knows who this guy really is. Even Vought's crime analytics department can't figure out his true identity, and basically refer to him as "that man."
* TheStoner: Is a master drug cook and psychedelics enthusiast. When Hughie is freaking out about keeping Translucent as a prisoner, Frenchie offers him an LSD/MDMA cocktail to calm his nerves.
* VoiceForTheVoiceless: Once he and Kimiko become close, he's able to read her gestures and expressions in order to translate to the group what she is thinking or trying to communicate.

[[folder:Kimiko]]
!!Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboyskimokoseason2.png]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/KarenFukuhara

->''"..."''

A mute young woman found locked up in the basement of an Asian crime syndicate, years of horrific experimentation have given her super-human abilities. She is freed by The Boys, and eventually joins them.

* AbsurdlySharpClaws: Sharp enough to cut through Black Noir seemingly armoured suit.
* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: She was accidentally exposed to compound V as a baby and taken prisoner by some scientists in the comics. The show [[DarkAndTroubledPast gives a different backstory to her]].
* AdaptationalLateAppearance: The Boys first meet her halfway during the show, whereas she was involved with the group in the past (long before Hughie) in the comics.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Once Frenchie breaks through to her, she seems to become significantly more mellow than in the comics. While still extremely dangerous and unstable, she does not appear to have an involuntary compulsion to kill people, and acts more personable towards the rest of the group.
* AffectionateNickname: Frenchie calls her ''mon cœur''[[note]]my heart[[/note]].
* AgonyOfTheFeet: Black Noir stabs her in the foot to pin her down.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: She's a danger to everyone except Frenchie, who is implied to be the first person to treat her with kindness. After she flees and Frenchie gets attacked by Black Noir in an alley, Kimiko intervenes and saves his life.
* CuteMute: Deadly, yet cute as a button, and hasn't said a word since the start of her dark and troubled existence.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Along with her brother, [[spoiler:she was a child soldier, kidnapped by a terrorist organisation called the Shining Light Liberation Army... Then she was pumped full of experimental drugs against her will in order to become a super terrorist]].
* DisneyDeath: It looks likes Black Noir killed her in the alley but then Frenchie witnesses her HealingFactor kicking in.
* TheDreaded: When the Boys first find Kimiko, she's being held prisoner by armed human traffickers in solitary confinement. She kills everyone in the room when they let her loose, the Boys are then forced to lock ''themselves'' into the cell they had just released ''her'' from to survive, and the last of her captors ''immediately'' shoots himself after seeing she had escaped her cell.
* GuttedLikeAFish: [[spoiler: Black Noir]] cuts her entire torso open, which only disables her for at most a few minutes before her HealingFactor kicks in.
* HeroicSacrifice: Nearly dies holding off a Supe who was after Frenchie.
* HealingFactor: Kimiko turns out to have one, as shown in the wake of her fight with Black Noir after he stabbed and slashed her multiple times. A-Train also finds out the hard way that he can't kill her, smashing her head at super speed to no avail. However, tranquilizers can disable her.
* HiddenDepths: Once she's mellowed out she's capable of following instructions like a valid part of the team, whether it's the exact method of beating batter in making French pastries to [[spoiler:acting as Hughie's backup and breaking A-Train's leg with a pipe at the right time.]]
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: She has a Japanese name, but flashbacks in Season 1 show that she's from an unnamed, wartorn country in Southeast Asia that seems to be based on Myanmar. Averted in Season 2, in which she is explicitly Japanese, and mentions a desire to want to go to Japan with her brother.
* ItsPersonal: Regards Stormfront as her ArchNemesis after she [[spoiler:kills Kimiko's brother]].
* LivingMacguffin: She's living proof of Vought's schemes, so both sides want to capture her very badly.
* MoralityPet: Frenchie views her as this, claiming that she makes him a better person.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: Kimiko. In the comics, she was known only as The Female (of the Species).
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After Frenchie lets her out of her cage she immediately starts slaughtering the gangsters who imprisoned her. She then escapes the lair and seeks out the woman who trafficked her, who she proceeds to maul into LudicrousGibs.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Kimiko looks quite pretty after she combs her hair and puts on clean clothes.
* SuperStrength: She is strong enough to punch holes in people.
* TerroristsWithoutACause: The [[spoiler:“Shining Light Liberation Army” that she and her brother were forcibly recruited into is not a real organization, and the show discusses nothing about their ideology or goals. Their name is an apparent allusion to the Shining Path, a real far-left terrorist group in Peru.]]
* TheSpeechless: She's been mute since the day she was kidnapped.
* WorfHadTheFlu: After the black bag operatives tranq her to bring her in, they keep her separate from Frenchie and Milk and pump her full of more sedatives via IV, so she's useless to the team even after they break her out.

!Vought International
[[folder:Supes in General]]
[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/voughtint.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
* AdaptationalNameChange: Is Vought American in the comic.
* BewareTheSuperman: This is basically the main theme of the series. Without many constraints on their behavior due to having superpowers, corporate backing and good publicity, superheroes just do pretty much whatever they want. The Boys want to stop it.
* CelebritySuperhero: In this world, having powers gets you in touch with a massive publicity and sponsorship network. This has led most Supes, even the nicer ones, to become image-obsessed to the point of narcissism, and makes them out of touch with the people they're ''supposed'' to protect.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: The series highlights everything flawed about superheroes as a concept. [[WithFriendsLikeThese The bickering among themselves]], [[MerchandiseDriven the over-commercialization]], [[DestructiveSavior the downplaying of collateral damage]], [[ReedRichardsIsUseless the lack of interest in addressing "real" problems]] (except with their activities overseen by a corrupt MegaCorp), and worst of all, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality people making excuses for all of the above]].
* DestructiveSavior:
** Hughie join Billy's crusade after it becomes apparent that Robin's death was not an isolated incident and that Supes actually kill more people than anyone realizes because Vought only allows for a small number of incidents to go public and happily compensates the victims and/or their next of kin to keep appearances. However, standard protocol after such an incident (like [[spoiler: the plane full of passengers Homelander disabled and allowed to crash]]) is to cover up the whole thing before the press gets involved, and word spreads as to how a Vought sponsored superhero got someone killed due to recklessness.
** In Episode Six, Billy take Hughie to a meeting of [=A.C.D.S.=] (the Association of Collateral Damage Survivors), a support group comprised of people who have been seriously injured while being "saved" by a superhero, and members are comprised of a number of people who now bare prosthetic limbs and/or use a wheelchair. The first person we hear speak mentions that although she appreciates being saved by Tech Knight, she stills resents the fact she was left with a paralyzing spine injury. The second speaker mentions that he was involved with [[AnIcePerson Ice Princess]], and when they were having sex, she climaxed, and her body temperature dropped to -346 degrees, castrating him.
* DifferentlyPoweredIndividual: Super-abled or "supe" for short.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Half of them, even the ones working under Vought, have no idea about Compound V and have often might believe that their powers were gifts they were born with, just like their audiences.
* PowerfulAndHelpless: Despite their superhuman abilities, they're still at the beck and call of their corporate masters as they control their image, salary, and entire lives. Just ask Popclaw and Mesmer what happens when you get on their bad sides.
* SuperpowerLottery: What powers they get is up to some unknown factor. There are winners like Homelander who is a PhysicalGod, and you get losers like Popclaw who has slight SuperStrength and the ability to sprout claws which isn't that different from holding a knife.
* TouchedByVorlons: Nobody knows where their powers came from, with some claiming that God Himself gave them. [[spoiler:It's actually Vought that empowers them by injecting Compound V when they are babies.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ironically, most of the "superheroes" in this setting are the embodiment of this trope, because they are presented as heroes when they actually are ''not''.
[[/folder]]

!!! '''The Seven'''
[[folder:General Tropes]]
!!The Seven
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysthesevenseason1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Season 1's roster.[[note]]From left to right: Starlight, The Deep, Queen Maeve, Homelander, Black Noir, A-Train and Translucent.[[/note]]]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysthesevenseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Season 2's roster.[[note]]From left to right: The Deep, Queen Maeve, Stormfront, Homelander, Starlight, Black Noir and A-Train.[[/note]]]]

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: They all abuse their power, but they're a lot less one-note evil than in the comic, which makes the Boys' activities even more morally grey.
* BewareTheSuperman: With the exception of Starlight, all of them are (or have become over time) malicious agents of capitalism more willing to kill innocents than genuinely help them. [[spoiler:And thanks to Homelander's efforts, the whole planet may soon become a dictatorship]].
* BrokenPedestal: To Hughie and Starlight. They both were big fans of The Seven growing up and were unfortunately in for a massive reality check (Hughie especially).
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: They've killed and crippled countless people through collateral damage but they either laugh it off or use their heroism to overshadow it.
* CastOfExpies: Most of the main superhero characters' abilities and costumes are very similar to those of famous established comic book superheroes.
* CorporateSponsoredSuperhero: Their images and salaries all come from Vought, a corporation that owns their image rights. Because of this, [[FakeUltimateHero they are all more interested in looking heroic to the press]] [[NominalHero than actually having any moral character themselves]], basically turning them into narcissistic, unbalanced celebrities that could (and have) create a body count of innocent people due to their powers and negligence in using them, having an entire global corporation to clean up whatever messes they create.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: As in the comics, the characters are mostly clear expies of existing characters from other comics, mostly Marvel and DC. In some cases, they've altered the expy a bit or made it clearer.
** Homelander, SupermanSubstitute, but as a [[BewareTheSuperman straight-up villain.]] He also has shades of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica with the patriotic aspects twisted for nefarious purposes.
** Queen Maeve, expy of ComicBook/WonderWoman. Her costume draws a lot of inspiration from ''Film/WonderWoman2017'', she's a MultiMeleeMaster, but can't fly (relying on Homelander to carry her when needed). Maeve started out idealistic and genuinely dedicated to saving the world, but eventually gave it all up one compromise at a time, and now is a rude, apathetic alcoholic who isn't going to her meetings.
** Black Noir, expy of ComicBook/{{Batman}}. Dresses all in black, good at close-quarters combat with knives, never speaks, mysterious. Any corruption he is involved in, if any, is not specified, making him the closest thing to a TokenGoodTeammate before Starlight joined the team.
** The Deep, expy of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, complete with perceived uselessness and fish jokes. He pulls a CastingCouch on Starlight, and [[spoiler:suffers a TraumaCongaLine when it comes out.]] It's also stated he's sexually assaulted (or at least harassed) several other women. His one redeeming trait is his genuine love of all marine creatures, leading to the aforementioned fish jokes, and every time he tries to push this issue forward he's rebuffed (he wants to "shine a light" on Oceanland's questionable animal handling practices, but is told to just go along with the ad campaign Oceanland signed him up for).
** A-Train, expy of ComicBook/TheFlash. Repeatedly called "The Fastest Man Alive." Fear of losing that title [[spoiler:leads to him juicing on Compound V to the point he has a heart attack]]. As in the comics, he's responsible for reducing Hughie's girlfriend to LudicrousGibs, and doesn't really feel that bad about it (he even repeatedly fails to recognize Hughie, even after they met face-to-face and A-Train delivered a Voght-mandated apology). [[spoiler:He's also the key in Homelander's plan to spread Compound V through the world and create supervillains for The Seven to fight, and murders his girlfriend Popclaw when she proves a weak link in this plan.]]
** Translucent, [[AvertedTrope on the other hand]], is just your garden-variety InvisibleJerkass. Although he does combine elements of Invisible Woman and Emma Frost with his power-set, and is basically what you get if Invisible Woman was gender-swapped and used a power closely similar to invisibility to be a pervert and try to attack and murder people without the would be-victims seeing their would-be killer.
** Starlight is made more a hybrid of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/CarolDanvers, with her LightEmUp powers being her primary ability (her comic counterpart was a basic FlyingBrick with some light powers, here her light blasts are her go-to, though she still has SuperStrength enough to beat large ordinary men senseless) She's the kindest, most sincerely heroic character in the story, but dangerously naive, and while she doesn't go through as bad a BreakTheCutie as she did in the comics, she still gets put through the wringer and has to give up on a lot of her idealism.
** Season 2 introduces Stormfront, a ComicBook/MaryMarvel-ComicBook/JaneFoster hybrid who's also a proud Neo-Nazi.
* DysfunctionJunction: Their personal lives tend to be messed up.
* {{Expy}}: The Seven are primarily copies of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague and a few other notable comic book characters. Also doubles as AlternateCompanyEquivalent:
** Homelander, the leader of the Seven, is a fusion of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (American flag apparel and handsome, chiseled features) with {{ComicBook/Superman}} (flight, eye beams, x-ray vision, super hearing, and super strength).
** The Deep is basically {{ComicBook/Aquaman}}, complete the common public perception with jokes about being useless and talking to fish.
** Queen Maeve is ComicBook/WonderWoman without the flight.
** A-Train is ComicBook/TheFlash with a costume very similair to the MCU Falcon.
** Black Noir's most obvious counterpart is {{ComicBook/Batman}}. A better argument, however, can be made for [[Franchise/GIJoe Snake Eyes]]: both are completely silent figures dressed head-to-toe in black, proficient in martial arts and good with bladed weapons.
** Starlight is a mix of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and Captain Marvel, not just in their similar costumes and logos but also in imagery evocative of {{Eagleland}} (ComicBook/CarolDanvers as a USAF fighter pilot [[PrimaryColorChampion dressed in red, blue, and yellow]], Annie January as an all-American GirlNextDoor from [[EverytownAmerica Des Moines, Iowa]], though her outfit isn't America themed).
** Translucent is ComicBook/InvisibleWoman, with some elements of ComicBook/EmmaFrost.
** Stormfront is based on ComicBook/JaneFoster during her time as Thor, as well as ComicBook/MaryMarvel.
* HeroInsurance: Zig-zagged. Heroes have a similar form of semi-immunity as police officers while fighting crime, but they have to be credited with being "on the clock" responding to a crime and can still be sued for wrongdoing when there is enough evidence of poor judgement. A-Train outright splatters Robin and gets away with it by claiming to be responding to a robbery and Robin was "carelessly" in the street (Hughie repeatedly says Robin was one foot off the curb, not in the middle of the street). Vought tries to buy off Hughie to prevent his complaint from damaging their brand, but Hughie's father notes that it will be almost impossible for them to actually prove anything. Butcher later points out that police records do not show anything that A-Train would have been responding to at the time of the incident. On the other hand, Starlight is very vulnerable to a lawsuit when she beats up some would-be rapists on film without the context of why she's fighting them (until the victim comes forward to corroborate).
* HeroWithAnFInGood: Once in a blue moon they'll actually try to be heroes. However, they lack skill with their powers, pay little mind to collateral damage and Vaught is very selective about which crimes they can prevent. [[spoiler:Notable examples include The Deep's attempt to save a dolphin, the barbaric mishandling of Flight 37, and Robin's (accidental) murder at the hands of A-Train.]]
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: The supes have dropped all personal relationships in order not to be susceptible to blackmailing, Annie is advised to do the same.
* JadedProfessional: Due to the PR-obsessed, profit-based nature of Vought International, the Seven have all turned into image-obsessed celebrities that seem more interested in looking good and selling merchandise than actually accomplishing anything good. Even when any of the heroes try to do something noble (Starlight saving a would-be rape victim, Deep wanting to help with the conditions for dolphins at Oceanland, etc.), Stillwell and the PR department will advise against it.
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of the superheroes turn out to be this. A-Train actually jokes about killing Robin and has zero remorse (admittedly, it was accidental, but he doesn't feel bad at all, comparing it with a bug on the highway).
* SecretIdentity: ZigZagged. It's implied they had them, but Starlight seems to be the only one keeping hers up, and even she outs herself pretty quickly. Homelander states he gave his up a long time ago, and Queen Maeve states she's come to believe cutting oneself off from attachments to be necessary in the superhero game, implying no one else even bothers. None of The Seven wear masks except for Black Noir, but going out in regular clothes instead of their costumes means they are unlikely to be recognized... no one would expect to bump into A-Train in a department store.
* SlaveToPR: Everybody in the Seven is surrounded by Vought executives, who try to script their every word and tailor every little thing towards marketing the superheroes at the expense of, y'know, actually fighting crime.
* TwoGirlsToATeam: Queen Maeve and Starlight are the only two female members of the team. This appears to be {{invoked}}, as Starlight mentions Vought is auditioning "girls" nationwide in search of Lamplighter's replacement. Prior to that the team ran on TheSmurfettePrinciple with Queen Maeve as the only female. Apparently, marketing decided to get with the times in terms of female representation.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Seven are prime examples of this. The people think they're heroes, but they're actually self-deluded narcissists who just do whatever they please no matter who they hurt (with the exception of Starlight and ''possibly'' Queen Maeve).

[[folder:Homelander]]
!!Homelander / John
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboyshomelanderseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"God bless you. God bless America."'']]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Antony Starr

->''"I'm the Homelander. And I can do whatever the FUCK I want."''

The Leader of The Seven who presents himself as an All-American good guy, but is anything but.

* AboveTheInfluence:
** Apparently alone among the Seven, he doesn't use his status to indulge in sex or drugs. He does show some very confused and disturbing sexual interest in Madelyn, and Queen Maeve in a DarwinistDesire kind of way [[spoiler: and had some kind of relationship with Becca Butcher, but the details aren't clear yet.]]
** There's a subversion in that it does little to make him more appealing. As he's the most power-hungry and sociopathic of the Seven, it just emphasizes even more how remote from humanity he is.
* AbusiveParents: He throws [[spoiler:his son]] off the roof hoping to jumpstart the kid's powers.
* ActionDad: It turns out in the end of Season 1 that Homelander [[spoiler:has a son with Becca]].
* AdaptationalIntelligence: While Homelander was still a selfish, self-absorbed asshole in the original comics, it was also alongside his confidence issues and lack of real planning skills. This Homelander is more proactive, smarter and worst/best of all, more ''creative'' -- one of the weaknesses of the comics version is that he was incapable of being anything but a blunt instrument, whereas here he has long-term plans. He manages to achieve what comics Vought never did: [[spoiler:get superheroes involved in national defense]]. Further more, Homlander in the comics was so temperamental and rage prone that he was very barely able to keep his true nature from boiling over the thin surface. This Homelander is actually smart enough to put on a convincing affable facade.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: In the comics Homelander is a racist and a misogynist whose crimes are mostly the actions of a PsychopathicManchild. This version of the Homelander is loftier in his villainy, advocating for the Seven to invade foreign nations with minimal regulations. He's less Superman gone bad and more Darkseid played straight.
%%* AdaptationalNiceGuy:
* AdaptationalVillainy: Zig-zagged. In the comics, it wasn't actually he who [[spoiler:raped Butcher's wife]], and he was manipulated into some of his worst actions. There is less ambiguity to his actions in the show, however.
* AmbiguousSituation: After it's revealed that [[spoiler:Becca is alive]], it's unclear if Homelander [[spoiler:actually raped her, or if it was a consensual affair. Becca seemed rattled by the experience, either way.]].
* ArchEnemy: To Billy Butcher. Homelander allegedly raped Butcher's wife before she mysteriously when missing. For Homelander's part, he [[UnknownRival didn't even remember who Butcher was for the longest time]], and even after finding out about Butcher he treats him and his threats like a joke.
* AxCrazy: He's very violent and loves murdering people whenever he's not being watched.
* BadassCape: It even has the American flag motif embedded on it, mainly to represent and embody the US.
* TheBeard: Possibly a rare male example. He and Maeve used to date, but whether Maeve had any genuine romantic interest, she did it to improve her brand (on her own or at Vought's "suggestion"), or to appear straight is open for debate. She has had at least one relationship with a woman, indicating she's either a lesbian or bisexual.
* BerserkButton: His SecurityBlanket.
** A bigger one is lying to him. Don't insinuate that he's incapable of handling bad news with maturity, even though he's a PsychopathicManchild.
* BrightIsNotGood: Appears to be a PrimaryColorChampion, with a blue costume, red and white cape, and gold decorations, but is in fact a dangerous, unstable psychopath.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Looks to be setting himself up as this for Season 2.]]
* BigotWithACrush: He's openly disdainful of non-Supes behind closed doors, but he [[spoiler: speaks very fondly over his "encounter" with Becky and shows a more familial variation of this with his son by her, acting uncharacteristically friendly despite the boy being half-Supe]].
* BrilliantButLazy: Homelander, his mommy issues and sociopathic behavior aside, is shown to be a cunning strategist and manipulator, far more so than his comic book counterpart. He's also the most powerful Supe on the planet, but he is shown to be quite lazy and callous with how he stops criminals when there aren't cameras rolling, almost exclusively using his EyeBeams to deal with his enemies. [[spoiler:His laziness with his eye beam usage is what would end up causing the Flight 37 disaster to play out like it does, carelessly destroying the planes control panel while killing the terrorist, when he could have easily gotten up close and killed him with his super strength.]]
* ButICantBePregnant: [[spoiler:Everyone including Homelander himself thought he was infertile, so it was unprecedented when it turned out he impregnated Becca.]]
* TheCape: Is a straight SupermanSubstitute, and at first even Butcher admits that he's the only hero who seems to be the real deal. As expected from the premise, Homelander turns out to be [[ObfuscatingStupidity one of the most conniving of the supers]], in conjunction with being a FlyingBrick, having an AllAmericanFace and the leader of The Seven he is casually able to switch between charmingly dorky and sadistic in an instant. Starlight, as a WideEyedIdealist and up-and-comer, is more of a traditional example.
* CaptainPatriotic: He appears like this, the leader of the team wearing an American flag as a cape. Subverted in that privately he doesn't seem to really care about the US at all. Double Subverted with his more [[ExploitedTrope exploitative]] nature of it; America is what's getting Supes involved in the military, and he mockingly states that "camel-jockeys" will recite his name in "perfect American."
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:He saves Billy from killing himself in a suicide attack so he can reveal not only is Becca still alive, but she's been raising his hated enemy's son all along and never told him about it.]]
* DragonInChief: Used as TheLeader of [[{{Expy}} The Seven]] by Vought and Stillwell, Homelander is the most dangerous part of the organization and his butting heads with upper management hint they don't have him as reined in as they believe. [[spoiler:He proves this true in the finale when [[TheStarscream he personally kills Stillwell]] to take matters into his own hands.]]
* TheDreaded: Except for Butcher, ''everyone'' is scared of Homelander. Even Starlight, while able to stand up for herself and be confident towards the other members of the Seven, is scared silent when Homelander is lecturing her.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Homelander is introduced casually murdering a pair of robbers despite the lack of threat they pose to him, using his EyeBeams to melt one guy's machine gun and causing him horrific pain before throwing another guy about twenty to forty feet in the air to land on a car. And then he dons his friendly mask for his public image's sake.
* EntitledToHaveYou: He believes that he and Queen Maeve belong together because they are both powerful, take-charge supes [[SuperSupremacist superior to the unwashed masses]] and seems confused as to why they broke up, [[IncompatibleOrientation unaware that she is gay (or at least uninterested in him)]] and that she finds his sociopathic tendencies off-putting. While both are willing to work professionally out in public, [[spoiler:she becomes fully disillusioned with him when he allows everyone on Flight 37 to die and then remorselessly capitalizes on it]].
* EvilIsHammy: He tends to play up his megalomaniacal tendencies for the camera or large crowds while posturing himself as a populist tyrant in the making. However, most of the time, [[MaskOfSanity he's more reserved, if unhinged]].
* {{Expy}}: Aside from being a SupermanSubstitute, he is one of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica in terms of having a more patriotic image than Superman, his blond hair, and his desire to intervene in military situations references Captain America's military motif and service.
* EyeBeams: Homelander turns out to have red ones, using them to bring down a plane. He doesn't have pinpoint control over them.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Out of all of the Seven, Homelander's image is easily the cleanest. He has no bad habits that have made it out to the public, is well-liked for his approachable, patriotic attitude, and is conventionally handsome. Behind closed doors, however, he quickly reveals himself to be the worst among them, being a complete sociopath with a [[IncestSubtext twisted fixation]] on Stillwell, an encouraged [[AGodAmI God Complex]], a completely fabricated "farm-boy" backstory and a massively high body count with zero remorse for any of it.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He publicly gives off the impression of being a NiceGuy, even though it's not really indicative of his true nature. In private, many of his conversations play off of the personality he presents to the public, with him rarely raising his voice while threatening to kill anyone he thinks slighted him.
* {{Fetish}}: [[IncestSubtext Based on his interactions with Stillwell]], he appears to have one for [[spoiler:breast-feeding and mommy play. Season 2 downright has him excitedly drinking a leftover bottle of her breast milk!]]
* FlyingBrick: A default feature for someone who is meant to be a villainous allegory for ComicBook/{{Superman}}.
* FreudianExcuse: Despite the official story being that he was raised in rural America with a loving family similar to Clark Kent, Homelander actually turns out to have been raised without affection in a lab, explaining his psychological issues. His visit to Vogelbaum ends with him nearly in tears, revealing just how deep in pain he still is from his terrible childhood.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Has his [[EyeBeams heat vision]], which makes his eyes glow red when he uses it or just charges it up, and he's not above invoking RedEyesTakeWarning when he wants to intimidate someone.
* GreenEyedMonster: Any attempts to get close to Queen Maeve are met with brutal slaughter at Homelander's hands, [[spoiler:as one Hollywood producer learned the hard way.]] It's why Maeve doesn't want Elena involved.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Very much averted. He presents himself this way but is easily the most sadistic of The Seven.
* HairTriggerTemper: He's prone to lashing out with a lot of cussing when things do not go his way.
* TheHeavy: Vought is [[BigBad the one The Boys are going after to take down]], but Homelander is the most physically imposing and deadly threat to them. [[spoiler:Though Homelander doesn't fight The Boys at all and instead it's A-Train and Translucent that do the heavy lifting.]]
* TheHero: Homelander is seen by the public and advertised by Vought as the greatest superhero in the world, [[SubvertedTrope when in reality, he is anything but that]].
* HiddenDepths: He's quite good at detective work, and it's he who figures out the Boys' plot against him and their personal motives.
* HiddenDisdainReveal: It's something of a RunningGag how he gives praise to regular people only to badmouth them as soon as they can't hear him.
* HidingBehindReligion: Homelander is an ordained minister and makes a big deal of saying he's doing God's work. It's pretty clear that he just finds this a useful belief to invoke, however.
* ImpliedDeathThreat: He loves giving these under the disguise of empty platitudes.
* IncestSubtext: He seems to possess an odd psychological lust towards his somewhat mother-figure Stillwell, something that she notices and exploits. [[PowerPerversionPotential He watches her pump breast milk using his x-ray vision]] and becomes irritable whenever her infant son is around, with [[spoiler:breast-feeding and mommy-play as a {{Fetish}}]]. [[spoiler:This doesn't keep him from killing her, though.]]
* InformedAbility: Early on, it's suggested that he's the only superhero to have completely good intentions, and that he's so pure that he never ever swears. Obviously, the former isn't true, and there are several scenes of him using harsh profanity in public.
* InsistentTerminology: Not Super Terrorists, Super ''Villains''. It tends to make them more marketable.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Homelander cares more about his popularity and reputation than he does about actually trying to help people and benefiting for the greater cause.
--> '''Maeve''': You've managed to make this about yourself in less than 20 seconds flat.
** Even his relationship with [[spoiler: his son boils down to this as he clearly sees him as an extension of himself and more as a piece of property than an individual.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: It's quite astounding how much of a ''dick'' this man is capable of being.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He might seem like a hero at first, but the true Homelander is a smarmy, condescending, and mercurial psychopath who is also frequently sadistic and cruel. That said, he does a pretty good job of appearing as the exact opposite when in public as his superhero persona, always making a show of being guileless and idealistic and saying exactly what his audience wants to hear, which itself just points back to his disturbing capacity to use and manipulate others and his complete [[TheSociopath lack of concern]] for anyone other than himself.
* KickTheDog: Nothing in the show illustrates this trope more than [[spoiler:being partly responsible for the Flight 37 crash and him not bothering to save ''anybody'' in order to preserve his image and kickstart his war idea later on]].
* LackOfEmpathy: He cares for no one else besides himself. When Translucent goes missing, he doesn't care about the man's plight, but rather the indirect challenge to his own authority.
* LightningBruiser: Being an expy of ComicBook/{{Superman}}, this is a given. He is the strongest hero Vought has to offer and can fly from one area to another within seconds.
* TheLeader: Homelander leads and is the mascot of "The Seven," Vought's premier SuperTeam.
* LivingLieDetector: It's deconstructed, since Homelander functions like a real life polygraph, meaning he doesn't actually detect the lies themselves but rather the signs of stress people feel when they lie, like increased heartbeat and adrenaline. This misleads him more often than not, like when he assumes Starlight is lying to him but really she's just scared shitless of him, and anyone can get away with lying to his face as long as they have NervesOfSteel as Frenchie, Stillwell, and Vogelbaum demonstrate.
* {{Lust}}: Considering he works for Vought, Homelander would do anything to garner as much popularity and praise as possible. He's also got the more colloquial sexual version, with a strong desire for Stillwell (and prior to this, Rebecca Butcher) both of which he eventually manages to have sex with (or possibly rape, in the latter's case).
* LyingToProtectYourFeelings: He's on the receiving end regarding [[spoiler:Becca's fate and the existence of their son]]. Homelander is pissed off by the condescension displayed towards him [[spoiler:and kills Stillwell for it. It turns out it's not just to protect his feelings, but so Homelander won't corrupt his son into becoming just like him]].
* MadeOfIndestructium: Bullets couldn't do crap against him. [[spoiler:Neither did Billy blowing up Stillwell's residence.]] Stillwell claims there everything possible in the world has already been thrown at him, and he's still alive.
* MaskOfSanity: He has a reputation as clean, friendly, and religious hero in public, but beneath that is murderous narcissist with temper problems.
* MeaningfulName: His moniker is probably meant to evoke "Homeland Security" with all the post-War on Terror and Patriot Act implications. Underscored when he performs an unlawful search on a truck with the explanation "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear," and his eagerness to get involved in foreign conflicts.
* MyGreatestFailure: Dr. Vogelbaum thinks of Homelander as this for him, saying he should have raised him with affection, not like a test subject in his lab, so that he might have been different. The normally snappy Homelander has no response to it, indicating it hit him quite deep.
* NotSoSimilar: Like Starlight, Homelander is annoyed and angered over the fact the Seven can’t do more and are basically playing expensive cops and robbers. ''Unlike'' Starlight, who feels like this for genuinely altruistic and heroic reasons, Homelander feels like this approach is limiting his worldwide options as an AttentionWhore.
* OneManArmy: Takes out a cell of MiddleEasternTerrorists all by himself while the armed forces watch on from outside the building.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: To the point that [[spoiler: Deputy Director Reynor doesn’t want him prosecuted for his crimes, as he has the potential to kill "thousands" if he is angered]].
* PhotoOpWithTheDog: An absolute master of this trope, Homelander very rarely breaks his image of the All-American Hero archetype when it comes to appearing in the media. But when the cameras aren't rolling on him, he doesn't hold back.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Refers to Arabs as "camel jockeys" and maims/kills a Seven prospect who is blind because he doesn't want a "cripple" on his team. Additionally, Homelander's constant quips that Becca is raising Ryan to be a pussy or "like a girl" strongly indicate he's a misogynist.
* PostRapeTaunt: [[spoiler:He claims to Billy that Becca enjoyed their "time" together so much that she orgasmed three times in as many hours together. His lack of sexual prowess puts the claim in doubt though.]]
* PowerPerversionPotential: He uses his XRayVision to watch Stillwell pump breast milk.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Invoked by his choice of costume, with has blue, red, and gold colors, but is more an example of how BrightIsNotGood.
* ProperlyParanoid: He's the only one who takes Translucent's disappearance seriously, and correctly perceives it as the first step in a war against himself even though everyone else thinks it's just another case of ItsAllAboutMe.
* PsychopathicManchild: Comes through most clearly in his interactions with Stillwell, but compare the "Adaptational" tropes above. It's still made clear his actions are essentially those of an angry toddler lashing out whenever he doesn't get what he wants. Difference being this toddler is six feet even, [[NighInvulnerable immune to everything]], [[SuperStrength can bench a jet liner]], [[EyeBeams and shoot lasers from his eyes]]. Even Edgar describes him as such.
** Garth Ennis himself seems to think of Homelander as this:
--> '''Ennis''': (describing Homelander) "It might help to think of the Homelander as having all the self-control of, let’s say, a fourteen-year-old."
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: It is stated in the show that Homelander raped and killed Billy's wife Becca. [[spoiler:Though this might not have been the case, seeing as her reaction to seeing Homelander seems to be normal and unfazed.]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His eye beams are red when used, but he is also able to make his eyes glow red without actually doing any damage, which he does in between blasts or simply to intimidate. In any case, you do not want to get his attention when his eyes are glowing. And unlike ComicBook/{{Superman}}, he's ''much'' more liberal with their usage.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Unlike ComicBook/{{Superman}}, Homelander needs leverage and support in order to be able to lift something big, even though he has SuperStrength. [[spoiler:So when the plane he and Queen Maeve were trying to save is crashing, he tells Maeve that he can't push off from thin air, so that option is out.]]
* SecurityBlanket: Homelander freaks out when he sees a blanket in his fake childhood home. Turns out [[spoiler:he was raised in a lab, where the blanket was his only comfort as a young child.]]
* SmarterThanYouLook: Vought and the Boys often assume he's a dumb brute who just uses force and his extreme powers to handle every situation. While he is ''brutal'', what makes him ''threatening'' is the fact that he's actually rather on the ball and is extremely good at thinking on the fly; he just has enough powers to ''not need'' his native wits a lot.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Season 2 [[spoiler:shows him being one towards his son; [[FlyOrDie throwing him from a roof to awaken his powers]]. Becca is horrified once she finds an unconscious Ryan, no matter how much Homelander talks it off ("It was only a 12 foot fall!").]]
* TheSociopath: Homelander might seem to look like an ideal hero, but morally he is as far away as he can be for that. Aside from Stillwell, he has no close relationship with anybody, [[spoiler:and the former ends with Homelander lobotomizing her anyway. He also isn't sympathetic about the victims of Flight 37, deliberately decided not to save anyone in an attempt to avoid any of them damaging his reputation, and used the incident to instead spearhead superheroes being incorporated into the military, further enforcing that Homelander [[ItsAllAboutMe only cares about his own benefit]]. That, and he doesn't seem to be as patriotic as he and Vought have made him out to be]].
* SpeedSex: PhysicalGod he is, SexGod he is not. He lasts a whopping 45 seconds from insertion to ejaculation, much to his embarrassment.
* TheSpook: Marvin notes he has no public records about anything. It's because he was raised in a lab as an experiment.
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:While serving as the Dragon to Stillwell for the entire first season, he's notably frustrated with this position until he ultimately becomes the new Big Bad by killing Stillwell at the end of Season One.]]
* StraightEdgeEvil: In the first episode, it's stated that he has no vices, which makes him sound like a good guy. It later turns out that he's an insane monster... with no vices.
* SuperSenses: He has super-hearing and super-smelling.
* SuperSupremacist: When he's exceptionally annoyed with Starlight [[spoiler:over thinking she's actively helping Hughie and The Boys]], he tells her that "we're a different breed" and that she shouldn't be helping "these mud people," which is some straight-up Nazi phrasing.
* SupermanSubstitute: His power set, color scheme, apparent patriotic image, and falsified American family paint him in a very unflattering depiction of this.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Played with. While the Seven do "good" as a matter of course and do save a lot of people, they are still managed by a shady corporation with extremely suspect motives, thus making them an arguably "evil" force. However, even on a team of incredibly flawed, selfish and morally questionable characters, Homelander is unquestionably the worst, and his teammates are often shown to be outright fearful of him due to his sadism and unpredictability.
* TragicVillain: He had a completely isolated and loveless childhood and was treated like a science experiment for most of his formative years, which led to his twisted personality as an adult.
* TheTeetotaler: He doesn't drink or do drugs and is vocal about it.
* UnreliableExpositor: [[spoiler:His PostRapeTaunt is contradicted by his complete lack of sexual stamina as seen in SpeedSex above. His blatant sadism makes it likely he was making it up just to hurt Billy as much as possible.]]
* UpbringingMakesTheHero:
** When Homelander goes to visit Vogelbaum to talk about his childhood, Vogelbaum admits that [[MyGreatestFailure he was his biggest failed project]]. Vogelbaum explains that had he allowed Homelander to be raised in a home with a loving family, rather than isolated in a laboratory, he would have grown up with a sense of morality and empathy, rather than TheSociopath he is today.
** When he finds out that [[spoiler: Rebecca Butcher conceived their son, and they are both very much alive, it's heavily implied that by being raised in a stable home, the Vought Corporation is grooming the boy to become the AllLovingHero his biological father can't be.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Homelander is perfectly willing to let a child die to achieve his objectives, and personally murders a child when he shoots down a plane. This is in sharp contrast to Billy, who is noticeably more gentle with children.
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:While his abandonment of the passenger plane is cold-blooded and it is partly his fault that it is crashing,[[note]]the terrorist shot both pilots before he laser'd them, and while damaging the control panel rendered it inoperable, neither he nor Maeve knew how to fly a plane ''anyway'', so it was going down regardless. Had he not intervened at all, the military was also going to blow the plane out of the sky, giving essentially the same result.[[/note]] he makes logical points to Maeve as to why he can't simply save it like you'd expect Superman to do, as there is no time to get everyone off and trying to manhandle the plane would send it head over heels or tear it apart. It doesn't justify refusing to save the few people that he ''could'' have plausibly gotten out, though.]]
* VillainRespect: When Homelander and Butcher finally confront each other face to face, Homelander is both intrigued and impressed that (unlike literally everyone else in the series) Butcher isn't afraid of him, and in fact shows his unmeasurable hate in all its fury towards the most powerful being on the planet.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Most of his actions in Season 1 [[spoiler:including the creation of Supe villains]] was done to help Stillwell and earn her approval. [[spoiler:It ends once he gets fed up with her lying and kills her.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: He's the greatest superhero in the world, and has a reputation for being unkillable.
* XRayVision: He can see through everything except zinc.

[[folder:Starlight]]
!!Starlight / Annie January
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysstarlightseason2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I'm supposed to be this hero, idol symbol, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing."'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Erin Moriarty

->''"Since when did 'hopeful' and 'naive' become the same thing? I mean, why would you get into this business if not to save the world? That's all I have ever wanted."''

The newest addition to The Seven.

* AdaptationalBadass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], [[spoiler: she's a lot more assertive in this version of the series and her arc into a feminist icon was fulfilled much faster in the series than it was in the comics. In the comics; she was much more afraid and she kept quiet about the attack until she became more assertive towards A-Train. In later issues, she nearly blinded A-Train after he tried to rape her.]]
* AdaptationalModesty: ZigZagged.
** Her starting outfit, like in the comics, is a MinidressOfPower. In the comics, it went all the way up to her neck, but the skirt was a bit shorter and less bulky. In the show, it stops just above her cleavage, but the skirt is longer and a bulkier, making it overall about as modest as her original comics outfit.
** Her second outfit in the comics was just her original minidress plus AbsoluteCleavage. In the show, her second outfit is significantly sexed up, doing away with the minidress aspect entirely and moving closer to a LeotardOfPower with a zipper typically only fastened to the middle of her breasts (though she can zip it up to her throat, as shown when she's having a drink with Hughie). A lot less cleavage than the comics, but a lot more leg and derriere.
* {{Blackmail}}: She's helping Hughie pull this off on Supes. She manages to do this to A-Train on her own.
* BreakTheCutie: First she's coerced into giving the Deep a blowjob. Then she attends a Christian carnival and is disillusioned by the homophobic propaganda coupled with her pressure to be a sexless role model for young girls ([[MasterOfTheMixedMessage immediately after having her outfit sexed up against her will]]). To top it all off, she realises that her mother was using her as a meal ticket and her father left out of stark disapproval for the whole arrangement.
* TheCape: What she aspires to be, and what she eventually decides to be after learning how much her teammates subvert it, Vought and consequences be damned.
* ContractualPurity: InUniverse example. She's forced to pretend she's a virgin in order to appeal to her religious base even though she doesn't want to lie about it. Hughie convinces her to defy it and tell the truth on national television.
* CorruptTheCutie: She has a moment of weakness when she can no longer keep up against all the things thrown at her by her Vought masters or events playing around her, succumbing to her corporate orders and heavy drinking during a company-organised event. Maeve calls her out on this, explaining she used to be just like Starlight and she doesn't have to follow Maeve's steps.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:She tries to tear Vought down with Hughie during Season 2.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Starlight, to Hughie's Protagonist. Their stories are initially unrelated to each other and advance in parallel with each having their own reasons to oppose the Seven, comparable screen-time that is mostly spent apart by both and a more-or-less equal role in the climax. Prior to the climax each character resolves their own conflicts with little involvement apart from moral support from the other.
* DisappearedDad: Her father walked out when she was a little girl after losing their life savings to bad investments.[[spoiler: After learning the truth about the source of her powers, Starlight comes to realize the real reason was he was tired of his StageMom wife and lying to his daughter.]]
* {{Expy}}: Her skill set, symbol, and appearance are reminiscent of various iterations of ComicBook/CarolDanvers, while her FlyingBrick powers and her naive, hopeful personality bring to mind ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/{{Starfire}}. Her preferred cape costume also resembles ComicBook/MaryMarvel, reinforced by her connection with electricity.
* {{Foil}}: To Homelander. Both invoke HairOfGoldHeartOfGold, but while Homelander subverts it by being an utter asshole behind his friendly and wholesome demeanor, Starlight plays it straight by being a genuine NiceGirl. Both prefer to use their ranged attacks, but while Homelander uses his heat vision to explode bad guys like water balloons because he dislikes literally getting his hands dirty, Starlight's light beams seem perfectly nonlethal, whereas her SuperStrength could easily do more harm than she intends. Starlight genuinely wants to be TheCape but has to fight an uphill battle against being pigeonholed as just TheChick, while Homelander keeps up the appearance of TheCape while basically being TheBigBad. Both can and will invoke GlowingEyesOfDoom, but while Homelander uses RedEyesTakeWarning to terrorize people, Starlight uses her softer, golden glow to warn people GoodIsNotSoft. When Starlight has sex with Hughie, her eyes glow as she climaxes, bathing them in warm, romantic golden light. When Homelander glows his eyes in front of Stillwell, he's preparing to melt her face off.
* GirlNextDoor: She is just a simple WideEyedIdealist farm girl from Iowa. Her arc is all about the struggle to maintain her values versus what her new life forces on her. Vought's PR department goes to great lengths to present Starlight as this for her brand.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Her eyes glow with a warm, golden light when she activates [[LightEmUp her powers]], providing a gentler, more hopeful contrast with Homelander. Though she will also use the eye glow for intimidation when necessary; Starlight may be [[TheCape good]], even [[NiceGirl nice]], but she's still not [[GoodIsNotSoft soft]].
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Her gold and white outfits fit well with her light based powers, (initial) Christian beliefs and moral disposition.
* ColdColoredSuperiority: There are a lot of gold sections on her armor and she's a prominent and powerful superhero.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: After trying to break away from the more extremist views of her church, Annie has tender, romantic sex with Hughie.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Contrasting with Homelander, she has this appearance and actually ''is'' a good person.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Ends up helping The Boys and Hughie get his payback from A-Train.]]
* HeelRealization: Is coming to one of these, which is why Hughie thinks about recruiting her for the team.
* HollywoodAtheist: Seems to be turning into this, as of season 2, if her words to Gecko are to be believed.
* IAmAMonster: [[spoiler:Calls herself a freak after she learns the truth behind her powers.]]
* IKnowKarate: She might have a wide range of handy superpowers, but her combat skills are nothing more than effect of intense training, going on since she was a child.
* ImmodestOrgasm: Not conspicuously audibly, but her GlowingEyesOfDoom flare up when she climaxes.
* LightEmUp: She can produce blinding light.
* LightIsGood: She's the Seven's TokenGoodTeammate, wears a suit that's white and gold, and her projectile superpowers are beams of HardLight.
* LossOfIdentity: The depravity of Vought and realising her mother abused her shatters her beliefs and who she was at the beginning of the series. Her arc in Season 1 is coming to terms with the real world outside her small town, throwing away everything her mother taught her, and then finding out who she is and who she really wants to be.
* MinidressOfPower: As in the comics, this is her first costume. It's a bit more modest than most examples of the trope.
* MoralityPet: To Queen Maeve, who she brings out her long buried and almost broken idealism. It is out right lampshaded by Homelander, when Maeve stands up and ''defends'' Annie against his accusations, something he doesn't remember Maeve ever doing in all of the time they've known each other.
* NaiveNewcomer: Though she's not a complete {{Pollyanna}}, Starlight is forced to get used to The Seven's overall depravity very, very quickly.
* NiceGirl: She's all-around sweet, kind and everything a superhero is expected to be. Hughie even calls her this to her face.
* NighInvulnerable: She takes two shots from .50 caliber anti-materiel rifle (designed to punch through buildings and tanks) to the chest. She's knocked down and winded, with mild cuts but that's about it. She also survives a punch from A-Train at SuperSpeed without so much as a broken rib, though she is stunned.
* OffTheRails: At Believe Expo, she was supposed to give a speech about how she and other superheroes were chosen by God to protect the world, but shortly after she started speaking, she decided she would tell the audience she wasn’t going to lie to them, and says she has no answers on the mysteries of the universe any more than anyone else at the festival, and adds that anyone who claims to do so is a liar. She also reveals that she was sexually assaulted shortly after she joined The Seven, and calls out the festival's organizers for fleecing the attendees out of a small fortune.
* SecretIdentity: Only she is confirmed to be maintaining a secret identity, though she does a pretty lackadaisical job.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: She seems to think so, as the only instance where she defaulted to using her more damaging and brutal SuperStrength instead of [[BlindedByTheLight the less damaging light bursts]] was when she was faced with a pair of attempted rapists. Considering her [[RapeAsBackstory personal connection to the matter]], this makes sense.
* SexualExtortion:
** She is coerced offscreen to give The Deep oral sex so he'll ensure she gets into The Seven. After she publicizes the fact, a number of women also come forward to say they suffered the same thing from him in the past.
** A downplayed version occurs later, when the publicists ask her to wear a costume that is [[{{Stripperiffic}} more revealing.]] When she refuses, they threaten to not only fire her, but make sure she doesn't do any more superheroics anywhere else. She agrees to the changes, but is not happy about it.
* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: When she returns to the Believe Expo, she realises her experiences with Hughie and the Seven have changed her too much to fit in anymore.
* SuperStrength: She's introduced doing one-handed chin-ups, lifting the rear of a car over her head (though she struggles), and cratering a cinderblock wall with her bare hands.
* TakingYouWithMe: If A-Train tries to expose her traitorous actions, she'll make sure to ruin his reputation right back so that they'll both get punished.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Being brand new to The Seven, Starlight is not nearly as jaded, apathetic or corrupt as the heroes really are, and she finds herself opposed to just about everything they do.
* WalkingTechbane: Her primary powers involve producing bright lights with concussive force, but using them has an effect on local electronics. It's most notable when she gets angry, rather than being in direct combat. She explains that she draws in ambient electricity to power her light blasts, with the result that electrical devices nearby go a bit wonky.

[[folder:Queen Maeve]]
!!Queen Maeve / Maggie Shaw
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysqueenmaeveseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Dominique [=McElligott=]

The Seven's Amazonian warrior woman.

* AbusiveParents: Her father was a StageDad that got her on Compound V to perform in pageants and competitions, earning money to gamble it away at circuses.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Queen Maeve was blonde in the comics, but has auburn hair here.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Comic Maeve was already the most sympathetic of the original seven, but she's much nicer in the show. To wit, when she meets Annie in the comic, Annie's pretty upset over her degrading audition, and gushes over meeting her idol, only to be mocked in return and told to fuck off. In the show, Maeve notices Annie's distress right away and offers some comfort.
* AdaptationalSexuality: Combined with AmbiguouslyBi. She's either a closeted lesbian or closeted bisexual in the show as she dated Homelander (in terms of Homelander, it was either to maintain an acceptable public image or she may be bi) and dated a civilian woman before, even though she is only involved with men in the comic.
* TheAlcoholic: She apparently has been one for awhile, as her ex notes "you're not going to your meetings." She relapses hard after Flight 37.
* AmbiguousSituation: Maeve's prior relationships are raised but not explored in Season One (see other tropes on this page). What we know for sure: she used to publicly date Homelander, and had a relationship with a civilian woman that ended badly. Everything else is alluded to. Homelander basically threatens Maeve with IfICantHaveYou, stating that if he believed she'd ''genuinely'' fallen for someone else, he doesn't know what he'd do. Whether he's unaware of Maeve's relationship with her ex-girlfriend or doesn't consider a same-sex relationship "genuine" is unexplained. When Maeve visits her ex for emotional support after the Flight 37 incident, she angrily tells Maeve to "go back to Homelander" in a tone which implies some level of YourCheatingHeart at play. Maeve's ex later notes that Maeve was always afraid to be seen with her, indicating a lack of willingness or ability to come out. Whether Maeve is lesbian or bisexual, whether she had any romantic interest in Homelander or just used him as TheBeard, whether she cheated on her ex with Homelander or not (or the issue is Homelander got the "public Maeve" while her ex only got the "private Maeve"), whether she's personally afraid to come out or being forbidden by Vought, are all open questions.
* BrokenBird: She's suffering from how she turned from a once idealistic hero who wanted to save people into Vought's puppet and Homelander's accomplice.
* TheCynic: She seems to be the most experienced member of the Seven alongside Homelander, and is accordingly very jaded and often unfriendly.
* CynicalMentor: She plays the role of an ''extremely'' jaded but genuinely guiding and helpful figure to Annie/Starlight.
* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:When Compound V's existence is leaked to the press, Elena suggests that this is a chance for her to leave the world of superheroes behind.]]
* DirtyCoward: As her ex-girlfriend Elena puts it, Maeve is afraid of standing up for herself, asking for help, and everything else.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/WonderWoman, being (billed as) an Amazonian warrior woman who is just as strong as Homelander.
* ExtremeDoormat: Hanging around Homelander and witnessing his depravity in person for so long has beaten her into absolute submission, and she acts less as a fellow superhero to him and more of a sidekick. Homelander is quite surprised when she finally stands up to him, noting he can't remember the last time it happened.
* {{Foil}}: A subtle one to Butcher. Both of them are [[TheCynic bitter, morally bankrupt people]] who practically ooze toxicity and act as a [[TheCorrupter corrupting influence]] on their protegé figures (Annie and Hughie respectively). Maeve, however, [[spoiler:ultimately registers [[HeelRealization how awful she's become and how her cynicism and cruelty have affected Annie,]] and advises her to stay optimistic and [[BeYourself be herself]].]] Billy, conversely, [[spoiler:stays fixated on revenge and keeps trying to get Hughie to myopically pursue it along with him, even at the expense of their comrades]].
* {{Gayngst}}: Again combined with AmbiguouslyBi, as noted above. From what we pick up between her and her ex-girlfriend, Maeve is still in the closet, and part of their relationship crumbling involved Maeve being unwilling (or unable) to come out as either lesbian or bisexual. Her dating Homelander also seems a point of contention, indicating he may have either been [[TheBeard Maeve's Beard]] or she's bisexual.
* HeelRealization: She gets a rather extreme one of these after Homelander talks her into [[spoiler:abandoning a plane full of people to crash in the ocean,]] and again after a pretty harsh TheReasonYouSuckSpeech from Annie.
* HeroicBSOD: She has one after [[spoiler:Flight 37]], getting drunk and showing up at her ex-girlfriend's house. She even tries to drunkenly make out with her.
* KingpinInHisGym: Queen Maeve is shown easily defeating a number of burly men in her gym whom she's sparring with.
* KnightInSourArmor: She certainly wants to do good for the world. But the idealism has been broken by all those years under Vought, as Maeve makes clear whenever she's discussing heroism with Starlight.
* LipstickLesbian: Whether she's lesbian or bisexual, she's certainly gorgeous and glamorous. Her ex-girlfriend is also either this trope or a Lipstick Bisexual.
* MadeOfIndestructium:
** In her first appearance on the show, Maeve stops an out-of-control armored truck with her body. She's completely unharmed, the truck all but disintegrates around her.
** Averted when she had to save a school bus early in her career, ending up breaking every bone in her arm that never healed right.
* MovieSuperheroesWearBlack: She wore bright blue in the comics, but wears rust red and iron colored armor in the show.
* NotSoAboveItAll: She's a very polite person. But when she leaves to see Elena in the hospital, Ashley's complaints about abandoning the incoming press junket lead Maeve to FlipTheBird.
* PetTheDog: She's the kindest of the Seven to Starlight and genuinely wants to save people even though her experiences have left her jaded.
* SexForSolace: She tries to hookup with her ex after the Flight 37 incident, but Elena refuses.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: She ''used'' to be the only woman in the Seven before Starlight joined the team.
* StrongFleshWeakSteel: In the first episode, Queen Maeve jumps in front of the truck that was about to run someone over. She is completely unhurt, while the truck instantly has its engine crumble to pieces.
* SuperStrength: She's implied to be about the only Supe who can match Homelander in this department.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Queen Maeve is shown to be more self-aware that they are not really heroes, and at least tries to actually be heroic when possible.
* YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech: Starlight gives Maeve a pretty brutal one, in which she emphasizes that the older heroine used to be one of Annie's personal idols for her selflessness. It ends up leading Maeve to rediscover why she became a hero in the first place.

[[folder:A-Train]]
!!A-Train / Reggie Franklin
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysatrainseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Jesse T. Usher

The Seven's speedster and accidental kickstarter of the show's plot.

* AddledAddict: He started using Compound V as a performance enhancer, but becomes addicted to it and makes terrible choices trying to fuel his dependency.
* ArchEnemy: To Hughie. At first Hughie is an UnknownRival to A-Train, due to A-Train's [[ButForMeItWasTuesday care free attitude toward Robin's death]]. However, after A-Train murders Popclaw, [[NeverMyFault A-Train blames Hughie for it]] and makes it his priority to hunt Hughie down.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler: He receives one from Hughie. "What's better? The rush, or knowing that as long as you take it you're the fastest?". A-Train takes a few moments to respond before agreeing to Hughie's demands.]]
* BlueIsHeroic: Invoked with his costume, which is primarily blue, and is a contrast to his rival Shockwave, who has [[OrangeBlueContrast an orange costume.]]
* BrokenPedestal: Hughie was a big fan of A-Train, so much so that Hughie had several action figures of him (even rare limited edition ones). However, after A-Train ran completely through Robin, Hughie is angered by the sight of A-Train.
* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: When Kimiko]] breaks his leg, A-Train is reduced to nothing more than a disabled Black man, and even has to deal with [[{{Profiling}} a racist security guard.]]
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Deconstructed as him running through Robin is ''the'' decisive event that begins the show's storyline and is the source of A-Train's problems in life going FromBadToWorse. Given how utterly dismissive and forgetful he is of Robin's death, the show makes it clear that this isn't the first time this kind of incident occurred for him, with A-Train practically forgetting that this even happened in a short time. Unfortunately for him, this ''isn't'' something [[TheProtagonist the victim's boyfriend]] forgot at all, which leads to A LOT of trouble for A-Train and the Seven as a whole in the long run. And if he hadn't filed it under "Tuesday" and forgotten about it, he could have begun derailing The Boys' plans much earlier. That said, it's suggested that his abuse of Compound V has scrambled his mental faculties, impairing his ability to connect the dots until it was too late.
* {{Cuckold}}: He's quite shocked to find out Popclaw cheated on him.
* DentedIron: [[spoiler: His abuse of Compound V catches up to him over the season]].
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He's so self-centered that he believes his brother advising him to stop abusing Compound V for his own sake is just a case of YoureJustJealous.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has an older brother named Nathan who coaches and supports him. [[spoiler: After finding out A-Train is still using Compound V, he abandons him for ignoring his advice. A-Train also genuinely loved Popclaw but was forced by Homelander to kill her, he still refused to take responsibility for this and blamed Hughie for it.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even he was horrified by what happened to Popclaw's landlord. As in his girlfriend crushed his head with her pelvis whilst high on Compound V.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/TheFlash. His costume is also reminiscent of [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse The Falcon.]]
* FastestThingAlive: He has a reputation as the fastest man alive, and he feels it's the reason why he's in the Seven. Keeping this title is his biggest priority, and eventually destroys his personal life.
* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: His need to be the best caused him to develop a dependency on Compound V that drove his older brother away. His addiction and refusal to take responsibility for his actions also caused the events of the series.]]
* FeelingTheirAge: He's reaching the age when athletes start losing to younger competitors no matter how hard they train. This drives him to abuse Compound V as a performance enhancer in order to compensate for the age barrier and keep his title.
* {{Foil}}: To Hughie. Hughie is a middle-class tech salesman, while A-Train is a famous super-athlete. Both men have killed people, but while A-Train put the blame on his victim to rationalize his kill (presumably because this is something he's likely to do again), Hughie came to terms with what he did and avoids killing anyone else. Both also have super girlfriends, but while A-Train hides his relationship with Popclaw out of cowardice and yields to Vought’s demands about their love, Hughie isn't the least bit ashamed of dating Starlight and furiously goes against Butcher for threatening her.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:In "You Found Me", his Compound V abuse gives him a heart-attack.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: He's an even bigger douchebag than Homelander, as he treats everyone like crap including his brother Nathan when he expresses concern about A-Train's drug abuse, and extorts Popclaw into doing what he wants by holding their relationship hostage.
* KarmaHoudini: He gets away with basically DUI manslaughter with nothing but an insincere apology which would usually result in several years behind bars, and later laughs about it. Hughie's fury about A-Train's lack of punishment and remorse is what leads him to join the Boys and make A-Train pay by any means necessary.
* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:He admits to Hughie with pain in his voice that he was the one who killed Popclaw. For a brief moment, A-Train stops antagonizing Hughie as he seemingly realizes how his own terrible choices led to the destruction of his personal life. The moment then passes, and A-Train goes right back to blaming Hughie for making him do all those terrible things.]]
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: A-Train is so wrapped up in being the fastest man alive that he's paranoid of any other speedster taking that title and replacing him in the Seven, to the point where he's willing to abuse Compound V to maintain his place.
* ItsAllAboutMe: It's all about the A-Train in this station. When Popclaw dies, he's more upset about how ''he'' lost someone close to him [[spoiler:and mind you he killed her himself]], and in general he'll toss away his loved ones in a heartbeat if it means keeping his place in the Seven for one more day. When Hughie finally confronts him about how he killed Robin, his response boils down to "yeah, but what about MY pain?"
* KickTheDog: The night after he ran over an innocent woman, he's seen laughing it off in a private conversation with another superhero. Downplayed later, when he seems to show ''some'' regret for the incident. Although, it's arguable that he only really regrets it retrospectively because of what it cost him in the long run.
* LackOfEmpathy: He outright laughs about killing an innocent woman, and doesn't even bother remembering her name by calling her an "accident."
* NeverMyFault: A-Train pins the blame of Popclaw's death on Hughie and the Boys since [[spoiler:them blackmailing her is what led to him to killing her, ignoring the fact that he was the one who killed her. He admits to this in the final episode of the first season, but points out Hughie's involvement is still what led to Homelander ordering her death. He still could have refused, of course.]]
* PetTheDog: When Translucent can't visit a terminally ill "Make A Wish" child in the hospital, A-Train fills in and makes a genuine effort to cheer him up. It goes horribly wrong on several different levels but he gave it the old college try.
* RaceLift: White in the comics but black in the show. Compare with The Deep, who is the opposite case.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: On top of the general SuperStrength that most supes seem to have, A-Train has enough physical resistance to survive running at supersonic speeds, and enough lower-body strength to pull a freight train ''[[spoiler:with a broken leg.]]''
* SecretRelationship: He has one with Popclaw. His refusal to go public about it is what drives her to eventually cheat on him.
* StickyFingers: [[spoiler:Homelander gave him Compound V so he could give it to terrorists around the world and create Supe villains to help Vought get a military contract, but he's been filching some so he can fuel his addiction and keep his spot in the Seven.]]
* SuperReflexes: A RequiredSecondaryPower so he can control his SuperSpeed. The finale shows his reflexes are such that he perceives and moves as if time is flowing normally for him, but everything else is moving incredibly slow.
* SuperSpeed: His main superpower. He also trains and competes with this skill similar to a professional racer.
* SuperStrength: He backhands Kimiko right through a concrete wall.
* SuperToughness: It's a required secondary power for a speedster like him, allowing him to withstand powerful impacts. However as his brother reveals [[spoiler: his abuse of Compound V is weakening his bones, like some real life steroids]]
* TakingYouWithMe: When Starlight inflicts this by ruining their reputations with blackmail, he tries to turn it around against her. It doesn't work since she'd be fine with it anyway.
* TokenMinority: He's the only black member of The Seven.
* VillainHasAPoint: A-Train starts out as a jerk and gets worse from there. He is right though: his killing of Robin wasn't intentional, while the same can't be said of Hughie's acts with the Boys. However, A-Train’s other devious acts, including [[spoiler: murdering Popclaw and arming terrorists with superpowers]], were intentional.

[[folder:Stormfront]]
!! Stormfront
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysstormfront.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"[[{{Sadist}} I like to see the light go out...]]"'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/AyaCash

A social media-savvy superheroine who replaces Translucent in the Seven. She poses a challenge to Homelander's leadership in Season 2.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In the comics, Stormfront had direct ties to the Nazi Party through the Hitler Youth program. This version of Stormfront, despite still being a racist, doesn't appear to have any such links. Comics!Stormfront was also the very first supe ever created, while Show!Stormfront doesn't seem to have that distinction (Soldier Boy being credited as the first supe instead).
* AdaptationalBadass: Her comic counterpart didn't play too deep of a role in the overall story, and [[spoiler:was killed off fairly easily despite being the template for Homelander]]. Here, she has a much more influential position as one of The Seven and is butting heads with Homelander under Edgar.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: She gains an affable demeanor, while comic Stormfront pretty much acted as your typical SS-officer.
* ArchNemesis: To Kimiko, after [[spoiler:killing Kenji]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Stormfront seems upbeat and outgoing at first glance, making a big show of being in favor of feminism and equality... before it turns out that she is in fact a ''horrendous'' racist who deliberately targets non-white civilians during her battles.
* CombatSadomasochist: In addition to enjoying watching the life drain from her victims' eyes as she kills them, Stormfront also enjoys Homelander scarring her with his laser eyes for sexual thrills.
* DeadpanSnarker: Which, combined with her [[TheGadfly Gadfly]] persona, makes her more disarming:
-->'''Stormfront:''' Vought won't let me have pockets in this [costume]. You can see every crease in my ass. You can practically see up Starlight's uterus. You want to talk about girl power, let's talk about getting some pockets!
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Stormfront's first appearance has her wandering onto Homelander and Maeve's PSA shoot while streaming to her social media audience on her smartphone, which both highlights one of her advantages against Homelander and foreshadows the disruptive role she plays in Season 2. She also catches Homelander and Ashley off-guard by announcing that Mr. Edgar has signed her on to the Seven, showing that she has the power to bypass Vought protocol and flaunts that power to her potential rivals. Her sudden fascination with [[MasterRace Homelander's eyes]], foreshadowing [[ANaziByAnyOtherName another aspect]] of her.
* EvilWearsBlack: She's a racist murderer in black leather.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Stormfront plays herself up as a champion for equality and women's rights but is later revealed to be a vicious racist herself, killing every black person she comes across while chasing Kimiko and her brother through a building in the projects and makes a racist remark about Kimiko's brother as she klls him.
* FlyingBrick: Super strong, super durable, and has NotQuiteFlight with her lightning powers.
* {{Foil}}: To Starlight, being a new female recruit into the Seven. The main difference between them is that while Starlight eventually moves past her initial belief system and remains the only member of the Seven who is a genuine superhero, Stormfront represents the most zealously intolerant ideology imaginable and is only engaging in superheroism to further a divisive political agenda.
* ForTheEvulz: She kills black civilians in an apartment raid mostly for her own enjoyment.
* TheGadfly: She has no filter and prefers it that way, never paying Vought's marketing and the comfort of even the Seven around her any mind to what she has to say.
* GenderFlip: She was originally a man in the comic.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When she starts using her powers, seen when she chases Kimiko and Kenji down. Said chase is when she brings wanton destruction to a building complex.
* GoodIsNotNice: Her ''raison d'etre''. She literally says as much to Annie.
* HandBlast: Shoots lightning from her hands.
* HateSink: Smug, sociopathic, racist... in a few episodes it becomes clear she's as despicable as Homelander, if not worse (after all, she annoys the man himself).
* HellBentForLeather: A black leather-wearing villain who doesn't hide her physical appeal (if only to push her agenda).
* JerkassHasAPoint: While a SuperSupremacist that's just as bad as Homelander, she gets introduced with negative quips towards her employers, the type of marketing and the media, initially earning Starlight's admiration.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: She's well versed in social media and capable of talking negatively about Vought and her celebrity status to the point where Starlight looks up to her for doing so. Her story about wanting to go for Halloween as Literature/PippiLongstocking and [[BeYourself not caring about what others think]] hits home with Starlight as well. Then she shows her [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain true colors]] by slaughtering black civilians and [[spoiler:Kimiko's brother.]]
* KickTheDog: Some viewers may have been charmed by her willingness to mock Vought and Homelander in the first two episodes of the second season, but any remaining affection is quickly dispelled when [[spoiler:she slaughters nearby black civilians during a mission, seemingly just for the fun of it, followed by slowly and painfully killing Kimiko's brother.]]
* TheMasochismTango: Not only is she impervious to Homelander's eye beams, but she demands that Homelander "laser [her] fucking tits" to get off.
* MeaningfulName: As with the original comic character, her name comes from a notorious Neo-Nazi web forum of the same name. Plus she has electricity and NotQuiteFlight powers, like [[Comicbook/XMen Storm]].
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Though the "any other name" part can be contested given that she's named after a famous Neo-Nazi website. The more fantastical racism comes from her view of Supes and creating more of them with Compound V.
* NighInvulnerability: She takes Homelander's lasers easily.
* NinetiesAntiHero: Presents like one, with an [[DarkAgeOfSupernames edgy codename]], dark color scheme, and evil-looking purple lightning. The fact that she has Vought's backing plays a big role in the "hero" presentation and enables her to gain public influence and a significant civilian following.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: If her being named after a neo-Nazi web forum was not enough of an indication, she views [[FantasticRacism non-powered humans]] with condescending "compassion". When chasing Kimiko and her brother through an apartment building she kills a black family for no reason and calls Kimiko's brother a "yellow bastard" when she kills him.
* PuttingOnTheReich: Her design evokes Nazi imagery, with metal American flag armbands, a metal belt with a Reichsadler Eagle for the buckle, SS-shaped earrings, and a military-buzz-cut-based haircut.
* ShockAndAwe: One of her powers.
* SmugSnake: She thinks highly of herself and clearly doesn't care about annoying[=/=]embarrassing others.
* TheSociopath: Similar to Homelander, she puts on a front for the media and basks in the public's adulation, while caring nothing for human life (especially non-whites, in her case) out in the field.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Enters The Seven without Homelander's involvement and has a couple of plans of her own that will put them at odds with one another.
* TheStarscream: The main conflict of Season 2 is driven by her competition with Homelander for leadership of the Seven (and effectively becoming the face of Vought) despite being a newcomer to the team and hypothetically being lower in rank to Homelander.
* SuperSoldier: Part of her arc is about her advocating for the use of Compound V-infused superbeings to combat the super-jihadi threat. Considering her political views and how much they are influenced (after a fashion) by Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, it's hinted that her intentions lean more into {{Ubermensch}} territory.
* SuperSupremacist: Thinks that her powers make her above others, coupled with racism. She also plans on escalating a Supe Arms Race to create more Supes.
* UncannyValleyGirl: The peppy new member of The Seven that has mastered her social skills for the public, who unnerves the others at Vought with her [[TheGadfly attitude]] and tends to have a concerning interest in [[MasterRace Homelander's eyes]]...
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In spite of her racist beliefs and murderous actions, she's an incredibly popular social media star.

[[folder:The Deep]]
!!The Deep / Kevin
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysthedeepseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Chace Crawford

->''"I swear to God, they only call me when there's trouble at a dock. Or a river, or a lake, canal. A jetty. Fucking idiots, I could be doing so much more. But no, Vought just wants me to make my big pretty dives into the water and flash my fucking biceps for Instagram."''

The "King of the Sea" and member of The Seven.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The Deep's comic costume is an embarrassingly goofy mishmash of a cape, a vintage diving helmet, and unflattering shorts. His appearance in the show is far more in line with what you'd expect a charismatic superhero to look like.
* AdaptationalVillainy: He went from being little more than the team's joke member to being the one who coerced Starlight into giving him a blowjob (and did the same to other women), whereas in the comics the Deep wasn't involved and was actually the only member of the Seven who ''didn't'' harass or bully Starlight in any way.
* ApparentlyHumanMerfolk: The Deep appears completely human at first, but is later shown to be one, with gills on his torso.
* BaldOfEvil: [[spoiler: In the final episode of season 1, he shaves his head in a fit of depression. In season 2, his hair is slowly growing back and appears as a long buzz cut.]]
* BestialityIsDepraved: Given The Deep can speak to sea creatures (like dolphins) he's the butt of cruel jokes by Homelander and A-Train who both say he has sex with them, but judging by his side of the conversation he has with a dolphin he attempts to rescue, there may be a grain of truth to the jokes.
* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: Not on him so much (the dolphin was the one who wanted him to do sex stuff to it), but the dolphin and lobster he attempted to rescue both ended up dead on his watch. And Season 2 has a whale he brought in to stop The Boys being fatally rammed by their speedboat!
* BrokenBird: He compares his treatment of Starlight to how he was treated when he first joined the team, saying it's just how the hierarchy works. With his love of marine life being his only redeeming feature, it's possible that he was a genuinely good guy before joining the Seven.
* BrokenPedestal: To use Starlight's own words, she "had a school girl crush on" The Deep. To say she was shocked, upset, and angered that he forced her to give him a blowjob is an understatement.
* ButtMonkey: While accomplished by ordinary standards (being a handsome, successful, and widely-beloved crime-fighter and celebrity), he is this to the rest of the Seven. Starlight says that the others see him as a joke ("you're just the fish guy"), and he isn't seen being given any respect by them. He appears to be by far the weakest of the team as well; Starlight can shoot light, shrug off .50 caliber bullets, bench press a car, and so on, Maeve can stop a speeding semi-truck effortlessly, A-Train can run at hypersonic speeds and has the RequiredSecondaryPowers for that to work, Translucent can become both (almost) invincible and invisible, Black Noir is strong/fast enough to flatten Kimiko, and Homelander is an outright PhysicalGod. The Deep? He has slightly superhuman strength (enough to NeckLift a guy and make another back-flip by punching him, and that's about it), can breathe underwater, can swim well, and... can talk to sea creatures.
* TheChewToy: He suffers a deserved series of humiliations and failures almost straight from the start.
* ChurchOfHappyology: In Season 2, he joins the Church of the Collective after a few sessions meant to better himself.
* CompositeCharacter: His name and powers are all he really has in common with his comic counterpart, with his characterization as a cowardly, sleazy sexual predator being far more reminiscent of the comic's version of A-Train.
* CruelMercy: After the fact came to light that The Deep had sexually assaulted Starlight, and countless other women, he's spared any jail time, and is still a member of The Seven. However, he's [[spoiler:exiled from [[TheRottenApple New York City]] and [[ReassignedToAntarctica assigned to patrol Sandusky, Ohio, a peaceful and relatively crime free town,]] and given a meager weekly allowance.]] His main tasks are to attend local business openings and roller coaster inaugurations as well as [[spoiler:put up with whatever vitriol the locals throw at him.]] When the military allows supes to volunteer, The Deep asks his handler how soon can he can join the Navy and [[spoiler:get out of Sandusky, only to be told that for the time being, he's not allowed to go anywhere else.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** Of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} or Comicbook/{{Submariner}}.
** Outside of superheroes, The Deep is a spokesman for Oceanland, a thinly-veiled expy of [=SeaWorld=], complete with controversies over its animal handling practices. The Deep wants to improve the conditions for the animals there, Vought wants him to be the poster boy for a lucrative ad campaign.
* FailureHero: Anytime he does try to do the right thing, it goes hilariously wrong. Take for instance his rescue of the dolphin and the lobster.
* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:His [[ItMakesSenseInContext drug-induced journey of enlightenment has him argue with his gills]] about why he sexually harasses and assaults women; because he has his own insecurities about his body and dehumanizes and humiliates women before they can humiliate him first.]]
** FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Annie is in no mood to hear him try to make amends after what he did to her and several others.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: [[spoiler: Unlike Hughie, The Deep's sex life is never portrayed a good light. He has a history of forcing women to give him oral sex for being their hero and when he's finally punished for his actions, he's the one who gets sexually abused when a woman refuses to stop putting her fingers in his gills, despite telling her how painful the act is to him.]]
* HiddenDepths: He can communicate with sea creatures and genuinely really cares about how badly they're treated. He even tries to rescue a dolphin and then a lobster, [[spoiler:though both attempts end abysmally]].
* HumiliationConga: He suffers a rather severe (and karmic) one during the season. Stillwell rejects and mocks his request to do something more substantive and meaningful with his fame. He then attempts to rescue a dolphin from an abusive captivity, but it dies horribly, and the incident becomes a media scandal. After his [[spoiler:rape of Starlight is revealed, he is ReassignedToAntarctica, being sent to “guard” the calm and largely crime-free town of Sandusky, Ohio]]. There, he’s scorned by the townsfolk, given a minuscule allowance by Vought, is relegated to publicity stunts like opening water park attractions, accidentally kills a lobster he wanted to save, and is [[spoiler:abused by a fan girl]]. By the end of the season, he’s on the verge of a mental breakdown.
* IAmAMonster: How he feels by Season 2, though there were apparently other cases of this in his past. [[spoiler:His gills are a point of insecurity for him and his ability to hear aquatic animals begging for their lives throughout his childhood unnerved him. With the reveal that Compound V made him into what he is, he delves into this a lot more.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: He sexually assaulted Starlight. Later on, he [[spoiler: is sexually abused himself during a one-night-stand with a psycho fan, who shoves her hands into his gills (something quite painful for him) after he repeatedly asks her to stop]].
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: It says a lot about the overall moral fiber of the Seven that a serial rapist is ''still'' far from the worst member of the crew, but actually was (before the good-natured Starlight joined the team) the least dangerous one with (as far as the viewer can tell) the lowest body count.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Season 2 reveals that he was unaware that his powers came from Compound V, told that he was born with a gift.
* KarmicRape: After using his position to extort a blowjob from Starlight, [[spoiler:he's exposed and effectively fired from the team. After that, he gets his gill-holes finger-fucked by an insane fan, who makes that move without his consent]].
* MoralityPet: His one redeeming quality is his compassion for marine animals.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Season 2 sees him go through regret for his actions and attempts to make amends, though most of the process is motivated through the chance to rejoin the Seven.
* NatureHero: He wants to be this for ocean life, but Vought won't let him (and even makes him shill for a [[BlandNameProduct SeaWorld knockoff]].)
* NotSoDifferent: Ironically, his attempts at doing something truly important get laughed off by his boss, and he suffers a painful and embarrassing sexual violation... Just like Starlight, who went through the same thing at ''his'' hands.
* NutritionalNightmare: It's amazing he has as good a figure as he does considering he loves munching down on junk food whenever he's eating on-screen.
* RaceLift: He's black in the comics but white in the show. Compare with A-Train, who is the opposite case.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: [[spoiler:After being exposed for sexually assaulting Starlight (among other women), The Deep is forced to make a public apology and demoted to working in Sandusky, Ohio.]]
* SerialRapist: He extorts oral sex from Starlight, and Stillwell reveals this is far from the first time he's pulled a stunt like this.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: {{Discussed}}. The Deep complains that The Seven only send him in for things in or around water. It turns out that the rest think he's pathetic and a joke, to his annoyance.
* TraumaCongaLine: [[spoiler:After Starlight hints that someone in The Seven assaulted her, everyone involved pretty much knows it's The Deep. It's outright stated there are other women, and with Starlight having unlocked the door, it's only a matter of time before one of them kicks it open. The Deep is forced to make a public apology, then take a sabbatical from The Seven and get reassigned to Sandusky, Ohio. Not a lot of crime in Sandusky, so he's pretty much limited to water park openings. He meets a hot groupie and takes her back to his apartment for some playtime, and she rapes him while jamming her fingers in his gills (which ''hurts''). When super-powered terrorists come to light, he's convinced he's finally going to get to come back, and help out the Navy with dolphin-related secret projects, only to be told "ain't gonna happen." He tries to buy a lobster as a pet, only for the meat counter attendant to stab it in the head, thinking he wanted it for dinner. The last we see of The Deep, he's giving himself a TraumaticHaircut while repeatedly calling himself stupid. May or may not be enough to make you start feeling sorry for the guy.]]
* TraumaticHaircut: He gives himself one after being [[DateRape raped by a girl]].
* VillainousUnderdog: The Deep is the least respected member of The Seven due to his abilities only being useful for water-based missions. Due to his ability to speak to aquatic animals, he's forced to stand by as he hears the animals being killed and beg for rescue from their captivity. Even worse, he's forced to support companies that pollute the seas and harm the aquatic life. None of that excuses the fact that he's been sexually assaulting women.
* VillainousBSOD: Completly breaks down at the end of the first season, leading to [[spoiler:him impulsively shaving his head in front of a mirror while crying and cursing at himself]].
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: The Deep is an ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} {{expy}}, and rides very much on the "Aquaman is lame" memes. He is regularly dismissed by Homelander for talking to fish, and later shown in therapy venting his insecurities.

[[folder:Black Noir]]
!!Black Noir
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theboysblacknoirseason2.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Nathan Mitchell

->''"..."''

The silent brute fighter of The Seven.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the comics he's at least as durable as Homelander, but here he's injured by Kimiko and later a bomb.
* TheBlank: His mask has this effect, resembling Batman's empty cowl. The lack of speech or physical quirks makes him seem almost robot-like.
* TheComicallySerious: At social gatherings, he can be seen drinking from a straw or playing the piano. All while wearing his intimidating costume.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Noir" in French means black. So his name is "Black Black".
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/{{Batman}}, but he also resembles the Nighthawk of ''ComicBook/SupremePower'', who is one of Creator/{{Marvel}}'s many Batman analogues and is also canonically black like the actor who plays Black Noir. This last fact along with his black costume and melee-oriented fighting style also makes him similar to ComicBook/BlackPanther.
* TheDreaded: Black Noir is deeply feared by criminals, the Boys, and even his fellow superheroes and the general public at times.
* TheFaceless: His head and face are always completely covered by a black mask.
* FightsLikeANormal: As a member of the Seven, Black Noir is confirmed to have super powers, but he doesn't use any onscreen besides the bare minimum superhuman strength and durability needed to fight against the Female.
* HiddenDepths: Shown when he wordlessly glowers at a piano player until he steps away from the piano, then sits down by it himself and plays the Minute Waltz, a much faster and upbeat piece than what the other guy was playing. Also, in a promotional video shot by Vought to showcase the members of the Seven, Black Noir's personal hobby is revealed to be drinking green tea according in the practice of the Japanese tea ceremony - an art with Zen Buddhist undertones.
* {{Jerkass}}: He blows off Starlight's attempt at an introduction and intimidates a musician into letting him play the piano.
* KnifeNut: He carries a whole bunch of them on him and his primary style of combat.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: He sobs when reacting to [[spoiler:the breaking news story about Compound V and superpower origin]], implying that he had no idea that his powers came from Compound V.
* NotSoStoic: When the news about Compound V breaks out in Season 2, he is shown sitting on the floor in a hallway silently crying or laughing.
* OutOfFocus: Being faceless and wordless, he gets the least focus of the Seven in Season 1.
* TheReliableOne: Homelander praises him as this when the rest of the Seven's mishaps begin piling up.
* SkullForAHead: His helmet evokes this image.
* StealthExpert: Takes out an entire terrorist compound by himself without being detected until the end.
* SuperToughness: He takes a massive bomb to the face in Season 2. It does inflict damage, but his lack of reaction shows it wasn't much.
* TheVoiceless: He doesn't talk onscreen and it's not clear whether he can.
* TheWorfEffect: He handily takes down Kimiko aka The Female, TheBigGuy of the Boys, a ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} Expy who up until that point had been portrayed as a nearly unstoppable fighter, leaving her for dead with multiple knife wounds that would have killed her (or perhaps did kill her?) if not for her healing factor.
* WickedCultured: He's shown making Japanese-style tea and playing the piano.

[[folder:Translucent]]
!! Translucent
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/translucent_tb2019.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Alex Hassell

->''"My superpower ain't invisibility - it's reading people. Watching them when they think they're alone. I see people for who they really are."''

The Seven's invulnerable and quasi-invisible member.

* AchillesHeel: Translucent's power isn't actually to go invisible but turning his skin to various carbon-based compounds, including a metamaterial and diamond-like substance. Unfortunately, this makes him vulnerable to electricity. [[spoiler:Likewise he's only invulnerable from the outside. Not the inside.]]
* AssShove: [[spoiler:Frenchie shocks him into unconsciousness and then shoves a lump of semtex into his anal cavity, reasoning that it's the only way to kill him.]]
* BreakThemByTalking: Tries this with Hughie. [[spoiler:It backfires, literally.]]
* CanonForeigner: He takes Jack From Jupiter's place on the Seven.
* DirtyCoward: He talks a big game, but when the Boys find out his weakness, he's quick to sob, grovel, and sell out anyone if it means saving his own skin.
* {{Expy}}: A gender-flipped combo of the ComicBook/InvisibleWoman and ComicBook/EmmaFrost.
* HiddenDepths:
** Despite being a Grade A InvisibleJerkass, Translucent is shown to be really good with finances, keeping track of how much the Seven has made over the year, and how much people have made from pirating off from their merchandise.
** Hughie finds out that [[spoiler:Translucent is a dad, and not a bad one since he spends almost all his spare time with his son. He only learns this after he's dead]].
** He's extremely skilled at reading people, which with his invisibility makes him good at gathering information.
* InformedJudaism: According to a bar mitzvah photo featured at his [[spoiler: memorial]].
* InvisibleJerkass: Translucent nearly kills Hughie when he won't tell him why he placed a bug in The Seven's boardroom before Billy intervenes.
* InvisibleStreaker: His clothes are unaffected by his powers. So he has to be completely naked to be undetectable.
* LogicalWeakness: [[spoiler:It sure is convenient that even unbreakable skin already comes with several openings, such as the orifices.]]
* LudicrousGibs: [[spoiler:The bomb in his ass pretty much turns him into paint when Hughie detonates it.]]
* MaleFrontalNudity: We get to see everything when he turns visible inside the women's bathroom.
* NonindicativeName: As Butcher points out, if he really were "translucent" then he would actually still be visible.
-->'''Butcher:''' "Translucent" doesn’t even mean "invisible." It means "semi-transparent."
* ThePeepingTom: He uses his power to creep on women.
* PowerPerversionPotential: He hangs around the women's bathroom in The Seven's HQ.
* ReadingLips: He can and does do this.
* SherlockScan: He mentions that this is his ''real'' ability -- he's extremely skilled at reading people and learning what makes them tick. [[spoiler:Except that one time...]]
* SuperToughness: His skin is as hard as diamonds (when invisible), making him ImmuneToBullets among other things. He also withstands an amount of electricity that would kill or severely harm a normal person while invisible, as well.
* VillainsWantMercy: He offers to tell the Boys any of Vought's secrets he's learned over the years in exchange for his life.
* WrongGenreSavvy: He thinks that he's some sort of master manipulator, who has the ability to read people like books and easily manipulate them without effort. Believing that he knows exactly how people'll act and rationalize themselves, so that he can persuade them into doing whatever he wants. [[spoiler:When in reality he is a deluded pervert who has no real clue about what people are like, as he has no empathy for them and no ability to talk them into anything. This is emphasized greatly when Hughie kills him out of sheer rage for trying to convince him to let Translucent go.]]

[[folder:Lamplighter]]
!! Lamplighter
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lamplighter.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ShawnAshmore

A former member of the Seven now retired.
----
* DespairGambit: Successfully pulled one on Mallory, torturing and murdering her innocent grandchildren to convince her to drop her investigation into Vought and The Seven.
* {{Expy}}: Of The ComicBook/GreenLantern and The ComicBook/HumanTorch.
* TheGhost: He never appears in person during Season 1. No longer this in Season 2, where he's played by Shawn Ashmore.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: A lamp on the end of a staff. Granted, it was just for channeling his powers and not hitting people as far as we know.
* PlayingWithFire: Background material reveals he had the power of pyrokinesis that he channeled through his staff and enabled him to throw fireballs and other uses of fire.
* RetiredMonster: He is mentioned to have retired shortly before the start of the series and he murdered Grace Mallory's grandchildren.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The only word on his fate is Vought's word that he is retired.
* WouldHurtAChild: He murdered Mallory's grandchildren when she and Billy got too close to Vought's secrets.

!!! '''Other Superheroes'''
[[folder:Popclaw]]
!! Charlotte / Popclaw
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Brittany Allen
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charlotte_popclaw.png]]
A former member of Teenage Kix and A-Train's girlfriend. She's also a Compound V addict.

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler: She accidentally murders her landlord by crushing his head between her pelvis, while he's giving her oral sex, when she's lost control during climax.]]
* AdaptationalSexuality: The comics' version was a closeted lesbian. The TV version appears to be straight.
* AscendedExtra: While the show fleshes the Supes considerably, Popclaw gets the most comparatively.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and, more closely, [[ComicBook/{{X 23}} X-23]], as a character who projects bone claws out of her arms.
* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: A-Train kills her because of peer pressure.]]
* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:"Why?"]]
* FormerChildStar: As a teenager, she used to be a rising star in both the superhero and film world until her reputation for partying and drug abuse came out and ruined her career. She still works as an actor, but only in D-list movies.
* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: {{Gender flip}}ped. As [[spoiler:Popclaw's landlord]] finds out, it can be very difficult to control super strength during sex, especially when the Supe in question is high on Compound V.
* MsFanservice: She's a very attractive woman. In-Universe, her superhero films seem to be tawdry revenge tales with her as a sexy AntiHero and she keeps several naked pictures of herself framed on her walls. [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl And she's been making sex videos of herself and A-Train for a fairly long time, for... archiving.]]
* OutWithABang: Popclaw is shown getting oral sex from [[spoiler:her landlord]] then accidentally crushes his head with her thighs while losing control of herself.
* RecoveredAddict: She quit her V addiction. [[spoiler:She relapses after A-train pretends he is completely single on TV.]]
* SecretRelationship: With A-Train, much to her chagrin.
* ThousandYardStare: She has one after she [[spoiler: accidentally kills her landlord]]. After letting out a rather horrific scream, all she can do is stare blankly at the corpse until [[spoiler: The Boys arrive]].
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Her comic counterpart had a punk[=/=]goth[=/=][[Literature/TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo Lisbeth Salander]] look, while her show version is a lot more mainstream as a crime fighter and otherwise.
* YourCheatingHeart: Popclaw’s frustration over A-Train keeping their relationship a secret out of cowardice [[spoiler:drives her to have a fling with her landlord ([[JustifiedTrope granted she was high on Compound V]])]] Which unfortunately leads to...
* YourHeadAsplode: Popclaw accidentally crushes that of [[spoiler:her landlord's]] while he gives her oral sex, with his brain shown getting squirted out.

[[folder:Shockwave]]
!! Shockwave
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Mishka Thébaud
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shockwave.png]]

* OrangeBlueContrast: He wears an orange costume against A-Train's blue one. It's especially clear in their race in "Get Some."
* SuperSpeed: Similar to A-Train.
* TheRival: To A-Train, though this is implied to be just for publicity.

[[folder:Ezekiel]]
!! Ezekiel
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Shaun Benson
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ezekiel_5.jpg]]

* ArmouredClosetGay: Ezekiel, it turns out, is a closeted gay man who has secret trysts with men while publicly touting his conservative Christian beliefs, saying homosexuality can be cured by prayer.
* BlasphemousBoast: At the Believe Expo, he gives a speech referring to his ability to stretch, Homelander's {{Flight}} and A-Train's SuperSpeed in the same sentence in regards to Jesus walking on water. Equating Jesus’s literal divinity to basic superpowers is blasphemous; this plays into the show’s theme of superheroes seeing themselves as and being treated like gods, despite being incredibly flawed humans.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: After his initial plan to blackmail Ezekiel with a video of the latter having sex with men falls through, Hughie instead claims to have had sex with Ezekiel himself. Apparently, Ezekiel has sex with many random men, so he assumes it's possible Hughie was one of them.
* ChekhovsGunman: In episode one, Hughie and Butcher pass Ezekiel sitting on a couch, using his stretch powers to have a threesome with two men. In episode six, Hughie successfully blackmails Ezekiel to give him information by saying he has evidence of them having sex, after his phone short circuits inside the baptismal pool Homelander dunked him in, and can't show the original footage.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: While he has powers similar to ComicBook/MisterFantastic, beyond that they're basically complete opposites. Ezekiel is a charismatic religious leader and hypocrite, while Reed Richards is an AbsentMindedProfessor of pure science.
* {{Expy}}:
** He's a superhero minister like Oh Father.
** Also, his elasticity-based power-set, charisma, and his stoic public persona all bring to mind Reed Richards, except replace secular beliefs with fundamentalist Christianity, make him into even more of a hypocrite, have scenes reveal that he's not really stoic at all, and worst of all, make him into a violent individual, such as when he uses his powers to threaten Hughie.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Ezekiel, a conservative Christian superhero with "Capes for Christ" who claims [[CureYourGays homosexuality can be cured by prayer]], is himself attracted to men and secretly has sex with them.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He spreads homophobic propaganda in a time when homosexuality is becoming accepted by the public, much to Hughie and Starlight's disgust.
* ReallyGetsAround: Hughie manages to blackmail Ezekiel to give him information on Vought and The Seven, by saying he has evidence of them having sex, and will have someone else release it if he doesn't communicate with his contact at a certain time. It's not true, but the implication that Ezekiel has slept with so many men that he can't remember an individual is what allows Hughie to get the information he needs.
* RubberMan: He has stretching powers.

[[folder:Mesmer]]
!! Mesmer
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/HaleyJoelOsment
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mesmer.jpg]]
A former child television star who played an underage psychic policeman.

* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler:The moment Billy catches up to him in the bathroom, Mesmer tries to offer help in regards to the whereabouts of Becca. This later turns into a frantic plea of IHaveAFamily the moment he allows Billy to reciprocate his mind.]]
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Butcher turns Mesmer into a bludgeoning stack after the latter tries to spare himself by [[IHaveAFamily stating he has a daughter]]. He might have been sympathetic, had it not been for the fact that he ratted out the Boys to Homelander and Vought to begin with. Despite this, his death can come across as [[DownplayedTrope somewhat pitiable]].]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Initially seems like a supe who cares about his family more than fame, but [[spoiler:after The Boys cut a deal with him to allow him visitation with his daughter, Mesmer then goes to Homelander with dirt. On the way there, he dismisses a call from child services about him being allowed to see his daughter, proving that deep down he really does care more about fame than his family and doing good]].
* CanonForeigner: He doesn't exist in the comics.
* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Averted. Mesmer lost custody of his daughter three years ago but he appears to be well-adjusted and desperate to see her again. However, Child Services is completely in the right because [[spoiler:Mesmer - when offered - chooses a chance at fame over their call about visitation rights.]]
* DirtyMindReading: Mesmer learns a female fan of his wants to do something amorous with him due to his mind-reading power. He replies that he'd been thinking the same thing.
* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:[[BigNo No!]]]]
* FormerChildStar: He makes a living signing [=DVDs=] of his television show where he played an underage psychic policeman.
* IHaveAFamily: Mesmer tells [[spoiler:Butcher]] that he has a daughter, but to no avail.
* JadedWashout: His only claim to fame is a television show he was in as a child. Vought had ''some'' plans for him but dropped him after he used his powers to do insider trading. Since then he's been riding his fading popularity all the way to the bottom and lost custody of his daughter.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Mesmer reads Butcher's mind and realizing to his horror of what he will do to him.]]
* NonActionGuy: His powers are purely mental, and he didn't get even a shred of SuperStrength or SuperToughness all over Supes tend to have.
* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:He gets his face turned to pulp by Butcher repeatedly smashing it against the sink after he betrays The Boys.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: [[spoiler:He's the one who exposes the Boys to Vought, turning them into public enemy #1.]]
* {{Telepath}}: He reads minds.
* WhiteCollarCrime: He was blacklisted by Vought for brushing his hand against a Wall Street Stockbrocker, reading his mind, and using the information for insider trading.

[[folder:Doppelganger]]
!! Doppelganger
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Dan Darin-Zanco
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doppelganger.jpg]]

* CanonForeigner: They don't exist in the comics.
* FanDisservice: We are treated to Doppelganger transforming from attractive female to unattractive male during sex with the Senator, while naked.
* TransformationSequence: Doppelganger transforms from female to male during sex with the Senator (though the latter is unaware, as he's been blindfolded).
* {{Transgender}}: Doppelganger, a shapeshifter, is gender fluid, going by they, their or them. Fittingly, they're able to go from female to male form at will.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Doppelganger has this power, being able to assume other forms and impersonate people perfectly by doing so.

[[folder:Ice Princess]]
!! Ice Princess

* TheGhost: A former partner of hers mentions her in a support group but we never actually see her.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Princess, a superhero who has the power to turn herself into ice.
* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: {{Gender flip}}ped. One of the men in the supe victims support group revealed that he had sex with her and when she climaxed, she briefly turned to ice... with his penis still inside her. [[CripplingCastration It snapped off.]]

[[folder:Eagle the Archer]]
!! Eagle the Archer
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Langston Kerman
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eaglethearcher.png]]
An archery-based superhero who finds The Deep at rock-bottom and offers to help him out.

* AwesomeButImpractical: A super-archer despite guns being available in the present day, taking it to battle against people armed with Tec-9's. It's a point of contention for him.
* ArcherArchetype: His superpower, though he's rather chummy to others off duty.
* ChurchOfHappyology: A member of the Church of the Collective who gets The Deep involved.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/GreenArrow and ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}.
* StepfordSmiler: A bit, as he still feels pained about bungling a hostage situation but is nudged by [[ChurchOfHappyology Carol]] to keep on with his story about his epiphany.
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: His weapon of choice. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], as he took it to a HostageSituation against people armed with machine pistols and could only carry so many arrows in his quiver, leading to many lives lost.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He and everyone else under the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of the Collective]] are obsessed with Fresca for some reason.

[[folder:Blindspot]]
!! Blindspot
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Chris Mark
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blindspot_4.png]]
A blind superhero and one of Ashley's candidates for the Seven.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: An acrobatic martial artist outside of his DisabilitySuperpower.
* DisabilityNegatingSuperpower: His super-hearing lets him more than make up for his blindness.
* DisabilitySuperpower: Blind, but with enhanced SuperSenses to make him a skilled fighter.
* {{Expy}}: Of Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}. His youth, acrobatics, weaponry and outfit all additionally bring to mind ComicBook/{{Robin}}.
* HeroWorshipper: Like many others, he's eager to meet Homelander.
* SuperSenses: Super-hearing.
* TokenMinority: Ashley eagerly defines him as a differently-abled superhero, which would do wonders for representation amongst audiences.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We last see him collapsed on the floor in a pool of blood thanks to Homelander, and we don't find out about what happens to him after his rejection.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: What Homelander believes. His main superpower is his super-hearing, and when he gets his eardrums blown out, Homelander brushes him off as becoming "just another fucking blind guy."

[[folder:Soldier Boy]]
!!Soldier Boy
[[quoteright:277:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vlcsnap_2020_09_05_18h24m14s753_8.png]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JensenAckles
A Supe from World War II and Dr. Frederick Vought's first successful Compound V project.

* AdaptationalBadass: The Soldier Boy from the original comic was lacking in combat skills and a PhonyVeteran who was described as insulting TheRealHeroes of WWII with his posturing. [[spoiler:His predecessor from WWII got much of the same treatment.]] Here, Mr. Edgar speaks of him as a successful project that was capable of slaughtering the enemy.
* {{Expy}}: Of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
* MilitarySuperhero: A Supe enlisted into the Allied powers' armed forces.
* OneManArmy: A living weapon by Vought's founder, effective enough to get compared to Oppenheimer and his tinkering with the atomic bomb.
* SuperSoldier: The first successful Supe created, slaughtering Germans by the dozens in WWII.

[[folder:Gecko]]
!!Gecko
->'''Portrayed by:''' David Thompson
A Supe working in Vought's labs and an old acquaintance of Annie during her Capes for Christ days. He's the key to her and Hughie's plan.

* AnArmAndALeg: Gets his limbs lopped off for his customers.
* AnimalThemeNaming: Named after geckos, he can regenerate parts of his body just as they can for their tails.
* {{Blackmail}}: Annie records a video of an S&M session of his.
* BondageIsBad: A former family-values superhero making a stint as an S&M prostitute would not make for pretty headlines. Additionally, he's part of Vought's real business as a pharmaceutical company and keeping Compound V under wraps.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Another case of Averting this in the show, as Vought uses his HealingFactor to test various creations on a live human subject. His powers also give him opportunities as an S&M prostitute on the side.
* EyeScream: Thanks to tests for an eye-cleaning product.
* {{Fetish}}: Provides this for his customers with the use of his HealingFactor.
* GroinAttack: One of his offers.
* HealingFactor: Like his namesake animal, he can regenerate parts of his body even if they've been separated from him.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Though he's working for Vought and keeping their projects secret, Annie has sympathy for what he's put through at the company labs.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: After reminiscing about their days at Bible Camp and Capes for Christ, Annie blackmails him into getting a sample of Compound V from the 67th floor. Gecko laments their friendship, and when Annie tries to express sympathy for his time at Vought, he tells her that he wants nothing to do with her after giving her the sample.

!!! '''Personnel'''
[[folder:Stan Edgar]]
!! Stan Edgar
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/GiancarloEsposito
The CEO of Vought.

* AdaptationalBadass: From an off-screen character in the comics to James Stillwell's stand-in on the show.
* AscendedExtra: He's mentioned being the CEO and eventually dies in the comics, all off-screen, but makes a personal appearance here.
* BadassInANiceSuit: Befitting for the calculating CEO of a massive and well-connected company like Vought.
* BadassNormal: The CEO of Vought and can ''make Homelander balk'' by dismantling his ego and plans.
* CompositeCharacter: He was an offscreen character in the comics given a stoic demeanor and fashion sense taken from the comics' James Stillwell.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: He's the CEO of Vought, TheChessmaster behind the product that is "the Seven", making him the show's real BigBad. With this in mind, he honestly gives ComicBook/LexLuthor a run for his money as '''the''' definitive example in all of fiction.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Homelander and many others are [[AvertedTrope mistaken]] that Vought is a "superhero company." They are not, they are a pharmaceutical company, and are using Compound V among other projects to make massive profits.
* DeadpanSnarker: Seen when addressing plans to incorporate Supes into armed forces and when he's confronted by Homelander in his ofice.
* DissonantSerenity: Is completely calm at all times, whether he's negotiating with the Defense Department over how Vought's supes are deployed on the battlefield or he's being threatened by a sociopathic superhuman like Homelander.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Appears once in Season 1 before taking on a major role in Season 2.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Vocally condemns Frederick Vought's experimentation on human test subjects. It's not really clear if it's part of the company's attempt to keep up appearances or if he genuinely disapproves, but he notes this after he's begun telling Homelander the real story about Vought's founder.
* EvilGenius: His cunning and leadership of the company behind Compound V end up being just as threatening, if not moreso, compared to the Supes the Boys face.
* EvilVersusEvil: Is facing opposition from Homelander.
* {{Expy}}: A well-known business owner showing cunning underneath a smiling presence, behind a massive company with nationwide-and-beyond reach that is peddling a valuable blue product hidden under extraordinary public relations? Played by Giancarlo Esposito? [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Sounds familiar]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: He presents himself as a businessman with a welcoming air and smiles to whomever he's addressing, even keeping this façade when talking to Homelander. When Homelander tries exert his influence over the company and The Seven, Edgar drops any pretense and [[BreakThemByTalking begins showing why]] he runs Vought.
* GreaterScopeVillain: His role as of Season 1, considering he has only made one on-screen appearance but he's the CEO of Vought and, as such, the ultimate responsible of most of the series' conflict. In Season 2, he retains this role, even though he acts more directly.
* KnightOfCerebus: He makes moves against Homelander and has a serious air to him, raising the stakes of the show even higher with his addition of Stormfront.
* NonActionBigBad: Not a physical fighter, but runs Vought coldly.
* PragmaticVillainy: Everything he does is ensured to benefit the company, not needlessly ruin people's lives.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Homelander complains about being left out of the loop and threatens to quit Vought, Stan shuts him down with this speech. Unlike Stillwell, Stan isn't going to mollify Homelander no matter how much the evil superman tries to intimidate him:
-->'''Stan:''' The point is that you are under a misconception that we are a superhero company. We are not. What we are, really, is a pharmaceutical company. And you are ''not'' our most valuable asset. That would be our confidential formula for Compound V. Which you, man-child that you are, released into the wild.\\
'''Homelander:''' Don't know what you're talking about.\\
'''Stan:''' Well, let me remind you. You slipped Compound V to terrorists all over the globe to get you and your cronies into national defense. But maybe at the cost of destroying the whole company.\\
'''Homelander:''' I don't think I appreciate your tone, ''sir''. Not much at all.\\
'''Stan:''' And I don't appreciate that the FDA now knows about Compound V, or that it's only a matter of time before the public finds out. While you're preening at the Golden Globes we're busy, running around like maniacs, trying to clean up the mess you made. I don't have to consult you about Stormfront or anything else. Now... I believe you have a premiere of ''Tek Knight Lives'' to go to?
* StepfordSmiler: His conversation with Homelander begins with him acting polite before laying into him.
* TheStoic: Exhibits an eerie perpetual calmness like Stillwell in the comics (not to mention [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring another Giancarlo Esposito character]]).