The Boys paints a topsy-turvy world where the most honorable superheroes are bad and the people who want them dead are the good guys. It's a classic case of David versus Goliath, but with a more contemporary spin. Consequently, The Boys has introduced some of television's most diabolical villains. Some of them aren't even necessarily super-powered.
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It's a series where even the villains' allegiances are murky at best, held only by the glue that is Compound V. At the same time, The Boys explores what exactly might happen if twisted and perverse individuals manage to obtain godly powers. Victory is nowhere near in sight at the moment thanks to these villains.
Updated on June 10, 2024, by Jake Fillery: The Boys is heading heavy into Season 4, and the diabolical antics of its monstrous villains are only set to continue, especially now that Homelander's true sense of justice has been unleashed ever since he used his heat vision on a protester in the finale of Season 3. The Boys' most diabolical villains are often allowed to commit the atrocities they do because of the abuse of power they have, whether it's through political gains, company status, or their mixings with Compound V. With this list updated, who's to say what other villains await The Boys in Season 4 and beyond.
10 The Deep
A Sexual Abuser, Desperate For Fame
The Deep is one of the members of The Seven, and when audiences first witness him, they immediately see the kind of man he is. The Deep abuses his position in the Seven to get what he wants from their newest member, Starlight. When his actions are brought to light, he is forced out of his position, and he begins his journey of redemption, but that day never really comes, because he never really grows as a person.
The Deep will always do what is asked of him if it means he can get what he wants. His spineless behavior makes him a willing murderer, a toxic yes-man, and a sexual abuser who remains truthfully unapologetic for his actions, and Season 4 will probably only see him descend deeper into mayhem.
9 Blue Hawk
A Racist B-List Superhero
Compared to The Seven, Blue Hawk is a nobody, a lowly superhero who doesn't amount to anything other than the advantages of Compound V that he doesn't deserve. Blue Hawk might not be one of the biggest villains to Billy Butcher's crew, but his racism makes him diabolical, as he isn't afraid to racially profile people and convince himself that everyone who isn't white is dangerous.
Blue Hawk is extremely strong, and he has hurt many innocent people, patrolling poorer neighborhoods and hurting their communities physically. With his name as a superhero, and his usage of Compound V, Blue Hawk is seemingly untouchable, unless another superhero has something to say about it.
8 Lamplighter
A Murderer, Working Under Vought's Thumb
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One of the founding members of The Seven, Lamplighter certainly didn't last, and his demotion among the team was met with much shame. Lamplighter remained in Vought's employment, as an orderly who would cover up any of Vought's experiments that went wrong in Sage Grove Center. Lamplighter will do whatever is asked of him and will use his powers to incinerate anybody, innocent or otherwise.
Lamplighter has murdered children, and he would murder anyone who seems to get in his way, especially if it involves being blackmailed. Despite his assistance to Butcher's plans, Lamplighter is an unwilling soldier, and would much prefer to be in the spotlight again with his fellow heroes.
7 A-Train
A Speedster Who Will Kill Anyone Who Gets In The Way Of His Spotlight
The funny thing about A-Train's existence as a villain is that he's as much of a victim as he is an antagonist. He's always at Homelander's mercy, but A-Train just sucks it up for fame and fortune. His most recent crime was spilling Starlight's plan to take down Homelander, causing Supersonic's death— just when viewers thought that he was about to enter his redemption arc.
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But even prior to that, A-Train was already an irredeemable mess. It's worth noting that as early as the first episode in season 1, A-Train was the one who set things in motion for Huey's life after he nonchalantly killed the latter's girlfriend. After that, A-Train kept using everyone around him just to get back to the Seven, proving he was no better than his bullies.
6 Black Noir
Silent And Extremely Deadly With A Perversion For Violence
Black Noir is a different breed of villainy in The Boys. He's a parody of Batman, and while he does perform some grotesque and macabre assassinations often, he tends to show his human and relatable side more than certified psychopaths like Homelander. Still, the air of mystery surrounding him as well as his murky allegiance makes him an enigmatic threat.
It doesn't help that Black Noir will hound down just about anyone like a professional hitman in order to fulfill his missions. It's even safe to assume that should the need arise for Black Noir to kill Homelander, he'll probably do so. But for now, he's a villain to The Boys— one who they'll always have trouble dealing with since he tends to operate in the shadows.
5 Soldier Boy
A Supe From Another Time, On A Path Of Twisted Revenge
Being a bastardized caricature of Captain America, fans don't have to have read the graphic novel in order to guess everything wrong with the show's Soldier Boy. He's a two-faced maniac who is very much the opposite of what he stands for. Allegations include pedophilia, all manners of sexual assault, and the usual cold-blooded murder — mostly through war crimes.
But somehow, the series found a way to make Soldier Boy even more destructive and wicked. Thanks to the Russians on the show, Soldier Boy is now a walking anti-Supe weapon that can erase just about any trace of Compound V while killing an individual. It could be interesting to see where the series plans to twist this new direction, but there's no doubt that Soldier Boy is a villain even before he became a Soviet experiment.
4 Stan Edgar
Products And Ratings Come Above Morality
Stan Edgar is one of the aforementioned villains and power players in the series who seems to have no superpowers. Even so, that doesn't stop him from murdering even the likes of Homelander with nothing but words. For a long time, Stan Edgar was Vought's face — Homelander's boss, even. He stepped in after Homelander murdered Madelyn Stillwell. Stillwell's strings were also being pulled by Stan.
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For a time, Stan was also able to apply this same kind of power play to Homelander, particularly in season 2. As for his transgressions against The Boys, Stan's perpetuation of Vought's nasty legacy of underhanded dealings and interloping contributed much to Homelander's success in season 3. Even something as mundane as covering up Homelander's crimes did plenty of damage to the world.
3 Victoria Neuman
A Secret Supe With Dangerous Political Ambitions
Victoria Neuman, a.k.a. Nadia, is the person responsible for all the exploding heads back in season 2. Turns out she was Stan Edgar's closest ally and also one of his aces, for whenever Homelander pushes more boundaries. Neuman herself was taught by Stan and is thus no stranger to Machiavellian strategies and tactics. This eventually led to her betraying Stan and siding with Homelander.
The most cruel aspect of her villainy is the fact that she offered up false hope for The Boys. She was shaping up to be a beacon of light and resistance against Vought's tyranny until Huey found out that she was bedfellows with Stan Edgar himself. She was playing The Boys all along, while also gaining an upper hand against Stan. Such a cold and calculated persona makes Neuman one of the most dangerous individuals in The Boys.
2 Stormfront
A Fascist Supe With Rotten Ideals
As one of the main villains in season 2, Stormfront had several layers of dysfunction and turned into a superhero. Initially, she was Vought's attempt to make Homelander heel, but they ended up being each other's poison. Stormfront was first and foremost a neo-fascist and believed in racial supremacy, which automatically makes her a deplorable human being.
Her foul beliefs were merely compounded upon obtaining superpowers. She was one of the most efficient and strongest Supes in existence; paired with some rotten ideals, and Stormfront was a calamity waiting to happen. She got her dues in season 2, but this didn't stop her from staying true to her terrible stand.
1 Homelander
Diabolical, Sinister, Perverse, And Seemingly Invincible
And of course, the star of the show, and the cream of the crop, Homelander. He's everything that could go wrong with superheroes rolled into one case study package. Simply put, Homelander is the most evil version of an evil Superman possible (at the moment). In fact, the show's Homelander has proven to be even more diabolical compared to his graphic novel counterpart.
There's no depth Homelander wouldn't sink to if it meant that he got his way. This kind of man-child mentality, coupled with his invulnerability makes Homelander the most volatile and dangerous individual in The Boys. The only thing holding him back from murdering the whole Earth is that he's a lonely narcissist who thrives on validation.
