Many fans dismiss Starlight as a relatively insignificant hero in The Boys, not giving her powers much credit in the grander scheme of things. While she may not be potent enough to take down the likes of Homelander or Solider Boy singlehandedly, her involvement in fighting for the cause has orchestrated the downfall of many otherwise untouchable antagonists, without always resorting to throwing punches.
As the first major double agent within the Seven, The Boys owe Annie January a great deal of gratitude for all she has put up with to attain valuable insider information. How she kissed Homelander without immediately gagging is a skill of its own, but acting the part is what Starlight seems to do best, as long as it all benefits the greater good in the end. Here are some of the top moments where Starlight changed the game, or simply made fans giggle and swoon.
11 The Almighty Almond Joy
Starlight always seems to be weighing up the pros and cons of every situation, prioritizing what the most morally correct choice is... Even when it comes to snacks! Who can forget Hughie and Annie's impromptu 'date' alongside the vending machine in Season 2 episode 4 of The Boys, during their mission with MM to track down more information on Liberty.
Viewers (and Hughie) are still getting to know more about Annie's character, and her love for Almond Joys holds a lot of meaning. Training oneself to consistently chose the healthy option, even during snack time, takes a significant amount of self-discipline, and fits right in with Starlight's good girl image. By the way, her other top two preferences are Charleston Chew and Bit-O-Honey; the most 'vanilla' of all the candy bars! If Hugie only knew how potent an Almond Joy could be to a particularly OP Supe, he would be celebrating Annie's strange obsession instead.
10 Putting the Deep in his Place
The Deep showed viewers how truly despicable he is early on in The Boys when he quickly takes an opportunity to sexually assault the new young recruit of the Seven in Season 1. Starlight is forced to satisfy the Deep's urges, regardless of her good-girl status, however, she does not take his abuse lying down.
Not only does Starlight tell the world about what went down during her "hazing", but she confronts the Deep face-to-face, ensuring that he knows how insignificant his contribution to the Seven is, as the "Fishboy" of the Supes. Starlight gets him kicked off the team, shooting her popularity points right up in the process and subsequently inspiring Queen Mauve to also stand up against the toxic masculinity.
9 Exposing Compound V
Vought International obviously had no clue what a poor decision it was for them to invite Starlight into the fold of the Seven, as she has caused them nothing but headaches since joining the team. Refusing to remain silent like all the other Supes, Annie goes out of her way to enlighten the world of the sinister deeds going down behind the scenes at Vought International.
After taking The Deep down, Annie aims straight for the jugular by clarifying the connection between Vought International and Compound V. Hughie, Starlight and Gecko dispelled the notion that Supe's are born with powers, informing the nation that Vought has been testing volatile drugs on infants all along, putting their squeaky-clean image on the chopping block.
8 Starlight and A-Train
A-Train is another Supe who has evidently let his celebrity status go to his head and tends to throw his weight around a lot (for someone who relies purely on speed to get anything done.) Starlight shows the least bit of intimidation when dealing with A-Train from the get-go and still manages to gain the upper hand even though each knows devastating secrets about the other.
Starlight matches A-Train's blackmail threats in Season 2, keeping him relatively removed from causing too much trouble, and even takes the Supe on as they battle in a parking lot. Even though it is the drug-induced heart palpitations that won the fight for Starlight, she still showed some nerve taking him on with minimal access to light energy.
7 Roadtrip Karaoke
Annie and Hughie are adorable in Season 2 episode 4, singing and bonding on a road trip like its summer vacation, but their supposedly random song choice has a deeper meaning than some fans may have realized. Between the bad karaoke and the disgruntled look on MM's face, it is easy to laugh this scene off as an unexpectedly wholesome moment, until you take a closer look.
Hughie and Annie are belting out the tunes of Billy Joel's song, "We Didn't Start The Fire", from the album titled (drum roll please!) ..."Storm Front"! Eric Kripke seems to do nothing without a deeper motive, and this little Easter Egg is a nod at the Nazi villain that The Boys are currently looking for, previously known as Liberty.
6 Exposing Vought International
The Herogasm event completely changed the game for Starlight, and not because of the provocative images that will undoubtedly forever be ingrained in her memory. Starlight has attempted to gain control over the Soldier Boy situation, but the massacre at Love Sausage's party is the straw that breaks the camel's back, and she finally tells her loyal followers the truth.
Although her main enemy is Homelander, Starlight goes out of her way to ensure people are aware of Vought International's involvement in the Soldier Boy cover-up, and publically cuts her ties with the company. Reclaiming her birth name, Annie puts a target on her head, but as usual, her actions are all for the greater good.
5 Live Streaming Homelander
Annie has proven to be a quick thinker on countless occasions, but her fast intellect could not have been more useful than in Season 3 episode 7. After breaking into The Tower and stealing a vial of Compound V for Kimiko, Starlight is met at the elevator by none other than Homelander, his psychotic smile sinisterly plastered to his face.
While Homelander attempts to intimidate Annie into submission, he pulls out all the stops, subsequently putting his threats and manipulation on full display. Little did he know that the whole conversation is being recorded over live stream, and Starlight's followers get full exposure to the monster he can be. Not many people can say they have insulted Homelander to his face and lived to tell the tale!
4 Starlight vs Solider Boy
Starlight may not have won this fight, but nobody can deny how epic she looked as Hughie helps her power up to the next level of awesomeness! Homelander is no longer "the only man in the sky", as Annie discovers that she can levitate (potentially capable of more if given the chance to experiment.)
Starlight's super-charged blast is not strong enough to do any significant damage, but it did knock Soldier Boy backward, causing him to lose focus and become temporarily overpowered. Now that Annie knows how much influence electricity has on her abilities, she will undoubtedly exploit this knowledge more frequently in the future.
3 Protecting Maeve
Queen Maeve hasn't exactly given Starlight a welcoming reception into the Seven, and her relationship with her fellow Supe would be described as anything but warm and fuzzy. While Starlight seeks some female camaraderie from her supposed ally, Maeve is generally quite dismissive and harsh, giving the youngster very little assistance.
The pair find commonality in their mutual hatred for Homelander and are technically on the same team, but Maeve's spikey personality does nothing to comfort Starlight's anxiety. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, Starlight stands by Maeve, starting the #FreeMaeve movement and protecting her secret new human identity after the world believes Soldier Boy had ended Queen Maeve's life.
2 The Girls Fight Dirty
Homelander may be one of the worst Supes with great influence, but he is by no means the only one, and it is unsurprising that his paramour shares similar psychotic ideals when it comes to the treatment of humanity. The big shocker is when Stromfront's previous identity is revealed (aka Liberty), which does nothing to stop Starlight, Kimiko, and Mauve from beating the Nazi villain to a pulp in the Season 2 finale.
Three-on-one may not exactly be a fair fight, but when Starlight makes her first assault on Stormfront, she is the only one around capable of doing so. When Mauve arrives on the scene and Kimiko resurrects from the dead, the superhuman ladies take full advantage of the situation, causing the Nazi to flee in fear before more of her blood is spilled.
1 Nom Nom Nom!
One of Starlight's funniest moments is during the fan-favorite Herogasm episode, where the vanilla girl tries to convince Love Sausage that she too is a sexual deviant. Partnered up with Mother's Milk, Annie goes into this awkwardly detailed description of their allegedly intense sexual relationship, and for some reason, Love Sausage buys it!
It's super cute to watch Starlight struggle to find adequately dirty words to describe what goes down in the bedroom, and her additional sound effects are the cherry on top. It's difficult to tell who feels more awkward in this situation, as MM can't seem to keep his eyes off Love Sausage's... appendages long enough to help a sister out!