With The Boys wrapping up its fourth season, i decided to rank the ten best villains on the show besides Homelander (because we all know he would be the top choice):
10. Sister Sage: The main villain of season 4 alongside Homelander, Sage is the smartest supe in the world, which leaves her vulnerable when it comes to combat and having a physical advantage. However, when it comes to a tactical and strategic advantage, she is Homelander’s most valuable ally and the greatest threat to the Boys so far. Sage is a nihilistic woman who is hired by Homelander to further his goals. Despite being genuinely disgusted by Homelander’s sadism and casual racism, Sage proves herself to be one of the most immoral supes yet as she furthers the conflict between Starlight and Homelander’s supporters and creates internment camps to imprison Vought’s enemies. Everything Sage does in the fourth season is kept close to the vest, which means that neither we as an audience nor the characters know what she might do next. Sage’s plan proves to be a success by the end of the season, granting Homelander basically all of the political power in the entire country. The worst part is that this was only the first phase of her plan. Phase 2 of Sage’s master plan could be even scarier in the final season. Susan Heyward gives the character a very chilling presence and I cannot wait to see Sage cause more havoc in season 5.
9. Stan Edgar: I don’t think there is a single role that Giancarlo Esposito hasn’t absolutely crushed. Stan Edgar is introduced as the CEO of Vought who is fully aware of the capabilities of the supes that he created and uses them to his advantage in every way he can, including showcasing them as celebrities or using them as deadly weapons. Stan is a highly intelligent man who is capable of being unbelievably ruthless. He has shown to never lose his composure. Whenever something has not gone his way, Stan has always remained calm and figured out a different solution to overcome his problem. Despite Stan’s endless list of crimes, he is able to understand the dangers of Homelander’s very existence. He is the only one to keep him in check and has never once been afraid of him, always talking down to the powerful supe like he is nothing. Despite being a normal human, Stan is one of the most dangerous villains in the show and easily one of the most memorable.
8. Victoria Neuman: While there are many supes in the show who are very flashy and over the top, Victoria Neuman is perhaps the most grounded of them despite her outlandish superpower. Neuman is a politician who is very popular with liberals and democrats due to her anti-supe stance. She is at first seen as an ally to the Boys and a close friend of Hughie in particular. Unfortunately, she turns out to be anything but that, as she is revealed to have the power to blow up people’s heads just by looking at them. She has killed hundreds of people for Vought due to her secretly being Stan Edgar’s adopted daughter. Neuman becomes an even more dangerous foe when she betrays Stan and aligns herself with Homelander in exchange for a vial of Compound V that she could give to her daughter Zoe. Making matters worse, she is elected as the vice president nominee for the popular politician Robert Singer, making the terrifying thought of a supe in the White House a possible reality. Neuman eventually turns on Homelander when he reveals his intention to make her his puppet and threatens the life of her daughter. To guarantee the safety of her daughter as well as herself, Neuman agrees to cooperate with the Boys. Unfortunately, Butcher (who had recently given into his darker impulses) murders her by brutally tearing her in half with his newfound powers. It’s hard to argue that Neuman didn’t deserve her fate, but the death itself is extremely brutal, especially as she was starting to redeem herself. Claudia Domat was a fantastic actor on the show, giving a very snarky but still menacing presence to the character. It’s a shame we won’t see her in season 5.
7. Firecracker: While there are many despicable villains in this show, I think the one I personally loathe the most is Firecracker. An extremely conservative and racist political commentator, Firecracker is a supe with a deep admiration (or rather obsession) for Homelander and his ideas. She is introduced as a relatively harmless (yet still annoying) alt-right internet grifter who enjoys spreading her ridiculous right-wing claims (ones that even a regular republican would probably tell you are absurd). However, Firecracker soon becomes a legitimate threat when Sage recruits her into the Seven. Not only does she prove herself to be a loyal supe to Homelander (to absolutely nauseating degrees), but she is shown to be an extremely vicious enemy to the Boys, especially to Starlight, whom she holds a deep hatred of. Firecracker is also shown to be a very petty and childish character, as she mainly hates Starlight because she bullied her when they were children at a beauty pageant. Because of this, Firecracker goes out of her way to torment her rival, the most prominent occurrence being when she holds a rally on live television to badmouth her and reveal incriminating information about her, the most cruel of which being the documents that reveal that she had an abortion. The villains on this show are all easy to hate, but Firecracker is easily one of the most disgusting. The worst thing about Firecracker is how real she feels. If you’ve been on YouTube or any major social media website, you’ve seen the same types of alt-right grifters who moan about everything being “woke” and attacking relatively innocent people for doing anything that doesn’t fit their own ideals. They are some of the most insufferable people on the internet and Firecracker is the personification of that. Valorie Curry has done a fantastic job as this character and I am both excited and kind of afraid to see just how much further they can take the character in season 5.
6. Joe Kessler: I was so excited when I heard Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast in the fourth season of this show. He is a fantastic actor who plays the best villains. I was initially very disappointed to hear that he wouldn’t be playing a supe but rather a government agent who is an ally to Butcher. Despite that, the character of Joe Kessler proved to be one of the best additions to the show so far. Kessler is introduced as a CIA agent who is a close friend of Butcher as they share a long history together, apparently serving in the military within the war in Afghanistan. Throughout the season, Kessler is Butcher’s close confidant who urges him to make more extreme decisions against Vought and the supes. He is one of the few people that Butcher is strangely open and vulnerable with. Whenever Butcher is close to choosing a less immoral path, Kessler repeatedly steers him towards making darker choices. However, it is soon revealed that Kessler is not real at all, with him being a figment of Butcher’s imagination thanks to the tumor in his brain caused by the Temp V he took in season 3. It was a turn I was not expecting, but it leads to a very interesting story with Kessler, who acts as the devil on Butcher’s shoulder, pushing him to make the worst choices. One of the most interesting things about Kessler as a villain is that he isn’t real. In a similar fashion to the infamous villain Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Kessler is the personification of Butcher’s dark side, who constantly takes over when Butcher whenever he is at his lowest, killing several people with the powers from the Compound V Butcher took. Like always, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is absolutely fantastic as Kessler, giving the character a playfully sadistic personality. I have no doubt that Kessler will continue to appear to push Butcher even further down his darker path and it will be terrifying to see if (or when) Butcher is pushed to the point of being too far gone.
5. The Deep: If there was one character in the show who you can definitely call a moron, it would absolutely be the Deep. The least respected member of the Seven, Deep is not just a waste of space but also a complete idiot. No one takes his underwater powers seriously and he is too stupid to realize how inefficient his powers are on dry land. It’s honestly very fun to see this character struggle to gain an ounce of respect from really anyone. However, despite his comedic moments, Deep is truly a despicable character. In one of the earliest and most infamous moments in the show, he blackmails Starlight into letting her be sexually assaulted by him, even taunting her about it later and behaving like she is a drama queen for what is in his eyes just hazing. After Starlight comes forward to the world and indirectly reveals that he was the one who sexually assaulted her, Deep is cast out of the Seven and forced to learn humility. Unfortunately, it becomes clear that Deep will never learn from his mistakes. He clearly regrets what he did to Starlight but only because of what it cost him, not because he hurt her and committed sexual assault on an innocent person. When Deep is brought back into the Seven by Homelander (who used it as a way of torturing Starlight), he only gets worse. After killing his octopus lover (don’t ask), he becomes completely loyal to Homelander, with him even promising to murder every sea creature in the ocean if he is ever asked to. Throughout the fourth season, Deep starts to feel a sense of power and thrill from killing people. This not only gives him more confidence but also pushes him to become a legitimately threatening villain. He even comes close to nearly killing Starlight after openly stating to her that he feels no remorse for what he did to her and would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant it caused her pain. Chace Crawford does an excellent job at playing the Deep, giving the character a very humorous and bumbling presence but never hiding his sadism and repulsive behavior.
4. A-Train: I think that of all the actors in this show, Jessie T. Usher might be one of my favorites. A-Train may not be the main villain of the show, but he certainly is one of the most important. A speedster supe who is obsessed with being the best, A-Train is introduced as a rude and arrogant “hero” who only cares about his image. He is a neglectful partner to his girlfriend Popclaw and distant from his older brother. A-Train is directly responsible for perhaps the most crucial event of the show, as he accidentally murdered Hughie’s girlfriend Robin by running through her. Despite this horrifying act, A-Train is shown to feel absolutely no remorse for it, with him even shown to be laughing about it later. He forms a bitter rivalry with Hughie, who greatly resents him for taking away a person he loved deeply and never even apologizing for it. A-Train commits several other horrible actions during the course of the show, such as murdering his girlfriend for inadvertently giving the Boys information and immediately ratting out Super Sonic to Homelander and getting him killed after he informed him of Starlight’s plan to take down the dangerous leader of the Seven. It initially seemed like A-Train was just an irredeemable sociopath. However, when A-Train’s brother is paralyzed by the racist supe Blue Hawk, he starts to feel remorse for his selfish actions, especially when his brother permanently cuts him out of his life. Throughout the fourth season, the guilt of what happened to his brother combined with him being fed up over constantly being bullied by Homelander pushes A-Train to align himself with the Boys. By the end of the season, A-Train openly betrays the Seven and Vought and flees, finally choosing the right side. I have absolutely no doubt that A-Train will return next season. He hasn’t fully redeemed himself just yet, but I’m excited to see him finally start to become a true hero.
3. Black Noir: One of the strangest, if not the strangest main characters in the show has to be Black Noir. The Boys’ answer to Batman, Black Noir is a silent supe with ninja-like abilities and is Vought’s top enforcer next to Homelander, with him doing a great deal of the killing. Unlike Homelander who sometimes refuses to listen to them if it doesn’t benefit him, Noir follows Vought’s commands without question and always obeys them no matter what the order is. Throughout the show, you are not sure just what exactly is going on inside Noir’s head. You don’t even see his face. The most expression we see from Noir is the lifeless helmet he wears. Noir in the present day is very unstable and clearly not all mentally there. You sometimes wonder if he is even human. During the third season, Noir receives a massive amount of focus as it was revealed that he was a member of Payback, Vought’s most popular superhero team in the 1980s before the Seven. Noir was the favorite target of Payback’s leader Soldier Boy, who brutally abused him any chance he could get. With Vought’s approval, Noir came up with a plan to get rid of Soldier Boy by making him a prisoner of the Soviet Union. Although he accomplishes his goal along with the other members of Payback (who hated Soldier Boy just as much as he did), Noir is severely injured by Soldier Boy, suffering from massive brain damage. Following this, Noir is reduced to almost just a mindless walking drone for Vought to order around. When Soldier Boy comes back, Noir initially flees, but after some encouragement from his imaginary friends, he returns to team up with Homelander to fight his old enemy. Unfortunately for him, Homelander murders him for hiding the truth that Soldier Boy was his father. There is something very pitiful about Noir’s death. He never got to be a person of his own accords, being raised as a product for Vought then as a punching bag for Soldier Boy and finally as a henchman for Homelander. Just when he finally is about to do something that he chose to do and fight Soldier Boy, he is killed before he even gets to do it. Nathan Mitchell never even had any lines as the character and he conveyed so much. It is a shame that Noir died, but at least we have his more comedic replacement who Mitchell is allowed to speak and act differently as.
2. Soldier Boy: I went back and forth on who should be in the top spot and Soldier Boy was extremely close. Before there was Homelander, Soldier Boy was the most powerful and popular supe to ever live. Basically The Boys’ answer to Captain America, Soldier Boy is the embodiment of toxic masculinity. He hates emotion, puts on a macho attitude and is incredibly sexist, racist and homophobic. Soldier Boy led the superhero team Payback in the 1980s. In a similar manner to Homelander, he tormented his teammates, treating them more like slaves than actual people, especially Black Noir, who he enjoyed beating up the most. After his team betrays him and gives him to the Russian army as a prisoner, Soldier Boy is experimented on and turned into a living nuclear bomb and can create a massive explosion whenever he mentally blacks out. When the Boys accidentally free Solider Boy from his prison, he makes it his mission to hunt down the members of Payback and kill them one by one. He is offered an alliance by Butcher and Hughie, who promise him that if he kills Homelander, they will help him kill his former teammates. Soldier Boy proves to be a powerful ally, nearly killing Homelander during a brutal fight. However, things take a turn when Soldier Boy discovers that he is the father of Homelander. It initially seems like Soldier Boy will side with his son, who desperately wants a relationship with his newly discovered father. Despite that, Soldier Boy surprisingly chooses to try and kill Homelander, not because of him being a horrible monster, but rather because Homelander showcases too much emotion, making him a disappointment in Soldier Boy’s eyes. However, when Soldier Boy threatens the life of Ryan (his own grandson), Butcher realizes that Soldier Boy is too dangerous and puts him back in a comatose state following a vicious fight. It seems like Soldier Boy will return as Homelander discovers his body and looks to be bringing him back. Jensen Ackles was absolutely phenomenal as the villain. With how long he played such a lovable character like Dean Winchester in Supernatural, it was such a fun twist to see him play a complete monster like Soldier Boy. I am so excited to see Soldier Boy come back in the final season of The Boys. Given how Homelander has his body, I have a good feeling that he will team up with his son and seek revenge against the Boys, which will make their already dire situation even more terrifying.
1. Stormfront: A lot of people may take issue with the fact that Soldier Boy isn’t in the top spot. While I love Soldier Boy, I have to say that while I think Soldier Boy is the better character, Stormfront is the better villain. An immortal Nazi and the first supe to ever be created, Stormfront is introduced as the new member of the Seven who is brought in to replace Translucent. She initially seems like a smart and fun character who sees past the shallow nature of Vought and calls both the company and Homelander out for their lies and corruption. At first glance, she seems like a new lovable character who could be a potential ally to the Boys. However, by the third episode she proves to be quite possibly the most evil character in the entire series as she shows her true colors as a sadistic and immensely racist supe who is willing to commit far more horrible acts than even the most corrupt supes. Stormfront’s true goal is to create an army of supes to take over the world and form a new Nazi regime. She is very charismatic as she effortlessly manipulates the public into supporting her. At first Homelander does not like her, as she steals the spotlight from him with ease. However, when she reveals her deep admiration for him and aids him in gaining further popularity from the public, he falls deeply in love with her, especially when she reveals herself to be just as much of a sadist as he is. She soon pushes Homelander to be even more of a monster than he already was, convincing him to kill more people and take a more alt-right stance in politics. Throughout the second season, Stormfront emerges as the true main villain as she works behind the scenes to create her army and gains the hatred of other characters like Starlight, A-Train and especially Kimiko, who watched Stormfront mercilessly kill her younger brother. Despite Homelander’s love for Stormfront, even he is shown to find her Nazi ideals off putting, especially when she tries to push them on his son Ryan. It says a lot when even a monster like Homelander thinks you have gone too far. After Ryan lasers Stormfront when she threatens his mother, the Nazi supe is reduced to a horribly disfigured husk, who is missing an eye and three of her limbs with only one arm being left. She no longer has her hair either. Now stuck in a hospital bed, she can do nothing but beg Homelander to carry out her mission. However, when Homelander refuses due to wanting to be the only powerful dominant supe, Stormfront kills herself. Despite her death, her legacy looms over the show as Homelander becomes even more sadistic and unstable and actually follows through with her goals. It shows just how much damage Stormfront did as a villain as even though she can’t physically cause anymore problems, the mark that she left on everyone remains and is irreversible. Aya Cash was absolutely fantastic as the character. While I do miss her on the main show, I am very excited to see her return to the universe of The Boys in the upcoming prequel series starring her and Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy that is currently in development.
