| “ | Are you okay? Would you like me to be someone else? I can be whoever you want.
―Doppelganger to Homelander[src]
|
” |
Doppelganger is a recurring character in the Amazon series The Boys. They are a shapeshifting Supe who works for Vought International.
The Boys Series[]
Season One[]
When Senator Calhoun rejects the idea of integrating Supes into national defense, Madelyn Stillwell hires Doppelganger to pose as a middle-age, but attractive woman named "Rhonda" and sleep with the Senator. After restraining and blindfolding him, Doppelganger shifts back into their true form and takes pictures of themself having intercourse with the unsuspecting Calhoun to blackmail him into sponsoring a bill to militarize Supes.
Doppelganger later appears disguised as Stillwell and shows Calhoun the photos. When Calhoun denies the photographic evidence, Doppelganger reveals their true form as the same person in the photo before Stillwell dismisses them.
Season Two[]
After Madelyn Stillwell's death, Doppelganger starts a perverse agreement with Homelander to use their powers to transform into Stillwell and satisfy his sexual fantasies. One night, when Homelander comments that people think he "only loves himself," Doppelganger transforms into Homelander and tries to perform oral sex on him, but Homelander realizes he doesn't "need anyone" to love him and snaps their neck with a single hand.
Personality[]
Doppelganger, like most supes, is extremely smug and borderline sociopathic. They took a great deal of pleasure in revealing their true form to Senator Calhoun after they had seduced and slept with him, as he believed he had slept with Rhonda, an attractive woman.
They are also great at holding a certain personality. During their time as Rhonda, the bartender, they kept a servant like attitude, and behaved like an experienced bartender. Even during the sex sequence, they are shown to be comically uttering "sir" after their phrases.
Doppelganger is skilled at seducing others. Not only did they seduce Senator Calhoun, but they also acted as Madelyn Stillwell for Homelander's pleasure and knew exactly how to play along with his twisted fantasy.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Shapeshifting: Doppelganger possesses the ability to physically transform their appearance into that of other individuals by memory. They have transformed into multiple people, such as Rhonda, Madelyn Stillwell, and Homelander.
- Voice Replication: As a result of being a shapeshifter, Doppelganger can also mimic anyone's voice regardless of who they're currently transformed as. While having sex with Calhoun, they were able to speak with Rhonda's voice after reverting to their original form.
- Superhuman Hearing: Doppelganger possesses superhuman hearing, allowing them to hear better than humans. Like all Supes, they can hear higher frequencies that humans cannot.[1]
Abilities[]
- Acting: Doppelganger is able to accurately mimic the behavior of the person they shapeshift into. Whether this is a byproduct of their powers or simply a skill is unknown, but they were shown acting exactly like the original Madelyn Stillwell and Homelander after taking their forms, and even acted like an experienced bartender as Rhonda.
Weaknesses[]
Biological[]
- Limited Shapeshifting: Doppelganger can only change their physical body, and is unable to change their current clothing/accessories. When revealing their true form to Calhoun, Doppelganger still retained Stillwell's earrings, necklace, dress and heels.
- Limited Duration: Holding another's form for too long causes them intense pain and forces them to revert to their original form. With effort, however, they seem able to recover and transform again within seconds.
- Superficial Shapeshifting: While in a different form, particularly a supes form, Doppelganger possesses none of their powers or special abilities, like Homelander's durability. Therefore, they couldn't survive Homelander breaking their neck, despite assuming their form. It's unclear if Doppleganger would possess abilities upon changing into a non-supe, like gaining enhanced strength from a bodybuilder.
- Lack of Secondary Abilities: Unlike most Supes, Doppelganger lacks secondary abilities, such as superhuman strength, durability, or regenerative healing. Therefore, they can be killed by ordinary means, just like humans. Homelander snaps Doppelganger's neck, killing them instantly.
- High Frequencies: Due to being a Supe, Doppelganger is susceptible to high frequencies. When a high frequency is playing, it can induce immense pain and temporarily neutralize them.
Trivia[]
- Doppelganger is a parody of Mystique from Marvel Comics and Elongated Man from DC Comics. Doppelganger's portrayal as a middle-aged, heavyset bald person seems to subvert Mystique's sultry femme fatale appearance. Their inability to stay transformed indefinitely without extreme pain is a weakness they share with Elongated Man.
- Amazon trivia reveals that Doppelganger is genderfluid and uses 'they/them' pronouns, though they are never referred to this way in the show.
- It is possible that Doppleganger has a heavyset appearance due to them being able to change into other forms, and therefore not keeping their actual body healthy.