| “ | I'm not fucking trying to fucking impress anybody! I don't have to. The world's mine. People are toys, they're fucking paste, and you and Vought and all the other wormshit can fuck yourselves--! I did this for me. Not some corporate f*ggot wiping up his cum with banknotes. Me. Because I alone have the might-- I can take what's mine, I don't have to share, and that makes this whole fucking shitball my birthright...!
―The Homelander to Billy Butcher
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” |
John Gillman (better known as The Homelander) is the secondary antagonist of the Dynamite Entertainment adult comic book series The Boys, and the overarching antagonist of I'm Your Pusher, the third episode of The Boys Presents: Diabolical.
With the face of a movie star and the power of a god, Homelander was the greatest superhero alive and the leader of Vought-American's premier superhero team The Seven. Not only could he fly, but he also had super strength and super hearing, and he could see through almost anything with his x-ray vision and then destroy it with his laser eyes.
On the surface, he was an affable and humble superhero, but his true nature and his secrets were what led him to clash with The Boys, a watchdog group of anti-superhero vigilantes backed by the CIA, becoming the archenemy of the leader of said group, Billy Butcher.
History[]
Creation & Birth[]
Homelander's gruesome birth
John Gillman, the Supe who would be known as Homelander, was grown by Vought-American, being the first of a new breed of heroes as a result of Compound V. While most of Vought's supes up to that point had been injected with Compound V as adults, Homelander was the first successful attempt to inject the serum on an embryo.
Grown from the DNA of Stormfront and birthed from a woman with mental illness and no legal guardian that was part of one of Vought's drug trials, the baby was born circa 1951 in an underground lab with most of his powers active, killing his mother at birth by eviscerating her with his heat vision. The blood-smeared infant soon began to fly with his umbilical cord still attached to him while he used his heat vision to kill many of the doctors and nurses that oversaw his birth.
Early Years[]
Homelander's first public appearance, circa 1969
John was later raised and experimented on by Vought in a silo in South Dakota for the next eighteen years where he was tied to an hydrogen bomb at a young age in case his aggression got out of control. Throughout his childhood, he developed his different powers, which included super strength, speed and durability, healing factor, longevity, resurrection, heat and x-ray vision, enhanced senses, sonic scream and flight. Vought trained the future Supe to act the right way, building a public persona that the people could latch onto.
Homelander becomes the leader of The Seven
To the public, in a cover-up of the truth, his origin was that he "crash-landed on Earth", being found as a little baby at the bottom of a crater on a prairie without a spaceship. Hailing from the stars, the baby grew into a boy in a week and a teenager a week after that. Vought eventually realized that they needed a way to put down Homelander if it ever came to that, since using an hydrogen bomb wasn't practical, so from the same DNA they created a better and stronger clone that would work right next to Homelander, known to the public as Black Noir. In the early 1970s, Homelander became the leader of The Seven, a group made up of six other Supes who were created in the same way as Homelander after his success, including Noir.
9/11 Incident[]
| “ | That's what you get when a bunch of fucks in tights try to save the goddamn day.
―The Legend on the 9/11 incident
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” |
Homelander during the 9/11 fiasco
During the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, The Seven were sent to stop the hijackers that took over a commercial passenger plane and rescue the hostages inside. Unfortunately, Homelander and the rest of his team didn't understand the tactical or physical challenges the mission required, this coupled with the fact that Black Noir fell while being carried and Jack from Jupiter fleeing the scene, resulted in the Seven making the situation worse. Homelander and Maeve forcefully opened the plane door during the flight, resulting in one of the kids that was close to the door being sucked out of the plane and dying due to the the cabin decompression. Entering the plane while the air was escaping, Queen Maeve told the scared passengers to put their oxygen masks on while Homelander strolled to the cockpit to stop the terrorists.
Being overwhelmed by all the passengers screaming for help, Homelander told them to shut up with his sonic scream, making the passengers' eardrums bleed. After the Deep broke the windshield, Homelander killed the terrorists and the plane began to fall. As Queen Maeve chastised him for his incompetence, Homelander gave up and left the plane with Mister Marathon holding on to him. After Marathon convinced him that they should help the plane otherwise Vought would fire them, Homelander flew towards the back of the plane in an attempt to shove the tail down and level it. Not measuring his own strength, Homelander ended up breaking the plane in half and killed Mister Marathon due to the impact. The fractured plane ended up crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge.
Meeting the Boys[]
| “ | I asked the others afterwards, and none of them picked up on it. All they got was a constant sense of disdain, like you barely thought they were worth looking at. Actually, you didn't look at them. You couldn't take your eyes off me.
―Homelander to Butcher regarding their first meeting
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Shortly after the 9/11 disaster, Homelander and The Seven began to be blackmailed with proof of their involvement in the incident by The Boys, a government-sponsored group of people tasked with policing, monitoring, and potentially stopping corrupt superheroes, led at the time by Lieutenant-Colonel Greg Mallory. The blackmail enraged Lamplighter, making him burn Mallory's granddaughters in a fit of anger, which threatened to unleash a violent conflict between The Seven and the CIA.
Homelander meets Billy Butcher
Knowing what a conflict between them and the government would lead to, regardless of who'd came out on top, The Seven and the Boys decided to make a truce to prevent said conflict from escalating, with the group of Supes agreeing to sacrifice Lamplighter, giving him over to the Boys so that Mallory could kill him as revenge. During the meeting where Lamplighter was given to the group of superhuman watchdogs, Homelander noticed how one of them, Billy Butcher, couldn't take his eyes off him, noticing some intense hatred coming from the man directed at him specifically.
Welcoming Starlight[]
| “ | You were kidding. That's brilliant. That was an official meeting of the Seven- that means playtime's over. Do you understand? Do you?
―Homelander to A-Train
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” |
Homelander threatens A-Train
Homelander was present to welcome Starlight, the new member of The Seven and replacement for Lamplighter, and show her their headquarters. Right after the tour, Homelander demanded that Starlight engaged in oral sex with him and two other members of The Seven, A-Train and Black Noir, as way to test how much she wanted to join the team.
He later held a meeting where he officially introduced Starlight as the new member of The Seven and discussed merchandising with the rest of his team, explaining that him, Noir and Queen Maeve gained more due to being more popular as "the big three". After Homelander caught A-Train making a slurping gesture to Starlight in the middle of the meeting, he threatened A-Train in private after the meeting and made him promise to never do that again in front of a Vought-American member.
Return of the Boys[]
| “ | For us, duty calls- but let me just take a moment to remind the people at home that we're still watching out for them. That's our job. That's what we do. And should the worst ever happen, please, just remember: we'll be there for you.
―The Homelander's speech on live television
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Homelander and The Seven on television
Shortly after the members of Teenage Kix began to be blackmailed and were forced to out one of their own members, it didn't take long for Homelander to figure out that Billy Butcher and the Boys were back to policing Supes. During another meeting, Homelander informed the rest of The Seven about Butcher's return and how his targeting of Teenage Kix was a "warning shot" for them, saying he wasn't going to go away. Homelander also informed Starlight during their meeting that Vought American demanded her to have a more revealing and "photogenic" costume from now on.
Following a huge fight between the members of Teenage Kix and the Boys, where Blarney Cock was killed and the other Supes were left badly injured, The Seven talked about how unusual was for the Boys to be so public about their attacks. During a live interview, Homelander introduced Starlight in her new costume as the replacement of Lamplighter in The Seven, later giving a speech about how they'll always be watching out for the people before going off to save the world.
Weakened Truce[]
| “ | Why do you hate me so much? I don't mean this problem with super-people in general, or why your team has the agenda that it does. I mean why do you hate me? I can hear your heartrate, you know. You can keep your face perfectly still, but can't stop your heart pounding along like that--and I know it's not from fear, I'd be able to smell it. It's anger. Exactly the same as the last time we met.
―Homelander to Billy Butcher
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Homelander meets with Butcher at the Brooklyn Bridge
The next year, Homelander had conversation with James Stillwell, where he disclosed to the Supe that Butcher and his men probably informed the white house of their V.P.'s visits and Vic's speech, with Homelander believing their headquarters was bugged. He later sent the Deep to meet with the Boys to see if the truce was still active, as he believed he wouldn't be able to hold his temper if he went himself. After Butcher refused to speak unless Homelander himself came to him, the two agreed to meet at the remains of the Brooklyn Bridge. After explaining to Butcher what consequences his actions would lead to and him never answering, Homelander asked the man why he hated him so much and began to suspect that he did something to someone that was close to Butcher.
An angry Homelander after his meeting with the Boys
After eventually figuring out that he did something to Butcher's wife, Butcher's pet Terror peed on Homelander, with the Supe threating to laser the dog before Butcher told him the truce would be officially broken if he harmed the animal. Tired of his games, Homelander told Butcher that he didn't care anymore and that he could start doing his worst if he wanted to, which ended their meeting. Back at their headquarters, Homelander was confronted by A-Train who demanded him to punish Starlight for blinding him after he tried to rape her, to which Homelander responded by throwing a fighter jet onto another, creating an explosion to make it clear that he wasn't in the mood for his complaints.
Setting up a Coup[]
| “ | The only man in the sky is me.
―Homelander to the Muller family
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Homelander talks to Oh-Father during the Believe event
Days later, Homelander had a meeting with James Stillwell where he wanted to go over his involvement in the Believe event this year, but the Supe told Stillwell that he didn't want to do it this time, and even agreed with Starlight when she decided not to assist the event either, but the two were eventually forced to go anyway after Stillwell threatened to put The Seven and Vought-American's relationship under review. After that, A-Train found Homelander curled into a fetal position while sobbing about why he can't do the things he can. When Homelander asked if someone was there, A-Train ran out of there in panic.
The day of the Believe event, Homelander went to talk to Oh-Father after his presentation with the Sidekick 12, telling him that he needed him to keep tabs on what was happening around the world and how people would react to certain developments. Later watching Starlight's speech for the event, Homelander asked the leader of the Capes for Christ if there were any more Supes like her, who really believed in truth and justice, but Oh-Father told him that other than Super Duper, no other superhero believed in that bullshit like Starlight did. Homelander then asked Oh-Father if they could help push Vought's agenda of incorporating superheroes into national defense as a way to take over the world, with Oh-Father saying that he believes only sixty to sixty five percent of the Supes would go along with it. With this information, Homelander asked him to arrange a get-together of every Supe that would come on board for this.
Homelander reunites with all the Supes
Homelander later talked with Starlight in the VIP area of the event, telling her that he was impressed with how she stood up for herself against Stillwell, saying that it's always good to remind Vought that they're not their dogs. When Starlight brought up wanting to quit the Seven, Homelander mocked her about how hard she worked into joining the team and briefly had a moment of clarity, telling her that she could take the day off.
At the end of the Believe event, Homelander announced the winners of the Dinner with the Homelander prize, the Muller family of Larchmont, New York. Saying goodbye to the public, Homelander lifted the Muller family's car and took them up to the sky before dropping them to their deaths after telling them how they were scammed. After killing the Mullers, all Supes that Oh-Father called upon reunited with Homelander in the sky, ready to discuss their plan to conquer the world.
Secrecy and Reflections[]
| “ | Are you scared? Of discovery, and punishment? Of what it means you are? Of the notion, by any sane measure of morality... that you've done something ctastrophic.
―Homelander to himself
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Homelander talking to his own reflection
During one of Black Noir's flying lessons, Homelander met Ms. Bradley and welcomed her and James Stillwell during their visit on The Seven Satellite. Stillwell asked him about Starlight, but Homelander said that she was still on her leave of absence. He also told Stillwell that everything went well with the N.Y.P.D. visit following the Mullers' "disappearance". At the end of Bradley and Stillwell's visit, Black Noir tried to take off on his aircraft, which still had some live ammunition on its cannon armament, and killed his instructor, splattering his guts on Ms. Bradley in the process.
In the bathroom, Homelander spoke to himself in the mirror, saying that people were toys for his amusement. His reflection then responded, wondering why was he even saying that to himself, believing that he was trying to convince himself of it, and that a real god wouldn't need to declare stuff to himself in the mirror. Homelander's reflection asked him if he was scared of being punished after they discover what he was trying to do. Homelander was also confronted with the idea that every terrible thing he's done so far was an attempt to impress his "daddy", and this angered him enough to try to punch his reflection before composing himself. Finally, the reflection asked Homelander why he remembered doing his recent crimes but not the ones from the past, like the one involving Billy Butcher's wife, but Homelander snapped out of this and composed himself, trying to leave the bathroom before saying to his reflection that Butcher showing his most depraved crimes to the world won't matter once he enacts his plan.
Death[]
He roused the Supes together to takeover the United States. He personally killed Victor Neuman. Coming face to face with Butcher he revealed he didn't remember committing his photographed acts. That's when Black Noir appears and reveals he was the one who raped Butcher's wife and got her pregnant, ultimately resulting in her death, also manipulating Homelander so that he could kill him, the one purpose for his creation. Angered at being used, he fought Noir, taking their fight outside, however Noir eventually won, holding a part of Homelander's torso and his arm, albeit heavily damaged.
Appearance[]
Homelander is a tall and muscular man with blond hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. He wears a suit reminiscent to Superman and Captain America's, echoing a blend between both drawn from the comics. Homelander wears red gloves and boots, as well as the American flag as a cape, connected by a chain to a giant gold American bald eagle on his right shoulder, symbolizing patriotism.
Personality[]
At first glance Homelander appeared to be a kind and caring individual, a hero who will do anything to protect the citizens of America and the American Dream. However, behind the facade he was deeply narcissistic, disturbed, and psychotic, showing no empathy. For a superhero, Homelander was incredibly brutal and aggressive, showing no concern for the safety of his own teammates or the people he should be protecting.
While he did not hesitate to commit huge acts of violence, Homelander in the beginning of the story still had a moral compass. He would get disturbed when he saw pictures of himself eating a baby, and the inability to remember doing such things eventually drove him further into insanity.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
Homelander throwing a fighter jet with ease
- Superhuman Strength: One of Homelander's primary abilities is his tremendous superhuman strength. Homelander is said to be the strongest man in the whole world. He possesses the greatest level of strength ever seen, allowing him to effortlessly overpower any opponent. He can hurl a fighter jet with one hand, crush a phone into dust, carry a car with four passengers while flying and kill Queen Maeve with just one punch. It is stated that he held up bridges scheduled for demolition. Homelander is considered a nuke when compared to the dynamite of Supes from the 1940's. He is superior to Stormfront, who can create tidal waves and hurricanes powerful enough to destroy entire villages and towns (8.6 Megatons of TNT). When injected or inhaled by Supes, Compound V increases their power even further, which Homelander has taken advantage of in the past. His strength was even enough to critically damage Black Noir during their battle.
| “ | He's been in a silo in South Dakota for eighteen years, with a hydrogen bomb strapped to his ass 'til they're sure they can trust him.
―Old Legend
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A regular human dies after being thrown at Homelander
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Homelander is very resistant to physical harm and the most resilient of the Seven. He is not only completely bulletproof, but also unfazed by explosions. Vought had to keep a hydrogen bomb strapped to him for 18 years, because they had no idea what else could possibly kill him. When Queen Maeve tried to hurt him with a sword, the weapon ended up breaking upon impact on his face. Billy Butcher claimed that Supes can swim across the Sun, where it can be over 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. The only thing capable of destroying him in the end was his own clone.
- Superhuman Stamina: Homelander possesses stamina that is enhanced to inhuman levels. As a result, his muscles produce practically no fatigue toxins during physical activity. They are able to withstand the stresses of moving at superhuman speeds or performing other superhuman feats for extended periods of time, without tiring or becoming weak.
- Superhuman Speed: Homelander can move far faster than the average human. He can tag A-Train, who can run at Mach 3 and move faster than Starlight could see. He is also faster than the members of the Boys, who can dodge Stormfront's lightning (671 million miles per hour). Billy Butcher has claimed that some Supes can outrun tachyons, which are theoretical particles that move faster than light.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Homelander possesses a healing factor that allows him to recover faster compared to ordinary humans as shown when he healed a cut on his face from a sword by Queen Maeve.
- Longevity: Homelander ages slower than a normal human, due to Compound V.
- Resurrection: Compound V can bring Supes back to life in case they do indeed die, but limits the cognitive abilities of the user. Compound V's resurrection also only works if the user has a functioning brain.
- Heat Vision: Homelander is capable of projecting highly concentrated beams of energy from his eyes. These blasts of energy are so powerful that they appear to be able to cut through anything. However, Homelander is most notable for using his optical beams on people, melting flesh and bone with ease and causing people to burst into gore. His heat vision can also take down an airplane, and cause a small explosion.
- X-Ray Vision: Homelander's vision allows him to see through any solid object or surface.
- Superhuman Hearing: Homelander possesses tremendous auditory awareness, allowing him to detect sounds from miles away. He can also use this power to detect a person's heartbeat, and can tell when they are excited or anxious, such as when he detected Billy Butcher's blood pressure to try and determine his motives.
- Superhuman Smell: Homelander's sense of smell has been heightened far beyond normal human capabilities, allowing him to smell things no other being could. He can use this power to detect an explosive, or to sense adrenaline produced by fear.
Homelander's scream ruptures the ears of all passengers
| “ | SHUT UP!
―Homelander shouting
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- Superhuman Voice: John's vocal cords are 20 times more powerful than the ones of a regular human, he can scream so loud that it rupture the eardrums of anyone around him.
- Flight: Homelander is able to levitate and propel himself at great speeds, allowing him to cover vast distances in a matter of minutes. He can keep up with airplanes and break the sound barrier. During the "I Tell You No Lie, G.I." storyline, he flew through the tail of a plane and smashed it in half. Billy Butcher says that some Supes can fly to the moon.
Abilities[]
| “ | He's humble, so he doesn't intimidate the men. He's vulnerable, so the women get to add a little romance to their fuck-fantasies. The right like him 'cause he's powerful an' he's ours. The left like him cause he's smart an' he's got a sense of humor, so at last this walkin' goddamn bomb is human...
―Old Legend
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- Charisma: As a result of Vought's years of conditioning, Homelander was an extremely charismatic and incredibly charming public figure. In each of his public appearances, Homelander proved to be loved and followed by groups of all genders, ages, and political leanings.
- Acting: Homelander was trained by Vought to become a highly skilled actor, being capable of using his heroic facade to trick most of the public. When enacting his plans to take over the world, Homelander also acted very docile to prevent suspicion from Vought.
- Intelligence: Despite his mental illness, Homelander has demonstrated to be very intelligent when the moment arises. He's consistently proven to be the smartest and most aware member of The Seven, correctly suspecting that the Boys returned before anyone, and later planning a coup to attack the White House. He was so cunning that the Boys and James Stillwell were surprised as to why they even had evidence to blackmail him in the first place, something that was later revealed to be the result of Black Noir framing him.
- Intimidation: Homelander is known to have a very intimidating presence that helps keep the members of The Seven in check. Many of those around him would not try to face him due to him being way to powerful and don't want to be killed.
- Indomitable Will: Homelander's insanity, or his frame of mind, made him immune to those who try to threaten him. His strength of will is super dark that he sought to destroy anyone who gets in the way of what he wants no matter the cost. Although, his fearlessness has limits as he can be intimidated by James Sitwell, the high-ranking executive of Vought-American.
Weaknesses[]
Psychological[]
- Lack of Training: He has no formal training in the use of his powers, or in handling dangerous situations. Along with the rest of his team, these inadequacies led to disaster when they attempted to stop a terrorist hijacking of a plane.
- Mental Illness: Homelander is a mentally unstable man. His obsessive need to be adored coupled with his consummate lack of empathy and lack of moral reservation about harming, even killing others suggests he is afflicted with Malignant Narcissism. After getting tricked by Black Noir that he committed a variety of heinous crimes, such as rape and cannibalism, Homelander became even more insane and mentally unstable.
Biological[]
- Blunt Force/Limited Durability: Homelander can be wounded and killed by someone who is as strong as or stronger than him, such as in the case of Black Noir.
- Absence of Fulcrum (Tentative): During the "I Tell You No Lie, G.I." storyline, the events of 9/11 seem to suggest that he is unable to use his full strength in flight, requiring a solid surface to take full advantage of his power.
Relationship[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Trivia[]
- Homelander is a parody of Superman and Captain America possessing the power set and fabricated backstory of the former and the patriotic costume of the latter. Ironically, Superman is one of Garth Ennis' favorite superheroes despite his disdain for the genre.
- Homelander’s suit incorporates prominent jodhpurs on the legs, which were originally designed as padding for horse-riding cavalry. While jodhpurs were common among officers in many European armies up through World War II, they are most heavily associated with the militaries of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
- Although Homelander is one of the main antagonists of the comic series, he is not killed by his archenemy Billy, but is instead killed by Black Noir.
- His name literally means "A person from one's homeland". With the comic’s focus on the military-industrial complex, the name is likely a reference to The US Department of Homeland Security, whose formation four years before the comic started was highly controversial due to perceived overreach and incompetence.
- The Amazon version of the character, played by Antony Starr, is almost completely identical to his comic counterpart, save for a more Herculean physique as opposed to being built like a tank, and a slightly altered costume akin to Hyperion and Ultraman.
- However, his Amazon version counterpart was shown that he actually raped Billy Butcher's wife, while in the comics he doesn't.
- However, his Amazon version counterpart was shown that he actually raped Billy Butcher's wife, while in the comics he doesn't.
Gallery[]
