- For the Dynamite version of the character, see Homelander/Comics.
| “ | Harder Daddy
―Homelander[src]
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” |
Homelander, who is occasionally referred to as John by Vought International, is the main antagonist in the Amazon series The Boys. He is the leader of The Seven, and the prime enemy of Billy Butcher, the leader of The Boys.
On the surface, he’s affable, modest, and sincere; the ultimate Boy Scout, an American treasure, a God-fearing patriot. But just like mere mortals, even superheroes have secrets.
Quick Answers
What are Homelander's superhuman abilities?
What can Homelander see through with his X-ray vision?
What is Homelander's true identity?
Who is Homelander's archenemy?
Who portrays Homelander in the Amazon series?
The Boys Series
Background
Childhood
| “ | You should've been raised in a home with a family who loved you. Not in a cold lab with doctors
―Jonah Vogelbaum to Homelander[src]
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” |
Homelander was raised in a lab, surrounded by doctors like Jonah Vogelbaum, who called him John. For not having a mother figure, Vogelbaum remarked that Homelander turned violent, aggressive, and downright hateful ("The Self-Preservation Society"). In his childhood, he was subjected to hours sitting in front of a projector, seeing images that were chosen to mold his personality, like the American flag, Jesus Christ, and baseball. He had a mother figure, a female doctor, but she was killed by Homelander himself when he was young and innocent after he hugged her strongly, breaking her spine. Prior to her he had caused similar incidents to countless other tutors, a behavior that was usually motivated by anger but this time caused by isolation induced depression.[1]
Meeting Becca Butcher
| “ | My dad always said: 'Surround yourself with people smarter than you.'
―Homelander to Becca Butcher[src]
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” |
Homelander, Becca and Billy Butcher in a Vought Christmas party
Homelander met Becca Butcher in a Vought private Christmas party. He talked with Becca, the new Senior Director from the department of Digital Marketing of Vought, and said that he loved the work she did with his official twitter profile. Before ending the conversation to see Queen Maeve, Homelander said that he would like to talk about her taking over the rest of his social media accounts ("1x7").
Season One
Killing the Mayor of Baltimore
| “ | ” |
Homelander destroying the Mayor's jet with his laser beams
After finding out that the Mayor of Baltimore had knowledge about the Compound V, Homelander assured that the existence of the chemical remained a secret by destroying his private jet, taking the Mayor's life in the process, as well as his son, who was excited after receiving an autographed poster of his favorite hero, Homelander himself. ("1x1").
After the murder
| “ | Have you heard about the Mayor of Baltimore?"
"Yeah... yeah. I've heard the plane's went down ―Madelyn Stillwell and Homelander[src]
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” |
In an informal meeting, Homelander asks about the whereabouts of Translucent. Stillwell gives a direct answer, saying that she doesn't know where he is yet. After that, Stillwell makes an observation about the Mayor of Baltimore. Homelander tries to play it cool, but she knows that it was him who took the jet down, mainly because of The Deep. The two of them have a discussion about what Homelander represents. The meeting ends with Stillwell calling the leader of The Seven "pure", then she successfully eases Homelander ("1x2").
Homelander and The Deep in a tense meeting
Homelander, unhappy about The Deep's choice of telling Stillwell about the jet's destruction, request the presence of his fellow associate in the meeting room of the Seven Tower. There, they talk about the unfortunate choice of telling Stillwell about the laser beam marks on the jet that the Deep made. Homelander takes the position of an alpha male and makes his points clear: The Deep keeps his mouth shut, or there will be no Deep to sniff him anymore ("Cherry").
The search for Translucent
| “ | I'm the Homelander. And I can do whatever the fuck I want.
―Homelander to Anika[src]
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” |
Homelander goes to Crime Analytics and asks Anika the last known location of Translucent. At first, she is not sure if she can share that information with him, to which Homelander replies with a straight "I can do whatever the fuck I want". Anika gets the message and gives Homelander the information he wants ("1x2").
Homelander seeing Frenchie's ID
Homelander flies to the ten blocks where Translucent is expected to be. There, he sees a van. Inside the van, there is one of The Boys, Frenchie. Homelander doesn't know he's an enemy, so he casually asks for his ID. Frenchie gives it to him, but refuses to let Homelander get a look at the back of the van. This causes him to be suspicious. Homelander decides to look anyway with his x-ray vision, only to see nothing there. An explosion then happens some blocks away, part of a plan to keep Homelander off where Translucent really is. Homelander then goes for it, flying in the direction of the fire ("1x2").
Mission with Queen Maeve
| “ | You guys are the real heroes
―Homelander to a SWAT team leader[src]
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” |
Queen Maeve and Homelander go to a high-rise building, where a sniper is hiding. A SWAT team is in position, but the arrival of two members of the Seven makes them step back. Homelander, with his impressive theatrics, praises the law officers and calls them "real heroes". After that, Maeve and Homelander enter the building. Homelander kills the sniper by penetrating his hand through his chest. In order to keep up appearances, Homelander shoots the sniper's gun several times at Maeve's armor, just to make it look like they were attacked first ("1x3").
The Race
| “ | ” |
Homelander arriving at the Race of the Century
Homelander arrives at the Race when Queen Maeve is being interviewed, drawing all attention to him. He makes a speech to the spectators, and after that he says, almost whispering, "you fucking cocksuckers", showing his true feelings about everybody there that isn't a Supe. Then, he and Maeve start a conversation, and Homelander remembers the time when the two of them were dating. He looks back with sincere joy and a feeling of nostalgia. He even tries to get closer to her, with the attendance shouting "kiss her!", but Maeve steps back. After the conversation is over, Homelander sees that a weird man is looking at him in an odd way. They exchange stares ("1x3").
After the Race is over, Homelander goes back to the Seven Tower. There, he and the Deep show Stillwell a box. She opens it and sees Translucent's remains. Homelander asks Deep what the box is made of, to which he answers "zinc", the only thing Homelander can't see through. Inside the box, there is a message, "COMING FOR YOU", which is basically a declaration of war ("1x3").
Transoceanic Flight 37
| “ | Homelander, are you going to save us?"
"Oh, sweetheart, of course I'm gonna save you. You betcha! ―A little girl and Homelander[src]
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After a transoceanic flight Paris-Chicago is hijacked by terrorists, Stillwell sees this as a golden opportunity to push her Supes into the military. She calls Maeve and Homelander to go there and save the plane. She says that they can't act on foreign soil, but as the plane is above international waters, they can do something about it. Stillwell says that no congressman will have the courage to vote against their bill if Homelander and Maeve save those passengers on the hijacked plane ("1x4").
Homelander and Maeve watching the plane falling towards the ocean
Homelander and Maeve successfully get on the plane, and just after their arrival, the terrorists are killed by them. The passengers then applauded their saviors. Homelander and Maeve enter the airplane's cockpit, and there they see one more terrorist, pointing a gun to the pilot, and next to him, a dead co-pilot. The Supes try to handle the situation, but the terrorist shoots the pilot by instinct, and immediately after the murder, Homelander kills the terrorist by lasing him down. As a consequence, the flight control system is destroyed. Maeve and Homelander discuss ways to save the plane, but none of them would work. Homelander decides to abandon the passengers. Maeve tries to convince her partner to do otherwise, but he can't be persuaded. The god-like warrior tries to negotiate with Homelander, saying to save at least a mother and her daughter that they spoke to moments ago. Homelander declines, saying that if they save some passengers and let the rest die, the few who survived will tell the world that the two of the greatest heroes of the world did nothing to save the rest. Maeve, seeing no other choice, embraces Homelander, and together they get out of the plane and fly off. In the distance, they see the plane falling towards the ocean ("1x4").
Homelander giving a impressive speech
Hours later, Homelander and Maeve are seen on a beach where the plane wreckage is washing ashore. Maeve is truly grieving the loss of the passengers, meanwhile, Homelander decides to act up and gives a speech to the news crews there, appealing to the audience, saying that if super-heroes were on the chain of command of the military, the tragedy of Flight 37 would never happen. By the end of the speech, everyone there was shouting "Homelander". In the Seven Tower, Stillwell watched the speech on her TV with a smirk on her face, knowing that in a way, Homelander did his job ("1x4").
Aftermath of the tragedy
| “ | We're here today to remember the victims of Transoceanic Flight 37, 123 brave souls lost in an instant, in a senseless act of violence.
―Homelander giving a speech in Flight 37's victims funeral[src]
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In the Seven Tower, A-Train tells Homelander that he killed his girlfriend Popclaw after she told some guys about Compound V. Homelander then said to his colleague that he did the right thing by telling him. Homelander comforts A-Train, but not before making an ominous remark like "I'll always be watching you" ("1x5").
Homelander giving a speech at the tragedy victims memorial
In the memorial made for the victims of Flight 37, Homelander gives a speech, mentioning every victim by name and job. Homelander then mentions Susan Lopez and her daughter Maya, the two people Maeve wanted to save. After that, she leaves. Homelander, after finishing the speech, finds her seated on a wood bench. Maeve justifies her leaving off the memorial early because she hates boring speeches. Homelander seats on her side and tries to talk to her. He says that the one thing he loves in Maeve is that she takes initiative. By the end of his pep talk, Maeve says one more time that she hates boring speeches. After the remark, a silence strikes the place ("1x5").
Believe Expo
| “ | Wasn't I chosen to save you? It is not my God-given purpose to protect the United States of America? Psalm 58:10: 'The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked'!
―Homelander giving a speech to the audience of Believe Expo[src]
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Homelander arrives at the festival and seconds later, a huge crowd starts to follow him, asking for photos and autographs. The leader of the Seven just waves and smiles at them, and right after he enters a private place where he can be alone. There, he asks Ashley Barrett where's Stilwell, in which she responds that the Vice-President of Vought International isn't there ("1x5").
Homelander then goes see Stillwell, who is taking her son Teddy to the pediatrician. Homelander wants to make a speech that appeals to the public of the festival, focusing on faith and a "John Wayne justice", while Stillwell wants a moderate speech that can make congressmen identify with. When Homelander doesn't get what he wants, he says that Stillwell is running off the discussion to "play a strong single mom" and that she is using the baby as an accessory. Stillwell just answers that they need boundaries. Before leaving, Homelander stares at the baby ("1x5").
Homelander ready to re-baptize Hughie Campbell
Homelander then gets back to the festival and enters the VIP room. There, he talks to Hughie Campbell, a friend of Starlight. They talk for a short amount of time. Then, Ezekiel says that everyone in the room will be re-baptized by Homelander. One by one, the participants are re-baptized. In Hughie's turn, Homelander asks if something wrong with him, because his blood pressure is 150/90. Hughie just says that he's afraid of water. Then, Homelander proceeds to re-baptize him, but this time Homelander is taking longer to get the participant out of water. Afraid, Hughie rises, after almost drowning. When the ceremony is over, Homelander leaves ("1x5").
Homelander being worshiped by the crowd of Believe Expo
Homelander then gives the speech, but instead of following the script as ordered by Stillwell, he improvises, putting a speech biased in Christianity and patriotism, and everyone in the crowd rejoices. Homelander then flies low towards the crowd, making him look like a messianic symbol ("1x5").
Back at CCTV, Stillwell notices Homelander watching her through the wall. She invites him in, mockingly asking if he is lonely. She warns about the speech he gave and has him lay on the couch, suckling her breast, as a way to "tame" him ("1x5").
Super in America
| “ | So what if I took you to a house you never seen before, full of photos of parents you never met, toys you never played with, books you never read, and then asked you how much that fake fucking bullshit meant to you. How would that make you feel?
―Homelander to Madelyn Stillwell[src]
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” |
A commercial for a reality show focused on The Seven called "Super in America", featuring Homelander
In order to further sell the idea of Supes in the military, Vought decided to make a reality show featuring members of the Seven. Homelander then was brought to a house he never seen before and he had to make up a story about his childhood there, so the Vought crew could shoot it and send the footage to the reality show. Homelander said a lot of things about his "childhood", from baseball trophies to cakes. When he reached the bedroom, he saw the blanket he really used in his childhood locked in a lab. Triggering some painful memories, Homelander became angry and asked who put the blanket there, leaving right after that ("1x6").
Stillwell found Homelander in a barn. Homelander explained to her why he didn't want to shoot the promotional videos, but Stillwell managed to make him change his mind using the sexual attraction Homelander had to her ("1x6").
Nothing Personal
| “ | I'm sorry. The, uh, elevator was out. Um, you... you probably don't remember, um, we've met before. [Mesmer holds out his hand] Oh, I... I would never try and read you."
"Let's be clear. I don't know you, and I don't want to. A-Train said you had some information. ―Mesmer "greeting" Homelander[src]
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” |
Mesmer and Homelander meeting on a rooftop
After meeting with the Boys, Mesmer called A-Train and asked to see Homelander, saying that he had useful information. With his request answered, Mesmer goes meet Homelander on a rooftop. There, he shows Homelander spy-cam photos of the people he was looking after, a french guy, a black guy, a skinny white guy and a British guy. Mesmer then proceeded to ask Homelander for a job at Vought, but Homelander just flew away without any promises ("1x6").
Reunion with the Seven
| “ | ” |
Homelander schedules a reunion with the Seven
Visiting Vogelbaum
| “ | How long it has been, John?"
"Long enough that no one calls me John anymore ―Jonah Vogelbaum and Homelander[src]
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Homelander visits Jonah, seeking answers about Becca Butcher
Homelander arrives at the mansions of Jonah Vogelbaum, a former scientist at Vought, and starts to talk with him. Homelander tries to be formal, he ask some irrelevant questions, but Vogelbaum is direct and asks Homelander what he really wants. Homelander then questions Jonah about Rebecca Butcher. Jonah reveals that eight years ago Becca came to Stillwell after conceiving Homelander's child, which baffles Homelander, who was under the impression he was sexually impotent. He reveals that both Becca and the child died on the delivery table due to the amount of blood loss. Jonah apologizes for how Homelander turned out, admitting that he was his greatest failure ("1x7").
Aid in Syria
| “ | Howdy boys. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. How you guys doing? Good? Why didn't you, huh, go out and smoke or something, ok? I got this
―Homelander to a U.S. squad[src]
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” |
Homelander lasing down an assailant
Finding out the truth
| “ | You promised me. No more lies. You fucking promised me. You and Vogelbaum should've got your story straight
―Homelander to Madelyn Stillwell[src]
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” |
At a Vought fundraiser, Homelander confronts Stillwell over his findings from Vogelbaum. The two of them talk about Becca and Homelander's lost son. After that, Homelander admits that he planned for Naqib to show up just as they needed to sway the Congress into letting them in the military. Homelander admits that he and A-Train used Compound V to supercharge terrorists, much to Stillwell's shock. Homelander says that there are Supes that only The Seven can fight all over the globe now. Stillwell takes Homelander to her office, where the two have sexual intercourse, however Homelander seems to find the activity painful ("1x8").
Homelander kills Stilwell with his heat vision
Homelander meeting his son
After the explosion, Butcher awakes on a lawn. Confused, he sees Homelander standing over him. In a house near them, a woman and a kid appears and goes to see them. Butcher is shocked to see Becca alive, with a child. Homelander questions if the child knows who he is, however, he reveals that he doesn't. Homelander reveals to the kid that he is his father ("1x8").
Season Two
Translucent's funeral
| “ | I will save you. I'll do it for you. For America... and for a dear, dear old friend.
―Homelander[src]
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” |
Homelander giving a speech at Translucent's funeral
Sometime after Homelander showed Butcher that his wife was alive and that he had a son with her, Homelander held the funeral for Translucent, along with Translucent’s family and his son Maverick. Homelander lies to the nation that Translucent was killed by the Supe Terrorists and that he will kill them to avenge his death, doing it so for the people, for America and for his dear old friends, Translucent himself. He even cries after saying that, making everyone there applaud him, touched by his words. After the speech, Starlight sings a song at the funeral.
No sympathy for the crippled
| “ | What made you think I would ever allow a cripple into the Seven?
―Homelander to Ashley[src]
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At Madelyn’s former office, now an empty room, with little furniture, Homelander opens the fridge and find and a bottle of her breast milk. Homelander grabs it, then smells it, warms it with his heat vision and then he drinks it. Ashley walks in on him awkwardly and thanks him for helping her get Madelyn’s old job. She says she’ll fill her shoes as best as she can. She says that they found them a new hero to replace Translucent.
Homelander seeing Blindspot ears bleeding
At the gym, Blindspot, a blind superhero, is seen training. He is skilled, doing a lot of acrobatics and showing his skills with a staff. After the training, Ashley introduces Blindspot to Homelander, and explains to Homelander that Blindspot fits a specific demographic that will really serve The Seven’s image. Homelander greets him and tells him he’s a hero moments before bashing his ears in and asking Ashley why on earth he would allow a cripple to be a part of The Seven. He threatens Ashley to tell him every single thing that happens in her job and explains that he is the boss, not her.
The new member of The Seven
| “ | Great. Alright. Great!
―Homelander after receiving the news that Stormfront is the new member of the Seven[src]
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]
History lesson
| “ | Well, this is a truly fascinating if not slightly condescending lecture, but uh... I don't think I see the point, Stan."
"The point is... You are under a misconception that we are a superhero company. We are not. What we are really is a pharmaceutical company, and you are not our most valuable asset. ―Homelander and Stan Edgar[src]
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Homelander angry at Edgar
Homelander pays a visit to Stan Edgar, where he asks to be consulted on the new additions to The Seven. Homelander threatens Stan that he might move on when his contract is up at the end of the year. Stan asks him what he knows about Frederick Vought, the founder of Vought. Stan explains that Homelander is under the impression that they are a superhero company when in fact they are a pharmaceutical company and Homelander is not their most valuable asset, but Compound V is. He accuses him of distributing Compound V around the world to terrorists and says that Homelander is not as significant as he thinks he is. Frustrated, Homelander flies to Becca’s house to see his son.
While Homelander and Queen Maeve were discussing about things while taking a break from filming a movie, Ashley shows Homelander footage of his fight against another Super terrorist, which results in Homelander killing the Super Terrorist with his heat vision, but also killing an innocent male teenager, who succumbed to Homelander's heat vision as well. Homelander ignores it and asks Ashley about how many views the video received. He then goes to a protest where people are protesting against Homelander for his war crime. Homelander gives a speech about how freedom comes at a price, but this exacerbates the protest, to where Homelander has a vision of him using his heat vision on the protesters and killing many people, but then he decides to leave the protest and flies away.
Partners in Crime
Ask and you shall receive
| “ | And you will be the man who will lead us. You are everything that we dreamed of. So I love you with all of my heart. How could I not? Everyone I ever loved is in the ground, and then I found you. We found each other, and now neither of us has to be alone ever again. And that is the truth.
―Stormfront complementing Homelander while simultaneously confessing her love to him[src]
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Homelander forgiving Stormfront
Remember who the Enemy is
| “ | But... That doesn't change the facts. This used to be a-a beautiful country. -Remember?"
-Crowd:"Yeah!" "One nation under God. Remember? Right before those godless, inhuman supervillians started pouring across our borders and dragging us down into their mud. ―Homelander and Stormfront addressing the most recent news[src]
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One Big "Happy" Family
| “ | We all have Ryan's best interests at heart. Right?"
"Yes, we do." "I'm really sorry I haven't been here enough. Ryan, uh, I'd really like you to get to know Stormfront. I would. She's someone I care about very much, and, um... I think you will, too. So, I think, uh, we'll be around more. A lot more. I want us to be a family. ―Homelander stating he wants a family while simultaneously introducing Stormfront and scaring Becca[src]
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Homelander introducing Stormfront to his son Ryan
Homelander and Stormfront drop into Becca's backyard interrupting Becca and Ryan playing with Legos. Homelander introduces Stormfront to Becca and Ryan. Homelander then apologizes to Ryan for pushing him too far last time and promises never to do it again. Stormfront then meets Ryan and asks about his powers and tells him he is the first natural born Superhero. Becca however, discourages her from talking about Ryan's powers and states Homelander should inform her next time he wants to visit. Homelander explains to Stormfront that Becca doesn't want Ryan to talk about or use his powers at all. Regardless, Homelander continues stating that he wants to be around more and he wants a family.
He's my son too
| “ | You could not possibly understand. I was raised the same way as him. The kid doesn't know anything about anything. When he sees the outside world, he's going to panic. Now, that's going to fuck him up. I do not want my son to have to go through what I went through."
"His life... -is different." -(sighs) "He has a mother. And I know that means something to you. I do. And if you take him away from me, this... this whole world will feel so confusing -and frightening" "Yes, but Rebecca, you... are lying to him. ―Homelander and Becca delivering their sides of the argument[src]
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| “ | Boy deserves to know the truth.
―Homelander admitting he told Ryan the truth[src]
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Homelander ready to fly off with Ryan
After Becca finishes making dinner she finds Ryan outside with Homelander and Stormfront. Ryan calls Becca liar, revealing that they showed him the truth: the house is fake, the neighbors are fake, even his mother is fake. Homelander doesn't deny it, saying Ryan deserved to know the truth. After Becca fails to convince Ryan, Homelander then suggests that Ryan needs some space and to come with him, to which Becca refuses and grabs Ryan. Ryan runs past Becca and jumps into Homelander's arms as Homelander and Stormfront fly away.
How You can stay Safe
| “ | -Flanagan: Unfortunately, the possibility that you will experience a supervillian attack grows more likely every day."
"But By having an action plan, you can drastically increase your chances for survival. And survival is all that matters. ―Homelander teaching school safety on an instructional video[src]
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Homelander reappears in What I Know, where he and Sheriff Ed Flanagan are on a recording teaching school students how to stay safe in case of a Supervillain attack. They teach students to fall a three step protocol, LAW: Lock (all doors and windows), Arm (yourself and uses whatever you can), and Wait (for a hero to arrive). They then close instructing to follow the protocol for your own safety.
Fact check
| “ | So, Noir's a vegetable, Lamplighter's a charcoal briquette, Starlight's in the breeze somewhere, and you're, -what, fine with it?
―Homelander[src]
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Homelander stands in The Seven Tower watching a news article about the recent events that have happened, until Stormfront walks in. He asks her about Noir, to which she explains Noir is alive but unresponsive, possibly suffering from brain damage. Homelander express concern over the recent events however Stormfront tells him not to because of the congress hearings attack. Homelander then tries to deduce just who killed Vogelbaum. After narrowing down the search, he suggests that is could possibly be Mr. Edgar. Stormfront then tells him to relax because despite the sacrifices, they're close to accomplishing their goal of creating a Superman army. Homelander asks her about the "wrong people", to which Stormfront tells him that "Fredrick had a solution for everything".
Adjustments
| “ | Hey Buddy. Sorry we had to leave you all alone. Dad's work can sometimes get pretty crazy.
―Homelander trying to spend time with his son[src]
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Homelander and Stormfront head into Ashley's office to check on Ryan. Homelander apologizes for leaving his son alone because his work requires him to very busy. Homelander then suggests they could play a game together but tells him he'd rather memorize the U.S. states. Homelander calls it unnecessary, but Ryan says something Becca taught him to do, to always be learning. Homelander's tone quickly changes when Ryan asks if he could call his mother. Before anyone could answer him, Stormfront intervenes by suggesting they go to a restaurant, Planet Vought. To which Homelander approves.
When they sit down at a table Ryan is initially overjoyed, until fans approach Homelander and Stormfront wanting to take photos with them. Ryan begins to panic and become overwhelmed by the crowd. Homelander stops the photos and checks on Ryan. Ryan begs for his mother, so Homelander carries his son out of the restaurant and flies away with him leaving Stormfront at the restaurant.
Learning Moments
| “ | You know, I remember my first time I was in a crowd."
"Probably didn't bother you." "I was terrified. All these people staring at me and reaching out, trying to grab me, and egging me on to use my powers. I just-- felt like I was... drowning." "Well, what'd you do?" "Well, I took off.I flew away. They found me 80 miles down the I-9. Crying my little eyes out. ―Homelander comforting his son[src]
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Stormfront tracks them down to a cabin and asks where is Ryan. Homelander tells her Ryan is inside and wants to be alone, but Stormfront convinces him to go talk to Ryan by saying he's the strongest man in the world. Homelander and Stormfront enter the cabin and find Ryan curled up on the couch with his back turned towards them, naming the U.S states. Ryan apologizes for freaking out, but Homelander reassures him that he messed up and "should've known better." Ryan explains there were too many people and Homelander still reassures him by telling his son the first time he was exposed to crowds. Homelander explains he knows that feeling of "drowning" in crowds, Ryan asks him what he did. Homelander admits he flew away, and Vought found him 80 miles away crying. Ryan then asks Homelander if he cries? Homelander he admits he does but only once in a while because he's "a man". Homelander then suggests that maybe Ryan will fly away too next time. Ryan then says he can't be just like his father. Homelander then tells Ryan that he had no one to teach him how to uses his powers because everyone around him was too scared to get near him, so he had to learn on his own. Homelander then offers to be a teacher to his son and show him how to uses his powers. Ryan then hugs Homelander and Homelander puts his arm around his son. Homelander looks up to see Stormfront smiling at him.
| “ | Keep going, you got it. That's it, don't give up. That's it, that's it. Keep going. Little more, little mroe, you got it. (Exhales) Oh-- hey, that's okay. You'll get it, you'll get it. Um... (mouths) I know what. Um, imagine, um... Well, sometimes it helps to imagine someone you hate. Okay? So, try that."
"But at home, when I say 'hate,' I have to put a quarter in the swear jar." "Well, there's no swear jar here. So, you can hate away."(chuckles) "But I don't really hate anyone." " ―Homelander trying to teach Ryan how to use his heat vision[src]
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Homelander and Stormfront appear outside encouraging Ryan while he tries to use his heat vision on an action figure of The Deep. When Ryan fails, Homelander encourages him not to give up and then tries teaching a tip that will help. He tells Ryan that it helps to think about someone he hates, but Ryan insists that he hates no one. Stormfront then intervenes and tells Ryan that he can't afford to not hate because they're "under attack". Homelander expresses a face of discomfort as Stormfront continues to lecture Ryan on "White Genocide". He tries to ignore it and encourages Ryan focus more so on using his heat vision to defend himself and the people he loves. Homelander then encourages his son the try again, but before he can finish his sentence, Stormfront interrupts him when she finds out information on her past was leaked to the public.
Separation
| “ | Did I hear you say 'Butcher'? What's going on?"
Dispatch(over comm):"Do you have the boy?" "Where's my son? Where is my Son?"! ―Homelander demanding to know where Ryan is[src]
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Homelander and Ryan return inside the cabin and watch the news about Stormfront's leaked information. While they watch Ryan asks about the word "Malfeasance". Before Homelander can explain the definition, they're both stunned in pain when they hear the distraction Frenchie made that admits a frequency of over 190,000 Hertz. Homelander tells Ryan to stay in the cabin while he leaves to go stop the signal, leaving Ryan covering his ears in pain. Homelander approaches the frequency's source, a collection of Vought ultrasonic speakers, and promptly destroys it with his heat vision.
When Homelander returns to the cabin, he finds seven Vought mercenaries asking about Butcher. He then hears dispatch on their radios ask if they secured the boy. Homelander closes the cabin door and questions them "where's my son?" With no answer, Homelander then splits one vertically in half with his heat vision and shouts "Where is my son"?! After slaughtering the men, Homelander walks out of the cabin covered in blood, and he prepares himself to get ready to find Ryan.
Isolated and alone, again
| “ | -Let's go. Come here. Come. Ryan... Ryan. Come here."
[Ryan moves behind Butcher]"No." (chuckling) "He's mine. What, are you gonna blow yourself up...to save the little shit who fucking murdered your wife?" "I promised." "-Have it your way. ―Homelander demanding Butcher give him Ryan[src]
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A blood coated Homelander flies in from the sky in the middle of the forest and sees the aftermath of Ryan using his heat vision. He finds a charred, unresponsive and critically injured Stormfront. Homelander kneels down and attempts to touch her but stops himself. He clenches his fists and begins to sob a little. Homelander then asks Ryan if he was to one who hurt Stormfront. Ryan explains he didn't mean to. Homelander stands up, motions and tells Ryan to come to him. Ryan walks away and moves behind Butcher, who refuses to let Ryan go. Homelander silently laughs and demands Billy to hand him over because "He's Mine." Butcher still refuses. Homelander sarcastically questions Billy if is going to blow himself up again, all to save the boy who killed his wife. Butcher still refuses, saying he promised Becca.
Before Homelander can attack them, Queen Maeve intervenes and demands Homelander to leave them alone. Homelander questions if he doesn't. Maeve shows him the footage of him abandoning the passengers of Flight 37 to die. She then blackmails him to let Butcher and Ryan go, to stop hunting Starlight, and to leave her and Elena alone, otherwise she'll release the video footage. Homelander then threatens to destroy everything and everyone if she does. Maeve challenges him saying for him to do it, because everyone will see the monstrous lunatic he really is and no one will ever love him. Homelander starts to loose his mind as he starts hearing the crowds chanting his name in his head. He stands paralyzed and starts to cry as Butcher picks up Ryan and walks past him, leaving Homelander paralyzed by his emotions and thoughts.
First step into madness
| “ | Thanks to the heroism of Queen Maeve and Starlight, Stormfront has been neutralized, and is being held in an undisclosed location. I would personally like to apologize to Starlight, who was wrongfully accused of sabotage and conspiracy. Welcome back to the team. And I know you and Maeve are two of the best, most loyal friends I could ever have. We are your heroes. We are here to serve and protect you. (fading): Stormfront's violation of that special relationship, of that trust, is unacceptable and she will be punished. Justice will be served.[Zoom in on Homelander's eyes]
―Homelander begrudgingly giving the public address[src]
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Homelander appears at the public announcement after Stan Edgar address him. Homelander speaks on the stand and says that Stormfront has been incarcerated and wrongfully framed Starlight as a traitor. He then welcomes Starlight back into The Seven. He continues to thank Maeve and Starlight as his eyes twitch more and more violently with each word he speaks.
| “ | I can do whatever the fuck I want.
―Homelander to himself[src]
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Homelander is seen one final time on a rooftop in the night, venting his frustration by jerking off whilst muttering, "I can do whatever the fuck I want."
Powers and Abilities
Homelander is effectively The Boys' take on DC's boy scout Superman from a power standpoint. As a child, Homelander was raised in one of Vought International's labs and given his incredible power set. This is where Homelander began developing the abilities of flight, invulnerability, increased strength, super hearing, x-ray vision, and laser vision. It was at an early age that Homelander began to understand the true capabilities of his powers. When he was still a kid, Homelander accidentally broke the spine of a female doctor at Vought from a hug, which killed her. But, as an adult is where Homelander's powers have really been on display and helped make him the biggest Super on the planet. The magnitude of his powers become more clear. He can fly at speeds above of at least Mach 1, which is 767 miles per hour, and is bulletproof. Butcher even attempts to blow him up to no avail, and Madelyn Stillwell says that there are no weapons on Earth that could kill him. There's so far no evidence of Homelander's equivalent of "kryptonite" existing in The Boys. If that doesn't change, then it could take another Super to take him down. Homelander's powers are great, but The Boys has exposed some limitations to them so far. It is confirmed that his x-ray vision can see through just about anything, but this doesn't include zinc. Homelander is not able to see through the metal, which Butcher knows is a weakness. The hero might have also exposed another limitation of his during season 1, as Homelander stated he couldn't catch and carry a plane while flying. It is possible Homelander was lying so Queen Maeve didn't have any choice but to let the plane crash as he proposed, but there's still a chance he is telling the truth.
- Superhuman Strength
- Invulnerability
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Speed
- Heat Vision
- X-Ray Vision
- Superhuman Hearing
- Flight
Weaknesses
- Zinc: Homelander cannot see through zinc. This is shown when he is unable to identify translucent's remains in zinc-lined box until it was opened.
- Sonic Frequencies: Due to his Super hearing, his ears are sensitive to extreme loud and high pitched noises. Frenchie was able to use this weakness to draw him away from Ryan.
- Extreme Brute Force: Although it has yet to be seen that a being can truly match him, it seems that a supe with extreme strength could hurt Homelander. Stormfront was able to throw him around, and Ryan was able to knock him to the ground but neither instance seemed to actually hurt him, although neither was really trying to.
- Insecurities: Homelander’s greatest weakness is his damaged mental state. A terrible childhood of growing up like a lab rat, and never having any actual friends or family have left him mentally scarred. He can be manipulated by women especially due to his longing for a mother figure, Stillwell, Becca, and Stormfront have all done this. He also has a need to be loved, Maeve and Stormfront were both able to use this to get him to do what they want. Stormfront was able to temporarily turn people against him which made him furious. Maeve threatened to release the footage of their failed attempt to save the plane, which Homelander knew would cause the public to completely turn on him. When Homelander retorted that he would simply destroy everyone on the planet, Maeve pointed out that there would be no one left to adore him. Homelander was unable to accept this, and even allowed his greatest nemesis Butcher to take his son to prevent this from happening.
Personality
| “ | Inhuman fucking monster.
―Becca Butcher to Homelander[src]
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Homelander's mission has always been to serve Vought International and on a deeper level, Madelyn Stillwell. Homelander is rational, initially worrying about Translucent's disappearance in Cherry while the rest of Vought, and the world, ignored it. He is a ruthless leader, doing whatever it takes to keep a high public opinion of The Seven, including threatening both Starlight and the Deep. Homelander portrays the true extent of his anger in You Found Me, killing Stillwell for lying to him about Becca Butcher and his child.
As a person, he is deeply narcissistic, disturbed, and psychotic, showing no empathy. For a superhero, Homelander is incredibly brutal and aggressive, throwing a bank robber into the air and letting him fall to his death and brutalizing A-Train. He is highly intelligent as he set up a meticulous plan to get superheroes into the military, and is also charismatic, easily swaying the public to give him support.
Because of being raised in a laboratory, Homelander has difficulty understanding love and humanity. This rendered Homelander sociopathic and amoral, intimidating the members of the Seven in order to keep them in line while also killing anyone who stands in his way.
It is made clear that Homelander does not care about humanity, only the way Supes are viewed in their eyes. He is seen to be more than willing to let a plane full of families and children crash in The Female of the Species despite pleads from Queen Maeve to save the children, but pretends to feel sadness about the incident while in the public eye. This act of murder is also used to his advantage for after Flight 37 went down and all the passengers died, Homelander manipulates the people into believing it was destroyed by terrorists and uses it to further both his and Vought's agenda of weaponizing superhumans. He is sadistic and takes delight in the people he hurts or kills.
Homelander also suffers from an Oedipus Complex, which is projected onto Madelyn Stillwell who is the closest thing he has to a mother. However, after hearing her true feelings of fear, this doesn't hold Homelander back from burning her eyes and skull. Due to his longing for a maternal figure woman are able to more easily manipulate him. Stillwell, Becca, Stormfront, Maeve, have all been able to manipulate/control him to some degree due to them being women, and appealing to a certain part of his damaged psyche.
Despite making people fear and love him, Homelander seems to have respect for Butcher. When they finally confronted each other, Homelander is both intrigued and impressed that Billy Butcher is not afraid of him but hates him with a passion, addressing the amount of time the latter spent leading up to their standoff. During their standoff in the woods, he even gives Butcher the chance to give him Ryan and leave, however he goes to kill Butcher as soon as he refuses, but still he gave him a choice he gives to few people.
Homelander does show some genuine emotion when he’s with his son. In What I Know, as soon as Ryan becomes overwhelmed by crowds, Homelander immediately takes him away. He also has a genuine heart to heart chat with him about feeling afraid and learning to fly. He wanted to make sure that Ryan didn’t grow up with the cold and lonely childhood he did, with no role models and no knowledge of the outside world. He was also visually disappointed and sad when Ryan was afraid and ultimately chooses Butcher over him.
Homelander ends Season 2 a broken man, having lost his son, the woman he cared about, and his power and control over The Seven.
Relationships
Family
Allies
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Enemies
Victims
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Quotes
| “ | A terrible tragedy befell our nation this week. Terrible. And let's not mince words about this. We... were... attacked. America was attacked. Some people... ...they want me to come out here and speak empty platitudes to you all. A little bit of corporate talk. But I don't want to do that. I can't do that. You want to know why?"
"Why?" "Because I believe that what God wants me to do is get on over there, find the filthy bastards who that masterminded this--whatever cave they're in--and introduce them to a little thing called God's Judgement! -That's what I think! Sounds like the American thing to do! Sounds like the right thing to do! But no. No, no, no, no, no. Apparently, I got to wait for Congress to say it's okay." (crowd booing) "Right? I say I answer to a higher law. Wasn't I chosen to save you? -Is it not my God-given purpose to protect the United States of America? -Psalm! 58:10! 'The Righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance and he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.' ―Homelander giving a speech at the Believe Expo[src]
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| “ | -Let's get one thing straight. The only reason you're here and not doing corporate PR for fucking Diva Cups is that I brought you here. You are dispensable, which means you answer to me... From now on, I will set my own agenda, I'll approve my own marketing and write my own talking points. You will tell me everything that goes on on the 99th floor, and I mean everything. Every call, e-mail, group chat. If a fucking light bulb goes out, you will tell me. And, Ashley, in no fucking way do you decide who goes in The Seven. I decide. Do we have an understanding?
―Homelander threatening Ashley.[src]
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Trivia
- Homelander is primarily a parody of the famous comic superhero Superman (DC Comics) possessing the exact same powers, abilities and public image, but is also partly a parody of Captain America (Marvel Comics), from whom he gets his name, patriotic cape and Aryan appearance.
- The Superman allegory is strengthened by his original fictional Vought made backstory before the use of Compound-V was leaked, he was an alien who crashed on Earth as a baby and was raised by human farmers.
- Homelander's name literally means "A person from one's homeland", it is suggested that the homeland he's born from would be America (due to his outfit).
- The only element Homelander can't see through is zinc. This is similar to Superman, who cannot see through lead.
Gallery
Promotional
Screencaps
.jpg "Homelander and Starlight (season 2).jpg (360 KB)")
Videos
| TV series The Seven members |
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| Current Homelander • A-Train • The Deep • Black Noir II • Sister Sage • Firecracker Former Mister Marathon • Translucent † • Lamplighter † • Stormfront † • Supersonic † • Starlight • Black Noir † • Queen Maeve Associates Madelyn Stillwell † • Ashley Barrett |