For the Dynamite version of the character, see Victor Neuman.
“
Look, the point is, you hit me, I hit you back, and it never fucking ends. WarGames, Hughie. The only way to win is not to play. I thought I wanted this. Not for Zoe or... Edgar, but for me. You know, I just... I wanted to feel safe, and not like that scared fucking kid at Red River. But I don't feel safe, and I'm really fucking scared. And I'm not getting Zoe killed over this. This is the only way.
Victoria Neuman is the secondary antagonist of the Amazon series The Boys and one of the overarching antagonists of its spin-off series Gen V.
She was a congresswoman and Vice President-Elect of the United States, as well as an anti-Supe activist and founding director of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs. However, it was revealed that Victoria Neuman is not only a Supe herself, but she is none other than the infamous "Head-Popper" who murdered Susan Rayner, Jonah Vogelbaum, Alastair Adana, and several other members of Congress. Victoria was adopted by Stan Edgar from the Red River orphanage after Victoria (known then as Nadia) presumably killed her birth parents either accidentally or intentionally.
As the Director of the FBSA, Congresswoman Neuman helped make the world a safer place. By compromising with Vought, she was able to root out the bad apples amongst the supes, which meant more people alive and at home with their families at the end of every day. With her soaring political ambitions — and popularity — there was no limit to what she could achieve.
Victoria was originally born under the name Nadia Khayat in 1986, and she was presumably given Compound V as an infant. As a child, she accidentally killed her parents due to being unable to control her powers and was swiftly sent to the Red River Institute, where she learned how to control her powers. She also met and befriended another orphan named Tony during that period of time; however, she would get adopted several times by multiple adoptive families, but she ended up killing all of them. She would eventually be adopted by Vought International CEO Stan Edgar, who gave her a new identity, erased all evidence regarding her victims, and made a promise to always look out for her.
She would eventually become a dancer in college, and her dancing videos went viral on the internet at some point. Over time, Victoria, started a career as a congresswoman with a remarkable profile. When she was 20, Victoria slept with a man named Sameer Shah, Stan Edgar's right hand and most trusted scientist at Vought's R & D, and they had a daughter with him named Zoe, whom she cared deeply for.
In her public persona, Neuman is a young "wunderkind" congresswoman who fights against Vought's corporate agenda and its corrupt superheroes. After the expose of Compound V, she started a rally and pushed the U.S. House Judiciary Committee into starting a hearing about the company and Compound V.
Victoria keeps up with Grace Mallory and certain insiders to get the information and access she needs to take Vought down. She has a big public presence, often leading protests and speaking on the news about the corruption at Vought.
At some point, Victoria meets with Grace who brings her Lamplighter to speak as a witness before Congress about what really happens behind closed doors at Vought. She wants to "bring down the king" and insists that they get more information to accuse Vought. She wants to find more proof about what goes on at the Sage Grove Center.
After Lamplighter kills himself, Butcher convinces Jonah Vogelbaum to speak before Congress, which really pleases Victoria. However, just before his testimony, Vogelbaum's head explodes after the judge's, along with several other people in the audience. Victoria gets splashed with blood and looks on in horror as Grace drags her away with numerous people dying around them.
It is later revealed that she is a Supe and is the one responsible for the attack at the congressional hearing. Stormfront was later used as a scapegoat for her crimes after her Nazi ties were exposed and her defeat at the hands of The Boys and their allies. She blows up Alastair Adana, the Church of the Collective leader's head. It is unknown at this point if she is acting in the interest of Vought as a form of controlled opposition or if she actually has an agenda of her own. At her campaign headquarters, Hughie asks to join her team. She accepts his offer and asks him when he can start.
Victoria works closely with Hughie Campbell at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, where their job is to regulate Supe activity. They try to keep Supes, like Termite, in check- and put some in jail if need be. Victoria is a very public figure and her work at the FBSA seems welcomed by Stan Edgar and the general public. However, in Season 3, her status as a Supe and past with Stan Edgar is revealed to Hughie who starts to doubt her intentions. Victoria continues to pretend that she is not a Super and has no ties with Stan Edgar as she continues her political agenda.
Victoria approaches Annie about teaming up together, claiming that they could share influence to help each other. Annie turns her down because she's done with playing dirty.
At a pep rally, Victoria confronts Homelander. She tells him to take control of the situation with Soldier Boy. He grabs her by the neck, but she tells him she wants a strictly transactional relationship with him- for them to help each other. She provides him with Ryan's current location and he lets her go.
Homelander later repays Victoria's favor by having The Deep murder Lamar Bishop, who was supposed to join Robert Singer's presidential campaign as his running mate. This opens up the path for Singer to pick Victoria as his running mate, further advancing her political career. This would also put her in Billy Butcher's crosshairs.
Neuman sponsors Marie Moreau. She gives her a boost making sure she gets into Godolkin university. A few days later she goes to Godolkin university for an interview. She doesn't get some of the crowd's support and they get too violent against her, and she leaves, on her way out she officially meets Marie. They go to a private area and talk. Marie finds out through Neuman's blood that she is a Supe. Marie tells her about the lab under the school, Dr. Cardosa and the virus that could kill Supes. Neuman tells Marie that she'll take care of it and says they should keep in touch. Later we see Neuman meet with Dr. Cardosa. He tells her that the virus isn't very contagious. Neuman says that speaking out against Vought takes a lot of courage.
Dr. Cardosa says he was so relieved when she contacted him about his work and that he couldn't stand by while Dean Shetty twisted his work. He asked her to make sure they had the same goals, reciting his phrase "compassionate control". She said that that was a such a great phrase and if he minds that she steals it. He accepted that and asked that she get him and his family in witness protection. She gave him a card and he gave her the virus. She asked if what he gave her was all of it and he confirmed that it was. She also asked if he was the only one who could make it. He confirmed that he was, and she walked to her car. Before leaving she said that he was a 21st century American hero she then killed him by popping his head with her powers and flicked off a piece of blood that got on her hand and drove away.
Neuman, as Singer’s vice president, continues her political schemes with the help of Homelander and Sage, planning to usurp Singer and become president after killing him while also attempting to synthesize a virus as a failsafe against Homelander. Her and Homelander rally support against Singer’s anti-supe policies, as The Boys and the CIA as a whole try and fail to find a way to kill her. Her scheme ultimately fails, as their assassination attempts against Singer fail, her husband is kidnapped by Billy Butcher and their one dose of the virus is wasted on escaping sheep, and she realizes that Homelander plans solely to use her as a puppet. She attempts to betray Homelander and go to Hughie Campbell for help upon realizing the extent of the danger that her and her daughter are in, and Hughie hesitantly accepts her offer in an attempt to right his and is teams' moral compasses. However, after arriving at their safe house and the location where they were synthesizing a virus lethal to compound V users, a pushed over the edge Billy Butcher arrives and uses his tentacle powers gained from his V use to rip her in half and kill her, leaving her daughter to end up in the same Red River group home she was raised in.
Personality[]
Initially appearing to be strong-willed, thoughtful and sincere with a deep distrust and dislike of Vought, Victoria is later revealed to be a ruthless, calculating, methodical, manipulative, and brutally pragmatic woman, whilst possessing some level of sadism. Raised and taught by her adoptive father, Stan Edgar, Victoria had acquired the mindset, skills, and discretion that would be instrumental to pursuing a career in politics and carry out her ambitions, eventually culminating in her becoming a US Congresswoman and later a Vice-Presidential candidate. From her career as a politician, Neuman discretely worked in favor of both Edgar's interests and her own, showcasing incredible patience - Robert Singer, the running and favored President-elect's survival testifies this.
However, Victoria has at times shown a gentler and kinder side, but this is greatly offset by her dark nature. Though she cares deeply about Edgar, Victoria was not above publicly exposing his crimes in order to preserve herself politically. However, this was largely due to Homelander forcing her into a position to reveal them and to protect her daughter from harm, and Edgar himself states that he taught Victoria to be able to resort to such means. It is shown she truly loves her daughter Zoe, but she will not protect her on her own, and she embraces moral corruption and her status as a Senator. She also allowed Vought to inject her daughter with Compound V. She was not above killing Tony, her childhood best friend who shared in the traumatic experiences both had faced at the Red River Institute, in order to keep any information about her past from surfacing. Admittedly. this act was out of reluctance, as Victoria did wish didn't Tony seek her out and attempted to kill him quickly. However, Tony's familiarity with Victoria's powers led him to realize this and attempt to fight back, resulting in him being brutally maimed in the process. By the events of Season 4, Victoria’s relationship has become more hostile, as shown where she was outraged that he had brought the Boys to their family farm for The Woods virus, but was snidely rebutted by her father, still angry over her betrayal of him. Later, when talking with her adoptive father, Victoria finally expressed her long held resentment at him for hiding and making her hide her powers, believing that he had done this not just to protect her, but also being ashamed of her.
However, despite their new hostility, Victoria still retains a deep care and love for Edgar as her father. This is shown where Victoria actively protected him from the V mutated farm animals. Later when Sameer was “killed” in the panic to escape the man-eating V Sheep, Victoria was horribly distraught and was comforted by her father. Upon Edgar being returned to prison, Victoria chose to help her father escape, likely to have him help her with her plans and schemes, but also because he was the last person she could fully trust.
Victoria is also capable of being empathic, which she mostly demonstrates with Marie Moreau since they both grew up in Red River and have similar traumas, even seeing her as an equal. For this reason, she's been secretly watching over Marie, being her benefactor and giving her a boost to make sure she gets into Godolkin University. However, she ultimately does it in order to gain a new ally to benefit herself having her watching her back.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
Blood Manipulation:
Victoria exploding Jonah Vogelbaum's head
Victoria's white eyes after using her power
Victoria has the ability to control the blood of anyone in her sight.[1] While threatening someone, Neuman often gives nosebleeds, including from multiple people at the same time, as she did with The Boys.[2] In "Gen V", Neuman showcased a more direct form of blood manipulation by cutting her palm and making her blood levitate from the wound, the same method typically used by Marie Moreau.[1]
Explosion Inducement: She seems to favorably focus her ability on exploding the heads of her victims[3] which she achieves by exploding the blood itself in their victim's heads, as per the rules established for this powerset through Marie Moreau.[4] With this method, she was capable killing several people at once in the courtroom, including a supe.[3] She has also demonstrated the capability of targeting a single extremity or the entire body.[5] Neuman's eyes quickly turn white when she uses her powers to explode someone.[6] Her head-exploding ability is also effective on durable Supes, as she killed a bulletproof chicken, Shockwave, Tony, and since she's confident it would work on Starlight, a fairly durable Supe.[2]
Blood Sense: Like Marie Moreau, Victoria has the ability to psychically sense and “read” blood. As shown where she managed to coach Marie on how to sense and identify the components of her blood, allowing her to identify that there was Compound V in it.[1]
Regenerative Healing Factor: Victoria possesses a limited but rapid regenerative healing ability. Victoria was able to quickly heal from a self-inflicted cut on her hand to show off her powers.[1]
Superhuman Strength: Victoria possesses superhuman strength, which makes her stronger than humans and some Supes. With her strength, she momentarily overpowered Tony.[5]
Superhuman Durability:
Neuman without a scratch after Hughie threw acid on her
Homelander lasering Neuman
Victoria possesses superhuman durability, making her more durable than humans and most Supes. Victoria withstands getting violently slammed against a dumpster by Tony, which sends her flying back several feet, emerging unharmed. Tony then tries to crush her head, but fails.[5] Additionally, she is completely bulletproof and impervious to acid, as seen when she survives unharmed from Hughie's acid and a shot point blank to the head from Butcher, with the bullet ricocheting off her head. Mother's Milk speculated that Neuman might be invulnerable.[7] She also got punched in the face by Starlight and while she did get knocked over, laughed it off,[2] in comparison, Stormfront bled from Annie's punches. Frenchie stated that in order to perhaps even pierce her skin, he would need to attach a carbon metamaterial tip to a dart gun, aiming it at a weaker, softer part of her skin. Neuman is also able to withstand controlled heat blasts from Homelander, although the laser was likely not at maximum power, smoke was released upon contact with her skin, indicating that a human or a weaker Supe would be injured or killed.[8]
Superhuman Hearing: Victoria possesses superhuman hearing, allowing her to hear better than humans. Like all Supes, she can hear higher frequencies that humans cannot.[9]
Abilities[]
Gifted Intelligence: Victoria is an extremely intelligent woman. Over the course of her life, she had rose through the ranks of society, allowing her to reach positions of power that an ordinary person could never possibly get to. She managed to keep the secret of her superhuman abilities a secret from the public for many years, with only a very few amounts of people knowing her secret
Indomitable Will: Victoria has spent most of her life on her own, facing challenges and difficulties as well as protecting the people around her. She has always showed herself to persevere, no matter what is going on in the background of her life. She is also one of the few people who shows very little to no fear of Homelander, at least not initially or in person as was afraid for her life or that of her daughter's as she thought he might try to hurt or even kill them if she tried to disobey his orders, with her frequently getting in disagreements and arguments with him. After he exposed her as a Supe, she openly confronted him on it, despite him attempting to brush it off.
Weaknesses[]
Biological[]
Brute Force/Limited Durability: Despite being more durable than humans and most Supes, Victoria can still be stunned, knocked unconscious, and killed by extreme force. Homelander chokes Victoria, threatening to kill her by breaking her neck. This was proven to be more legitimate when Billy Butcher used his tendrils to rip her body in half, killing her instantly.
Target Durability: Her ability to manipulate blood apparently has limits. Supes with higher durability (Homelander, Queen Maeve, or Soldier Boy) are presumably more resistant to her powers, as Homelander himself dared Neuman to blow his head off.
Direct Line of Sight: Neuman must have a direct line of sight to her victims in order to hit her target, even if the target is viewable through a closed window. When Tony covered her eyes, she was apparently unable to use her power until she was able to see his hand and later his face and body. Later, upon her death, Butcher made sure to cover her eyes using his tendrils before ripping her in half, rendering her powerless to use her powers to defend herself.
High Frequencies: Due to being a Supe, Victoria is susceptible to high frequencies. When a high frequency is playing, it can induce immense pain and temporarily neutralize her.
Psychological[]
Limited Fighting Skills: Though possessing a superhuman amount of strength and durability, Victoria does not have any sort of training in combat, with her mostly relying on her blood powers as shown during her fight with Tony.
The character has been compared to the U.S. Representative politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The actress has stated that she drew some of Neuman's mannerisms from her, with the way she holds herself in a room and how she communicates something.[10]
Neuman actually refers to Ocasio-Cortez by name in the Season 4 episode "Dirty Business".
The campaign posters in Neuman's office identify her as the representative from New York's 6th congressional district which is located in Queens, NY.
While in the Congressional Hearing, she was able to make people's heads explode without her eyes turning white. This could be a continuity error, or, knowing that she would be on live TV, she could have prepared by wearing coloured contact lenses to avoid revealing her powers.
Also at the Congressional Hearing, several people's heads exploded after she was ushered out of the room. This suggests that she can possibly implement some kind of delay between using her powers on a person and her powers taking full effect.
Her ability to explode the head of any human being greatly resembles a similar head popper scene found in David Cronenberg's 1981 sci-fi horror classic Scanners, which (much like the plot of The Boys itself) concerns an entire subsection of the population given superpowers (albeit just telepathic) due to being injected with a biochemical drug as children as part of a corporate conspiracy.
Victoria has noted that her and Marie’s power to manipulate and control blood is very rare, and prior to discovering Marie, Victoria had thought she was the only Supe with this power. In reality, two supes having this power makes it one of the more common powers, as most supe powers are variable and there are many powers that only one supe possesses.
