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Content Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Amazon Prime Video show The Boys. It also contains references to sexual assault, racism, and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.Through four seasons, Amazon Prime Video's The Boys has been highly regarded by superhero enthusiasts and television fans alike as not only a great comic book show, but a great show, period. It has brought fun, dynamic, flawed, interesting characters to the screen. Even with the show deviating heavily from the source material, especially in the most recent season, it remains captivatingly original.
Of course, the comic and the show are known for their intense and gory violence. All characters, from Supes that are members of The Seven, or side characters with no powers at all, are subject to being killed off in this show. Some totally deserved it; others are just unfortunate collateral damage.
Release Date July 25, 2019
Creator
Seasons 4
20 Hugh Campbell Sr.
Played by Simon Pegg
Image via Prime Video Throughout Hughie’s (Jack Quaid) tumultuous, disturbing, and often heart-wrenching journey in The Boys, one pillar of kindness that he could always cling to was the support of his father, Hugh Campbell Sr. (played by Simon Pegg, who was the inspiration for Hughie in the comics). Whereas much of the heroism in the series comes in the form of ruthless determination and an unwavering appetite for copious violence, if not outright superhuman ability, Hugh’s dad was always one of the most loyal and loving supporters Hugh could have had.
In the Season 4 episode “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son,” Hughie is forced to make an impossible choice when his father, fueled by Compound V, goes on an accidental killing spree in the hospital. Pegg’s ability to grasp the character’s fear and confusion as he wanders around covered in blood only makes Hughie’s inevitable farewell that much more upsetting. It's among the saddest deaths in The Boys that will haunt viewers. – Ryan Heffernan
19 Robin Ward
Played by Jess Salgueiro
Image via Prime Video Still one of the most gruesome deaths, poor Robin (Jess Salgueiro) didn't even see it coming. A-Train (Jesse Usher), all hopped up on Compound V, runs straight through Robin, leaving Hughie holding on to her dismembered hands as her blood flies across his face. He just hangs on for a moment, not exactly registering what has happened.
Everyone unfamiliar with the source material probably had their jaw hit the floor his the brutality of the first death, which set the tone for the series. This death leads Hughie down his path with Butcher, joining The Boys and eventually becoming more and more like Butcher than he'd care to admit.
18 Rebecca "Becca" Butcher
Played by Shantel VanSanten
Butcher's (Karl Urban) drive for revenge against all Supes was crystal clear. Homelander (Antony Starr) raped and killed his wife, so he needed to die. However, it was revealed at the end of Season 1 that she was alive, living in a safe house and raising her son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), whose father was Homelander.
It's a shock to Butcher, but he is relieved she is alive, regardless of the circumstances. Then at the end of Season 2, Ryan's heat vision activates and nearly kills Stormfront (Aya Cash) but catches Becca (Shantel VanSanten) in the neck by accident. Butcher and Ryan have to watch as the kind-hearted and resilient Becca dies, and Butcher has to deal with that pain all over again.
17 Supersonic
Played by Miles Gaston Villanueva
Image via Prime Video A new addition to The Boys roster looked like he would be a great fit in Season 3. A hometown friend and former boyfriend of Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva), won a The Bachelor x American Idol type of game show to be the newest member of The Seven (even though it was rigged).
Starlight tried to get him to go home several times out of fear he would get hurt, but he refused and vowed to back her up. After telling A-Train they were plotting against Homelander, A-Trian snitched, and Homelander brutally killed Supersonic off-screen, revealing his mutilated body on a rooftop to Starlight afterward.
16 Anika
Played by Ana Sani
Anika (Ana Sani) was a minor character on The Boys who appeared in the first season of the show, acting as a member of the Crime Analytics department who was tasked with locating a member of The Seven. Though her screen time was limited, Anika was a recurring character who had interactions with more important people in the show, including Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) when the supe intended to hunt down Billy Butcher (Karl Urban).
Anika then makes her final appearance in the show when Homelander (Antony Starr) and Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) ask her if she assisted Starlight (Erin Moriarty). Although Sister Sage assured her that nothing was going to happen to her if she did confess, her admission immediately resulted in Homelander lasering her to the head. Her death, while undeserved, is not surprising given the established ruthlessness of Homelander and the track record of The Boys to have wild moments.
15 Grace Mallory
Played by Laila Robins
Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) has always been at the side of humanity since the start of the show. She has a personal vendetta against Vought, since she lost more than a hundred men due to their superhero interference in a government operation, as well as the loss of her grandchildren at the hand of Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore). In a way, she acts as a guiding force for Butcher.
Mallory's death is largely unexpected. In the fourth season of the show, her neck is snapped by Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) in a moment of uncontrolled fury, due to her choosing to enclose the powerful supe offspring with knockout gas. While Mallory's death is undeniably tragic, it raises questions about her methods and motivations, especially since she proposed that he be trained to kill his biological father, Homelander.
14 Ambrosius
Played by Tilda Swinton
The Boys is known for its over-the-top violence and dark humor. That’s why it’s not surprising that it has also shone a light on unconventional relationships. Introduced in Season 3's Herogasm, Ambrosius (Tilda Swinton) was found by The Deep (Chace Crawford) in the TNT twins’ aquarium. The two immediately form a bond, with Ambrosius performing oral sex on The Deep as caught by Starlight.
Ambrosius's death is a shocking moment of cruelty that underscores the Deep's self-destructive behavior. Enraged by Ambrosius's discovery of his affair with Sister Sage, the Deep lashes out in a fit of anger, smashing Ambrosius's tank and leaving her to suffocate. It’s hard to ignore Ambrosius' pleas, and despite the comedic nature of her relationship with The Deep, viewers can’t help but feel sorry for the poor sentient creature as she slowly dies.
13 Victoria Neuman
Played by Claudia Doumit
Image via Amazon Prime Video As the head-popping supe trying to use the American political system to incite societal change regarding superheroes, Claudia Doumit's Victoria Neuman made for a fascinating adversary to Billy Butcher and his gang. While there were definitely hostilities between the two factions, it wasn’t anything that was insurmountable, even if it was the prospect of mutually assured destruction that kept Neuman and the Boys from unleashing hell on each other.
In the end, an exposed and desperate Victoria agrees to help Hughie and the Boys in exchange for them keeping her daughter safe, a deal that is only interrupted when a Compound V-infused Billy Butcher storms in and proceeds to rip her in half. Viewers were too shocked to comprehend what emotions they may have been feeling, but Victoria’s death hits a somber tone when audiences reflect on her as a desperate mother striving to keep her daughter safe, even if she did have a particularly ruthless way of achieving that goal. – Ryan Heffernan
12 Webweaver
Played by Dan Mousseau
Image via Prime Video A lot of the superheroes from The Boys have their counterparts in the Marvel and DC universe. Based on his name, Webweaver (Dan Mousseau) is The Boys’ Spiderman, with his power of generating webbing and supe-level physical strength. There was also that hilarious scene when Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) was tasked with injecting Compound V into Webweaver's web shooter, which is inconveniently located above his rear end. But The Boys have leveraged Webweaver's Compound V addiction, turning him into an informant in exchange for the very substance he craves.
Not too long after, Homelander gets wind of Webweaver’s betrayal. Homelander, in a fit of rage, tears Webweaver in two, leaving viewers horrified by the sheer brutality of the act. While this isn’t surprising anymore given Homelander’s penchant for violence, Webweaver’s death signifies the risks associated with defying Vought.
11 Translucent
Played by Alex Hassell
Introduced in Season 1 as an original member of The Seven, Translucent (Alex Hassell) is a hero who possesses superior invisibility and near invulnerability. The Boys' plan to gain leverage against Vought involved capturing Translucent. Though his invisibility made him a difficult target, his attack on Hughie, who was bugging Vought headquarters at the time, gave them the opening they needed to incapacitate the supe.
Translucent when The Boys planted a bomb inside him after capturing him. The carbon density of his skin made it nearly indestructible from the outside, so they implanted the explosive through his anus, leading to a gruesome death. Fans will wholeheartedly agree that Translucent’s death was well deserved, due in large to his perverse and violent tendencies. However, it made The Boys more vulnerable to Vought, as it marked open conflict with The Seven.
10 The Courtroom Explosion(s)
Season 2, Episode 7 (2020)
It felt like Homelander and Vought were going to lose. As everyone gathered around their television to watch the courtroom hearings, Dr. Vogelbaum (John Doman) and several members of Congress's heads started to pop like balloons. The scene is entirely out of left field; it's bloody, and you keep wondering the entire time, "how many more?"
Knowing that Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), someone thought to be aligned with The Boys, was behind it also comes as a shock. It is a shift from ally to enemy in just a few minutes. The fact that the ending of Season 3 sets her up as Season 4's main antagonist makes the shift even better.
9 Alastair Adana
Played by Goran Visnjic
The Fresca king and Scientology-like leader were far from the worst of the bunch to meet their ends on the show, but by no means was he a "good guy." He easily manipulated The Deep (Chace Crawford) to further his agenda and later tried the same thing with A-Train.
Alastair (Goran Višnjić) was a late victim of The Head Popper Supe, which after his death, was revealed to be Victoria Neuman. It's hard to hate Alastair flat-out, he was an interesting secondary character, and The Deep's storyline with him was certainly comedic, but he got a little too ambitious and mostly deserved what was coming.
8 Payback Gets Taken Out by Soldier Boy
Played by Laurie Holden, Jack Doolan, Kristin Booth, and Ryan Blakely
Image via Amazon Prime Video Payback was the group of Supes led by Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) when they all decided to betray him and hand him over to the Russians so that Homelander could become the new face of Vought, which is ironic considering their team's name. After Butcher frees Soldier Boy, he makes a deal with them to take out each member one by one (sans Gunpowder, who Butcher already killed).
Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) is first, who gets disintegrated by Soldier Boy's radiation blast; then the TNT Twins (Jack Doolan and Kristin Booth), who were hosting the annual Herogasm party, and also died from his radiation blast; finally, Soldier Boy went after Mindstorm (Ryan Blakely), who had become a hermit and put up the best fight.
7 Black Noir
Played by Nathan Mitchell
Image via Prime Video Maybe the most emotionally impactful demise in the show, and a death that was quite unexpected.Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) was shown to be the only person Homelander truly seems to trust in The Seven. But when Noir hears Soldier Boy is back, he rips out his tracker and hightails it out of Vought tower. Afterward, it's the first the audience gets a view of Noir's past with Payback.
When Noir finally musters up the courage to go back to Vought and tell Homelander they need to team up to kill Soldier Boy, it's too late. Soldier Boy already told Homelander about how he is his biological father, which Noir knew. Upset Noir didn't tell him, he brutally punched him through the stomach, leaving him to die.
6 Madelyn Stillwell
Played by Elisabeth Shue
Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) was a major antagonist in season one of The Boys, so her death came as quite the twist. Homelander and Stillwell had this very creepy, very inappropriate relationship, but she seemed to be the one (aside from Stan Edgar) who was able to control Homelander.
However, when Homelander finds out that Stillwell has kept his child a secret from him, she gets the same treatment as anyone else (like Black Noir in Season 3), and he melts her face in with his heat vision. It's brutal, slow, and really personal. This was the first step of Homelander becoming completely unhinged and was a genuinely scary moment in the series.
5 Tek Knight
Played by Derek Wilson
Image via Amazon Prime Video Even by the usual standards of The Boys, Season 4’s “Dirty Business” was a controversial entry in the series, namely for its depiction of Hugh Campbell being sexually tormented by Tek Knight (Derek Wilson) in his underground sex dungeon. However, the episode does have a triumphant resolution, with Tek Knight’s bank accounts being drained as he is held by other members of the Boys, before the supe’s butler strangles him to death with a chain.
An investigative supe with unmatched powers of deduction, Tek Knight was always promoted as an evil version of Bruce Wayne (minus the costume and combat ability). It was a treat for audiences to watch him squirm as the Boys hit his pockets to the benefit of all manner of charitable causes, before he was killed by, of all people, the human butler who had to bow and scrape for him. – Ryan Heffernan
4 Ezekiel
Played by Shaun Benson
Image via Amazon Prime Video While he was seldom a prominent character, Ezekiel (Shaun Benson) was always an antagonizing background presence in the series. The staunch conservative Christianity he preached was bad enough, but the hypocritical nature of his public image compared to how he acted behind closed doors made him a pointedly despicable character. The disdain audiences feel for him only grows when he takes sides with Firecracker (Valorie Curry) to stand against Starlight.
However, he does get his comeuppance when he confronts Billy Butcher after spotting Frenchie (Tomer Capone) snooping around Firecracker’s trailer. The brief brawl sees Butcher rip off one of the supe’s extending arms before seemingly blacking out, waking to find Ezekiel ripped into pieces. The only shame for audiences is that they didn’t get to see Ezekiel’s bloody demise and were only treated to the gruesome aftermath of it. – Ryan Heffernan
3 Todd
Played by Matthew Gorman
Image via Amazon Prime Video Admittedly, there are certainly more evil characters in The Boys, but Todd (Matthew Gorman) had a unique ability to get under the audience’s skin with his meek and insipid nature that gave way to an empowered and sadistic idolization of Homelander. As Homelander began to reveal his true self at the back end of Season 3, Todd’s kindly and ordinary visage peeled back and a dogmatic appetite for violence was unleashed.
His cheering of Homelander’s fatal attack in the Season 3 finale was the last straw for many viewers. The character begins Season 4 losing none of his grating vindictiveness or blind hero worship of Homelander. As such, not only does he have it coming when he finally kicks the bucket, but the fact that Homelander himself orders Todd’s death – much to Todd’s confusion – makes for a cynically rewarding moment of poetic justice and one of the wildest moments on The Boys. – Ryan Heffernan
2 Blue Hawk
Played by Nick Wechsler
Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler) was part of A-Train's "redemption arc" in Season 3. He is a white superhero accused of over-patroling, injuring, and killing Black people in A-Train's old neighborhood. A-Train finally gets Vought to make Blue Hawk, in a televised event, give a pre-written, half-hearted apology at a rec center, which pleases approximately no one. When the audience confronts him over his misdeeds, Blue Hawk flies into a fit of rage and assaults several unarmed people.
After paralyzing A-Train's brother, he finds Blue Hawk outside Herogasm and demands retribution. A-Train tosses Blue Hawk to the ground and takes off running, dragging him on the asphalt and killing him. A-Train nearly dies because of his heart condition, but with some poetic irony, he receives Blue Hawks' heart and will be able to run again.
1 Stormfront
Played by Aya Cash
Image via Amazon Prime Video Stormfront, who previously went by Liberty, was Dr. Vought's wife and a literal Nazi. Stormfront was very strong and the main antagonist of Season 2, even getting Homelander to side with her and use him to her agenda. Their relationship was dangerous, and when Stormfront's past was revealed, Homelander's reputation was seriously hit.
At the end of Season 2, Ryan used his heat vision to stop Stormfront from killing his mom, Becca. Unfortunately, Becca got caught in the attack as well and died. It was believed Stormfront died from her injuries from Ryan, but she actually lived. She was briefly shown in a wholly debilitated state in Season 3; on Homelander's birthday, she bites her tongue off and chokes herself to death. Not a pleasant way to go, but she definitely deserved it.
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