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The Boys (Comic Book)
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The Boys is a comic series by Garth Ennis, with art by Darick Robertson and others, that debuted in 2006 and concluded in 2012 after 72 issues. It follows the namesake group, a CIA-sponsored team of Empowered Badass Normals which monitors, polices and (often) terminates corrupt superhumans. The team consists of: | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_108c268e | type |
Hotter and Sexier | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_108c268e | comment |
Hotter and Sexier: In-universe, this is coupled with a Darker and Edgier retool of Vought's existing superheroes, mainly trying to convince Starlight to go along with Rape as Backstory, wear a slingshot bikini for a costume, and get breast implants (never mind that she already has the Most Common Superpower). | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_10cdfe4b | type |
Fall Guy | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_10cdfe4b | comment |
Bradley, when she realizes Stillwell set her up as the Fall Guy. She even rips out her hair. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_116a941b | type |
Applied Phlebotinum | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_116a941b | comment |
Applied Phlebotinum: Compound V, the substance that Vought-American and the CIA use to create superhumans. | |
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Comic-Book Fantasy Casting | |
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Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Wee Hughie is obviously Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, with a Scottish accent. It was done with his consent, and he wrote the foreword to the first trade. Pegg was told that "the part is his if he wants it," in the Film of the Book, although Pegg himself expressed concern that he was too old to play it at this point. Once it was adapted for (web) TV over a decade later, Pegg was cast as Hughie's father. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1237828f | type |
Anyone Can Die | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1237828f | comment |
Anyone Can Die: By the end of the comic, the vast majority of named characters have been killed off.The only named characters to survive the series are Hughie, Starlight, The Deep, Kessler (AKA Monkey), Rayner and Stillwell. Even out of those, Rayner's nascent political career is ruined by Kessler releasing a choice piece of blackmail material provided by Hughie, The Deep has been pressganged into another superhero group that's an obvious dead end, and Stillwell is implied to have a breakdown after realizing that his job - turning superhumans into a marketable product - is completely hopeless. But the other three finally shed their Butt-Monkey statuses, with Kessler relatively secure in his CIA directorship and Hughie and Starlight living Happily Ever After. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1263f698 | type |
Main Character Final Boss | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1263f698 | comment |
Main Character Final Boss: Billy Butcher - leader of the titular protagonist group- ends up as the final boss of the series when after going off the deep end and killing every member of The Boys except for Hughie, and intending to do the same to anyone with Compound V in their blood. Hughie has no choice but to kill Billy to prevent Billy's genocidal plan from coming to fruition. | |
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No Celebrities Were Harmed | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1282bf4f | comment |
No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Legend is a rather sleazy, yet somehow likable, take on Stan Lee. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_12dd1d4c | type |
Rape as Drama | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_12dd1d4c | comment |
Starlight's reaction to the aforementioned "bikini" costume can be seen as a shot at quite a few Rape as Drama plots in mainstream comics in the 2000's, particularly Identity Crisis (2004) (the storyline, we were told, that involved DC editor Dan DiDio’s decree that "we need a rape") and Kevin Smith's "The Evil That Men Do." | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14180452 | type |
Instantly Proven Wrong | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14180452 | comment |
Instantly Proven Wrong: Just about every single attempt at VA(C) pushing their product ends up this way. New carrier plane for the Pacific theater? Suddenly the Japanese aren't retreating as fast as they were. Proving superheroes are the future of war? Decimated, along with their handler, by the Germans they'd accidentally lured back to the unprepared Americans. A revolutionary assault rifle? The first 1000 troops it was issued to were found decapitated, their heads stuck on the worthless rifles. Prove that the supers can easily outperform a professional army? Everybody aboard the flight dies when the supes botch the rescue. The plane even ends up destroying the Brooklyn Bridge instead of the WTC — less densely populated but much more damaging to the city itself, both economically and psychologically. | |
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Madness Mantra | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_141a6acb | comment |
Madness Mantra: Butcher, at the end of The Big Ride arc, repeatedly asking Jack From Jupiter "Why'd you kill me dog, Jack?" each time he stabs him. Made all the more terrifying by the fact that he says it in a quiet, level tone, never raising his voice once. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14beeefd | type |
Darker and Edgier | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14beeefd | comment |
Darker and Edgier: Takes this to extreme levels, so the world looks no more "realistic" than any four-color comics (it includes things like massive corporate conspiracy that allows a bunch of incredibly perverted and sociopathic people to successfully pass for The Capes since 1950s, for starters), it is just on the very opposite end of Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism. In-Universe, partway through the series, Vought-American decides to give their teams a Darker And Edgier retool, with a side-order of Hotter and Sexier, including redesigning the costumes of The Seven and making alterations to their backstories. Starlight flatout refuses when she's told they plan to give her Rape as Backstory and her new costume will be basically a slingshot bikini. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14c10915 | type |
Crashing Through the Harem | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14c10915 | comment |
Crashing Through the Harem: Wee Hughie and Vas "Love Sausage" Vorishikin are running after the mooks, a chase that leads them through a strip club. As Vas is in his spandex superhero outfit, he is stopped dead in his tracks. "Big titties are my kryptonite" indeed. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14e41a53 | type |
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14e41a53 | comment |
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: In a flashback conversation, Butcher believes this is why Conservatives continue to "vote against their interests" by believing big promises and supporting harmful political policies: They aren't stupid, they fully know exactly what they're doing and don't care if it harms other people. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14f69e56 | type |
Psychic Radar | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_14f69e56 | comment |
Psychic Radar: Member of the super team Payback, Mindroid, can use his telepathy to detect the presence of another person in an area at least the size of a building. He can't precisely define an exact location, only whether or not someone's in the room or not and what their surface thoughts are. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_153299b4 | type |
Boisterous Bruiser | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_153299b4 | comment |
Boisterous Bruiser: Vas Vorishikin, aka "The Love Sausage", a former Russian superhero who is so unbelievably pleasant that even Billy Butcher likes him. Hughie also enjoys his honest virtue and friendliness, and is the only one who will drink Vas' brake fluid-derived alcohol. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1645005b | type |
Evil Versus Evil | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1645005b | comment |
Evil Versus Evil: Vought's Red River mercenaries versus the G Men. And later, The Homelander versus Black Noir. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_164bd5fd | type |
Hulking Out | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_164bd5fd | comment |
Some supers don't have them, leading to a kid Hulking Out wrong (all his mass concentrated in his head), or a girl with Eye Beams whose eyes melted out of her head, MM's little brother's head swelled up while he was wearing a football helmet, killing him... | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1667cb1 | type |
Calvinball | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1667cb1 | comment |
Calvinball: The Frenchman and The Female like to play Monopoly. On a Clue board. Reverse-strip Monopoly on a Clue board. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_16ad6f7f | type |
"It" Is Dehumanizing | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_16ad6f7f | comment |
"It" Is Dehumanizing: Butcher's diary shows he thinks of supers this way (in this case, a ten-year old kid) well on the way to Homelander levels of evil. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_178ca149 | type |
The Worf Effect | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_178ca149 | comment |
The Worf Effect: Stormfront bigtime. Despite several references to him being second only to the Homelander, he loses an eye to the Female, whom he fails to kill, and then has his testicles crushed by Mother's Milk, which causes him to abandon his team in a fight. He retreats again when Butcher blows glass in his other eye, leaving the rest of Payback to die at Butcher's hands. He still inflicts enough injuries that The Boys become worried enough to call The Love Sausage in from Russia to help stomp him to death. Meanwhile, Black Noir was explicitly designed to be superior to the Homelander so that he could take him down if Vought needed him to. In the end, after he is severely weakened by his offscreen fight with the Homelander, the military cuts him down with DU ammo before Butcher pries the top of his skull off with a crowbar. Then again, he'd already served his purpose in killing the Homelander, the very reason for which he had been created. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_178ca149 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1869b4b1 | type |
Unreliable Narrator | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1869b4b1 | comment |
When The Frenchman is telling Hughie his origin story, he rhapsodises about the beauty of the French Accordion, and hums a few bars of a suitably melodic piece to carry him back in time to the little village where he grew up. ""Nyeeeeh, Nyeh Nyeh, Nyeh-Nyeeeeeheh....". does indeed evoke a long-ago time and a place, the sleepy French village of Nouvion. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: Turns out Butcher chose the team's name. Mallory still feels strange about that. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_19851b86 | type |
The Sociopath | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_19851b86 | comment |
The Sociopath: Most of the superheroes, when they're not performing for the media. The Homelander and even more so Black Noir commit staggeringly nasty acts of violence purely For the Evulz. Butcher ultimately becomes one, despite his affable façade. | |
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You Meddling Kids | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1abf68d5 | comment |
You Meddling Kids: Now in Highlands English, from the Highland Laddie miniseries. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1ba17583 | type |
The Ghost | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1ba17583 | comment |
The Ghost: A hero called Webweaver, implied to be a Spider-Man Send-Up, is occasionally mentioned near the end of the comic. | |
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The Stoic | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1c5002bc | comment |
Stillwell. The Vought American executive assigned to the Seven is so coolly confident and utterly unshakeable that he even intimidates the mightiest beings walking (or flying over) the Earth. Jack From Jupiter admits that Stillwell gave him nightmares. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1c5002bc | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1d77dd02 | type |
Motivational Lie | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1d77dd02 | comment |
Motivational Lie: Near the very end of the series, Butcher is trying to get Hughie to perform a Mercy Kill on him, and Hughie can't, both for psychological reasons and because Hughie is badly injured himself. Then Butcher tells Hughie that Butcher killed Hughie's parents, complete with details about their house that back up that Butcher had been there. Suddenly Hughie doesn't have a problem offing Butcher. A frantic Hughie then calls his parents, who tell him how nice his boss was when Butcher apparently visited them Off Panel. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1d77dd02 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1e584efa | type |
Cruel and Unusual Death | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1e584efa | comment |
Cruel and Unusual Death: So many. Butcher slowly gutting Jack from Jupiter with a cleaver, President Shaefer getting his face eaten by a rabid wolverine, any of Frenchie and the Female's many kills, and of course, the incredibly horrific things that Black Noir does to an ordinary family while pretending to be the Homelander... | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1e584efa | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1eb49c19 | type |
Stripperiffic | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_1eb49c19 | comment |
Stripperiffic: Starlight's costume becomes progressively skimpier as the series goes on, though not by her own choice. She finally finds the courage to say "no" when they attempt to dress her in what is effectively a slingshot bikini. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2059a430 | type |
The Hedonist | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2059a430 | comment |
Almost any notable super: Completely no-holds-barred hedonistic promiscuity, usually either with prostitutes, each other, or just about anything else with a pulse, consent not always a given. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_21d70919 | type |
Crapsack World | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_21d70919 | comment |
Crapsack World: Nearly all of the "heroes" are assholes, America is almost completely run by corrupt corporation that can get away with selling faulty military hardware time and again among other worse things, the protagonists are nearly as bad as the "heroes" and just about everyone else is portrayed as a colossal Jerkass if not worse. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_21eb1793 | type |
Muggles Do It Better | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_21eb1793 | comment |
Muggles Do It Better: A central point of the series. When the faecal matter hits the cooling device, undisciplined, untrained superheroes prove to be no match whatsoever for the military, both in the present and when Vought first sought to use them in the Second World War. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2207b002 | type |
Ambiguously Brown | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2207b002 | comment |
Ambiguously Brown: A-Train. His complexion is noticeably darker than Hughie (a Scot), Billy (English), or The Frenchman (guess), but not as dark as any of the characters who are definitely intended to be black, and his hair is brown rather than black. Possibly he's supposed to be Latino, but maybe he just spends a lot of time working on his tan. (In the TV series, they just went ahead and cast a black actor for the role.) | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2207b002 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_23a633a8 | type |
Parental Fashion Veto | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_23a633a8 | comment |
Parental Fashion Veto: During the The Name Of The Game opening arc, Butcher has a meeting with Mother's Milk. MM objects strongly to the outfit his daughter's wearing. She ignores him and Butcher chews her out over disrespecting her father, terrifying the two 'gangstas' she was hanging out with in the process. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_23a633a8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_23a633a8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_23a633a8 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24321e44 | type |
Only Sane Man | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24321e44 | comment |
Only Sane Man: Mother's Milk, at least before Wee Hughie's arrival. Butcher describes him as the "talented noncom" he needs to keep the Ax-Crazy Frenchie and Female in line while still doing his job. Hughie takes over the role as Naïve Newcomer, who needs things explained to him (and thus the audience) and shying away from the darker and more violent actions The Boys get up to, wanting to find better solutions if they are available. (They aren't). | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24321e44 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24321e44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24321e44 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24f4c82a | type |
Semper Fi | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24f4c82a | comment |
Semper Fi: The Marines are the ones who shoot down the supers in the White House. Billy himself was in the Royal Marines, and quickly corrects a comrade who refers to the Marine contingent as "the army." | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24f4c82a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24f4c82a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_24f4c82a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25b5600 | type |
Captain Ersatz | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25b5600 | comment |
Captain Ersatz: Most superheroes are obviously based on ones from other companies. Special mention goes to The Legend, who isn't a superhero, but rather a hornrimmed glasses wearing, mustachioed comics publisher emeritus who is prone to bombastic statements. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25b5600 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25b5600 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25b5600 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25dc6ef5 | type |
Apathetic Citizens | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25dc6ef5 | comment |
Apathetic Citizens: The East Enders' lack of reaction towards Billy’s mother collapsing on the sidewalk (due to his father's beatings) prompts him to think the Luftwaffe missed a few spots. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25dc6ef5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25dc6ef5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_25dc6ef5 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27725a69 | type |
Nice Character, Mean Actor | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27725a69 | comment |
Nice Character, Mean Actor: This is the case with most of the Superheroes, but is especially prominent with Swingwing (a homophobe who's contractually required to encourage gays to come out, and murders one who confessed his love for him) and the Homelander. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27725a69 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27725a69 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27725a69 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27d19c47 | type |
Landmarking the Hidden Base | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27d19c47 | comment |
Landmarking the Hidden Base: The Boys, a CIA hit squad, operate out of the Flatiron Building in Manhattan. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27d19c47 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27d19c47 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_27d19c47 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_28b08686 | type |
A Party, Also Known as an Orgy | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_28b08686 | comment |
A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: Herogasm, full stop, as the supes engage in festivities where everyone is boning. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_28b08686 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_28b08686 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_28b08686 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a035a26 | type |
Allohistorical Allusion | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a035a26 | comment |
Allohistorical Allusion: The fictional M-20 rifle (See Incompetence, Inc. and Take That! below) is drawn as the SA80, a British assault rifle with a reputation every bit as awful but very, very real. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a035a26 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a035a26 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a035a26 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a4e8051 | type |
Sexual Karma | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a4e8051 | comment |
Sexual Karma: Let's go through the list, shall we? Butcher and Rayner: Openly dislike each other, and have loud and colorfully expressive hate sex. Almost any notable super: Completely no-holds-barred hedonistic promiscuity, usually either with prostitutes, each other, or just about anything else with a pulse, consent not always a given. Tek-Knight is a compulsively has sex with or tries to have sex with men, animals or even inanimate objects, but his behavior turns out to be caused by a massive brain tumor. Hughie and Annie: Arguably the two nicest characters in the entire comic, and they enjoy a healthy, supportive relationship and their sexual encounters are intimate and mutually pleasurable. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a4e8051 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a4e8051 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2a4e8051 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ae29c0d | type |
The Dreaded | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ae29c0d | comment |
The Dreaded: The Homelander. The single most powerful Supe on the planet, he is generally regarded as unconquerable in a stand-up fight. Even Billy Butcher does all he can to delay a physical showdown with him. Black Noir. The whole aspect of his character as a figure of mystery and fear, his utterly silent demeanor is unsettling to even his teammates. And this is before it's revealed that he's an insane clone of The Homelander, bred to exceed his might and designed to destroy him. Stillwell. The Vought American executive assigned to the Seven is so coolly confident and utterly unshakeable that he even intimidates the mightiest beings walking (or flying over) the Earth. Jack From Jupiter admits that Stillwell gave him nightmares. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ae29c0d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ae29c0d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ae29c0d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2b5ea43c | type |
Bland-Name Product | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2b5ea43c | comment |
Bland-Name Product: All of the Boys' computers have a stylized bitten pear for a logo. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2b5ea43c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2b5ea43c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2b5ea43c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2bdfcf74 | type |
OffscreenVillainDarkMatter | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2bdfcf74 | comment |
Offscreen Villain Dark Matter: Averted. Though VA is a huge corporation and makes mountains of money off the supers, they're extremely expensive to make and maintain (a few milliliters of refined Compound V costs several million dollars). Zig-Zagged in that they haven't purposefully made any supers with it since they lost Vogelbaum, instead recruiting the results of accidental exposures. The stuff Butcher pumps into Hughie's neck as the series begins was actually made by the CIA, who abducted Vogelbaum after faking his death, and part of their orders to him was to make Compound V too prohibitively expensive to use. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2bdfcf74 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2bdfcf74 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2bdfcf74 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2c1f1138 | type |
He Who Fights Monsters | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2c1f1138 | comment |
He Who Fights Monsters: Billy Butcher. The Reveal shows that he was already past this point by the time of the Little Nina incident. He comes up with a plan to kill everyone with compound V in their system, which would include all of The Boys as well as countless innocents, becoming the Big Bad, and also the Hero Killer by personally killing Mother's Milk, as well as setting up a bomb to take out The Frenchman and the Female. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2c1f1138 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2c1f1138 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2c1f1138 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cb9b1a9 | type |
Cool, but Inefficient | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cb9b1a9 | comment |
Cool, but Inefficient: This is largely the comic's depiction of superheroes in military situations. Sure, they can lift a tank or burn through metal or fly... but their abilities are wildly variable, making them unreliable (in particular, many of them aren't even Immune to Bullets), many of the tricks they can do aren't actually very impressive in a live-combat scenario, and they're too willful and independent-minded to play ball with chain of command. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cb9b1a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cb9b1a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cb9b1a9 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cbaa888 | type |
Empty Shell | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cbaa888 | comment |
Empty Shell: Maeve appears to be this, despite actually being The Mole. Eventually, she starts to care enough to heed Starlight's plea to abandon the Seven on the eve of Homelander's coup. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cbaa888 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cbaa888 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2cbaa888 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2d4fa515 | type |
Ax-Crazy | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2d4fa515 | comment |
Also, don't mess with Terror, since that's when Billy goes all out. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2d4fa515 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2d4fa515 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2d4fa515 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dba7575 | type |
Wacky Fratboy Hijinx | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dba7575 | comment |
Hughie infiltrates the G-Men on St Patrick's day, they ask him if it's celebrated the same back in Ireland, and no-one even understands what he's talking about when he insists he's actually Scottish. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dba7575 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dba7575 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dba7575 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dbbe772 | type |
Propaganda Hero | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dbbe772 | comment |
Propaganda Hero: The superheroes are all created by a serum that is dispensed by a MegaCorp that desperately wants to turn said superheroes into human weapons so they can get all the money and power that comes from being a part of US defense spending. Having failed to do that so far, they settle for peddling lame, Silver Age style stories that people eat up and make them imagine the heroes are saving the world on a daily basis. Of particular note is the Captain America Captain Ersatz, who is a Dirty Coward whose WWII heroism was faked and pure propaganda. (Which is pretty meta, considering Captain America is pretty much the poster boy for this trope.) | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dbbe772 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dbbe772 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dbbe772 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dd7a113 | type |
French Jerk | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dd7a113 | comment |
French Jerk: Averted. The Frenchman is probably the warmest, friendliest, most genial guy in the entire series. Of course, he's also a homicidal maniac, but that just makes it even more remarkable how affable he is. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dd7a113 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dd7a113 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2dd7a113 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e206837 | type |
Bed Trick | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e206837 | comment |
The arc "The Innocents" has it mentioned that Malchemical used to be a member of a team called Team Titanic before he was kicked out for using his shape-shifting powers to impersonate his team's leader and sleep with his leader's girlfriend. It isn't until later in the comic that the other members of Team Titanic are properly introduced and seen in person, with the leader named as Jimmy the One and his girlfriend being a Starfire expy named Regina Dentata. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e206837 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e206837 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e206837 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e8441c9 | type |
The Bad Guy Wins | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e8441c9 | comment |
Some might say The Bad Guy Wins as Vought-American Consolidated throws most of the blame on Jessica Bradley and gets away scott free as "American Consolidated", but it was All for Nothing as superheroes have been thoroughly outed as pointless and/or amoral, and AC's first attempt at changing that image is not promising; "The True", a dysfunctional new superteam (one of which is "plainly The Deep") clad in charming KKK white. Stillwell is implied to have a Villainous Breakdown - his first expression of emotion in the entire series - when he realizes that he's been left with the worse of all mercantile outcomes: bad product. Hughie also has a threat hanging over his head that should Vought-American try to get anywhere near a country's defense industry again, he (or anyone with the right signal) will activate a plastic explosive kill-switch in the heads of 260 of the company's top executives, including Stillwell. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e8441c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e8441c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2e8441c9 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ed5e99d | type |
Depraved Bisexual | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ed5e99d | comment |
Depraved Bisexual: Just about all of the assorted G teams, thanks to Godolkin himself being one, and a child molester on top. His abuse of his "children" has so skewed their senses of behavior that they're pretty much all this, and sometimes participate when Godolkin gets a new batch of kids in his house. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ed5e99d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ed5e99d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2ed5e99d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f36d97 | type |
Older Than They Look | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f36d97 | comment |
Older Than They Look: Specifically invoked for Stormfront, Mallory and Vogelbaum, and suggested for everyone else, due to the effects of Compound V making them age slowly - in appearance. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f36d97 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f36d97 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f36d97 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f72ded5 | type |
Husky Russkie | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f72ded5 | comment |
Vas is the gigantic, boisterous, hard-drinking nostalgic-for-communism Russian. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f72ded5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f72ded5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_2f72ded5 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30843c04 | type |
Powerful, but Incompetent | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30843c04 | comment |
Powerful, but Incompetent: Supes fight crime and are generally around to protect the world from evil. However, most of their heroics are publicity stunts set up by the Vought Corporation (who actually created Supes by bribing pregnant women to be injected with Compound-V and tell the world how God gifted them with such an amazing child), and when they are thrown into an actual emergency they have no idea how to handle the situation, such as when Homelander and Queen Maeve intercepted a hijacked plane, botched the rescue, and allowed it to crash onto the Brooklyn Bridge. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30843c04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30843c04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30843c04 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30ed4f7d | type |
Sleazy Politician | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30ed4f7d | comment |
Ennis seems to despise the Bush family in general. Prescott Bush is a Sleazy Politician who dies because he ignores the objections and military procedure of those who know what they're doing in favor of following orders from the corporation who bought him, George H. W. Bush is less competent than his own vice-president and only gets to be president because he served his time and it was his turn, and George W. Bush, (as has been mentioned a few times on this page) accidentally cut his head off while playing with a chainsaw before ever gaining national recognition. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30ed4f7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30ed4f7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_30ed4f7d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3122e918 | type |
Genocide from the Inside | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3122e918 | comment |
Genocide from the Inside: This is Butcher's ultimate plan, to wipe out everyone who has ever been exposed to Compound V. The fact that he and all of his closest friends are among those people and it would mean destroying a big chunk of the world's population due to how ubiquitous the stuff has become doesn't stop him from moving forward with his plan. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3122e918 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3122e918 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3122e918 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_330a3b9c | type |
Differently Powered Individual | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_330a3b9c | comment |
Differently Powered Individual: Superheroes are called "supes". | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_330a3b9c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_330a3b9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_330a3b9c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_337b9528 | type |
The Worf Barrage | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_337b9528 | comment |
The Worf Barrage: Half a dozen tanks, thirty miniguns, all of them firing depleted uranium rounds of the highest calibre. That's the unholy shit unloaded on Black Noir ALONE while already having half of his limbs burned, half of his head snatched away and all his guts hanging out as a result for killing Homelander. And he still manages to survive that (although he comes out of it crippled to such a point that the mere fact of him still standing up could fit in the Artistic Licence - Biology trope. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_337b9528 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_337b9528 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_337b9528 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34dcfc96 | type |
Kick the Dog | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34dcfc96 | comment |
Kick the Dog: After a failed attempt to engineer a confrontation between the Seven and the Boys, one of the Seven kills Terror. As the Boys were investigating Jack From Jupiter at the time, Butcher has one of his periodic psychotic episodes and guts him with a carving knife. However, a Meaningful Look in the previous issue implies that Homelander was responsible. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34dcfc96 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34dcfc96 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34dcfc96 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8042a | type |
Gratuitous French | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8042a | comment |
Gratuitous French, Gratuitous German: The Frenchman and Stormfront, respectively. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8042a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8042a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8042a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8ef33 | type |
Mass Super-Empowering Event | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8ef33 | comment |
Mass Super-Empowering Event: Averted. While all supers got their powers from the same source (a drug called Compound V), they did so at different times over the past fifty years. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8ef33 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8ef33 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_34f8ef33 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35a858b3 | type |
Cluster F-Bomb | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35a858b3 | comment |
Cluster F-Bomb: The language is quite salty (it's Garth Ennis, what did you expect?). | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35a858b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35a858b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35a858b3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35f4f6 | type |
Karmic Butt-Monkey | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35f4f6 | comment |
Karmic Butt-Monkey: Rayner's assistant Kessler (a.k.a Monkey) is constantly humiliated by Butcher (and got the nickname from an incident where a pair of monkeys had sex with his ears), and is shown to have a fetish for paraplegic athletes, to the point of going to an event with a popcorn box with a hole in the bottom. When he replaces Rayner as head of the CIA, he goes into full Tyrant Takes the Helm mode... which only lasts long enough for him to corner and try to rape a Paralympics competitor. Butcher steps in to save Kessler from a Curb-Stomp Battle (a paraplegic athlete is still an athlete), explains that Kessler isn't right in the head (and a Republican), and has Monkey raped by his dog. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35f4f6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35f4f6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_35f4f6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_364b9be6 | type |
Flipping the Bird | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_364b9be6 | comment |
Flipping the Bird: The cover to issue 26 depicts several members of the G-Men giving each other the finger. The Frenchman flips off his girlfriend Marie for leaving him for another man in his account of his origins in the 37th issue. The 38th issue, where The Female's origins are revealed, features a pair of Japanese scientists give the bird to their boss. The 56th issue has A-Train and Jack from Jupiter flip off the Homelander behind his back. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_364b9be6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_364b9be6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_364b9be6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38291355 | type |
Does Not Know His Own Strength | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38291355 | comment |
Does Not Know His Own Strength: Wee Hughie didn't expect to be able to punch a hole through the stomach of a super, as evidenced when he accidentally killed Blarney Cock. Earlier, he expresses his fear of ripping off his own penis the next time he jacks off. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38291355 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38291355 | featureConfidence |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38291355 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38a1e0eb | type |
Foreign Cuss Word | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38a1e0eb | comment |
Foreign Cuss Word: Stormfront calls The Female "Fotze", which is the German equivalent to the c-word. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38a1e0eb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38a1e0eb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38a1e0eb | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38d02d44 | type |
Batman Gambit | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38d02d44 | comment |
Batman Gambit: The Boys think that VA wants to kill the Skorchers because it goes against their interests, so they kill the supes VA sent to kill them so that the new team can serve as an embarrassment to VA. Turns out however VA was counting on The Boys killing the Supe team and save the Skorchers at the stadium to not only make Baxter-Pugh more complacent regarding his idea, but to also get a solid understanding on how The Boys work. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38d02d44 | featureApplicability |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38d02d44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38d02d44 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38f1a7ed | type |
Defector from Decadence | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38f1a7ed | comment |
Defector from Decadence: Starlight. Not surprising, considering what she has to put up with. This eventually happens with Queen Maeve towards the end of the series. We've mostly seen her as a martini-swilling background character, with a personal butler and, we're told, a penchant for bodybuilders. She's clearly post-traumatic after the events of September 11th, and turns out to be the Boys' mole in the Seven. Towards the end, she heeds Starlight's pleas, and decides to leave the Seven with her. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38f1a7ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38f1a7ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_38f1a7ed | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_39ed1c8a | type |
Conspiracy Theorist | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_39ed1c8a | comment |
Conspiracy Theorist: Hughie used to believe in aliens and the Illuminati, but has wised up to the real manipulators. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_39ed1c8a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_39ed1c8a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_39ed1c8a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3a4522df | type |
Pietà Plagiarism | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3a4522df | comment |
Some of Doc Peculiar's photographs are recreations of iconic comic images (with naked people circa 1910): Bruce Wayne looking at his parents, Batman holding Robin's corpse (or Superman holding Supergirl's corpse from Crisis #7; they're both Pietà Plagiarism poses), Superman throwing a car... | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3a4522df | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3a4522df | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3a4522df | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3ab4530c | type |
Crisis Crossover | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3ab4530c | comment |
Crisis Crossover: Parodied. The 'Herogasm' miniseries establishes that the superheroes routinely use 'crises' of this nature as a cover story for when they want to get out of the public eye in order to have an orgy. Early in the miniseries, Homelander lists a number of prior "crises", all of which are named after real-life comic book crisis events, including Final Fracas, Civil Dispute, Downcount and Covert Intrusion. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3ab4530c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3ab4530c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3ab4530c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3d699462 | type |
Curb-Stomp Battle | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3d699462 | comment |
Curb-Stomp Battle: The final confrontation between superheroes and the military turns into this, as F-16s armed with missiles designed specifically to target supes devastate the flying heroes whilst A-10s sent against the ground-based heroes do what they do best, and do it extremely well. A much-weakened and disemboweled Black Noir, fresh from killing the Homelander, attracts a storm of firepower from the Marines outside the White House and still survives long enough for Butcher to finally pry open his skull with a crowbar, rip out his brain, and crush it in his fist. In Mallory's flashback to WW2, a German panzer brigade wipes out an unprepared US tank battalion, casually slaughtering the pathetically incompetent prototype supers who unwittingly led the Germans to the battalion in the first place. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3d699462 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3d699462 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3d699462 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3f118d95 | type |
So Crazy, It Must Be True | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3f118d95 | comment |
So Crazy, It Must Be True: Kessler mentions that there are still people who will believe anything, whether they are true or not, on social media platforms such as Twitter. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3f118d95 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3f118d95 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_3f118d95 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_401d4116 | type |
Broken Aesop | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_401d4116 | comment |
Broken Aesop: The premise and Aesop of the series is that superheroes are useless to society and are ultimately "bad products". The Real Heroes are Badass Normals like cops, soldiers, and emergency workers. However, this is contradicted by the titular Boys, who work for the CIA and enhance their abilities with Compound V, the same product that created the Seven and the other superheroes. In other words, The Boys are superheroes in all but name; as a result, the premise becomes similar to a typical superhero story, albeit one where superheroes play the supervillain roles. This was acknowledged, and changed, by the showrunners of the TV adaptation as The Boys, with the exception of the Female, are all just badass normals instead. The "superheroes are useless" angle oscillates wildly, as the story wants to treat them as a danger to democratic society whilst also making the vast majority appear useless and weak. Aside from flying bricks like Homelander, Stormfront and Black Noir, almost all superheroes are regular humans with a not-too-useful secondary power (and a VERY silly costume, of course). The waters get muddied even further here when Hughie meets Mallory, the first leader of The Boys, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that Vogelbaum's work on Compound V would only give mediocre results. In other words, one of the reasons that superheroes are so useless is that a guy who hated superheroes made sure that they would be. Billy’s final victory over Black Noir is clearly meant to show the ultimate superiority of Muggle Power over superpowers, as Noir is brought down by a hail of bullets from US Marines, with Billy landing the killing blow. However, again, the only reason that the Marines are even capable of hurting him is that Homelander, a superhero, had half-killed him first and left him with grievous injuries including exposed bones; and Billy wouldn’t have been able to harm him at all if he didn’t have Super-Strength. At one point, the series criticizes the superhero industry's usage of Rape as Drama for its characters, which can be hard to take seriously when one considers that Butcher's primary plot is avenging his wife, who was raped by Homelander (actually Black Noir). And that's not even mentioning the Trauma Conga Line Starlight is put through, which Ennis said was originally going to be much worse and over-the-top before he started feeling bad for her. Billy’s claims of how ridiculous superhero costumes look become a tad hypocritical when The Boys are the ones wearing matching black clothes and trenchcoats. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_401d4116 | featureApplicability |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_401d4116 | featureConfidence |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_401d4116 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40c57041 | type |
Manipulative Bastard | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40c57041 | comment |
Manipulative Bastard: Billy Butcher. He is willing to say and do anything to draw Hughie into his personal crusade. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40c57041 | featureApplicability |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40c57041 | featureConfidence |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40c57041 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: Hughie and Starlight live Happily Ever After, but Mother's Milk, Frenchman and the Female die at Butcher's hands. Although the final scene implies the Female and the Frenchman may have survived. Every major superhuman and team has been wiped out, their amoral escapades made public knowledge, and Butcher even gets his revenge on the superhuman who raped his wife, but he then attempts to kill every superhuman on the planet and as a result dies at Hughie's hands. Some might say The Bad Guy Wins as Vought-American Consolidated throws most of the blame on Jessica Bradley and gets away scott free as "American Consolidated", but it was All for Nothing as superheroes have been thoroughly outed as pointless and/or amoral, and AC's first attempt at changing that image is not promising; "The True", a dysfunctional new superteam (one of which is "plainly The Deep") clad in charming KKK white. Stillwell is implied to have a Villainous Breakdown - his first expression of emotion in the entire series - when he realizes that he's been left with the worse of all mercantile outcomes: bad product. Hughie also has a threat hanging over his head that should Vought-American try to get anywhere near a country's defense industry again, he (or anyone with the right signal) will activate a plastic explosive kill-switch in the heads of 260 of the company's top executives, including Stillwell. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40cc0c7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40cc0c7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40cc0c7e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40f3b23a | type |
FilmOfTheBook | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40f3b23a | comment |
Pegg was told that "the part is his if he wants it," in the Film of the Book, although Pegg himself expressed concern that he was too old to play it at this point. Once it was adapted for (web) TV over a decade later, Pegg was cast as Hughie's father. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40f3b23a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40f3b23a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_40f3b23a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_41271766 | type |
Happily Ever After | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_41271766 | comment |
Hughie and Starlight live Happily Ever After, but Mother's Milk, Frenchman and the Female die at Butcher's hands. Although the final scene implies the Female and the Frenchman may have survived. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_41271766 | featureApplicability |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_41271766 | featureConfidence |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_41271766 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_424c9a9b | type |
Cold-Blooded Torture | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_424c9a9b | comment |
Cold-Blooded Torture: Butcher with Soldier Boy and Jack from Jupiter, although the latter was more about revenge than getting information. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_424c9a9b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_424c9a9b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_424c9a9b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_43702f21 | type |
Bear Hug | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_43702f21 | comment |
Bear Hug: Soviet superhero Love Sausage bear-hugs Billy Butcher (in a friendly fashion) when they first meet. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_43702f21 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_43702f21 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_43702f21 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_470bff94 | type |
Eats Babies | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_470bff94 | comment |
Eats Babies: The Homelander, albeit only in one particularly psychotic episode of doing horrific things to what looked like an entire family. Though it's a subversion as it wasn't actually him, it was Black Noir wearing his uniform. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_470bff94 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_470bff94 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_470bff94 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_479d4e5a | type |
Would Hurt a Child | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_479d4e5a | comment |
Would Hurt a Child: A flashback shows Butcher disabling a ten-year-old rapist and stand-in for Shazam! by cutting out his tongue to prevent him from being able to say his transformation word. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_479d4e5a | featureApplicability |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_479d4e5a | featureConfidence |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_479d4e5a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4a0f839d | type |
Cessation of Existence | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4a0f839d | comment |
Yet more soapboxing on Garth Ennis' low opinion on religion comes up near the end of the miniseries when Hughie and Annie discuss their certainty that there's no afterlife and decry anyone who believes in the hereafter as blindly clinging to lies and childish fairytales. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4a0f839d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4a0f839d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4a0f839d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4b316d47 | type |
Break the Cutie | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4b316d47 | comment |
Break the Cutie: The bulk of Starlight's subplot involves her going from an idealistic heroine called up to the big leagues to a disillusioned seer of the truth. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4b316d47 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4b316d47 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4b316d47 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4c851777 | type |
Black Comedy Rape | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4c851777 | comment |
Black Comedy Rape: Billy's dog Terror is trained to violently sodomize small dogs and cats. Billy and Hughie see it as the funniest thing ever. Later, we get a double-dose of it when Kessler first gets his own dildo shoved up his arse after trying to use it on a far-from-helpless Paralympian, and then gets buggered, mercifully off-screen, by Terror. The reason for Kessler's nickname, "Monkey", is immortalized in a bronze bust that shows him getting his ears screwed by monkeys. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4c851777 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4c851777 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4c851777 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d070ee3 | type |
Power Perversion Potential | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d070ee3 | comment |
Power Perversion Potential: Pretty much every 'superhero' will use their gifts to get off in the strangest, most bizarre and sometime violent means. Sometimes it's shown on-panel, other times it's strongly implied. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d070ee3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d070ee3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d070ee3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d97e2b9 | type |
Urine Trouble | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d97e2b9 | comment |
Urine Trouble: The 20th issue has Butcher's dog Terror pee on the Homelander's leg. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d97e2b9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d97e2b9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4d97e2b9 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e70e128 | type |
Evil Stole My Faith | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e70e128 | comment |
Evil Stole My Faith: Annie, due to being raped by three of the Seven, going home to find her boyfriend having sex with a teammate, and seeing no repercussions on herself or the others. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e70e128 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e70e128 | featureConfidence |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e70e128 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e7c4536 | type |
Wham Line | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e7c4536 | comment |
Wham Line: "I think your tough old bastard war veteran's as much of an act as your kind-hearted English gentleman. I think you're a fake." "I know, I know. You're the best mate a cunt like me could ask for. I don't deserve to fucking know you. But I ain't got no mates." "I hate mean people." "Heeeeeeeehn heeeeehn. I did things!" | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e7c4536 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e7c4536 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4e7c4536 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4eaa9b84 | type |
Author Tract | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4eaa9b84 | comment |
Author Tract: The comic once again consists mainly of the characters being used as mouthpieces to express Garth Ennis' viewpoints on the world. The opening is essentially a long screed against how much crappier the world's gotten even without the supers around. Hughie is stated to be a staunch opponent of the "woke" movement, complaining that most people who preach about social justice are out-of-touch hypocrites who only complain about how marginalized groups are treated to look good and deflect criticisms of their own bad behavior. Ironically enough, one of the main secondary characters in the comic is Trans, and Hughie and Annie emphatise with her when it is revealed that she can't get any legal hormone medication as a result of Brexit. Ennis's issue seems to be less with social justice as a whole, and more with people who claim to support such things but actually do so for less-than-altruistic reasons. Yet more soapboxing on Garth Ennis' low opinion on religion comes up near the end of the miniseries when Hughie and Annie discuss their certainty that there's no afterlife and decry anyone who believes in the hereafter as blindly clinging to lies and childish fairytales. Ennis really doesn't like Brexit. Hughie explicitly says that Brexiting Scots are idiots who vote against their own interests. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4eaa9b84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4eaa9b84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4eaa9b84 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f4372e9 | type |
Early-Installment Weirdness | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f4372e9 | comment |
Early-Installment Weirdness: In the early issues, it seems to be that Supes actually do do superhero stuff, with Teenage Kix celebrating after dealing with after putting away the "fearsome foursome" and Tek-Knight mentioning Payback were on the way to deal with someone called "Final Fate" when he first felt his "problem" occuring, but later on, it's established that most "superheroics" the Supes engage in are a complete fabrication, with only the occasional supe going "off message" (being publically villainous) and Superduper, being what they are, trying to get cats out of trees. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f4372e9 | featureApplicability |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f4372e9 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f5f091f | type |
The First Superheroes | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f5f091f | comment |
The First Superheroes: Inverted, an extended flashback to Colonel Mallory's service in World War II shows he was around for the debut of Vought-American's first superhero team: the Avenging Squad. Since their generation grew up before superhero comics became popular, Mallory and the other soldiers were completely unaware of the concept, and thought that sending people in neon spandex to fight the Nazis with zero combat training or experience was utterly idiotic, superpowers or not. He's proven right—the Avenging Squad unwittingly give away their position to an SS tank battalion, and are killed to a man in the ensuing battle. Vought-American abandons the concept for a decade before reintroducing superheroes in the 1950s solely for domestic crimefighting purposes. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f5f091f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f5f091f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4f5f091f | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4fba8b43 | type |
Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4fba8b43 | comment |
Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Limited edition hardcover collections featuring full-scripts, artist sketchbooks, cover galleries and an introduction by Simon Pegg. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4fba8b43 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4fba8b43 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_4fba8b43 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_500696c6 | type |
Seinfeldian Conversation | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_500696c6 | comment |
Him and Butcher then have a long Seinfeldian Conversation about "whatever-Americans" - "Americans" who, after having crossed entire oceans, decide to drag their old baggage with them from the Old Country rather than make a new start. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_500696c6 | featureApplicability |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_500696c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_500696c6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_504a1991 | type |
Body Horror | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_504a1991 | comment |
Body Horror: Happens to those with incomplete control over their powers. Frankly, also describes the result of most of the violence seen in the series. Special mention must go to Black Noir after his fight with the Homelander: his superhuman body has suffered at least a dozen instantly-fatal-to-normals wounds and because he's a pinnacle superhuman HE'S STILL GOING. A seventeen-foot-long tapeworm also makes an appearance to a young Hughie. Some powers go very, very wrong, like the little girl holding her melted-out eyes in her hands. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_504a1991 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_504a1991 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_504a1991 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_50b1855d | type |
Spy Fiction | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_50b1855d | comment |
Spy Fiction: Boring, but Practical Stale Beer all the way, and Discussed at that. Though they regularly pick through VA's computers, they don't have a Playful Hacker — they get in via an insider giving them the day's password. The Boys spend +90% of their time sitting in vans monitoring bugs, interviewing witnesses, or sitting at the office discussing what they learned from the bugs and the witnesses — and most of what they learn is sleazy blackmail material, not world-shattering secrets. Hell, the one time they hear such a secret (Homelander seemingly having a breakdown in which The Man in the Mirror Talks Back) they're so hasty to get to Butcher to share the information they miss the real secret; that he's actually having a comparatively rational Mirror Monologue... to psyche himself up for a planned coup of the United States. Butcher actually lampshades that they should have finished recording the conversation instead of running to him, and it takes them a while to get around to that due to complications. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_50b1855d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_50b1855d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_50b1855d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_52488c54 | type |
Drowning My Sorrows | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_52488c54 | comment |
Queen Maeve of The Seven. Her experience during 9/11 completely broke her, and she sits around in The Seven's headquarters drinking and debauching to forget. She does, however, become disgusted enough to bug The Seven's headquarters for The Boys, and becomes defensive of Starlight as she is subjected to misogynistic abuse by the rest of the team, even standing up for her when Vought tries to force a microbikini costume and rape backstory on her. She eventually dies saving Starlight from Homelander, in one of the only truly superheroic moments in the entire comic. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_52488c54 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_52488c54 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_52488c54 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_524f94d3 | type |
Rape as Backstory | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_524f94d3 | comment |
Rape as Backstory: An in-universe example, oddly enough. The Seven are having their image reworked into a Darker and Edgier mold, and the public relations people try to convince Starlight to go along with rape being a part of her backstory and motivation for becoming a hero. 1) This wasn't true, and 2) Starlight has been sexually abused, by members of the Seven, including a forcible Attempted Rape. As a result she's not pleased and verbally chews out the PR guys. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_524f94d3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_524f94d3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_524f94d3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5313c266 | type |
Bookends | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5313c266 | comment |
Book Ends: The series begins and ends with Hughie and the woman he loves. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5313c266 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5313c266 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5313c266 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_53c5f30e | type |
Happy Ending Override | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_53c5f30e | comment |
Happy Ending Override: Dear Becky shows that Hughie isn't done with The Boys just yet and has to go through one last hurdle before he can get the happy ending he deserves. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_53c5f30e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_53c5f30e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_53c5f30e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_55232afa | type |
Politically Incorrect Hero | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_55232afa | comment |
Politically Incorrect Hero: Butcher, and Hughie to some extent, especially near the start. While Mother's Milk claims otherwise when Hughie complains about it, Butcher isn't above casually tossing around homophobic slurs, which he first demonstrates by telling Hughie of the dark secrets of superheroes whose comics are on display and refers to several of them as a "poof" or a "dyke". He casually refers to a group of Muslim terrorists as "ragheads", incessantly uses derogatory terms for pretty much every race and nationality out there, the whole package. Hughie, on the other hand, begins the comic desperately trying to explain away his aversion to homosexual men to his girlfriend, and is very dismissive of his childhood friend Bobbie being transgender. By the time of Dear Becky, he has matured on this front a lot. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_55232afa | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_55232afa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_55232afa | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56240281 | type |
Country Matters | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56240281 | comment |
Country Matters: Butcher likes to use the c-word to refer to supes. And Vought personnel. And the Government. And most people, really. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56240281 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56240281 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56240281 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56549b6d | type |
Scotireland | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56549b6d | comment |
Scotireland: Ennis is Irish, and at Dynamite has zero limitations on what he can write, so in #27, he goes absolutely bonkers in his Take Thats; Hughie infiltrates the G-Men on St Patrick's day, they ask him if it's celebrated the same back in Ireland, and no-one even understands what he's talking about when he insists he's actually Scottish. Butcher enters the story this issue blowing the froth off a pint of Guinness at "The Grassy Knoll", where the bartender Proinsias gives no fucks about throwing hatchets at plastic-bowler-hatted morons who wander in looking for green beer. Proinsias smirks about writing "FUCK OFF" in the beers of said morons who ask him to write a shamrock in the head - just as Hughie shows up complaining of "Green Hell" in the streets, and asks for "FUCK OFF" in his Guinness. Him and Butcher then have a long Seinfeldian Conversation about "whatever-Americans" - "Americans" who, after having crossed entire oceans, decide to drag their old baggage with them from the Old Country rather than make a new start. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56549b6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56549b6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_56549b6d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_571bfe2 | type |
Super Serum | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_571bfe2 | comment |
Super Serum: Compound V, when it actually works. It's a Psycho Serum when it doesn't... The version of Compound V made for the US government by the original creator is more like a traditional super serum. It amps up the user's strength, endurance, stamina, and ability to recover by a factor of 50X and it works on the people it's used on 100% of the time. It's just super expensive. Mother's Milk has to periodically breastfeed from his mother in order to survive, hence the name. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_571bfe2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_571bfe2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_571bfe2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5798bfbf | type |
Reassigned to Antarctica | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5798bfbf | comment |
Reassigned to Antarctica: The VA executive threatens to "transfer" his security guys to Tasmania when they start goofing off, reminding them that VA doesn't have an office there. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5798bfbf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5798bfbf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5798bfbf | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_590eb583 | type |
Domestic Abuse | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_590eb583 | comment |
Domestic Abuse: Billy's dad, to the point that Billy's mother needed a glass eye. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_590eb583 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_590eb583 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_590eb583 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5963b221 | type |
Eviler than Thou | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5963b221 | comment |
Issue 65. It's revealed that Black Noir is a clone of Homelander, and the one who REALLY raped Becky. He also is the reason why Homelander became, "...a complete fucking psychopath by accident." The two fight, and Black Noir literally tears Homelander to pieces, before facing the military on the White House lawn, who unload an ungodly amount of firepower on him. This doesn't even kill him, and he isn't done in until Butcher steps up with a crowbar. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5963b221 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5963b221 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5963b221 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_599f943f | type |
Karma Houdini Warranty | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_599f943f | comment |
Karma Houdini Warranty: In Dear Becky, it turns out Stillwell never did recover from the superhero fiasco at the end of the original series and has gone insane, planting pineapples and endlessly muttering fragments of economic theory. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_599f943f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_599f943f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_599f943f | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5b6e57e | type |
Required Secondary Powers | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5b6e57e | comment |
Required Secondary Powers: Some supers don't have them, leading to a kid Hulking Out wrong (all his mass concentrated in his head), or a girl with Eye Beams whose eyes melted out of her head, MM's little brother's head swelled up while he was wearing a football helmet, killing him... The Homelander couldn't just lift up the plane because he had nothing to push against. Like The Flash, A-Train has Super-Speed. Unlike the Flash, he has little control over it, meaning he can't see where he's running (leading to Robin's death) or perform actions very fast (if he tried mucking out the Lamplighter's cell in superspeed, it'd only spread it around thinner). | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5b6e57e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5b6e57e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5b6e57e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d753b19 | type |
The Smurfette Principle | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d753b19 | comment |
The Smurfette Principle: Practically every superteam we see only has one woman — even the Boys only have the Female. Averted with The Seven,who have two (Queen Maeve and Starlight). | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d753b19 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d753b19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d753b19 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d88876d | type |
Chocolate Baby | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d88876d | comment |
One of the covers shows Maeve in a maternity ward holding a black baby with a very pissed-off Stormfront next to her. The baby is never mentioned, but given Vought's history with raising supers and given that a baby with only one superpowered parent can inherit their powers... | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d88876d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d88876d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5d88876d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5f146203 | type |
Dissonant Serenity | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5f146203 | comment |
Dissonant Serenity: Stillwell, the Vought-American executive, terrifies people who could reduce him to a smear on the wall if they so felt like it because he is so unnaturally calm and untroubled by anything. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5f146203 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5f146203 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5f146203 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fcb9ad1 | type |
Time Skip | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fcb9ad1 | comment |
Time Skip: The setting takes place years after the end of the main series, starting roughly around the 2020s, as COVID-19 is still a problem. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fcb9ad1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fcb9ad1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fcb9ad1 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fe47c0 | type |
Distracted from Death | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fe47c0 | comment |
Distracted from Death: In the issue that shows Butcher's past as a Royal Marine, we see him and his squad charging a machine gun nest during the Falklands War. Butcher makes it into the nest and slaughters the Argentinians there, then triumphantly turns to celebrate with his mates, only to see that they all were mowed down charging the nest. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fe47c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fe47c0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_5fe47c0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_61c7d589 | type |
Bigger Is Better in Bed | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_61c7d589 | comment |
Bigger Is Better in Bed: This shouldn't be shocking for a man who goes by the moniker "The Love Sausage." | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_61c7d589 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_61c7d589 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_61c7d589 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_62434fe2 | type |
Sanity Slippage | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_62434fe2 | comment |
Sanity Slippage: We learn that Stillwell’s breakdown at the end of the main series was the start of this. By the time Hughie tracks him down, he’s well off the deep end — almost unrecognizable beneath his wild hair and beard and shabby clothes, rambling about economics on a pineapple farm in Hawaii. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_62434fe2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_62434fe2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_62434fe2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_63389b0b | type |
Kids Are Cruel | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_63389b0b | comment |
Kids Are Cruel: A flashback shows that upon seeing a dog stranded on a rock in the middle of a river, Hughie and pals proceed to throw stones at it. Fortunately, Hughie realizes what he's doing and rescues him. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_63389b0b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_63389b0b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_63389b0b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6411dac8 | type |
BadassNormal | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6411dac8 | comment |
Badass Normal: Though The Boys themselves only appear to be normal the Vought American troops play it straight, killing off a group of X-Men expies (all 60+ of them) in a matter of seconds using only present day weapons. Later, depleted-uranium ammo is able to tear through supers. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6411dac8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6411dac8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6411dac8 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64713b04 | type |
Pedophile Priest | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64713b04 | comment |
Pedophile Priest: Oh Father is a religious superhero with twelve under-age apostles he is implied to have molested. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64713b04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64713b04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64713b04 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_648fe274 | type |
But for Me, It Was Tuesday | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_648fe274 | comment |
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: The Homelander's reaction when Butcher confronts him in the Oval Office with the rape of his wife in Issue 65. Subverted. He doesn't remember because it wasn't him that did those things. That said, his overall reaction fits the trope anyway: he takes Billy's word that it happened, and assumes he doesn't remember because for him it was an average day. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_648fe274 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_648fe274 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_648fe274 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64c8eea8 | type |
Wolverine Claws | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64c8eea8 | comment |
Wolverine Claws: Averted with Popclaw (the X-23 expy), an offhand comment says her single wrist-mounted blades were surgically implanted. The comic's version of Wolverine instead has his forearms replaced with hammers. Which he doesn't even get to use. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64c8eea8 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64c8eea8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_64c8eea8 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_657f77e4 | type |
Caught with Your Pants Down | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_657f77e4 | comment |
Caught with Your Pants Down: When visiting her old team, Young Americans, Annie walks in on her former partner, Drummer Boy, having sex with another member, Holy Mary. G-Wiz has a "porn room," a kind of private movie theater when they can watch porn and masturbate. Hughie, undercover with them, walks in on the entire team basically having a circle-jerk. They don't mind at all, and ask if he wants to join, with the same tone as if asking if he'd like to share some popcorn and a not-porn movie. This is an early sign that their standards of acceptable social behavior have been seriously skewed by Godolkin's sexual abuse. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_657f77e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_657f77e4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_657f77e4 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_659ef759 | type |
Implacable Man | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_659ef759 | comment |
Surprisingly, Butcher is this to the protagonists Ennis usually wrote. Turns out, an Implacable Man who is driven solely by one goal is absolutely not right in the head. In fact, he's a total psychopath. And as soon as that goal is achieved, that man's next goal is more monstrous than the last to the point that he can't be considered anything remotely close to a hero anymore. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_659ef759 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_659ef759 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_659ef759 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6651bba7 | type |
Bio-Augmentation | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6651bba7 | comment |
Bio-Augmentation: Every one of The Boys was treated with the same Super Serum that created all of the superpowered people. As a result, even Wee Hughie has enough Super-Strength to punch holes in other supers, and, presumably, corresponding resistance to trauma. As Butcher explained, Muggles just can't get far in the world where "superheroes" don't have much compunctions against killing or maiming their opponents. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6651bba7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6651bba7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6651bba7 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_66cdb21b | type |
Gag Penis | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_66cdb21b | comment |
Gag Penis: In his first appearance, the Boys look on in horror as Vas stands proudly in his spandex uniform, and it is very blatantly obvious why his superhero name was "Love Sausage." It's so big that he becomes physically unable to run after encountering a room full of scantily dressed women. That's right, he was stopped by his own erection. Justified by the sad real life example of a man with a two-foot-long penis. Even minor arousal sends a significant amount of blood to his genitals, causing him to lose consciousness. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_66cdb21b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_66cdb21b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_66cdb21b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_67edaf78 | type |
Gargle Blaster | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_67edaf78 | comment |
Gargle Blaster: Vas'... "vodka". Made from tank brake fluid, causes even Compound V-enhanced humans to cough up a cry, and even works as an antipoison if drunk beforehand. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_67edaf78 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_67edaf78 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_67edaf78 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6860368a | type |
Mook Horror Show | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6860368a | comment |
Mook Horror Show: More than once, though in at least once case replace "mook" with "supe." | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6860368a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6860368a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6860368a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_68da6712 | type |
Canon Welding | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_68da6712 | comment |
Canon Welding: Implied to take place in the same universe as Preacher with a cameo from human Cassidy. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_68da6712 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_68da6712 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_68da6712 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_697b5232 | type |
Those Wacky Nazis | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_697b5232 | comment |
Those Wacky Nazis: Stormfront, created by Vogelbaum for the Nazis, now working for Vought. He still holds to the ideals of the Third Reich, though. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_697b5232 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_697b5232 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_697b5232 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_69cc2a27 | type |
Hilariously Abusive Childhood | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_69cc2a27 | comment |
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Played back and forth with Hughie. While he had very loving (adoptive) parents, they have some difficulty in seeing that he's a grownup. Then there's the tapeworm... | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_69cc2a27 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_69cc2a27 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_69cc2a27 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6aa5bcb8 | type |
Vice President Who? | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6aa5bcb8 | comment |
Vice President Who?: Zig-Zagged. Vic the Veep is incompetent, borderline mentally impaired and doesn't even hide that he's a Vought Corporation puppet through and through, but that doesn't make him harmless. For example, as the President ("Dakota Bob") is about to give the order to shoot down the last of the 9/11 airliners before they hit, Vic knocks him out with a fire extinguisher (everyone else had been staring at the screens), as Vought/American wanted their supers to save the day as a PR move. He's also responsible for the President's death, opening a cage he thought contained his pet dog rather than a wolverine. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6aa5bcb8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6aa5bcb8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6aa5bcb8 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6b2b3b59 | type |
The Reveal | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6b2b3b59 | comment |
The Reveal: The one who sent Hughie the diary was former Director Susan Raynor, all in an attempt to get him to feel guilty about what The Boys ultimately were and get him to expose everything to the world, to which she'd take advantage of and try for one last grasp at political power. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6b2b3b59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6b2b3b59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6b2b3b59 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c553873 | type |
Private Military Contractors | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c553873 | comment |
Private Military Contractors: Red River, the Blackwater Expy responsible for, among other things, slaughtering the Ersatz X-Men. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c553873 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c553873 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c553873 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c87dbef | type |
Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c87dbef | comment |
Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: Hughie was just overcoming the death of his previous girlfriend and Annie had been sexually assaulted, so on their first date they decide to take things slowly, going their separate ways at the end and not even kissing. While Hughie seems happy to have finally moved on, the chapter still ends with him masturbating and crying. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c87dbef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c87dbef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6c87dbef | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6cc17332 | type |
Appearance Angst | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6cc17332 | comment |
Appearance Angst: Mother's Milk has a daughter he's been ineffectually trying to prevent from going out with gangbangers or dress more conservatively. Then it turns out that because of the Compound V in his body that was transmitted at birth, she's actually 12 with the body of a 20-year-old supermodel (with all the consequences that implies), making her body image issues far worse than they seemed at first. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6cc17332 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6cc17332 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6cc17332 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6d6dfca1 | type |
Wearing a Flag on Your Head | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6d6dfca1 | comment |
Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Herogasm ends with an interesting anecdote on this trope; One of the main reasons Billy utterly despises Soldier Boy. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6d6dfca1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6d6dfca1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6d6dfca1 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb04f1 | type |
"Everybody Laughs" Ending | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb04f1 | comment |
"Everybody Laughs" Ending: Mentioned by Butcher as preceding a team-building exercise at the local brothel. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb04f1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb04f1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb04f1 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb4e408 | type |
Artistic License – Military | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb4e408 | comment |
Overlaps with Artistic License – Military as, in addition to the reasons stated above, the Vice President is not in the military chain of command. The other officials and military staff in the Situation Room would be under no obligation to follow Vic's "authority" and would instead continue to follow Shaefer's last order issued before he was rendered unconscious. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb4e408 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb4e408 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_6eb4e408 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_705d2ccf | type |
Unseen No More | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_705d2ccf | comment |
Unseen No More: Mallory is mentioned several times before finally appearing in person in the Highland Laddie miniseries. The arc "The Innocents" has it mentioned that Malchemical used to be a member of a team called Team Titanic before he was kicked out for using his shape-shifting powers to impersonate his team's leader and sleep with his leader's girlfriend. It isn't until later in the comic that the other members of Team Titanic are properly introduced and seen in person, with the leader named as Jimmy the One and his girlfriend being a Starfire expy named Regina Dentata. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_705d2ccf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_705d2ccf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_705d2ccf | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_729c69f3 | type |
Politically Incorrect Villain | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_729c69f3 | comment |
Politically Incorrect Villain: Some strife is made between Teenage Kix members Shout Out and Blarney Cock due to the former being an African-American man who hates Irish people and the latter being an Irish man who is racist towards black people. Hell, one squabble between them has Shout Out call Blarney Cock a "mick" and Blarney Cock respond in kind by calling Shout Out a racial slur that rhymes with "spoon". The Homelander is racist and misogynist, his Establishing Character Moment having him passive-aggressively persuade Annie into giving him a blowjob and flashback sequences show him calling a Japanese supe he's just killed a racial slur and referring to The Deep using the N-word. Swingwing pretends to support gay rights for PR purposes, but is actually so homophobic that he killed a man by shoving him off a roof after he confessed being attracted to him. Several members of the G-Men are shown to have bigoted views. Five-Oh demonstrates misogyny by calling his deceased teammate Silver Kincaid a "prick-teasing bitch", Critter insults Divine and Flamer using homophobic slurs, both Five-Oh and Critter are shown to be resentful of the spin-off teams G-Coast and G-Style just for being black and the members of G-Wiz are a bunch of frat boys who occasinally harass the Seven by prank calling them and taunting them with homophobic slurs. In Herogasm, goverment agent Godfrey shoots Michael Lucero while calling him a "spic". Stormfront is an actual Nazi, so of course he'd be extremely bigoted. For instance, he addresses The Female and Mother's Milk using racial slurs. Malchemical is a misogynist rapist and ableist, insulting the members of Superduper for having special needs and even going so far as to call them the R-word. The "Big Ride" arc shows Jack from Jupiter to be transphobic and racist, using transphobic slurs to refer to the transgender prostitutes he frequents, calling Shout Out of Teenage Kix the N-word after hearing that he will soon be kicked out of the Seven and calling The Deep another racial slur when reprimanded for saying the N-word. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_729c69f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_729c69f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_729c69f3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_74150406 | type |
Depleted Phlebotinum Shells | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_74150406 | comment |
Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: Literally. Depleted uranium rounds are used to great effect against superhumans. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_74150406 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_74150406 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_74150406 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_77575053 | type |
Loss of Inhibitions | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_77575053 | comment |
Loss of Inhibitions: Tek-Knight suffers from a steadily-worsening compulsion to have sex with anything that has a hole in it. After he dies saving some people from falling bricks, doctors discover that he had a tumor the size of a fist in his brain. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_77575053 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_77575053 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_77575053 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7aa989ea | type |
Token Evil Teammate | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7aa989ea | comment |
Token Evil Teammate: Butcher himself, who is the most violent and manipulative of The Boys. In the end, he betrays the others and kills some of them. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7aa989ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7aa989ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7aa989ea | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7b6e47a5 | type |
Armor-Piercing Question | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7b6e47a5 | comment |
Armor-Piercing Question: Hughie gives one to Susan Raynor on the way out of the office, causing the recipient to scream and throw a drink at him. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7b6e47a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7b6e47a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7b6e47a5 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d163c9c | type |
Dating Catwoman | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d163c9c | comment |
Dating Catwoman: Wee Hughie is sleeping with superheroine Starlight. But neither one knows what the other one actually does for a living. Until issue 44. More literally, the threesome between Tek-Knight, Swingwing and Talon. Talon is an Expy of Catwoman. In a more vicious sense, Butcher and Raynor's relationship. They hate each other passionately, and thus meet up regularly for wild illicit sex (as Butcher puts it, they both like screwing people they hate). Butcher records one such encounter, which is ultimately used as blackmail against Raynor when she tries to run for Congress. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d163c9c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d163c9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d163c9c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d49d74a | type |
Cultural Translation | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d49d74a | comment |
Cultural Translation: The French version does this to the Frenchman, obviously. His home village of Franglais (the French term for Gratuitous English) becomes Saint-Frusquin (an expression for "and all the rest"), and he calls Butcher "Boucher" rather than "Charcutier". | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d49d74a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d49d74a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d49d74a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d89315b | type |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d89315b | comment |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Hughie throws Susan Raynor's attempt at political power and trying to make him feel guilty about his time with The Boys back at her face. Unlike Butcher, flawed as he may be, who found someone like Becky out of the billions of people in the world who loved him in return, Susan is left alone and bitter. As he leaves her office, Hughie asks Susan if anyone decent ever truly loved her, causing her to angrily throw a whisky glass at him. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d89315b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d89315b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7d89315b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f2427a6 | type |
Dawson Casting | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f2427a6 | comment |
Dawson Casting: An in-universe example, most of the people who are are in teen and kid superhero groups are actually in their late twenties to early thirties. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f2427a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f2427a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f2427a6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f36ee6d | type |
Afro Asskicker | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f36ee6d | comment |
Afro Asskicker: Mother's Milk, due to his immense strength, his willingness to use it, and how many opponents he takes down. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f36ee6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f36ee6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7f36ee6d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7febc23b | type |
Establishing Character Moment | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7febc23b | comment |
The Homelander is racist and misogynist, his Establishing Character Moment having him passive-aggressively persuade Annie into giving him a blowjob and flashback sequences show him calling a Japanese supe he's just killed a racial slur and referring to The Deep using the N-word. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7febc23b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7febc23b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_7febc23b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8029fa50 | type |
True Final Boss | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8029fa50 | comment |
More like Wham Episodes, between Issues 66-69. Butcher kills Vas in a warehouse in Moscow, Hughie and Annie separate, and the Boys are disavowed by the CIA, before they discover Butcher's long-gestating plan to kill every person on the planet exposed to compound V, leading him to kill Mallory, The Legend, Dr. Vogelbaum, Mother's Milk, Frenchie and the Female, the latter two by blowing up the Flatiron Building. In three issues, Ennis utterly shatters everything established in the series up to that point, turning everything on its head in the most horrific fashion possible. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8029fa50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8029fa50 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8029fa50 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_80a247a9 | type |
Breather Episode | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_80a247a9 | comment |
Breather Episode: Frenchie recounting his (probably false) backstory, an absurd comedic tale filled with French stereotypes, comes right after Mother's Milk recounting his depressingly tragic childhood to Hughie. Highlights include Frenchie's dad dying on a baguette joust on a bycicle and Frenchie just leaping off of a window after proclaiming his undying loyalty to The Boys. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_80a247a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_80a247a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_80a247a9 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8159411a | type |
Extreme Omnisexual | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8159411a | comment |
Extreme Omnisexual: Tek Knight. He has sex with a male telepathic android, a cup of hot coffee, his Jarvis-Expy butler's ear, a watermelon, and (presumably) his Nightwing-expy's mouth. It turns out this is because of a fist-sized brain tumor. Then again, many of the other supers have sex with anyone or anything and they don't have tumors. Terror, should his beloved Billy command it. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8159411a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8159411a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8159411a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_816a4e80 | type |
Star Wars (Franchise) | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_816a4e80 | comment |
When the G-Men members are shown in issue #23, one of them appears to be Boba Fett. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_816a4e80 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_816a4e80 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_816a4e80 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_823c6e3e | type |
Large Ham | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_823c6e3e | comment |
Large Ham: Vas/Love Sausage. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_823c6e3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_823c6e3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_823c6e3e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a8d697 | type |
Oblivious Guilt Slinging | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a8d697 | comment |
Oblivious Guilt Slinging: While discussing how to vary their sex life, Hughie tells Annie he just can't perform if there's more than one man per woman. Which is how Annie got into the Seven... | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a8d697 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a8d697 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a8d697 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a903f6 | type |
Stepford Smiler | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a903f6 | comment |
Stepford Smiler: Most of the G-Men delve ever deeper into hedonism to deal with the near-constant sexual abuse they suffered at Godolkin's and older students' hands. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a903f6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a903f6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83a903f6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83f3983b | type |
Necessarily Evil | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83f3983b | comment |
While just about every scumbag politician is a Republican (Dakota Bob being more of Necessarily Evil), the Democrats end up endorsing Rayner as their candidate. (Though that's "only" for a senate seat.) | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83f3983b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83f3983b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_83f3983b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_855154d5 | type |
Prank Call | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_855154d5 | comment |
Several members of the G-Men are shown to have bigoted views. Five-Oh demonstrates misogyny by calling his deceased teammate Silver Kincaid a "prick-teasing bitch", Critter insults Divine and Flamer using homophobic slurs, both Five-Oh and Critter are shown to be resentful of the spin-off teams G-Coast and G-Style just for being black and the members of G-Wiz are a bunch of frat boys who occasinally harass the Seven by prank calling them and taunting them with homophobic slurs. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_855154d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_855154d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_855154d5 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_85f0963f | type |
Psycho Serum | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_85f0963f | comment |
Psycho Serum: Standard Compound V is this when it's not properly refined and synthesized in a lab and even then when it's administered to people, there's only a low chance of someone gaining powers with the compound either doing nothing or very messy results. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_85f0963f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_85f0963f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_85f0963f | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_863fa679 | type |
What Happened to the Mouse? | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_863fa679 | comment |
What Happened to the Mouse?: Superduper vanishes from the series after "The Innocents," with no mention as to what's happened to them after Malchemical's death or after Homelander's coup. One of the covers shows Maeve in a maternity ward holding a black baby with a very pissed-off Stormfront next to her. The baby is never mentioned, but given Vought's history with raising supers and given that a baby with only one superpowered parent can inherit their powers... | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_863fa679 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_863fa679 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_863fa679 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8767b1f3 | type |
Black-and-Gray Morality | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8767b1f3 | comment |
Black-and-Gray Morality: One one side, a band of self-acknowledged anti-heroes who spy, collect blackmail information, and beat (deserving) people into chunky salsa, including a little Asian girl who likes literally tearing people's faces off. On the other, one of the most frightingly amoral coporations in fiction and their sponsored "superheroes" who really only care about the money they make from their merchandising empires and enjoying the perks of being able to do whatever the fuck they want (including murder and rape) and get away with it, because they're accountable to absolutely no one. Except afforementioned band of face-tearing, salsa-making anti-heroes. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8767b1f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8767b1f3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_87bb6874 | type |
Villain with Good Publicity | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_87bb6874 | comment |
Villain with Good Publicity: Ironically, Superheroes. The Legend even says there aren't very many genuine super villains because most of the amoral sociopaths realize that being a privileged, well paid "Superhero" is so much easier. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_87bb6874 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_87bb6874 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_87bb6874 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_88f1db15 | type |
Break the Believer | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_88f1db15 | comment |
Break the Believer: Vas sets his hopes on a communist politician to free the country from corruption. The whole Engineered Heroism plot would have put him in the role of anti-supervillain savior. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_88f1db15 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_88f1db15 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_88f1db15 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8994380b | type |
WackyFratBoyHijinks | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8994380b | comment |
The G-Wiz's Wacky Fratboy Hijinks are a shout out to Animal House, with Blowchowski's appearance based on John Belushi's John "Bluto" Blutarsky. The cover for issue #24 is also based on the poster for Animal House. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8994380b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8994380b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8994380b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ae880f7 | type |
Deconstruction | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ae880f7 | comment |
Deconstruction: All over the place, as the series is very much a Deconstruction of the idea of silver-age superheroes in the modern world. Of the underlying corporate nature of superheroes and the comic book industry. The superheroes in the world of The Boys were raised from birth with everything handed to them on a silver platter from Vought-American. Because of how Merchandise-Driven superheroes by nature are, spoiling them with all the wealth in the world is pretty much all Vought can do to make sure they don't one day go off the deep end. That being said, the superheroes, as a result of all the power they've been given right from the moment they were born, end up sociopathic, immature, spoiled, and utterly hedonistic—fixated only on their own individual satisfactions without much regard for the innocents whose lives are in their hands. What's even worse is that since superheroes are such a massive investment and turn in extremely huge profits, Vought's management is very much willing to do whatever they deem necessary to ensure their business remains afloat. Surprisingly, Butcher is this to the protagonists Ennis usually wrote. Turns out, an Implacable Man who is driven solely by one goal is absolutely not right in the head. In fact, he's a total psychopath. And as soon as that goal is achieved, that man's next goal is more monstrous than the last to the point that he can't be considered anything remotely close to a hero anymore. The events of September 11th, 2001 show exactly what would happen if a Justice League-esque super team tried to stop a mid-air plane hijacking (see Didn't Think This Through above.) In Issue 65 swarms of powerful but inexperienced superheroes are gunned down en masse by the US military, who were warned of their coup in advance and are outfitted with depleted uranium ammunition. Considering that a 30mm DU round is capable of penetrating a good three inches or 76mm of RHA steel (for reference, 30mm RHA or above all-around is enough to render an armored vehicle more or less Immune to Bullets [at least small arms], which only a minority of supers are to begin with), that every A-10 and M2 Bradley puts out dozens of these rounds per second, and that the military also had anti-tank guided missiles capable of piercing several feet worth of RHA, this is completely unsurprising. Particularly notable is that most of the heroes are killed by airstrikes or artillery that they never had any chance to retaliate against due to them either having just their fists or a short-ranged attack (e.g. Eye Beams, Hand Blast, Playing with Fire, An Ice Person), with a She-Hulk expy even despairing that the Air Force wouldn't "come down and face us, cowards!". Again, not surprising in an era where unmanned drones regularly target individual insurgents with missiles from miles away. The superhero business in general. Why go out and fight crime for real when you can sit back and collect residuals on all of the comic books, TV shows, and merchandise with your face on it? Played for laughs with Vas' Gag Penis. As stated above, when he gets aroused, he is incapacitated due to the amount of blood being sent. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ae880f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ae880f7 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8b221a63 | type |
Reed Richards Is Useless | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8b221a63 | comment |
Reed Richards Is Useless: Technology that could be made to improve living conditions and save lives is instead being used exclusively to make shiny suits so millionaire playboys can go on high-tech joyrides. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8b221a63 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8b221a63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8b221a63 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8c96ae78 | type |
No One Could Survive That! | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8c96ae78 | comment |
No One Could Survive That!: Black. Motherfucking. Noir. One of the marines watching the White House from behind the fence said this when seeing the super dragging himself out of the Oval Office with half of his head missing, his limbs burned to the bone, and his guts hanging out behind him after killing Homelander. Then, he was continuously shot at by a full platoon of marines (including some tanks), leaving him with no hands, no feet, no ab muscles, one arm missing, and his entire body pierced with more holes than Spongebob, and he still managed to stand up. Then, Butcher came at him, cracked open his skull with a crowbar, and ripped out a large chunk of his brain, and it wasn't enough to take him down. AND THEN, Butcher crushed the brain chunk in his hand in front of Black Noir's eyes, and ONLY THEN he finally died (or maybe understood he was dead)! | |
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1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8c96ae78 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d0461e2 | type |
Destructive Romance | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d0461e2 | comment |
Butcher and Rayner: Openly dislike each other, and have loud and colorfully expressive hate sex. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d0461e2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d0785d5 | type |
Didn't Think This Through | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d0785d5 | comment |
But the Pièce de Résistance was the Seven's attempt to save United Airlines Flight 175 on September 11. Quite simply, they Didn't Think This Through beyond the general idea of Vought-American trying to boost supers for national defense. Especially as they had their moronic man in the White House, Vic the Veep, knock out the president with a fire extinguisher in order to let the Seven make the attempt. Vought-American is, overall, a representation of a small but recurring theme in Ennis's work: the greed and carelessness of war profiteers (and corporations in general). While Vought's activities throughout history (as discussed in issues #19-22) are pretty ridiculous when you see them on the page, they're based on real events — a decent example of the same thing in real life is the shortage of body armor for American troops at the start of the Iraq War. Essentially, his theme is that such corporations are really only interested in bottom-line profit, not any moral concerns, and if there's a way for them to increase their profit without having to worry about such concerns as safety, morality or even whether the product works (such as, say, if they've bought and paid for all the lawmakers who might intervene and restrain them), then they won't hesitate to follow it. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d0785d5 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d344091 | type |
Headgear Headstone | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d344091 | comment |
Headgear Headstone: A variation on this in a Vietnam War flashback. After wiping out American troops armed with a crappy new rifle supplied by Vought-American, the VC leave the dead GI's weapons stuck in the ground with their helmets on top. However, the helmets aren't empty.... | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8d344091 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8e20979 | type |
Wham Episode | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8e20979 | comment |
Wham Episode: Issue 31 The next issue line is "And Then There Were Four..." Also the last issue of the We Gotta Go Now story arc. Issue 63 may be the start of a series of whams, as Frenchie loses an arm, and A-Train and Queen Maeve are killed. Issue 65. It's revealed that Black Noir is a clone of Homelander, and the one who REALLY raped Becky. He also is the reason why Homelander became, "...a complete fucking psychopath by accident." The two fight, and Black Noir literally tears Homelander to pieces, before facing the military on the White House lawn, who unload an ungodly amount of firepower on him. This doesn't even kill him, and he isn't done in until Butcher steps up with a crowbar. More like Wham Episodes, between Issues 66-69. Butcher kills Vas in a warehouse in Moscow, Hughie and Annie separate, and the Boys are disavowed by the CIA, before they discover Butcher's long-gestating plan to kill every person on the planet exposed to compound V, leading him to kill Mallory, The Legend, Dr. Vogelbaum, Mother's Milk, Frenchie and the Female, the latter two by blowing up the Flatiron Building. In three issues, Ennis utterly shatters everything established in the series up to that point, turning everything on its head in the most horrific fashion possible. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8e20979 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ec0abf | type |
The Voiceless | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ec0abf | comment |
Black Noir. The whole aspect of his character as a figure of mystery and fear, his utterly silent demeanor is unsettling to even his teammates. And this is before it's revealed that he's an insane clone of The Homelander, bred to exceed his might and designed to destroy him. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8ec0abf | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8f612013 | type |
Token Good Teammate | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8f612013 | comment |
Token Good Teammate: A few examples, mainly Hughie. Whilst you could argue that all of The Boys bar Butcher have hearts of gold, they still revel in their extremely violent jobs and are desensitised to it. Hughie is about as close to a normal bloke as this world has, and seems extremely unsuited to a job in a CIA black ops surveillance operations. Turns out that this was the point. Butcher didn't recruit Hughie for his skills but his decent moral outlook, relying on him to be the one that stops Butcher's plan to wipe out all of the superhumans in the world. Queen Maeve of The Seven. Her experience during 9/11 completely broke her, and she sits around in The Seven's headquarters drinking and debauching to forget. She does, however, become disgusted enough to bug The Seven's headquarters for The Boys, and becomes defensive of Starlight as she is subjected to misogynistic abuse by the rest of the team, even standing up for her when Vought tries to force a microbikini costume and rape backstory on her. She eventually dies saving Starlight from Homelander, in one of the only truly superheroic moments in the entire comic. Agent Michael Lucero from the Herogasm serial. In a comic that has an extremely poor view on Americans and their government, Lucero stands out as a level-headed, loyal and committed Secret Service agent who is genuinely devoted to his country. He works with The Boys mostly out of sheer disgust at the mockery that Vought's attempts to insert superheroes into the US military have made of his country. He uses his dying breath to call the orchestrator of the plot a disgrace. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8f612013 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8f7f2c6a | type |
National Stereotypes | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8f7f2c6a | comment |
National Stereotypes: Played with in the case of The Frenchman; he's from a village called Franglais, where they speak a unique dialect and regularly engage in the time-honored tradition of baguette-jousting on bicycles whilst wearing stripy tops and onions and uttering the "Haw-he-haw-he-haw" battle cry. Just don't suggest to him that the French are cowards. Of course since he's an insane Unreliable Narrator, the accuracy of his backstory is questionable, to say the least. Vas is the gigantic, boisterous, hard-drinking nostalgic-for-communism Russian. He may not dress the part any more, but Stormfront is very definitely portrayed as the epitome of a Nazi superman, rampant racism and all. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_8f7f2c6a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_945dd99a | type |
Cape Busters | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_945dd99a | comment |
Cape Busters: The Boys themselves monitor and take out rogue hero elements. Also an auxiliary role of The Seven. Homelander and A-Train have been shown to be utilized in this capacity. And the pivotal one for the comic, Black Noir, whose sole purpose is to take out the Homelander if he goes nuts, and starts gaslighting him until he does just so he can kill him. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_945dd99a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_953c92eb | type |
Beware the Superman | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_953c92eb | comment |
Beware the Superman: For he cares about nothing but his own publicity. And the actual Captain Ersatz of Superman is a greedy, ruthless rapist as well as a possible Big Bad. The only truly benevolent superheroes in the setting are Starlight, who hasn't been around long enough to be thoroughly corrupted but probably would have been if she hadn't met Hugh, and the Superduper team, which is essentially a superhero equivalent of the short bus, consisting mostly of metahumans with marginal powers and various disorders. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_953c92eb | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_957e5fc2 | type |
Villainous Breakdown | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_957e5fc2 | comment |
Villainous Breakdown: Homelander is fond of these when he doesn't get his way. Stillwell seems to be most likely to instigate these. Bradley, when she realizes Stillwell set her up as the Fall Guy. She even rips out her hair. Ironically, Stillwell seems to have one at the end, when he realizes that whatever he does to spin super-powered people to the public, it's still flawed and ultimately, bad product. To the point where in the sequel he's gone nuts, quoting economic theory to the pineapples he grows. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_957e5fc2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_96433323 | type |
Ailment-Induced Cruelty | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_96433323 | comment |
Ailment-Induced Cruelty: Downplayed with Tek-Knight (a Composite Character of Iron Man and Batman), who was found during his autopsy to have a fist-sized brain tumor. This caused him to have near-uncontrollable urges to have sex with almost anything he saw (not even limited to people either; his therapist kicks him out after discovering he'd had sex with the therapist's cup of coffee), although he was more or less able to restrain himself in public. He even came uncomfortably close to assaulting his Kid Sidekick Laddio. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_96433323 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_970c790a | type |
Big Bad | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_970c790a | comment |
And the Big Bad Homelander has a nasty Freudian Excuse (would you be sane if you were raised by Wal-Mart?), and his truly disgusting acts were the result of Black Noir's Gaslighting. Some weren't even things he personally did. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_970c790a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_98a150f3 | type |
Excrement Statement | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_98a150f3 | comment |
Excrement Statement: The "Believe" arc has The Female get back at a chubby boy for stealing her lollipop by pissing on his ice cream cone while obscured by balloons. The boy doesn't notice. The Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker miniseries ends with Butcher urinating on the face of his father's corpse. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_98a150f3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_995ad130 | type |
Meta Origin | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_995ad130 | comment |
Meta Origin: Except for a handful of tech-based heroes, all supes get their powers from Compound V, with their publically known origins just being spun by the PR department and the comics. This bites them in the ass when they try to pull a coup and are greeted with Compound V seeking missiles. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_995ad130 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_99779e5a | type |
Superpower Lottery | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_99779e5a | comment |
Compound V, when it actually works. It's a Psycho Serum when it doesn't... | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_99779e5a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_99db72ee | type |
Immune to Bullets | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_99db72ee | comment |
In Issue 65 swarms of powerful but inexperienced superheroes are gunned down en masse by the US military, who were warned of their coup in advance and are outfitted with depleted uranium ammunition. Considering that a 30mm DU round is capable of penetrating a good three inches or 76mm of RHA steel (for reference, 30mm RHA or above all-around is enough to render an armored vehicle more or less Immune to Bullets [at least small arms], which only a minority of supers are to begin with), that every A-10 and M2 Bradley puts out dozens of these rounds per second, and that the military also had anti-tank guided missiles capable of piercing several feet worth of RHA, this is completely unsurprising. Particularly notable is that most of the heroes are killed by airstrikes or artillery that they never had any chance to retaliate against due to them either having just their fists or a short-ranged attack (e.g. Eye Beams, Hand Blast, Playing with Fire, An Ice Person), with a She-Hulk expy even despairing that the Air Force wouldn't "come down and face us, cowards!". Again, not surprising in an era where unmanned drones regularly target individual insurgents with missiles from miles away. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_99db72ee | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9a91603e | type |
Atrocious Alias | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9a91603e | comment |
Atrocious Alias: So very many of the superheroes have laughable and absurd codenames. A particularly dizzying case is Paralactic, a gang of early-Image-inspired heroes which has every single member's name be some kind of Double Entendre. Teenage Kix members Dogknott and Blarney Cock are also prime contenders for worst superhero codename. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9a91603e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9aaf8eca | type |
Crippling Overspecialization | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9aaf8eca | comment |
The comic's version of Wolverine instead has his forearms replaced with hammers. Which he doesn't even get to use. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9aaf8eca | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9ac6b0c1 | type |
Sociopathic Hero | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9ac6b0c1 | comment |
Sociopathic Hero: All of The Boys except for Wee Hughie and Mother's Milk, but especially Billy Butcher. For a given value of "heroic", of course. Deconstructed with Butcher, who shows exactly what would happen when such a 'hero' loses the common goal that made him a hero, as Butcher ascends into Big Bad status. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9ac6b0c1 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9eb71c7c | type |
Super-Toughness | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9eb71c7c | comment |
Super-Toughness: None of the supers are explicitly invincible; it just takes a whole lot more to hurt (and even more to kill) them than a normal human. The two strongest supers in the series are Homelander and Black Noir, and the former is ripped apart by the latter, while the latter is done in with a massive barrage of heavy machine gun fire and finished off with a crowbar. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9eb71c7c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9fbf8969 | type |
Cut Lex Luthor a Check | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9fbf8969 | comment |
Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Discussed and lampshaded by The Legend, who tells Hughie that genuine, For the Evulz supervillains are very rare precisely because being a corporate-sponsored superhero is an easier, more lucrative, and above all legal use of their powers. The few times a real supervillain does show up, they are usually dealt with very quickly away from the public eye. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_9fbf8969 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a0f61fe2 | type |
Power-Up Letdown | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a0f61fe2 | comment |
Power-Up Letdown: Something of a theme is that superpowers just aren't as cool as the comics would have you believe, whether due to lack of Required Secondary Powers or them being an Embarrassing Superpower. VAC's first generation of supers, seen in issues #52/53. Between two of them, they managed to lift a tank a foot on the ground, and promptly collapsed after. Which is impressive in its own right, had they actually been trained and augmented soldiers and not just performers in stupid costumes. Unsurprisingly, they're immediately shredded by tank fire during a German attack. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a0f61fe2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a19cce82 | type |
Merchandise-Driven | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a19cce82 | comment |
Of the underlying corporate nature of superheroes and the comic book industry. The superheroes in the world of The Boys were raised from birth with everything handed to them on a silver platter from Vought-American. Because of how Merchandise-Driven superheroes by nature are, spoiling them with all the wealth in the world is pretty much all Vought can do to make sure they don't one day go off the deep end. That being said, the superheroes, as a result of all the power they've been given right from the moment they were born, end up sociopathic, immature, spoiled, and utterly hedonistic—fixated only on their own individual satisfactions without much regard for the innocents whose lives are in their hands. What's even worse is that since superheroes are such a massive investment and turn in extremely huge profits, Vought's management is very much willing to do whatever they deem necessary to ensure their business remains afloat. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a19cce82 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a1b141f4 | type |
My God, What Have I Done? | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a1b141f4 | comment |
My God, What Have I Done?: Homelander has one when he realizes Black Noir was the one who committed the atrocities in the photos, meaning that he (as Butcher puts it) "became a complete fucking psychopath by mistake." | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a1b141f4 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a2b38d3b | type |
Eye Scream | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a2b38d3b | comment |
Eye Scream: Lots of it. A particularly horrifying one occurs when the Highland Laddie miniseries has a flashback of a little girl's powers backfire and she ends up with her eyes melting and running down her face as she cries that she's sorry. Stormfront also loses an eye during his fight with The Female and subsequently has broken glass thrown into his other eye by Butcher. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a2b38d3b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a3458bf2 | type |
More Deadly Than the Male | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a3458bf2 | comment |
More Deadly Than the Male: Guess who. (The Female (of the Species). Her name is basically a pun on this, and she's explicitly The Boys' heaviest hitter. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a3458bf2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a426ae28 | type |
Multiple-Choice Past | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a426ae28 | comment |
Multiple-Choice Past: The Frenchman's back story in Volume Six, which is clearly completely insane. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a426ae28 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a4ed127f | type |
Muggle Power | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a4ed127f | comment |
Billy’s final victory over Black Noir is clearly meant to show the ultimate superiority of Muggle Power over superpowers, as Noir is brought down by a hail of bullets from US Marines, with Billy landing the killing blow. However, again, the only reason that the Marines are even capable of hurting him is that Homelander, a superhero, had half-killed him first and left him with grievous injuries including exposed bones; and Billy wouldn’t have been able to harm him at all if he didn’t have Super-Strength. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a4ed127f | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a51b63ed | type |
Flying Brick | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a51b63ed | comment |
The "superheroes are useless" angle oscillates wildly, as the story wants to treat them as a danger to democratic society whilst also making the vast majority appear useless and weak. Aside from flying bricks like Homelander, Stormfront and Black Noir, almost all superheroes are regular humans with a not-too-useful secondary power (and a VERY silly costume, of course). The waters get muddied even further here when Hughie meets Mallory, the first leader of The Boys, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that Vogelbaum's work on Compound V would only give mediocre results. In other words, one of the reasons that superheroes are so useless is that a guy who hated superheroes made sure that they would be. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a51b63ed | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a58e762d | type |
The Fantastic Faux | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a58e762d | comment |
The Fantastic Faux: The archetype shows up as Fantastico, whose known members are Reacher Dick, Invisi-lass, and the Doofer (the Human Torch's expy isn't named). First introduced during a huge supers-only orgy, Invisi-lass is permanently invisible but keeps her lingerie on, Doofer (who is either covered in bricks or a moving sentient pile of bricks) dies of a heroin overdose, and Reacher is mentioned to have helped an old lady across the street so he could pickpocket her (his personality is closer to Plastic Man than Reed Richards). | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a58e762d | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a70223 | type |
Karma Houdini | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a70223 | comment |
Karma Houdini: Stillwell gets off scott-free for the events the Supe attack on the White House. He then informs Hughie that the rebranded Vought American intend to go on with business as usual. Downplayed, as it seems to be rather a pyrrhic victory for Stillwell as he is now locked in an endless, fruitless struggle to turn superheroes into a profitable product. Knowing all too well their deficiencies, and seeing that they are never going to change, he himself realizes that he is stuck with a "bad product" and begins to suffer a nervous breakdown as a result. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a70223 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a86069f | type |
Alternate History | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a86069f | comment |
Alternate History: Beyond the whole superhero thing, the main deviations are the presence of Vought-American throughout the twentieth century, Robert Kennedy winning the presidency, George W. Bush dying in a chainsaw accident before his political career manifested and the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge due to a botched rescue attempt by the Seven on September 11, 2001. Dakota Bob, the President during the series's present day, apparently got his political career started as a backup vice-presidential candidate for George H.W. Bush, after Dan Quayle's verbal tics got him thrown off the ticket. In the "Barbary Coast" arc, Mallory tells Hughie about meeting Prescott Sheldon Bush - father of George, grandfather of George W., prominent figure in conspiracy theories - in 1944, on the eve of the Battle of the Bulge. In real history, the elder Bush did not pursue political ambitions until 1950; in The Boys, he's already a senator from Connecticut, although his explicit connections to Vought-American provide a handy reason why he might have gotten ahead of the game. The elder Bush is promptly shot dead in a German ambush, whereas the real Prescott Bush lived until 1972. No one ever mentions why, but the War on Terror in this universe is being fought primarily in Pakistan. Several characters mention that the U.S. has troops on the ground there. The Battle of Ia Drang in this universe was a total defeat for the US, with the 1000 American airmobile cavalry troops completely wiped out by the 2500 Vietnamese they faced, thanks to being issued the useless M-20. Presumably, Colonel Hal G. Moore and Sergeant Major Basil L. Plumley were among those killed. The Fall of Saigon in 1973 is implied to have gone much worse. The flashback image is a frantic version of this famous picture by Hugh Van Es◊, with several South Vietnamese civilians trying to cling onto the last helicopter as it's taking off, while others are seemingly being trampled to death by the crowds rushing up the stairs. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a86069f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a86069f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_a86069f | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_aa83d0d6 | type |
Sub-Par Supremacist | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_aa83d0d6 | comment |
Sub-Par Supremacist: Uncle Dreams is a shameless white supremacist who also happens to be ancient (he was one of the first supers), demented (he can't remember if he fought "the niggers or the Nazis"), and unable to control his bowels. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_aa83d0d6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_aa83d0d6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_aa83d0d6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ad1db87c | type |
Oh, Crap! | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ad1db87c | comment |
Oh, Crap!: Oh Father and the other rebellious Supers when the US Air Force starts firing super-seeking missiles at them. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ad1db87c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ad1db87c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ad1db87c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_adfd3165 | type |
For the Evulz | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_adfd3165 | comment |
Most of the superheroes, when they're not performing for the media. The Homelander and even more so Black Noir commit staggeringly nasty acts of violence purely For the Evulz. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_adfd3165 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_adfd3165 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_adfd3165 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b00498c7 | type |
Casualty in the Ring | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b00498c7 | comment |
Casualty in the Ring: MM's powers manifested during adulthood, when he was getting the crap beaten out of him by a fellow Ranger by the name of Fucker John. A semi-groggy MM uppercutted his head off, completely by accident. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b00498c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b00498c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b00498c7 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b032e4ed | type |
Ms. Fanservice | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b032e4ed | comment |
Ms. Fanservice: Starlight's official role in The Seven, although she rebels against it. She also spends an awful lot of time naked throughout the series. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b032e4ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b032e4ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b032e4ed | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b06bbf4b | type |
Be Careful What You Wish For | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b06bbf4b | comment |
Justified by the sad real life example of a man with a two-foot-long penis. Even minor arousal sends a significant amount of blood to his genitals, causing him to lose consciousness. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b06bbf4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b06bbf4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b06bbf4b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b4eff8a8 | type |
Epic Fail | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b4eff8a8 | comment |
Epic Fail: The Seven's attempt to 'Save the Day' on September 11th. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b4eff8a8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b4eff8a8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b4eff8a8 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b5171e10 | type |
Tragic Villain | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b5171e10 | comment |
Tragic Villain: Surprisingly, the Homelander of all people. It's implied that he was actually a relatively decent person before Black Noir gaslit him into insanity. Butcher also qualifies as one. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b5171e10 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b5171e10 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b5171e10 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b53077b3 | type |
Take That! | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b53077b3 | comment |
The whole story can also be seen as a Take That! to anti-heroes who are presented as being as noble as traditional superheroes, like the tagline on the Rob Liefeld created Youngblood (Image Comics). Especially in light of The Seven being more focused on making money from their merchandise than being heroes, which is commonly stated as Liefeld's reasons for not getting comics out on time in the 1990's. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b53077b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b53077b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b53077b3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b58b4e3c | type |
Too Dumb to Live | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b58b4e3c | comment |
Also, it is mentioned that when Vought-American was looking for a vice presidential candidate, they went to the Bush family, but the last son had managed to cut off his own head playing with a chainsaw. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b58b4e3c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b58b4e3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b58b4e3c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b6cebad3 | type |
Double Standard | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b6cebad3 | comment |
Double Standard: Male supers are almost universally depicted as complete bastards through and through, while prominent female supers are treated with far more sympathy, generally depicted as victims and Broken Birds. There are exceptions, though, like Vasily and most of the members of Superduper, all of whom are male supers who are depicted sympathetically. Silver Kincaid, an Expy of Jean Grey is a perfect example of this. She is an undeniably sympathetic character due to her backstory of kidnapping, sexual abuse and brainwashing, and the narrative is clearly on her side. However, despite the fact that her male teammates went through the exact same thing, the story revels in them being mowed down to a man by mercenaries. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b6cebad3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b6cebad3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b6cebad3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b983a56b | type |
Came Back Wrong | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b983a56b | comment |
Came Back Wrong: Vought has a really expensive procedure that can re-animate anything with Compound V in its system... as brain-dead zombies prone to soil themselves, as demonstrated by The Lamplighter and Blarney Cock. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b983a56b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b983a56b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_b983a56b | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27 | type |
Berserk Button | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27 | comment |
Inverted - Hughie is already a really nice guy, so him adopting Jamie the Hamster makes sense. Threatening Jamie, however, turns out to be Hughie's Berserk Button. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_bc74ef27 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c2cedc1c | type |
Big "NO!" | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c2cedc1c | comment |
Big "NO!": Or rather, Big NNOOOOOOOOOOOONNN!!! From Frenchie, naturally, in his flashback after his father dies due to croissant sabotage in a baguette-and-bicycle joust. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c2cedc1c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c2cedc1c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c2cedc1c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c36cba70 | type |
Mooks | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c36cba70 | comment |
Mooks: Subverted when an army of faceless mercenaries under Vought-American's pay obliterates an entire army of superheroes with cold, efficient ease. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c36cba70 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c36cba70 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c36cba70 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c3fbac64 | type |
Bestiality Is Depraved | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c3fbac64 | comment |
Bestiality Is Depraved: Blarney Cock puts a hamster in his ass before going to fight the Boys. One of Tek-Knight's transgressions is that he buggered his niece's pet chinchilla to death. The Herogasm miniseries features a woman being mounted by a dog. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c3fbac64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c3fbac64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c3fbac64 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c59d7452 | type |
Unfulfilled Purpose Misery | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c59d7452 | comment |
Unfulfilled Purpose Misery: Black Noir is a clone of the Homelander, created to be his superior in case he ever became uncontrollable. But as years went by and the Homelander showed no signs of mental instability, Black Noir started committing atrocities and sending pictures so the Homelander would think he was responsible, driving Homelander insane until Black Noir's life was finally justified and he was asked to step in. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c59d7452 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c59d7452 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c59d7452 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c64a7400 | type |
Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c64a7400 | comment |
Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Don't call Frenchie this. It will end with that person losing all their body parts. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c64a7400 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c64a7400 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c64a7400 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c660bc15 | type |
Fan Disservice | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c660bc15 | comment |
Fan Disservice: Plenty of it. The Crimson Countess is a Scarlet Witch expy in a similar impractical costume. She is seen laying on her back with her nipple exposed under the rigid top... but she's on her back because she was just brutally killed. Mind-Droid is shown without pants in the Herogasm miniseries, but his genitalia looks very unsettling due to having bolts where his testicles and the tip of his penis should be. Hughie and Starlight's first sexual encounter involve Hughie going down on Starlight without knowing she was on her period. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c660bc15 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c660bc15 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c660bc15 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: Character design sketches included in the books reveal that Bill Butcher's original working name was Savage. The early sketches have a distinct resemblance to the character of Bill Savage in the 2000 AD serial Invasion - also about an ex-soldier leading a resistance to an established order, and taking a little vengeance on the way. When The Frenchman is telling Hughie his origin story, he rhapsodises about the beauty of the French Accordion, and hums a few bars of a suitably melodic piece to carry him back in time to the little village where he grew up. ""Nyeeeeh, Nyeh Nyeh, Nyeh-Nyeeeeeheh....". does indeed evoke a long-ago time and a place, the sleepy French village of Nouvion. The Female got her powers from falling into a big canister of synthesized Compound V. The name of the person in charge of the project is Dr. Uderzo, after the creator of Asterix. The team that was sent to retrieve Female are about as successful as the marines in Aliens and even quote the movie directly. The few comics that aren't on the receiving end of a Take That! are the 2000 AD ones Frenchie buys for Female (and, of course, Ennis's own work). The bar that Butcher is drinking in during issue #27 is an extremely subtle reference to Preacher, as is its bartender, Proinsias Cassidy. Another Irish pub landlord with a penchant for writing obscene words in pints of Guinness when people asked for shamrocks appeared in The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank, a Punisher-story also written by Ennis. The Legend, the shadowy genius behind the comic book industry, has an unmistakable resemblance to underground comics' genius Robert Crumb - right down to the way the woman giving him sexual favours is drawn. She is a very typical Crumb woman - drawn overscale with a very prominent backside in tight shorts. The drawing style in these frames is markedly different and knowing Homage to Crumb, imitating his way of drawing and shading characters. The "Get Some" story arc (The Boys # 7) opens with the Tek Knight talking to a shrink. The point is the way this shrink is drawn in some panels bears a certain resemblance to actor Michael Keaton (maybe not as blatant as Christopher Walken's likeness used in The Punisher Presents Barracuda, also written by Garth Ennis, but the similarity is there). It's quite fitting since Tek Knight is a pastiche/parody of Batman, and Michael Keaton is of course well known as having played the Dark Knight in the Batman films by Tim Burton. The Frenchman's origin story goes back to a village in France where a local pastime is jousting with battle-baguettes. A French martial art involving aggressive use of baguettes whilst intoning the battle mantra "Haw-haw -hee-HAW!" is on a par with an imagined North of England that makes a martial arts weapon out of the humble black pudding. Mother's Milk purchases a large bottle of maple syrup from a woman bearing a distinct likeness to Marge Simpson in "We Gotta Go Now". Spider Jerusalem can be seen in issue one (page #10, panel two), in the background between A-train and the Glaswegian Policemen. In Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker, Butcher directly quotes Spider's favorite catchphrase of "If I gave two tugs of a dead dog's cock..." During the Name of The Game arc, as Butcher explains why he works for the C.I.A. he makes an allusion to Batman in his reasons. When the G-Men members are shown in issue #23, one of them appears to be Boba Fett. The G-Wiz's Wacky Fratboy Hijinks are a shout out to Animal House, with Blowchowski's appearance based on John Belushi's John "Bluto" Blutarsky. The cover for issue #24 is also based on the poster for Animal House. Several characters in Hughie's hometown are named after DC Thomson comics, including Beezer, Topper (Tupper) and the Reverend Dandy, the latter of which breaks the fourth wall in the same manner of the characters from those comics. Hughie's parents resemble those from Oor Wullie, and Hughies sits on a bucket in the same position as Wullie. Hughie's home town is based on Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. John McCrea, who did the art for Highland Laddie, is friends with the owner of a comic shop in Aberdeen, and the wire-haired dachshund in the arc, Hamish, is modelled on the shop's dog Captain. Some regulars from the shop also make cameos in the story. In one episode, Butcher mentions that he watches "spacker porn". Some of Doc Peculiar's photographs are recreations of iconic comic images (with naked people circa 1910): Bruce Wayne looking at his parents, Batman holding Robin's corpse (or Superman holding Supergirl's corpse from Crisis #7; they're both Pietà Plagiarism poses), Superman throwing a car... The titles of the trade collections "The Self-Preservation Society" and "The Bloody Doors Off" are apparently references to The Italian Job (1969). In their first issue, the members of Superduper watch The Iron Giant together. Afterwards, one of them mentions tearing up at the "Superman" scene. It's worth noting here that Superman is one of the few superheroes Garth Ennis has shown outright respect towards in the past. It's mentioned that the events of September 11th caused the word "war" to be banned from comic books. This is accompanied by a picture of a comic book starring The Seven called The Infinity Debate. In a flashback to The Legend's younger days, he is shown walking past a wall full of posters for superhero teams created by companies other than Vought-American. One of these teams is called the Planeteers. Vice-presidential candidate Victor K. Neuman is drawn as an adult version of MAD's mascot Alfred E. Neuman. Queen Maeve is addressed as O Woman of Countless Wonders. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c75df49a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c78c0896 | type |
Big Friendly Dog | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c78c0896 | comment |
Big Friendly Dog: Terror, if you're not an enemy of The Boys. Also trained to hump anything on command. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c78c0896 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c78c0896 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c78c0896 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9597a03 | type |
Self-Deprecation | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9597a03 | comment |
Self-Deprecation: The last issue of the Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker miniseries has writer Garth Ennis make a dig at himself in the flashback of Butcher meeting The Legend. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9597a03 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9597a03 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9597a03 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9946987 | type |
Decoy Backstory | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9946987 | comment |
Decoy Backstory: In-Universe example: The Seven and other supers are publicly given origins of the superhero they parody, eg; The Homelander is an alien who crash-landed on Earth and raised by farmers. In reality, they were almost all raised in labs after they started showing superpowers as children, some with a nuke nearby ready to detonate in case of behavioral issues. It helps to explain why very few supers in this series are normal or well-adjusted. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9946987 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9946987 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_c9946987 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cbe687ab | type |
Corrupt Corporate Executive | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cbe687ab | comment |
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Vought-American, but especially James Stillwell, the Vought-American executive who runs everything behind the scenes and functions as the series' Big Bad. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cbe687ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cbe687ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cbe687ab | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cda501da | type |
Killed Off for Real | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cda501da | comment |
Killed Off for Real: Terror, Jack from Jupiter, A-Train, Queen Maeve, Oh Father, The Homelander, Black Noir (and most of the superheroes who took part in the Coup), Love Sausage (or Vas to his friends), Mallory, The Legend, Mother's Milk, Dr. Vogelbaum, The Frenchman, The Female, and Billy Butcher. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cda501da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cda501da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cda501da | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ce104b8e | type |
Serial Escalation | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ce104b8e | comment |
Serial Escalation: In an interview, Garth Ennis said that The Boys would "out-Preacher Preacher." Ennis himself said later in an interview: "What the fuck does that even mean?" | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ce104b8e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ce104b8e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ce104b8e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfa546f4 | type |
Mother Russia Makes You Strong | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfa546f4 | comment |
Mother Russia Makes You Strong: Vas fully believes this, even longing for a return to the good old days of communisim and the Soviet Union. He frequently laments that the "Western" superhero teams are only in it for the money of their merchandising and don't give a crap about the people, while his Soviet superteam embraced the Communist ideal and fought for everyone equally. Given how reprehensible all the other supes are (and how cool Vas himself is) you wonder if he has a point, though Rose-Tinted Narrative is all but stated to be in effect. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfa546f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfa546f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfa546f4 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfbbd075 | type |
Porn Stash | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfbbd075 | comment |
Except that one time she laughed at the notion that Hughie stealing Queen Maeve's file from Doc Peculiar's place in the hopes of scoring some wank material, may have helped them solve a major roadblock in their mission against the supes. Everyone else was as disturbed as you'd think by this. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfbbd075 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfbbd075 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_cfbbd075 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d01cffbc | type |
Badass Longcoat | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d01cffbc | comment |
Badass Longcoat: All of The Boys wear a long black coat, precisely because they're scarier than most superheroes' costumes and even make the Boys feel more tough. Butcher explains the fashion accessory as an easy way to tell friend from foe in a vicious melee. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d01cffbc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d01cffbc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d01cffbc | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1522cf | type |
Tongue Trauma | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1522cf | comment |
Tongue Trauma: Butcher slices a ten-year-old rapist's tongue off to prevent him using his magic word on them. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1522cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1522cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1522cf | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1fd14db | type |
SilentBob | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1fd14db | comment |
Silent Bob: The Female hasn't made so much as a sound on panel, yet she is quite capable of making herself understood to the Frenchman. Except that one time she laughed at the notion that Hughie stealing Queen Maeve's file from Doc Peculiar's place in the hopes of scoring some wank material, may have helped them solve a major roadblock in their mission against the supes. Everyone else was as disturbed as you'd think by this. As of issue 66, after a timeskip of unspecified length, she's still laughing. Semi-subverted in issue 68, where a dialog balloon says: "I hate mean people". While it's obvious that she's the one talking (because the other three characters present in the scene are shown in the panel), she still hasn't been actually SHOWN uttering any words. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1fd14db | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1fd14db | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d1fd14db | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d47c9b9c | type |
Bunny Ears Picture Prank | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d47c9b9c | comment |
Bunny Ears Picture Prank: The Frenchman is shown giving bunny ears to The Female on the cover of the 69th issue. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d47c9b9c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d47c9b9c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d7c318da | type |
CapePunk | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d7c318da | comment |
Cape Punk: Superheroes are an idiotic idea created by a corporation's marketing machine and attracts only the worst of humanity or, worse, turns people into the worst of humanity. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d7c318da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d7c318da | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d839c530 | type |
The Unfettered | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d839c530 | comment |
The Unfettered: Stillwell, the Vought-American executive, to the point where he terrifies superpowered individuals who could kill him in an instant. To the incredible extent that not only is he outwardly calm, he's inwardly calm too - Homelander is dumbfounded that, even when threatened with violent dismemberment, the VA exec's heart rate doesn't budge in the slightest. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d839c530 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d85c505 | type |
Racist Grandma | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d85c505 | comment |
Racist Grandma: The Legend is an elderly comic store owner and casually uses racial slurs directed at Asians during one of his conversations with Hughie. The Herogasm miniseries features a supe called Uncle Dreams, who is elderly and racist, even implied to be a Klansman. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d85c505 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d85c505 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d85c505 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d86fcde6 | type |
Kick the Morality Pet | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d86fcde6 | comment |
Kick the Morality Pet: Billy spends sixty-odd issues showing what a calculating, cool-headed manipulator he can be. When Terror is killed, however, he throws it all to the wind and brutally murders the guy he believes to be responsible, regardless of the repercussions. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d86fcde6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_d86fcde6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_da9d2f16 | type |
'90s Anti-Hero | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_da9d2f16 | comment |
'90s Anti-Hero: Team Paralactic, a group of Liefeldian, impressive-looking cyborgs. The Boys dismember them in a matter of seconds. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_da9d2f16 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_da9d2f16 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_db33bc7e | type |
Ludicrous Gibs | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_db33bc7e | comment |
Ludicrous Gibs: When the Seven's intervention into the 9/11 attacks backfires, Queen Maeve decides to flee. The terrified passengers grab onto her, trying to stop her from flying away. She flies through them in a fountain of gore and severed limbs. Hughie's girlfriend Robin gets mulched by A-Train charging through her at super speed, leaving behind only her severed arms in Hughie's hands. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_db33bc7e | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_dc1761bd | type |
A God Am I | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_dc1761bd | comment |
Stillwell, the Vought-American executive, delivers a major one to the Homelander in #64, pointing out that for all his raging God-complex and evil tendencies, he's done absolutely nothing worthwhile or original whatsoever and is ultimately just an insecure little speck desperately trying to find some way of impressing him. The Homelander... doesn't react well. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_dc1761bd | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e1ea6835 | type |
Premature Empowerment | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e1ea6835 | comment |
Premature Empowerment: Happens to Wee Hughie, when Butcher injects him full of Compound V, and he understandably gets a wee bit angry about it. He later decides to join the team, though. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e1ea6835 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e1ea6835 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2023325 | type |
StrawmanPolitical | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2023325 | comment |
Strawman Political: While just about every scumbag politician is a Republican (Dakota Bob being more of Necessarily Evil), the Democrats end up endorsing Rayner as their candidate. (Though that's "only" for a senate seat.) When Butcher rescues Kessler from his inept Attempted Rape, he tells the intended victim that he's part of a Republican family and didn't take his meds that night. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2023325 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2023325 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e27693 | type |
The Coup | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e27693 | comment |
The Coup: Most of the world's superheroes stage a bloody takeover of the White House and Pentagon, ostensibly on behalf of their employer Vought-American, but actually on the orders of the Homelander. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e27693 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e27693 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e27693 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2e55e86 | type |
Super Supremacist | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2e55e86 | comment |
Super Supremacist: The Homelander's plot to get out from under Vought's thumb involved seizing power and ruling over humanity (supers already viewing humanity as nothing but an endless reservoir of victims). Complicated by the fact that he was gaslit by his clone into complete psychosis, leading to his breakdown at being ordered around by a non-powered human. Stormfront is a literal Nazi with superpowers. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2e55e86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e2e55e86 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3b0cd87 | type |
Morality Pet | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3b0cd87 | comment |
Morality Pet: The events of Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker states that Terror is a literal example for Billy, on the advice of his late wife. The Female, despite being violently unstable, clearly adores both Terror and Jamie the Hamster. Inverted - Hughie is already a really nice guy, so him adopting Jamie the Hamster makes sense. Threatening Jamie, however, turns out to be Hughie's Berserk Button. Billy portrays his relationship with Hughie in this way ("I always wanted a little brother"). Throughout the series he seems genuinely fond of Hughie, making him one of the few people to have that kind of relationship with Billy (apart from the rest of the Boys and Vas). However, as the later issues show, Billy has been playing Hughie to make him trust Billy, or at at least won't let any sentimentality get in the way of his objective, which is the elimination of every person with Compound V in their system, including himself. | |
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1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3b0cd87 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3bdea5c | type |
Artistic License – Politics | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3bdea5c | comment |
Artistic License – Politics: During the 9/11 attacks, Vic the Veep knocks President Shaefer unconscious with a fire extinguisher and orders the staff in the Situation Room to "tell NORAD to order weapons hold". Alan Blake, Vic's Chief of Staff, then demands that the others obey Vic's orders as "the V.P. has authority here". Under the 25th Amendment however, the vice president can only be declared the acting president via three methods: the death of the president, voluntary transfer of authority by the president themselves, or by having the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet members transmit a written declaration of the sitting president's inability to act directly to both houses of Congress. Vic the Veep would legally have absolutely no authority in this situation whatsoever. Overlaps with Artistic License – Military as, in addition to the reasons stated above, the Vice President is not in the military chain of command. The other officials and military staff in the Situation Room would be under no obligation to follow Vic's "authority" and would instead continue to follow Shaefer's last order issued before he was rendered unconscious. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3bdea5c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3bdea5c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e3bdea5c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e4965307 | type |
Composite Character | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e4965307 | comment |
Composite Character: Tek Knight is a mashup of Batman (backstory, living conditions, series of teen sidekicks) and Iron Man (armor). Actually, a lot of the "supes" are composites rather than being straight Captain(s) Ersatz of a specific character. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e4965307 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e4965307 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e4965307 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5421161 | type |
Expy | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5421161 | comment |
Silver Kincaid, an Expy of Jean Grey is a perfect example of this. She is an undeniably sympathetic character due to her backstory of kidnapping, sexual abuse and brainwashing, and the narrative is clearly on her side. However, despite the fact that her male teammates went through the exact same thing, the story revels in them being mowed down to a man by mercenaries. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5421161 | featureApplicability |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5421161 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e542d889 | type |
Gorn | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e542d889 | comment |
Gorn: Lots of it. Sometimes played for laughs, other times (especially in the 9/11 sequence and the images of Black Noir's atrocities) for horror. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e542d889 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e542d889 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e542d889 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5467735 | type |
Expy Coexistence | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5467735 | comment |
Expy Coexistence: Contains an example that is surprisingly not superhero-related. All the superheroes are made by the Vought corporation, which has been around since World War II. Back then known it was known mainly for its incredibly shoddy products, including an absolute death-trap of a fighter plane. But the real-life Vought company apparently also existed in this world, since the Vought F4U Corsair is mentioned. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5467735 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5d2c175 | type |
HULK MASH!-Up | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5d2c175 | comment |
HULK MASH!-Up: During a montage of superpower meltdowns in the Highland Laddie miniseries, one kid is seen Hulking Out with a greenish face that looks very much like the Hulk's... except that conservation of mass still applies, so only the head is huge, with the kid's body shrunken and emaciated. The comic features a She-Hulk expy called She-Hemoth, who has bluish-green skin and a grotesque hump on her back. | |
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1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e5d2c175 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e83f211c | type |
O.O.C. Is Serious Business | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e83f211c | comment |
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Hughie has a pretty strong, although not absolute, aversion to violence that only gets stronger as the comic goes on and he sees more of it. When he learns that the G-Men are a front for their founder to abduct, groom and sexually abuse children, he decides that he's going to give them all a "fuckin' spanking". The Female speaks exactly one time during the whole series: when the other Boys offer her a chance to retire and not go after Butcher with them. She refuses. | |
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-1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_e83f211c | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eaf5a1ac | type |
Groin Attack | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eaf5a1ac | comment |
Groin Attack: Butcher's keen on these, as part of his overall dirty-fighting methods. Stormfront gets a pretty serious one from Mother's Milk in The Self-Preservation Society and apparently Monkey suffered quite a bit after Butcher did it to him. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eaf5a1ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eaf5a1ac | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb253679 | type |
Dirty Kid | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb253679 | comment |
Dirty Kid: The Billy Batson equivalent apparently uses his magic word to "grow five times bigger and stick his dick and fingers in people who don't want him to". At age ten. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb253679 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb253679 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb81c601 | type |
Big Damn Heroes | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb81c601 | comment |
Big Damn Heroes: Subtle, but no less awesome. Starlight has flat-out refused to go along with the Darker and Edgier/Hotter and Sexier Retcon Vought has planned for her. She's even gone back to her rather modest Minidress of Power instead of the Navel-Deep Neckline version she's been wearing since joining the Seven. The rest of the team (minus Homelander, who just doesn't give a shit, and Queen Maeve, typically too drunk to care about anything but her next martini) are trying to force the issue. Finally, Black Noir presses the issue, holding up the slingshot bikini Vought insisted on for her new costume and vehemently pointing at her. The reactions of everyone involved indicate Black Noir is not someone with whom you want to argue. . . then Queen Maeve stands between Starlight and Noir, silently daring anyone to press the issue further. Everyone, Noir included, backs down, indicating that Queen Maeve is someone with whom you want to argue even less. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb81c601 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb8f64a6 | type |
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb8f64a6 | comment |
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Played with. The reason of why Mr Marathon, the original speeder of the Seven, died in the ill-planned rescue of the hijacked plane was because of his half-baked attempt to stick to the allegedly heroic ideals of the team. When the Homelander was about to turn tail and leave, Marathon insisted they continue. Not because of The Flash expy's moral sense or anything like that; he just pointed out that Vought-American would surely fire them if they gave up. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_eb8f64a6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_edaedf90 | type |
Vomit Discretion Shot | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_edaedf90 | comment |
Vomit Discretion Shot: Starlight pukes in the toilet after being pressured into giving oral sex to The Homelander, A-Train and Black Noir to be accepted into The Seven. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_edaedf90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_edaedf90 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee19d278 | type |
Blob Monster | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee19d278 | comment |
Blob Monster: MM's mother, whose breasts are now akin to Combat Tentacles. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee19d278 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee19d278 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee19d278 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee7a60e9 | type |
One-Steve Limit | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee7a60e9 | comment |
One-Steve Limit: Butcher’s late wife and Starlight are both named Rebecca. The former is often called Becca or Becky, while the latter prefers to go by her middle name, Annie. The founder of the G-Men, Godolkin, shares a first name with the Homelander: John. The latter is never called that after the first issue, however. The President of the United States and Hughie’s childhood friend are both named Robert. You might know them better as Dakota Bob and Bobbi (after the latter comes out as transgender), respectively. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee7a60e9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ee7a60e9 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f25b1ae6 | type |
Unskilled, but Strong | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f25b1ae6 | comment |
Unskilled, but Strong: Supes for the most part have no training in their powers or how to deal with dangerous situations. It shows in how horribly wrong the 9/11 rescue attempt went: it definitively showed just how ineffective the Seven as a group are as heroes as they had no idea what they were doing. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f25b1ae6 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f47bdd2a | type |
Violent Glaswegian | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f47bdd2a | comment |
Violent Glaswegian: Averted. Wee Hughie is the only member of The Boys aside from Mother's Milk (to a degree) who isn't a complete violent psychopath. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f47bdd2a | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f5ab45cb | type |
Incompetence, Inc. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f5ab45cb | comment |
Incompetence, Inc.: Vought-American in general. They're always to looking cut corners and save money even at the cost of nearly going bankrupt (their sole skill appears to be amassing political clout). Going chronologically in-universe; VA's first major government contract (prior to that, they made boots ... and from the way Mallory says it, they don't seem to have been good boots) was a team of incompetent first-generation superhumans that they tried to foist on the Army at the Battle of the Bulge. They not only draw the Nazis right to the camp where they're being deployed and get themselves killed to the last man, but in the process manage to trash a shipment of tanks and fighters that were already performing only slightly better than they were (also provided by Vought) - the sole survivor being Mallory. Their next masterpiece was the V.A.C. F7U Grizzly, which was considered the worst aircraft ever flown by the US military, with thirteen being lost for every enemy aircraft they shot down. In-universe, it's stated that the Allies would have lost if Truman hadn't dropped nukes on Japan. It's named after the real-life Vought F7U Cutlass, which had a similarly dismal reputation, with nearly one-third being lost in crashes.note It should be noted that the F7U's main issue (aside from being ugly) was unreliable engines, and the type was quickly banned from carriers. It just turned out to be an unfortunate victim of rapidly advancing mid-50s aviation, and not even remotely deliberate. The straw that broke the camel's back was the M-20 Assault Rifle, which failed so badly that the Vietnamese didn't even bother to salvage the guns or the ammunition, instead using them as mounts for the heads of the one thousand GIs that died trying to use them at the Battle of Ia Drang, which was a decisive American defeat in this universe - a slight exaggeration of what happened when the original M16 rifle was deployed in Vietnam without sufficient testing of the design and ammunition. The only difference between fiction and reality is there wasn't a single dramatic incident, but simply an ongoing stream of lethal failures. Additionally, the XM16E1s issued at Ia Drang actually functioned alright for the most part -it's implied that the M-20 entirely failed to fire even a single round. Vought never got a government contract again. The Legend actually mentions the M-16 as being adopted right after. It still sucked, but compared to the M-20, no one was complaining. But the Pièce de Résistance was the Seven's attempt to save United Airlines Flight 175 on September 11. Quite simply, they Didn't Think This Through beyond the general idea of Vought-American trying to boost supers for national defense. Especially as they had their moronic man in the White House, Vic the Veep, knock out the president with a fire extinguisher in order to let the Seven make the attempt. Vought-American is, overall, a representation of a small but recurring theme in Ennis's work: the greed and carelessness of war profiteers (and corporations in general). While Vought's activities throughout history (as discussed in issues #19-22) are pretty ridiculous when you see them on the page, they're based on real events — a decent example of the same thing in real life is the shortage of body armor for American troops at the start of the Iraq War. Essentially, his theme is that such corporations are really only interested in bottom-line profit, not any moral concerns, and if there's a way for them to increase their profit without having to worry about such concerns as safety, morality or even whether the product works (such as, say, if they've bought and paid for all the lawmakers who might intervene and restrain them), then they won't hesitate to follow it. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f5ab45cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f5ab45cb | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f6254414 | type |
Cute Bruiser | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f6254414 | comment |
Cute Bruiser: The Female. Note that she's only "cute" in appearance. Actually she is shown to become this more literally near the end, as the Frenchman's efforts to deal with her explosive anger bear fruit. She is even shown laughing out loud when it is revealed Hughie trying to get fap material of Queen Maeve may have ended up giving them a lead on Black Noir. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f6254414 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f64a9cf7 | type |
Earn Your Happy Ending | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f64a9cf7 | comment |
Earn Your Happy Ending: After finding Susan Raynor was the one who sent him Billy's journal, Hughie decides to put the past to bed. Hughie marries Starlight and burns the journal, ready to put his history with The Boys behind him, but not before writing one last message in Becky's honor. | |
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1.0 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f64a9cf7 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f765e2d3 | type |
Dying Alone | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f765e2d3 | comment |
Dying Alone: Vas. Billy was certain the third rocket killed him, so he left, leaving Vas to bleed out. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f788b2c5 | type |
Love Makes You Evil | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f788b2c5 | comment |
Love Makes You Evil: The series goes into much greater detail on just how much of an effect Becky had on Butcher's life and Butcher using that lost love to fuel the person he ends up becoming, ultimately fully realizing and admitting he had become a horrible, unforgivable monster that Becky would now hate. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f792bc7b | type |
Dying Dream | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f792bc7b | comment |
Tek-Knight is a relatively nice guy who even dies heroically, saving a mother and child from a wheelbarrow-full of bricks falling from a construction site (though he has a pretty awesome Dying Dream of saving the world from an asteroid by fucking it back into space). It's even revealed that his recent bouts of unwilling hypersexuality were caused by a fist-sized brain tumor. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f85354eb | type |
Attempted Rape | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f85354eb | comment |
When Butcher rescues Kessler from his inept Attempted Rape, he tells the intended victim that he's part of a Republican family and didn't take his meds that night. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f9671119 | type |
Death Equals Redemption | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f9671119 | comment |
Death Equals Redemption: Before Queen Maeve gets killed by The Homelander, she manages to save Starlight from getting killed too, although it's in her usual blunt and cynical manner. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f9ab4501 | type |
R-Rated Opening | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_f9ab4501 | comment |
R-Rated Opening: The very first image from the first issue has what looks like a superhero getting his head violently and gorily stomped in with a combat boot in close-up. The opening of the comic proper has Billy Butcher watching the Seven taking off in the sky, with another panel focusing on Homelander in far-off flight, just before Butcher says, "I'm gonna fuckin' have you. You cunt." | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_fb3576b2 | type |
The Dog Bites Back | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_fb3576b2 | comment |
The Dog Bites Back: Archer Leader, the unnamed USAF pilot who could have prevented 9/11, but was called off by Vic The Veep, returns with a planeload of anti-supe missiles during the coup attempt in issue 65. Hughie is the one to finally take down A-Train for his callous, accidental murder of Robin and what he tried to do to Annie. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_fb3576b2 | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ff7b34f9 | type |
Strawman News Media | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ff7b34f9 | comment |
Strawman News Media: After the President has his face ripped off by a wolverine, Fox News Channel claims the parents of the kid who brought it were Democrats. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ff934825 | type |
Evil, Inc. | |
The Boys (Comic Book) / int_ff934825 | comment |
One of the series' major recurring elements explores the all-consuming power of an amoral MegaCorp that is willing to do absolutely anything in order to ensure the security of its bottom line. | |
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The Boys (Comic Book) |
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