The Most Disturbingly Illogical Thing about The Boys You Won't Stop Thinking about

Summary

• The Boys seems to give a realistic depiction of what life would be like if there were people with superhuman abilities.
• Homelander is the shining example of the dangers Supes pose to the world.
• He is only partially responsible for the terror he causes.

The Boys is a pretty clever show, because it takes the beloved superhero trope and turns it into your worst nightmare. Unlike the X-Men franchise, people with superpowers are not ostracized and oppressed. On the contrary, they are considered to be celebrities.

Created as an experiment by the Vought Corporation, The Boys' superheroes are best described by the word they're called on the show, Supes, because they're not heroes at all. Arrogant, violent and aggressive, they are idolized by the general population thanks to the immense propaganda created around them by Vought. And as ingenious and probably realistic as this portrayal is, it has many questionable moments that just don't make sense when you think about it.

The Epitome of Moral Corruption

The leader of Vought's Supes, Homelander is living proof of the dangers of having a subspecies of humans with enhanced abilities. Since Season 1, he has been the most cruel and vicious character on The Boys. The most powerful being in the world, he treats it like his oyster, doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants, with no regard for law or, most importantly, human life.

Over the four seasons of The Boys, Homelander has killed countless people for the sheer pleasure of it and hasn't shown a single sign of remorse since, which only goes to show how unhinged and dangerous he is. But as much as he is responsible for his own actions, there are people at the heart of the terror – Vought.

Bred to Slay

Created by Vought from the biomaterial of Soldier Boy, Homelander was given massive doses of Compound V as an embryo, causing him to develop superhuman abilities in his mother's womb, killing her and everyone else present at his birth. He was then raised as a test subject in a laboratory where Vought's scientists performed all sorts of hideous research on him, testing the limits of his abilities.

For example, in one of the recent Season 4 episodes, Homelander confronted and killed Frank, the scientist who tortured him as a child by testing his reaction to heat by placing him in a special oven. And that was just one of many experiments Homelander had to endure. Naturally, all of this torture affected his mental well-being.

Homelander was made violent and deranged by all the pain he suffered as a child. He didn't know parental love, because to Vought, he was just a test subject who proved to be a valuable asset over time. This instilled in Homelander a contempt for human life.

But the question is, didn't Vought, or the scientists it employed, really not foresee the consequences of their actions? Didn't they fear that the invincible boy would one day grow up and become a monster who might as well take revenge on them? It just doesn't make sense to create a weapon you can't control. But maybe that's the point of the show.