The Boys: Every Character Death in Season 5, Ranked by Brutality
After five seasons, the uber-violent, politically charged superhero show, The Boys, has come to an end.
Right from its opening moment, in which speedster A-Train ran through Hughie’s girlfriend, The Boys has never shied away from a graphic death. This has been even more true during its final season as the body count has risen from episode to episode, with a range of weird and wonderful demises depicted on screen. But which are the standouts? We’ve been through the series with a fine-tooth comb - and a sickbag on standby - to rank every character death in Season 5 by its brutality.
As EVERY death on The Boys Season 5 is discussed, please read on with caution, as there are major spoilers throughout.
19. Terror - Died Peacefully In His Sleep
During the Season 5 episode, ‘One-Shots,’ it appears that Butcher’s dog, Terror, is going to die of chocolate poisoning. Thankfully, the pooch is saved, only to die during the final act of the show.
As Butcher goes to check on his four-legged best friend, he realises that Terror has passed. It’s a sad demise, but we’re thankful he went peacefully in his sleep.
18. Cindy, Dogknott & Malchemical - Death By Neck Break
If there is one type of death that The Boys like to return to time and time again, it is the good old-fashioned neck snap. It has been revisited countless times during the final season with telekinetic villain Cindy, canine tracker Dogknott, and washed-up supe Machemical, all victims.
Both Cindy and Dogknott were killed off by Starlight, and Malchemical had his neck snapped by an up close and personal Soldier Boy. Malchemical’s demise was fractionally more brutal than the other two due to the Supernatural connection. Fans of that show were essentially watching Dean kill Castiel.
17. Rock Hard & Jetstreak - Killed By The Goldolkin Virus
During the first half of The Boys’ final season, Hughie, Butcher and the crew are desperately trying to perfect the Goldolkin Virus in hopes of wiping out Homelander. To test their formula, they need test subjects, and they choose the quarry of new-to-the-show supes, Rock Hard and Jetstreak.
The pair find themselves locked inside a chamber with nowhere to turn as the virus ravages through their bodies. Whilst the characters were disposable, their deaths did demonstrate the devastation that the virus could have on the wider supe population.
16. Sheline - Dies By Enforced Overdose
Sheline is another character that was introduced this season. Arriving alongside Rock Hard and Jetstreak, Sheline managed to evade the virus, only to be killed by Mother’s Milk during the penultimate episode. Moments after having been seen ‘flirting’ with Dogknott, Sheline is tasked with killing the Christian non-believers. Whilst she manages to use her kitty's sharp claws to kill a couple of Homelander’s rejected parishioners, she then finds herself going toe to toe with Mother’s Milk.
Although for a while she looks to have the upper hand, she turns her back just long enough for Mother’s Milk to stuff it full of needles, leaving Sheline to overdose on their content.
15. Quinn - Obliterated By Soldier Boy’s Chest Blast
During the fourth episode of Season 5, ‘King of Hell’, both sides of the fight investigate Fort Harmony in search of the coveted V1. All the characters, except Frenchie, start acting strangely. It turns out that they are all being affected by a supe called Quinn, a fellow experimental candidate from Soldier Boy’s time period. Quinn’s super ability is that he can stir up hate in everything surrounding him. Fused to a wall with no way out, Quinn is a depressing and hate-filled figure. Although Soldier Boy is reluctant, Frenchie convinces him to terminate Quinn to break the spell of hatred.
Soldier Boy unleashes the full power of one of his radiation-infused chest blasts, but his remorse after Quinn’s death, this one feels more like a mercy killing. It teases a relationship between the two characters that might be explored more in the prequel series Vought Rising.
14. A-Train - Neck Snapped by Homelander
A-Train was one of the first characters that audiences saw in The Boys, and sadly, the character was also the first to die during its final season. After shifting allegiances from the Seven and Homelander to The Boys and Starlight, A-Train had one of the most interesting character arcs on the show. After spending much of his more recent time in hiding, as the season opener arrived at its conclusion, Homelander had finally tracked the elusive speedster down.
In typical Homelander fashion, he took no prisoners and broke the neck of his former ally. Yes, the old faithful neck break is back on display, but it gets extra points for A-Train’s death being a shock opening, confirming that no one was safe this time around.
13. Maverick - Blown Up From The Inside Out
Very early in The Boys, Translucent, an original member of the Seven, was killed by a rage-fuelled Hughie. His son, Maverick, has been a recurring presence in spin-off Gen V, but arrived properly on the main show for Season 5’s third episode. Hughie tried to atone for murdering Maverick’s dad by trying to help the young supe, but once Maverick learned the truth, the pair began fighting. It wasn’t Hughlie that killed Maverick, but rather Cindy.
Finding herself confused during their fight, Cindy accidentally focused on Maverick, hitting him with all her telekinetic powers, resulting in the invisible teen being exploded from the inside out in a gruesome shower of blood.
12. President Calhoun - Head Squished
During the penultimate episode of The Boys, Homelander is desperate to gain a loyal following, and no one is immune to his mission. The episode opens with him speaking with President Calhoun and Vice President Ashley.
Determined to know where the President’s allegiance lies, Homelander has Ashley read the world leader’s thoughts. Homelander does not like what he is told and squashes the President’s head.
11. Love Sausage - Strangled By His Own Appendage
The Boys has always been known for its mix of comedy and violence, and the show always worked best when it married the two. This has led to a strong history of supes with very strange abilities, and one of the most memorable is Love Sausage. The character has been a recurring background character, showing up ready to fight people with his ever-growing member, should the need arise.
During the Season 5 premiere, Love Sausage found himself battling Mother’s Milk. The two have fought before, but this time Mother’s Milk was prepared and, after initially hacking away at parts of Love Sausage’s appendage, eventually strangled him. Killed by your own ‘love sausage’ is certainly a novel way to die.
10. Black Noir 2 - Betrayed By His Bestie
Although no one outside of the Seven is aware, the Black Noir in the later seasons of The Boys is actually a replacement. The original version of the masked supe was the strong and silent type, but his replacement is exceptionally chatty. Needing an outlet for his energy, Black Noir 2, Justin, joins a drama group. This further ignites the already bubbling jealousy of his supposed bestie The Deep, who takes drastic measures to ensure that the show won’t go on.
In retaliation for The Deep killing his drama career, Black Noir 2 causes a massive oil spill in the ocean. The Deep is blamed for this, and his once loyal fish friends all turn their backs on him. When Black Noir 2 reveals to The Deep his part in the spill, the aquatic supe is overcome with rage and kills his frenemy through a combination of stabbing and strangulation. It’s a grim way to go that demonstrates just how toxic fragile male egos can become.
9. Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Robinson & Will Forte - Splattered By a Speedster
A standout sequence in the final season of The Boys occurs during its fifth episode, ‘One-Shots’, and features several well-known faces of comedy. Actors Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Robinson and Will Forte all play fictionalised versions of themselves, hiding out with Mister Marathon and Malchemical. Soldier Boy and Homelander arrive looking for information from Mister Marathon, but after being denied, a fight breaks out between Mister Marathon and Soldier Boy.
As the speedster hunts down the super soldier, Soldier Boy uses the Hollywood comedians as shields, throwing each into the path of Mister Marathon, causing them all to be eviscerated. It is a great callback to the death caused by A-Train in the pilot, but dials it up to 100 and leaves blood and viscera flying. A perfectly executed WTF moment.
8. Oh Father - Death By Gagging
Throughout The Boys’ final season, the sex life of Vice President Ashley and her arranged husband, Oh Father, has been greatly documented. The couple enjoy a spot of pegging, but given Oh Father’s super voice, keeping their escapades private is an issue.
During the final episode, Ashley gives him a super strength ball gag that promises to silence him. It turns out that the gag works extremely well as Mother’s Milk manages to stick it on Oh Father just before he is about to obliterate Hughie. The result was an instant head explosion.
7. Firecracker - Impaled On A Statue
Of all the members of the Seven that have come and gone over the seasons, Firecracker has been the most loyal to Homelander. After nearly killing herself providing him with breast milk in previous seasons, for Season 5, Firecracker spent her time trying to convince America that Homelander was the Second Coming.
Having grown up Christian, Homelander’s new mission to be treated as God caused her some internal conflict. Sensing her devotion was waning – as well as being annoyed that she had slept with his father, Soldier Boy – the egomaniac killed her. Her death involved her skull being impaled on the statue of an eagle, granting the America First propaganda machine a brutally ironic death.
6. Mister Marathon - Death By Face Stomp
After speeding his way through a cluster of recognisable Hollywood faces, Mister Marathon is ultimately killed by the tag team of Soldier Boy and Homelander. With no more stars to throw into Mister Marathon’s path, Soldier Boy slashes his opponent’s Achilles, rendering him powerless.
Homelander then takes great delight in stomping the prone supes' face in. It gets grim real quick and is easily one of the most brutal deaths during the fifth season, if not the show overall. As with the death of Malchemical, there is the added layer of brutality for Supernatural fans as they watch Dean help kill Sam.
5. Adam Bourke - Eaten By An Eel
Adam Bourke might not be a character whose name instantly springs to mind, but the character has been present on The Boys since the second season. Introduced as a high-profile Vought movie director (think Zack Snyder), by the fifth season, Adam Bourke is directing am-dram theatre with an unmasked Black Noir 2. Although only a supporting character, Bourke easily has one of the most brutal deaths.
A pawn in the squabbling between The Deep and Black Noir 2, Bourke finds himself killed while sitting on the toilet, eaten from the anus out by an eel sent by The Deep. Gross on so many levels, this is one death that is hard to top.
4. The Deep - Killed By His Aquatic Brethren
After being blamed for the oil spill that killed 1.2 billion fish, The Deep is warned during the penultimate episode that should he so much as dip a pinkie into the sea, he’s dead. Scared, he races off to Homelander, who, during the finale, takes the opportunity to deliver some radical honesty. Hurt, The Deep goes for a little cry, which is interrupted by Starlight and company. A fight then breaks out between Starlight and The Deep, with the former flying off with him.
Their brawl concludes on a beach, but rather than Starlight being the one to kill The Deep, she chucks him into the ocean. It doesn’t take long for the sea creatures to find him, and the character finally meets his maker thanks to a rather forceful tentacle that erupts from his mouth, clearly having entered via the back passage.
3. Butcher - Killed By a Fatal Gunshot Wound
After having finally defeated his nemesis, Butcher should be happy. The truth, however, is that he is still consumed by anger. Finding Ryan disinterested in trying to mend their fractured relationship and his beloved pooch dead, Butcher determines to release the supe virus into the world. Hughie is once more on hand to be Butcher's conscience, but failing to get through to him, he has no choice but to shoot Butcher, mortally wounding him.
Given all of the dastardly acts that Butcher has committed in his revenge mission against Homelander, it was clear that Butcher had to die too, but it doesn’t prevent his death from stinging any less.
2. Frenchie - Death By Radiation Poisoning
Throughout all five seasons of The Boys, the relationship between Kimiko and Frenchie has been the heart of the show. Watching the two bond and fall in love has provided hope amongst all of the bleakness found everywhere else. Throughout the final season, the pair had been making plans about what they might do with their lives should they succeed in their mission, which were rudely cancelled during the penultimate episode. Frenchie and Kimiko had been working on trying to mutate Kimiko’s powers, but after what appeared to be a successful attempt, Homelander arrived.
Not wanting Kimiko to get hurt, Frenchie hid her before waiting for Homelander to find him waiting in the radiation chamber. In a move of self-sacrifice, Frenchie irradiates himself alongside Homelander, but being only human, he succumbs to the radiation. But not before Kimiko finds him, and as Frenchie dies in her arms, the audience is served a brutal emotional punch directly to the heart.
1. Homelander - Skull Crowbarred Open
The Boys could only end with the death of Homelander, and thankfully, Hughie and the team managed the near impossible, armed with a newly mutated Kimiko now capable of stripping supe powers with one blast out of her chest. As Ryan and Butcher battle Homelander in the Oval Office, Kimiko wipes out the superpowers of all three.
Suddenly human, Homelander immediately crumbles and begins crying like the baby everyone knows him to have been inside. As he tries to fight Butcher, he pleads to a sniffling and embarrassing degree before Butcher puts him out of his misery by inserting a crowbar into his skull and popping the top off, exposing Homelander’s brain to the world. Gross, but very cathartic.
