The Boys is a wildly entertaining show that has amassed a huge fan base for itself by twisting the superhero genre and making the "heroes" the primary antagonists and villains in the show. While fans love the laugh out loud comedy and intense action, what keeps them coming back for more are the well-drawn and relatable characters.
From The Deep to Hughie, no character in this show is perfect, but some are certainly more likable than others. Let's take a look at some characters that fans despise and some that fans can't get enough of.
10 Hate: The Deep - Kevin Moskowitz
Similar to Namor in more than one way, The Deep does a lot of things that make him hard to like. What he did to Annie, even if he shows remorse for it, was disgusting, and that act alone makes him easy to hate.
Putting his treatment of Annie aside for a moment, The Deep acts disloyal and cruel even after his "transformation" after being kicked out of The Seven, turning on his good friend Eagle the Archer just because a church leader told him to, despite Eagle saving The Deep from rock bottom.
9 Love: Starlight - Annie January
A hard-nosed young woman who always stands up for what's right, Starlight is an easy character to like. From The Deep assaulting her to Vought wanting to use her as a business and propaganda tool, Starlight's tough start as a member of The Seven makes her just as relatable as she is likable.
She's tough and isn't afraid to stand her ground against Homelander or Black Noir. Starlight's romance with Hughie is another strong point of her character and fans can't wait to see their relationship go to the next level.
8 Hate: Stan Edgar
Even with the incomparable Giancarlo Esposito in the role, Stan Edgar is a tough sell as a character. He operates and controls the evil corporation of Vought, which has destroyed thousands if not millions of lives, so he's not winning any likeability points there.
He is, in general, a corrupt and immoral person who only cares about making money for his shareholders and protecting Vought's power. All in all, fans haven't spent enough time with Stan Edgar to find positive or entertaining traits that would outweigh these negatives.
7 Love: Hughie Campbell
The cast of The Boys is filled with selfish and self-absorbed characters, but Hughie is one of the few who is a genuinely good person. He's certainly not perfect, but Hughie has consistently shown a desire to do good and help people and is aversive to the alternative.
Yes. Hughie blew up Translucent into little bits, but that was only after Translucent tried to kill him by bashing him to death with a flat-screen TV. Hughie shows his true colors in Season Two when he risks his life to save Starlight from imprisonment by Vought, revealing that he loves her.
6 Hate: Ashley Barrett
Ashley is a corporate stooge who does whatever her superiors tell her to do without question, often at the expense of others, like when she blackmails A-Train. She lives to serve Vought, and it's a bit pathetic.
Ashley is fired by Vought and then voluntarily rejoins the company when she gets the chance, meaning that she got an ugly first-hand look at the type of company Vought is and STILL chose to come back, which is revealing about the type of person Ashley is and what her priorities are.
5 Love: Billy Butcher
Billy Butcher is an absolutely diabolical character, and fans love him all the more for it. He's selfish, violent, and willing to get good people killed in order to get the job done, but at the core of Butcher is a good man who wants justice for his wife and anyone else Vought has hurt.
One of his main redeeming qualities is that he continuously surrounds himself with friends who can keep him on a straight path because God knows he can't do it on his own.
4 Hate: Ezekiel
One of the worst types of people in the world are frauds who deceive others about their true nature or intentions, and this sums up Ezekiel in a nutshell.
In one way, he's a fraud as a false Christian who pushes a religious agenda for the purposes of making himself and Vought rich. In another way, he's a fraud as a gay man who hides his sexuality for money and, worse, condemns other people for being gay. Ezekiel is despicable, to say the least.
3 Love: Kimiko Miyashiro
Fans love a character who has been through something traumatic and is still able to maintain their humanity. A young woman trained as a killer and forced to take Compound V, Kimiko could have easily become a villain, but her inherent good nature has prevented that.
She can be incredibly savage and aggressive at times, but Kimiko usually directs this violence towards those deserving of it.
2 Hate: Stormfront - Klara Risinger
She's a Nazi. That's pretty much all that can be said for Stormfront. Whether it's the sadistic violence she enjoys or pushing her beliefs about white supremacy, there's a lot to hate about her.
The writers of The Boys did an excellent job making her a likable character at the start of Season Two, reminding fans that hate and intolerance can come in many shapes and sizes.
1 Love: Homelander
Whether fans hate to love him or love to hate him, there's a certain appeal to Homelander's character that makes him easy to like despite his monstrous tendencies.
He has done many terrible things and killed many people, but when push comes to shove, Homelander is still a wildly entertaining character. Fans welcome the day when Homelander faces justice for the crimes he has committed, but there's no rush for it to get here either.