To paraphrase Aereon from the Chronicles of Riddick, sometimes you have to fight evil "with another kind of evil." Garth Ennis is a writer whose work has always been controversial, but no matter how you might feel about the kinds of stories he tells or the way he depicts violence, there's one thing you have to give the man props for: Ennis knows how to write dangerous, unpredictable, powerful and terrifying characters like no-one else.
The Saint of Killers from Preacher and the Homelander from The Boys are both evidence of this claim. Despite the fact that they possess godlike powers, these two would rather main and kill anyone that they believe is beneath them (everyone else, essentially). The way we see it, why not let these two menacing powerhouses have at it? Today, we're going to pit the Saint against the Homelander to determine which of these sadists reigns supreme.
10 Creativity: The Saint
A lot of times, the combatant that wins a battle isn't the strongest or the fastest. Often, the victor usually thinks outside of the box and outplays their opponents. This tactic is Batman's MO - allowing him to consistently defeat villains that'd otherwise blow him out of the water!
For all of the power that the Homelander has, he's not very good at coming up with unconventional ways to win fights. Heck, the Homelander couldn't even think of a way to save all of those poor airplane passengers! Conversely, the Saint will use anything and everything at his disposal to get the job done. He's also great at outsmarting his opponents - Jesse, Satan, and God can all testify to that.
9 Strength: Homelander
On the flip side, raw power has a quality all its own. It's hard not to see everything else as a nail when all that you have is a hammer. But which would you rather be - the hammer or the nail? Yeah, the Homelander lacks eloquence or creativity, but there aren't many beings - both in and out of his universe - that can match his strength.
The Saint of Killers is strong, but only to a fault. When a tank ran him over, he wasn't able to move the darn thing an inch. But if someone parked a tank on top of the Homelander, he'd send it flying through the air - and likely crashing into an unlucky bystander.
8 Weapons: The Saint
For the most part, Homelander doesn't use any weapons. At most, he'll turn a car or chunk of rubble into a bludgeon, but that's about it. The Saint, on the other hand, has his Colt 1847 Walkers - guns that can kill deities!
If one argues that it's not the weapon, but the man wielding it that counts, then the Saint still wins in this department. He was a pro gunslinger back during the Civil War! The Saint's spent countless years perfecting his marksmanship skills - something that he's proven time and time again.
7 Speed: Homelander
Homelander's no Wally West, but he can move when he has to. To put things into perspective, the Homelander managed to catch up to an airplane! His reaction times are also pretty impressive: when fighting the Female, the Homelander was able to keep pace with her lightning-fast strikes without breaking a sweat!
The Saint of Killers also has incredible reaction times - that's part of the reason he's so deadly with his revolvers. However, the Saint isn't able to move that much faster than the average person. Jesse and his friends managed to survive their encounters with the Saint by outrunning him. However, that tactic wouldn't have worked so well with Homelander.
6 Miscellaneous Powers: The Saint
Heat vision, X-ray vision, and the like are cool, but the Saint has a power that trumps them all. The Butcher of Gettysburg can spew Hellfire from his mouth hot enough to melt almost anything, an ability that he also shares with Ghost Rider!
Linking back to our creativity segment, the Saint's also used this power to superheat his guns - making the Colts strong enough to fire though the Earth itself!
5 Allies: Homelander
For the most part, the Saint doesn't have any friends. DeBlanc and Fiore don't count - they're more like retainers who try to keep the Saint on a leash. On the flip side, the Homelander has all of the Seven and Vought International by his side (or under his heel, to be more accurate.)
The Saint might be a one-man army, but we imagine that even he'd struggle against evil versions of the Justice League. Plus, Vought has enough money to fund an entire campaign against the Saint - they could probably get all kinds of forces involved if things really got out of hand.
4 Feats: The Saint
The Saint has killed all manner of deities in his own universe. Do we need to say more than that? As far as targets go, he couldn't have picked any higher-profile enemies, and he still came away on top.
As tough as the Homelander theoretically is, he mostly picks on average humans most of the time. Whenever he squares off against The Boys, he barely manages to scrub out a win - if the battle doesn't end in a tie. Homelander's inability to beat Billy just doesn't make him look good at all, in terms of respective power.
3 Morals: Tie
At last, we reach an area where both combatants are dead even. Both of these characters are relentless and love killing others. There's no doubt in our minds that both the Saint and the Homelander would do anything to beat one another.
That also means that there's no-one that either combatant could use for leverage. If either had morals, they'd think about protecting civilian lives and trying not to cause collateral damage. The Saint and the Homelander are both so dangerous, however, that they'd devastate everyone and everything in the wake of their battle without a second thought.
2 Durability: The Saint
When it comes down to it, the Homelander simply wouldn't be able to kill the Saint. We're not exaggerating either - the Saint of Killers won't die from conventional or even unconventional means.
The Homelander might be durable, but he isn't truly invulnerable. Ask anyone who's read the final issues of The Boys comics and they'll tell you what the Homelander's really made of! Actually, don't, you're probably better off not knowing.
1 Conclusion
This one's close, but we ultimately think the Saint of Killers will beat the Homelander eight or nine times out of ten.
There's a niche scenario wherein the Homelander tries to blitz the Saint, carry him off into space, and leave him to drift away helplessly, but, for the most part, we imagine that the Saint would shoot the Homelander dead before the fight truly even begins.