WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Boys Season 2, Episode 5, "We Gotta Go Now," available now on Amazon Prime Video.
The Female is the most mysterious member of the Boys. She's vicious and comes with a tragic backstory -- not to mention the Compound V flowing through her veins makes her the muscle of the group primarily composed of ordinary men. However, while the foundation of her character from the comics remains the same on the show, a lot of details were changed.
For instance, it was only in the fifth episode of the second season of The Boys that The Female's signature superhuman ability was introduced, and she gained another brand-new power to boot. With that said, let's look at how the comic book character's powers and weaknesses compare to her live-action counterpart.
By introducing Kimiko's comic book ability to peel off faces and having her be bulletproof, The Boys made a wise decision. Season 2 has done some impressive work in the way of fleshing out Kimiko as a character. The show has finally started providing more insight into her backstory, and introducing her comic book counterpart's signature ability is an appropriate way to pay tribute to her roots. In addition, giving her a brand new ability is a perfect way to mold Kimiko as her own character.
However, while the interpretations seem pretty similar, their biggest contrast comes with the two versions of The Female's origin story. In both the comic book and the television show, The Female consumed Compound V against her will as a young child. In the comics, she accidentally ingested the drug as a toddler, while in the show, terrorists invaded Kimiko's village when she was young and forced it upon her to transform her into a child soldier. She's the final member inducted into the Boys in the television show, getting an explosive introduction, but in the comics, she's already a member of the group when Hughie is recruited.
In terms of abilities, The Female's powers are similar in the comics and the television adaptation of The Boys. The character's most prominent ability in both versions is her super strength, and the show has done a fine job of showing that off. The Boys portrays Kimiko as the group's best fighter, easily ripping people limb-from-limb. In the comics, however, ripping the faces off her foes was her calling card from the start. This ability is now confirmed in The Boys Season 2, it just took longer to manifest than it did in the source material.
The Female's biggest weakness remains the same across both versions of the character -- she is mute. This doesn't provide any hurdles with her enemies, but it does when it comes to her relationships with other members in her vigilante group. The comics reveal her to be selectively mute but, at this point in the show, Kimiko is absolutely mute. Whether it's by choice or not, her muteness causes issues when it comes to interacting with the Boys, as she's unable to express her true thoughts or feelings. Both the show and comics show The Female having a special bond with Frenchie and when her weakness is best put on display when she undergoes a tragedy in the television show, he attempts to be there for her. But since she cannot speak, and refuses to find any way to communicate with him, Frenchie becomes frustrated and pushes her away.
The Boys Season 2 accomplished the ambitious task of making a character who cannot speak a soulful one. The show held onto the parts of The Female's character that made her the most fearsome member of the Boys. But everything the show changed about the character's origin and abilities enabled her to become the most interesting character in the series. Her revamped origin story gave her a heartbreaking backstory that will likely fuel an explosive showdown between Kimiko and Stormfront before the season's end. Overall, revealing more of Kimiko's powers is an important moment to note moving forward in The Boys Season 2. The Female is a force to be reckoned with, and she'll only get stronger as the show goes on.