On the surface, Homelander‘s brutality in ‘The Boys’ feels completely random. He’s killing civilians and not giving it a second thought, and then, he’s letting someone go who shouldn’t.
However, as creator Eric Kripke explains, there is a pattern; it’s just under all of the layers of insecurity, ego, and desperate need to be validated. When you see it, his choices are even more disturbing.
The Real Reason Homelander Spares Certain People
There is one law that governs Homelander’s life: fear is a death sentence. It seems counterintuitive for a guy who enjoys being intimidated, but it does make sense. Characters that beg and plead or submit too soon tend to do it to themselves. Firecracker was a good example.
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She was completely devoted and ready to give up on her beliefs for her own survival and Homelander, and yet it wasn’t enough. When Homelander felt the need to feel bad rather than feel good, it was over. To him, fear is a fake. It’s not respect, it’s not love, it’s an obligation. And that’s something he can’t stand.
It wasn’t just about the advice, as Erik Kripke says. “It’s not about the advice, even though Legend does give very good advice, and Homelander does exactly the opposite of that advice, which is the more you try to fight the natural order of things, the more the natural order of things c–tpunches you,” he explained.
What he does respond to is authenticity, weirdly enough. When someone isn’t afraid, when they treat him like a person instead of a god, it throws him off in a way that earns a strange kind of respect. That’s one reason why characters, like The Legend, can survive what others cannot. There’s no groveling, no performance. Just honesty. For Homelander, it’s pretty rare and good enough.
Homelander Isn’t Random, He Has A Twisted Set of Rules
But there’s another aspect to this, and it’s more personal. Homelander has a very definite, almost childish preference for parental figures. He is not afraid to hesitate when it comes to people who look like authority or guidance in his life, whether it’s Stan Edgar, Soldier Boy, or even someone like The Legend.
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It’s not loyalty, it’s dependency. Even with all his might, Homelander still desires the approval of individuals who seem to be “parental” despite the fact that those relationships are unhealthy or strained. “I think he has this weakness for paternal figures in his life, Soldier Boy, Edgar, and Legend, and he cannot bring himself to kill them. I think that’s a big part of it,” Kripke explained.
For him, if he kills them, he would be severing the final thread of validation. That is something he’s not ready to do. This is paradoxical, but in a very human way, he is predictable. Under the god complex, there is a very insecure person who is always looking for a real connection but can’t find it.
It’s this contradiction that makes him so dangerous. Knowing this trend may be important as ‘The Boys’ approaches its conclusion. If Homelander’s decisions aren’t random, then neither are his flaws. But when almost everyone can’t stop him, these psychological breaks could be the only chance.
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