Content Warning: This article repeatedly refers to fictional depictions of sexual assault and abuse.

Few comic books are as filled with surprises as The Boys. The element of surprise transitions nicely into the show, but some surprises are exclusive to the comics, largely because of the level of censorship that won't allow certain moments to be adapted to TV. Whether it be the twists specific to characters like Homelander, The Boys doesn't cease to shock.

The Boys isn't shocking simply because its stories are bold in presentation or provocative in their approach, but in how they genuinely outsmart the readers who enjoy them. Ignore the fact that the series can be lewd to the point of edginess and that critics accuse it of doing so for mere shock value. At the root of The Boys' storytelling, crudeness serves a purpose. The shocking visuals yield to shocking storyline twists that keep the most savvy of readers on their toes.

10 Robin's Death Happens Right Out of the Gate

The Boys #1 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Greg Thompson

For a character who only appears in one episode of the television series and one issue in the actual comics, Robin could just be the most important character in The Boys. Despite her brief time in the story, she sets the entire series in motion. While there are some differences compared to the show's adaptation in how Robin's death is portrayed, both the show and the comics showcase her death as the inciting incident for The Boys, specifically when it comes to Hughie's journey.

Within mere pages of The Boys' first issue, Wee Hugh Campbell watches his girlfriend succumb to the super-speed of A-Train. Not only does Robin's death set the plot in motion, as it leads to Hughie meeting Butcher, but it sets the tone for The Boys by establishing early how gruesome the series will be, given the nature of her death.

9 Homelander Reveals His Evil in His First Scene with Starlight

The Boys #3 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Greg Thompson

The Boys found no better way to establish Homelander as a super-scumbag than by having the superhero solicit the newest member of the team for sex upon meeting her. Even worse, the rest of the team in on inducting Starlight through inhumane means, pressuring her by reminding her that she'd be forced to endure her life before the Seven if she doesn't comply. This marks the first time that The Boys shows Homelander on-, and the first time that the Seven share the as a unit.

The basis of The Boys was largely about providing a dark mirror to classic DC characters like Superman and the Justice League, and the series wastes no time living up to its key selling point by displaying horrors that would make Superman shudder in his boots. The so-called heroes take advantage of another, and it only gets worse from here.

8 Blarney Cock Is the Legend's Son, and the Legend Is Glad He's Dead After Hughie Accidentally Kills Him

Blarney's Death: The Boys #18 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

From the moment he debuts in The Boys, Blarney Cock is shown to be a depraved supe, but the fact that he's the son of Queen Maeve and Legend is what's surprising. Old Legend serves as an informant to the Boys, while Queen Maeve is, of course, a central figure within the Seven. The two couldn't have been more polarizing to each other, and being the illegitimate child of two estranged parents while being raised in an Irish orphanage is likely what made Blarney so depraved to begin with.

Blarney Cock ends up being killed not once, but twice by Hughie. He's first accidentally killed in the middle of a battle between the Teenage Kix and the Boys, then again when Blarney returns as a mindless zombie. The Legend doesn't even care that Blarney is dead, and knowing just how depraved Blarney is, he's actually glad he's dead.

7 What Happened on 9/11...

The Boys #21 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

Most viewers of the TV show will recall the infamous plane scene, but in the comics, The Boys' darkest scene is worse. Things go even worse than how the scene is depicted in the show, with children accidentally being flung from the plane, the Seven's incompetence as a team causing more damage than necessary, and it ends with a crash, sending the plane into the Brooklyn Bridge. As if all of that wasn't bad enough, this particular Boys' debacle canonically happens on September 11th, 2001.

This event prompts in-universe conspiracy theories. Whilst speaking to a larger 9/11 metaphor that would become a recurring theme for the series, this first instance reveals just how dysfunctional the Seven are as a unit. It goes beyond just being vile in private, but they aren't even respectable in public, putting lives in danger.

6 The Horrifying Reveal of the G-Men

The Boys #29 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

Those who watch The Boys on television have yet to meet the G-Men, but given their reputation in the comics, they may be too R-rated even for The Boys. The G-Men are a dark parody of the X-Men, with John Godolkin serving as the team's equivalent to Professor X. Unlike Charles Xavier, though, Godolkin takes far too much of a hands-on approach to coaching his students. The comics reveal that Godolkin had sexually abused and molested a number of the students he recruited.

The Boys has featured some depraved stories and characters, and the depravity of the G-Men fits right in with that of the Seven.

Both on TV and in the comics, The Boys has featured some depraved stories and characters, and the depravity of the G-Men fits right in with that of the Seven. However, what makes this among The Boys' darkest storylines is that it's meant to be a facsimile of everyone's favorite mutant super-team. Such an adult-themed spin on the concept crushes everyone's X-Men nostalgia.

5 Queen Maeve Is The Boys' Mole in the Seven, Not Her Super-Fan

The Boys #63 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Greg Thompson

There is a point when the Boys start receiving sensitive information about the Seven from an informant who is suspected to be a super-fan of Queen Maeve's, until it's revealed that the mole is Queen Maeve herself. Both Maeve and her irer die at the hands of Homelander in a bloody Wonder Woman nod. The reveal of Maeve finally going turncoat is shocking, mostly because, considering everything she endured across 63 issues, her betrayal of her superiors was a long time coming.

Granted, Maeve is just as complicit in heinous crimes as Homelander and his buddies, but over several issues, she practically lets them all get away with bloody murder against her name. Homelander outright disrespects her at every turn, undermines her, drives her to alcohol, and at one point, tricks her into sleeping with Black Noir. It's more surprising that it took so long for her to turn her back on the Seven.

4 Homelander Isn't the One Who Killed Butcher's Wife

Becky's Death Is Depicted in The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker #4 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

The death of Rebecca "Becky" Butcher is depicted as the motivation for Billy's hatred for the Seven, and particularly for Homelander. His seething hatred for Homelander implies that the leader killed Becky, but future issues and spinoffs expanded on the gruesome nature of Becky's death. Readers learn in due time that Butcher learned Becky was attacked by Homelander while he was away on a walk, impregnating her with a child that killed her in a traumatic birth.

Billy was forced to kill the super-baby, waking up in the middle of the night confused, completely unaware of his wife's pregnancy, attack, and death until after the fact. That alone is a shocking moment in Boys history, but it still isn't as shocking as the revelation that Homelander didn't assault Becky. At least, not that Homelander...

3 Black Noir Is an Insane Homelander Clone

The Boys #65 by Garth Ennis, Russ Braun, John McCrea, Keith Burns, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

Becky's attacker was actually Black Noir disguised as Homelander, and Black Noir himself was a Homelander clone. Furthermore, when pictures leak of Homelander doing unspeakable things, Homelander is confused and terrified when he doesn't recall doing any of these unspeakable acts. Then, he's even more terrified and confused once Black Noir unmasks himself. The decision for Black Noir to be a Homelander clone is one that received mixed reactions, to the point that the show opted not to cover it.

However, even the moment's strongest critics have to it that, love it or hate it, no one saw this twist coming. Perhaps more shocking than the twist itself is learning during their final fight just how much more powerful Black Noir is than Homelander.

2 Butcher's Final Plan to Commit Genocide

The Boys #65 by Garth Ennis, Russ Braun, John McCrea, Keith Burns, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

After finishing off what's left of Black Noir, Butcher looks to the heavens and apologizes to his late lover, because if she hated the act of revenge she saw him dish on Black Noir, she's going to hate even more what he does next. At that moment, Butcher becomes The Boys' lead antagonist, which is tragic for two reasons. The first is because the nature of Billy's villainy amounts to killing his friends and attempting to release a big supe bomb, had Hughie not stopped him.

The other reason is that Billy was once the hero who Boys readers rooted for from the start. He was just as much a lead protagonist and fan-favorite as Hughie, but he was also depicted as twisted from the start. This wasn't necessarily Butcher changing or going from anti-hero to villain, as he was a deeply disturbed individual reaching his breaking point, forcing his fans to turn on him in return.

1 James Stillwell Outplays Jessica Bradley, Framing Her for His Crimes

The Boys #71 by Garth Ennis, Russ Braun, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland

For anyone doubting the kind of pure evil that James Stillwell is capable of, the Vought-American exec is someone who has earned the respect of Homelander. His personal assistant is just as complicit in the behind-the-scenes crimes as Stillwell is, and that forms the foundation of a strange bond. First, a friendship develops in which both parties confide in each other, all before they become lovers.

However, it appears this may have all been a ruse to groom Bradley as his patsy. Stillwell is a master manipulator who always has a plan and an ace up his sleeve. For nine years, he kept Bradley under his thumb, and in the final hour, when Bradley trusts James' word that they were in this together, she watches the news in horror as he publicly throws her under the bus in the greatest betrayal in The Boys history.