Summary

• Jensen Ackles shines as Soldier Boy with unforgettable quotes and an unhinged persona in The Boys season 3.
• The character undergoes a powerful transformation from a joke in the comics to a lethal threat with deep insights in the series.
• Soldier Boy's memorable one-liners, social media PSAs, and unique outlook on life make him a standout presence in the franchise.

Content Warning: This article contains references to profanities and mentions of violence.

The Boys season 3 is one of the best in the series, and a lot of that is down to its stars and characters, not least of all the incredible Jensen Ackles and his delivery of the best Soldier Boy quotes. While the powerful character stole the show in many ways in season 3, he wasn't quite done there. The franchise allowed him to return in a unique way in the spinoff series Gen V and remained just as unhinged and entertaining as ever

The best thing is that the great Prime Video series changed Soldier Boy from the character who arrived in the comics, mostly used as a joke, to a serious and lethal threat with a unique outlook on life in the United States. From his hilarious one-liners to PSAs released on social media to quite deep character quotes about life in general, Soldier Boy has some of the best quotes from the entire series.

15 "You Should Smile More. I Bet It's A Beautiful Smile."

Season 3, Episode 3 - "Barbary Coast"

"You know, if you were a little nicer, maybe you'd find a man, instead of out here playing Captain Lesbo."

Soldier Boy might be a character that was forgotten by the world and is bitter over it. However, the honest truth is that he was never a good person, or a decent hero when he was around before. This was shown in a flashback to 1984 when Soldier Boy's former team Payback was dealing with a young Grace Mallory.

Payback showed up at a camp in Nicaragua to put on a show and make a trial run for the military, but Grace was not happy about it. That led to Soldier Boy proving that, even in 1984, he was a misogynistic jerk and had no respect for authority.

Soldier Boy was firing an M2 rocket launcher toward the camp's own munitions dump, and Grace kept telling him to stop.

This was a line he said directly to Mallory as he showed off in front of the troops. Soldier Boy was firing an M2 rocket launcher toward the camp's own munitions dump, and Grace kept telling him to stop. He ignored her and kept flirting with her and shooting the launcher. When he seemed to die, thanks to his attitude, Grace didn't even seem to mind.

14 ""Man, I Missed Bennies. It's How We Won D-Day."

Season 3, Episode 6 - 'Herogasm'

In the explosive "Herogasm" episode of The Boys season 3, Soldier Boy was talking to Billy Butcher and Hughie and mentioned something he missed a lot from his time on ice. He said that he misses the "bennies" and then its that they are the reason that the United States won at D-Day.

A bennie is a drug, a nickname for Benzedrine, which was once seen as a miracle drug that could cure many ailments. The problem is that they started killing people and ended up becoming a controlled substance.

This Soldier Boy quote also plays into something from real history.

While not "bennies," in World War II, Adolf Hitler gave his soldiers a pill form of the drug Pervitin, distributed by the millions to Wehrmacht troops before the successful invasion of in 1940 (via History.com). It was an anti-depressive that kept German soldiers always alert and awake and ready to battle — until they eventually came down. According to Soldier Boy, his military allies did something similar.

13 No One's The New Me, Pal."

Season 3, Episode 6 - 'Herogasm'

When Billy Butcher was talking to Soldier Boy about what was happening in the world, the old-school hero wanted to know about the man, Homelander, he had seen pictures of. Billy just smiled at Soldier Boy and said, "He's the new you." That seemed to anger Soldier, and he responded with this line without much humor at all in his voice. It was almost insulting to him to suggest Homelander was on his level.

Soldier Boy is many things, but at the top of the list is arrogant. He believes he is at the top of the food chain, and there is no one who can challenge him for that spot. Billy Butcher knows the truth. He knows that both Soldier Boy and Homelander are evil, powerful villains — and that neither of these men is a hero by any definition of the word. He also knows they are both very dangerous. Soldier Boy only sees the comparisons regarding power, but for Butcher, it is much more.

12 "Bill Cosby Is America's Dad, And, Tell You One Thing, He Wouldn't Be Caught Dead In That."

Season 3, Episode 6 - 'Herogasm'

Some of Soldier Boy's scenes are not serious at all and are just funny. Just like Captain America, Soldier Boy is a man out of time. The difference is that Soldier Boy is not from as distant a past as Cap, and Soldier Boy came out of his time on the ice to be a misogynistic, racist, bigoted jerk.

He also has a lapsed sense of history, and there are things that happened while he was gone that he is clueless about. There is a scene where Soldier Boy is watching TV with Hughie and sees something that just blows his mind. The commercial shows a father walking while carrying his baby in a baby sling. Soldier Boy asks if men really walk around like that, and Hughie says, "Dads do."

That is when Soldier Boy delivers this hilariously off-putting line about Bill Cosby being "America's Dad," with no idea what had happened to Cosby since he was put on ice. Though knowing Soldier Boy and his principles, he probably wouldn't care anyway.

11 "I'm Not Going Back In That Fu**ing Box!"

Season 3, Episode 8 - "The Instant White-Hot Wild"

The final episode of The Boys season 3 saw people lining up to fight Soldier Boy, realizing he might be more dangerous than even Homelander. This episode saw a lot happening, from Homelander trying to get the upper hand in the battle against everyone to Mother's Milk finally finding a way to beat Soldier Boy — thanks to Frenchie coming up with a dose of Novichok, which is a true weapon against Soldier Boy.

While Billy Butcher, Maeve, and Soldier Boy go to beat Homelander together, things go sideways when Homelander brings Ryan, and Butcher fights Soldier Boy to protect the boy. That is when MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko show up and go after Soldier Boy to put him away again. When Soldier Boy realizes what is about to happen, he delivers this line, showing his true fear of going under again, and he is willing to do anything to stop that from happening, including blowing himself up.

10 "I'm Red-Blooded. But Not Commie Red. Red-White-And-Blue Red."

Gen-V, Season 1, Episode 6 - "Jumanji"

"I'm not godless, dickless commie. I'm red-blooded. But not commie red. Red-white-and-blue red. I fart "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Soldier Boy showed up in The Boys spinoff Gen-V, but in a very different manner. This wasn't the Soldier Boy from The Boys, but instead a dream version of the character. Marie, Jordan, Andre, and Dusty ended up trapped in Cate's mind just after the big reveal that she was working for Dr. Edison Cardosa. While exploring the woods in Cate's mind, they ran into someone unexpected.

Soldier Boy came out and threw out some of the worst insults these kids had ever heard. He started telling them he was Cate's former imaginary friend who taught her how to please herself, which disgusted Marie. When Jordan stood up to him and said he was radicalized by the Russians, Soldier Boy lost it and delivered this amazing quote about what he believes he stands for. The best part was that he tried to help them but was then blown to bits. It was a perfect Gen-V cameo.

9 "What's Black And White And Red All Over?"

Season 3, Episode 7 - 'Here Comes A Candle To Light Your Bed'

Soldier Boy has some of the most hilarious lines of season 3, and this is a prime but twisted example of this, coming after he shoots a priest and a nun during his hunt for Mindstorm. It is not just funny, thanks to the shock factor, but the fact that the answer to the riddle is a newspaper, something slightly outdated and close to what he is.

Soldier Boy is a stone-cold killer, and he makes jokes about the innocent people that he leaves dead in his wake.

Of course, the joke that he finds funny is that the priest and nun wear black and white outfits, and once he kills them, it is also covered in their red blood. It is disgusting and cruel, and it perfectly encapsulates everything he represents and also gives everyone another hint as to who he is. Soldier Boy is a stone-cold killer, and he makes jokes about the innocent people that he leaves dead in his wake.

8 "I Held Onto The Hope That You Would Come."

Season 3, Episode 5 - 'The Last Time To Look On This World Of Lies'

"I loved you. All those years... that they burned me and that they pumped me full of poison, I held onto the hope that you would come. That you would save me. Because I still loved you."

Soldier Boy is a truly awful person throughout the season. However, that does not stop audiences from getting emotional depth from the character, which comes partly in his hunt against Payback (especially his former love, Crimson Countess). His whole scene with her, as he discovers what happened and why he was given to the Russians by the former team, is tense and even slightly emotional, and Jensen Ackles' performance is superb.

Even if it is nearly impossible to relate to Soldier Boy, his getting burned by the woman he loved, who told him she did not love him, is relatable to many. This is one of the small instances where even someone as evil and ruthless as Soldier Boy delivers an almost human and emotional moment. Of course, Soldier Boy eventually makes people hate him all over again, but he at least had this quote.

7 "He's Right F***ing There, And Now You Blink?"

Season 3, Episode 8 - 'The Instant White Hot-Wild'

The Boys season 3 finale had some fantastic action and standout character moments. It also saw the whole plan getting plagued with the massive wrench that is Ryan, who prevents Billy from allowing Soldier Boy to kill/depower Homelander, much to the shock of the former. He had no idea that this would happen and he just deflates at this entire moment.

His disgust and anger in this whole exchange are great, and his "F*** you" snap could easily beat out this as the best quote of the scene based on delivery alone. On the plus side, this ordeal kind of helped Butcher's character, showing that he does actually have limits. The moment that they changed the plan was unexpected and Soldier Boy's exasperation at the entire ordeal was perfect in every way as the series will now explore some even darker lows in season four.

6 "I Fought For This Country, And What Did I Get For It? Forgotten."

Season 3, Episode 6 - 'Herogasm'

Soldier Boy has to undergo a serious shock to the system upon his return to society, making various toxic comments on the state of masculinity and the world in general, but also having to cope with the fact his country has discarded him and left him forgotten to time. During a rant about the state of the world and what he did for the country, he caps it off with this pretty emotional line.

This moment clearly shows - alongside other moments - that underneath all of that awfulness, there is some human emotion inside him. It may not make him a sympathetic character, but it is understandable. It also shows the difference between Soldier Boy and his MCU equivalent, Captain America. Cap came back and started fighting to help the world again. Soldier Boy came back disenfranchised.