Warning: The following contains major spoilers for The Boys Season 4. Proceed at your own risk!
It’s not a season of The Boys if there isn’t a lot of blood splatter and exploding guts.
Season 4 got off to a killer start on June 13, with several gruesome and graphic deaths at the hands laser eyes of a more volatile-than-ever Homelander. And the deadly action continued throughout the rest of the season, culminating with one series regular’s horrific and shocking demise in the finale, courtesy of a surprising source.
Below, TVLine has tallied up Season 4’s biggest demises and ranking them by just how gross-out gory they were, with details on how they kicked the bucket. We’re keeping our list to recognizable characters, major players or those featured in memorable death scenes. So apologies to the nameless bystanders who will no doubt perish in the war between Homelander and the Boys, but you’re not included.
Scroll down to check out Season 4’s many victims, then hit the comments to let us know which one disturbed you most.
Warning: The following may contain graphic/NSFW images.
Dies In: Episode 7
Means of Death: During a lovers’ spat, The Deep exploded with an anger and broke Ambrosius’ tank, then sat on the other side of the closed closet door as Ambrosius pleaded for help. While inhumane to the mollusk, it was hardly gory. (Get scoop on the storyline.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤢
Dies In: Episode 8
Means of Death: While Mallory’s death was not horrifically graphic, the fact that it was Ryan — not wanting to be trained into a weapon against Homelander — who shoved her into a wall and broke her neck made it incredibly heartbreaking.
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤢
Dies In: Episode 5
Means of Death: Most of the gore came before Hugh’s demise, as Hughie’s father found himself confused and forgetful, following a dose of V, and phasing through hospital walls and tearing through patients. Hugh’s actual passing was a far more peaceful but heartbreaking affair: Faced with the prospect of his dad being locked up and confused forever or killing even more innocent people, Hughie injected him with a drug, and he peacefully went to sleep while Hughie, his mother and his father daydreamed about a family trip to Paris. (Get scoop on the storyline.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤢
Dies In: Episode 6
Means of Death: Strangled to death by his butler Elijah, who, after years of cleaning the mess from his boss’ sexual proclivities, finally had enough when he learned of Tek Knight’s plan to help provide prison camps for Homelander and Sister Sage.
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮
Dies In: Episode 5
Means of Death: After being set up by Ashley as a mole for the Boys, Homelander ordered his fellow supes to exact some wrathful vengeance on the Vought News Network anchor, who was beaten to death (off-screen, thankfully).
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮
Dies In: Episode 2
Means of Death: During a staged rescue, Ryan got too aggressive with the stuntman playing the criminal and sent him flying into a building, where he splattered like a broken egg against the wall.
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮
Dies In: Episode 3
Means of Death: The poor Vought Crime Analytics employee wasn’t even the mole Sister Sage and Homelander were looking for, but he still (prematurely) lasered a hole through Anika’s head just as she was confessing that Starlight had reached out to her about tracking… :::cue laser eyes:::
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮
Dies In: Episode 2
Means of Death: The supe Splinter (and his many fully naked clones) met their end while battling Butcher, MM, Frenchie and Kimiko in the middle of a Marvelous Miss Rachel bat mitzvah party. Butcher ultimately took down all the Splinters by shoving a bar through the prime version’s head. (Get scoop from showrunner Eric Kripke on the twisted fight scene.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮
Dies In: Episode 1
Means of Death: Homelander ordered The Deep, Black Noir and A-Train to kill his superfan (as well as two other groupies) — Black Noir delivered the fatal, head-busting hit — then had A-Train stage their bodies at a protest so that Starlight supporters would be blamed for their deaths.
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮
Dies In: Episode 4
Means of Death: Homelander locked the Vought lab employee in the same heat chamber where the supe was experimented upon while growing up, leaving Frank to be burned alive. (Get scoop on the storyline.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮
Dies In: Episode 4
Means of Death: During a visit to the Vought lab where he was raised, Homelander set his sadistic sights on Martin, the man who gave him the nickname Squirt after he caught a teenage Homelander masturbating. As punishment, Homelander forced Marty to pleasure himself in front of the other Vought employees before lasering his private parts and eventually stepping on his head to put Marty out of his misery. (Get scoop on the scene.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮
Dies In: Episode 3
Means of Death: While trying to weed out a hidden Hughie, Homelander’s laser eyes cut in half the performer playing Maeve in the Vought on Ice musical production’s rehearsal. As the other cast members frantically tried to skate away, throats and fingers were sliced by sharp blades, turning the ice red. Something tells us this show won’t go on. (Get scoop on the musical number.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮🤮
Dies In: Episode 4
Means of Death: The above photo may look tame, but that’s because there was barely anything left of the supe to screenshot after Butcher somehow tore him apart to shreds, body parts strewn all over the place.
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮🤮
Die In: Episode 4
Means of Death: Frank and Martin weren’t the only ones at the Vought lab who met their demise. Homelander also did a number on the rest of the employees, leaving their torn-apart bodies behind in a blood-splattered room. (Get scoop on the storyline.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮🤮
Dies In: Episode 7
Means of Death: Firecracker’s horrified gasp when Homelander, literally, tore Webweaver in half was right-on. Sure, the supe had betrayed The Seven’s leader by spilling secrets to Butcher & Co., but the punishment was one of The Boys‘ nastiest yet.
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
Dies In: Episode 8
Means of Death: In a tragic turn of events, the Vice President-Elect was killed just moments after making a deal with Hughie and the Boys to help them take down Homelander in exchange for her and her daughter’s safety. Butcher, however, was not on board and unleashed the Compound V-fueled monster within him to take hold of Victoria and, literally, rip her in half in a move eerily similar to that of his enemy Homelander. (Get scoop on the death.)
Gore Factor (from 1 to 5): 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
I’m sorry. but while I love the Boys. the ice skating death scene was just not needed. Sure show Queen Maeve getting split in half do to Homelanders inability to find Hughie (how did this even make sense.. how did Hughie escape) but the rest of the carnage was not needed and felt more like some 12 yr old boys got to flesh out the scene.
I think the main purpose of this scene was to show Sage just how mad/insane Homelander was. I expect she is a double agent.
I can see what your saying but this show is about being over the top so I think it fits in well.
MM shined a light in Homelander’s eyes as he was about to laser Hughie, which led to him lasering Queen Maeve in half. Also, A-Train rescued Hughie just as Homelander was about to catch him. There were plenty of ways for Homelander to catch or kill Hughie between those two events but you just need to let it go. You’re being way too critical and nitpicky toward a fictional show about super powers.
This is fictional?!?
This is such a great show!
How could you leave off the people that were killed by the flying murder sheep? I mean, they were flying murder sheep.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the sheep were inspired by Monty Python; one of their earliest sketches mentioned ‘sheep that fly and nest in trees’. It’s all I could think about when the sheep were there. Lol.
While I like superhero shows, I don’t like the Boys show. It is too bloody for me. I like superhero shows that have a positive message.
Best show on right now. It’s above and beyond gross…I love it!!!
Isn’t it a bit too early to post this ranking ? There’s still 2 episodes missing ! I suppose there are going to be more deaths. Ooops
This ranking has existed since the first drop of the season, and updated after each subsequent episode
Even though it was all in her head (no pun intended), I would have included the scene where Victoria imagines her own head exploding as she is forced to listen to some mansplaining about how rape supposedly works. I get why you didn’t include it, since it didn’t really happen, but it was so shocking and unexpected and certainly as gruesome and bloody as other items on this ilst, I think it should have at least gotten an honorable mention.
That mansplaining insanity was a direct quote from a republican senator Todd Aiken in 2012! “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down”
More gruesome than lasering one or more people is plowing one’s fist into a living body: most recently The Deep smashing a target employee’s face and head.
Ambrosius … least gory but most heart breaking. That was tough