Commentary: The Most Relatable Character On ‘The Boys’ Is Also Its Least Relatable
by Frank Martin
Because of the nature of The Boys, it has an incredible cast of ridiculous characters. They include a horny living mountain, a man who has romantic relationships with sea life, and a grown woman that uses a litter box. Yet, somehow, the least relatable character is one that appears to have no powers at all: Sister Sage (Susan Heyward). She is considered the smartest person in the world, but by possessing no prominent abilities, her intelligence is largely unseen. Someone this smart is a different kind of human than even the other supes. She thinks on unfathomable levels, which makes her unrelatable. However, her ultimate goal in life is extremely relatable.
The program’s final season focuses on Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) desire to unleash a virus that will kill all supes, even though his main focus is Homelander (Antony Starr). Recognizing the situation for what it is, Sister Sage uses her intellect to decipher what releasing the virus will bring. She predicts that once the virus takes hold, super-powered people will panic and trigger a global apocalypse. Sage also plans to keep herself safe by hiding out in a bunker in Colorado. Once there, she will finally be free from other people and just live out her days in solitude, reading, and enjoying her privacy.
Like most supes on the show, Sister Sage is absolutely twisted. She has no qualms about helping Butcher release the virus to kill Homelander, knowing full well that it will result in the end of civilization. This is completely bonkers in a way only a mad intellect could rationalize. It’s unrelatable even to other supes. But her justification for it is, strangely, understandable. She wants nothing more than to be left alone, free from the idiots of the world who want to do nothing more than complain and squabble for power. A lot of regular humans can understand that desire. Privacy and solitude are important to many. So it’s interesting how a character that is so different from everyone else can have motivations that feel more human than any other powered character on the show.
The Boys is now streaming on Prime Video.
