Of all the outlandish and odd Supes to appear in The Boys, the one that doesn’t get a chance to shine is a peculiar hero known as the Unicorn.
There are a lot of Supes in the world of The Boys that have very obvious parallels with actual comic book characters. But the appearance of one unicorn-riding hero raises a lot of questions, and may be the entire series’ biggest missed opportunity.
The Boys is one of the biggest, and downright bloodiest, superhero satires that’s ever taken on the genre. A crew of operatives working for the CIA are tasked with keeping the heroes of the world, colloquially referred to as Supes, in check. Rather than being noble figures for good, most of the Supes, including the Justice League ripoffs, the Seven, are selfish, incompetent jerks whose actions often require immediate intervention. Nearly every hero that the Boys take on is modeled after a familiar hero of some sort, whether it’s the Avengers-like team Payback, or Teen Titans’ pastiche, Team Titanic.
But there’s one hero that’s a complete mystery due to their lack of presence in the story, and it may be The Boys’ biggest missed potential. In The Boys #7 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, team leader Billy Butcher takes newbie “Wee” Hughie Campbell to a comic book store to show him the truth behind the Supes of The Boys’ world. As Butcher exposes the PR scam Vought-American is running with fabricated stories of the Supes’ adventures, readers can see a number of obvious superhero parodies like Green Ringo and Iron Owl. But one comic on the stands is simply labeled The Unicorn. Unfortunately Butcher never goes into detail on this particular Supe. However, the character does appear in a minor cameo on the cover of The Boys #24 in its Animal House parody, showing a man wearing combat gear and wielding a sword while riding a unicorn.
What The Unicorn Could Have Meant For The Boys
However, beyond these few references, the Unicorn never shows up in The Boys. He doesn’t ever cross paths with the titular crew, he doesn’t take part in the Supe orgy, Herogasm, and he isn’t part of the Supes’ final assault in the story. All the Unicorn gets is a couple of brief acknowledgments, but never a chance to impact the actual story. It’s a shame because the idea of a Supe who uses something as unconventional as a unicorn seems like a pretty interesting territory.
Perhaps the Unicorn doesn’t play a bigger part in the story because he doesn’t exactly lampoon a popular hero character. But he does raise the question of why Vought-American has access to a unicorn. Is the beast the recipient of Compound V, and is his mythological backstory another fabrication of the company? It’s unfortunate that The Boys never covered this character as the Unicorn could have opened up some unique storytelling ideas. That said, Butcher would probably do some pretty graphic things with the equine’s horn. Still, the Unicorn remains a mystery that The Boys should investigate if the franchise is ever revisited.
