Golden Boy

## Fate

―Luke Riordan to Marie Moreau.[src]

**Luke Riordan**, better known as **Golden Boy**, is a recurring posthumous character of the Amazon series *Gen V*, a spin-off series of *The Boys*. He was a top ranked student at Godolkin University and Professor Brinkerhoff's protégé.

## Background

Shortly after Luke's birth, his parents accepted Vought's offer to inject him with Compound V, subsequently transforming him into a Supe and granting him superhuman powers and abilities.

Luke would eventually decide to further his education at Godolkin University, where he selected the prestigious Lamplighter School of Crimefighting as his major. Along this academic journey, he not only excelled in his studies but also became a beloved figure among his peers, garnering a substantial following of fans and forging numerous friendships. Luke also formed a romantic relationship with fellow student Cate Dunlap.

## *The Boys* Series

### Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman

In the January 2022 telecast of Vought News Network's *Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman*, a story of him was reported by the reporter Cameron Coleman. As reported by Cameron Coleman, people can't stop talking about Godolkin University junior, Golden Boy, who is already seen as the following year's top pick for Vought's annual hero draft.

### Gen V: Season 1

#### "First Day"

Following Luke's suicide, his heartbroken friends and girlfriend watch as his entrails are disposed of by a cleanup crew. Shortly after, Indira Shetty, Ashley Barrett, Polarity, and the board of trustees formulate a plan and create a cover-up story about Luke's suicide, dismissing him as a chronic drug user who suffered a psychotic break.

The next day, after some thinking with Cate, Andre has an epiphany and understands what Luke whispered to him before his death. He runs over to his father's statue and finds Luke's phone hidden inside. Andre and Cate head back to the dorms to search through Luke's phone.

At the dorms, Cate and Andre both watch a recording left behind by Luke. He starts off by telling them that if they're watching this, that means things got fucked. Luke frantically explains that his thought-to-be dead brother isn't actually dead but in an underground hospital referred to as "The Woods." He goes on to talk about how they did messed up things to him and his brother. Luke also reveals that Brink is part of it, stating that he's going to talk to him so he can get his brother back. At the end of the recording, he repeats that if they're viewing this video, that means things got fucked, then apologizes, asks for them to save Sam, and declares his love to Cate and Andre.

## Personality

―Golden Boy to Sam Riordan[src]

Golden Boy is a friendly and popular student. Despite being ranked as the best student in Godolkin University, he doesn't see himself as superior or better than others. Those who've known him they agree that Luke is a good friend, someone who often makes jokes and is very funny. Golden Boy is also sweet and charismatic, quickly befriending Marie Moreau upon her arrival and was capable of earning her trust to the point Marie opened up and told him that her parents died long time ago.

Luke is very caring and protective with those he loves, such as his younger brother Sam Riordan, who was put in Sage Grove Center and eventually taken to The Woods, often visiting and defending his brother like when a guard comes to neutralize Sam standing between them trying to stop the guard. Luke was devastated when he found out about Sam's apparent death. However, the constant experiments he'd been receiving affected Luke, leading him to hallucinate and recover fragments of his memories that were erased by Cate, killing Brink and attempting to kill Marie.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Thermonuclear Powers**: Luke possesses high-powered thermonuclear abilities, meaning he engulf himself in a fiery aura and conjure fire, which he often uses in combat. His powers are valuable and dominant enough to have ranked him number 1 at Godolkin University and to have earned him a spot in the Seven. Unbeknownst to Luke, his powers were frequently and significantly amplified as a result of being tested on in the the Woods, where he was injected with additional Compound V by means of blood transfusions from his brother.
	+ **Fire Creation**: Through his thermokinesis, Luke can create powerful streams or blasts of fire from his palms. His flames are capable of melting through people and setting them ablaze.
	+ **Thermokinetic Aura**: Luke has the ability to enfold his entire body in a flame aura at will, and he can even control the intensity of the flames produced, which Emma refers to as "flaming on." His aura is powerful enough to disintegrate a human being.
	+ **Fire/Heat Immunity**: Unlike Lamplighter, Luke displays an apparent invulnerability to fire and high temperatures, especially the flames he generates himself.
	+ **Thermokinetic Flight**: Like Stormfront and Starlight, Luke is capable of levitating and propelling himself through the air. He is only seen doing this while using his main ability, indicating that it's connected to his thermonuclear abilities.
	+ **Self-Detonation**: Though only used once, Luke is capable of internally achieving flashpoint to a point of explosively combusting. The process would likely have posed potential harm to anyone in proximity.
* **Superhuman Strength**: Luke possesses exceptional superhuman strength, which makes him far stronger than humans and most Supes. Over the course of a few years, Luke's powers would be unknowingly enhanced, giving him strength comparable to that of Sam Riordan. He is able to easily detach limbs from Supes with superhuman durability and beat Jordan Li in a physical fight, a top-ranked student at Godolkin University with indestructibility and superhuman strength.
* **Superhuman Durability**: Luke possesses notable superhuman durability, making him more durable than humans and most Supes. Luke is able to withstand punches from his brother and Jordan Li, both Supes with superhuman strength, and come out completely unscathed.
* **Superhuman Hearing**: Like all Supes, Luke has better hearing beyond that of a humans. He is able to hear certain frequencies that humans cannot.

### Abilities

* **Charisma**: According to statements made by Vought, Golden Boy is very charismatic.
* **Expert Combatant**: Luke has received four years of combat training as a crimefighting major at Godolkin University, making him a powerful hand-to-hand combatant. He outmaneuvers and overpowers Jordan Li and The Incredible Steve, two Supes with fighting experience.
* **Strong Will**: Luke is a determined individual, which propelled him to the top of Godolkin University's ranks and earned him a coveted spot in the Seven. After discovering Sam to still be alive in the Woods, Luke, persistent in rescuing his brother, would eventually have his memories erased by Cate. In spite of this, Luke's unwavering determination to find his brother allowed him to regain his memories. However, his memories were continuously erased by Cate's powerful telepathic abilities but resurfaced as vivid dreams and hallucinations until they fully returned.

## Weaknesses

### Biological

* **Blunt Force/Limited Durability**: Despite being one of the more resilient Supes, Luke can be momentarily stunned and staggered by sufficient force. Furthermore, like most Supes, his internal organs are identical to those of a normal human's, which means Supes with immense physical strength, such as Homelander, can circumvent his durability and destroy his internal organs. As a result, the only way Luke could kill himself was to blow himself up internally.
* **Anesthetic Gases**: Regardless of Luke's superhuman durability, anesthetic gases are able to affect him and render him unconscious. In Jordan Li's memories, they sedate Luke before he can harm Professor Brinkerhoff, causing Luke to fall unconscious immediately.
* **High Frequencies**: Due to being a Supe, Luke is able to hear certain frequencies that humans cannot. When a specific frequency is played, it can induce immense pain and temporarily neutralize him.

## Quotes

The following is a list of some of Golden Boy's most memorable quotes.

Season One

"Uh, dude, I am not sweating The Incredible Steve. Or anyone that has "the" in their name."-Luke to Andre regarding his fight with The Incredible Steve, "God U."

"Hey. Look at me. You did good, all right? Next time."-Luke to The Incredible Steve after defeating him in a fight, "God U."

"You said that I'd be bigger than Homelander."-Luke reciting what Brink told him when they first met, "God U."

"Let me guess. You were six years old in a Maeve costume, just dreaming about making The Seven."-Luke to Marie atop Seven Tower, "God U."

"Can I give you some advice? That you're not at all asking for? (...) Being a hero is, uh... It's not what you think. You know, if you're gonna do this, make sure you do it for you."-Luke's advice to Marie, "God U."

"Oh, shit. Marie, I... I had to. (...) You don't understand what Brink did, okay? You don't know about The Woods. (...) Okay, please, he-he fell asleep with a Camel lit in his mouth and he burned himself. (...) Why did you have to come, Marie?"-Luke trying to explain himself to Marie after killing Brink, "God U."

"Marie! (...) Move. (...) You're in on it, too. (...) Move!"-Luke chasing Marie and coming face to face with Jordan, "God U."

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this. (...) I'm sorry. I love you. (...) I'm so sorry. (...) I'm so sorry."-Luke's final words to Andre before committing suicide, "God U."

"Okay. If you're watching this, I guess things got fucked. Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but they have my brother. He's not dead. He's underneath the school. They call it the Woods. It's, like, this fucked-up hospital or something. They did messed-up things to him and to me. And Brink... Brink is a part of this. I'm gonna go in there right now. I'm going to make him give me my brother back. If you're seeing this, I guess things got pretty fucked. I'm sorry. Help Sam if you can, please. I love you, Andre. Tell Cate I love her, too."-Luke's recorded message to Andre and Cate, "First Day"

"Sam. Sam! It's okay. It's all right. It's okay. I'm here. (...) No. No. (...) They thought they were giving us powers. (...) Okay. I got news for you. Drug or no drug, you'd still be weird as fuck. None of that matters."-Luke trying to calm down Sam regarding the reveal of Compound V to the public, "First Day"

"This can't be real. This doesn't feel real. (...) Just doesn't make sense. He would've never killed himself. I should've been there. I could've stopped him. (...) No, I could've talked him down. Fuck! (...) Tell me to feel better. I don't want to feel like this. Not like this. Please."-Luke to Cate regarding Sam's supposed death, "First Day"

"Hey. I'm Luke. (...) You, uh... you seem pretty smart. Could I cheat off of you? (...) All the way to the top."-Luke introducing himself to Cate for the first time, "Jumanji"

"I miss you, man."-A dream version of Luke to Andre, "Jumanji"

"But you know what? I don't believe you. You thought I didn't know. (...) How many times? (...) She didn't make you do it, did she? You wanted to. Behind my back. (...) I thought you were my best friend."-A dream version of Luke revealing his knowledge of Cate and Andre's affairs before turning on Andre, "Jumanji"

"What the fuck did you just do? Where's Sam? I want to see him right now. (...) He's a fucking liar. Tell me everything. (...) You're so full of shit."-Luke regaining his memories of Sam and angrily demanding to see him to Brink, "Jumanji"

"What the fuck are you guys doing to me?! Sam! (...) Sam, wake up! Sam! Cate... Cate. Cate, help me. Help me out of here. (...) Cate, please."-Luke pleading with Cate to let him out of the Woods and for Sam to wake up, "Jumanji"

"Hey, Sam. (...) What you doing? (...) Hurting humans? (...) Nah, man. I hurt one person once. Then I killed myself from guilt. And what about your tiny friend Emma? (...) Sam, I know you don't want to do this. Sam. Sam. Sam!"-A hallucination of Luke revealing why Sam shouldn't harm humans, "Guardians of Godolkin"

"What are you doing? (...) Hey, is Emma the only girl that ever let you bust a nut? (...) I mean inside of her."-A hallucination of Luke wondering about Emma to Sam, "Guardians of Godolkin"

"Killing innocent people. (...) Sam, listen to me. Who's actually you, imagining me. This is it. This is your fucking moment. You are not defined by what's happened to you. You are what you do. (...) Right now. Be a hero. Stop Cate. (...) I love you. (...) No. (...) You fucking crazy fuck."-A hallucination of Luke attempting to convince Sam to stop Cate, "Guardians of Godolkin"

## Relationships

* Janet Riordan - Mother
* Sam Riordan - Brother
* Godolkin University
	+ Cate Dunlap - Ex-Girlfriend
	+ Andre Anderson - Best Friend
	+ Jordan Li - Friend
	+ Marie Moreau - Friend and Attempted Victim

	+ Richard Brinkerhoff † - Former Friend, Mentor, and Victim
	+ Edison Cardosa †
	+ Indira Shetty †

## Trivia

* Golden Boy is a parody of Marvel's Human Torch.
* Golden Boy shares his name with a DC Universe character who possessed the ability to turn anything he touched into gold, including his own skin and with a character from the Wild Card series of novels, who has a glowing golden aura surrounding his body if he uses his powers (flight and super strength).
* Showrunners Eric Kripke and Michele Fazekas approached *Gen V'*s pilot episode with Golden Boy's suicide to create a power vacuum. They experimented with dozens of different reasons but he always killed himself. The mystery with Sam was written afterwards.
* There were rumors that Nick Jonas was in talks to play Golden Boy.
* In an earlier script of the show, Emma and Cate would have discovered Luke to still be alive after his supposed death.
* Luke is the first Supe in *The Boys* universe to have his powers permanently enhanced.
* Luke hates Mesmer.

## References

1. ↑ The Illuminerdi can exclusively reveal new characters coming to The Boys Untitled Spinoff
2. ↑ Bob in *First Day*: *"Did you know Supes have a wider range of hearing than us? Like dogs."*
3. ↑ Gen V team saw Golden Boy twist as their L.A. Confidential moment
4. ↑ The Illuminerdi can exclusively reveal new characters coming to The Boys Untitled Spinoff
5. ↑  Welcome to the Monster Club Synopsis