Hughie Campbell

* Member of The Boys
* Terrorist (slandered by Vought International, amnestied by CIA)

Senior analyst for the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs (formerly)

*For the Dynamite version of the character, see Hugh Campbell/Comics.*

―Hughie Campbell to Billy Butcher[src]

**Hugh "Hughie" Campbell Jr.** is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Billy Butcher) of the Amazon series *The Boys*.

He is a member of the The Boys, an anti-supe watchdog group whose ultimate goal is to take down Vought International and the corrupt Supes they own by any means necessary. Not too long ago, Hughie led a pretty unremarkable and mediocre life. He was a mild-mannered guy with a boring job at a small electronics store, who still lives at home with his father Hugh Campbell Sr. in the same bedroom he grew up in. The only light in his life is the love of his life: his girlfriend Robin. That is, until a speedster superhero named A-Train runs through Robin, eviscerating and killing her on impact. Desperate for revenge, Hughie is recruited by anti-Supe vigilante Billy Butcher and his world is turned upside down when he finds himself caught in the middle of a war against superheroes – who, as it turns out, are neither super nor heroic.

## *The Boys Series*

### Background

#### Childhood

In April 24, 1992, Hughie was born as the first and only child of Hugh Campbell and an unnamed woman. Hughie would have a very normal early childhood having the support and love of both of his parents.

However, his parents would eventually divorce and his father would end up getting custody. It is unclear what caused the divorce, however afterwards Hughie's mother would never contact her son ever again. The fact that Hughie never saw his mother after the divorce, led him to believe that he was abandoned by her.

After the divorce, Hughie's father would enter a period of deep depression and start consuming massive amounts of junk food (such as pizza rolls) as a coping mechanism. Due to this behavior, Hughie started seeing his father as a "loser", a fact that would make him acquire a deep insecurity over the idea of being "just like him".

#### Adulthood

After becoming an adult, Hughie would acquire a job at a Bryman Audio-Visual store as an employee. He would also start a relationship with a woman named Robin Ward.

### Season One

#### Joining The Boys

Hughie is happy with his girlfriend Robin and they are discussing moving in together. However, their relationship is cut short after Robin is accidentally killed by A-Train, who was high on Compound V at the time. Hughie becomes hungry for revenge when A-Train is not punished for her death and in *The Name of the Game*, he is approached by Billy Butcher, who offers to help him get that revenge. Hughie and Butcher split up after the former plants a bug in Seven Tower, but the two swiftly get back together after Translucent attacks Hughie in retaliation. Hughie eventually kills Translucent in *Cherry* by detonating the bomb that Frenchie placed in his rectum, leading Butcher to reform The Boys and ask Mother's Milk for his help.

#### Relationship with Starlight

After Robin's death, Hughie begins a relationship with Starlight on advice from Billy. Hughie has a beer with her at A-train's race and gets her number. He uses Starlight to gain tickets to Vought's Believe EXPO in *Good for the Soul* in order to blackmail Ezekiel into stopping Compound V shipments. The two begin to grow closer, while Hughie struggles between his love for Starlight and his desire for vengeance for Robin. He has to make a decision between wanting to avenge Robin or moving on and starting another relationship with Starlight. Starlight initially gets angry at this and just as the two become romantically involved, they break off the relationship on Butcher's orders.

The two keep in contact, however, with Starlight demanding to know why Hughie would betray her. Hughie again uses their relationship for his own gain, asking Starlight to use her security clearance to find Naqib, a terrorist Supe. Their relationship is left on uneasy grounds at the end of season one, as Starlight intervenes to save Hughie from a high A-Train.

### Season Two

By Season 2, Hughie is forced to live on the run and hide underneath a pawnshop with gang associates of Frenchie known as the (Clarkson Avenue) Haitian Kings. Despite the conditions, Hughie attempts to make the most of his situation by sneaking off to reconnect with Starlight, even if it's just to run errands or collect information on the Supes.

#### Sit This one out

Following Hughie's injury in the previous episode, Hughie is ordered by Butcher to stay behind and guard Lamplighter while The Boys go to work. While they wait, Hughie is uncomfortable as Lamplighter chooses to watch superhero pornographic films. Hughie expresses his discomfort, but Lamplighter is indifferent. Hughie asks Lamplighter why he's so negative; Lamplighter explains that his life was destined for greatness, then he lost it all, and now he's just a guy on the sidelines, watching the real heroes do the work. Hughie tries make Lamplighter feel better by empathizing, Hughie reveals that after his mother left, he had to watch his father do nothing all his life. Lamplighter dismisses his attempt and insults Hughie further.

#### Hughie has a plan

Eventually Hughie becomes too uncomfortable with the films and changes the channel to see a news article about Starlight's arrest. Hughie becomes anxious and pleads with Lamplighter to help him rescue her. Lamplighter, however, continues to be fatalistic and states that it's pointless to try and rescue her. Hughie then attempts to appeal to Lamplighter, telling him that he can be a hero once again by saving her. Lamplighter still refuses, until Hughie refences one of the films and asks him in his own way if he wants to stay useless or do something useful.

―Hughie inspiring Lamplighter[src]

Lamplighter nods, so they head out to The Seven Tower.

Lamplighter and Hughie use a hidden backdoor he and Mr. Marathon used to use. From there, Lamplighter tests to see if his handprint is still in the security system; thankfully for them it is. From there, the two ride an elevator to another level. Hughie's bandaged wound starts to bleed, which encourages them to move quicker. They make it deeper into the tower, that's when Hughie realizes they're not on 42D, instead, they're in the conference room. Hughie notices Lamplighter staring at The Seven mural, remarking that they moved his statue. Confused, Hughie tries to ask him what he's doing, but Lamplighter ignores his concerns. Hughie watches Lamplighter as he turns around and lights his lighter. Hughie freaks out when Lamplighter allows himself to be consumed by his own fire. Hughie can only watch as Lamplighter burns himself to death, causing the sprinklers and fire alarm to activate. Drenched and disappointed, Hughie runs away from Lamplighter's corpse in search of Starlight. He quickly returns to the body when he realizes he needs Lamplighter's hand for the security locks. Hughie stomps on the wrist to break the bone, then severs it using a broken bottle. Hughie limps his way to 42D carrying Lamplighter's hand as his key. There, he hears screams for help and unlocks the cell door with the hand. Hughie realizes it's Annie's mother and they flee in search of Annie. They bump into Annie on their way out and escape.

Enraged about Lamplighter's death, Grace and M.M. both scold Hughie getting their star witness killed. Despite ridicule from his teammates, Annie thanks him for rescuing her.

At the end of the season, he and Annie reconnect and kiss. Hughie then goes to Victoria Neuman's office and asks for a job, saying that he wants to bring Vought down the "right" way.

### *Seven On 7 With Cameron Coleman*

Hughie is shown/mentioned in the July 7, 2021, segment on Cameron Coleman's show, where it is revealed, he has been appointed by Victoria Neuman as the FBSA's senior analyst. He is also shown/mentioned in the December 7, 2021, segment, where he and Neuman are enjoying a Christmas party, but Coleman thinks he seems to look more like "waitstaff" instead. Hughie eventually makes a full appearance during the segment on January 7, 2022, where he is interviewed by Coleman, but it gradually grows into a debate and is promptly cut off the mic by Coleman.

### Season Three

#### A New Job

Hughie starts working at the FBSA with Victoria Neuman. He is proud of his job and his life, feeling like he is really making a difference. He and Starlight are in a stable and public relationship. Hughie continues working with Butcher and The Boys on the side, as they help him carry out missions to regulate Supes in the area. When Annie starts working closely with an ex-boyfriend Supe, Supersonic, he starts to get a little jealous until Supersonic reassures them he's not interested in rekindling their relationship.

Hughie is close with Victoria Neuman and he respects her until he meets a mysterious man named Tony. Tony asks Hughie if he could speak with Nadia about the Red River Institute. Confused Hughie questions Tony, prompting Tony to address Victoria as Nadia. One night, Hughie follows Tony when he confronts Victoria about their past. A fight breaks out with Victoria using her powers to kill Tony.

#### Futile efforts

Shocked and horrified by the revelation his boss is a Supe, Hughie begins digging deeper into Victoria's past. Hughie infiltrates Red River under the guise of an adopting parent. He steals files from the main computer and sees Nadia's file. A video shows Victoria was personally adopted by Stan Edgar. He is horrified by this revelation, thinking he was actually helping with his work at the FBSA. He realized things are better done off the grid - The Boys style. He goes back to Butcher. However, he still pretends like everything is okay with Victoria and continues working there.

Hughie calls in sick to work, getting The Boys to actually break his arm for authenticity, and goes with them to Russia to track down a superweapon to kill Homelander. When Butcher begins experiencing a V-24 hangover, Hughie questions him about the serum. Butcher reveals the purpose of the Temp V with Hughie asking Butcher to give him some. Butcher refuses, he tells Hughie the serum is punishment not power and discourages him. However, Hughie sneaks a dose of V-24 to get temporary Supe powers in preparation for their mission. When they enter the Russian facility, soldiers enter and begin opening fire. After Butcher dispatches most of them with his heat vison, Hughie reveals his powers when he teleports and punches through a soldier's chest. Hughie is ecstatic from the adrenaline rush and power, but her only receives a scowl from M.M and disappointment from Kimiko and Frenchie. Inside one of the container pods, instead of a weapon, he and The Boys find Soldier Boy, who is still alive. When Kimiko is hit by Soldier Boy's energy blast, they begin frantically driving her to a hospital. Rather than be concerned for Kimiko, Hughie looks down at the energy flowing through his arm, gleefully smiling that his once broken arm is now completely healed.

After returning from Russia empty-handed Hughie and Annie catch up on what has happened while they were separate. Annie explains the truth that Supersonic was murdered by Homelander, and Hughie reveals he took V24 and gained superpowers. Despite Hughie's excitement, Annie is concerned for him and makes him promise not to take anymore or keep anymore secrets from her.

After Soldier Boy is revealed to have returned to America, The Boys go to visit The Legend for any information he may have on Soldier Boy. The Legend confirms Soldier Boy did visit him, reclaimed his old suit and is now hunting down his girlfriend, Crimson Countess. Butcher, M.M and Hughie arrive at Countess' trailer before Soldier Boy arrives and bind Countess. Hughie is interrupted by Annie, who M.M secretly informed about their meeting. Hughie takes Annie with away from the meeting and he Reveals his superpowers to teleport, revealing he lied to her about not taking any more V24. The two returned to the meeting once they noticed a large explosion from Countess' trailer. Annie is angered to see Soldier Boy as the cause, but Hughie intervenes and explains the secret weapon to kill Homelander is Soldier Boy. Annie is angered Hughie once again lied to her, but Hughie justifies that it was the only way to keep her safe and make change, "whatever it takes." Annie pleads Hughie not to leave with them, but Hughie walks away to join Soldier Boy and Butcher.

#### Comeback Career

Hughie and Butcher make a deal with Soldier Boy, asking him to help them kill Homelander. Soldier Boy agrees if Hughie and Butcher help him track down the Payback team. Hughie agrees and they start to find the members, including the TNT Twins and Mindstorm. Hughie continues to take temp-V on these missions to fight the Supes.

When Annie tells Butcher that repeated doses of temp-V will kill you, he punches Hughie in a bathroom so that he can't join the mission to take down Homelander. Hughie still manages to reunite with Annie and The Boys to join the fight. He realizes that Butcher tried to save him so he tries to save Butcher. Hughie alerts the Vought building to evacuate when Soldier Boy enters. He also increases the lighting in the building to help enhance Annie's superpower to take down Soldier Boy.

At the end of season 3, Hughie welcomes Annie as the newest member of The Boys.

## Personality

―Billy Butcher[src]

Before Robin Ward’s horrific end and becoming a vigilante, Hughie was once a kind, compassionate, intelligent, and timid young man, as shown in his interactions with Robin in The Name of the Game. After Robin's death, Hughie became more aggressive and desired revenge. He was plagued by anxiety after the traumatic events he endured and frequently experienced small panic attacks triggered by seeing images of A-Train. Despite this, he had a strong desire to pursue his goals and help Butcher and The Boys, using his willpower to control his emotions when talking to A-Train. Hughie often let his anger blind him and cause him to make irrational decisions, as seen when he used Starlight to get a pass with Ezekiel, but his apologetic nature caused him to feel remorse for his actions.

Even though he chose to stay with The Boys instead of leaving and trying to live peacefully so he could accomplish his revenge for Robin's death, Hughie is not comfortable with the lifestyle that he and his teammates lead and does not get used of constantly being in situations where he literally puts his life on the line. Just like Translucent pointed out, Hughie feels drowned in a context in which he's unable to adapt or take the initiative on his own.

Before the events of the series, Hughie was ironically somewhat of a superhero fan. He owned a large amount of Vought merchandise in his bedroom, including posters of The Seven comic book covers adorning his walls and even a limited edition A-Train action figure. But after the death of his girlfriend, Hughie became disillusioned and developed fierce of hatred of Supes, leading Hughie to trashing his collection.

After feeling abandoned and betrayed by Butcher, alongside becoming one of the most wanted criminals in the country and being forced to hide and act more cautious, Hughie feels more desperate, distrustful and displeased with his situation. After Butcher returns, Hughie reluctantly seems to have calmed down a bit, but now confronts Butcher more than before. By the end of the season, Hughie decides to make a change with his life. He leaves The Boys and goes to Victoria Neuman asking to work with her. Even though he still wants to take Vought down he wants to do it in the right way and not "covered by blood and guts."

A year later, life finally seems to smile on Hughie. He now has a good and stable job at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, being the Senior Analyst and Victoria's right hand, he is finally able to have an official and public relationship with Starlight and is well respected among the Bureau workers. However, after witnessing Victoria murdering an innocent man and realizing she is the infamous Head-Popping Supe, he feels betrayed (and a bit foolish) and decides to return to Butcher and do whatever it takes to finally take down Vought once and for all.

After taking the V24 for the first time and saving Mother's Milk from a Russian soldier, Hughie begins to feel good and slowly starts to be addicted to that drug, due to finally feeling useful and capable of defending himself giving him the confidence he never had before. This is further fueled by his obsession of saving Starlight and not withstanding that she is the one who always saves and protects him. However, when he learns the truth about the V24 he finally wakes up, sincerely apologized with Annie for the decisions he made and decides to stay behind in the final confrontation against Soldier Boy and supports Annie by giving her enough electricity to defeat Soldier Boy and take him out.

He just accepts it when Queen Maeve verbally abuses him as a non-person every time she sees him.

## Powers and Abilities

Despite lacking self-confidence and seeing himself as the most useless member of his team, Hughie is actually a very intelligent and capable man. Billy Butcher has stated that Hughie "is full of surprises", while Mother's Milk has stated that Hughie is "a natural," and that he is like "the Rainman of fucking people over". Among all the members of the Boys, Hughie is the most skilled when it comes to dealing with electronics, he also has some level of skill when it comes to using firearms and coming up with strategies.

### Abilities

―Hughie Campbell[src]

* **Gifted Intelligence**: Hughie has been shown to be very smart throughout the series; he discovered Translucent's weakness to electricity where Billy Butcher admits it would've taken him a long time to figure it out. He also has the idea of hiding and using a metal retainer as a lockpick to get him and his friends out of a locked cage. He is also very perceptive, realizing that Mindstorm likely lived nearby a pharmacy, since he needed meds to treat his bipolar disorder.
	+ **Skilled Technician**: Hughie has technical skills from his job at an electronics store, making him very tech-savvy. He was able to install R.F. Shielding Foil in Frenchie's residence to block the signal of Translucent's tracking chip, and gained access to Popclaw's house cameras in her desktop and smart TV by getting her IPv6 number.
	+ **Skilled Tactician**: On multiple occasions, Hughie has displayed the ability to come up with a viable tactic on very short notice, such as when he couldn't use the video on his soaking wet phone to blackmail Ezekiel and had to make a believable lie to trick him instead. He later came up with the idea of hiding and using a metal retainer as a lockpick to get him and his friends out of a locked cage.
* **Marksmanship**: While Hughie's marksmanship skills are lacking when compared to the rest of The Boys, he still is capable of using firearms such as handguns and assault rifles. Despite his terrible accuracy, he once managed to kill a guard by accident.

### Powers under V24

* **Superhuman Strength**: Hughie demonstrated an incredible level of strength. He punched through the torso of a Russian soldier with relative ease and minimal discomfort. He was also shown to have punched A-Train with a sufficient amount of force to stagger him, much to A-Train's astonishment. Although Hughie's strength pales in comparison with that of Homelander, it was enough to push Homelander away with just his fist, and also hold him, albeit with the help of Butcher (who was also using V24) and Soldier Boy.
* **Superhuman Durability**: Hughie Campbell has demonstrated remarkable durability whilst under the influence of V24. He shown to take a quick punch to the jaw from Soldier Boy as if he was hit by a human, while a heavy punch knocked him on his back. He was also able to be around Soldier Boy for a long period of time without being exposed to his radioactive aura, implying that he might have been immune to radiation whilst under V24.
* **Superhuman Reflexes**: Under the influence of V24, Hughie was able to easily dodge an attack from Homelander who tried to blast him with his heat vision.
* **Superhuman Hearing**: Hughie, while being a supe, has better hearing beyond that of ordinary humans, capable of hearing certain frequencies.
* **Teleportation**: Hughie is able to travel from one location to another without traversing the physical space between. However, unlike Teddy Stillwell, Hughie can only transport the organic matter which makes up the animal body, allowing him to teleport himself and others but without any of their clothing or accessories.
* **Regenerative Healing Factor (Tentative)**: Hughie was shown to have fully recovered from his broken arm almost immediately after his injection of the V24. However, it remains unknown as to whether or not he is able to consistently regenerate in the same manner as Kimiko or if his recovery was simply a one-time byproduct of taking the formula.

## Weaknesses

### Psychological

* **Inferiority Complex**: Hughie often suffers from feelings of inadequacy.
* **Aquaphobia (Tentative)**: When Homelander detects Hughie's elevated blood pressure, Hughie reveals to Homelander that he is "afraid of water". The more likely explanation is that he has aquaphobia, which is the fear of drowning, not necessarily water, as Hughie has been seen in boats without any noticeable discomfort. Homelander then sadistically exploited this weakness, by using an unnecessary level of force to immerse Hughie during a full-water baptism and prolonging the immersion. It is also possible that Hughie merely told Homelander this as an act of deception to mask the fact that he actually fears Homelander. This is unlikely, however, as Homelander's enhanced senses allow him to detect lies.

## Relationships

* Unnamed Mother

Allies* The Boys - Teammates and Friends
	+ Billy Butcher - Leader, Mentor, Family figure, and Former Rival
	+ Frenchie - Friend
	+ Mother's Milk - Friend
	+ Kimiko Miyashiro - Friend
	+ Annie January - Girlfriend
* Robin Ward † - Former Girlfriend
* Grace Mallory - Contact
* Susan Raynor † - Contact
* Hugh Campbell Sr.
* Monique Milk
* Janine Milk
* Donna January
* Kenji Miyashiro † - Situational Ally
* Lamplighter † - Situational Ally
* Becca Butcher †
* Queen Maeve - Situational Ally
* Supersonic † - Situational Ally
* The Legend

	+ The Seven
		- Homelander - Attempted Killer and Attempted Victim
		- A-Train - Former Situational Ally, Girlfriend's killer and Attempted Victim
		- Black Noir † – Attempted Killer and Attempted Victim
		- The Deep
		- Translucent † - Victim
		- Stormfront † - Attempted Killer
	+ Ashley Barrett
* Ezekiel – Blackmailed
* Popclaw † – Blackmailed
* Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs
	+ Victoria Neuman - Former Ally, Former Friend and Employer
* Payback
	+ Soldier Boy - Former Situational Ally
	+ Mindstorm †

Victims* Translucent † - Victim (Intentional; Exploded, motivated by vengeance, Hughie was afraid that Translucent would talk about the fact that he and The Boys had kidnapped him)
* 1 Vought guard (Intentional; Shot, self-defense)
* 1 Russian soldier (Intentional; Punched through torso with his fist, to protect Mother's Milk)

## Trivia

* In the comics, Hughie is a bald, short Scottish man who joins The Boys after A-Train kills his girlfriend. While the show keeps this backstory, Hughie is reimagined as a tall American with a set of hair.
* Hughie is a fan of James Taylor, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Billy Joel, and Van Halen as he shared his mother's love for them.
* Hughie is also seen wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers T-shirt, an AC/DC T-shirt, a Ramones T-shirt and a Fleetwood Mac T-shirt.
* Hughie's parents being divorced is a show-exclusive detail. In the comics, Hughie's parents are still married and living together in Scotland.
* Until the incident where A-Train killed his girlfriend, Robin, Hughie was also a fan of The Seven. He had posters on his bedroom wall and a collection of collectable items of the team, which included A-Train.
* His teleportation powers he got from V24 made him loosely a parody of the Marvel X-Men character Nightcrawler.
* Hughie is the first character to have killed a member of The Seven and the first to have killed a Supe.
* The exact range of how far Hughie can teleport is currently unknown, however, Hughie seemed blithely confident when negotiating with Mindstorm that he could teleport him anywhere he wanted to go, implying that Hughie can travel distances well over a thousand miles from his current location.

## Gallery

### Videos

The Boys Series - Starlight + Hughie Sweet Moments - Prime VideoThe Boys Billy Butcher Gives Hughie the Best Advice Ever - Prime Video
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Get Some*
2. ↑ *Good for the Soul*
3. ↑ *The Name of the Game*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 *You Found Me*
5. ↑ *Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed*
6. ↑ *Cherry*
7. ↑ Bob in *First Day*: *"Did you know Supes have a wider range of hearing than us? Like dogs."*