For the Dynamite version, see Compound V/Comics.
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Compound V is a mysterious chemical substance that was created by German geneticist Frederick Vought. The serum mutates organic compounds by granting them profound and strange characteristics. It was originally intended to be utilized by Germany during the Second World War in order to create super soldiers for the Nazi government, but Vought realized that the German war effort was doomed and defected to the Allies, leading to the United States utilizing it instead.
In modern times, the serum is manufactured by Vought International geneticists to transform ordinary humans into extraordinary "heroes".
Overview[]
| “ | They call it Compound V. It's some kind of booster or steroid for Supes. Jacks 'em right up.
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Compound V appears as a dark blue liquid and is usually contained within metal vials. It grants extraordinary abilities when injected into the circulatory system of living things, including animals. These abilities ("superpowers") are generally random, although certain factors can influence their exhibition.
Although intravenous injection seems to be the preferred method, it can also be ingested, as seen when many farm animals were turned after drinking contaminated water.
Effects[]
Compound V has a much higher success rate on younger people. Adult subjects have a high risk of fatality, though it appears this does not apply to depowered and existing adult supes, and they can take it again without immediate risk. Children and infants who are exposed to the serum may not immediately have powers, with some showing signs after a few years, whereas adults will gain powers immediately. Because the abilities granted by Compound V are generally random, there is a chance that the superpowers given may be "undesirable" and may also come with unexpected or unwanted side effects.
Compound V's manifestation is influenced partially by a person's genetics. This is affirmed by the observations of the Shining Light Liberation Army, who correctly assumed that since Kimiko was successfully turned into a supe when injected as an adult, her brother Kenji would too. As such, individuals who share DNA may sometimes inherit the same powers. Polarity and his son Andre have identical powers, as do the fraternal twins the TNT Twins as well as Translucent and his son Maverick. This is not always the case though, as seen with Neuman and her daughter Zoe. Furthermore, it appears that personality and mindset may also affect powers received. Hugh Campbell Sr. gained intangibility, which seemed to be based on his feelings of being ignored and isolated after his wife had left and his son focused on his life. Billy Butcher, who displays many of the opposite but equally extreme beliefs as his arch-nemesis Homelander, gained powers very similar to the latter while on Temp V; while on Compound V proper, Butcher instead develops sapient super-cancer.
Compound V is sometimes falsely believed to have healing properties, but usually only has limited effects and unforeseen consequences. For example, Hugh Campbell Sr was given Compound V in an attempt to save him from his stroke. The V woke him up but didn't reverse the stroke-induced brain damage, leading to Hugh Sr's mind quickly deteriorating and him causing chaos with his new powers. If someone has another organism within their body, like a tumor or a parasite, the power may go to said organism instead of or in addition to its host, who usually retains only the enhanced physiology, as seen with Billy Butcher, Mr. Fuzzy Buzzy in "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son", and Sun-Hee in The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Should this happen, the organism may gain an ego of its own and begin manipulating its host into embracing their worst qualities, as seen with Butcher's tumor, or simply go on a rampage, as seen with Sun-Hee's tumor. In short, using Compound V as a medical treatment is a terrible idea because it will extremely likely, if not inevitably, horrifically backfire.
As seen with A-Train and Popclaw, the recreational use of Compound V can induce a euphoric high and temporarily enhance a supe's abilities, but it will ironically weaken and harm them over time. Billy notes that Compound V acts in a very similar way to steroids when injected into a supe's bloodstream, as A-Train has suffered from testicular atrophy, low bone density, and heart problems as a consequence of his abuse of the drug.
As shown in “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son”, when the V leaked into the local water supply and infected the estate's farm livestock, Compound V, and even V24, can work on animals, randomly mutating them and granting them some violent and strange mutant abilities, in addition to making their behavior increasingly unstable and extremely aggressive, even making normally docile and passive animals like sheep into monstrous, carnivorous predators. A small herd of adult sheep are all given identical abilities, this may mean that for simple minded animals the psychological aspect is null, leaving it a matter of genetics.
History[]
Background[]
Compound V was originally created by a Nazi scientist named Frederick Vought at some point during the Second World War, who experimented with the formula through the use of human prisoners at Dachau concentration camp. He eventually gave the first completed dose to his wife Klara, who became the first successful superhuman with extraordinary powers. She would eventually go on to adopt the superhero identity of "Liberty". When Frederick realized that the German war effort was doomed, he defected to the United States, bringing his knowledge of the drug with him where he would continue to experiment with it. Soon after his arrival, he was able to successfully administer it to a young army volunteer named Benjamin, who became America's first superhero under the identity of "Soldier Boy". For his contribution to the war effort, he was pardoned and rehabilitated as an American icon. Furthermore, his Nazi past was scrubbed from public knowledge, only disclosed to high-ranking Vought International employees like Stan Edgar.[1] Following Fredrick's death, Vought would continue to manufacture the drug in secrecy and eliminate all signs of its existence from public knowledge and history.
Gen V[]
It is revealed that Compound V remains intact in the bloodstream of supes. As such, certain aspects of their physiology can be identified and exploited. Marie Moreau is able to identify the Compound V in Victoria Neuman's blood. Dr. Edison Cardosa is able to create a virus that binds specifically to the Compound V in supes, leaving normal humans unaffected. It is also shown that Luke Riordan was being unknowingly transfused with the Compound V laden blood of his younger brother Sam in order to augment his powers and transform him into a more iconic Godolkin student.
Season One[]
Samaritan's Embrace is a Christian charity that is sponsored by Vought International. On the surface, it is a charity committed to helping those in need. However, unbeknownst to the public, it is actually used to ship Compound V to hospitals across the United States, where newborns are injected with the approval of their parents.
This was done primarily so Vought can keep up the illusion that the superhuman powers given to Supes are God-given gifts or a natural genetic leap of mankind, instead of the disturbing truth that Vought is administering drugs to children without their consent.
Season Two[]
In season two, it is revealed that Vought has been secretly trying for years to rectify the low survival rate of Compound V in adults by establishing the Sage Grove Center; a psychiatric hospital in Pennsylvania where Vought scientists have been illegally injecting their adult patients with updated variations of the Compound V formula with the hopes of creating a perfected serum that can successfully transform fully grown adults into well-functioning Supes with minimal negative side effects.
Following the reveal of the existence of Compound V to the public, Vought was forced to temporarily halt all research and production of the drug.
Season Three[]
With the test results provided by Sage Grove Center, Vought's scientists were able to create a prototype of a new variation of the original Compound V formula. This new drug had the ability to give adults temporary superpowers with no risk of dying immediately. However, it still contained harmful side-effects and its development ultimately halted due to recent events. Soldier Boy possessed the ability to generate a radiation blast which could not only could kill his victims, but also allowed him to turn Supes back into normal humans by burning the Compound V out of their system. Primary examples include Kimiko Miyashiro and Queen Maeve, although the former was able to regain her powers after she injected herself with another dose of Compound V.
Season Four[]
Compound V is shown to be able to alter the biology of children in pre-teenage and teenage stages of life not only on the level of durability, strength and possible powers, as seen in the case of Zoe Neuman.
Compound V and V24 "Temp V" may have both ceased to be produced in Wisdom of the Ages because Vought's monopolistic practices backfired on them through Homelander killing all but one of the scientists working on producing the chemical supply (it is never made clear what exactly those scientists were currently working on when they were massacred). Homelander then holds a personal monopoly on the drug by stashing all the Compound V away in his apartment.[2] It is unknown if the only people who had the resources and expertise to make Compound V were killed. Vought recruitment of new scientists to create the compound seems unlikely, as Homelander's motivations and aspirations to re-create and resupply Compound V are nonexistent.[3]
Later, it was revealed that Sameer Shah, the leading R&D Scientist of Vought, had a large supply of both Compound V and V24 for experimental purposes; he injected both into animals to use as test subjects for the virus created by Edison Cardosa. Due to him being a Vought scientist and the leading scientist for its R&D division, as well as having Victoria’s backing, its likely that Sameer has the knowledge of how to make both Compound V and V24.[4]
Variations[]
Temp V[]
Vials of Temp V
| “ | It's Temp V. One shot makes you a Supe for 24 hours. I mean, they think. It's still in R&D."
"Oh, great, so powers, maybe. Maybe my bollocks swell up like footballs. Yeah? |
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Temp V, is a modified version of Compound V. As implied by its name, the serum provides an ordinary person with superpowers for approximately 24 hours. Temp V has ceased to be produced.[2]
Due to the legal implications that were brought on by the public revelation of Compound V, all testing of the serum was forcibly halted. As a result, Temp V is still considered unstable and continues to exhibit numerous side effects including migraines, muscle spasms, nausea, and projectile vomiting. Further testing of the drug has recently revealed the fatal effect of causing brain lesions.
Vought geneticists have estimated that the use of three to five doses will become lethal to the patient. These estimates were confirmed after Billy Butcher developed numerous tumors in his brain after his sixth dose of the serum and was given 18 months to live.
G Fuel Compound V[]
| “ | Vought has partnered with the energy drink company G Fuel to bring you a brand new beverage inspired by Compound V. The delicious blue drink will sharpen your focus and increase your energy, but word on the street is that this high-tech formula may have some other effects some may find surprising.
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A new energy drink Vought has partnered with G Fuel, inspired by Compound V. it sharpens focus, increases energy, and in select cases, turns those who drink it into Supes. Some of the superpowers developed by its consumers include telekinesis, invisibility, and laser eyes. The drink is unconfirmed to contain either V24 or the legitimate Compound V. It has a low chance of giving people superpowers, meaning that buyers may need to consume multiple doses before becoming a Supe. It's worth noting that some people may have difficulty controlling their powers and may potentially harm themselves or others because of it. At some point, G Fuel V ceased to be produced or, at the very least, the available version that is still being sold no longer gives superpowers.[2]
Trivia[]
- Compound V is likely based off the Super-Soldier Serum from the Marvel Universe. The temporary, yet consistent, properties of the V24 variant can also be compared to the performance-enhancing drug known as Miraclo from the DC Universe.
- Similar to how the Super-Soldier Serum was created in Marvel Comics, Compound V was also created during the Second World War by a Central European scientist who later defected to the Allies.
- Exactly how Compound V ingrains itself is unclear. The existence of the virus and several pieces of dialogue imply that it remains in the circulatory system after injection, though this is problematic because it would be naturally diluted and lost over time (especially in supes like Kimiko who lose large volumes of blood through injury). It is possible that it instead transforms bodily cells to produce Compound V on their own.
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ The Boys Season 2 Episode 1: The Big Ride
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "There's no way I'm getting any more of this, he's got all the Compound V stashed away in his apartment."A-Train in Wisdom of the Ages to Hughie.
- ↑ "We don't need a fuckin master race, I'm the master race. That's the point. That's the whole point." Homelander to Stormfront in Payback.
- ↑ Beware the Jabberwock, My Son