Hugh Campbell (The Boys) (2024)

But that's the bit I don't understand. They've got superpowers, I mean how are you gonna make any impression on them?

— Wee Hughie ^src

Hugh "Wee Hughie" Campbell is a witty, determined Scottish vigilante with a knack for conspiracy theories. He joined the Boys after his girlfriend was killed by the superhero A-Train, and aims to keep the world's superheroes from causing too much trouble.

History

Joining the Boys

"Wee Hughie" Campbell was a Scottish conspiracy theorist with a raunchy sense of humor and meek attitude. He was used to things going wrong in his life until he met Robin, a woman who finally understood him and his insane ideas, bringing him much happiness. When Robin was killed in front of Hughie in a clash between the speedster A-Train and a supervillain, he was traumatized despite being left physically unscathed, and while in this state was convinced by executives from Vought-American, the company franchising superheroes, to sign a contract to stay quiet about her death.^[1]

Filled with a mix of anger and despair, Hughie was approached by Billy Butcher, who claimed to understand what he'd been through and recruited him to join the Boys, a U.S. government-backed black-ops team designed to expose and take down the corrupt superheroes of Vought-American. Hughie agreed, and traveled to New York City in the United States, where he joined Butcher, the steely Mother's Milk, the psychotic Frenchman, and the silent, enigmatic Female.^[2]

Taking Down Teenage Kix

Hughie's first mission was to eavesdrop on the Teenage Kix and gather information on the group to blackmail them. Hughie was able to get incriminating pictures of all the members of the group by photographing them from a building across from theirs. However, after gathering up all the pictures, Butcher injected Hughie with Compound V, the substance that generates superpowers, and granting him super strength and enhanced durability, without warning. Feeling betrayed, Hughie went to his hotel for the night, considering if he really wanted to be part of the team, and if it was really worth the potentially nasty surprises. However, after talking with a woman named Annie in Central Park, who was also questioning whether her new job was worth the awful things she had to do to keep it, he decided to give the Boys another chance.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The Boys used Hughie's photos to blackmail the Teenage Kix into extraditing one of their own, Shout Out, and the furious team was informed by a treacherous contact of Butcher's, which led to a showdown between the Teenage Kix and the Boys. During the heated battle, Hughie faced off against the Blarney co*ck and, in a moment of panic, took his life by accidentally punching him through the chest, unaware of his new power. Fortunately, with a few phone calls, Butcher cleared any involvement Hughie had in his death.^[5]^[6]

Hughie started to wonder again if he really wanted to be on a team where killing people was part of the job. Butcher finally told him that a superhero had sexually assaulted his wife Becky, and that his superpowered fetus ripped its way out of her womb, killing her. This combined with Butcher's reminder of the threat the superheroes posed to the world convinced Hughie to stay with the Boys, prepared to take even more lives to stop superheroes from potentially destroying the world.^[6]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Compound V
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Durability

Notes

This character is exclusive to The Boys (Volume 1), a comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. WildStorm Productions cancelled it after six issues and DC reverted the rights to the authors, allowing them to take it to Dynamite Entertainment. As such, only the first six issues of the series are covered on this wiki. For the rest of the series, visit the Dynamite Entertainment Wiki's content on The Boys. For the Amazon TV series, check out the The Boys Wiki.

Trivia

Hughie's appearance was based on actor Simon Pegg, particularly his appearance in the Edgar Wright film Shaun of the Dead. This resulted in Pegg writing the introduction to the first TPB of The Boys.
- Pegg would also play Hughie's father in the Amazon Prime Video adaptation, and in the animated anthology series, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, voiced Hughie himself in an episode canon to the comics' continuity, and penned by The Boys co-creator Garth Ennis.