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| “ | Can't stop the A-Train, baby! | „ |
| ~ His most iconic line. |
Reggie Franklin, better known as A-Train, is a major character in the satirical superhero television franchise The Boys. He is a super-speed supe and a member of The Seven. He’s the one who starts everything in the show by accidentally killing Hughie’s girlfriend Robin when he runs through her while high on Compound V.
At first, A-Train is a selfish and careless jerk who only cares about staying in The Seven, no matter who he hurts. He has a serious addiction to Compound V, which damages his health and judgment.
But in season 3, he begins to change. After his brother is paralyzed by the racist supe Blue Hawk, A-Train finally takes action and starts trying to do the right thing. His journey from villain to someone trying to be better is one of the strongest redemption arcs in the series.
He is portrayed by Jessie T. Usher.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
In General[]
- Although he committed many heinous acts, he ultimately redeems himself by betraying Vought and helping the Boys, and also shows remorse for much of his past behavior.
Season 2[]
- His first noble deed was helping The Boys expose Stormfront for being a Nazi; while this was primarily done to get back into the Seven, A-Train also states he did so as "repayment" for Hughie and Starlight saving his life and because even he hates Stormfront for being a Nazi. So while mostly pragmatic, there was some genuine heroism from this too.
Season 3[]
- He's genuinely disgusted by Blue Hawk's racism toward black people and tries to get Homelander to do something about it.
- When he finally meets with Blue Hawk, tries to get him to stop patrolling black neighborhood's and attacking people.
- Has Blue Hawk give an public apology. When Blue Hawk flips out and starts attacking people, A-Train grabs him and orders him to stop, which likely saved several people from getting killed.
- Tried to get Ashley to punish Blue Hawk for his actions, specifically for crippling his brother Nathan.
- Genuinely apologized to Hughie at Herogasm for killing Robin.
- He kills Blue Hawk to avenge Nathan and his community, making it clear he won't get away with "hurting a lot of people", including his brother.
Season 4[]
- Unlike The Deep and Black Noir 2, he didn't participate in the murder of Todd and the other Homelander fans, even seemingly planning to spare Todd and let him go.
- He leaks footage of two "Starlighters" who were framed for murder and gives to Hughie and Starlight, freeing the innocent men from likely a life sentence, if not the death penalty.
- After being confronted by Mother's Milk (MM) about helping Starlight, he decides to start working with The Boys and leaking information about Homelander's plan's.
- Saves Hughie's life from Homelander.
- Agrees to get Hughie Compound V to save his father in return for Hughie forgiving him for Robin's death. He did this despite fully expecting Hughie to never forgive him.
- Agreed not to snitch on Ashley for being in Homelander's apartment.
- Unlike the rest of his allies, he refused to participate in the murder of Cameron Coleman.
- Saves MM's life after he collapses at Tek-Knight's mansion by taking him to the hospital, smiling in joy after a kid sees him doing so.
- Continued to give MM information on Sage, taking pictures of Sage giving a file to someone and listening to Homelander's plans to have Singer assassinated.
- Convinces MM not to run away and keep on helping The Boys, pointing out Homelander and Vought will spread across the entire world.
- Saves Starlight and Butcher from The Deep and Black Noir 2 alongside MM.
- Offers Ashley the chance to run away with him, putting his life at risk just to give her a chance to escape Homelander.
- Brings his family (Nathan, his sister-in-law Khamari and his two nephew's) with him as he flees the country, which saves their lives from Homelander.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is an on & off anti-hero, due to being a full-blown villain for the majority of the first 3 seasons. His worst actions include giving terrorists across the globe Compound V on Homelander's orders, running through Robin (albeit accidentally) and joking about it later, kidnapping Hughie's dad and threatening him, killing Popclaw after Homelander forced him to and betraying Supersonic to Homelander by ratting out the former's plan to kill Homelander, getting him killed.
- While he shows remorse for almost all of these acts, they're still far too corrupting for him to qualify as NPG.
- Even after his redemption, he still has a few jerkish moments, such as when he initially hesitated to carry M.M. to the hospital, and his insults toward the Deep during their fight.
Trivia[]
- The original comic book A-Train doesn't qualify due to lacking redeeming qualities there.
External Links[]
- A-Train on the Heroes Wiki
- A-Train on the Villains Wiki
- A-Train on the Villainous Benchmark Wiki
- A-Train on The Boys Wiki
[]
 Inconsistently Admirable
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The Boys The Seven | ||