Starlight (character)

Starlight
The Boys character
Starlight, as portrayed by Erin Moriarty in the television series
First appearance	Comic series: The Boys #3 (November 2006) Television series: "The Name of the Game" The Boys Season 1 (July 2019)
Last appearance	Dear Becky #8 (December 2020)
Created by	Garth Ennis Darick Robertson
Adapted by	Eric Kripke
Portrayed by	Erin Moriarty
In-universe information
Full name	Rebecca Anne January
Alias	The Defender of Des Moines (television series)
Nickname	Annie
Species	Supe
Gender	Female
Title	Starlight of The Seven
Occupation	Member of The Seven Double agent for The Boys
Affiliation	The Seven The Boys Young Americans (formerly)
Family	Donna January (mother) Unnamed father
Spouse	Hughie Campbell
Significant other	Drummer Boy (formerly)
Nationality	American
Abilities	Photokinesis Photogenesis Superhuman strength, endurance and regeneration

Starlight (Rebecca Anne "Annie" January) is a fictional superheroine in the comic book series The Boys, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. She is a member of the Seven, a group of superheroes funded by Vought Industries, and the love interest of Hughie Campbell. Starlight is a former member of the Young Americans group with the ability of flight and light manipulation. Throughout the series, she is portrayed as one of the only members of the Seven with selfless, benevolent motivations, but becomes disillusioned when she sees the dark secrets of Vought and the other members of the Seven.

In the Amazon Prime Video streaming television adaptation, Annie January / Starlight is played by Erin Moriarty.^[1]

Appearances[]

Comic book series[]

Starlight is introduced the latest member of the Seven. Her known powers are flight and the ability to project blinding light, though she is also hinted to have super-hearing. Starlight was formerly a member of the Young Americans superhero organization, and a conservative Christian.^[2] Upon joining the Seven, she is shocked to discover the other members' true nature. On her first visit, the Homelander gives her the choice of giving him, A-Train, and Black Noir oral sex, or leaving the group. Her costume is modified against her will to be more revealing, and she has often been tricked into humiliating situations. It was claimed by A-Train in issue #20 that the Seven hired her solely to amuse themselves by degrading her; Jack from Jupiter expects her to be replaced by a bigger-name hero within a year. During the "Cherry" story arc, she meets Hughie in New York on a bench in Central Park. Under her Annie identity, she begins a relationship with Hughie, neither knowing the other's true identity.^[3]

Starlight has frequently shown signs of changing, with aggressive outbursts, losing her faith, and using profanities and drinking alcohol. She shows some concern that she is becoming more like the rest of the Seven. Butcher has footage of her induction into the Seven, and in issue #39, he discovers Starlight and Hughie's relationship.

In #32, she violently rejects a new, even more revealing costume and makeover and a new, fictional origin of being a rape victim foisted on her by VA's marketing department. The Seven's attempt to change her mind almost results in a sexual assault led by Black Noir, with Starlight only being saved by Maeve's surprise intervention. She further defies both the team and VA by going back to her original outfit.

Annie has said she believes her relationship with Hughie is "more precious than gold", and she intends to quit the Seven and move out. Despite this, #39–43 shows that she is terrified he will reject her if he finds out what she did to get into the Seven. This proves to be true, as Hughie flees when she reveals her true identity in Issue #45.^[4]

Not wanting the truth to destroy their relationship, she follows Hughie back to Scotland during the "Highland Laddie" mini-series. She reveals her childhood to Hughie, and what it was like growing up with powers: blinding her parents at birth, being adopted by a foster couple who raised her to show her off at VA pageants, and having powers while being forbidden to actually help or rescue people.

In issue #52, Hughie suggests to her that the relationship will not work despite his warnings about certain individuals not being keen on supes. She then explains to Hughie that he is the nicest person she ever had in her life and doesn't want to give that up, requesting that since the relationship is on the rocks, can he still treat her decently. Hughie agrees.

In issue #55 after Hughie finishes his conversation with Mallory, he reveals to her that he has been working for the C.I.A. and wants her to leave the Seven and hide until the upcoming war between them and The Boys is at a conclusion. Hughie admits to her that he still loves her.

In issue #66, Annie leaves New York and Hughie behind due to the events following the attempted insurrection in Washington, as well as Hughie's continued discomfort around her. She returns in the final issue, with the characters once again together, having decided to give their relationship another shot now that the Boys and the Seven are gone.

Ennis has stated that the relationship was not originally planned: "Annie started out as a joke, and was actually going to degenerate further in terms of the shit she'd put up with, the degradations she'd suffer just to be in the world's premier super team.^[5] But I found myself writing Hughie moping in Central Park, and then to my great surprise I saw Annie coming walking down the path. That was when I realized I wanted to take her in a different direction, make her stronger and more rounded... I probably felt a bit guilty about Annie and ended up treating her a bit more responsibly as a result."

Television series[]

In the television adaptation, Erin Moriarty plays Starlight.^[6] In the series, her birth mother agreed to allow Vought to infuse her with Compound V after birth, but raised her to believe that her powers were a gift from God.^[7] Annie was raised a conservative Christian and attended superhero pageants as part of her mother's efforts to groom her as a candidate for membership in the Seven. In season one, Annie is sexually assaulted by the Deep and forced to wear a revealing costume by Vought. She also enters a relationship with Hughie, with him finding out her identity as Starlight, though the relationship becomes strained when she learns of his involvement with The Boys and subsequently the truth about Compound V and its role in the creation of Supes.

By season two, Annie becomes a spy for The Boys and helps them leak the truth of Compound V to the press. She continues her relationship with Hughie, but temporarily ends it out of fear of reprisal from Vought and Homelander should they learn of him. Stormfront and Homelander later catch her and imprison her for secretly aiding the Boys, but Hughie helps her escape. Despite her actions, Starlight is pardoned by Vought and re-admitted to the Seven by the season finale, with the events of the season being blamed on Stormfront, whose Nazi past is revealed. The first episode of the season depicts Starlight singing "Never Truly Vanish" at Translucent's televised funeral, with Erin Moriarty providing her own vocals for the recording.^[8]

Powers and abilities[]

Starlight shooting blasts of light.

Starlight possess the ability to generate, project and emanate a blinding light from her hands and she might possess a degree of super hearing. Starlight has the ability to fly and she is generally athletic as well as being a trained gymnast. Her light energy bursts are capable of blinding even super powered beings as demonstrated when A-Train attempted to force himself on her.^[9]

Development[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by . (July 2021)

Erin Moriarty' portrayal of Starlight has been lauded by Saturn Awards

Starlight's appearance, especially her original costume, is based on DC heroines Mary Marvel, whereas her powers are based on Marvel's Dazzler, who also can generate light and use it as both heat and concussive force.^[10]

Reception[]

For her portrayal of Starlight on The Boys television adaptation, Erin Moriarty was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series.^{[citation needed]}

References[]