Richard Brinkerhoff

Richard Brinkerhoff, better known as Brink, is the posthumous overarching antagonist of the Amazon series Gen V, a spin-off series of The Boys.

A renowned professor of crimefighting at Godolkin University who taught superheroes such as A-Train, Queen Maeve, and The Deep. He is dedicated to finding the top new talent at Godolkin University to join The Seven, and believes Golden Boy has what it takes to be next.

Background[]

Very little is known about Richard's early life, except that he was a famed author and professor of crime fighting for Godolkin University. He served as mentor for Blue Hawk, A-Train, The Deep and Queen Maeve while they were students at God U. Richard has three master's degrees in supe studies, what this actually equates to in terms of knowledge is unclear; whether this gives an understanding of actual biology infused with Compound V, or merely how to market an effective superhero is up for speculation.

Brink became involved in The Woods, a secret underground facility that performed unethical experimentation on young Supes. One experiment involved the Riordan brothers, Luke and Sam. This experiment sought to enhance Luke's powers through transfusions from his more powerful but mentally unstable younger brother. Brink became invested in Luke and believed the latter could become as strong as Homelander. Brink would sometimes participate by personally administering Luke's injections in his own office. Through several injections and mindwipes from Cate, Luke worked his way up the rankings and became rank 1 at God U.

One day, Luke had a bad reaction to the injection and remembered The Woods. The angry Luke cornered Brink in his office while Brink called out for help. Jordan overheard the incident and entered the office. Luke demanded to see Sam while Brink attempted to calm Luke. Before Luke ignited, Jordan incapacitated Luke with a nearby sedative mask and he was wheeled away. Brink thanked Jordan for their intervention, but Jordan inquired what the incident was about. Brink explained Luke was undergoing power enhancements and sometimes he has a "bad reaction." Jordan demanded treatments as well, but Brink denied. Brink instead offered Jordan a job position as his new Teacher's Assistant to protect him and to keep this incident quiet. Jordan ecstatically accepted the role and the two hugged.

The Boys Series[]

The Boys: Season 3[]

"The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies"[]

In a meeting at Seven Tower, A-Train confronts Blue Hawk about his race-targeted patrols in Trenton, but he denies it. In an attempt to justify his racist actions, Blue Hawk brings up Richard Brinkerhoff, reminding A-Train that they trained under him at Godolkin University together.

Gen V: Season 1[]

"God U."[]

After being rejected from Brinkerhoff's Intro to Crimefighting, Marie visited Brinkerhoff's office in order to contest her rejection. While she was arguing with Jordan, Brink barged out of his office and shot Jordan in the chest. Jordan switched and easily endured the gunshot unharmed. Brink was impressed with Jordan's reflexes and asked the latter for his schedule. As Jordan read off the events scheduled, Marie interrupted and personally requested to be in Brink's class. Brink dismissed Marie and told her to sign up for Preforming Arts. Later that day, Luke visited Brink's office and the two reminisced on their past moments together. Brink then unveiled a concept photo of Luke's new (Hafnium carbine alloy) Superhero suit and informed him he's been approved to join The Seven. Luke hugged Brink, but began hearing Sam's voice. Unbeknownst to either, Luke had been regaining his memory of the Woods.

Following the party incident, Brink asked to see Marie in his office. Brink congratulated Marie on saving the girl's life and called her a true hero. He then told Marie a story that being a hero is about sacrifices over glory. Despite that, Brink then told Marie she was going to take the blame for injuring that girl and was being expelled in order to protect Andre's, Jordan's, and Luke's reputations. Marie begged Brink not to expel her, but he refused. When Marie threatened not to comply, Brink reminded her of her orphaned state and told she had no real choice in the matter.

After meeting with Jordan, Luke stepped into Brink's office to secretly confront him. When Marie entered afterwards, she witnessed Luke kill Brink by burning him to death during a hug. Luke pleaded Marie not tell anyone and simply say Brink fell asleep with a Camel in his mouth. Marie agreed to cover up the murder, but Luke distrusted her and attempted to kill her.

Post Mortem[]

With Brink dead, Dean Shetty took over his class and enrolled Marie into the school of crimefighting. A shrine for Brink was placed beside Lamplighter's statue. Many flowers and posters with #ThinkBrink were placed at the shrine. Jordan attempted to leave a photo of them with Brink at the shrine, but withdrew after seeing many of the students were apathetic to Brink's death.

"The Whole Truth"[]

Richard appeared in this episode.

"Welcome to the Monster Club"[]

Richard appeared in this episode.

"Jumanji"[]

While the students were trapped in Cate's Mindspace, they had to relive their own memories, some involving Brink. Brink first reappeared in Jordan's memory when Brink first offered them a job as his TA. Andre and Marie were disappointed that Jordan chose to keep quiet about the experiments done to Luke. Brink then appeared a final time in Cate's memory. Cate warned Shetty and Brink that Luke was growing resistant to her mindwipes, but Brink and Shetty were dismissive, and claimed that Luke was doing fine.

Personality[]

Brink is a professor at Godolkin University who is known for his overly aggressive training techniques and taught his students to "dominate totally". It can be suggested that Brink has very little empathy; when faced with the prospect of Marie Moreau's potential for greatness, instead of celebrating her heroics, he instead planned to have Moreau expelled, and blackmailed her with the information of her parents' murder being leaked to the public if she didn't go along with his plan.

As a chief perpetrator of the many crimes commited against Luke and Sam Riordan in The Woods, Brinkerhoff is shown to be manipulative towards Luke, gaslighting him on the topic of The Woods or his brother whenever his memories of which resurface.

However, he shows a kind and friendly side with those who he has recognized as future stars in the world of superheroes, he saw potential in Golden Boy and Jordan Li and became their mentor taking them under his wing, he made Luke his protegè showing some favoritism toward him and it seems that with Jordan he likes to taunt them from time to time, surprisingly shooting them to measure their reaction and durability turning it into sort of a game between them. He also seems to be tolerant and open-minded, according to Jordan, Brink was the only one who didn't care about their superpower and recognized their talent.

Brink has a unique view of being a hero. While most people care more about the glory and fame they can get by being heroes, Brink considers that what defines a real hero is their capacity for sacrificing themselves for the sake of others. However, this does not translate into any real attempts to promote a culture of sacrifice among students at God U. Moreover, he has no problem with expelling those he believes to be true heroes if keeping them around might complicate his plans.

Equipment[]

• Revolver: He can be seen wielding a revolver that he uses on Jordan Li to help keep their training skills and gender-shifting abilities sharp.

Trivia[]

• Richard Brinkerhoff is portrayed by Clancy Brown. One of Brown's best-known roles as a voice actor is Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe; like Lex, Brinkerhoff is a wealthy villain with good publicity and is considered a philanthropist, with the general public ignorant of what his actual involvement with superheroes is.