Translucent

For the Dynamite equivalent of the character, see Jack from Jupiter.

Schecht (first name unknown), better known as Translucent, is a minor antagonist of the Amazon series The Boys serving as a supporting antagonist of Season 1.

Translucent is The Seven’s invisible superhero, thanks to his carbon metamaterial skin that bends light and makes him bulletproof. A master of stealth, he can sneak anywhere and give bad guys the surprise of a lifetime. But when he’s not fighting crime and saving the day, Translucent uses his powers in inappropriate ways. From women’s changing rooms to sorority house showers, Translucent loves using his invisibility to lurk where he shouldn't.

The Boys Series[]

Background[]

Childhood[]

Translucent was born in 1980 to a Jewish family. As an infant he would be injected with Compound V in order to be turned into a superhero for Vought International. While still just a baby, Translucent's power of transforming his skin into a carbon metamaterial would manifest and his family would take a picture of their invisible baby as a memento. He even performed his bar mitsvah while invisible.

Hero Career[]

Once he became old enough, Translucent would start his career as a superhero and would eventually join The Seven. At some point, Translucent got married and had a son named Maverick and at another point he started a career as an actor in the film industry, participating in the production of both Invisible Force and Invisible Force 2 as the main protagonist.

Season One[]

Interview with Jimmy Fallon[]

Translucent goes to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he is interviewed by Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy asks him a variety of questions, such as how his powers work and if he needs to be completely naked to become invisible.

Hughie's Confrontation[]

Translucent is often lurking in places he shouldn't be within the Seven Towers — frequently, this is the women's bathroom. Translucent's habit throws him into trouble after he catches Hughie Campbell planting a bug at the Seven Tower in The Name of the Game. Translucent confronts Hughie at work, however, he is attacked by Billy Butcher, who is able to knock him unconscious with Hughie's help. The two lock Translucent in Butcher's car, seeking help from Frenchie. Eventually, while locked in a cage, Translucent is confronted by Hughie, who wants information about his girlfriend's death. Translucent mocks Hughie, which eventually leads to Translucent's death at the former's hands in Cherry.

Captured[]

While being imprisoned by The Boys, Butcher and Frenchie work on finding a method to kill Translucent. Despite failing when using a bullet made out of a material similar to Translucent's skin, Frenchie eventually figures out that while Translucent's skin is impenetrable, his insides were as vulnerable as an ordinary human's. He then electrocutes Translucent to knock him out and plants an explosive device in his rectum, which could be detonated both by remote or by an attempt at removal.

Ass Bomb[]

Eventually, Translucent's location was threatened to be discovered when Homelander searches the area based on estimates provided by the former's locater chip. Worried that Homelander will hear the detonation of the bomb in Translucent, Frenchie has Cherie prepare a distraction by blowing up his former headquarters while he and Butcher deter Homelander from the real location. Meanwhile, Translucent short circuits the cage and attempts to escape. Hughie catches him and threatens him, ordering Translucent back into the cage. Translucent pleads with Hughie, stating he's a dead man if he goes back in there but Hughie warns him that he is dead for sure if he doesn't. Translucent warns Hughie that if he uses the detonator that there will be no turning back, he'll become a criminal on the run and will live the rest of his life always looking over his shoulder for an enemy that will never stop searching for him. Translucent then pleads with Hughie to allow him to leave so Hughie can put this all behind him and go back to his regular life. Hughie initially hesitates, prompting Translucent to believe Hughie won't detonate the bomb. While Translucent leaves through the exit door, the rage builds inside Hughie as he then turns to the exit and presses the button detonating the "Ass bomb". Translucent explodes, his remains splattering all over the room and Hughie.

Zinc Box Coffin[]

The Boys attempt to clean up the mess that is Translucent's body, however they soon discover that Translucent's skin is inflammable, so they decide to hide the remains in a box lined with zinc, the one material Homelander cannot see through. The box would later be discovered by the Deep, who finds the container deep in the ocean and brings it to Madelyn Stillwell and Homelander. Disgusted with the contents inside, Homelander and Stillwell work out that here is something bigger than a simple kidnap and murder. Later on, Vought would agree to keep Translucent's death a secret in order to not lose publicity from the fact their superheroes are not entirely invulnerable.

Season Two[]

Funeral[]

Eventually Vought would reveal his death In Season 2's The Big Ride, where Homelander delivers a speech at Translucent's funeral, lying that he was killed by a supe-terrorist named El Diablo. Homelander continues stating Translucent's final words were that he loves his son, and to stop these super villains for all the sons and daughters of America. Starlight then appeared and sang "Never Truly Vanish" at his service. Once all is said and done, Vought would begin searching for a replacement to fill Translucent's spot in the Seven, this would lead CEO Stan Edgar to nominate Stormfront as his replacement.

Legacy[]

At some point in 2020, Starlight filmed an official music video for "Never Truly Vanish" which was released by Vought International on YouTube.^[2]

Due to Translucent's supposed generous contributions to Godolkin University, the institution maintained a statue commemorating his memory. Like many of Translucent's representative memorabilia, Translucent's actual statue was invisible or perhaps completely nonexistent, with only the base and the commemorative plaque for him actually visible to the naked eye, as could be seen on Godolkin's website.^[3]

Personality[]

Translucent is a very corrupt “hero” who abuses both his powers and authority. Rather than saving people from danger, Translucent is more preoccupied with his finances and peeping on women in the bathroom whilst invisible, displaying very perverted tendencies as well as a stingy personality. Probably due to the fact that he must be naked for his invisibility to be effective (since any clothing he wears would remain visible), Translucent is not at all self-conscious about appearing nude. When he is discovered by Queen Maeve in the ladies' room, he turns visible and exits fully naked rather than remain invisible.

Translucent is also rather egomaniacal and overconfident in his abilities, only enhanced further by his (seemingly) indestructible skin. When captured and contained in an electrified cage, he was quite calm, without even slight trepidation, completely certain that Homelander would find and rescue him. When Butcher attempted to shoot him and the bullet ricocheted off him harmlessly, Translucent laughs derisively at his captors, claiming to be invincible.

Despite numerous atrocities he and his fellow members of the Seven are responsible for, he still does not see himself as a villain. Translucent is very perceptive, due to years of spying on people undetected. He prides himself on his ability to read people, deducing key facts about Hughie's personality after a short conversation. Despite his discernment, his overconfidence leads him to underestimating his enemies. This ultimately becomes his downfall when he fails to realize his attempt to convince Hughie into letting him go backfired, leading to his death at Hughie's hands.

His arrogance doesn't persist when he's backed into a corner; when The Boys finally devise a way to kill him, his arrogance falls and he becomes very cowardly, willing to give up any information about The Seven or Vought if it saves him, regardless of repercussions. Begging for his life, he willfully gives up information about A-Train's Compound V supply runs, directing them to Popclaw. He even offers his assistance to help The Boys if they spare him. Furthermore, when Hughie threatens his life with the detonator, Translucent repeatedly tries different approaches to convince Hughie to spare his life.

For all his faults, Translucent (according to his son) was at the very least an attentive father.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

• Carbon Skin: Translucent can reorder his skin into a carbon metamaterial, granting him extraordinary abilities such as 'diamond-hard skin' and all without compromising his mobility while fully hardened like this. It should be noted that if Translucent is rendered unconscious while in his metamaterial state, he remains in his metamaterial state rather than reverting to normal. Also, he is able to reorder his skin over a single body part, such as one hand, rendering only one hand invisible and invulnerable; he is not required to convert the skin over his entire body. Further, he can apparently remain in this state indefinitely. Note that Translucent cannot opt be invulnerable while remaining visible, nor vulnerable while invisible. When in his carbon metamaterial state, he is both invisible and invulnerable, not one or the other.
  • Invisibility: Translucent becomes invisible while in his carbon metamaterial state, since his carbon skin bends the light around his body, but it does not apply to his clothes forcing him to be naked. When combined with his ability to move while making almost no sound, detecting him becomes very difficult for the regular person. However, supes with enhanced senses can still detect him.
  • Superhuman Durability: Translucent's skin is very durable while it is in its metamaterial state. This allowed him to only be briefly stunned by a car crashing into him, take punches from Butcher without suffering any bruises and come out unharmed after being attacked with a chainsaw. When hit by sniper rifle rounds coated in the same material as his skin from close range, the bullets ricochet off him instead of piercing his skin.^[4] Frenchie described his skin to be as hard as diamonds and nearly impossible to penetrate. However, only his skin is durable, meaning that internal injuries can still kill him and when Hughie detonated the bombs implanted inside his body, his skin was broken into pieces alongside the rest of his body, implying that his skin is only durable on the outside. Furthermore, this superhuman hardness seems to offer little to no offensive or counter-melee advantages, since Butcher was able to land hits on an invisible Translucent without hurting himself in the process.
• Superhuman Strength: Translucent has displayed above-average human strength, effortlessly overpowering Butcher and Hughie at the same time and easily ripping a television from its cable and using it as a melee weapon.^[5] His blows also possess above-average force, a single kick sending Butcher skidding across the floor and his punches doing noticeable damage. It should be noted that while in his carbon metamaterial state, none of the impact energy from his punches or kicks is absorbed by him, and all of the kinetic energy is directed into his target. This would effectively double the force of his own blows.
• Electricity Resistance: Translucent can survive being hit with enough electricity to drop a water buffalo, even when in his carbon metamaterial state which turns his body more vulnerable to electricity. However, he can still feel pain and be knocked unconscious after being hit with sufficiently high amounts of electricity.
• Extra Sensory Capability: Because Translucent warps the flow of light around him while in his carbon metamaterial state, visible light can never reach his eyes. This would necessitate Translucent using something other than conventional sight to discern his surroundings while in his carbon metamaterial state; otherwise, he would effectively be blind for as long as his skin remains in this state. But the nature of this extrasensory ability has never been revealed. It is possible that his eyes are able to see in wavelengths that ordinary humans cannot.
• Oxygen Independence: Frenchie said it was not possible to drown him, since some Dominicans tried it in 2007 and they did not succeed. This implies that Translucent can survive for long periods of time or indefinitely without breathable air.
• Superhuman Hearing: Translucent possesses superhuman hearing, allowing him to hear better than humans. Like all Supes, he can hear higher frequencies that humans cannot.^[6]

Abilities[]

• Stealth: Translucent followed Hughie Campbell and Billy Butcher without them knowing. He can also move while making little to no sound.^[7]
• Martial Arts: Translucent was a decent fighter, who matched Billy's fighting skills. He claims to have fought criminals and terrorists, a statement that is likely true judging by his combat skills.
• Gifted Intelligence: Translucent has been shown to be quite smart. He was able to come up with a plan to escape from an electrical cage by throwing urine at the battery, causing it to malfunction. He also seems to be the one in charge of handling The Seven's finances, calculating that copyright infringement was costing the company 1.2 billion dollars per year.
• Lipreading: Translucent can read the movement of people's lips, being able to understand what they are saying even when they are far away from him.^[8]
• Acting: Translucent has participated in the production of multiple films, such as Invisible Force and Invisible Force 2.

Weaknesses[]

Biological[]

• Adhesive Substances: Translucent cannot cause other objects to turn invisible, even if in contact with them. Consequently, substances and objects that are able to adhere to his skin, such as blood, are not made invisible. Because of this, he can be detected if there is something clinging to his skin.
  • Clothing: Translucent must be naked when rendering himself invisible. Otherwise, the clothing he wears, still visible, would give away his location.
• Superhuman Senses: While Translucent can become practically invisible to the naked eye, those with other enhanced physical senses, such as Queen Maeve, can easily detect his presence, despite him being very good at stealth. Other supes, such as Homelander, could likely tell where he his just by listening to his heartbeat.
  • Blood Detection (Tentative): Despite his invisibility powers, his son Maverick can still be detected by supes that can sense blood; since his son has this weakness, it can be assumed that Translucent shares this too.

• Electricity: His carbon skin is highly conductive, making him particularly vulnerable to electricity, but he can allegedly withstand enough amps to incapacitate a water buffalo, though it still causes him pain and can knock him out.

• Blunt Force/Limited Durability: Although his skin is very difficult to penetrate, he can still be staggered by sufficient force. Being struck by a car stunned him for several seconds. Presumably, since his internal organs (including his brain) are no different from an ordinary human's, massive deceleration or impacts could kill him by causing his brain to be impacted against the inside of his skull. It is very likely that supes with immense physical strength, such as Homelander, could also bypass his defenses and harm his internal organs with their blows or even outright damage his super durable skin.
  • Internal Wounds: Translucent can only make his skin super durable, the inside of his body remains vulnerable like normal people. This means that weapons designed and made to harm an individual internally can easily damage or even kill him (for example, explosives inserted into him through an orifice of his body).
• High Frequencies: Due to being a Supe, Translucent is susceptible to high frequencies. When a high frequency is playing, it can induce immense pain and temporarily neutralize him.

Psychological[]

• Ego: Translucent was a very prideful individual. This caused him to underestimate his enemies, a trait that can get him into trouble. This is best seen when he chooses to confront Billy and Hughie alone, without informing any of his allies. Due to his overconfidence on his intelligence, he misjudged Hughie as someone who could not kill, a mistake that would cost his life.

Equipment[]

• Hero Costume: Like most supes, Translucent has his own superhero uniform. His suit is a simple gray boilersuit, far less fancy than the hero suit used by most superheroes, reinforcing his image as an "invisible hero". His uniform does not include shoes and is designed for easy removal, likely so that he does not take much time taking it off before going invisible.

Relationships[]

Trivia[]

• Translucent is an original character from the Amazon series as he does not exist in the comics.
  • He was also created as a more realistic alternative to the faux alien supe Jack From Jupiter from the original Dynamite series.
• It is possible that Translucent is also a parody of Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman from Marvel Comics because they both have the power to render themselves invisible to the naked eye. Unlike the Invisible Woman, however, Translucent cannot render other objects invisible. Hence, he must remove his clothing, which would otherwise give away his location.
  • His ability to transform his skin into a Near-Indestructible Solid Mineral Material also makes him a parody of Emma Frost from Marvel Comics, A Telepathic Mutant who has a power similar to Translucent's.
• Translucent's powers and behavior also make him a parody of H.G. Wells' original Invisible Man, as both are psychopathic men who are corrupted by their power to turn to invisible and exploit said powers in service of their own wealth and ego while terrorizing the public and committing crimes.
• As pointed out by Billy Butcher, Translucent's name means semi-transparent, not invisible, making his name rather ironic.
• He is shown to be Jewish during his funeral, with a picture showing an invisible child wearing a yarmulke and a tallit. Ironically enough, his replacement Stormfront was a Nazi (Played by a Jewish actress).
  • Another ironic fact about these two is that Translucent is extremely vulnerable to electricity because he is highly conducive in his metamaterial state and Stormfront's powers are very centered around electricity.
• Translucent is the first Supe to die in the show, the first member of The Seven to be killed, as well as Hughie's first victim.

References[]

Site Navigation[]