Gen V: Who is Tek Knight? Powers & more explained

As Gen V gears up for its finale, here’s what you need to know about Tek Knight, including a breakdown of the supe and his powers.

Vought’s poster boys and girls are The Seven, the main squad of superheroes who star in huge blockbusters, kill terrorists, and represent the organization most prolifically.

However, there are loads of supes under the company’s purview who are on a lower rung of the ladder, starring in smaller movies and often helping to maintain the company’s profile wherever they can.

Gen V Episode 4 is where Tek Knight comes in – and this is everything you should know about him.

Gen V: Who is Tek Knight?

Prime Video

Tek Knight, real name Robert Vernon, is introduced in Gen V Episode 4 as a super-powered, award-winning actor and investigator. He’s played by Derek Wilson.

He’s a graduate of Godolkin University, having been injected with Compound V at a young age like all the others. He then went on to star in four major motion pictures and six People’s Choice Awards, becoming most known for hosting The Whole Truth on Vought+, a series in which he digs into unsolved cases.

However, he has a “formidable” reputation: according to Dean Shetty, his subjects generally end up dead or in a coma, and a hero named Ironcast (who appeared in the Diabolical animated spinoff) killed himself after an interrogation. Tek Knight is also mentioned a few times in The Boys: in Season 1, we meet a woman named Sheila whom he’d rescued from a hostage situation… but he also broke her back in the process; in Season 2, Stan Edgar mentions one of his premieres to Homelander; and in Season 3, we see a headline in a newspaper that reads, “Woman Paralyzed In Tek-Knight Hostage Situation.”

He’s also a serial pervert, with an inevitably-fatal tumor in his head said to be the cause of an “unusual proclivity”: an irresistible urge to insert his penis into anything resembling a hole, whether it’s bagels, exhaust pipes, vacuum cleaners, or skulls. Anything goes.

In the comics, he’s one of the founding members of Payback, the group led by Soldier Boy. He was also once part of the Maverikz, who were almost beaten to death by Butcher and co. in one of the issues.

Tek Knight’s powers explained

Tek Knight has superhuman deduction; his senses are enhanced to the point he can see, hear, and smell the slightest physical reactions, such as adrenaline seeping out of someone’s pores or a tiny bead of sweat on a person’s brow.

While we’ve not seen him put any other abilities to use, it’s safe to assume he has super-strength – when Cate attempts to remove her glove, he warns her he’ll “take her f*cking hand off.”

In the comics, he doesn’t have any powers at all. All of his strength and combat abilities come from his souped-up armor and gadgets, with which he’s able to fly and handle himself against other supes.

He’s a bit of a parody of Iron Man and Batman – he even has his own Robin named Laddio (he’s due to appear in The Boys Season 4). In an interview with EW, creator Eric Kripke said: “[Showrunner Michele Fazekas’s] pitch was, ‘Let’s make him more Batman than Iron Man.’ He’s a combo of both.

“He has his own underground cave, [but] instead of Tony Stark, if we made him the world’s greatest detective, then he doesn’t need a big, crazy suit. We can have fun with true-crime shows and the inherent fascism of Batman.”

Gen V Episodes 1-5 are on Prime Video now, which you can sign up for here. You can check out our other coverage below:

Gen V review | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | When does Gen V take place in The Boys timeline? | Gen V cast and characters | The Boys cameos | Gen V runtimes explained | What is the Virus? | Jordan Li powers explained | Why does Soldier Boy return? | Every supe’s powers explained

Please note that if you click on a product link on this page we may earn a small affiliate commission.