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| “ | Look, my job is not to baby you. It is to push your powers to their fullest potential. None of your power sets are fixed, you know? You can all level up under the right amount of pressure. And this school, it has no place for those who cannot hack the pressure. Lisa? You're being transferred to performing arts. You are not students, you’re SOLDIERS, and you will fight for the cause! I’ll be monitoring you all closely over the course of the year — and believe me, there’s not much I don’t see — in order to bring out what I hope each of you is capable of. | „ |
| ~ Godolkin as Cipher reminding his students what their real role is in the university.
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| “ | You ever been to Australia? Used to go with my dad when I was a boy. The Aussies love their kangaroos. So, every year, they let hunters kill them. They cull the population in order to protect it. For the strength of the herd. This school, it’s become a monument to mediocrity. Higher education for the gods, we claim, and yet, we admit a boy with a quantum singularity for an asshole. So, my mission is to cull this herd. Starting with God U. And when I have finished, I will have reduced the student population by 75%. The strong will get stronger (...) And the weak will suffer the same fate as your son. | „ |
| ~ Godolkin as Cipher announcing his intentions to kill three-quarters of Godolkin University's student population to Polarity. |
| “ | We want Gods to walk this Earth… not circus freaks. | „ |
| ~ A revived Godolkin explaining his ideology while killing Hemple. |
Dr. Thomas R. Godolkin, also known by the alias Cipher, is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Frederick Vought) of Amazon Prime's The Boys franchise.
An ardent believer of Supe supremacy and Social Darwinism, Thomas Godolkin was a behavioral scientist who served as the right-hand man of Frederick Vought, the founder of Vought International. Alongside Dr. Vought, he founded Godolkin University, a college institution that served as a front for their efforts to conduct extensive research on Supes. Due to his involvement over the various events and projects tied to both Vought and Godolkin University, he is the one responsible for the creation of both Homelander and Marie Moreau, being the arch-nemesis of the latter. He is also the archenemy of Polarity due to killing his son Andre Anderson.
Godolkin was responsible for spearheading Project Odessa, a research initiative intended to create godlike Supes. During an early Project Odessa experiment, Godolkin was intensely burned during an accident involving an unstable serum that killed all of his coworkers in gruesome ways. However, in spite of being forced to live in a hyperbaric chamber to survive, Godolkin continued his research and work on Project Odessa, acquiring the power to possess the bodies of humans and Supes while puppeteering the full use of their capabilities (including superpowers) akin to a ventriloquist. He later oversaw the creation of Homelander, who was the first successful supe as part of Project Odessa in the 1980s. After possessing full control over a body of a human named Doug Brightbill, he assumed the alias of Dr. Gould/Cipher while successfully delivering Marie Moreau, the second successful supe under Project Odessa, and beginning a plot to groom her to become the strongest Supe in the world and heal his burnt body, for him to finally assume his plan of a genocide of weak supes.
In his original body, he was portrayed by Ethan Slater (who also played Riley Porter in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). with Mark De Angelis portraying him in his burnt form. In his Cipher body, he was portrayed by Hamish Linklater, who also played John Tyler in Tell Me Your Secrets and John Pruitt in Midnight Mass.
Biography[]
| “ | This school is a front. Thomas Godolkin was a behavioral scientist. He built this place to figure out what makes Supes tick. Their weaknesses, how to control them. You're not here to study, the school is here to study you. You're subjects, not human. | „ |
| ~ Cate pushing Indira Shetty into revealing the truth about Godolkin University. |
Nothing is known about his early life, but long before the series began, he was a behavioral psychologist who founded Godolkin University with Frederick Vought in 1965, as a means to study young Supes and find their weaknesses. In 1967, he oversaw a research initiative called Project Odessa, but his colleagues died when they injected themselves with Odessa, which caused a fire, prompting Godolkin to take the original Compound V, the same V that was given to Soldier Boy and Stormfront, in attempt to survive the fire, however, while applying the V to himself, the fire engulfed his hands, leading to him being burnt all over his body, resulting to living in a hyperbaric chamber. Godolkin subsequently gained both powers and longevity, the latter due to have taken the original V. The first human he possessed was Doctor Fielder, whom he possessed for about 30 years. After becoming a supe, Thomas’ ideologies of white supremacy shifted to supe supremacy. As Friedlander, he continued Project Odessa and later oversaw the creation of Homelander as part of Project Odessa in the 1980s.
Around 1996, Fielder’s body was dying, so Godolkin began to find a human whom no one would care if they disappeared. He found a human in a recently fired Blockbuster employee named Doug Brightbill, in which he lured Doug to Friedlander’s house and forced Doug to strangle Friedlander to death. After Doug killed Friedlander, Godolkin took over Doug, named himself Dr. Gould/Cipher and quickly established himself as a politically genius scientist, gaining the trust of senior officials at Vought. He continued Project Odessa and was the one who delivered Marie Moreau, the second successful Supe to have survived the project. He later served as overseer of the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Center before being appointed head dean of Godolkin University.
Season One[]
He is directly mentioned by Indira Shetty in the Season 1 episode "Sick" when she explains the background of the university.
Season Two[]
To be added…
Quotes[]
| “ | Let me be clear, you have been invited to this seminar not because you are exceptional, but because you're failures. Undeserving of the gifts you have been given. Unworthy of this institution. You've been complacent. You've used your powers for sex, for money, for likes. You are an embarrassment. And now, you will have to earn your spot among us. Prove that you belong or die trying. | „ |
| ~ Thomas Godolkin moments before enacting his plan to cull the student population. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is based on John Godolkin from the comic series, who is based on Charles Xavier/Professor X.
- Ethan Slater (Godolkin’s actor) is credited to appear in 6 out of 8 episodes of Season 2. He appeared in episode 1, but not episodes 2 and 3. Episode 4 introduces an alive burnt man in a chamber in Cipher’s vault at his apartment. Episode 1’s cold open shows Thomas Godolkin seemingly dying in a fire. This is confirmed to be correct in Episode 7, and the burnt man and Cipher were the same person.
External Link[]
- Thomas Godolkin on the The Boys Wiki
