Black Noir (3)

Equipment
Superhero Suit: Like most superheroes, Black Noir has his own uniform. This uniform is a tough suit of armor, similar in appearance to the clothing typically worn by ninjas. It can withstand fire, explosions, and shrapnel, while still allowing Black Noir to move freely.
Integrated camera: The left breastplate of his armor contains a front-facing camera. Given Vought's frequent use of Noir as an assassin, this camera was specifically added to allow relevant Vought personnel to monitor a mission in real time and intervene, if necessary, such as when Stan Edgar ordered Noir to spare Butcher and The Boys.
Twin Combat Knives: Black Noir carries two curved combat knives on each thigh, and uses them especially during his fight against Kimiko.
Throwing knives: Black Noir carries several throwing knives on his suit, which he used during his fight with Kimiko and to injure MM.
Folding knives: Black Noir carries four folding knives attached to the upper part of his arms, although he is never seen using them.
Ninjato Blade: Black Noir is seen sharpening a Japanese sword as he prepares to face Soldier Boy.
Gas grenades: Black Noir has been known to use different types of gas grenades, such as smoke grenades to force the Boys out of hiding, and a sleep-inducing gas grenade in a restaurant when he ambushed Starlight.
EpiPen: Due to his nut allergy, Noir carries an epinephrine injection for emergencies.

Martial Arts Master: Black Noir is an expert hand-to-hand combatant, highly trained in various martial arts disciplines. According to his biography, he is a ninja and a lethal warrior who has mastered martial arts, having been trained by a sensei to become a merchant of death. He defeated Kimiko during their confrontation, placing his power level far above that of thugs and police officers.
Expert assassin: Noir is a highly skilled assassin. He is very adept at eliminating anyone Vought orders him to kill.
Knife Mastery: Black Noir has great skill in throwing daggers and using them in close combat.
Master acrobat: In addition to being a superior martial artist and expert assassin, Black Noir possesses great skill in using acrobatic movements to scale buildings and evade any danger
Intimidation: According to his biography, criminals flee in terror at the mere mention of Black Noir's name.
Master of stealth: Noir is often used as a spy. He killed Naqib's men without making a sound.
Skilled musician: Black Noir is a very skilled pianist, though not at a concert level. He is able to play Chopin's Minute Waltz from memory.
Acting: Like most superheroes, Black Noir has appeared in numerous films. In the 1980s, Noir attempted to make it as a comedic actor in the film Beverly Hills Cop. However, these dreams were thwarted when Soldier Boy spread false information about Noir to Don Simpson.
Indomitable Will: Black Noir's loyalty to Vought and Homelander is absolute, demonstrating unwavering determination when carrying out tasks for them. He never abandons the missions assigned to him. He is one of the few superheroes who fears neither the most powerful nor intimidating individuals.

Superhuman speed: According to Mother's Milk, Black Noir can run faster than a car. [6] He was able to swiftly slit a woman's throat and catch a glass she was holding before she dropped it, [5] and even evade Homelander's heat vision during his first mission. [2]
Superhuman agility:
Noir fighting with Kimiko
Noir fighting with Kimiko
Black Noir has also demonstrated impressive, almost superhuman, acrobatic abilities, such as when he faced Frenchie and Kimiko. [3] He climbed onto a rooftop effortlessly. During his first mission with Homelander, he was able to acrobatically evade the latter's heat vision. [2]
Superhuman reflexes: Noir was able to catch a glass before it hit the ground right after slashing a woman's throat with his dagger, all at incredible speed. [ 5 ]
Superhuman Hearing: Black Noir possesses extremely acute superhuman hearing that aids him in his fight against crime. He tracked Butcher from Becca's house and detected the Boys in a hidden room when Terror barked, revealing their position. [6]
Regenerative Healing Factor: Noir's body is capable of healing wounds and injuries at a much faster rate than normal humans. From multiple explosions, fire and heat, point-blank gunshot wounds, to being hit by shrapnel, any injury seems to heal in hours or, at most, days. He also recovered from Soldier Boy splitting his skull open [10], but appears to have lost the ability to speak [11]. However, it is unknown if the hallucinations are a consequence of this.
Pain Suppression: Black Noir is either completely immune to pain or has developed a high tolerance for it, as he does not react when Naqib uses his self-detonation, leaving him with severe burns on his head and chest.

Powers and abilities:
Superhuman strength:
Noir throwing Starlight over a concrete wall.
Noir throwing Starlight over a concrete wall.
Noir disemboweling a terrorist
Noir disemboweling a terrorist
Black Noir possesses significant superhuman strength. During his first mission with Homelander, he easily snapped a woman's neck. [2] He was able to trade blows with Kimiko and significantly injure her in their confrontation (even disemboweling her), [3] while A-Train was unable to do so, even after slamming his head against the concrete multiple times. [4] During his mission to assassinate Naqib, he split a man's jaws open. [5] Later, he threw Butcher several feet backward with a single punch and held him against a wall with one hand. [6] His strength allowed him to completely overpower Starlight, who can smash through bricks and easily lift a car, by throwing her like a rag doll and smashing her against the concrete. [7] In Dawn of the Seven, he cracked the pavement with a superhero landing. [8] Black Noir is also one of the few Supes who can subdue a powerful Supe like Queen Maeve.
Superhuman Durability: Black Noir is far more resilient than normal humans, though not bulletproof.[6] His durability allowed him to withstand Kimiko's superhuman strength without issue,[3] while she was able to significantly damage A-Train and even cause him a compound fracture.[9] His robustness also allowed him to survive Naqib's self-detonated explosion at point-blank range, without even flinching and suffering only burns to half of his face and chest.[5] He later survived several explosions at Judy's house without flinching. That said, Noir is not invincible, as Hughie was able to shoot him point-blank through the palm of his hand with a pistol.[6]

greater than his loyalty to Homelander. When Noir escaped from Vought due to the news of Soldier Boy's return, Homelander was truly dismayed by the news, as he believed Noir had always supported him.
Deep down, Noir is a traumatized and frightened young boy, ashamed of his past with Soldier Boy because of the abuse he suffered. This led him to run away and go into hiding, leaving Vought and Homelander behind. He developed an emotional shell to protect himself from the world. He generally doesn't open up emotionally to anyone. Most people are unaware of his situation and wonder what lies behind the mask he wears, both literally and symbolically.
Despite his serious demeanor, there was a time when Noir resembled other Vought heroes, as he was more interested in becoming a famous actor and star, and having his unmasked face admired by people across the country. This also explained why he hated Soldier Boy, who intentionally interfered with his attempts to star. He is also an amateur artist, frequently seen doodling and sketching during meetings of The Seven.

Black Noir is ostensibly mute, but this might not be the case. In the first episode, during a meeting of The Seven, Homelander asks the various members to share who they saved that week, and he asks Black Noir to start. Although Black Noir's testimony (whatever it may be) wasn't shown in the episode, it suggests that he can speak when asked. While it's also possible that he uses some other form of communication that the other members of The Seven can easily understand, such as writing. Even so, when Queen Maeve forced him to eat an Almond Joy, he was able to emit several weak moans, suggesting that his muteness is more of a conscious choice than a disability. Furthermore, as seen in a flashback from the third season, when he was a member of Payback, Black Noir used to be much more sociable, and he's seen talking to a young Stan Edgar about not wearing his mask, and being quite energetic about it.
So far, Noir has proven to be the only member of The Seven who gets along with Homelander, while most fear or hate him. This is likely due to his ability to eliminate innocent people and cover it up with a fabricated story, as seen in "Diabolical" when he ruthlessly killed a hostage and chose to conceal that Homelander had murdered everyone in a lab, including the hostages he was supposed to rescue. With a fabricated story for the media, Homelander won the public's affection and approval, thus securing his promising future with The Seven. Despite not interacting directly, Homelander seems to genuinely appreciate Noir, as demonstrated when, at a meeting of all The Seven members, he says that Noir "has been great." Noir also appears to be blindly loyal to Homelander, as seen when Homelander confronted Queen Maeve for betraying him; Noir immediately attacked her on his orders. However, Noir's fear of Soldier Boy is surprisingly...

that if any other member tried to overshadow him, he would kill him, thus fueling Earving and the team's resentment towards him.
Arresting Soldier Boy
“
What the hell is this?
—Something we should have done a long time ago, you piece of shit.
— Soldier boy and Black noir.
“
In 1984, Black Noir was with the rest of Payback in Nicaragua, helping the Contra fighters against the Sandinistas. There, Stan Edgar proposed that he betray Soldier Boy by handing him over to the Russians, as Vogelbaum was developing a young Homelander to replace the Payback leader as the face of Vought. Tired of the mistreatment of Soldier Boy, Black Noir and the rest of Payback (except Gunpowder) agreed. During the same conversation, he tried to persuade Edgar to let him remove his mask, but Edgar refused. Black Noir stated that he would leave without the mask, not knowing what would happen afterward without it.
Earving was marked by Soldier Boy
When their military camp was attacked, Black Noir and the rest of Payback cornered and attacked Soldier Boy. Before Mindstorm and Crimson Countess could subdue him, Soldier Boy pinned Black Noir's face against the hood of a burning Jeep and smashed his shield over his head, causing severe brain damage and even the loss of part of Black Noir's brain, leaving him with permanent disabilities. Later, Grace Mallory found him, barely alive and horribly disfigured.
Interestingly, despite his brutality, Noir demonstrated a great concern for innocent lives and a deep sensitivity.

and with mental problems. This brain damage also caused him to have constant hallucinations of the cartoon mascots from Buster Beaver Pizza, whom he imagines as his best friends.
Born in the early 1960s, Earving was subjected to Compound V experiments by Vought International, then known as Vought American. Earving began developing his powers at age nine. At first, he struggled to control them, as he tried to master his strength. To cope with his difficulties, Earving grew up imagining Buster Beaver and his friends comforting him during emotionally charged moments. For example, when Earving was nine and hid in a pizza parlor ball pit after paralyzing someone named Lewis Frankel; or when he had an erection in seventh grade. This imagining persisted into the present day.
Little is known about his past, other than that he trained with a master sensei to become the assassin he is today. [1]
Career in Payback
Black Noir along with Payback
Black Noir along with Payback
“
The guy's supposed to be funny. You're not funny.
"Well, it could have been."
"You're not good enough."
―Black Noir on his abusive relationship with Soldier Boy [src]
“
Later, Earving joined the superhero team Payback, beginning his career as Black Noir. Much to his dismay, Vought American forced him to conceal his face because of his race, to make him more commercially appealing. An attempt to become a star without hiding his face was to audition for the film Beverly Hills Cop, but due to interference from Soldier Boy, he lost the role to Eddie Murphy. Earving confronted his leader about it, to which Soldier Boy responded by brutally beating him, much to the disgust of the rest of Payback. He told the bloodied Earving that he would be the team's only star.