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William J. "Billy" Butcher is a fictional character and antihero appearing in the comic book series The Boys, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
- Overview
- The Boys Series
- Personality
- Powers and Abilities
- Weaknesses
- Equipment
- Relationships
- Trivia
William Butcher, better known as Billy, is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Hughie Campbell) of the Amazon series The Boys.
He is the leader of the eponymous team of vigilantes who are bent on taking down Vought and the Seven by whatever means necessary. A former member of the British special forces turned vigilante; Billy Butcher is as charming as he is cunning. He's a force of nature, who can talk almost anyone into anything, either through a smile or brute force – or sometimes both. He's consumed by one mission in life: to destroy superheroes. But this personal vendetta is driven by his hatred for one Supe in particular: Homelander. Butcher is determined to get revenge on Homelander, no matter the cost, and he won't let anyone, or anything stand in his way.
Following the revelation that Becca is alive, Butcher faces a difficult decision when he must choose between searching for Becca or protecting the security of the Boys.
He is portrayed by New Zealand actor Karl Urban as an adult, and by Luca Villacis as a teenager.
BackgroundSeason OneButcher: A Short FilmSometime after his confrontation, Billy awakens to find himself on the road outside a restaurant. He enters the restaurant and hurriedly scribbles as much information as he can remember about Becca's house on a restaurant placemat. The live newscast on the tv awakens him to the reality that he is now believed to be the killer of Madelyn Stillwell, with a nationwide manhunt ongoing for him. Seeing that the waitress recognizes him from the TV, he hurriedly leaves the restaurant and breaks into a vehicle. After driving for some time, he arrives at the house of Jock, a former squad-mate from Butcher's time in the Corps of the British Royal Marines. After a brief greeting, the two drink and reminisce about good times. Billy shows a photo of his wife to Jock and requests help to gather intel from former intelligence contacts such as Higgins and Ezquerra. After a brief disagreement, Jock promises to do so. Later, Billy discovers Jock informing the authorities about his whereabouts. Billy confronts Jock, who reveals that he believes that Billy killed Stillwell and probably intends to kill his wife too. Billy denies it but Jock cites his background as sufficient proof. Billy then attacks Jock and the two get into a struggling match which ends with Billy strangling Jock to death. As sirens approach, Billy pours gas over Jock's body and lights his body aflame, leaving it to burn as he drives away. Later, his phone begins to buzz with a call from Frenchie.Season TwoSeason ThreeBilly is an incorrigible individual with clear goals and an unrelenting determination to achieve them. Prior to his wife Becca's disappearance, Billy had a more caring and jovial side - though she was aware of his capacity for violence and admitted that he had always been one bad day away from pounding someone to death in a parking lot. He isn't the type to beat around the bush- he is bold and direct, not afraid to do what it takes to avenge his wife. He also fearless; he has stood up to Homelander on multiple accounts, despite the fact that he could snap him like a toothpick. He is also fully willing to sacrifice himself to save others (mainly Becca or a member of The Boys). He had a close relationship with Lenny, his younger brother, often protecting him from their abusive father. Lenny's suicide had a great impact on him and still hurts Butcher, feeling deep remorse and blames himself for not standing up against their father.
The darker, more violent nature within him comes from his father, and the abuse he inflicted on him as a child trying to make him tough. However, while he uses it daily to get the job done, Butcher does hate that he is anything like his father.
Butcher holds a great hatred towards Supes, this hatred started after he learned Homelander raped Becca. He believes they are all the same and that, therefore, capable of doing unethical acts seeing normal people as "collateral damage", so they are all the enemy at his eyes. When it comes to deal with Supes, Butcher is completely ruthless and shows no mercy, being able to go as far as kidnapping, holding as hostage or even murdering them in cold blood.
Although Butcher is closed off emotionally, he does show some emotion to his teammates. He holds Mallory in high respect and considers MM a close friend, listening to him and even willing to put him in charge of watching out for Becca, the one thing that was most precious to him. He is also friends with Frenchie. Billy has a genuine connection to Hughie who reminds him of his brother Lenny and acts as a conscience. Although he hates the fact that Kimiko and Starlight are Supes, and has tried to kill both of them, he eventually warms somewhat to having them as teammates, although more so Kimiko due to the other members of The Boys standing by her.
He has mixed feelings towards kids. Becca states that he never wanted to have kids with her not because he hates them but because he's afraid that he'll pass on his trauma to them. After he uses the baby Supe with laser eyes to kill the guards he shows a tiny bit of positivity though it was mostly out of usefulness and he proceeded to slightly playfully threaten him. When he met M.M's daughter, Janine he was really cheerful and said that she could call him "uncle Billy" showing that he sees her in a familial way. He showed this a bit more the next time he saw her where he got her a set of Seven tower and while he and M.M were talking and he swore he apologized. His most prominent relationship with a child is with Ryan. Initially he doesn't care about Ryan, saying he's a "Supe freak" to Becca. When he, Becca and the rest of The Boys went to go get Ryan back from Homelander and Stormfront he initially was going to sell them out and made a deal with Stan Edgar to have them separated. But after making Becca a promise and swearing on his brother Lenny's soul and after seeing them together he couldn't go through with it. After Becca's death he promises to keep Ryan safe. Though when she succumbs to her injury it seems that he is going to attack the boy but when Homelander arrives he protects the boy. When they're waiting for Mallory, this goes to the point that Billy gives Ryan his St. Christopher medallion that Becca gave him telling him that his mom will keep him safe. Over the next year their relationship grew a lot. They would face-time sometimes. They would hug sometimes and joke with each other. It grew so much that Grace Mallory thought he might get out as M.M did and doing all that he has been doing for Ryan makes him better than his father ever was. Even M.M himself was impressed with the warmth he showed the boy, commenting that he didn't know he had it in him.
Butcher is attached to his dog Terror who he talks about with nice and loving words.
Powers under V24
•Heat Vision: Under the influence of V24, Butcher possessed the ability to generate a concentrated beam of golden-colored heat from his eyes. These powerful beams could effortlessly slice through humans and most Supes. Furthermore, Butcher's heat vision proved potent enough to knock Homelander to the ground and even block the latter's own heat vision, though with noticable strain from Butcher that was not shared by Homelander. Furthermore, Butcher's heat vision was also able to leave a wound on Soldier Boy's face using a continuous beam. •Superhuman Strength: Butcher possesses immense superhuman strength whilst under the influence of V24. He crushed Gunpowder's pistol in his hand and sent him flying with a single punch before beating him to death, effortlessly crushed a man's neck with one hand and repelled Ryan's own superhuman strength. He is strong enough to deal significant blows to Homelander and Soldier Boy, he can also restrain Homelander with the help of Soldier Boy and Hughie (who was also using V24). After superheating Soldier Boy's shield, Butcher punched it into pieces. •Superhuman Durability: After taking V24, Butcher becomes amazingly durable and can take an extreme amount of punishment without suffering any physical injuries. He took no damage after being punched in the torso by Gunpowder, he is bulletproof, coming out unharmed after being sprayed with bullets by a group of Russian soldiers, and he was unfazed when Homelander blasted him with his heat vision and was barely hurt when the two of them engaged in a brutal fight, only suffering a small cut on his left cheek. Mother's Milk also broke a wooden bat against his body. When fighting Soldier Boy, Billy was able to withstand his blows, though he was shown to take more damage than Soldier Boy did. •Superhuman Reflexes: Under the influence of V24, Butcher's reaction speeds are increased to inhuman levels. He was able to dodge some of Homelander's attacks during their fight at Herogasm. •Superhuman Hearing: Under the influence of V24, Butcher possessed superhuman hearing, allowing him to hear better than humans. Like all Supes, he could hear higher frequencies that humans couldn't.
Abilities
•Peak Human Condition: As a former member of the Royal Marines, SAS, and having been trained by Colonel Grace Mallory, Butcher is in peak physical condition and is stronger than the average human. With his physical abilities combined with his combat training, Butcher can compete with and even sometimes defeat supes with enhanced physical abilities and other superpowers. •Peak Human Strength: He is very strong, enough to contend with Translucent, destroy Becca's headstone with a sledgehammer, bash Mesmer's skull in with a bathroom sink, strangle Jock to death, and deck Hughie with a single punch hard enough to draw blood. He also threatened to break Hughie's legs, a feat that is very capable off, considering his previous feats. Even when he was young, Butcher was already very strong, being capable of beating up a teacher and a kid who broke his younger brother's nose. •Peak Human Durability: Butcher is very resilient, as he could take hits from Translucent, stand up after getting knocked down by an EMP blast capable of sending a van tumbling, being electrocuted by Stormfront's plasma bolts and survive having a building dropped on him by Kenji. •Peak Human Reflexes: Butcher has very good reflexes, he was able to catch Termite in a plastic bag, despite the Supe being smaller than a thumb and being mid-jump towards Frenchie's mouth. He also managed to avoid some of Gunpowder's shots, however he was also hit by some of the bullets during the fight, meaning that he can't dodge bullets on a consistent basis. •Master Combatant: Butcher has received training from both the British Armed Forces and the CIA in hand-to-hand combat. His fighting style is a mix of boxing, as seen against Translucent and Mesmer, as well as other close-quarters techniques. He also probably knows Goshinkwai, since it is the fighting style used by modern SAS members. By combining his fighting skills with his superior physical abilities, Bucher can defeat most ordinary humans in unarmed combat, including Jock (a fellow SAS veteran), and even compete with superheroes. Besides his combat skills, Butcher is also capable of coming up with strategies to gain an advantage in battle, this was better showcased when he spit his own blood on Translucent so that he could see the invisible hero, which allowed him to fight back more effectively. On V24, he was able to dominate Gunpowder in a duel, beating him to death and he even fought well against Homelander, overwhelming him with the help of Soldier Boy and Hughie (who was also on V24). He was also able to hold his own against Soldier Boy, one of the most powerful Supes in the world and a master combatant himself, in a one on one fight, though he was eventually overwhelmed. •Expert Marksman: As a former member of the British military, Butcher is a highly accurate marksman. He can wield a great variety of firearms with high efficiency, from pistols to sniper rifles while suffering from little to no recoil. With his marksmanship skills, Butcher has managed to shoot Starlight twice in the chest from a distance with his sniper rifle, nearly shot Kenji with his rifle if not for Hughie's intervention and quickly gun down a Supe with his pistol. At Fort Bragg, he taught Becca to be a better marksman than himself, meaning that he skilled enough to teach others. Besides that, Butcher is also very good at using non-conventional long-range weapons, being capable of killing armed guards by using a baby supe's laser vision and intercept Homelander's heat vision with his own heat vision. He is also skilled in throwing darts. •Gifted Intelligence: Butcher is very intelligent, being potentially smarter than Stan Edgar, The Seven and the all the other members of The Boys. He hid Translucent's remains in a box composed of zinc, the only material Homelander cannot see through. His intelligence extends itself to his skills in leadership, deception and manipulation. After he woke up in Fort Wayne, he was smart enough to write down details of Becca's house for later investigation. He is very observant, as he saw Black Noir hiding on a rooftop in his side-view mirror, and he also got Stan Edgar to call off the assassin from hunting him by threatening to expose Ryan Butcher's existence, which would cause Homelander's reputation to suffer. He also easily deduced that Homelander and Stormfront were in a relationship and knew that the cover story for Soldier Boy's alleged death was fake, and he is familiar with torture methods. •Master Tactician: Butcher is an expert battle strategist, being able to think of strategies on the spot, such as when he spit his blood on Translucent to see him in a fight and used a baby supe to cut through multiple armed guards. united The Boys and inspired them to achieve their goals of eliminating The Seven. He would often put an end to the bickering between Frenchie and Mother's Milk. Even after he disappeared at the hands of Homelander, Frenchie brought him back to continue leading the Boys, as he viewed him as "a real captain." He also compared Butcher to Hannibal, Lee Marvin, and Brian Epstein. Butcher can also be deceptive and manipulative, as he was able to make a criminal think he was a police officer to gain entry into a club, he involved Frenchie by having Translucent see his face, and he convinced Mother's Milk to return to The Boys by lying about his association with Frenchie. Butcher notably harnessed Hughie's desire for vengeance against A-Train and the Supes, which was one of the reasons that lead to Hughie killing Translucent. He was able to identify a federal black ops unit's van in disguise and he guilt-tripped Hughie when he wanted to go after Stillwell while the latter wanted to split off to go help Frenchie and Mother's Milk. He anticipated that Stan Edgar had multiple snipers ready to take him out, and spearheaded the mission to rescue Ryan. •Expert Thief: Butcher is very good at stealing while evading the law, managing to steal a boat, My Big Wet Dream, the ownership papers of said boat and Grace Mallory's ledger. He easily pickpocketed a nurse's ID badge at Mercer Hospital to infiltrate a supe nursery. Butcher knows how to hotwire cars and also presumably knows lock picking, since he is able to break into peoples' houses without making a scene. •Skilled Pilot: Besides his skill at driving cars, Butcher also knows how to pilot a speedboat. He killed Lucy, a whale, by driving it into her side. •Skilled Physician: While not as skilled as M.M, Butcher also knows how to treat wounds. He was able to treat a bullet wound in his leg that he gained from a confrontation with Gunpowder. •Intimidation: Butcher is an intimidating man, commanding an imposing presence. Mesmer and Jonah Vogelbaum were completely threatened by his thoughts and warnings. •Master of Stealth: Butcher is highly skilled in the arts of infiltration and escape. He was able to break into peoples' houses, offices and cars without no one noticing until he purposely revealed himself. He is also very good at sneaking up on people while evading their detection, even managing to evade Homelander's hearing and line of sight. •Indomitable Will: Butcher is an extremely determined man, never giving up on his mission to keep The Seven and all other Supes in line. He repeatedly stood up against extremely powerful beings, from Translucent to Homelander. Even when facing Homelander and knowing how easily he could kill him, Butcher never once showed any sign of fear and simply continued to threaten him, impressing Homelander and earning his respect, making him one of the few people besides Stan Edgar, whom he allows to insult him.
Biological
•Deteriorating Health: Due to his repeated use of Compound V24, which is known to cause brain lesions within three to five doses, Billy Butcher is terminally ill. His attending physician declared that any further attempt at treatment for his condition would only adversely impact his quality of life without extending it. His physician also speculated that he has twelve months to live, possibly up to eighteen. Billy was also seen significantly weakened in his most recent appearance, but whether this is due to his declining health or having been through a recent surgical intervention to treat brain lesions (or both) is unknown.
Psychological
•Mental Illness: Due to his life circumstances, particularly his abusive upbringing, as well as the supposed death of Becca, Billy Butcher is a severely mentally unstable man. •Anger Issues: Butcher is infamously hot-tempered and has struggled with violent urges since his childhood. Due to his line of work, this propensity for violence often turns out useful, however due to his anger and him genuinely enjoying violence, Butcher is known to maim or kill people, even if it's to his own overall detriment, and in cases where such violence is disproportionate to the other party's wrongdoing. •Lack of Interpersonal Skills: Due to his temper and callous personality, Butcher seriously struggles when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Even to supposed friends and allies, Butcher is highly manipulative and sometimes abusive, both mentally and physically. His harsh treatment, particularly of Hughie, has on several occasions caused serious friction within the team. Notably, his attempt to distance himself from Ryan for the boy's own safety ends up going so poorly that Ryan instead forms a bond with Homelander. •Trauma: Underneath his hardened and unbreakable will, Butcher is a traumatized man, he suffers post-traumatic disorder as a result of the abuse his father inflicted on him and Lenny's suicide. This is further explored while he is under a telepathic spell of Mindstorm, which reveals that he feels guilty of the suicide of his brother because he left him with their abusive father. Even years after the loss of Lenny, Butcher is still emotionally affected by that and has unresolved feelings about it.
•Beretta 92FS Inox: Butcher used his sidearm to threaten Madelyn Stillwell.
•Beretta 92FS: Butcher later used a new sidearm to kill an EMP Supe and tried to shoot Stormfront with it, to no avail.
•Colt M4A1: Butcher used a carbine to fend off a shiver of the Deep's sharks attacking him and the Boys. He later brought it on the mission to rescue Ryan.
•Serbu BFG-50A: Butcher's sniper rifle of choice is a is a semi-automatic .50-caliber rifle with a red laser sight. He loaded it with a diamond-coated round in an attempt to shoot Translucent to pierce his skin, but it ricocheted off. He later used it in an attempt to kill Starlight, shooting her twice in the chest, but to no avail due to her powers. He brought the same sniper rifle to provide overwatch for the infiltration of Sage Grove Center, with Starlight in his sights.
•Crowbar: Butcher attempted to use this weapon against Translucent but failed to connect due to the latter's invisibility. Butcher also used his crowbar against Stormfront while her back was turned, but the blows from the crowbar had no effect on Stormfront. He later used it to destroy a fuse box for a Russian military compound.
•Taser Rod: Butcher used a taser rod to electrocute Translucent.
Family
•Sam Butcher - Abusive Father •Connie Butcher - Mother •Lenny Butcher † - Younger Brother •Becca Butcher † - Wife •Rachel Saunders - Sister-in-law •Ryan Butcher - Stepson •Judy Atkinson - Aunt •Terror - Pet
Allies
•The Boys - Colleagues and Friends •Grace Mallory - Former Leader and Mentor •Hughie Campbell - Mentee/Follower •Frenchie - Follower •Mother's Milk - Close Friend and Follower •Kimiko Miyashiro - Follower •Annie January - Former Enemy •Susan Raynor † - Former Contact and Lover •Cherie •Hugh Campbell Sr. •Monique Milk •Janine Milk •Donna January •The Seven •Lamplighter † - Temporary Enemy •Queen Maeve - Savior and One-Night Stand
Enemies
•Vought International •Stan Edgar •Madelyn Stillwell † - Hostage •The Seven •Homelander - Attempted Victim and Archenemy •Black Noir † - Attempted killer •A-Train •Translucent † - Attempted Killer and Hostage •The Deep •Stormfront † - Attempted Killer and Attempted Victim •Victoria Neuman - Former Ally •Kenji Miyashiro † - Attempted Victim and Attempted Killer •Termite † - Attempted Victim •Payback •Soldier Boy - Former Ally and Attempted killer •Crimson Countess † - Hostage
•Butcher tends to say the word "cunt." He speaks it 22 times in the first season and 26 times in the second season, meaning he speaks it 2.75 times on average per episode in the first season, 3.25 times on average per episode in the second season, and 3 times on average per episode throughout the series.
•Like Homelander and Soldier Boy, his team did not like how he was treating them, so they turned on him. Though unlike Homelander and Soldier Boy, Butcher has come to some level of understanding with his team, and they still work with him.
•In the comics Billy become a villain around the second half of the series, it is unknown if the TV series counterpart will do the same.
•In the context of the series, the fact that he is an enemy of superheroes and has temporarily acquired powers makes him, in the eyes of the superheroes that he hates, a supervillain.
•It is assumed that Billy is an atheist, considering he called God a "cunt" in Good for the Soul.
•Growing up, he was a West Ham and Charlton Athletic fan.
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