The Butcher: Difference between revisions
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== [[Fanfic]] ==
* Tyrin Lieph, the [[Villain Protagonist]] of the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' fanfic ''The Council Era'', has received a reputation as
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* Dirk Provin, the protagonist of Jennifer Fallon's ''Second Sons'' trilogy acquired the nickname 'The Butcher of Elcast'. This was the result of being given credit for the Lion of Senet's scheme to pressurize an enemy by executing people at random until the man gave in, and was a case of twisting Dirk's words. The reputation sticks with him and he had at times to take advantage of it, as well as crafting a ruthless persona. It should be noted he was barely 16 when he acquired the name.
* [[Discworld]]'s Sam Vimes is called this by Boragravian propaganda in ''[[Discworld/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]''. He seems amused by the ham-handedness of it more than anything.
* In the ''[[Flora Segunda]]'' books, an important figure in the setting's history is called the Butcher Brakespeare. Let it be noted that this trope is ''not'', in fact, '''[[Always Male|Always]]''' Male; the details establish the Butcher as a legendary [[Fiery Redhead
** She's really more of a [[Cute Bruiser]], as she very much lacks the grace and elegance associated with a [[Lady of War]].
*** Correction: In her teens, she was a [[Cute Bruiser]]. In {{spoiler|the time traveled to}}, she wasn't grown up yet.
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* [[The Witcher]] Geralt of Rivia is sometimes known as "The Butcher of Blaviken". Granted, what went down in Blaviken wasn't entirely his fault...
* ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'' [[Great White Hunter]] Ned Land accuses Nemo of this when Nemo [[Kick the Dog|Kick The Cachalots]] in a massacre.
{{quote|"Well, sir," replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm had somewhat calmed; "it is a terrible spectacle, certainly. [[The Hunter|But I am not a butcher. I am a hunter,]]
"[[The Hunter|It is a massacre of mischievous creatures,"]] replied the Captain; "and the Nautilus is not a butcher's knife." }}
* Skol the Butcher, an outlaw prince ruling his own [[Wretched Hive]], in the [[Robert E. Howard]] story "The Blood of Belshazzar".
* Backyard abortionist 'Butcher George' in the [[Phryne Fisher]] novel ''Cocaine Blues''.
* In ''[[Star Wars]]'' there is Kardue'sai'Malloc (aka Labria), the Devaronian in the Mos Eisley cantina, who was called the Butcher of Montellian Serat. During the height of the Empire's reign and before the events of ''A New Hope'', Malloc was part of the Devaronian Army and under the command of the Empire. He was ordered to put down a rebellion in the city of Montellian Serat and accomplished this by shelling it until the rebels surrendered. Immediately afterwards, he received orders to take all of his troops and move to intercept more rebels. Unable to process the prisoners, and directly ordered to not leave guards behind, he resorted to what seemed to be his only
* Colonel Kassad from the ''[[Hyperion Cantos]]'' is known as "The Butcher of South Bressia." In this case, it's something of a backhanded compliment: the same brutally efficient tactics that got him the epithet also made him the only person to make any headway in the war.
* The '''hero''' of Jack Higgins' ''Wrath of the Lion'' earned "The Butcher of Perak" cleaning out some particularly vicious Communist terrorists in Malaya in the early 1950s. They found out the hard way a British officer could be just as ruthless as they were.
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Hardison: No, the Butcher ''of Kiev''. }}
** Later it's [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]: "Have you ever been to Kiev? The ''cake maker'' of Kiev could whup all our asses, and this is the ''Butcher''."
** The nickname also turns out to be [[Justified Trope|quite appropriate]], as the
* In season 7 of ''[[24]]'', [[The Dragon]] is {{spoiler|Colonel Dubaku, "Butcher of Sangala".}}
* Hilary Briss, Demon Butcher of Royston Vasey, on ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]''. He sells some mysterious and highly addictive form of meat to his "special customers". We never learn exactly what it is, but it is implicitly both highly illegal and hideously immoral. The show's creators have [[Jossed]] speculation that it was [[I'm a Humanitarian|human flesh]], claiming cannibalism was far too "mundane". It's something even worse...
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** In another Discworld novel, ''[[Discworld/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]'', [[Card-Carrying Villain]] Evil Harry has a henchman simply named "Butcher" (Cohen The Barbarian himself approves). Harry's "Butcher" is an archetypical dungeon keeper - Meaning he's fat, lazy, gullible, and [[Evil Is Stylish|keeps his dungeon keys where the heroes can easily reach them]].
** Doesn't actually using a giant butcher's cleaver as a melee weapon in ''Guards! Guards!'' count for anything? The occasion is used to point out the sheer practicality of picking a weapon designed purely for chopping flesh.
* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''Barrayar'' books, Aral Vorkosigan earns the name "The Butcher of Komarr" for supposedly having ordered the massacre of two hundred strong Komarran Senate after they surrendered on terms during the Conquest of Komarr. In fact, he had nothing to do with it and it was the sort of military behavior he abhorred. However, he was in charge at the time, so he got blamed despite killing the officer who gave the order on the spot with his bare
* In Dan Simmons' ''[[Hyperion]] Cantos'', Colonel Fedmahn Kassad is known as "The Butcher of South Bressia." This is a backhanded compliment acknowledging that Kassad, something of an "ultimate soldier" figure, accomplished a military feat thought to be
* Nevil Clavain in ''[[Alastair Reynolds|Redemption Ark]]'' (2002) was dubbed "the Butcher of [[The Red Planet|Tharsis]]" for "authorising the use of red-mercury, nuclear and foam-phase weapons" in a battle there about [[Methuselah Syndrome|400 years before]] the main plot. In reality he saved lives by bringing the war to an end, but he still regrets what he had to do: "I've killed innocents for military ends. I've made orphans. If that's honour, you can keep it.".
* Admiral Kutuzov of ''[[CoDominium|The Mote in God's Eye]]'' was called "The Butcher" at least once, just those two words with capitals. His reputation stemmed from sterilizing a rebelling human colony planet (meaning to prevent a greater war).
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris, commander of the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during [[World War Two]], was nicknamed "Butcher" Harris by airmen for his seeming indifference to aircrew losses. The press nicknamed him "Bomber" Harris for his enthusiastic support of strategic heavy bombing. The "Butcher" nickname had nothing to do with the losses the Germans suffered, which were extensive.
* Abdullah the Butcher was one of the first [[Garbage Wrestler
* The late Slobodan Milosevic was known as "The Butcher of Belgrade."
* Pompey the Great's father was known as "The Butcher" in Latin, and Pompey the Great himself was known as "Kid Butcher" when he was younger. He adopted "Magnus" later.
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