| “ | Ah...fresh meat!
— Butcher's iconic catchphrase
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” |
The Butcher was a unique Overlord Demon in service to Diablo and later Maghda, and a recurring antagonist from the Diablo franchise. Despite his relative lack of importance to the plot or lore of the franchise, The Butcher is one of the series most prolific characters- in large part thanks to his notoriety as the first major challenge faced by players as the first real boss enemy encountered in the original Diablo.
This notoriety would lead to his resurrection in Diablo 3, his appearance in several Blizzard crossovers, and numerous pieces of merchandise including t-shirts and hats. The Butcher would also serve as the direct inspiration for the Abomination unit in WarCraft, making him the source of the lineage for the popular MOBA character archetype built around their mechanics- including Pudge, Blitzcrank, Stitches and even Roadhog.
History[]
Diablo[]
| “ | Big! Big cleaver killing all my friends. Couldn't stop him, had to run away, couldn't save them. Trapped in a room with so many bodies... So many friends... Noooooooooo!
— Farnham
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The Butcher in his lair under Tristram
One of many Overlord Demons, the being known only as The Butcher was a particularly cruel servant of the Evils, who had found himself in the service of Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish. During The Darkening of Tristram, The Butcher was one of the numerous legions to descend upon the people of Tristram, where he took up residence on the second floor of the Cathedral.
Colluding with another servant of the Prime Evils, the corrupted adviser to King Leoric, Archbishop Lazarus, The Butcher set a trap for the people of Tristram above; Lazarus, whipping them into a frenzy and convincing them to join him on a search party for the King's beloved, lost son. As the townsfolk descended into the Cathedral, Lazarus lead them right into The Butcher, who slaughtered them with wanton glee. In the slaughter, demons serving him severed Wirt's leg, and the gruesome sights broke Farnham's mind, both only saved by the intervention of Griswold, making the three the only known survivors of the assault.
When Prince Aidan, Blood Raven, and Jazreth joined forces to enter the Cathedral and slay the recently reawoken Diablo, they encountered a wounded soldier who warned them of The Butcher, as well as Lazarus' betrayal- begging the heroes to kill the Demon to allow his fellow dead to rest in peace. The heroes fought through waves of Imps before finding the locked chambers where The Butcher was hording the corpses of the fallen townsmen, preserving them on spikes to allow him to cut them up as he pleased. As they approached, the screams of his victims filled the chambers, before he realized that more "fresh meat" had arrived to add to his collection, charging into battle. After a violent struggle, Aidan was able to strike The Butcher down, shattering his axe in the process.
Diablo 3[]
The Nephellim confront the revived Butcher.
| “ | Leah must be back in Tristram, crying over the Old Man's corpse. She'll soon have another one to cry over; yours! Meet... The Butcher!
— Maghda
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” |
20 years after The Darkening of Tristram, The Butcher's corpse was recovered by Maghda's Coven, who revived him and used him to guard the Chamber of Suffering, located in the Halls of Agony, beneath Leoric's Manor. The new Butcher had an even more twisted appearance- with visible scarring showing how he had been ripped apart and pieced back together, and wielded a new Sickle in addition to his classic Cleaver. After an amnesiac Tyrael crashed in Sanctuary, the Coven attempted to kidnap him to keep the former Archangel from being able to once again aid the enemies of the Prime Evils, putting them at odds with The Nephellim.
The Nephellim pursued Maghda into the depths of Leoric's Manor to rescue the former angel, where she attempted to trap them in combat with The Butcher. As he battled the Nephellim with his new weapons and skills, he also used the Fire Gates on the floor of the Chamber of Suffering to attempt to engulf them in flames, however The Butcher was once again bested in combat and slain- his Cleaver and Sickle both getting looted from his corpse, before the heroes carried onward to rescue Tyrael.
Non-Canon History[]
Heroes of the Storm[]
The Butcher was one of the four heroes added to the game during the Eternal Conflict update, a Diablo franchise themed event, alongside Kharazim the Monk, Johana the Crusader, and King Leoric. The Butcher is a melee assassin designed around dealing high single-target damage, with his default auto attack dealing the highest damage of anyone in the game. The Butcher is also built around a passive ability- Fresh Meat. Butcher collects stacks of meat as he fights, gaining 1 Fresh Meat stack from all nearby killed minions and 5 stacks from each killed hero. At 125 stacks of Meat, The Butcher gains increased attack damage and speed, with additional traits giving him additional healing and even more damage based on the amount.
The Butcher's kit is based on dealing extremely high damage to individual targets, and sustaining his otherwise fairly low amount of health. His Q ability, Hamstring, is a melee attack with further reach than his auto attacks that deals damage over 2 seconds while slowing the target. His W, Butcher's Brand, is essential to his ability to keep alive on the battlefield- when he uses the Brand on an enemy Hero, the damage of auto attacks against that target increases, and the damage is then converted into health for The Butcher, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with most enemies in a one-on-one encounter and live. His E, Ruthless Onslaught, temporarily makes him invincible as he charges down at a selected enemy hero, ramming into them and temporarily stunning them, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up attacks- a perfect technique for punishing enemy heroes for breaking away from a team fight or going out solo into lane or the jungle.
The Butcher's first ultimate, Furnace Blast, creates spots on the ground that explode in a blast of heavy fire damage after a three second delay, based on his boss battle in Diablo III. His alternate ultimate, Lamb to the Slaughter, creates a hitching post that traps a target that walks too close to it, keeping them trapped in place and vulnerable to damage while silencing them to keep them from using abilities.
Appearances[]
- Diablo (1996)
- Diablo III (2012)
- Heroes of the Storm (2015)