‘The Boys’: A Definitive Ranking of Billy Butcher’s Diabolical Shirt Collection

Lindsey
6 Min Read
Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

The Boys — a thrilling and epic television series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video but one month ago, and has already received a hoard of raving reviews and cultivated a loud and dedicated fanbase. The Boys is based off of the comic book series of the same name, which was published from 2006 until 2012. The television adaption was created by Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen.

Today, we’re here to talk about one of the main characters — Billy Butcher — and his runway-worthy wardrobe. Butcher, who is portrayed by the incredibly talented Karl Urban, is a dark and unapologetic character driven by a quest for vengeance — so it’s quite poetic that his closet largely consists of a wonderful array of fun tropical short-sleeve button downs.

Butcher dons one of these shirts in every single episode of the first season, so we did what any self respecting fans of The Boys would do…we took on the challenging and thought-provoking task of ranking them. And yes, we went to the length of naming each of these works of art as well.

Fifth Place: Dark Palm Tree Delight (featured in Episode Two)

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

This shirt may have come in last place, but rest assured that every button down in this list is a winner. Butcher wears it well, and it reflects the dark predicament that he and the Boys find themselves in for the duration of this episode.

Fourth Place: Tasteful Floral Sketches (featured in Episode Four)

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Butcher dons his trench coat for most of this episode, so this shirt doesn’t get much as much time as it deserved in the spotlight. Regardless, it’s a visual treat that features a white sketched floral design. Pleasant but neutral, it signifies that we’ve reached the midpoint of the season.

Third Place: An unprecedented tie between Mysterious Moonlit Tropical Galaxy (featured in Episodes Six to Eight) and Baby Blue Palm Tree Paradise (featured in Episode Three)

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Choosing between these next two shirts was completely and utterly impossible. Perhaps the one shown above has an unfair advantage because it manages to steal the show for a whopping three episodes. Things were really heating up for the Boys at this point in the season as their identities were exposed, so it’s a blessing that Butcher chose this of all shirts to wear for an extended period of time.

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

However, dues must also be paid to this little number that appeared in the third episode. At first glance, this shirt may appear to be a cozy faded denim, however pan down and you will find the surprise of tropical tree tops lining the lower half. It’s really quite a versatile piece, as Butcher wears it to a jail, a stakeout mission, and even a race track.

Second Place: Butcher’s Birds of Paradise (featured in Episode Five)

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

This shirt fought hard for first place, but fell in at a very close second. We were treated to extended periods of trench coat-less glory to appreciate this masterpiece during this episode, with the added bonus of Butcher rocking aviators to really complete the look.

First Place: The Fabulous Floral Introduction (featured in Episode One)

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

What better way to introduce a such a pivotal character, than to have him saunter on screen wearing the single most aesthetically pleasing shirt he could possibly own? It’s colorful, it’s tasteful, and it will be a tragedy if it doesn’t make a reappearance in the second season — sans trench coat, please.

There you have it, folks. A definitive ranking of Billy Butcher’s diabolically beautiful shirt collection. The Boys has already been picked up for a second season, which is currently being filmed, so here’s to hoping Butcher has some more of these bad boys tucked away in his closet.

If you’ve read through this entire article purely based on a need to see Karl Urban in floral shirts and have not yet binged The Boys, watch it now on Amazon Prime Video! Once you’re caught up, check out our review of the first season here.

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By Lindsey
Lindsey joined the Nerds and Beyond team in 2018. If she's not writing or out and about with her camera, she's probably watching anime, nerding out over Star Wars, reading manga, and definitely forgetting to water her plants. And waiting for the Genshin loading screen to pop up. Contact: lindsey@nerdsandbeyond.com
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