The premiere season of Amazon’s The Boys has it all — superheroes with no morals, laser babies, poor choices, copious amounts of blood spatter, a flying dolphin, and a scorned man decked out in a closet’s worth of colorful Aloha shirts on a hellbent quest for revenge.
This aforementioned man, Billy Butcher (portrayed by Karl Urban), comes equipped with a foul mouth, a chip on his shoulder, a wicked sense of humor, and enough sass to give you whiplash. Throughout the course of the first season, when Butcher isn’t busy scheming to pick off twisted Supes, he’s dishing out some positively diabolical one-liners.
Now sit back and join us on a tour of some of his best …
1. “Fuckin’ diabolical.”
The first appearance of Butcher’s trademark line, and an early introduction to his truly poetic way with words.
2. “Translucent doesn’t even mean invisible … it means semi-transparent.”
Just moments before Translucent is given a bit of a shocking surprise from behind, Butcher takes it upon himself to knock the amped-up Supe down a peg or two.
3. “We didn’t bring him here for a fuckin’ happy meal.”
Hughie’s temporary relief at having not actually killed Translucent with a live wire is shattered into approximately one billion pieces, courtesy of Billy Butcher himself.
4. “We’re sniffing down a shit sandwich the size of Watergate.”
Butcher has no time for subtlety when the boys have royally screwed up in his absence.
5. “You see, when they’re apart, they’re absolute fuckin’ rubbish … but you put them together, they’re the goddamn fucking Spice Girls.”
How do you put a stop to a heated argument? Well if you’re Billy Butcher, you take a hard left and go off on an entire monologue about the goddamn Spice Girls. What’s Sporty Spice up to?
6. “Hughie … you’ve done a murder, comparatively speaking — this will be a piece of cake!”
Pep talks? No problem. Butcher isn’t just all beard and anger, he’s also a very thoughtful mentor!
7. “I just had to pop down to the shop … I was running a bit low on mind your own fucking business.”
Note to self: Don’t bother asking about Butcher’s whereabouts. Like, ever.
8. “Sounds good, does it taste like lies? I’ve got your phone linked to my Find Your Shithead Friends app. Now where the fuck are you?”
Shake Shack, huh? Nice try, MM. This may be more than a one-liner, but it certainly earned its rightful place on this list.
And there you have it — those are just a handful of Butcher’s best lines that read like a book of inspirational quotes. When the going gets rough, the boys can always count on him to have something to say.
With the next season currently in the works, we can only hope that Butcher doesn’t find himself too tongue-tied after the shocking revelation at the end of season one. If the cast and crew’s excited anticipation on social media is anything to go off of, we’re certainly in for another wild (and bloody) ride.
Getting antsy waiting for season two of The Boys? Same. In the meantime, check out our ranking of Billy’s shirt collection, and our review of the first season.
