History Main / TheButcher

* Russian general Aleksandr Dvornikov, the "Butcher of Syria", who conducts warfare with disregard for civilian casualties and destructions (infamously so in Chechnya, Syria and UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}).
* In a similar vein is Azatbek Omurbekov, a Russian commander termed "The Butcher of Bucha" for leading the Russian troops who murdered and raped hundreds of Ukrainian civilians during the Battle of Bucha during the Russo-Ukrainian War.

* ''Series/TheRegime'': Corporal Herbert Zubak was nicknamed "the Butcher" after his regiment shot protesters at a cobalt mine called Site 5.

* ''The Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Aral "Butcher of Komarr" Vorkosigan. A rare not-actually-[[EarnYourTitle earned]] title though, as a subordinate went behind his back and ordered the massacre of the Komarr's Ruling Senate after they surrendered to Admiral Vorkosigan on terms. Aral killed the man responsible on the spot with his bare hands when he learned of it, only for the galaxy at large to declare that he was silencing a scapegoat.

Although the nickname can sound impressive, it's almost never intended to be a compliment in real life. The title is most often slapped on {{Serial Killer}}s and military leaders who are accused of war-time atrocities. "To butcher" something can also mean to do a hack job of it, so the title can sometimes be a StealthInsult and is often used for [[ComicallyIneptHealing incompetent surgeons]]. Due to the many negative connotations of the word, it's no surprise that many butchers prefer to go by "meat cutter."

Although the nickname can sound impressive, it's almost never intended to be a compliment in real life. The title is most often slapped on {{Serial Killer}}s and military leaders who are accused of war-time atrocities. "To butcher" something can also mean to do a hack job of it, so the title can sometimes be a StealthInsult. Due to the many negative connotations of the word, it's no surprise that many butchers prefer to go by "meat cutter."

* Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris, commander of the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, 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.

** Baron Otto von Bolschwing was called "The Butcher of [[UsefulNotes/{{Romania}} Bucharest]]".

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': It's [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]: "Have you ever been to Kyiv? The ''cake maker'' of Kyiv could whup all our asses, and this is the ''Butcher''." The nickname also turns out to be [[JustifiedTrope quite appropriate]], as the The Butcher's weapon of choice is, in fact, a butcher knife. In "The Wedding Job", the following exchange occurs during a con operation at a wedding where one of the con artists, Elliot, is acting the part of the chef:

** ''[[IncrediblyLamePun Saw]]''[[IncrediblyLamePun yer, haha.]]

* ''The Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Aral "Butcher of Komarr" Vorkosigan. A rare not-actually-[[EarnYourTitle earned]] title, though.

* Several UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}}s of note, as they took part in the regime's infamous war crimes and/or crimes against humanity during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. These are the same guys who stuck crossbones on their caps even though it made German citizens "become sick", according to UsefulNotes/HeinrichHimmler they wanted to inspire fear, not respect. A few others earned epiphets like "The Beast of X".

** Baron Otto von Bolschwing was called "The Butcher of Bucharest".
** Klaus Barbie, a Gestapo officer stationed in France, became known as "The Butcher of Lyon" for the tortures he carried out (he also had hundreds of Jews rounded up and deported). Since the advent of [[Franchise/{{Barbie}} the girls doll line]] in 1959 his surname has became retroactively hilarious however, which was spoofed by ''Film/RatRace'' when a Jewish family mistakes a "Barbie Museum" run by Neo-Nazis for the other thing.
** The Gauleiter [[note]]Nazi party leader of a regional area branch, and regional administrator of a given region of the Third Reich in practice[[/note]] Robert Heinrich Wagner was nicknamed "The Butcher of Alsace", as he sentenced many people to death in the course of the germanization of the area after its annexation following the French defeat of 1940, and also because he ordered the conscription of thousands of local young men (who were born French) in the German armies. About one third of these conscripts died, the majority on the dreaded Eastern front.
** The Nazi puppet regime in Croatia produced a man named Vjekoslav "Max" Luburic, who was in charge of a particularly nasty concentration camp (Jasenovac) and organized mass killings of Serb, Jewish and Roma civilians, in which he personally participated. As a result, he got the nickname "Max the Butcher".
** A whole three Nazis were called "The Butcher of Warsaw": Oskar Dirlewanger, leader of an [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores especially savage and depraved SS squadron]] called the "Dirlewanger Brigade"; Josef Meisinger, Warsaw police commander notorious for his brutal reprisals; and Heinz Reinefarth, a Nazi general accused of murdering thousands of civilians during the Warsaw Uprising. In addition, Hans Frank, the Nazi General-Governor of Poland, was known as "The Butcher of Poland".
** Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller was a General in the Wehrmacht who was known as "The Butcher of Crete" due to having commited several atrocities against the Greek natives of the island.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banastre_Tarleton Banastre Tarleton]], British Colonel (later General) of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, who was called both "The Butcher" and "Bloody Ban" for his slaughter of Contentinal soldiers coming to surrender to him. The Americans were quick to lob this back at the Brits, using the cry of "Tarleton's quarter!" to mean "take no prisoners". He appeared in an number of American Revolution tales like Disney's The Swamp Fox and as part of the composite Tavington character in the movie ''Film/ThePatriot''.

* In the French translation of both ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' and ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' Wilhelm Strasse's nickname is changed from "Deathshead" ("Totenkopf" in German) to "Le Boucher", literally "The Butcher".

** Sheridan's nickname among Minbari is "Starkiller", for his taking out their flagship ''Black Star'' during the Earth/Minbari War. This was the Earth Alliance's only major victory in a largely one-sided war, making the use of the moniker a sign of hypocritical sour grapes. The nickname is derogatory on the Minbari side because Sheridan destroyed the ''Drala Fi'' ("black star" in Minbari Warrior language) in an act of subterfuge and not in open combat, basically calling him a war criminal. [[{{Hypocrite}} Again, this is ignoring the fact that the Black Star answered the false distress signal in order to destroy a supposedly helpless ship, which by human standards is highly dishonorable.]]