Butch Coolidge is one of the major protagonists in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, though he was never one of my favorites. I’m saddened to hear about Bruce Willis’s recent health issues.

If I remember correctly, in the movie, Butch is an aging boxer who seems like he’s supposed to take a dive so that the mob boss, Marcellus Wallace, can make a hefty profit.

But instead, he wins his match and even bets his own money on himself. I guess that’s legal, but why risk the wrath of a mob boss when he could have just done it on his own? As a result, he spends a lot of time in hiding. He’s also the one who kills Vincent Vega, who was waiting at his house to assassinate him.

Just when he’s almost in the clear, Marcellus Wallace spots him by chance. During their scuffle, they get kidnapped by a deranged cop in a pawn shop. Butch manages to break free, grab a katana, and save both himself and Marcellus from a gruesome fate.

Because of that, Marcellus lets him live—on the condition that he never tells anyone what happened. Essentially, he’s exiled from Los Angeles as punishment for his betrayal. I never really understood his relationship with his girlfriend, but at least she was safe.