Budd is one of the key names on Beatrix Kiddo’s kill list in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill franchise. He’s played by Michael Madsen, who I also remember from Tarantino’s debut film Reservoir Dogs. Madsen gives a solid performance, but Budd himself never really fits the typical assassin archetype.

He’s Bill’s younger brother and doesn’t hesitate to follow orders when it comes to the horrific events at the Texas chapel. That alone makes him unforgivable in the eyes of The Bride.

I’m not entirely sure, but it seems like after the massacre, Budd wanted out of his old life and retreated into obscurity—living out of a rundown trailer in Texas, broke and disconnected from the world.

He ends up working as a bouncer at some low-tier club that “gentlemen” frequent , constantly berated by his boss for showing up late. It’s hard to believe someone like Budd managed to blow through all his money in just a few years, but here we are.

Surprisingly, Budd gets the upper hand on Beatrix when she comes for him—blasting her with a rock salt-filled shotgun shell. It doesn’t kill her, but it incapacitates her long enough for him to bury her alive. Honestly, it’s a strange move. Budd seems to be the one most haunted by his past, so it’s unclear why he’d choose such a cruel fate for her instead of simply finishing the job.

What shocked me even more was that Beatrix isn’t the one who kills Budd—it’s Elle Driver. While trying to sell The Bride’s Hattori Hanzō sword to Elle for a million dollars, she sneaks a deadly Black Mamba into the weapon’s case. Ironically, for a guy named Budd, he sure had a knack for picking false friends.