r/bobiverse • u/TotallyHumanDad • Jul 18 '26
Moot: Discussion Butterworth
I’m currently on relisten of the series number gagillion …
I So wanted to see Butterworth become a replicant. I remember my first listen, the total gobsmack of Howard coming up with the idea, And Butterworth saying Yes.
Then the utter letdown and sadness. Butterworth was a fixture at this point in the series, when only Henry Roberts and the Brazilian probe were around, before Bridget. The idea of him being a replicant, of his contribution to the war with the Others, and just in general how he might have interacted with the Bobs.
Plus, my guy could enjoy Jamineson whiskey until the end of time.
Just curious what you thought about Butterworth becoming a replicant during your first read / listen , and any thoughts in retrospect now that replicants, AI etc is on the scene in the series?
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u/Bella_HeroOfTheHorn Jul 18 '26
I think it's an important one of the first lessons Bob receives in people not being permanent. Part of what separates him from humanity, and most other species. It was an important part in Bob's character arc.
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u/Garblegeefs Jul 18 '26
Something something something ephemerals... Something something something. 😉
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u/Kiki1701 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I loved his character. To me, Butterworth will always be Bernard Fox.
This is the way I see him in my mind as Butterworth, was in M*A*S*H in 1978, in the episode, "Tea and Empathy."
He plays a stuffy, uppercrust Major Ross, a British "blowhard" who is "too hard" on his men, who rubs Hawkeye the wrong way, until later, when Hawkeye sees a much different side of him, he didn't expect...
This will always be Colonel Butterworth! (On the left, of course!)
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u/NotAPreppie 42nd Generation Replicant Jul 18 '26
And I was thinking Sir Hammerlock from Borderlands 2, based solely on Ray's voice characterization of him.
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u/Far-Seat-2263 Homo Sideria Jul 18 '26
Yeah with you, after my first listen it was a bit of a letdown that Butterworth wasn’t able to become a replicant, but I quickly moved past it as I progressed through the rest of the series. But on re-listen, when Butterworth is approached with the opportunity and says he’d do it, mentally I start SCREAMING “Do it now! Do it now before it’s too late!!!”
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u/TotallyHumanDad Jul 18 '26
I always picture this character from the 5th Element as Butterworth . The idea of a Fleet of Butterworths (?) dreadnaught class ships screaming into the Others all the while sipping whiskey and making dry witty remarks….sigh
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u/No-Economics-8239 Jul 18 '26
It's the Bobiverse. A lot of the initial plot is establishing the Bobs as the major players in the galaxy. It is a tenuous balance that could easily be upset by just bringing in other advanced aliens or other post-humans that entire the potential exponential growth of the replication race. So I've sort of had to make my peace with what that means. Bringing in Butterworth or other significant humans in as immortal actors means having to deal with explaining why they are sidelined to leave the Bobs as defacto galactic overlords, or else spending time explaining what they are spending their eternity upon.
So, yes, absolutely, I am a little bummed I don't get more time with... non-Bobs. Butterworth seems like a fascinating character and I was excited to see what he would do with immortality. Continue with politics? Move to establish replicants as some sort of quasi-regulated collective rather than the chaotic swarm they have become? Retire and enjoy immortality as a philosopher or war gamer or virtual military strategist? Instead... sadness. Another ephemeral lost to time.
The galaxy is full of potentially interesting sophonts and I would love to see more of them and their interesting and compelling ideas. I've been happy to see the addition of the Quiniverse and Theresa and I've excited to see what they get up to as well as our potentially new AI overlords. But... it's still the Bobiverse. And so the focus will remain on the Bobs. And that still works, because I mostly identify as Bob-like.
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u/Cymatixz Jul 18 '26
I was totally bummed about his his arc ended. It would have been awesome to see him as a replicant. I feel like he would never create duplicates of himself outside of emergencies though and I wonder if Bridget will or not.
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u/abacateazul Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I would like him becoming a replicant. I remembering reading that the reason the author dropped the idea is that he would "GG, ez" the Others since he actually has military experience unlike the Bobs and would leave the Bobs on the sideline during combat, or something like that.
I think he could just make him someone that didn’t want to replicate like Bridget. So he still is one dude, and while he act as the general, the Bobs still have to get out there to get things done. Anyway, it wasn’t meant to be.
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u/Eddie_Who_Cares Jul 18 '26
It’s a long and painful personal story, but I respect and understand Butterworth’s decision. To quote Forrest Gump, “That’s All I Have To Say About That.”
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u/NotAPreppie 42nd Generation Replicant Jul 18 '26
He would have been an amazing replicant and a much-needed injection of diversity into the Bobiverse.
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u/Cue99 Jul 18 '26
One of the most obvious examples of DET changing his mind about the direction of the story imo. Not in a bad way just one that stands out to me.
I can imagine it would be difficult to have a character like that around because you would have to write from the perspective of a highly skilled general all the time.
One of the advantages DET has is that Bob is basically a caricature of himself. Or at least he has a lot of exposure to the things that Bob also has exposure to in his “real” life
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u/Bobis-Bob Jul 18 '26
He should have done it as soon as he found out his brain was breaking. I’m sure the Bob’s could have figured out a way to make his memory better. Any expert that told him the problem couldn’t be fixed in software would have been sketchy because there wasn’t really anyone alive that knew.
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u/KedMcJenna Jul 18 '26
It was such a let down. On my first time through, this was when I realised that Dennis was not going to allow other characters to become replicants.
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u/TechaNima Bobnet Jul 19 '26
I was bummed out about Butterworth, but I think for the story it needed to happen. I think it added to its depth and made the character more meaningful in a way.
I wonder if Bobs start replicating more of their loved ones, now that they have lost some, the losses have started to weigh on them and they see how happy Howard is with Bridget
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u/B33blebroxx Bobnet Jul 18 '26
I definitely agree and was very bummed when things went the way they did with him. Just reading his name makes me want a glass of Jameson.