Butch Gilzean

"I'm smarter than I look."

- Butch Gilzean "Solomon Grundy, Born on Monday."

- Butch Gilzean taking on his new identity as Solomon Grundy.

Butch Gilzean, born Cyrus Gold and later known as Solomon Grundy, is a major antagonist in the DC show Gotham, appearing in all seasons thus far.

Initially, Butch was the second-in-command to Fish Mooney in the Falcone crime family, before being brainwashed to serve her former umbrella boy Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin. However he is reconditioned by Theo and Tabitha Galavan to betray Penguin and later becomes a crime boss and goes into partnership with Tabitha following her brother's death.

Eventually, he once more forms an alliance with Penguin after they kill a resurrected Theo Galavan for stabbing Tabitha and putting her into a coma. Butch eventually joins up with Edward Nygma, Barbara Kean and Tabitha and becomes one of the major antagonists in both the Mad City arc and the Heroes Rise arc. The third season finale gives the revelation that Butch Gilzean is actually Cyrus Gold, the alter-ego of zombie supervillain Solomon Grundy from the DC Comics Universe, and after being dumped into Slaughter Swamp by Penguin's thugs posing as orderlies, he reemerges as the monstrous Grundy - teaming up with Edward Nygma. Later, Tabitha sabotages Butch and knocks him on the head, thus turning him back to his normal self. His current goal is to kill Edward Nygma, and therefore, he serves as one of the major antagonists of the fourth season.

He is portrayed by Drew Powell.

Personality
Although somewhat destructive and brutish, Butch Gilzean's tough exterior hides a sentimental and emotional side. This side is revealed when he breaks down in tears over Fish Mooney's death and Tabitha Galavan's sustained injuries and hospitalization. Gilzean was deeply steadfast and loyal to Fish, demonstrating more loyalty than usual for a mobster. Even after being kidnapped and tortured into the servitude of Oswald Cobblepot, his sense of loyalty is hard to surpess as he was seen apologizing to Fish after previously shooting her and crying after she was (seemingly) killed by Penguin. Despite being extremely devoted to Penguin, this was only due to the traumatic mental torture he suffered from Zsasz and when Tabitha reversed this process, he betrayed Cobblepot.

With Fish dead and no longer under the control of Penguin, Gilzean became his own man as he was no longer anyone's stooge and opportunistically took full control of Cobblepot's assets when the latter was incarcerated within Arkham Asylum, becoming the new "King of Gotham." Filling the power vacuum that Penguin left in the criminal underworld. Even with this new and slightly ruthless personality, he showed genuine care regarding Tabitha and allowed her to share his power and was even willing to work with Cobblepot to avenge her when she was injured by her resurrected brother. Gilzean is commonly underestimated by many people who see him as a thoughtless toady due to his large and violent frame. Though sometimes appearing thuggish and dimwitted, he also has a good deal of street smarts and knows Gotham better than most. Part of this may stem from always being a henchman and not needing to use his brains or the mental torture he suffered at the hands of Zsasz. In any case, he was intelligent enough to fool Penguin and betray him when he went to save his mother from Theo Galavan.

Unlike many mobsters, Gilzean is a forgiving individual as he seemed consent enough that Penguin lost a mother and was broken down enough by Strange's doctors at Arkham Asylum when he entered his house, chose not to kill him but instead tar and feather for cutting off Gilzean's hand, claiming he believed in "an eye for an eye."

Other than Mooney, the one person who Butch truly cares for is Tabitha. Even when she attempted to push him away, he still insists that he loves her and is even willing to put his life on the line to protect her. She eventually reciprocates his feelings.

Episode appearances
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" width="100%" ! Appearances for Butch Gilzean

Season 1

 * "Pilot"
 * "Selina Kyle"
 * "Arkham"
 * "Penguin's Umbrella"
 * "Harvey Dent"
 * "Lovecraft"
 * "Rogues' Gallery"
 * "What The Little Bird Told Him"
 * "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon"
 * "The Blind Fortune Teller"
 * "Red Hood"
 * "Under the Knife"
 * "The Anvil or the Hammer"
 * "All Happy Families Are Alike"

Season 2

 * "Rise of the Villains: Damned If You Do..."
 * "Rise of the Villains: Strike Force"
 * "Rise of the Villains: Scarification"
 * "Rise of the Villains: By Fire"
 * "Rise of the Villains: Mommy's Little Monster"
 * "Wrath of the Villains: Mr. Freeze"
 * "Wrath of the Villains: Mad Grey Dawn"
 * "Wrath of the Villains: Pinewood"
 * "Wrath of the Villains: Azrael"
 * "Wrath of the Villains: Unleashed"
 * "Wrath of the Villains: Transference"

Season 3

 * "Mad City: Better to Reign in Hell…"
 * "Mad City: Burn the Witch"
 * "Mad City: Look Into My Eyes"
 * "Mad City: A New Dawn
 * "Mad City: Anything For You"
 * "Mad City: Time Bomb}"
 * "Mad City: Beware the Green-Eyed Monster"
 * "Mad City: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies"
 * "Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle"
 * "Heroes Rise: Pretty Hate Machine"
 * "Heroes Rise: Destiny Calling"
 * "Heroes Rise: Heavydirtysoul"

Season 4

 * "A Dark Knight: The Blade's Path"
 * "A Dark Knight: Hug Day Afternoon"
 * "A Dark Knight: Stop Hitting Yourself"
 * "A Dark Knight: Things That Go Boom"
 * "A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight"
 * "A Dark Knight: Pieces of a Broken Mirror"
 * "A Dark Knight: The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause"
 * "A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting"
 * "A Dark Knight: To Our Deaths and Beyond"
 * "A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse"
 * "A Dark Knight: One Bad Day"
 * }

Trivia

 * Butch having a weapon attached to his stump appears to be a reference to Ash Williams from The Evil Dead franchise, who had lost his hand and uses the stump to attach weapons. This appears to be supported as Barbara Kean suggests attaching a chainsaw, Ash's most iconic weapon of choice.
 * Despite disliking Penguin for killing Fish and being brainwashed to work for him, Butch is still clearly shocked when Theo has his mother killed.
 * Butch later seems to forgive Penguin for his past actions and makes a deal for them to work together.
 * The character initially appeared as an original character in the show for the first three seasons, until the season 3 finale gave the revelation that his birth name is Cyrus Gold, who in the comics is the zombie supervillain Solomon Grundy. Grundy's introduction of the show was originally teased before the premiere of season 3.
 * This makes Butch similar to Theo Galavan. Both were seemingly original characters to the show, before then being revealed as characters from the DC Comics Universe, with Galavan becoming Azrael.