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James "Butch" Coolidge is one of the three main protagonists (alongside Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield) of Pulp Fiction, and the central character of the second story segment The Gold Watch.

Butch was born in Tennessee, and lost his father in the Vietnam War as a child. One of his earliest memories was of receiving his father's gold watch from one of the elder Coolidge's Air Force buddies, Captain Koons, who told him to always treasure it, as his father had suffered greatly to keep it safe for his son as a gift.

As an adult, he settles in Los Angeles. He smokes Red Apples without filters. He is a tough southpaw boxer, but is nearing the end of his career, and is coerced into taking a bribe from mob boss Marsellus Wallace to throw the fight with Floyd Wilson. There he is baited by Vincent Vega.

Butch has accepted the bribe, but he double crosses Wallace; he told Scottie to bet the money on himself, presumably to very good odds, and proceeds to win the fight. Having arranged his escape with taxi driver Esmarelda VillaLobos, he learned from her that he had beat Wilson so badly that he died after the fight.

He hides out with his girlfriend, Fabienne, in a motel planning to leave the next morning for Tennessee to collect his money. When Fabienne forgets his father's watch while transferring their goods from their apartment to their motel, Butch storms to his apartment to retrieve it. He finds a suppressed Ingram MAC-10 submachine gun lying on his kitchen counter and comes face-to-face with a startled Vincent Vega exiting the bathroom. Vincent insulted Butch the first time they met, and after a tense moment of silence between the two, Butch shoots Vincent, killing him. He then flees with his watch, but happens upon Marsellus Wallace on his way back to the motel. Panicked, Butch runs Marsellus over and flees into a nearby pawn shop where he and the mob boss get into a brutal fight, pummeling Marsellus into submission. The pawn shop's owner stops the fight, pulling a gun on Butch and knocking him unconscious with the butt of his shotgun.

The pawn shop's owner, Maynard, calls his brother Zed over to the shop; the two turn out to be racist serial killers who get sadistic pleasure out of raping and murdering men. They kidnap Butch and Marsellus, and take the latter into their back room to brutalize him. Butch escapes, but is overcome with pity as he hears Marsellus' screams of pain, and goes back to save him, armed with a katana sword he swipes from the pawn shop. Butch kills Maynard, and allows Marsellus to shoot Zed in the groin, grievously wounding him. Marsellus then calls off the contract on Butch's life, as long as Butch never mentions the rape to anyone and leaves Los Angeles permanently. Butch heads back to the motel and reconciles with Fabienne, and they both flee on Zed's chopper to catch a train to Tennessee.

Butch at age 39 is portrayed by Bruce Willis and Butch at age 8 is portrayed by Chandler Lindauer.

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