Dr. Waldo Butters is a human male, working as a medical examiner in Chicago. Butter's first appearance is in Death Masks. ^[1]

Contents 1 Description 2 Biography 3 In the Series 3.1 In Dead Beat 3.2 After Dead Beat 4 Butter's Quotes 5 References 6 See Also 6.1 Characters 6.2 Places / Groups / Things

DescriptionEdit

In Dead Beat, Waldo Butters is and 37 years old. He is Jewish and five-feet-three, 120 pounds.^[1]

Waldo likes to play Polka music while he works and it can be heard down the hall.^[1]

Waldo seems perfectly content to hide, being ill-eqquipped to defend himself against the threats fo Necromancers. Some may even call him cowardly. But Waldo has hidden nerve and brains and helps Harry in unexpected ways, even to himself, when it counts. (Dead Beat)

When Butters gave Harry a guitar to practice on for physical therapy, Harry told him that "for a mortician, you're a pretty good healer." ^[2]

Hary taught Butters how to make a Circle of Power with chalk and a drop of his blood to protect himself from supernatural threats.^[3]

Biography Edit

Murphy tells Dresden that during the course of Grave Peril Butters had declared that the vampire corpses recovered from Bianca's estate after her ball were human-like but definitely not human. Because of this, he was subjected to a psychological review, and the ridicule of his peers.^[1]

After Blood Rites he acts as a physical therapist and friend to Harry.

He is presumed to be held in esteem by the White Council. (ref?)

In the Series Edit

in Death Masks, in his first appearance, Butters examines a headless body and shows it to Karrin Murphy and Harry Dresden helping with a supernatural investigation. The corpse died of multiple plagues and has a tattoo in the shape of a symbolic open eye under his arm.^[1] Bob identified the eye symbol as the Eye of Thoth^[4] Later, he called Harry to tell him that the Germs disappeared from the plague ridden corpse and the samples.^[5]

In Dead BeatEdit

Butters comes up with a theory about why wizards live so long, why they effect electronics, and aspects of Harry's anatomy that make him special. He believes that with wizards, at least with Harry, the damage they sustain to bone and cells completely heal with time. With regular humans, the damage is cumulative, with Wizards, it's not cumulative. That means, according to Butters, that Harry's wizard ability to heal will eventually heal his badly burned hand. ^[6]

While Harry was there, two Necromancers, Grevane and Cassius, come to his office with zombies planning to abduct him. This was while Harry Dresden was there on a case. Harry helps Butters escape. Then Butters demands that Harry explain things, and Harry finally relents, telling him about the world of magic.^[1]

Throughout Dead Beat, Harry protects Butters from the Necromancers hiding him behind his wards at his apartment. One day, Grevane leads an army of zombies in an assault on Harry's appartment. While Harry and Thomas plot an escape, Harry boosts up Butter's courage by giving him a rally cry: "Polka will never die!". Then, some zombies get Butters through a window. Harry trades the info on the jump drive for Butters.^[7]

Butters aids Harry in cool techy ways, like finding The Word of Kemmler using a GPS box. And, in unexpected brave ways like saving Harry's life when Cassius was torturing him and about to kill him at the Field Museum. Butters assists Harry Dresden by acting as the drummer for the necro-summoning of Sue the dinosaur at the Field Museum.^[8]

While Harry and Carlos Ramirez were fighting the Heirs of Kemmler with Sue, he uses his medical skills to patch up a near fatal wound in Anastasia Luccio's new body. At the end, Butters gave Harry a guitar for Christmas to practice on for physical therapy.^[2]

After Dead BeatEdit

In Turn Coat, Butters bandages up Donald Morgan's badly wounded leg.^[9] Harry brings Butters over to Billy Borden's for Game night—they're short one after Kirby's death by Shagnasty. There he meets the Alphas and including Andi. They all seem happy to include him. He knows a lot about gaming so he brings a lot of skill with him.^[10]

In Changes, Butters is called over to St. Mary of the Angels by Molly Carpenter when Harry breaks his back. He ends up trying to revive Harry Dresden with a defibrillator after his heart stops. A hit man, Stevie D then plants two rounds into his back. Butters survives because prior to coming over, he put on a bullet proof suit because of Harry's track record with trouble. He was also carrying garlic, salt and a piece of chalk for making circles. 

In Ghost Story,

In Cold Days,

Butter's QuotesEdit

In Death Masks, Amazed by the disappearing germs created by a real spell, Waldo asks Harry: "Is there is a book or cliffNotes to this stuff?" Harry replies, "No, just me."^[5]

"Screw up my life?" he stared at me for a second and then said, deadpan, "I'm a five-foot-three, thirty-seven year-old, Jewish medical examiner who needs to pick up his lederhosen from the driy cleaners so that he can play in a one-man polka band at Oktoberfest tomorrow." He pushed up his glasses with his forefinger, folded his arms, and said, "Do you worst." — [This was during the scene when he was insisting that Harry tell him the truth about the world of magic and what was after him.] ^[1]

Butter's tagline throughout the series is "Polka will never die!". ^[11]

References Edit

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Dead Beat, ch. 5
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Dead Beat, ch. 43
3. ↑ Dead Beat, ch. 36
4. ↑ Dead Beat, ch. 8
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Death Masks, ch. 14
6. ↑ Dead Beat, ch. 4
7. ↑ Dead Beat, ch. 22 and 23
8. ↑ Dead Beat, ch. 36 and 37
9. ↑ Turn Coat, ch. 1
10. ↑ Turn Coat, ch. 49
11. ↑ Dead Beat, ch. 22, originated here.

See AlsoEdit

CharactersEdit

• Karrin Murphy
• Bob the Skull
• Andi
• Alphas
• William Borden
• Grevane
• Quintus Cassius
• Sue
• Anastasia Luccio
• Molly Carpenter
• Donald Morgan
• [[
• Stevie D
• Bianca St. Claire

Places / Groups / ThingsEdit

• Heirs of Kemmler
• Necromancers
• Forensic Institute
• Chicago Alliance

• Field Museum
• White Council
• Bianca's Ball
• The Dresden Files quotes
• Saint Mary of the Angels
• Circle of Power
• Magic