| “ | Tomorrow morning's special meal: Prime cut gladiator ribs! | ” |
| — John Woolridge, Swords and Sandals II: Redux | ||
John "The Butcher" Woolridge is an Arena Champion and a recurring figure in the Swords and Sandals series.
| John The Butcher |
|---|
| A self-styled "pillar of the community" and owner of the popular Woolridge’s Meat Emporium, John the Butcher was also a musician in his youth. He had a minor hit song many years ago, "Every Time You Go Away (You Take A Piece Of Meat With You)". After the events of 'Swords and Sandals II', he would take over management of the Doomtrek arenas and become fabulously wealthy. He would also go on to make an appearance as one of the boardgame participants in 'Swords and Sandals IV', and had a quick cameo in 'Swords and Sandals V', buying the carcass of the giant minotaur Big Moo off the hero. -Tome of Lore[2]
|
Appearance[]
Throughout the series, John has the appearance of an elderly yet rather fit man of light complexion with a red scruffy beard and supposedly green eyes. He is always seen wearing a rosy porcine-themed circle around his hairless head. He is also shown to have a tattoo on each forearm. As a champion, he wears the Peasant or Noob set and wields a Hatchet.
Game Appearances[]
In every of his game appearances as an Arena Champion, John is the final opponent of the first tournament Woolridge's Meat Emporium Cup.
| Fascinating Fact |
|---|
| The song 'Every time you go away, you take a piece of meat with you' was a huge hit for John the Butcher several decades ago. |
Swords and Sandals II: Emperor's Reign[]
| Stats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
110 | Strenght | 6 |
|
150 | Agility | 3 |
|
86 | Attack | 1 |
|
20 | Defence | 3 |
|
|
44 | Vitality | 3 |
|
5 | Charisma | 2 |
| Hgt | 5'5 | Stamina | 5 |
| Wgt | 152 lb | Magicka | 1 |
| Equipment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Helmet | Breastplate | Shoulders | Gauntlets |
 Hat of the Pig (25) |
None (16) |
None (8) |
None (0) |
| Greaves | Shins | Boots | Shield |
 Peasant (6) |
 Brigand (24) |
None (1) |
None (0) |
| Melee | Ranged | ||
 Hatchet (8-32) + 11 
|
None | ||
| Items | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Medium Stamina Vial |
 None |
None |
None |
None |
None |
Swords and Sandals II: Redux[]
| Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local meat merchant, braggart and alleged pillar of the community. | ||||
 4
|
 2
|
| ||
 2
|
 1
| |||
 2
|
 2
| |||
 1
|
 2
| |||
5'5, 162 lbs  5  26  89  142  65
| ||||
| Equipment | ||
|---|---|---|
| Helmet | Breastplate | Shield |
Hat of Ham (70) |
 Cutpurse Shirt (25) |
 Cutpurse Shield (17) |
| Shoulderguards | Armguards | Boots |
 Cutpurse Shoulderguards (12) |
 Cutpurse Bracers (11) |
 Cutpurse Sandals (7) |
| Weapon | ||
 Fine Tomahawk (14) | ||
Swords and Sandals: Mini Fighters[]
John appears in Mini Fighters, once again as the first Arena Champion. He is currently not featured in the final version of the game from the Swords and Sandals Classic Collection.
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| 5'6, 123 lbs | Strong Human | |
|
|
4 | 
|
|
17-22 | |
|
|
132 | |
|
70 | |
Swords and Sandals IV: Tavern Quests[]
| “ | Aye lad, deal in John the Butcher | ” |
John appears, among a few others, in Tavern Quests as one of the boardgame participants within the Tavern. He is featured in the "3 Gladiators" and "4 Gladiators" game modes.
Swords and Sandals: Champion Sprint[]
John appears in the turn-based game Champion Sprint as the 4th opponent.
- Agility: 1
- Strenght: 3
- Vitality: 1
- Stamina: 2
- Skill: 3
- Health: 30
- Arrows: 2
Swords and Sandals V: Grail of Antares[]
John makes a cameo appearance in Swords and Sandals V, he will approach to you after Big Moo is defeated and pays you handsomely for the minotaur carcass.
Trivia[]
- John the Butcher is based on the first employer Oliver Joyce, the developer, had as a teenager.[3]
- The song that John the Butcher is said to be known for in his character description that can be found with-in the Tome of Lore, appears to be a reference to a song by the musician Paul Young that is called "Everytime You Go Away (You Take A Piece Of Me With You)".
- In Emperor's Reign, he has armour points on bare body parts.
- The same applies with the Son of Stylonius and The Great Beast.
- He also doesn't have the needed amount of statistics to afford either the Hatchet or the Medium Stamina Vial.
Gallery[]
