Butch Flowers

"Now I know you're worried about our mission. But I can tell you this. There's nothing, more important to me, than the safety, and well-being, of my men. Or my name, isn't Captain Butch Flowers."

- Captain Flowers in Silver Linings

Captain Butch Flowers, formerly known as Freelancer Agent Florida, was the Blue Team's previous commanding officer at Blood Gulch. Despite Flowers' few appearances, his role in the Blood Gulch Chronicles and the Project Freelancer Saga have a significant impact to the series.

Project Freelancer
Flowers is present during a briefing in Planning the Heist, but isn't assigned to a team. He is then present on the Pelican that picks up Carolina, after the battle with Insurrectionists on the highway, in order to retrieve a briefcase. Flowers returns in Oversight, spying on C.T. and other Insurrectionist soldiers with Freelancer Wyoming. Later, he and Wyoming attempt to ambush the Insurrectionist Leader and C.T. when they retreat into a bunker. But, before the two can initiate their attack, he is spotted by the Leader and is struck from afar by his thrown, collapsable tomahawk. After being struck, the other Freelancers arrive.

Flowers survives the injury and pulls the embedded tomahawk out of his shoulder, with Wyoming remarking; "Good show, mate! That's the spirit. Still have a bit of fight in you." Flowers then proceeds to throw the tomahawk at the Chain Guy and Chain Girl, but falls short. After taking cover from the incoming fire, he then proceeds to shoot the crane's arm in the complex using explosive ammunition. As a result, the crane collapses, causing its cargo to knock the two chain gunners off of the platform and crush them.

Transfer to Blood Gulch
In Don't Say It, the Director states that they need to move the Alpha A.I. to a location where nobody would recognize him, and that they needed someone whom they could trust to guard him. The Counselor then suggests Flowers as the prime candidate, in which Director corrects him by stating "You mean Agent Florida?". Flowers then walks into the room, and states that he was happy that he was chosen. The Director then states that they're going to need to find a way to explain his disappearance, in which Counselor replies that he already has it handled. When the Director asks where Flowers and Alpha are going to be transferred to, the Counselor states he knows exactly where. In order to cover Flowers' tracks, the Director and Counselor erase all records of Florida. While at Blood Gulch, Captain Flowers and Tucker had planned to pull out of Blood Gulch but upon Church's arrival and subsequent news on the "destruction of the Blue Base on Sidewinder" this effort was scrapped. However, Captain Flowers was sometimes considered to be a "fruit". Before his death, Flowers had been planning to lead a Blue offensive to destroy the Red Team in Blood Gulch, and knew the key to the Blues' victory. He had just finished fine tuning the teleporter and was about to order Tucker a sniper rifle when he died from what Church and Tucker assumed was a heart attack in his sleep. Upon finding his dead body, Tucker took Captain Flowers' armor for himself. It was later revealed that he had encountered Private Church from the future, who didn't know about his allergy and injected him with Aspirin in an ironic attempt to save his life.

Return and Demise
In Episode 96, it is revealed he was revived by and allied with the Green Alien and inhabited by O'Malley when he met Doc, Sister, and Junior in the underground caves. He was wearing the standard blue armor - most likely Tucker's old armor - and talked with two voices, his and O'Malley's. In Why Were We Here?, O'Malley left him, and left him unconscious. Doc healed him, and went back onto Blood Gulch and talked to Tucker about the situation. He announced that he had information that could win them the war, but dramatically pauses before he reveals the information and is sniped by unknown forces. It has been speculated that the shot that killed him was fired by the Wyoming clones, however the clones were all dead at this point.

Personality
When he first appeared in the series, Flowers was down to earth, treated the Blues with kindness, and was protective of them, making him a complete opposite to Sarge. He's shown to be very positive most of the time and strangely speaks about the Reds, as if they were kids as he calls them "old rascals". He also seems to have much humility as he doesn't mind being called by his name without his rank.

As Agent Florida, Flowers rarely spoke and followed every order he was given, making him seem very professional about his job. Flowers seems to have much trust from others, as the Counselor and Director gave him the duty to protect Alpha at Blood Gulch.

Combat
Though he has only been shown in combat on rare occasions, Florida seems to be a very formidable opponent. While he may lack the same strength as the other Freelancers, he is a very smart fighter, using his surroundings to his advantage. An example of this is first shown in C.T. when he, York, Washington, and Wyoming were all pinned down by the rapid gunfire of the Twin Insurrectionist Chain Gunners, with seemingly no way out.

Though he was not strong enough to strike the gunners with a tomahawk, the throw bought him enough time to take cover. He quickly discovers a way to take the upper hand in the situation by malfunctioning a nearby crane and causing the box it was holding to crush the Chain Gunners to death. Florida also seems to have the trust of the Counselor to protect the Alpha and the Director showed no doubt in his decision.

Kills
Before he was sent to Blood Gulch, Agent Florida killed Chain Guy and Chain Girl.

Trivia

 * According to Burnie Burns Flowers was present at the Freelancer training facility . It was revealed in the episode Don't Say It that Flowers was actually Freelancer Agent Florida, and was transferred to Blood Gulch to watch over the Alpha A.I.
 * Due to his rank of Captain, Flowers is the soldier in Project Freelancer with the highest stated rank seen in the series and the only Freelancer agent given a rank at all.
 * Flowers is the first Blood Gulch Blue Team member to die in the series.
 * Ironically, Flowers' real name relates to his assigned Freelancer name, as the Latin translation of Florida is flowery or filled with flowers.
 * Flowers is the only Freelancer Agent whose full name is revealed.
 * Flowers currently has the second highest armor changes in the series, having three different types: aqua colored Mk. V armor, blue colored Mk. VI armor, and blue colored ODST armor with ammo rounds wrapped around.
 * In the Project Freelancer Saga, Florida's name was never revealed until Don't Say It. Before then, many fans of the series called him MBG (Mysterious Blue Guy).
 * Flowers is the third highest ranking soldier in the series, tied with Tucker, Simmons, Caboose, and Grif, and behind Colonel Sarge and General Doyle.
 * Flowers, along with Washington, is one of the only known Freelancer who did not go rogue and personally disband from Project Freelancer.