Bill Dauterive

Do-gooder
Full Name	William Fontaine de la Tour Dauterive
Alias(es)	Bill Norman Schwarzkopf The Dauterive Hollywood
Origin	King of the Hill
Occupation	Army Barber
Powers / Skills	Unknown
Hobby	Unknown
Goals	Depending on the episode
Family	Unknown
Friends / Allies	Hank Hill Dale Gribble Boomhauer
Enemies	Unknown
Type of Hero	Depressed Divorcee

William "Bill" Fontaine de La Tour Dauterive (born June 22, 1953) is a fictional character on the Fox animated series King of the Hill. He is the Hills' bald, overweight, divorced, and clinically depressed neighbor, voiced by Stephen Root and named for series producer Jim Dauterive.

Personality

Bill is indicated as coming from an upper-class Cajun family in Louisiana: the family lived on a vast estate called the Chateau D'Haute Rive ("castle on the high bank") until his cousin, Gilbert, was forced to sell it. He speaks fluent Cajun French and plays the accordion skillfully, which surprises him just as much as it does everyone else. His father was abusive, spanking him regularly, locking him in a rabbit hutch, and making him wear dresses (Bill attempts to justify these actions when he mentions them). As of the season 2 episode "The Final Shinsult", Bill's father is presumably still alive (though slowing down in his later years), based upon Bill's remark to Hank that his father "can't even load a hunting rifle anymore," with Bill further commenting that he has to "practically put it in his hands and pull the trigger." By the time of the season 4 episode "A Beer Can Named Desire," Bill's only living male relative is his dandified cousin Gilbert, who still lives in Louisiana. By season 11, the two are guardians of the family's secret barbecue sauce recipe, which Gilbert refuses to allow Bill to sell. (However, Bill eventually gives the recipe to Bobby Hill so he can pass it on to his children, thus keeping the Dauterive tradition alive).

Although overweight, balding, and emotionally needy in his later years, Bill was a muscular, confident athlete with long-flowing hair in his youth. Nicknamed "The Billdozer", he held Arlen High's career touchdown record until a young athlete named Ricky Suggs broke it years later. Ricky, however, is simply allowed to score the record-breaking touchdown by the other team due to a torn ACL, rather than playing injured as Bill would have; to regain his honor Bill rejoins the team to score one last touchdown and re-tie the record (he had redshirt eligibility due to joining the Army during his senior year). Bill's bright future was derailed when he attended a Molly Hatchet concert and found his future wife Lenore passed out in his lap in 1991; she would go on to cheat on and humiliate Bill before finally leaving him a broken shell of his former self. Although there appear to be several factors, it can generally be assumed that her leaving him was the major cause of his downward spiral. In the episode "Order of the Straight Arrow", Bill says "I'm so depressed, I can't even blink", upon the reminiscence of his childhood days as an Arrow Scout and remembering his wishes to be a free-spirited pilot like his father. Bill's negative self-concept is clearly displayed in the episode "A Firefighting We Will Go"; Bill, Dale, Hank, and Boomhauer recall an evening's events, and, while the other three characters imagine themselves in a positive light, Bill imagines himself as being balder, fatter, and more of a glutton than he is in reality. Despite all of this, Bill is loyal and brave in the face of adversity, rescuing the Hills from their house after smelling a gas leak and resuscitating both Peggy and Hank on their front lawn afterwards.

Bill is often a foil for his friends, who verbally and emotionally put him down on a regular basis, either because they don't realize how hurtful their remarks are or because Bill is too dimwitted to mind very much. He is the first person to be mentioned when any character refers to losers or bemoans a misfortune for fear their lives will be ruined, like his. For example, Hank, while telling Peggy that a lawn "makes a man" and gives him a purpose, says "Without my lawn, I am Bill," which provokes a shudder from Peggy. Conversely, Bill greatly admires Hank and often seeks his advice before doing anything, and for his help when in trouble. He is usually quick to help his friends and occasionally gets dragged into Dale's crazy schemes; however, he is frequently unreliable. In particular, Bill handles pressure very poorly; he is bad at keeping secrets, and he is quick to panic if a situation becomes tense. He is also shown to be quite gullible and easily manipulated, due in part to his low self-esteem. Of all his acquaintances, Boomhauer and Hank seems to be the ones who gives him the most respect.

Bill has an obsessive crush on Peggy, and frequently makes bumbling, inappropriate remarks about her. Although Bill always speaks highly of Peggy and looks to her as the epitome of desire, she looks at him with total contempt. There are popular fan rumors that Bobby Hill is actually Bill's biological son, due to similarities in appearance, Hank's narrow urethra, Bill's crush on Peggy, and Peggy's disgust towards Bill.

Although Bill's friends are often disgusted or frustrated at his stupidity and unreliability, they were devastated when it appeared that he had sacrificed himself to save them when they were stuck on a military target zone, with Hank saying that he was a good friend – sweet, loyal, and brave. During their high school years, as they have one last blowout in Bill's honor as he's being shipped off, a drunken Hank stirs up a fight with a thug at a bar, but Bill intervenes and saves Hank. On some occasions, Bill will fight back, and relentlessly, if pushed enough.

When examining Bill's Army medical history, Dale discovered that Bill was unknowingly made part in an experiment called "Operation: Infinite Walrus", to create a hybrid soldier capable of operating in freezing cold waters. It is assumed that the experimental drugs are the cause of his weight gain, excessive body hair, baldness, and terrible body odor and breath until it's revealed that he was in the control group given a placebo. Bill is also shown to have a severe but easily treatable foot fungus, which actually comes in handy once to help Hank get revenge on a fraudulent mold inspector. Bill was diagnosed with diabetes and was told he would lose his ability to walk, but then later this was contradicted by the inept diagnosing doctor, who says that he only said Bill was likely to lose his ability to walk from diabetes. Originally the doctor made it seem like Bill would ultimately need to use a wheelchair. (Later, Bill beats him up for this, with Hank standing guard.) Ironically, this "diagnosis" leads Bill to a depressed slump, where he meets Thunder, a wheelchair-using muscle man who plays a wheelchair-friendly version of Rugby. This then leads Bill to get into better shape while playing the sport and this cured his diabetes.

Bill's personal hygiene and other habits are shown to be very poor. As previously mentioned, he has severe foot fungus, terrible breath, and body odor (when opening the hatch of a tank Bill had stolen, Hank believed there was a dead animal inside due to the smell). Various comments indicate that he doesn't shower or brush his teeth on a regular basis. Bobby states that he has dandruff in spite of being bald. He is regularly shown eating food he finds in or under his couch, and has even been shown to eat food without dishes (as in one episode where he was cooking himself spaghetti, where he broke his only plate and was forced to eat the spaghetti off of his counter and drink the jar of sauce he was going to serve with it). He dumps garbage directly out his kitchen window, despite having a garbage can. He has been shown to fall asleep while eating snacks, which attracts animals into his bedroom, though he seems incredulous or apathetic to this. His bathroom is described as disgusting, when asked if they would rather endure a dangerous and painful stunt (such as sticking a wasp up one's nose) or shower in Bill's bathroom, his friends always choose the former. When assigned tasks to get his house ready for a family reunion after Nancy and Peggy are assigned the bathroom, both are horrified and desperately try to change assignments. He also has a foot fetish, finding Peggy's unnaturally over-sized feet very appealing, and even tries to take her discarded full-body cast as she convalesces following a disastrous skydive.

Bill is also portrayed as being the poorest of Hank's friends. However, he resides in a similar looking house as all the other members of the main cast (one episode reveals he won it in his divorce). Moreover, although Bill is portrayed as poor, he is often seen spending money on extravagant or needless items. This is likely because he generally does not date, nor has any family, leaving him with extra income. Moreover, while Dale and Nancy cannot afford a plastic surgery in the episode "Trouble With The Gribbles", Bill offers to pay for it himself, signifying that he may be wealthier than the Gribble family.

Despite being physically out of shape, a target of many pranks, and incompetent in many areas, Bill is a highly skilled barber, as depicted in the episodes "Hank's Bad Hair Day" and "My Hair Lady." When the Army eliminates its barbers in the former episode, the commander of the base where Bill is stationed creates a fictitious Military Occupational Specialty as a cover for him to continue working as a barber.