Janine Butcher (also Evans, Malloy and Carter) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, introduced in 1989. The character is played by Rebecca Michael, Alexia Demetriou and Charlie Brooks respectively. Brooks initially departed on 7 May 2004. She returned for a three episode guest stint in April 2008 before returning permanently on 18 December of that year. Brooks later took a break from September 2012 until April 2013, then departed again on 20 March 2014. In April 2021, it was announced that Brooks would reprise the role once again and return later in the year. She returned on 6 September 2021. It was announced on 24 September 2022 that Brooks had only agreed to reprise the role for 12 months and would depart again at the conclusion of her storyline, with her final scenes airing on 26 December 2022.

The character has been described as a "super-bitch" and a "classic villainess". She has proven popular with critics and fans of the show. Her storylines typically involve her in an antagonistic role. She has been married five times: to Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson), whom she killed on New Year's Day 2004; David (Harry Towb), who died on their wedding day; Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott); Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd); and Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) who "died" on Christmas day 2022, a day after their wedding. Her feuds include a long-standing conflict with former stepmothers Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement) and Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor). She also had feuds with Sonia Jackson (Natalie Cassidy), Lynne Slater (Elaine Lordan), Laura Beale (Hannah Waterman), Kat (Jessie Wallace), Zoe (Michelle Ryan), Stacey (Lacey Turner), Jean Slater (Gillian Wright), Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), Jada Lennox (Kelsey Calladine-Smith), Shirley Carter (Linda Henry), and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). Her initial departure saw Janine being wrongfully charged for the death of Laura Beale. Upon her return, she attends her father's funeral and wake. Later that year, Janine is caught forging a wedding to a wealthy, old-aged pensioner, which ends with her new husband abruptly dying of a heart attack upon discovering her false identity. She later accidentally kills local resident Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace) by running her down; conspires with Peggy's husband Archie (Larry Lamb) to defraud the Mitchell family from their ownership of The Queen Victoria public house; and becomes a prime suspect in Archie's murder investigation (Who Killed Archie?). Janine later becomes involved in a love triangle with her third husband, Ryan, and his baby's mother, Stacey. All of this results in Janine framing Stacey for her attempted murder and also attempting to kill Ryan by poisoning him. Janine later gives birth to a daughter, Scarlett, with her fourth husband, Michael, and they become embroiled in a custody battle, which leads to Janine murdering Michael, prompting her third departure from the show after she was acquitted for his murder.

In Brooks' third stint as Janine, her storylines include being in a custody battle for Scarlett (now Tabitha Byron) with Kat, accidentally starting a fire that almost kills Scarlett and Kat's son Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall), reigniting her feuds with both Kat and Stacey, framing Jay Brown (Jamie Borthwick) for car theft, manipulating a separation between Mick and Linda Carter in order to have him to herself, regaining custody of Scarlett, a feud with Linda in which she frames her for a car accident, blackmailing Jada into helping her bring Linda down, discovering she is pregnant with Mick's child and later marrying him, before being widowed the following day after another car accident with Linda that she indirectly caused, leading to her arrest and fourth departure from the show.

The character was first mentioned in September 1987, when her father Frank Butcher (Mike Reid) first appeared on-screen. Frank and his children Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen) and Diane Butcher (Sophie Lawrence) were introduced as regular characters in 1988. However, Janine did not become a regular character until a year later, in June 1989, her arrival completing the Butcher family.

Janine was initially seen as a 6-year-old, played by Rebecca Michael. In 1993, following a storyline that saw her stepmother Pat Butcher (Pam St Clement) imprisoned for manslaughter, Janine was sent to stay with her off-screen sister Clare Butcher, but she returned later that year, played by 11-year-old Alexia Demetriou, who appeared as Janine from 14 October 1993 until 12 March 1996, when the character was written out again, as Demetriou left to concentrate on her studies. Executive producer Matthew Robinson re-introduced Janine in 1999 as a 16-year-old, played by Charlie Brooks. On her getting the part, Brooks said, "It's funny, but for as long as I can remember I knew I was going to make it, I never worried about my career or money, and when I left college I was headstrong and confident and felt very grown. Then I joined EastEnders and I felt like a lost little girl. I remember the casting director taking me to meet Patsy Palmer on my first day there and, because I'd been watching EastEnders since I was little, I actually felt sick".

Janine's backstory states that she was born just four years before her mother, June, died from cancer, and Janine subsequently went to live with her sister Clare (Lucy Foxell; Caroline O'Neill). Eventually, Janine's father, Frank (Mike Reid), moved to Walford with her older siblings Ricky (Sid Owen) and Diane (Sophie Lawrence), as well as with his beloved wife Pat Wicks (Pam St Clement). Soon afterwards, Clare moved to Manchester in 1989, leaving Janine with Pat and Frank.

Janine is described by the EastEnders website as a "brutal minx whose motto is that money can buy happiness. She will manipulate, marry and murder once she's had a sniff of the Queen's head." It continues: "Janine's a great actress who enjoys seducing people, but the clever diva doesn't always get the end results she desires, which has even led to her imprisonment."

Underneath the hard exterior she's really a little girl lost, who wants to love and be loved more than anything – just don't expect her to admit it!"