Shawn Butler first appears in January 2011, comforting Molly Lansing who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after shooting Jerry Jacks.
Molly's aunt, Carly Corinthos Jacks later shows her gratitude by offering him a room at her hotel, which he declines.
It is soon revealed that Shawn is working for Theo Hoffman, who is secretly operating as The Balkan, an international crime lord.
Carly finds a wounded Shawn on the side of the road and helps him recover before he is nearly killed by Sonny Corinthos.
When serial killer, Franco begins menacing Carly and her daughter, Josslyn Jacks, Jason hires Shawn as bodyguard.
In July 2011, after Jax is run out of town by Sonny, Shawn believing he'll be back begins paying more attention to Carly and her daughter.
On August 8, Shawn attempts to stop Jax from leaving town with Josslyn, but his efforts are stalled when he has a PTSD attack.
In October 2011, after receiving a package from Franco, Carly and Shawn go to Hawaii to warn Jason who is on his honeymoon with new wife, Sam.
In November 2011, on Veteran's Day, Shawn opens up to Carly about his friend and fellow marine Tommy Ashford whom he accidentally killed in Afghanistan and how his father was gunned down in front of him when he was a kid.
In January 2012, as Shawn is preparing to leave Port Charles, he is forced to take in Tommy's trouble teenage son, T. J. Ashford, who has run away from home and has to stay.
Shawn asks to escort Carly to the General Hospital Pulmonary benefit at the Metro Court, but she doesn't return his call.
In the summer, Shawn defends Molly and T.J. when is it discovered that they have been seeing one another in secret, and he convinces Alexis that their relationship won't really cause any trouble.
After the disappearance of Jason Morgan who was shot and killed by Cesar Faison, Shawn becomes an associate of Sonny.
On May 27, 2015 he pleaded guilty to shooting Hayden Barnes and was sent to prison because Shawn's attorney and Sonny's half-brother Ric Lansing couldn't refute the evidence.
[1] In early April 2016, Sam and Jason Morgan visit Shawn in Pentonville to discuss Hayden Barnes' shooting in 2015 after the wedding disaster at the All Saints Church.
Shawn is released from Prison after TJ and Molly Lansing proved the sentencing Judge had a personal vendetta.
"the budding relationship between reformed mercenary Shawn Butler (Sean Blakemore) and resident bitch goddess Carly Corinthos Jacks (Laura Wright) proved to be one of the few rays of sunlight peeking through the darkness over Port Chuck."
Then head writer, Robert Guza, Jr. began toying with the idea, even promoting an angle where Shawn and Carly fall for one another, with Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) standing by.
[29] Wolf went ahead with the couple's first kiss on October 27, 2011 and caught the attention of many media outlets including, Entertainment Weekly.
2 on Daytime Confidential's list of the Best Couples of 2011, saying that in the midst of rest of the stories being told at the time, which caused the ratings to dwindle, the potential pairing was the only one that showed promise.
Blakemore is another one of casting director Mark Teschner’s amazing finds — even if he represents a continuation of GH’s annoying habit of naming characters after the actors who play them.
Shawn also brings some much needed ethnic diversity to GH, where people of color are usually relegated to the hospital — far from the center of the action.
"[31] In 2012, Blakemore received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Shawn.
"[23] Eventually, Blakemore did not win the award, losing to fellow GH cast member Jonathan Jackson, who portrays Lucky Spencer.
[33] In 2016, Blakemore received his second nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a drama series and won the award for the first time.