Everyone encounters a bully at some point in their life. What motivates them is a mystery, but there they are, out to ruin your day. Sometimes they want to pick a fight. Sometimes they want to put you down. Whatever they do, they are bad apples content on shaking your tree. In television and movies we see these adversaries time and again, and though we may be better off leaving them alone, here we list the ten most notorious of all time.
Biff Tannen - "Back to the Future" Trilogy
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Say what you will about Biff Tannen, he sure does bring dedication to the art of bullying. Though we never see him raise hell on the playground as a youngster, within the generations covered by the "BTTF" trilogy, Biff's antics are reliably awful throughout, where only Fidel Castro might boast a longer tenure as an oppressor. In true bully fashion, Biff and his football player build preys on the weak, employing intimidation, brute force, and noogies to get his dastardly way. But years can finally catch up to you, and decade-hopping time travelers time and again clean his clock with the force of an unexpected -- or maybe expected -- bolt of lightning.
(Photo credit: Universal Pictures/Photofest)
Lucy Van Pelt - Various "Peanuts" Specials
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Don't let the wide, pencil-thin smile nor dainty, blue dress fool you. Lucy Van Pelt is perhaps the most troublesome female to reign over any cartoon universe, particularly for someone practicing psychiatry (though we are rightly dubious of her credentials to do so). She is a pint-sized hellion, directing fits of anger, bluster, and humiliating taunts to all the venues children, dogs, and birds might otherwise find security and solace. And even without superpowers, her forceful screams can lift unlucky recipients of her wrath off their feet, hurtling helplessly backwards. Put a football in her hand and Lucy is at her very worst. Despite denials to the contrary, she will pull the pigskin away from you right at the moment you're about to kick it -- every single time -- leading to certain injury and soul-crushing embarrassment.
(Photo credit: CBS/Photofest)
Scut Farkus - "A Christmas Story"
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A permanent entry on Santa's naughty list, Scut Farkus is the classic neighborhood bully, making the walk between school and home more terrifying then anything Little Red Riding Hood would ever encounter herself. This wolf in classmate's clothing comes complete with yellow eyes, a menacing laugh, and any villain's greatest accessory -- a sidekick named Grover Dill. In a nifty coonskin cap, Scut lurks in the shadows to pounce and make you cry Uncle with more than relative ease. But as comeuppances go, Scut's is sugarplum sweet, when a frequent victim breaks and punches back -- over and over again -- in front of a sizable rabble of the student body.
(MGM/UA Entertainment Company/Photofest)
Nelson Muntz - "The Simpsons"
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Though populated with other teenage bullies, Springfield's most infamous is 4
th grader, Nelson Muntz. Coming from a broken home (literally), he is a model student of bad behavior. Schoolchildren beware, Nelson spares no one from his seemingly arbitrary pattern of physical abuse. Bart is one frequent victim though they do share some similarities. Most of all is wardrobe, though Nelson ups Bart in style with a serrated-fringed vest. But his role as town bully is a complex one for he has often shown a vulnerable side, capable of compassion and even love. But others' misfortune is too tempting a treat for Nelson and, whether its catalyst or not, will reliably resort to mockery with his shameless, trademark laugh. (Photo credit: Simpsons Wiki)
Bobby Kent - "Bully"
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Sometimes a bully can go too far, and that is what leads to the tragic downfall of Bobby Kent. The fact that this true crime story was based in Florida, which seems to grow senseless scandal as abundantly as oranges, doesn't help. Bobby's strange hold over his friend Marty includes routine physical abuse through the course of a relationship that began in grade school. Unable to break away from that treatment on his own, his pregnant, lovestruck girlfriend Lisa, also victim of Bobby's physical and sexual abuse, sees a murderous way out. Stir in an additional quintet of directionless delinquents and drug users gripping knives and a bat and the tables are turned on this "Bully" in an horrifically unHollywood way. (Photo credit: Lions Gate Films)
Nellie Oleson - "Little House on the Prairie"
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A flaxen-haired beast in a bonnet, Nellie Oleson was perhaps series TV's first Mean Girl, a breakout 19
th Century bully. Hailing from the fruited plains of Walnut Grove, she terrorized Minnesota residents long before Michelle Bachmann snatched that torch. A wealthy, spoiled brat with dollish curls covering an aggressive, manipulative mind she is the perfect antagonist and thorn-in-the-side to plain, wholesome farmgirl, Laura Ingalls. Laura becomes the unwanted target of Nellie's crosshairs and repeatedly bears the brunt of her homespun hostility. But Laura's no shrinking violet and often retaliates in kind, knocking Nellie off her embroidered perch time and again, sometimes right into the Minnesota mud.
(Photo credit: NBC/Photofest)
Bluto - "Popeye" Cartoons
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Or is it Brutus? Either way, this bully is no good. Though first friends with less bulky shipmate Popeye, their love for the same woman made them mortal enemies, bringing out the worst in Bluto. A rough nature with a short temper raining down from a bodybuilder's frame, he is quick to draw fists and use them. Fair fights mean little to Bluto, who rarely picks on anyone his own size. He openly consorts with seahags and other fiends and isn't above kidnapping, even Olive Oyl, the very object of his affection. But there is an item that Bluto should always be fearful of, since it usually leads to his undoing - a specific variety of canned goods. (Photo credit: YouTube)
Heather Chandler - "Heathers"
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Just as terrifying as any movie swarm, the three namesakes from "Heathers" bring mayhem to the unpopular at Westerburg High. Their queen is the beautiful, blonde Heather Chandler whose red scrunchie wields more power and influence than any Hobbit's ring. And despite her love of Corn Nuts, this is no cool chick. She's a sharply dressed elevator of profanity whose place atop the social ladder leaves her to revel in her status and delight in her ability to destroy those beneath her. So sure is she of her omnipotence that she is completely unaware of both revenge seekers and the corrosive power of drain cleaner.
(Photo credit: New World Pictures/Photofest)
Johnny Lawrence - "The Karate Kid"
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As they do the schoolyard, William Zabka ruled the 80's as that decade's most rotten bully. (Only James Spader might compete for that title, though what Zabka delivered with vile menace, Spader brought in slime.) His greatest tyrannical triumph though was Johnny Lawrence, who didn't just make Jersey transplant Daniel LaRusso's move to the Golden State miserable through normal bully means, but this motherscratcher also knows karate! In fact, the top student in his dojo - which seems to specialize in cruelty and pain - philosophies Lawrence carries into social interactions with his peers. (Alhough his taste in group Halloween costumes is quite impressive.) But it takes two to tettsui uchi, and Daniel's sensei has got some moves of his own to instill in his protégé. When the two young adversaries meet at the All-Valley Karate Tournament - which would likely be a bitch to get to during rush hour - a heart-stopping showdown ensues that would even make Rocky Balboa stand up and say, "Yo.!" (
Photo credit: Columbia Pictures/Photofest)
Butch - "Little Rascals" Shorts
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Hold on to your marbles, boys, because Butch is on the loose. With a sour sneer and reliably bad intentions, this tyke brings as much chaos to the "Little Rascals" world as a runaway, homemade fire truck. We don't know what makes Butch so mean, but with a name like that, he probably was not destined to be a hall monitor. Butch's biggest target is the merry Alfalfa - a rival for dear Darla's affections - who'd certainly much prefer to croon or mosey in peace. With his loyal flunky, Woim, at his side, Butch brings dark clouds to any sunny day, bringing a hair-raising pall to the playground, way beyond Alfalfa's singular, cocked cowlick. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
(h/t The Chive)
