History Main / AnObnoxiousOfBullies

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->"Strength of numbers is the delight of the timid.”\\
--Mahatma Gandi

It’s so much easier to get your way with one, two, or four chums who got your back and don’t mind joining in a little intimidation. Bullies seem to be a bit of a pack species when encountered in media. Oh sure, there’s always a [[TheBully leader]], but somehow he or she has often convinced or intimidated a few other characters to follow him or her around in his or her never ending quest to be a [[JerkAss douche-bag]] to the main characters. These side characters are considered of minor importance at best, and may not even serve any purpose other than to make the group look that much more intimidating. (As a rule, take down the leader and the rest will melt away; AFriendInNeed they are not.)

Often related to KidsAreCruel, though the occasional adult can have a small gang of followers. Often, for no other apparent reason other than the head honcho seems to be crueler and more sadistic than the rest.

See also GirlPosse for the female equivalent, [[TheLibby Libby's]] lackeys.
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!!Examples:
[[AC:AnimatedFilms]]
* Foxy Loxy from ''ChickenLittle'' picks on the titular character with Goosey Loosey as support.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Biff and all his ancestors/descendants from ''BackToTheFuture'' lead a small group of thugs.
* The Cobras from ''TheKarateKid''.
** Similarly, the posse of kung-fu students from the [[TheKarateKid 2010 remake]], who were members of the Fighting Dragons. Mr. Han (Jackie Chan's character) specifically comments to their ''sensei'' that fighting someone one-on-one is at least fair, bully or not, but being ganged up on -- six against one, in this case -- is "too much to ask of anyone."

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Dudley's gang as well as Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle in the various HarryPotter books.
** Dudley is LargeAndInCharge of his gang and beats people up personally, and at least one of his friends that we know of is a scrawny little kid who presumably hangs around him for protection -- it's mentioned that he holds people while Dudley hits them. Meanwhile, Draco is a not-particularly-physically-imposing ManipulativeBastard and Crabbe and Goyle are the big, stupid thugs who cling to him for status.
** Tom Riddle's own school-years gang would seem to follow this pattern except for the fact that Tom gets away with appearing like the model student-- he lets his minions do much of the dirty work, just as he does as Lord Voldemort.
** And even though [[DethroningMomentOfSuck no one likes to admit it]], there's James, Remus, Sirius, and Wormtail, in regards to Snape. Though Wormtail, being the DirtyCoward that he is, he only does so just so that he won't have his ass kicked, as well.
* ''LetTheRightOneIn'' features a group of bullies who pick on the main character.
* {{Discworld}}'s Lord Downey is mentioned in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' as having one of these during his student days, although they themselves are also embarrased by the immaturity of his bullying tactics.
** Also the immaturity of his ''brain'', which he only ever engaged long enough to remember how to pronounce "scag". I think he was meant to be a parody of people who get into prestigious colleges solely on the merit of being legacy.
* Kalarus Brencis Minoris from the ''CodexAlera'' bears a striking resemblance to Draco Malfoy: a rich SmugSnake from a [[BlueBlood prestigious family]] who wanders the local ExtranormalInstitute with his pair of big, dumb thugs, looking for [[BadassNormal easy victims]].

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* The titular character from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' used to be routinely bullied by Cordelia, TheLibby, and her trio of friends until the Cordelia ended up becoming something of a friend to Buffy. Then Cordelia would be the one to suffer at the hands of her former friends.
* JossWhedon seems to like this trope, as Kaylee of ''{{Firefly}}'' experiences some harassment at an upper-class party from a trio of female attendees.

[[AC:{{Manga}} and {{Anime}}]]
* Motoko Minagawa of ''FruitsBasket'' leads a small group of girls who routinely make life a little more difficult for the main character
* Probably the most timid character of the series gets harassed by no less than five girls in ''SchoolDays''.
* In ''{{Naruto}}'' Sakura is picked on by Ami and two other girls during her ninja academy days, until Ino defends her.
* In the ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' manga, Mokuba is introduced with a group of classmates like this. After his first appearance they are never mentioned again.

[[AC:VideoGame]]
* Butch of ''{{Fallout3}}'' bullies [[HelloInsertNameHere you]] with his friends throughout your childhood, though one quest can be solved making one of Butch’s cronies indignant from being told that he “does whatever Butch tells him to”.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* Since SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy in the WhateleyUniverse is a high school, there are bullies. While some are solitary, Gold Stallion and his gang fit this trope precisely, as do the three {{jerkass}} bullies who call themselves [=TNT=].

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Roger of ''{{Doug}}'' is rarely seen without a couple of his lackeys in tow.
* Dolph (the hunched-over redhead with the PeekABangs and the green T-shirt), Jimbo (the dim-witted one with the purple knit cap and the black skull T-shirt who kinda sounds like Milhouse [Milhouse and Jimbo share Pamela Hayden as their voice actor]), and Kearney (the bald, fat one who wears a punk version of Homer Simpson's white T-shirt and blue pants, and, in later episodes [[OlderThanTheyLook is heavily implied not to be a teenager, despite looking like one]])m from ''TheSimpsons'' often pick on Bart. The most recognizable bully of the series Nelson, also hangs out with them from time to time (though he's more sympathetic than the others, having been granted many PetTheDog moments over the years).
** It's not clear which of them is the alpha bully, though. Jimbo was the leader at first (according to the season one episode, "The Telltale Head" when Bart first met them outside the Aztec Theater), but over time their chain of command has shifted between Jimbo (because he was introduced first) and Kearney (because he's older than Dolph and Jimbo) before the chain of command became more or less egalitarian.
* Mooch in ''[[OneHundredAndOneDalmatians 101 Dalmatians:The Series]]'' is usually seen with his gang: Wizzer, who dispite having the least speaking roles, seems to be Mooch's right hand, Dipstick, the dim pup, and Two-Tone, who once was Mooch's girlfriend, but left the gang later due to her relationship with Lucky.

* Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney from ''TheSimpsons'' often pick on Bart. The most recognizable bully of the series Nelson, also hangs out with them from time to time (though he's more sympathetic than the others, having been granted many PetTheDog moments over the years).
** It's not clear which of them is the alpha bully, though. Jimbo was the leader at first, but over time their chain of command has become more or less egalitarian

It’s so much easier to get your way with one, two, or four chums who got your back and don’t mind joining in a little intimidation. Bullies seem to be a bit of a pack species when encountered in media. Oh sure, there’s always a [[TheBully leader]], but somehow he or she has often convinced or intimidated a few other characters to follow him or her around in his or her never ending quest to be a [[JerkAss douche-bag]] to the main characters. These side characters are considered of minor importance at best, and may not even serve any propose other than to make the group look that much more intimidating. (As a rule, take down the leader and the rest will melt away; AFriendInNeed they are not.)

* In the YuGiOh manga, Mokuba is introduced with a group of classmates like this. After his first appearance they are never mentioned again.

* Mooch in ''[[OneHundedAndOneDalmatians 101 Dalmatians: The Series]]'' is usually seen with his gang: Wizzer, who dispite having the least speaking roles, seems to be Mooch's right hand, Dipstick, the dim pup, and Two-Tone, who once was Mooch's girlfriend, but left the gang later due to her relationship with Lucky.

** It's not clear which of them is the alpha bully, though. Jimbo was the leader at first, but over time their chain of command has become more or less egalitarian.