History Main / BullyMagnet

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' Butters has the "Born Victim" passive that represents him being an easy bullying target, where it makes it so that [[DrawAggro enemies target him more often than the New Kid]]. This is helped by the fact that Butters is the game's tank and more than capable of taking and dealing damage.

** One-off villain Sidney Poindexter, the ghost of a former student from Casper high who is [[ExaggeratedTrope legendary for the amount of bullying he endured in life]]. It was to the point that the principal had [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the rest of the students]] ''[[ArtisticLicenseEducation bully him as a requirement to graduate]]''. He presently haunts the same locker he had in life (now Danny's) which is a portal that leads a ghostly version of Casper High where he relives his school life.

* ''Literature/AccelWorld'': Haruyuki Arita (Silver Crow) hasn't known a day of Junior High yet where he hasn't been bullied or threatened by the school tough Aria and his gang. It does not help that Haru actively cuts off any outside support from his friends to deal with the problem out of shame for not being able to himself. It's a sign of his character progression when [[TheSociopath Nomi]] tries to put him back in this situation that he doesn't just lie down and take it.

The BullyMagnet is usually a {{geek}}, StereotypicalNerd, or a [[LonersAreFreaks loner]] (oftentimes [[AlwaysMale a boy]]) and on the bottom of the PopularityFoodChain. A favorite target of the JerkJock or AlphaBitch.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock:'' {{Deconstruction}} in the VerySpecialEpisode "[[Recap/StaticShockS2E12Jimmy Jimmy]]". The character Jimmy was an easy target of bullying. He got so fed up that he brought a gun to school. Unfortunately, Jimmy has to spend months in juvy because victim or not, he still broke the law by bringing a gun to school.

** Timmy Turner. His babysitter Vicky, the bully Francis, and even his teacher Mr. Crocker like to torment him more than everyone else. Parodied in "Deja Vu", where Timmy manages to scare off his bully Francis, making him technically the school's bully by default. Unfortunately, that makes him an instant target from the bullies of ''other'' schools, who all line up to take him.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] is somewhat of an iconic case, as being bullied by [[Characters/MarvelComicsFlashThompson Flash Thompson]] is such a core aspect of his character it's been represented in ''every'' adaptation, which is funny since he grew out of it in the '60s. However, even though he's long left high school, he's shown to still be greatly affected by it, as it stifles his confidence and is a major reason he's a CluelessChickMagnet.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] is somewhat of an iconic case, as being bullied by [[Characters/MarvelComicsFlashThompson Flash Thompson]] is such a core aspect of his character it's been represented in ''every'' adaptation, which is funny since he grew out of it in the '60s. However, even though he's long left high school, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he's shown to still be greatly affected by it]], as it stifles his confidence and is a major reason he's a CluelessChickMagnet.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock:'' {{Deconstruction}} in the VerySpecialEpisode "[[Recap/StaticShockS2E12Jimmy Jimmy]]". The character Jimmy was an easy target of bullying. He got so fed up that he brought a gun to school. Unfortunately, Jimmy has to spend months in juvy because victim or not, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he still broke the law by bringing a gun to school]].

PlayedForLaughs, this could lead to some funny gags. But when PlayedForDrama, the character's plight will make you cringe as well as cry. This character isn't the CoolLoser, that's usually saved for the protagonist who will more often than not befriend the Bully Magnet out of the kindness of their hearts.

* In ''Literature/{{Bewilderment}}'', neurodivergent nine-year-old Robin is harassed by his classmates for not participating in their popularity games. He lashes out at his bullies, sometimes violently. After Robin begins decoded neurofeedback sessions to improve his emotional control and focus, the bullying continues, but Robin reacts in the opposite way - instead of standing up to his bullies, he smiles through the abuse.

** Lisa Simpson, in the occasional episode where she is target of bullying, has been the recipient [[DependingOnTheWriter of multiple reasons]]: because she is a nerd, because she doesn't follows the clique rules of other girl students, because she is not as pretty as the rest, because she's a blonde and the bully's initial assumption is that she is a DumbBlonde, because she is a SoapboxSadie and somebody got fed up with it... in one episode she even tries to discover what makes a bully constantly beat her up and [[SpaceWhaleAesop she discovers that bullies are a]] HumanSubspecies who have a natural drive to attack people who give off certain pheromones (like nerds).

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] is somewhat of an iconic case, as being bullied by Flash Thompson is such a core aspect of his character it's been represented in ''every'' adaptation, which is funny since he grew out of it in the '60s. However, even though he's long left high school, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he's shown to still be greatly affected by it]], as it stifles his confidence and is a major reason he's a CluelessChickMagnet.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane Watson]] is also shown to have been this in school too, albeit for different reasons. While Peter was bullied for being a shy introverted geek, MJ was pretty and the target of many boys' (unwanted) attention, which resulted in frequent SlutShaming from other girls. Her experiences are even mirrored with Peter's in ''Parallel Lives'', with sequences of them both walking home in tears because of what they'd gone through are positioned together to illustrate how they're similar.
* ''ComicBook/JessicaJones'': Established as this in her backstory, where she actually went to the same school as Peter, but was ''even more'' unpopular than he was. She was ''very'' nerdy looking, even moreso than Peter, kept to herself, was extremely antisocial, and also was the sole-survivor of a car accident that killed the rest of her family and left her in a coma for several months. When she woke up, kids called her "Coma Girl." She was ''so'' unpopular, as adults Peter ''genuinely'' didn't remember her.
* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': A few comics have indicated Tony was this in his youth, going on the basis that his intelligence made him a target. Matt Fraction's run actually revealed this is directly what lead to his alcoholism; Tony used access to his father's alcohol collection to basically bribe popularity from people, who were happy to stop bullying him in exchange for regularly partying in his home. When he couldn't provide alcohol for one party, it was made abundantly clear he didn't have any real friends, which sent him into so much self loathing he became dependant on alcohol from then on.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Jonathan Crane is shown to have been this in his StartOfDarkness due to being a shy lanky bookworm (and in the case of the "Year One" continuity, being a literal bastard in the Bible Belt doesn't help). In one post-Crisis version of his origins, he snaps after one PrankDate and more or less sets his path on becoming Comicbook/TheScarecrow from there by killing/crippling two of his worst tormentors a la ''Carrie''.

PlayedForLaughs, this could lead to some funny gags. But when PlayedForDrama, the character's plight will make you cringe as well as cry. This character isn't the CoolLoser, that's usually saved for the protagonist who will more often than not befriend the BullyMagnet out of the kindness of their hearts.

** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheSorcerersStone first book]], it's briefly mentioned that Harry was this trope at the Muggle school he attended before Hogwarts. His situation largely improves when he gets to Hogwarts, but then he gets the ire of Draco and Snape, his ''teacher''.

** Neville Longbottom is the school's resident ButtMonkey and a frequent target of Malfoy and his gang, as well as [[SadistTeacher Snape's]] favorite punching bag after Harry himself. It's later inferred that Snape actually hates Neville for entirely different reasons: [[spoiler:if Neville had been marked as Voldemort's enemy, Lily Potter might have survived]].

* ''Series/FamilyMatters'': Steve Urkel gets this because he is an annoying ExtravertedNerd. The episodes where he is antagonized by the JerkJock or school bully of the week (who is different in every episode) are too many to count. And when he is asked to supervise an English class for his absent teacher, he is bullied by the entire class.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': Marty [=McFly=] finds that in 1955, his father George was bullied by Biff Tannen just like in 1985, but what establishes how lowly George was back then is that his classmates picked on him, too, as Marty notices him walking around the school with a [[KickMePrank "Kick Me" sign]] on his back and other people happily kicking him.

* In ''Literature/NoOneNeededToKnow'', Heidi's autistic older brother Donald is a popular target for bullies, especially Matt and Daryl, whose bullying tactics range from yelling insults to beating him up. When Heidi's "friends" find out she has a special needs brother, she becomes a target too, as her classmates mock and insult her, [[PassingNotesInClass pass her harassing notes]], [[ToiletPaperPrank cover her house in wet toilet paper]], and vandalize one of her school projects.

* Tobias of ''Series/{{Animorphs}}'' was this at the beginning of the series, in fact the first time Jake met Tobias was when two bullies were giving him a {{swirlie}}. It's never made clear why Tobias was bullied so harshly but he was a meek, timid kid before getting involved in the interstellar war and going through serious CharacterDevelopment.

** Neville Longbottom is the school's resident ButtMonkey and a frequent target of Malfoy and his gang, as well as [[SadistTeacher Snape's]] favorite punching bag after Harry himself.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock:'' {{Deconstruction}} in the VerySpecialEpisode "Jimmy". The character Jimmy was an easy target of bullying. He got so fed up that he brought a gun to school. Unfortunately, Jimmy has to spend months in juvy because victim or not, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he still broke the law by bringing a gun to school]].

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Peter Parker is somewhat of an iconic case, as being bullied by Flash Thompson is such a core aspect of his character it's been represented in ''every'' adaptation, which is funny since he grew out of it in the '60s. However, even though he's long left high school, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he's shown to still be greatly affected by it]], as it stifles his confidence and is a major reason he's a CluelessChickMagnet.
** Mary Jane Watson is also shown to have been this in school too, albeit for different reasons. While Peter was bullied for being a shy introverted geek, MJ was pretty and the target of many boys' (unwanted) attention, which resulted in frequent SlutShaming from other girls. Her experiences are even mirrored with Peter's in ''Parallel Lives'', with sequences of them both walking home in tears because of what they'd gone through are positioned together to illustrate how they're similar.

* Carrie White from ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' has been a regular target of bullying through her school days, as well as subjected to abuse by her religious fanatic mother. The whole thing comes to a head during the senior prom, when she gets a bucket of pig blood dumped on her and she proceeds to snap and unleash her telekinetic powers, which she had kept a careful secret, upon her school and her town.

* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' Butters has a passive that represents him being an easy bullying target, where it makes it so that [[DrawAggro enemies target him more often than the New Kid]]. This is helped by the fact that Butters is the game's tank and more than capable of taking and dealing damage.