History Main / JerkJock

* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'' has Kurt Kelly and Ram Sweeney, two homophobic jocks who torment other students and only want sex from the Heathers and Veronica. This trope is also in play with the versions of them from [[Theatre/{{Heathers}} the musical]], but is inverted in the [[Series/{{Heathers}} 2018 TV series]], where both are [[LovableJock Lovable Jocks]] [[AdaptationalNiceGuy instead]].

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' combines this with SadistTeacher in Suguru Kamoshida, the volleyball coach of Shujin Academy whose training methods are highly abusive, and who is infamous for injuring students whom he plum doesn't like as well as perving on female students. [[spoiler:Over the course of the game's first act, this escalates to him attempting to ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]]'' a student, [[DrivenToSuicide driving her to attempt suicide]]. In addition, before you came to school, he had broken your friend Ryuji's legs and crippling him before having the track team disbanded [[EvilIsPetty out of spite]].]]

Note if a character is a bully, but isn't depicted as a Sports player or a rich boy with [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Good publicity]], then they're probably just a BarbaricBully. However if thuggish, and ObviouslyEvil enough, some JerkJock characters can qualify as a BarbaricBully as well.

Contrast with LovableJock. Originally LovableJock was the normal portrayal while JerkJock was a reversal, but nowadays the JerkJock tends to be more populous in fiction than LovableJock characters. Female Jerk Jocks are not unheard of, either.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' has minor character [[PunnyName Sharpner]] from the Buu saga. A classic muscular JerkJock from Gohan and Videl's high school who bullies Gohan for his shy nerdiness calling him "brain boy" [[UnderestimatingBadassery blissfully unaware]] that Gohan [[BullyingADragon is a half-alien powerhouse who can destroy the entire planet]]. Like the rest of his classmates, Sharpner is shocked when Gohan easily catches his home run by [[InASingleBound jumping 25 feet into the air to catch the ball]] and even more shocked when Gohan (who decides to play it "normal") tanks Sharpner's baseball getting thrown into his face at high speed so that he'll be out. The anime makes Sharpner jerkier as he gets jealous of Videl's relationship with Great Saiyaman and tries to unmask Gohan only to fail spectacularly. Subverted though as he cheers for Gohan when the latter forgets his disguise and is shown giving energy to [[FakeUltimateHero Mr Satan]] (actually Goku) to destroy Buu in the finale implying he's a more likable jock than it first seemed.

* Issur, TheBlacksmith of ''Videogame/QuestForGloryII: Trial By Fire'' gives off this vibe. It's kind of funny to see him refer to the Hero as a wimp; depending on how you played him in the first game, the Hero is probably the bane of dozens of brigands, trolls, cheetaurs, and saurus rex.

** Mike plays with and then ultimately subverts this trope. At first he has all the hallmarks of being a JerkJock as he's "the big guy on campus" in addition to being the athletic Class President who partakes in a cruel prank that involves misleading Hannah (the girl who has a crush on him) into undressing herself in front of him while everyone else is hiding and filming it. This not only humiliates Hannah but seemingly gets her and her sister Beth killed when Hannah runs out into a snowstorm and the latter follows her. However Mike [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone does immediately regret his role in the prank]] and for the rest of the game [[TookAlevelInKindness shows great bravery and care for his friends]]. Mike even gets along very well with the nerdier Chris which is rare for this trope.

* In ''WebComic/DumbingOfAge'', Danny is nearly assaulted by a bunch of jocks [[FromBadToWorse minutes after being dumped]], only to be rescued by Amazi-Girl. Subverted when he tries to duplicate the event, and can only find [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/03-the-first-step-towards-recovery/insulted/ a very confused football player.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}'' also has several of them.

* ''Webcomic/VirginVsChad''

[[folder:Web Original]]
* This is usually subverted in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', but in v1 the baseball team was said to sometimes bully other students despite the fact that they were like brothers to each other, and in v3 a few members of the football team have shown tendencies to do such, with Gentle Giant / Scary Black Man Darnell Butler having had to fight some of them on occasion to stop them from particularly severe actions. Though that doesn't change that he used to be one himself. V3 character Adam Reeves practically epitomizes this trope, with a touch of fatalism and [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinism]] thrown in. V4 character Phillip Ward, a member of the ice hockey team, is also known to be a bully and once beat up Jimmy Brennan during a tryout. Not counting the occasional bullies who're otherwise good people, though, this trope almost never appears in SOTF, which is slightly surprising.

* Blake from ''WebVideo/SororityForever'', the president of Omega Tau Omega, is a textbook example.

* There are several examples in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, but Kodiak at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] might be the best, even if he isn't in sports. He's been an Alpha for years, he cut a swath through the hot girls of the school, he has a history of picking on people, and he has now taken over the Alphas. On the other hand, he already got his karmic payback, it turns out he's smart, he has now fallen for a girl who's [[BeautifulAllAlong a nerd]], and he seems to be trying to make all the Alphas behave. But it's an ongoing story, so who knows?
** It is also mentioned that these types played an important role in supervillain [[EmperorScientist Gizmatic]]'s backstory, including two who put both him and Dr. DNA in the hospital for a month; this event led to the creation of [[TheDogBitesBack the Order of The Worn Wrench]]. It was also the cause of his rivalry with the third Champion, who apparently was not such a nice guy before he took up the Champion Force.

* Lampshaded in Website/{{Cracked}}'s [[http://www.cracked.com/video_18196_5-classic-movie-high-schools-that-would-suck-to-attend.html 5 Classic Movie High Schools That Would Suck To Attend]], where Soren Bowie states that since he was captain of a few sports teams back in high school if he were in a sports movie he'd be obligated to kick the nerds' asses out of sheer peer pressure.
* Wesley from [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/i-dated-a-teenage-cyclops-part-one I Dated A Teenage Cyclops]], a story in ''Website/TheWanderersLibrary'', is a textbook example.

* Chad from the WebOriginal/VirginVsChad internet memes is often either PlayedStraight, {{Downplayed}}, or {{Subverted}}. Chad appears to have the characteristics of a bully, but he is usually more concerned with attracting female attention than actually being a jerk to anyone.
** 'Brad' from the Virgin vs Chad memes, more than Chad himself. He aspires to Chadhood, however, since Chadhood is something one is simply born into, Brad is fated to never achieve it. He turns to success at sports to try and compensate, is never seen without his letterman's jacket, and he often bullies Virgin. Chad is usually not an example, as he's too good at sports to actually bother playing them and doesn't need to be a jerk because everyone already worships him.

Of course, most of that doesn't matter to the student body. Oftentimes, the Jerk Jock is the reigning king of the campus, with many people wanting to be his friend or his date, or at least be on his good side. His bullying ways don't make him a pariah, but a prince, because as everyone in HighSchool knows, [[PopularIsEvil anyone who's popular is a bully]].

* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsFlashThompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson]], one of Spider-Man's foils. He bullies Peter Parker constantly, [[HatesMySecretIdentity but is a big fan of Spider-Man, not knowing they're the same person]]. In a subversion, the comics have him and Peter actually becoming friends after they graduate from high school. How's that possible? He isn't without his bad sides; When he was framed for being the Hobgoblin, everybody believed it immediately.

* There's a HighSchoolAU Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses fanfic that features a group of homophobic jocks who are all promptly [[spoiler:murdered]] by WebVideo/{{Phelous}} and WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob.

* As revealed in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', Lord Downey, the head of the Assassin's Guild in Literature/{{Discworld}}, was one of these in his youth, and his nerdy punching bag was the young [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]].
** Not particularly ''successfully'', however. One can only imagine [[OhCrap Downey's reaction]] when Vetinari became Patrician.
** Although in fact, the reason he's ''Lord'' Downey is because Vetinari ennobled him, so unless there's an extremely subtle and unnecessarily complicated revenge coming, Vetinari probably wasn't that bothered. (Other than elevating him; Downey seems intelligent enough to worry about the second shoe dropping...but not smart enough to realize that may be the point, so long as he's not bad for the city.)

** Rainbow Dash herself is a [[JerkWithAHeartofGold mixture]] of a Jerk Jock and a LovableJock. She does have characteristics of the typical Jerk Jock, such as arrogance and an obnoxious attitude, but her worst traits intersect with her [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold more altruistic traits,]] such as her UndyingLoyalty towards Equestria and her [[TrueCompanions friends,]] her [[BullyHunter protection of Fluttershy]] against the real Jerk Jocks in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, calling out her old friend Gilda in "Griffon the Brush-off", and the fact that while she is [[BrutalHonesty bluntly honest,]] she's never gone out of her way to intentionally harm anyone, unlike [[BitchInSheepsClothing Gilda]], for example. Underneath her rough exterior, it's not hard to find an obnoxious, but kind-hearted well-meaning pony. She is more of an aversion in later episodes, getting an interest in books, defending and trying to cheer Fluttershy, and having genuinely soft moments especially when around children like [[MoralityPet Scootaloo]] who is also a LovableJock.

** Additionally, like Spider-Man above, Dash is a big fan of Inviso-Bill [before the Danny Phantom appellation is widely used]. He's quite blatantly a Flash Thompson {{Expy}}.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible;'' Brick Flagg might be the boyfriend to [[AlphaBitch Bonnie Rockwaller]], but he's actually pretty decent (if a bit dim) judging from what few appearances he gets. He later [[PutOnABus goes off to college]] in the fourth season and dumps Bonnie.

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsFlashThompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson]], one of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'''s foils. He bullies Peter Parker constantly, [[HatesMySecretIdentity but is a big fan of Spider-Man, not knowing they're the same person]]. In a subversion, the comics have him and Peter actually becoming friends after they graduate from high school. How's that possible? He isn't without his bad sides; When he was framed for being the Hobgoblin, everybody believed it immediately.

** More lately, he became an EnsembleDarkHorse and gets to be the ''4th'' Venom, and he's touted as a through and through ''superhero'', in spite of his evil jock past and the symbiote's usual villain status, meaning that he manages to make CharacterDevelopment stick.

* Kevin Thompson from ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' is an unusual exception: he's far too stupid to be anything more than an annoyance, and while he bluntly alludes to Daria's unpopularity he still treats her like a friend most of the time. The same goes with Mack, who's less sports-obsessed and ''much'' smarter.
** In one episode a Jerk Jock graduate appears and is killed by the very goal post being put up in his honor. The episode focuses less on revenge, however, than exploring characters' reactions to his death.

* Eugene "Flash" Thompson, one of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'''s foils. He bullies Peter Parker constantly, [[HatesMySecretIdentity but is a big fan of Spider-Man, not knowing they're the same person]]. In a subversion, the comics have him and Peter actually becoming friends after they graduate from high school. How's that possible? He isn't without his bad sides; When he was framed for being the Hobgoblin, everybody believed it immediately.

* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' Tim has a classmate he privately refers to as "Varsity Jerk" who is arrogant and incredibly rude.

See that [[TheBigGuy tall]], hunky and vulgar blond guy in the [[CasualSportsJersey football letterman jacket]] [[TheBully picking on]] the nerd over there? What's his name, [[ADickInName Dick]]? Bill? Kyle? Tyler? One of those? That's him. One in every school.

* In ''Film/JustOneOfTheGuys'', Greg Tolan {{Creator/WilliamZabka}}, natch) exercises by abusing his high school classmates, specifically giving one of them a {{wedgie}} because he couldn’t find any weights.

%%* The Luca Goers blitzball team in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''.

* Both played straight and subverted in ''Artichoke's Heart''. The LoveInterest Kyle despite being a jock is one of the nicest, most sweetest guys there was. A few other jocks at the school on the other hand ... not so much.

* Arguably the King of this trope is Brett Taggerty from ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' who is also mysognistic, and borderline psychotic, the only use he has for women is giving him sex, and he will fly into a rage at the drop of a pin. His most memorable scene is after breaking his hand, and finding out that Pam can't fix it in time for a game hits her so that he can hold her hostage until Greg can fix it.
* Chris from ''Webcomic/{{Shadowgirls}}''.

In shows focusing entirely on school life, he'll be a [[BigBad primary antagonist]]; however, if the school environment is merely a setting and not the key focus he's more likely to be just a recurring nuisance for the characters to deal with, or a VillainOfTheWeek. In shows dealing with the fantastic, he can often be found MuggingTheMonster, or portrayed as stupid enough to [[BullyingADragon bully someone even if he knows that they have powers that could reduce him to a smear on the wall]]. In a SlasherMovie, chances are ''very, very'' good that he is going to die, winding up an AssholeVictim. In ProfessionalWrestling, he's very likely to be a {{Heel}}.

* In ''Film/JustOneOfTheGuys'', Greg Tolan (Creator/WilliamZabka, natch) exercises by abusing his high school classmates.

%%* Lightning [=McQueen=] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' starts out as a Jerk Jock, before mellowing out in Radiator Springs.

Like the Alpha Bitch, the Jerk Jock is [[VillainWithGoodPublicity surprisingly popular despite his repellent personality]], especially with [[AdultsAreUseless the school's staff and most adults]], and [[KarmaHoudini can get away with most anything]]. Chances are he's [[WellIntentionedExtremist extremely necessary]] for a high school/college to compete against rivals lest they be wiped out into obscurity. Or, in the similar vein to the AlphaBitch: [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections politics]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney cold hard cash]].