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Guys want to be him, [[SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy gals want to be with him]]. Maybe EvenTheGuysWantHim.

The Big Man on Campus is the most popular guy in the HighSchool. He is handsome, charming, a superb athlete, and usually pretty smart and an A student. Most importantly, he is a subversion of PopularIsEvil. Unlike his peers, the AlphaBitch (usually his girlfriend until he realizes how awful she is) and the JerkJock (usually his friend until he realizes how awful ''he'' is) the Big Man on Campus never bullies anyone: he rules through charisma and general awesomeness rather than fear and manipulation. But like the LovableJock (with whom he is often close, if not one and the same), [[BewareTheNiceOnes woe to anyone who trifles with him]]. He'll probably grow up to become TheAce.

Sometimes TruthInTelevision.

The Big Man on Campus is often found in Prep school fiction, as being suave, well-read, athletic, ''and articulate'' man is the epitome of the image.

The HighSchoolHustler is occasionally a Big Man, but more often lower on the totem pole.

Generally this character is either the protagonist himself, [[SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy or the chief love interest]] in a story about a loser heroine. He rarely turns up if the story is about male outcasts (as the existence of a benign popular kid makes it harder to use jocks as villains) or about a popular girl (as those sort of stories usually give her an outsider love interest).

The Big Man on Campus is AlwaysMale. For the [[DistaffCounterpart female equivalent]], see the LovableAlphaBitch and ClassPrincess. For his EvilCounterpart, see BigJerkOnCampus. Compare SchoolIdol, TheQuarterback, and LovableJock. For settings outside of HighSchool, compare MagneticHero.

The next step up from this is the SchoolIdol, who even the Big Man On Campus looks up to.

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
** Reiner Braun is [[{{Hunk}} ruggedly]] handsome, with a LanternJawOfJustice and HeroicBuild, and greatly admired by his 200+ classmates as the [[TheAce 2nd ranked]] graduate of their military class. He's also a [[TeamDad genuinely]] [[BruiserWithASoftCenter awesome]] and [[BigBrotherInstinct caring]] guy that naturally inspires others. The main character, Eren, looks up to him as his BigBrotherMentor and mentions wanting to be more like him. [[spoiler:The fact that he's genuinely such a nice guy makes him a TragicVillain, once he's revealed to be TheMole.]]
** Jean [[WrongGenreSavvy thinks he's this]], at least until things turn south and [[spoiler:the majority of his squad is eaten alive under his command]], which causes him to reevaluate his position.
* ''Manga/BlueFlag'': Touma Mita is the star of the school's baseball team. Every man wants to be his friend, with Taichi's friend even mentioning that he seems to live in a completely different world from them. Every girl in the school appears to have a crush on him and desperately seeks his attention. This, however, separated him from his very much average ChildhoodFriend and [[spoiler:FirstLove]], Taichi, though they start to rebuild their friendship.
* ''Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation's'' main character Rudeus Greyrat at Ranoa Magic Academy. Even though he wants to maintain a humble facade, he made various achievements before (his renown as an A-rank adventurer is one of the reasons why he was scouted by the school) and during his life there, which include defeating a princess' previously unbeatable bodyguard in his entrance exam duel, "taming" most of the school's problem children, and even [[DefeatMeansFriendship defeating then befriending]] a Demon Lord, among other things, all within just his freshman year. This leaves the rest of the student body and even some teachers both in awe and fear of Rudy's potential, much to his chagrin.
* In ''Manga/YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches'', Miyamura is handsome, smart, a good fighter, a good friend, generally a nice guy (though more so to his friends -- he can be aloof to random admirers), powerful thanks to his (former) student council position, and all in all popular.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': At the fifth high school Tim Drake attended, one of the tennis players was incredibly kind, attractive, talented, and got decent grades and was quite popular as a result.
* At the beginning of ''ComicBook/ScooterGirl'', Ashton is the most popular guy in school, able to charm the pants off any girl, coast through classes on his charm and paying his classmates to do his assignments, and is also a star athlete and student body president. All this comes crashing down after Margaret arrives.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': {{Parodied|Trope}} with Snoopy's "Joe Cool" persona. (There was also a one-off strip in which his persona was actually called "Big Man on the Campus").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Izuku accidentally becomes this once he starts attending U.A. His performance on the entrance exam [[spoiler:as the highest scoring student in the history of the school]] instantly puts him in the spotlight and his classmates are happy to discover that he's extremely kind and humble. Izuku doesn't like the attention and would much rather be treated like everyone else, but he admits that it feels good to be admired like this.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ResurrectedMemories'': Dash Baxter ''used'' to be this, he is the school quarterback and male head of the A-Listers, but ever since the Disasteroid, Danny has him beat. Heck, it's implied that the ''only'' reason he is still in charge of the A-Listers is that Danny didn't want to join them.
* ''Fanfic/TheSimpsonsTeamLASH'' has Jack Fairfax: StudentCouncilPresident, basketball star, [[KidAnova ladies' man]], and the most popular boy at Springfield Elementary. And while he ''is'' [[ItsAllAboutMe incredibly egotistical]], he's a genuinely good leader and is ''admired'' by his fellow students rather than feared.
* [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Krem]] is this at [[Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook Skyhold Academy]], where he is bar none the most popular student, being TheQuarterback and a LovableJock. One installment indicates that he basically inherited the role from the previous BMOC, Delrin Barris.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheBradyBunchMovie'': Marcia is totally into Doug and keeps referring to him as "the big man on campus." What she fails to notice is that he's actually ''not'' this trope -- while he certainly is handsome, charming, and popular, he's not even remotely a nice person, which the trope description requires. He's verbally (possibly physically) abusive to his girlfriend, whom he dumps temporarily for Marcia, and is only interested in Marcia because he wants to sleep with her.
* ''Film/{{Election}}'': Paul Metzler is one of the few nice characters in the story, as well as TheDitz.
* The TropeMaker may be the Creator/HaroldLloyd silent comedy classic ''Film/{{The Freshman|1925}}'', in which nerdy Lloyd greatly admires the resident Big Man On Campus and desperately wants to be one himself.
%%* Zach Siler from ''Film/ShesAllThat''.
%%** Jake Wyler from ''Film/NotAnotherTeenMovie'' is a spoof.
%%* Guy Perkins from ''Film/NeverBeenKissed''.
%%* John Tucker from ''Film/JohnTuckerMustDie''.
%%* Woody Deanne from ''It's a Boy Girl Thing''.
%%* The titular character of ''Film/VanWilder'' is a HighSchoolHustler turned Big Man.
* Troy Bolton in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' is this, but he could be viewed as a deconstruction since the films show how much pressure everyone puts on him and the emotional stress he suffers as a result.
%%* Aaron Samuels from ''Film/MeanGirls''.
%%* Mike Dexter from ''Film/CantHardlyWait''.
%%* Ferris Bueller from ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff''.
* ''Film/SeventeenAgain2009'': Mike O'Donnell was this in his youth (portrayed by Creator/ZacEfron) as the beloved star basketball player. However, his life becomes derailed when he gets his teenage girlfriend pregnant and he grows up to become quite the sad sack: separated from his wife, hated by his kids, and recently fired from his job. When he gets turned back into his 17-year-old self, he once again becomes this and takes the opportunity to try to repair his falling apart life.
* ''Film/LoveHard'': According to Josh, the handsome and popular Tag was this type in high school: prom king, class president, and football star.
* ''Film/MeanGirls'': Aaron seems to be this, he is popular, briefly dates the Queen Bee, Regina George before she loses this to Cady, then dates Cady after she loses her position as the most popular girl in school, is on the Soccer and Swim teams and thinks he does well in school when Cady fakes being dumb to get closer to him, only for her to explain later he is the dumb one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AvalonHigh'': Will Wagner, not so surprising, since he's [[spoiler:the modern reincarnation of Myth/KingArthur.]]
* ''Barefoot Boy With Cheek'': Eino Fflliikkiinnenn is a football player and the protagonist's fraternity brother in Alpha Cholera.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** Cedric Diggory is captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, a ChickMagnet, and almost annoyingly likeable and popular.
** Viktor Krum also seems to be this at Durmstrang, as he's already an ''international'' athlete in his final year. He doesn't seem too happy about it, however, lamenting that all the best girls are already taken.
** Harry himself repeatedly cycles between this and HeroWithBadPublicity, depending on whether someone is trying to slander him that year or not. He finds being popular nearly as much hassle as being ''un''popular.
** Harry's dad James and godfather Sirius were considered "the height of cool" in their own schooldays, to hear it from others. James in particular was apparently always seen as the noble, intelligent, and athletic one (although, unlike Harry and Cedric, it's never specified if he was a Quidditch captain). Harry is a bit dismayed to learn that this meant they could be, in Sirius's own words, "arrogant little berks" to people they disliked - most famously, his mutual hateship with Severus Snape.
* ''Literature/KingOfTheBench'': Jimmy Jimerino considers himself one, despite being only the second-best athlete in the school, right behind Becky O'Callahan.
* Subverted in the Stephen King novel ''Rage'', where the local BMOC proves to be almost as messed up as the guy [[spoiler:who just shot two teachers and is holding the rest of the class hostage.]]
* In ''Literature/ASeparatePeace'', there are two:
** Brinker, the intelligent class politician with an attitude.
** Phineas (commonly called Finny by the student body), the best athlete in the school who is friendly to everyone and has a magnetic charisma.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Steve Holt is a classic Big Man on Campus. Never mind that [[HeldBackInSchool he's been a senior for five to six years]] by the time the series ends.
%%** Steve [[PokemonSpeak Holt!!!]]
* Tommy Dawkins, the titular ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus''. A charismatic, successful high-school football quarterback who's loved by his classmates (especially the girls). He's also a LovableJock, almost to the point of parody, he's such a NiceGuy that even becoming a werewolf doesn't turn him evil (and this is a universe where anyone else who gets turned undergoes TranshumanTreachery almost immediately.) Ironically, his werewolf alter ego, the "Pleasantville Werewolf", is a HeroWithBadPublicity.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': Greg, in the last two seasons. Other one-off characters tried -- but ultimately failed -- to come close, including Doug Simpson (who turned out to be a jerk).
* Finn prior to joining glee club on, well, ''Series/{{Glee}}''. He is even dating the [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] AlphaBitch Quinn, best friends with JerkJock Puck (being oblivious to them falling for each other behind his back), and is attracted to loser diva Rachel.
** Blaine seems like this, but it's revealed to be an act to hide his insecurities.
%%* Dude! [[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL's]] "[[Creator/JohnBelushi Samurai]] [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76vsamurai.phtml Big Man on Campus]]"
* ''Series/GossipGirl'''s Nate Archibald in seasons one and two is this: he's good-looking, very popular, and a genuinely nice person whose biggest flaw is his utter passiveness both in his life and in his relationships. He doesn't share the elitist opinions of his AlphaBitch girlfriend Blair or his skeevy best friend Chuck Bass, which is why he is able to maintain good relationships with outcast Dan Humphrey and his friends. His passiveness often makes him a complicit bystander to Chuck's and Blair's cruelty, which downplays the trope somewhat.
%%* Jeff's introduction in the [[Recap/CommunityS1E02Spanish101 second episode]] of ''Series/{{Community}}'' definitely plays on this trope.
* ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'': Paxton Hall-Yoshida. According to Model UN Russia, every kid in [=SoCal=] knows who Paxton is. He's got like three fan Tumblrs, apparently. One of them is even in Korean.
* Subverted on ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' as Dennis ''thinks'' he was a "Golden God" to his high school classmates. Instead, he just hung around with his loser friends and people regarded him as a freak. Being Dennis, he's convinced otherwise.
* Zack Morris from ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' is handsome, well-liked, and has enough charm to do well in school despite not taking any of it very seriously. Of course, he's also the protagonist, so we're expected to root for him no matter what.
* Played with when it comes to Jeff Winger from ''Series/{{Community}}''. He is popular and handsome which [[WrongAssumption leads him to think]] this trope applies to him. However, it's made pretty clear that he's neither quite as popular as he likes to think nor does the position of "Big Man on Campus" mean all that much when the campus in question is Greendale.
%%* Jake on ''Series/{{Awkward}}''. Matty would also count if he wasn't so self-conscious.
%%* Stefan Salvatore on ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' character Steve Digaetano, probably the most popular guy in the V3 high school: Southridge. He isn't perhaps a {{Jerkass}} of the highest order, but he certainly has his moments.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'':
** Throughout the musical, Brett flip-flops between this and the JerkJock. [[spoiler:He ends up being a decided JerkJock in the end.]]
** Evan tries to be this to get people to come to his Bar Mitzvah.
* Harry in ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' is totally this trope, except he's somewhat of a JerkAss near the beginning (prior to his CharacterDevelopment). Draco ''wants'' to be this but fails since he is a SmallNameBigEgo (though he thinks it is Harry's fault). Cedric Diggory is a more classic example and ''would'' be this but he is in HufflepuffHouse.
* Even though he's at college, Fiyero Tiggular from ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' is a perfect example. He is handsome, very shallow, and popular and has a reputation for being "scandalicious" and everyone worships him. He even goes out with a ''Libby''ish girl (though she turns out not to be) until he [[spoiler:dumps her for Elphaba.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}''. Jimmy Hopkins is a class example, with his position being directly called 'king of the school' on a number of occasions. Of course, he's only this during certain parts of the game, since the rest basically concerns him fighting to GET to this station. However, he's got the qualifications at all times: Smart enough to ace every class, tough enough to beat down the entire football team (literally), and charming enough to score with literally every girl in school ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and quite a few of the boys, too)]].
%%* Edgar from ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' seems to have been this in his teenage years. For a while.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** Tatsuya Suou from ''VideoGame/Persona2'' is an interesting case. Sure enough, both the girls and many guys want him, he is popular with his classmates, really handsome and athletic, and while he frequentle skips class (not school, just lessons), he's good at athletics, English and mechanics. Guys hope to be as popular as him or are jealous of his popularity, he can take on delinquents from other schools, lots of people want to talk to him, it's implied that he's a school celebrity. However, the whole thing has significantly darker undertones; for every person who thinks Tatsuya is cool there is a dark rumour to accompany it. Yes, everyone on campus knows he's a badass - that's where the knife scar on his back came from, right? When he put those dudes in the hospital? Hey, doesn't he have a really similar name to that serial arsonist? Why is he avoiding the CoolTeacher so much? She even threatened to visit his house if he keeps avoiding her. Or the LovableAlphaBitch who has a massive crush on him? Why does he avoid his ''family''? Hey, he's hanging out by himself all the time... you know, alone...
** Akihiko Sanada from ''VideoGame/Persona3'', although, unlike other examples, he is [[CluelessChickMagnet unaware of his popularity, especially with his hordes of fangirls]]. He's also hopeless in romantic situations.
** Also, both ''Persona 3''[='s=] and ''[[VideoGame/Persona4 4]]''[='s=] main character can become one of these over time.
* Charlie Macdonald, in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'', is the most popular student in his university and the star of its (American) football team. He is a professional assassin. He also has 24 cheerleaders with him at all times. They are also all professional assassins.
* In the [[ExpansionPack university expansion]] of ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'', college Sims can become the big man on campus by having a full influence bar (basically, 20 friends at once).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Sakazaki Yuuya of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'''s sheer popularity is something of an InformedAttribute due to slim opportunities to see other students' opinions of him, but he does mention having fans, he gets a lot of presents on an analogue to Valentine's Day, and he is just about endlessly cheerful, easygoing, and social.
* [[HotBlooded Akira]] from ''VisualNovel/LuxPain'' is hinted to be this by observing some conversations in the game. He's apparently very popular in school despite failing and Akira himself doesn't seem aware of his status. [[spoiler:Then again, stopping the SerialKiller from last year's incident is a great way to become popular]]. [[{{Meganekko}} Sayuri]] calls him out on this and even accuses him of being a JerkJock behind the facade. [[BerserkButton This actually pisses him off]] only because she said it [[HoYay in front of Atsuki]].
* Elias Goldstein in ''VisualNovel/ShallWeDateWizardessHeart'', although overshadowed by [[SchoolIdol his brother Klaus]], is very successful in his classes and popular around the school, with quite a few female admirers. He can be a little stuffy but overall Elias is helpful and conscientious toward the heroine and their other fellow students, and was the only person willing to be [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold Yukiya]]'s roommate when everyone else refused for fear of being cursed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{Damaged}}'' has Dillon, a very popular, very attractive robot with [[DoAnythingRobot a wide variety of gadgets]] that allow him to help his fellow students with whatever they need. [[GreenEyedMonster TJ doesn't like him.]]
* Quarterman/Quarterback from ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad''. He ends up falling in love with The Ugly One, asking her to see him to the end credits after a really confusing speech.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* [[TheTrickster Luero]] from ''Webcomic/EarsForElves'' thrives as this. He doesn't need people to know, he KNOWS people know.
* Theo of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' is the Head Boy with both BlueBlood and the [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder Spark,]] who tells excellent stories, is kind to new arrivals regardless of who their families are, and hosts gatherings/parties in his dorm room. He may technically be even higher in the pecking order among the students on Castle Wulfenbach than the princess Zulenna.
* Zill from ''{{Webcomic/Zoophobia}}'' is the guy everybody wants to know, and who everybody else wants to be, all without even realizing it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/{{Dad}}'': Griffin is popular, kind, and athletic, making him [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan an easy crush for Daughter.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Ulrich from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' has all the trappings of a Big Man on Campus (considered attractive, vied after by all of the main girls in school, and is portrayed as being a genuinely nice guy), but he doesn't actively pursue this status. Regardless, he still has several girls vying for his attention at any one point.
* Doyle was this before attending ''WesternAnimation/GalaxyHigh'', being a popular jock; the reason he's chosen to attend the eponymous school is because of his athletic abilities. Aimee even mentions the trope's name at the end of the first episode. Too bad for Doyle the title school has no football team as they appreciate intellectuals over athletics and so Doyle instantly becomes the ButtMonkey of the show.
* Nick Mallory in ''WesternAnimation/GrojBand''. Nick is the coolest 16-year-old kid in school, whom all the girls in school adore, especially Trina. He is sometimes referred to as "Hunky Nick Mallory" by Trina and many others around him. [[ThirdPersonPerson He always refers to himself in the third person]], but isn't inherently antagonistic, and will sometimes aid the band when they see use of him.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
** Brick Flagg might be the boyfriend to [[AlphaBitch Bonnie Rockwaller]], but he's actually pretty decent ([[DumbJock if a bit dim]]) judging from what few appearances he gets. He later goes off to college in the fourth season and dumps Bonnie.
** Josh Mankey might better qualify...smart, cute, and popular. He was with Kim for the first two seasons before ending up with Tara and being PutOnABus.
* Milo of ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'' is a mixture of this and some tropes about unpopularity. Due to his nature as a WalkingDisasterArea, most of his classmates want to keep their distance, but they respect him a lot and want to know about his latest misadventures.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugAdrienAgreste Adrien Agreste]] is a very popular and kind character in school, loved by almost everyone.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PixelPinkie'', AlphaBitch Suzi's boyfriend Max is the captain of the basketball team and gets on well with everyone in school, including Nina and Anni (who are the usual targets of Suzi's spite).
* TJ from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. He shows one of the key traits most openly in the episode where he was forced to stay with the 'pale kids' - kids who would rather stay inside and play ''Dungeons and Dragons'' than play on the playground. Though he is initially hesitant, it isn't long before he has blended in perfectly and counts each and every one of them as a friend, rallying their unique talents to his side in several future episodes.
* Johnny Hitswell in ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements''. He is the subject of Riley's affection and her middle school sweetheart. Even though every girl in the school is all over him, he tends to pay no attention to them most of the time, except for his annual Kumquat Day card readings.
[[/folder]]

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