History Main / NerdyBully

Compare to AcademicAlphaBitch, who's unpleasant but generally more goal-oriented and rule-abiding; EvilNerd, who is unpleasant and goal-oriented, but definitely not rule-abiding; and EvenNerdsHaveStandards, which they find other nerds more pathetic. The ProudScholarRace is often ruled by Nerdy Bullies.

** Timmy's fairy-obsessed teacher Mr. Crocker is a nerd and likes to bully his students, usually by handing out Fs.

* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': Gert Yorkes often lords her superior intelligence over her teammates, particularly Karolina, as a cover for her insecurity about her weight and appearance. This becomes especially pronounced in issue #11 of the 2017 series, where she assumes that Klara must be stupid for quitting the team in order to live a normal life.
* In comics version of ''[[ComicBook/TheSimpsons The Simpsons]]'', Jimbo's backstory explains how Springfield Elementary was controlled by those with strong attendance and education. As a result, nerds made up the majority of the population of bullies.
* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', Fletcher Foley serves as TheRival to fellow, much better-adjusted and better-liked, nerd Dilton Doiley. Occasionally he'll stray into outright bullying.
* In ''ComicBook/FirestormDCComics'' Cliff Carmichael was this to {{Lovable Jock}}s Ronnie Raymond and Jefferson Jackson. The author deliberately wanted to subvert the Peter Parker/Flash Thompson setup.

* ''Film/{{Laserblast}}'': The character Froggy was played by Creator/EddieDeezen as the platonic ideal of a nerd. Both he and his toady ([[StealthPun get it?]]) constantly taunt and torment the easygoing slacker protagonist. The ''Series/{{MST3K}}'' treatment of the film has the riffers theorize that it takes place in a strange alternate reality where the geeks pick on the cool kids.

* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}''--the ''Monster Blood'' books give us Kermit, cousin of protagonist Evan. He coerces Evan to be a guinea pig in his experiments, which inevitably backfire, and can [[ManipulativeBastard manipulate]] both his mom and the local bully, Conan, into punishing Evan for things that are actually his fault.

* ''Film/{{Benchwarmers}}'': Gus is portrayed as a nerd, and is later revealed to have verbally bullied a vertically-challenged classmate of his while in grade school. He also made fun of another classmate's prematurely receding hairline.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'': Specs and Trapper, two seniors at the Vanmoor Institute who also serve as teachers to the junior students, while looking down on them. Their establishing character moment is guiding the new student Virgil to what they claim to be his classroom but in actuality it was the back door of the school.

[[caption-width-right:350: Nobody can kick your butt quite like the guys who can calculate the best angle to do it.]]]]

** In one episode [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] and [[ExtracurricularEnthusiast Jodie]] visit an advanced private school that they have an option of transferring to. They tentatively befriend some kids who are eventually revealed to be this, as they openly ostracize another kid for ''only'' scoring in the top 90% on his [=SATs=].
** Daria herself can skate on the edge of this in her less sympathetic moments. Notably "Mart of Darkness" implies that [[{{Goth}} Andrea]] initially sees her and Jane this way, using their snark to cut down everyone around them.

* ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'': Javier, a one-shot character who is introduced when Isabel joins the Science Academy. Javier is arrogant and pretentious, and when he realizes that Isabel might surpass him he begins bullying her and sabotaging her work in order to get her kicked out.

The Nerdy Bully is what happens when a nerd uses his talents to act with typical bullying characteristics, abusing his power, skills, and knowledge to make life hellish for others. They tend to show up in works centered at institutions which are nerdy to begin with, such as schools that specialize in math and science, and they also sometimes have an aggressively atheist or antitheist bent. If caught, you can expect a [[BadLiar flustered insistence]] that he can't possibly be a bully because he's just a nerd...no matter how obvious his abusive behavior is to the others in the room (which one of them may have [[CaughtOnTape recorded in some way]]).

If he ''was'' a victim of bullying himself (in which case compare HeWhoFightsMonsters), he might invoke WhosLaughingNow. More often than not, they're the InsufferableGenius, or a BitchInSheepsClothing.

* In comics version of ''[[ComicBook/TheSimpsons The Simpsons]]'': Jimbo's backstory explains how Springfield Elementary was controlled by those with strong attendance and education. As a result, nerds made up the majority of the population of bullies.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'': While Alex attended [=MIT=], she and her mentor took part in a featherweight robot competition. Alex's bot defeated its first adversary easily, but added a victory chiptune. Alex's bot was disqualified on the spot by a grandiose nerd for "taunting."

* ''FanFic/TheVigilanteBossAndHisFailedRetirementPlan'': Futaba is a DitzyGenius that refuses to leave her room and she's Bakugou's primary bully. Futaba has her robots identify him as trash, insult him to his face, spread rumors about him and uses her position as smartest in the Support Department to have Bakugou ostracized.

* ''Film/TheBigHit'': One of the sub-plots of the film involve the {{Jerkass}} nerdy clerk of a video rental place continuously making threatening calls to Melvin Smiley because of a copy of ''Film/KingKongLives'' that Melvin has long overdue. The comedy comes from the fact the clerk is acting tough [[BullyingTheDragon and insulting a veteran hitman]].

--> '''Naomi:''' You know what, Max? You can say whatever you want about me and my friends, but your friends are just as arrogant, snobbish and mean as anyone I know.

** Dr. Sheldon Cooper is very condescending and an egotistical narcissist towards nearly everyone, including his close friends, because he believes himself to be intellectually superior to them, and therefore ''superior'' to them and will go out of his way to insult, belittle, and otherwise make them suffer for anything he feels offended for. Though, other times show he is completely oblivious to how insensitive and annoying he is, because he lacks basic social skills.

* ''Series/BlackMirror'': Robert Daly of the episode "[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]]". In life, he's a nerdy, asocial programmer, who is obstinately the second-in-command at his company, but is not respected very much by his co-workers (technically his subordinates) due to his meek personality and general absent-mindedness. He disproportionately takes out his frustrations with his co-workers by creating virtual copies of their minds and placing them in a ''Franchise/StarTrek''-esque[[note]]In-universe, it's modeled on nerd hobby and ''Trek'' homage ''Space Fleet''[[/note]] video game mod and abusively forcing them to reenact his power fantasies.
* The Twelfth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho''. Most Doctors (invariably ScienceHero intellectuals) butt heads with machos, military types, and the physically-inclined, but Twelve was outright contemptuous of them. It was mostly played for laughs, since it was such bizarre behavior from an apparent sixty-year-old man whose school days were long behind him. It was later explained that this related to this Doctor's particular disdain for the military. While none of them are particular fans of the military, Twelve's attitude was rooted in his own self-loathing over how he used his experience and unconventional ScienceHero tactics to ruthless effect as a military commander in the Time War (other Time Lords explicitly refer to him as "the man who won the Time War") and his history as what Danny Pink, a former infantryman, contemptuously refers to as "an officer", shaping his companions into soldiers in his own image.

* Smart baby{{face}}s certainly aren't unheard of, what with promoters recruiting heavily from colleges, but [[BrainsEvilBrawnGood there is no "super genius" face archetype in the same way there is for]] {{heel}}s. Wrestling/YoshihiroTajiri may be licensed in acupuncture, Blue Tiger may run a clinic, Wrestling/MattHardy may be [[TheCracker an expert cracker]] but their intelligence is usually only referenced when they are heels. The most famous "super genius" heel is Wrestling/RandySavage's Canadian brother Lanny Poffo, if only for how well he demonstrates this divide. He always insulted opponents of his or his friends, [[WarriorPoet often with poetry]], but as a face his focus was on his athleticism and coordination, as the super genius heel he attempted to confuse people with overly complicated math problems. And rather than show off his skill, tended to hide behind other wrestlers like [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr Perfect]] or Wrestling/JayLethal as an "executive consultant".
* This what Leva Bates typically looks like after a FaceHeelTurn. Because she's a mousy voiced short woman and pro wrestling is a very physical activity built around ChewingTheScenery, heel turns are rare for Bates, but she was a prominent member of The Age Of The Fall in FIP and nuisance for then rookie [[WrestlingDoesntPay wrestling model]] Santana Garrett.
* Wrestling/DamienSandow, "the intellectual savior of the unwashed masses" was a more tunnel visioned {{expy}} of Lanny Poffo, focusing mostly on making Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} look stupid. Unlike Poffo, Sandow usually had no second to hide behind and [[TalkToTheFist thus got beaten up]], [[{{Determinator}} but persisted in humiliating Sheamus]] in contests of wit and puzzle solving anyway.[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': Poor Cosmo was not only bullied by the resident JerkJock during fairy high school, but was also so pathetic even his school's math club joined in the harassment, as pictured above.

** Artie Ziff, Marge's high school prom date, the head of Springfield High School's debate team and present-day I.T. wizard who has constantly lusted after Marge to the point of harassment since high school and constantly talks down to Homer and others he views as inferior intellect, even letting Homer take the fall for the misappropriation of his I.T. company's assets in his final canonical appearance. His words after being nominated Prom King in high school sum him up best:

** Bubble Bass's geekiness and bullying nature don't go hand-in-hand, but in his first episode alone he is a spiteful bully to [=SpongeBob=] by lying about getting no pickles, forcing the latter to suffer a HeroicBSoD. "Moving Bubble Bass" also reveals he's a BasementDweller, and in this episode he manipulates [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick (who were promised Krabby Patties) into moving his stuff from his mother's basement to his grandmother's basement... because his mother interrupted his fantasy talk show. He fakes breaking his back so that he has to do none of the work and [[spoiler:eats both of the patties he promised them]].

* ''[[Anime/YuGiOhFirstAnimeSeries Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' (first anime series): The Digital Pets arc featured Haiyama, who at first [[BitchInSheepsClothing appeared to be a vulnerable nerd]] alongside Kujirada who is a more standard TheBully. But it's later revealed Haiyama had been keeping Kujirada as a pet and whipping him to make him do his bidding. He also tries to make Honda his new pet. Dark Yugi sets to put an end to his inhumane treatment using a [[MindRape Shadow Game]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

-->'''Artie:''' Hello, classmates. Instead of voting for some athletic hero or pretty boy, you have elected me, your intellectual superior, as your king. Good for you.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Artie Ziff, Marge's high school prom date, the head of Springfield High School's debate team and present-day I.T. wizard who has constantly lusted after Marge to the point of harassment since high school and constantly talks down to Homer and others he views as inferior intellect, even letting Homer take the fall for the misappropriation of his I.T. company's assets in his final canonical appearance. His words after being nominated Prom King in high school sum him up best:

The Nerdy Bully is what happens when a {{Nerd}} uses his talents to act with typical bullying characteristics, abusing his power, skills, and knowledge to make life hellish for others. They tend to show up in works centered at institutions which are nerdy to begin with, such as schools that specialize in math and science, and they also sometimes have an aggressively atheist or antitheist bent. If caught, you can expect a [[BadLiar flustered insistence]] that he can't possibly be a bully because he's just a nerd...no matter how obvious his abusive behavior is to the others in the room (which one of them may have [[CaughtOnTape recorded in some way]]).

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nerdybully.png]]]]

* ''Series/TheWilds'': Ivan Taylor is a variation; he is a CampGay boy that would be bullied the same way a nerd would, except he can be a bully himself. He’s a shining example of how bullies in current days can come in different forms and sometimes use the "cancel culture" method as a loophole to be a bully in the guise of someone doing something just, such as when he caught Kirin O'Conner DrowningHisSorrows after his coach was fired due to an old Blackface photo that Ivan justifiably exposed him for. Kirin was just sad that the closest thing he had to a father was now gone but Ivan was having none of it and started recording him, trying to get Kirin to call him a slur. Kirin, wanting to be left alone, gave him what he wanted on video which Ivan then released getting Kirin expelled. Since Kirin was just in a genuinely sad moment and Ivan was looking for a fight, Ivan was the bully in this situation. Ivan's own boyfriend calls him out for kicking Kirin while he's down and breaks up with him.

** Bubble Bass’s geekiness and bullying nature don’t go hand-in-hand, but in his first episode alone he is a spiteful bully to [=SpongeBob=] by lying about getting no pickles, forcing the latter to suffer a HeroicBSoD. "Moving Bubble Bass" also reveals he’s a BasementDweller, and in this episode he manipulates [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick (who were promised Krabby Patties) into moving his stuff from his mother’s basement to his grandmother’s basement... because his mother interrupted his fantasy talk show. He fakes breaking his back so that he has to do none of the work and [[spoiler:eats both of the patties he promised them]].

** "Nerdy bully" are the words used by Wiki/TheOtherWiki to describe Lance Widget, an extremely bossy and aggressive FatBastard who was Ned's tutor for a while and was always yelling at him and calling him "moron".