Bif Taylor demonstrates a swirlie on Algernon Papadopoulos.
Bullying is a major aspect of the game Bully. It can refer to either the mechanics behind certain interactions between Jimmy Hopkins and other characters, and to social interactions between all sorts of characters within the game.
Jimmy's bullying[]
Jimmy has the ability to bully other students. He can do this in a few different ways using the environment, after reducing an opponent's health to the point that their life meter turns red, and, after passing English 5, through the interaction wheel.
Stuffing[]
To stuff another student into something, Jimmy must first grapple them and then drag them towards the object he wants to stuff them into. Anything that can be used as a hiding spot can also be used for stuffing.
If he stuffs someone into a trash can, laundry hamper, concrete pot or industrial barrel, the student will be trapped in the object with his butt in the object and his arms at his sides. He'll wiggle around trying to get loose, but once someone is stuffed they can't be rescued (with the exception of Pete during Halloween). They will despawn after a few minutes of real time.
If he stuffs someone into a locker or a port-a-potty, the victim will fall out once the object is opened. They will then get up and resume free roam behavior as though nothing happened. Characters that are stuffed into lockers are still 'active' and won't despawn unless Jimmy leaves the area.
Occasionally, other students can be seen stuffing each other. Usually it will be either a Bully, Prep, Greaser or Jock doing it to a Nerd or a Non-Clique Student.
Only one character can be stuffed into any individual object at a time.
Swirlies[]
Swirlies, also known as bogwashes and toilet dunks, are performed the same way stuffing is. Jimmy must grapple an opponent and drag them towards the toilet.
Once Jimmy gets the opponent near the toilet, he will begin trying to execute the swirly. The player must complete a button mashing sequence. If they fail to mash the button quick enough, the victim will elbow away from Jimmy and flee. If they succeed, the victim will collapse in a sitting position next to the toilet and be considered knocked out once the swirlie is finished.
All students, including the girls, have dialogue lines both begging Jimmy not to do a swirly, and moaning after he does it.
Wedgies[]
Jimmy can give a wedgie to any male character, including adults and authority figures. To wedgie them, the player must pick a target, approach them from behind, and use the interaction wheel to deliver the wedgie. The wedgie does scratch damage and will make the recipient angry. Giving someone a wedgie in front of their cliquemates may cause all the clique members in the area to become hostile to Jimmy.
Jimmy's bullying moves[]
The particular bullying move that Jimmy executes is dependent on which skeleton the character he's bullying is rigged to. There are five different skeletons for characters Jimmy can bully: small kids, normal kids, big kids, fat kids, and little kids. Each different skeleton has a few different possible bullying animations; one is selected randomly every time the player executes a bullying move. Normally to bully someone, Jimmy must fight them until their health bar has turned red, then use the interaction wheel to execute the bullying move. After passing English 5, Jimmy will be able to verbally abuse most students to the point that they cower from him; he can then execute the bullying move without fighting them first.
After being bullied, the victim will run away from Jimmy. If the player follows them, they may stop running and start crying instead.
Bullying small kids[]
The 'small' kids are Constantinos, Ivan, Gordon, Lance, Donald, Davis, Wade, Gord, Tad, Lefty, Vance, Dan, Kirby, Duncan, Otto, Gary and Pete.
- Indian Burn - Jimmy twists the skin on the target's wrist in two different directions, causing a friction burn.
- Spit Headlock - Jimmy gets them in a headlock, spits on his hand, and then rubs it in their face.
- Hitting Yourself - Jimmy grabs both of their wrists and makes them punch themselves.
Bullying regular kids[]
The 'regular' kids are Trevor, Bucky, Cornelius, Earnest, Thad, Ethan, Tom, Trent, Troy, Bryce, Chad, Derby, Justin, Parker, Hal, Johnny, Lucky, Peanut, Ricky, Bo, Clint (aka Henry), Edgar and Jerry.
- Arm punches - Jimmy repeatedly punches them on the upper arm with his fist.
- Slaps - Jimmy slaps them back and forth on the face.
- Ear twist - Jimmy twists their ear
Bullying big kids[]
The 'big' kids are Russell, Bif, Norton, Casey, Damon, Juri, Luis, Ted, Gurney, Leon and Omar.
- Knee to the hamstring - Jimmy knees them in the back of the leg, making them stumble. This bullying move can be done twice in a row.
- Leg trip - Jimmy puts his leg behind the other boy's legs, and pushes him over backwards.
- Arm twist - Jimmy offers them a handshake, only to twist his arm with a wristlock.
The only bullying move Jimmy can do to Russell is the leg trip.
Bullying fat kids[]
The 'fat' kids are Algie, Fatty, Melvin, and Ray. Despite Hal being fat in appearance, he is rigged as a regular kid.
- Wedgie - Jimmy slaps them on the ear so they turn around, then gives them a wedgie.
- Plumbing accident - Jimmy grabs them by their front collar and threatens to punch them until they pee their pants in fright.
Bullying little kids[]
The little kids are Pedro and Sheldon.
- Nose pinch - Jimmy twists the kids' nose and hauls him up onto his tiptoes.
- Push and trip - Jimmy pushes the kid, who then charges. Jimmy holds him back with one hand, and then sidesteps, tripping him.
Don't snitch[]
Jimmy has a bullying move to stop someone from snitching on him. Only little kids and Constantinos can snitch, and Jimmy can't stop the girls from doing it. For the boys, if he targets them and acts before they go running for a prefect, he will push them and then hit them with a medium strength punch to the belly.
Jimmy getting bullied[]
If Jimmy's status with a clique is below 50% or he enters the main hangout of a specific clique with only 50% status, members of that clique may try to bully Jimmy on sight. They will start by running up to him and insulting them. Jimmy has the option of ignoring them, which may cause them to attack, or responding to them with the interaction wheel. If Jimmy tries to back down from them, they may demand a bribe. Whether the bully demands a bribe or not seems to depend on three factors: Jimmy's standing with their clique, the character's size, and Jimmy's skill at English. Ignoring or insulting a character demanding a bribe causes them to attack Jimmy. Bribing them usually results in them putting Jimmy in a headlock and giving him a noogie before walking away and leaving him alone.
If Jimmy gets within the line of sight of an authority figure, other students mostly won't bully him. However, if they try to attack Jimmy, they may keep going. If Jimmy's trouble meter is empty, the authority figure will try to bust the attacker.
Sometimes, if Jimmy starts trouble with a clique he is on good terms with, the clique members will become angry and demand a bribe, but will most likely attack him.
Other characters' bullying[]
Jimmy on the receiving end for once, compliments of Trent Northwick and Davis White.
Bullying between other students occurs all over campus constantly. It is influenced primarily by clique affiliation and location. When a character decides to bully another one, they will run up to their target. Usually they will start by insulting their target. If the victim is facing away from them they may kick them in the back of the knees knocking him down, and if the victim is carrying something they may run up, snatch it from them and then throw it at them.
Peanut choke-lifting Earnest Jones.
Most bullying ends with the victim backing down, and the two then go their separate ways. However, a bully may give the victim a noogie before walking away. The victim may not back down. This can often lead to the bully attacking. In rare cases, usually when a smaller kid tries to bully a bigger kid, the "victim" will be able to intimidate the bully. For example, if Norton wanders into the gym area and Dan tries to bully him, Norton won't be intimidated and will insult Dan back, which will usually cause Dan to back down. If Russell insults someone they will almost invariably back down regardless of clique or size.
The Non-Clique Students never bully anyone. The Nerds are usually mild mannered, but, when in front of the Library, are more aggressive and will push and insult the Non-Cliques, occasionally even bullying them. The Bullies will pick on any Nerd and Non-Clique they see most of the time, but will attack them if near the School Parking Lot. The Preppies and Greasers are aggressive towards any other cliques who wander into their turf - outside Harrington House and outside the Auto Repair Shop respectively - but will be aggressive towards each other at all times, often starting fist fights. The Jocks are aggressive outside the Gymnasium. Damon is particularly aggressive and will attack Nerds and, if he has a low faction standing with the Jocks, Jimmy on sight if he sees them. The Townies don't cross paths with Bullworth students often and are more likely to attack them than try to bully them, although they bully the hobos loitering around Blue Skies Industrial Park.
After being bullied, the victim will take off running away from the bully, who will rarely follow them. If the player follows the victim long enough, the victim may stop running and begin crying.
Other forms of bullying can sometimes be observed around Bullworth Academy campus. Sometimes clique members will taunt a Nerd or Non-Clique by dangling a book above their head, making them jump for it. Occasionally a Nerd can be seen doing this to a Non-Clique. Students can also sometimes be seen shoving each other into objects or giving swirlies. More rarely, either a non-Nerd clique member can be seen holding a Nerd or Non-Clique off the ground with two hands, or a prefect can be seen doing it to a clique member.
Peculiarly, if Jimmy turns the television in the Boys' Dorm off, nearby students may attempt to bully him. They will do this even if Jimmy was the one to turn the TV on, or if they weren't watching it. There are unused WTFTV speech files, which may have been used in this situation.
Bullying girls[]
Jimmy is able to pinch both girls and adult women on the rear end. The game considers this "harassment" rather than bullying.
At one point in the game's development, it was possible for girls to be bullied just like the boys. All of them have dialogue recorded for having been bullied or given a swirlie. However, the ability to bully girls was disabled at some point. Girls automatically break grapples by kicking Jimmy in the groin, and on the rare occasions they can be goaded into fighting still run away as soon as the first strike is thrown.
There are two glitches that can be used to bully girls: the girl wedgie glitch can be used to give girls a wedgie, and the grappling a knocked out person glitch can be used to shove girls into objects or give them swirlies.