10 Funniest Bullies in Comedy Movies, Ranked
Some of the funniest comedies of all time included some of the most hilarious portrayals of bullies and troublemakers ever to grace the big screen. These cinematic jerks entertained audiences with their over-the-top comedic cruelties and mean-spirited natures. They’ve become iconic, quotable, and sometimes more popular than the protagonists.
Though bullying is not a laughing matter in real life, these comedic bullies we’re intentionally written to be overtly incompetent, irrational, and constantly making bad decisions that usually blow up in their faces. These are the kinds of antagonists that audiences love to hate as they’re always set up to receive a well-deserved comeuppance courtesy of the victims of their bullying.
10 Buzz McCallister — ‘Home Alone’ (1990)
It’s not easy growing up with a bully, but in the case of 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), his bully just so happens to be his oldest brother Buzz (Devin Ratray). Buzz is the typical bigger older brother who picks on his younger and smaller sibling just because he can.
Buzz, for no particular reason, just loves to bicker and harass Kevin any chance he can, usually resulting in the two brothers locking heads on more than one occasion. Though he goes mostly unpunished for his taunting during the film’s events, Kevin unintentionally still manages to get the last laugh in the end when Buzz returns home from Paris to find his room destroyed.
9 Fred O’Bannion — ‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993)
It was the last day of school for the students of Lee High School. The sun was shining, and the incoming freshmen looked forward to the new school year. However, returning senior Fred O’Bannion (Ben Affleck) was on the hunt with his trusty paddle, ready to “welcome” the next generation with his embarrassing hazing ritual.
All Fred wanted was to instill fear in the freshmen class and assert himself as the biggest, meanest guy around. However, his temper and overconfidence got the better of him in the end when he was outsmarted and pranked by a group of freshmen who dumped paint all over his head, embarrassing him in front of all his friends.
8 “Baby” Brent — ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ (2009)
The residents of the struggling island town of Swallow Falls shared a united love for their town mascot, “Baby” Brent McHale (Andy Samberg). Brent was a spoiled and naive popular kid whose constant need for attention caused him to pick on others who tried to steal his thunder, including the local scientist Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader).
When Flint made a food-creating device that won over the entire town, his newfound status and popularity left Brent to become a social pariah and forced to give up his role as a mascot. However, once the device started to go haywire and threatened the entire town, Brent, instead of reverting to his old bullying ways, decided to redeem himself by helping Flint stop his device before it could trigger an apocalypse.
7 Ogre and the Alpha-Betas — ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ (1984)
In this classic ’80s comedy that hadn’t aged well, when a misfit group of nerds and outcasts entered their freshmen year at Adams College, they immediately became the targets of harassment by the stuck-up jocks of the Alpha-Beta fraternity, led by their elitist quarterback Stan (Ted McGinley) and his hulking and memorable sidekick Ogre (Donald Gibb).
Ogre, in particular, stood out amongst the Apha-Betas thanks to Donald Gibb’s hilarious performance as the dimwitted jock and his constant shouting of the word “NERDS!” has become ingrained in pop culture. In the film’s ending, Ogre and the Betas are eventually defeated by the nerds after they finally learn to stand up for themselves and call out the jocks at the homecoming pep rally.
6 Steve Stifler — ‘American Pie’ (1999)
In this hilarious teen comedy from the 90s, Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) was an extraordinarily crass and vulgar cool kid who seemingly picked on everyone he interacted with. The brunt of his bullying was usually targeted toward his sophisticated friend Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas).
Stifler ruled over his high school, scoring many dates with popular girls and hosting the most epic house parties. His inflated ego and womanizing even led him to refer to himself in the third person on more than one occasion. However, Finch gets his satisfying revenge in the end after Stifler becomes traumatized and embarrassed after walking in on Finch sleeping with Stifler’s mother (Jennifer Coolidge).
5 Chet Donnelly — ‘Weird Science’ (1985)
Social outcasts Wyatt Donnelly (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) and Gary Wallace (Anthony Michael Hall) can’t seem to catch a break as they’re usually the laughingstocks of their school. Yet, for Wyatt, his misery didn’t stop after school, as back home, he was constantly mocked and harassed by his macho older brother Chet (Bill Paxton).
Chet was the cigar-chewing, hot-tempered military man who acted tough and never apologized for anything. His cruelty towards his younger brother was eventually stopped after he met Wyatt and Gary’s science experiment Lisa (Kelly LeBrock), a beautiful woman created through computer technology, who used her powers to turn Chet into a hideous version of himself, so he could finally humble himself and reconcile with Wyatt.
4 White Goodman — ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’ (2004)
White Goodman (Ben Stiller) was the founder and CEO of Globo Gym America Corp., a pioneering front in the fitness center industry. He was also a selfish and egomaniacal jerk with a large superiority complex and a unique fashion sense who ran his gym under the motto that everyone who joins his gym is better than everyone else.
When he sought to acquire the largely inconsequential rival gym, The Average Joe’s Gymnasium, he soon had to compete against Joe’s likable owner Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn), and his team in a competitive game of dodgeball for the ownership of the gym. However, White’s arrogance and overconfidence got the better of him, and Peter beat White in the game and stole his company right from under him.
3 Regina George — ‘Mean Girls’ (2004)
In this highly quotable teen film, Regina George (Rachel McAdams) is the prettiest and most popular girl in her high school as she leads her clique known as “The Plastics.” To get to the top, however, she had to manipulate and talk behind other people’s backs to get what she wanted.
When a homeschooler named Cady (Lindsay Lohan) arrived at the school, Regina sought to take this new girl under her wing as a cruel ploy to eventually hurt her feelings. However, with the help of others, Cady unintentionally usurped Regina as the most popular girl and left her at the bottom of the pecking order.
2 Shooter McGavin – ‘Happy Gilmore’ (1996)
Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) wanted to be the next golf pro legend and waited all his life for the coveted gold jacket for championship winners. Unfortunately, he had to compete for his jacket in a heated competition against the up-incoming star Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler).
Believing Happy to be nothing more than a typical amateur, Shooter was willing to cheat and pull every dirty trick to achieve victory. He was even willing to stoop low enough to buy Happy’s grandmother’s home as leverage to force Happy out of the competition. However, all of Shooter’s efforts to win were thwarted as the overconfident pro lost to Happy in a high-stakes game, leaving Happy to go home with the fame and the jacket that Shooter so desperately wanted.
1 Biff Tannen — ‘Back to the Future’ (1985)
High Schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) was sent back in time to the 1950s when he unintentionally became roped into his young parents’ lives. He also attracted unwanted attention from his father’s bully, the tall and domineering Biff Tannen (Tom Wilson).
This hot-headed, bumbling thug picked on Marty’s father, George (Crispin Glover), all of his life and constantly extorted money or favors from him. However, thanks to the encouragement from his son, George eventually mustered up the strength needed to fight Biff at the high school dance in the end and finally brought this iconic movie bully’s torment to an end.
