| “ | RUSSELL SMASH! | „ |
| ~ Russell when attacking. |
| “ | Russell likes to hurt people, for peace! | „ |
| ~ Russell Northrop |
Russell Northrop is one of the main supporting characters of the 2006 video game Bully.
A tall and very large brute, Russell is the strongest student at Bullworth Academy and is the leader of the Bullies clique.
He was voiced by Cody Melton.
Biography[]
Russell is one of the students attending Bullworth Academy and is the leader of the Bullies clique. He is a physical giant, being taller & larger than most adults with a very burly and muscular build, huge thick arms and broad shoulders. He is not the most skilled fighter but easily makes up for this with his massive size and immense strength, and he is strong enough that he can hold up even a grown man in the air using only one arm.
Russell induces great fear amongst the other students due to his massive size and strength combined with his tendency to be a bully. He is by far the most feared student on campus and almost everyone regardless of clique is afraid of him to some extent. Even powerful cliques like the Jocks or Greasers tend to avoid having any dealings or confrontations with Russell and give him a wide berth. Authority figures like the Prefects have also shown fear towards Russell when he is angered.
It is implied that Russell's abnormal size and strength may be the result of a medical condition such as gigantism or acromegaly, since he mentions that Nurse McRae told him he has overactive glands. He is estimated to be around 6’5 and 320lbs, and his shoe size is seventeen.
Russell is slow-witted and unintelligent with the mind of a young child, suggesting a mental handicap or deficiency of some sort. He does seem to have some understanding of right and wrong, but struggles to understand some basic things such as the concept of alcoholism, stating he saw Mr. Galloway drinking from a "little bottle" under the bleachers. He also has poor grammar, speaking mainly in short, basic sentences and frequently refers to himself in the third person.
Russell lives in Old Bullworth Vale, a wealthy and Preppy dominated area, suggesting that he has well-off parents, who are divorced.
Chapter 1[]
Russell is encountered by Jimmy Hopkins on his first day at Bullworth, where he attacks Jimmy for beating up one his fellow bullies. Before Russell can do any damage, Mr. Hattrick, the school Math teacher, breaks up the fight. A short time later Russell accosts Jimmy again in the school hallways, forcing Jimmy to give up some of his money to avoid being beaten up by him. After Russell leaves, Gary suggests that Jimmy break into his locker to "teach him a lesson" and they steal a baseball cap from it, which Jimmy keeps for the rest of the game.
When outside the main building, Jimmy may encounter Russell at a few different spots around the campus, where the player has the option of paying him off, fighting or just trying to avoid him. If Jimmy does fight, Russell is a very tough opponent with high health and hard-hitting attacks, and also often receives backup from his fellow bullies. This makes fighting him at this point extremely challenging especially for a new player.
His major story arc comes at the end of chapter 1, during the mission Help Gary. Gary Smith betrays Jimmy Hopkins, luring him to an arena in the school's basement known as "The Hole". He lies to Russell, saying that Jimmy has said rude things about barnyard animals and Russell’s mother, which prompts him to fight Jimmy in the Hole.
During the boss fight Russell has three main moves, the first move involves him charging at Jimmy and attempting to slam him into a wall, similar to a charging bull. The second move involves him chasing Jimmy down and putting him into a Boston Crab wrestling hold, which Jimmy must then break out of, taking damage until he does. The third move he uses is his powerbomb body slam, which he also uses in freeroam. After defeating Russell, Jimmy helps him up and tells him to stop bullying weaker kids. Russell apologizes and then becomes Jimmy’s friend and loyal ally for the rest of the game. After this point, Russell can be hired as muscle by Jimmy for $1 whenever he is encountered in freeroam.
Helping Jimmy[]
After Jimmy and Russell become friends, he participates in three further story missions:
The first is the Chapter 2 mission of egging Tad's house, where Jimmy finds Russell outside a store, angrily holding up the shopkeeper with one arm by his shirt collar to intimidate him, allegedly because he called Russell "dumb". Jimmy manages to calm Russell into putting the shopkeeper down, and the pair then purchase some eggs from him. Russell then accompanies Jimmy during the egging and acts as a bodyguard of sorts, attacking and beating up any Preps who try to attack him.
The second mission he appears in takes place in Chapter 5 after Gary has managed to turn almost the entire school against Jimmy. He helps Jimmy break into the Townies hideout by crashing a stolen police motorcycle through the gates, slightly injuring himself in the process. He then runs away and hides, luring the police away from Jimmy. Russell returns again shortly after this for the final mission, where Jimmy has to help him evade the police and escape from hiding in a meat factory. They, along with Edgar Munsen and some Townies then return to Bullworth Acadamy, where a large riot has broken out with all of the cliques trashing the school and fighting each other. Russell helps Jimmy as he defeats the leaders of the four cliques.
Just before his showdown with Gary, two Prefects grab Jimmy and confiscate his weapons. However, an enraged Russell then arrives and scares them both off before chasing them away. It is implied Russell later caught them and either threatened them into giving the weapons back or just beat them up and took them, as Jimmy gets his weapons back at the end of the game.
Russell also appears as part of the crowd that is cheering Jimmy on after the final mission when the credits start to roll.
Theme[]
Theme of Russell[]
Trivia[]
- Russell, even outside of his boss battle, can still do the powerbomb at all times due to his great strength. He will never use his other moves that he uses during his boss fight as they are exclusive to the fight itself.
- This also makes him one of the few characters with his own unique fighting moves.
- Although Russell's exact age is unknown, it's possible that he is 18 years old due to the tattoo on his arm, because the general age for getting a tattoo is 18 in the United States, but there are exceptions. In some states, tattoos can be made at 16-17 years old with parental approval, in which case Russell's age range must be between 16-18.
External Links[]
- Russell Northrop on the Bully Wiki
- Russell Northrop on the Heroes Wiki
