| “ | RUSSELL SMASH! | „ |
| ~ Russell Northrop |
| “ | Russell likes to hurt people, for peace! | „ |
| ~ Russell Northrop |
Russell Northrop is the tritagonist 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 is the most feared student on campus.
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 induces great fear amongst the other students due to his massive size and strength combined with his bullying tendencies. He has immense strength, to the point that he is able to lift and hold even a fully grown man up in the air using only one arm. It is heavily implied that his 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.
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 and frequently refers to himself in the third person.
He lives in Old Bullworth Vale, a wealthy and Preppy dominated area, suggesting that he has well-off parents, which are divorced.
Chapter 1[]
Russell is encountered by Jimmy on his very first day, and attacks Jimmy for beating up one his fellow bullies. Before Russell can do any damage, Mr. Hattrick, a Math teacher at Bullworth Academy, breaks up the fight. A short time later Russell accosts Jimmy again in the school hallways, but Jimmy gives him some of his money so Russell will leave him alone. After Russell leaves, Gary suggests that Jimmy pick 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 fighting him, paying him off or just avoiding him. If Jimmy does fight, Russell will often receive backup from his fellow bullies, making fighting him at this point very 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 had said something rude 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 moves 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 also 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 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 in the air with one arm and threatening 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 betrayed Jimmy and has most of the school against him. 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 escape from hiding in a meat factory. They, along with the Townies then return to the school, where a large riot has broken out and the students are trashing it. Russell helps Jimmy as he defeats the leaders of the four cliques.
Just before his showdown with Gary, two prefects grab Jimmy and take away his weapons. However, Russell then arrives and chases both of them away out of anger. It is implied Russell either threatened them into giving the weapons back, or just assaulted them and took them, as Jimmy gets the weapons back at the end of the game.
Trivia[]
- Russell is eighteen years old.
- Russell, even after the 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.
External Links[]
- Russell Northrop on the Heroes Wiki
