Russell Northrop is a main character in Bully, and is the leader of the Bullies clique. He was voiced by Cody Melton.
Character Description[]
Russell is a tall and very large student with reddish brown hair in a bowl cut and brown eyes. He has incredible strength, being able to lift a fully grown man into the air with one arm. He wears a white Bullworth school shirt which is untucked, and denim jeans. Unlike his fellow Bullies, Russell wears brown boots instead of sneakers and sometimes refers in his talk that shoelaces confuse him. Russell indicates in dialog that his shoe size is seventeen. He has a tattoo on his left bicep. In the winter, he is dressed nearly the same, only with the sleeves of his shirt rolled down and a black urban hat on his head. He resembles actor Richard Kiel, who is 7'2" and has gigantism.
Russell was originally intended to be the leader of the Punks and later the Dropouts. The game data files even still identify him as the Dropout leader. This early version of Russell was different in appearance - he was slovenly and fatter, with hair worn long and over his eyes and his sweater vest pulled up and his shirt spread to expose his belly. This version of Russell appeared in the comic as the Punks leader. He was more intelligent, and his personality was more self-loathing and bitter.
Russell is the strongest character in the game due to the fact he has a large amount of health and moves very fast. He could be able to beat up any character, and surprisingly, Russell can beat the all the Nerds, Preppies, Greasers, and Jocks on his own without any help from his clique members. Russell can fight the Townies but on his own, but it would be difficult for him due to the fact the Townies are the strongest clique in the game. Russell on occasions can be seen fighting Prefects. Surprisingly the Prefects would apologize to Russell if he taunts them rather than attempting to bust him. The Faculty and Police, aren't scared of him and would usually attempt to bust him if Russell taunts them.
Characteristics[]
Russell, due to his size, is the most feared student on campus. He can sometimes intimidate, and attack the Prefects and other authority. However, he can still be busted like any other student. It's possible that his immense strength is the reason why the Jocks, Preppies, and Greasers don't bother with the Bullies, as they are no match for him, and he is known to bully them.
The Nerds are his arch enemies, and he is more volatile to them then any other student group. Fatty states he witnessed Russell smash a science project over Donald's head, while Russell states he made an unknown student eat his chemistry project. However, he is an equal opportunity aggressor, and according to Troy, he has a grudge against the Greasers. According to Angie Ng, Russell told her he was getting good grades in Math. He also does not understand the concept of alcoholism, stating he saw Mr. Galloway drinking from a "little bottle" under the bleachers.
Russell has various medical problems both stated and hinted at or rumored. His size may be the result of gigantism or acromegaly, since he mentions that Nurse McRae told him he has overactive glands. According to Vance, Russell was once in a psycho ward. Russell is extremely unintelligent with the mind of a small child suggesting a mental handicap or deficiency of some sort. However, he has a clear sense of right and wrong acknowledging when Jimmy makes him realize that his bullying is bad and choosing to hide from the police after he stole the motorbike out of fear of going to prison. He sometimes quotes, "Inside Russell's thick skin; big heart of warrior poet." Russell has poor grammar and he frequently refers to himself in the third person. One of his favorite quotes is "Russell smash!", perhaps a nod to the comic book character The Hulk, who was known to say "Hulk smash!" He lives in the rich, Preppy dominated area of Old Bullworth Vale, suggesting that his family may be relatively well off. His parents are divorced.
Role in game[]
After Jimmy beats Wade in a fight at the beginning of the game, Russell attacks Jimmy. He is stopped by Mr. Hattrick before he can do any damage. Jimmy is later forced to pay Russell not to attack him, and retaliates at Gary's urge by breaking into Russell's locker and stealing a baseball cap.
Russell remains a dangerous antagonist for all of Chapter 1, although as he never attends class, he's mainly easy to avoid. Jimmy does have a run-in with him in the dorm hallways at Halloween. At the end of Chapter 1, Gary tricks Russell and Jimmy into fighting each other in The Hole, hoping to get him beaten up in front of the entire school. When Jimmy wins the fight, Russell, along with the other Bullies, becomes his friend and firm ally for the rest of the game.
Russell can be regularly found on campus, and can always be hired by Jimmy after Chapter 1.
Russell backs Jimmy up in several missions, including one that involves heading into Old Bullworth Vale for a revenge hit against the Preppies for backstabbing him. Much later, Russell, with a stolen police motorcycle, helps Jimmy break into the barricaded Townie hideout. After Jimmy helps him avoid the police, he helps Jimmy break back into Bullworth and end the fighting between the cliques.
His final role in the story is chasing the Prefects after they steal Jimmy's slingshot. As Jimmy got the slingshot back after that mission, presumably Russell was able to take it back from them and give it to Jimmy. Russell can be seen at the end of the game amongst the characters cheering Jimmy on as he kisses Zoe.
When Jimmy passes English 1, a short tutorial on apologizing to bullies features Russell.
Trivia[]
- In free roam after Chapter 1, Russell will always offer to be Jimmy's bodyguard rather than interacting with him normally. There are two ways around this. One is to annoy him until he threatens Jimmy and then apologizing. The other is to have a different character as your bodyguard.
- Many players have reported that Russell cannot be bullied in free roam, although some say he can. It is believed this has to do with the version of Bully, and that Russell was made un-bullyable in later versions. He can be bullied at the end of the fight in The Hole in all versions. Additionally, the only bullying move that can be done to him is the push and trip.
- Once the player reaches Chapter 2, if you hire Russell to be your bodyguard and go to the boxing gym, Russell will oddly appear upstairs in the trophy room.