GAME · 2006 · CANADA
Bully
- Developer
- Rockstar Vancouver, Rockstar New England, Rockstar Toronto
- Platforms
- Wii, Microsoft Windows, Nvidia Shield TV, Shield Tablet
19 archived facts 4 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
19 Interesting Facts About Bully
Interesting Facts (2)
Production Story (9)
- #003
German actor and director Michael Herbig, who is also known in Germany under his nickname "Bully", filed a lawsuit against this game in 2008. He claimed that a violent game could hurt his personality rights and demanded a nationwide sales stop. The case was later dismissed by the court, stating that this game wouldn't hurt his personality rights at all.
- #004
While originally in development, Rockstar planned for the player to be much more involved in school life at Bulworth Academy, which included several different clubs and non-curricular activities that the player could sign up for at their own free will. Some of these clubs included the chess club, the computer club, newspaper, photography, and theater, among others. This also included the ability to try out for various sports at Bulworth, which included football, wrestling, basketball, and track & field. Being on one of these teams would force Jimmy to train several times a week before competing in a game against a rival school with gameplay style likely similar to that of EA's Madden games. Jimmy could also engage in long-term relationships with NPC's of the player's choosing, similar to an idea from Rockstar's own Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. With this, the player could also pick a best friend from any NPC of the school's cliques, adding more and more best friends through a "respect" based leveling system. Most of these ideas were abandoned simply because the Playstation 2 did not have the memory to process such complex ideas, though some of them did make it into the final game in ways that were much more stripped down than initially planned, such as some sports-based levels, yearbook photography, and flirting.
- #005
- #006
The game was originally given an M-rating by the ESRB due to strong language; the taunts and insults your character could use towards NPC's in the beta version were much harsher and featured edgier adult language. Despite not using certain M-rated swear words, the game originally featured taunts that were written for a specific NPC and could target weight, height, gender, personal problems, and rumors targeting that sole NPC. For example, Jimmy Hopkins could tell a depressed NPC "just end it all, nobody will miss you" or say "I have some rope in my dorm if you'd like to use it tonight", or could make jokes about abortions and STD's to cheerleaders. After getting warnings from the ESRB, who felt these insults were too suggestive for a T-rated game, many of these insults and taunts were replaced with more harmless language, such as "you lame jerk" and "you lousy baby" as an attempt to appease the rating board. The original lines of dialogue and still be accessed and placed into the game if you access the PC version's game files.
- #007
Although Bullworth's location has always been a popular debate with fans, unused dialog for the game's opening cutscene state the game's setting is in New Hampshire, with a character saying "it's a long walk to Dixville Notch, and that's the nearest town!" Dixville Notch is located in northern New Hampshire.
- #008
- #009
- #010
Contains a major spoiler — show
During the mission "Showdown at the Plant" (the penultimate mission in story mode), there's was a alternate ending in which if the player lost the final fight against Edgar Munsen, a cinematic would appear where he killed Jimmy by throwing him into the acid pit they were fighting over. This would make him the only character to successfully assassinate Jimmy. This was cut before the game was released, but some of Edgar Munsen's deleted dialog is hidden on the game disc.
- #011
Behind the Scenes (1)
Easter Eggs & References (7)
- #013
In the mission "Stronghold Assault", at the beginning of Chapter 4, the nerd you beat up give you the pass code to the observatory as 1138. This is more than likely a reference to George Lucas' dystopian science fiction film, THX 1138.
- #014
- #015
- #016
- #017
- #018
When Earnest starts displaying his presidential campaign banners throughout the school in the beginning of the game, they resemble a variation of the Nazi Germany (Third Reich) banners from WWII. Ernest's banners are green instead of red & the "E" in the middle of the white circle resembles a shortened swastika.
- #019