The fascination with former bullies is that we either wish they grew out of being a jerk or that karma caught up with them. So I was instantly interested when u/fattymacdaddy asked people, "What happened to the bully in your class?" And honestly, some of these responses were not at all what I was expecting:
1. "Many years after graduation, I found out that he became a local cop in the town we grew up in. It was the least surprising thing to everybody."
2. "I just looked him up. He makes YouTube videos for ‘work’ in the vein of Andrew Tate. He has 212 subscribers, and lives in his mom’s house — I recognized it from the videos."
3. "Her father got sued, and they lost EVERYTHING — house, cars, drained their money, all of it. Last I heard, she was living in a run-down apartment and working at a small gas station."
4. "I'm a woman, and my bully was a man — he was absolutely relentless from kindergarten to middle school. He would stick his leg out to trip me, impose on my personal space, and would spread rumors about me. Even though he wasn't liked by our classmates, it really bothered me why he went out of his way to humiliate and hurt me. He disappeared after middle school. Years later in college, I was in my first apartment sitting on my new couch with my friend watching TV when I hear Chris Hansen say, "Next on To Catch a Predator..." and he says that jerk-off's name. Then, there he was on my TV, walking in to meet an 'underage girl' he was having very disgusting text conversations with. I could not believe it."
5. "He now owns his father’s huge and massively lucrative construction company, which is exactly what he said he was going to do. He would always let us know how much richer he was going to be than us. So yeah, it sucks it came true."
6. "After years and years of being bullied in middle and high school by one particular guy, I took my dad's lawnmower in to get serviced — that mean, racist jackass walked up to the counter covered in dirt, oil, and sweat. He immediately knew who I was. I hated this dude for so long, I imagined yanking him by his shirt over the counter and beating his face into the ground. Nothing was said between us during that interaction other than the services I needed. When I went to go pick the lawnmower up a week later, he asked me to step outside. In my mind, I thought, 'This is it. I'm going to pummel this dude.' Instead, he lit a cigarette and spent 15 minutes apologizing for how he treated me in middle school and high school."
7. "The boy bully married the girl bully, they had a kid, then divorced. Shocking."
8. "She became an influencer and has tons of followers because people think she is really funny because of how 'air-headed' she is. She very much has a Paris Hilton type of persona going on — very spoiled rich girl, pretending to be stupid and to know nothing about the world."
9. "Mine became a professional football player in the NFL. I get to watch him on TV now. Yay."
10. "My bully called me anti-gay slurs for years, then made a pass at me at the graduation ball. I walked into the upstairs men's room, and he was at a urinal. When he saw me, he stepped back and said, 'Bet you want this,' and walked into a stall. I was drunk, so I went with it. He texted me the next day that he would kill me if I told anyone. But then, he booty-called me twice more over the next few weeks, each followed by similar threats. The third time, I turned him down and never heard from him again. I went off to college and then moved away. I wonder if he's still deep in that closet!"
11. "I heard the kid who used to beat me up every day in third grade crashed his motorcycle and lost both his testicles. So, he’s got that going for him."
12. "She did a wild amount of growing up during college, including having to uproot her whole life to care for her family after the sudden death of her mom. She reached out to me and other people I personally know and directly addressed the bullying. I accepted her invite to take me out for lunch, and she was very honest, apologizing and acknowledging what she did and why she understood she was wrong. She’s now running a successful animal rescue organization with her long-term boyfriend. I wish her nothing but happiness."
13. "He became a Disney channel star, started a YouTube channel with creators, exploded in popularity, and now he's in boxing."
14. "He ended up being my direct manager at a serving job, and honestly, he was one of the best managers I've ever had."
15. "His father was caught stealing millions from the community. His dad was a wealth manager, and all his clients were friends and neighbors in a sort of small town. The entire family was put through the wringer, and the bully was a wreck for a long time. I get the impression he realized all the wealth (and arrogance) that he grew up with was stolen from everyone he knew. I saw him years later, and it was like seeing a different person — he had changed his name, walked differently, and held himself with a different posture. We spoke for a few minutes. Maybe I'm reading too much into our interaction, but it was a little weird. He didn't go out and say sorry for what he had done, even though it seemed like he wanted to. Maybe he thought it would be tacky. Even though it seemed like he was genuinely interested in what was going on with me, I felt like he was forcing himself to be an actual nice guy."
16. "For whatever reason, he asked me out a few years after graduation. He bullied me."
17. "He’s on Facebook constantly crying about how unfair life has been to him. He also said he won’t go to our 10-year high school reunion because he was bullied by the 'assholes' that are now organizing the reunion. When I commented and reminded him how he bullied me, he said, 'At least I didn’t make you suicidal like they made me.' Completely delusional. I feel bad for him."
18. "He died the summer after graduating high school. He mixed too many drugs and alcohol at a party. I felt very sad for his younger brother who was a great person, despite his brother."
19. "They all became nurses."
20. "He became the CEO of the company he started after college. He is the chairman of the local football team and runs the beach cleanup crew every month. He always has a smile and apparently just keeps on growing up."
21. "I saw him rush the field at an NFL game and get arrested. Good times!"
What was the fate of your class bully? And if you were the bully, what does life look like for you now? Share your story in the comments.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.