Bully Bulldog

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    This trope is prevalent in (but not exclusive to) old cartoons from the 1940s as both Warner Bros and MGM had a surfeit of bulldog characters. Generally they were vicious guard dogs or bullies, esp. toward cats and littler dogs.

    Since a lot of the examples are in cartoons and because of the stubby snout and large jowls, the bulldog was probably used where they wanted what Preston Blair called the "Heavy Pugnacious Character".

    This is a Dead Horse Trope now. Bulldogs were vicious many years ago when they were still bred to fight bulls for sport, hence the name. When this sport was outlawed, bulldogs had their viciousness bred out of them so they could be kept as pets. It's reflected in fiction, too: Modern "mean dogs" are almost always Rottweilers, Pit Bulls and German shepherds.

    Subtrope of Dog Stereotype.

    Examples of Bully Bulldog include:

    Comic Books

    • Donald Duck comics have this in almost every issue. Normally it's someone climbing a fence just to notice he's landed on the bulldog territory. This is a stock scene, and is sometimes parodied. It might not be a bulldog, but an equally vicious poodle for instance, or even if the dog is just a sleeping puppy, the character is terrified.

    Film - Live Action

    • Mr. Beefy from Little Nicky.
    • Subverted in the Halloween sequence in the movie Meet Me In St. Louis. When Tootie has to "Kill the Braukoffs," another child protests, "The Braukoffs have a fierce bulldog! She'll be torn to pieces!" After Tootie throws flour into Mr. Braukoff's face to "kill" him, the bulldog is seen quietly and unconcernedly snuffling up the flour rather than noticing Tootie at all.

    Film - Animated

    Literature

    • In the novel White Fang, the wolf fights a bulldog in a dogfight.
      • Cherokee the bulldog subverts this trope because he is described as neither vicious or bullying: "Cherokee did not seem anxious to fight. He turned his head and blinked at the men who shouted, at the same time wagging his stump of a tail good-naturedly. He was not afraid, but merely lazy."
    • Averted with T-Bone from Clifford the Big Red Dog.

    Real Life

    • Bulldogs are also extremely popular as sports mascots.
      • The Cleveland Browns' official mascot may be a brownie, but it's more likely you'll see someone wearing the "Dawg" on his shirt, a big orange bulldog!
      • There are also the Bulldogs who are the mascots of Yale, the University of Georgia, Gonzaga, Butler and the Citadel.

    Video Games

    • In the Pokémon games, Snubbull and Granbull are basically bipedal bulldogs. Both tend to be callous bullies (although in Snubbull's case, they are actually affectionate and act mean to hide their cowardice), with their most common ability being Intimidate. Funnily enough, they're also popular pets among fashion conscious young women.
    • Muggshot from Sly Cooper could be considered the epitome of this trope. A super-tough nigh-invulnerable Jerkass with two gigantic tommy guns, he's definitely not a nice guy.
    • The Moblins in The Legend of Zelda, humanoid bulldogs that are occasional Mooks fought in the game.

    Western Animation

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