15 people who fought back against bullies share what happened.

There are few stories more cathartic than tales of revenge on bullies.

The image of the underdog standing up to the person who tormented them for so long is the inspiration for countless movie plots and folk songs.

Even if you've never personally been bullied, it's hard to resist the catharsis of a story of revenge that feels like pure karma.

So if you need some schadenfreude in your step today, look no further.

People in a popular Ask Reddit thread shared their stories of fighting back against bullies, and how it all went down.

1. From MoonfrostTheElf:

Kid I had known for years had constantly s*xualized me and my little brother (as a 'joke' to make us uncomfortable), threatened us on the bus, made fun of us, and mocked our parents.

Because he was my classmate, he mocked me and made sexual comments towards me in class. In fifth grade, he was sitting next to me and picking on me quite a bit more than usual. I told him to leave me alone. He didn't.

I picked up my pencil and stabbed him in the arm as hard as I could. Now, I wasn't very strong, and it was a tiny mechanical pencil through his hoodie, so I didn't do any massive damage. But it was enough to bruise and leave a mark.

It hurt badly, from what I could tell. He asked me what the hell I was doing, and I told him I'd do it again. He only picked on me very, very occasionally from then on, and he only did it when he wasn't in stabbing distance.

I guess the lack of hesitation on my part spooked him, he was all tough until I took a step toward him from then on. He just got arrested for violence, terroristic threats, and grooming a minor a month ago.

2. From Fun_in_Space:

I think I was about 10. He'd been bullying me and my sisters for a couple of years. He tried to sneak up on my sister on the bus.

He stretched out his hand like he was going to pull her hair or something. I made a fist, swung it backwards and him in the eye. He cried.

3. From Titalator:

Little bit of backstory first. We were playing tackle the carrier, (or smear the queer for older folks reading. Sorry not my choice in words, but that's what I remember my uncle's and stuff calling it.)

I was a fourth grader and I tackled a sixth grader and he got pissed off and started to kick me. I let it happen a few times a teacher was literally looking right at me. After about the fourth time I grabbed his leg and lifted.

He fell backward then I punched him in the face twice. He only got a bloody nose and shattered pride. We each got suspended for three days. My mom was pissed at the school after they told the story to her.

Then when she watched the footage she asked me in front of the principal if there was a new game I wanted.

Principal was mad but my mom said 'I never teach my boys to start anything. But when the teacher refused to end it he did by defending himself.'

Best three-day weekend ever. P.S. We were related through marriage and he got in huge trouble with his convict dad for getting beat up by a little kid.

4. From Cubaris_murina:

I was the target of basically an entire classroom full of bullies in the fifth and sixth grade, and although I never physically fought them, it got dark fast.

Basically this sh**ty little group of kids who called themselves the squad made it their personal mission in life to make sure mine was as miserable as possible.

Stealing my things, breaking my things, threatening me, even attacking me on multiple occasions just overall being straight-up scum bags.

It got so bad that I had to be moved out of the fifth-grade class and into the six-grade class early but only to find out this little group had plenty of members in the sixth grade class as well and they quickly got in on the bulls**t.

Shortly before Valentine’s Day, everyone had to make cards for their classmates and to my surprise, I got more cards than anyone else in the freaking class.

HOWEVER, inside each of these little cards was some form of “kill yourself“ surrounded by hearts and s**t. Rather than being upset by this I laughed so freaking hard.

Not only were some of these dumba**es stupid enough to actually write their names on the cards, but I could recognize the handwriting on all of those who didn’t.

I gladly wrote their names on it for them and then handed this big a*s stack of cards to the teacher who proceeded to call a bunch of safeties in to pull out 90% of the freaking class!

I was then told I should probably go home early, so the teacher called my mom and I went to wait in the office for her to pick me up.

What do I hear while waiting in the office? A bunch of these dumba**es’ parents being called and informed that their children were being suspended for a ridiculously long time.

While I was at the office I decided to get one more lick at these a**holes and pulled up an old Insta post the leader of this group made months ago.

It was a selfie of her holding a gun and in the comments were a couple of her friends making dark jokes about school shootings.

I showed this to the secretary at the front office who promptly took my phone to show to the principal and when I came back after the short Valentine’s Day break that sorry b**ch was no longer in our class.

Her, along with the majority of the other kids in the classroom. After a while, all the other kids came back from their suspension but Courtney never did, I later learned she got expelled for the gun thing 💀 oops, not sorry!

TL;DR: Big group of bullies gave me Valentine cards telling me to off myself, ended up getting 90% of the class suspended, also got the leader of the group expelled.

5. From papercutpete:

Well, I have a crazy story where I didn't fight back but something else did. This would have been in 1977-78. I had just moved to a small city of about 50,000 people. I was like 12.

For some reason, I was targeted (no idea why) by this big kid 2 years older and a few grades ahead of me, made my life a living hell for a few weeks. I honestly thought he was going to eventually hurt me badly.

He also dragged a few of his friends into it, they were just as bad but this big kid was the catalyst for sure. School days were hell and I ran for my life at the end of each day, it was getting real bad.

My neighbors, a trucking family...with 4 boys ranging from 13 to 25, the older ones worked the Oil fields in another province but came home on the weekends. The youngest was a complete f**king psychopath.

I knew something was up with this kid the first second I laid eyes on him. He was big for his age but lean, rangy with big hands. The spookiest blueish eyes.

This kid (I will call Darren) was 13, a year younger than the kids that were bullying me, he went to the same school I did and witnessed these other kids making my life a complete hell a few times after school.

I gave Darren a piece of my chicken (KFC) as I was walking into the house after me and my mom had picked some up. I am not even sure why I did it, I didn't know him at all really.

But if I was being honest, it was probably because he was just so damn f**king spooky. At any rate, next day...like clockwork I'm walking home with my sister from school. She was a year older than I, and these f**kheads show up.

Usually (for the past few weeks anyway) I would have been running home by then, but my sister insisted I walk to the store and like an idiot I did.

Well, this bully and his friends started harassing me, one of them punched me in the nose which start spewing blood immediately. Then to make matters worse, one of them punched my older sister in the face as well.

We are both crying at this time. Darren (our neighbor) at this point comes walking up smiling and laughing, like laughing hard. He is pointing at me and my sister...and like laughing like a hyena.

The main bully steps back confused and that's when Darren swings an old school lunch box (one of those adult steel/tin ones, blue with stripes) into his face and then turned and kicked another one as hard as he could right in the nuts.

The third one just screams out 'Darren....Darren...I'm not with them' and nopes the f**k out. Remember, these kids are older than him.

Darren at this point is looking/searching the ground like he dropped his keys, but nope, he finds 2 teeth puts them in his pocket.

Darren then reaches into the kid's mouth looking for more but doesn't find any. He is still cackling as he does this. He then goes on his merry way. I was scared still but ridiculously elated at the same time.

This turned the whole franchise around at school. I thought I was going to get retribution from these kids but they were scared s**tless after that. I lived beside Darren for 4 years, I think I was his only friend.

I generally kept away from him but sometimes it was unavoidable, he never showed me any ill. I do know he got kicked out of hockey and charged for kicking another kid in the face with his skates on.

I have other stories about Darren that would raise the hair on your head. The last I heard, he worked in the Oil fields like his older brothers but on the side, he collected drug debts from other workers in the Oil fields for another person.

Scariest dude I have ever met, but damn if he didn't solve that one thing for me. I am pretty sure it was that piece of KFC.

6. From terryrds:

2002, in high school, freshman year I had P.E. I was the tall skinny kid, so of course, I was targeted regularly. The way the lockers were situated was a top row of lockers and a bottom row of lockers in the locker room.

My locker was on the bottom row. A kid near my locker would constantly kick my locker closed. It was a combo locker, so you’d have to input the combo again if it closed all the way to reopen it. It was very annoying.

After weeks of it, and telling him to knock it off multiple times, I had enough. I went into class that day with the mindset that if he does it again then I’ll hit him. We dressed for P.E. and surprisingly nothing.

I was tense the whole time because I was expecting something to happen. It wasn’t til after class when we were changing back into regular clothes that he did it. I opened my locker again, grabbed my backpack, and swung it as hard as I could.

I hit him on the side of the head with about three classes worth of textbooks in my backpack. It caused him to hit the other side of his head into the lockers. It must of hurt like hell because he didn’t want any more of that.

He landed on the floor and put his hands up in front of his face. I remember being so heated in the moment, that I almost started crying. The whole class started yelling “fight!” Which caused the teacher to show up. We both ended up in the office.

We both were suspended for three days. My dad asked me why I did it, so I explained to him the whole situation and he didn’t punish me. I thought for sure I was grounded. He said as long as I wasn’t the instigator, I was fine.

Spent three days at home playing Warcraft 3, watching trashy daytime talk shows, and riding my bike around the neighborhood. I had so many kids from school asking me on MSN messenger what happened.

Never had any problems with him once I came back. They did move us apart in the locker room though.

7. From To_a_Green_Thought:

At our elementary school, we had a closed-circuit TV network. The principal would use it to give morning announcements every day.

Two kids would be chosen every week to host the announcements, read a few things, and then turn the broadcast over to the principal. A friend and I were chosen to be the two kids one week when I was in the 6th grade.

It was actually really fun to do. However, three punk kids at the school decided they didn't like me; I can only assume they saw me on the announcements, because I'd never met them before.

They'd roam the school in a pack; if they saw me, they'd harrass me verbally and physically. And, of course, the teachers would do nothing. One day at lunch, they found me as I sat eating with my friends (who did nothing to help me).

They surrounded me and began the harassment. Finally, I turned around and grabbed one of the bullies by the throat with both of my hands. He started punching me in the head, but I didn't let go. Finally, I pushed him away.

The three bullies wandered off. I thought that'd be the end of it, but, later that week, I got called into the principal's office. The bullies had told him that I'd vandalized a restroom in the school by graffiti-ing and urinating on the walls.

I'd been playing basketball with my friends, so I had an alibi. But it freaked me out that the bullies were trying to find other ways to get to me, now that they knew I'd fight back physically.

I had my dad call the principal and read them the riot act, and the trouble stopped after that. However, I still had to stay on alert for those bullies until they all got expelled from school a few years later.

8. From Charming_Tax2311:

I had multiple bullies in junior high, most verbally attacking. I was incredibly shy and timid because of the bullying - like scared to look people in the eye, full on panic attacks before school kind of situation.

Only one was ever physical. He was tall, even then. Maybe 6’1”-ish. He towered over me at 5’3”. He’d push me, HARD, into lockers, downstairs. Slap me, kick me.

Pin me to the ground and shove rocks from the parking lot into my mouth, ears, nose, shirts and pants. I always came home with new bruises or cuts. The school was aware of the bullying, and the impact it was having on me.

My mom was on the phone with the principal almost daily, and working her way through the board of education. She yelled at them constantly. Told them to keep him away from me.

I was a small, young girl and could t reliably defend myself. She’d pick me up from school whenever she could, but she had a demanding job and couldn’t make it more often than she could.

Dad would help where he could, but with his shift at work he was usually unavailable when I got off school. One day, kid walks up to me while I’m waiting to get into Industrial arts (wood shop).

We’d had no interaction yet that day, no works or even glances. Walks up and slaps me, hard, across the face. He and his friends chuckle, after all, it’s funny. I was done. I kicked him in the nuts as hard as I could.

By this point, my parents had enrolled me in Taekwondo after school, to learn how to protect myself and build my confidence. Everything I had learned up to that point, I used.

Truthfully the form was perfect, and the rage and hurt behind it was strong. Dude almost immediately vomited and dropped to the ground. Ended up rolling in his own vomit and tears.

We both got sent to the office. He got immediate suspension, since they had on record that he’d been bullying me for months (thanks mom). I got told not to do that again, and the rest of the day off school.

Mom hugged me when we got home and told me she was proud of me, dad laughed so hard he himself almost puked. Kid never looked at me again. All that time, all I had to do was kick him in the junk.

9. From Sheehanigens:

Little league football. I was in 6th, brother in 4th grade, his bully in 5th. He intentionally tried to hurt my brother during practice. So I took off running, jumped in the air, went horizontal, and landed my cleats in his chest.

He lost his breath for a minute or so. I ran laps for many minutes. Bully no longer bothered little brother.

10. From Arisutea:

For some reason, this kid had it in his head that he could beat me up. I’ve no idea why, or where his assumption came from but he wanted a fight with me to prove he could.

I couldn’t care less if he could or couldn’t. It simply didn’t interest me. For a week or more he would goad me on the school bus with things like “who do you think would win in a fight?” Etc. I was having none of it.

I wasn’t interested in fighting and I didn’t care what he or anyone else thought on the matter. He squared up to me several times off the bus trying to get me to fight with him and I just kept telling him to leave me alone and kept walking away.

After several days of this and him getting nowhere, as I was walking away chatting with my friend, he ran up behind me and punched me on the back of my head. I very calmly asked my friend to hold my bag for me.

I walked up to the kid, grabbed hold of him, tripped/threw him to the ground, punched him once in the face/eye, stood up and I walked away. I said nothing. Walked back to my friend, collected my bag, and continued walking.

I didn’t see this kid for a few days, and he unsurprisingly left me alone after that.

11. From DonutsAndDepression:

I'd have so many stories of standing up to my bullies, but the first one is my personal favorite.

7 year old me. I spent almost all of my childhood at our cabin, helping out my grandparents with firewood, fishing, carrying water and all that. If I had to be with society, I was hanging around horses.

Shoveling s**t and all that fun stables stuff. Once I had to start school, I started sports on top of all that. During afterschool activities, this kid used to follow me. 10 years old, just constantly poking me.

The whole two hours I had to spend there, he was near me, poking. We tried to get the teachers and everyone to make the kid stop. No one could really do s**t, he'd always come back and just keep poking me.

After three weeks of it, I finally just turned around and knocked his lights out. The poking stopped.

12. From CheeseIsQuestionable:

Two guys in high school tried to do the “tabletop” move (one gets on all fours and the other pushes you). I stepped on the hand of the guy on the ground when I stepped back. Realized what was happening.

Kicked him with kind of a horse kick while still stepping on his hand, and then fast-balled the 20 oz bottle of Coke I was holding at the other guy’s head as hard as I could and ran away. They were both on the ground reeling.

13. From MissReanimator:

She was a notorious s**t-talker and rumor mill. Everyone hated her. She would eavesdrop and spread all kinds of dirty laundry. Or, in my case, just make something up.

I never really cared too much because the s**t she started about me was just ridiculous (that I was a lesbian witch 😂) and I was a nobody in high school, so nobody cared about rumors about me.

But then she started in on a friend of mine who was friends with a guy this b**ch liked. She started threatening to kick her ass if she didn't back off this guy. My friend was really upset about it, so I told her not to worry.

I had second period with that girl and I guaranteed her an apology by the end of the day.

So, when that girl walked into our class that day I told her that people were sick of her s**t, she needed to back the hell off my friend, and she owed apologies all around for being an insufferable twat.

She refused, made a bunch of excuses, then told me I was a b**ch. I asked her nicely to apologize again, adding this time that if she didn't then I would shove a chair down her throat. She said, 'I dare you.'

You remember those clunky metal chairs with the desk attached? I hit her over the head with one. Don't worry. Her enormous ego took most of the blow.

14. From redditcansuckmyv*g:

New kid moved to town, started s**t with everyone, then he got to me. We were fighting and I easily knocked him down and was like ok this is enough and started to walk only for him to get me from behind and claw the crap out of my neck.

Needless to say, I lost my s**t and beat the s**t out of him. He and his mom tried to get me in trouble as soon as I showed my neck I walked scot-free while he got suspended for a week.

He didn't learn his lesson and tried to go after one of my friends after and I ended up giving him the rock bottom.

Sort of him impromptu didn't mean to do it but everyone told me that's what it looked like. His older brother was a little better but we called him a secret agent man because he thought he was the one.

15. From Dice_to_see_you:

Grade 4: Bully was a family friend of the principal. My parents complained but the principal said they weren't responsible if it didn't happen on school grounds. It continued until one day he wanted to make a spectacle of it.

He thought he'd win but I had enough and broke his nose in the fight and left him bleeding everywhere.

My parents got a call that night from the principal furious and my mom explained it wasn't on school property so politely not disturb her at home for matters she wasn't involved with.

Things went cool until late grade 6, same kid had been getting more mouthy and pushy with me for a period, even at school and the principal smugly made sure we knew she wouldn't interfere.

Walking home one day and the kid didn't take the usual turn to his house so I knew something was up. He tried to roll up on me and tackled me and started punching.

I grabbed his shirt and ripped the collar and down the front and then blasted him hard in the nose again when he was stunned.

Another call to my parents with the principal three-way called in (it was a long time ago) and my mom just said to leave her kids alone and she'd call the cops if the bully came near us again.

Found out later the kid was having trouble at home (divorce and dad going bankrupt) so I empathize a bit but bullies need to find another outlet. School wanted to give me detention and my mom just took me out early that day.

Junior high grade 9: One kid moved to me as his target at lunch hours and was bold enough to punch me and shove me in front of the supervisors. His dad was a cop and he felt he was cool and above the law.

He was part of a group that beat another kid unconscious and threw him in a pond, so I knew what they were capable of. The new principal wouldn't touch him either and the bullying continued for weeks.

My heavily born-again Christian dad suggested praying for him and turning the other cheek. Then one day, I had enough, so when the bully put me in a chokehold and laughed with his friends I popped a lockknife out of my pocket.

I put it to his throat and said 'Chad, you get to choose how this ends but it is ending today.' never touched me or talked to me again after that. Nothing happened, never told parents, but felt bad for his next target.

School didn't give a f*ck about bullying then, you had to fix things yourself. Honestly, in today's world, if we're both getting suspended in this zero-tolerance environment - I'd advise my kids to make sure it's finished that day.

No sense taking the hits AND getting suspended, stand up for yourself and understand the rules aren't there to protect you, just the bully and administration.