Relationship Thesaurus: Bully and Victim

Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive and supportive, pushing the protagonist to positive growth and helping them achieve their goals. Other relationships do exactly the opposite, derailing your character’s confidence and self-worth or they cause friction and conflict that leads to fallout and disruption. Many relationships hover somewhere in the middle. A balanced story will require a mix of these dynamics.

The purpose of this thesaurus is to encourage you to explore the kinds of relationships that might be good for your story and figure out what each might look like. Think about what a character needs (good and bad), and build a network of connections for him or her that will challenge them, showcase their innermost qualities, and bind readers to their relationship trials and triumphs.

The following is just a sample of the content available for this relationship. To see it in its entirety (along with 45+ additional relationship entries), check out our Description Thesaurus Collection at One Stop For Writers.

Bully and Victim

Description: In this situation, there’s an unfair balance of power, with one party using their power to consistently belittle, insult, abuse, or take advantage of someone who is more vulnerable. While we see this too frequently with children and teenagers, it happens in adult relationships, too. Severe adult bullying situations often go by more sophisticated names, such as domestic abuse, stalking, or sexual harassment.

Relationship Dynamics:
Below are a wide range of dynamics that may accompany this relationship. Use the ideas that suit your story and work best for your characters to bring about and/or resolve the necessary conflict.

The victim standing up to the bully (which can result in the bully moving on to other victims over time)
The bully vacillating between abusing the victim and treating him/her well
The bully targeting only certain aspects of the character’s life (their physical appearance, their capabilities at work, their gender/race/religion, etc.) vs. a generalized bullying that is less predictable
A bully using subversive, covert methods (gaslighting, manipulation, etc.) that are harder to recognize and prove than overt abuse

Clashing Personality Trait Combinations: Controlling and Stubborn, Pushy and Volatile

Negative Outcomes of Friction
Physical injury
Death
The victim being publicly humiliated
The victim believing what the bully says about him or her
Developing physical or mental ailments (stress headaches, ulcers, insomnia, panic attacks, depression, etc.)

Ways This Relationship May Lead to Positive Growth
The victim learning to stand up for him or herself
The victim banding together with other victims and finding his or her tribe
The bully being bullied, resulting in a change of heart toward his/her victims
A bully being forgiven or shown grace by a victim, leading him/her toward personal growth

Themes and Symbols That Can Be Explored through This Relationship
A Fall from Grace, Coming of Age, Crossroads, Danger, Enslavement, Evil, Freedom, Friendship, Innocence, Isolation, Perseverance, Pride, Suffering, Vulnerability

Other Relationship Thesaurus entries can be found here.

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