History Main / BigManOnCampus

The Big Man on Campus is AlwaysMale. For a "popular but good hearted" HighSchool [[DistaffCounterpart female equivalent]] SpoiledSweet is the trope of choice. Compare SchoolIdol and LovableJock . For settings outside of HighSchool, compare it to MagneticHero.

* Doyle was this before attending ''WesternAnimation/GalaxyHigh'', being a popular jock; the reason he's chosen to attend the eponymous school is because of his athletic abilities. Aimee even mentions the trope's name at the end of the first episode.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* Parodied in ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' with Snoopy's "Joe Cool" persona. (There was also a one-off strip in which his persona was actually called "Big Man on the Campus").

[[folder:Films]]

* In ''Film/TheBradyBunchMovie'', Marcia's totally into Doug and keeps referring to him as "the big man on campus." What she fails to notice is that he's actually ''not'' this trope - while he certainly is handsome, charming, and popular, he's not even remotely a nice person, which the trope description requires. He's verbally (possibly physically) abusive to his girlfriend, whom he dumps temporarily for Marcia, and is only interested in Marcia because he wants to sleep with her.

* Throughout the musical, Brett from ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'' flip flops between this and the JerkJock. [[spoiler:He ends up being a decided JerkJock in the end.]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Arguably ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' character Steve Digaetano, probably the most popular guy in the V3 highschool: Southridge. He isn't perhaps a {{Jerkass}} of the highest order, but he certainly has his moments.
* Harry in ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' is totally this trope, except he's somewhat of a JerkAss near the beginning (prior to his CharacterDevelopment). Draco ''wants'' to be this but fails since he is a SmallNameBigEgo (though he thinks it is Harry's fault). Cedric Diggory is a more classic example and ''would'' be this but he is in HufflepuffHouse.
* Quarterman/Quarterback from ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad''. He ends up falling in love with The Ugly One, asking her to see him to the end credits after a really confusing speech.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Damaged}}'' has Dillon, a very popular, very attractive robot with [[DoAnythingRobot a wide variety of gadgets]] that allow him to help his fellow students with whatever they need. [[GreenEyedMonster TJ doesn't like him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

%%* Johnny Hitswell in ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements''.

Guys want to be him, [[SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy gals want to be with him]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{ResurrectedMemories}}'': Dash Baxter ''used'' to be this, he is the school quarterback and male head of the A-Listers but ever since the Disasteroid, Danny has him beat. Heck, its implied that the ''only'' reason he is still in charge of the A-Listers is because Danny didn't want to join them.

* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' at the ''fifth'' high school Tim attended one of the tennis players was incredibly kind, attractive, talented and got decent grades and was quite popular as a result.

* Throughout the musical, Brett from ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'' flip flops between this and the JerkJock [[spoiler:he ends up being a decided JerkJock in the end.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}''. Jimmy Hopkins is a class example, with his position being directly referred to as 'King of the school' on a number of occasions. Of course, he's only this during certain parts of the game, since the rest basically concerns him fighting to GET to this station. However, he's got the qualifications at all times: Smart enough to ace every class, tough enough to beat down the entire football-team (literally), and charming enough to score with literally every girl in school ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and quite a few of the boys, too)]].

* Charlie Macdonald in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'', the most popular student in his university and the star of its (American) football team. He is a professional assassin. He also has 24 cheerleaders with him at all times. They are also all professional assassins.

* [[TheTrickster Luero]] from ''Webcomic/EarsForElves'' thrives as this. He doesn't need people to know, his KNOWS people know.

* The TropeMaker may be the Creator/HaroldLloyd silent comedy classic ''Film/TheFreshman'', in which nerdy Lloyd greatly admires the resident Big Man On Campus and desperately wants to be one himself.

* In ''Literature/A Separate Peace'', there are two:

* In ''A Separate Peace'', there are two:

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherAbirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Izuku accidentally becomes this once he starts attending U.A. His performance on the entrance exam [[spoiler:as the highest scoring student in the history of the school]] instantly puts him in the spotlight and his classmates are happy to discover that he's extremely kind and humble. Izuku doesn't like the attention and would much rather be treated like everyone else, but he admits that it feels good to be admired like this.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

The Big Man on Campus is the most popular guy in the HighSchool. He is handsome, charming, a superb athlete and usually pretty smart and an A student. Unlike his peers AlphaBitch (who is usually his girlfriend until he realizes how awful she is) and the JerkJock (usually his friend until he realizes how awful ''he'' is) the Big Man on Campus never bullies anyone: he rules through charisma and general awesomeness rather than fear and manipulation. But like the LovableJock, woe to anyone who trifles with him. He'll probably grow up to become TheAce.

The Big Man on Campus is AlwaysMale. For a "popular but good hearted" HighSchool [[DistaffCounterpart female equivalent]] SpoiledSweet is the trope of choice. Compare SchoolIdol and LovableJock. For settings outside of HighSchool, compare it to MagneticHero.

* Quarterman/Quarterback from ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad''. He ends up falling in love with Ugly One, asking her to see him to the end credits after a really confusing speech.

** Viktor Krum also seems to be this at Durmstrang, as he's already an ''international'' athlete in his final year. He doesn't seem to happy about it, however, lamenting that all the best girls are already taken.

** Harry himself develops into one of sorts in his first year due to being the youngest seeker to win a game. He isn't always looked up upon though, whether it be for losing house points or supposedly putting his name in the goblet of fire.
** Harry's dad James and to a degree, his godfather Sirius e considered to have been the height of cool in their own schooldays to hear it from others. James in particular as he was apparently always seen as the noble, intelligent and athletic one (although unlike Harry and Cedric, it's never specified if he was a Quidditch captain). Harry is a bit dismayed to learn that this meant they could be, in Sirius's own words, "arrogant little berks" to people they disliked - most famously, his mutual hateship with Severus Snape.

The Big Man on Campus is the most popular guy in the HighSchool. He is handsome, charming, a superb athlete and usually pretty smart and an A student. Unlike his peers AlphaBitch (who is usually his girlfriend until he realizes how awful she is) and the JerkJock (usually his friend until he realizes how awful ''he'' is) the Big Man on Campus never bullies anyone: he rules through charisma and general awesomeness rather than fear and manipulation. He'll probably grow up to become TheAce.

* The TropeMaker may be the HaroldLloyd silent comedy classic ''Film/TheFreshman'', in which nerdy Lloyd greatly admires the resident Big Man On Campus and desperately wants to be one himself.

** The [[ZacEfron same actor]] in ''Film/SeventeenAgain''. He provides the page image.

* Troy Bolton in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'', though he could be viewed as a deconstruction since the films show how much pressure everyone puts on him and the emotional stress he suffers as a result.
** The [[ZacEfron same actor]] in Film/SeventeenAgain. He provides the page image.
%%* Marcia repeatedly refers to her love interest Doug by this title in ''A Very Brady Movie''.

** Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory seem to be this at Hogwarts, being captain of their Quidditch team. The latter is a ChickMagnet, and just generally likeable.

** Harry's dad James and to a degree, his godfather Sirius e considered to have been the height of cool in their own schooldays to hear it from others. James in particular as he was apparently always seen as the noble, intelligent and athletic one (although unlike Harry and Cedric, it's never specified if he was a Quidditch captain). Harry is a bit dismayed to learn that this meant they could be, in Sirius's own words, "arrogant little berks" to people they disliked. Most famously, James' mutual hateship with Severus Snape.

%%* Zack Morris from ''Series/SavedByTheBell''.

* Harry in ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' is totally this trope except he somewhat of a JerkAss near the beginning (prior to his CharacterDevelopment). Draco ''wants'' to be this but fails since he is a SmallNameBigEgo (though he thinks it is Harry's fault). Cedric Diggory is a more classic example and ''would'' be this but he is in HufflepuffHouse.

* TJ from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. He shows one of the key traits most openly in the episode where he was forced to stay with the 'pale kids'; kids who would rather stay inside and play Dungons and Dragons than play in the playground. Though he is initially hesitant it isn't long before he has blended in perfectly and counts each and every one of them as a friend, rallying their unique talents to his side in several future episodes.

** Josh Mankey might better qualify... smart, cute and popular. He was with Kim for the first two seasons before ending up with Tara and PutOnABus.

%%* Doyle was this before attending ''WesternAnimation/GalaxyHigh''. Aimee even mentioned the trope's name at the end of the first episode.