Buford Van Stomm

"He's big, he's dumb, he's got the IQ of gum, he's got the brain about the size of a sourdough crumb! But he'll beat on your head, like a big-bass drum! His behavior is truly unruly; He's a Bully!"

- Ending lyrics of the song He's a Bully

 is a bully in the town of Danville that joins Phineas and Ferb on their adventures.

Early life
Buford Van Stomm was born in the United States of America of a mother named Biffany and an unnamed father. As a younger boy, he was weak and cowardly, and received a pet goldfish named Biff at a state fair after winning at a strength-o-meter. When a bully threatened to eat Biff, Buford, enraged, beat up the bully, and in turn became the bully himself. ("Voyage to the Bottom of Buford")

Personality
Although he is usually seen as a bully, including by the main cast, Buford is unusual in that he is just as often shown acting just like the other kids. Many events seem to indicatе that his usual bullying is used to hide a more caring nature beneath the surface. A significant display of his underlying character occurs when his fish, Biff, becomes lost in the ocean. Buford becomes extremely emotional. He cries but really says that he is "sweating through his eyes", and when Phineas offers to help find Biff, Buford shows his appreciation by constantly wanting to give people hugs ("Voyage to the Bottom of Buford"). Buford also has a soft side for his long lost teddy bear Teddy Boo-boo ("Picture This"). Buford also is quite gentle behind his bully persona, such as when he said he always wanted to get into a giant bubble and float around like a pixie, or conveniently carrying a velvet rope ("Bubble Boys", "Chez Platypus"). He also has a soft spot for goldfish ("Voyage to the Bottom of Buford", "Let's Take a Quiz").

Despite being a bully, Buford seems to be friends with Phineas, Ferb and the rest of the main cast, and takes part in many of their exploits. He usually manages to get along fine with people, though he is often gruff or makes (usually idle) threats when annoyed. Whenever tasks are assigned, Buford inevitably seems to be partnered with Baljeet, with whom he has a particularly interesting relationship: while Baljeet seems terrified of Buford's threats at times, which is regularly justified, many other instances show them working together without any problem, and they are often seen together even when not involved in Phineas and Ferb's latest plan (i.e. "The Chronicles of Meap," "Swiss Family Phineas" and "The Lake Nose Monster").

To improve his skill at being a bully, Buford goes to Wedgie's: The Gym for Bullies ("Raging Bully"). He isn't always a bully ("The Bully Code"). Buford's Christmas wish is to be thought of as nice by his friends, despite generally acting naughty ("Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!"). Buford can also play the concertina, trumpet, drums, piccolo and the violin. He is fluent in French, but doesn't want anyone to know. He's also in The Baljeatles, Phineas and Ferb's band ("The Ballad of Badbeard", "Oh, There You Are, Perry", "The Baljeatles", "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", "My Fair Goalie").

Baljeet
Buford seems to pick on Baljeet the most, yet seems to hang out with him the most, similar to a "frienemies" relationship. Unlike frienemies, there is no hatred between the two, with Baljeet even saving Buford from choking ("The Bully Code") and saying, "Merry Christmas, old buddy!" ("Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!") It would seem that Baljeet cares for Buford, even though Buford treats him very badly. Baljeet often just gives up and lets Buford bully him ("Get That Bigfoot Outa My Face!").

Phineas Flynn
Buford's first encounter with Phineas during the summer resulted in Buford being embarrassed by ice cream falling on his pants. They settled their differences by thumb wrestling ("Raging Bully"). Outside of this incident, Buford has not done anything to Phineas that could be considered bullying, tending to reserve that treatment for Baljeet. However, it is revealed that Buford had stolen Phineas' bike when they were just toddlers, but later on returns it to him, along with everyone else's bikes he had taken ("Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!").

Later, after Phineas and Ferb helped rescue Biff, Buford became more friendly towards them and began taking a more active part of their adventures. He often appears in their backyard for bizarre or unexplained reasons.

Buford often calls Phineas "Dinner Bell", perhaps because of Phineas's triangle-shaped head.

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro
The only one so far that sometimes makes him shut up is Isabella as she stands up to him whеn he is doing something to someone she knows or to herself. Isabella and Buford have a little rivalry to the point in which Buford thinks he'll beat Isabella in the F Games because she's a girl ("Raging Bully," "Out of Toon," "Got Game?"). He also thinks he is better at video games than her, but he ends up getting beaten ("Brain Drain").

Suzy Johnson
Buford seems to fear Suzy as Phineas told the kids to dress as the scariest thing they knew and he dressed up as her and after Isabella and Phineas left the room Buford is seen "wash[ing] away the horror" by a water faucet, a reference to William Shakespeare's Macbeth ("One Good Scare Ought to Do It!").

Candace Flynn
Candace and Buford's relationship varies, and so they are considered 'frenemies'.

Candace used him as a means of transportation to get her to the top of a ski slope ("S'Winter"). However, Buford appears dissatisfied from being with her in the same chariot. ("Greece Lightning")

Buford appeared to be eager to compete with Candace during a game show for his aspiration to prove males as the dominant gender. ("Let's Take a Quiz")

Candace along with Stacy struggled to get the pizzazium infinionite out of his hands. ("Vanessassary Roughness")

Buford, at one point saved Candace from certain injury and following his creed, declared her his servant, to which she objected. ("The Bully Code")

Candace appeared to be concerned of Buford being on the Naughty List after finding out that his Christmas wish was to be thought of as nice by his friends, of which she may be included. ("Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!")

He stubbornly prohibited Candace and Jeremy from entering the Chez Platypus ("Chez Platypus"), but when he was with Candace alone spoke to her with a gentle and calm tone ("Wizard of Odd"). This could possibly imply that his keeping them out of the restaurant could have been an effort to thwart her date with Jeremy out of his own personal feelings for her.

Candace was displeased upon finding Buford's number on her cell phone and deleted it. ("The Lemonade Stand")

Perry the Platypus
Buford has little interactions with Perry. Of the few on screen, he attempts to make Perry "do something" by hitting him with a baseball bat only to be stopped by Baljeet. However, he hugged and cuddled the traumatized platypus a few minutes afterward. ("Swiss Family Phineas")

He admits to liking the song they sang to guide the allegedly lost Perry home. ("Oh, There You Are, Perry","Summer Belongs to You")

Teddy Boo-boo
Buford's teddy bear was retrieved from the front of a semi by Phineas and Ferb's transporter device. The teddy bear is apparently prone to going "on the road" at different times. ("Picture This")

Physical Appearance
Buford wears a black shirt with a skull on the front, set up in a "Punisher" style. He wears large, red hiking boots, with green khaki shorts. His hair is brown and cut in a buzzcut style. He has deep blue eyes, and also appears to be somewhat overweight, although he doesn't seem to mind.

Background Information

 * Buford's last name, Van Stomm, is derived from a Dutch word meaning "of the stupid", as told by Dan Povenmire in Dan Povenmire Correspondence. (Correct spelling provided by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh.) This is later confirmed in the Christmas special, Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!. However, the actual Dutch spelling of the word 'stomm' is actually with only one m, as it's spelled 'stom'.
 * He won the best eater award, but also ate the prize ribbon. ("No More Bunny Business")
 * He does not like to be embarrassed. ("Raging Bully")
 * Any time he loses to a girl in a competition, he claims that the competition doesn't count. ("Got Game?")
 * He plays Canasta. ("One Good Scare Ought to Do It!")
 * He plays the concertina, the trumpet and the violin. ("The Ballad of Badbeard", "Chez Platypus", "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!")
 * He plays the drums. ("Gaming the System", "Don't Even Blink", "Tip of the Day", "The Baljeatles", "Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension")
 * When asked to be a part of a haunted house and what frightens him most, Buford drеss as Suzy Johnson, saying that she gives him the "willies". ("One Good Scare Ought to Do It!")
 * He owns a skateboard ("Bowl-R-Ama Drama").
 * He described as "being from a bad home" and "missing a chromosome" by the ring announcer ("Raging Bully").
 * He carries a velvet rope with him wherever he goes. ("Chez Platypus")
 * He was afraid of giant squids until one tried to eat his goldfish. He overcame his fear and easily defeated it in one punch. ("Voyage to the Bottom of Buford")
 * Buford seems to be hungry very often. ("Swiss Family Phineas," "Vanessassary Roughness")
 * Buford often speaks about himself in the third person. An еxample of this would be when he says "Buford hungry" when holding the Pizzazium Infinionite. ("Vanessassary Roughness")
 * Great-nephew of Otto H. Adjacent, founder of the adjacent area which was unified with the Bi-State Area to form the Tri-State Area. ("Hip Hip Parade")
 * Buford sports a black T-shirt with a picture of a skull of on it. This is most likely a reference to Corky "James" (Jimbo) Jones, the bully of "The Simpsons". He also could be a reference to Sid Phillips, the main antagonist of the film Toy Story.
 * He owns a video game player with a game "Jump and Duck" ("Gaming the System")
 * Buford seems to be able to speak fluent French (although he has only spoken one line in the language.) He does not want the others to know this, as it would tarnish his "bully" personality (Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You; A Very Perry Christmas)
 * He cannot stand math problems. ("We Call it Maze")
 * He has a Teddy Boo-boo. ("Picture This")
 * He loves coconut, and quickly eats coconut-flavored things, including sunscreen. ("Atlantis")
 * He thinks eating two things at once is unnatural. ("Split Personality")
 * His gum of choice is Tuff Gum. ("Suddenly Suzy")
 * He likes talking about people behind their backs. ("Candace Disconnected")
 * It seems that his shirt at times has green eyes and grey eyes. ("Chez Platypus")
 * He owns a piccolo. ("My Fair Goalie")

Appearances

 * - These episodes are Spot the Diff episodes.