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

"Buford loves this!"

- Buford's catchphrase

 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 to a mother named Biffany.

As a young boy, he was mostly weak and cowardly, in spite of having stolen the bikes of all the other kids as a toddler ("Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!"). However, this all changed after he won a pet gold fish at a fair. Later, when he was bringing the goldfish home, a large bully confronted him and took the goldfish, intending to eat it alive. Buford was enraged and attacked the bully, managing to save the fish. He was an intimidating bully ever since. ("Voyage to the Bottom of Buford")

Present Life
Buford is the feared bully of most of Danville's younger population, his primary targets being Baljeet Tjinder, Phineas Flynn, and Ferb Fletcher. That said, Buford is a far cry from a complete jerk, as evidenced by his own odd honor code ("Raging Bully"), and it is known he is very lonesome deep down and fears being a "cat kid" ("Voyage to the Bottom of Buford", "Road to Danville"). Phineas has entertained the idea that Buford only bullies out of boredom and as such, he often invites Buford over to take part in his and his brother's daily activities. As much as Buford tries to hide it, it is clear he is happy to take part and have fun. It is clear that he has come to care for the group, going as far as to consider them, particularly Baljeet, his friends.

Adult Life
About ten years later, Buford was still close with his childhood friends. By what some may consider a miracle, he graduated high school at the same time as Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and the latter's Fireside Girls alumni. Baljeet, having graduated early and already accepted as a professor, offered to pull a few strings to get Buford into his school, but Buford declared he intended to major in film, focusing on tragedies. It appeared that Buford never got much brighter, as he thought Baljeet was complimenting him when he described Buford's story ideas as "pretentious" or getting a new phone when the software would not be available for weeks. ("Act Your Age")

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"). 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!").

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-tan 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.

In his teenage years, Buford wore his hair much longer than as a child and, while still the largest member of the group, is now at a much more proportional body weight. He wore a dark green scarf and a brick-red shirt, along with gray shorts and black boots.

Skills and Abilities
To improve his skill at being a bully, Buford goes to Wedgie's: The Gym for Bullies ("Raging Bully"). He is fluent in French, but has only demonstrated this in front of Baljeet and doesn't want anyone else to know ("Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", "Buford Confidential"). He has also shown some knowledge of historical figures in the song Good King Wenceslas ("A Phineas and Ferb Family Christmas"). Buford can play the concertina, trumpet, drums, percussion, piccolo and the violin ("The Ballad of Badbeard", "Oh, There You Are, Perry", "The Baljeatles", "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", "My Fair Goalie"). He is in The Baljeatles, Phineas and Ferb's band ("The Baljeatles").

Baljeet Tjinder
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's 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.

Ferb Fletcher
Buford and Ferb have rarely been seen interacting directly, but Buford once accused Ferb of calling him a shark, upon which Ferb knocked Buford out using a Vulcan-style nerve pinch ("Raging Bully").

At some point, Buford nicknamed Ferb "Bean pole McGee" ("Take Two with Phineas and Ferb": Tony Hawk).

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro
The only one so far that makes Buford shut up regularly 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").

Candace Flynn
Candace and Buford's relationship varies from episode to episode.

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")

Buford stubbornly prohibited Candace and Jeremy from entering the Chez Platypus ("Chez Platypus"), but he has also spoken to Candace with a gentle and calm tone on other occasions ("Wizard of Odd").

He sympathized with Candace when she temporarily "broke up" with Stacy and told her of a similar experience of his losing his own best friend, but became annoyed when Candace ran off before he could finish his story. ("The Lemonade Stand")

When Buford was questioned on why he possessed a life-sized mold of Candace, he simply responded that he had such molds of all his friends, indicating that he considers her one of his friends. ("Doofapus")

Somehow his number found its way into Candace's cell phone contacts. ("The Lemonade Stand")

Buford stares in awe at Candace as she eats the Gordian Knot reproduction and says "I am so in love with her right now. Baljeet looks over and shock and says "What? Buford quickly states "Nothing." This means Buford may have feelings for Candace. ("Knot My Problem")

This is very simalar to the scene where Second Dimension Candace is fighting the norm-bots and Second Dimension Buford says "I am so in love with her right now." Second Dimension Isabella looks over and says "What?" Second Dimension Buford replies in the same manner "Nothing!" (Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension)

Suzy Johnson
Like Candace, Buford seems to fear Suzy thus when Phineas told the kids to dress as the scariest thing they knew, he dressed up as her. After Isabella and Phineas leave 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!").

Perry the Platypus
Buford has had little interaction with Perry. He once 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 the others sang to guide the allegedly lost Perry home. ("Oh, There You Are, Perry","Phineas and Ferb 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")

Brigitte
Buford's crush. They seemed to be boyfriend and girlfriend one time in France, and he said that she made him want to 'weep' at beauty and learn French. He was very happy when she said that she was 'vaguely interested' in him, and didn't seem bothered when, right after that, she slapped him.

Gretchen
Buford seems to have a crush on her when she slaps him across the face and yells at him to get a grip on himself in "Night of the Living Pharmacists".

Background Information

 * Buford's last name, Van Stomm, is derived from a Dutch word meaning "of the dumb", 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".
 * Despite being of Dutch descent, Buford also has an uncle named Oslo who lives in Oslo, Norway.
 * 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 drеssed 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.
 * Buford has a crush on Brigitte, a French Fireside Girl. He does not want the others to know this, as it would tarnish his "bad boy" reputation. ("Buford Confidential")
 * He owns a video game player with a game "Jump and Duck" ("Gaming the System")
 * Buford can speak fluent French. ("Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", "Buford Confidential")
 * He cannot stand math problems. ("We Call it Maze", "Ask a Foolish Question")
 * 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")
 * His grandma's house smells like ant pheromones. ("Gi-Ants")
 * Baljeet gave him a wedgie once. ("Bully Bromance Breakup")
 * He thinks that being handsome is a blessing and a curse. ("Quietest Day Ever")
 * He likes cheese. ("We Call it Maze", "The Remains of the Platypus")
 * He may be able to speak Latin. ("Buford Confidential")
 * He is highly skeptical of flying saucers and crop circles even when flying one and seeing cropcircles and aliens. ("Sci-Fi Pie Fly")
 * He is heavier on the moon. ("Moon Farm")
 * He has life sized molds of all his friends. ("Doofapus")
 * He might have rabies. ("What'd I Miss?")
 * Buford seems to own multiple unusual musical instruments and may carry them around with him. ("The Ballad of Badbeard", "My Fair Goalie")
 * Bobby Gaylor stated in an interview that he thinks Buford secretly has a crush on Candace. (Phineas and Ferb Magazine: April 2013 Issue). This was revealed in "Knot My Problem".
 * Buford likes meals seasoned with garlic and butter. (Where's Perry?)
 * He can understand mumbled gibberish. ("Cheers for Fears").
 * His other grandma smells like daffodils. ("Cheers for Fears")
 * It is implied that Buford once spent time in prison, as he knows that in prison you need to find a guy who knows how to get things. ("Mind Share")

Appearances

 * - These episodes are Spot the Diff episodes.

Mentioned Only

 * "Meapless in Seattle"