[zarzavat]

Bullies certainly can be intelligent. Intelligence and sadism are orthogonal traits.

The only thing that unites bullies is the willingness to inflict misery on others. A bully could be a simple thug who uses violence because they have nothing else going for them, or a popular kid at the top of their class who manipulates others for their own amusement.

[hackable_sand]

A bully is not necessarily a sadist

And neither a sadist or a bully are necessarily bad people.

[bdangubic]

yes they are, bullies some of the worst of humanity

[hackable_sand]

"Bully" is an archetype.