| “ | That would take time, effort, a respectable work ethic. And I have none of those. |
” |
— Principal Bradford
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Principal Tad Bradford is a recurring character on the original series, The Thundermans and its spin-off series, The Thundermans: Undercover. He is the current principal of Hiddenville High. Principal Bradford is portrayed by Jeff Meacham.
History
The Thundermans
In You Stole My Thunder, Man, Principal Bradford is in charge of the class president election at Hiddenville High school. During Phoebe's speech, Bradford proves to be very unprofessional as he makes it clear that he's bored with Phoebe's speech. He helps implement Max and Phoebe's president ideas by firing the art teacher to save money. He is very impatient during Phoebe's smoothie machine launch because he wants to go see a movie. He gets angry at the Thunder Twins for wasting his time, and so he opens the smoothie machine himself, causing him to fall into Max's prank. The machine spills smoothie all over him.
In Up, Up, and Vacay!, Bradford complains that he's been assigned to host the family sporting competitions because he has no family or plans for the weekend.
In Breaking Dad, Principal Bradford tries to settle the dispute between Phoebe and the chemistry teacher, Mr. Begbeaudy ("Big Booty") for giving Phoebe a B. After Mr. Begbeaudy quits, Bradford hires Hank to teach the chemistry class. When Phoebe writes an essay to Bradford asking to leave her dad's class, the principal decides to evaluate Hank's teaching. Phoebe and Max use telekinesis to trick Bradford and the rest of the students into thinking that Hank was the one performing the chemistry reaction demonstrations. This impresses Principal Bradford, calling it "private school stuff." He later realizes that Hank didn't really have a teaching license and fires him. Bradford also confiscates Cherry's phone to hide the video evidence about Hank.
In Max's Minions, Phoebe and her friends (Cherry, Kelsey) tell Principal Bradford how excited they are about going to Club Ooh Ooh but he dismisses them saying that he is not wearing his "talk-to-me-face." Right after that, Max pulls an epic prank on him, causing Bradford to reiterate that Max is the public-school enemy number one. When Max's minions turn against him, Bradford removes Max's school enemy poster and replaces them with Lionel, Jake, and Tom. Max gets back at the minions by giving them the idea to prank Bradford during detention. Max then puts embarrassing videos of Bradford into the video feed. This causes Bradford to give Max's minions more detention and declares Max once again as the number one school enemy.
In Change of Art, when hosting the art auction, Principal Bradford complains about hosting school events. He develops a crush on a woman named Joyce and hopes to talk to her after the auction. Bradford introduces Hank to do the auction because he's the only parent who agreed to do it. At the end, Principal Bradford gets disappointed after realizing that Joyce ditched him.
In Cheer and Present Danger, Principal Bradford is unhappy about having to attend the cheerleaders pep rally routine. He complains about school events being mandatory. When Phoebe (in the raptor mascot) eggs Madison, Principal Bradford readily accepts it as part of the routine.
In Call of Lunch Duty, Principal Bradford, suspecting Max Thunderman as Rebel Raptor, faces pranks but is convinced otherwise by Phoebe. After she writes an article about Rebel Raptor, he forces her to reveal his identity, punishing her with lunch line duty. While serving food, Bradford demands 500 burgers, raising Max and Phoebe's suspicions. They devise a plan to uncover his secret and discover he runs an underground wrestling match where he is the champion. Dressed as the Lunchador and Rebel Raptor, they defeat Bradford in the ring, revealing their identities. Phoebe threatens to report him to the Board of Education unless she is removed from lunch duty, leading Bradford to begrudgingly agree and express his disdain for their family.
In On the Straight and Arrow, during an archery class, Cherry accidentally shoots Principal Bradford in the toe with an arrow, leading to her detention. Phoebe tries to help Cherry but ends up getting herself into trouble, while Max also joins them in detention, frustrating Bradford further. Chaos ensues when Cherry accidentally shoots Bradford again while he attempts to release a tarantula, prompting students to record the scene. Bradford eventually offers the kids a deal to leave detention if they promise not to share the video, but ironically, the spider bites him on the same toe right afterward.
In Floral Support, Principal Bradford is frustrated with Allison and her Green Teens Club for blocking his office, forcing him to use an alternate entrance. After slipping on an icy path laid by Max, who films falls for his Evil Chronicle, Bradford confiscates the recording device and sets alarms around his office. Max joins the Green Teens to steal back his diary, while Phoebe mocks Bradford's style during the chaos. Using Max's antics as a pretext, Bradford aims to disband the club and cut down their plant, but the Green Teens retaliate by forming a new protest group. When Bradford threatens to run them over with a tractor, Max intervenes using telekinesis to stop the tractor, but when Bradford attempts to chop down the plant, it backfires, covering him in stink.
In Original Prankster, Principal Bradford, frustrated about his lack of a life, is pranked by Max, who lures him with money that triggers a trap, leaving him suspended upside down all night. The next day, after being rescued, Bradford vows to expel the prankster, suspecting Max but finding his locker clean. Using Telekinesis, Max diverts suspicion to Wolfgang, who is innocently wearing a red hat. Assuming Wolfgang is the culprit, Bradford threatens expulsion and deportation, prompting Max to hide Wolfgang in his lair. When Bradford discovers where Wolfgang is, Max sets off traps to delay him, ultimately revealing he can't expel Wolfgang due to the school's financial benefit from exchange students.
In Thundermans: Secret Revealed, during the Hiddenville High Junior prom, Principal Bradford gets a call informing him of breaking news that Phoebe Thunderman is "ThunderGirl." He walks into the dance and announces to everyone that Phoebe is ThunderGirl. When the Thundermans come over to fight Dark Mayhem and his minions, Principal Bradford is zapped twice by Hank as he tries to control his newly gained Electrokinesis power. After the fight, Principal Bradford tries to blackmail Max and Phoebe but Max freezes him.
In 21 Dump Street, Principal Bradford adopts Dr. Colosso at a pet adoption event hosted by Molly, prompting Phoebe and Max to attempt to retrieve him. They follow Bradford and discover he sleeps in school on a mattress, revealing he has no home. As he confides in Colosso about his lonely life, Max realizes he must move on from his breakup with Allison. Phoebe distracts Bradford while Max freezes the hallway, enabling the Thunder Twins to grab Colosso. Upon returning to find his pet missing, Bradford adopts a rat instead.
In Super Dupers, Principal Bradford annoys Gideon as the temporary gym teacher by always wearing shorts, leading Gideon to contact the school board. In retaliation, Bradford chases him. Phoebe gives Gideon a bracelet claiming it has superpowers to boost his confidence. During a dodgeball game, Bradford targets Gideon, but Max uses telekinesis to protect him, sparking Gideon's belief in his own powers. Gideon gains the courage to confront Bradford, launching dodgeballs at him with Max and Phoebe secretly aiding him with Telekinesis.
In Save the Past Dance, Principal Bradford tries to get the kids to not open the door because of the wind. When Cherry asks him why he looks so perfect, Max says that it's because he lives in the school. Bradford tries to come up with a fake address to trick them into believing that he has an actual home. He then deflects that conversation by saying Phoebe has tree hair.
In Revenge of the Smith, Principal Bradford remains the temporary gym teacher for Phoebe and Max's P.E. class. When the Thunder Twins discover that artist Smith is unveiling a mural portraying them as villains, they ask Bradford for help in persuading Smith to change it. Bradford, however, sees this as a chance for revenge against the twins and allows Smith to host a "revenge prom" during gym class, reveling in their humiliation. He grows frustrated when the twins reconcile and attempts to create more chaos, only to fall into a tub of fruit punch.
In Looperheroes, Principal Bradford was asked by the Green Teens, Marine Teens and Tambourine Teens if they could use the cafeteria. Principal Bradford agreed so that it would be chaos when they argue who gets to use the cafeteria. Principal Bradford teases them arguing and ends up falling down in a crate of lobsters.
In The Thunder Games, Principal Bradford takes a biscuit, prompting Hank and Barb to assume he didn't pay for it and confront him. However, Billy and Nora arrive just in time to clarify it wasn't Bradford. After Billy and Nora apprehend the Bake Sale Bandit, Bradford claims credit for the capture and considers calling his ex-girlfriend to brag about his supposed heroics.
The Thundermans Return
After the Thunderman Family left Hiddenville, Principal Bradford's life began to improve, forming a relationship with his girlfriend Janet and growing a ponytail. Three years later, Bradford received Billy and Nora Thunderman, traumatizing him after remembering Phoebe and Max. When Billy and Nora fought with their powers over their search for friends, Bradford was caught in the crossfire, causing Nora's laser to remove his ponytail. Shortly after, several acquaintances and friends of the Thundermans gathered at the park to help them destroy the dome and save Phoebe and Max, but Bradford and Mrs. Wong refused, with Bradford expressing that Janet asked him for some time away from their relationship.
Motivated by Chloe remembering how the Thundermans saved Hiddenville many times, Bradford, forced, and the others decided to help the Thundermans, who granted Wong, Bradford, Oyster, Cherry and Gideon seeds of the power plant. Bradford received the power to become a blue individual with super strength and used his strength, with the combined powers of the Thundermans and the others to destroy a part of the dome. After eliminating the dome and the threat of the villains, Bradford, nicknamed himself "The Blue Hunk", Cherry, Oyster, Gideon and Wong went to the Thunderman house to help them fight crime, but in response, Phoebe and Max froze them to continue the family game night.
The Thundermans: Undercover
In Thundercover, during Phoebe and Max's family meeting, Principal Bradford is mentioned that his powers were removed.
Former Powers
- Super Strength: After eating a seed from the Power Plant, Bradford transformed into blue skinned monster man with huge muscles, which he used to help the Thundermans open a part of the dome put up by the V-Team.
Episode Appearances
The Thundermans
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
- On The Straight And Arrow
- Exit Stage Theft
- Floral Support
- Original Prankster
- Thundermans: Secret Revealed
Season 4
- May Z-Force Be With You
- 21 Dump Street
- Super Dupers
- Save the Past Dance
- Revenge of the Smith
- Looperheroes
- The Thunder Games
The Thundermans: Undercover
Season 1
- Thundercover (mentioned)
- Prank You, Next
Movie Appearances
Trivia
- The character's original name was "Principal Archer". However, that was not approved and it was changed to "Principal Bradford."
- He hates the Thunderman Family, except for Chloe cause he doesn't know her.
- Though he technically did meet Billy and Nora in Up, Up, and Vacay! and would fully meet them in The Thundermans Return.
- Has been pranked by Max Thunderman and Lionel & Jake & Tom.
- Was shot down with smooth juice in You Stole My Thunder, Man.
- He really hates his job.
- He really has a sad life, as he always says, 'My life sucks!" after a lot of his sentences.
- Principal Bradford is homeless and sleeps at the school behind a set of lockers. But technically he wasn't lying when he said he lives in a storage locker.
- He had a band called Red Hot Chili Bradfords.
- In On The Straight And Arrow, Principal Bradford was reading a magazine about Electress in the detention room.
- In Exit Stage Theft, Bradford gets angered when Phoebe and Cherry try to get into the school talent show by auditioning for a magic performance since it reminds him of his ex-girlfriend, Valerie, who left him for his magician brother.
- In May Z-Force Be With You, Principal Bradford competes in a ping-pong competition and goes all the way to the finals where he goes against Cherry.
- In Save the Past Dance, Bradford was Bad Tad in an alternate universe, he tells Max and Phoebe about the story of what they did and how it made Heinrich Hiddenville III become a crime boss and he banished all superheroes. He also steals Phoebe's purse, along with her and Max's shoes.
- Then his likely grandfather, Colonel Chad Bradford, is introduced when the kids go back to 1955. He is shown to be in love with Grandma Wong.
Gallery
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