Hey Arnold!/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== Students of P.S. 118 ==

 

=== Arnold {{spoiler|Shortman}} ===

 

* [[Characterization Marches On]]: He was more eccentric and naive early on.

 

=== Helga G. Pataki ===

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Does some nasty things to Arnold, but takes major offense to her father calling Arnold an orphan within ear shot of him.

** In "Curly's Girl", Helga calls Rhonda for dumping and embarrassing Curly after pretending to be his girlfriend.

'''Helga''': Perfect... it'll match the color of your heart. ''(She paints a ehart with black paint)'' <br/ >

'''Rhonda''': Excuse me!?! <br/ >

* [[Evil Laugh]]: Has a very impressive one. Not as impressive as Curly's (but then, who could be), but she gets points for once doing it in a theatre, with ominous music and everything.

* [[Evil Plan]]: She explicitly refers to them as such, and she has a ton of them. They nearly always fail in ways that harm her and help those she schemes again.

* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: Her [[Anguished Declaration of Love]] in [[The Movie]]. Arnold ends up confused about it.

* [[Foil]]: To four characters.

** [[Shadow Archetype]]: Helga is, [[Irony|ironically]], {{spoiler|Brainy's shadow}}.

* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]: The Choleric.

* [[Hair of Gold]]

* [[Hates Being Touched]]

* [[Hypocrite]]: What Helga feels and how Helga acts are always opposite things.

* [[Jerkass]]

* [[The Ladette]]: A pre-teen version.

* [[Loving Bully]]: The poster girl.

* [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man]]

* [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]]: More episodes focused on Helga than any other character except for Arnold, and that's ''not'' including the ''many'' Arnold/Helga episodes.

* '''[[Tsundere]]''': Type A. Oh so much, until [[The Movie]].

* [[The Unfavorite]]

 

=== Gerald Johanssen ===

 

Best friend to Arnold.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]: The Sanguine.

* [[The Lancer]]

* [[The Smart Guy]]: Generally is one of the most informed and competent of the kids.

 

=== Phoebe Heyerdahl ===

 

Best friend of Helga. Half Japanese girl who was born in Kentucky but moved to the city at a very young age.

 

=== Rhonda Wellington Lloyd ===

 

One of the most popular kids in school and self-proclaimed "fashion queen", Rhonda is spoiled, rich, obsessed with fashion, and is a bit of a snob, but she does have a friendly side that comes out quite often. Her best friend is Nadine, but she's often seen hanging out with Arnold and the gang. It's implied that she and Harold like each other, and Curly likes her too... [[Abhorrent Admirer|much to her chagrin]]. She's also a surprisingly good football player.

* [[Break the Haughty]]: All the freaking time, but most notably ''Rhonda's Glasses'' and ''Rhonda Goes Broke''.

* [[Fallen Princess]]: This is the subject of a couple episodes (most notably "Rhonda's Glasses" and "Rhonda Goes Broke"), but she's always back on top by the end.

* [[Large Ham]]: She's pretty prone to this when she breaks into histrionics, especially in the episode "Rhonda Goes Broke".

* [[Lovable Alpha Bitch]]: Despite often being a typical spoiled rich girl, she does have a kind side. Not only does she always do the right thing in the end, but her best friend - Nadine - is middle-class.

 

=== Nadine ===

 

Nadine is Rhonda's best friend, [[Odd Friendship|even though they couldn't be more different]]. She is fascinated by bugs and arachnids.

 

* [[Freaky Is Cool]]: Yay, bugs!

* [[Girlish Pigtails]]: Though they're meant to resemble spider legs.

 

=== Harold Chaim Berman ===

 

A fat kid who's been held back a few grades. Occasionally, a bully.

* [[Dumb Muscle]]

* [[Informed Judaism]]: His Jewish background wasn't mentioned until the episode in which he tries to run away from his own bar mitzvah, though prior to that, it was established he had a mom who acted like a [[Jewish Mother]].

* [[No Indoor Voice]]

 

=== Sid ===

 

A paranoid boy in a hat.

 

=== Stinky Peterson ===

 

A kid from Arkansas with a thick Southern accent.

 

=== Lila Sawyer ===

 

A poor country girl who transfers to the school.

* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]

* [[Not So Above It All]]: Not shown too much in the series, but in an interview Craig Bartlett said she had a hidden dark side.

* [[Secret Keeper]]: Due to events in "School Play," Helga is forced to confide in her that she loves Arnold. (Naturally, before telling Lila, Helga threatened to strangle her if she ever told anyone.)

* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Girly Girl to Helga's Tomboy.

 

=== Thaddeus "Curly" Gammelthorpe ===

 

Psychotic kid with black hair and glasses

 

* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: To Rhonda.

* [[Ax Crazy]]

* [[Creepy Child]]

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]

* [[Forceful Kiss]]: Just ''loves'' giving these to Rhonda.

* [[Large Ham]]

 

=== Eugene Horowitz ===

 

An extremely unlucky kid.

 

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: His bedroom is [[Tastes Like Diabetes|decorated with rainbows and unicorns]] and he seems to enjoy dancing and musicals.

* [[Butt Monkey]]

* [[The Chew Toy]]

* [[The Jinx]]: the other kids think he is one of these, and Arnold often gets dragged into trouble when he tries to help Eugene or prove that he ''isn't'' a jinx.

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Played by four actors. [[Ben Diskin]], Eugene #3, lasted the longest at three seasons.

* [[The Pollyanna]]: he is almost always freakishly happy and optimistic, despite his luck issues.

* [[Youthful Freckles]]

 

=== Brainy ===

 

An otherwise taciturn mouth-breathing nerd who seems to have a thing for Helga.

* [[Hidden Depths]]: As confirmed by [[All There in the Manual|The book six of the series Hey Arnold!]] [http://www.amazon.com/Arnold-Arnolds-Files-Groening-Bartlett/dp/0439381495/ref=pd_sim_b_3 Arnold's E-Files] Brainy is as eloquent as Helga… only that he cannot talk because his [[Vader Breath]]. Also, he is pretty good manipulating Arnold, loves poetry and is allergic to cats.

* [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: [[Word of God]] says this is how Brainy ultimately feels about Helga.

* [[Offhand Backhand]]: Helga frequently does this to Brainy.

* [[Offscreen Teleportation]]: Being offscreen most of the time, it's pretty easy for Brainy to do this. Lampshaded in several episodes where he shows up behind Helga in the most ''improbable''. places, such as on Elk Island, the {{spoiler|Supposedly}} haunted train, and even in an Alley that Helga ''made sure'' was empty.

** [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"| Everyone Calls Him Brainy]]: His real name is never reveal.

* [[The Quiet One]]

* [[Satellite Character]]: To Helga.

* [[Shadow Archetype]]: Helga is an [[Hypocrite]] with [[Hidden Depths]] who denies her feelings. Brainy is a guy with [[Hidden Depths]] who always try to say her feelings (but cannot for the asthma). [[Be Yourself|Brainy is the one thing Helga wants and fears to be]]. Brainy is Helga's [[Satellite Character]] [[Fridge Brilliance|because Brainy is Helga's self, and Helga is Brainy's]] [[Shadow Archetype]].

* [[Vader Breath]]

 

=== Sheena ===

 

* [[Granola Girl]]

 

=== Olga Pataki ===

 

Helga's older sister and the parental favorite, much to Helga's dismay (and Olga's too, as revealed in "Olga Comes Home"). At first glance, Olga appears perhaps too perfect: Successful, pretty, smart, and sweet and kind to everyone. But she's actually dangerously neurotic, melodramatic and out of reality, due to having to constantly live up to her parents' (well, her father's, anyway) constant attention and ridiculously high standards.

 

=== "Big" Bob Pataki ===

 

Father of Helga and Olga. Runs a local business aptly named "Big Bob's Beepers".

** Basically any episode that accentuates his [[Jerkass]] qualities ends with him getting a solid block of hilarious karma dropped on his head. "Roughin' It" is another good example, where he ends up alone in his RV stuck with sunburn, swamped with bugs, and itching from poison ivy (not to mention having been electrocuted by his own faulty products earlier) while everyone else enjoys camping the old fashioned way.

* [[Jerkass]]: Most of the time, he's this.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: His "orphan boy" line (referring to Arnold) in "Parent's Day". It's so mean it would be a Moral Event Horizon if he'd said it directly to Arnold (as it stands, he was talking to Helga and was just characteristically loud and uncaring about anyone else overhearing.)

* [[Parental Favoritism]]: To Olga.

* [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child]]: While he would go for verbal attacks, Bob has his limits on bodily harming children, especially his daughter, Helga.

 

=== Miriam Pataki ===

 

Mother of Helga and Olga, Miriam is a depressed, constantly sleepy, seemingly ditzy housewife with an addiction to "smoothies". It's not uncommon to find her sleeping in strange places. However, she can be very competent and intelligent, but unfortunately it seems that being married to Big Bob has really brought her down.

 

=== "Steely Phil" {{spoiler|Shortman}} ===

 

Arnold's grandfather.

 

=== Grandma Gertie (aka Pookie) ===

 

Arnold's grandmother.

* [[Cool Old Lady]]

* {{spoiler|[[Generation Xerox]]: In "Girl Trouble," she and Phil had a relationship very similar to Helga and Arnold when they were younger. As part of the gag, Gertie in the flashback is voiced by Helga's voice actor.}}

* [[Obfuscating Insanity]]: There are rare times where she behaves in an odd fashion - only to then imply it was just an act.

* [[OOC Is Serious Business]]: In "Parents Day," she acts like her usual fun-loving, crazy self. After seeing Arnold so depressed over his [[Parental Abandonment]], however, she snaps out of the role she was playing and acts far more subdued.

 

=== Mr. Simmons ===

 

Fourth grade teacher at P.S. 118 starting in the second season, replacing the original [[Living Prop]], Miss Slovak. Thinks of everyone and everything as "special".

 

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Played by an openly gay actor, loves the theatre, and has a very delicate, effete personality. In fact, a character who may or may not be his partner even appears in [[Crappy Holidays|the Thanksgiving episode]].

* [[Ink Suit Actor]]: A very glaring example on a show with otherwise very outlandish character designs; Simmons strongly resembles his voice actor, Dan Butler.

* [[Nice Guy]]: One of the nicest adults in the series.

 

=== Alphonse Perrier du von Scheck ===

 

The CEO of Future Tech Industries, Scheck is a greedy and heartless businessman who wants to tear down Arnold's neighborhood to build a gigantic, immaculate shopping mall. Only appears in [[The Movie]], where he is the [[Big Bad]].

* [[Slasher Smile]]: Most notably when he's {{spoiler|burning the document declaring the neighborhood a national landmark}}.

* [[Smug Snake]]

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: He starts out appearing as an affable but very weaselly businessman, but ends up as a raving madman who is [[Moral Event Horizon|perfectly willing to]] {{spoiler|run over several people, including children, with his car.}}

* [[The Von Trope Family]]

 

=== Bridget ===

 

Only appearing in [[The Movie]], Bridget is a sort of spy girl/superheroine who helps Arnold and Gerald save the neighborhood by supplying them with equipment and {{spoiler|providing them a VCR to play the security tape exposing Scheck}}.

 

=== Oskar Kokoshka ===

 

* [[Adult Child]]

* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]