History Characters / HeyArnoldHelgaGPataki

* AmbiguousDisorder: Shitty childhood aside, the way she's able to alternate between loving and hating Arnold, the length she goes to stop Arnold from "rejecting" her, her HairTriggerTemper and overall inability to form positive relationships (aside from perhaps Phoebe) indicate that she may have some kind of mental disorder.

* PetTheDog: There are several times where she does something nice to prove that she isn't completely rotten, like in "Arnold's Christmas" (where she sacrifices her Nancy Spumoni boots so that Arnold can succeed in his goal of reuniting Mr. Hyunh with his daughter for Christmas), "Arnold's Thanksgiving" (where she celebrates Thanksgiving with her worried family and apologizes for leaving home without telling them), showing compassion to her friend Phoebe in any episode focusing on her, The Movie (where she secretly helps Arnold in his journey to stop Scheck from tearing down the neighborhood) and "Summer Love" (where she realizes that Summer is using Arnold and does everything she can to expose Summer's true intentions so as to spare Arnold's feelings).

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: In "Arnold's Christmas" she gives up her [[NiceShoes Nancy Spumoni snow boots]] so Mr. Hyunh can be reunited with his daughter. The boots were a rare sign that her parents actually paid attention to her and nobody would have known if she'd decided to keep them for herself. Instead she hands them over to the archivist and convinces him to work through the night to find Mai. At the end of the episode she watches the reunion from a distance and never tries to take credit for her part in making it happen.

* CryCute: She doesn't cry often, but when she does, she's absolutely huggable.

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** The Jungle Movie takes it UpToEleven: Helga has an underground room (beneath her StalkerShrine no less) where she has stored ''hundreds'' of recorded videos of Arnold's various humanitarian exploits throughout the show (at least one that's simply Arnold getting (un)dressed). How she can possibly have been at some of these locations is anyone's guess....

The Tritagonist and usually Main Antagonist of the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' series and also the {{Deuteragonist}} of the last series of "The Jungle Movie". Helga is a shy, insecure girl who became the resident bully of Arnold's class. She constantly bullies and professes to despise Arnold, yet this is all a cover to hide her true deep feelings of love for him. She also bullies and threatens other people (including her sister Olga, Lila and her own best friend Phoebe to name but a few), but this behavior too comes from her fear that if she showed her true kind nature, she would in turn be bullied. She becomes the villain sometimes and keeps her crush a secret in order to protect her reputation, often going to insane lengths to do so.

* KavorkaMan: Helga has had at least four boys fall for her over the course of the series (Brainy, Stinky, Arnold's creepy cousin Arnie, and eventually Arnold himself). This is despite the fact that she's scrawny, physically unattractive (Big Ol' Unibrow, potato nose, billy goat-like ears, large overbite and questionable fashion choices) and a bully. While Helga does have a HiddenHeartOfGold, only Brainy knows this from the start and Stinky and Arnie never find this out. Arnold doesn't think much of Helga at first due to her always bullying him to cover up her massive crush on him, but over the course of the series, he gets to know the real Helga and by ''The Jungle Movie'' they officially get together.

* {{Tsundere}}: She bullies Arnold outwardly but gushes over him when she believes herself to be alone. In fact, she is widely considered to be the clearest example of a tsundere in Western animation. And there are times she can even outshine the likes of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]] and [[Anime/LoveHina Naru]].

* {{Tsundere}}: She bullies Arnold outwardly but gushes over him when she believes herself to be alone. In fact, she is widely considered to be the clearest example of a tsundere in Western animation.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with Olga. Helga is the Foolish Sibling -- she cares very little for her academics [[BrilliantButLazy even though she's proven to be quite intelligent]], while also usually showing little to no respect for her family, peers, or anyone in general (this leads to her being TheFriendNobodyLikes except for Phoebe and [[DependingOnTheWriter occasionally]] Arnold). However, [[FreudianExcuse the reason for her gruff personality]] comes from growing up in a dysfunctional household with both of her parents neglecting her in favor of Olga, making it clear to Helga at an early age that she's the unfavorite child. Her older sister, Olga, is the Responsible Sibling -- she's an ace student who is friendly to everyone (making her well-liked not only by her parents, but all of Helga's classmates), but she reveals to Helga that she's a StepfordSmiler who is always trying to keep up her "perfectness" despite constant stress from the extremely high standards her parents expect her to meet, especially her father.

* NotSoDifferent: The whole concept behind giving Helga a mean father was to win her sympathy with the audience, but the biggest tragedy with her character might just be that she basically is her father in a lot of ways. Apart from inheriting his genetics, she's every bit as loud, bossy and often outright mean as her dad. The traits that set her apart from Big Bob are her intelligence, self-awareness, and desire to be kinder (and possibly her FreudianExcuse for the aforementioned {{Jerkass}} tendencies).

* ChildProdigy: A more subtle version of this trope (and it's never really ventured on). It's only revealed and hinted at that Helga could. very well be this; she's the only one (other than Olga) to score a 100 on the school's aptitude test, learns ''Romeo and Juliet'' in one night (though not seeming particularly interested in anything Shakespeare's written earlier on), wins poetry contests several times (with work she rather randomly created), and Dr. Bliss brings up her above-average knowledge with art and literature.

* ComedicSociopathy: Usually subverted, especially with regard to her tormenting of Arnold. Despite laughing maniacally all the while she's causing him misery, she normally reverts to cursing herself for her meanness moments later. She does on occasion show no remorse for her actions however, typically when Lila is involved.

* CosmicKeystone: Her locket typically serves as a simple prop, but in "The Jungle Movie" it ends up being of great importance and essentially becomes the lynchpin of the whole series. After the Corazon is lost in a confrontation with Lasombra, she uses her locket as a replacement, symbolically and literally offering Arnold her heart, and culminating her entire character journey of learning to lower her guard and risking Arnold's rejection by being open and sincere about her feelings.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Her early childhood had her being raised by two parents (who are one way or another pretty screwed up) doting all of their time to Olga and ignoring Helga. Needless to say, this resulted in Helga becoming a BrokenBird with other major emotional issues.

* {{Determinator}}: Whenever her secret is in danger of being exposed, she'll go to hell and back to ensure it isn't. "The Little Pink Book" (where her journal containing love poems about Arnold accidentally ends up ''in Arnold's possession'' and she has her name signed in the last poem), "Helga Blabs it All" (where she calls the boarding house and confesses her love to Arnold while delirious from gas at the dentist) and "Helga's Parrot" (where she accidentally lets a parrot loose that has learned to imitate a love poem she recited that contains her name in the final verse) are examples of this.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: The series takes a heavy focus on Helga, revolving around her home life, friendships, and love for Arnold. One may argue that near the end of the series, she had became the secondary protagonist.
* DirtyCoward: Especially in season 1. She's very much looking out for herself and is perfectly willing to use and abuse even her best friend to get what she wants, with seemingly no remorse. She constantly talks tough, but whenever things go bad or she feels threatened, she's quick to shout "We're all gonna die!" or just break down into hysterical sobbing. After five seasons of character development however, by the time of "The Jungle Movie" Helga has matured to the point that she's genuinely concerned for others, and very loyal and brave.

* TheDreaded: Early on she was the most feared of the kids (Arnold and Gerald dreading her wrath in "Downtown as Fruits" for example), but as the series progresses, the other students see her as more of a nuisance than a genuine threat, much like what eventually happened to Harold. As other girls like Rhonda and Lila rise in popularity, Helga declines in status from the iron-fisted school tyrant to being a bit of an outcast.
* DreamWorksFace: On the promotional materials and cover of ''The Jungle Movie'' Helga is giving the asymmetrical smirk and cocked eyebrow which tells the audience that she's up to no good. Unlike most actual Dreamworks characters however Helga really lives up to her mischievous look.
* DumbBlonde: Subverted. Due to her bullying and brash nature, Helga comes off as this trope but episodes reveal her to be a ChildProdigy but she [[BrilliantButLazy doesn't apply herself]] due to her own insecurities.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Boy, does she ''ever''. [[spoiler: It took 100 episodes, two movies, and two ''decades'', but after all she went through and all she did, Arnold is finally hers at the end of ''The Jungle Movie''.]]
* EasyAmnesia: Helga gets amnesia after getting hit with a baseball. Subverted in that she gets her memory back when she wakes up the next day, perfectly normal and with a slight headache, not by getting hit again. However, she continues to [[FakingAmnesia fake amnesia]] to take advantage of Arnold's kindness and attention. When she feels guilty about it, she ''intentionally'' hits her head again so she can pretend that she just got her memory back.

* EtTuBrute: Being the overdramatic Shakespearean character she is, Helga pretty much quotes this one directly when she catches Phoebe laughing at Rhonda's impersonation of her.

** She does some nasty things to Arnold, but takes major offense to her father insultingly calling Arnold an orphan within ear shot of him.

** On top of that, once she found out that Summer was using Arnold for personal gain (with the intent on dumping him afterwards), she focused all her efforts on exposing her for Arnold's sake.
* EvilLaugh: Helga can be dramatic at times and her evil laughter is no exception.

* {{Foil}}: To Arnold. Both are the blonde-haired stars of the show with an ImprobableHairstyle, Iconic Outfit, and IconicItem that adorns their head (Arnold's little blue baseball cap, Helga's giant pink bow), and are probably the [[WiseBeyondTheirYears smartest]] among their peers. Arnold is a sweet and friendly person who rarely gets angry who grew up in an "atypical" family but was given love, respect, and attention. Helga is a mean and anti-social girl who ''does'' have a kind side she keeps hidden and grew up in a "typical" family but was emotionally neglected by her parents in favor for her older sister. Then there's their love lives: Arnold has many crushes over the course of the series and they never work out, while Helga only has eyes for Arnold and [[spoiler:they become a couple at the end of]] ''The Jungle Movie''.

* FootPopping: She does this when she and Arnold kiss at the end of The Jungle Movie.
* ForcefulKiss: Gives a big kiss to Arnold without warning in TheMovie.

** In "Grudge Match" she clearly wants to side with Arnold when his grandpa is challenged to a game of golf by her father, but quickly takes her father's side when he offers her twenty bucks to caddy for him. After he hits her on the head with a golfball and is completely unapologetic, she quits and tells him to keep the money.
** In "Hey Arnold! The Movie" she attempts to talk her dad out of his part in demolishing the neighborhood, but goes over to his side when she realizes they're going to be rich. Her conscience eventually gets the better of her and she covertly helps Arnold and Gerald save the neighborhood.

* BelligerentSexualTension: With Arnold -- Although Arnold is definitely not a jerk, [[LovingBully Helga's constant bullying]] has made him hostile towards her (or at least as much as he can be) and Helga is one of the greatest {{Tsundere}}s you will ever see.
* BeneathTheMask: She pretends to hate Arnold to hide her true feelings for him, and only expresses said feelings when she's alone. Or she thinks so, and Brainy [[OffscreenTeleportation teleports]] behind her.

* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler: With Arnold in "The Jungle Movie". After he realizes her true kind personality underneath her mean exterior - particularly being touched by the lengths she went to in an effort to help him find his missing parents - he and Helga share their first (mutual) kiss.]]

* BrilliantButLazy: Though not a perfectionist like Olga, the aptitude test shows she '''is''' nearly as competent, and she writes some damn good poetry. Unfortunately, her hard life has destroyed her confidence and most of the time she doesn't even try.
* BrokenAce: We see lots of Helga's potential here and there, but as mentioned above, her hard life has left her so angry that she can't properly express herself and contribute to her work which makes her look dumber than she is. Then again, considering all the "love (read: stress)" they put on her sister, maybe she's doing it to avoid getting their attention as well.
* BrokenBird: She's had it pretty hard. A negligent, greedy father, an alcoholic, scatterbrained mother and a perfectionist sister who is loved by all. She mentions in "Helga on the Couch" that she would probably go crazy if it weren't for Arnold.

* TheBully: She bullies others as a way to conceal her true self from the world, since she has always been treated like shit when she tries to be nice.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Arnold -- They first met in pre-school, have a complicated relationship by elementary school (mostly due to Helga being unable to express her proper feelings to him), and WordOfGod confirms that the two would eventually marry as adults.
* ChildProdigy: A more subtle version of this trope (and it's never really ventured on). It's only revealed in bits and pieces such as being the only one (other than Olga) to score a 100 on the school's aptitude test, learning ''Romeo and Juliet'' in one night (though not seeming particularly interested in anything Shakespeare's written earlier on), winning poetry contests several times and having Dr. Bliss bring up her above average knowledge.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: More episodes focused on Helga than any other character except for Arnold, and that's ''not'' including the ''many'' Arnold/Helga episodes. [[TropeOverdosed Her list of tropes got so long]] that it had to be split into its own page, and got one before Arnold did.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Helga fell in love with Arnold because he was the first person in her life that noticed her and treated her kindly. In somewhat of an inversion, this is also why she treats Arnold like garbage.

* OneMarioLimit: Easily the most famous fictional character named "Helga".

* TherapyIsForTheWeak: She's not too thrilled about being sent to Dr. Bliss for counseling. She wears a disguise to the medical center and spends the first part of the session mocking it. By the end, she doesn't want to leave.

** Arnold instantly realizes that something is wrong with Helga when she stops tormenting him in "Helga's Love Potion". This is because she was under a placebo from an "anti-love potion" she took to try and rid herself of her crush on Arnold, which turned her into an emotionless robot with nothing to live for. And when she doesn't punch Brainy for sneaking up on her, he gets so confused/terrified that he ''punches himself out''!

* MouthyKid: Nine years old and has a major attitude. It's not entirely unwarranted, however.

* {{Deuteragonist}}: The series takes a heavy focus on Helga, revolving around her home life, friendships, and love for Arnold. One may argue that near the end of the series, she had become the true protagonist.

* CelebrityIsOverrated: In "It Girl": Helga is against modeling for Johnny Stitches from the start, [[OnlyInItForTheMoney only doing it for the money]] and the free stuff. Seeing nearly everyone around her wearing her dress and bow (even some ''boys'' are wearing it) pushes her over the edge. So she tries to get fired by shoving a model during another one of Stitches' shows, then by spitting in front of the press. Realizing that being mean only makes Stitches’ people love her more (since Helga's mean-spiritedness is much of her image), Arnold suggests that she try acting nice at Fashion Week. And it works.

** "Geekbait."

* CelebrityIsOverrated: In "It Girl": Helga is against modeling for Johnny Stitches from the start, [[OnlyInItForTheMoney only doing it for the money]] and the free stuff. Seeing nearly everyone around her wearing her dress and bow (even some ''boys'' are wearing it) pushes her over the edge. So she tries to get fired by shoving a model during another one of Stitches' shows, then by spitting in front of the press. Realizing that being mean only makes people love her more (since Helga's nastiness is much of her image), Arnold suggests that she try acting nice at Fashion Week. And it works.