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* BirdsOfAFeather: Olga and Lila in "Big Sis"
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* BirdsOfAFeather: Olga and Lila in "Big Sis"Sis".
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** Brainy has been given {{OffhandBackhand}}s whenever he tries to be near Helga since the age of three… He now has nine, [[RunningGag and he still does it]].
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** Brainy has been given {{OffhandBackhand}}s {{Offhand Backhand}}s whenever he tries to be near Helga since the age of three… He now has nine, [[RunningGag and he still does it]].
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* AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale:
** Averted with Helga. While her bullying (of everyone, not just Arnold) is not treated as seriously as a male bully would be, it is still not portrayed as being ''okay'' by the show, pointing out repeatedly that it is a problem, and that what Helga is doing is not acceptable behaviour for anybody.
** However, in one episode, Helga throws glue on Arnold, and Arnold snaps and throws paint on her. ''Arnold'' is the one who gets yelled at.
** Played straight with Arnold's grandparents when they were kids, where his grandmother would do the same (if not worse) to his grandfather.
** Averted with Helga. While her bullying (of everyone, not just Arnold) is not treated as seriously as a male bully would be, it is still not portrayed as being ''okay'' by the show, pointing out repeatedly that it is a problem, and that what Helga is doing is not acceptable behaviour for anybody.
** However, in one episode, Helga throws glue on Arnold, and Arnold snaps and throws paint on her. ''Arnold'' is the one who gets yelled at.
** Played straight with Arnold's grandparents when they were kids, where his grandmother would do the same (if not worse) to his grandfather.
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* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale:
** Averted with Helga. While her bullying (of everyone, not just Arnold) is not treated as seriously as a male bully would be, it is still not portrayed as being ''okay'' by the show, pointing out repeatedly that it is a problem, and that what Helga is doing is not acceptable behaviour for anybody.
** However, in one episode, Helga throws glue on Arnold, and Arnold snaps and throws paint on her. ''Arnold'' is the one who gets yelled at.
** Played straight with Arnold's grandparents when they were kids, where his grandmother would do the same (if not worse) to his grandfather.
** Averted with Helga. While her bullying (of everyone, not just Arnold) is not treated as seriously as a male bully would be, it is still not portrayed as being ''okay'' by the show, pointing out repeatedly that it is a problem, and that what Helga is doing is not acceptable behaviour for anybody.
** However, in one episode, Helga throws glue on Arnold, and Arnold snaps and throws paint on her. ''Arnold'' is the one who gets yelled at.
** Played straight with Arnold's grandparents when they were kids, where his grandmother would do the same (if not worse) to his grandfather.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: Hedy Lamarr, the actress Grandpa always talks about was a real actress in the 1930s and 40s.
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* {{Expy}}: Ronnie Matthews seems to be a one-man version of MilliVanilli. [[MrFanservice Handsome dark-skinned guy?]] Check. Strong European accent that disappears when he "sings?" Check. Complete inability to write and/or play music? Check, check and check.
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* BlindBlackGuy: One of the subway passengers in "Das Subway."
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* AbortedArc: The GrandFinale never revealed what happened to Arnold's parents. Keyboards at the ready, FanFic writers!
** This is because it was going to be the plot of "The Jungle Movie" before a combination of studio politics and waiting for so long that the show lost its popularity caused it to be shelved
** This is because it was going to be the plot of "The Jungle Movie" before a combination of studio politics and waiting for so long that the show lost its popularity caused it to be shelved
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* AbortedArc: The GrandFinale never revealed what happened to Arnold's parents. Keyboards at the ready, FanFic writers!\n** This is because it was going to be the plot of "The Jungle Movie" before a combination of studio politics and waiting for so long that the show lost its popularity caused it to be shelvedshelved. Keyboards at the ready, FanFic writers!
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** Ruth MacDoogal (the sixth grader Arnold had a crush on in the first season) also mysteriously disappears. One could guess that she simply graduated from P.S. 118, since she was already in sixth grade, and Arnold never mentions her (or his crush on her) after the Valentine's Day episode in which Arnold tries to go on a date with both Ruth (who thinks she's seeing a famous poet named "Anonymous") and his French pen pal, Cecilia, and discovers that Ruth isn't all that bright or interesting to be around.
*** She appears again, in "What's Opera, Arnold?," mainly for Helga to have a foil in Arnold's dream opera
*** She appears again, in "What's Opera, Arnold?," mainly for Helga to have a foil in Arnold's dream opera
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** Ruth MacDoogal (the sixth grader Arnold had a crush on in the first season) also mysteriously disappears. One could guess that she simply graduated from P.S. 118, since she was already in sixth grade, and Arnold never mentions her (or his crush on her) after the Valentine's Day episode in which Arnold tries to go on a date with both Ruth (who thinks she's seeing a famous poet named "Anonymous") and his French pen pal, Cecilia, and discovers that Ruth isn't all that bright or interesting to be around.
*** She appears again, inaround. In "What's Opera, Arnold?," she appears for the last time mainly for Helga to have a foil in Arnold's dream operaopera.
*** She appears again, in
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*** She appears again, in "What's Opera, Arnold?," mainly for Helga to have a foil in Arnold's dream opera
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** Mr. Smith (the first season border whose face nobody sees) never appears after "Door #16"
** Lana (the older redheaded border in the opening credits, who has only one line in the entire series) also disappears midway through the first season, but shows up in background shots on occasion; for example, at the restaurant with the cockroaches in "Dinner for Four"
** Lana (the older redheaded border in the opening credits, who has only one line in the entire series) also disappears midway through the first season, but shows up in background shots on occasion; for example, at the restaurant with the cockroaches in "Dinner for Four"
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Added reason to Aborted Arc
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** This is because it was going to be the plot of "The Jungle Movie" before a combination of studio politics and waiting for so long that the show lost its popularity caused it to be shelved
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* DuelingShows: With ''{{Recess}}'', and arguably, ''[[{{Doug}} Disney's Doug]]''
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* DuelingShows: With ''{{Recess}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', and arguably, ''[[{{Doug}} Disney's Doug]]''
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** Eugune has "I'm okay..."
*** In earlier episodes it was "I'm fine."
*** In earlier episodes it was "I'm fine."
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** Eugune has "I'm okay..."
*** In earlier episodes it" which was "I'm fine."fine" in earlier episodes.
*** In earlier episodes it
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** Gerald also has "You're a bold kid, Arnold... a bold kid." He even lampshades it when Arnold says it to him.
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** Gerald also has "You're a bold kid, Arnold... a bold kid." He even lampshades it when [[BorrowedCatchPhrase Arnold says it to him.]]
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*** In earlier episodes it was "I'm fine."
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* HourglassPlot: Happens to Phoebe and Helga in "Phoebe Breaks A Leg." In a twist Phoebe quickly realizes this is happening and, tired of being treated like an assistant all the time, [[BewareTheNiceOnes conspires to keep it that way for as long as she can.]]
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* HourglassPlot: Happens to Phoebe and Helga in "Phoebe Breaks A Leg." Leg" - when Helga is indirectly responsible for Phoebe getting injured, out of guilt she starts waiting on her in the way she often had Phoebe wait on her. In a twist twist, Phoebe quickly realizes this is happening and, and - tired of being treated like an assistant all the time, time - [[BewareTheNiceOnes conspires to keep it that way for as long as she can.]]
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* HourglassPlot: Happens to Phoebe and Helga in "Phoebe Breaks A Leg." In a twist Phoebe quickly realizes this is happening and, tired of being treated like an assistant all the time, [[BewareTheNiceOnes conspires to keep it that way for as long as she can.]]
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* TheAlcoholic: Helga's mom, Miriam, according to WordOfGod, but this could only be implied thanks to Nickelodeon's MediaWatchdogs. She drinks a lot of "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]," talks in a tired, slow voice, looks extremely depressed, is oblivious to her surroundings, forgets things, doesn't drive anymore (and when she did on an episode where Helga and Miriam try to bond during a road trip, she drove rather erratically), and is often found asleep (usually in strange places, like behind the couch or on the living room table). When making a "smoothie", she grabs a bottle of hot sauce.
to:
* TheAlcoholic: Helga's mom, Miriam, according to WordOfGod, but this could only be implied thanks to Nickelodeon's MediaWatchdogs.{{Media Watchdog}}s. She drinks a lot of "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]," talks in a tired, slow voice, looks extremely depressed, is oblivious to her surroundings, forgets things, doesn't drive anymore (and when she did on an episode where Helga and Miriam try to bond during a road trip, she drove rather erratically), and is often found asleep (usually in strange places, like behind the couch or on the living room table). When making a "smoothie", she grabs a bottle of hot sauce.
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** In another episode, Phoebe gets to meet pop singer Ronnie Matthews, whom she idolizes for his lyrics which she thinks are deep and meaningful. She's devastated when it turns out he doesn't write or even sing his own music--he just gets paid to lip-sync and pretend to play the guitar. Simultaneously inverts the trope, as somehow this causes Helga to admire him.
to:
** In another episode, Phoebe gets to meet pop singer Ronnie Matthews, whom she idolizes for his lyrics which she thinks are deep and meaningful. She's devastated when it turns out he doesn't write or even sing his own music--he just gets paid to lip-sync and pretend to play the guitar. Simultaneously inverts the trope, as somehow this causes Helga to admire him.him due to how he's managed to make so much money scamming people.
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* BodyScreenFillUp: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEGfGrcJhdw Happened at leat all these times]]
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* GentleGiant: Patty Smith the HugeSchoolgirl of P.S. 118 is this when she isn't bullied or provoked
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** In the episode where Arnold tries to help Chocolate Boy overcome his chocolate addiction Gerald mentions several of Arnold's past accomplishments which were all from past episodes.
--> "Helped Stoop Kid and The Pigeon Man, found Mr. Hyunh's daughter, saved Mighty Pete, stopped the teachers strike..."
--> "Helped Stoop Kid and The Pigeon Man, found Mr. Hyunh's daughter, saved Mighty Pete, stopped the teachers strike..."
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** Gerald also has "You're a bold kid, Arnold... a bold kid." He even lampshades it when Arnold says it to him.
--> '''Arnold:''' You're a bold kid, Gerald.
--> '''Gerald:''' Hey, that's my line.
--> '''Arnold:''' You're a bold kid, Gerald.
--> '''Gerald:''' Hey, that's my line.
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** How Helga sneaked in and out of the Sunset Arms in more than one occasions.
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* {{God}}: Appears in Stinky's prophetic dream in "Stinky's Pumpkin", voiced by TonyJay
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* ContinuityNod: Lila mentions she gets sick on the big amusement rides in "Love and Cheese". After riding the coaster in "Timberly Loves Arnold" she's seen throwing up.
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* ContinuityNod: ContinuityNod:
** Lila mentions she gets sick on the big amusement rides in "Love and Cheese". After riding the coaster in "Timberly Loves Arnold" she's seen throwing up.
** Lila mentions she gets sick on the big amusement rides in "Love and Cheese". After riding the coaster in "Timberly Loves Arnold" she's seen throwing up.
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** The premise of "Beaned" calls back to the plot of "Dangerous Lumber," showing that Arnold still has a perfect record for beaning people with baseballs. And the plot of "Dangerous Lumber" could be seen as continuing off of the event that kicked off "24 Hours To Live."
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Curly's main schtick, besides (or in addition to) being completely AxCrazy. Him terrorizing the gang through a cemetery dressed as an undead murderess because he couldn't be the one to tell a story is one thing, and him barricading himself in the principal's office and laying siege to the school with dodgeballs because he couldn't be ball monitor is another, but ''enacting an elaborate plot to get Eugene expelled from school simply because Eugene borrowed and chewed on his favorite pencil?'' That's just insane. And, "FREE THE ANIMALS!!!"
to:
* DisproportionateRetribution: Curly's main schtick, besides (or in addition to) being completely AxCrazy. Him terrorizing the gang through a cemetery dressed as an undead murderess because he couldn't be the one to tell a story is one thing, and him barricading himself in the principal's office and laying siege to the school with dodgeballs because he couldn't be ball monitor is another, but ''enacting ''[[MoralEventHorizon enacting an elaborate plot to get Eugene expelled from school simply because Eugene borrowed and chewed on his favorite pencil?'' pencil]]?'' That's just insane. And, "FREE THE ANIMALS!!!"
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** Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries a fencing wizard]]. He's passed his skills on to Phoebe.
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** Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries a fencing wizard]]. He's passed his skills on to Phoebe.
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* CelebrityIsOverrated: Stinky doesn't want to be an idiot in soda commercials, Helga is sick and tired of everyone copying her look (and expecting her to be [[{{Tsundere}} foul-tempered on cue]].).
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* CelebrityIsOverrated: CelebrityIsOverrated:
** Stinky doesn't want to be an idiot in soda commercials, Helga is sick and tired of everyone copying her look (and expecting her to be [[{{Tsundere}} foul-tempered on cue]].).
** Stinky doesn't want to be an idiot in soda commercials, Helga is sick and tired of everyone copying her look (and expecting her to be [[{{Tsundere}} foul-tempered on cue]].).
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** "Mr. Hyunh Goes Country" is about this: Mr. Hyunh could have been the next big country music star, but after tasting fame, he gives it up because he prefers his normal, simple life.
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* IWishedYouWereDead: Sid with Principal Wartz.
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* IWishedYouWereDead: Sid with Principal Wartz.
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* AffectionateNickname: Olga always addresses Helga as "Baby Sister," and when she hangs out with Lila in one episode (as part of the "Big Sis, Little Sis" charity) addresses her as "Little Sis."
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* AffectionateNickname: AffectionateNickname:
** Olga always addresses Helga as "Baby Sister," and when she hangs out with Lila in one episode (as part of the "Big Sis, Little Sis" charity) addresses her as "Little Sis.""
** Grandpa always calls Arnold "Short Man". [[spoiler: WordOfGod is that it's supposed to be a pun on his surname, "Shortman".]]
** Olga always addresses Helga as "Baby Sister," and when she hangs out with Lila in one episode (as part of the "Big Sis, Little Sis" charity) addresses her as "Little Sis.
** Grandpa always calls Arnold "Short Man". [[spoiler: WordOfGod is that it's supposed to be a pun on his surname, "Shortman".]]
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I assume this was supposed to be a reference to Mr. Sulu\'s fencing skills? Try to be more specific about that—not everyone here\'s a Trekkie.
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* ActorAllusion: Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is a fencing wizard. He's passed his skills on to Phoebe.
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* ActorAllusion: ActorAllusion:
** Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries a fencingwizard. wizard]]. He's passed his skills on to Phoebe.Phoebe.
** When Arnold first [[SingingVoiceDissonance hears Mr. Hyunh singing]] in "Mr. Hyunh Goes Country", his first reaction is, "You sounded like a professional!" That's because [[Music/RandyTravis the guy doing Mr. Hyunh's singing voice]] actually ''is'' a professional country singer.
** Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries a fencing
** When Arnold first [[SingingVoiceDissonance hears Mr. Hyunh singing]] in "Mr. Hyunh Goes Country", his first reaction is, "You sounded like a professional!" That's because [[Music/RandyTravis the guy doing Mr. Hyunh's singing voice]] actually ''is'' a professional country singer.
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* AbortedArc: The GrandFinale never revealed what happened to Arnold's parents. Keyboards at the ready, FanFic writers!
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Curly to Rhonda, ''big time''. Brainy is a milder version of this trope; his presence annoys Helga to no end but all he really does is breathe down her neck.
** And somehow [[OffscreenTeleportation always manage to show up behind her]].
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer
* AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale:
** Averted with Helga. While her bullying (of everyone, not just Arnold) is not treated as seriously as a male bully would be, it is still not portrayed as being ''okay'' by the show, pointing out repeatedly that it is a problem, and that what Helga is doing is not acceptable behaviour for anybody.
** However, in one episode, Helga throws glue on Arnold, and Arnold snaps and throws paint on her. ''Arnold'' is the one who gets yelled at.
** Played straight with Arnold's grandparents when they were kids, where his grandmother would do the same (if not worse) to his grandfather.
* AbusiveParents: Helga and the Jolly-Olly Man both have G-rated versions of these. Helga's mother is always passed out on the couch with "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]" and never seems to be in a right state of mind. Her father, meanwhile, has a horrible temper, is extremely authoritarian, and is otherwise obsessed with his work. Neither of them pay any mind to Helga, always calling her by her sister Olga's name ([[ParentalFavoritism who they dote on whenever she's around]]).
* TheAce: Helga's "perfect" college-aged sister Olga only ''looks'' perfect, but she's dangerously neurotic and melodramatic thanks to having to live up to her parents' constant attention and high standards. She even tells Helga once she'd rather be TheUnFavorite since that would let her be free like Helga is. Lila's a parody of this, as well as a general ParodySue.
** Arnold himself can do anything. By the time of the movie, most of the neighbourhood believes he can save them from having to sell up and move. And he does.
* AcidRefluxNightmare: In one episode, Helga started sleepwalking after eating pork rinds.
* {{Acrofatic}}: Harold sure can move quickly for a big guy.
* ActorAllusion: Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is a fencing wizard. He's passed his skills on to Phoebe.
* ActuallyNotAVampire: "Sid The Vampire Slayer". Sid spends the whole episode believing Stinky is a vampire and tries to get proof. When he confronts Stinky, he has a perfectly logical explanation for everything and Sid leaves feeling stupid. Cut to later that night, where we see Stinky, talking to a bat and looking suspiciously like a vampire!
* AddictionDisplacement: Chocolate Boy gives up chocolate and starts eating radishes instead.
* AdultsAreUseless: Zig-Zagged.
* AesopAmnesia:
** Rhonda apparently learns not to be a self-centered libby ''several'' times, Olga seems to forget all about her past visits to the Pataki household with each visit, proclaiming her wish to better connect with Helga while unconciously annoying her in all the usual ways.. In one episode, Harold gains new confidence when he learns just how smart he can be if he puts some effort in... next we see him, he's back to being the buttmonkey crybaby of the class.
** Justified with Miriam. She learns to be a better mother a couple times; but a couple other episodes make it seem like she's back to her old ways. She relapsed.
** At least two episodes had the characters involved immediately forget their aesops before the episode even ended, in one Rhonda isn't invited to a party because she chose to alienate everyone else, at the end of the episode she shows she realizes this was wrong, but before the episode ends quips that the next day she'll be 'popular' again and not a geek like the rest of the party who alienated her for her alienating them, thus showing she really learned nothing. Harold had one where he gained a lot of extra weight and worked hard to lose it, at the end of the episode after losing all the excess weight (not all of it, he was still the BigEater of the show) he immediately accepts a bet of eating 50 ice cream bars, the same act that caused him to feel bad about himself at the start of the episode.
* AffectionateNickname: Olga always addresses Helga as "Baby Sister," and when she hangs out with Lila in one episode (as part of the "Big Sis, Little Sis" charity) addresses her as "Little Sis."
* AirVentPassageway: How Dino Spumoni crashes the concert of an incredible [[FreudianSlip stimulation]] of himself.
* TheAlcoholic: Helga's mom, Miriam, according to WordOfGod, but this could only be implied thanks to Nickelodeon's MediaWatchdogs. She drinks a lot of "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]," talks in a tired, slow voice, looks extremely depressed, is oblivious to her surroundings, forgets things, doesn't drive anymore (and when she did on an episode where Helga and Miriam try to bond during a road trip, she drove rather erratically), and is often found asleep (usually in strange places, like behind the couch or on the living room table). When making a "smoothie", she grabs a bottle of hot sauce.
** To enforce this, Helga never seems to find her mother's behaviour unusual or incorrect, implying that it's been going on for so long that to her, it's perfectly normal.
** If the spinoff ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen The Patakis]]'' had been made, Miriam was said she would be attending AA.
** It has been suggested that Helga merely ''refers'' to the booze as 'smoothies' for reasons ranging from basic ignorance, to being told to do so.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: "Arnold Visits Arnie".]]
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In "Arnold Visits Arnie", Arnie has a girlfriend Lulu who is madly in love with Arnold, who has a crush on Hilda who falls in love with Arnie.
** Which is just a bizarro rendering of the usual LoveTriangle between Arnold, Helga and Lila. (Which also includes Brainy having a crush on Helga.)
** It gets better; see LoveDodecahedron below.
** And in the first season, there's Arnold's unrequited crush on Ruth.
* AllThereInTheManual: 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]] confirms that Brainy is in love with Helga and that he has HiddenDepths.
* AlmaMaterSong: P.S. 118 has a particularly unpopular one.
* AlphaBitch: Rhonda, very often. The sixth-graders that use Phoebe also fit into this category; they also move Rhonda to the back of the bus when she gets glasses.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Arnie, Arnold's cousin. Hobbies include reading ingredient labels, counting things, and collecting lint. He also doesn't seem to know social norms; he asks Rhonda if she wants to see his ball of lint.
* AmbiguouslyGay:
** Eugene. He has a room decorated with [[TastesLikeDiabetes rainbows and unicorns]], and often takes interest in anything related to dancing and musicals.
** Mr. Simmons, WordOfGod states that he is in fact gay, but a kids show would never openly state so.
* AnAesop: "Helga On The Couch" taught kids that seeing a shrink isn't a negative thing. Many episodes contained this, really.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Gerald's little sister, Timberly. A more realistic example. According to Jamie-O, Gerald is this to him, but it's incredibly hard to feel sympathy for him when Jamie-O is one of the biggest {{Jerkass}} characters of the series. Jamie-O does eventually decides that Gerald isn't as much of an annoying younger sibling after he points out that his relationship is parasitic.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: In ''Hey Arnold!: The Movie'', Helga gives one to Arnold along with a [[TheBigDamnKiss passionate kiss]]. [[spoiler:Then revealed at the end that she denies it.]]
* ArcWords: Insurmountable.
* ArtEvolution: Faces became more detailed and expressive as the show went on.
** Plus the over all animation quality greatly improved after the first season (particularly within the last couple of seasons).
* AsianAndNerdy: Phoebe.
* AsideGlance: Arnold does this at the end of 'Arnold saves Sid'[[spoiler:He looks directly at the screen though.]]
* AxCrazy:
** Curly. In spades. One episode mentions that he once bit off the head of a live chicken, though he insists it was only that one time.
** Arnold fakes this to scare off Harold from beating his ass.
* BackToSchool: Arnold's grandpa does so, passing fourth, fifth, and sixth grades all in one episode.
* BeachEpisode: "Summer Love."
* BeneathTheMask: Helga only expresses her feelings for Arnold when alone. (Well, alone with Brainy sneaking up behind her, anyway.)
* BetaCouple: In certain ShipTease episodes, Gerald and Phoebe would hook up in the background. And interview with WordOfGod stated that had ''[[SpinOff The Patakis]]'' gone through, Gerald/Phoebe would've been the "cool couple" to contrast with the somewhat dysfunctional long-distance relationship of Arnold and Helga.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Discussed at the end of "Curly Snaps."
-->'''Mr. Simmons:''' I think we all learned a valuable lesson here today.
-->'''Helga:''' Yep. Don't ever trust the quiet ones. They'll go bonkers and hole up in the principal's office.
* TheBGrade: "Olga Comes Home"
* BigApplesauce: The city the show takes place in is pretty obviously based on New York, Brooklyn in particular. WordOfGod states that there are generous bits of UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and Portland, OR mixed in as well.
* BigBrotherBully: Gerald's big brother Jamie-O.
* BigDamnMovie: Originally the Trope Namer, called "Why Is Arnold Saving Something".
* BigEater:
** Harold.
** Seymour, as revealed in "Eating Contest". However, [[spoiler: Arnold beats him]].
* BiggerOnTheInside: As seen in "Phoebe Cheats" Phoebe's house has several rooms that look like they should be in a mansion, like a sparring room and a jacuzzi room.
* BigWhat: "Spelling Bee":
--> '''Helga''': Qualm. Q-u-a-'''l'''-...''(looks at her father)''...-x?
--> '''Bob''': WHAT?!
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: An in-universe example in "The Flood," when even the characters-in-question agreed that [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain they'd never speak of it again.]]
--> '''Principle Wartz''': This moment never happened.
--> '''Helga''': Gotcha.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Olga and Lila in "Big Sis"
* BittersweetEnding: "The List", "Pigeon Man", "The Journal", "Crabby Author", and the series finale.
* BizarroUniverse: The episode where Arnold visits his country cousin and finds that his rural town has polar opposites of Arnold's friends.
* BlackBestFriend: Gerald to Arnold.
* BodyScreenFillUp: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEGfGrcJhdw Happened at leat all these times]]
* BornUnlucky: Eugene could practically serve as the TropeCodifier (it doesn't help that he was born on Friday the 13th). See also ButtMonkey.
* BreakTheHaughty: Rhonda, constantly. There are at least three different episodes dedicated solely to the idea.
* BrokenAesop: In one episode, Arnold and Gerald play hookey but their fear of being found out interferes with any fun they might have had. Eventually, they go to school only to learn that there was a surprise carnival day. This weakens the Aesop as skipping school is wrong because you miss class, not because you miss a fun day. The "weakness" of the episode's moral is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at the end.
* BrokenPedestal:
** In "Eugene Goes Bad", Eugene finds that his idol "The Abdicator", an [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque]] ActionHero is not a real ActionHero, but a fictional character played by a JerkAss that's [[NiceCharacterMeanActor obnoxiously spoiled, bosses the staff on the set around]], and [[StuntDouble doesn't do his own stunts]]. Upon finding this out, Eugene does a temporary FaceHeelTurn.
** In another episode, Phoebe gets to meet pop singer Ronnie Matthews, whom she idolizes for his lyrics which she thinks are deep and meaningful. She's devastated when it turns out he doesn't write or even sing his own music--he just gets paid to lip-sync and pretend to play the guitar. Simultaneously inverts the trope, as somehow this causes Helga to admire him.
* BrokenStreak
* ButNotTooForeign: Phoebe has a Japanese dad and a white mom. Plus, Phoebe's last name, Heyerdahl, certainly isn't Japanese - unless she and her dad took her mom's name, which is not very uncommon in Japan.
* ButtMonkey: Eugene.
* CampGay: Mr. Simmons is a toned down version of this.
* CastOfSnowflakes: The art style makes good use of creative head shapes and various body sizes and proportions to make the characters distinctive.
* TheCatCameBack: Subverted in "Phoebe Cheats" when out of guilt Phoebe tries to dispose of a trophy she didn't earn. There are logical reasons why it keeps coming back into her possession, but she doesn't see them and she thinks it's moving by itself.
* CatchPhrase:
** Grampa's - "Never eat raspberries".
** Stinky always either says "this bites" or "this really bites" when something upsets him.
** Sid says "boy howdy" fairly often as well.
** The word "special" could be considered Mr. Simmons' catch phrase, as he uses it in practically every other sentence. (Which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when Helga's impression of him involves using "special" at least five times with finger-quotes.) Ditto for Lila and the phrase "oh so" or "ever so".
** Gerald has "Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" He apparently got it from his father, who does it to Phil in the Veteran's Day episode.
*** In the April Fools episode Arnold borrows it and turns it around:
--> '''Arnold:''' I think you're thinking what I'm thinking.
--> '''Gerald:''' ''(whispers in Arnold's ear)''
--> '''Arnold:''' That's even better than what I was thinking.
** Eugune has "I'm okay..."
** Then there's Mr. Hyunh with always calling some of the show's more eccentric characters "creepy" (which they admittedly are).
** The Jolly Olly Man has "Who's laughing now eh? WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!?"
* CaughtOnTheJumbotron: Arnold and Gerald are caught on the big screen at a baseball game while skipping school, much to their horror.
* CelebrityIsOverrated: Stinky doesn't want to be an idiot in soda commercials, Helga is sick and tired of everyone copying her look (and expecting her to be [[{{Tsundere}} foul-tempered on cue]].).
* CelebrityStar
* CerebusRetcon: Originally Helga's situation with her family was PlayedForLaughs. Helga's mom falls asleep all the time while making "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]"? Hilarious. Helga's dad always calls her by [[ParentalFavoritism her sister's name]]? Hysterical. Neither of them really pay attention to her? Knee-slapping. Then came the episode "[[ADayInTheLimelight Helga on the Couch]]" and [[TearJerker no one was laughing anymore]].
* CharacterDevelopment: There was much character development through the series, with Harold and Helga being the most apparent.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Remember when the Jolly-Olly Man used to be a simple, nameless, smiling ice cream man and not a total psychopath?
** Remember when Arnold was eccentric and naive?
** Remember when Harold was a Jerkass and less of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold?
** Remember when Stinky was a bully and sidekick to Harold? Furthermore, remember when he wore those spiky wristbands?
** Remember when Sid was just a wuss and not a whiny, overacting wuss? The guy even gained episodes dedicated to him because of it.
* TheChewToy:
** Eugene, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of bad luck.
** Pick an episode where Helga's secret is in danger of some sort, and you'll get an episode where the universe itself plots against her for eleven minutes straight.
* ChezRestaurant: Chez Pierre and Chez Paris who are ''right across the street from one another'', the better to aid any would-be TwoTimerDate.
* ChristmasEpisode: the episode where Arnold tries to help Mr. Hyunh find his daughter (whom Mr. Hyunh last saw during the end days of [what's implied to be] the Vietnam War) while Helga tries to buy Nancy Spumoni brand snow boots.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** Mr. Hyunh's daughter was never seen again. Possibly justified - after all, she presumably had adoptive parents in the US, given that her father hadn't been in her life for about 2 decades.
** Ruth MacDoogal (the sixth grader Arnold had a crush on in the first season) also mysteriously disappears. One could guess that she simply graduated from P.S. 118, since she was already in sixth grade, and Arnold never mentions her (or his crush on her) after the Valentine's Day episode in which Arnold tries to go on a date with both Ruth (who thinks she's seeing a famous poet named "Anonymous") and his French pen pal, Cecilia, and discovers that Ruth isn't all that bright or interesting to be around.
** Tucker, Coach Wittenburg's son. Appeared in one episode and was never seen or mentioned again. Odd, since Coach Wittenburg gets a few focus episodes. It's particularly glaring when one such episode deals with Wittenburg's estrangement from his wife.
* CircleOfShame: This happens dozens of times. Often, several of the characters forming the circle were laughed at in an earlier episode, because KidsAreCruel.
* TheCityVsTheCountry: Lila moves from a farm to the big city and is immediately resented and made fun of by the other kids. Subverted when she stays in the city and the other kids warm to her.
* CloudCuckooLander:
** Arnold's Grandma.
--> "Hey! Crazy lady! Come back here with my bulldozer!!"
** In the early seasons, Arnold himself was this way, being very quiet and introverted, with a tendency to frequently lapse into intense daydreams.
** Principal Wartz, too. During the flood, he dressed in Mexican garb and danced around, then climbed onto the school roof and started singing. He later quit his job as principal for an episode to seek a career as a singer.
* TheCollectorOfTheStrange:
** Helga's statue of Arnold made out of wads of ABC gum the boy threw away, doubles as a StalkerShrine.
** Arnold's cousin Arnie collects ''lint''.
** Ernie has his entire appartment filled with the last brick of each building he demolished (which is over 500). Amazing the extra weight hasn't caused his floor to give in.
* ComicBookTime: Not as extreme as other examples, but calenders and signs in the background show the series takes place in the mid to late 1990s. A sign said Gerald Field was founded in July 1997, although the episode aired in October 1996. The It Girl episode takes place in September 1998 due to a newspaper date, and the show Arnold and Helga appear on on their beach trip is filmed in July 1999. The only real other instance of this trope is the fact they have two or three episodes that take place during spring break.
* CompressedVice
* ConsolationWorldRecord: [[spoiler: The most record-breaking attempts to ever be attempted!]]
* ContinuityNod: Lila mentions she gets sick on the big amusement rides in "Love and Cheese". After riding the coaster in "Timberly Loves Arnold" she's seen throwing up.
** There's a couple in the movie involving the episode "Dino Checks Out." Out of his album covers spoofing TheDoors Strange Days is seen in Grandma's jail cell, and the Dino Impersonator is seen in the bar Arnold and Gerald sneak into.
* CoolBigSis: Olga to Helga. Also to Lila in one episode.
* CoolCar: Grandpa's vintage Packard; it was the focus of one episode.
* CoolLoser: In "Cool Party" Gerald is on the "geek" list. Subverted in that Gerald was only put on the "geek" list by Rhonda because he beat her for the position of Class President in 2nd grade.
* CoolOldGuy: Arnold's Grandpa.
* CoolOldLady: Arnold's Grandma.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Sheck in the movie, who isn't above burning a historical document declaring the neighborhood where the main characters live as a national landmark just to build a huge mall.
** Technically that wasn't corruption, that was revenge. As he wanted to destroy that neighborhood because that's where his ancestor lost.
* CorruptTheCutie: Arnold's Grandpa after Grandpa enters fifth grade.
* CovertPervert: In "Timberly Loves Arnold", [[PuritySue Lila]] says this immortal line:
-->'''Lila:''' That is, if Arnold doesn't mind making it a [[ItMakesSenseInContext threesome]].
* ComicTrio: Harold (Moe), Sid (Curly), and Stinky (Larry), especially earlier on, when Harold was more of a one-dimensional bully and Sid and Stinky were his flunkies.
* TheCowl: [[BattleCry MONKEY MAAAAAAAAN!!]]
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Subverted and inverted at the end of "Summer Love" in which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn1GHU1KDOk&p=8D96E22E177539DB&playnext=1&index=73 Helga gives Arnold CPR after being rescued in a "Babewatch" film shooting]], only for her to [[KissOfLife give him a kiss]] which surprises Arnold.
* CrackDefeat
* CrappyHolidays: Keeping in mind the below trope, this still manages to be a downer.
* CrazyPeoplePlayChess: The Sewer King.
* CreepyChild:
** Curly, and his TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior sometimes comes to the point of high-potential AxCrazy. Upon finding that he wasn't assigned the Ball Monitor privileges that he anticipated for that week, he holed himself up in the principal's office with the balls, throwing them at anyone who tried to reason with him. He tried to get Eugene expelled simply because [[DisproportionateRetribution he ruined his favorite pencil]]. Curly's [[StalkerWithaCrush Stalker-iffic]] admiration of Rhonda intersects with this trope more often than not.
--->"SO HOW ABOUT A LOCK OF YOUR HAIR TO KEEP UNDER MY PILLOW?"
** Stoop Kid. The neighborhood kids are rightfully scared of him.
* CurseCutShort: In the Ghost Bride.
--->Arnold: Here lies Cynthia Snell. She lived her life and went straight to... I can't read the rest.
* CuteBruiser: Helga.
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Nadine. This becomes a bit more...somewhat plausible when you notice that in Parent's Day, her dad is white and her mom is black.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Despite his name being in the title, there are more than a few episodes where Arnold has absolutely no connection to the plot at all.
** Indeed, by the end of the series, it's easier to count the secondary characters who ''didn't'' ever get an episode focusing on them[[note]]Sheena, Park, Joey[[/note]]; practically every kid in Arnold's class and "permanent" member of the boarding house had at least one.
* DeadArtistsAreBetter: In an in-universe example, one episode involves Dino Spumoni faking his death to rekindle an interest in his music and raise his sales.[[spoiler: It works too well as a Dino-impersonator comes along, doing his songs and gigs, dates his wife, and his dog loves him, and drives Dino jealous and reveals he isn't dead.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Gerald.
* DeanBitterman: Principal Wartz.
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Subverted in the episode "24 Hours To Live" because even though Arnold never fought Harold directly, he still gained his respect after the "fight" sequence, through the way he ''got himself out of'' the fight.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Coach Wittenburg. Repetitively.
* {{Determinator}}:
** Helga at times, particularly when her secret is in danger of getting out. The climax of "Helga's Parrot" in particular has her single mindedly driving herself through the roof to keep things under wraps.
** Brainy has been given {{OffhandBackhand}}s whenever he tries to be near Helga since the age of three… He now has nine, [[RunningGag and he still does it]].
* DinnerOrderFlub: Helga, trying to pass herself off as Arnold's French pen pal whilst in disguise and with a very rudimentary knowledge of French, attempts to make a order from the menu of a fancy French restaurant. It isn't until she's happily tucking into the dish that the waiter informs her that she's eating cow brain and eggs... [[ForeignQueasine which prompts a dart to the bathroom]]. Arnold played it safe with a steak and fries.
* DisabilitySuperpower: The blind guy in "Das Subway" had a really good sense of smell.
* DisappearingBox: Helga gets involved in the trick, but decides to run away instead of staying behind the secret wall, thinking what life would be like without her. It leaves Arnold trying to bring her back many times with no avail.
* DisneyAcidSequence: Helga experiences one after drinking an ([[PlaceboEffect alleged]]) anti-love potion in "Helga's Love Potion."
* DisproportionateRetribution: Curly's main schtick, besides (or in addition to) being completely AxCrazy. Him terrorizing the gang through a cemetery dressed as an undead murderess because he couldn't be the one to tell a story is one thing, and him barricading himself in the principal's office and laying siege to the school with dodgeballs because he couldn't be ball monitor is another, but ''enacting an elaborate plot to get Eugene expelled from school simply because Eugene borrowed and chewed on his favorite pencil?'' That's just insane. And, "FREE THE ANIMALS!!!"
* DistractedByTheLuxury
* DoggedNiceGuy: Arnold becomes a mild version after realizing that he's interested in Lila.
* DownerEnding: "Arnold Betrays Iggy", "New Bully on the Block", and "Operation Ruthless."
** "Operation Ruthess" is later revisited with "Love And Cheese," which has the same basic plot, but replaces Ruth with Lila, and ends the same way but as even ''more'' of a downer for Helga (admittedly, she brings it on herself both times and shouldn't be allowed to [[KarmaHoudini get away with what she does,]] but both endings portray her as so ''pitiful'' that [[JerkassWoobie you can't help but feel for her.]])
* DreamSequence: Many in the first season when Arnold was portrayed more as a CloudCuckoolander, but went away as the show went on.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Lieutenant Major Goose, he was Arnold's teacher for short time,(after Miss Slovak and before Mr. Simmons), he's a satire of Major Payne.
** Coach Wittenburg also had the sports discipline of a drill sergeant.
* DuckSeasonRabbitSeason: Helga pulls this trick on Arnold in his dream in "Married".
* DuelingShows: With ''{{Recess}}'', and arguably, ''[[{{Doug}} Disney's Doug]]''
* DuringTheWar: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teB_OOvmZDE Grandpa's war story.]] Which includes the tale that he personally beat up Hitler, and this tidbit:
--> '''Arnold''': Grandpa, you did not fight Adolph Hitler! You're making this all up.
--> '''Grandpa''': Okay, ya got me. I made that part up. It was Goebbels.
* DysfunctionalFamily: Dear God, the Patakis. Very much so.
** We got Big Bob, the biggest JerkAss dad you'll see without actually perpetuating violence.
** Miriam, who is obviously an alcoholic based on her behavior, though the episode where she took over for Bob's beeper store shows that she has the potential to be somebody if not for her husband.
** Both whom [[ParentalFavoritism favor]] Olga, a bubbly [[TheAce straight-A receiving college student]] who [[StepfordSmiler doesn't acknowledge any of the family's problems]] and would rather not have any of her parents' attention.
** Helga, who can't stand any of it and [[ButtMonkey suffers from it all]].
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original StopMotion shorts are nothing like the main series. Aside from being in a different animation medium, the shorts focus not on solving real-life problems, but on [[DreamSequence drifting off into Arnold's imagination]]. In addition, Arnold himself is a cross between MrImagination and a CloudCuckooLander, his fascination with [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]] is much more apparent, and the sequences themselves are [[MindScrew bizzare]] in comparison to the main series.
** The first season is a lot different from the other seasons. The animation is of much lower quality, with lots of OffModel scenes, there are less episodes centered around Helga, Arnold has a crush on Ruth, who is nowhere to be found after season 1, and on top of all that, Arnold is FAR more child-like and immature compared to the later seasons.
* EasyAmnesia: Helga gets amnesia after getting hit with a baseball. Subverted in that she gets her memory back normally when she wakes up the next day, not by getting hit again. However, she continues to [[FakingAmnesia fake amnesia]] to take advantage of Arnold's kindness, and when she feels guilty about it, she ''intentionally'' hits her head again so she can pretend that she just then got her memory back.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Curly's real first name is Thaddeus.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Big Bob's greedy, but he's not a murderer. He also refuses to bulldoze a tree upon realizing there were kids up there, but mostly ''his'' kid (which in of itself ''is'' something, considering how neglectful he usually is of Helga.)
** Helga gives Arnold a lot crap but during the parents day episode when Bob calls Arnold (who was in earshot) an orphan, she is shocked and later goes up to Arnold and apologizes for it, justified because it's probably one of the only things that can hurt him.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Stoop Kid, Chocolate Boy, Pigeon Man, Monkey Man, The Jolly-Olly Man, and oodles more.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Helga and Lila for Arnold to a certain degree.
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: When Mr. Simmons becomes principal.
* EverytownAmerica: Hillwood
* EvilLaugh: Curly wins in the best psychotically evil laugh department, but Helga has a pretty impressive one as well. Some of the other characters get one in certain episodes: Sid for example gets on in "''Sid's Revenge,''" and [[BewareTheNiceOnes Phoebe]] gets a brief but creepy evil chuckle in "''Phoebe Breaks A Leg.''"
* EvilOverlooker: Scheck in the poster for TheMovie.
* EvilPlan: Helga, often with episodes dedicated solely to her pulling series of them. A running gag in the series is that her evil plans always fail in ways that only help the person she's trying to hurt and hurt her instead.
* ExcitedShowTitle
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Arnold finding the truth about his parents, and Helga admitting her love to Arnold.
* FandomSpecificPlot:
** "Jungle Movie" fanfics, write-ups, and speculatory scenes are very popular. Especially since "The Jungle Movie", had it ever been made, was supposed to resolve both the plotlines mentioned above.
** HeyArnold fanfics are also particularly fond of the plot where a character (usually Helga, but used at least once for everybody) leaves / runs away from town, stays away for years, and then comes back to meet their old friends all over again, until the end of the story where they find their LoveInterest again and hook up.
* FantasyHelmetEnforcement
* FatBastard: Harold in the earlier episodes. As the series went on, he became TheBigGuy with a slight hint of JerkAss.
* FireBreathingDiner: "Chocolate Boy"
* FailOSuckyname: After Eugene manages to wreck his and Arnold's go-karts in the go-kart episode, they have to combine their kart names... cue "The Mauve Avenger", which Gerald absolutely hates.
* FeudEpisode: "Best Friends", between both Arnold and Gerald and Dino Spumoni and his songwriting partner.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Arnold's desire to help out others and completely incorruptible, Confucius-like personality.
** Helga's obsession with Arnold.
** Eugene's bad luck intensifies with each passing season.
** Grandma started out eccentric and a little batty, but ultimately sane and always willing to give Arnold a little advice (even if it was delivered in a non-traditional manner), but she got slowly crazier as the series wore on and by the end of the series she's little more than a crazy old lady who lives in Arnold's house.
** Olga started out as overachieving drama queen that would ''actually be treated like Helga if she wasn't successful and understood Helga's plight'' to.... just a content,overachieving drama queen. Also, you'll be ''damned'' if you see Miriam functioning despite drinking and scouring the city to get Helga a sold out gift for Christmas in any later season.
** Sid went from a fairly nondescript supporting player to a paranoid nutcase as the series went along. Episodes focus on his fear of germs, vampires and casting a spell on Principal Wartz.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Arnold is Phlegmatic, Helga is Choleric, Gerald is Sanguine, and Phoebe is both Melancholic and Supine.
* FreeRangeChildren: The nine-year old cast runs about the city (which is quite big, mind) with little concern from any of their parents. This includes playing sports in the middle of a busy street, running away when a car comes. This particular instance doubles as TruthInTelevision.
* FreezeFrameBonus: If you pause in "Phoebe's Little Problem", you can see that apparently they have school over the summer. Maybe they're making up the days they missed from the Teacher's Strike?
* FreudianExcuse:
** As seen in one of Helga's [[ADayInTheLimelight days in the limelight]], "Helga on the Couch." She discusses with the school psychiatrist her obsession of Arnold which is deeply embedded into her [[DysfunctionalFamily family life]]. [[spoiler: On her first day of pre-school her parents were more focused on her sister [[ParentalFavoritism Olga]] playing the piano. They didn't even acknowledge her existence when she asked them to bring her. She had to walk there herself and on the way it began to rain, mud got splashed on her, and two rottweilers stole her lunch. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Then Arnold gave her his umbrella, which was possibly the first time somebody showed her genuine kindness]]. She began her assertive personality when Harold teased her about the crush. She explained to the psychiatrist that she treats Arnold the way she does because she fears rejection like how her family seemingly rejected her]]. It's safe to say that not one member of the audience had a [[TearJerker dry eye]] when the episode was over. And Helga was placed top of the show's [[TheWoobie Woobie]] list.
** Parodied with the Jolly Olly Man: If you had to drive dialy to a wasteland of a city to sell ice cream to horrible children you will be a little crazy too (even more scary, the true source of his problems is his father, who doesn't believe in him and is clearly expecting him to fail).
* FrothyMugsOfWater: Miriam is [[WordOfGod (un)]]ambiguously alcoholic. She's shown drinking "Smoothies" and falling asleep in odd places, as well as putting Tabasco Sauce in them. She has slurred speech and signs of depression.
* FunnyForeigner: Mr. Hyunh has shades of this at times, but Oskar Kokoshka defines this trope.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: [[Radar/HeyArnold Has its own page.]]
* GilliganCut: RunningGag.
--> '''Helga:''' I am not taking the subway! ''(cut)'' I can't believe we're taking the subway!
--> '''Arnold:''' We are not calling our go-kart the "[[{{Portmanteau}} Mauve Avenger]]". ''(cut)'' I cannot believe we called our go-kart the "Mauve Avenger".
--> '''Helga:''' Look, I am not going to in there and tell them the truth and end up washing dishes. ''(cut)'' I can't believe I told them the truth and I wound up washing dishes.
* GirlyScream: Sid, Eugene, and Mr. Simmons.
* GlassesGirl: Phoebe.
* GoshHornet: In "Helga's Boyfriend" when Helga gets attacked by bees at the park.
* GranolaGirl: Is Helga's nickname for Sheena, which seems to be more or less accurate.
* GRatedDrug:
** Chocolate Boy's obsession with chocolate is ''very'' similar to a drug addiction. In one episode, he begs Arnold to help him get over this. It is revealed that [[spoiler: his nanny who took care of him as a very young child always gave him chocolate. He was devastated when [[TearJerker she was forced to leave him.]] He ate chocolate to remind him of the one person who ever loved him.]]
** Miriam's [[FrothyMugsOfWater "Smoothies"]].
* GroinAttack: Arnold accidentally delivers one to grandpa in "Mugged" when he tried to kick a can off his head.
** Played straight when Arnold and Gerald try to slip past two security officers working for Scheck in [[BigDamnMovie the movie]].
* GrumpyOldMan: Grandpa Phil
* HalloweenEpisode: A WholePlotReference to OrsonWelles' ''WarOfTheWorlds'' radio prank.
* HeadlessHorseman
* HereWeGoAgain
* HeroesWantRedheads: Arnold for Lila.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Arnold and Gerald.
** Principal Wartz and Mr. Simmons, at least during the "karaoke night" ending of "Principal Simmons." (Played with as [[WordOfGay according to the series creator]] Mr. Simmons is actually gay.)
** Helga and Phoebe, appropriately enough, considering their respective relationships with Arnold and Gerald.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Gerald's informant "Fuzzy Slippers".
* HiddenDepths: As confirmed by [[AllThereInTheManual 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 asthma.
* {{Hikikomori}}:
** Stoop Kid somehow manages to be both this and a gutterpunk at once.
** Arnold becomes this when he loses his hat, saying that he'll never come out of the house without it.
* HollywoodVoodoo: In one episode, Principal Wartz gives Sid detention for a prank he didn't pull. Out of revenge and his frantic paranoia, Sid carves Wartz' likeness into a bar of soap. The next day, Sid finds out that Wartz is in the hospital, and is told by the doctor that he's already "[[LiteralGenie checked out]]." Following this is a string of signs that soap voodoo worked. HilarityEnsues.
* {{Homage}}: 'What's Opera, Arnold?' was a {{Homage}} to the opera ''Carmen'', right down to altered song lyrics. It's also an homage to the BugsBunny cartoon, "What's Opera, Doc?"
* HonorBeforeReason: Almost every episode is like this.
* HotTeacher: Ms. Felter.
* HugeSchoolgirl: Big Patty. Also Sheena, who's as tall as most of the ''adults'' on the show.
* HumiliationConga: Helga tends to get these in episodes where her evil schemes go south in particularly unpleasant ways. Rhonda, as well, gets pretty severe ones in episodes where she's particularly [[BreakTheHaughty haughty]].
* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: In one episode, Arnold helps chocolate boy quit his "obsession" with chocolate for two weeks, only to get a 10 pound bag of chocolate. After chocolate boy realizes how pathetic he has become, he wants to quit for good. Chocolate boy's mannerisms in this episode are very similar to a crackhead. Justified somewhat by the sheer quantity of chocolate Chocolate Boy consumes. Child or adult, that much caffeine and sugar will mess you up.
* IfIHadANickel:
-->'''Harold''': If I had a dime for every time somebody called me dumb...[[IResembleThatRemark I'd sure have a whole bunch of dimes!]]
* IgnoredConfession: In TheMovie. Helga says she loves Arnold. FailureIsTheOnlyOption.
* IKnowKarate:
** Arnold learns it in "Mugged." He ends up becoming an ArrogantKungFuGuy who ended up inadvertently chopping the clothes off of some guy who was looking for the bus stop.
** In the episode "Career Day," Helga comments that the ''jujutsu'' class she took really helped her when taking down the perps she encountered on her police "ride-along."
* ImOkay: the catchphrase of Eugune said when something bad happens to him
* ImpossibleLeavening: When the kids try to bake the world's biggest pizza puff, the whole thing explodes after Sid mentions that when reading the amount of yeast to use, he [[{{Mismeasurement}} misread]] "tsp" as "[[EpicFail ten square pounds]]".
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Helga in episodes where she's antagonistic, particularly as the series goes on. Especially noticeable in episodes involving Lila. The series does this especially well: because we know Helga's true insecure reasons for doing what she does, when her {{Evil Plan}}s to humiliate Arnold or Lila or whoever's incited her jealous wrath fail epically and/or backfire hilariously on her the audience laughs, but also feels truly sorry for her.
* IneptAptitudeTest
* InkSuitActor: Mr. Simmons strongly resembles his voice actor, [[{{Frasier}} Dan Butler]].
** They're are also both gay.
* IronicEchoCut: So very, very many times, coupled with the GilliganCut. "I can't believe I'm taking the subway."
* IronicInversion
* IronicNickname: Curly
-->'''Lt. Major Goose''': [[LampshadeHanging YOUR HAIR'S NOT CURLY!]] WHAT'S YOUR REAL NAME?
-->'''Curly''': Thaddeus.
-->'''Lt. Major Goose''': *{{beat}}* CURLY, GO STAND OVER THERE!
* InsufferableGenius: Played straight with Phoebe. "Phoebe Cheats" even shows us her she has to meet her own expectations with "being the best at everything".
* IrrevocableMessage: Helga got high off of laughing gas and left a message on Arnold's answering machine declaring her love for him, then spent the rest of the episode trying to delete it.
* ItsAllMyFault
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: WordOfGod says this is how Brainy ultimately feels about Helga.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Harold by Big Patty in an arm wrestling match. He is so upset, he attempts to escape from those mocking him by hiding under a drinking fountain. He finally gets over it by the end of the episode - after she beats him again in the citywide arm-wrestling championships - and smacks Sid and Stinky together when they [[TrashTalk trash talk about him]] after his loss, but not before publicly defending Patty as the better opponent. (The end of the episode implies a RelationshipUpgrade for Harold and Patty due to this.)
* IWishedYouWereDead: Sid with Principal Wartz.
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Curly to Rhonda, ''big time''. Brainy is a milder version of this trope; his presence annoys Helga to no end but all he really does is breathe down her neck.
** And somehow [[OffscreenTeleportation always manage to show up behind her]].
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer
* AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale:
** Averted with Helga. While her bullying (of everyone, not just Arnold) is not treated as seriously as a male bully would be, it is still not portrayed as being ''okay'' by the show, pointing out repeatedly that it is a problem, and that what Helga is doing is not acceptable behaviour for anybody.
** However, in one episode, Helga throws glue on Arnold, and Arnold snaps and throws paint on her. ''Arnold'' is the one who gets yelled at.
** Played straight with Arnold's grandparents when they were kids, where his grandmother would do the same (if not worse) to his grandfather.
* AbusiveParents: Helga and the Jolly-Olly Man both have G-rated versions of these. Helga's mother is always passed out on the couch with "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]" and never seems to be in a right state of mind. Her father, meanwhile, has a horrible temper, is extremely authoritarian, and is otherwise obsessed with his work. Neither of them pay any mind to Helga, always calling her by her sister Olga's name ([[ParentalFavoritism who they dote on whenever she's around]]).
* TheAce: Helga's "perfect" college-aged sister Olga only ''looks'' perfect, but she's dangerously neurotic and melodramatic thanks to having to live up to her parents' constant attention and high standards. She even tells Helga once she'd rather be TheUnFavorite since that would let her be free like Helga is. Lila's a parody of this, as well as a general ParodySue.
** Arnold himself can do anything. By the time of the movie, most of the neighbourhood believes he can save them from having to sell up and move. And he does.
* AcidRefluxNightmare: In one episode, Helga started sleepwalking after eating pork rinds.
* {{Acrofatic}}: Harold sure can move quickly for a big guy.
* ActorAllusion: Phoebe's father, played by the personification of all things awesome, GeorgeTakei, is a fencing wizard. He's passed his skills on to Phoebe.
* ActuallyNotAVampire: "Sid The Vampire Slayer". Sid spends the whole episode believing Stinky is a vampire and tries to get proof. When he confronts Stinky, he has a perfectly logical explanation for everything and Sid leaves feeling stupid. Cut to later that night, where we see Stinky, talking to a bat and looking suspiciously like a vampire!
* AddictionDisplacement: Chocolate Boy gives up chocolate and starts eating radishes instead.
* AdultsAreUseless: Zig-Zagged.
* AesopAmnesia:
** Rhonda apparently learns not to be a self-centered libby ''several'' times, Olga seems to forget all about her past visits to the Pataki household with each visit, proclaiming her wish to better connect with Helga while unconciously annoying her in all the usual ways.. In one episode, Harold gains new confidence when he learns just how smart he can be if he puts some effort in... next we see him, he's back to being the buttmonkey crybaby of the class.
** Justified with Miriam. She learns to be a better mother a couple times; but a couple other episodes make it seem like she's back to her old ways. She relapsed.
** At least two episodes had the characters involved immediately forget their aesops before the episode even ended, in one Rhonda isn't invited to a party because she chose to alienate everyone else, at the end of the episode she shows she realizes this was wrong, but before the episode ends quips that the next day she'll be 'popular' again and not a geek like the rest of the party who alienated her for her alienating them, thus showing she really learned nothing. Harold had one where he gained a lot of extra weight and worked hard to lose it, at the end of the episode after losing all the excess weight (not all of it, he was still the BigEater of the show) he immediately accepts a bet of eating 50 ice cream bars, the same act that caused him to feel bad about himself at the start of the episode.
* AffectionateNickname: Olga always addresses Helga as "Baby Sister," and when she hangs out with Lila in one episode (as part of the "Big Sis, Little Sis" charity) addresses her as "Little Sis."
* AirVentPassageway: How Dino Spumoni crashes the concert of an incredible [[FreudianSlip stimulation]] of himself.
* TheAlcoholic: Helga's mom, Miriam, according to WordOfGod, but this could only be implied thanks to Nickelodeon's MediaWatchdogs. She drinks a lot of "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]," talks in a tired, slow voice, looks extremely depressed, is oblivious to her surroundings, forgets things, doesn't drive anymore (and when she did on an episode where Helga and Miriam try to bond during a road trip, she drove rather erratically), and is often found asleep (usually in strange places, like behind the couch or on the living room table). When making a "smoothie", she grabs a bottle of hot sauce.
** To enforce this, Helga never seems to find her mother's behaviour unusual or incorrect, implying that it's been going on for so long that to her, it's perfectly normal.
** If the spinoff ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen The Patakis]]'' had been made, Miriam was said she would be attending AA.
** It has been suggested that Helga merely ''refers'' to the booze as 'smoothies' for reasons ranging from basic ignorance, to being told to do so.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: "Arnold Visits Arnie".]]
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In "Arnold Visits Arnie", Arnie has a girlfriend Lulu who is madly in love with Arnold, who has a crush on Hilda who falls in love with Arnie.
** Which is just a bizarro rendering of the usual LoveTriangle between Arnold, Helga and Lila. (Which also includes Brainy having a crush on Helga.)
** It gets better; see LoveDodecahedron below.
** And in the first season, there's Arnold's unrequited crush on Ruth.
* AllThereInTheManual: 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]] confirms that Brainy is in love with Helga and that he has HiddenDepths.
* AlmaMaterSong: P.S. 118 has a particularly unpopular one.
* AlphaBitch: Rhonda, very often. The sixth-graders that use Phoebe also fit into this category; they also move Rhonda to the back of the bus when she gets glasses.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Arnie, Arnold's cousin. Hobbies include reading ingredient labels, counting things, and collecting lint. He also doesn't seem to know social norms; he asks Rhonda if she wants to see his ball of lint.
* AmbiguouslyGay:
** Eugene. He has a room decorated with [[TastesLikeDiabetes rainbows and unicorns]], and often takes interest in anything related to dancing and musicals.
** Mr. Simmons, WordOfGod states that he is in fact gay, but a kids show would never openly state so.
* AnAesop: "Helga On The Couch" taught kids that seeing a shrink isn't a negative thing. Many episodes contained this, really.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Gerald's little sister, Timberly. A more realistic example. According to Jamie-O, Gerald is this to him, but it's incredibly hard to feel sympathy for him when Jamie-O is one of the biggest {{Jerkass}} characters of the series. Jamie-O does eventually decides that Gerald isn't as much of an annoying younger sibling after he points out that his relationship is parasitic.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: In ''Hey Arnold!: The Movie'', Helga gives one to Arnold along with a [[TheBigDamnKiss passionate kiss]]. [[spoiler:Then revealed at the end that she denies it.]]
* ArcWords: Insurmountable.
* ArtEvolution: Faces became more detailed and expressive as the show went on.
** Plus the over all animation quality greatly improved after the first season (particularly within the last couple of seasons).
* AsianAndNerdy: Phoebe.
* AsideGlance: Arnold does this at the end of 'Arnold saves Sid'[[spoiler:He looks directly at the screen though.]]
* AxCrazy:
** Curly. In spades. One episode mentions that he once bit off the head of a live chicken, though he insists it was only that one time.
** Arnold fakes this to scare off Harold from beating his ass.
* BackToSchool: Arnold's grandpa does so, passing fourth, fifth, and sixth grades all in one episode.
* BeachEpisode: "Summer Love."
* BeneathTheMask: Helga only expresses her feelings for Arnold when alone. (Well, alone with Brainy sneaking up behind her, anyway.)
* BetaCouple: In certain ShipTease episodes, Gerald and Phoebe would hook up in the background. And interview with WordOfGod stated that had ''[[SpinOff The Patakis]]'' gone through, Gerald/Phoebe would've been the "cool couple" to contrast with the somewhat dysfunctional long-distance relationship of Arnold and Helga.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Discussed at the end of "Curly Snaps."
-->'''Mr. Simmons:''' I think we all learned a valuable lesson here today.
-->'''Helga:''' Yep. Don't ever trust the quiet ones. They'll go bonkers and hole up in the principal's office.
* TheBGrade: "Olga Comes Home"
* BigApplesauce: The city the show takes place in is pretty obviously based on New York, Brooklyn in particular. WordOfGod states that there are generous bits of UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} and Portland, OR mixed in as well.
* BigBrotherBully: Gerald's big brother Jamie-O.
* BigDamnMovie: Originally the Trope Namer, called "Why Is Arnold Saving Something".
* BigEater:
** Harold.
** Seymour, as revealed in "Eating Contest". However, [[spoiler: Arnold beats him]].
* BiggerOnTheInside: As seen in "Phoebe Cheats" Phoebe's house has several rooms that look like they should be in a mansion, like a sparring room and a jacuzzi room.
* BigWhat: "Spelling Bee":
--> '''Helga''': Qualm. Q-u-a-'''l'''-...''(looks at her father)''...-x?
--> '''Bob''': WHAT?!
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: An in-universe example in "The Flood," when even the characters-in-question agreed that [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain they'd never speak of it again.]]
--> '''Principle Wartz''': This moment never happened.
--> '''Helga''': Gotcha.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Olga and Lila in "Big Sis"
* BittersweetEnding: "The List", "Pigeon Man", "The Journal", "Crabby Author", and the series finale.
* BizarroUniverse: The episode where Arnold visits his country cousin and finds that his rural town has polar opposites of Arnold's friends.
* BlackBestFriend: Gerald to Arnold.
* BodyScreenFillUp: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEGfGrcJhdw Happened at leat all these times]]
* BornUnlucky: Eugene could practically serve as the TropeCodifier (it doesn't help that he was born on Friday the 13th). See also ButtMonkey.
* BreakTheHaughty: Rhonda, constantly. There are at least three different episodes dedicated solely to the idea.
* BrokenAesop: In one episode, Arnold and Gerald play hookey but their fear of being found out interferes with any fun they might have had. Eventually, they go to school only to learn that there was a surprise carnival day. This weakens the Aesop as skipping school is wrong because you miss class, not because you miss a fun day. The "weakness" of the episode's moral is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at the end.
* BrokenPedestal:
** In "Eugene Goes Bad", Eugene finds that his idol "The Abdicator", an [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque]] ActionHero is not a real ActionHero, but a fictional character played by a JerkAss that's [[NiceCharacterMeanActor obnoxiously spoiled, bosses the staff on the set around]], and [[StuntDouble doesn't do his own stunts]]. Upon finding this out, Eugene does a temporary FaceHeelTurn.
** In another episode, Phoebe gets to meet pop singer Ronnie Matthews, whom she idolizes for his lyrics which she thinks are deep and meaningful. She's devastated when it turns out he doesn't write or even sing his own music--he just gets paid to lip-sync and pretend to play the guitar. Simultaneously inverts the trope, as somehow this causes Helga to admire him.
* BrokenStreak
* ButNotTooForeign: Phoebe has a Japanese dad and a white mom. Plus, Phoebe's last name, Heyerdahl, certainly isn't Japanese - unless she and her dad took her mom's name, which is not very uncommon in Japan.
* ButtMonkey: Eugene.
* CampGay: Mr. Simmons is a toned down version of this.
* CastOfSnowflakes: The art style makes good use of creative head shapes and various body sizes and proportions to make the characters distinctive.
* TheCatCameBack: Subverted in "Phoebe Cheats" when out of guilt Phoebe tries to dispose of a trophy she didn't earn. There are logical reasons why it keeps coming back into her possession, but she doesn't see them and she thinks it's moving by itself.
* CatchPhrase:
** Grampa's - "Never eat raspberries".
** Stinky always either says "this bites" or "this really bites" when something upsets him.
** Sid says "boy howdy" fairly often as well.
** The word "special" could be considered Mr. Simmons' catch phrase, as he uses it in practically every other sentence. (Which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when Helga's impression of him involves using "special" at least five times with finger-quotes.) Ditto for Lila and the phrase "oh so" or "ever so".
** Gerald has "Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" He apparently got it from his father, who does it to Phil in the Veteran's Day episode.
*** In the April Fools episode Arnold borrows it and turns it around:
--> '''Arnold:''' I think you're thinking what I'm thinking.
--> '''Gerald:''' ''(whispers in Arnold's ear)''
--> '''Arnold:''' That's even better than what I was thinking.
** Eugune has "I'm okay..."
** Then there's Mr. Hyunh with always calling some of the show's more eccentric characters "creepy" (which they admittedly are).
** The Jolly Olly Man has "Who's laughing now eh? WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!?"
* CaughtOnTheJumbotron: Arnold and Gerald are caught on the big screen at a baseball game while skipping school, much to their horror.
* CelebrityIsOverrated: Stinky doesn't want to be an idiot in soda commercials, Helga is sick and tired of everyone copying her look (and expecting her to be [[{{Tsundere}} foul-tempered on cue]].).
* CelebrityStar
* CerebusRetcon: Originally Helga's situation with her family was PlayedForLaughs. Helga's mom falls asleep all the time while making "[[FrothyMugsOfWater smoothies]]"? Hilarious. Helga's dad always calls her by [[ParentalFavoritism her sister's name]]? Hysterical. Neither of them really pay attention to her? Knee-slapping. Then came the episode "[[ADayInTheLimelight Helga on the Couch]]" and [[TearJerker no one was laughing anymore]].
* CharacterDevelopment: There was much character development through the series, with Harold and Helga being the most apparent.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Remember when the Jolly-Olly Man used to be a simple, nameless, smiling ice cream man and not a total psychopath?
** Remember when Arnold was eccentric and naive?
** Remember when Harold was a Jerkass and less of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold?
** Remember when Stinky was a bully and sidekick to Harold? Furthermore, remember when he wore those spiky wristbands?
** Remember when Sid was just a wuss and not a whiny, overacting wuss? The guy even gained episodes dedicated to him because of it.
* TheChewToy:
** Eugene, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of bad luck.
** Pick an episode where Helga's secret is in danger of some sort, and you'll get an episode where the universe itself plots against her for eleven minutes straight.
* ChezRestaurant: Chez Pierre and Chez Paris who are ''right across the street from one another'', the better to aid any would-be TwoTimerDate.
* ChristmasEpisode: the episode where Arnold tries to help Mr. Hyunh find his daughter (whom Mr. Hyunh last saw during the end days of [what's implied to be] the Vietnam War) while Helga tries to buy Nancy Spumoni brand snow boots.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** Mr. Hyunh's daughter was never seen again. Possibly justified - after all, she presumably had adoptive parents in the US, given that her father hadn't been in her life for about 2 decades.
** Ruth MacDoogal (the sixth grader Arnold had a crush on in the first season) also mysteriously disappears. One could guess that she simply graduated from P.S. 118, since she was already in sixth grade, and Arnold never mentions her (or his crush on her) after the Valentine's Day episode in which Arnold tries to go on a date with both Ruth (who thinks she's seeing a famous poet named "Anonymous") and his French pen pal, Cecilia, and discovers that Ruth isn't all that bright or interesting to be around.
** Tucker, Coach Wittenburg's son. Appeared in one episode and was never seen or mentioned again. Odd, since Coach Wittenburg gets a few focus episodes. It's particularly glaring when one such episode deals with Wittenburg's estrangement from his wife.
* CircleOfShame: This happens dozens of times. Often, several of the characters forming the circle were laughed at in an earlier episode, because KidsAreCruel.
* TheCityVsTheCountry: Lila moves from a farm to the big city and is immediately resented and made fun of by the other kids. Subverted when she stays in the city and the other kids warm to her.
* CloudCuckooLander:
** Arnold's Grandma.
--> "Hey! Crazy lady! Come back here with my bulldozer!!"
** In the early seasons, Arnold himself was this way, being very quiet and introverted, with a tendency to frequently lapse into intense daydreams.
** Principal Wartz, too. During the flood, he dressed in Mexican garb and danced around, then climbed onto the school roof and started singing. He later quit his job as principal for an episode to seek a career as a singer.
* TheCollectorOfTheStrange:
** Helga's statue of Arnold made out of wads of ABC gum the boy threw away, doubles as a StalkerShrine.
** Arnold's cousin Arnie collects ''lint''.
** Ernie has his entire appartment filled with the last brick of each building he demolished (which is over 500). Amazing the extra weight hasn't caused his floor to give in.
* ComicBookTime: Not as extreme as other examples, but calenders and signs in the background show the series takes place in the mid to late 1990s. A sign said Gerald Field was founded in July 1997, although the episode aired in October 1996. The It Girl episode takes place in September 1998 due to a newspaper date, and the show Arnold and Helga appear on on their beach trip is filmed in July 1999. The only real other instance of this trope is the fact they have two or three episodes that take place during spring break.
* CompressedVice
* ConsolationWorldRecord: [[spoiler: The most record-breaking attempts to ever be attempted!]]
* ContinuityNod: Lila mentions she gets sick on the big amusement rides in "Love and Cheese". After riding the coaster in "Timberly Loves Arnold" she's seen throwing up.
** There's a couple in the movie involving the episode "Dino Checks Out." Out of his album covers spoofing TheDoors Strange Days is seen in Grandma's jail cell, and the Dino Impersonator is seen in the bar Arnold and Gerald sneak into.
* CoolBigSis: Olga to Helga. Also to Lila in one episode.
* CoolCar: Grandpa's vintage Packard; it was the focus of one episode.
* CoolLoser: In "Cool Party" Gerald is on the "geek" list. Subverted in that Gerald was only put on the "geek" list by Rhonda because he beat her for the position of Class President in 2nd grade.
* CoolOldGuy: Arnold's Grandpa.
* CoolOldLady: Arnold's Grandma.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Sheck in the movie, who isn't above burning a historical document declaring the neighborhood where the main characters live as a national landmark just to build a huge mall.
** Technically that wasn't corruption, that was revenge. As he wanted to destroy that neighborhood because that's where his ancestor lost.
* CorruptTheCutie: Arnold's Grandpa after Grandpa enters fifth grade.
* CovertPervert: In "Timberly Loves Arnold", [[PuritySue Lila]] says this immortal line:
-->'''Lila:''' That is, if Arnold doesn't mind making it a [[ItMakesSenseInContext threesome]].
* ComicTrio: Harold (Moe), Sid (Curly), and Stinky (Larry), especially earlier on, when Harold was more of a one-dimensional bully and Sid and Stinky were his flunkies.
* TheCowl: [[BattleCry MONKEY MAAAAAAAAN!!]]
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Subverted and inverted at the end of "Summer Love" in which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn1GHU1KDOk&p=8D96E22E177539DB&playnext=1&index=73 Helga gives Arnold CPR after being rescued in a "Babewatch" film shooting]], only for her to [[KissOfLife give him a kiss]] which surprises Arnold.
* CrackDefeat
* CrappyHolidays: Keeping in mind the below trope, this still manages to be a downer.
* CrazyPeoplePlayChess: The Sewer King.
* CreepyChild:
** Curly, and his TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior sometimes comes to the point of high-potential AxCrazy. Upon finding that he wasn't assigned the Ball Monitor privileges that he anticipated for that week, he holed himself up in the principal's office with the balls, throwing them at anyone who tried to reason with him. He tried to get Eugene expelled simply because [[DisproportionateRetribution he ruined his favorite pencil]]. Curly's [[StalkerWithaCrush Stalker-iffic]] admiration of Rhonda intersects with this trope more often than not.
--->"SO HOW ABOUT A LOCK OF YOUR HAIR TO KEEP UNDER MY PILLOW?"
** Stoop Kid. The neighborhood kids are rightfully scared of him.
* CurseCutShort: In the Ghost Bride.
--->Arnold: Here lies Cynthia Snell. She lived her life and went straight to... I can't read the rest.
* CuteBruiser: Helga.
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Nadine. This becomes a bit more...somewhat plausible when you notice that in Parent's Day, her dad is white and her mom is black.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Despite his name being in the title, there are more than a few episodes where Arnold has absolutely no connection to the plot at all.
** Indeed, by the end of the series, it's easier to count the secondary characters who ''didn't'' ever get an episode focusing on them[[note]]Sheena, Park, Joey[[/note]]; practically every kid in Arnold's class and "permanent" member of the boarding house had at least one.
* DeadArtistsAreBetter: In an in-universe example, one episode involves Dino Spumoni faking his death to rekindle an interest in his music and raise his sales.[[spoiler: It works too well as a Dino-impersonator comes along, doing his songs and gigs, dates his wife, and his dog loves him, and drives Dino jealous and reveals he isn't dead.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Gerald.
* DeanBitterman: Principal Wartz.
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Subverted in the episode "24 Hours To Live" because even though Arnold never fought Harold directly, he still gained his respect after the "fight" sequence, through the way he ''got himself out of'' the fight.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Coach Wittenburg. Repetitively.
* {{Determinator}}:
** Helga at times, particularly when her secret is in danger of getting out. The climax of "Helga's Parrot" in particular has her single mindedly driving herself through the roof to keep things under wraps.
** Brainy has been given {{OffhandBackhand}}s whenever he tries to be near Helga since the age of three… He now has nine, [[RunningGag and he still does it]].
* DinnerOrderFlub: Helga, trying to pass herself off as Arnold's French pen pal whilst in disguise and with a very rudimentary knowledge of French, attempts to make a order from the menu of a fancy French restaurant. It isn't until she's happily tucking into the dish that the waiter informs her that she's eating cow brain and eggs... [[ForeignQueasine which prompts a dart to the bathroom]]. Arnold played it safe with a steak and fries.
* DisabilitySuperpower: The blind guy in "Das Subway" had a really good sense of smell.
* DisappearingBox: Helga gets involved in the trick, but decides to run away instead of staying behind the secret wall, thinking what life would be like without her. It leaves Arnold trying to bring her back many times with no avail.
* DisneyAcidSequence: Helga experiences one after drinking an ([[PlaceboEffect alleged]]) anti-love potion in "Helga's Love Potion."
* DisproportionateRetribution: Curly's main schtick, besides (or in addition to) being completely AxCrazy. Him terrorizing the gang through a cemetery dressed as an undead murderess because he couldn't be the one to tell a story is one thing, and him barricading himself in the principal's office and laying siege to the school with dodgeballs because he couldn't be ball monitor is another, but ''enacting an elaborate plot to get Eugene expelled from school simply because Eugene borrowed and chewed on his favorite pencil?'' That's just insane. And, "FREE THE ANIMALS!!!"
* DistractedByTheLuxury
* DoggedNiceGuy: Arnold becomes a mild version after realizing that he's interested in Lila.
* DownerEnding: "Arnold Betrays Iggy", "New Bully on the Block", and "Operation Ruthless."
** "Operation Ruthess" is later revisited with "Love And Cheese," which has the same basic plot, but replaces Ruth with Lila, and ends the same way but as even ''more'' of a downer for Helga (admittedly, she brings it on herself both times and shouldn't be allowed to [[KarmaHoudini get away with what she does,]] but both endings portray her as so ''pitiful'' that [[JerkassWoobie you can't help but feel for her.]])
* DreamSequence: Many in the first season when Arnold was portrayed more as a CloudCuckoolander, but went away as the show went on.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Lieutenant Major Goose, he was Arnold's teacher for short time,(after Miss Slovak and before Mr. Simmons), he's a satire of Major Payne.
** Coach Wittenburg also had the sports discipline of a drill sergeant.
* DuckSeasonRabbitSeason: Helga pulls this trick on Arnold in his dream in "Married".
* DuelingShows: With ''{{Recess}}'', and arguably, ''[[{{Doug}} Disney's Doug]]''
* DuringTheWar: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teB_OOvmZDE Grandpa's war story.]] Which includes the tale that he personally beat up Hitler, and this tidbit:
--> '''Arnold''': Grandpa, you did not fight Adolph Hitler! You're making this all up.
--> '''Grandpa''': Okay, ya got me. I made that part up. It was Goebbels.
* DysfunctionalFamily: Dear God, the Patakis. Very much so.
** We got Big Bob, the biggest JerkAss dad you'll see without actually perpetuating violence.
** Miriam, who is obviously an alcoholic based on her behavior, though the episode where she took over for Bob's beeper store shows that she has the potential to be somebody if not for her husband.
** Both whom [[ParentalFavoritism favor]] Olga, a bubbly [[TheAce straight-A receiving college student]] who [[StepfordSmiler doesn't acknowledge any of the family's problems]] and would rather not have any of her parents' attention.
** Helga, who can't stand any of it and [[ButtMonkey suffers from it all]].
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original StopMotion shorts are nothing like the main series. Aside from being in a different animation medium, the shorts focus not on solving real-life problems, but on [[DreamSequence drifting off into Arnold's imagination]]. In addition, Arnold himself is a cross between MrImagination and a CloudCuckooLander, his fascination with [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]] is much more apparent, and the sequences themselves are [[MindScrew bizzare]] in comparison to the main series.
** The first season is a lot different from the other seasons. The animation is of much lower quality, with lots of OffModel scenes, there are less episodes centered around Helga, Arnold has a crush on Ruth, who is nowhere to be found after season 1, and on top of all that, Arnold is FAR more child-like and immature compared to the later seasons.
* EasyAmnesia: Helga gets amnesia after getting hit with a baseball. Subverted in that she gets her memory back normally when she wakes up the next day, not by getting hit again. However, she continues to [[FakingAmnesia fake amnesia]] to take advantage of Arnold's kindness, and when she feels guilty about it, she ''intentionally'' hits her head again so she can pretend that she just then got her memory back.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Curly's real first name is Thaddeus.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Big Bob's greedy, but he's not a murderer. He also refuses to bulldoze a tree upon realizing there were kids up there, but mostly ''his'' kid (which in of itself ''is'' something, considering how neglectful he usually is of Helga.)
** Helga gives Arnold a lot crap but during the parents day episode when Bob calls Arnold (who was in earshot) an orphan, she is shocked and later goes up to Arnold and apologizes for it, justified because it's probably one of the only things that can hurt him.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Stoop Kid, Chocolate Boy, Pigeon Man, Monkey Man, The Jolly-Olly Man, and oodles more.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Helga and Lila for Arnold to a certain degree.
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: When Mr. Simmons becomes principal.
* EverytownAmerica: Hillwood
* EvilLaugh: Curly wins in the best psychotically evil laugh department, but Helga has a pretty impressive one as well. Some of the other characters get one in certain episodes: Sid for example gets on in "''Sid's Revenge,''" and [[BewareTheNiceOnes Phoebe]] gets a brief but creepy evil chuckle in "''Phoebe Breaks A Leg.''"
* EvilOverlooker: Scheck in the poster for TheMovie.
* EvilPlan: Helga, often with episodes dedicated solely to her pulling series of them. A running gag in the series is that her evil plans always fail in ways that only help the person she's trying to hurt and hurt her instead.
* ExcitedShowTitle
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Arnold finding the truth about his parents, and Helga admitting her love to Arnold.
* FandomSpecificPlot:
** "Jungle Movie" fanfics, write-ups, and speculatory scenes are very popular. Especially since "The Jungle Movie", had it ever been made, was supposed to resolve both the plotlines mentioned above.
** HeyArnold fanfics are also particularly fond of the plot where a character (usually Helga, but used at least once for everybody) leaves / runs away from town, stays away for years, and then comes back to meet their old friends all over again, until the end of the story where they find their LoveInterest again and hook up.
* FantasyHelmetEnforcement
* FatBastard: Harold in the earlier episodes. As the series went on, he became TheBigGuy with a slight hint of JerkAss.
* FireBreathingDiner: "Chocolate Boy"
* FailOSuckyname: After Eugene manages to wreck his and Arnold's go-karts in the go-kart episode, they have to combine their kart names... cue "The Mauve Avenger", which Gerald absolutely hates.
* FeudEpisode: "Best Friends", between both Arnold and Gerald and Dino Spumoni and his songwriting partner.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Arnold's desire to help out others and completely incorruptible, Confucius-like personality.
** Helga's obsession with Arnold.
** Eugene's bad luck intensifies with each passing season.
** Grandma started out eccentric and a little batty, but ultimately sane and always willing to give Arnold a little advice (even if it was delivered in a non-traditional manner), but she got slowly crazier as the series wore on and by the end of the series she's little more than a crazy old lady who lives in Arnold's house.
** Olga started out as overachieving drama queen that would ''actually be treated like Helga if she wasn't successful and understood Helga's plight'' to.... just a content,overachieving drama queen. Also, you'll be ''damned'' if you see Miriam functioning despite drinking and scouring the city to get Helga a sold out gift for Christmas in any later season.
** Sid went from a fairly nondescript supporting player to a paranoid nutcase as the series went along. Episodes focus on his fear of germs, vampires and casting a spell on Principal Wartz.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Arnold is Phlegmatic, Helga is Choleric, Gerald is Sanguine, and Phoebe is both Melancholic and Supine.
* FreeRangeChildren: The nine-year old cast runs about the city (which is quite big, mind) with little concern from any of their parents. This includes playing sports in the middle of a busy street, running away when a car comes. This particular instance doubles as TruthInTelevision.
* FreezeFrameBonus: If you pause in "Phoebe's Little Problem", you can see that apparently they have school over the summer. Maybe they're making up the days they missed from the Teacher's Strike?
* FreudianExcuse:
** As seen in one of Helga's [[ADayInTheLimelight days in the limelight]], "Helga on the Couch." She discusses with the school psychiatrist her obsession of Arnold which is deeply embedded into her [[DysfunctionalFamily family life]]. [[spoiler: On her first day of pre-school her parents were more focused on her sister [[ParentalFavoritism Olga]] playing the piano. They didn't even acknowledge her existence when she asked them to bring her. She had to walk there herself and on the way it began to rain, mud got splashed on her, and two rottweilers stole her lunch. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Then Arnold gave her his umbrella, which was possibly the first time somebody showed her genuine kindness]]. She began her assertive personality when Harold teased her about the crush. She explained to the psychiatrist that she treats Arnold the way she does because she fears rejection like how her family seemingly rejected her]]. It's safe to say that not one member of the audience had a [[TearJerker dry eye]] when the episode was over. And Helga was placed top of the show's [[TheWoobie Woobie]] list.
** Parodied with the Jolly Olly Man: If you had to drive dialy to a wasteland of a city to sell ice cream to horrible children you will be a little crazy too (even more scary, the true source of his problems is his father, who doesn't believe in him and is clearly expecting him to fail).
* FrothyMugsOfWater: Miriam is [[WordOfGod (un)]]ambiguously alcoholic. She's shown drinking "Smoothies" and falling asleep in odd places, as well as putting Tabasco Sauce in them. She has slurred speech and signs of depression.
* FunnyForeigner: Mr. Hyunh has shades of this at times, but Oskar Kokoshka defines this trope.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: [[Radar/HeyArnold Has its own page.]]
* GilliganCut: RunningGag.
--> '''Helga:''' I am not taking the subway! ''(cut)'' I can't believe we're taking the subway!
--> '''Arnold:''' We are not calling our go-kart the "[[{{Portmanteau}} Mauve Avenger]]". ''(cut)'' I cannot believe we called our go-kart the "Mauve Avenger".
--> '''Helga:''' Look, I am not going to in there and tell them the truth and end up washing dishes. ''(cut)'' I can't believe I told them the truth and I wound up washing dishes.
* GirlyScream: Sid, Eugene, and Mr. Simmons.
* GlassesGirl: Phoebe.
* GoshHornet: In "Helga's Boyfriend" when Helga gets attacked by bees at the park.
* GranolaGirl: Is Helga's nickname for Sheena, which seems to be more or less accurate.
* GRatedDrug:
** Chocolate Boy's obsession with chocolate is ''very'' similar to a drug addiction. In one episode, he begs Arnold to help him get over this. It is revealed that [[spoiler: his nanny who took care of him as a very young child always gave him chocolate. He was devastated when [[TearJerker she was forced to leave him.]] He ate chocolate to remind him of the one person who ever loved him.]]
** Miriam's [[FrothyMugsOfWater "Smoothies"]].
* GroinAttack: Arnold accidentally delivers one to grandpa in "Mugged" when he tried to kick a can off his head.
** Played straight when Arnold and Gerald try to slip past two security officers working for Scheck in [[BigDamnMovie the movie]].
* GrumpyOldMan: Grandpa Phil
* HalloweenEpisode: A WholePlotReference to OrsonWelles' ''WarOfTheWorlds'' radio prank.
* HeadlessHorseman
* HereWeGoAgain
* HeroesWantRedheads: Arnold for Lila.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Arnold and Gerald.
** Principal Wartz and Mr. Simmons, at least during the "karaoke night" ending of "Principal Simmons." (Played with as [[WordOfGay according to the series creator]] Mr. Simmons is actually gay.)
** Helga and Phoebe, appropriately enough, considering their respective relationships with Arnold and Gerald.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Gerald's informant "Fuzzy Slippers".
* HiddenDepths: As confirmed by [[AllThereInTheManual 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 asthma.
* {{Hikikomori}}:
** Stoop Kid somehow manages to be both this and a gutterpunk at once.
** Arnold becomes this when he loses his hat, saying that he'll never come out of the house without it.
* HollywoodVoodoo: In one episode, Principal Wartz gives Sid detention for a prank he didn't pull. Out of revenge and his frantic paranoia, Sid carves Wartz' likeness into a bar of soap. The next day, Sid finds out that Wartz is in the hospital, and is told by the doctor that he's already "[[LiteralGenie checked out]]." Following this is a string of signs that soap voodoo worked. HilarityEnsues.
* {{Homage}}: 'What's Opera, Arnold?' was a {{Homage}} to the opera ''Carmen'', right down to altered song lyrics. It's also an homage to the BugsBunny cartoon, "What's Opera, Doc?"
* HonorBeforeReason: Almost every episode is like this.
* HotTeacher: Ms. Felter.
* HugeSchoolgirl: Big Patty. Also Sheena, who's as tall as most of the ''adults'' on the show.
* HumiliationConga: Helga tends to get these in episodes where her evil schemes go south in particularly unpleasant ways. Rhonda, as well, gets pretty severe ones in episodes where she's particularly [[BreakTheHaughty haughty]].
* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: In one episode, Arnold helps chocolate boy quit his "obsession" with chocolate for two weeks, only to get a 10 pound bag of chocolate. After chocolate boy realizes how pathetic he has become, he wants to quit for good. Chocolate boy's mannerisms in this episode are very similar to a crackhead. Justified somewhat by the sheer quantity of chocolate Chocolate Boy consumes. Child or adult, that much caffeine and sugar will mess you up.
* IfIHadANickel:
-->'''Harold''': If I had a dime for every time somebody called me dumb...[[IResembleThatRemark I'd sure have a whole bunch of dimes!]]
* IgnoredConfession: In TheMovie. Helga says she loves Arnold. FailureIsTheOnlyOption.
* IKnowKarate:
** Arnold learns it in "Mugged." He ends up becoming an ArrogantKungFuGuy who ended up inadvertently chopping the clothes off of some guy who was looking for the bus stop.
** In the episode "Career Day," Helga comments that the ''jujutsu'' class she took really helped her when taking down the perps she encountered on her police "ride-along."
* ImOkay: the catchphrase of Eugune said when something bad happens to him
* ImpossibleLeavening: When the kids try to bake the world's biggest pizza puff, the whole thing explodes after Sid mentions that when reading the amount of yeast to use, he [[{{Mismeasurement}} misread]] "tsp" as "[[EpicFail ten square pounds]]".
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Helga in episodes where she's antagonistic, particularly as the series goes on. Especially noticeable in episodes involving Lila. The series does this especially well: because we know Helga's true insecure reasons for doing what she does, when her {{Evil Plan}}s to humiliate Arnold or Lila or whoever's incited her jealous wrath fail epically and/or backfire hilariously on her the audience laughs, but also feels truly sorry for her.
* IneptAptitudeTest
* InkSuitActor: Mr. Simmons strongly resembles his voice actor, [[{{Frasier}} Dan Butler]].
** They're are also both gay.
* IronicEchoCut: So very, very many times, coupled with the GilliganCut. "I can't believe I'm taking the subway."
* IronicInversion
* IronicNickname: Curly
-->'''Lt. Major Goose''': [[LampshadeHanging YOUR HAIR'S NOT CURLY!]] WHAT'S YOUR REAL NAME?
-->'''Curly''': Thaddeus.
-->'''Lt. Major Goose''': *{{beat}}* CURLY, GO STAND OVER THERE!
* InsufferableGenius: Played straight with Phoebe. "Phoebe Cheats" even shows us her she has to meet her own expectations with "being the best at everything".
* IrrevocableMessage: Helga got high off of laughing gas and left a message on Arnold's answering machine declaring her love for him, then spent the rest of the episode trying to delete it.
* ItsAllMyFault
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: WordOfGod says this is how Brainy ultimately feels about Helga.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Harold by Big Patty in an arm wrestling match. He is so upset, he attempts to escape from those mocking him by hiding under a drinking fountain. He finally gets over it by the end of the episode - after she beats him again in the citywide arm-wrestling championships - and smacks Sid and Stinky together when they [[TrashTalk trash talk about him]] after his loss, but not before publicly defending Patty as the better opponent. (The end of the episode implies a RelationshipUpgrade for Harold and Patty due to this.)
* IWishedYouWereDead: Sid with Principal Wartz.
