History TearJerker / HeyArnold

* The ending of "Helga's Parrot": While it was necessary [[StatusQuoIsGod to preserve Helga's secret crush on Arnold, seeing the parrot get eaten by a monitor lizard was a combination of one of the scariest and saddest moments in the series. The latter is easily shown with Arnold, who, having grown attached to the bird, had a heartbroken stare on his face while Lila comforted him]].

--->'''Mr. Green''': ''(shocked and angry)'' Harold Berman, I cannot believe my eyes! You stole my beautiful ham, and now it's ruined!

* The BittersweetEnding of "Pigeon Man". [[spoiler: Pigeon Man has to leave, because his home was destroyed by Harold and his friends, but he thanks Arnold for teaching him that some people ''can'' be trusted, and he hopes that there'll be another Arnold wherever he ends up]].

* The part in "Chocolate Boy" where viewers find out he's obsessed with chocolate because [[spoiler: his nanny, who always gave him chocolate, left when he was little (although there is some speculation as to whether she really just moved, or she died).]] He cries piteously about this while hugging Arnold.
* If you're a cat-lover, "Harold's Kitty" has some TearJerker moments, made more so because Harold was a loner and a bully at the time. The real TearJerker, however, occurs when he [[spoiler: has to give his kitten back to its real owner; he comes out of the house holding it and crying, in front of the whole neighborhood.]] Awww.

* In the episode "Mugged", Arnold learns Karate to defend himself from muggers and to help others from being hurt. However, his incredible Karate skills go to his head, and halfway through the episode he attacks [[spoiler:a random guy who just walked up to Arnold wanting directions to a bus stop. Not only is the man now pantless, he's crying uncontrollably and slowly walks off, constantly repeating "I was just trying to ask you where's the bus stop". A small crowd looks at Arnold with complete disgust as he realizes what he's done.]] Arnold's shame and embarrassment and the man's sadness and confusion are just so relatable.

* "Grandpa's Sister" has the title character, Phil's twin sister, Mitzi, visit the boarding house, and the two of them are constantly at each others' throats. Arnold helps rekindle their relationship by getting to the heart of the problem: [[spoiler: As children, they had a pet Scottish Terrier named Pooter, who they loved dearly. One day he got out of the yard and was run over by a milk truck. And for 70 years (71) Phil and Mitzi blamed the other for Pooter's death.]]

* The ending of "Helga's Parrot": [[spoiler:While it was necessary [[StatusQuoIsGod to preserve Helga's secret crush on Arnold]], seeing the parrot get eaten by a monitor lizard was a combination of one of the scariest and saddest moments in the series. The latter is easily shown with Arnold, who, having grown attached to the bird, had a heartbroken stare on his face while Lila comforted him]].

** When Helga finally gets the perfect present combined with the love and attention from her parents (instead of the usual jerkass filled home life), she realizes that she has to give it up to [[spoiler: re-unite Mr Hyunh with his daughter]]. And then, she also realizes that, after spending all that time trying to find the present that would make Arnold fall in love with her, that this would be the greatest thing she could do for them all and make them happiest. So [[WhatYouAreInTheDark she gives up the gift, takes no credit for it, gives them a proper Christmas miracle]] and yet again [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy ends up with her love for Arnold unrecognized, standing alone in the snow]].

** The fact that it incorporates the two biggest fears in a persons life time when after nine years missing Miles and Stella could safely be presumed dead. Arnold, faces a child's worst fear, the loss of his parents, while his Grandparents face the loss of their son, who possibly died before them, which no matter the age is often thought to be the greatest and most sorrowful [[AdultFear fear in an adult's life]]. Though of course Arnold finds a map...

* Helga revealing how much her family life sucks on "Helga on the Couch." Earlier in the series, it was somewhat funny how Helga's family life was a mess (her father was a blowhard who cared more about his beeper store than his family, her mom gave up being a parent and has become a covert alcoholic, and her college-aged sister moved out so she can have a better life--despite that she's painfully naïve to the darker side of humanity)... but when Helga reveals that she's been ignored since she was preschool-aged in favor of Olga, any humor that could be mined from it evaporated.

** Helga's MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment when she and the other girls realize how bad Lila really has it and how much their bullying really hurt her. Helga doesn't just cry, she practically has a meltdown, only snapping out of it after Phoebe slaps her. She really does have a HiddenHeartOfGold after all.
--->'''Helga''' (Getting more hysterical with each sentence): What are we? Animals? How could we treat her like that? (Crying) How could we be so mean? Poor kid, lying in there scared and miserable. And it's all out fault!

--->'''Helga''' (Crying harder): She wasn't so bad. She was just trying to be nice. She just wanted to fit in!

--->'''Helga''': And we tormented her!!!

* The flashback to what is implied to be [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar The Fall of Saigon]] at the start of ''Arnold's Christmas''. Mr. Hyunh does not get into the details, presumably so Arnold will better understand the complicated background, but it's clear he was a young man with a bright future only to have his hopes dashed by war in his homeland. After managing to get into what appears to be an American embassy he begs to be taken on a helicopter out of the country. The soldier onboard tells the crowd there is only room for one person and Mr. Hyunh gave up his daughter to the soldier in a helicopter so she could have a better life. The only thing he has to hold onto is the name of a city where he was told she would be brought, the city Arnold lives in.

* The part in "Chocolate Boy" where viewers find out he's obsessed with chocolate because [[spoiler: his nanny, who always gave him chocolate, left when he was little.]] He cries piteously about this while hugging Arnold.

** The end where Mr. Hyunh finally reunites with his long-lost daughter (and the fact that Helga gave up the Nancy Spumoni boots her parents got her for Christmas just to pay Mr. Bailey to find Mr. Hyunh's daughter and help Arnold believe in miracles again) is more tearjerking almost any other moment on this list.

* A small one, but the titular character of the episode "Big Caesar" is a bit of a [[TheWoobie woobie]]. According to legend, he's a giant, prehistoric fish that has been stuck in the city lake for millions of years, desperate to get back home to the sea. His legendary status causes people to constantly try to catch him, which has included Phil, who came close to catching him but failed, and accidentally left a hook lodged under Big Caesar's fin--and said hook is ''still lodged there'' years later when Arnold and Gerald find him, and was likely causing Big Caesar quite a bit of discomfort. After Arnold and Gerald succeed in catching him, Arnold quickly [[IJustWantToBeFree sees a sad look in the fish's eye]] and decides that he and Gerald should let him go, and while Gerald is upset about it, he ultimately relents and the two release him...[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming but not before Arnold removes Phil's hook from his fin]].

* In "Harold The Butcher" where Mr.Green refuses to let Harold work in his butcher shop.

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* The flashback to what is implied to be The Fall of Saigon at the start of ''Arnold's Christmas''. Mr. Hyunh does not get into the details, presumably so Arnold will better understand the complicated background, but it's clear he was a young man with a bright future only to have his hopes dashed by war in his homeland. After managing to get into what appears to be an American embassy he begs to be taken on a helicopter out of the country. The soldier onboard tells the crowd there is only room for one person and Mr. Hyunh gave up his daughter to the soldier in a helicopter so she could have a better life. The only thing he has to hold onto is the name of a city where he was told she would be brought, the city Arnold lives in.

** Arnold's neighbor Mr. Hyunh, trying to escape the Vietnam War with his toddler daughter Mai, ran to the American embassy only to find one more person was allowed on the last helicopter going to America. After giving up Mai to the Americans, he came to Arnold's city to find her but couldn't do it. At the end, as everyone is exchanging Christmas gifts and Arnold feels terrible for not being able to find her, the doorbell rings...to reveal Mai, who was found by one of Arnold's friends.

* The flashback to what is implied to be The Fall of Saigon at the start of ''Arnold's Christmas''; where Mr. Hyunh gives up his daughter to a soldier in a helicopter so she can have a better life.

* Olga's complete breakdown [[TheBGrade over getting a B+ in one of her classes]] in "Olga Comes Home". When Helga reveals that she was the one who changed her grade, Olga doesn't get angry with her, even though she has every reason to be considering she was torn up about it for nearly three days straight. Instead, Olga reveals that she isn't as happy and perfect as Helga thinks she is and that she wishes that she was ignored by their parents, much like Helga is.

* In a tears of rage-inducing way, the climax of ''Arnold Betrays Iggy.'' One can only imagine all the kids watching the show who felt for sure that things would work out for the best and Arnold would avoid needless public humiliation at the last minute only to be horrified and possibly scarred to see things not play out that way at all, instead being treated to a gut-wrenching, drawn out scene of Arnold walking down a red carpet out of his home and back, all while unsettling somber music plays, crowds of people laugh cruelly at Arnold's humiliation (that's ''being broadcast on live TV'' as well), and Iggy has a MyGodWhatHaveIDone meltdown, which proves not enough for him to be redeemed or forgiven for what he brought about, by both Arnold and the audience.

!!The Jungle Movie
* Everyone is celebrating that Arnold's class won the trip to San Lorenzo ... except Grandpa Phil and Grandma Gertie. It's painfully obvious they're afraid that they'll lose Arnold, just like they lost Miles. Or, they know Arnold wants to go hoping he'll find his parents and are afraid he'll only be bitterly disappointed.
** The trailer shows Phil trying to keep Arnold from getting his hopes up.
-->'''Phil:''' This is just a school trip, not about you finding your parents.
** While the context isn't clear yet, the trailer where Phil's line above comes from shows a scene of Gerald ''furious'' at Arnold for not telling him something and Helga ''ripping her picture of Arnold to shreds before tossing its heart-shaped frame off the back of the boat she's on''. Considering how die-hard loyal Gerald is and how deep Helga's crush goes, Arnold must have absolutely ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucked up]]'' to warrant those reactions.
* When the group is forced to hike through the jungle after their boat gets wrecked, poor Sid's Beatle boots get stuck in the mud and rip, turning him into a crying mess.
* When Big Bob and Miriam realize the kids are in danger their immediate concern is that Olga is with them, no word of Helga. Just, damn...
** Well granted, they do remember her after a minute. Bob himself at least actually remembered her name was Helga.

** It doesn't help that when the mugging happens, he's right outside the building where the episode's titular character, who Sid idolizes, is attending a party and furthermore is outside a window Monkeyman is standing right in front of, albeit with his back turned. From Sid's perspective, his hero let him get hurt either because he heard him and didn't care or because he had given heroics to smooze. Monkeyman's horror when he finds out what happened indicate that he just didn't hear Sid over the hubbub of the party but it's quite frightening to hear a 9-year-old screaming for help that no one gives.