History TearJerker / HeyArnold

* Helga revealing how much her family life sucks on "Helga on the Couch." Earlier in the series, it was somewhat funny [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood 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 [[https://youtu.be/MjIu2U58FVY she's been ignored since she was preschool-aged in favor of Olga]], any humor that could be mined from it evaporated.

---> '''Helga''' (tugging on her oblivious father's leg): Hey, who's taking me to pwe-school?!
---> '''Bob''': Yeah, yeah, in a minute, Olga. (goes back to paying attention to Olga)
---> '''Helga''' (in a horribly pleading voice): No, I'm Helga, dad! Helga!

---> '''Dr. Bliss''': So nobody's ever noticed you.
---> '''Helga''': [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe ...There was someone]].

---> One of the MANY MANY MANY heart-breaking details about Helga is that she IS smart. Heck, she’s BRILLIANT! She’s well versed in the arts, she can and does read WELL beyond the fourth grade level and writes volumes and volumes of poetry. She could have won the spelling bee if she didn’t intentionally take a dive to stick it to her dad and do Arnold a solid. Her anonymous poem won the school wide poetry contest. She’s remarkably intelligent and talented!…But how many times do we hear her compare herself to her sister or to Lila as “Okay so maybe I’m not smart, pretty, funny, popular or nice like Lila/Olga?” Despite the fact that she IS just as smart if not smarter than the both of them? How many times do we hear her compare herself to her best friend Phoebe - who if we are honest, will admit is more STUDIOUS than intelligent. And how many times do we hear her say “Maybe if I was prettier/nicer/smarter Arnold would like-like me back?” Helga was raised being constantly compared to her older sister. She’s been told so many times, directly and indirectly that she’ll never be as good or worthy of attention and affection as Olga. And there’s a part of her that believes this. She’s a 9 year old girl - and she believes she’s never going to be smart enough to be noticed. That’s why she resorts to bullying tactics, because negative attention is better than no attention at all.

* "Parents Day," where {{Jerkass}} Big Bob thoughtlessly calls Arnold "orphan-boy" at the family event - sending him into a deep depression over his parents (the writers try to preserve some humor with Arnold going through a comical HeroicBSOD after Bob's comment; most viewers probably find that it didn't take). Later, Arnold asks Phil for the true story about his parents. Lots of fun and heartwarming moments, until the final flashback where baby Arnold says goodbye to his departing parents for what turns out to be the last time.

** The most shining example is "Arnold's Thanksgiving," when Bob and Miriam are panicking, since they thought Helga had gone missing. After Helga walked in, they also expressed their thankfulness for Helga as a daughter, which made Helga smile (which she rarely does in her own house).

** After this debut episode, Lila's HiddenDepths generally don't ever resurface...save for her audition song in "Eugene, Eugene" which is all about being a StepfordSmiler and how it's hard to be "perfect", and how even though she seems happy, she's actually sad. While she doesn't seem to have made up the song, the absolute conviction and emotion in her voice as she sings it suggests that it hits very close to home for her.
* The episode "Curly's Girl," in which Rhonda repays a debt to Curly by pretending to be his girlfriend for five days. She dumps him as soon as they agreed it would be over, and everyone hates Rhonda (even her best friend Nadine) for breaking his heart. To win back her popularity, Rhonda tells Curly to pretend to be his girlfriend again, but then HE dumps HER after hearing her in the bathroom talk about how disgusting she thinks he is (after he forcibly kissed her). As a result, people feel sorry for Rhonda and she's popular again. Then Rhonda goes to Curly's house to thank him (she thinks it was an act), and he's sitting on his front steps with his glasses off (for perhaps the only time ever in the series), eyes wide and full of tears. He didn't look like the little psychotic freak he always is-- instead, he's just a depressed little boy with a shattered heart due to his unrequited love.

* In "Weighing Harold," it seems like everybody is suddenly making nasty comments about Harold's weight. His weight loss cruise fails because he was afraid the other participants would think he was fat, and ate to counteract the stress. If that's not enough of a TearJerker, Arnold volunteers to help Harold lose weight, but Harold initially can't do it. He breaks down crying while explaining to Arnold that everyone around him has been ''saying'' he was fat, decimating his confidence.

* For anyone who has ever been bullied or used, the final scene in "Phoebe Skips," which shows Phoebe crying in the girls' room, is a TearJerker.

** What makes it even worse--and borders on FridgeHorror--is examining exactly ''why'' Helga hated Inga so much. Yes, Inga was a little controlling as she made Helga wear a certain outfit and tried to enforce some discipline in her life. But Inga's "crimes" largely consisted of making nutritious, healthy meals for her, putting her on a schedule to do her homework and learn household tasks like needlepoint, sprucing up her appearance, and creating more of a social life when she invited the rest of the gang over for cake. In other words...all things that ''caring, attentive parents do.'' That's right--Helga is so used to being neglected and lost that [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove she's unable to recognize what an adult loving her looks like.]] If that doesn't turn on the waterworks, what will?
** The end of the episode really hammers home the point. Helga comes home from school and hears Bob screaming his head off at an unresponsive, incoherent Miriam; as usual, they don't even notice her come through the door. She silently goes up to her room, her parents' typical behavior not even registering for her any more, and reads a postcard Inga has sent from the Swiss alps. As Inga speaks in voiceover and remarks that "I trust everything in your house is the same as always"--already a tearjerking statement--Helga quietly and wistfully takes up the needlepoint the nanny left behind...alone in her unhappiness, just as Inga said.

* 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 and 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.

* 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...[[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments but not before Arnold removes Phil's hook from his fin]].

--> "Wherever there's a bird in need of seed, I'll be there. Wherever there's a helpless flock suffering some abuse, I'll be there. ''(tears appear in his eyes as he says this)'' Wherever there's a pigeon with a weak wing or a broken beak, I'll be there..."

* At the end of "Operation: Ruthless," Helga has endured repeated physical injuries and humiliation in an attempt to keep Arnold from getting close to his crush, Ruth. She succeeds, but overhears Arnold say that the challenge just makes him like Ruth even more. Hearing this, Helga's determined expression changes to one of sorrow, and we even hear her begin to sniffle softly as the lights in the park go out around her.

** The theft of the ham was an absolute BerserkButton for Mr. Green, causing him to be completely vindictive and carry an obsessive grudge against Harold for the remainder of the episode, NotSoDifferent from Iggy's refusal to forgive Arnold in that infamous episode.

** The scene at dinner, where Arnold, after overhearing Bob Pataki refer to him as "orphan boy", explains that he doesn't want to go back to the tournament, as it's only for children and their parents, and while he DOES love his grandparents, they aren't actually his parents. Even [[CrazyAwesome Arnold's grandma]] stops acting insane [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness when she realizes how serious the situation has become]].

-->''Eduardo arrived quite unexpectedly today. He came to tell us that there's been another, much worst outbreak of the deadly sleeping sickness in San Lorenzo. The new strain of the disease is spreading all through the region, and many Green Eyes have already died. It's a heartbreaking decision, but the Green Eyes are like family to us. They saved our lives again and again, helped us to safety right before our baby was born. I really, '''really''' don't want to leave Arnold, but our trip back to San Lorenzo will be quick. Mom and Dad can look after him, before we know it we'll be playing with out boy. I know that the whole time we're there, we'll both miss our Arnold terribly...''

* "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: 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 by the time Phil and Mitzi found him. The injuries were so severe that the local vet couldn't help and thus Pooter was put to sleep (as in euthanized). And for almost 70 years, the heartbroken Phil and Mitzi blamed the other for causing the chain of events leading to Pooter's death.

* "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: 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 almost 70 years, Phil and Mitzi blamed the other for Pooter's death.

** What makes the whole thing even worse is that Harold is shown in many episodes to suffer from severe self-confidence issues--he feels like a stupid klutz who can't do anything right. Working at the butcher shop was the first time he ever felt like he was ''good'' at something, and made him feel like he wasn't a failure. To have that snatched away is extremely painul.

* "Harold the Butcher" revolves around Harold being forced to work for Mr. Green after he steals a frozen ham from his butcher shop, which he hates at first but slowly starts to enjoy. However, after his sentence ends and Mr. Green dismisses him, Harold tries to get his job back by stealing another ham, prompting Mr. Green to angrily yell at him and refuse to let him back in, making it crystal clear how much [[IrrationalHatred he absolutely hated Harold with a passion]] and [[ThisIsUnforgivable he'll never forgive him for his theft]]. Harold's tearful reaction is heartbreaking.

* "Harold the Butcher" revolves around Harold being forced to work for Mr. Green after he steals a frozen ham from his butcher shop, which he hates at first but slowly starts to enjoy. However, after his sentence ends and Mr. Green dismisses him, Harold tries to get his job back by stealing another ham, prompting Mr. Green to angrily yell at him and refuse to let him back in. Harold's tearful reaction is heartbreaking.

** The theft of the ham was an absolute BerserkButton for Mr. Green, causing him to completely vindictive and carry an obsessive grudge against Harold for the remainder of the episode, NotSoDifferent from Iggy's refusal to forgive Arnold in that infamous episode.

---> '''Dr. Bliss''': So nobody ever noticed you?

** During Helga's flashback to when she first met Arnold:

** A blink-and-you-miss-it moment from the same episode: While Arnold is showing off his crueler side at school, Helga catches a glimpse of it. She's absolutely ''horrified''.

* 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 [[https://youtu.be/MjIu2U58FVY she's been ignored since she was preschool-aged in favor of Olga]], any humor that could be mined from it evaporated.

** Made even more heart-wrenching by the fact that Helga, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold who rarely shows that she genuinely cares]] about anyone's feelings and is usually apathetic to Big Bob's jerkass tendencies, ''immediately'' admonishes him for the "Orphan boy" comment. Even the girl who tortures Arnold on a regular basis (albeit [[{{Tsundere}} to hide the fact that she has feelings for him]]) was legitimately saddened and upset by what Bob said, and rushes to apologize to Arnold for her father's thoughtlessness.

--->'''Baby Arnold:''' ''(sadly waving)'' Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy.

-->"I can't find my mommy and daddy."

** Made even more heart-wrenching by the fact that Helga, who rarely shows that she genuinely cares about anyone's feelings and is usually apathetic to Big Bob's jerkass tendencies, ''immediately'' admonishes him for the "Orphan boy" comment. Even the girl who tortures Arnold on a regular basis (albeit to hide the fact that she has feelings for him) was legitimately saddened and upset by what Bob said, and rushes to apologize to Arnold for her father's thoughtlessness.

* The {{bittersweet ending}} of "Pigeon Man". 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 BittersweetEnding of "Pigeon Man". 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.

* 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 [[StepfordSmiler isn't as happy and perfect as Helga thinks she is]] and that [[GrassIsGreener she wishes that she was ignored by their parents, much like Helga is]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pigeonman.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Remember, Arnold, always wash your berries before you eat them...And fly towards the sun!]]

* 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 [[GrassIsGreener she wishes that she was ignored by their parents, much like Helga is]].

** The end of the episode really hammers home the point. Helga comes home from school and hears Bob screaming his head off at an unresponsive, incoherent Miriam; as usual, they don't even notice her come through the door. She silently goes up to her room, her parents' typical behavior not even registering for her any more, and reads a postcard Inga has sent from the Swiss alps. As Inga speaks in voiceover, Helga quietly and wistfully takes up the needlepoint the nanny left behind--alone in her unhappiness, just as Inga said.

* What Helga's nanny says to her at the end of "Helga and the Nanny", after Helga frames her and gets her fired. She really read Helga like a map.
-->'''Nanny:''' You're such an angry girl, Helga. And you won't let anyone help you. So you have to live with your unhappiness.

* 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 [[SugarWiki/NightmareFuel 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 [[SecurityCling Lila comforted him]].

* The ending of "Field Trip". Arnold and his grandma free Lockjaw into the open ocean. Before swimming out to sea, the elderly sea turtle looks back at Arnold with a sad look on his face. Though he's finally free, Lockjaw knows he'll most likely never see Arnold again (fortunately, he does see him again in ''The Jungle Movie'').
* In "Harold The Butcher" where Mr. Green refuses to let Harold work in his butcher shop.

* 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, [[https://youtu.be/3Ok--WYeBdc 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.

** 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 indicates 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.

* 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 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 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: 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 episode where Olga is engaged and Helga finds out that the fiance is a JerkAss. Helga finding ''empathy'' for Olga, whom she's always envied and pushed away because of that, always gets me.
** She even called him out, then told him to just walk away. AND THEN she forged a note from him to prevent her sister's heart from breaking more than she knew it would...*''sniff''* BE STRONG, BE STRONG!

** Made even worse when you consider that, from Helga's perspective, [[MarySue Olga was just proving how wonderful she was yet again]] by showing her neglected little sister affection.
* While the episode "Magic Show", a parody of [[Film/{{ItsAWonderfulLife}} "It's a Wonderful Life"]], is comedic in its presentation and content, as well as suggests that Helga believes it might all simply be because she's just not nice to others, the deeper implications of it all push it firmly into tear jerking territory. Though at first Helga insists to herself that her disappearance would wreck the lives of everyone in town, after knocking herself unconscious, we get a peek at what she subconsciously imagines would happen. Not only are people not upset, the entire city is actively celebrating her disappearance. It only gets worse as we see the people she cares about living much happier lives, with her father being nicer and more cheerful, her mother no longer being a drunk, her best friend Phoebe now has a new best friend and can't even remember Helga's name, even stating "Who cares?", and Arnold, love of her life, is not only a successful magician, but is engaged to another woman. And all of this is in Helga's own mind, meaning she truly believes no one cares about her and would have happier lives if she wasn't around. Someone give this girl a hug. :(
* "Grandpa's Birthday". Phil believes he's going to die soon because he's turning 81 and he believes in a "family curse" in which his male ancestors die at precisely that age. Despite his grandson and a doctor believing that he still has plenty of life in him, he even goes as far as to gather everyone to witness what he believes are his final moments on a deathbed. Sure, Phil snaps out of it, but not because he realizes that he's being superstitious, only because Arnold corrected his math and pointed out that his ancestors died at 91.

* The ending of "Field Trip". Arnold and his grandma free Lockjaw into the open ocean. Before swimming out to sea, the elderly sea turtle looks back at Arnold with a sad look on his face. Though he's finally free, Lockjaw knows he'll most likely never see Arnold again.
** He does in ''The Jungle Movie'' however.

* 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 [[SugarWiki/NightmareFuel 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.